REVIEW: Echoes of the Past Starring Max Von Sydow

Review by Jon Donnis

There have been countless films made about "The Holocaust", but not so many films made about the genocides of other ethnic groups. On December 13, 1943 there was such a genocide, one you will probably never have heard of if you live outside of Greece. 

Σφαγή των Καλαβρύτων (The Kalavryta Holocaust) and the massacre by Nazi troops is a dark day in the history of a great country.

Echoes of the Past tells two fictional stories side by side, but based on a very real historic event, a modern story about the Greek Government launching a claim against Germany for reparations and the story of Nikolas Andreou (played by Max von Sydow in the Modern era), as a child he managed to escape the massacre, and now is on his final days on this earth, haunted by the horrors he witnessed and escaped from.

Caroline Martin (Astrid Roos) is a Berlin lawyer hired by the German Government to investigate the claim by the Greeks. The fear from the German government being that if they were to pay Greece reparations, it would open the door to many other countries of whom they massacred citizens. Her job is to travel to Greece and find anything that can undermine the case for reparations. 

Through flashbacks to Nikolas' youth the story of the occupation and genocide is told. And when Caroline tracks down adult Nikolas, the film takes a long hard look at the painful memories, and how Caroline has to deal with the truth.

Max von Sydow who died in March 2020 is excellent in his final ever role. A powerful performance drags the viewer into the film, and although tough to watch at times, due to the subject matter, it will leave a lasting effect on your psyche.

There is a very powerful moment in the film when Caroline Martin visits the very real Museum of the Kalavrytan genocide. We see photos of the victims and the background you hear voices of the murdered, it is a moment that will bring you to tears because it is so real.

The Good

A truly powerful film, that anyone with an interest in history should watch. There are so many stories like this of real events that never get told, and although this is a fictional story, it is based on events that are very real.

The Bad

In the flashbacks, the Greeks are speaking in Greek, yet the Germans are speaking in English. I understand why they did this, as they want to appeal to the English speaking audience, but if we can read subtitles for the Greek bits, then the German bits shouldn't be a problem either.

Overall

Have I used the word Powerful yet? A very well-made film, which did huge numbers when released in Greece, because for the Greek people these historical events are still so painful, and the fact that their stories are rarely told, so when one is told it means so much in raising awareness. I can only hope this film encourages other filmmakers to cover other historical events.

I score Echoes of the Past a strong 8/10

Out now on Digital and VoD 

Watch on Amazon https://amzn.to/3I7sfGQ

Watch on Apple TV

REVIEW: Uncharted (2022) - Starring Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle & Antonio Banderas

Review by Jon Donnis

As the big Hollywood blockbusters are coming thick and fast, the latest one is Uncharted, based on the Uncharted video games made by Naughty Dog.

I have played a few of the games, so was interested to see if the film matched up.

Tom Holland stars as Nathan Drake, the lead character from the video games. Mark Wahlberg plays Victor Sullivan, with Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, and Antonio Banderas in supporting roles

The film starts with Brothers Sam and Nathan "Nate" Drake as they are caught by museum security trying to steal the first map made after the Magellan expedition. Sam is kicked out of their shared orphanage,  but before he leaves, Sam promises to return to Nate, and gives him a ring with the inscription "Sic Parvis Magna".

Fast forward 15 years and Nate is working as a bartender in NYC, he is an expert pickpocket and helps himself to wallets from the well-off guests.

Victor Sullivan is a fortune hunter, and he approaches Nate, he explains that he worked with his brother Sam tracking treasure that was hidden by the Magellan crew, he explains that Sam went missing after helping him steal Juan Sebastian Elcano's diary. Nate agrees to help Victor (Sully) find Sam.

Sully and Nate go to an auction to steal a golden cross linked to the Magellan crew, and there starts your classic action-adventure film, with clear nods to Indiana Jones and the Tomb Raider films.

Tom Holland is excellent as the lead, and Mark Wahlberg is just ageless.

Although the film is roughly 1 hour 50 minutes, it did feel longer, but that doesn't mean it dragged, as it didn't, I just feel like this should have been a 90-minute film.

The action scenes are all well done, the visual effects are top quality, and despite a few silly moments in the final big scene, this is a thoroughly good movie, that needs to be seen on the big screen.

The Good

Big budget, big action, big stars, what more could you want,

The Bad

The film would be better if it was a little shorter, I blame the director!

Overall

This is the kind of film I love; I know it is full of clichés, I know it is the type of story you have seen a hundred times before, and I know you will roll your eyes at some parts, but with that said, I still enjoyed it.

I score Uncharted a solid 8/10

Watch at https://amzn.to/3MK8es3

REVIEW: The Contractor (2022) - Starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs, Eddie Marsan, J. D. Pardo, Florian Munteanu, and Kiefer Sutherland

Review by Jon Donnis

I am not quite sure how they managed this, but they took a film with a decent sized budget, paid some big name actors to appear, and then made a film that comes across as if it was a low budget Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson film.

Chris Pine stars as James Harper, he finds himself involuntarily discharged from the United States Army Special Forces due to his use of narcotics to treat a nasty knee injury. With no income after losing his pension and a dodgy knee, Harper contacts his friend Mike (played by Ben Foster) who works with a private military company run by fellow veteran Rusty Jennings (played by the always entertaining Kiefer Sutherland). Now it is worth noting for Kiefer fans, that he isn't in the film much, which is such a shame, because when Kiefer has good writers behind him, he has shown consistency in putting in awesome performances, sadly in The Contractor he is given something of a side role.

Anyway, Rusty runs clandestine operations for the US Department of Defence and Harper signs on for a mission in Germany. Rusty gives an advance of $50,00 to Harper, so he can pay off his debts, and off Harper goes to Germany.

Hollywood sure does like their cemetery shots

In Germany Harper tracks a middle eastern scientist called Salim (Fares Fares), and gathers what information he can. Rusty informs the team that Harper is a part of that Salim is working for ISIS, and is developing a chemical weapon and to take him out and retrieve all of the work done by Salim.

Before you know it, there is cross after double cross, Harper is on the run, and the film then plays out.

Chris Pine plays his part ok, nothing memorable, but not bad by any means. The problem is that the film is just a bit dull. As I said it is like watching a low budget film, but with a few high budget moments thrown in. The film has bombed at the cinema, which I think is a bit harsh. I just think that they could have easily made the exact same film but instead of a budget of $50m, it could have been done for $10m or less, and the viewer wouldn't really have known the difference.

Kiefer Sutherland with his cool beard!

The Good

The action scenes, shoot outs etc are all ok, pretty standard Hollywood stuff these days. Chris Pine plays his part well, and what little we see of Kiefer Sutherland is very welcome.

The Bad

It is all just a bit predictable and in parts dull.

Overall

A huge budget for what should have been a straight to digital release.

Not bad by any means, but expected much more.

I score The Contractor a disappointing 6/10

REVIEW: Agent Game (2022) - Stars Dermot Mulroney, Adan Canto, Katie Cassidy, Jason Isaacs, Mel Gibson, Barkhad Abdi, Rhys Coiro, Annie Ilonzeh, and Matt Riedy

Review by Jon Donnis

With Bruce Willis having to take a back seat due to his health, Mel Gibson seems to be the man to step up and take his seat in the "Low Budget, hardly in the film" chair.

The basic synopsis of Agent Game is as follows

"A CIA officer finds himself the target of a rendition operation after being scapegoated for the death of an interrogation subject."

The film starts off with Mel Gibson sat on a bench in the middle of the day, on a quiet street. He sees something, which has him reach for his gun and start shooting at an unknown target. This is also the very final scene of the film, but with added context.

The film does seem to jump between multiple timelines, which adds to the confusion.

CIA Operators Harris and Bill played by Dermot Mulroney and Jason Isaacs answer to the mysterious Olsen character played by Gibson. They are at a black site interrogating Omar (Barkhad Abdi). Omar and his group are connected to terrorism, but Omar is seemingly unaware.

These people will kidnap targets and then move them out of the country.

Another group have orders to kidnap Harris.

As the timelines catch up with each other, I was left a bit confused as to what was going on. Although answers are given towards the end, they were not necessarily to questions I was asking.

It doesn't help that the vast majority of the film seems to be in near darkness. Which made things even harder to follow. This dialog heavy film does have its moments however, towards the end there are some nice explosions, and the action scenes are well done, I would assume this was filmed during the pandemic, and as such actors were kept separate and filmed in chunks, which was then spliced together for the final cut. And with a low budget, it does seem they chose to spend most of the money on a decent cast, as opposed to the actual story or filming. I understand why they did this, but I think that taking your chances with an unknown cast, and spending your money on some lights so we can see what's going on, and better, longer action scenes is worth it in the long run.

The Good

The acting is all solid, everyone involved are professionals, and you will recognise most of them from the typical police procedural tv shows like NCIS, CSI, and stuff like that. Mel Gibson of course is the main name, and is the main draw for the film. Shame he isn't in it much.

The Bad

It's just too dark. I had to close curtains, and turn brightness on TV just to see what was going on. The story is overly confusing at times too.

Overall

Agent Game is one of those films that you have to give excuses to because of the low budget and circumstances of the filming.

You will watch this film once, maybe twice to figure out what actually happened.

I score Agent Game is middling 5/10

REVIEW: The Batman (2022) - Starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and Jeffrey Wright

Review by Jon Donnis

Do you remember A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), when they tried to reboot the Freddy Krueger character and films, but took away everything that make him likeable? Well this is what they have done with The Batman.

First off, the story, Robert Pattinson stars as The Batman, we all know his history so pointless repeating it. A sadistic killer known as The Riddler begins murdering political figures in Gotham City. Detective Batman decides to investigate, and uncover the truth behind the corruption in the city and his own family's involvement.

Robert Pattinson does his best Batman voice, but never quite pulls it off. Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman has lost all of the sex appeal of previous Catwomen, don't get me wrong, she looks great, wears the nice outfits, but she has lost that something extra that Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry, and Anne Hathaway all were able to portray. 

Paul Dano plays The Riddler, but gone are the fancy suits and enigmatic personality, and in comes a sadist weirdo in a raincoat. Colin Farrell is The Penguin, but you would never know it was Colin Farrell, nor would you know it was The Penguin if they didn't tell you. He is just another gangster type. No monocle, top hat and umbrella.

There is no real threat to the city or the world, just a man in a suit, beating up muggers, solving a few crappy riddles and that's about it.

The film has no character, it is not a superhero film, you cannot imagine Superman turning up. None of the characters whose names you will be familiar with, have anything about them that is in the least bit interesting. The sad thing is that this film will make a fortune, purely by trading off the good will of the Batman franchise, the name, the history. And thinking back to A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), that film was the highest grossing film in that franchise's history. Yet no one thinks back fondly of it and there is no demand for another film in that new reboot's timeline.

The Batman is a dull film, in appearance and story, it might as well be in black and white for the lack of colour going on. There is a popular internet meme that compares the different Batman iterations over the years, with the joke being that each film got darker, until all you got was a black screen. I wonder if a black screen would have had more life in it than this.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the film is 3 hours long. You get the impression that the Director just thought "screw it, nothing is going on the cutting room floor, include everything"

The Good

If you are struggling with insomnia, this film might help you drop off.

The Bad

They took a great franchise, with an incredible history, cast the worse possible, lifeless actor to play the lead, and churned out a 3 hour snore fest. 

Overall

I am sure there will be comic book nerds with their neckbeards saying how accurate this film is compared to the comics, or some nonsense like that, but for your average viewer who wants an escape from reality, I imagine many people will hate it.

I score The Batman a very poor 3/10

In cinemas now!