Tag: Djimon Hounsou

A Quiet Place: Day One Review: Another Solid Entry to the Franchise.

I love the first two A Quiet Place movies.
Directed by John Krasinski, the films depicted the emotionally thrilling story of a family’s survival in an apocalypse where the slightest sound could get you killed.
One thing these two movies did especially well was set up a world of potential stories about other survivors’ experiences. 
Well, we got the first of these spin off stories with A Quiet Place: Day One. 

We see society quickly fall apart when the creatures arrive.

This time directed by Michael Sarnoski, with Krasinski writing and producing the film, Day One follows Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a terminal cancer patient who is caught up in the chaos of the alien invasion.
Sam presents a unique perspective to the world of A Quiet Place because, while everyone else is trying to survive, Sam is simply trying to last long enough to experience a joy she had in life prior to her diagnosis. 

Sam’s goal is surprisingly relatable, and Nyong’o plays her well.

Joining her is the cat Frodo, and a fellow survivor named Eric, played by Joseph Quinn.
Quinn had his breakout role in Stranger Things, and it is good to see him doing another great job in Day One.
He and Nyong’o have excellent chemistry, perfectly portraying the friendship that emerges between them in the apocalypse.
This results in quite a few emotional scenes, as well as some nail-biting ones, since I cared about both of their fates. 

The film follows Sam and Eric, as their bond grows while they desperately try to survive.

Although, nail biting is probably too strong of a word, considering that doing so would literally get me killed in the world of A Quiet Place.
Just like the previous two films, Day One finds creative ways to use sound, resulting in numerous tense scenes where you either wait for the creatures to strike, or hope that the sound the characters made were out of the monsters’ earshot.
Another thing taken from A Quiet Place Part 2 is Henri, played by Djimon Hounsou.
He plays a significant role in the beginning of the film, and it was good to see him again after the small role he played in Part 2. 

His appearance in Day One makes me hopeful we might see some characters from this film appear in A Quiet Place Part 3.

So, I have listed all the good things about Day One and now it is time for my criticisms.
They are pretty minor but still there.
The first of these issues is that I wish we got to see the characters realizing that the aliens respond to sound.
Sam is just knocked unconscious and when she wakes up again all the characters are immediately told how to survive. 

I would have liked it more if there was a slow build to the realization of sound being key to survival.

Another minor issue I have is Frodo.
Yes, the cat is cute, but it is pretty unbelievable that it stays quiet the whole movie.
Like I said, minor issues, but nothing that derails the movie.
Day One is another solid entry in the A Quiet Place franchise.
It has great performances from the two leads, incredibly tense scenes, and an emotional ending to boot.
I still cannot wait for A Quiet Place Part 3, and I am interested to see if Day One influences it in any way.  

Shazam Review: Darker than Expected… but that’s a Good Thing.

4 stars
Trailers spoil everything these days.
You need look no further than the Pet Semetary trailer to see how bad things have become, in terms of them spoiling large twists in the film.
Which is why it is such a relief when watching Shazam! because so many exciting twists and turns in the story are left for viewiers to see in the film.
The main feature the trailers focuses on is Shazam!‘s synopsis, as most trailers should do.
Directed by David F. Sandberg, the film follows a boy named Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who is given superpowers by an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou), which he obtains whenever he shouts the wizard’s name “Shazam!”
It also conveniently gives him the body of an adult male super hero whenever he does this, played expertly by Zachary Levi.
The switch between Asher and Levi is great, with Levi doing a fantastic job as a kid in a superhero’s body, pretending to be the adult he looks like.

Zachery Levi.jpg
Zachary Levi is magnificent as Billy’s super hero form, with him often ending up in hilarious situations by trying to act like an adult.

The other characters of the film are also great with Billy’s foster family all being likeable and well cast, especially Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy.
Then there is the villain Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) who is the best villain the DC Extended Universe has given us so far.
You perfectly understand why he is doing what he is and one particular scene he leads in is surprisingly horrifying.
Shazam! is, after all, a family film so to see something that pushes those boundaries is very surprising and, again, made me glad it had not been spoiled in the trailers.
It was undoubtedly my favourite scene of the film.

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A boardroom scene where Mark Strong’s interrupts is surprisingly dark for a family film so prepare your children when you go in.

Shazam! is also great with its humor, delivering many hilarious scenes.
As well as this, the movie gave us some sadly realistic messages about family with Billy’s search for his mother, which is dealt with in a mature and well thought out way that made me feel for him.
There are a few plot holes here and there but, while these are noticeable, they do not hinder the experience all that much.
Overall, Shazam! is one of the DCEU’s best films, alongside Wonder Woman.
It is funny, mature, and full of surprises.