After a little delay with moving around to a new location, we’re back with another episode of the Silver Screen Show, it’s episode 12, the first anniversary!
So whats on the agenda this show?
Logan, Hugh Jackson roars back into action in the sombre conclusion to the Wolverine trilogy.
The Great Wall, the most expensive movie ever made to come out of China, does the inclusion of Matt Damon help the film fly in the West?
The Lego Batman Movie, Batman was underwhelming in his last big screen appearance, is he back to form here?
John Wick : Chapter 2, The first movie was one of the surprise movies of the year, can the sequel hold up?
Jordon Peele, of Key & Peele fame is known more for his comedic talents, and his last outing on the big screen, Keanu, felt like a feature length skit, which lacked the same punch as their show. Peele is the mind behind what has become one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year so far. Get Out is an intriguing movie, blending horror, comedy & satire all into one!
Chris (Daniel Kuluuya), our main protagonist, is a young black man living in the city, with his white girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams). It’s important to mention the race of these characters, as it does play a huge significance in the theme on the movie. After a couple of months of dating, Rose suggests that they both go down to visit her parents for the weekend away. Much to the scepticism of his best friends Rod (Lil Rel Howery)! Once they arrive at the family home out in the country, it all seems a bit too nice and polite. It’s not before long, that Chris uncovers a far sinister truth….
At the surface of it all, Rose’s parents seem like a perfectly liberal couple. Neurosurgeon Dean Armitage (Bradley Whitford) and therapist Missy (Catherine Keener) are well educated and modern. It’s only Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones), the delinquent son, who seems to be on edge around the home. The movie is unusual in the fact it splits humour with horror, a delicate balancing job even for the most experienced of directors!
The scares come from the family’s estate, and the people in it. Especially the family’s 2 assistants (Gabriel & Henderson), both of whom just happen to be black. Both of the helpers on site just don’t seem right to Chris. The father does explain they were around when his parents were alive, and felt bad to get rid of them. In that case, shouldn’t they look a whole lot older? There is a definite inspiration from the 70s thriller, The Stepford Wives.
We see the story from Chris POV, how he feels in a situation he is clearly uncomfortable in. Being a young black man, raised in the city, suddenly being alone out in the country surrounded by older wealthy white people who seem to gush over him, its awkward yet unnerving. The behaviour of our house assistants provide most of the creeps, when one isn’t posing In the mirror in the middle of the night, the other one is running full pelt in pitch black darkness! With a 15 rating, the film is never truly scary, it does have its moments, but it’s never disturbing in the way Cure For Wellness was. Get Out attempts to scare by making the audience uneasy, rather than being direct. Also jump scares are pretty low, apart from one near the start of the film.
Race is obviously a big issue in this movie, and it’s rare to see an interracial couple in a big Hollywood movie, even now, in this day and age. Without revealing too much of the plot, the movie manages to show us that racism exists in other forms too, not just the extreme ones most films usually depict. It also looks into the ways people will try to mask any discrimination that they may have, “I would have voted for Obama for a 3rd term!” is one of the lines that appear in the movie!
If you are familiar with the style of comedy Key & Peele partake in, the film has several moments of comic relief, and most of it is delivered by Rod, who does an outstanding job in the transition scenes between the events in the estate. Lil Rel Howery steals the show whenever he appears on screen, and we look forward to any future roles he may appear in!
Get Out deserves the praise it is receiving, when it’s not delving into racial stereotyping, it manages to churn out a well paced horror film, that will also make you laugh! Get Out and watch it! 😀
With the release of Godzilla in 2014, the Monsterverse was created; with the concept of fellow monster alumni such as King Kong getting involved in future crossovers. With that idea in mind, we have Kong: Skull Island hitting the screens, setting up the imminent showdown between the two!
Peter Jackson’s King Kong was the last major appearance of Kong on the silver screen, it was a 3 hour epic, which retold the story were all familiar with Kong. Skull Island goes in a different direction, a far more action orientated movie. Jordan Vogt-Roberts directs an adrenaline pumped version, filled with guns, military and brutal deaths! It’s a smart way to go, rather than rehashing the same story about taking Kong back to NYC for his journey up the Empire State!
“We’re going to need a bigger helicopter………”
So Skull Island takes place soon after the Vietnam War, and the film plays various homages to that period of time. The helicopters, the jungle shots, the sunsets! All the clichés! Bill Randa (Goodman) leads an expedition team to the mysterious Skull Island, which he believes is hiding a dark secret. Joining him on the mission is Conrad (Hiddlestone), former British military and survival expert, Lt Packard (Jackson), a frustrated US army leader, and Weaver (Larson), a war photographer & pacifist.
“If it bleeds……..we can kill it”
It doesn’t take long for the film to get into top gear. Once were done with the obligatory introductions, the mission is pretty much is doomed before it barely begins! Unlike King Kong, there isn’t much build up or suspense; it’s straight off the bat! Kong makes his mark right away, swatting away helicopters like nothing, and pretty much laying waste to half the team! This leads to our group of survivors attempting to reach the rescue point, and make it off this monstrosity of an island.
The monsters make up all the great parts of the film! Obviously our main gorilla, Kong steals the show whenever he pops up, but the island is crawling with all sorts of wonders. The bamboo spider sets up one of the more memorable scenes in the movie. You also have ancient pterodactyls, reigning terror upon our desperate survivors. Though these monsters are not exactly evil, more a case of humans wondering into their territory, it’s the threatening Skull Crawlers, which provide the real threat, a race of ravenous beasts that were subdued by Kong, are now free to wreak havoc.
It’s the scenes with the human characters where the film starts to stumble. They frankly, are just not that interesting. Hiddleston may have the charisma, but his role is something any actor could pull off. He doesn’t really do much, and apparently, he has expert samurai sword skills! Sure he walks around all confident and talks the talk, but the film never really shows us why he was worth bringing into the mission. Brie Larson is just there. As a war photographer, you think she would be used to the horrors, and still be able to take the pictures she was there to take. Any photographer on somewhere like Skull Island would be taking photos non-stop, to the point of annoyance!
The characters worth screen time would be the delirious Lt Packard, who is so driven by the deaths of his men; he vows to take down Kong, regardless of the consequences. Even though he should be aware, Kong was just defending his island, the Lt. is driven to the edge, and he does bring some degree of motivation to the script. He is more than aware he may not survive confronting Kong, by he just doesn’t care! The other bright spark is Marlow (John C Reiily), a lone survivor who crash landed back in WW2, and has gone slightly crazy to say the least! Though his character, as fun as it is, feels very much out of place here, and would have fit better if the film followed another tone. He is pretty much just the exposition guy, just there to fill in all the plot details.
”Oh no, one of our colleagues got ripped apart……OK moving on…….”
Most of the cast lack any real emotion, which really hurts the movie. One scene sees a survivor get torn to shreds, limbs being ripped off. After the initial shock, the characters just continue to move on, just brushing off what they just saw. It would take more than just ‘’oh his gone now’’ for anyone to accept what they just saw, especially for any of the non-military characters! During the confrontation in the graveyard, toxic fumes fill up the area, yet the characters barely seem affected by it, apart from some coughing! There also is an abundance of characters that really aren’t needed, such as Lin (Jing Tian), who seems to have been solely added for the Chinese market, and contributes pretty much nothing, which is a shame.
But let’s be honest, we’re here to see the monsters, the final showdown between Kong and the lead Skull Crawler is a joy. The battles between our survivors and the beasts are thrilling. The graveyard scene is pure popcorn fodder. It is stupidly over-dramatic, but that’s the vibe this film wants to set. If the film focused a lot less of the dull characters, and more on the dangers of what lurks on the island, the film would be up there with the likes of Pacific Rim, an over the top monster movie. One thing Pacific Rim had going, was some character motivation and development. If Skull Island wanted to focus more of the humans, they should have been written to be far more interesting, as opposed to the bland persona that were created. The film though, does enough to set up Kong as a valiant hero, and his inevitable duel with Godzilla should be a thrill to see!
There are some roles which are so perfect for an actor; they become synonymous with that persona. Think Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, or Christopher Reeve as Superman. But there is no role as closely associated with actor & role than Hugh Jackman and Wolverine. Downey Jr. has been playing Stark for 9 years; Jackman has been reprising his role for 17 years! Reeve appeared as the Man of Steel on 4 occasions, for Jackman, he has 9 appearances under his belt. In what will most likely be his last act as Weapon X, he has saved the best, for last, as Logan hits the screens this month.
The Wolverine trilogy hasn’t exactly been anything special. Origins was panned by critics and fans alike. The second movie The Wolverine was a far better movie, but the final act pretty much ruined what was a decent film. Logan though, finally gives our hero the movie he deserves, a dark, gritty and violent interpretation. Following on from the success of the Rated R mercenary, Deadpool. Logan also embraces the classification, and it works like a charm! This movie works more in the same vibe as Jessica Jones & Daredevil, than it does with the mainstream MCU movies.
Hugh Jackman stars as Logan/Wolverine in LOGAN. Photo Credit: Ben Rothstein.
The X-Men franchise is mighty complicated; the consequence of Days of Future Past resulted in the possibility of split timelines, so it can be hard to keep up with what’s occurring. In this timeline, Logan (Jackman) has retreated over the Mexican border, caring for an elderly and senile Charles Xavier (Stewert), with the help of one of the last remaining mutants, Caliban (Merchant). It’s the year 2029, and the numbers of mutants are down to near extinction, and the X-Men are all dead, barring our rugged anti-hero. A deteriorating Xavier now suffers seizures which cause mass chaos; Logan now runs errands to save up enough money to live out their lives in peace, on a luxury yacht, out in the isolation of the ocean. These plans are thrown out the window after the sudden appearance of Laura (Keen), a young mutant possessing a familiar set of abilities.
The X-Men franchise has always been a bit timid when it comes to the violence on display, especially with a character like Logan. This film pretty much off the bat sets the tone for the movie, it’s violent, it’s bloody, and this is most certainly not a movie for the kids, maybe even some teens! Limbs go flying off; even the odd head gets decapitated. Though the violence isn’t done for the sake of the R rating, this is how Wolverine should be, considering his main weapons are a set of razor sharp claws! The fighting here is brutal, Logan isn’t in his peak, this isn’t the cocky, young Wolverine from X-2, and this is a beaten down, battle weary, alcoholic Logan. His healing factor isn’t working as efficiently as it used to, and his adamantium skeleton in having an adverse effect on his body. This gives Logan a far more vulnerable character, being invincible in his previous movies took away that drama, as you knew he would pretty much survive anything thrown at him. His mental and physical vulnerabilities gives us a far for interesting character to follow.
The film’s 3 acts are pretty distinctive. The opening and closing act is all out action, swearing and gore. It’s the middle act where the film really develops its own personality. The focus of this film is on family. Logan is down to his last connection, Xavier. Everyone else is dead. Xavier isn’t the polished, well-spoken mastermind of previous films, he is sick and delirious. The father-son interactions between the two are insightful and beautiful. Both actors really impressing with their outstanding acting abilities. Logan also gets to develop a father-daughter bond that he never got to experience, with the introduction of Laura/X-23 into the fold. As the film progresses, their relationship blossoms, and finally gives Logan a true reason to live. That aside, they both make a kickass combination when they team up to attack!
Director James Mangold takes his inspiration from the Old Man Logan comic books, and manages to interpret it well onto the big screen, Mangold was in charge of The Wolverine too, whereas The Wolverine was a warm up, he most certainly goes the whole distance in Logan. Violence is a key element of the Wolverine character, and it’s implemented well here. The final scenes involving a pumped up Wolverine serves as a nice finale to his rage fueled chronicles, and one last time to see Jackson go all out attack!
Where the film does drop a bit is in the predictability, all the major plot lines are pretty straight forward, and when they do happen, it’s as expected. It also leaves a few things open. Such as where is Magneto is all of this? Surely his too powerful to simply die of like the other X-Men, and with his great friend in such dire straits, it wouldn’t be a surprise to have him involved somehow. But I suppose they wanted to keep the movie all about the central 3, and it doesn’t really hurt the movie much, but it does make you wonder! Also, the main villains (Dr Zander Rice & Pierce), never provide much of a threat; essentially they are just there to give the plot some direction. The middle act can feel a bit dialogue intense, the action slows down to a walking pace, and it does add on a bit of filler on the already extended 2hr 20 running time.
Is it the best superhero movie ever? As some are claiming it to be? Well personally the film is abit to miserable for a superhero movie, personally I would put The Winter Soldier above it, but that’s just my opinion. It’s still a majestic piece of art, and you’ll for sure feel emotional at times, and valiant send off for this literation of Wolverine.
Finding an original film nowadays can be quite a challenge, it seems most big releases are either a sequel or remake! A Cure for Wellness aims to be a fresh new spin on the horror genre.
Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) is your typical high rolling Wall Street banker, who has earned himself a place at the top table at his firm. His employers uncover the underhanded methods he was using to close his high profile cases, which if reported to the SEC, will most certainly lead him on the path to prison. But there is a way out, if he can retrieve the company’s CEO, Pembroke, from a retreat in Switzerland, they can pin the blame on him. Though Lockhart may not be clean, his employers realise the potential for more money to be made, and in the process, get rid of the CEO who they believe has lost his mind.
It’s at the Swiss retreat, where Lockhart suffers an accident, waking up to find himself with a broken leg, and having been admitted to the facility. The trailer for the movie gave off a definite Shutter Island vibe, and that can only be a good thing! The Spa retreat at the centre of the movie’s plot is magnificently eerie. From all the endless rooms, corridors and gardens, the Spa is a great setting for this film. It’s here where our protagonist encounters Dr Volmer (Jason Isaacs), the director of the Spa, and a mysterious young girl, Hannah (Mia Goth) who spends her time wondering the facility grounds.
The film does wonders for Swiss tourism! As this has to be one of the most beautiful looking films I’ve seen. The castle is a spectacle, and some of the visuals that are obtained with the stunning Alpine backdrop is divine. One scene is which Lockhart & Hannah are talking by a water fountain, with the Alps reflecting off the waters surface is one of the many wonderfully shot scenes spread throughout. The cinematography here is outstanding. Director Gore Verbinski has executed a visual treat for movie goers!
The first two acts of the movie are pretty well done, DeHaan does a fine job as the unlikable money hungry executive, though he does a few things out of character during the film. Would someone as meticulous as him, just randomly sign a document without reading it through? As impatient as he may have been, it seemed strange to just sign something off, though I suppose, plot development! The entire Spa has a creepy vibe to it, all the patients here, seem to be more than happy to be here, a bit too happy! and its not long before Lockhart eventually discovers the hidden secrets behind everything. The movie does good to avoid relying on too many jump scares, preferring to slowly build up to the reveals, though at times, it feels like it’s dragging on. The film is pretty graphic, warranting it the 18 certificate. If your not a fan of the dentist chair, you may want to look away during one specific scene!
It’s at the end, where the film totally goes off the rails, and almost feels like a parody. Whereas the everything before the finale, was a wonderfully shot, enticing horror. The inevitable plot twist, is the twist that anyone paying any attention during the film would have called. The fact this is pretty much spoiled to us in a scene earlier on in the film makes it just that much more annoying.It’s disappointing that there wasn’t a swerve, and they went with what everyone thought they were going to go with this. From a macabre mystery, the film turns into an all out action finale, including the final showdown in the backdrop of flames! It feels very much out of place in a movie which spent so much time building things up.
Speaking of time, Wellness is full of filler. A run time of over 2 hr is certainly excessive, and the film could have been cut by 30 minutes easily. One scene spends about 5 minutes, in which Lockhart stumbles into a dark room and discovers what resides in there. There’s building suspense, but then there are scenes that could have easily been reduced significantly.
The ending aside, Wellness is still one of the better movies out this year, and you have to give the director credit for trying something new and original. Personally, the final act of the movie did taint it somewhat, but that’s all down to personal opinion. If your looking for something different to watch, and don’t mind being freaked out, by all means, give this a try!
So that’s why the Great Wall of China was built………….lizard monsters!
Clocking in at over $150m in budget, The Great Wall is by far the biggest movie production to come out of the China, and with director Zhang Yimou at the helm, whose previous works include Hero & House of Flying Daggers. Can The Great Wall live up to all the commercial hype?
Unlike previous successes coming out from China, like Flying Daggers & Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this isn’t a martial arts movie. It’s an all-out fantasy, action movie! This makes a nice change from the usual Chinese movies that get a huge western release.
Pick your team!
There has been a lot of controversy regarding the casting of Matt Damon in this film, with accusations of ‘whitewashing’ the film, so let’s just get that out the way now. Damon plays the role of a European traveler; he is not taking the role away from an Asian actor. The film is also produced in China, by China, and using a familiar face from Western movies in order to increase their marketing appeal is understandable. Also, it’s a work of fiction, so they can cast whoever they desire, as there is no source for them to follow.
The movie is set during the Song dynasty, following the challenges of the Nameless Order, a faction of the military who are stationed at the Great Wall of China to provide protection from a mysterious threat to humanity. Travelling merchants William (Matt Damon) & Tovar (Pedro Pascal) are on a mission to find the mysterious Black Powder, which can turn air to fire (in another word, gunpowder!). The plan is to find the weapon, and take it back to Europe to sell, but they are halted, and taken prisoners by the Order.
The battle scenes are stunning!
The greatest strength of the movie is by far the action set pieces. Whenever the monsters attack (known as the Tao Tei) the film bursts into life! The Nameless Order are split into several divisions, each army is colour coded depending on their tasks. Ranging for archery, close combat to the acrobatic Crane Corps. Every battle scene is a visual spectacle, and it’s clear that most of the budget went into the CGI. The coordination and choreography of the various armies are amazing to see. Each division has their own lieutenant, and it’s Commander Lin (Jing Tiang) of the Crane Corps that takes centre stage, along with our western prisoners.
Commander Lin plays a large role in the movie
It’s a shame that the movie doesn’t really take off following the initial monster attack, there was so much to see and learn, regarding each of the military factions, but the film doesn’t really go into detail too much. Only the Crane Corps get any real focus, at least they explained why their division is made up of entirely females.
Damon does a fairly standard job here, his role is nowhere near as intense as Bourne, or as charismatic as he was in The Martian. His interactions with Tovar (It’s Prince Oberyn from Game of Thrones!) are usually full of sarcasm and jest, and provide plenty of fun for the audience.
The addition of Sir Ballard (William Dafoe) seemed abit out of the blue, and his role could have been cut out entirely and really have made no difference. Fans of Asian cinema in the West will be happy to see Andy Lau also making an appearance here, as the chief strategist for the Order.
The film does go ridiculously over the top, and the final act is a monster melee! Any fans of monster movies out there will enjoy these moments, the action is pretty cheesy, and it’s full of cliché, but it does its job of entertaining you. The Great Wall is over 5,000 miles long, and we are never told if the Tao Tei attack just one part of the wall, are there Nameless Order defending the entire wall? Why is it just this spot that is attacked? We may never know!
The Great Wall is nothing new, the story line is pretty generic, there really isn’t much character development, and it doesn’t really add anything to the Monster genre. On the flip side, it is enjoyable from a popcorn flick point of view; the action scenes do enough to keep you paying attention, the opening half hour or so are pretty outstanding. The Great Wall isn’t notoriously bad, nor is it a classic to be remembered for years to come.
Move over Neo! John Wick is now Keanu Reeves most famous role!
John Wick was one of the sleeper hits of 2014, it came out of nowhere to establish itself as one the greatest gun-fu films of recent times. Could the sequel match up to what the first one provided fans with? Simply put, yes, and now it’s got us craving the 3rd chapter as well!
John Wick: Chapter 2 picks up pretty much straight after the first movie. For those who are not in the know, John Wick followed our retired hit man, John Wick (Reeves) as he vows vengeance on a Russian gang, following the death of his dog (on paper, this really shouldn’t work as a plot, but it works superbly!)
With an increase in budget, from £20m in the original, to £40m here, the production team had far more in hand to play with. If anything went against the first film, was the tame finale, which was clearly a case of budget restrictions! The increase in finance can be seen in a far more polished film, more locations and with bigger names on the casting list!
A bigger budget means more exotic locations!
After a manic opening set piece, the film rolls along slowly, the movie doesn’t fall into the trap on repeating the successful formula of the previous movie, something many films are guilty of! The film finds a new way to bring John back into the fray, as shady Italian mob boss Santino D’Antonio pays him a visit. John owes the D’Antonio one, after the mobster helped him get out of the game, and he is now back to cash in that favor! A favor, due to the rules of the system, he must complete. Once the film hits Rome, it all kicks off!! And boy does it deliver!!
Wick (Reeves) & Cassian (Common) are great together!
Whereas the first installment had a rather simplistic story line (gang kills dog, man vows revenge, kills everyone!), this movie delves more into the world of John Wick, giving us a deeper look into the functioning of the Continental organisation. The rules that they go by, the currency that is used, the services they all provide. It’s a fascinating concept, and one help really helps the movie have more substance. The villains in the last film were largely forgettable, but here, both Common & Ruby Rose play far more of a challenge and the interactions between Common and Reeves are a joy to watch! They respect each other, but will happily kill each other if they have to! We also see the long awaited reunion of Reeves & Laurence Fishbourne; Morpheus has really let himself go!
The lore behind the films universe is full of intrigue
You do need to have a sense of disbelief when watching this; it appears that these hit men are very much a well-known establishment. Even in public, people barely react to gun fights in the middle of a subway station! That John has a 100% headshot accuracy is just something you just accept. There are also several moments of humour that has the audience laughing out loud!
Not the best person to owe a debt to……
The action is where the film really shines; every gun fight is choreographed to the highest order. Not many films keep tally on details such as ammunition and reloading, this film makes it clear that no gun fires forever, John is always changing guns, and disarming dispatched foes! The sound effects are vivid, the gunshots sound like a real gun, and each shot fired has a resounding bang! Its details like these that make these scenes so much more visceral. Reeves went through intense training in firearms, and it pays off, and all the stunt work is kept in shot, so we can actually see the fights, rather than rapid editing to mask it all! (That pencil scene…….)
Is there anything to not like? Well if you weren’t a fan of the first film, then you will most certainly not like this! Also, the opening 1/3 is rather slow, and exposition heavy, and may not be to everyone’s liking.
“Hello Neo….”
Chapter 2 is far superior from the first film in almost every way. The plot is far more intriguing, the characters are more compelling, the action is far more brutal, and the body count is nonsensically high! Films have had a recent trend in sequel baiting at the end, even though the movie probably doesn’t deserve another shot (I’m looking at you Rings!). Here, the ending simply makes you want to know what will happen next. The film has already made as much at the box office in a week, than the original did in its theatrical release, so things look bright for another chapter!
One more thing, never ask John Wick for a pencil……….
The Lego Movie proved to be one of the biggest hits of 2014, what could have been a shameless cash grab, like Minions, was actually one of the wittiest films to hit the big screen. Now we have the follow up, in which Lego Batman, a supporting character from the last film, has his very own adventure!
The Lego Batman Movie (TLBM) stars our favourite brooding superhero, as we follow him constantly saving Gotham city, duelling with arch nemesis The Joker, and yet at the same time, struggling with his inner demons. Something that was done surprisingly well, considering the cosmetics of the movie!
Simply put, TLBM is one of the funniest movies in recent times! It’s very rare to see a film that makes the audience consistently laugh throughout an entire film, but Lego Batman delivers with aplomb. The movie is very tongue in cheek, with a variety of issues being made fun off! Whatever it is the previous Bat movies, fellow DC heroes (Yes, Bane’s voice is horribly over the top!), or even cheeky digs at rivals Marvel (Batman v Ironman surely confirmed?!), the film doesn’t hold back! ”Using villains to fight villains?……..what a stupid idea!”
Will Arnett voices the caped crusader, and captures the current comedic iteration of our hero superbly, and although Mark Hamill wasn’t providing his iconic Joker cackle, Zack Galifinakis delivers a fine performance as the Clown Prince of Crime. Supported by the vocal talents of stars such as Ralph Feines (as loyal butler, Alfred), Micheal Cera (adopted son and Robin!) & Rosoria Dawson ( Voicing Barbara Gordon, The new chief of police), to name but a few, the film is full of famous names.
Yes the humour is spot on, and the film is knocking off one liner after one liner, but TLBM does a wonderful job in looking into the inner turmoil of our hero. Batman may be a multi-talented, bulked up crime fighter, but at the end of the day, he goes back to his mansion, alone. Since the loss of his parents, Batman fears losing anymore loved ones, which has lead him to following a life of isolation and loneliness. Where this film really excels is bringing in supporting characters like Robin, Alfred & Barbara (graduate from Harvard for Police!), and helping our hero escape his brooding ways! The film could have dropped them to the sidelines, and used some of the other well know heroes they could have used, but it was nice to see them stick with these ‘normal’ 3, throughout the films climax.
The cameos in the movie are a joy! You of course have the Justice League involved at some point, with Bats continuing his long standing rivalry with Superman, the film even referencing BvS from last year! Warner Bros. also dig into their own movie archives, with surprise villains dropping by from other WB properties!
There really isn’t much to say against this movie, if you go in knowing what you will get, then you will have rip roaring time, especially if your watching with friends! The movie is utterly charming, full of fantastic humour and uses the Batman licence to a great extent! It’s a film for children and adults alike. You’ll enjoy it even if you aren’t a die hard DC fan, its appealing to both the hardcore and casual fans! A superb movie, and already one of the films of the year!
It was back in Summer, I noticed a poster for Rings while at the cinema. Even back then, I was sceptical if this was even worth making, for a franchise that’s been dead in the water for years. My doubts were proved right, as Rings has to be one of the dullest horror movies I’ve seen for a very long time!
Rings is a reboot of the original 2002 release The Ring, the successful American remake of the cult Japanese horror Ringu. For anyone not familiar with the lore, The Ring revolves around a mysterious videotape, anyone who happens to watch the tape receives a phone call soon after, a voice telling them that they will die in 7 days’ time. The film is iconic for the vengeful spirit Sadako/Samara (depending on the region of the movie!) emerging from within the TV screen of the victim. The latest release aims to bring the movie into the current generation, a decision that takes the edge off what made the original so great.
Matilda Lutz as Julia and Johnny Galecki as Gabriel in the film, RINGS by Paramount Pictures
So the plot, our main character, Julia, sees her boyfriend Holt, move to college. After losing touch with him after a couple of days, she decides to go to the college he attends to see what’s going down (instead of simply calling the college and finding out what has happened!). It is never explained why his mates are angry at her, but they are! For some reason. It’s here she discovers a morbid experiment that is being run on campus by one of the Science professors in secrecy, and Holt has been dragged into it. After Julia ends up watching the tape too, it’s a race against time to save herself before the 7 days are up!
For anyone who hasn’t watched the previous films, the only way to avoid your inevitable death, is to pass the curse on to someone else, by making a copy of the tape and making someone else view it, a selfish move, but one you make out of desperation. This concept plays a central role to the film, and while it’s a nice twist, it just feels abit rushed. We start off by seeing the Professor discovering the tape, and the next time we see him, not only has he converted the VHS to digital media, but he has uncovered the trick to getting past it, how exactly did he know this? We don’t know, it’s never explained!
The second half of the movie is incredibly dull & sluggish, as it becomes a mystery movie, we follow our couple to a town in the outskirts, as they dig up clues to unveil the truth. It’s here where the film just goes into 2nd gear and cruises along, the characters are just not charismatic enough for us to be bothered about their journey, and it’s a lot of talking, with random lazy jump scares thrown in every now and again.
The switch to modern media has definitely hurt the franchise. There is just something incredibly eerie when it comes to VHS, with its static and poor audio & image quality; it simply gives off a far creepier vibe than a high def movie file on a laptop! The CGI in this movie is another downer, it’s shockingly bad. It’s so overdone, that Samara loses her aura, and looks like a character from a PS3 game! When she first appears out of a plasma TV, it’s so poor, you will end up laughing at how this quality was deemed OK for a big Hollywood release! The abundance of CGI across the entire movie looks cheesy, and ruins the atmosphere.
The characters are utterly forgettable, Julia goes from ‘you’re so stupid for getting involved in this mess’ to ‘risking her life for this guy’ in one night! We don’t even know how long they have been together! The boyfriend is entirely useless in the movie; Julia does all the work. He hardly contributes anything, and even in the final showdown, he gets knocked out and plays no part whatsoever! Johnny Galecki aka Leonard from Big Bang Theory seems miscast as the devious professor, and you just can’t take him seriously! Vincent D’Onofrio does what he does, and is probably the best character in the movie; at least he got some backstory to his role!
Though it may not be intentional, the move does rip off a scene from Don’t Breathe, which reminds you off a far superior horror film! The plot is predictable, you know when there will be a jump scare, and the choice of music is a curious one. A good score can make a good film great, but here, the soundtrack is overdone. It feels more like a video game than a horror movie. The opening scene on the plane is pretty hilarious, which sets the tone for the film! It would have done better to have more scenes with Samara, and less time seeing our couple wonder around digging up clues.
One other flaw is the blatant sequel baiting at the end, the film could have ended without it, and to end it with a nod to more potential films is poor form, considering how disappointing this film is. The ending is also shown in the trailers, which was a strange decision. So if anyone watched the trailer, they would know what scene is yet to come, another damaging hit to the films credentials. The trailer is also misleading in how the film is portrayed. We don’t see her suffer through 7 days as the curse develops, instead, she seems fine as she goes carries on with her mystery adventure, with no idea how many days have passed.
Rings is by far one of the worst horror films to come out in recent years, even beating The Forest from last year! Even The Forest had an original concept to play with; Rings had some great source material to work with, which is what makes it so crushing to see the movie stumble around.
“Directed by M. Night Shyamalan” is a phrase that’s been associated with several cinematic disasters. The less said about the likes of Avatar, The Happening, After Earth and The Lady in the Water have all been savaged by the critics & fans alike. A roll of dishonour! It wasn’t until The Visit (2015) that his slow climb back up to redemption started. Split is the latest release by the eccentric director, will this movie prove that Shyamalan has still got it, or if The Visit was just a one off?
Split, as the name suggests, is about Kevin (James McAvoy), a person with split personalities, 23 of them to be exact! Kevin abducts 3 girls, and it’s via his interactions with his therapist, that we come to find out the sinister workings of our conflicted figure.
McAvoy is by far the strongest aspect of the film, and does an outstanding job in portraying his various alter egos. Obviously the movie doesn’t show all 23 egos in the film, but the ones that do get screen time are wonderfully unique in their own way. We have ‘Dennis’, the intimidating alpha male, ‘Ms Patricia’, the caring mother, ‘Hedwig’, the immature 9 year old boy & ‘Barry’, the colourful fashion designer. It’s not just the simple costume changes that convey each character, but the body language and mannerisms that McAvoy manages to assign each persona. It’s a great shame the film missed out on the Oscar nominations for this year.
The supporting cast is a mixed bag, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) our main protagonist, and the wisest of the three kidnapped girls, does a solid job as the calm, collected, yet emotionally scarred heroine. As her past is slowly revealed, you do feel for her, and care for her survival. Her other two friends though, feel disposable, and their lack of smarts pretty much makes them forgettable. Betty Buckley as Dr Fletcher makes a challenging foil to Kevin, it’s her interactions with our psychotic kidnapper that really opens up the clashes within his mind.
The film is essentially told in 3 segments. Kevin, Dr Fletcher and the girls. The scenes with Kevin & Dr Fletcher are the most intriguing, and provide the best parts of the movie. It’s the scenes featuring the trapped girls, where the film tends to fall into the horror cliches. It’s pretty predictable what will happen to them in their scenes, and slows the movie down a lot.
Split is by far the best movie that Shyamalan has released in well over a decade, after a string of disasters; it’s relieving to see a throwback to his earlier movies, such as Signs, Unbreakable & The 6th Sense, when his directing was more visionary than sporadic. Split builds up the suspense in is tremendous ways, and this is mostly due to the charisma of McAvoy, the plot does well to weave in the multiple personalities, but the ending is quite hit & miss. It’s not as dramatic as The 6th Sense, the finale is a lot more subtle. I can see viewers either loving the ending, or being disappointed by it. Long term fans of Shyamalan will be delighted by the cameo at the end, so stay seated after the final scenes!
January hasn’t been a stellar month for releases over here in the UK, and Split isn’t the perfect movie, but it is by far the best film to hit our shores at the start of this year!
With the release of the live action remake of Ghost in the Shell this year, I had the opportunity to watch the original 1995 anime at one of the few limited screenings at the cinema. Even though a fan of anime & manga, I’ve never got round to watching this film, so it was time to see what the hype was about!
Following on from 1988’s Akira, GITS follows on with the cyber-punk genre, with a captivating foresight into the future, with a movie that still holds up today. The film was such an inspiration, that the Wachowski’s showed the film to producers when pitching their idea for The Matrix!
GITS revolves around Major Motoko Kusunagi, an android who works for Sector 9, a branch of law enforcement; she is joined by Batou, her partner, and Togusa, the only human in the force, as they attempt to track down the manipulative ‘Puppet Master’ , but things are not as they seem, as they uncover a hidden government conspiracy!
Although I watched it last week, I decided to wait a couple of days before writing about it, as it’s a movie that requires some level of thought, and you may not grasp everything immediately afterwards! Similar to Your Name, it’s a movie that requires some time to go over the finer points!
The film takes place in the not so future 2029! But considering this film was released over 20 years ago, it does manage to predict what society would be like, and frankly, what it’s like now! The central plot to the movie is that the entire world is interconnected by a computer network, which controls most things, and enabling the authorities to go as far as using wonders such as satellite tracking. Sound familiar? This was all before the internet was really a thing, where a concept of satellite tracking was pure fantasy! How people access this network is via their cybernetic bodies, their ‘shells’, via the ports in the back of their neck. A concept The Matrix franchise used as inspiration for its own lore! The film even inspired the ‘code rain’ that The Matrix films used to great effect, the falling screen of green numbers.
The very concept of androids and life is the vocal point of our protagonist’s internal conflict, though the Major is an all-powerful robot, who very much looks and thinks like a human, she comes to realise, that at the end of the day, she isn’t. Her ‘ghost’, who is the term used to describe someone soul, is just something that has been programmed into her, and it’s this that eats away at her every night. The search for being human is so concerning for her, the she goes diving underwater in her free time, in order to feel human, knowing if there was any equipment failure, it would doom her in her metallic shell.
It’s important to understand that this is not an action film, though it may be emblazoned with guns on the cover! It’s very much a thriller, with its action set pieces. There are the standard police chase scenes, and stand offs, but don’t expect it to be all guns blazing for the entire run time. It’s also a slow paced movie, and depending on your personal taste, this may be something you may not be a fan off. The film has a tendency to cut to scenes of the city, showing everyday life, this may not bother you, but others may find it abit too much.
Let’s for a moment, discuss the sheer beauty of the movie. The animation is gorgeous, for a film made in ’95, it still looks lush now. The detail in the scenery is immaculate; the backstreets of the city are bought to life, simply due to all the signs and colours! The accompanying score is majestic; Kenji Kawai does a magnificent job in telling the story through music. The opening credits to the film are haunting and chilling, in which they depict the creation of the Major, without the music, the scene would be nowhere near as memorable. Showing the Major being created in a factory, gives the character a lot more depth, when it comes to her existential crisis. It’s great to see that the Hollywood remake will use the same piece of music in its film, a tribute to how iconic the music is.
The final act is very melancholic and dialogue heavy. As our hero and villain engage in conversation, regarding their purpose of existing. It does delve into some very engaging points such as requiring genetic variation, in order to survive. It does require intense focus; otherwise it may just end up as one big mess to the viewer. The ending of the film does film rather abrupt, as it sets up subsequent chapters to the saga. It feels like the movie could have run on for an extra half hour, just to make things a bit easier to grasp, just as you feel like the heroine is set up to make one final charge, it ends!
Ghost in The Shell is not the perfect movie, nor will it appeal to everyone. But the theme and motives of the film were far ahead of its time, and it’s gone on to influence several films since its release. If you’re a fan of science fiction, even if you don’t have an interest in anime, this film will certainly give you a lot to think over!
Yes the humour is spot on, and the film is knocking off one liner after one liner, but TLBM does a wonderful job in looking into the inner turmoil of our hero. Batman may be a multi-talented, bulked up crime fighter, but at the end of the day, he goes back to his mansion, alone. Since the loss of his parents, Batman fears losing anymore loved ones, which has lead him to following a life of isolation and loneliness. Where this film really excels is bringing in supporting characters like Robin, Alfred & Barbara (graduate from Harvard for Police!), and helping our hero escape his brooding ways! The film could have dropped them to the sidelines, and used some of the other well know heroes they could have used, but it was nice to see them stick with these ‘normal’ 3, throughout the films climax.
The cameos in the movie are a joy! You of course have the Justice League involved at some point, with Bats continuing his long standing rivalry with Superman, the film even referencing BvS from last year! Warner Bros. also dig into their own movie archives, with surprise villains dropping by from other WB properties!
Silver Screen Show 