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Film Reviews by Jordan Adcock
OPERATION
MINCEMEAT
FILM OF THE MONTH - Star Rating: 3/5
Operation Mincemeat, where the dead body of Glyndwr Michael was used to smuggle fake documents to mislead Nazi Germany, is perhaps the most extraordinary act of deception in the history of warfare. However, this film manages to make the extraordinary, well, more ordinary, if still well-acted and directed on its own more modest terms. Colin Firth dependably plays Ewen Montagu, the naval intelligence officer increasingly distant from his wife and who settles into creating “William Martin” with Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald) who provides the photo of “Martin’s lover”. Matthew Macfadyen is perhaps the strongest of the cast in playing the uptight, unlucky-in-love RAF officer Charles Cholmondeley who helps refine the “Trojan Horse” plan originally thought up partly by Ian Fleming of all people (it’s a shame Johnny Flynn’s suave portrayal of Fleming is absent from the film for long stretches).
There’s a stuffy admiral (played by Jason Isaacs of course), Winston Churchill, gloomy wartime London interiors, a brief battle scene: This war film has it all, apart from really exploring the story’s most unique, fascinating aspect. I really recommend reading Ben Macintyre’s account of the deception, on which this film was based. It captures how odd the story was, including the full cast of characters and their nuances plus the surrealism of constructing a man that never was. Who was Glyndwr Michael? He lived a sadly curtailed, unremarkable life but you won’t get much impression from the film of that or the quandary of erasing his identity, which apart from one very disposable scene otherwise treats the hunt for a body as a tame comedic montage. ✪
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2
THE NAN MOVIE Star Rating: 2/5
Star Rating: 2/5
Star Rating: 1/5
The first Sonic film from 2020 was most famous for hastily redesigning its CGI version of the iconic video game character to look much more accurate and appealing. If only its sequel had greater finesse but it’s more sluggish than sonic. It not only brings back Jim Carrey as the wacky evil scientist Robotnik, hurling out one-liners no matter how silly, or introducing more game characters in the red echidna Knuckles and the plucky Tails as a sidekick for Sonic, it weighs itself down with dragged-out filler sequences. They include a Siberian dance-off and a crashed Hawaiian wedding and like most of the film are distracting enough, though it’s hard not to notice the obligatory human supporting actors trying in vain to be as animated as their digital counterparts. ✪
Leaving it late doesn’t quite cover comedian Catherine Tate bringing her cantankerous Nan character to the big screen, over 15 years after the comedian’s sketch show ended. And while Nan certainly delivers the swears and insults she’s known (and loved?) for, the obligation to provide a filmic narrative where she and grandson Jamie (Matthew Horne) travel to see her dying sister means lots of more drama-based flashbacks to World War II. Basically, anyone hoping to relive the show’s comedic heights will be disappointed. Ah well, at least there’s still some decent exchanges between Nan and Jamie while on the road to Northern Ireland, where the film most resembles the original show’s dynamics. Diversions involving an animal rights extremist and garish collage animation to shift the plot along are less welcome. ✪
Think Extraneous Beasts more than Fantastic. These Harry Potter prequel films, despite their main title, aren’t really about Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) protecting magical beasts, and they definitely aren’t as magical as the boy wizard’s story. That The Secrets of Dumbledore improves over the last film, the baffling and infuriating Crimes of Grindelwald, isn’t high praise. It has a good main cast, especially Jude Law as young Dumbledore; Mads Mikkelsen is a decent replacement for scandal-hit Johnny Depp as Grindelwald, the would-be wizard dictator who shares a secret bond with Dumbledore. But they’re all left wandering from place to place, casting lots of magic spells but without any meaningful journeys or arcs happening. There’s only the promise of an overarching story that’s barely even started three films in. ✪
Jared Leto tries playing a tortured soul in Morbius but only audiences will be tortured by this abysmal comic book adaptation. The film’s a product of Sony Pictures racing to adapt all the Marvel comics characters they’ve got the rights for (apart from Spider-Man). In fairness, Leto is working with a rubbish script as Doctor Morbius, who experiments with vampire bat blood to cure his crippling ailments. The CGI-heavy results are cringeworthy and not helped by the actor’s laughably poor attempts at charisma and gravitas. Throw in Matt Smith trying to outdo him for sheer awkwardness and the result is trashy, even strangely watchable like a train wreck can be watchable: a “morbid” curiosity, perhaps? ✪
Star Rating: 2.5/5
MORBIUS
You can follow Jordan on Twitter (@JordanReview) and read his blog at www.reviewsreflections.wordpress.com For the latest local news visit www.mkpulse.co.uk | MK Pulse Magazine | May 2022
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