There now follows an official press release from Bavs Celluloid Musings.
Dear reader first let me apologise for the lack of posts over the last two months. I’d like to say that the lack of activity was down to some exotic reason, such as having drafted into the Avengers to fight crime on my forklift or being kidnapped by the head of Disney to work on the new Star Wars script for Episode VII but the truth of the matter is far more boring and mundane.
Flat hunting, moving and then it taking a while to get the internet back up and running.
I know, I Should have gone with the Disney excuse shouldn’t I?
So with the apologies out of the way I’d like to give a quick review each of the films I’ve missed over the last eight weeks or so starting with Dredd 3D.
So where to start? Well firstly let me issue a word of warning….. It’s very violent. However that doesn’t really even begin to tell the story. Saying its violent is like saying Spartacus is a long film, it just doesn’t even come close to describing what has been committed to film here. This is in a different league when it comes to comic book adaptations. Nothing has ever come close to being this visceral and in your face. If ultra-slow motion bullet injuries are your bag or the sight of people being skinned “just for jollies” then this maybe the film you have been waiting for. It also goes without saying that film is not for kids.
Karl Urban has seen his stock rise over the last decade with roles in The Lord Of The Rings, The Bourne Supremacy and the rebooted Star Trek franchise but this is the first time he’s been asked to carry a Hollywood film as the lead. A job he does with ease, spending the entire film basically only acting with his chin (for those not in the know Dredd never and I do mean NEVER takes his helmet off). Lena Headey plays the big bad meanie of the piece, Ma-Ma. She has her own ideas about Neighbourhood watch and the chemicals she likes to use around the house you wouldn’t find any personal grooming products. Ma-Ma also has a few anger management problems. If she worked in a library I think it would be safe to say that you’d never return a book late. There have been better comic book films this year but this is definitely worth a watch when it gets released on dvd.
Twitter Review:
I am the gore!
#GunsGuts&GoodGrief!
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343727/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqqgrUna28w
Skyfall comes next on my omissions list. Now seeing that the world and most of its relations have seen this by now there are two ways I can handle this. The professional approach that you’ll read in most places that’s informative, enlightening comes with a plethora of astute observations, or there’s the route I’m going to take that will include a trip to cheese city. So without further ado I’d just like to say that the new Q and M are a new “dench mark!” (See what I did there). And whilst I’m on the subject of M, Dame Judi actually drops the F-bomb in this film, which I believe is a first for Bond.
If you take Skyfall at face value it doesn’t work. Before the credits have even rolled he gets shot and loses the hard drive he’s looking for. He goes AWOL, fails to save the girl, loses Silva (played brilliantly by Javier Bardem) and M still dies in the end. Now even by the lowest standards set by any secret service agency, that’s P45 time in anyone’s book.
Daniel Craig has signed on the dotted line to play Bond for at least two more outings and by the time the he hits the screens again in late 2014 as the world’s most famous secret agent he’ll be as old as Roger Moore was when he started playing 007. As long as DC keeps his eyebrows under control I can see no problems with him being offered more chances to kill for Queen and Country.
Twitter Review:
The best Bond of a generation. Ignore the plot and enjoy the action.
#MI6UnderAttack,
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kw1UVovByw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StJLvbPIvTw
Next is Frankenweenie, which does exactly what it says on the tin and even throws in an invisible fish for good measure. All you need to know is that it’s a Tim Burton film and if you happen to like his particular bag of tricks, you’ll love this too.
Twitter Review:
Science experiments, monsters, gothic overtones and fantastic animation. Tim Buton remakes his own film into a B-movie classic.
#Black&WhiteGold
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142977/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2luLW-9ySw
The last film I need to play catch up with is Gambit. A charming film with Colin Firth, Alan “shoot the glass” Rickman and Cameron Diaz. The story revolves around an art curator, played by firth, who’s fed up with having to work for his insufferable, rude and abusive boss, Rickman, and so sets about conning him into buying a fake Monet with the help of an eccentric Texan rodeo rider.
The film which is written by the Coen brothers is part farce and part poor man’s Oceans 11. It never really gets its right with the script and although it does have some great comedy set pieces, it just feels a little flat and underwhelming at times.
Twitter Review:
This could have been a great film but the script needs work.
#Monet’sTiggers&RodeoRiders.
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404978/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq8LwPHBwtY
Saturday 15 December 2012
Wednesday 5 September 2012
The Expendables 2
Let me set the scene. Its 2009 and its dawning on Sylvester Stallone that his days of making money from Rambo and Rocky franchises that he has spearheaded for the last thirty years maybe behind him. So what to do next? The answer to that question was a simple one. Put together a cast of action film icons and go make the best “leave your brain at the door” film possible.
So with that as its premise and starting point Stallone went away and put together a film that he also ended up directing, which included Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lungren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke and the terminator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The film became The Expendables and basically it did exactly what it said on the tin. Lots of bang for your buck, an extremely high body count and enough blood on screen to fill about three Olympic size swimming pools.
The film, although never regarded as a classic in the grand scheme of things, made enough money for the studio behind it to start asking questions that went along the lines of “do you fancy making another one?” and “oh go on, pretty please”. Stallone, having recently checked his new and plumped up bank balance, didn’t have any issues putting the band back together and with the exception of Rourke everyone agreed to come back.
Having broken his neck in the first film Stallone and by his own admission, had taken too much on. So he decided to hand the megaphone duties over to the more than capable Simon West.
This freed Stallone up to come up with a screenplay that needed to be bigger and louder than the first. To say that he didn’t disappoint would be something of an understatement but more of that later.
With Rouke bailing on the sequel Stallone needed some new blood to join the party. Firstly he got Liam Hemsworth, who’s the younger brother of Thor for those of you not in the know. Just don’t expect to see him in the third film as and when that gets made (and it will). Then he persuaded the muscles from Brussels to sign on the dotted line. Jean-Claude Van Dam plays against type as the villain of the piece and what a job he does. Happily sending himself up at every available opportunity. The real trump card for this sequel though has to be the inclusion of Chuck Norris, who seemingly never looks like he ages at all. Norris has for a long time had a “legend” tag that he seems to follow him around and is something he appears more than happy to live up too. If you have five minutes to spare I urge you to head over to chucknorrisfacts.com . It’ll keep you amused for hours!
So let’s get back to that to that screenplay that Mr Stallone put together. The premise of the film is that JCVD is about to get his hands on six tonnes of old Russian cold war Plutonium and the CIA can't let that happen! Put simply this screenplay is appalling! It’s so far past bad it’s ridiculous. It doesn’t hold together in any way shape or form and I think the plot may have been asked to go away politely for a while whilst filming was under way. As for the filming itself, it’s preposterous. So full of continuity errors that I stopped counting after twenty minutes and it makes about as much sense as cheese socks.
That said, I LOVED IT!!! Every gloriously ham acted scene, every absurd and over the top death and illogical decision being made. I sat in the cinema for the entire duration of the film with the largest smile on my face. This may well be the first fan fiction film that has ever been green light and could also be the world’s first one star “must see” action film and although they do get far more screen time for this film it seems the only reason Bruce and Arnold were asked to come back was to commit each other’s trade mark catchphrases to celluloid with their tongue’s both fully inserted into their respective cheeks.
Given the fact that this film seems to have come up trumps and at the box office I can only imagine it’s a matter of time before Stallone receives another phone call begging for him to sit down and write another screenplay that pushes the boundaries of thought, perception and human understanding. But the problem he’ll have is this. How do you trump what’s already come before it? How do you make it bigger and better without actually turning up to the White House and saying “would you mind if we actually invaded Canada”?
And then of course there’s the other issue of who can you ask you be in it that hasn’t already been included. Other than Jackie Chan and Steven Segal there’s no other way to top the action cast list that’s already been put together. I would however suggest that if they do have a meeting where they try to come up with which actors to include, they should think outside the box a little just to keep the ideas fresh and original. An action flick that included the likes of Woody Allen, Ronnie Corbett or even Pingu is a film I’d pay to see!
Twitter Review:
Expendables 2 is a crime against film. No plot, no continuity, no point & for those exact reasons you have to go & see it!
#AMustSeeFilm
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764651/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQf3YP8p85I
So with that as its premise and starting point Stallone went away and put together a film that he also ended up directing, which included Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lungren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke and the terminator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The film became The Expendables and basically it did exactly what it said on the tin. Lots of bang for your buck, an extremely high body count and enough blood on screen to fill about three Olympic size swimming pools.
The film, although never regarded as a classic in the grand scheme of things, made enough money for the studio behind it to start asking questions that went along the lines of “do you fancy making another one?” and “oh go on, pretty please”. Stallone, having recently checked his new and plumped up bank balance, didn’t have any issues putting the band back together and with the exception of Rourke everyone agreed to come back.
Having broken his neck in the first film Stallone and by his own admission, had taken too much on. So he decided to hand the megaphone duties over to the more than capable Simon West.
This freed Stallone up to come up with a screenplay that needed to be bigger and louder than the first. To say that he didn’t disappoint would be something of an understatement but more of that later.
With Rouke bailing on the sequel Stallone needed some new blood to join the party. Firstly he got Liam Hemsworth, who’s the younger brother of Thor for those of you not in the know. Just don’t expect to see him in the third film as and when that gets made (and it will). Then he persuaded the muscles from Brussels to sign on the dotted line. Jean-Claude Van Dam plays against type as the villain of the piece and what a job he does. Happily sending himself up at every available opportunity. The real trump card for this sequel though has to be the inclusion of Chuck Norris, who seemingly never looks like he ages at all. Norris has for a long time had a “legend” tag that he seems to follow him around and is something he appears more than happy to live up too. If you have five minutes to spare I urge you to head over to chucknorrisfacts.com . It’ll keep you amused for hours!
So let’s get back to that to that screenplay that Mr Stallone put together. The premise of the film is that JCVD is about to get his hands on six tonnes of old Russian cold war Plutonium and the CIA can't let that happen! Put simply this screenplay is appalling! It’s so far past bad it’s ridiculous. It doesn’t hold together in any way shape or form and I think the plot may have been asked to go away politely for a while whilst filming was under way. As for the filming itself, it’s preposterous. So full of continuity errors that I stopped counting after twenty minutes and it makes about as much sense as cheese socks.
That said, I LOVED IT!!! Every gloriously ham acted scene, every absurd and over the top death and illogical decision being made. I sat in the cinema for the entire duration of the film with the largest smile on my face. This may well be the first fan fiction film that has ever been green light and could also be the world’s first one star “must see” action film and although they do get far more screen time for this film it seems the only reason Bruce and Arnold were asked to come back was to commit each other’s trade mark catchphrases to celluloid with their tongue’s both fully inserted into their respective cheeks.
Given the fact that this film seems to have come up trumps and at the box office I can only imagine it’s a matter of time before Stallone receives another phone call begging for him to sit down and write another screenplay that pushes the boundaries of thought, perception and human understanding. But the problem he’ll have is this. How do you trump what’s already come before it? How do you make it bigger and better without actually turning up to the White House and saying “would you mind if we actually invaded Canada”?
And then of course there’s the other issue of who can you ask you be in it that hasn’t already been included. Other than Jackie Chan and Steven Segal there’s no other way to top the action cast list that’s already been put together. I would however suggest that if they do have a meeting where they try to come up with which actors to include, they should think outside the box a little just to keep the ideas fresh and original. An action flick that included the likes of Woody Allen, Ronnie Corbett or even Pingu is a film I’d pay to see!
Twitter Review:
Expendables 2 is a crime against film. No plot, no continuity, no point & for those exact reasons you have to go & see it!
#AMustSeeFilm
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764651/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQf3YP8p85I
Monday 3 September 2012
Ted
Ted, Ted, Ted. Where do you start about a film that’s the brain child of Seth MacFarlane. The Man that brought us Family Guy, American Dad! And The Cleveland Show. Well first of all I’ll start by saying that Ted is very much a “Marmite” kind of film. You’re either going to love it or hate it. You’ll find the comedy therein spectacularly funny or you’ll just sit there looking around trying to work out why everyone else is laughing.
The Plot of the film centres around a young boy who gets given a teddy bear for Christmas when he’s eight. The boy in question has no friends and no matter how hard he tries to make new ones his alienation just gets even worse. Then one night he wishes that his Teddy could be alive so he could have someone to talk to and wouldn’t you know it, before Hollywood can say “sign here Mr MacFarlane” and add the appropriate “nights sky shooting star” effect, the bear comes to life.
Shooting forward some twenty seven years we find the boy John Bennett has grown up into a lazy and unmotivated thirty five year old. Played by the greatest living wooden actor since Pinocchio, Mark Wahlberg. The bear, which is voiced by MacFarlane, has in those twenty seven years gone from being the sweet new best buddy, wouldn’t hurt a fly, play time pal, to a foul mouthed, drug taking, beer drinking partner in crime for John. This is something that Johns girlfriend of four years Lori Collins, who is played by one of the Family Guy inner circle Mila Kunis, is starting to get rather annoyed with. Lori is fed up with lack of commitment being shown and after a series of “Ted” related incidents, which include a home full of hookers and some very bad personal hygiene an ultimatum is given.
“It’s me or the Bear!”
Ted does have some great set pieces dotted throughout the film. If you’re a child of the eighties then I think you’ll really enjoy this film. It has some great cameos from Norah Jones and Tom Skerritt. Airplane gets a mention and a doffing of its cap however if you’re a fan of the film Flash Gordon then I can’t recommend you seeing Ted enough. It’s worth the price of admission alone and may go down in history as one of the greatest homages in cinematic history. Another gem to take away from this film is a little ditty entitled “The Thunder Buddy Song”. It’s short on lyrics but high on standing up and facing your fears with regards to extreme weather. Just a quick word of warning though, it’s not really what the pc brigade would call child friendly so I wouldn’t recommend using to subdue anyone below the age of twelve the next time you’re babysitting and the heavens open. Another little added gem that’s been thrown into the mix is Patrick Stewart Narrating at the start and at the end. Very educational and he even mentions Apache Gunships. Now you don’t get that sort of information in Disney films these days.
So where does that leave us. Ted is basically Hollywood falling back and relying on the age old story of “Boy meets ted, ted comes alive, boy and ted grow up together, ted becomes semi famous, boy and ted live together, ted and boy drink too much and get stoned every time there’s a day that ends with a y, boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, girl tries to get boy to change his ways, ted has to move out, ted gets a job as a supermarket cashier to pay bills, ted has sex using a parsnip, boy and girl split up, ted is kidnapped by Giovanni Ribisi for his son, hijinks and chases ensue, (spoiler alert) boy wins girl back, (another spoiler alert) boy, girl and ted live happily ever after.
Yes I know what you’re thinking and yes we have seen that done million times before by the Hollywood film industry….. But never with Flash Gordon thrown into the mix!
In closing I’ll go back to the start and say this. Ted is really going to polarise opinions when it comes to its viewers. The only real advice I can offer is this.
If you like the film, then go and see it. If you don’t, then stay at home. Hope that helps…..
Twitter Review:
Talking Teddy Bears, Flash Gordon, The Thunder Buddy Song, Seth MacFarlane & Parsnip Sex. What's not to like!
#NotEveryonesCupOfTea
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbo_pQvU7M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9PnNW56bp0
The Plot of the film centres around a young boy who gets given a teddy bear for Christmas when he’s eight. The boy in question has no friends and no matter how hard he tries to make new ones his alienation just gets even worse. Then one night he wishes that his Teddy could be alive so he could have someone to talk to and wouldn’t you know it, before Hollywood can say “sign here Mr MacFarlane” and add the appropriate “nights sky shooting star” effect, the bear comes to life.
Shooting forward some twenty seven years we find the boy John Bennett has grown up into a lazy and unmotivated thirty five year old. Played by the greatest living wooden actor since Pinocchio, Mark Wahlberg. The bear, which is voiced by MacFarlane, has in those twenty seven years gone from being the sweet new best buddy, wouldn’t hurt a fly, play time pal, to a foul mouthed, drug taking, beer drinking partner in crime for John. This is something that Johns girlfriend of four years Lori Collins, who is played by one of the Family Guy inner circle Mila Kunis, is starting to get rather annoyed with. Lori is fed up with lack of commitment being shown and after a series of “Ted” related incidents, which include a home full of hookers and some very bad personal hygiene an ultimatum is given.
“It’s me or the Bear!”
Ted does have some great set pieces dotted throughout the film. If you’re a child of the eighties then I think you’ll really enjoy this film. It has some great cameos from Norah Jones and Tom Skerritt. Airplane gets a mention and a doffing of its cap however if you’re a fan of the film Flash Gordon then I can’t recommend you seeing Ted enough. It’s worth the price of admission alone and may go down in history as one of the greatest homages in cinematic history. Another gem to take away from this film is a little ditty entitled “The Thunder Buddy Song”. It’s short on lyrics but high on standing up and facing your fears with regards to extreme weather. Just a quick word of warning though, it’s not really what the pc brigade would call child friendly so I wouldn’t recommend using to subdue anyone below the age of twelve the next time you’re babysitting and the heavens open. Another little added gem that’s been thrown into the mix is Patrick Stewart Narrating at the start and at the end. Very educational and he even mentions Apache Gunships. Now you don’t get that sort of information in Disney films these days.
So where does that leave us. Ted is basically Hollywood falling back and relying on the age old story of “Boy meets ted, ted comes alive, boy and ted grow up together, ted becomes semi famous, boy and ted live together, ted and boy drink too much and get stoned every time there’s a day that ends with a y, boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, girl tries to get boy to change his ways, ted has to move out, ted gets a job as a supermarket cashier to pay bills, ted has sex using a parsnip, boy and girl split up, ted is kidnapped by Giovanni Ribisi for his son, hijinks and chases ensue, (spoiler alert) boy wins girl back, (another spoiler alert) boy, girl and ted live happily ever after.
Yes I know what you’re thinking and yes we have seen that done million times before by the Hollywood film industry….. But never with Flash Gordon thrown into the mix!
In closing I’ll go back to the start and say this. Ted is really going to polarise opinions when it comes to its viewers. The only real advice I can offer is this.
If you like the film, then go and see it. If you don’t, then stay at home. Hope that helps…..
Twitter Review:
Talking Teddy Bears, Flash Gordon, The Thunder Buddy Song, Seth MacFarlane & Parsnip Sex. What's not to like!
#NotEveryonesCupOfTea
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbo_pQvU7M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9PnNW56bp0
Wednesday 22 August 2012
The Bourne Legacy
“One pill makes you larger, one pill makes you small and the ones that mother gives you don’t do anything at all”. That, ladies and gentlemen, pretty much encapsulates the entire plot of the Bourne Legacy. However dear reader, as usual, I suspect that you may want more from your film blogs and analysis so I’ll “flesh it out” a bit.
Can’t have you going elsewhere for your film reviews now can I?
After the first three Bourne Films, “Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum” Universal must have had quite a few meetings that went along the lines of “wow, didn’t we do well” and “I wonder what other dead authors books we can bring to the big screen”. The reason for this glad handing and self-congratulatory patting of backs basically came down to the fact that through either dumb luck or intelligent design they’d come up with an intelligent story arc that not only held up for three films but reinvented the entire genre as well. The other piece of fate that seemed to be smiling on them was that they’d taken an actor in Matt Damon who’d won an Oscar for his screenwriting talents and turned him into not only an action star but a totally believable action star.
The spanner in the works turned up when both Damon and the director of Supremacy and Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass, said they were happy with their lot and didn’t want to make any more. Cue mildly concerned faces at Universal HQ.
The answer to the question of whether to leave well enough alone and move on was answered when Tony Gilroy asked if he could have a crack at the director’s chair if they made another film. Gilroy had earned his stripes with the Bourne franchise whilst writing the screenplays for the three previous films but had never had a Hollywood studio let him loose with the megaphone before. So, when the film was given the green light with Gilroy at the helm in the summer of 2011, it did raise a few eyebrows.
First things first, how best to describe The Bourne Legacy? Is it a sequel, a prequel or a candlestick maker? Well after much deliberation I think the tag that best fits this film would be a “Sidequel” (and if that word catches on remember where you heard it first!) The plot centres around a new hero, Aaron Cross played by Jeremy Renner who through no fault of his own, has just been put on the endangered species list due in no small part to the events that have transpired over the previous trilogy.
The Bourne Identity starts and The Bourne Ultimatum finishes with the hero of the piece in the water and that’s where we also start with Legacy. Having been sent to Alaska for what basically turns out to be a slap across the knuckles, Aaron Cross is on what could only be described as an extreme orienteering jaunt with some survival skills practice thrown in for good measure. Having reached his destination at the back end of beyond, Cross finds himself sharing a cabin with another who’s had “could do better” written on his super secret agent report card.
We are then given a rather complicated back story which goes into some detail about how these characters have become the best of the best. Training will only get you so far it seems and every asset out in the field is required to take blue and green pills to keep them at the top of their game. These pills and their taking them become the plot device for the rest of the film, which I think is a shame. In much the same way that George Lucas decided to make the “Force” a quantifiable and measurable item the last three Star Wars films I think having the main character reliant on pills and chemicals somehow removes some of the wow factor from it. You always want to know how the magician does the trick and pulls off the impossible but once you’ve been shown how it’s done it’s never quite the same.
Back at the cabin things then take a turn for the worse when those pesky CIA types, led by Edward Norton’s Eric Byer send an unmanned drone to blow it up. Realising that something is “amiss” Cross then heads off to find more pills and some answers from his employers. Whilst this is happening we, the viewer, are shown other secret agent getting their comeuppance. It seems that Jason Bourne really knows how to spoil a party!
The other main protagonist of the films is played by another Oscar winner Rachel Weisz (the current Mrs James Bond) but her acting talents are largely wasted here. She spends most of the movie playing a generic “Damsel in distress” and even though she’s given brains and intelligence she’s very rarely allowed to let them out of the box. The other issue here is that Renner and Wise don’t share any screen time together until we’re about an hour into the film. I also got the feeling that it was only going to be a matter of time before Cross uttered the immortal Schwarzenegger line “come with me if you want to live”.
Weisz character is Dr Marta Shearing, who just happens to be responsible for creating the blue and green pills but as luck would have it the closest available source for these “Happy Haribo’s” just happens to be a short plane ride away in the Philippines. Cue some very dodgy disguises and home made passports that wouldn’t look out of place in an amateur dramatics production of Cluedo.
Once they’ve arrived on the other side of the Pacific there are a couple of good action set pieces but they do really leave you wanting more.
I think the main problem with this film is that in order for it to work it needs to be treated on its own merits and values but given the three films that came before it that is never going to happen. The bar was raised to a very high level by its predecessors and no amount of new cast and new direction is ever going to change that. We spend the first fifty minutes of The Bourne Legacy being reminded of Jason Bourne and his films and even though you’ve seen those already you find yourself wanting to watch those instead and not wanting to spend the emotional investment on Legacy. Rachel Weisz’s character has the last line of the film where she says “I was hoping we were lost”. Well I can safely say that I think the viewing audience may well be missing in action.
Twitter Review:
Legacy doesn't raise the bar or offer anything we haven't seen before. Characters come don't develop or snap into focus.
#BourneYourTimeIsUp
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSzy9qQ3mDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtUdEoE-Q4&feature=relmfu
Can’t have you going elsewhere for your film reviews now can I?
After the first three Bourne Films, “Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum” Universal must have had quite a few meetings that went along the lines of “wow, didn’t we do well” and “I wonder what other dead authors books we can bring to the big screen”. The reason for this glad handing and self-congratulatory patting of backs basically came down to the fact that through either dumb luck or intelligent design they’d come up with an intelligent story arc that not only held up for three films but reinvented the entire genre as well. The other piece of fate that seemed to be smiling on them was that they’d taken an actor in Matt Damon who’d won an Oscar for his screenwriting talents and turned him into not only an action star but a totally believable action star.
The spanner in the works turned up when both Damon and the director of Supremacy and Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass, said they were happy with their lot and didn’t want to make any more. Cue mildly concerned faces at Universal HQ.
The answer to the question of whether to leave well enough alone and move on was answered when Tony Gilroy asked if he could have a crack at the director’s chair if they made another film. Gilroy had earned his stripes with the Bourne franchise whilst writing the screenplays for the three previous films but had never had a Hollywood studio let him loose with the megaphone before. So, when the film was given the green light with Gilroy at the helm in the summer of 2011, it did raise a few eyebrows.
First things first, how best to describe The Bourne Legacy? Is it a sequel, a prequel or a candlestick maker? Well after much deliberation I think the tag that best fits this film would be a “Sidequel” (and if that word catches on remember where you heard it first!) The plot centres around a new hero, Aaron Cross played by Jeremy Renner who through no fault of his own, has just been put on the endangered species list due in no small part to the events that have transpired over the previous trilogy.
The Bourne Identity starts and The Bourne Ultimatum finishes with the hero of the piece in the water and that’s where we also start with Legacy. Having been sent to Alaska for what basically turns out to be a slap across the knuckles, Aaron Cross is on what could only be described as an extreme orienteering jaunt with some survival skills practice thrown in for good measure. Having reached his destination at the back end of beyond, Cross finds himself sharing a cabin with another who’s had “could do better” written on his super secret agent report card.
We are then given a rather complicated back story which goes into some detail about how these characters have become the best of the best. Training will only get you so far it seems and every asset out in the field is required to take blue and green pills to keep them at the top of their game. These pills and their taking them become the plot device for the rest of the film, which I think is a shame. In much the same way that George Lucas decided to make the “Force” a quantifiable and measurable item the last three Star Wars films I think having the main character reliant on pills and chemicals somehow removes some of the wow factor from it. You always want to know how the magician does the trick and pulls off the impossible but once you’ve been shown how it’s done it’s never quite the same.
Back at the cabin things then take a turn for the worse when those pesky CIA types, led by Edward Norton’s Eric Byer send an unmanned drone to blow it up. Realising that something is “amiss” Cross then heads off to find more pills and some answers from his employers. Whilst this is happening we, the viewer, are shown other secret agent getting their comeuppance. It seems that Jason Bourne really knows how to spoil a party!
The other main protagonist of the films is played by another Oscar winner Rachel Weisz (the current Mrs James Bond) but her acting talents are largely wasted here. She spends most of the movie playing a generic “Damsel in distress” and even though she’s given brains and intelligence she’s very rarely allowed to let them out of the box. The other issue here is that Renner and Wise don’t share any screen time together until we’re about an hour into the film. I also got the feeling that it was only going to be a matter of time before Cross uttered the immortal Schwarzenegger line “come with me if you want to live”.
Weisz character is Dr Marta Shearing, who just happens to be responsible for creating the blue and green pills but as luck would have it the closest available source for these “Happy Haribo’s” just happens to be a short plane ride away in the Philippines. Cue some very dodgy disguises and home made passports that wouldn’t look out of place in an amateur dramatics production of Cluedo.
Once they’ve arrived on the other side of the Pacific there are a couple of good action set pieces but they do really leave you wanting more.
I think the main problem with this film is that in order for it to work it needs to be treated on its own merits and values but given the three films that came before it that is never going to happen. The bar was raised to a very high level by its predecessors and no amount of new cast and new direction is ever going to change that. We spend the first fifty minutes of The Bourne Legacy being reminded of Jason Bourne and his films and even though you’ve seen those already you find yourself wanting to watch those instead and not wanting to spend the emotional investment on Legacy. Rachel Weisz’s character has the last line of the film where she says “I was hoping we were lost”. Well I can safely say that I think the viewing audience may well be missing in action.
Twitter Review:
Legacy doesn't raise the bar or offer anything we haven't seen before. Characters come don't develop or snap into focus.
#BourneYourTimeIsUp
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSzy9qQ3mDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtUdEoE-Q4&feature=relmfu
Thursday 26 July 2012
The Dark Knight Rises
Are you siting comfortably? Good, then I shall begin.
There was a time, an eight year period, from 1997 to 2005 when anyone working for Warner Brothers would have been hung, drawn & quartered for even daring to whisper one word. A word that was deemed so abhorrent and vulgar that it could have not only dispatched the unlucky someone who uttered it to the unemployment line. It would have also certainly cost them a pound of flesh, their soul and their Blockbuster video membership card. What word could provoke such a harsh reaction I hear you ask? What utterance could have been responsible for having someone publicly shunned, pointed at and HR asking for their desk to be cleared? No not “Belgium”, not even a word spoken by the loose lipped, devil may care hard core types. The sort of people that wouldn’t even think twice about using the word “flange” in conversation would baulk at using this word within earshot of the general populous. This two syllable word was beyond the pale, never to be spoken without first checking over your shoulder and making sure the coast was clear.
The word in question is Batman….
So how did this come to pass? How did we end up with a franchise that had George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman to name but a few had in its last film and it have been regarded as a failure? There are two simple reasons for this a far as I can tell. Firstly it was the only Batman film that failed to recoup its budget at the box office. Secondly and I hope I don’t lose anyone here with terminology or by being too geeky or in depth, it was shit.
Tim Burton’s first Batman outing back in 1999 been seen by most as an “Event” film and Jack Nicolson as the Joker had been inspired casting. The problem was that the bar had been raised and set to a very high standard and the three films that came after just seemed to be progressively inferior from the film it followed. The casting of George Clooney as Bruce Wayne in Batman’s forth film outing had “sure thing” written all over it. He was riding high on the crest of a popularity wave, due in no small part to his success on ER. How could he not pull the job off as the Caped Crusader? Good looks, chiselled jaw and his CV was faultless. How can anyone who’s been asked to commit to celluloid the following line of dialogue “That’s the bravest thing I’ve ever seen a tomato do” (IMDB 1988, look it up) not be right for the part!
However flop it did and with some style. There’s a line from Batman & Robin spoken by Mr Schwarzenegger where he says “A freeze is coming”. It was quite prophetic as it would be nearly a decade before anyone was allowed to take Gotham’s finest out of the fridge.
Credit must go in some small part to the heroic employee of Warner’s who thought that the time could have been right to bring Batman back. It was never going to be an easy sell but thankfully someone bought into the idea. In late 2003 enquiries were made to find a prospective director to reboot the Batman franchise and thankfully a man was found who had an original idea on how to do it. An up and coming British director who had had critical and more importantly I suspect for Warner’s, Box Office success with Memento and Insomnia came up with a premise that had never been dealt with before. Why not make Batman real? Instead of transporting us to his universe why not base him in ours. Ground him in reality and use real cities not sound stages as the backdrop for the story. This stroke of genius was the premise for which the now completed trilogy was based and it worked to perfection.
For those not in the know and to bring everyone up to speed and singing from the same hymn sheet I will give I quick rundown of the first two films and how we got to the start of “The Dark Knight Rises”. The First film, “Batman Begins” Has an English Director, Christopher Nolan. A Welsh Batman, Christian Bale and two Villains played by Irishmen, Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy. It is what the “Kids on the street” would describe as “Top Banana” and also introduced the world to the coolest Batmobile the silver screen had ever witnessed. The second film again has the same English Director and if you will a “Taffy” Batman but this time they threw in a rather good Australian thespian to play the quintessential bad guy “The Joker”, Heath Ledger. A role that he was so good in that it earned him an posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor. A first for a film based on a comic book and I would speculate an accomplishment that will be a long time in equalling.
The Dark Knight Rises starts eight years after the climactic finale of last film, The Dark Knight and See’s Bruce Wayne as a broken man and a self-exiled recluse. His Alter ego Batman has taken the fall for Harvey “Two Face” Dents crimes, an act that he commits for the greater good and to keep the streets of Gotham safe, Bruce spends his days wandering around the recently rebuilt Wayne Manor with his only contact with the outside world being is his ever faithful butler Alfred, played by Michael “Charlie Croker” Caine. The only other resident of Gotham who is aware of the sacrifices Batman has made is Police Commissioner Gorden, portrayed by Gary Oldman. Gorden is racked with guilt and has had trouble with his conscious keeping this secret covered up. However on the eighth anniversary of Dents death Commissioner Gorden attends a party at Wayne manor where he intends to read a speech he has written revealing the true facts about that fateful night.
This party is where we are given our first glimpse of Selina Kyle, Anne Hathaway. Who’s there with her own personal agenda, theft and from what we are shown she’s very good at it. From the very first to the very last the Cat Burglar steals most of the scene’s she’s in. Although Interestingly Ms Kyle is never referred to as Catwoman by any other character throughout the entire film.
Where do you even start with The Caped Crusader adversary Bane? He has never been the main villain of a Batman film before and only those of you who have read the DC comics would probably even be aware of Banes existence prior to this film. There was always going to be a lot of speculation about how Christopher Nolan was going to top the performance that Heath Ledger gave in the last film. What character was he going to use and who would play them? Most people, myself included had the Riddler down as the next Gotham ASBO friendly citizen. As I mentioned earlier there has always been a sense of realism about these stories and I think The Penguin may just have been the bridge to far. So when Bane was announced as the outlaw that would finish the trilogy off back in early 2011 the next big question was who would play him? The easy thing to do would have been to get someone from The MMA world (Mixed Martial Arts for those not in the know). Someone who already knew how to be physical and has the body to go with it but to Nolans credit he hired an Actor to play the part, Tom Hardy. This was inspired casting. Tom’s Bane is brutal and every equal to Batman mentally and superior to him in strength, agility and hand to hand combat. The First time Batman and Bane encounter each other is in Gotham’s sewers and Bane’s treatment of Batman is both ruthless and ferocious, ending in Batman’s “total” defeat.
Then there’s the voice. Much had been made of the unintelligible voice Bane had when The Dark Knight Rises prologue was released last year, attached to the start of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Work has obviously been done in some form or another as when Bane speaks it’s now clear and with purpose. Not only that but he gets given some imposing dialogue too. “Let the games begin” is spoken as though it’s being delivered at a packed coliseum with its occupants baying for blood.
I won’t give too much of the rest of the story away as there’s no real way to do it without heading over to a little town I know called “spoilerville” but I will say this. The Dark Knight Rises clocks in at an impressive two hours and forty five minutes long but it won’t feel like you’ve been parking your posterior in a cinema seat that long at all. This film is stunning in its action and in its narrative. The set pieces alone are worth the price of admission. Just a quick note to say that if the purse strings allow it this film should be seen on an IMAX screen. Nolan shot over an hour’s worth of footage using IMAX cameras and it shows. It’s the equivalent of HD for the cinema and even though the technology for it has been around nearly forty years, nothing else even comes close to it.
As with most films I do have a few niggles with some of the plot but without going into detail I can’t really justify my arguments here. I will say this though, once you’ve seen the film ask yourself these questions. Why do ALL of Gotham’s Police Force (Including every single officer who’s off duty) conveniently go underground? How does Bane eat and am I the only person who thinks that the ending has similarities to The Avengers???
So where does Batman go from here? Director Christopher Nolan has been quite clear along with several other actors in the series in saying that this is the last film in the Bruce Wayne chronicles and I believe he won’t be back behind the camera in Gotham again. However the previous two films made just south of 1.4 Billion at the box office and The Dark Knight Rises has just had the biggest ever opening for an non 3D film in history at 165 Million. So Warner Brother will not be scared to utter the B-word with their hallowed corridors anytime soon. What form Batman’s return takes, whether it’s in the mooted Justice League film, a reboot or even someone brave enough to try and continue the current story on from where it’s been left, one thing is certain. It won’t be eight years before Bruce Wayne and Batman grace the big screen again….
Twitter review:
Dramatic & Spectacular ending to the Nolan Gotham stories. The most consistent Superhero trilogy committed to film.
#TheDarkKnightRose
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8evyE9TuYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk2IteR2QxQ
There was a time, an eight year period, from 1997 to 2005 when anyone working for Warner Brothers would have been hung, drawn & quartered for even daring to whisper one word. A word that was deemed so abhorrent and vulgar that it could have not only dispatched the unlucky someone who uttered it to the unemployment line. It would have also certainly cost them a pound of flesh, their soul and their Blockbuster video membership card. What word could provoke such a harsh reaction I hear you ask? What utterance could have been responsible for having someone publicly shunned, pointed at and HR asking for their desk to be cleared? No not “Belgium”, not even a word spoken by the loose lipped, devil may care hard core types. The sort of people that wouldn’t even think twice about using the word “flange” in conversation would baulk at using this word within earshot of the general populous. This two syllable word was beyond the pale, never to be spoken without first checking over your shoulder and making sure the coast was clear.
The word in question is Batman….
So how did this come to pass? How did we end up with a franchise that had George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman to name but a few had in its last film and it have been regarded as a failure? There are two simple reasons for this a far as I can tell. Firstly it was the only Batman film that failed to recoup its budget at the box office. Secondly and I hope I don’t lose anyone here with terminology or by being too geeky or in depth, it was shit.
Tim Burton’s first Batman outing back in 1999 been seen by most as an “Event” film and Jack Nicolson as the Joker had been inspired casting. The problem was that the bar had been raised and set to a very high standard and the three films that came after just seemed to be progressively inferior from the film it followed. The casting of George Clooney as Bruce Wayne in Batman’s forth film outing had “sure thing” written all over it. He was riding high on the crest of a popularity wave, due in no small part to his success on ER. How could he not pull the job off as the Caped Crusader? Good looks, chiselled jaw and his CV was faultless. How can anyone who’s been asked to commit to celluloid the following line of dialogue “That’s the bravest thing I’ve ever seen a tomato do” (IMDB 1988, look it up) not be right for the part!
However flop it did and with some style. There’s a line from Batman & Robin spoken by Mr Schwarzenegger where he says “A freeze is coming”. It was quite prophetic as it would be nearly a decade before anyone was allowed to take Gotham’s finest out of the fridge.
Credit must go in some small part to the heroic employee of Warner’s who thought that the time could have been right to bring Batman back. It was never going to be an easy sell but thankfully someone bought into the idea. In late 2003 enquiries were made to find a prospective director to reboot the Batman franchise and thankfully a man was found who had an original idea on how to do it. An up and coming British director who had had critical and more importantly I suspect for Warner’s, Box Office success with Memento and Insomnia came up with a premise that had never been dealt with before. Why not make Batman real? Instead of transporting us to his universe why not base him in ours. Ground him in reality and use real cities not sound stages as the backdrop for the story. This stroke of genius was the premise for which the now completed trilogy was based and it worked to perfection.
For those not in the know and to bring everyone up to speed and singing from the same hymn sheet I will give I quick rundown of the first two films and how we got to the start of “The Dark Knight Rises”. The First film, “Batman Begins” Has an English Director, Christopher Nolan. A Welsh Batman, Christian Bale and two Villains played by Irishmen, Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy. It is what the “Kids on the street” would describe as “Top Banana” and also introduced the world to the coolest Batmobile the silver screen had ever witnessed. The second film again has the same English Director and if you will a “Taffy” Batman but this time they threw in a rather good Australian thespian to play the quintessential bad guy “The Joker”, Heath Ledger. A role that he was so good in that it earned him an posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor. A first for a film based on a comic book and I would speculate an accomplishment that will be a long time in equalling.
The Dark Knight Rises starts eight years after the climactic finale of last film, The Dark Knight and See’s Bruce Wayne as a broken man and a self-exiled recluse. His Alter ego Batman has taken the fall for Harvey “Two Face” Dents crimes, an act that he commits for the greater good and to keep the streets of Gotham safe, Bruce spends his days wandering around the recently rebuilt Wayne Manor with his only contact with the outside world being is his ever faithful butler Alfred, played by Michael “Charlie Croker” Caine. The only other resident of Gotham who is aware of the sacrifices Batman has made is Police Commissioner Gorden, portrayed by Gary Oldman. Gorden is racked with guilt and has had trouble with his conscious keeping this secret covered up. However on the eighth anniversary of Dents death Commissioner Gorden attends a party at Wayne manor where he intends to read a speech he has written revealing the true facts about that fateful night.
This party is where we are given our first glimpse of Selina Kyle, Anne Hathaway. Who’s there with her own personal agenda, theft and from what we are shown she’s very good at it. From the very first to the very last the Cat Burglar steals most of the scene’s she’s in. Although Interestingly Ms Kyle is never referred to as Catwoman by any other character throughout the entire film.
Where do you even start with The Caped Crusader adversary Bane? He has never been the main villain of a Batman film before and only those of you who have read the DC comics would probably even be aware of Banes existence prior to this film. There was always going to be a lot of speculation about how Christopher Nolan was going to top the performance that Heath Ledger gave in the last film. What character was he going to use and who would play them? Most people, myself included had the Riddler down as the next Gotham ASBO friendly citizen. As I mentioned earlier there has always been a sense of realism about these stories and I think The Penguin may just have been the bridge to far. So when Bane was announced as the outlaw that would finish the trilogy off back in early 2011 the next big question was who would play him? The easy thing to do would have been to get someone from The MMA world (Mixed Martial Arts for those not in the know). Someone who already knew how to be physical and has the body to go with it but to Nolans credit he hired an Actor to play the part, Tom Hardy. This was inspired casting. Tom’s Bane is brutal and every equal to Batman mentally and superior to him in strength, agility and hand to hand combat. The First time Batman and Bane encounter each other is in Gotham’s sewers and Bane’s treatment of Batman is both ruthless and ferocious, ending in Batman’s “total” defeat.
Then there’s the voice. Much had been made of the unintelligible voice Bane had when The Dark Knight Rises prologue was released last year, attached to the start of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Work has obviously been done in some form or another as when Bane speaks it’s now clear and with purpose. Not only that but he gets given some imposing dialogue too. “Let the games begin” is spoken as though it’s being delivered at a packed coliseum with its occupants baying for blood.
I won’t give too much of the rest of the story away as there’s no real way to do it without heading over to a little town I know called “spoilerville” but I will say this. The Dark Knight Rises clocks in at an impressive two hours and forty five minutes long but it won’t feel like you’ve been parking your posterior in a cinema seat that long at all. This film is stunning in its action and in its narrative. The set pieces alone are worth the price of admission. Just a quick note to say that if the purse strings allow it this film should be seen on an IMAX screen. Nolan shot over an hour’s worth of footage using IMAX cameras and it shows. It’s the equivalent of HD for the cinema and even though the technology for it has been around nearly forty years, nothing else even comes close to it.
As with most films I do have a few niggles with some of the plot but without going into detail I can’t really justify my arguments here. I will say this though, once you’ve seen the film ask yourself these questions. Why do ALL of Gotham’s Police Force (Including every single officer who’s off duty) conveniently go underground? How does Bane eat and am I the only person who thinks that the ending has similarities to The Avengers???
So where does Batman go from here? Director Christopher Nolan has been quite clear along with several other actors in the series in saying that this is the last film in the Bruce Wayne chronicles and I believe he won’t be back behind the camera in Gotham again. However the previous two films made just south of 1.4 Billion at the box office and The Dark Knight Rises has just had the biggest ever opening for an non 3D film in history at 165 Million. So Warner Brother will not be scared to utter the B-word with their hallowed corridors anytime soon. What form Batman’s return takes, whether it’s in the mooted Justice League film, a reboot or even someone brave enough to try and continue the current story on from where it’s been left, one thing is certain. It won’t be eight years before Bruce Wayne and Batman grace the big screen again….
Twitter review:
Dramatic & Spectacular ending to the Nolan Gotham stories. The most consistent Superhero trilogy committed to film.
#TheDarkKnightRose
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8evyE9TuYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk2IteR2QxQ
Tuesday 17 July 2012
The Amazing Spider-Man
Ten summers ago Sam Rami brought us his interpretation of Marvels Spider-Man universe with Toby Maguire as the geeky and quintessential web slinger. It was perfect bubble gum superhero fare. It ticked several boxes and with the two sequels that followed the franchise took over two and a half billion dollars. So the question that needs to be asked is this. Do we really want, need & require a reboot so soon?
To answer that question you need to know why it was even considered in the first place. The third and last Spider-Man film released in 2007 was a very clumsy affair. Filled with too many villains and a script that never really captured the audience’s attention in the way the first two films had. It was pretty much panned by critics across the board as being lacklustre, overcrowded and devoid of emotional investment. However it does go to show that we, the paying movie goers are a fickle bunch, as the third film had the highest box office take of all three.
That still doesn’t really explain why the powers that be decided to go back to square one with this A-List comic book character. There were a plethora of unresolved plot points left up in the air from the previous film that they could have chosen to run with. Also if they’d had the foresight to see how big the Avengers film was going to be and been quick off the mark they could have asked very nicely if “good old spidey” could have come and played with them instead.
I think the main reason for the reboot lies in the fact that Sam Rami walked away from the director’s chair and was very closely followed by Mr Maguire about forty eight hours later. Columbia Pictures may have gotten cold feet with the idea of someone else playing Peter Parker and given the problems that Warner Brothers had with three different actors playing Batman over four films during the nineties I can’t say that I’m surprised with the decision.
So then, back to this new incarnation. The film starts with Peter Parker being given by his mother and father to his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, played by Martin Sheen & Sally Field respectively, to be looked after. We the audience are never given the reason why Peter’s parents do this but from what we are shown, it seems to be very much a case of pack quickly and get the hell out of dodge.
Jumping forward about twelve years or so, we are introduced to Peter in his late teens at High School. Unlike the previous three Rami films Peter is never really portrayed as a teenager with issues. He doesn’t seem to have any worries, he always has perfect hair (not jealous, honest) and he doesn’t appear to be bullied in any way shape or form. In fact it’s his decision to stand up to the school “Jock” that causes the only High school dispute we see. Peter does get entangled in another fight on the subway later on but this is a very clumsy affair and it’s almost pitched at the viewers as farce. Just think Mr Bean meets the fight scene from Bridget Jones and you wouldn’t be too far wide of the mark.
As the film moves on and Peter gets ever closer to the inevitable “bite” I found myself thinking that New York has become a lot smaller than I remember. For example, there is a theory that states that everyone is connected to everyone else by “six degrees of separation”. In this film you’d be forgiven for considering that it was two or three at the most. Peter’s love interest is Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, who just happens to be the daughter of the Chief of Police, portrayed by Dennis Leary. She also happens to be the assistant to the main bad guy Dr Curt Connors, who is hammed up to perfection by Rhys Ifans. Now I do understand that characters in a film have to know and communicate with each other but this just seems to be a bit too easy and is borderline lazy when it comes to the story. As I writing this I’ve just had a flashback to Disney’s “it’s a small world after all” ride and that dear reader is something a film should never ever be able to do.
So, the day comes when Peter goes to see Gwen at work, for reasons that never really become clear and wouldn’t you know it he happens to stumble across the only room full of genetically altered spiders within a thousand mile radius and before you can say “plot point” he gets bitten by one of them. Now it’s never really made clear what these spiders are doing in this room. From the few visual clues that are available I would have to surmise that they were either all weaving a very nice intricate rug or possibly looking for the Higgs Boson particle. Hopefully more light will be shed on this in the sequel.
Once Peter has started his journey down the “arachnid road” he soon realises that with his new found skills and abilities he can make a difference in the city and get results that the cops can’t whilst they work within the law. However as vigilantes have gotten a bad rap over the last decade Peter decides that a costume will be required to maintain his anonymity and so sets about designing one. The inspiration for the final outfit comes from him falling through a roof and landing in a wrestling ring, where he sees a poster of a masked man. (You can almost see the light bulb above his head when he first sets his eyes on it). However my main problem with this is Peter manages to put together an immaculate, perfectly fitting, crime fighting uniform that is not only seamless but also looks like it costs north of ten thousand dollars.
Which leads me on to sunny point Number two. For some reason, logic notwithstanding, Peter seems to have this annoying habit of taking his mask off at the drop of a hat. Now I don’t claim to be an expert of superhero dos and don’ts but I guessing somewhere one page one of the rule book is a sentence or three that covers the importance of secrecy and concealment. Mr Parker seems to be more than happy to de-mask every time he meets someone breathing in and out. I wouldn’t mind betting that he has an instagram account dedicated to just such occasions. Apart From Lois Lane, who must go down as the worst investigative journalist in history as she can’t seem to spot the difference between someone wearing glasses and not wearing glasses, it must surely be of critical importance that you must maintain your secret identity. You’d never catch Batman popping off his cowl in public. No siree bob!
Which brings me back to the main villain of the piece, Dr Curt Connors. A one armed scientist who used to work with Peter's father and may or may not have something to do with Peter's parents disappearance. There is nothing wrong with the way Rhys Ifans plays the part but there may well be problems with the way it’s written. After taking a serum that Peter has played a part in developing, our one armed man (no, not the one from the fugitive) turns into a lizard. The problem with this is that our reptilian bad guy doesn’t actually look that scary or menacing. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was a deleted scene where he sings “It’s not easy being green”. As the Lizard he wouldn’t look out of place in a Mario game and it’s never easy to buy into the fact that New York is in danger because of him. Another problem that seems to be glossed over is how a one armed man on the run from the police and Spider-Man seems to be able to set up and underground base in the sewer system of Manhattan whist A, doing it on his own and B, not being spotted. Again I can only hope that this little nugget of information is given to us in the sequel, set for release in the summer of 2014.
I’ll finish by saying this. This is more a story about Peter Parker than it is of Spider-Man, regardless of how “Amazing” he is. It’s more about connections and relationships than it is about special effects and bang for your buck. This film does contain some of the best 3D seen on screen since Avatar but you never really get the feeling that it’s being used to drive the narrative forward properly. It does however have the best Stan Lee cameo that I’ve ever had the privilege to see in a Marvel film and there have been a lot.
It may appear that I’m being too hard on Mark Webb and his film and that I’m expecting too much from it. It is after all a superhero movie not Citizen Kane. Maybe it should be OK to walk into a cinema knowing that you can leave your brain at the door for two hours and just sit back and be entertained. The problem with this is that I do want more from my blockbuster movies these days. The bar has been raised with The Dark Knight and The Avengers, both of which took over a billions dollars themselves. I see no reason why studios shouldn’t be willing to invest as much time into the story and script as they are with the CGI and merchandising spin offs.
Twitter Review
The Amazing Spider-Man doesn't fall flat on its face but only because he has a web as a safety net.
#spiders,lizards&masks,ohmy
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpKPiHYJc54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16AwVWvjQhY
To answer that question you need to know why it was even considered in the first place. The third and last Spider-Man film released in 2007 was a very clumsy affair. Filled with too many villains and a script that never really captured the audience’s attention in the way the first two films had. It was pretty much panned by critics across the board as being lacklustre, overcrowded and devoid of emotional investment. However it does go to show that we, the paying movie goers are a fickle bunch, as the third film had the highest box office take of all three.
That still doesn’t really explain why the powers that be decided to go back to square one with this A-List comic book character. There were a plethora of unresolved plot points left up in the air from the previous film that they could have chosen to run with. Also if they’d had the foresight to see how big the Avengers film was going to be and been quick off the mark they could have asked very nicely if “good old spidey” could have come and played with them instead.
I think the main reason for the reboot lies in the fact that Sam Rami walked away from the director’s chair and was very closely followed by Mr Maguire about forty eight hours later. Columbia Pictures may have gotten cold feet with the idea of someone else playing Peter Parker and given the problems that Warner Brothers had with three different actors playing Batman over four films during the nineties I can’t say that I’m surprised with the decision.
So then, back to this new incarnation. The film starts with Peter Parker being given by his mother and father to his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, played by Martin Sheen & Sally Field respectively, to be looked after. We the audience are never given the reason why Peter’s parents do this but from what we are shown, it seems to be very much a case of pack quickly and get the hell out of dodge.
Jumping forward about twelve years or so, we are introduced to Peter in his late teens at High School. Unlike the previous three Rami films Peter is never really portrayed as a teenager with issues. He doesn’t seem to have any worries, he always has perfect hair (not jealous, honest) and he doesn’t appear to be bullied in any way shape or form. In fact it’s his decision to stand up to the school “Jock” that causes the only High school dispute we see. Peter does get entangled in another fight on the subway later on but this is a very clumsy affair and it’s almost pitched at the viewers as farce. Just think Mr Bean meets the fight scene from Bridget Jones and you wouldn’t be too far wide of the mark.
As the film moves on and Peter gets ever closer to the inevitable “bite” I found myself thinking that New York has become a lot smaller than I remember. For example, there is a theory that states that everyone is connected to everyone else by “six degrees of separation”. In this film you’d be forgiven for considering that it was two or three at the most. Peter’s love interest is Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, who just happens to be the daughter of the Chief of Police, portrayed by Dennis Leary. She also happens to be the assistant to the main bad guy Dr Curt Connors, who is hammed up to perfection by Rhys Ifans. Now I do understand that characters in a film have to know and communicate with each other but this just seems to be a bit too easy and is borderline lazy when it comes to the story. As I writing this I’ve just had a flashback to Disney’s “it’s a small world after all” ride and that dear reader is something a film should never ever be able to do.
So, the day comes when Peter goes to see Gwen at work, for reasons that never really become clear and wouldn’t you know it he happens to stumble across the only room full of genetically altered spiders within a thousand mile radius and before you can say “plot point” he gets bitten by one of them. Now it’s never really made clear what these spiders are doing in this room. From the few visual clues that are available I would have to surmise that they were either all weaving a very nice intricate rug or possibly looking for the Higgs Boson particle. Hopefully more light will be shed on this in the sequel.
Once Peter has started his journey down the “arachnid road” he soon realises that with his new found skills and abilities he can make a difference in the city and get results that the cops can’t whilst they work within the law. However as vigilantes have gotten a bad rap over the last decade Peter decides that a costume will be required to maintain his anonymity and so sets about designing one. The inspiration for the final outfit comes from him falling through a roof and landing in a wrestling ring, where he sees a poster of a masked man. (You can almost see the light bulb above his head when he first sets his eyes on it). However my main problem with this is Peter manages to put together an immaculate, perfectly fitting, crime fighting uniform that is not only seamless but also looks like it costs north of ten thousand dollars.
Which leads me on to sunny point Number two. For some reason, logic notwithstanding, Peter seems to have this annoying habit of taking his mask off at the drop of a hat. Now I don’t claim to be an expert of superhero dos and don’ts but I guessing somewhere one page one of the rule book is a sentence or three that covers the importance of secrecy and concealment. Mr Parker seems to be more than happy to de-mask every time he meets someone breathing in and out. I wouldn’t mind betting that he has an instagram account dedicated to just such occasions. Apart From Lois Lane, who must go down as the worst investigative journalist in history as she can’t seem to spot the difference between someone wearing glasses and not wearing glasses, it must surely be of critical importance that you must maintain your secret identity. You’d never catch Batman popping off his cowl in public. No siree bob!
Which brings me back to the main villain of the piece, Dr Curt Connors. A one armed scientist who used to work with Peter's father and may or may not have something to do with Peter's parents disappearance. There is nothing wrong with the way Rhys Ifans plays the part but there may well be problems with the way it’s written. After taking a serum that Peter has played a part in developing, our one armed man (no, not the one from the fugitive) turns into a lizard. The problem with this is that our reptilian bad guy doesn’t actually look that scary or menacing. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was a deleted scene where he sings “It’s not easy being green”. As the Lizard he wouldn’t look out of place in a Mario game and it’s never easy to buy into the fact that New York is in danger because of him. Another problem that seems to be glossed over is how a one armed man on the run from the police and Spider-Man seems to be able to set up and underground base in the sewer system of Manhattan whist A, doing it on his own and B, not being spotted. Again I can only hope that this little nugget of information is given to us in the sequel, set for release in the summer of 2014.
I’ll finish by saying this. This is more a story about Peter Parker than it is of Spider-Man, regardless of how “Amazing” he is. It’s more about connections and relationships than it is about special effects and bang for your buck. This film does contain some of the best 3D seen on screen since Avatar but you never really get the feeling that it’s being used to drive the narrative forward properly. It does however have the best Stan Lee cameo that I’ve ever had the privilege to see in a Marvel film and there have been a lot.
It may appear that I’m being too hard on Mark Webb and his film and that I’m expecting too much from it. It is after all a superhero movie not Citizen Kane. Maybe it should be OK to walk into a cinema knowing that you can leave your brain at the door for two hours and just sit back and be entertained. The problem with this is that I do want more from my blockbuster movies these days. The bar has been raised with The Dark Knight and The Avengers, both of which took over a billions dollars themselves. I see no reason why studios shouldn’t be willing to invest as much time into the story and script as they are with the CGI and merchandising spin offs.
Twitter Review
The Amazing Spider-Man doesn't fall flat on its face but only because he has a web as a safety net.
#spiders,lizards&masks,ohmy
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpKPiHYJc54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16AwVWvjQhY
Thursday 5 July 2012
The Usual Suspects
I’d like to start by inviting you to join me on a trip. A journey that will take us back in time to a world that seemed far more innocent and carefree than the one we currently inhabit. A world that has yet to see an iPhone. A world that is blissfully unaware of the Reality TV juggernaut that is currently hurtling towards it and dear reader, a world that has yet to see the destruction of the Star Wars franchise.
The voyage that we are about to embark on will require no passports, malaria jabs or packing suitcases on your part. No hitchhiking on a passing TARDIS and will not be cancelled due to any volcanic ash cloud, regardless of whatever size it happens to be. Just sit back, relax and think of master criminals…
The year is 1995 and this is the story of The Usual Suspects.
In 1993 three friends John Ottman, Christopher McQuarrie and Bryan Singer made a film called Public Access together. John covered the Score and Editing, Christopher was the Screenwriter and Bryan the Director. Although this film didn’t get much in the way of good reviews or break any box office records it did put them on the map and get them noticed. So much so that when Kevin Spacey met Bryan Singer after the films release he told him he wanted to be in his next movie.
Christopher McQuarrie then went away and started to work on some ideas he’d been having which had been inspired by a magazine article he had read called “The Usual Suspects”. After several drafts Christopher took his screen play back to Bryan and the rest as they say is history.
In a year that brought us such celluloid classics as Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart”, Mike Figgis “Leaving Las Vegas” and the tragically overlooked at the Oscars, Paul Verhoeven “Showgirls”. I will always remember 1995 as the year I went to the cinema five times in eight days to see one film. A film that had such a profound effect on me the first time I saw it I that an usher had to tell me the credits had finished and asked me politely to leave so they could clean the cinema for the next viewing.
To say this first viewing caught me off guard would be an understatement and I’ll explain why. For those of you who have yet to see this film, there is a twist at the end. And when I say twist I do mean twist. You can keep your Sixth Sense and Crying Game third act revelations. As far as I’m concerned this films blows them out of the water by some considerable distance for pulling rabbits out of hats. There will be those people that claim they saw the ending coming a mile away and that’s fine. That doesn’t matter. What matters is The Usual Suspects is unique in being a film that will give you a completely different viewing experience the second time you watch it.
The plot of the film centres around five criminals played by Kevin Pollack, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio Del Tero, Kevin Spacey and Gabriel Byrne’s “good cop gone bad”. These felons are arrested following a truck hijacking in New York. A crime for which they all deny responsibility for. After the Police line up all five of them put together a plan to get revenge on the cops and salvage a little self-respect. The operation is carried out without a hitch however they soon start to feel the influence of the legendary, almost mythical criminal mastermind Keyser Soze. It then becomes clear that all five of them have wronged Soze at some point in their past and that they only way they can clear this debt of wrong doing is to do a job for him. This payback job leaves ninety one million dollar’s worth of drug money, a boat explosion and twenty seven dead bodies scattered around the dock at San Pedro. Customs are called in to try and make sense of it all and pressure the only remaining survivor from the original five crooks, the cripple Verbal Kint played by Kevin Spacey who is now back in police custody, to reveal all and the whereabouts of Soze.
The Usual Suspects isn’t a blockbuster or event film in the traditional sense of the word. It has no computer generated images. No corny one-liners, no “If you only see one film this year” bobbins draped across its advertising campaign and wasn’t adapted from a timeless literary classic from years gone by. The film, in my opinion, can lay claim to the title “Masterpiece” for two simple reasons. Firstly the quality of acting talent on display which I think can only be matched by films like Heat or Glengarry Glen Ross, which also stars Kevin Spacey and secondly its script for which Christopher McQuarrie won the Oscar for best original Screenplay.
The story never lets up and holds your attention and just when you think you’re getting a handle on what’s going on it takes a left turn at the lights and leads you in a completely different direction.
Then of course comes the “twist” at the end. When I went to see this film the reviews I had read all made reference to this astonishing finish and climax and I must admit that when I went into the cinema I had a fairly sceptical attitude of “I bet I see it coming”. Well not only did I not see it coming, by the time I was about fifteen minutes into the film I was hooked and had totally forgotten that there even was a twist. My advice to anyone who has yet to see this film or to somebody that sees a copy of the dvd or Blu ray on sale in a shop, would be please adhere to the following instructions.
1) Once you’ve bought your copy of the film buy a second (the first one could be faulty!)
2) Set aside 110 minutes on two consecutive evenings where you know you’re not likely to be disturbed.
3) Sell children if necessary to make sure the 2nd instruction can be observed.
4) Unplug the landline and turn off your mobiles.
5) Watch The Usual Suspects.
6) Pick jaw up from floor.
7) Watch it again on the 2nd night and marvel at everything you didn’t pick up on and how it leads towards that stunning ending.
8) Speak to social services about the “Selling of Children”. Offer to cut them in on the money if the conversation looks like it isn’t going well.
The Usual Suspect has been my favourite film for over seventeen years now and in that time I’ve seen a lot of movies. However I’ve still never managed to find another film that I can happily watch again and again and again. Even knowing the ending doesn’t diminish its appeal or impact for me. My worry has always been that some silly sod will convince some silly Hollywood executive type that there’s money to be made in a sequel or even a prequel and if that day does ever come to fruition, dear reader, I may end up doing ten to fifteen years with good behaviour.
And like that, he’s gone………..
Twitter Review:
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. Soze may well have just found his mobile number.
#Epic
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MjV4EwR7Mg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4u5MejfFzA
The voyage that we are about to embark on will require no passports, malaria jabs or packing suitcases on your part. No hitchhiking on a passing TARDIS and will not be cancelled due to any volcanic ash cloud, regardless of whatever size it happens to be. Just sit back, relax and think of master criminals…
The year is 1995 and this is the story of The Usual Suspects.
In 1993 three friends John Ottman, Christopher McQuarrie and Bryan Singer made a film called Public Access together. John covered the Score and Editing, Christopher was the Screenwriter and Bryan the Director. Although this film didn’t get much in the way of good reviews or break any box office records it did put them on the map and get them noticed. So much so that when Kevin Spacey met Bryan Singer after the films release he told him he wanted to be in his next movie.
Christopher McQuarrie then went away and started to work on some ideas he’d been having which had been inspired by a magazine article he had read called “The Usual Suspects”. After several drafts Christopher took his screen play back to Bryan and the rest as they say is history.
In a year that brought us such celluloid classics as Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart”, Mike Figgis “Leaving Las Vegas” and the tragically overlooked at the Oscars, Paul Verhoeven “Showgirls”. I will always remember 1995 as the year I went to the cinema five times in eight days to see one film. A film that had such a profound effect on me the first time I saw it I that an usher had to tell me the credits had finished and asked me politely to leave so they could clean the cinema for the next viewing.
To say this first viewing caught me off guard would be an understatement and I’ll explain why. For those of you who have yet to see this film, there is a twist at the end. And when I say twist I do mean twist. You can keep your Sixth Sense and Crying Game third act revelations. As far as I’m concerned this films blows them out of the water by some considerable distance for pulling rabbits out of hats. There will be those people that claim they saw the ending coming a mile away and that’s fine. That doesn’t matter. What matters is The Usual Suspects is unique in being a film that will give you a completely different viewing experience the second time you watch it.
The plot of the film centres around five criminals played by Kevin Pollack, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio Del Tero, Kevin Spacey and Gabriel Byrne’s “good cop gone bad”. These felons are arrested following a truck hijacking in New York. A crime for which they all deny responsibility for. After the Police line up all five of them put together a plan to get revenge on the cops and salvage a little self-respect. The operation is carried out without a hitch however they soon start to feel the influence of the legendary, almost mythical criminal mastermind Keyser Soze. It then becomes clear that all five of them have wronged Soze at some point in their past and that they only way they can clear this debt of wrong doing is to do a job for him. This payback job leaves ninety one million dollar’s worth of drug money, a boat explosion and twenty seven dead bodies scattered around the dock at San Pedro. Customs are called in to try and make sense of it all and pressure the only remaining survivor from the original five crooks, the cripple Verbal Kint played by Kevin Spacey who is now back in police custody, to reveal all and the whereabouts of Soze.
The Usual Suspects isn’t a blockbuster or event film in the traditional sense of the word. It has no computer generated images. No corny one-liners, no “If you only see one film this year” bobbins draped across its advertising campaign and wasn’t adapted from a timeless literary classic from years gone by. The film, in my opinion, can lay claim to the title “Masterpiece” for two simple reasons. Firstly the quality of acting talent on display which I think can only be matched by films like Heat or Glengarry Glen Ross, which also stars Kevin Spacey and secondly its script for which Christopher McQuarrie won the Oscar for best original Screenplay.
The story never lets up and holds your attention and just when you think you’re getting a handle on what’s going on it takes a left turn at the lights and leads you in a completely different direction.
Then of course comes the “twist” at the end. When I went to see this film the reviews I had read all made reference to this astonishing finish and climax and I must admit that when I went into the cinema I had a fairly sceptical attitude of “I bet I see it coming”. Well not only did I not see it coming, by the time I was about fifteen minutes into the film I was hooked and had totally forgotten that there even was a twist. My advice to anyone who has yet to see this film or to somebody that sees a copy of the dvd or Blu ray on sale in a shop, would be please adhere to the following instructions.
1) Once you’ve bought your copy of the film buy a second (the first one could be faulty!)
2) Set aside 110 minutes on two consecutive evenings where you know you’re not likely to be disturbed.
3) Sell children if necessary to make sure the 2nd instruction can be observed.
4) Unplug the landline and turn off your mobiles.
5) Watch The Usual Suspects.
6) Pick jaw up from floor.
7) Watch it again on the 2nd night and marvel at everything you didn’t pick up on and how it leads towards that stunning ending.
8) Speak to social services about the “Selling of Children”. Offer to cut them in on the money if the conversation looks like it isn’t going well.
The Usual Suspect has been my favourite film for over seventeen years now and in that time I’ve seen a lot of movies. However I’ve still never managed to find another film that I can happily watch again and again and again. Even knowing the ending doesn’t diminish its appeal or impact for me. My worry has always been that some silly sod will convince some silly Hollywood executive type that there’s money to be made in a sequel or even a prequel and if that day does ever come to fruition, dear reader, I may end up doing ten to fifteen years with good behaviour.
And like that, he’s gone………..
Twitter Review:
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. Soze may well have just found his mobile number.
#Epic
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MjV4EwR7Mg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4u5MejfFzA
Tuesday 12 June 2012
Prometheus
So I took myself off to see Prometheus recently to kill a couple of hours. Ever since this film was announced early in 2011 I’ve kept it on my radar and permanently attached to my “to do” list for June 2012.
My hopes were high as all of the trailers and viral videos for the film that had been sent out to the interweb had been disturbingly good. These seemed to have totally captured the essence of the “Alien” franchise and were very much in keeping with the Haunted House in space feeling the first film had over thirty years ago. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The first big question that needs to be addressed is does this film even qualify as an “Alien” prequel?
Both Twentieth Century Fox and its director have been very cagey and reluctant to go on record saying that it was a prequel. The most committal statement that could be gleaned from the man with the megaphone was that “It takes place in the same universe as Alien”.
Well I am pleased to report that the film does indeed grab the prequel moniker with both hands and runs with it, quite literally in some places.
The story of Prometheus at its heart is simple. People find map. People follow map. Map leads to danger. The map in question comes in the form of an ancient pictogram (just think early A to Z star charts and you wouldn’t be too wide of the mark). One of many that has been found around the world, all showing the same image. These other images come from various other cultures that seemingly had no prior contact with each other but nonetheless all show the same thing. The people in question, Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green, then convince a passing Trillionaire, Guy Pearce, that he should send an expedition off into deep space to find whoever or whatever left these illustrations dotted all over the place.
Jumping forward two and a bit years the explorers awaken from stasis on a ship, the aforementioned Prometheus, to find themselves surrounded by a very odd group that seems to have been put together for no other reason than someone wanted to try and break the world record for a team self-destructing in under thirty six hours.
This motley crew is a very eclectic bunch and also has the odd stereotype thrown in for good measure. Who’d of thought that a deep space mission set to discover the origins of mankind would have required an angry Scotsman with a mohican and head tattoo’s. Maybe someone should drop NASA a line and let them know that in order for the International Space Station to be a success they should start advertising in Job Centres north of Hadrian ’s Wall.
The saving grace in this group and possibly the entire film has to be David, played by Michael Fassbender. His performance as the company android is chilling and played with emotional detachment of a serial killer. His line “Big things have small beginnings” is delivered in a very unsettling but calm way. David never shouts, raises his voice or becomes angry but trust me when I tell you this. You wouldn’t want him as your babysitter.
Prometheus marks the now “Sir” Ridley Scott’s return into the Sci Fi genre for the first time in thirty years, having previously made the now uber classics Alien and Blade Runner. This third film could be regarded as him completing his hat trick however without Fassbender this motion picture could well be regarded as an own goal.
Although in many ways this is unfair towards Scott. Most people, myself included, went into this film carrying a lot of Alien “baggage” with them. Sir Ridley was never going to be able to please of the people all of the time. That said the film does have some spectacular visuals and a few twists and turns that should keep the viewing audience guessing.
My problem and main disappointment with the film is the last twenty minutes. If you’re yet to see this film my advice would be take a stop watch and leave at around the 105 minute mark if you want your memory of this film to be a happy one.
Up until then it is a tight, compact and well written film and genuinely does hold your interest and at times has you on the edge of your seat. However for some reason the last twenty minutes of script and plot seems to have been handed over to a department at Fox that must used the “roll a six to start” method for getting things done. It really is that bad that as and when the film is released on Blu ray & DVD I may just go through the last part of the movie frame by frame to see if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse do actually appear in it briefly.
I’ll finish by saying this. Do go and see this film. Make sure you watch Alien before you do as you will get more from it but please don’t go in expecting a masterpiece. It does have some great brush strokes and texture but wouldn’t look out of place in a finger painting gallery either.
Twitter Review:
Rolling over a few feet will save you from a falling spaceship. Running in a straight line will not. Prometheus needs work.
#Disappointed
Useful links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIJeQNyZ6VE&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GROrp3XBRrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWmbqH_z7jM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9PNTIZeJzY&feature=relmfu
My hopes were high as all of the trailers and viral videos for the film that had been sent out to the interweb had been disturbingly good. These seemed to have totally captured the essence of the “Alien” franchise and were very much in keeping with the Haunted House in space feeling the first film had over thirty years ago. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The first big question that needs to be addressed is does this film even qualify as an “Alien” prequel?
Both Twentieth Century Fox and its director have been very cagey and reluctant to go on record saying that it was a prequel. The most committal statement that could be gleaned from the man with the megaphone was that “It takes place in the same universe as Alien”.
Well I am pleased to report that the film does indeed grab the prequel moniker with both hands and runs with it, quite literally in some places.
The story of Prometheus at its heart is simple. People find map. People follow map. Map leads to danger. The map in question comes in the form of an ancient pictogram (just think early A to Z star charts and you wouldn’t be too wide of the mark). One of many that has been found around the world, all showing the same image. These other images come from various other cultures that seemingly had no prior contact with each other but nonetheless all show the same thing. The people in question, Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green, then convince a passing Trillionaire, Guy Pearce, that he should send an expedition off into deep space to find whoever or whatever left these illustrations dotted all over the place.
Jumping forward two and a bit years the explorers awaken from stasis on a ship, the aforementioned Prometheus, to find themselves surrounded by a very odd group that seems to have been put together for no other reason than someone wanted to try and break the world record for a team self-destructing in under thirty six hours.
This motley crew is a very eclectic bunch and also has the odd stereotype thrown in for good measure. Who’d of thought that a deep space mission set to discover the origins of mankind would have required an angry Scotsman with a mohican and head tattoo’s. Maybe someone should drop NASA a line and let them know that in order for the International Space Station to be a success they should start advertising in Job Centres north of Hadrian ’s Wall.
The saving grace in this group and possibly the entire film has to be David, played by Michael Fassbender. His performance as the company android is chilling and played with emotional detachment of a serial killer. His line “Big things have small beginnings” is delivered in a very unsettling but calm way. David never shouts, raises his voice or becomes angry but trust me when I tell you this. You wouldn’t want him as your babysitter.
Prometheus marks the now “Sir” Ridley Scott’s return into the Sci Fi genre for the first time in thirty years, having previously made the now uber classics Alien and Blade Runner. This third film could be regarded as him completing his hat trick however without Fassbender this motion picture could well be regarded as an own goal.
Although in many ways this is unfair towards Scott. Most people, myself included, went into this film carrying a lot of Alien “baggage” with them. Sir Ridley was never going to be able to please of the people all of the time. That said the film does have some spectacular visuals and a few twists and turns that should keep the viewing audience guessing.
My problem and main disappointment with the film is the last twenty minutes. If you’re yet to see this film my advice would be take a stop watch and leave at around the 105 minute mark if you want your memory of this film to be a happy one.
Up until then it is a tight, compact and well written film and genuinely does hold your interest and at times has you on the edge of your seat. However for some reason the last twenty minutes of script and plot seems to have been handed over to a department at Fox that must used the “roll a six to start” method for getting things done. It really is that bad that as and when the film is released on Blu ray & DVD I may just go through the last part of the movie frame by frame to see if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse do actually appear in it briefly.
I’ll finish by saying this. Do go and see this film. Make sure you watch Alien before you do as you will get more from it but please don’t go in expecting a masterpiece. It does have some great brush strokes and texture but wouldn’t look out of place in a finger painting gallery either.
Twitter Review:
Rolling over a few feet will save you from a falling spaceship. Running in a straight line will not. Prometheus needs work.
#Disappointed
Useful links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIJeQNyZ6VE&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GROrp3XBRrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWmbqH_z7jM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9PNTIZeJzY&feature=relmfu
Saturday 2 June 2012
Avengers Assemble
Well here we go my first review.
Where to start?
For those of you not in the know “Avengers Assemble” is not the instruction manual for a new piece of Ikea flat pack furniture, oh no. It’s a Film that’s been five years in the making.
Ever since Robert Downey Jr. donned a shiny metal red and gold suit back in 2008 all roads have led to this point and after two Iron Man, a Hulk, a Thor and a Captain America film the most expensive backstory in Hollywood history was complete.
The erstwhile Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury, who seems to have been in as many Marvel films recently as the cameo whore Stan Lee, brings together a team of superheroes (and a couple of plot holes) to save the world from a Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and an army ably provided from acme’s “Rent a Goon” department.
These aforementioned superheroes come in all shapes and sizes and happen to include Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow, a woman who isn’t just put in for geek eye candy and plays an important part in keeping the story arc moving forward. Chris Evans, Steve Rogers Captain America’s is a man out of time but surprisingly not out of place. His leadership skills in the third act keep Earths last stand grounded in reality and he’s written to perfection.
The star of the show however has to be Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. A character, if you believe what you read in the press, he has signed on to reprise a further six times on the big screen and rumour has it the small screen too. “Hulk Smash” may have just become the new yard stick for on screen cinematic destruction and it can only be a matter of time before the phrase passes into the pop culture hall of fame. Next on our list of do-gooders is Thor. A God that could best be described as a long haired, “have Hammer, will travel”, weather man with angst. Indeed it is struggle and belief that there may still be good in his brother Loki that provides the film with some of its backbone. Jeremy Renner, last seen in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Soon to be seen taking the Bourne Franchise forward on his ever capable broad shoulders plays Hawkeye. A character which has nothing to do with the 70’s TV show M.A.S.H. but has everything to do with being the best shot with a bow and arrow this side of Robin Hood. Rounding off our band of “Grade A” good guys is Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. He gets some of the best lines from the film but copyright not withstanding I would have loved to have hear him utter the immortal phrase “To infinity & beyond!” at least once.
Getting all the characters to gel and giving them all their own screen time was a very tall order, almost bordering on the impossible but Writer and Director Joss Whedon called upon his experiences dealing with group dynamics in Buffy, Firefly & Dollshouse to see him through. Having now seen the film twice I can’t think of any writer or director out there that could have done a better job with the tools at his disposal.
So what is Avengers Assemble about? It’s about two and a half hours.
However I’m suspecting that you dear reader may require a little bit more than that from a review. So let me set the scene….
Loki having somehow managed to survive drifting off into space at the end of Thor, is still a power hungry megalomaniac. Just think James Murdoch with a helmet horn fetish, hell bent on wielding power over a subjugated people and guess who he wants to subjugate? Go on you’ll never guess…..That’s right the good old people of earth. You know for a planet that’s only made it as far as the moon the human race does seem to have made a long list of galactic enemies. I’m sure the French must have something to do with that however I digress.
Loki pops up on earth needing to get his grubby little hands on an unlimited source of power “The Tesseract” and luckily those nice chaps at S.H.I.E.L.D. happen to have one. This power source is the key to getting Loki's army to Earth and after a few waves of Loki’s magic staff/wand and a few kung fu moves that would put Bruce Lee to shame it gets taken. What follows in getting the Tesseract back can honestly be described as good as it gets at leaving your brain at the door and being entertained. I don’t want to give too much of the story away but if flying aircraft carriers and a script so sharp you could shave with it normally float your boat you are in for a huge treat. If you haven’t seen it GO! And if you have seen it go see it AGAIN!!!
We lucky Brits also get the honour of having the word “Assemble” tagged on to our title. Apparently to cut down on any confusion with the 60’s TV show starring Patrick Macnee as John Steed. I myself feel a little put out by this and if I’m being honest a tad insulted! I know that stereotypes can be a hard thing to see past at times but really, do our American cousins think Britain is populated by people that could and indeed would walk into a cinema expecting something other than a superhero movie given the previous Marvel films?
In closing, I am aware that some of you out there internet land can’t cope with anything longer than 140 characters long so this review and all future reviews shall include a condensed, easy to swallow in tablet form, guide to what you can expect.
A film with Hammers, Hulks and an under the radar C word. Great action, superb writing & a cast I can’t wait to see assemble again.
#ABLAST
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc
Where to start?
For those of you not in the know “Avengers Assemble” is not the instruction manual for a new piece of Ikea flat pack furniture, oh no. It’s a Film that’s been five years in the making.
Ever since Robert Downey Jr. donned a shiny metal red and gold suit back in 2008 all roads have led to this point and after two Iron Man, a Hulk, a Thor and a Captain America film the most expensive backstory in Hollywood history was complete.
The erstwhile Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury, who seems to have been in as many Marvel films recently as the cameo whore Stan Lee, brings together a team of superheroes (and a couple of plot holes) to save the world from a Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and an army ably provided from acme’s “Rent a Goon” department.
These aforementioned superheroes come in all shapes and sizes and happen to include Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow, a woman who isn’t just put in for geek eye candy and plays an important part in keeping the story arc moving forward. Chris Evans, Steve Rogers Captain America’s is a man out of time but surprisingly not out of place. His leadership skills in the third act keep Earths last stand grounded in reality and he’s written to perfection.
The star of the show however has to be Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. A character, if you believe what you read in the press, he has signed on to reprise a further six times on the big screen and rumour has it the small screen too. “Hulk Smash” may have just become the new yard stick for on screen cinematic destruction and it can only be a matter of time before the phrase passes into the pop culture hall of fame. Next on our list of do-gooders is Thor. A God that could best be described as a long haired, “have Hammer, will travel”, weather man with angst. Indeed it is struggle and belief that there may still be good in his brother Loki that provides the film with some of its backbone. Jeremy Renner, last seen in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Soon to be seen taking the Bourne Franchise forward on his ever capable broad shoulders plays Hawkeye. A character which has nothing to do with the 70’s TV show M.A.S.H. but has everything to do with being the best shot with a bow and arrow this side of Robin Hood. Rounding off our band of “Grade A” good guys is Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. He gets some of the best lines from the film but copyright not withstanding I would have loved to have hear him utter the immortal phrase “To infinity & beyond!” at least once.
Getting all the characters to gel and giving them all their own screen time was a very tall order, almost bordering on the impossible but Writer and Director Joss Whedon called upon his experiences dealing with group dynamics in Buffy, Firefly & Dollshouse to see him through. Having now seen the film twice I can’t think of any writer or director out there that could have done a better job with the tools at his disposal.
So what is Avengers Assemble about? It’s about two and a half hours.
However I’m suspecting that you dear reader may require a little bit more than that from a review. So let me set the scene….
Loki having somehow managed to survive drifting off into space at the end of Thor, is still a power hungry megalomaniac. Just think James Murdoch with a helmet horn fetish, hell bent on wielding power over a subjugated people and guess who he wants to subjugate? Go on you’ll never guess…..That’s right the good old people of earth. You know for a planet that’s only made it as far as the moon the human race does seem to have made a long list of galactic enemies. I’m sure the French must have something to do with that however I digress.
Loki pops up on earth needing to get his grubby little hands on an unlimited source of power “The Tesseract” and luckily those nice chaps at S.H.I.E.L.D. happen to have one. This power source is the key to getting Loki's army to Earth and after a few waves of Loki’s magic staff/wand and a few kung fu moves that would put Bruce Lee to shame it gets taken. What follows in getting the Tesseract back can honestly be described as good as it gets at leaving your brain at the door and being entertained. I don’t want to give too much of the story away but if flying aircraft carriers and a script so sharp you could shave with it normally float your boat you are in for a huge treat. If you haven’t seen it GO! And if you have seen it go see it AGAIN!!!
We lucky Brits also get the honour of having the word “Assemble” tagged on to our title. Apparently to cut down on any confusion with the 60’s TV show starring Patrick Macnee as John Steed. I myself feel a little put out by this and if I’m being honest a tad insulted! I know that stereotypes can be a hard thing to see past at times but really, do our American cousins think Britain is populated by people that could and indeed would walk into a cinema expecting something other than a superhero movie given the previous Marvel films?
In closing, I am aware that some of you out there internet land can’t cope with anything longer than 140 characters long so this review and all future reviews shall include a condensed, easy to swallow in tablet form, guide to what you can expect.
A film with Hammers, Hulks and an under the radar C word. Great action, superb writing & a cast I can’t wait to see assemble again.
#ABLAST
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc
Monday 28 May 2012
The Beginning....
Hello Reader, thanks for stopping by. You my new friend are in the privileged position of being here at the start, Ground Zero. Years from now when I’m collecting my Oscar for Best follically challenged Brit in a supporting role you, yes you, can say I was there at the beginning. You will be able to shout from the roof tops with without fear of ridicule and derision that I am part of that elite inner circle, one of the chosen few, the best of the best and a fully-fledged, paid in full, card carrying member of the fab and groovy club.
This will be the first of many posts to follow that concentrate on all things Film, Cinema & possibly the occasional detour to a little town I know called “Showbiz”.
There will be highs, there will be lows and somewhere in between a splattering of “wow’s”, “oh dear gods” & almost certainly the odd “yes dear, I’d love to go and see that”.
So in true Jerry Maguire Style here is my Mission Statement:
I will review to the best of my ability ALL the films I go to see at the cinema and will try and be as honest and impartial (alcohol permitting) as I possibly can. There will be non-habitual DVD & Blu ray reviews thrown in for good measure too. I will at no point jump onto any bandwagon, pop culture phenomenon or attempt to curry favour with what’s “down with the kids” at the time. I shall stay true to myself and shall not be swayed by large commercial endorsements that are dangled in front of me.*
In closing I shall leave you with the following
1) My favourite film is “The Usual Suspects”.
2) I’m Pro 3D.
3) Aaron Sorkin & Joss Whedon are the best Screen Writers currently walking the Earth.
4) Lee Harvey Oswald did not work alone.
5) If you don’t think “Life of Brian” is the funniest film in the history of ever, you’re wrong.
6) It should be illegal to eat ANY pizza without accompanying it with red wine.
7) If you don’t like “The Big Bang Theory” then all hope maybe lost.
8) DC is better than Marvel, (Light blue touch paper & retire).
9) Hollywood’s theme of turning computer games into films should include Tetris.
10) Derren Brown is Jedi scary
If you find yourself agreeing with the previous ten statements then I think we’ll get along just fine….
“Exit stage left”.
* Terms & Conditions apply
This will be the first of many posts to follow that concentrate on all things Film, Cinema & possibly the occasional detour to a little town I know called “Showbiz”.
There will be highs, there will be lows and somewhere in between a splattering of “wow’s”, “oh dear gods” & almost certainly the odd “yes dear, I’d love to go and see that”.
So in true Jerry Maguire Style here is my Mission Statement:
I will review to the best of my ability ALL the films I go to see at the cinema and will try and be as honest and impartial (alcohol permitting) as I possibly can. There will be non-habitual DVD & Blu ray reviews thrown in for good measure too. I will at no point jump onto any bandwagon, pop culture phenomenon or attempt to curry favour with what’s “down with the kids” at the time. I shall stay true to myself and shall not be swayed by large commercial endorsements that are dangled in front of me.*
In closing I shall leave you with the following
1) My favourite film is “The Usual Suspects”.
2) I’m Pro 3D.
3) Aaron Sorkin & Joss Whedon are the best Screen Writers currently walking the Earth.
4) Lee Harvey Oswald did not work alone.
5) If you don’t think “Life of Brian” is the funniest film in the history of ever, you’re wrong.
6) It should be illegal to eat ANY pizza without accompanying it with red wine.
7) If you don’t like “The Big Bang Theory” then all hope maybe lost.
8) DC is better than Marvel, (Light blue touch paper & retire).
9) Hollywood’s theme of turning computer games into films should include Tetris.
10) Derren Brown is Jedi scary
If you find yourself agreeing with the previous ten statements then I think we’ll get along just fine….
“Exit stage left”.
* Terms & Conditions apply
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