Antonomasia’s review published on Letterboxd:
For mildly convoluted jewellery-related reasons, a human sacrifice cult in an old film doesn't want to sacrifice a struggling scantily clad hot girl strapped to a table, who will be saved by the hot hunky hero just seconds before before the slightly-less-hot villain stabs her with his big Freudian knife. This lot want ... Ringo Starr. And his ring...That he was sent in the post by an Indian fan.
Help! is a lot like many children's comedy-drama-adventure capers, from the ones I watched in the 80's, to the stuff you still see now if you accidentally switch on Children's BBC at 4.30pm: all tenuous plot devices and illogical escapes, comical chases and colourful villains. It's very funny if you don't bother asking 'Why?' with any seriousness. Having watched The Blues Brothers and Hot Fuzz so often I nearly know them by heart, these Beatles films may well become my new default cheer-up viewing when ill or very miserable.
I haven't seen The Monkees TV series since primary school - but from the scene of the Beatles all living in one big house, to their polite (but still mischievous) attitude after the laddish cockiness of Hard Day's Night - I wonder how much Help! influenced the series, or vice versa.
Songwriting has evidently matured since their previous film: there are still some of those surprisingly sweet boy-loves-girl songs, but also a couple that are slightly more cynical, including 'Ticket to Ride' with its lovely soaring melody I hadn't quite noticed before. And then there's the title track: still the cheeriest pop song about depression?