Film Fight 2023: May

#FF23 Missing is a thriller about a missing mother, seen through the lens of technology.

While there is some silliness in the tech, it's not awful for once. Predictable in the end, but tense enough to be enjoyable. Good performances.

Surprisingly solid.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 8, 2023

#FF23 Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 3 is, as with everything Marvel these days, entirely what you expect.

It's big, silly, loud. There's some decent action and some that is a CG mess. Rocket's backstory is great, but sad. The film is at its worst when Pratt takes the lead.

Fine

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 8, 2023

#FF23 Scream VI manages to bring some fresh air to the creaking franchise.

Moving from a small town to a big city works surprisingly well. The opening rug pull is a neat change to the formula. Ortega is underutilised, and doesn't seem to want to be there.

Good.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 8, 2023

#FF23 The Mother is a dour, lower budget action film.

The action itself is edited to pieces, poorly hiding a lot of nonsense in the cuts. Given the plot isn't up to much either, this was a slot.

Skip.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 14, 2023

#FF23 Beau Is Afraid is a mixed bag.

Aster shows his control of the camera and mood remains masterful in its uneasy precision. The plot is entertaining and perplexing; at times demanding your attention, and at others boring. Overlong, but arresting.

Hard to love, easy to like.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 21, 2023

#FF23 Dead Shot has promise as both as serious drama and a more action film, but it squanders both.

There are so many moments of cliched dialogue it's hard not to roll your eyes. The film looks fine, and the performances are okay, but nothing really rises up here.

Passable.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 29, 2023

#FF23 Hypnotic is a conundrum. One one hand it's trying to be a solid, Nolan-esque, mindbender. One the other, it's plain silly.

You'll see a bunch of the twists coming but, as pure popcorn fodder, it doesn't matter too much. Some good ideas, that become goofy by the end.

Fun.

— Gary Fleming (@garyfleming) May 29, 2023