Hell or High Water

Modern westerns seem like a bit of a misnomer. The whole idea of the genre is to capture the futility and struggle on the frontier of America, a frontier that disappeared in the early part of the twentieth century. These neo-westerns have shifted the focus of the struggles of the people living in the rural parts of America away from physical dangers to economic threats. Everything from No Country For Old Men to Breaking Bad has included this in some form or other, but nothing has embraced it fully like Hell or High Water.

Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) have started their week by robbing banks. Not just any bank either, specifically Texas Midlands Bank. They have a plan to rob as many as they can in the week and launder their ill-gotten gains at the Indian casino over the Oklahoma border. The case comes to the attention of Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), who sets his sights on trying to find out who they are, despite total resistance from a population happy to see the crooked banks getting what they deserve.

A lot of people probably won't know what to expect when going into this movie. It looks like it will have a lot of action like a western or the thrills of a heist movie and it has both of those, but in very limited doses. It is however a slow burning western that focuses on its themes and characters on both a small and grand scale, something which a lot of movies in general are incapable of doing. The economic reality of places like rural Texas is that they never bounced back from the global financial crisis of 2008, but they can see that big cities in their own country are saying that it's over. I don't want to make this review about Donald Trump, and this movie isn't about him, but more than anything this movie really shows the landscape that a political movement like his can be born out of. There are so many references to the fact that small town America is lost and that families are being put out of a living and that's what makes this movie great. There's a level of realism simmering just below the surface that may not be in keeping with the classic idea of realism that was built all those years ago in post-war Italy, but it's there all the same.

The other thing that makes this movie fantastic is its characterisation. There is a distinct lack of characters that have any bearing on the plot and none of these characters are the archetypes that you would find in a western or heist film. Jeff Bridges has played a law man many times before, but never has he been such an abrasive and unlikeable character. Not only is he always antagonising his Mexican/Native American partner Alberto (played so perfectly by Gil Birmingham), but he fails to identify the world in which the other characters live. Chris Pine's Toby is reminiscent of Jake Gyllenhaal's Lou Bloom from Nightcrawler, however his thinness comes from the lack of available food. Ben Foster plays a special level of unhinged that is similar but different to his regular unsettling character.

Hell or High Water is a surprising look at the current economic reality of rural America. It also fights the conventions of genre so much that it transcends any genre and becomes a realistic portrait of life. This is one of those quiet movies that slip past people but ends up winning awards without people knowing it. Definitely go watch it.

Star Trek Beyond

After the darkness that was the last Star Trek movie, the franchise has taken a much lighter turn. This can only be expected when you team up Justin Lin, director of the Fast & Furious movies, and Simon Pegg, who wrote the script. This tongue in cheek approach is a much needed thing in the current Hollywood climate, but is also a step away from the general nature of Star Trek which might upset long time fans.

The crew of the Enterprise are more than halfway through their five-year voyage through space and have stopped at deep space station Yorktown for some much needed respite. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is questioning his place as captain and applies to be the Vice Admiral of Yorktown. But that process is stalled when an escape pod drifts into the Yorktown space and the survivor on board claims that her ship was attacked in a nebula and are being held on a remote planet. Kirk and his crew go to the planet only to be attacked themselves. It turns out that the alien Krall (Idris Elba) was after a part of a superweapon that Kirk has. Luckily, another alien prisoner Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) is able to help figure out how to save the day.

What made this movie really work for me was the simplicity of the plot. It's a very basic rescue mission/escape movie. Pegg has written a script that really allows for focusing on the characters rather than getting bogged down in a story that is steeped in Star Trek lore. This also means that we get to see characters grow in and develop in this new universe. Simon Pegg also infuses the movie with plenty of humour that pleases both fans Pegg and these movies. One such example is when they use the Beastie Boys 'Sabotage' to save the day and refer to it as classical music. Justin Lin is also very adept at filming action and there is a lot more on the ground action than spaceship fighting, but that's what he does so well.

Due to Pegg's familiarity with his castmates, he has written a script that definitely plays to their strengths. One of these recipients is Karl Urban, which is good because Bones is definitely my favourite character. Also the character of Sulu is padded out a little more, as he given a husband and a daughter. While there has been an outcry against this, it doesn't harm the story at all and actually made me feel more a character who has been relegated to the background in the other two movies. There was a point where I was listening to Krall speak, and I wondered whether it was Idris Elba. No, I thought, he's not in this. Turns out he is, but still his performance isn't up there with some of the ones he's given in the past. Newcomer Sophia Boutella makes the character Jaylah very likeable.

In our current world of gritty reboots, Star Trek Beyond is a fun, bubbly adventure. Sure, it is part of a series that historically has taken itself very seriously, but this time round it's just a lot of fun to watch Captain Kirk and his pals wisecrack their way through the action. Also, the massive inside out planet that is Yorktown is really a wonder to see.

The Finest Hours

I’ve talked before about my love-hate relationship with disaster movies. Why just last year I thoroughly enjoyed Everest, (and seemed to be the only one) whilst other more bombastic films like San Andreas prove to be the steaming-turds they make themselves out to be. It’s rather fitting that most disaster movies by their very nature seem to teeter on the edge of failure, with many falling deep into the abyss of characterless, CGI-driven ludicrousy. For this very reason it’s all the more rewarding to sift through the crap and find those movies that actually bring something to the genre. Disney’s The Finest Hours is not one of those movies 

In 1952 off the New England coastline, a north-easterly shears the oil tanker SS Pendleton in half. The coast guard are dealing with another tanker in a similar position and can’t afford to send all their men to it. Bernard Webber (Chris Pine) is selected to pilot a lifeboat to the Pendleton, a lifeboat which is only designed to hold 12 people, but with 32 crewmen to save. 

It’s clear that the best disaster films hold a close relation to adventure films, whether it be Everest, Twister or All is Lost, there’s something about pioneers/explorers and their tragic destinies that appeal, and like a lot of films it helps if the story is grounded with realism and not Mayan prophecies. The Finest Hours bases itself off the true story of the SS Pendleton, and right off the bat it would be wise to read up before you enter the cinema, because the impenetrable New England accents combined with the gale-force sound effects make it almost impossible to understand what is going on most of the time. Directed by Craig Gillespie of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm, an equally unambitious movie, The Finest Hours seems content with letting melodrama and routine plot drive the movie, and as such it became increasingly difficult to invest in the characters or the events. 

Chris Pine gives a flat uninteresting performance equaled by many of the supporting cast, and honestly the only noteworthy performance was Casey Affleck. There’s an air of the old-fashioned both in the setting and style of this film and thankfully the CGI manages to restrain itself in the big set pieces, although by the time we get to these, any sense of tension is well and truly gone. I do respect the decision to take the time to try and build some of the characters, but as it focuses on two parties - those on the wrecked ship and the coastguard - it still never really gives enough time to any of them whilst still managing to slow the film down and move away from the action. There’s also a love story which feels very much tacked on. 

There’s not a lot more to say about The Finest Hours. Despite, or perhaps due to a surprisingly reserved style of filmmaking it fails to deliver on a story that had potential. Maybe that’s why it’s ended up in the early ‘dumping ground’ period of the year.

Into The Woods

Stephen Sondheim's award-winning Broadway musical seems like it would be perfect for a big screen adaptation. The scope of the stage production with it's big sets, many characters and magical elements would make a stage feel packed, like there was too much action going. But somehow, on the screen this story seems like it's spread a little too thin.

The story combines all of the most famous fairy tales into one big adventure and gives origin to some of the more popular ones. A childless baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) want to have a family, but are unable to do so due to a curse laid upon the house by the witch (Meryl Streep), who lives next door. She is willing to reverse the curse if they retrieve four items for her; a milky white cow, a blood red cape, a golden slipper and some blonde hair. These of course are all items belong to Jack (Daniel Huddlestone), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy).

With this being a musical, there is more singing than actual dialogue. However, most of these songs are mostly forgettable besides from a couple. The Wolf (played by Johnny Depp) sings an incredibly predatory song to Little Red Riding Hood, which implies that he wishes to do something entirely than eating her. The Charming princes (Chris Pine and Billy Magnusson) have a rather humourous song where they try to one-up each other in the pain that they feel by not having their respective fairytale romances. Chris Pine has another fun song where he seduces Emily Blunt. Sadly, three songs do not make up for the number of songs that I don't even remember.

The majority of the leads give solid performances. James Corden's singing experience carries him along nicely and Emily Blunt is a partner in their duets. Anna Kendrick also brings her experience from the Pitch Perfect movies. Both Daniel Huddlestone and Lilla Crawford are great young actors who will go places. Chris Pine offers some much needed comic relief. It is with Meryl Streep that I have the most problems. Her character isn't seen too much (thankfully) and when she is on the screen, she tries to steal the scenes from the other actors, all who are much more capable than her.

Verdict: While it has it's charms, Into The Woods proves to be forgettable in the department it will rely most heavily upon: it's music.

Horrible Bosses 2

The original Horrible Bosses was an enjoyable film with a great cast, but apart from perhaps 22 Jump Street, comedy sequels don't tend to have a great track record. Inevitably, Horrible Bosses 2 has come along, this time under the direction of Sean Anders. Is it a film destined to be a classic? Or is it likely to be as graceful as a plane crash? Let's check it out.

After the events of the first film, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) decide to form their own business, centred around their invention, the shower buddy. The company, erroneously named 'Nick-Kurt-Dale' (say it quickly for the first racist joke of the film), are approached by Rex (Chris Pine) and his father, Burt Hansen (Christoph Waltz), the owner of a large retail chain. After Burt stabs them in the back, the trio decide that their best course of action is to kidnap Rex and ask for a ransom.

After that plan typically fails, they find themselves partnered up with Rex, who also has a motive for getting the ransom from his father. They brainstorm an outlandish kidnapping plan that sets in motion the rest of the events of the film. Along the way, several characters from the original are reunited with the trio, including the now incarcerated 'horrible boss', David Harken (Kevin Spacey), the sex addict dentist, Julia (Jennifer Aniston) and Dean "Motherf*cker" Jones (Jamie Foxx), in a sequel that seems incapable of differentiating itself from many other comedies of recent years.

Similar to the first, almost all of the jokes in Horrible Bosses 2 are incredibly crude. Be it sex, masturbation, 'toilet humour', or just swearing for giggles, they generally lack taste. There's something quite charming enjoyable about that sort of humour, but the problem in this case is that the jokes seem so tired that they're really quite hit and miss. 

Though the wit can be somewhat forgiven thanks to the incredible follow-up cast. The returning trio seem to have lost none of the chemistry from the original and many of the returning cast members, including Aniston & Foxx are just as fantastic as in the first. As for Kevin Spacey, well, his two short appearances are the best scenes in the film. New to the series are Chris Pine and Jonathan Banks, both putting in great performances, the latter holding the same hilarious gravitas as he did as Mike in Breaking Bad. The only slight disappointment (mainly due to script) was Christoph Waltz, who's character doesn't really get many jokes so ends up being a bland placeholder in the overall plot.

The heist-like kidnapping scenes make for some fantastic sequences from cinematographer Julio Macat (Home Alone, Wedding Crashers) which really do elevate the entertainment value of the film. With fast paced tracking shots, car chases and some cool edits, they bring more to the series than the first, which was visually, a straight-forward comedy. 

Horrible Bosses 2 has an incredibly strong cast and is visually quite compelling. It's full of hilarious moments that are dark and crude in a similar fashion to the first, but unfortunately there are many, many other moments which are in bad-taste and are too overused to amuse.

Star Trek Into Darkness

One of my best friends brought up a good point during the last Star Trek movie, why are they always setting their phasers to stun. He argued that they must be set to kill just in case and only set them to stun when the threat level isn't that big. Well in Star Trek Into Darkness, the crew of the Enterprise rarely set them to stun.

When we pick up the story, James Kirk (Chris Pine) has been Captain of the Enterprise for some time. After a botched expedition, Kirk is demoted to Commander and Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) is reassigned.

Meanwhile, there has been a terrorist attack on a London Starfleet post, masterminded by the mysterious John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). The leaders of Starfleet decide to declare a manhunt to track him down. After an attack on Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, Kirk and the Enterprise are charged with taking him down.

I found that although this movie was action packed, I found it to predictable at parts and too much of a carbon copy of the last movie. There are also elements from The Wrath of Khan, but only Trek fans will pick up on them. There are action cues, emotional cues and comedic cues which are hit at the right times. It's almost as if J. J. Abrams was making this movie with a formula that he has perfected.

The only really good acting of note came from two of the British cast members. Benedict Cumberbatch is cold and calculating as Harrison and I really felt like he was capable of killing without remorse. Simon Pegg is hilarious as Scotty, but that is a given as he is one of the comedic relief characters and considering his relationship with Star Trek (he did a whole comedy series called Spaced), he definitely has the chops to pull it off. I felt as though the third British cast member didn't really have anything to offer. Alice Eve plays Dr. Carol Marcus, a Starfleet doctor who sneaks aboard the Enterprise. I felt as though she was just a damsel for Kirk to save.

The other comedic element comes in the form of Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban), or more properly, Kirk's interaction with him. McCoy is always there giving Kirk advice in the form of elaborate metaphors or pointing that he is a doctor, not a bricklayer, rocket scientist, gym teacher, etc. There are also some humourous lines when Kirk makes reference to the fact that Spock is, in fact, a Vulcan.

Verdict: It was chock full of action sequences and lens flare, but ultimately this is just another voyage of the starship Enterprise.