Drive (Review)

Drive (Film Review) 2011

Drive is a 2011 crime thriller directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling.

Drive follows a stunt driver (Ryan Gosling) who also works as a criminal getaway driver.

Drive is an extremely stylised film, both the cinematography and soundtrack are very unique and give the feeling of the 80s. There's definitely a great amount of attention to detail.

I found Ryan Gosling' character's cold attitude overdone and repetitive. Although his acting was good, the character brief was dull.

The plot was engaging and didn't drop in consistency. It was filled with interesting twists and dialogue.

Overall, Drive is an excellent movie. It's very entertaining and stylistic, with a good quality cast and soundtrack.

I give Drive 8/10.

Rated 18, runtime 100 minutes

10 Cloverfield Lane (Film Review) 2016

10 Cloverfield Lane (Film Review)

10 Cloverfield Lane is a psychological thriller directed by Dan Trachtenberg (début) starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman.

The film begins with Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) waking up in the bunker of Howard (John Goodman), along with Emmett (John Gallagher). She is told that the outside world has been ravaged by nuclear war and that she must stay inside, but this is the word of a man she has never met before.

The film relies on psychological tension, rather than gore and jump-scares. 10 Cloverfield Lane is probably one of the most tense movies I've seen, I constantly felt on edge.

John Goodman plays a character very different from his tradition comedy roles. Mary Elizabeth Winstead portrays her confusion and conflicting thoughts very well with minimal dialogue which is impressive.

Without spoiling, I was extremely disappointed with the ending sequence. I felt that the writers could have gone with a much more intelligent ending, but I could understand how some viewers could like it.

I give 10 Cloverfield Lane 8/10. 

Rated 15, 106 minutes

The Revenant (Film Review) 2016

The Revenant (Film Review)

The Revenant is a 2016 historical action adventure drama directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Domhnall Gleeson and Tom Hardy. The Revenant has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Lead Actor, and Director. 

The story follows Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his survival in the wilderness following a bear attack. He has been abandoned by his team, and must survive with life-threatening injuries on his own.

The Revenant is primarily a survival film. I found that the amount of filler in the film was huge. While the cinematography was great, there was only so much of Leonardo DiCaprio crawling through a forest that I could be interested in. The performances from both Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio were very strong. The acting and cinematography of The Revenant was definitely its strong suits. The choreography of various fight scenes was also impressive, along with the special effects and make-up used.

The story was not very strong, in my opinion. I could see most of the cinema checking their phones or speaking to each other throughout. While the way in which it was filmed, and how the film looks is of very high quality (most likely to win Best Cinematography, etc.), I found the film to be very slow overall.

I give The Revenant 7/10. 

Rated 16, runtime 156 minutes.