Snowden

At the beginning of last year, I reviewed the documentary Citizenfour, which was a blow-by-blow story of Edward Snowden that was made by filmmaker Laura Poitras, who was one of the people Snowden contacted to tell his story right. That film was a masterpiece and when I heard that there was a biopic being made about Snowden, I dismissed it straight away, believing that it would not be able to convey the weight of what he did. But after watching it, I realised that the point wasn't to show people what he had done, but rather to humanise him in the eyes of a public who still vilify him as a traitor.

Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bright eyed young special forces recruit who is hopeful for a career in the military, but after he breaks both legs, he is discharged and looks for a new way to serve his country. He soon comes upon an opportunity in working for the CIA as an intelligence analyst after going through rigorous training under Corbin O'Brien (Rhys Ifans). His various jobs soon take him around the world and he learns that the NSA has a program that allows them to gather information from everyone in the world. Knowing this makes Snowden increasingly paranoid to the point where he clashes with his girlfriend Lindsay (Shailene Woodley) because he wants to protect her. Soon his conscience gets the better of him and he decides to expose the truth to a handful of journalists including Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto).

Oliver Stone is definitely someone who knows how to make a movie that will appeal to a lot of people, which is something that Citizenfour may have been lacking. While it doesn't go into a great amount of detail about what Snowden leaked, it gives a general overview of what the US government was doing (and still is). This works to the films benefit because any in depth analysis would leave audiences confused. Stone's style of over the top filmmaking draws you into the film and makes you feel a lot of empathy for the characters. This is good because the point of the film is to humanise Snowden. A lot of the media around him portrays him as a cold traitor who has no acknowledgement of the danger he caused with his leak. That couldn't be further from the truth and Stone attempts to show that he is really a patriot who was looking out for his fellow citizens. While the majority of performances are good and exactly what you'd expect from a movie this size, the surprising parts come from the cameos that a director like Oliver Stone can get. Timothy Olyphant, Logan Marshall-Green and Nicolas Cage all pop in small roles. The Nicolas Cage cameo is quite surprising because he's the last person you'd expect to see in this film.

Some of the problems I have with this film have to do with the fact that some of the events of the film have been documented in Citizenfour, yet they are shown differently in this film. Snowden's communication with Poitras is rushed and limited to a single email, whereas in reality the communication took place over many months and only after he failed to contact Glenn Greenwald through a secure means. That's a small thing that was jarring for me and I'm sure would effect others who have seen both. Stone also drags the film out by added smaller details (that go into humanising Snowden) which seem irrelevant. Snowden's diagnosis of epilepsy and his relationship problems really slow the film down in some key parts of the film. Also there is too little time devoted to the time he spent in Hong Kong (probably the most important part of the story). The inclusion of the real Snowden at the end of the film also throws some doubt onto JGL's portrayal of him. In his last couple of films JGL has been making some strange vocal choices and after being able to compare his voice to that of Snowden, you can hear the definite difference.

I had thought that Snowden would present the story in an ambiguous way, leaving you to make up your own mind on whether or not he had done the right thing. But now after seeing the film it's clear that Stone has made it in line with his own left-wing leanings. I'm not saying that his own politics had any input on whether the film is good or not. He has made a film that may not stand the test of time, but for time we live in it's a very good movie.

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.

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.