Superintelligence

Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy are two people whose partnership should be hitting home runs. They know each other's strengths and weaknesses to such an intimate level that it's a no-brainer. So why doesn't it work? Box office-wise, their collaborations are bringing in less money with each new outing - and now, thanks to COVID-19, who knows if studios will be willing to back these two again. If this is the case, they are not going out on a high note. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to go back to formula. With around 60 years of comedy experience between them, we know they're better than this. If only they knew it themselves.

• Jess Fenton

Read Jess' full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-superintelligence-mccarthy-plays-a-painfully-average-human-and-the-irony-is-truly-lost

This was a fun movie to watch, which was, as far as I can see, all it promised to be. It didn’t try to squeeze into the canon of sophisticated sci-fi, though some reviews I read on another site seemed to suggest it was trying to do just that.

This is basically a romantic comedy with a satirical look at our dependence upon technology thrown in, which I suspect hit too close to home for some people. I appreciated that film rarity, a woman who is not razor thin being a romantic lead, with a bonus of not even having her mention her weight once. Larger men are often romantic leads, but women, not so much.

The more I see Melissa McCarthy the more I appreciate some subtleties of acting rather than just the comedic stuff. She has a good rapport with her co-star, and of course with the voice and image of James Corden, who I gather some people also don’t like, but I think he is great fun, and, incidentally, a good writer (see Gavin and Stacy)

A person can of course sit back and poke holes in the plot here and there, but if you find yourself doing that, perhaps you aren’t in the spirit of the thing and need to dust off 2001 A Space Odyssey and watch it for the 21st time. Then later on, if you are in the mood for a few cheap laughs and want to feel your main squeeze burrow her face into your neck, put this movie on. I mean, your know the title is ironic, right?

Oh, and I really don’t rate this movie a ten, but I wanted to offset what must have been some ridiculously low ratings based on — well, perhaps I shouldn’t speculate.

I really liked this film. I chose it as something suitable for me and teenage kids. It was a bit of a gamble but I was pleasantly surprised. Suitable for over 10s but enough laughs for me too. It pretty much did what it said on the tin as a family comedy. I like Melissa McCarthy and I'm a begrudging convert to James Cordon. It's kind of a romantic comedy but with the threat of total global annihilation to keep both sides happy. Entertaining, fun and some genuine laughs.