Trolls Band Together (2023) - Movie Review

This feels like a step backwards for this franchise. After expanding beyond pop music into all sorts of different genres in Trolls World Tour, going back to just pop music feels like it's making the film's world smaller, which isn't ideal if they're going to even bother making another one to begin with. That they likely did it just so that they could cash in on boy band nostalgia, with star Justin Timberlake’s history with NSYNC being both figuratively and literally invoked in this film, doesn’t help.

But hey, my first interaction with this franchise involved plenty of scepticism, and not only did I like the first film, I liked the second one even more so. Well, while I still had fun with this latest entry, I am definitely starting to wonder if this was all that necessary.

Cinderella (2021) - Movie Review

After knocking it out of the park with her directorial debut in Blockers, I’ll admit to being excited for what Kay Cannon had planned next. But at the same time I was waiting for news of that film’s release, I was also hearing some less-than-glowing reactions to an adaptation of Cinderella that Amazon Studios had put together. Then I suddenly realised that these two films were indeed one and the same and… well, I was still hoping for something good, but that expectation has significantly dampened.

Trolls World Tour (2020) - Movie Review

Well, after being pleasantly surprised by the first Trolls movie back in 2016, I’m definitely going into this one with higher expectations. I mean, you promise me metal Trolls, you better deliver metal Trolls. There’s also where this production sits within the larger clusterfuck that is how the cinema industry has been adjusting (and, in some cases, failing to adjust) to lockdown conditions, given it became a bit of a line-in-the-sand situation between NBCUniversal and the American (and Chinese) owned chain of AMC Theatres. Basically, even before getting into the film proper, this is already something of a game changer for the industry. Not sure I can say the same about the content, but rest assured, this is still all kinds of worth checking out.

Rocketman (2019) - Movie Review

This is the kind of film that, for as long as it has languished in production limbo, came together through a collection of cosmic synchronicities. From producer Matthew Vaughn’s connecting with Elton John on the set of Kingsman: The Golden Circle, to director and fellow Ritchie collaborator Dexter Fletcher’s experiences batting clean-up for Bryan Singer on Bohemian Rhapsody, right down to Taron Egerton getting a shot of portraying one of Britain’s greatest musical talents as a result of having already done his music justice as part of Illumination Entertainment’s Sing.

It’s the kind of background info that ends up fuelling the hype behind this particular feature, as this is the kind of film that only comes about through pretty much everything being exactly where they need to be. It’s not a perfect film, but it’s damn near close.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), now in-charge of her mother (Meryl Streep)’s hotel on the Greek island of Kalokairi, is under a lot of stress for the hotel’s grand re-opening. As she seeks advice from her mother’s friends Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters), as well as her dads Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Harry (Colin Firth) and Bill (Stellan Skarsgård), she also learns about her mother’s trials when she was younger (Lily James). Between all of them, Sophie might just find the resolve she needs to pull through.