David R. Walker

Den of Thieves: Pantera

Director: Christian Gudegast

Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Evin Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Cristian Solemino, Nazmiya Oral, Dino Kelly, Fortunato Cerlino, Yasen Zates Atour

Running time: 2 hours and 24 minutes

Languages: French, English, Flemish, Italian

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

American director Christian Gudegast follows up his 2018 heist film Den of Thieves with the flashy sequel Den of Thieves: Pantera reuniting cast members Gerard Butler (Plane, Kandahar, 300, Copshop, Greenland) and O’Shea Jackson Jr (Cocaine Bear, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) as L.A. cop Big Nick O’Brien and master thief Donnie Wilson.

This time Den of Thieves: Pantera is set on the French Riviera, the pristine and glamourous location of Nice on the La Cote d’Azur.

Following a brazen theft of diamonds that arrived on a flight from Johannesburg to Antwerp, Donnie Wilson joins a gang of thieves lead by Jovanna played by Swedish Kurdish actress Evin Ahmad.

Nick O’Brien after extracting information out of a stripper in L.A. about the missing millions gets a tip that Donnie Wilson is in Nice, follows him there where he meets the French police unit Pantera headed by Hugo played by Yasen Zates Atour (Robin Hood).

O’Brien teams up with Donnie Wilson who gradually lets him into his gang of thieves. The only catch is the one diamond belongs to a Sardinian crime family whose mobster would like the diamond back.

After a breathtakingly elaborate heist at the ultra-secure Diamond centre in downtown Nice, a double cross occurs on the road between France and Italy and soon Donnie Wilson realizes who he can trust.

Den of Thieves: Pantera is heavy on intrigue and light on action except for a thrilling car chase in a tunnel but what director Christian Gudegast does well is build up the pace of this film about a Mediterranean diamond heist, so when the theft does take place, the action is compelling.

Nice as a city works well as a location and while the first film was very action heavy on the L.A. streets, Den of Thieves: Pantera has a glossy international feel about it, which is more character driven filled with intrigue and bravado. The screenplay with multiple languages also written by Christian Gudegast is edgy focusing more on masculine friendship and betrayal with a dash of mafia menace thrown in.

The exterior shots of Nice and Sardinia are gorgeous and the sports cars are awesome too. This is an intriguing European heist film proving that there is definitely no honour amongst thieves.

Den of Thieves: Pantera gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is an entertaining action film assisted by two suitably macho performances by Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr whose character’s relationship switches between rivalry and deceit. Recommended viewing for fans of Gerard Butler action films.

Took Place on Sunday 5^th January 2025 in Los Angeles and hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Beverly Hilton Hotel – Here are the 2025 Golden Globe Winners in the Film Categories:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

The Brutalist

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Emilia Perez

Best actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

Best actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

Best actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Demi Moore – The Substance

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Sebastian Stan – A Different Man

Best Supporting Actress in any Motion Picture

Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez

Best Supporting Actor in any Motion Picture

Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

Best Director – Motion Picture

Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

Best Screenplay – Motion picture

Peter Straughan – Conclave

Best motion picture – Animated

Flow

Best Motion picture – Non-English Language

Emilia Perez

Best Original score – Motion Picture:

Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor – Challengers

We Live in Time

Director: John Crawley

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Adam James, Douglas Hodge

Running Time: 1 hour 48 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

There was hardly any pre-publicity for this film and I can see why.

Brooklyn and The Goldfinch director John Crawley’s non-linear romantic drama We Live In Time featuring Oscar nominees Florence Pugh (Little Women) and Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, Tick Tick Boom) star as a young couple Tobias, an ad executive for Weetbix and Almut, head chef for a Anglo-Bavarian restaurant in a film which doesn’t elevate into a truly memorable drama.

Unfortunately screenwriter Nick Payne decided for some bizarre reason to mix up the chronological order of this couple’s timeline of romance from the initial meeting literally by accident to their eventual coupling and then pregnancy and the dramatic birth of their first child, a daughter. So the storyline comes across as confusing and uninteresting made worse by the fact that Andrew Garfield’s character Tobias had no character defects or recognizable foibles.

There was nothing eccentric or vaguely sexy about Tobias. The whole film basically centred on Almut’s character well played to a degree by Florence Pugh but one got the feeling that this character also needed more depth.

Almut is an ambitious chef that wants to enter an international cuisine competition but battles between raising a daughter and dealing with a devastating ovarian cancer diagnosis. Pugh does her best in an essentially very mediocre film in which her male lead brings nothing of value to a film about two quirky ordinary people whose lives are not even that fascinating. These characters are not eccentric or rich or even evil. They are just boring.

At least in Babygirl both Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson’s characters were both so utterly compelling and kinky.

Adam James from the Belgravia TV series appears briefly as Almut’s mentor Simon Maxson and Douglas Hodge (Joker, Gemini Man) stars as Tobias’s dad Reginald. Both actors unfortunately don’t add any real value to the narrative.

We Live in Time is utterly underwhelming as a film and you cannot make the main backdrop of a romantic film the dreary Herne Hill in London. Set the film in Tuscany or Provence.

Romance needs to be alluring and beautiful, not dull and depressing, which is what this film is.

Despite Florence Pugh’s best efforts, We Live In Time is a depressing, confusing and extremely dull British romantic drama which is best avoided.  

We Live In Time gets a film rating of 6 out of 10 and lacks any character depth and genuine conflict beyond the tragic subject of cancer and chemotherapy. Even in this romantic drama, there are very few fleeting moments to cherish. Not recommended viewing.

Babygirl

Director: Halina Reijn

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Antonio Banderas, Harris Dickinson, Esther McGregor

Running time: 1 hour 54 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

When a film opens with Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (The Hours) having an orgasm after watching porn, audiences must know that Babygirl is going to be a kinky cinematic adventure.

Dutch director Halina Reiijn fully explores female sexuality from a unique perspective that of a woman in absolute power who soon starts unravelling sexually and emotionally when she begins an illicit affair with a much younger man.

In this case, Kidman who is absolutely superb in this film, plays the gorgeous Tech tycoon Romy who meets the arrogant and cocky Samuel, a fantastic performance by Harris Dickinson (Triangle of Sadness, Where the Crawdads Sing) who really shows his acting abilities especially in some of the more bizarre sex scenes with Kidman involving milk and submission.

Romy is a successful corporate executive in New York who is married to a rather emasculated theatre director Jacob, strangely played by Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) and they have two daughters. But Romy wants more after she sees the tough and creepy Samuel, a new hot intern who arrives at the Tech firm after glimpsing his power to control a vicious German shepherd on a Manhattan sidewalk.

Halina Reijn who wrote and directed Babygirl explores some fascinating topics from fetishism to gender power dynamics, to lust and loyalty. The constant games between Samuel and Romy shift between desire and domination.

Where Reijn goes wrong in this film, unlike such classics as Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction is that Samuel is not vicious enough as a character but he becomes a tool for Romy’s own sexual fantasies. Even when Samuel starts invading Romy’s private life and she reasserts her power over him, there is no sense of menace besides the odd display of aggression.

Unfortunately Antonio Banderas’s character is very badly written and he comes across as a flaccid, aging husband that does not have the stamina to satisfy Romy’s intense sexual urges.

Some of Reijn’s shots in this film are brilliant especially the underground rave scene in Manhattan whereby Romy pretends she is still 25, when in fact she is a drug induced cougar. Other scenes especially some of the sex scenes are so strange and repetitive that as a viewer I was waiting for the climax of this frustrated love triangle.

Eventually Romy and Jacob’s marriage unravels to a point whereby confession is the only salvation. Samuel as a strong, desirable young man just views Romy as another sexual conquest, a game to be played until all the rules have been broken.

Babygirl is going to divide audiences but as a film it is sexually provocative and in no ways thrilling. For a film to be a thriller that would involve a gun and a murder.

Nicole Kidman deserves all the acting accolades after winning the Best Actress prize at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival. It was interesting to see British actor Harris Dickinson take on a more substantial role as a devious leading man.

If you enjoy bizarre sex scenes and power games, then watch Babygirl now. The first half of this film was brilliant but soon like any infatuation the thrill wears off quickly.

Babygirl gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10. Recommended viewing if you enjoy art house cinema.

Canary Black

Director: Pierre Morel

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Rupert Friend, Ben Miles, Goran Kostic, Saffron Burrows, Ray Stevenson

Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

After a swish opening sequence at a fancy apartment building in Tokyo, French director Pierre Morel’s new spy action film Canary Black moves to Zagreb, Croatia, whereby top CIA spy Avery Graves expertly played by British action star Kate Beckinsale (Van Helsing, Total Recall, Contraband) goes a deadly mission to save her kidnapped husband, the seemingly harmless David Brooks played by Rupert Friend (The Young Victoria, Pride and Prejudice, Asteroid City).

Avery liaises with her handler at Zagreb CIA station, Jarvis Hedlund played by the late star Ray Stevenson (The Three Musketeers, Thor, Memory) as she tries to figure out which evil mastermind is behind the kidnapping of David and what on earth is on the encrypted file called Canary Black.

Matthew Kennedy’s refreshingly original gender reversal screenplay, make the woman the main action hero and the victim in this case is the muscular and handsome David Brooks. The villain is the duplicitous Croatian minister Konrad Bresnov played by Bosnian actor Goran Kostic (Taken, The Zookeeper’s Wife).

Naturally Bresnov seeks world domination and wants to use Canary Black which is a dangerous digital spyware to wipe out the superpowers technological capabilities.

As Avery blasts her way to find her supposed husband, she crosses paths with the deputy director of National security Nathan Evans played by Ben Miles (Napoleon, Red Joan, Woman in Gold) in a bizarre sequence in a swanky urban hotel.

Canary Black is a slick, medium budget action thriller with Kate Beckinsale proving that she is indeed the right woman for the job, as a merciless CIA operative who is trying to stop Canary Black and save her husband.

French director Pierre Morel who brought audiences the highly successful Taken films featuring Liam Neeson does a good job of creating an atmospheric action packed spy thriller set in a relatively obscure European city at night.

Kate Beckinsale channels her talents from the Underworld series and does a believable job as the tough as nails spy Avery Graves. Vivienne Westwood supermodel turned actress Saffron Burrows appears at the end of the film as the mysterious Elizabeth Mills pointing to the possibility of a sequel.

Canary Black is a standard action film with a unique gender reversal whereby this time the tough guy is a woman who fends off multiple male assailants to rescue her helpless husband from the grips of an evil megalomaniac.

Canary Black gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is worth seeing as an unpretentious action film with no flashy cars, exotic locations or special gadgets. Just good old fashioned spy craft.

Kraven the Hunter

Director: J. C. Chandor

Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Fred Hechinger, Russell Crowe, Alessandro Nivola, Ariana DeBose, Christopher Abbott, Levi Miller, Billy Barratt

Running Time: 2 hours and 7 minutes

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

A  Most Violent Year director J. C. Chandor takes on a fringe superhero film in the eagerly anticipated Kraven the Hunter starring Golden Globe winner Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals) as Sergei Kravinoff, the eldest son of Russian gangster Nikolai Kravinoff played with a vodka infused accent by Oscar winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

The 34 year old British star, Taylor-Johnson got into seriously transformative physical shape to play the Hunter, a highly skilled trained assassin and general tough guy who is protective of his creepy younger brother, the chameleon like Dimitri, wonderfully played by Fred Hechinger last seen in Gladiator 2 as the crazy bloodthirsty Emperor Caracalla.

Kraven the Hunter starts off in Siberia then the action moves swiftly to London and then onto Ghana where a hunting expedition goes bad when Nikolai takes his two young sons to hunt wild animals to toughen them up. The younger characters are played by Levi Miller and Billy Barratt respectively.

As entertaining and exciting as this film is, Kraven the Hunter lacks two essential elements to make a narrative mesmerizing: a truly depraved villain and a sexy leading lady.

Alessandro Nivola (A Most Violent Year, Ginger and Rosa, American Hustle) plays the rival gangster villain Aleksei Sytsevich also known as the Rhino due to his unique ability to turn his skin into that of a rhino and deflect any bullets. Unfortunately, Nivola does not make the villain Rhino that menacing and he comes off as a bizarre pastiche of bad CGI villains in a mediocre film saved only by some great fight scenes.

Then there is Oscar winner Ariana Debose (West Side Story) playing the poorly written character Calypso, the only woman in a film about male bravado, aggression and predatory behaviour. Calypso battles to fit into this male world of hunting and killing.

Unfortunately there is no love interest between Calypso and Kraven and she serves as the voice of reason in a high adrenaline action film about male power, domination and the fight for survival and succession.

As Calypso rescues the crossbow wielding Kraven a second time she tells him flirtatiously that legends don’t die.

Fred Hechinger’s Dimitri has a more fascinating character arc and provides a surprising plot twist at the end. Christopher Abbott (Poor Things) pops up briefly as an equally strange henchman called the Foreigner with inexplicable supernatural powers. The henchman’s relationship to the villain is not clearly explained.

Sexualize your characters and make the villain really nefarious. If the screenwriters had done that then Kraven the Hunter would have been a far more superior film.

Kraven the Hunter is a reasonably good action film with cool stunts and weapons, helped by a believable Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the main role but it is not brilliant. It’s an average superhero film which ties masculine strength with aggression, brutality and the fight for survival.

Kraven the Hunter gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and is recommended viewing as an entertaining action film whose storyline could have done with some sharpening.

See it if you have two hours to kill and need tips on how to decorate your man cave.

Wicked Part One

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Peter Dinklage

Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Film Rating: 8 out of 10

Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights director Jon M. Chu lands cinematic gold, with his dazzling interpretation of the hit broadway musical Wicked about the origins of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.

Wicked Part 1 is a stunningly beautiful and bold interpretation of a fantasy tale about the origins of a witch. In this case it is the absolutely brilliant Oscar worthy performance of Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Widows) who plays Elphaba alongside British pop star Ariana Grande who is fabulous and very pink as Galinda complete with sparkling shoes, handbags and enough accessories to make any teenage girl envious.

Set within the broader Wizard of Oz universe, Glinda and Elphaba meet at University before they both become witches but unfortunately they are at odds with each other. Glinda is blonde and beautiful, vain and popular whereas Elphaba is green and is in some sense a social pariah, a product of an illicit affair that her mother had in which Elphaba was born bright green like the sparkling Emerald City.

Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh (Everything, Everywhere all at Once) plays Madame Morrible as the mistress of magic at the University where both aspiring witches are studying. All is not well in the land when the talking animals are being ostracized and then Galinda is completely distracted by the arrival of the dashing man on a horse Fiyero, wonderfully played with sufficient panache by Fellow Travellers star Jonathan Bailey.

Elphaba tries to become popular while struggling with her own self-acceptance. Cynthia Erivo, besides her superb singing is really an extraordinary actress and suitably well cast in the role of the singing and flying witch.

Wicked Part One is a dazzling film, complete fantasy liberally peppered with fantastic songs and stunning dance numbers. If you are a musical theatre producer or a choreographer then go and see this musical.

As a psychedelic fantasy musical, Wicked Part One is extraordinary with lavish production design by Nathan Crowley who also deserves an Oscar nomination along with the costume designer Paul Tazewell. The pair really go to town with the amazing sets and incredible costumes especially in the glittering Emerald City.

As Elphaba and Galinda travel on a sleek emerald train to the Emerald City to see the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, they soon discover that the wily wizard is not as noble as one might anticipate. Enter the veteran actor Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, The Grand Budapest Hotel) who steals the scene as the industrialist like Wizard who soon discovers Elphaba’s real power.

The songs are amazing, the costumes and sets are spectacular but at two and half hours long there were some sections the director could have cut.

What makes Wicked Part One such an enjoyable film is the performance of Cynthia Erivo, she really takes the iconic role of the Wicked Witch of the West and moulds it into something formidable, a fascinating story of how a young awkward girl transforms into a witch hated and ostracized by the Land of Oz. Society will do that to a perceived outcast.

Lavish, loud and beautifully orchestrated Wicked Part One is recommended viewing and gets a film rating of 8 out of 10.

Suitable for fans of fantasy musicals and those that have a spare two and half hours to kill exploring the yellow brick road.

Gladiator II

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Derek Jacobi, Fred Hechinger, Rory McCann, Matt Lucas, Tim McInnerny

Running Time: 2 hours and 28 minutes

Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

PLEASE NOTE THIS FILM IS EXTREMELY VIOLENT AND NOT SUITABLE FOR SENSITIVE VIEWERS

Sir Ridley Scott excels himself in the much anticipated sequel to the 2000 hit film Gladiator, Gladiator II assembling an international cast with Danish actress Connie Nielsen reprising her role as Lucilla and newcomer Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun) taking on the role of Lucius, the forgotten son of Lucilla who is captured in Africa in 200 AD and returned to Rome. Pedro Pascal (The Great Wall, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) plays the Roman army general Marcus Acacius, tough and strategic but unwillingly to continue serving at the whim of tyrant twin emperors.

Lucius soon becomes the property of the wily and politically astute gladiator trader and confidant to the twin emperors Macrinus superbly played with wit and brutality by double Oscar winner Denzel Washington (Training Day, Glory). Denzel Washington is superb in this role and deserves a 3^rd Oscar presenting his character to Lucius as a friend who needs to use Lucius as his blunt instrument as he secretly devises a coup to get rid of the crazy twin emperors and make a power grab.

Rome in 200 AD is a heady, extravagant and brutal city, ruled by twin brothers Emperor Geta played by Joseph Quinn (A Quiet Place Day One) and Emperor Caracalla played by Fred Hechinger. Young men, covered with makeup, mischief and a malevolence as they lust for watching gladiators being viciously executed in the Coliseum, Rome’s temple to the blood lust. The Emperors are unhinged in a seriously bad way and the Romans are beginning to realize that the twins supposedly raised by wolves are not the most ideal political leaders. Macrinus is aware of their shortcomings.

Gladiator II is a vast and ambitious film, expertly directed by Ridley Scott who fantastically captures the grandeur of the Roman capital, the lavishness of the city and the brutality of the population increasingly hungry for more tyranny and madness. The Gladiators have to fight Rhinos and in a particularly bizarre scene have to re-enact a naval battle scene between the Praetorian Guard and surly Gladiators amidst a coliseum flooded with shark infested waters.

With electrifying screen presence, Paul Mescal whose international stardom will be cemented in Gladiator II is the central muscular hero of a film, whose brilliant elocution of lines and classical good looks with Mescal’s icy blue eyes portraying a vulnerability suppressed by his brute strength and desire for violence and vengeance.

Mescal’s Lucius is a complex man, torn by a classical past but thrust into a decadent world filled with revenge and hatred. Lucius demands a just and unified Rome as dreamt up by his grandfather Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

With a beautiful score by Harry Gregson-Williams and a surprising script by David Scarpa, whose labyrinthine tale will deliver enough shocks and twists, ensuring that Gladiator II is a fascinating and brittle tale of how vanity and power corrupts a once noble empire. In this Roman epic, one man’s destiny can only be salvaged at the expense of another man’s demise.

There are lots of plot twists in Gladiator II but overall the film is superb, an epic Roman tale about greed, power and the collapse of tyranny.

Ridley Scott outdoes himself and Gladiator II should be recognized at the 2025 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and of course Best Actor for Paul Mescal and Supporting Actor for Denzel Washington. Both Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington are brilliant in this lavish epic. Be dazzled and see it in cinemas on the biggest screen possible.

Gladiator II gets a film rating of 8.5 out of 10, stunning, sumptuous and filled with shocking scenes that will both repel and fascinate the viewer held together by two excellent performances. It’s a bloody entertaining epic and recommended viewing especially for history buffs.

Conclave

Director: Edward Berger

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Brian F. O’Bryne, Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz

Running Time: 2 hours

Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

After his stunning Oscar winning film All Quiet on the Western Front, German director Edward Berger moves from the world of young army age men in World War 1 to the world of the Roman Catholic Church in his excellent and stylish new film Conclave featuring an utterly magnificent performance by Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler’s List) as Cardinal Lawrence.

Conclave is a superb thriller, sophisticated, intricate and rare. The film studios don’t make these type of films very often in the new age of streaming.

With a brilliant supporting cast including Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) and Oscar nominee John Lithgow (The World According to Garp, Terms of Endearment). Tucci and Lithgow play Cardinals Bellini and Tremblay respectively and both are captivating.

The pope dies and his room is sealed. The Throne of the Holy Sea is vacant. A conclave has to be held by the influential and ruthless cardinals of the Catholic Church as they sit isolated from the volatile outside world, wild Rome which is in chaos, as the cardinals must choose a new Pope by a reoccurring ballot system until there is an outright majority. There is an outsider. A new cardinal arrives from Kabul, Afghanistan, the Mexican Cardinal Benitez played by Carlos Diehz who throws his name into the ballot system, hiding a secret.

Cardinal Lawrence in a career best performance by Ralph Fiennes is taking strain as he has to manage the Conclave a very formal and grand affair where Cardinals undercut each other and expose each other’s secrets. Fiennes just perfectly captures the nuance of Cardinal Lawrence, his fluctuating anxiety only overcome through his driving ambition to complete the conclave and elect one of the most famous men in the world, the leader of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Lawrence finds subterfuge everywhere is he confronts several disingenuous Cardinals including Tremblay and Adeyeni played by Lucian Msamati (The Good Liar). Lawrence often seeks unsolicited assistance from the all-seeing and virtuous Sister Agnes, an excellent performance by the iconic actress Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her, Late Bloomers).

The shot compositions in Edward Berger’s Conclave are evocative giving the viewers a sense of claustrophobia as the cardinals are cloistered away to make a final vote while the chaos of the outside world finally breaks through.

Conclave is a thought provoking adult thriller, a relevant story of power, manipulation, prejudice and ambition. Director Edward Berger revels in this world of papacy, dark rooms with imposing figures in red alternating with sublime shots of an all white production design with a hint of the grandeur of the Vatican City in the background.

Conclave addresses so many fascinating issues, but ultimately it is a masterful film, a gorgeous piece of cinema whose shot compositions are going to inspire international films schools, held taut by stunning performances by all involved. In this case, casting was key. Ralph Fiennes deserves an Oscar nomination for his role as Cardinal Lawrence.

In a world of cinematic mediocrity, Conclave stands out as a superb thriller with an ending so unbelievable it will have audiences stunned.

The elegantly constructed Conclave gets a film rating of 8.5 out of 10. A highly recommended film that will entice viewers by its beauty and shock them by its revelations.

Venom: The Last Dance

Director: Kelly Marcel

Cast: Tom Hardy, Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Reid Scott, Andy Serkis

Running Time: 1 hour 49 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Screenwriter turned director Kelly Marcel takes over the Venom franchise in the final instalment of this monster franchise, luckily getting Tom Hardy to reprise his role as San Francisco journalist Eddie Brock who literally has a monster on his back: the tap dancing, chocolate loving Venom.

Venom: The Last Dance loses the talents of Michelle Williams but the cast is gained by the addition of Emmy nominee Juno Temple (Fargo) as Dr Teddy Paine and Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) as army commander Strickland who is desperate to catch Brock along with his cheeky symbiosis, the monster Venom, while decommissioning Area 51.

Set mainly in Area 51 in Nevada, Brock after escaping a decapitation episode in Mexico flees back to America to travel to New York.

Venom: The Last Dance is modelled as a crazy road trip film with some freaky alien monsters that suddenly arrive and attack humans in Nevada.

A deadly force Knull played by Andy Serkis, creator of the symbiotes has awakened in the galaxy and needs Eddie’s symbiote’s codex to unleash hell and damnation on the decadent world of contemporary America. Soon Dr Paine and Strickland are after Eddie to catch him before these deadly monsters are unleashed.

Unlike the first two Venom films which had a distinct villain, there is no clear enemy in this film, except a vague malignant force in the universe from Venom’s home planet that wants the symbiote dead.

While the storyline is quite nostalgic and in parts quite silly, there are some delightful moments provided by BAFTA nominee and winner Rhy Ifans (Notting Hill, Not Only But Always) as the travelling hippie Martin who takes his crazy family on a road trip through Nevada in search of aliens and instead gets embroiled in a monster battle between Venom and Xenophage, a vicious head snapping creature from Venom’s home planet.

While Tom Hardy has the constant expression on his face of why did I sign up for a third movie, the rest of the cast are enthusiastic although first time director Kelly Marcel needs tips on upping the action to increase the film’s pace.

Venom The Last Dance is nostalgic, entertaining and filled with monsters and does manage to stand as a fitting end to the Venom trilogy. Audience stay until the closing credits are finished.

Humorous and horrific, Venom: The Last Dance gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is not the best of the films but it certainly packages the Venom storyline right up to Eddie’s intended destination. Recommended viewing for those that loved the first two films.