JURASSIC WORLD : REBIRTH : Tuesday 8th July 2025

I saw the M Rated 'JURASSIC WORLD : REBIRTH' at my local multiplex earlier this week, and this American science fiction action film is Directed by Gareth Edwards whose previous feature film credits take in his Directorial debut in 2010 with 'Monsters' which he would follow up with 'Godzilla' in 2014, 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story' in 2016, and 'The Creator' in 2023. This film is a standalone sequel to 2022's 'Jurassic World Dominion' the fourth 'Jurassic World' film and the seventh instalment overall in the 'Jurassic Park' franchise. The first six films in the series have grossed at the worldwide Box Office a total of US$6,076B against combined production budgets of US$1,143B - so long live the dinosaurs! The film was released in the US last week too, cost US$180M to produce, has so far grossed US$391M worldwide and has garnered mixed critical reviews.

The film opens seventeen years ago on the remote Atlantic Ocean island of Saint Hubert in a research laboratory owned and operated by InGen in which the scientists experiment on the creation of mutated dinosaurs. One such creation is a deformed six-limbed tyrannosaur called a  'Distortus Rex' that escapes containment, kills an employee and wreaks havoc, forcing the facility personnel to abandon the lab and flee the island leaving it deserted. We then fast forward seventeen years later and learn that the Earth's climate and ecology has proven largely inhospitable to sustain the de-extinct animals, and they are forced to reside in a band around the Equator, which is more akin to the climate in which their pre-historic ancestors lived and thrived. That area around the Equator is now marked as no-travel zones to anyone and everyone by international law.

Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), an executive at pharmaceutical giant ParkerGenix, recruits Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), an ex-military covert operative, to work with paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) on a top-secret mission to retrieve biomaterial samples from the three largest remaining prehistoric specimens, which hold the key to a new heart disease treatment. The kicker is that these three samples must be retrieved from live dinosaur specimens. In a bar in Suriname, Zora recruits her longtime friend Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) to lead the expedition, and to provide the boat and the crew to get them to the island. He brings boat driver LeClerc (Bechir Sylvain), mercenary Nina (Philippine Velge), and the security chief Bobby Atwater (Ed Skrein).

They set out to Saint Hubert Island to extract samples from the aquatic Mosasaurus, the land based Titanosaurus, and avian Quetzalcoatlus. They track the Mosasaurus, which has shipwrecked a family sailing in the mid-Atlantic Ocean in the no-travel zone - Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his older daughter Teresa (Luna Blaise) and her boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono) and Reuben's younger daughter Isabella (Audrina Miranda). Duncan is intent on rescuing the family which is in the opposite direction of the island much to the displeasure of Martin and Bobby. 

With the family safely on board, Zora successfully extracts a sample from the Mosasaur. However, it returns with a group of Spinosaurus and attacks the ship, killing Bobby and Nina in the process. Teresa in a state of panic tries to alert the Coast Guard with a May Day call but Martin attempts to prevent her from radioing, to protect the mission's utmost secrecy, then refuses to help her when she and the Delgado's fall overboard. The Mosasaur forces the ship aground, stranding the team on the island, with the family becoming separated from the original ship's crew. Now on foot and trudging through the jungle, Zora informs the remaining crew that she engaged a rescue helicopter to circle the island at sundown the next day.

Zora successfully extracts the second sample from a Titanosaurus and the third and final sample from a Quetzalcoatlus egg, by abseiling down a sheer rock wall to access its nest located in a cave. Dr. Henry and Zora become trapped inside the cave when the adult Quetzalcoatlus returns to its nest, but is distracted by  LeClerc who ultimately is devoured by the giant winged beast. 

Meanwhile, the Delgado's are stranded elsewhere and search for the 'village'. They encounter various dinosaurs along the way including an infant Aquilops, which Isabella adopts and names Dolores, a Dilophosaurus feeding on the corpse of a Parasaurolophus and a sleeping Tyrannosaurus Rex, which awakens and chases the Delgados down a fast flowing river in an inflatable raft.

The Delgado's and the expedition group reunite at the abandoned laboratory for their planned helicopter extraction. Teresa confronts Martin for attacking her on the boat, and leaving her at the mercy of the ocean and the Spinosaurs. The group questions Martin about the attack and he pulls a gun on them, steals the samples from Zora, cuffs the case to his hand and attempts to flee to the helipad. A pack of mutated raptor/pterosaur hybrids, dubbed 'Mutadons' descends on the survivors who by now have taken refuge in a network of underground tunnels that ultimately lead to the harbour, to escape.

The rescue helicopter arrives and circles for two minutes as instructed to do so by Zora, but sees no sign of life so begins to leave. Henry lights a flare, which is seen by the retreating helicopter and it doubles back, but is destroyed by the Distortus Rex, which then turns on Martin and devours him, as the sample case is flung away and lands close to Zora with Martin's arm still attached. The survivors come to a locked gate at the end of the underground tunnel, and discover a motor boat on the other side. 

The D. Rex awaits outside by the boat, and the raptor/pterosaur hybrids are stalking them in the tunnels. Isabella is the only survivor small enough to fit through the gate, and she unlocks it. The group load themselves onto the boat, while Duncan diverts the D. Rex away using a flare, but Zora fears for his life when the flare is extinguished in the near distance.

Zora, Henry, Reuben, Teresa, Xavier and Isabella narrowly escape the D. Rex in the boat when a flare beams out across the night sky. Duncan is still alive wading out through the water and Reuben turns the boat to retrieve him. With the boat now skimming across the ocean and with samples in hand, Henry asks Zora what her intentions are now that she has possession. Zora and Henry agree to distribute the new medication without a patent, making it open-source for the whole world to take full advantage of.

What Gareth Edwards has delivered here is a fairly formulaic by the numbers dino offering that does hark back in some ways to the original 'Jurassic Park' film, and yet it still treads almost the same path as the majority of instalments that have gone before. And that is that a bunch of guys and gals venture into largely unknown dino territory on some sort of expedition and the bad guys (and you know who they are from the get go) all get chomped on and spat out, and the good guys come back victorious ready for the next film in the series. So it is here, and the script writers have here pushed the boundaries of what might seem fair and reasonable to the average movie goer too. That said Scarlett Johansson delivers an admirable performance as do the principle cast, and Gareth Edwards knows how to ramp up the action set pieces, which I guess is the main reason why you go to see a movie that features prehistoric dinosaur versus human interaction writ large, and on that note 'Jurassic World : Rebirth' delivers.

'Jurassic World : Rebirth' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

A MAN CALLED OTTO : Tuesday 3rd January 2023

I saw the M Rated 'A MAN CALLED OTTO' earlier this week, following its release here in Australia on New Years Day. This American comedy drama film is Directed by Marc Forster and is the second film adaptation of the 2012 novel 'A Man Called Ove' by Swedish author Fredrik Backman, following the 2015 Swedish film of the same name Written and Directed by Hannes Holm. Marc Forster's prior film making credits take in the likes of 'Monster's Ball' in 2001, 'Finding Neverland' in 2004, 'The Kite Runner' in 2007, 'Quantum of Solace' in 2008, 'World War Z' in 2013 and 'Christopher Robin' in 2018. The film saw a limited release in the US from 30th December before a much wider release from 13th January, has garnered mixed or average reviews and has so far grossed US$3M at the Box Office on a production budget of US$50M.

The film opens up with Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks) searching amongst the shelves of his local 'Big Beaver' hardware store. He buy a sturdy enough looking hook, and very specifically five feet of thick rope. When he goes to pay, the teller charges him for two yards of rope, which Otto very astutely says that he has been overcharged by one foot, and why is he being charged for six feet of rope when he only needs, and has cut the length of, five feet? The teller tells him that the computer only charges by the yard, so Otto asks to see the manager, who is at lunch, so he asks to see the assistant manager, who turns up to be a young girl old enough to be his grand daughter, whom he greets with 'shouldn't you be in gym class'? This sets the tone of this grumpy sixty year old man, who it seems behind closed doors and more often that not under his breath, calls just about everyone he comes into contact with an 'idiot'!

We subsequently learn that Otto's wife, and life long love, Sonya (Rachel Keller) has recently passed away, and he was forced into taking a severance package from his job at a steel plant firm that he held down for about forty years. Otto leads a simple life and by a staunch set of principles, strict routines and a relatively short fuse, giving just about everyone in his gated neighbourhood community a hard time as he watches over it, and them, like a man on a mission. However, for this creature of habit, his life now has no meaning since the passing of Sonya, and so using the hook and the five feet of rope he purchased recently he drills a hole in the ceiling into the joist, screws in the hook, and ties the rope into a noose with the intention of hanging himself. 

As he places the noose around his neck he spies through his lounge room window a car with U-Haul trailer attempting to back into the side of the road directly opposite from where he lives. Perplexed by this notion, he dashes out the front to be greeted by Marisol (Mariana Trevino), her husband Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and two young daughters who are renting the place, with Tommy unsuccessfully attempting to back up his trailer with Marisol supposedly guiding her husband. Otto ultimately jumps into the car and successful reverses the car and trailer in with ease. Job done. He goes back inside his house, and hangs himself. But his attempt at taking his own life is thwarted as the hook snaps and he crashes down to the floor. 

Marisol and Tommy come knocking on Otto's door sometime later with a serving of Pollo Con Mole which he reluctantly takes and eats with gusto when he is alone later, but he has to eat it cold because just before trying to hang himself he had the electricity cut off and the telephone line disconnected too. Later Tommy asks Otto if he can borrow a set of allen keys to build some flat pack furniture and on another occasion a ladder to fix a window from the outside that won't open. Otto is obliging. 

Through flashbacks we see when Otto was in his early twenties (played by Truman Hanks, Tom's son) when he first set eyes on Sonya, and how their love for each other blossomed. Otto wanted to join the army but was refused entry because of medical reasons - he suffers from idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, and so took up engineering instead. Upon successfully graduating from college, he asks Sonya to marry him, and she without hesitations says yes. In time, she becomes pregnant, and at the six month point they are both looking forward to the arrival of their first born. They decide to take a holiday to Niagara Falls before the birth of their child, and while travelling on a bus together to their destination, the bus careers of the road, rolls several times before coming to rest. Otto was in the toilet at the time and was saved from much of the impact, but Sonya was thrown out of the window, resulting in her becoming paralysed from the waist down and losing their baby. 

Otto regularly visits Sonya's final resting place in the graveyard bringing her fresh flowers and a chair to sit in where he talks to her about his failed attempts to reunite with her, the state of America and what's being going on in his community. His suicide attempts are through gassing himself in his car in his garage with carbon monoxide fumes but this is thwarted when Marisol comes banging on the garage door begging him to drive her to the hospital because Tommy has injured his foot trying to repair the window while balancing on the ladder, and Marisol can't drive. On another occasion Otto drives to the local train station with the intention of throwing himself in front of an oncoming train, but his thwarted when a man collapses on to the tracks suffering a cardiac arrest and Otto jumps down to save him. Otto is hailed a hero and generates a million views on a social media platform. On the last occasion, Otto take his shotgun with the intention of blowing his brains out, but he has a vision of Sonya telling him that its time to live his life, and so he shoots a hole in the ceiling instead. 

Otto is brought further into the life of his neighbours Anita (Juanita Jennings), her disabled husband Rueben (Peter Lawson Jones) and their surrogate son Jimmy (Cameron Britton) when it is revealed that their estranged real son whom that haven't seen in years and who now resides in Japan has, through the power of attorney, put their house on the market with Real Estate Agency 'Dye & Merica' and forced his Mum and Dad into care homes. When the Real Estate Agent (Mike Birbiglia) turns up to take possession of the house, Otto had done his homework on their behalf and uncovered some nefarious goings on that results in the agent departing empty handed, and Anita and Rueben remaining secure in their family home. 

On another occasion, Otto gets talking to a newspaper delivery lad called Malcolm (Mack Bayda), who it turns out is transgender and was taught in school by Sonya. He tells Otto that it was Sonya who accepted him for what he was and that helped him through a very tough few years at school. One night Malcolm turns up on Otto's doorstep asking if he could crash their for the night because his own Dad kicked him out. Otto agrees. In time, Otto shows Malcolm and Jimmy his daily routines around the community, with the desire that they can assume his mantle when he is gone. And on a final occasion, Otto teaches Marisol to drive his manual car, because he thinks it's crazy for a woman of some thirty years of age not to be able to drive. Otto thereafter gives his car to Malcolm, who was saving up his money from working three jobs, to buy a second hand Volkswagen much to Otto's chagrin. Otto then goes out and buys a brand new Chevrolet truck. 

All of these kind and compassionate acts, largely thanks to Marisol's outgoing and tell it as she sees it personality, leads Otto to open up, embrace the joys of life, and accept people for what and who they are. As Otto's relationships with his neighbours strengthens, he finds himself becoming increasingly involved in their lives and helping them through their various challenges. One day Otto collapses in the road outside his house due to his heart condition. Marisol is on hand at the hospital when he comes round. A nurse enters his room and asks her is she is the next of kin, to which she says yes. The nurse reveals to Marisol, that Otto has a 'big heart' and that he needs to take care of himself, at which point Marisol starts giggling which quickly turns into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. 

We fast forward a couple of years and Otto has found solace and purpose in helping others and rediscovering his love of life. In the end, Otto learns to let go of his grief and embrace the joys of living in the present moment. One day however, Tommy notices that Otto had not swept away the snow from his front door and the pavement running alongside his house, which was a ritual he used to do every day during winter when it snowed. Marisol runs over to the house with Tommy following behind. She runs upstairs to find Otto collapsed on the bed, face down, dead. Marisol is distraught and Tommy picks up a note from the dresser addressed to her. In it, he has written out his wishes in the event of his death. It reads that he was never extravagant with his money and as such there is sufficient funds to put their children through a good education, and whatever monies are left over they can spend it as they so choose. He also leaves his home to them, his brand new Chevrolet truck, with the only condition that only Marisol can drive it and under no circumstances can Tommy be permitted to do so, because she is no 'idiot', and that his funeral service is to be low key affair. 

'America's Dad' has become 'America's Grumpy Old Granddaddy' in this Hollywood remake of a popular Swedish film from a only a few years ago, that once again showcases Tom Hanks enormous talent as a dramatic Actor to be able to portray a curmudgeonly cantankerous crowd pleasing character that ultimately turns Otto into a heartwarming sentimental one that is able to finally let go of his past and embrace what he has left of his future. Hanks and Trevino are well cast as the Yin and Yang neighbours, and Director Forster has here crafted a film that is both subtle and restrained while also offering up some laugh out loud moments, and an ending that is sure to pull at the heartstrings, albeit way too predictable almost from the outset.

'A Man Called Otto' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SWEET GIRL : Monday 23rd August 2021.

With Greater Sydney still in COVID lockdown now until the end of September at least, and as a result all cinema's closed until sometime after this date, I've been reviewing over the last few weeks some the latest feature films released recently onto Netflix. One such film that I watched from the comfort of my own home this week is the American action thriller 'SWEET GIRL' Directed by Brian Andrew Mendoza in his feature film making debut following his only other foray into film making with the 2009 short film 'The Via Monterey'. He has however, in the intervening years been kept busy with a number of Producer credits on such films as 'Road to Paloma' Directed, Co-Written and starring Jason Momoa, 'Braven' with Jason Momoa, on three episodes as Executive Producer of 'Frontier' with Jason Momoa, and the upcoming 'The Last Manhunt' Written by Jason Momoa. It will come as no surprise therefore, that this films headlining star is none other than Jason Momoa, who also takes a Producer credit here. The film was released on Netflix on 20th August and has generated mixed or average Reviews. 

The film opens up with Ray Cooper (Jason Momoa) and his wife Amanda (Adria Arjona) and their young daughter Rachel (Milena Rivero) enjoying peaceful and loving family time on a forest camping trip. Sometime later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Amanda falls ill with life threatening cancer. Doctor Wu (Reggie Lee) comes to Ray with the great news that a soon to be available new drug will halt the cancer's progress in its tracks, which lifts his spirits considerably. Soon afterwards when there is no further news on this groundbreaking drug, Ray learns from Dr. Wu that the potentially life saving drug has been pulled off the market, due to the BioPrime CEO Simon Keeley's (Justin Bartha) new business move. Watching Keeley on a live debate on the TV with Congresswoman Diana Morgan (Amy Brenneman), Ray calls in to question Keeley live on air. He threatens Keeley, saying if he doesn't reverse his decision, that he'll personally kill him with his own bare hands. Keeley needless to say doesn't take the threat seriously and sometime shortly thereafter Amanda passes away, devastating both Ray and Rachel.

Fast forward six months and Ray one day out of the blue gets a phone call from a reporter Martin Bennett (Nelson Franklin) who tells him he can help him get justice for Amanda. After a goose chase, they meet on a subway train, having been unknowingly followed by Rachel (now played by Isabella Merced). Bennett tells Ray that BioPrime has been bribing anyone who questions their dirty deeds, including the company that made the drug Amanda needed to save her life. Before he has finished and Ray is trying to take all of this in, a hitman named Santos (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) attacks and kills Bennett. Ray fights back and as the train stops at a station, Santos stabs Ray and knocks out Rachel, leaving them both lying on the platform as he makes his getaway on the train.

Fast fast forward two years and father and daughter are living in some dead beat apartment. Ray has been keeping tabs on, and investigating Keeley in the meantime. He sneaks into a lavish charity fund raising event honouring Keeley, posing as a waiter. He eventually gets Keeley on his own with two of his bodyguards - one of which he thwarts with a CO2 fire extinguisher to the face and the other gets accidentally shot in the head when Ray and Keeley tussle with a gun. Holding a knife to Keeley throat, he questions him about the hit on Bennett and the bribes. As Keeley tells him it was the Chairman Vinod Shah (Raza Jaffrey) who signed off on all hits, Keeley is able to break free and in the ensuing fight, Ray wraps a sheet of plastic wrapping around his face and holds it tight from behind suffocating the CEO. 

Ray and Rachel need to abandon their apartment and quickly for fear of reprisals. They book into a motel somewhere outside town. Rachel, now growing increasingly concerned about her father's pursuit for revenge calls FBI Agent Sarah Meeker (Lex Scott Davis) and advises her to look into BioPrime. Early the next day two gun totting heavies break into the motel and Ray dispenses with them both, only adding to the tensions between the pair. They go on the run, and Meeker puts out an APB on Ray's car. They pull off the road up a dirt track in the snow and out of sight. The next day Ray plans to go after Shah alone, leaving Rachel behind but she convinces him to take her with him.

They ambush Shah's car and its convoy of two others carrying a contingent of bodyguards. Ray disables two vehicles using nails to puncture the tyres of one and a bulldozer to upturn the other leaving Shah's car stranded on a tree trunk that Ray had cut down earlier in the day blocking the exit from a tunnel. Santos has meanwhile arrived on the scene all guns blazing. He takes out Shah's one remaining bodyguard and as Ray tries to interrogate him in the tunnel, Shah is shot and killed by Santos who's also been following him. Ray and Rachel make a hasty retreat with Santos shooting out one of the tyres. Rachel recognises Santos as the man who attacked them on the subway train. They abandon their vehicle and steal a breakdown tow truck. Driving past a diner, they spot Santos' Volkswagen Kombi Van, and the three meet up there on neutral territory, with four Police Officers sat in a booth at the other end of the diner. Ray gets Santos to tell him his employer is Diana Morgan. Upon leaving, Santos calls after Rachel saying that they'll meet up again in Pittsburgh. 

Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, they're spotted by the FBI helicopters and a convoy of Police vehicles in hot pursuit. Ray gets out of the truck and heads into a baseball stadium where the game has just ended and the crowds are exiting. A foot chase ensues through the crowds and the FBI catch up with Ray on the roof of the stadium. As Meeker attempts to talk him down, it is revealed that Ray is in fact Rachel. It seems that Ray died from the stab wound at the subway station two years previously and since then Rachel, suffering from PTSD, has been on her own journey for her own brand of justice. She jumps off the rooftop into the river below. She is found and arrested by Meeker, and strapped down with her neck in a brace in the back of an ambulance. She successfully manages to thwart her captors, gain control of the steering wheel so crashing the ambulance and flees the scene.

Determined to finally get some form of justice for her Mum and Dad, Rachel breaks into Morgan's office. However, she is greeted by Santos and a knife fight breaks out. Rachel crashes through a window and clings to a set of scaffolds and clambers down several levels. Santos reaches her and the pair fight once again ending up in a fountain. Santos gains the upper hand by strangling Rachel under the water where she looses consciousness. The voice of her father telling her to wake up sees Rachel spring into action against an unsuspecting Santos, and this time it is she who has the upper hand repeatedly stabbing him in the chest finally killing him until the water runs red. She returns to Morgan's office and confronts the Congresswoman and secretly records her admitting she was bribed by BioPrime and ordered the hit that killed Bennett and in turn her father. Rachel boards a plane to an unknown destination and an uncertain future as the voice recording is received on Meeker's email. 

Ultimately there's nothing sweet about this sweet girl - more of a sour puss really who's hell bent on revenge at any cost for those no good conniving big pharma types who seem to have hitmen and politicians planted firmly in their very deep pockets. That said there does seem to be a screen presence between Momoa and Merced that carries the film forward, and Momoa shows that he's capable of portraying real raw emotion as well as the physical aspects of his prior big and small screen outings. The plot twist at two-thirds in adds a new dimension to the film that almost takes it into the realms of fantasy, but to get there Ray/Rachel has to climb up onto the roof of a baseball stadium, just so that he/she can jump of it (reminding me of the closing scene in 'The Bourne Ultimatum') - plllleeeease! The fight sequences are realistic and well choreographed but after the first couple of rounds it's more of the same, repetitive shoot 'em, knife 'em, kick & punch 'em fare with an eighteen year old girl winning the day against a far deadlier and more heavily armed foe, that thanks to that plot twist makes you lose all credibility in what went before. 

'Sweet Girl' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

WIDOWS : Wednesday 28th November 2018.

'WIDOWS' which I saw earlier in the week at my local multiplex, is an American heist drama film based on the 1983 and 1985 British television series of the same name that was written by Lynda La Plante, and which ran for two series each of six episodes. Now in 2018 that earlier inspiration has been given a makeover some thirty years later and this time is written for the screen by Gillian Flynn, the author of the acclaimed novel and later film 'Gone Girl'. Directed by Steve McQueen whose previous Directorial credits include 'Hunger', 'Shame' and '12 Years a Slave', here he has amassed an ensemble cast for a Production Budget of US$42M and what has so far received widespread Critical praise. The film saw its Premier screening at TIFF back in September, was released in the UK early in November, the US and Australia mid-November, has so far grossed US$42M and has been Critically praised.

The story here surrounds a Police shootout that leaves four career thieves and partners in crime dead during an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago that goes horribly wrong for the gang of four. Those men were Harry Rawlins (Liam Neeson), Carlos Perelli (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Florek Gunner (Jon Bernthal) and Jimmy Nunn (Coburn Goss). We see the four men in the lead up to their fateful robbery living the domestic life with their wives, children, pets, jobs and each man leaving their domestic situation on the morning of the daring heist . . .  never to return. We then cut to the funerals of each one in turn - mostly small & private, expect for Harry's which was a much grander affair attended by many guests and a few dignitaries. The widows left behind are Veronica Rawlins (Viola Davis), Linda Perelli (Michelle Rodriguez), Alice Gunner (Elizabeth Debicki) and Amanda Nunn (Carrie Coon). At Harry's funeral, after his body is lowered into the ground, Veronica is approached by Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) who is running for election for the position of Alderman in the South Side Ward of Chicago, offering his deepest sympathies and his support, if ever she needs anything.

Meanwhile Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry) is also running for election as Alderman of the South Side Ward against Mulligan, and there is a fierce rivalry between the two. Mulligan believing that as his father and grandfather before him occupied that seat, that he has a divine right to it having been born into the role, and Manning believes that he is a man of the people and is their voice at a grassroots level. However, Manning is also a crime boss, and has his younger brother Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya) to do his dirty work for him, including dispensing with ruthless efficiency with those that would cross the pair or stand in the way of them getting what they want. We quickly learn that Harry and his gang robbed Jamal of US$2M which went up in smoke, and now the Manning's are wanting their money back, as this money was to fund Manning's electoral campaign against Mulligan. The pair look on menacingly from a distance at Harry's funeral.

Harry's trusted long time driver Bash (Garret Dillahunt) while driving Veronica around, hands her a small package containing a key and a handwritten note with the location of a safety deposit box. Recovering the box she opens it up to reveal a note book, in which are contained copious detailed notes of Harry's former robberies, and those planned. In it are contained notes of a future robbery worth US$5M in cash. Meanwhile, Jamal has visited Veronica in her home, demanding repayment of the US$2M that her husband stole from him, and gives her one month to pay up in full or suffer the consequences. Veronica claims to have known nothing about her husbands criminal activities and doesn't have that sort of money, despite the facade of living in a plush apartment with all the trappings of success. Despite what she may or may not claim to know about her husbands 'business', she has one month.

Veronica, realising the seriousness with which Jamal speaks and the threats made against her, decides to carry out the plan as laid out in Harry's note book in order to repay her debt to Jamal. She sets up a secret meeting with the three other widows whom she has never met before, and whose details she coerced out of Bash. Veronica is successful in recruiting both Alice and Linda to assist execute her plan, but this is completely new territory to the widows and they are each pretty clueless about what's involved - they just know they've gotta complete the task now in hand, and live with the consequences whatever they might be. The fourth widow however, Amanda, does not show to their initial meeting. Veronica outlines the plan in brief and says that if the girls are 'in' to meet tomorrow night at 11:30pm at a secret location which turns out to be Harry's former warehouse and and centre of operations, which remains just as the gang left it before their last job.

At that meeting, after some soul searching and weighing up their options, Alice and Linda are both in. Veronica charges Alice to buy the getaway van and three Glock pistols, while Linda is tasked with deciphering a blueprint in Harry's plan that is the location of the planned heist. Alice purchases a van from a used vehicle auction house, and the three pistols from a gun fair. Linda however, struggles to locate the whereabouts of the building depicted on the photocopied blueprint. Meanwhile, Alice has become an 'escort' at her mother Agnieska (Jacki Weaver) suggestion, to raise some much needed cash and all the trappings that go with it. On her first 'date' she falls into a transactional relationship with David (Lukas Haas) a real estate developer. She uses David's knowledge to trace the origin of the blueprint and the location of the building depicted thereon. He comes back some days later stating that it is a safe room within Jack Mulligan's home. As for Amanda, Veronica visits her and learns that she has a four month old newborn baby, and so decides not to mention their upcoming heist or to seek her involvement. 

Bash is visited unannounced in his home by Jatemme and his henchmen seeking the whereabouts of the notebook, realising the value contained in its detailed handwritten pages. When Bash claims no knowledge of its whereabouts he is promptly beaten to a pulp and murdered while Jatemme looks on. Still with no driver to provide their getaway, Linda recruits Belle (Cynthia Erivo), her children’s babysitter, and a hairdresser in a Salon underpinned by funding from Mulligan. Veronica is reluctant, but with six days only remaining on the month long deadline to pay up, she agrees to take Belle on, and it seems like she is made of sterner stuff, and can drive. Veronica visits the Mulligan home to ask Jack for protection from Manning, to which he politely declines, and to scout out the building in advance of the heist, while Belle scans the external security systems. Veronica also successfully acquires the code to the Mulligan safe by blackmailing the CEO of the Mulligans' security company, Ken (Matt Walsh) using explicit photographs of him of a sexual nature left in Harry's notebook.

The group commences the heist at night by creating a distraction down the street to divert police attention. The house is believed to be empty save for a lone Security Guard whom they taser and incapacitate. Jack Mulligan is away at an election debate between him and Jamal Manning. Having gained access to the safe and loaded up with US$5M in cash, in making their exit they are interrupted by Tom Mulligan (Robert Duvall), father of Jack and the current sitting Alderman, who shoots and wounds Alice. Linda returns fire and kills him. They escape with the money, but are caught by Jamal's brother Jatemme who is holding Belle at gunpoint and who in turn steals it from them, leaving the four girls standing on the side of the road penniless. 

Thinking he is clear Jatemme relaxes with a big smile on his dial behind the wheel of the girls getaway van, only to be heavily shunted from behind by a station wagon with the four widows giving chase and Belle at the wheel. Jatemme looses control of the vehicle and smashes into a crash barrier head-on killing him instantly. The girls retrieve the money and make their getaway. Linda takes Alice to the nearest hospital for medical attention to her gun shot wound and remains with her. Veronica drops Belle off at home before returning to the hideout with the stash of cash. Upon leaving the hideout having taken care of some final business, Veronica torches their getaway car, before loading up the final bag of swag into her own car. 

A few days later it is announced on the radio that Jack Mulligan won the election on a wave of public sympathy following his father's murder. Linda reacquires the store she lost upon her husband's death due to his gambling debts, Alice sets up her own business, and Belle moves out of town with her own children. Out of danger of Manning, Veronica donates much of her share to endow a library building in her and Harry's deceased son's memory and name at the school he attended.

I enjoyed 'Widows' but not as much as I thought I would, and I felt let down by the glowing Critical acclaim that seemingly has been bestowed upon McQueen's heist actioner. The performances are top rate - especially Viola Davis and Elizabeth Debicki, the film looks good enough, but for a heist movie set in Chicago of all places, the actual and only heist takes place in the final ten minutes of a two hour+ long movie, and there are plot holes aplenty too. Four dead career criminal husbands, four grieving and at a complete loss desperate wives, political power play, father and son machinations, gangsters making demands, violence, death and emotional turmoil are all at play here, together with a seemingly completely incompetent Chicago PD. The film moves along at a goodly pace, but some of the scenes felt rushed, especially towards the end leaving questions unanswered and plot holes uncovered, and some of the characters were left hanging without any real sense of closure. Critics seems to be raving about 'Widows' but audiences less so, and I'm in the camp with the audience I must say. Despite this the film has plenty of redeeming features too and is worth a look - it's good, but it's not great!

'Widows' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-