Reel Review Roundup

One Battle After Another (MA)

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti

Review by: Julian Wright

When hardened military man Col. Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) apprehends spicy revolutionary Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), who has caught his eye, she rats out her fellow French 45 mates and goes on the run, leaving behind her husband Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and infant daughter Willa.

The father and daughter duo go into hiding.

Sixteen years later, Bob is a paranoid alcoholic and pot head, whose brain is fried from his substance abuse and teenage Willa (Chase Infiniti) is often forced to be the parent in the relationship.

But Lockjaw starts tracking them down, forcing them to go on the run with the help of surviving French 45 members.

What a ride.

One Battle After Another tells a full and timely story about ideals, and wonderfully realised characters taking politically charged action, with precision and confidence.

While the entire film is consistently highly entertaining, balancing a range of tones, it builds to an eye-popping climactic sequence that is a cinematic stand-out on its own.

Paul Thomas Anderson has assembled a stunning cast – Taylor is a force, DiCaprio is hilarious, Penn is solid and Infiniti is a standout.

There is a passion coming from One Battle After Another that has been missing from Anderson films recently – he seems to really relish telling this particular story.

This is sure to be featured on many “best of” lists at the end of the year.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (M)

Directed by: Kogonada

Starring: Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie

Review by: Julian Wright

David (Colin Farrell) and Sarah (Margot Robbie) are two strangers that meet at their mutual friends’ wedding.

They share a couple of meet-cute moments before finding themselves on a fantastical journey home together.

Some unplanned pit stops at a range of strangely positioned doorways, which when they enter, allows them the opportunity to relive and face key moments from their respective pasts.

Could these insights bring them closer together or drive them further apart?

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey takes a big bold swing in the way it tells its story.

This curious and existential film is certainly something we have not seen before, but it is at times fascinating and dream-like, then at other times, dances dangerously close to amateur performance art with a budget.

It starts off strong and endearingly quirky with a great sense of comedic timing, thanks in large part to a scene-stealing Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

The world we are plonked into is off kilter just enough to draw us in – and if you are up for the ride, you will likely be grandly rewarded.

For others, the sluggish pace and mind-bendy visuals could be detrimental to one’s enjoyment, particularly if they are expecting a traditional rom-com.

Farrell and Robbie are endlessly watchable – a pair of big screen beauties that an audience would follow blindly through any kind of journey – even one as unfulfilling as this.

Fight or Flight (MA)

Directed by: James Madigan

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Katee Sackhoff

Review by: Julian Wright

Former teen heart throb Josh Hartnett take on a plane full of assassins in this amusingly violent John Wick wannabe (not derogatory).

When an infamous hacker named Ghost escapes captivity in Bangkok, they are tracked to a flight heading to San Fransisco.

The only nearby option to apprehend them is disgraced former secret service agent turned alcoholic Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett).

He reluctantly takes the job offered to him by his former boss Katherine Brunt (Katee Sachhoff), with whom he has a messy past.

But not only will it be hard to identify the ghost – the only information eh has to go by is a bullet wound – he shares the flight with a plane full of assassins hired to kill the Ghost.

The scenario is a little familiar but James Madigan, making his feature film debut, is dead set on delivering a fun piece of escapism, which he achieves with a touch of style.

Those that like their action as graphic as the Saw and Hostel films combined will get a kick out of the bloodshed as Reyes and company use various plane related tools as weapons – and even manage to get heir hands on a chainsaw.

Hartnett delivers one of his best performances, demonstrating his athleticism with the fight choreography but also his on-point comic timing – his physicality is reminiscent of the rubbery Jim Carrey.

Fight or Flight is a plane ride from hell but a wild cinematic experience that will have you cheering at every snapped bone and impaled body part.