Hello, and welcome to the Geeky Brummie Thursday film roundup – our preview of the upcoming cinema releases. This week: a Rastaman and a Spider Woman…
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these films. All of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
Madame Web
So I need to start this week’s roundup off with a slight apology – the first two films on my list are already out so technically should have been on last week’s list. On the plus side though, that has meant that they’ve had a bit of time for audiences to start watching them and posting their thoughts about them, and for the reviews to come in, so although I haven’t yet managed to see either of them I have a better idea than usual of whether they’ll be worth a watch.
First up, we have Madame Web – the latest in Sony’s series of Spider-Man adjacent films alongside the likes of Venom, Morbius and (coming later this year) Kraven the Hunter. In the comics (and in the classic ’90s cartoon series), Madame Web is usually portrayed as an elderly woman hooked up to a web-like life support system, who uses her powers of telepathy and clairvoyance to help Spider-Man. In this film, she is portrayed by the much younger and more able Dakota Johnson (best known for the Fifty Shades of Grey films). The story revolves around her discovering her future-telling abilities and using them to try and rescue three spider-themed superheroines.
This year is going to be a quiet one for superhero films. Marvel are taking it pretty easy – their only cinematic release being Deadpool and Wolverine (which, as the MCU’s first R-rated movie, will be missed by a large portion of Marvel’s usual target audience), while DC are working on their full system reboot under James Gunn’s new leadership. So there is a real opportunity for less well-known superhero films to jump in and fill that void. An original, well-made spin on the genre could capture audiences waiting for the big franchises to return.
Instead, we have Madame Web. Inexplicably released on Valentine’s Day (maybe hoping that some couples looking for a date night might mistake it for another Fifty Shades film?) and so having been out for a day at the time of writing, Madame Web is currently sitting at 3.6 stars on IMDB and a 16% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The trailer has some fun concepts that would feel a lot more exciting if they hadn’t been used several times before – the plot seems to be ‘what if Final Destination had superheroes?’ – and doesn’t particularly grab me. I think Dakota Johnson is a very good actress – I haven’t seen the Fifty Shades films but from what I’ve heard she was one of the better parts of them, and I enjoyed her work in Suspiria and Bad Times at the El Royale. But it doesn’t sound like she’s good enough to save this one.
If you are a huge superhero movie fan and either need a fix to tide you over until Deadpool, or need a reminder as to why a year without being bombarded with superhero films might not be a bad thing, you might want to watch this. If Sony are building up to some sort of Spider-villain team up then it wouldn’t surprise me if Madame Web, who is known for bringing characters into each other’s paths, plays some part in that, so it might be worth watching so you can keep up with that later. But if you are still suffering from superhero fatigue, this probably isn’t the film that’s going to get you breaking out the spandex again…
- Madame Web at IMDB
- Madame Web at Rotten Tomatoes
Bob Marley: One Love
The second film already out in cinemas is the biopic of the reggae legend, Bob Marley: One Love. Kingsley Ben-Adir (who you may remember as one of the Kens in Barbie and the villainous Gravik – one of the better elements of Marvel’s Secret Invasion) plays Marley, as the film documents his career and the adversity he faced for voicing his philosophy to the world.
Ben-Adir is a fantastic actor, and he has a great on-screen partner in Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel, No Time To Die, The Woman King) playing Marley’s wife Rita. I am ashamed to say I know very little about Bob Marley’s life outside of his music, so this could be a fascinating insight into a hugely well-loved artist. The early reviews haven’t been as enthusiastic as I was expecting (39% on Rotten Tomatoes, which, although over double Madame Web’s rating, isn’t great) but there is enough talent on the screen that I would still expect it to be pretty entertaining. If nothing else, it’s an excuse to sit back in a dark room and listen to some reggae music for a couple of hours.
- Bob Marley: One Love at IMDB
- Bob Marley: One Love at Rotten Tomatoes
The Promised Land
Last but not least, and actually released on Friday this time, we have The Promised Land. Mads Mikkelsen plays Ludvig Kahlen – a real-life former soldier in 18th Century Denmark who sets out to cultivate the inhospitable Jutland heath. Of the three films on the list this week, this is the one I have heard the least about and it is getting by far the most limited release (my local Cineworld has just the one showing per day on its opening weekend). Having watched the trailer though, it is the one I’m most excited about.
This looks like it has all the components of a big historical epic – political scheming, violent conflict, sweeping landscape shots, and a cartoonish villain in the form of Simon Bennebjerg’s Frederik De Schinkel. The cinematography looks rich and beautiful, and Mads Mikkelsen is always excellent. And it currently has a 96% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes (to continue the comparison from earlier, that’s 6 times as good as Madame Web). If you can get to a screening, this should be a lot of fun.
- The Promised Land at IMDB
- The Promised Land at Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
It might not have the marketing budget of the other two, but it looks far more exciting and compelling – my film of the week is The Promised Land.
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- The Iron Claw
- American Fiction
- All Of Us Strangers
Which of these films are you most looking forward to? What did you think if you have seen any of them already? Let us know in the comments!
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