When people hear the words sci-fi, action thriller and time travel one of two things seem to happen. The geek in you thinks ohhh sounds like my kind of film. Or the defences go up and you think I'm not watching that nonsense. I belong in the huge geek camp so it took no persuading to make me watch this film. If you are one of those who would rather watch a film about real characters in real situations then I must beg you! Please do not dismiss this film as one you will never be interested in!
Source Code is the latest effort by Moon Director Duncan Jones. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens, a soldier who is sent to relive the last 8 minutes of someone else's life through a clever little thing called the Source Code. The person whose life he briefly shares is about to die in a terrorist attack on a packed commuter train. Colter must keep reliving this brief moment in time until he is able to discover who the attacker is so that he can stop any further attacks. The film cuts between Colter's time in the Source Code and his time in the present where he must report his discoveries to his commanding officers before being thrown back into his mission.
The core of this film really revolves around the two relationships that Colter develops. Firstly with Christina (Michelle Monaghan), a doomed commuter on the train. Secondly with Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), his commander on the mission. Despite the sci-fi story line there is a very human element to this film. Gyllenhaal is brilliant as his character journeys through more emotions than I could count. Confused, angry, elated, distraught, scared and horny are but a few! I found more believable emotion here than some films that spend their entire running time trying to manipulate your heart strings (see one particular earlier review!).
Source Code never really gets too bogged down by the technical stuff that sometimes stifles sci-fi films. The idea of the Source Code is a device that allows the drama to unfold and the characters to develop. Add to that the stunning cinematography that seems to be a hallmark of the director's style and you get a film that really works. Gyllenhaal carries the film throughout with tons of charisma as he explores the possibilities of being able to do things over and over. It will bring comparisons with 12 Monkeys and Groundhog Day due to its main premise, so if you enjoyed either then you could do a lot worse than give this a go.
On a side note the train they are on is AMAZING! It’s a double decker! And it has a donut shop. It also looks far cleaner than any NHS hospital I have ever seen.
My only real gripe with this film is what I've come to think of as the 'Hollywood Ending'. If this film had ended a few minutes before it did I would be thinking 9/10. As it was I can't bring myself to give so lofty a score. I don't want to give any more away about the ending except to say there is a definite moment when things 'slow down' a little that would have been the perfect place to wrap things up.
8/10
Friday, 19 August 2011
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Super (2010)
You just can't get away from superhero films these days. Superman and then Batman (the originals) were huge in their day. It seems that ever since the box office success of these films people have tried to emulate them. There have been some great ones and some absolute stinkers. Did anyone actually like Daredevil or Catwoman? Thought not. The cinema seems to be drowning in a constant flood of comic book cash-ins now. I couldn't have been less excited when Captain America was advertised. Another two hours of CGI as good battles evil... again.
So when Kickass came to our screens it blew me away. It felt like that most rare of events, an original film! Super seems to want to take up that mantle of a superhero movie with a difference. Rainn Wilson plays our hero Frank D'Arbo, average looking, shy and neurotic. He is thrown from his dull existence into a world of increasing insanity when his wife, former junkie Liv Tyler leaves him for a drug dealer named Jock (Kevin Bacon).
All the elements of the typical superhero movie are here. We have a traumatic event that shapes our hero, the creation of his alter ego and his early attempts at crime fighting. But Super is different. Dark and irreverent, with some very graphic violence. I was expecting to see a comedy like Napoleon Dynamite in a Spiderman outfit. Although this is very funny at times (think awkward, random humour not American Pie or The Hangover type set pieces), it is also very disturbing in places. I would not recommend this for the squeamish or easily offended.
Wilson is excellent as poor Frank, ranging from love sick puppy to raging psychopath. Kevin Bacon also puts in a top performance but for pure craziness Ellen Page (Juno) steals the show. F*****g mental is all I can say!
I loved this film in places but did feel it lost its way a little. It starts as a dark comedy but threatens to become a little too serious at times. At the heart of the film we have a tragic love story between two broken characters. Then we have the super hero parody. Then we have the over the top violence of a film that sets out to shock. I suppose I should be grateful that it does not just sit easily into one genre. A big strength of this film is its ability to surprise. I just don't think that it will surprise some people in a good way.
If you find yourself laughing at unnecessary violence or grown men wearing red spandex then this might well be the film for you. A superhero movie for the Family Guy generation.
8/10
So when Kickass came to our screens it blew me away. It felt like that most rare of events, an original film! Super seems to want to take up that mantle of a superhero movie with a difference. Rainn Wilson plays our hero Frank D'Arbo, average looking, shy and neurotic. He is thrown from his dull existence into a world of increasing insanity when his wife, former junkie Liv Tyler leaves him for a drug dealer named Jock (Kevin Bacon).
All the elements of the typical superhero movie are here. We have a traumatic event that shapes our hero, the creation of his alter ego and his early attempts at crime fighting. But Super is different. Dark and irreverent, with some very graphic violence. I was expecting to see a comedy like Napoleon Dynamite in a Spiderman outfit. Although this is very funny at times (think awkward, random humour not American Pie or The Hangover type set pieces), it is also very disturbing in places. I would not recommend this for the squeamish or easily offended.
Wilson is excellent as poor Frank, ranging from love sick puppy to raging psychopath. Kevin Bacon also puts in a top performance but for pure craziness Ellen Page (Juno) steals the show. F*****g mental is all I can say!
I loved this film in places but did feel it lost its way a little. It starts as a dark comedy but threatens to become a little too serious at times. At the heart of the film we have a tragic love story between two broken characters. Then we have the super hero parody. Then we have the over the top violence of a film that sets out to shock. I suppose I should be grateful that it does not just sit easily into one genre. A big strength of this film is its ability to surprise. I just don't think that it will surprise some people in a good way.
If you find yourself laughing at unnecessary violence or grown men wearing red spandex then this might well be the film for you. A superhero movie for the Family Guy generation.
8/10
The Lost Valentine (2011)
I knew there would come a time during this year I would be backed into a corner. I knew that I was not going to get away with watching the one thing men fear above all else... a chick flick! Let’s face it, every man likes to pretend that he is in charge. But all pretence must be left aside here. The fact that I have watched this film makes all idle manly boasts about being in charge completely irrelevant. I would rather go on a 10 mile run wearing my fiancé’s highest heels screaming I am a big fat sissy whore all the way than watch this film... yet here I am writing a review on it.
Jennifer Love Hewitt is a modern day reporter for a TV show or something (already I'm realising I may not have been paying this film my full attention). She stumbles upon a story about a lady who goes to the train station every Valentine's Day to wait for her husband to return from World War 2. Hewitt has the perfect life, with the perfect boyfriend etc... Then she starts the interview of a lifetime and meets the hunky grandson of the widow as the director cuts between past and present to tell both stories...
Phew I think that is basically the whole plot in one small paragraph. I don't need to go on do I? Really? Look, if you need me to go on you have probably never seen a film before. You might be the kind of person who winds a jack-in-the-box and jumps every time it pops. Maybe you watched Titanic and were shocked when it sank.
I found myself wondering who would enjoy this film. All insults aside it is a straight up romance with some attempt at comedy and shameless illusions of being a weepy. My fiancé assures me it was a decent film and would be enjoyed by girls on a sleep over. I on the other hand find it much more fun to be mean about it!
I did laugh out loud at one point. The handsome love interest tells our panting love struck puppy J. Hew that he gave up a great job because he saw the type of men who did that job: " divorced, unhappy, don't see their kids" as some soppy music plays in the background. OMG how perfect is this man, with his good looks and family values. This guy gives all the rest of us a bad name. This is a scene of breathtakingly obvious proportions that gets replicated across an entire genre. You know the moment in any chick flick where the girl falls for the guy over a tender moment. Her eyes drink him in, her lip quivers ever so slightly as he gazes off into the distance telling a little anecdote to illustrate how perfect he is! Sorry I just sicked a little in my mouth.
I understand that people will watch this film and I can't blame them because it will deliver what it says on the tin. I suppose I can't even blame the film makers because they have delivered what they set out to do and made some money in the process. What really bothers me is that I hate myself for agreeing to watch this. The story of an elderly woman's long lost love and the tribute it pays to the armed forces are trivialised by the attempt to fit it into the chick flick genre. The shallow contrived rubbish of the modern day romance lays waste to anything good that might have been here.
2/10
Jennifer Love Hewitt is a modern day reporter for a TV show or something (already I'm realising I may not have been paying this film my full attention). She stumbles upon a story about a lady who goes to the train station every Valentine's Day to wait for her husband to return from World War 2. Hewitt has the perfect life, with the perfect boyfriend etc... Then she starts the interview of a lifetime and meets the hunky grandson of the widow as the director cuts between past and present to tell both stories...
Phew I think that is basically the whole plot in one small paragraph. I don't need to go on do I? Really? Look, if you need me to go on you have probably never seen a film before. You might be the kind of person who winds a jack-in-the-box and jumps every time it pops. Maybe you watched Titanic and were shocked when it sank.
I found myself wondering who would enjoy this film. All insults aside it is a straight up romance with some attempt at comedy and shameless illusions of being a weepy. My fiancé assures me it was a decent film and would be enjoyed by girls on a sleep over. I on the other hand find it much more fun to be mean about it!
I did laugh out loud at one point. The handsome love interest tells our panting love struck puppy J. Hew that he gave up a great job because he saw the type of men who did that job: " divorced, unhappy, don't see their kids" as some soppy music plays in the background. OMG how perfect is this man, with his good looks and family values. This guy gives all the rest of us a bad name. This is a scene of breathtakingly obvious proportions that gets replicated across an entire genre. You know the moment in any chick flick where the girl falls for the guy over a tender moment. Her eyes drink him in, her lip quivers ever so slightly as he gazes off into the distance telling a little anecdote to illustrate how perfect he is! Sorry I just sicked a little in my mouth.
I understand that people will watch this film and I can't blame them because it will deliver what it says on the tin. I suppose I can't even blame the film makers because they have delivered what they set out to do and made some money in the process. What really bothers me is that I hate myself for agreeing to watch this. The story of an elderly woman's long lost love and the tribute it pays to the armed forces are trivialised by the attempt to fit it into the chick flick genre. The shallow contrived rubbish of the modern day romance lays waste to anything good that might have been here.
2/10
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
The A-Team (2010)
Duuuuh duh duh duh.... duh duh duuuuuh.
d..d.. duh duh duh duh.
Duh d..d..d..duuuuuuh!
Are you humming along yet?
The A-Team was always a favourite of mine as a kid. What was not to like? From the amazing theme tune to the brilliant voice over intro and that awesome looking truck. A rogues gallery of military misfits (mad Murdoch often stole the show) helping out the good guys by waging war on the bad guys, using any old junk they could find laying around. Always ending with that classic line, "I love it when a plan comes together!" Is there a bloke in this country that hasn't muttered that line while drunkenly smoking a cigar at someone’s birthday or wedding?
I was really hoping this would be a stylish re-imagining, bringing Hannibal, Face, B.A. and Murdoch back to life, and not a soulless 'reboot' like a few others that have been released lately (Planet of the Apes was so bad Tim Burton but I forgive you.xx) It does make me wonder if film makers prefer to just take an old idea and try to squeeze a few extra quid out of it rather than risk an original story (but that is a rant for another day).
I loved the opening to this film. Hannibal, played by a resurgent Liam Neeson kicks some ass and quickly lights a cigar! We are treated to a fast paced opening 20 or so minutes where the main characters are introduced. B.A (Bosco apparently) is played surprisingly well by UFC hard man Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Face is Bradley Cooper and Murdoch is Sharlto Copley. It does start as a warm homage and a slick update but then it skips forward 8 years so the main storyline can begin...
This is where my problems really begin. A main plot involving some army woman type that Face had a fling with, a cocky CIA agent, a corrupt defence contractor and something about a money press... YAWN. I was bored. There seemed to be a fixed pattern by this point, some plot talk, a few wise cracks by Face (was he always this annoying in the original or is that just Cooper?) and I would start falling asleep. Then a huge BANG as some action kicks off and I'm awake again.
There are some good moments but they get lost as the director tries to make things look too clever. Hannibal starts describing a plan as the action cuts to the actual execution of it. It all seemed too much like Ocean's 11 and not enough like the original DIY man's dream of saving the day using 3 rubber bands, a tin of chicken soup and the help of a local boy named Paco. I could relate to the original, running round my mates back garden building booby traps with anything we could find and urging his little brother to "just step on that plank, it won't hurt honest." Sadly this is a reboot, meaning everything has to be so over the top it has lost most of the charm of the 80's TV series.
Face is far too annoying. Did I mention this before? He annoyed me so much I think I have subconsciously blocked all memory of his one liners. The group is saved by the banter between B.A. and Murdoch, who provide the best moments of the film for my money. Jackson seems to have a really good time cursing his way through almost every scene and shouting threats at everyone.
Overall it is a fairly decent dumb ass action movie made better by playing to our fond childhood memories of the original show. What could make a scene involving a parachuting tank any better? B.A. shouting "you can't fly a tank fool!" of course.
4/10
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Knight and Day (2010)
During the course of this year I am determined to watch a wide variety of films. Some old, some new and some I ordinarily wouldn’t touch with a stinky tramp's bargepole. I knew I was going to have to take the rough with the smooth, sort the wheat from the chaff and trawl through the good the bad and the ugly... So with this torrent of clichés in mind I came to watch Knight and Day.
Within minutes of the start you are told to see Tom Cruise as the unflappable, ultra cool, wise cracking action hero. Cameron Diaz is the sexy but dipsy and ultimately resourceful foil to Tom 'Superman' Cruise. I was already wondering if I will see a more cliché ridden film all year. Could this movie be any more formulated?
Can't you just hear the voiceover guy that seems to do the trailers for all these films? You know the one, impossibly deep and urgent tones... "Cruise and Diaz in an action packed comedy... A high octane thriller... Taking you on a rollercoaster ride..." I can picture the film producers sipping mojitos during their power lunch in an overpriced LA 'hip' spot throwing around phrases like: Star vehicle, quirky comedy, on-screen chemistry.
Which basically translates to: let’s take a weak idea, pay two huge stars to go through the motions and make some money at the box office. Whatever happened to making films to tell a story or even just to try to engage the audience on an emotional level just for the briefest of times? Instead we are treated to 90 minutes of another Hollywood studio making a film with nothing but profit in mind. Self pleasure from the money men is all I can see here, like a dog licking its own bits just because it can!!
I do feel obliged to talk about the plot a little as this is meant to be a film review. Blah blah secret agent. Blah blah framed. Blah blah clears name. That’s about it really.
The two main characters are so obvious it is patronising. Cruise tries hard to be the man all women want and all men want to be. Diaz is the gorgeous girl who happens to love classic cars and can even restore them! See what they did there? Back to those Hollywood producers on their fifth mojito by now, "it's the perfect date movie; it will appeal to both sexes."
Sticking with the obvious theme there was one scene that annoyed me more than most. Diaz has been captured by bad guys and has been given some 'truth serum' so she will give them some info about something I stopped paying attention to eons before. Cruise rescues her. Do you need me to go on? F**k it, I'm going to anyway! "Miller you excite me" she blurts out. "I feel like having sex now." "We could have really great sex." Hmmm didn't see those jokes coming.
I'm probably being too harsh. I knew what I was sitting down to watch and it wasn't far from what I expected. I wouldn't go to a Cheryl Cole gig expecting Mozart and I wouldn't watch Eastenders expecting to have my mood uplifted. Yet I kept thinking that True Lies with Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis was everything this film wanted to be and never came close to achieving.
The best thing I can say about Knight and Day is that it is fast paced and Diaz looks good in a bikini. Oh and in the end credits there is a 'Marine coordinator' named Captain Troy Waters.
2/10
Within minutes of the start you are told to see Tom Cruise as the unflappable, ultra cool, wise cracking action hero. Cameron Diaz is the sexy but dipsy and ultimately resourceful foil to Tom 'Superman' Cruise. I was already wondering if I will see a more cliché ridden film all year. Could this movie be any more formulated?
Can't you just hear the voiceover guy that seems to do the trailers for all these films? You know the one, impossibly deep and urgent tones... "Cruise and Diaz in an action packed comedy... A high octane thriller... Taking you on a rollercoaster ride..." I can picture the film producers sipping mojitos during their power lunch in an overpriced LA 'hip' spot throwing around phrases like: Star vehicle, quirky comedy, on-screen chemistry.
Which basically translates to: let’s take a weak idea, pay two huge stars to go through the motions and make some money at the box office. Whatever happened to making films to tell a story or even just to try to engage the audience on an emotional level just for the briefest of times? Instead we are treated to 90 minutes of another Hollywood studio making a film with nothing but profit in mind. Self pleasure from the money men is all I can see here, like a dog licking its own bits just because it can!!
I do feel obliged to talk about the plot a little as this is meant to be a film review. Blah blah secret agent. Blah blah framed. Blah blah clears name. That’s about it really.
The two main characters are so obvious it is patronising. Cruise tries hard to be the man all women want and all men want to be. Diaz is the gorgeous girl who happens to love classic cars and can even restore them! See what they did there? Back to those Hollywood producers on their fifth mojito by now, "it's the perfect date movie; it will appeal to both sexes."
Sticking with the obvious theme there was one scene that annoyed me more than most. Diaz has been captured by bad guys and has been given some 'truth serum' so she will give them some info about something I stopped paying attention to eons before. Cruise rescues her. Do you need me to go on? F**k it, I'm going to anyway! "Miller you excite me" she blurts out. "I feel like having sex now." "We could have really great sex." Hmmm didn't see those jokes coming.
I'm probably being too harsh. I knew what I was sitting down to watch and it wasn't far from what I expected. I wouldn't go to a Cheryl Cole gig expecting Mozart and I wouldn't watch Eastenders expecting to have my mood uplifted. Yet I kept thinking that True Lies with Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis was everything this film wanted to be and never came close to achieving.
The best thing I can say about Knight and Day is that it is fast paced and Diaz looks good in a bikini. Oh and in the end credits there is a 'Marine coordinator' named Captain Troy Waters.
2/10
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