Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (MA 15+)
A SEQUEL that arrives nearly 10 years
after the original is not generally one expecting high anticipation.
The decision to continue a story in modern Hollywood is largely
driven by financial risk and whether there is material at the ready
to adapt.
In the case of the Sin City graphic
novels, there's enough material to make a good six or seven films.
Frank Miller's dark dystopian world is a brutal look at the violence
within human nature and our desires to exploit it while wanting to
maintain control of our animalistic instincts.
The first, based on three of the
novels, was stylised onto the screen from the books almost seamlessly
using technology barely experimented with before. It was confronting
in its violence, but faithful to the original story.
The second of those follows suit with
the same stylisation that makes this material stand out from others
of the like. Based primarily on A Dame To Kill For, it has a
more narrow focus on characters and storylines than its predecessor.
It comes as no surprise that in
developing the script and devising new material for this film, Miller
and director Robert Rodriguez made a conscious effort to evolve
Nancy's character for Jessica Alba. Her reprise is in one of two
storylines devised specifically to sit alongside the titular events,
where she is still seeking revenge on Senator Roark (Powers Boothe)
for Hartigan's (Bruce Willis) death, having turned into an unstable
drunk.
Another chasing Roark is Johnny (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt), a winner who doesn't know when to stay humble. Not
far away is Dwight (Josh Brolin), who is bewitched by former lover
Ava (Eva Green) when she walks back into his life with plans of her
own.
Manipulative would best describe the
bulk of this offering, with deception also playing an important role.
The dog-eat-dog world doesn't let anyone or anything stand in its
way, and forever at the centre of this is Marv (Mickey Rourke). His
presence throughout most of the intertwining plots is threatening,
looking for trouble and easily finding it.
Rourke brings a solid performance, as
do Alba, Willis and Boothe in their reprised roles. Gordon-Levitt
places himself nicely into the fold, managing to face more than one
sticky situation. As for the dame, Eva Green's Ava is a dramatic
bitch – frustrating in the right ways as no one can see what she
manages to pull off thanks to her charm.
The cast and visual style remain solid,
but the story lacks the violent impact this city's characters gave us
nine years ago. Spilt blood is still very much there but it's more
talky than its predecessor, in turn reducing the strength of the
violence. But while a nine-year wait has been excessive for fans of
the novels and first film, there's still enough to like.
Rating: 3/5
To be published in the Darwin Sun on Wednesday 24/9/2014.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Maze Runner.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Maze Runner.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
This was meant to be published on here last week...
Into The Storm (M)
NATURAL phenomena have intriguingly,
but to devastating effect, become more commonplace in recent years
than anyone could have anticipated. This film, which tries to portray
the effects of such happenings on small-town America, acknowledges
that directly. Thousands of lives and homes have been lost by
nature's force when Mother Nature has chosen not to be so kind.
A path of destruction no one can stop
is a terrifying notion, and topical in cinema with the likes of The
Impossible most recently portraying natural disasters. Twister
will come to mind for many as tornadoes form the focal point of this
outing from director Steven Quale.
Storm chaser/documentary maker Pete
(Matt Walsh) and meteorologist Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies) find
themselves in Silverton, a town unaware of the harm to soon hit it.
Their group is at a crossroads, unable to agree with deciding where
to go in finding the next twister. Brothers Donnie (Max Deacon) and
Trey (Nathan Kress) are among the local high school's students
filming a time capsule for a school project. With this and the storm
chasers documenting their travels, found-footage style-filming is
used throughout the 89-minute run time.
The disaster was always going to be the
star of the film when the plot included a mega-twister with speeds of
300 miles per hour. But it is let down by some of the special effects
we come to expect as nothing short of perfect. It falls in line with
a cheesy script by John Swetnam, which is fine to some degree if you
go in expecting as much. Characters are largely not given time to
develop with the story at hand, Richard Armitage particularly having
a difficult time exploring Gary. Performances by all are fine,
Armitage included, but not serviced by who they portray.
There are hints at potential sub-plots,
while an actual inclusion centring on two drunks who try to make a
hit YouTube clip lands firmly in the *shake
my head* file. It shows a concerted effort to mix a number of
genres to appeal to the action fan, crass comedy appreciator and
general suspense anticipator, but doesn't manage to come off.
Quale, whose only other feature
directing credit is Final Destination 5, has not completely
fluffed his take on the disaster genre though. Hollywood has not had
a film of this sort – without heavier undertones – in some time,
and audiences will appreciate it on its spectacle alone. Without
expectation of serious heroism and cheesy acceptances about family
and love, it's a terse look at how disaster strikes.
Rating: 2.5/5
Published in the Darwin Sun on Wednesday 10/9/2014.
MISSED THIS WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Maze Runner.
MISSED THIS WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Maze Runner.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
I feel I need to express what I can of my sadness at the announcement Margaret and David will be no more after this year. At The Movies has been an institution for longer than I've been alive, something many (including myself) have at some point taken for granted.
Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton are two of the reasons I would love to be recognised within the film industry as a critic. Their incredible depth of knowledge of film, their brutal honesty and genuine love for the art form give Australians worthy reason to respect them so highly, in much the same way Americans did for the late Roger Ebert. It's something for anyone who writes about film to aspire to.
I guess it's fitting that I forgot to put my review of the week up yesterday (or last week for that matter, which I will put up shortly). Here's what I thought of this week's new release.
The Maze Runner (M)
AS puzzles that manage to both work the
mind and body, mazes are a healthy challenge to some. But in truth,
they are a nightmare to most as claustrophobia sets in – where then
the only mind game at play revolves around personal sanity. There are
mazes in all our lives, but none quite on the scale of what this
group finds themselves faced with. It is their only way out from an
artificial world made for them by an unknown force.
Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is the newest of
the all-male group to arrive to the Glade, and his curious mind goes
straight to exploring new escape plans. His actions are reckless but
brave, inspiring the group to consider rocking the boat of authority.
Enter token female Teresa (TV's Skins' Kaya Scodelario with a
wavering American accent), who has a connection with Thomas no one
can piece together. As things begin to change more questions emerge
than answers, and it's a fight to keep everyone working for the same
team.
It's Survivor meets The
Hunger Games as this post-apocalyptic story blends the struggle
for survival with villains that are aren't as obvious as what meets
the eye. Survival of the fittest stories have become all the rage
since The Hunger Games exploded into cinemas, and this
adventure fits right in there with targeting the young adult market.
It's an adrenaline rush with action and drama befitting the story.
Author James Dashner, who released the
first novel of his Maze Runner trilogy in 2007, was not involved in
writing the screenplay. That fell to Noah Oppelheim, Grant Pierce
Myers and TS Nowlin, who provide a script that gives room for the
main players to grow. The film retains a serious overtone that
doesn't give way to love or friendship dramas. It keeps the focus
squarely on kids beating the physical and mental monsters that stand
in their way.
In his first feature film, director Wes
Ball leaves things unexplained to good effect about the characters'
past lives and who subjected them to their fate. Set up for a sequel
(already slated for release next year), this tale does manage to
finish on a tidy note, concluding with anticipation for what's in
store for the group.
O'Brien and Scodelario are not quite
the leading pair you would expect, O'Brien given much of the film to
hold it all together. But with a good young cast, also including Will
Poulter (We're The Millers) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Love
Actually), the film will give young adults a story of wicked
proportions. Its intensity also serves other watchers, who will
appreciate the characters' mental fight.
Rating: 3.5/5
To be published in the Darwin Sun on Wednesday 17/9/2014.
MISSED THE LAST REVIEW? See what I thought of Magic In The Moonlight.
MISSED THE LAST REVIEW? See what I thought of Magic In The Moonlight.
Monday, September 01, 2014
Magic In The Moonlight (PG)
THE MAGIC and mystique behind love and
how humans come to have such feeling has been long explored by Woody
Allen. While his films range dramatically in the form his central
characters take, his creations predominantly deal with the mishaps
and other dramas love brings to their lives. For his latest offering
we're taken back to the 1920s, a time when the world was becoming
that little bit more liberated. With that came more public shows of
affection from those embracing the social change - but marriages of
convenience over pure emotion were still just as acceptable.
Stanley (Colin Firth) is a man of
convenience and righteousness, refusing to look past his
narrow-minded views on the world. His success in life acting as
magician from the Orient Wei Ling Foo and engagement to Olivia
(Catherine McCormack) lend to his views being perfectly rational. A
trip to southern France at the insistence of long-time friend Howard
(Simon McBurney) quickly threatens to shake up Stanley's entire
existence. As the master of trickery he heartily accepts a challenge
to debunk spirit medium Sophie (Emma Stone), who is seen to be
fooling the Catledge family.
Defining what is real and what is not
is harder for Stanley than meets the eye, Allen giving both he and
Sophie layers to masking their identities. Uncertainty is paramount,
delivered with more than enough of the snappy wit so familiar within
Allen's work. Firth and Stone, both newcomers to Allen's ways, create
an intriguing love/hate central relationship. This is despite the
fact Stanley is such an unlikable man - his pessimism is obnoxious to
the point of exhaustion. Firth is great at it, but the character
presents as overwritten even with the inevitable twist. Stone on the
other hand, is a delight.
It's a flamboyant film, using a simple
idea and amplifying it with extravagance to emphasise a point. On
what will depend on how you view the world - the pessimists' ability
to prove their views are logical, or the optimist's ability to crack
the pessimism and reveal there's more to life. Which in essence fits
in with typical Allen themes – characters' boredom with life,
anxiety and uncertainty about relationships. His films much of the
time become a moral compass, asking you to reassess where your views
on life sit, and this is no exception.
Allen assembles a great cast, which
also includes Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver and Eileen Atkins. He
also creates a whimsical setting with a southern France backdrop,
further creating a dreamy world amidst the almost-sinister intentions
at play. While entertaining, it will not rank among Allen's best. For
those unconcerned, it remains a fun piece of snappy comedy with
style.
Rating: 3/5
To be published in the Darwin Sun on Wednesday 3/9/2014.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Inbetweeners 2.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of The Inbetweeners 2.
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