Monday 27 December 2021

REVIEW: RENO 911 The Hunt for QAnon

 

Review by Jon Donnis

When I heard that they were gonna make a RENO 911 film about QAnon, I rolled my eyes, and expected it to be yet another ridiculous, far left, Hollywood attack on anyone vaguely to the right of Bernie Sanders.

However in RENO 911 The Hunt for QAnon I think they may have actually done the opposite to what they intended. (or the opposite of what the media is telling you the film is about)

Someone wants to sue Q, the mysterious secretive figure that supposedly knows all the secrets of the Government and elites, and also a big Trump supporter. So the Reno Sheriff's Department decide that they need to find Q so they can serve him papers.

They find themselves on a Q Booze Cruise, throw in your usual Reno 911 sillyness, and you can pretty much guess the kind of set pieces that go on.

Note: There is Q, and there are "Anons", there is no such thing as QAnon, that is a media creation.

The interesting point I started to consider while watching this, is that if I was Q or one of his followers the "Anons", and I wanted to make a movie, this is the exact kind of movie I would make.

A self mocking film, that the ultra liberal actors who star, have no idea that the very thing they represent is what is really being mocked.

For example, when on the Q Booze Cruise, it quickly becomes apparent that virtually everyone is an undercover cop, CIA, FBI etc, or undercover journalists, and there isn't really many real Anons on the cruise.If any at all.

This is literally what such people claim happened at the January 6 Protest, it was all undercover cops and agitators who caused it. How many times have we seen stories break that seem to target so called Right Wingers of crimes, racism and so on, and it turns out that it was either the FBI involved, or liberal journalists?

Another interesting thing is that the film very early on clearly names Tom Hanks as an alleged pedophile, and later on David Copperfield as having a sex dungeon, all part of what the Anons believe, yet the film only alludes to other characters within the movement, "a pillow guy" is one example. Why would you not fear Tom Hanks suing you, but fear Mike Lindell suing you?

They even end up on Jeffrey Epstein's pedo island. Way to expose a secret elite pedophile ring as no more than a far right conspiracy!

The question therefore has to be asked. Is the film maker really a secret Q believer? Is he an Anon?

Remember when South Park would often accuse celebrities of crimes, and then years later the truth would come out and South Park was correct. Kevin Spacey a perfect example. Is this what is going on with Reno 911? Only time will tell I guess.

The Good

If you are a Reno 911 fan, and like the sillyness of the TV series, then this is more of the same.

The Bad

Some of the jokes fall flat, and the subject matter will instantly put many people off as they will just see this as yet another hollywood attack on anyone who dared to support Donald Trump.

Overall

Any time you try to use major political events as a plot line in a film, you risk alienating a huge portion of your potential viewers. And I fear that Reno 911 has done just that.

The film is not going to go down as a comedy classic, but it is also not all bad, it does have some genuine laugh out loud moments and any fan of the show should enjoy this, just dont let any pre-conceived ideas of what you think this film is about stop you from giving it a chance to entertain.

I score RENO 911 The Hunt for QAnon a fair 6/10


REVIEW: Spider-Man: No Way Home


Review by Jon Donnis

Following on directly from the previous film, Spider-Man's identity has now revealed, and with that Peter Parker sees his life and the life of his friends starting to unravel, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. Create a spell that will make people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-man, however when Peter tries to change the spell in the middle of it being cast, everything goes wrong, and now the multiverse has been opened.

Enter some of the baddies from previous incarnations of the Spider-Man franchise, and eventually previous incarnations of Spider-Man himself, and you have one of the best Marvel films ever made and a bunch of Spider-men, although Holland refers to them as Spider-mans.

However one major problem with opening up the past in this way, is it really makes you realise how good the Tobey Maguire Spider-man was, and how terrible the Andrew Garfield one was. Not to mention the Maguire Spider-man has by far the best looking suit, as well as being the only one who could fire real webs from his wrists.

Tom Holland however has cemented himself as the modern day Spidey and being way closer in age to what the character is supposed to be helps massively.

Big action scenes, decent story, old faces and new ones. Potentially a good reset for Tom Holland's Spidey with regards to future films, it is hard not to recommend Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The Good

Great to see Tobey Maguire again in the Spidey suit, easily the highlight of the film.

The Bad

Rehashing old villains seems a bit lazy.

Overall

The best Marvel film in a while.

8/10