Trailers Week 100: 05/06/16

Guernica

A very overdramatic look at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. As if car bombs would send you flying that far away.

Monster Trucks

This one should really be titled monster trucks so no one gets confused. Or something like Truckasaurus. Actually that's a much better title. Can we call it that?

Collide

Of course you're going to turn to a life of crime when a loved one ends up with a terminal illness. Isn't that everyone else's backup plan? Oh, so now I'm the weird one.

Marauders

I'm not going to lie, this trailer actually appeals to me with all the tough guy attitude. That and the fact that we're going to believe that Dave Bautista is just a regular FBI agent.

Satanic

How many times do I have to tell those kids, stop drawing upside pentagrams on my hotel room walls. The death tourism is good for business, but cleaning up the bloodstains is a bitch.

Dying Laughing

Let's chase that horror silliness down with some comedians talking about why they do it.

Alice Through The Looking Glass

As an avid Alice In Wonderland fan (no seriously), this was a bit of a hit and miss for me.

The sequel to Tim Burton’s 2010 hit adaptation, ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ follows Alice into Wonderland for another adventure. When the Hatter (Johnny Depp) begins to exhibit some strange and worrisome behaviour, Alice (Australian actress Mia Wasikoska) is called upon by her friends to try and help him, only to be told the answer lies in a seemingly impossible journey. From here, it is a literal race against Time (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) as Alice is catapulted to the past to try and save her friend’s future (with the help of some strange and wonderful creatures, of course).

The positives: Once again, Mia Wasikowska’s performance as Alice is entertaining and definitely a stand out. Her portrayal of the headstrong and hardy Alice is a refresher from the ‘damsel in distress’ archetypes we see frequently in films as Alice’s fearlessness helps to drive the film forward. Sacha Baron Cohen’s performance as Time was another standout, with his charm and charisma helping to create some of the comedic relief alongside his band of home-made robot friends. As well as this, the visuals are once again stunning: vibrant and eye catching, the use of CGI really immerses the audience into Wonderland without the scenery feeling overly fake or staged.

The negatives: One of the big issues I had with this film was the pacing. I feel there were just too many locations and not enough time for the audience to gain a connection to any of them before being moved somewhere else. This made the film feel out of balance and began to get distracting by the time we reached the middle. Also, I feel as though director James Bobin failed to strike the delicate balance between ‘quirkiness’ and ‘tackiness’ that was done by Tim Burton in the first film. We’ve had clear evidence that the actors in this film certainly have talent (Anne Hathaway in 2012’s ‘Les Miserables’, Helena Bonham-Carter in the 2010 drama ‘The King’s Speech’ to name a few), but it seems as though each of them felt the need to overact their parts, which led to a lack of continuity from the first film and ultimately started to become jarring.

Although kids will certainly enjoy this film, if you are an avid fan of the franchise (or the books!) you may come away disappointed. Wonderland needs just a touch of darkness and fear of the unknown, and although its beauty and imagery is amazing, this film had much more potential.

The Nice Guys

Shane Black's neo-noir buddy cop comedy The Nice Guys features good writing, solid acting and as much of a 70s retro vibe as you can handle. With undeniable chemistry between the two leads, this movie is full of quick comments and smart banter alongside great directional and aesthetic style, however it is still far from a perfect flick, with a sometimes messy story and a vibe of wasted potential.

Private investigator Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and enforcer and all-round badass Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) find themselves buddied up through unlikely circumstances in an investigation for a missing young woman, Amelia (Margaret Qualley). Set in Los Angeles in the 1970s, an overarching conspiracy is revealed, reaching both into the prominent pornographic industry of the time as well as into the happenings of higher powers in the city.

This movie is undoubtedly carried by the chemistry between Crowe and Gosling in their lead roles, as any buddy comedy movie should be. The synergy between the two has allowed for smart writing and witty dialogue to translate well on to the screen, through their improbable pairing in a dire situation. Gosling's Holland March is a lazy, unsuccessful and usually drunk private eye, struggling to make a living with his young daughter Holly, played by Angourie Rice (who is just as impressive in this movie as Gosling and Crowe), and on the flipside, Crowe's Jackson Healy is professional, competent and in control as a hired enforcer, creating a compelling and interesting pairing in a genre defined by character synergy. Despite the heavy use of banter in dialogue between the two, some of their ventures feel quiet and uninspired, creating gaps between moments of enjoyment in the viewing experience. At the same time, while the dialogue is smart and creative, the movie's comedic value does not extend much further than this, and never really prompts more than a slight chuckle from its audience.

Black attempts to revive the buddy cop genre in The Nice Guys with a modern narrative which is more complicated and contains twists and turns which come unexpected in its telling. The vast involvement of the porn industry creates an interesting and enjoyable dynamic and provides plenty of room for the comedy of the film, however at times feels misguided and underutilized. While the story is mostly compelling and interesting, some of its complications feel forced or unexplained at times, leaving both the story direction and audience lost at certain times of the movie. This is not to say Black fails in his role as a writer-director, as the directional style of the film is as commendable as the performances of Crowe and Gosling. The movie's action sequences are well-choreographed and believable, while also effectively integrating physical comedy into character movements. The retro style of aesthetics creates a visually pleasing film, with colourful suits and nice cars as far as the eye can see, successfully pulling of the attempted 70s throwback the film aims for.

While this film sometimes loses its way, you can still expect to come out of a viewing entertained in some way or another, whether it be by the smart dialogue and chemistry of Crowe and Gosling, the pleasing directional and artistic styles, or the complicated crime story itself. Despite attempting to convey too many different themes and genres, and sometimes feeling messy and uninspired, this film is still worth a watch if you enjoy comedy, crime, Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Shane Black, the 70s, or porn.

Trailers Week 99: 29/06/16

Beauty and the Beast

I just want to see how they're going to pull off a talking candlestick and clock.

Weiner-Dog
A comedy about one dog that changes the lives of a variety of people. But not in a feel good way.

Don't Think Twice
Whereas this is a comedy about people doing comedy and they hope to feel good after.

Deepwater Horizon
Please tell me that this oil rig turns out to be a transformer and Mark Wahlberg saves the day again.

Free State of Jones
Because nothing makes us think of equality and freedom more than a Southern Matthew McConaughey.

The Infiltrator
I never thought we'd see Bryan Cranston on this side of the drug trade.

Morgan
This just looks creepy. I mean no wonder those bio-engineered kids have such a scary reputation.

Sing
Now let's all be uncreeped as we watch animated animals sing pop songs.

The Space Between Us
And finally this week, we learn that love beats all forces on Earth, even gravity.

X-Men: Apocalypse

I really enjoyed the last X-Men movie. The decision to go back and explore different stories with younger versions of the characters has ultimately paid off, but even by their own admission, the third movie is never as good. That last statement is a bit of a lie. While Apocalypse may not be a high point in the series, it's still a pretty awesome movie.

In a pretty exhilarating introduction in ancient Egypt, we see all-powerful mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) get buried under a collapsed pyramid. In 1983, CIA agent Moira McTaggert (Rose Byrne) witnesses his reawakening at the hands of a cult. Meanwhile in Poland, Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is living a quiet life with his wife and daughter until the townspeople discover what he is. Elsewhere, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is off looking for mutants and comes across Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), whom she decides to take back to Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). It's at this point that Apocalypse reveals himself to the world with his plan to destroy everyone so he can start the world afresh.

Okay, so after writing out that plot it does sound like the movie doesn't have a lot going on for it. The plot of the movie does take a bit of a back seat, but don't worry, it's not sacrificed for the sake of action. Rather the focus of this movie is character development. Although the majority of characters who we've seen before have already been established, we do get a better insight into their personalities. For example, the psyche of Magneto is explored and we can further see how he is torn between being good and bad. The new characters who are introduced are also given similar inner conflicts. Jean Grey (played by Sophie Turner) is shown to have an immense inner power that she is unable to control. This ties in nicely with the future we saw in X-Men: The Last Stand. 

The performances from the series regulars were solid as usual. The newbies however gave mixed performances. Kodi Smit-McPhee was a standout. He gave Nightcrawler the right amount of a comedic edge that helped lighten the dark mood throughout the film. That complemented the laughs given by Even Peters as Quicksilver well. Sophie Turner, Alexandra Shipp and Tye Sheridan came out okay, but they still need some more time to find their footing, which is okay with a franchise like this as they have plenty of time to do that. I was really disappointed with Oscar Isaac's performance because he is my favourite actor and he was misused so much in this film. I think it primarily had to do with the fact that the character of Apocalypse wasn't all that menacing for me and none of the power that he supposedly had came through.

I know it seems like I'm skirting around whether or not to say this movie is good or bad, but I have to commit to something. I guess I thought it was a little bit better than average, but the lacking plot and Superman level of destruction in the action sequence at the end dragged it down.

Trailers Week 98: 22/05/16

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Andy Samberg's parody of a popstar's high life and their complete disconnection with society looks funny every time I see it.

Ghostbusters

On the other hand, this movie from some other SNL alumni looks less promising with each trailer.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Meanwhile, elsewhere in New York, this is happening.

Nine Lives

Or the objective horror of Kevin Spacey being turned into a cat apparently. Crazy stuff happens in the Big Apple.

The Purge: Election Year

Well at least in New York you're not going to get hunted down by murderous gangs. We'll leave that for Washington DC. You're probably better off in another country at this stage.

Septembers of Shiraz

Okay, so other countries are just as dangerous and scary. What about space? Surely nothing bad ever happens out there.

Star Trek Beyond

I'm just going to be honest with you right now, it doesn't look like you'll be safe anywhere.

The BFG

Or maybe you will if you're friends with a big friendly giant.

Bastille Day

As far as action movies go I tend to steer clear, not because I'm a snob who's above people beating each other up, but because I think that all the good action movies have already been made and the majority of ones coming out these days can't keep up with the movies of my youth. So when I have to go review these movies, I don't go with high expectations. Obviously I can be surprised, just like how I was with Bastille Day.

On the eve of the important French national holiday, American pickpocket Michael Mason (Richard Madden) steals a bag belonging to French bomb mule Zoe (Charlotte Le Bon), but after finding nothing of interest, he throws it in the trash. Soon after, the terrorists set off the bomb and Michael becomes the main suspect in a manhunt by the French police. But CIA agent Briar (Idris Elba) has also been assigned to bring Michael in to find what he knows. As soon as Michael finds out what he has been accused of, he sets out to clear his name.

On closer inspection, Bastille Day is a pretty current portrayal of what is going on in Europe, from the rapid rise of far right political groups clashing with with left wing protest groups, as well as the influx of asylum seekers. Of course, this isn't the main focus of the movie and only plays out in the background, along with the apparent reliance on social media everyone apart from the main characters seem to have. The plot is pretty fun and moves along at a great pace. I saw the plot of the bad guys coming a mile away, but of course anyone who has seen the original Die Hard will as well. In terms of the action, there were two memorable set pieces for me. Early on Richard Madden and Idris Elba engage in a thrilling rooftop chase where the stakes are pretty high, especially if you're afraid of heights like I am. The other one come in the back of a van, where the fight is choreographed around the movements of it.

Despite being a Hollywood movie, the film has cast no American actors which was a choice that I found very noticeable. Richard Madden (Robb Stark from Game of Thrones) was at times slightly annoying as the helpless Michael. I thought that his character would at least be a bit more assertive with the decisions he makes. Idris Elba stands out as someone not to mess with. If anything this is his audition for James Bond, much in the same way Layer Cake was for Daniel Craig. He has many more action scenes than I've seen him do before. Charlotte Le Bon doesn't really have much of a screen presence and when she is on the screen she just looks worried or scared. Kelly Reilly is absolutely wasted in this movie, relegated to a role where she just has to explain what is going on to Idris Elba. José Garcia is a pretty menacing bad guy and I would have liked to see him have a bigger part.

Bastille Day is on the whole a better than average action movie and I did have a lot of fun watching it. It isn't something worth running out to see right this instant, but it should be high on your list.