Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Black Lightning
The best thing about Black Lightning is that the filmmakers decided to play a ridiculous premise – a kid gets a flying car – completely straight. At no point does anybody point out just how silly it is that a clunky Volga can zoom around the sky at high speeds. The film itself is basically a retread of all our favourite superhero movie cliches: a nerdy kid with a crush on a girl figures that he can win her over by getting a car. Turns out the car that he gets is actually a top-secret experimental aircraft, and he discovers that he can use it to save lives. Naturally, there’s also an over-the-top villain who creates his own flying car (which is totally an homage to the flying Delorean from the Back to the Future movies) and there are many airborne automobile dogfights. The plot is basic stuff, and we’ve seen it all before, but the flying car sequences look terrific, and it’s a lot of fun to sit through. All in all, you could do worse than Black Lightning, but if you’re looking for a fresh take on the classic superhero story, you won’t find it here. Take one part Herbie Rides Again, one part Transformers, and one part Spider-man, throw in the Delorean, and you’ve got Black Lightning.
3 out of 5
Hamlet 2
Hamlet 2 manages the impressive feat of being both a parody of inspirational teacher movies (many mentioned by name here, such as Dead Poets Society and Dangerous Minds) and a very clever and funny comedy. The plot moves along nicely and you’re never left bored, Steve Coogan is camping like crazy but never goes so over the top that you lose interest, and the play that the whole movie is building up to does not disappoint in the least. In fact, my only real complaint is that we don’t get to see the play “Hamlet 2” in its entirety – a damn shame, because what we do see is just flat-out hilarious.
3.5 out of 5
The Incubus
This is a pretty dumb movie that completely fails to scare anyone. It does make for a good drinking game, though: take a swig every time someone says “sperm”. You’ll be drunk within the first half hour. Seriously.
.5 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!