Mr. Holmes

"I've decided to write the story down, as it was, not as John made it. Get it right before I die."

In 1947 the infallible detective Sherlock Holmes is in his early 90's and living in relative solitude along the picturesque coast of Sussex in southern Englnd with its green hills and white cliffs. The remnants of the War still litters the country-side and culture surrounding his home, aircraft wreckage, destroyed structures and references to the Blitz. Sherlock himself is a man utterly ravaged by time, his wit not dulled but sheathed, his body wizened, his memory failing him but he is plagued the consequences of his last case and flashbacks of a woman in grey, as well as his recent trip to post-war Japan. He returns to his house-keeper, the matronly but warm Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney) and her clever and cheeky son Roger (Milo Parker). Roger is enthralled with the elderly detective, having often snuck into Holmes' study to read the man's own recounting of one of his cases, the very one that eludes his memory and yet haunts him.

Based off of Mitch Cullins book A Simple Trick of the Mind and written for the screen by veteran British period screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher, Mr Holmes is a welcome departure in tone from recent incarnations of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous character. The film is bright, real without the need for grit and grime, and lacking in the immediate threat of a killer on the loose. Rather the driving force behind the narrative is the gaps in Holmes' memory and the connections between this his trip to Japan and the grey-clad subject of one of Dr Watson's embellishing tales of Sherlock's exploits. Director Bill Condon, of Twilight: Breaking Dawn, The Fifth Estate and Dreamgirls fame, guides the film along a path based first on logic and later emotion, a in tune with the development of McKellen's Holmes during the film.

McKellen's performance is total, aside from a few moments where the power of his voice breaks through the skin of the character, McKellen plays the great detective with an absolute command that can only come with experience and skill. The film captures Sherlock in three stages of his life, the enfeebled and vulnerable man at the end of his life that is the films present, the earnest, pushy but still vulnerable man of weeks earlier, and the sharp and confident detective of 35 years prior on his last case. The difference in characterisation between these three times is staggering, particularly when the younger Sherlock first appears. Posture, pronunciation plus a sharp mind & tongue distance the detective from the old man with his hunched back, curmudgeonly quirks and honest emotional vulnerability. This is truly and near totally McKellen's film (certainly in the marketing) but supporting him, aside from the always capable though awkwardly accented Laura Linney, is child actor Milo Parker as Roger, a precocious young boy who is both enamoured with Holmes and, of course, adopts the elderly man as a patriarchal figure. Aside from a late Second Act predictable turn, the incorporation and performance of Milo Parker is inspired, he's precocious but not annoying, has a decent emotional range, good instincts and a very expressive face, making Roger a welcoming presence.

Perspective, understanding and hindsight are the main themes that drive Mr Holmes, the camera is driven by perspective, characters by understanding and the narrative by hindsght. With bright colourful locations and the layered period setting, Bill Condon works well with Director of Photography Tobias Schliessler (who has worked several times previously with Condon and Peter Berg) in creating a consistent theme of perspective through repeated use of eyeline matches and PoV shots reinforcing a narrative focus on hindsight. The characters each are driven by some different measure of understanding and though it sometimes takes a while to become clear what they're trying to understand, it's always a logical path that fulfils the mystery at the core of the story. Unfortunately, outside of the commanding performance of its star, there is little of Mr Holmes that makes it memorable. A fine enough film and fitting portrayal of the character.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Opening where the second film left off, Smaug’s attack on Laketown, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the last (as far as we know) of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth fantasy films. The Second in the series of incredibly long names (with running times to match), The Desolation of Smaug, was infinitely better than the first (despite the unnecessarily-long barrel sequence) but stretching an epic trilogy out of a book shorter than any of the Lord of the Rings novels has always been a concern. Now, with the blockbuster release of the third Hobbit, it’s up to Jackson to tie it all together. 

Jumping straight into the action, the dragon, Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) inflicts brutal destruction on Laketown as the residents flee, with only Bard (Luke Evans) left to fight the beast. Up at the Lonely Mountain, the leader of the dwarves, Thorin (Richard Armitage) is inflicted with Smaug's "dragon sickness", a powerful urge to find the Arkenstone, which is affecting his sanity. Bilbo (Martin Freeman), who is aware of Thorin’s state, continues to hide the Arkenstone from him. Gandalf (Ian McKellen) remains imprisoned by the Necromancer (Also Benedict Cumberbatch) in Dol Guldur, until Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), with help from Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Saruman (Christopher Lee), frees Gandalf. Whilst others are gathering their forces to raid the Lonely Mountain, Gandalf rushes back to warn of the approaching Orc army. The battle for Smaug's lair of gold is about to begin.

Epic in visual scope, The Battle of the Five Armies is, as the name would suggest, brimming with action. The battle sequences which dominate the second half of the film are impeccably choreographed and are exceedingly stunning, with effects-heavy visuals that justify the $250 million budget. However, whilst these sequences do try to draw some points about the lives lost in the useless battle for gold, they are basically just excessive battles. This is where the flaws of the trilogy format slide through the cracks. What could have been two very solid movies, have been extended to three, and whilst the running time of this third instalment is blissfully shorter at a not-unreasonable 144-minutes, there doesn't seem to be enough plot left to justify a full movie. This sees much of the second-half of The Battle of the Five Armies stretched out into an unnecessary display of mindless battling, only marginally justified by the strong first half of the film.

Whilst the already well-established characters don't exactly require much more development, the strained story would certainly benefit from it. Thorin is the only one that really evolves in any way, inhibited by his changing states of sanity. However it must be said that the performances certainly stand up to the calibre of the first films (as well as the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the characters that appear in both). Freeman is very good as Bilbo, although he doesn't get as much screen-time as I would have liked. Richard Armitage shines as Thorin, and it's always fun to see the 75-year old Ian McKellen and 92-year old Christopher Lee involved in some battles. The only real issue with the characters is in the various death scenes (which you ought to expect in the final instalment), which are heavily clichéd, with slow motion and somber music that somewhat undermines the emotions that are being put forth. 

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies finally wraps up a trilogy that should really have been concluded in two films, and hence there are certainly some issues with stretching it out into a third. But it does seem, in many ways, a fitting conclusion for the series, with big-budget action and strong performances. I'm sure that long time fans will enjoy this film.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Enough with the X-Men already! Is what I was thinking before watching this movie. It's not that I'm not a fan, it was more that I thought I was all X-Men'd out. This movie showed me I wasn't.

One of the great things that was in the movie was the number of characters. In any other movie, I would say that this would be too confusing, but it made this one so much better. There are all the characters from the original trilogy (Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and, my favourite, Iceman), characters from First Class that we all loved (the young versions of Professor X, Magneto and Mystique) and new characters that will definitely be your new favourites, like Quicksilver (who I think everyone will love), played by Evan Peters (Kick-Ass). The only problem with Quicksilver is that he'll be appearing in the next Avengers flick played by a different actor, James' Kick-Ass co-star Aaron Johnson (he won't be as funny).

I won't go into too much plot, but basically the mutants of now (or the future?) send Wolverine back in time to prevent a war between mutants and humans breaking out. He teams up with young Magneto and Professor X to make this happen.

I will go into the 70's setting though. It is amazingly accurate (or maybe it just seems that way to me). Instead of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the historical moment that is the backdrop is the end of the Vietnam War. Like First Class, this adds an extra level of tension that the audience can relate to. Director Bryan Singer also handles the dramatic moments of the story really well.

The other thing this movie handles really well is the comedy. The last couple of X-Men movies have been pretty good at mixing comedy and drama, but this time it is perfected. The jokes aren't rammed down your throat so that they are overplayed, rather they are well timed and don't interfere with the films more serious situations.

I had a couple of issues with the continuity of this film in the timeline. The last time we saw Patrick Stewart's Professor X he was torn to shreds by Dark Phoenix, yet this film is set years after that and he is fine. Maybe if it was made clear that this was an alternate timeline it would be okay, but I don't think it is.

Verdict: I had a lot of fun watching this movie, revisiting old characters and meeting new ones was great. The story was pretty simple, but at the same time engaging enough that you didn't lose interest.