Testament of Youth

Seldom do we see a war film that is told from a female perspective. Sure there are female characters in war films, but these always act as something that drives the hero's journey to survive. Testament of Youth, however, shows the female relationship with war, particularly of the First World War in a time that was completely different to the one we live in now. 

The movie is based on the memoir of the same name by Vera Brittain. Vera (Alicia Vikander) is a young woman living with her family in the English countryside. She dreams of going to Oxford to study and finally gets in at the outset of the war. Prior to this, she has started a relationship with one of her brother's schoolmates, Roland Leighton (Kit Harrington). This relationship is tested when Roland and her brother Edward (Taron Egerton) volunteer to the army and are eventually sent to the front.

The film does capture some of the issues that plagued women's rights at the turn of the century. Vera has to deal with issues like not being expected to get a higher education (or any education), expectations of staying at home and doing womanly chores, not at all volunteering for any form of service and, this was the most horrifying idea to men of the time, having the right to vote. Apart from female suffrage, which came a little later in the history of the twentieth century, I feel the film tackles all these issues in a rather succinct way. Toward the middle of the film, Vera volunteers to become a nurse and is not only looked down upon by her family, but also the nurses who think that this kind of work is below someone of her social standing. The film also tells of a heart-wrenching romance between Vera and Roland.

This film is a technical masterpiece. The shots are so incredibly crafted, with each one being carefully placed and framed. The camera also moves in not only fluid motions, but some movements are striking for the way they get the viewer to focus on a particular piece of action. The editing is also a marvel and is probably one of the most well edited films I've ever seen. The film occasionally cuts back to shots that we have seen before, most often when Vera is remembering time spent with Roland, and these are done in such a way that they are the reverse shots of what is happening in the current scene. It is a very clever way to do flashbacks and I applaud editor Lucia Zucchetti for this amazing style.

The acting also blew me away, considering I didn't have the highest of hopes for the two leads. Alicia Vikander is beginning to grow on me, despite a rather average performance in last year's Aussie crime flick Son of a Gun. She gives Vera a strong determination that makes you want to succeed in her life, but she also is able to convey the scenes with heartbreak in an amazing manner. Kit Harington is a lot better here than that brooding sad Jon Snow he is always playing. Supporting roles from Colin Morgan, Taron Egerton, Emily Watson and Dominic West are all fantastic, although I did want to see a fair bit more of West.

Testament of Youth is a heart breaking film that is very bleak, but it is also a fantastic film. Despite my feeling that the runtime was maybe ten minutes too long, you are sure to get swept along in the engaging, well written adaptation.

Boychoir

Looking at the description of François Girard's latest film Boychoir, one would assume that it's taking some inspiration from last years indie flick Whiplash and a bit of Dead Poets Society, with perhaps some more influence from Boyhood for the title. Even one of the teaser posters is reminiscent of the Billy Elliot poster! But it would be cynical of me to just assume that Boychoir is attempting to be Oscars bait. 

Stet (Garrett Wareing) is a troubled youth who loses his mother at an early age. His father has started another relationship but hasn't let his new family know that he has a son left from his previous wife. He sends Stet to a boarding school, which so happens to be an elite music academy. Stets talent as a singer accelerates him up the ranks, allowing him to go on tours, with the strong-willed choirmaster Carvelle (Dustin Hoffman) encouraging him. However, Stet frequently finds himself alienated amongst his peers and has difficulty maintaining disciplined. This, combined with the secret his father is keeping from his new wife, proves  troubling for Stet.

As a fan of much of the talent behind Boychoir, including Dustin Hoffman obviously, it's sad that my overall reaction to the film was 'meh'. On the one hand it tries to be heart-warming with a positive message, but there's a fine line between inspirational and the stereotypical emotional pleas of Hollywood. Boychoir treads that line, and sadly, often crosses it. The troubled youth trying to fit in, striving to succeed, the role of teachers as role models etc are all themes that have been covered numerous times before, often more originally and successfully. Boychoir certainly manages to avoid many of the other cliches that follow along with this sort of film, but it fails to replace those elements with anything edgy. As such I soon lost interest in the story and only had the characters to pay attention to. Thankfully the characters, whilst far from revolutionary, are interesting enough for a light film, primarily due to the performances. 

Dustin Hoffman brings a sense of restrained emotion, as with many of his other roles, and doesn't overdo the tough-love side of Carvelle. I love Eddie Izzard as both a comedian and an actor, so it's great to see him in another dramatic role, and generally the cast is strong enough to bolster the slightly lacking story. Kathy Bates, Debra Winger and Garrett Wareing as Stet, are all very good.

Boychoir is fairly unoriginal, and lacks a drive in quite a few crucial areas. Having said that, it's still a decent light movie for a lazy Sunday afternoon, if you don't go in expecting a revelation in cinema. 

Trailers Week 42: 26/04/15

Black Mass

Johnny Depp plays the infamous gangster Whitey Bulger, who was the most violent gang leader in the history of Boston. He also was an FBI informant for 30 years and the basis for Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed. The film also stars Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon and Dakota Johnson.

Barely Lethal
A teenage assassin pretends to be dead so that she can go and experience the things she thinks she's missing out on. That is until her old nemesis finds her and wants to come after her. Starring Hailee Steinfield, Sophie Turner, Thomas Mann, Jessica Alba and Samuel L. Jackson.

The Visit
M. Night Shyamalan returns to his old genre of horror to catch up with the current craze of found footage movies (except it's not 2010 anymore). I'm not too sure what to think of this movie, but expect some twists.

Chocolate City
What with the popularity of Magic Mike and all, here comes an all black version of the same concept, a young dude in need of money is scouted by the owner of a male strip club to do his thing, rolling in cash ensues. Starring Vivica A. Fox, Michael Jai White, Robert Ri'chard and Imani Hakim.

The 11th Hour
Kim Basinger stars in this indie thriller about an ageing woman who will do whatever it takes to have a child, even if that means kidnapping. Also starring Jordan Prentice, Sebastian Schipper and Peter Stormare.

The Little Prince
This is an adaptation of the beloved children's book and adds a little more plot than what the book had. A young girl with a strict mother discovers a world outside her studies when she meets her old neighbour who tells her of a fantastic adventure he had when he was younger. Starring Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Benicio Del Toro, James Franco and Mackenzie Foy.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

I think it's safe to say that Marvel Studios have gotten themselves to a safe enough place to be comfortable and confident in the movies they are making. The latest films have been branching out into various genres (political thriller with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, comedy sci-fi with Guardians of the Galaxy) and they have now reserved the main Avengers movies for the generic beat-em-up that most superheroes become. Despite this, Age of Ultron isn't entirely a slugfest and does try to take a softer approach with a few of its characters.

The movie starts right in the middle of an intense action sequence, with the team of the Avengers (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, The Hulk and Hawkeye) assaulting a fortress in the European country of Sokovia in an attempt to retrieve the sceptre of Loki from Hydra (see Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Once Tony Stark gets his hands on it, he realises that the sceptre possesses the technology to develop complex artificial intelligence, something that he and Bruce Banner have been interested in developing for a while. But Stark's plans for this AI program, named Ultron, goes awry and the program soon goes rogue with plans to destroy mankind. It's up to the Avengers to, you know, save the day.

In this film, we get to have a closer look some of the characters outside the big three (Thor, Cap, Iron Man) and it is slightly refreshing. The relationship between Black Widow and Hulk is explored and heavily hinted at being romantic and Hawkeye is revealed to have a wife and children, a fact that surprised not only the audience, the characters in the film. These smaller arcs are somewhat refreshing and satisfying.

There is a lot of assumed knowledge that comes with watching this film. Not only are you expected to have done your homework and be completely up to date with the Cinematic Universe, but you are also expected to have some knowledge of what is happening in the comic books or else you will be left in the dark as to who some of these new characters are. This film introduces us to three new heroes on top of the villain, whose storyline does make sense. The new characters are the Maximoff twins, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) (otherwise known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver). We of course saw a much better version of Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past, but that is beside the point. We also are introduced to Vision (Paul Bettany), who is another advanced cyborg imprinted with Tony Stark's manservant Jarvis' own AI.

This movie is definitely the kind that moves from action sequence to action sequence with a little talking in between, just enough so you know what's going on. And it's pretty impressive too. The action is enough to keep you amazed at what's going on. There is also an array of humour in the movie, enough for everyone to have a laugh.

Most of the performances are pretty stock standard, as all the actors have gone way too deep with these characters. The ones that stuck out the most for me were James Spader (Stargate) lending his amazingly authoritative and terrifying voice to Ultron and Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, although her accent did drop a few times. Of all the Avengers, Chris Hemsworth probably gave the best performance. His outsider status as an Aussie probably helps him get in the mindset of the god Thor.

Ultimately this film is incredibly entertaining and isn't extremely taxing. Fans of the movies will get all sorts of excited and people with limited knowledge of this things will still enjoy the large scale of the film.

While We're Young

Noah Baumbach's latest feature While We're Young continues in a similar vein to his two previous films Greenberg and Frances Ha of being unable to find direction and comfort in your own life; only this time he adds in the idea of getting old. Baumbach also confusingly shoehorns in a subplot about authenticity in documentary, which threw me about what the film was actually about.

Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are a couple who are experiencing a rough patch in their life due to indecision over having children. Josh is a documentarian who was been working on the same film for close to a decade and is struggling to complete the project. One day after giving a lecture, he meets a young couple, Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried) and decides to spend time with them after learning Jamie is a fellow documentarian. Both Josh and Cornelia start to regain their youth by spending time with Jamie and Darby.

This movie wants to make you think that it is all about getting old and dealing with it, but Baumbach replaces this story rather quickly with the idea of authenticity (or the lack of it) in documentary filmmaking. Josh finds out that Jamie's style of documentary making is far from genuine and seeks to expose his ways. This storyline dominates the majority of the film and everything else is dropped in lieu of it. That's where this movie falls apart, it could have been a fun movie about to grown ups realising the life that young people lead isn't for everyone, but Baumbach gets to this in a rather roundabout way.

None of the lead actors bring their best to this film. Both Watts and Seyfried are relegated to the background of the movie and therefore we don't care about them. Driver gives an entirely lazy performance here. He is so much better in other movies, but here he really calls it in. Stiller is the worst offender of the film. We are supposed find the main character relatable, or at least likeable, but his character is a total asshole. Only Charles Grodin and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock of The Beastie Boys) give the most passable performances.

All in all, this is a missed opportunity of a movie. What could have been a smart, funny movie about the idea of growing old gracefully ends up being an unfunny mess about the ethics behind documentaries. Baumbach needs to change his approach.

It Follows

"It could look like someone you know or it could be a stranger in a crowd. Whatever helps it get close to you."

*Spoiler brackets*

Jay (Maika Monroe) is a quiet suburban girl whose recently began dating a mysterious guy (Jake Weary). During one of their dates the couple has sex in the back of his car near an abandoned building and afterwards Jay is knocked unconscious by her date. She wakes up bound to a wheelchair in the building where the man begins to describe the curse he's passed onto her. A creature will now follow her wherever she is, but it can only walk. When it reaches her, she'll die and when she dies it continues after the person who first passed on the curse.

There's a recent trend in independent horror film of the last few years to homage and reinvent late 70's and early 80's horror styles. Through direction, cinematography, premise, production design and especially soundtrack, films such as House of the Devil, Beyond the Black Rainbow, Stage Fright and Maniac among others stand independent from the tired trends of blue-filtered, rebooted, CGI-laden, jump-scare slashers that dominate modern horror. David Robert Mitchell's It Follows has the simplest of premises; through sex someone can transfer a curse to you that manifests as a creature that appears as human that is relentlessly following you and when it touches you, you die. It borrows one of Halloween's most iconic shots, while simultaneously Disasterpiece's musical style is influenced great by John Carpenter as well, and Mitchell has claimed that Carpenter and George A. Romero significantly influenced his film.

Visually, It Follows is a gorgeous example of independent film-making.The most suspenseful scenes are composed with undeniable care, with many shots lingering to zoom, pan or maintain dread. The film also employs numerous wide, symmetrical slow-paced shots and often uses space and movement in beautiful, terrifying ways. This film absolutely excels in otherwise dulls scenes as even discussing what Jay and her friends next plan is becomes thrilling as through premise and composition It is always likely to appear. As said earlier, the film has a distinct 70's style and this also manifests in the behaviours of Jay and her group who, despite the incongruity with modern teenagers, are often found watching 50's B-horror films or simply sitting on their porch.

It Follows is a film that grates as it goes on, as the soundtrack at times clashes violently with the scenes it plays over, character logic is child-like, the performances are full of blank stares and mumbled dialogue, the film suffers from an overload of under-cooked characters and soon falls into a dull repitition (arrive at an area, prepare for It to arrive, freak out when it arrives, run away, sit down and pull knees to chest and wait). The mumbled performances do little to hide the inadequacies of the script, as both dialogue and characters fall flat and serve little purpose. The strength of the film is in the situation and having four or five people following Jay around, and only one or two serve any real purpose to the plot.

*The reveal of the creature itself and its killing method is laughable, simply laughable. Most often when it appears, the creature appears as a vulnerable woman in some manner (a naked woman, old woman in a hospital gown, victimised woman beaten, stripped and urinating on herself) or as a white shirt wearing thin man with blackened panda-like eyes, and it is finally two-thirds through the film that the creature murders someone by literally raping their life out of them and this is shown through It impersonating one characters mother and killing him. In these moments, the fear created from the excellent tension that each scene creates instantly dissolves into fits of giggles and guffaws.*

It Follows is a film that does horror well, but is let down by flat characters, repetitive situations and disappointing performance. Gorgeously shot, with many well-paced scenes and a truly terrifying premise, It Follows will scare the life out of you, and yet bore you by the end.

The Gunman

Pierre Morel is the man the brought Taken to the world, so I already knew what to expect when I walked into his latest feature The Gunman. With Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Idris Elba headlining the film, it can't be that bad right?.....right?

Jim Terrier (Sean Penn) is an ex-soldier working under contract in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His girlfriend, Annie (Jasmine Trinca) works for the same NGO as he does, in a medical position. Felix (Javier Bardem) works as a contact for Jim and is interested in Annie. As part of his contract, Jim assassinates the mining minister and has to flee the continent. When he returns eight years later, digging wells, he uses some bad-ass moves to foil an attempted assassination on himself and when he begins to investigate, finds his past catching up with him.

The Gunman's plot is in a league of it's own, somehow managing to be endlessly clichéd and at the same time, frustratingly convoluted. It often feels like they're specifically adding unnecessary detail and opening up new story arcs to mask the plot holes. Just for example, early on, there's an attempted assassination on Jim, where the gunmen have vials of some 'no-frills' poison. Jim takes the vials, then somehow gets them past customs to show to his mates in London; that might seem nit-picky but it's just the tip of the iceberg. The characters seem to just spew endless jargon, followed by a "we need to go to (insert exotic location)" which seems like a good excuse to consume more of the $40 million budget, an enormous amount of money for an action thriller that really only has a couple of action sequences.

The denouement significantly improves on the hum-drum storyline, but it covers way too much ground, revealing erroneous details and trying to tie up loose-ends with about as much success as a Llama with a ball of string. The Gunman ultimately takes the path most followed, with a story that's both dull and unoriginal. The opening act set in the Congo only serves as a brief, unnecessary establishing point, and to me, using another nation's crisis as a central story arc, then abandoning it in favour of  the regular girl/villain/revenge story is not just a cop-out, it's an insult to those that are actually suffering.

The characters are no better. Javier Bardem is completely underused and has a very insignificant role, especially given his prominence on the poster. Bardem is a very talent actor, but here he's just playing an under-developed douchebag, and there's no acting around that. Idris Elba is only in the film for about the last twenty minutes, and Sean Penn joins the ranks of middle-aged stars playing bland characters who somehow punch louder than a clap of thunder but deliver lines with the dramatic force of a gerbil. Ray Winstone brings some much needed cockney relief but is unfortunately very-much a secondary character. The two strongest performances come Trinca and Mark Rylance, who I haven't actually seen in anything til now.

Given that Morel is also a cinematographer, it should come as no surprise that the visuals are really this film's only saving grace (though the actual DP on The Gunman was Flavio Martinez Labiano). The gritty look is in no way innovative, especially for the action/thriller genre, but along with some decent sound design, it does manage to build the tension. The fight scenes also seem to be extremely well choreographed, though they cut away so much that it's difficult to actually enjoy them. The most enjoyable element of The Gunman was listening to the elderly couple behind me discussing how ripped Sean Penn is.

If you're the sort of person that cherishes the Taken franchise, then you'll probably enjoy this, though then again there's not that much mindless action here either. Not even the strong cast could save this from being a terrible movie.

Trailers Week 41: 19/04/15

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

In this new trailer we see a star destroyer destroyed, the crumbling helmet of one Darth Vader and a glimpse at a series of exciting action sequences. Not too heavy on any plot elements, but that's all right with me because we get a feel of the stunning visuals.

Learning To Drive

After a long marriage, an author from Manhattan splits from her husband. In order to be independent she decides to take driving lessons from an Indian man. This opens all sorts of questions, like why do you need to drive anywhere in Manhattan, or why is Ben Kingsley playing another Indian. Also starring the extremely talented Patricia Clarkson.

Dope
This week we get a better look at what this movie is actually about. A group of geeks who play in a punk band accidentally steal some drugs from a gang and they have to not get killed. Still looks pretty dope.

Every Secret Thing
Like Prisoners and The Captive, this movie is about people kidnapping other people (or babies this time) and the mystery around who actually did. I mean just because two little girls did it once, doesn't mean they'd do it again, right? Starring Dakota Fanning, Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks and Common.

Results
Cobie Smulders plays a fitness freak who takes her job as a personal trainer way too seriously. One day she takes on a client who falls in love with her. Also starring Kevin Corrigan, Guy Pearce and Giovanni Ribisi.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
We've finally got a look at the much anticipated showdown between Supes and Bats that everybody has been waiting for. Both Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill look brooding, which suits one of them. We also hear Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor. All I can say is: who invited Neil deGrasse Tyson to the party?

When Marnie Was There
This is the latest animation from the beloved Japanese Studio Ghibli. All our favourite animation styles are at play here and this time the movie looks to have a more contemporary setting. This is great because I love their interpretations of the modern world. The English dub of this movie includes the talents of Hailee Steinfield, John C. Reilly, Geena Davis, Ellen Burstyn, Kathy Bates and Kiernan Shipka.

The Tale of Tales (NSFW)
This trailer comes with a NSFW label purely because it is oddly explicit and no one wants to get caught by their boss watching strange things at work. It is loosely based on a collection of 17th century fairytales and looks rather dreamlike. It stars Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek, John C. Reilly and Toby Jones.

Ant-Man
In this new trailer for Ant-Man, we get to see the ant suit in action and some scientific explanations of how the suit will work, as well as Paul Rudd being funny. Also starring Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly and Corey Stoll, who is also going to get tiny.

Terminator: Genisys
John Connor is a machine now? A giant nanobot? This reboot-sequel (requel?) has John come back to the present and then there's like five terminators all fighting each other, including the best one, the T-1000. It looks all sorts of confusing. Emilia Clarke kind of looks like Linda Hamilton in the first one and is no relation to Jason Clarke who plays her son.

The Age of Adaline

I'm not sure where to start with this movie, or how exactly I feel about it. Throughout the film I kept trying to look for a deeper meaning or message the film was trying to push, but it just ends up being a very average love story where the supporting cast is much better than the star.

Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) was born in 1908, but due to a freak accident involving snow, freezing water and lightning, she somehow loses the ability to age, not just superficially, but all her organs remain intact as well. On New Years Eve 2014, she meets a handsome man by the name of Ellis (Michiel Huisman) who falls for her. Adaline is torn between her attraction to Ellis and the fact that she knows she will never age as long as they are together.

It takes quite a while for this film's plot to get moving into territory where actual events take place. The majority of the first act is made up of conveniently placed flashbacks describing how Adaline got her bizarro powers, all triggered by a newsreel she watches at the San Francisco Public Library where she works. I feel as though these flashbacks were used up all too quickly at the beginning and instead of using them as reveals throughout the film, we are shown others that seem like they were hastily put together and shoehorned in. These are narrated by Hugh Ross, who also narrated The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford, and his inclusion to me seems like director Lee Toland Krieger was somehow trying to elevate this film to something it isn't.

The film also suffers from some perspective issues, as it jumps around a bit and makes the film seem a bit disjointed. The first act focuses on Adaline's past and the second on the present, but the third act shifts to the perspective of a whole different character entirely, Ellis' father William (played surprisingly by Harrison Ford), who had a close relationship with Adaline in the 60s. While this is only a minor problem, it does mess with the structure a bit.

It may come as a shock to some (especially those Gossip Girl fans out there), but Blake Lively can't particularly act. She just kind of chews the scenery and stares blankly at whoever she is sharing the screen with. Luckily the supporting cast does its job. Michiel Huisman is a likeable and charismatic love interest and does well being goofy when he needs to. Ellen Bustyn plays Adaline's daughter and is much more energetic than Lively ever is. Harrison Ford's reveal in the film is almost as shocking as his fake goatee.

The Age of Adaline has many flaws surrounding its shoddy love story, unexplored sci-fi tangents and missed opportunity as an episode of The X-Files set in the 50s. Lively proves that her acting ability is only skin deep and doesn't branch out more than a few sighs and a thousand yard stare.

Trailers Week 40: 12/04/15

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

To me this looks like a much more cynical version of The Fault in Our Stars, which I think I will love. It is about two friends who make amateur remakes of classic movies and they then decide to make a film for a new friend who is dying from cancer. Starring Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Jon Bernthal and Nick Offerman.

Sinister 2

Okay, so maybe here is one horror movie that might scare me. This follow up to Scott Derrickson's 2012 horror flick follows a whole new family who are being stalked by a demon who waits in old rolls of film waiting to jump out at whoever watches them. The moral of the story is: don't watch those old 8mm films you find in the attic! Starring Shannyn Sossamon, Tate Ellington, James Ransone and Nicholas King.

I'll See You In My Dreams

What sounds like another horror film is just a comedy drama starring the sweet Blythe Danner trying to find another love after the death of her first husband. Also starring Malin Akerman, Sam Elliott, Martin Starr and Rhea Perlman.

Broken Horses

Set to the back drop of US/Mexico border gang wars, two friends are forced against one another by an evil gang leader. Violence and backstabbing abound! Starring Chris Marquette, Thomas Jane, Sadie Alexandru and Vincent D'Onofrio.

Bravetown

A troubled teen goes and lives with his father in a small town where he realises that his problems may not be as bad as what's going on with these people. So he decides to help them with the power of dance. Kind of like if the adults in Footloose where just really sad because they lost a lot people due to war. Starring Lucas Till, Kherrington Payne, Laura Dern and Josh Duhamel looking like Timothy Olyphant.

Just Before I Go

This comedy from director Courtney Cox is about a guy who decides to get revenge on the people who made him miserable in his life before killing himself. Starring Seann William Scott, Olivia Thrilby, Garret Dillahunt and Rob Riggle.

True Detective Season 2

The new season of this gothic anthology series looks just as dark and disturbing as the last one. Starring Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams and coming our war June 21.

Black Sea

Kevin Macdonald's latest film Black Sea is a weird, dark and undoubtedly thrilling submarine film which mixes in elements of the heist genre. It has the feel of a Cold War era action film, but is it an entertaining ride? 

Captain Robinson (Jude Law) works in deep-sea salvage, and has just been made redundant. As he discusses his problems over a drink with his mate Kurston (Daniel Ryan) and a Russian man, Blackie (Konstantin Khabensky), Kurston tells them that in WWII a German U-Boat, supposedly stuffed to the brim with gold, sank in the Black Sea and that whilst some large third-parties were interested in salvaging it, they had become embroiled in political red-tape. Kurston has a plan to salvage the gold, and sends the other two to negotiate a deal with a rich man named Lewis (Tobias Menzies), who can fund the expedition. Before they begin the trip, Robinson finds a young man, Tobin (Bobby Schofield) waiting at Kurston's apartment, who informs Robinson that he's committed suicide. Robinson recruits Tobin in his place and the crew travel to Crimea, where they join a Russian crew and the old Russian sub that they're to use. However, once under way, the expedition doesn't go to plan with the claustrophobic conditions, value of the find, and division between the crew adding to the conflict.

Black Sea doesn't hang about. After a brief establishing conversation, Robinson is already working to get the plan under way, and this pace continues through to the very end of the film. It covers so much ground that it's difficult to believe that it's less than two hours in length. The 'U-boat full of gold' back story is interesting with enough intrigue to work, and apart from a few unnecessary flashbacks that create the illusion of character development, the story - and indeed, the characters - fixate on the events within the submarine. The influence of other sub films like Das Boot are pretty obvious, with scattered references throughout, and the overall feel of the film, the tension and claustrophobia, is reminiscent of some Cold War era features. 

Captain Robinson hints throughout that he sees himself and his crew-mates, as the working class, treated like shit by the companies that originally hired them, and that they deserve the gold more than any of the "bankers" that are also hunting it. In his attempts to maintain an egalitarian mood on board the submarine, he's (ironically) frequently putting people into line, which is really where some of the complications begin. Many of them are out for a larger piece of the pie, and almost everybody on the sub is an enemy at one point or another, as they divide against each other. Another interesting character is Fraser, who seems to be a complete and utter nutter, with some conflicting viewpoints. For instance, after some psychopathic measures on his part early in the film, he argues for the moral choice against Robinson, then proceeds to flip back to his previous persona. Really though, all of the characters are quite well-rounded - enough for this type of film anyway - and the acting all-round is great.

This is ultimately an action film, and it succeeds admirably in creating a claustrophobic, dark, damp atmosphere in-fitting with the setting. There are very few wide shots in the film - all are external to the submarine - and from the very beginning of the film, the audience is right up in the face of the characters. There's a minimal use of CGI for the exterior shots and whilst it isn't 100% believable, it's never distracting. I love the fact that it's set in a rusty old Russian submarine, which is absolutely oozing with character (among other things). 

Black Sea has its faults - mainly with some jarring plot developments and unusual characters, but for what it seems to be setting out to achieve - to be an entertaining, atmospheric thriller - it certainly succeeds. Fans of other submarine films are sure to enjoy this.

Furious 7

                                               "I can't believe we pulled that off"

The Fast and Furious is a wholly unique example of blockbuster film-making. In no other series could the sixth sequel of a franchise be both the highest grossing and the most critically-acclaimed in spite of a director-change and the death of one of the major stars. A franchise that's as lauded for the diversity of its main cast as for its outright lunacy and stupidity. As often as it is compared to the auteuristic style of "Bayhem", it is entirely separate, as the Furious 7 may be the only film of the decade to have an action set-piece that involves one Hispanic woman fist-fighting four hijab-clad bodyguards and an MMA champion all dressed in evening dresses and while a car flies between three separate sky-scrapers.

                                          "Time to release the Beast from its cage."

The climactic death of Han in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was a grim eventuality during his tenure in Fast Five and Furious 6, but at the end of the latter it was teased that his death was deliberately perpetrated by British ex-Black Operations psychopath Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). The motive being that by killing Han Shaw can bait Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his adopted "family" as revenge for them defeating his brother Owen (Luke Evans) in Furious 6. From this point onwards the plot modifies this over-arching revenge story with a Macguffin side-plot involving the enigmatic and enthusiastic "Mr. Nobody" (Kurt Russell) and the sexy & intelligent hacker (literally her only characteristics) Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel of Game of Thrones). Russell adds an extra dose of enthusiastic wit into the mix, Rhonda Rousey and Tony Jaa appear to (successfully) beef up the fight scenes, and Djimon Honsou continues his recent trend of intimidating villainous roles. This all builds upon Furious 6's James Bond-like jet-setting trend and growing reputation for choice casting, allowing for ridiculous action set-pieces to take place in vastly different locations, and truly allowing the individuality of this series to shine.



Australian director James Wan (most known for his horror films The Conjuring and Saw) gives some new depth to the madness but stays mostly true to the style Justin Lin built in his tenure from Tokyo Drift onwards.  Sky-diving cars? Sure. Iggy Azalea cameo? Why not. The Rock flexing his way out of a cast? Oh baby, yes please. But the over-editing of the fights, cringe-inducing dialogue, the too-strong foreshadowing of Brian's departure, the objectification of Nathalie Emmanuel's attractive, but otherwise very capable Ramsey, and certainly the abundance of product placement thin the growing divide between Furious 7 and its contemporaries. Wan also retains the near pornographic scene transitions, the lunatic action set-pieces, and thematic obsession with family, but builds on them in many small ways (most often through just effective mis-en-scene and camera-work) throughout the whole film. The fights incorporate interesting camera and editing techniques. the film concentrates on the dynamics and psychology of the "family" over the Statham's entertaining but one-dimensional villain, and the music unashamedly switches entirely from an obnoxious hip-hop soundtrack to an overcharged orchestral score between scenes. The introduction to Deckard Shaw is excellent in the way it establishes James Wan's role. The scene begins with a relatively touching moment of Statham visiting an unconscious Luke Evans in hospital and then in a single shot pulls out to reveal the destruction he wrought to get there, the destroyed ward, the dozens of dead and dying police and Statham's own deadly swagger. The scene contains the familial spirit, the excess of action and even ends with Statham speeding off in a sports car to hit all the hallmarks of the franchise, but the style of the reveal and structure of this scene is more than just pure spectacle.


                                   
                                                   "Woman, I AM the cavalry."

While it's tough to shoot around Paul Walker's death at that stage of the production, it's dealt with adequately with the asides of Dom and Mia (Jordana Brewster) contemplating whether Brian will accept domestication. These moments, alongside the similar aside that delves into the psychological aftermath of Letty's (Michelle Rodriguez) return to the "Family", allows for a welcome change in pace and an easy introduction to the eulogy for Walker. It's important for films to know what they are, not just who their audience is but what the film is, what it says and the way it says it. The Fast and Furious films were never meant to get this outrageously big, and it is clear on every level that the film-makers, producers, and most of all the actors know exactly what they're there to do: entertain. And in Furious 7 there is no shortage of ways to evoke that message, it comes through loud and clear.




Go and watch this movie now.

Trailers Week 39: 5/04/2015

The 33:

A joint USA/Chile project, The 33 tells the story of the 33 Chilean miners that were trapped underground for a record 69 days after a mine collapse. Directed by Patricia Riggen, it stars, among others, Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche and James Brolin.

Masterminds:

This teaser sees Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson star in a comedy heist movie that has some promise, even if it is just to see Galifianakis in a ridiculous wig, putting on a southern accent.

Survivor:

If there's one thing Pierce Brosnan does well, it's action. Survivor sees the suave actor as some sort of watch-making villainous terrorist, which will be no doubt entertaining to watch. Also starring Milla Jovovich, Dylan McDermott, and directed by James McTeigue of V for Vendetta fame.

The Gift:

The Gift seems like one of the usual psychological thrillers that has been done many times before, with a bit of a One Hour Photo vibe. I kinda wish Jason Bateman and Joel Edgerton had switched places here because I'd love to see what Bateman would be like as a psychopath.

The D Train:

This comedy...well, what can I say...It's a high school reunion planning film. Starring Jack Black and James Marsden.

Aurora:

Aurora may seem like another Sci-Fi film along the lines of other similar releases (apart from the fact that it's framed as a "twisted robot love story"??) but as far as I know, it's been mainly funded through a kickstarter campaign. For a crowd-funded feature with an estimated budget of $100,000, it looks incredibly visually impressive .

Mad Max: Fury Road (Trailer #2):

I know we've already seen a couple of teasers and a main trailer for Fury Road, but this latest trailer gives us some more hints about the characters and plot. Supposedly much of the action is practical effects, in keeping with the rest of the series, and I'm certain long-term fans of the series will want to see this.

Fantastic Four:

This teaser is in English, but has Japanese text, what more could you want?! But seriously, there's nothing more to say until Marvel can prove this isn't just another shitty reboot.