With December fast approaching, streaming services and TV channels are scrambling to release their own Christmas movies quickly. And, while these ones are always filled with the expected holiday cheer and positivity, Universal Pictures has a different idea with their Christmas film ‘Violent Night’.
‘Violent Night’ stars David Harbour (Stranger Things) as Santa Claus. After receiving a message of help from a little girl regarding a robbery, Santa decides to help by carry out various, violent, punishments for the burglars who are on the Naughty list.
With a premise like this, it comes as no surprise that the film will carry a dark humorous tone and doesn’t stir away from being as violent as possible when necessary. The kills look very unique, especially given the one dishing out the violence is Santa Claus himself! Christmas decorations and lights are used, and even some of his magical powers are utilized here; it shows the film realizes the full potential of the plot and main character.
It also looks like a lot of fun; with these types of concepts, Santa is usually portrayed as the villain, so it’s a nice change to see him become the good guy here. Plus, it’s strangely heart-warming to see him protect a family that is obviously on his Nice list…in his own unique way.
‘Violent Night’ looks like a really fun film, with a crazy premise. It’s nice to not only have a Christmas film like this, but for Santa to play a protective role instead of a villainous one. Plus, David Harbour looks great as Santa.
After giving toys and even emotions feelings, Pixar are now focusing on giving elements emotions in their new film ‘Elemental’.
‘Elemental’ follows Ember, a fire element, and Wade, a water element, as they meet in a city where humanoid elements live together.
The teaser trailer is short, but fantastically introduces this new world and the film’s lead characters without revealing its plot. It’s very reminiscent of Pixar’s early teasers, which only introduced the lead characters of upcoming films. But it also hints at a similar theme that ‘Zootopia’ had.
The teaser follows Ember as she travels on a train into the city. As she walks down the carriage, the other passengers seem to be afraid of her, presumably due to fire’s destructive nature. This could imply that, like ‘Zooptopia’s tension between prey and predators, ‘Elemental’ could have one between fire and the other elements. This further makes for an interesting premise when she meets Wade, a water element.
‘Elemental’ looks intriguing and I’m glad that the plot has not been revealed yet. The animation looks fantastic; different art styles have been applied to each character to make them look unique and it looks beautiful. The teaser also did well to introduce the setting, characters and the conflicts this premise could potentially bring.
The time travel subgenre is one of most fascinating genres of film and can be executed in various unique ways that are different from each other. For example, ‘Back to the Future’ has different rules to ‘Primer’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’. And ‘Incredible But True’ is another, new, example.
‘Incredible But True’ is a French film written and directed by Quentin Dupieux (Rubber, Deerskin) and follows Alain (Alain Chabat – The Science of Sleep) and Marie (Léa Drucker – War of the Worlds) as they move into a new house. But, during their viewing, the estate agent tells them that the house holds an amazing and life changing secret.
This was a film that had its UK premiere at London’s Frightfest film festival earlier this year much to positive reviews. So, after all the positive feedback, I was intrigued and excited for the film. However, this is an example of what happens when high expectations can lead to disappointment.
Alain Chabat and Léa Drucker have the responsibility of carrying the film and they do this comfortably enough. Their chemistry as a couple who struggle with the house’s unique aspect is very well acted. They have vastly different personalities which makes the overall conflict of the film interesting to watch: Marie wants to continue exploring the new discovery to an obsessive level, while Alain is happy with where he is in life and doesn’t feel the need to do so. Through these characters, ‘Incredible But True’ beautifully commentates on the way in which people obsess over their appearance in an attempt to look younger, and cling onto the past. It also could be argued that it demonstrates why nostalgia and ‘looking back’ can be a bad thing that affects people’s mental health.
It’s a strange film where the weirdness is further emphasized by its musical score. The 8-bit styled score was written by first time composer Jon Santo and is wonderful. It perfectly captures the concept and the new feelings the couple have surrounding their new home and new surroundings. But it also perfectly reflects the strange secret the house has, and the innocent wonder Léa has with it, which leads to her unfortunate downfall.
However, while it’s an interesting concept and the acting is decent, the house’s unique ability reveals itself way too early, causing the film to drag its feet the rest of the way. The pacing is too slow for the plot the film is given and it would’ve worked better as a 30-minute short film instead. Plus, the dialogue was very tiresome. Admittedly, I have not watched a lot of French films and so am not familiar with the structure that they have in terms of pacing and dialogue delivery, but it takes ages for any character to get to the point of their conversation and it happens a lot. This made it a very frustrating and exhausting watch at times.
‘Incredible But True’ has a lot to say about people’s obsession with keeping up appearances as well as clinging onto the past no matter what, and it had a fascinating concept. However, its tediously slow pacing and frustrating dialogue made it a challenging watch unfortunately. After hearing the good reviews coming out of its Frightfest screening, expectations were high. But this was an unfortunate disappointment that was desperately in need of another edit. This was not that Incredible sadly.
With the release of the brilliant game ‘Sonic Frontiers’, the Netflix show had been personally forgotten about. But a full trailer was released 2 weeks ago for Netflix’s animated Sonic the Hedgehog show ‘Sonic Prime’.
‘Sonic Prime’ follows Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge the Bat as they battle Dr Robotnik. However, the battle causes the shattering of reality and Sonic is thrust into a different dimension where he meets another version of his friends. Now he must try to stop Robotnik in this dimension and return to his own.
After ‘Sonic Boom’s mixed reviews, I was worried about ‘Prime’s quality when it was first announced. But it looks charming and very enjoyable. The animation is delightful and reflects that of the art style of the new game ‘Sonic Frontiers’, a style that I love. Plus, it suits the show perfectly. ‘Prime’ is also following in the footsteps of Marvel and DC by adopting the multiverse concept, once again, something that ‘Frontiers’ is using to an extent. While it is a familiar concept by now, it could have a unique execution when placed in the Sonic franchise.
While I was sceptical of ‘Sonic Prime’s announcement, I am now looking forward to the show. The live action films gave the blue hedgehog a much-needed boost of confidence after a string of mixed games, and the franchise now looks to be getting better and better. As a Sonic the Hedgehog fan, I am glad and relieved with this.
Six years after the release of Disney’s ‘Zootopia’ (or ‘Zootropolis’ in the UK), fans of the film will finally be seeing a return of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde and the world they inhabit in the form of a mini-series.
‘Zootopia+’ will be released in November, and consists of 6 episodes, focusing on a different character within a different genre.
The world that the 2016 film introduced was so vast and interesting that the next step in this property makes perfect sense. A sequel film can only do so much to fully embrace the expansive world, so a miniseries exploring different parts of the city is a fantastic decision. And it looks like a lot of fun; the charm of the film looks to be present here and the animation is a high quality.
It’s clear that care and love has gone into this series. A miniseries exploring various parts of the city and the different residents is a perfect way to continue the world of ‘Zootopia’ and it looks fantastic.
Zootopia+ (also known as Zootropolis+ in the UK, Ireland, and the Middle East) is an animated limited television series based upon the 2016Disney animated feature film, Zootopia, it premiered on Disney+ on November 9, 2022. The series will take place during the events of the movie.
