'Get Out' Spoiler Free Review

Horror as a genre is not my thing. Ghosts aren't real, zombies are boring and I don't particularly see the appeal of watching people slash each other to bits. However, there are exceptions to this rule. '30 Days of Night', for example, I enjoyed due to its intelligent use of darkness and sound to create the suspense and fear. 'Get Out' achieves it's relentless intensity in similar ways, but in a way I've never seen before. It's truly incredible.

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) ,a young black man, has been dating his white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) for 4 months. He's invited to go and stay with her family upstate for the weekend. During his stay he uncovers a horrifying answer to the disappearance of young black men from across the country. He is warned by a fellow black man to "get out!". This is not as easy as it would seem.

The entire cast of this film are fantastic. Daniel Kaluuya really makes this role his own. His performance is gripping and his character is likeable enough that by a certain point in the film you'll be literally jumping of your chair, pleading for him to survive. Allison Williams is also great in her first cinematic role. I only know of her name since made a brief appearance in 'Jake and Amir' (one of my most beloved shows) as 'Cheryl'. She captures a similar character here. Initially, the perfect girlfriend, funny, gorgeous, standing up for her man against the racial prejudice he encounters. But as the narrative progresses and the truth is revealed, her role progresses into a darker, freakier place and she portrays it brilliantly. In fact, all the Armitage family are great. Friendly on the surface, but scratch beneath and you discover some down right terrible people who've done some awful things. The rest of the cast all to a good job of creating this unsettling, nerve-wracking atmosphere throughout the film, but in particular the two 'servants' Walter and Georgina. So broken, mentally manipulated and offering brief glimpses into whats actually going on. LilRel Howery as Rod is also fantastic (more on him later).

In lesser hands this movie could have just been your bang average horror movie. But Jordan Peele has done so much more with this. The movie starts out just as you expect it to. A black man feeling slightly out of place in the company of seemingly infinite white people. There's this unnerving under current throughout the story as soon as Chris and Rose hit a deer on the way to her parents house. From that point onwards, their is little room to breath in this film. It's incredibly intense. My heart's still racing a day later. The horrifying truth of the narrative is swiftly unraveled. There are hints all throughout as to whats going on, but unless you're specifically looking for them you'd pay no attention. The handling of the exposition is done masterfully. It's explained to both the audience and Chris simultaneously what's actually going on in this house, reinforced by flash backs of the clues left in earlier scenes.

Even the use of 'jump-scares' (which I will always maintain is a cheap way of scaring people) are done superbly in they film. The combination of light/dark, the performances of the characters and the score of the film (one chord in particular - you'll know when you hear it) is nothing short of perfection. Yet, this movie is so much more than jump-scares. I liken it to the success of shows like 'Black Mirror'. They're not scary because they make you jump. They're scary because they offer you an insight into disturbingly real perceptions of the world and they make you think. That is a much underrated element of cinema these days in my opinion.

The few moments of levity are offered by Chris's friend Rod, who's back home in the city. His character and his interactions with Chris are genuinely hilarious. He has easily some of the most memorable lines in the film and offers a much welcomed pause from the relentlessness of events at the Armitage house.

Not going into too much detail, for fear of spoiling, but the concept of the movie is the perfect blend on cool and horrifying. I, for one ,certainly did not expect the turns that come throughout the film. It appears as though the moral will be about racial hatred. It's not.

Rotten Tomatoes ( a popular movie critic website ) has given 'Get Out' a 99% rating. Thats unheard of in modern cinema. For a film with such low production budget and unknown characters and plot to be that well received by critics. I 100% agree with them. This movie, in my humble opinion, will be remembered as a classic of this era of film for future generations. I honestly can not find fault with it. The cast are brilliant. The setting and the score are top notch. The blend of horror and comedy is perfect. I'm not exaggerating, but 'Get Out' is nothing short of exceptional.

5/5 Stars

Logan - Best X-Men Movie Ever ?

If you were to compile a list of iconic Marvel comics, theres a few that would certainly jump out at you. Civil War, Planet Hulk, The adventures of Animal Man issue 1 (wait a minute...). Another that would undoubtedly make the list is Old Man Logan. Featuring many of the most prominent figures in Marvel comics and telling the unnerving end (for now) of Wolverine. And whilst, due to rival studio restrictions, there is no way that Logan can be an exact adaptation of the Old Man Logan storyline, that is the issue from which the latest entry to the Fox X-Men universe is based upon. Now, obviously using such a popular comic book leads to massive amounts of pressure from fans who want to see their favourite storylines done well. Especially when you consider that the current X-Men universe have ranged from "yeah it was fine I guess" to "OMG what have you done stop making these you monsters!". However I'm pleased to announce that Hugh Jackman's Wolverine has been giving a worthy send-off because Logan is incredible.

Set in 2029 (Don't even try to figure out how this fits into the timeline of the universe, its broken, Fox admitted it themselves, just go along with it okay?), its not looking good for mutant kind. A mix of a mutant virus and another event that I won't spoil, has led to mutants being wiped off the planet. It looks bleak too for the few survivors. Wolverine is fighting with an internal sickness and Professor X is approaching death. However, the emergence of X-23, a young mutant with extremely similar abilities to Logan, leads to the uncovering of a horrifying experiment, which forces Logan to return for one last stand - to save mutant kind.

I feel it's only fair to start with Hugh Jackman, seeing this is his last X-Men movie and the universe owes him so much. For years now his excellent portrayal has in many ways propped up the at times mediocre X-Men franchise, to the point where its hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. He's just as fantastic here. He captures the spirit of Old Man Logan perfectly. Bitter, broken and just about ready to end it all. The ageing (and de-ageing) of his character of course assists the performance, but its Hugh Jackman's portrayal that brings the character to life. In fact, the whole cast is good. X-23 was surprisingly good, this is probably the best performance Patrick Stewart has given as Professor X and the villain is also pretty solid. The interactions between all are great as well.

It a risky strategy to make your movie R rated. You run the risk of excluding enough people to make the movie tank in the box office. However, with the immense success of Deadpool, studios are becoming increasingly more open to the concept. Fans of Wolverine know that he has been known to murder his enemies in a very visceral manner, especially in Old Man Logan. Thats exactly what we get here. The action throughout the movie is spectacular. I was particularly impressed by X-23's combat and Wolverine's is dead on to the character. I don't have a problem with the very graphic violence in the film, as its used to further emphasis just how broken Wolverine is. Initially he may have spared some people, but now, after all he has been through he is taking no prisoners. Also contributing to the R rating is the the use of profanities. There are some moments that 'f*ck' is used to be humorous and provide welcome moments of levity in what is on the whole a very dark film, but to be honest I did begin to feel that the use of bad language got a little bit excessive with out serving much purpose to the story. I can certainly see why this movie got an R rating, and would probably recommend you didn't take any younger children to see it.

Being a comic book movie, there are of course countless references to the X-Men film universe and X-Men comics. I won't spoil them for you, but I though I ought to mention it simply because the way that they are crafted into the narrative is almost seamless and they will have your inner fanboy jumping for joy.

Overall, this review was pretty tricky to write. A lot of what I wanted to discuss was sparked by some pretty major plot points of the movie that I don't want to spoil for you now. But that, I suppose, is arguably one of the biggest compliments I can pay to this film. This is the first X-Men movie that has ever got me excited for the future of their universe. Which is infuriating, as this could potentially be the last one, although the narrative does leave some room open for future movies. If those future movies were to the standard of Logan, I'd absolutely be on board. The cast is great, Hugh Jackman of course but X-23 I feel deserves a special mention. The action is amazing, exceedingly violent but it contributes to the story. This is undoubtably the best X-Men movie that Fox have made, and I urge you to go and see it fast. Maybe don't take the kids though :)

4/5 Stars