47 RONIN

The idea of heroes going up against impossible odds has been a popular staple of fiction and legend for centuries. In the case of the 47 Ronin the story has the extra appeal of being true, or at least based on true events. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line of this story being given the Hollywood treatment, someone decided that what it really needed was big special (and noisy) effects and a famous Western face - they were wrong. What the supernatural elements and CGI effects actually do is turn what might have been a powerful dramatic story into a below-average fantasy. The presence of Keanu Reeves does nothing but make a rather insulting implication that a Western audience could not get behind a Japanese protagonist. Hence a story with so much potential is, instead bland, and uninteresting. Two things which save the film from being a complete disaster are the performances - which it has to be said - are far better from the Japanese performers. Hiroyuki Sanada is particularly good as Oishi the Samurai leader and, quite frankly, should have been the main character. Just to be clear it’s not that Reeves gives a bad performance he’s just been cast needlessly in a story where his character has no purpose in the narrative. The second thing which stops this being a complete train wreck is the finale which, for all the tedium that comes before it, manages at least to provide a well- put together set piece. These action scenes are, I might add, the ones without any CGI monsters or magic - just well directed swordplay. FINAL VERDICT 5/10 could have been a great cross-cultural telling of an inspiring tale but opted instead for mediocrity

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Unknown 03:39  3 comments

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY SYNOPIS With his job on the line perpetual daydreamer Walter Mitty must go on a very real journey that may change his life. I tend to be very unenthusiastic about films that try to tug at the heart strings, it’s not that I’m overly cynical, I just never seem to get into them enough not to see the cynical techniques behind them. Every now and then I come across a film whose character and story are compelling enough that I can really get into the film and “go with it” as it were. Walter’s story works on a couple of levels, the first is Ben Stiller’s sincere performance that makes Walter into a sympathetic character rather than simply an object of pity or ridicule. The second is the script which blends humour with drama skilfully so the film never feels contrived (though the situations mainly are). Stiller’s direction also has to be credited, switching seamlessly between the awkward clumsily real world and Walter’s slick stylised dream sequences. One of the best things about the moments when Mitty “zones out” is that they feel like little movies in themselves with real effort put in. They tend to catch the audience by surprise, with no mist on the screen or harp music so that inevitable, embarrassing, return to reality provide great humour. Some of the script’s aforementioned contrivances tend to strain a little towards the film’s end (one scene in particular would have made my eyes roll in a lesser film). That’s the key to it ,the film’s other elements - performances and direction - work so well that you can excuse some of the deus ex machine deus ex machina if you get into the film you can even go with it. FINAL VERDICT 8/10 it may be a bit on the mushy side but its delivers solid entertainment.

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Unknown 03:57  No comment

ANCHORMAN 2 THE LEGENDS CONTINUES

SYNOPSIS –After being fired from his job Ron Burgundy must fight to reclaim his spot as top newsreader. When making a comedy sequel the worst thing you can do is “more of the same”. That’s not to say you can’t have many of the same elements return, but you need to give the audience something new and original. Anchorman 2 does a bit of both; there are new jokes and situations but a lot of treading over familiar ground. Not all of the new innovations are jokes, the setting is interesting with Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrel) creating the modern hype-driven news and having to deal with the consequences. The problem, when you have a film as insane and random as the first Anchorman film, is that coming up with something new can be a bit hit and miss. Hence some of the jokes work and some feel very forced and fall a bit flat. Most however work a lot more - like the giving the childlike Brick (Steve Carell) and equally mentally-vacant, a love interest. Or having the chauvinistic Ron (Will Ferrel) be dumbfounded to have a woman take the dominant role in the relationship. Steve Carell deserves major credit for brilliantly delivering gibberish lines with such utter conviction that his courtship of Chani (Kristen Wiig) is one of the film’s main highlights. Their “date” is one of the best examples of cringe comedy and will probably go down as having one of the most unique settings for a romantic encounter. The film starts to wander a bit in the middle and begins to feel like it’s losing focus (yes even in a nuts comedy like this). Luckily this turns out to be building up to one of the funniest and insane movie climaxes I have ever seen. Frustratingly I can’t tell you much of anything about it lest I ruin the jokes or take away from the total randomness. What I think I can safely say without fear of contradiction is you’ll never see it coming. FINAL VERDICT 6/10 surprisingly follows on well from the original and though not everything works enough does to put a smile on your face

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Unknown 02:56  No comment

THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

SYOPSIS –The quest to the Misty Mountain continues as a looming danger begins to make its presence felt. Don’t you just hate it when someone pontificates needlessly and makes every spurious fallacious and redundant attempt to avoid arriving at a clear concise undiluted noncomplex simplistic conclusion? Or rather don’t you hate it when someone won’t just get to the point; this was the crux of my problem with the first instalment of this trilogy (out before this blog started). Did even the most diehard Tolkien fan think we needed the song about putting Bilbo’s dishes away? In this second instalment things move much more quickly so that the long run time does not feel quite so drawn out. It helps that we get thrown right into the action after only a brief flashback (that actually serves a purpose). Because the pace feels much faster it’s easier to put up with exposition heavy scenes where we have to hear about what someone’s ancestor did that will somehow tie in later. This is good because though there is plenty of action there is also plenty of exposition and moody brooding to get through. Another reason I feel Desolation works better than an Unexpected Journey is the dwarves’ journey and the wider looming threat tie into each other better, you can see how one affects the other and, as a result, the film feels more fluid and complete. Director Peter Jackson also seems less afraid of straying from the source text when it is more pragmatic to do so for the sake of the film. Although this might provoke an outcry from the fan base it is, on the whole,better for the story. Martin Freeman continues to give a strong performance as Bilbo capturing the strength and vulnerability of the character. Richard Armitage as Thorin also stands out as a darker side begins to come to the front of his character. Though not appearing until near the film’s climax Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) does not disappoint or detract from the hype he has received, the special effects working well with Cumberbatch’s vocal performance. The dwarves feel more like a group of individuals than simply a group of faceless non-entities. Not all of the new features are for the best; we get a generic love story that sticks out from the story by its crowbarred insertion. The ending of the film feels a bit slapdash – as if Jackson suddenly realised he needed to the characters from C to E and had to skip D. On the whole though this is a solid enjoyable film and sets up the final film in the trilogy FINAL VERDICT 8/10 Good special effects and strong writing combine to make the adventure come to life.

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Unknown 01:33  No comment

HOMEFRONT

HOMEFRONT SYNOPSIS –An undercover agent finds his cover blown and his daughter in danger after a feud with a local drug dealer. Any time a retired cop who is now a family man and moves to a small town you can make a safe bet that all hell is about to break loose . This is a staple element of the action genre and well within the realms of what you would expect from a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone. This is not, of course, to say that clichés instantly doom a film (see escape Plan) and this is by no means a bad film Most of the reason for this has to go to the primary protagonist Phil Brooker (Jason Statham) and antagonist Gator Bodine (James Franco) who both play their parts as though starring in a much higher quality film. Fittingly for its small town setting the action in Homeland is mostly small scale, up close and personal and hand-to-hand. Give this one a miss if your hoping for big scale explosions and car chases, the action that takes place here is decent but it feels lacking towards the film’s middle which leaves it relying on its stories and characters. This is rather problematic as the story (as noted) isn’t exactly original and the characters (lead performances aside) might as well have been cut out of cardboard. Despite this the film has sincerity about it, yes clichés abound but they are performed with conviction and the finale does pick up the pace considerably. Perhaps this isn’t going to be a particularly memorable film but it does provide a few hours entertainment, maybe not the highest praise but quite far from cinematic damnation. FINAL VERDICT 4/10 Falls short but not the complete disaster it might have been. Too much by the numbers.

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Unknown 02:25  No comment