Review - Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond

Director: Justin Lin

Staring:  Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella, Idris Elba and many more.

Writers: Simon Pegg and Doug Jung.

Rating: 9/10

Plot: The Enterprise is in its third year of its five year mission, to explore, fly about and find stuff. Captain Kirk is frustrated by the endless shifting circumstances surrounding the ship and is considering moving on while Spock is having to deal with a difficult time personally. They are tasked with responding to a distress call from a captain who has lost her own ship in a dangerous nebula. The Enterprise goes in to assist, but danger lurks within…  

     That is the basic outline and with all reviews here there will be no spoliers or indepth plot breakdowns, why? Because you want to see the film. Hell, even if you don’t I still don’t want to tell you. I think the joy of film is in the experience of seeing it, not being told about it.

 

     To start with I have to tell you that I love the Original Series, Next Generation and Deep Space nine. I was a huge fan of the even films in the first wave (for the most part) and I loved the reboot. Yes, Star Trek Into Darkness pissed off a few people, me included, but I still really enjoyed it for the most part.

     Star Trek Beyond has a new director – Justin Lin, and he has a wonderful history of delivering great action with large casts, so I thought we’d get something a bit special and I wasn’t wrong. Star Trek Beyond is awesome! The cast have chemistry in bucket loads, the laughs are right there to be swallowed down and the action is great!

     The thing that really makes the new Trek films really work is the cast. They deliver the characters that we know from the original series and yet they have updated and rounded out each officer so they live and breathe. I love Sulu and Chekov, they have a wonderful connection and it will be sad to see Cho without Yelchin when the next one comes along. Pine, Quinto and Urban are great together and I can’t help but love them just a little bit more with each outing, though this time Urban really does stand out as the man with the one liners. He’s brilliant! The new comer, Boutella, is fabulous! She has a great look, really strong and is great with Pegg and Pine. She was exactly what the film needed. Oh, and the opening sequence? Brilliant too.

     The action is gripping, the plot tight and easy to follow, the sets and set pieces are fantastic (the starbase is jaw dropping) and the pace is perfect. There’s danger, excitement, adventure, laughs, tragedy, some super cool effects and I loved the soundtrack. In short, Star Trek Beyond knocked it right out of the park.

     Looking at the villain I think Elba had presence, chemistry with the other actors and he was intense as the advisory. He did a great job at making the heroes sweat.

     Star Trek Beyond is the best of the new films. It feels like a Star Trek film through and through but it has a greater emphasis on action and it has a faster pace than the films of the past. Justin Lin is clearly the man to take this ship, and this glorious crew, forward.

     The one thing I’m going to moan about is the trailer. Yeah, I know, that’s something that seems to be happening a lot – the overcooked trailer, but I’m going to do it. Star Trek Beyond has many of it’s stronger action sequences spoiled by shots of them in the trailer showing the outcomes. That’s stupid. It’s annoying. It’s completely unnecessary.

     Other than that, I loved it

Review - Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne

Director: Paul Greengrass

Staring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Riz Ahmed and many more.

Writers: Paul Greengrass and Christopher Rouse.

Rating: 8/10

Plot: A contact from Jason Bourne’s past goes digging and finds something he needs to see. A piece from his Treadstone days, a lie that he needs to know about. The agency doesn’t want Bourne back in play though, and as they try to contain the situation they yet again find themselves head to head in a deadly game…

     That is the basic outline and with all reviews here there will be no spoliers or indepth plot breakdowns, why? Because you want to see the film. Hell, even if you don’t I still don’t want to tell you. I think the joy of film is in the experience of seeing it, not being told about it.

     When the Bourne films first came along they offered us something different from Bond and the other hard drinking, co-star shagging, male spies that always won and had all the kit. It was a bleached, stripped back animal that had a tough edge and an explosive violence that hit hard. The first one really impressed, the second built on that and the third finished the loop. It was glorious, but when it was over it felt like a good ending. They had delivered something that would stand as a truly great trilogy.

     Bourne Legacy didn’t hit the high mark that was set by the original films and so Renner was out and Damon was back in. Jason Bourne delivers the same level of fights, car chases and street chases as the original three. It is in places brutal and dark and captivating and the spies and their inability to keep their word, to anyone, ever, make for a great film, but I have to say, this should be the last one.

     I think Jason Bourne is a really good film with, as I said, all the right elements from the previous films, but there isn’t a sense that we haven’t seen it all before in some way shape or form. There isn’t anything new, or a pressure to Bourne that we haven’t already felt previously. And though I think they could have opened a new book with the ending of this one and given themselves a new direction, sadly they don’t.

     I liked Jason Bourne, but I don’t think I can muster excitement at the prospect of another one. Still, this is all that the other ones were, and so worth seeing.

     As to the cast, Tommy Lee Jones isn’t given much to do other than be dastardly, though Vikander, Cassel and Ahmed are excellent and bring the depth that was needed to make the film really work. Always a joy to see Julia Stiles and, of course, Damon owns the deadly super spy Bourne, but the weight of the plot doesn’t match previous outings so even he had to work pretty hard to make it work.  

Review: Ghostbusters (2016)

Ghostbusters (2016)

Director: Paul Feig

Staring: Kristen Wigg, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Charles Dance, Chris Hemsworth and many more.

Writers: Katie Dippold and Paul Feig (based on original work by Ivan Reitman, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis)

Rating: 8/10

Plot: Someone is moving around New York city and where they go paranormal activity follows. Four women gather together, experts in science and the paranormal, to investigate the events and to subsequently catch the ghost being awakened….

     That is the basic outline and with all reviews here there will be no spoliers or indepth plot breakdowns, why? Because you want to see the film. Hell, even if you don’t I still don’t want to tell you. I think the joy of film is in the experience of seeing it, not being told about it.

     Right, Ghostbusters. There are a few things here to consider, things that are vital for a film like this to flourish – chemistry between the cast, laughs, pacing and quotability. Without these things the film will be dead in the water. Happily, Ghostbusters has all these things going for it and more.

     The cast play well with each other. I particularly loved Wigg and McCarthy and their interplay, though McCarthy and Hemsworth also hit the spot. Leslie Jones was great with the whole team and she really rounded out the foursome making them live and breathe. Hemsworth understood his role in the film and did an excellent job and all in all the cast made the film really fly.

     The plot? Pretty simple and let’s face it, if you expected something out of Breaking Bad, twists and dark corners that evolved into horrifying shocks, then you went to the wrong film and were looking to be upset, not because the film was bad but because you didn’t want the film to be good. It was always going to be silly and simple and that’s what made the original work. It’s what makes this one work. It works. Live with it.

     Ghostbusters works because the effects are great, the cast are great, the gags are easy and the point is that it needed to be different from the original yet recognizable and that’s what those clever people have produced. On top of that the film makes some clever points about the state of Hollywood’s treatment of women. It kicks the internet trolls whenever possible and points and laughs at them and it does it all with an effortless smile. Plus, the cameos are incredibly satisfying, there is just one original Ghostbuster missing, and we will always miss you Egon.
   
     Egon, but not forgotten. 

     I loved it. CAN WE HAVE ANOTHER PLEASE?!     

Review - The Legend of Tarzan

The Legend of Tarzan

Director : David Yates

Staring : Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou and many other fine excellent people.

Writers : Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer.

Rating : 8/10.

 

Plot : King Leopold of Belgium is broke and wants to make the most of the colony he owns in Africa – The Congo. He sends his closest adviser to the Congo to make him rich by exploiting the diamonds in the area. The tribe controlling the diamonds are fierce and won’t give up the diamonds without some form of trade. They wish revenge on Tarzan, and so the advisor devises a plan to bring Tarzan back to The Congo and to deliver him to his most hated enemy...

 

     That is the basic outline and with all reviews here there will be no spoliers or in-depth plot breakdowns, why? Because you want to see the film. Hell, even if you don’t I still don’t want to tell you. I think the joy of film is in the experience of seeing it, not being told about it.

 

The Legend of Tarzan is set long after the Lord of the Jungle has left his birth home and returned to England to become Lord Greystoke. Alexander Skarsgard is the man they chose for the title role and for my money it was a great one. Physically he’s perfectly built for it, really, amazing stuff. He’s also a good actor with a great presence. Teamed with Lady Jane Greystoke, played by Margot Robbie, they make a formidable couple that, though they live in England, their hearts belong to Africa.

     In this Jane had lived in Africa and was completely at home there, we don’t see the scared and out of her depth Jane at all, she is a strong, caring woman that is at home in the jungle as well as the halls of Greystoke manor. That is one of the many great successes of the film, they understood the need a capable Jane that could complement Tarzan, and she does. Also, Robbie and Skarsgard have an easy chemistry that works for these roles. It’s effortless and it makes the rest of the film work too. You can see why Tarzan cares so deeply for her and she for him.

     As the plot to deliver Tarzan to the ‘bad guys’ starts to really take hold and the kidnappings and escapes roll hard and fast as the characters prove they are not victims too simply scream for the camera, they show you the pieces of the past you need to see, briefly, so that you know their version of the events, though they don’t bore you with a long, protracted origin story. Good plan, writers, you did a great job!

     The animals come and they go and though there is a clear amount of cgi cats and gorillas I didn’t mind that they were not actually there. The effects are good and the action good enough to keep the attention, and the pace? Excellent.

     Tarzan works on the many levels but, for me, the thing they really got right was the tone. This is a film that wants to look at the issues of slavery and exploitation in Africa by the Europeans. It wants to show that dark side of history and yet, it never becomes overly gory or uncomfortable. It isn’t gratuitous in its depiction of the events. It’s clear, but not in your face. Also, it is brooding and stark, and yet it romps at a great pace and feels like a traditional action/adventure, and that’s because it is.

     I really liked Samuel L. Jackson, as per usual, because he’s awesome, plays an older American investigating the breaches of anti slavery laws in the Congo and because he has so much charisma it makes it easy to watch anything he’s in.

     Same thing for Christoph Waltz. Great presence. Wonderful to watch. Not sure he plays many different characters, but I adore what he does.

     The Legend of Tarzan is well worth the time to watch it. Fast, impressive and fun. With enough drama and action to please the majority of summer going crowds.

Rating : 8/10

Review - Now You See Me 2

Now You See Me 2

Director : Jon M. Chu.

Staring : Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrleson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Jay Cho, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and many other excellent people.

Writers : Ed Solomon.

Rating : 7/10.

Plot : The Four Horseman, a band of anarchistic social justice magicians, have been in hiding following a raid they made on a bank/insurance company. Wanted by the authorities they have been hiding, training, preparing themselves for the next mission given to them by ‘the Eye’. One of their number has left, but she is about to be replaced with another young female magician, and they are about to go back into action.

     Given a mission, they finally set to work, but all is not as it seems and soon they find themselves pawns in an ever shifting game of cat and mouse…

     That is the basic outline and, with all reviews here, there will be no spoliers or in-depth plot breakdowns, why? Because you want to see the film. Hell, even if you don’t I still don’t want to tell you. I think the joy of film is in the experience of seeing it, not being told about it.

 

     Did you see the first Now You See Me? It was full of cool visuals and smart little tricks but it fell down, for me, on the lack of transparency. The finale is left almost entirely without some rational explanation and so it treats the magic as actual magic and not as a clever illusion by masterminds. That damaged a likeable and entertaining romp.

     Now You See Me 2 holds all the cards the first film did, set-pieces dazzle but only some of them are explained, so the ones that make no sense stand out as events that don’t fit with the general feel of the rest of the film. The hypnotism is a Hollywood swift version and though it is used in an entertaining and flashy way it also doesn’t really work. The card tricks flow but there’s always a feeling that perhaps we are being cheated, or they go on slightly too long.

     I didn’t like some of the action pieces, if I’m honest. You can’t see what is going on or how it all sets up and the incidental illusions in the fight are, again, there to wow and amuse, but are not explainable.

     Saying all of this I have to say the film is enjoyable. I loved the cast, Lizzy Caplan shines in it and Jesse Eisenberg does a very good job of being the man trying to be leader. Ruffalo and Harrelson are really watchable, though I did get annoyed by Harrelson’s double, and they are backed up nicely by Freeman and Caine. I would also single out a bearded Daniel Radcliffe who is both annoying and charming at the same time. He does exactly what is required of him and he does it with some style.

     Now You See Me 2 isn’t anything really special but it is fun, fast and has enough twists and laughs to make it well worth a watch. Also, Caplan has some excellent lines and points regarding the role of women in film and hits many of the big laughs. Look out for ‘Buffy’. That was a real treat.  

Now You See Me 2 – 7/10.

Revisiting a classic - HEAT.

Revisiting A Classic – Heat.

Sometimes it feels as though we beat art down too much. If a blockbuster is just a set of huge set pieces with charismatic stars delivering them then we judge it against a slow burning drama that touches the majority of people that watch it, and guess what? Yup! The blockbuster is found wanting. Sometimes we do the opposite and when we feel the need for something fast, frenetic, fun and easy to switch off to we come against something a bit more in need of attention and that too can make us feel that the film was slow, over indulgent and pretentious.

     The truth really is that each film comes from its own little place and though you know that the genre will dictate many of the events and characters that are in the film you still know it is its own entity. Within these contexts there are words that are thrown about. ‘Terrible’. ‘Classic’. ‘Fantastic’. ‘Dull’. In the end, no film will please everyone that sees it. Even American Beauty has its detractors. Deadpool may have been right up my alley, but others hated it.

     We, the audience, can be a damn hard bunch of people to please.

     Saying all of that I do feel that some films are just a cut above the others. They stand as recognised classics that, though not loved by 100% of the film going world, are loved by the vast majority.

     ‘Heat’ is one of those films.

     Now we aren’t talking about ‘Body Heat’, the sexy thriller staring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, or even ‘Red Heat’, the 80s action film that sees Arnie playing a Russian cop in America staring with his unlikely co-star James Belushi. No. We are talking about the Michael Mann crime thriller that featured two sides of the same coin – Pacino’s police unit vs Deniro’s professional criminal crew.

     To start with, we always get into the ‘coffee shop scene’ chat - Deniro and Pacino acting opposite each, throwing loosely veiled threats and confirming that they thought that their counter-part was, for the most part, smart, driven and admirable. That’s all good and yes, I agree, amazing, but this isn’t where the film really works to get its classic status.

     We could look at Mann’s mastery of tension and pace. We could ask how a film that is over two hours and forty minutes long be sat through without a toilet break, but hell, when this juggernaught gets on the screen I defy you not to stay to the very end. Going for a piss would negatively affect the mood painstakingly generated by Mann and his stunning well-chosen main cast. And all he does in this film is indeed amazing. His opening heist, followed by the slow burn of two crews circling each other. The too and fro of the lead detective and criminal as they direct their crews to make all the right moves is brilliant. And that street gun fight? Wow. But this isn’t all that makes the film great.

     It’s true that ‘Heat’ is led by a phenomenal cast of lead actors, but where the real magic is created is not just in giving those main actors time to breathe, but in selecting one of the best supporting cast line ups in cinematic history. Deniro’s crew consists of him, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo,  Jon Voight, Dennis Haysbert, Kevin Gage and they get their bank job from Tom Noonan who played the Toothfairy in Manhunter. Pacino has Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill from Silence of The Lambs), Myketi Williamson and Wes Studi (Last of the Mohicans) and a host of other agents. Great eh? Well, hold onto something, because it gets better. Deniro has Amy Brenneman as a love interest and his best friend Val Kilmer has a wife played by Ashley Judd. Pacino is married to the fantastic Diane Venora and his step daughter is none other than Natalie Portman. Awesome enough?! Nope?! Okay! Well Hank Azaria plays a character entwined in Ashley Judd’s storyline and William Fitcher is the man that has been robbed by Deniro in the beginning scene and then sends Henry Rollins after his crew! Yeah.

     There is such a wealth of talent throughout the film, just on screen, that no one drops the ball, at any point. Each scene is tight, tense and perfectly played. Backed up by Mann and his brilliant technical support they make the film not just great on the surface, but they give it a depth that makes it the classic that it is.

     Remember the coffee shop scene and love it. Remember the gun fight through the streets. Remember the airport. The heist. All the other brilliant set pieces, but pay attention to the whole show, because it is a glorious one.

 

Review - Independance Day - Resurgence.

Independence Day - Resurgence

Director : Roland Emmerich

Staring : Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Jessie T.Usher, Sela Ward, William Fitcher, Brent Spiner, Judd Hirsch, Rain Lao and many other awesome people.

Writers : Nicolas Wright, James A. Woods and many others.

Rating : 12A.

 

Plot : Twenty years after the nasty aliens first blew up all the monuments on the planet Earth they return to finish the job. Only this time, their ship is even bigger...

 

    Right, first off, no spoilers here, so read if you wish, but I won’t spoil your party.

     Independence Day was a huge hit and a film that burned its way into our memories by blowing the crap out of everything it could. It blew up the White House! It blew up Paris! It blew up here! It blew up there! BOOM!

     Seriously though, the original had a lot of explosions and it gave us a visual treat during the first few years of the major cgi generation. They did incredible things and we gobbled it up, but perhaps I have to step forward and say that it wasn’t that great a film. A decent mindless blockbuster? Yes! Certainly. A great movie? Maybe. But it was really stupid. It even had the city blowing up and people dying in their millions and yet they still wanted us to cheer when the dog avoided being burnt to a crisp? Meh. Stupid.

     So, there has been a lot of talk about the sequel lacking the heart of the original. Well, not sure I agree. Certainly it isn’t quite as good, but I think mainly that’s because it is an act we have seen before. Sure, the alien ship is bigger and sure, the cast have a few younger faces to fill in the action, but it is basically the same model. Resurgence really doesn’t do anything that the first one didn’t.

     The effects are great and the cast do well. It probably does miss someone with the presence of Will Smith, but the young actor that plays his son, Jessie T. Usher, does a good job and I felt Liam Hemsworth backed him up in terms of risk taking and rucking. Goldblum is always great to watch and Pullman is excellently supported by his beard.

     Independence Day – Resurgence is a good film that works well within the time it has and the story is a logical escalation of the original plot. And though it may not have blown me away it did control the running time and the effects were very cool. Also, the 3d was worth seeing it in too.          

     I enjoyed Independence Day – Resurgence. It was an entertaining romp without setting the world on fire, at least, not in terms of in the auditorium. Everything blew up on the screen, obviously.

Independence Day - Resurgence – 7/10