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

Review - Gods of Egypt

Gods Of Egypt

Director : Alex Proyas.

Staring : Gerrad Butler, Brenton Thwaites, Courtney Eaton,  Elodie Yung, Nikolaj Coster-Waldu, Rachel Blake, Bryan Brown, Chadwick Boseman, Rufus Sewell, Geoffrey Rush and many fine and excellent other people.

Writers : Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless

Rating : 7/10.

 

Plot : Set, played by Gerrad Butler, takes offence to his brother - Osiris, played by Bryan Brown, giving the throne of Egypt to his son, Horus, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldu. He takes over, banishes Horus and craps all over the people of Egypt.

     A young couple are ripped apart by Set and his obsession with showing Ra, high in the sky above them, that he has built greater tributes to him than any other person. As his path leads him to dark places and temples that are forbidden he finds he must help Horus reclaim his kingdom, or lose everything…

 

     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.

     Gods Of Egypt has been hammered a bit for a few reasons, and to be fair, many of those reasons could have been avoided. The main cast are all white males, which is obviously a mistake if this film is set in Egypt, but it isn’t - it’s a space opera set on a world created by space aliens that are actually far bigger than the humanity. They quite literally tower over the mortals! It isn’t Egypt. It isn’t even set on a conventional planet! So if they just called it something else, obviously giving a nod to the Egyptian style of the film aesthetic, then they may have dodged much of the controversial casting reaction.

     I must admit, when I saw the cast, trailer, and the title I presumed that Hollywood had yet again white washed the world. Which pissed me off. So I have to hold my hand up and say that though I was wrong to prejudge I was just acting on what I’d been fed. Now, if the name of the film was slightly different – emphasising the space opera nature of the film? Then they could have built a different wave of press. Just saying.

     Right. Anyway. On with the review. So, the main thing about Gods of Egypt is that it is really silly, super pretty, and so not there to try and grab an Oscar. It’s a blockbuster from a technical director that has always used special effects to their fullest – Alex Proyas. It leaps, jumps, flies and fights its way around pyramids and sand dunes, over huge structures and into the space above it all. It has a great look, strongly Egyptian in style and it flows well. The script has some laughs, doesn’t take itself too seriously and delivers some good set pieces. The players all play their parts well and, realistically, it isn’t that bad. In fact, and this may seem to flow against the tide of negative reviews, I really enjoyed Gods Of Egypt. It was silly, fast and for the most part it was pretty. I really enjoyed watching Butler chew his way through his lines and Coster-Waldu is cool. Brenton Thwaites is a good comedic foil and the vulnerable human that is leaping about amongst the gods and the short rolls for Geoffrey Rush and Bryan Brown made me smile. I haven’t seen Brown in anything for ages! It was cool!

     Hey, a special note must go to the visual effects work in this. The height of the gods make them seem all powerful and they blend almost seamlessly into the film. The Egyptian armour looks great and the stuff with Ra in it is very, very cool.

     Yes, Gods of Egypt is a bit throw away, but I like all kinds of films and this one was all about the on the night entertainment. It wanted to be with you for the two hours you sat in front of it rather than trying to be meaningful and stay in your thoughts long after. This meant that it avoided a fair few of the evils that are plaguing some of the blockbusters released over the last few years, one of those being an excessive running time. Fake drama and bad editing along with these bloated running times have also hurt many of 2016s comic book films.

     In closing, Gods of Egypt is fun, silly and I really enjoyed it.

Gods of Egypt – 7/10