Author: Megan Williams

Onward is in cinemas 6^th March 2020.

When Netflix released their original film ‘Bright’, I remember thinking the premise was unique and cool: it was set in the modern world where mythical creatures co-existed with humans.

However, the execution of the film wasn’t good. The reason I bring this film up is because Pixar’s next original film sounds very similar in terms of its setting.

‘Onward’ stars Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Tom Holland (Spiderman: Homecoming) as two elf brothers who go on a road trip to search for any remaining magic in the modern world.

In short, this is what I wanted ‘Bright’ to be: a humorous, fun adventure set in a modern/fantasy world. While both lead actors have shared a film together (Avengers: Infinity War), I’m looking forward to seeing the pair act alongside each other in a different environment entirely.

From the trailer, Chris Pratt’s voice acting sounds forced, and has not won me over yet. However, that could change when the film is released.

‘Onward’ is in cinemas 6^th March 2020.

Onward is an upcoming American 3D computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is directed by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae, and stars the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer. The film is scheduled to be released on March 6, 2020.

The film is set in a suburban magical world where humans do not exist, and is instead populated with elves, trolls, mermaids, centaurs, fauns, satyrs, gnomes, sprites, goblins, and others, and where unicorns are raccoons and dragons are pets. Two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley, embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic in the world in order to spend one day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him.

Terminator: Dark Fate

Another year, another Terminator film…yes really.

‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ is directed by Tim Miller (Deadpool) and James Cameron returns to produce. It follows Sarah Connor, once again played by Linda Hamilton, as she protects two female characters from a T-1000. 

I say ‘a’ T-1000, because the original T-1000 was destroyed in T2: Judgement Day. ‘Dark Fate’s narrative, while interesting, doesn’t make any sense because Judgement Day should’ve been avoided. Yet, this film seems to be set after Judgement Day, as if it still happened. The Murphy’s Law is strong with this one! 

As well as this, the CGI looks ok, but the visual effects from T2 (which was released 27 years ago) looks better than this. ‘Dark Fate’ looks more comparable to the later ‘Transformers’ films than the original Terminator films. 

‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ looks entertaining and could be a fun popcorn film. However, the franchise overall has grown into a convoluted mess, which is a real shame considering ‘T2′ is so iconic. The phrase ‘beating a dead horse’ has a new example: the Terminator series. 

‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ is in cinemas 1^st November 2019.

The Terminator series is an American cyberpunkmedia franchise created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. The franchise encompasses a series of films, comics, novels, and additional media, concerning battles between Skynet‘s synthetic intelligent machine network and John Connor‘s Resistance forces with the rest of the human race. Skynet’s most well-known products in its genocidal goals are the various terminator models, such as the T-800 (Model 101), who was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger from the original Terminator film in 1984, and similar units he also portrayed in the later films. By 2010, the franchise has generated $3 billion in revenue.

The central theme of the franchise is the battle for survival between the nearly-extinct human race and the world-spanning synthetic intelligence that is Skynet. Skynet is positioned in the first film as a U.S. strategic “Global Digital Defense Network” computer system by Cyberdyne Systems which becomes self-aware. Upon activation, it immediately perceives all humans as a “security threat”, and formulates a plan to systematically wipe out humanity itself. The system initiates a nuclear first strikeagainst Russia, thereby ensuring a devastating second strike and a nuclear holocaust which it anticipates will instantly wipe out much of humanity. Indeed, it does, with approximately 3 billion casualties – more than half of the total human population at the time – in the resulting nuclear war. In the post-apocalyptic aftermath, Skynet later builds up its own autonomous machine-based military capability which includes the Terminators used against individual human targets and, therefore, proceeds to wage a persistent total war against the surviving elements of humanity, some of whom have militarily organized themselves into a Resistance. At some point in this future, Skynet develops the ability of time travel, and both it and the Resistance seek to use this technology in order to win the war; either by altering or accelerating past events in Skynet’s favour, or by preventing or forestalling the (present) apocalyptic timeline.

Out of all of the TV shows that air in the UK, ‘Downton Abbey’ is the one I least expected to get the big screen treatment. Pre-production started in 2015, after the show’s finale, and has gone through delays and a change in director. But, on the 19^th May, fans were finally given a first-look at the ‘Downton Abbey’ movie adaptation.

‘Downton Abbey’ is the big screen adaptation of the British period drama set in the early 20^th Century. In 1927, a year after the show’s finale, the owners of Downton Abbey, the Crawley family, receive news that royalty will be visiting them: King George V and Queen Mary.

This looks charming and visually beautiful and, even though I’ve never seen the show, it has peaked my interest. Because of my interest, it might be a good idea for me to watch the show , especially since this is a continuation as such.

‘Downton Abbey’ is in cinemas 12^th September 2019.

On 26 March 2015, Carnival Films and ITV announced that the sixth series would be the last. It aired on ITV between 20 September 2015 and 8 November 2015. The final episode, serving as the annual Christmas special, was broadcast on 25 December 2015. A film adaptation, serving as a continuation of the series, was confirmed on 13 July 2018.

This historical drama follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants in the family’s Edwardian country house. The programme begins with the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, which leaves Downton Abbey’s future in jeopardy, as Lord Grantham’s presumptive heir — his cousin James — and his son, Patrick, die aboard the ship, leaving him without a male offspring to take over the throne upon his death. As a result, Lord Grantham must search for a new heir. As the programme progresses through the decade, other historical events happen leading up to Lord Grantham declaring in 1914 that Britain is at war with Germany, marking the beginning of World War I, which becomes a major plot on the programme.