Showing posts with label Jamie Foxx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jamie Foxx. Show all posts
Saturday, September 07, 2013
White House Down (M)
PROTECTING the integrity of the United States government continues to loom large as unrest around the world hangs around like a stubborn wound. The US is not without its own internal issues, but makes claim to have the most secure and financially stable defence system in the world.
Destabilising that system has come into Hollywood's sights more than once in 2013.
Olympus Has Fallen earlier this year took a look at the frailties of the White House and what one man would do for his country. Now, White House Down does... exactly the same thing.
Roland Emmerich's return to action after 2011's Anonymous is as big as one would expect from the Independence Day director. Although he was beaten to the screen by Olympus, that hasn't stopped Emmerich from flaunting his big stars, Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx.
Magic Mike and Django make for an unlikely pair, but when John Cale (Tatum) finds himself the only person able to protect President Sawyer (Foxx) they find common ground in their patriotism. They find out they're up against a group of paramilitary invaders, and clue by clue (or dead guy by dead guy) they discover the group's plot.
The film plods along slowly for its 131 minutes as Cale and the President encounter one assault after another. It steps up from the general fistfight to a car chase to surviving multiple explosions. Emmerich is not one to let action take a back seat, but it is drawn out to excess because of the invaders' supposed inability to get their job done.
It's all a bit too confusing. Even within the military group, no one knows what's really going on as they each have their own agenda. What that agenda for a few is isn't clear, while for the main players it's hard to care.
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| Photo: spinningplatters.com |
James Vanderbilt, writer of the charming The Amazing Spider-Man, has failed to create a solid action story. He draws on a mix of past action successes but still produces a convoluted tale not sure of its nature.
Those comparisons to Olympus can't be ignored. There's a President, a guy wanting to protect him, the bad guys and a kid. This story has Emily (Joey King) as Cale's daughter, an 11-year-old conscious of politics and social media but still very much a child. Special Agent Finnerty (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is the other source of gender balance, who keeps in communication with Cale throughout the ordeal.
Gyllenhaal comes out of this looking best with her character's strong-yet-gentle persona.
For the men it's a case of who can look angriest. James Woods does a fine job at that as Martin Walker, chief of the Secret Service, while Australian Jason Clarke is left to look the most confused.
It's all a bit Die Hard-esque in how it tries to show the good guys. Tatum is given a shot of comedy here and there, but the film's overall uncertainty makes the lines appear terribly out of place.
The twist (and there is one) isn't thought out enough to make an impact and ends the film with a shrug. Emmerich delivers on over-the-top action for a mindless adventure, but nothing more.
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) and Rotten Tomatoes from Saturday 7/9/2013
MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of RED 2.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Happy Australia Day!
This week's movie has a slight Australian connection with a cameo by our country's most memorable villain John Jarratt... that's all I got. Oh, and got distracted by the Australian Open women's final so that's why it's late. What a game that turned out to be.
And PS: I couldn't get over how much I loved the coat Christoph Waltz is wearing in the pic. Spent a decent part of the movie with it on my mind - I want a cool coat like that! It's amazing!
Django Unchained (MA 15+)
QUENTIN Tarantino can’t help but get his hands dirty, and
throughout his career the thought that a little blood can’t hurt anyone has
largely worked in his favour. As the years go on his filmmaking has
outlandishly caught critics and fans off guard but managed to remain somewhat
mindful. Tarantino’s not one to lay it all out for his audience, as
keeping viewers guessing is, for most directors, their ultimate goal.
Spaghetti westerns of the 1960s are a huge influence of many
filmmakers for their style, choosing to focus more on one character than the
story at hand. Although Tarantino calls this offering a ‘Southern’ for its
setting, it is unmistakeably a tribute to those films of old.
In 1858 Texas, Django (Jamie Foxx) is travelling with his new owners and fellow slaves when dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) finds and buys him as part of a mission to slay the wanted Brittle brothers. It’s pretty obvious you’re going to go with this kooky guy anyway if he’s offering you the chance to help him kill those who separated you and your wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington).
In 1858 Texas, Django (Jamie Foxx) is travelling with his new owners and fellow slaves when dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) finds and buys him as part of a mission to slay the wanted Brittle brothers. It’s pretty obvious you’re going to go with this kooky guy anyway if he’s offering you the chance to help him kill those who separated you and your wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington).
Django and Schultz become a tag team offing the bad guys, as
Schultz offers Django his freedom and assists him in the search for Broomhilda.
Tarantino uses the first half to squarely focus on the duo, establishing a
growing friendship as Schultz, a German who does not understand the need for
slavery, teaches Django about life and takes him under his wing. It’s a
mentor-mentee relationship that turns into more of a brotherhood than is really
let on.
The latter half takes a different turn as Django and Schultz get closer to finding Broomhilda. Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and butler Stephen (Samuel L Jackson) stand in their way as it becomes a case of business and smooth talking for the duo to get what they want.
Christoph Waltz is excellent as the schmoozer from afar,
Tarantino getting the best out of him once again after his Oscar-winning turn
in Inglourious Basterds. Schultz oozes confidence when getting out of sticky
situations, an impressive free man in a world of slaves, and Waltz is
effortless in his portrayal as a friend and mentor. It should come as no
surprise that Tarantino is so accommodating of the man.The latter half takes a different turn as Django and Schultz get closer to finding Broomhilda. Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and butler Stephen (Samuel L Jackson) stand in their way as it becomes a case of business and smooth talking for the duo to get what they want.
Not so accommodating for some will be the language. Tarantino refused to let down on his use of the n-word and true to the violent nature of the film, it sticks around unrelentingly. But in a setting two years before the Civil War, you can’t question its accuracy.
Tarantino succeeds stylistically as with his previous films, with flashbacks representing the low-budget quality of the films of his inspiration and engrossing montages to a varied soundtrack.
The ending is the letdown if any, which seems to peter out into something Australians in particular will render bizarre. With Tarantino though, it would be a crime to not expect the unexpected.
Rating: 4/5
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 26/1/2013
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Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
THE WAR nobody won is still a
touchy subject in the scheme of global issues, devastating a world superpower
as well as millions of innocent Vietnamese. It’s perhaps been the conflict most
documented in terms of the relief brought to troops at the time, with The Sapphires most recently.
Most memorable to international
audiences would undoubtedly be this film, where Robin Williams was pushed past
his role on TV’s Mork and Mindy to an
Oscar nomination and audiences received a heartfelt story about the pressures
of wartime Saigon.
Loosely based on radio DJ Adrian
Cronauer’s real story, Williams plays the man sent to Saigon to relieve the
soldiers of their woes through a segment on Armed Forces radio. On discovering
the extreme control over what’s broadcast, Cronauer begins to make his own
rules and creates a noticeable difference to the soldiers’ morale.
Barry Levinson’s look at the
Vietnam War is a juxtaposition of poignancy and comedy, Williams’ improvised
on-air rambles next to his affection for Trinh (Chintara Sukapatana) and
friendship with her brother Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran). The story of the man who
too often crosses the line of authority is immersive for likeable characters
and flowing imagery.
MISSED LAST WEEK'S CLASSIC REVIEW? See what I thought of Raising Arizona.
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