David R. Walker

Archive for April, 2026

Michael

Director:  Antoine Fuqua

Cast: Jafaar Jackson, Nia Long, Colman Domingo, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Michael Andrew Baker, Zach Kenney, Miles Teller, Mike Myers, Kendrick Sampson

Running Time: 2 hours and 7 minutes

Film Rating: 8 out of 10

Training Day and Southpaw director Antoine Fuqua turns his attention as a director away from the hugely popular Equalizer action franchise to direct a musical biopic of Michael Jackson simply titled Michael.

The main actor who plays Michael Jackson in this film is the famous singer’s nephew Jaafar Jackson son of Jermaine Jackson who does an excellent job of playing the King of Pop as he slowly emerges out of the restrictive confines of the Jackson Five to become one of the biggest pop stars in the world in the 1980’s.

Michael focuses on the early years of Michael Jackson from his time as the youngest of the Jackson Five who is repeatedly a target of his abusive and power hungry father Joseph Jackson, a stand out Oscar worthy performance by double Oscar nominee (Rustin, Sing Song) Colman Domingo.

Domingo is excellent as Joseph Jackson the patriarch of the Jackson family who is determined to emancipate his family from poverty and elevate them into wealth and stardom. Michael is different and has a close relationship with his mother Katherine Jackson well played by Nia Long.

What makes Colman Domingo’s chilling performance as the pushy father so brilliant is that it is so against type compared to some of the more flamboyant roles that Domingo has played.

Oscar nominated for screenwriting for The Aviator, Hugo and Gladiator, John Logan’s brilliant script holds Michael together complete with superb direction by Antoine Fuqua. Fortunately what John Logan does in his screenplay is to focus on the music and not the peculiar lifestyle that Michael Jackson led.

Jaafar Jackson is brilliant playing a version of his famous uncle in a film biopic that focuses on the catchy music including the absolute hits like Thriller, Billy Jean and Bad.

Audiences should watch out for a fantastic cameo by Mike Myers as CBS record producer Walter Yetnikoff who is persuaded by Jackson’s manager to put the music video Thriller onto MTV in the early 1980’s, the decade of the music video and one of the reasons why Michael Jackson become so famous so quickly.

Despite his setback when his hair caught on fire shooting a commercial for Pepsi at the Shrine auditorium in Los Angeles in 1984, Michael Jackson succeeded in becoming a mega popstar in the decade of excess. Jackson’s later fame soon eclipsed his famous family and eventually he had the courage to stand up to his controlling father and finally let his own light shine through.

Jaafar Jackson and Colman Domingo are both excellent as the breakout kid that wants to escape to Neverland and the overbearing ruthless father that wants to stifle his son’s creativity.

Featuring excellent music numbers, polished production design by Barbara Ling and glossy cinematography by Dion Beebe, Michael is worth seeing as a musical biopic and gets a film rating of 8 out of 10.

See Michael on the biggest screen possible as the music numbers are brilliant held together by a competent script by John Logan. Highly recommended viewing.

^{Brothers Under Fire}

Director: Justin Chadwick

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Ashton Sanders, Solly Macleod, Tommy Martinez, Omar Chapparro, Laura Osma, Orlando Pineda, Fredy Yate, James Keach

Running Time: 1 hour 39 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

British director Justin Chadwick who brought cinema goers such films as Tulip Fever, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, The First Grader and The Other Boleyn Girl returns to the big screen with the Highland Film Group’s action film Brothers Under Fire starring Kiefer Sutherland (Phone Booth, Melancholia) as battle weary American army captain Jordan Wright.

Wright joins his army squadron on a special trip to a wedding in Mexico whereby Roberto played by Tommy Martinez is to marry Isabella played by Laura Osma. The squadron includes Danny, Lieutenant Carlson played by Ashton Sanders (Moonlight, I Wanna Dance with Somebody) and Orlando Pineda as Miguel.

The night of the wedding during the festivities one of the soldiers Danny played by Sonny Macleod has an altercation with a petulant cartel drug deputy whose brother is the vicious cartel leader who feels nothing at executing a whole village full of people including women and children.

Justin Chadwick captions Brothers Under Fire by showing an opening sequence in Syria whereby the squadron are bonding after a heated battle and they take a photo of the 5 of them before Roberto invites them to his Mexican wedding.

The wedding becomes a bloody affair as the cartel boss’s brother is killed and then the American squadron are under fire when the cartel goes after them and the rest of Roberto and Isabella’s village. This ultimately leads to a good old fashioned showdown in a town square.

Most of Brothers Under Fire was shot in Colombia and unfortunately the director does not give the viewer a proper sense of location, so one is not sure if the action is set in Mexico or Colombia. Either way its set in a poverty stricken Latin America country whereby the drug cartels have taken over and are terrorising the local population.

Jordan Wright well played by Kiefer Sutherland encourages his men, the original squadron to protect these people from this vile drug cartel resulting in a riveting bullet riddled showdown.

If audiences like a straight forward action film with no frills then Brothers Under Fire is recommended viewing. There is a surprising plot twist but ultimately the final showdown comes with sacrifice and an effortless display of bravado. With all violence, it’s the women and children that are left to survive after the devastation.

Brothers Under Fire gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is a worthy action film featuring machismo, murder and mayhem. The final showdown is something to behold.

This is a standard action film, which stays true to the genre and will definitely find a loyal audience.

The Magic Faraway Tree

Director: Ben Gregor

Cast: Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Rebecca Ferguson, Nicola Coughlan, Nonso Anozie, Jennifer Saunders, Jessica Gunning, Michael Palin, Lenny Henry, Billie Gadsdon, Simon Russell Beale, Phoenix Laroche, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Claire Keelan, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Dustin Demri-Burns, Hiran Abeysekera

Running Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

Despite big stars like Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, Tick, Tick…. Boom!) and Golden Globe and Emmy Winner Claire Foy (The Crown) being attached to this British fantasy film, The Magic Faraway Tree based on an adapted screenplay by Wonka & Paddington 2 screenwriter Simon Farnaby based upon a children’s book by Enid Blyton, this film comes across as uneven and strange.

The Magic Faraway Tree was part of a series of children’s books published by Enid Blyton between 1939 and 1951 long before the invention of the internet. In director Ben Gregor’s 2026 film version the central theme seems to be to lure young British children away from their iPads, game boys and screens to rediscover the magic of nature. In this case a magical tree filled with pixies, fairies and secret lands.

When Polly and Tim Thompson lose their jobs in expensive London they are forced to move to the country far away from WIFI, sophistication or Instagram. Their three children Fran played by Billie Gadsdon, Joe played by Phoenix Laroche, and the angry teenage eldest Beth expertly played by Delilah Bennett-Cardy are initially horrified about moving to the middle of nowhere whereby their useless father, well played by Andrew Garfield has a notion to grow tomatoes for pasta sauce as a means of survival.

Soon adventure abounds when Fran meets Silky, a voluptuous blonde fairy wonderfully played by Nicola Coughlan and she leads the impressionable young girl into the faraway tree whereby she encounters Mr Saucepan played by Dustin Denri-Burns and Moonface played by Nonso Anozie. These magical creatures lead Fran up to various different lands including Goody land and Birthday land.

Fran soon convinces her brother and sulky teenage sister to join her whereby they go to birthday land and make wishes in which one of them will undo their parents’ hard work at being self-sustainable by growing tomatoes for a tomato pasta business.

The fantasy scenes in this film are totally bizarre and silly. The world building is non-existent. The pastoral scenes of the English countryside are beautifully done and are the director’s strongpoint. Garfield and Foy do their best as wacky unconventional parents and then there is a weird cameo by the Absolutely Fabulous star Jennifer Saunders as the wealthy grandmother who speaks with a German accent.

As the children seek to reverse a dreadful wish and revive the promising tomato crop, they get caught up in the world of the evil Dame Slap, a caricature appearance by Rebecca Ferguson, who does not seem comfortable acting in such a bizarre film. Ferguson should stick to action films.

There are brief appearances by Michael Palin and Lenny Henry but unfortunately The Magic Faraway Tree does not stand sturdy as an engaging cinematic adventure and comes across as a contrived pastiche of fantasy worlds in which the director is trying to drive home the notion that young people in the 21^st century should have less screen time and more time in nature.

The best thing about the film are the young stars, while the adults come across as goofy.

Unfortunately The Magic Faraway Tree does not translate well into a film in 2026. Luckily Enid Blyton is not alive to see this fluorescently flawed rendition of her wonderful children stories.

The Magical Faraway Tree gets a film rating of 6 out of 10 and is unfortunately not that good. The fantasy is weird and the screen adaption should have kept the original tale in the 1940’s or 1950’s. To update this children’s tale to the 2020’s is the screenwriter’s first mistake.