JACK RYAN SHADOW RECRUIT

SYNOPSIS A young Jack Ryan starts his path into the shadowy world of espionage When rebooting a franchise you have to choose what to keep and what to update. Keep the wrong elements and you can end up with something of a mess; adding pressure in this case is the death last year of author Tom Clancy from which the movie draws its inspiration. Shadow Recruit is a not a mess but there have been some rather strange choices in the creative division. The main one is to keep one of the most dated elements associated with Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan character - Russia. Since we’re updating the character into a post 9/11 world why, one wonders, did we need to keep the evil Ruskies as villains? Not subtle villains either but Bond- like ones who are accompanied by evil ominous choir music. It is admittedly enjoyable watching Kenneth Branagh as Victor Cherevin - he still feels like he should battling MI6’s Bond than the CIA’S Jack. Which is sad because a lot of other things in Shadow Recruit are updated much more effectively, putting a young inexperienced Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) into the modern age of espionage - with tech files and stock markets replacing dossiers and cyanide pills. We get to see the start of Ryan’s path as a spy which hasn’t made it to the screen before (the closest we got was early career in the Sum Of All Fears). This gives us more motivation for the character rather than just general patriotism. There is one very well done sequence that, despite being rather clichéd in its set up, still manages to create real tension and excitement, proving that old tricks can still be pulled off effectively. In the action department the film is surprisingly restrained which is both a good and a bad thing ,on the one hand we get to the story and characters before the loud explosions ,on the other hand said story is (as mentioned) not the most original one and you start to feel quite relived when Jack Ryan goes Jack Bauer. FINAL VERDICT 5/10 it may re-tread old ground but is still enjoyable enough.

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Unknown 11:22  No comment

WOLF OF WALL STREET

There are unlikable protagonists in movies - and then there’s Jordan Belfort (Leonardo Dicaprio), a man who makes Gordon Gekko look like Mother Teresa. What we see over the course of the film is Belfort’s “true story” of his rise in Wall Street and his fiery crash. The first thing to get out of the way is that at three hours the film is too long, there isn’t even that much story to stretch out over the running time. Instead we get eight hundred different ways to snort cocaine (plus other assorted drugs) and the full range of Dicaprio’s arsenal of weird and funny facial expressions. It’s not like any of these scenes are terrible, there are just too many of them and thus they bloat the running time needlessly. As it gets towards the final reel things begin to come apart somewhat, the film actually ends twenty minutes before it stops running - unfortunately no one seems to have told Scorsese. All of this is a shame because there is actually a lot to enjoy in Wolf of Wall Street, Dicaprio’s turn as the unbalanced Belfort is very comically enjoyable and is the highlight of the film. There are also several very well directed, very funny, set pieces that are really entertaining, the best one involving an unusual car journey is downright hysterical. I think the main problem with Wolf is that it doesn’t really say anything; Belfort’s actions are neither condoned nor condemned. Rather than making the film impartial this really stops it being anything more meaningful than your average excess comedy, not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that, but given the subject matter it could have been much more. FINAL VERDICT 6/10 well directed and enjoyable but not Scorsese at his best.

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Unknown 04:15  No comment

THE RAILWAY MAN

SYNOPSIS –a haunted veteran sets out to confront his tormentor. Most films that deal with prisoners of war focus primarily on the tortures, both psychical and mental, as they take place; few films look at the long term effects of the treatment and the toll it takes on everyday lives. The railway man tells the true story of Eric Lomax and his long struggle to come to terms with his days as a POW. Much of the Railway Man’s strength lies in its performances; Colin firth gives a powerful portrayal of the older Eric Lomax, whilst Jeremy Irvine shows us the younger Eric, still possessing the youthful innocence that is about to be so brutally broken. Tanroh Ishida plays the young version of Takashi Nagase, the young officer who serves as Eric’s chief tormentor, giving the part a sinister edge as he continues to haunt Eric into the present. Hiroyuki Sanada plays the older Takashi giving a great performance as a man trying desperately to atone for the mistake of his past. The best thing about these performances is that they work so well in sync with each other; you can still see flickers of the young man in the older, haunted Eric. There are flashes of the uncertainty in the younger Takashi that will one day come close to consuming his older self. Also of note is Nicole Kidman’s performance as Eric’s wife, and Stellan Skarsgard as fellow POW Finlay. All of these performances lend the film a great emotional weight which is good because the film has something of a pacing problem. Once we really get into the story things are fine but first we get Eric and Patti’s courtship which (not to sound insensitive) goes on a little too long. Both Kidman and Firth have good on-screen chemistry and these scenes probably could have been shortened without losing any of the film’s emotional impact. The main POW story is delivered in one large segment near the middle of the film which, I personally, think might have been better suited as smaller paced out segments. FINAL VERDICT 6/10 a very powerful story that once it gets started keeps the audience gripped.

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Unknown 03:57  No comment

TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE

When Solomon Northup is captured and sold into southern slavery he is a well-spoken educated musician. Over the course of the film the audience then gets to see how the horrific experience of plantation slavery slowly breaks this man. Nothing is spared in this account which is based on Solomon’s own memoirs. Director Steve McQueen manages to capture not just the barbarous brutality (of which there is plenty) but the tedium and slow, creeping despair of a slave’s life. In accomplishing this McQueen is gifted with a strong cast but three actors in particular stand out. The first, of course, is Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon who is on screen for practically all of the film’s running time. Ejifor is able to convey the pain and suffering of his character either by heart rendering screams of anguish or a simple blank-eyed look full of despair. Also of great note is Lupita Nyong’o as Patsy a female slave in the horrifying position of being the object of her master’s lust. The third most noteworthy performance in the film is Michael Fassbinder as Edwin Epp, the epitome of cruelty itself. Fassbender somehow manages to be terrifyingly malevolent and yet pathetic at the same time. All of the characters in the film, even Epp, feel like real three-dimensional people rather than caricatures of the time period. Along with the strong characters and great performances McQueen deliver a beautifully directed film that uses wide open spaces and yet, somehow, feels so very intimate with Solomon and his story. One of the film’s best scenes involves one of Solomon’s punishments, with a long shot that feels agonising to watch. This is easily a contender for the best film of 2014 and we’re only in the first few weeks of January FINAL VERDICT 10/10 this not an easy film to watch, but given the subject matter, that’s the way it should be.

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Unknown 04:50  No comment

MANDELA LONG WALK TO FREEDOM

SYNOPSIS -The story of Nelson Mandel's long struggle against the South African government One can imagine that actor Idris Elba might have felt a little nervous when taking on the role of one of the world’s most inspirational leaders. Any doubts are not evident in his performance which captures the zeal and determination that made Mandela such an effective leader. Equalling Elba in his performance is Naomie Harris as his second wife Winnie. Both performers play off each other well their idealistic youth giving way to a strained marriage. Visually the film jumps between stunning beauty and visceral savagery; on the one hand the spectacular South African countryside and on the other the city filled with tanks riots and soldiers. No one can deny that the film does its best to show the horrors of apartheid (and the riots that marked its death throes) but it’s surprising to me that the film is rated 12 as there are several scenes with civilians being shot down - including children. Fitting in with this is one of the best uses of news photos in a film, the director letting the stark images speak for themselves. Another credit for the film is its bare-all approach rather than gloss over any of the problems in Mandela’s personal life (e.g. his first marriage) - these are shown and nor are his own failings in these areas glossed over. I like this approach as I think it helps present Mandela as a real flesh and blood human being rather than a caricature or saintly icon. The main problem with the long walk to freedom is trying to condense a man’s entire life and career, inevitably some things feel rushed and skipped over. As the film winds down this become more pronounced with scenes feeling a little loosely strung together. It might have been more advisable to end at a certain period in his life rather than try and cram the whole thing in. FINAL VERDICT 7/10 an excellent humanising depiction of a larger than life figure.

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Unknown 23:25  No comment

AMERICAN HUSTLE

SYNOPSIS – backed into a corner two hustlers must pull off an ever- expanding con Classifying American Hustle is a bit difficult, on the one hand you might say that it’s clearly a crime movie - our main characters are, after all, con artists. On the other hand you might well argue it’s a drama film as the relationships between the characters drive the plot as much as any crime caper. Then again others would say it’s obviously a sharply written comedy, with great deadpan delivery by its cast. Ultimately American Hustle is all three of these and its crowning achievement is to succeed on all three levels. The key to its success as a crime film is using the central hustle effectively spacing it out throughout with each new complication ratcheting up the stakes and the tension. Seeing the initial small hustle balloon into a vast scam makes the pace move at a brisk pace. The drama element has two main strengths that make it a success; the first is the characters themselves with all their brilliant hang ups and neuroses. There is not one bland character in the entire main cast. The second is the cast’s performances, which range from the brilliantly insane and erratic (Bradley Cooper and Rosalyn Rosenfeld) or deadpan brooding( Christian Bale and Amy Adams). Watching these various personalities crash and clash with each other helps bring the story to life. As for the comedy, though the performances again should be credited, most should go to an extremely and sharp witty script. There is no “funny scenes” whether in the middle of a family argument or a tense part of the scam - comedy loaded lines fire out of the casts’ mouths with machine gun rapidity. This is definitely a good way to start 2014 and I can only hope there are more films of this calibre on the way. Final verdict 9/10 slick and stylish - this is a great synergy of cast and script.

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Unknown 04:31  No comment