FATE OF THE FURIOUS starts with Vin Diesel winning a race, whilst driving backwards, and on fire. This is the movie being subtle: later there’s a scene in New York that has cars doing acrobatics in the streets and raining from skyscrapers and of course the much-trailered submarine chase. It’s a good job they brought on board the charm monster that is Dwayne Johnson four movies ago, because try as he might, Diesel doesn’t have range, even when he’s forced to go after his friends. Toretto seems to turn on his team a little too easily, even before he’s found out exactly what leverage Charlize Theron’s Cypher (yawn, they’re using that as a character name again) has over him. But let’s not quibble over plot or why anyone still thinks Tyrese Gibson is funny, the eighth instalment of the Fast franchise still makes you smile and boasts some of the most impressive stunt work of the series. SSP
Review in Brief: The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Review: Paddington 2 (2017)
Grin and Bear it: Studio Canal/Heyday Films
If there’s a film cure for what ails you, it’s surely PADDINGTON 2. The concept of Paddington being sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit sounds like a particularly twisted ROBOT CHICKEN sketch, but it’s actually the route to a lot of heart and humour.
Paddington’s (Ben Whishaw) idyllic family life is abruptly ended after he is framed for robbery by a devious actor (Hugh Grant) with a score to settle. The little bear finds himself serving time with some not terribly nice people with only his family marmalade recipe to protect him, while the Browns attempt to clear his name on the outside.
‘Be polite and look for the best in people” is still such a lovely message to promote. It’s a moral for an ideal world, one where you don’t get shanked in prison for dying everyone’s uniform pink, but Paddington’s world – a world where you always try being nice to your enemies, or you buy a printing press to get over a bad breakup – is one to aspire to.
I found myself increasingly thinking of Paddington as a Charlie Chaplin-esque character in the way he is animated to move and behave, then director Paul King put in an explicit MODERN TIMES reference to complete the picture. In contrast to the Tramp, the chaos Paddington causes is never malicious, or even mischievous. It comes out of genuine misunderstanding and innocent mistakes.
Paddington is one of the fictional characters I identify with the most because he looks for the best in people, but when someone really crosses him he never forgets it. We’re naive but potentially ruthless people, as evidenced by our trustful natures and hard stares.
Hugh Grant must have had such fun as luvvie baddie Phoenix Buchanan, a past-it thespian reduced to doing dog food adverts and having Gollum conversations with his costumes in the attic. Speaking of costumes, seeing Grant trotting (never quite running) around in a series of increasingly ridiculous outfits that Inspector Clouseau would be proud of never gets less funny. The cast is still a very well-rounded ensemble, with the addition of Brendan Gleeson as the cuddliest possible-murderer ever seen in a family film and the Browns (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin) are all still excellent and lovely. Look out too for cameos from all of British acting establishment who didn’t get a go at HARRY POTTER, plus several who did.
What an accomplished visualist Paul King is, and what a winning partnership he develops with DP Erik Wilson (who has made his name with grittier material like SUBMARINE and TYRANNOSAUR). Between a reprise of the “doll’s house” shot from the first film, a magical dip into a pop-up world and time and passion put into making every shot as beautiful as it can be, Paddington 2 is one of the best-looking films 2017.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something has been lost between the first Paddington and its sequel. Maybe it feels a little looser, plot-wise than last time, maybe it’s the the unnecessary chase scene that goes on and on with Paddington riding a wolf hound in pursuit of a burglar. Maybe its the seeming need to for a second film to provide increased (if still quirky) spectacle than last time. Quibbles aside, maybe the world itself is now so lost not even Paddington’s optimism can save it, or his hard stare convince it to change. Paul King and company can put out loving tribute after loving tribute to Michael Bond’s little bear and enthrall all ages doing so, but Paddington might be trying to lend a paw too late in 2017. SSP
Review in Brief: The Mummy (2017)
Well, it’s not the worst film of 2017. The latest take on Universal’s THE MUMMY has Tom Cruise running, jumping, shooting, swimming with all his usual aplomb, the problem is there is nothing likeable, even redeemable about his character Nick Morton. I’ve often said that protagonists don’t have to be likeable, the other problem is Nick isn’t interesting either. Even worse, the other characters aren’t so much written but are just…there. The scenes of battling the undead horde have an entertaining amount of splatter and dismemberment, but elsewhere what visuals that might be striking are spoiled by a telling CG gleam. I’m not opposed to the idea of a shared Monsters/Dark Universe, but it’s going to take much stronger glue than Russell Crowe as Dr Jekyll (why not Van Helsing?) the monster hunter who just changes his accent and gurns when he becomes his darker half, to retain coherency. Also, don’t rip off AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and expect us not to notice. SSP
Review in Brief: Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (2017)
The fifth instalment of the ridiculously lucrative PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise is cinematic flotsam. Actually, it’s probably more accurately jetsam because some panicked throwing overboard of everything from plot to character motivations was definitely involved in the making of this film. The opening set piece – which sees Cap’n Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp who I’m not convinced is just acting drunk anymore) riding atop a bank building being pulled by a team of horses through winding streets – is at least entertainingly bad. The rest is an uncomfortable slog only punctuated by decent slapstick, overly optimistic fanservice and truly risible innuendo. There’s a major character death along the way as well, a death which would have surely packed more of a punch had the character not died once already this series. A while ago I said that there wasn’t a Pirates movie I disliked, that they all had something to recommend. Sadly that’s no longer true: Pirates 5 is messy, repetitive and a bit sad.
My Favourite…Animation
No following… (I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry!): Warner Bros Animation
My favourite animated film is THE IRON GIANT. I can’t claim to have known all this when I first watched it, but for a number of reasons it still made a profound connection.
Hogarth Hughes (Eli Merienthal) is lonely. His single mom (Jennifer Aniston) is usually at work, he’s usually alone and he has developed an overactive imagination to compensate. A world of late night B-movies and vague fear of being vaporised by the Russians is shaken when a rather large metal man comes into his life, shady government types not far behind…
The Iron Giant came at just the right time for me. When it was released in 1999, I was about Hogarth’s age, and like Hogarth I was an imaginative child. Running around the garden making up my own stories and fighting imaginary enemies was pretty standard. I’d also just studied Ted Hughes’ THE IRON MAN in school, which helped, then one Friday night I came home to find it premiering on late-evening Cartoon Network along with a very pleasant introduction from the Giant himself, Vin Diesel.
Review: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Show me your war face: Marvel/Disney
Some of you may remember THOR: THE DARK WORLD wasn’t that good. It wasn’t that bad either, but between storytelling falling over itself to cram in more of a certain God of Mischief after the fact and the worst villain in a Marvel film so far, it left a lot to be desired. THOR: RAGNAROK sends the trilogy out with a bang, and at the moment I’m struggling to remember the last time a film left me grinning ear-to-ear throughout. It was probably another Taika Waititi film.
Following the destruction of his all-powerful weapon Mjolnir by the vengeful goddess Hela (Cate Blanchett), Thor (Chris Hemsworth is dumped on a distant planet to fight for his life as a gladiator. Thor reconnects with the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) during combat, and along with morally iffy brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and outcast warrior Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), the God of Thunder must return to Asgard and prevent the end of their world, Ragnarok.
This is the most vibrant ensemble that doesn’t feature wisecracking raccoon. We already know Hemsworth and Hiddleston were born to play the sons of Odin, but the new additions of Jeff Goldblum’s campy despot, Tessa Thompson’s formidable Valkyrie and Waititi himself as a rock monster with incongruous New Zealand accent kept the smiles coming. Plenty of random cameos are sprinkled throughout as well, from inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Doctor Strange gets a scene) and out (nope, not going to spoil those).
Here we see Thor and Loki’s relationship actually grow, with the brothers coming to finally accept that they’re just different people. It’s a vibrant space romp, but everyone is given room to grow and their own moment to shine. Between this, IRON MAN and CAPTAIN AMERICA, Marvel now have unparalleled form in giving their trilogies satisfying denouements.
I love that even when dealing with gods and superheroes, Waititi isn’t averse to making pretty much everyone a bit crap at what they do. Thor still has ego issues (when he can’t work out the solution to a problem in the final act, this results in the best put-down of the film); Loki is still up to his old tricks despite most now being wise to his slipperiness; Valkyrie is a high-functioning alcoholic, the Grandmaster is an insecure tyrant and a glittery perv. The one-liners keep on coming, but so does the action, which is among the most eye-catching and creative in the Marvel series so far, lacking the bone-crunching wallop of fights in CIVIL WAR but more than making up for it with its own flow, style and fireworks.
Denis Villeneuve seems to have been all-but chosen as the next filmmaker to take a crack at DUNE, I don’t think Waititi would be a bad shout for the job either. He can clearly do over-the-top but doesn’t lose sight of what his ensemble is going through. In Ragnarok, he really leans into the pulpiness of the source material, everything being as big, bold and colourful as any Jack Kirby splash panel. Expect luridly coloured costumes and industrial spaceships decked out with war paint, imposing CG-extended sets and larger-than-life characters squabbling, scrapping and quite often just talking.
While some might criticise the gag-rate, the fact that we’re seldom allowed a moment to mull over anything, Ragnarok is still pretty bold in its iconoclastic aims. The shock destruction of Mjolnir is only the beginning, and the ultimate cost of Thor’s battle with Hela ends up pretty high. Blanchett might not have had to bring her A-game (as much fun as she looks like she’s having) but Hela’s presence and how she leaves things by the end is key. This is Marvel making another confident statement going forward: give them a couple more films and nothing will be the same. The big changes have already started, and after this thrilling mirthful ride, darkness and death looms on the horizon. At least it feels like they’ve earned it. SSP
Review in Brief: Gerald’s Game (2017)
There’s such fine, detailed character work here and such a limited pool of performers and locations that you can imagine GERALD’S GAME working as well on stage as it does on film. Sooner or later, one of the usual Stephen King backstories for a female character comes to define her, but Carla Gugino still gives a heart-rending and nuanced turn as the captive Jessie nonetheless. Bruce Greenwood, as the stubbornly talkative dead husband Gerald manages to be deplorable and mocking but stops short of being a monster (that is saved for a player who arrives late in the game, to mixed success). Mike Flanagan is rapidly becoming my favourite director of suspense films, and he seems to be a real actor’s filmmaker, encouraging great performances from his cast and with a devious eye for nasty (and I mean nasty) visuals. Put Gerald’s Game on this Halloween for a sweaty-palmed ride with real jeopardy and jolts of leftfield weirdness. SSP
Review: Death Note (2017)
DEATH NOTE isn’t very good. That’s not to say the premise isn’t clever, or the original Japanese source material not worth your attention, but Adam Wingard’s American film adaptation agonisingly squanders potential at every turn. This upsets me, because I usually like Wingard’s work. The characters are all detestable, the actors’ performances jarringly strange (and I’m not even talking about the murder demon voiced by Willem Dafoe) and the plotting makes it feels like you’re turning over at least two script pages at a time. Even the more fun and out-there elements (orphans trained to be super-detectives, the power to kill anyone in any way with a thought) that could have made this a cult curiosity are presented completely straight-faced and without any self-awareness. The film admittedly looks good, with time and care taken with lighting, cinematography and special effects, but you just can’t care about what happens to anyone in this story. SSP
Review: The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN is an absolute delight. This is a really funny, sweet, real movie. Of course thirteen year-old Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) curses God for her uncanny resemblance to “Vote for Pedro” as she hits puberty. As she hits seventeen, she is gawkily charming, but she can be insufferable as well – in the grand scheme of things, her issues (best friend going out with brother) aren’t all that bad. As said brother (Blake Jenner) so succinctly puts it, “Please rise above yourself Nadine”. This scenario probably packs more of a punch if you have siblings you love-hate, but I think everyone knows (or is) a Nadine. As real as Kelly Fremon Craig’s script rings, it is this wonderful cast, especially Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson and Woody Harrelson that really sell it by playing compelling and flawed human beings. SSP
Review in Brief: Loving (2016)
LOVING is glacial in pacing, almost apologetically low-key and the thick-as-treacle accents can be just as tricky to translate as in writer-director Jeff Nichols’ other work. The two grounded performances at its heart (career bests from both Joel Edgerton and Ruth Nega) give it real dramatic heft and the power of the real story make it completely captivating. Why is this Civil Rights injustice an obscure chapter in American history? The quest of the Lovings to be recognised as a legitimate married couple in their home state should be as well-known and revered as the Bus Boycott and Brown vs Board of Education. This story clearly really affected Nichols on a personal level, and Loving feels like his most personal film to date. Sometimes all you need is to let a true story breathe and speak for itself unencumbered and talented performers to tell it; no bells and whistles required. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 