‘The Magnificent 7’ Review

Last time Denzel Washington teamed up with director Antoine Fuqua, we were treated to the wonderfully thrilling ‘The Equalizer’ in 2014. Can they work that magic again in the remake of this 60s classic?

The story follows a group of gunslingers who take it upon themselves to protect a town from a corrupt businessmen. As with any ensemble film, its all down to the strength of the cast. The leader of the 7, is played by Washington. He is supported by a strong team, including Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio & Byung-Hun Lee. The diversity of the 7 also makes a nice change, from American, Mexican to Korean!

The films strength is most definitely any of the numerous scene involving stand offs. As with any Western, you’re bound to get a few stand off between the good & bad guys, and this film does this extremely well. Bringing back shades of ‘The Equalizer’! The shoot out scenes are choreographed well, and the final stand off in the town is thoroughly enjoyable to watch! Peter Sarsgaard does a credible performance in making us look forward to his inevitable downfall! The villain is usually where most films can drop the ball, but it does a sound job is creating a hateful antagonist.

At more than 2 hours in run time, the film does tend to drag at times. The initial hour or so is pretty leisurely in setting things up, and some of the 7 are introduced in a swift manner. It would have been nicer to see more background to some of the 7, rather than scenes of travelling or small talk! The final showdown does seem to go on for a bit too long, you feel like some of it could have been cut from the final take.

I’ve not seen the original, so I can’t really make a direct comparison to it! The film delivers an action packed, raucous adventure. The cast worked together smoothly, and the gun fights rack up the excitement! The film doesn’t offer anything new, so don’t expect any dramatic story lines or shocking plot twists. With all that in mind, you’ll thoroughly enjoy the show!

September 27, 2016 0

Silver Screen Show : Episode 6

So we’ve now been going on for half a year! Episode 6 is up and running! Here’s to another 6 months and making it the full year!

This month we have a new addition to the team, Alenya. Who joined regulars Abu, Mo & Pam on the show.

After the bumper July edition, this month is a bit more calm. We look back on Suicide Squad, Lights Out, The Shallows & Mohenjo Daro.

Enjoy!

September 8, 2016 0

‘Money Monster’ Review

Directed by: Jodie Foster

Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell

With recent hits like ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ & ‘The Big Short’, Wall Street has been in the cross-hairs for satire. ‘Money Monster’ does not hit the heights of the films mentioned, but it provides some good entertainment with several moments of laughter.

The film focuses on Lee Gates (Clooney), the brash, vibrant presenter of his Investment show, Money Monster. A charismatic TV personality who is just as comfortable dancing on screen as he is presenting! Due to a failed investment tip, one of the companies featured on the show crash in the markets. Leading to one irate shareholder (Jack O’Connell) to take matters into his own hands. The broken investor manages to get into the studio to hold Gates at gunpoint, forcing him to wear an explosive vest. To make things worse, the cameras are forced to keep rolling, broadcasting it across the world. It’s down to Gates’s producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) to keep a calm head and guide Gates in this dangerous situation.

The segments between Clooney & O’Connell in the studio are by far the best segments of the movie. With Gates trying to maintain his composure and trying to reason with the gunman. O’Connell is especially great, playing the role of ‘the desperate man who lost everything’ perfectly. Having Robert communicating with the host via the earpiece was a great touch, which helped build chemistry between the host & producer.

The film had a choice to go down the route of hostage films such as ‘The Taking of Pelham 123”, where the situation is very much real, and anyone could be killed if things flare up. But with this, after a while, you can tell that he won’t go through with his threat, and the film becomes somewhat of a comedy, similar to ‘The Martian’. There are several moments which will genuinely make the audience laugh! One highlight being Gates giving an inspirational speech to the world, to save his life, only for it to fail miserably.

The film is not a classic, the plot does become somewhat dull when the story leaves the studio setting. The shady corporate dealings of the company that lost millions is one of the side plots, but it feels pedestrian when compared to the hostage situation. It’s the cliche story of a corrupt CEO. While the humour is plentiful, people expecting an intense thriller will be not be too pleased. The film won’t live long in the memory once you leave the cinema, but it won’t leave you disappointed.

June 8, 2016 0

Silver Screen Show : Episode 3

Another month down, another episode wrapped up! In this episode we take a look at the biggest release so far this year, Captain America : Civil War. It’s a Marvel double with X-Men : Apocalypse also coming out this month. Comedy sequels never really hold up, will Bad Neighbours 2 prove us wrong? Also a small word for a rare Bollywood flick getting a mainstream release, with Fan.

Enjoy 🙂

June 8, 2016 0

‘The Jungle Book’ Review

Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring Neel Sethi, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson

I can’t even remember the last time I watched the original 1967 animated version of The Jungle Book, so it was great to see that their would be a CGI remake to bring back those childhood memories!

The story follows a similar pattern to the original. in which Mowgli (Sethi) is escorted by his mentor, Bagheera the Panther (Kingsley) to go live with his fellow humans in the village. Baloo (Murray), King Louie (Walken), Shere Khan (Elba) & Kaa (Johansson) once again all feature along with the addition of a few other characters.

In what could have just been a quick cash in for Disney, has turned out to be already one of the films of the year. With director Jon Favreau doing an excellent job in the pacing the story, with some incredible action scenes.

The CGI was always going to make or break the film, especially as 12-year-old Neel Sethi would have to act the entire film on his own, in front of a green screen, as he is the only human character in the entire movie! It cannot have been easy to act on your own for the entire film at such a young age, but the kid did well. The CGI shown here is by far some of the best we have seen, Disney did a fantastic job with all the animals, and never at any point during the film does the quality drop.

The voice casting is near perfect. Bill Murray absolutely nails it with his role as Baloo, and Ben Kingsley provides the calm assurance as Bagheera. Idris Elba does a wonderful job as the villainous Khan. Lupita Nyong’o takes up the role of Mowgli’s adopted Wolf mother Raksha, who does well to voice the pained mother who has to give up her child. One gripe would be the role of Scarlett Johansson as Kaa the Snake, who only features in the film for a brief moment. It would have been nice to the more of the deceptive snake!

The nostalgia factor will play a huge role in the enjoyment of the movie, you cant help but smile when the music for ‘Bare Necessities’ starts to fire up, and the homage to the Lion King with a stampede scene was a lovely touch. Younger members of the audience will find this the definitive version of The Jungle Book, and maybe even for some Adults! It’s no wonder a sequel is already in the works.

4/5

April 26, 2016 0