Review: Risen (2016)

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Sam S-P
Risen

Risen (2016): LD Entertainment/Affirm Films/Columbia Pictures

I don’t think we’ve ever had a Roman film noir before (please tell me if I’m wrong on that). If RISEN had lent more on these distinctive tropes or even retained a modicum of ambiguity by the end, it could have been something truly unique. As it is, it’s a curiosity and little more.

Jerusalem, 33 AD. The proclaimed Messiah of the Hebrew faith Yeshua (Cliff Curtis) has been put to death by Crucifixion at the order of Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth). Thinking that a potentially disastrous uprising has been quashed in the province of Judea, a desperate investigation is undertaken by Pilate’s Tribune Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) when the Nazarene’s body disappears from his tomb one morning. 

The Roman War Machine and the uncompromising way they kept Judea in check for so long is uncompromisingly realised. The cruel brutality and efficiency of crucifixion as a way to control a population’s dissenters, their taking down of the expired before they are cold to make room for more examples to the Empire is a horrific visual.

Following Yeshua’s Crucifixion, Peter Firth’s greasy take on Pilate asks Clavius,”The Nazarene – you found him different?”, to which his tribune responds blankly, “I found him dead”. Clavius is unflappable and rational from the off, the very last person you would expect to have any kind of experience to make him question his faith. It’s a bold move to present Biblical miracles so straight, so matter-of-fact, but the earnestness and the varied characters, who all feel like real people acting like real people in that time period would (Curtis is a disarming Yeshua and his disciples are shown to range from harmless hippies to rebels and world-weary old men) help a great deal to sell it.

The Romans see Yeshua as a fanatic who might gain a “monopoly on piety” in Judea and beyond. The miraculous resurrection is explained away as the Hebrew plot for his body to be stolen in the night by his followers to inspire divine worship. That is, until the loyal Hebrew priests seem just as bewildered as the Romans when a miracle does occur.

It’s a neat time-sensitive plot device, that Clavius has to find an intact corpse before it decomposes beyond recognition in order to debunk any claims of divinity. By the state of the body pits we fleetingly see below the ghastly frames that slowly bled the life out of so many, time really is a factor.

I had to turn on the subtitles pretty early because either the sound-mixing is terrible or everyone is mumbling all the time. The scenes of Romans searching Hebrew homes and of Yeshua performing miracles unfortunately bring to mind LIFE OF BRIAN. The production design in general is about on par with Monty Python’s Bible comedy, and that’s not a criticism because they spent a lot of money on location shooting and costumes.

The way the story of Risen is structured, from the cynical Clavius’ perspective, you’re expecting there to be a final twist. There isn’t really, which might make those of a non-religious persuasion struggle. If this is you, just think of it as a “what if?” story. What if a non-believer saw something they could not explain? Clavius’ journey eventually brings him to admit that “I cannot reconcile this with all I know”. It’s a well-mounted and performed tale with a solid script from Kevin Reynolds (yes, as in the guy behind ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES). Regardless of your beliefs – and it thankfully never gets too preachy, not being a Bible movie per se – it’s engaging enough. It’s not going to be for everyone, and it might have been more worth recommending if they’d have made more of the mystery in this historical mystery thriller. SSP

 

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: The Shallows (2016)

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Sam S-P
shallows

The Shallows (2016): Columbia Pictures/Ombra Films/Weimaraner Republic Pictures

JAWS gave sharks a bad name. The SHARKNADO series gave shark movies a bad name. THE SHALLOWS doesn’t exactly redeem sharkkind, but it’s an effective, no-nonsense thriller that makes me hope to see more films in this vein in the future.

When surfer and surgeon-in-training Nancy (Blake Lively) arrives at an isolated Mexican beech to reconnect with an important place to her recently-deceased mother, she expects little more than to hit the waves and find peace. Then a run of bad luck finds her injured and stranded on a rock tantalisingly close to the shoreline and a ferocious shark between her and safety…

Stunning underwater photography courtesy of Flavio Martínez Labiano highlights the beauty of the ocean ecosystem and its ability to obscure deadly predators. Every time the camera dips below the surface you are braced to catch a glimpse of a dark shape hunting. Be warned though, for however good the film looks when its set pieces are achieved practically, there are some pretty dodgy CG beasties in there as well. A scene involving the sudden appearance of jellyfish in particular rankles.

An early scene where Nancy is grabbed and dragged underwater outdoes Jaws for scares. It’s amazing to see how technical advancements have helped make images like this more primal and effective, and though they now could technically show everything, like with Jaws it’s more high-impact when something is left to the imagination. Lively’s raw performance is always front-and-centre, especially a moment where the camera is tight on her face as she reacts to the shark’s most gruesome kill out of shot. Unfortunately this effect is somewhat ruined when we are shown the result of this attack straight afterwards.

The setup featuring lots of slow motion and somewhat indulgent camera angles for Nancy undressing and lying on her surfboard is more than a bit BAYWATCH. Nancy’s wetsuit couldn’t be more revealing, consisting as it does of a jacket that hugs her breasts coupled with bikini bottoms. I’m not saying she’d be wearing a lot more while surfing around Mexico, but it’s pretty obvious why she wears what she wears; to make the most of those aforementioned camera angles. When the story kicks in, you can forget about a lot of this and we get a taut horror movie jammed full with classic genre tropes (isolated locale, countdown to death, locals with forbidden knowledge). Towards the end it goes all unashamed B-Movie and we end up with a silly, but enjoyable final stretch that mostly ignores physics, biology, reason…

The film is better when the shark acts like a shark and not Jason Voorhees. Nancy works out its hunting pattern and the distance she needs to cover in time in planning her escape, but the shark very quickly forgets about the convenient floating hulk of dead whale meat and decides it would prefer to go for the far more insubstantial injured surfer and is prepared to force its way through rock and metal to get to her. At some point, even the most relentless predator driven by bloodlust would go back to the food source that required less effort for more sustenance. I know you wouldn’t have much of a story if the shark just went back to the whale, and I’d almost let this pass if it was a more aggressive species of shark than the go-to Great White, but again the filmmakers don’t let little things like realism get in the way of the excitement.

Using sharks as plot devices will always be a bit B-movie material, but there’s no reason why you can’t make good B-movies. The Shallows is a very good B-move, a sweaty palms thriller and a natural world horror with scares to compete with Jaws. It wouldn’t work at all if you didn’t care about the one character you spend the whole movie with (not counting the seagull) but Blake Lively’s determined performance binds the whole thing together and helps make this one of the pleasant surprises of the summer. Film has done it again and taken away the appeal of going back into the water. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Few Thoughts More: Batman v Superman

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Sam S-P
batman-v-superman-ultimate-edition-henry-cavill

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition (2016): DC/Warner Bros

This piece contains spoilers for BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE and its Ultimate Edition extended cut.

I still stand by my original review of Batman v Superman, but after watching Zack Snyder’s extended cut of the already unwieldy film built around a ten minute clash between comic book titans, I have a few more thoughts.

After opening with the first of many overblown and confusing dream sequences, I will say that the scene of Bruce Wayne charging through Metropolis on a rescue mission, in the process giving us a ground-level view of the destructive finale to MAN OF STEEL is quite effective. Ben Affleck is a really good, melancholically charming Bruce Wayne throughout really, it’s just a shame what they decided to do with the Bat, though admittedly his fight with the warehouse full of thugs is the film’s best action scene (despite all the killing).

So what new delights can be found in the Ultimate Edition? Jimmy Olsen (Michael Cassidy) gets to introduce himself before being killed in Africa. A couple of insert shots make it clearer that Louis Lane (Amy Adams) was being used by the CIA to facilitate a sting operation unbeknownst to her, so she comes across as less reckless for  the sake of it, still just a damsel, but a slightly less stupid damsel. You get to see Ben Affleck’s bum. Snyder is a little less inclined to cut around people being shot or stabbed. The point of the Senate explosion scene is more apparent. Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) gets to do a little investigative reporting. Still foggy is Lex Luthor’s (Jesse Eisenberg) game in all this, though he does briefly commune with a special effect. Lex admits he is insane and Batman makes sure he is transferred to Arkham Asylum for special treatment. That’s your extra 30 minutes.

Even putting aside Batman killing pretty indiscriminately in some sequences, his branding of criminals (I know, it’s a classic sadistic Frank Miller idea) is beyond cruel. Terrifying and incarcerating them isn’t enough for him – it’s that every criminal he catches from common muggers to serial killers live a day-to-day hell akin to that suffered by child molesters in real prisons because of this brand. Does he really brand everyone he finds outside the law? Should he brand himself? I guess at least Snyder and his writers ask this question, unfortunately they actually have a character ask it rather than exploring it in a more nuanced way (maybe in a film you should use film language?).

“The world only makes sense if you force it to” really is one of the worst movie lines in recent memory, and it’s immediately followed by Supes and Bats ceasing their hostilities because both their mothers’ names were Martha.

Why the hell does Superman need to watch the news? Isn’t he supposed to be near-enough omnipotent or is that just knowing where Louis is? Apparently the latter as he doesn’t realise his mother has been kidnapped until Lex tells him so.

So the new stuff is negligible, and seeing the film as a whole again  hasn’t changed my opinion. Affleck, Jeremy Irons and Gal Gadot come out of it OK, but this film is still broken on a fundamental level and I am actively dreading the release of JUSTICE LEAGUE at the end of next year. Sort your creative team out, DC/Warner Bros. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Feature, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: The BFG (2016)

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Sam S-P
bfg

The BFG (2016): Amblin Entertainment/Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media

In 2016, the release of a new Steven Spielberg movie is still an event, and he’s only becoming more prolific as time goes on. But for whatever reason THE BFG hasn’t been taken to people’s heart. It’s an admittedly odd story, the kind of story that can only work if you ignore any potentially creepy implications. Sadly nothing seems innocent anymore. Except for fart-propelled corgis, that’s pretty innocent.

Ten year-old Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) escapes her dreary life in a London orphanage when she glimpses a giant walking the streets. Fearful of being discovered by more aggressive “human beans” the kind-hearted BFG (Mark Rylance) brings Sophie back home with him and the pair form a fast friendship. Unfortunately, the BFG is not the only inhabitant of Giant Country, and his kin are much bigger, meaner and less vegetarian…

This is a faithful enough adaptation of Roald Dahl’s story, but the pacing and tone of the thing is really weird and not particularly in-keeping with the material. Rather than Dahl’s frivolous and small-scale tale of friendship with hints of darkness you have a cheerfully melancholy, wannabe fantasy epic with stop-start slapstick set pieces. It’s not an entirely unenjoyable hodge-podge, but it’s a pretty unsatisfying one.

I wish more was done with the concept of the BFG’s dream-catching. The scenes we have are colourfully imaginative, the labeled jars categorising the trapped dreams are nice throwaway gags (many, of course, involving being unexpectedly naked). We really only get two scenes of the BFG imparting dreams on others, and only one of these has any real visual flair. Maybe a bit more of this and a bit less Giants faffing about it would have worked in the film’s favour.

Scale is used in some really interesting ways. Most of the action is from Sophie’s perspective and at her level, and Barnhill navigates giant sets lit and photographed ingeniously by Janusz Kaminski. The dream-catching sequence is lovely, but the best set piece in the film sees the less friendly giants tearing the BFG’s house apart looking for his new human bean friend as she hides between his bric-a-brac.

Both leads are excellent and make their characters playful, grounded and heartfelt, but I don’t know whether their relationship entirely works. Barnhill is from the classic Spielberg child mould – big, expressive eyes, attitude in abundance and a killer disbelieving face. Rylance is a very sad Big Friendly Giant, but I wouldn’t say they quite manage to pluck heartstrings like Elliot and ET, Albert and Joey, or even Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. It’s an issue when your main characters don’t ask each other’s names until 40 minutes into your film, and while their relationship is always appealing and watchable, it’s rarely compelling. The BFG still clearly misses his previous companion too much, and it is when he is laying bare his grief for his lost boy with his shrine-like bedroom in a nook in his lair that your feel for him far more than you do for his affection for Sophie.

The bad Giants lead by Jermaine Clement’s thuggish Fleshlumpeater just aren’t scary enough. They look more like concept art rejects from BRAVE than the pale nightmares of the David Jason animated film. Those monsters frightened me witless when I was small, but this gang of squabbling bullies don’t seem to be much of a threat to anybody beyond the BFG, and even then they just push him around in elaborate schoolyard games.

Spielberg’s adaptation of The BFG has the right spirit for a Roald Dahl story, boasts a pair of strong lead performances and has memorable flights of fancy. Tone and storytelling is where it tends to fall short, not being funny or scary enough and distinctly lacking in peril. Kids might struggle to find enough excitement to keep them glued to the screen and adults will likely want more heart and soul. Sadly, it’s a near-miss. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Sam S-P
bone-tomahawk-xlarge

Bone Tomahawk (2015): Caliber Media Company

Another day, another Western. America’s favourite film genre just keeps on going, but as long as they’re as vivid and interesting as BONE TOMAHAWK you don’t tend to mind.

When a young woman is kidnapped by cannibalistic raiders, a ragtag rescue party goes hunting. Sherriff Hunt (Kurt Russell), his deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins), the victim’s determined husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson) and cocky gentleman gunfighter Brooder (Matthew Fox) have one hell of a journey ahead, and time is running out to bring Samantha (Lili Simmons) back in one piece…

Bone Tomahawk is really, and completely unexpectedly, funny. The film opens with a pair of drifters brutally offing a guy in his sleep with only a blunt knife and a big rock in order to rob him (a sight so unforgiving and extreme I emitted a strange cry-laugh). The first time we meet Jenkins’ doddery deputy Chicory recovering from a heavy night he ruminates on corn chowder actually tasting like corn: “Things are startin’ to line up” and the strongest whiskey sold in the local saloon makes you feel “Like a tree fell on ya!”. The film doesn’t overlook the bleakness of life in the West, but it acknowledges the humour in even the darkest of situations. That is human nature, after all.

The film is very careful to emphasise that the cannibal antagonists aren’t from any of the major Native tribes, but in fact horrify their fellows. Despite this deliberate act of preemptive apology it is a good thing that we are now allowed to depict monstrous Native Americans as well as monstrous settlers on film, as surely both must have existed. Thankfully we’ve long left behind racist representations of the Native “other” in Westerns, but there is certainly space to show rotten apples in any society.

This is a slow-burn character Western that transmutes into an outright splatter horror film by the end. We are given three quarters of the story to get to know the lead trio, often bickering, before they reach their goal. Do you remember how badly THE LONE RANGER botched the tonal dissidence between horror and Western tropes? Bone Tomahawk succeeds at every turn that Disney’s flawed effort failed, and tone change from black comedy to horror reminded me a lot more of another Western from the last decade, THE PROPOSITION.

Kurt Russell has had a great year for bewiskered Western antiheroes, but he’s certainly more sympathetic, and far more competent as Sherriff Hunt than he was as The Hangman in THE HATEFUL EIGHT. Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins are a winning combination of contradictory characters. Once the the group do arrive at their destination it all becomes more harrowing than any decent person could imagine.

I will say that the film, for all its commitments to realism and its own individual style and tone, does give in to Hollywood Western formula as it goes on. Characters refuse to die until their job is done, people don’t miss when it matters, the female lead is a damsel and little more, there is  big and heroic sacrifice to cap off the story.

The 2010s (or whatever you’re supposed to call this decade) have been a great few years for the Western. THE SALVATION, SLOW WEST, A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST. I might be joking about one of those (except for the moustache song). As long as you throw a few curved balls in there, take a sideways glance at the familiar you can keep providing audiences with the same thrills the best in this genre delivers. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: Adult Life Skills (2016)

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Sam S-P
Adult-life-skills-still

Adult Life Skills (2016): Pico Pictures/Filmgate Films

I forewarn you that this one might be an uncomfortable watch for any adult in a difficult transition period, especially if they’re watching it with their parents and especially especially if they still live with them. ADULT LIFE SKILLS is also funny, soulful and comes complete with a very distinctive style.

Following the untimely death of her twin brother, Anna (Jodie Whittaker) moves into her mother’s (Lorraine Ashbourne) garden shed and reverts to a perpetual life of daydreaming and DIY movies. Her family and friends urge Anna to move on with her life, but will she ever be able to overcome her grief? Being forced to babysit a equally imaginative kid named Clint (Ozzy Myers) going through his own family crisis just might be the boost she needs…

It really has been an abysmal year for Hollywood blockbusters, but conversely it’s been a pretty great one for the British indie, and especially those tackling the very difficult subject of grief. Much like the similarly-themed NINA FOREVER, Adult Life Skills approaches loss with a bittersweet wryness. It doesn’t trivialise losing someone important or downplay the grieving process, nor does it shamelessly exploit the subject for tears. It just acknowledges that such incidents affects everyone differently.

There are some great low-key one-liners scattered throughout the film. On arriving to work at a grotty children’s activity centre and being immediately greeted by a member of the public proffering a used condom, Alice Lowe’s character lets out an almighty sigh and responds “Sometimes I wish the Suffragettes hadn’t bothered”. Anna brushes off a clumsy attempt at a flirtatious advance with “I’ve still got spots and I’m getting grey hair as well!”. Whittaker’s Anna is compellingly unglamorous, completely real. A running gag has her running out of clean clothes and having to turn up to work in a bizarre assortment of whatever she has found lying around. She may well become a bizarre fashion icon for the film’s cult followers.

The brilliantly stoic young Clint confides to Anna that “I want to be like you when I’m older…sad and angry all the time”. Later his wisdom beyond his years helps her begin to accept her brother’s death: “The sad bit’s he’s dead, not talking about him”. It’s a master stroke that the lost twin was the funny one, the one with drive (we see him played by Edward Hogg take the lead on all their videos). Anna balanced them as a pair with her thoughtfulness and practicality but finds herself adrift without the missing element. She has become half a person.

Anna’s mum’s attempts to get her to overcome grief when she isn’t nagging her about getting something out of life is unhelpfully pointing out that “It’s still your birthday you know” when her daughter dreads marking another year without her twin brother and is far from the point of wanting to celebrate anything. Anna’s mother’s attitude to life and her love-hate relationship with even her closest family is summed up with the fury she confronts her own mother (Eileen Davies) with as she tries to help by loading the dishwasher: “Only a sociopath would put mugs on the bottom shelf!”.

Early on we are gifted with a beautiful, simple and heartbreaking montage. The way film is used thematically and literally as part of the plot to save or relive a memory, as a way to preserve the past and people who are no longer with us, but also as a crutch and an excuse for not moving on, has real punch. Anna’s “thumb films” seem a quirky diversion at first, a way for Anna to continue coasting and avoid committing to anything in life. But as the story progresses it becomes clear that, to Anna, they serve a far more essential purpose and she is not going to give them up without a fight.

It’s great to see my part of the world looking so equally grim and picturesque. We do that kind of landscape well in West Yorkshire. The film’s stylings in general could be described, like Anna, as looking like it hasn’t made too much of an effort, yet it certainly has a special something. It all has a certain dressed-down appeal and the universal themes speak for themselves. If this is an indication of the direction of future works from writer-director Rachel Tunnard, count me as an early fan.

Adult Life Skills has a whole lot going for it. The comedy is well-judged, the look of it unfussy and the emotions raw to the point of discomfort. Everyone has their own coping mechanisms when they lose someone and it can be difficult to keep track of how quickly life passes you by as you grieve. Who’s to say giving your thumbs voices doesn’t work for some people? Sooner or later, though, acceptance comes and painful memories can become joyful and sustaining ones. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Sam S-P
suicidesquad

Suicide Squad (2016): Atlas Entertainment/DC/Warner Bros

Watching SUICIDE SQUAD won’t kill you, it’ll just hurt you really, really bad. Unfortunately I watched this through dodgy 3D glasses, but I don’t care enough to go back and see it properly in case I missed anything. Maybe I’ll give it another go on DVD, but the full effect of the visuals won’t help the shonky storytelling. This isn’t quite as crashingly awful as BATMAN V SUPERMAN, but I think that’s mostly because it shoots lower and has less far to fall.

Black ops maestro Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruits a team of the worst super-criminals to undertake a suicide mission in exchange for reduced sentences. Super sniper Deadshot (Will Smith), The Joker’s (Jared Leto) unhinged girlfriend Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Aussie career criminal Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and the rest of this colourful squad are out of options, but they might as well have a little fun as they risk their lives for the government. 

I hate Jared Leto’s take on The Joker. I’ve got no problem with the Clown Prince of Crime being tattooed or him having metal-capped teeth. I do have a problem with him having zero impact on the plot and Leto playing him as a dull mobster with about 50 different voices (from prohibition gangster to death metal singer and everything in between) and three facial expressions. Health Ledger was rabid and elemental, Jack Nicholson cold, detached and calculating. Leto is negative space wielding a machine gun. Thankfully, he’s only in the film for about 15 minutes. Most of the rest of the ensemble are under-served too with only Will Smith and Jay Hernandez making any real human impact as Deadshot and human flamethrower Diablo, the two squad members with tragic family backstories. Margot Robbie is about the best Harley Quinn you could get in terms of her look, but her performance pretty much just amounts to smiling at inappropriate moments and texting Mr J, and what her fanbase seem to overlook is that there is really nothing to her character (she’s an accessory and a plot device). Meanwhile Enchantress (Carla Delevigne) is sort-of interesting until she gets overwhelmed by pretty lights and dead, expositional dialogue.

We get it, you have a cool soundtrack, but you don’t need a song playing in the background of every single scene, blaring out anything important. You need breaks in the songs, peaks and troughs or else they have no impact at all. Remember how well cut the trailer’s usage of Bohemian Rhapsody was, timed to the action editing and dialogue? There’s none of that here. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY had another great compilation of songs, but they were here and there, you were given time to take stock and reflect on where the characters were in their arcs.

Plot-wise, Suicide Squad is all over the place. It takes entirely too long to establish what the Squad are supposed to be doing and the way scenes are edited makes it a little perplexing what order things are supposed to have occurred. The script is leaden, explaining who everyone is, why we should care and pummeling any nuance, metaphor or ambiguity into an obvious, samey sludge. Deadshot quickly realises “We’re the patsies”. Fine, that’s a sharp reading of the situation and the team’s expendable nature, but then immediately reemphasises “We’re some kind of suicide squad”. You just said that – you didn’t need to clarify! There’s loads of that, also if I see one more bad guy plotting bad things while eating steak I might scream.

I hope you weren’t banking on this being funny. This was meant to be different from the usual superhero fare, but aside from the one-liners in the trailers, it ends up just as po-faced and lacklustre as everything else DC/Warner Bros churn out. There’s no edge to it, and despite following a team of supposed bad guys it ends with the usual group fighting a big special effect (still not sure who or what the antagonist of this film was supposed to be) that lesser examples of the genre resort to when they’re out of ideas.

From the previously maverick David Ayer who brought us END OF WATCH and especially FURY, that is a crushing disappointment. You could try giving us more than 2 of 9 characters to care about for a start, then double up by providing a few moments more memorable than Will Smith helping his daughter with her geometry homework. If there is one emotion I never wanted, or expected, to feel after watching a film like Suicide Squad, it’s depression, but that’s what I’m left with. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Playing Catchup: The Masterpieces

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Sam S-P

It’s that time again: time for me to admit to some classic films I hadn’t until very recently seen, and how they have impacted me on my first watch. This time I thought I’d catch up on two that have been proclaimed masterpieces, and both, interestingly enough, discuss at length what war does to a man.

The-Bridge-on-the-River-Kwai_poster_goldposter_com_9

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957): Columbia Pictures

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957) David Lean doesn’t half love his morally grey protagonists. From Peter O’Toole’s egotistical charm monster in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA to Alec Guinness’ obsessive, broken pillar of the British class system here, none of his heroes are knights in shining armour in the traditional sense. They don’t even tend to be that likeable, but they’re certainly interesting.

Guinness as Colonel Nicholson sells his harrowing physical and mental ordeal completely and utterly and clearly relishes showing how a proud and mannered man slowly but surely unravels. His mastery of screen comedy lends itself well to Nicholson’s witty retorts to the grimmest of situations, much to the frustration of Sessue Hayakawa’s increasingly riled Colonel Saito. Speaking of ordeals, Lean’s efforts to get this made the way he wanted on location and as real as it could be (there really wasn’t any other way to do it) is an epic tale of endurance in itself.

The broad strokes of this story are true, but the film still functions as a bit of a wish fulfillment fantasy for unassailable British values, a stiff upper lip and unshakable resolve seeing us through thick and thin. Yes, the glorification of the British Empire is a little uncomfortable today, and it is annoying that they parachute in a Hollywood star like they did with THE GREAT ESCAPE in order to sell the thing across the pond (especially when he escapes the Japanese and recuperates in a convenient and friendly tribal village) but William Holden’s character serves a purpose, and it’s a decent performance. This isn’t quite Lawrence, but it’s an emotional ride.

deer_hunter

The Deer Hunter (1978): Columbia-EMI-Warner

THE DEER HUNTER (1978) Earlier this year we lost Michael Cimino and though I was certainly aware of him, to my horror I realised I’d never actually watched any of his movies. I thought I’d start with the one everyone talks about. Cimino certainly likes to take his time. Strictly speaking, you don’t need to see an entire Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony or the entire wedding celebration afterwards. But strictly speaking, without taking the time for this you wouldn’t be as invested in these characters, this involved in their story when things turn very South in the second half of the film.

Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken rightly get recognition for their portrayal of two small-town Pennsylvania steelworkers-turned-soldiers being affected by Vietnam very differently. The vacant horror etched on the face of a Green Beret the boys want to worship sums it up wonderfully simply, but little can we guess the level of atrocity and character deformation to come. I think the most common reading of it must be a story of friendship torn apart, but I think there is definitely enough in the subtext to argue it’s a literal unrequited love story between De Niro and Walken’s characters, and that’s heartbreaking.

Cimino’s encouragement of naturalistic performances and dialogue, the immaculate (both immaculately beautiful and immaculately horrific) look of the film courtesy of Vilmos Zsigmond (another sad loss in 2016) and the swelling score by Stanley Myers all help to make this a film that lasts. It’s far more than a series of infamous Russian Roulette scenes. Controversial on release, and problematic when discussed today in terms of representation of the Vietnamese, it’s still for me an undeniably affecting war epic.

 Most pleased I’ve now seen: The Deer Hunter (because it’s a real thrill when a critical darling lives up to expectations and you can understand why it still hits so many so hard, outdated representations or no). SSP

Posted in Film, Film Feature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Sam S-P
batman-killing-joke-movie-dvd-blu-ray

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016): The Answer Studio/Warner Bros

This review contains spoilers for the 1988 graphic novel THE KILLING JOKE.

By Batman’s underpants, they almost fixed The Killing Joke! The iconic, but overrated and problematic comic by Alan Moore had Barbara Gordon appear, get shot and paralysed then disappear entirely except in the form of graphic Polaroids. She was a plot device, a reason for Batman to go after the Joker and nothing more, and I can understand why people get so angry about that.

When Barbara Gordon (Tara Strong) realises she is in too deep as the masked crimefighter Batgirl, she decides to quit before anyone else gets hurt. Unfortunately her early retirement coincides with The Joker (Mark Hamill) escaping once more from Arkham Asylum, and this time he wants to prove a point to his old foe Batman (Kevin Conroy).

Thankfully, in adapting this comic, Brian Azzarello realised that this story would be much improved if Barbara was allowed to be an actual character. We open on a peaceful Gotham skyline and Barbara’s voiceover asking us, “I bet this isn’t how you thought this story would start?”, almost calling out the comic’s nastiness and sense of utter hopelessness. While the second half of the film is a very faithful adaptation of the comic, warts and all, the first half is an entirely new story of Batgirl getting to be Batgirl, kicking ass and coming very close to the edge. This new material elevates what is to come, gives Barbara a full arc not to mention considerably shaking up character dynamics in a manner which I’m sure will be divisive among fans.

While there is an argument that the story being told us still inherently misogynist no matter how you try and tweak it, I think giving Barbara her own struggles to overcome (an additional scene to follow the closing panel of the comic certainly suggests her place as an active player in the fight against crime in Gotham is far from over) and to make her a fallible, flawed and interesting woman makes this adaptation much more worthy of attention. It’s Batman who comes across badly here as an egotistical jerk who proclaims “We’re partners, not equals!” with such venom. He’s shown to be a failure as a mentor and a failure as a father figure throughout, forever preoccupied with settling his own scores on his own terms, and not even Conroy, as talented as he is, can convince you to side with him.

Though it’s a seriously dark story, there are moments of levity, and some nice Easter Eggs. Walking through Arkham Asylum, Batman passes a cell with a two-headed dollar lying sadly outside and a hand manically clawing through the grill to get it back. When Batman brings up a gallery of the Joker’s appearances on the Batcomputer you can distinctly see Heath Ledger’s take in the top right of the screen. This story famously ended on a joke, and they retain that exactly here (it’s still a good one) and Hamill has a blast throughout playing his most grotesque and gleeful Joker ever. The aim of the original plot was to humanise and rationalise the way The Joker has ended up (in a very twisted Alan Moore fashion) and in my opinion that didn’t quite work on the page. It doesn’t work on screen either really – he’s shown to be human, to have had a life before crime, but considering the atrocities he is responsible for, you never come close to sympathising with him, and if I’m honest that’s probably for the best.

There are animated Batman films that flow better, that are more satisfying on a storytelling level, but then again there are better Batman comics to base your story on. While I wouldn’t sacrifice the Batgirl-centric first half for anything as her character being compelling and relatable is key to the story having its punch, it does fell very different from the wretched melodrama that we end on. The half-time shock that perfectly and horribly realises the comic’s most infamous panel signals a complete change of tone and pace that is really quite jarring, and I think that’s the point. The Killing Joke, despite its place (undeserved or not) as one of the Batman stories, was always going to be problematic to adapt, flawed in whatever form it finally took. It’s certainly an interesting watch, but you wonder whether love of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and seeing its key players reunite twenty years later is enough of a reason to sit through it. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Review: Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016)

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Sam S-P
Justice-League-vs-Teen-Titans

Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016): DC Comics/Warner Bros Animation

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if only Warner Brothers could find a way to make their live-action superhero output as compelling as their animated straight-to-video features. If they could take a leaf out of Warner Bros Animation’s book and not outstay their welcome and maybe even occasionally crack a smile then they might not need to re-jig things to such a panicked extent to keep producing movies.

The continuing adventures of the son of Batman, Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan). After another reckless act during a mission that endangered innocent lives, Batman (Jason O’Mara) leaves his young protege with the Teen Titans with the hope that they will help him to curb his bloodlust and learn responsibility and care for others. Though he was meant to be safer amongst a team his own age, the new Robin’s interactions with the mysterious and powerful Raven (Taissa Farmiga) brings a grave new threat not just to the Titans but the wider Justice League…

There are some wonderful flights of imagination in this animation’s imagery. There really are no limits to aesthetic potential in the mind of an animator controlling a roster with superpowers . From creative super-choreography to apocalyptic scenes of destruction, there are so many striking images to choose from. I think my favourite was the sight of The Flash flying towards his airborne opponent by stepping on individual droplets of water in the air.

It’s also nice to have a sense of humour in the previously mirthless Damian Wayne films. Nightwing gets an eyeful but doesn’t do a very good job of hiding it as he chats to a just-showered Starfire over Skype; Cyborg advises that Batman really doesn’t want to know where his food goes due to his lack of a digestive system; The Flash asks if Batman has considered a boarding school for Damian then immediately cowers under The Dark Knight’s withering glare. In fact a lot of the best gags come from Batman not seeing the funny side of any situation, for as we know the Bat tends to be a bit of a killjoy, and Jason O’Mara’s wonderful deadpan is perfect to convey this.

The film explores Superman’s vulnerability to magic, a big thing in the comics but seldom covered on screen (mostly because it’s a pretty hard tonal balancing act) and this effectively takes him out of play for much of the action. This is a mistake that MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN V SUPERMAN made – avoiding the more bizarre and therefore striking comic-booky elements of the DC Universe entirely or desaturating these elements to fit in with our real world. You can get away more with more out-there characters in animation (the shape-and-size-shifting Beast Boy, alien warrior Starfire who has glowing eyes and wears a swimming costume into battle) where everything is exaggerated because of the limitations (and virtues) of the form and the very most is made of this.

What’s also nice to see is an acknowledgement that the Teen Titans are, well, teens. They have extraordinary abilities but at their heart they are a group of troubled young people living together. I understand why it’s such a popular comics line to adapt for TV as the slow character development and taking time to explore the ups and downs of being a dangerous adolescent lends itself well to the long-form (see: SMALLVILLE, BUFFY). I also think what these films have been lacking is someone for Damian to bounce off, to empathise with, but he finds that with Raven, and their developing relationship and the layers of tragedy at the heart of Raven’s story (helped a lot by Farmiga’s delicate voicework) is enthralling.

Between this and BAD BLOOD, and with THE KILLING JOKE just released, 2016 could go down as Warner Bros Animation’s most successful years. Who needs big-screen audiences when you have a loyal following watching quality adaptations of great stories at home? Animation is not a lesser medium and should not be dismissed, especially not for realising material that began as simple colours and lines on a page with colours and lines on a screen. With animation, the only limit really is your imagination. SSP

Posted in Film, Film Review | 4 Comments