Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I figured out while watching this movie that the story I really want to see is the love story between Thomas and Martha Wayne (Batman's parents) because maybe I'll actually feel some emotion after seeing them get shot for the thousandth time. But alas this isn't that movie. It's a movie about Superman, so let's get to it.

Set two years after the events of Man of Steel and America is still reeling after Superman (Henry Cavill) destroyed Metropolis City while trying to defeat General Zod. Several people are upset about this and none more so than billionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck). As his crime fighting alter ego Batman, he is dedicated to find a way to show people that Supes is not the hero that everyone wants him to be. Meanwhile, Clark Kent is also trying to write a story showing that Batman is a reckless danger on Gotham City. Between the two dynamos is Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who is plotting for each hero to bring down the other, all the while doing research in both metahumans (AKA future movie heroes) like Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) and finding a way to turn the people of the world against Superman.

As you can probably tell from that description, there's a lot going on in this movie. And that's a huge problem that is endemic to a lot of these superhero movies. The studios feel as though audiences are stupid and have to cram as much as possible in a single movie to sell movies that have not yet even been written. Batman v Superman has this in spades, introducing every future superhero in the DC Universe, even if it's only for two seconds at a time. These other hero cameos also just serve as a distraction that the film that you're currently watching isn't any good. This is because it is too full. The convoluted plot tries to fit in two introductions of new characters, although Batman really doesn't need any introduction, and Wonder Woman is really only introduced by maybe five lines of dialogue that doesn't give any insight at all to who she is or where she comes from. And in the middle of all this happening, we are treated to a lengthy and jarring dream sequences that diehard comic fans will be able to link to the Flashpoint storyline, but regular moviegoers might get lost with (if you're part of the latter group, maybe just take a squiz at that link). This really could have been chopped out to make a more streamline story.

The aesthetics of this movie are nothing we haven't seen before either. A lot of CGI smash on smashfest that is just moved to an abandoned part of Gotham because people got so up in arms about that happening in Man of Steel. Newsflash Zack Snyder, taking the people out of the equation won't change people's opinions on the wonton destruction of cities. Side note: while we're on Gotham City, did anyone else notice that it seemed really close to Metropolis, almost as if it were in the Greater Metropolis Area? Because you can definitely see the Bat-signal from Metropolis. Back to visuals now. Why was everything slowed down? I can get the need for some stylising of the fight sequences, but there's a whole slo-mo montage of Superman doing his super thing all around the world. I get that it's building dramatic tension, but this movie is way too dramatic for it's own good.

None of this movie's performances warrant anything to write about, but I will anyway because you know I'm that kind of guy. But because there's so many, I'll be brief about each. Henry Cavill could really instil some of his own real-life charm because Superman is too dark and brooding. On the flip side, Ben Affleck barely brooded at all, which is the only thing Batman is really good at. Up until the last five to ten minutes Gal Gadot was really only eye candy for male teenagers and then she became a badass with the only good musical theme in the whole movie. Jesse Eisenberg was over the top as a character who is supposed to be a restrained genius, not the Joker. Jeremy Irons was a very believable Alfred and the total opposite to Michael Caine, so I'm torn there. Laurence Fishburne was too wacky as Perry White this time round. Tao Okamoto, Callan Mulvey and Scoot McNairy weren't in it enough for my liking.

Five minutes into this movie, I found myself thinking, "This movie needs more Wes Bentley." If you're as confused by that sentence as I am, then allow me to explain. If a movie doesn't impress me in the first five minutes, I often think that only the appearance of Wes Bentley will make it better for me. Granted, it's not a thought I find myself with often, but this was definitely one of them. The lack of Wes and the frustrating slowness of Batman v Superman left me sadder than Ben Affleck. Nawww, poor Ben, won't you let us know what's going through that head?

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.

Frank

As Domhnall Gleeson's character Jon asks in the film, how to describe Frank? Well, one way would be to say it's a laugh-riot. Another, that it looks at the concept of originality in a rather original way. And then the perils of forcing originality.

Jon is a young wannabe musician who gets roped into playing in a band because he can play a few notes on a keyboard. The band, "Soronprfbs", is led by Frank (Michael Fassbender), a strange man who wears a Frank Sidebottom head. After being whisked away to an Irish cabin resort to record an album with the band and soon they get a gig playing at the SXSW (South by Southwest) festival in Austin, Texas.

Director Lenny Abrahamson crafts a really original and clever, not to mention hilarious. The movie's main focus is that the character of Jon wants to attain a certain level of fame, as is evident with his obsession with social media (done in a very creative way, with every blog post and tweet projected onto the screen), and he believes he can attain this through Frank. All the while, he struggles with his own lack of creativity.

But I am almost leaving out one of the best parts of this movie; the performances. Domhnall Gleeson has been proving himself lately with excellent turns in films like About Time. Here he clings to the ideas of fame and originality like his life depends on it. Maggie Gyllenhaal also gives an outstanding performance as Clara, the band's theramin player. Clara is super aggressive and is reluctant to follow along with Jon's plans.

But the star attraction (for me, at least) was Michael Fassbender's performance. He spends ninety percent of the movie with the fibreglass head on, but is still able to give an emotive and evocative performance and unless you know it was him under the head you would be surprised to find it is him. Scoot McNairy (The Rover) is great in a supporting role.

At first I wasn't really a fan of the music that the band was producing (it is pretty avant-garde) but it kind of grew on my and now I'm a fan of Soronprfbs.

Verdict: A super funny and charming comedy about the ideas of originality. Great performances from Gleeson and Fassbender.

The Rover

David Michôd is an extremely visual director. Rather than the narrow suburban streets of Melbourne in Animal Kingdom, we get the sweeping plains of South Australia. Set a decade after a presumed economic collapse that affected only Australia, we follow Eric (Guy Pearce), a former soldier and farmer, who is trying to recover his stolen car.

Guy Pearce is a force of nature in this film. His character Eric is unrelenting in his goal and will stop at nothing. He kills whoever gets in his way and though extremely brutal these scenes can be rather light, even funny, in this increasingly bleak film. Pearce is mostly silent and speaks when only absolutely necessary.

This is probably Robert Pattinson's best performance, but I've only seen him in two movies including this one (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire being the other). He plays Rey, a young American, who once you figure out is a little slow becomes rather endearing. Like Eric he struggles to get used to the fact that you have to kill people to survive in this world.

The film handles it's subject matter with a pretty blunt approach. Michôd is unapologetic in his depiction of the violence and brutality. Nor does he skirt around the issues of a country selling it's own resources offshore. I viewed it almost as a cautionary tale of what would come if Australia kept selling it's resources and land the way it is now.

Michôd also explores the ideas of knowledge. Pearce delivers an incredible speech about what we truly know as opposed to what we are just told to accept as the truth. This permeates throughout the film in it's imagery. The film is also extremely bleak and we are shown that we just have to accept life as it comes.

On top of everything this is a beautifully cinematic film. The countryside is amazing to look at and we get some fantastic cinematography. There are endless shots of Pearce driving but you never get tired of looking at them.

Verdict: An extremely bleak film that endlessly rolls throughout the country. At the end it you'll understand that it all makes sense.