Review Roundup - Loose ends

CLOUD ATLAS (2012)

Dodgy makeup and even dodgier accents are par for the course in this fantasy / sci-fi mashup from a variety of film makers, in which the idea of intertwined lives and echoes through time are explored through the Victorian naval era to the post apocalyptic future. Or are they? I will get to that in a moment. Different time periods and genres clash, and a number of different stories come together in some way or another.

On the whole the segments in the anthology are well done. It's a nice looking film during any of periods shown, and each story had things that were likeable, gripping or just simply entertaining. There are various threads about struggles which the characters face, be it illness, bigotry, hit men, cannibals or nursing home staff. I quite enjoyed the latter which was contained in the lightest story in the collection. The fight for freedom is a recurring theme in several different guises. There are a lot of characters to process as they deal with these situations, with a few likeable heroes and some fairly despicable irritants. Though the events have stronger thematic links more than any direct narrative ones. At the moment I am undecided on how effective that is to the story on the whole.

Beyond the writing, there are a lot of different dramatic moments, some effective chases and action beats; and one or two grisly thriller scenes. Though saying that I felt it was drawn out at times, despite all this material to cover it would have helped the pacing to trim back a few things. It's to their credit that each era feels very separate from the others, with washed out 70s sequences paired with neon sci-fi cities and earthy far future tribal scenes. On the subject of visuals, characters are done by the same core cast mixed up throughout the run time, and it's an interesting idea they are perhaps linked by some sort of past life experiences... even if the makeup to achieve this is rather hit and miss. The score is mostly understated and intimate, which is an appropriate link to the title of the film which is taken from a piece of music written during one of the chapters. I have to add however that it was very distracting to have to process some odd dialects being spoken as the cast try different characters. In a number of places they were unconvincing and others are purposely jumbled to represent speech after the fall of civilization.

My main issue (outside the far future decay of spoken language) was that it seemed to all be heading somewhere, a big moment or revelation that would hit me like a truck and make everything fit together. But it doesn't arrive. The threads are tied in to each other by smaller moments, some that work; others seem a bit inconsequential. One man's life story spurs on rebellion in another generation, while other characters simply happen across elements from the earlier periods in letters or journals. Some of the cast seem to be reborn as the same morally lacking people as they had been before, while others don't have any obvious pattern. I had to think about who was where, and what connections there were, if any. I have to recommend the trip though, it should provide some level of debate at least. It's been labelled as polarizing, but I am happy to just be on the middle ground on this one.

3/5

Review Roundup - Lesson number three

IRON MAN 3 (2013)

When I was young we used to watch the Marvel Action Hour on TV. The memories are pretty fuzzy, but besides those moments when the Fantastic Four went up against Galactus, the main thing that stuck was simply how cool the idea of Iron Man was to me. So I was pleased that the original movie outing pushed the right buttons, but the sequel left a bad taste. It's grown a little more on me since, but still misses the mark. So to nobodies surprise, this is an easy improvement on Iron Man 2. Despite liking the cast, and thinking Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke were great additions, it just wasn't a good enough follow up thanks to messy plot points and worst of all - anti-climactic set pieces. Here we get a more focused story, though the running time feels too long. Looking into the deleted scenes a lot was already trimmed; perhaps they should have gone further. Also on the downside, despite a better plot the motivation of the villains is a little unclear, and I think my major complaint has to be throwaway lines being used to explain major points, particularly towards the end.

The action is fun and inventive, and honestly the best parts are probably the scenes without the armour. Or at one point, just parts of it. There seem to be complaints that Tony Stark is in this too much without the suit, but I felt there was a good balance and having him need to use his wits to escape and having to improvise was a great choice. There is an excessive robotic showdown at the end, but it's got enough variety in the battle, and the big bad and his minions are used in ways that mean it's more fun to see that just a repeat of the finale in the original movie. The big trailer selling points of a plane crash and a helicopter attack are also very well done. They also add a few new technological advances to keep the man in a can idea fresh, adding to the visual fun and the action beats in new ways.

Onto the subject of bad guys, there has been a lot of debate on the Mandarin, and how that turns out in the events of the film. I didn't mind it that much but to avoid going into too much detail will just say it wasn't that unexpected and was far more amusing that irritating. I can see why it was done but can easily see why this caused all the fan rage. Everyone else has their moments, and again the cast is likeable with Guy Pearce being a good addition. The others are as good as in the previous two movies, and the character banter is done well. It is a darker entry to the series, but in other places has a lot of humour which stops it becoming too one note. As I said the film length is an issue, but imagine it's because of the way the cast plays off each other and how much their improv may have stretched out the scenes. There's a dreaded child actor moment which appears in the mid section, but thankfully doesn't outstay it's welcome even if personally that's where it could have done with some more cuts in the editing room.

In the end it boils down to how good the characters are and not how much CGI they throw about, so there I put it about equal with part one, in places higher but neither has huge amounts of depth in a serious way. I think this pulls enough new ideas to make it a more human story, and helps me forget the basement particle accelerator moments in part 2. The first still edges it because of a simpler plot and that original arc. Here Tony's relationship issues have some closure, and though there are some PTSD anxiety attack moments that don't seem to get enough explanation, it's an interesting weakness to include so I can give it a pass. Perhaps almost dying in a vacuum and seeing aliens invade would do that. Overall it rounds them off as a set, and I can see Iron Man becoming an Avengers supporting team member in future appearances, rather than being in another sequel - I guess time and profits will tell. 

3/5

Review Roundup - Into incoherence

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (2013)

First things first, well this is certainly a fantastic looking film. The art department has created some amazing stuff, the opening on an alien world is eye popping, the set pieces are all pretty spectacular and the general look is full of great visuals and designs. There are a number of fun, kinetic sequences. Some of the characters are well done, and the cast works well together for the most part. Unfortunately the rest of it is kind of messy, and it comes off as a "too many cooks" effort with far too many ideas thrown in and everything on screen all at once becoming bigger than just the visual effects. There is misplaced fan service, unnecessarily overblown schemes, and not enough focus on character where matters.

The underlying problem is that whoever wrote this needs to be sent to Rura Penthe, and looking at the credits it's a mix of Transformers 2 and Prometheus - not a magic combination. They had three people working on this, and maybe that's the problem. It's kind of a shame to see them waste all of the budget like this when there is clearly talent on the production. While it's not an offensive Transformers type money burning disaster (headache inducing car crash cinema in more than one way) the material here is still mostly useless with some very odd story choices that add nothing to the overall plot while revisiting arcs we've already seen in the previous movie. It's a compelling series of scenes and action beats, and it never feels boring, but rather than building up from their rebooted universe with a strong script it's like they were trying to link each set piece together retrospectively or kept adding extra moments to an earlier, less cluttered plot.

The 2009 effort wasn't exactly a great movie from a writing perspective either (it falls over itself in the third act several times) but it was at least mostly coherent; it was simpler and worked way better as a character piece even when they seem to be very overdone and almost cartoon like at times. Some of the cast are good as I have said, but others seem to fall quickly into the "give them something to do" category rather than being written with more practical roles in mind to suit their rank or position. McCoy seems to be sidelined in particular. Others are still miscast as they were the first time (Chekov, Scotty - sorry fans) but I liked the villains even when certain elements have been thrown in without any real thought to them... I won't go into spoiler material here. The trailers are pretty misleading but none of the twists are very satisfying or ultimately effective in a meaningful way. Revenge stories are far to easy and get used way too often.

In the end the exciting battles, chases and shoot outs are pointless without anything underpinning them as a framework to tell the story. A recent poll voted this worst ever Star Trek film, and while I don't agree it's not a great entry and they need to put some real effort into the next one to give it some meat, some depth and some gravity. With another commercial success on their hands, it's hard to say if that will ever happen. I was entertained, but not much else.

2/5

Review roundup - getting old and growing up

THE LAST STAND (2013)

In a period where it seems as though all the heroes of old are coming back for another screen outing, it's not a big surprise that Arnold tries his hand at doing the one man army act one more time. The less than successful Expendables movies had a handful of incoherent cameos from the Austrian Oak, but overall felt like they were aiming for some modern demographic instead of delivering the oldschool action vibes I wanted. This had to be better, right? Unfortunately the mix of what should have been a fresh approach with 80s action moments ends up as muddled and inconsistent as the tone veers from serious crime drama where Forest Whitaker frowns and shouts orders, to complete schlock in which people are exploded and one liners are spewed.

The movie I wanted to see involved Arnie and Peter Stormare shouting incomprehensible dialogue at each other while faceless mooks get blown away, but despite the latter's best attempts (seriously what was the accent? Sweden or Texas? Does he know this is all terrible?) it barely has 10 minutes worth of that expected goofy action. The scenes of melodrama and FBI seriousness just take up too much time, and interchangeable agents and boring townsfolk get far too much to say. Director Kim Ji-woon's The Good the Bad the Weird had a similar problem to a lesser extent, deciding if it wanted to be wacky or straight faced, and this time the struggle and indecision of choosing genre have a bigger impact. This is the kind of movie where a sidekick character finds a morning star in a museum while loading up for the showdown, and never uses it. It's just the wrong kind of rule breaking.

2/5

LIFE OF PI (2012)

The plot hook of a kid in a lifeboat with zoo animals for company is what got me interested in seeing this, and the parts where that takes place - that middle section where the craziness and survival scenes play out - delivers that in spades, with plenty of amazing visuals and impressive effects work for good measure. The blend of staying alive drama, surreal travel scenes and dream like fantasy moments as the boy Pi (long story) and the tiger Richard Parker (yeah) cross the Atlantic are very well done. How would you live like this? Is this all imagined? How many times will he curse God until his beliefs reach breaking point? How many times has he shouted Richard Parker? These kind of questions are what drew me in. The rest of the journey is less effective which is a shame, but has it's moments - and the themes of faith and which parts of life should be taken at face value are fairly engaging for the most part despite a slow start.

My major issues here are due to the structure - getting interested in the struggle of the boat occupants is the strongest element, but the way it takes place comes along too slowly and having bookend narration with our protagonist explaining things to a journalist in the present day just kills the atmosphere. Particularly near the end as the voyage had become more absorbing. It pulled me out of the story and standard narration, if any at all, would have been simpler and more effective. Overall the trip is worth taking but I felt these disappointing elements are a bigger problem that I'd have expected from all the awards buzz this generated.

3/5

Review Roundup - Fun and games

DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012)

So after using all those Morricone tracks in his past movies, and declaring "The Good, The Bad..." the perfect movie (as top picks go, I admit it's a nice choice) - Quentin Tarantino finally gets around to making a Western of his own. It's a blood splattered, pseudo-history epic bordering on pastiche in some places (as you might have expected after his last venture into the 2nd World War) and is full of great performances and slick musical choices for the most part, again no shocks there. Surprisingly, the locations being used are also given their share of screen time too, making for some spectacular vista moments. I really like the film's look, a world apart from the grimy, almost one room theatre of Reservoir Dogs. The action is handled well with plenty of good practical effects, and it's an engrossing movie experience overall despite one or two things that stall the pacing during the final act.

The meat of the story is of course a revenge drama, as our protagonists team up for love and justice. They take down the bad guys (either bounty kills or simply irredeemably awful people) on their way to rescue the title characters wife. In an interesting contrast, the horrors of trading human lives as animal stock for entertainment or labour are played completely straight - against the almost ridiculous level of bullet impacts which start when the villains begin taking hits in the inevitable shoot outs you'd expect from the genre in question. Where the opening scenes of Inglourious Basterds ramped up the real word tension and harrowing consequences of an SS questioning, here the subject matter is laid bare in a great deal more scenes. While it's a relief they are handled with seriousness, at the same time is difficult to sit through. But rightly so.

This is not to say we're getting a humourless drama - much of the story is fine entertainment thanks to the characters and script. The cast is all very strong whether we are rooting for them as saviours or loathing them as grotesque slavers and wanted criminals. Some may be veering into caricature territory at times, but as antagonists they are still entirely unlikeable. The dinner table discussion of race inferiority might be memorable as a sequence and a great performance moment, but the points being offered are only ever vile. Of course the main focus driving the story is Django and Schultz who make for a great duo, the latter deserving the praise and awards which have been bestowed on him. Even so, I doubt it will be converting any new Tarantino fans thanks to the violence levels but it's still recommended as an engaging, well made piece of cinema.   

4/5

  
WRECK IT RALPH (2012)

Disney's interest in videogames over time hasn't exactly been high caliber, however many cult fans of TRON there might be (both new and old have their moments but never hooked me entirely) so it was with a raised eyebrow I approached their latest animated feature, particularly after seeing that easter egg packed trailer full of classic gaming icons. As animation goes, the unexceptional but eye pleasing style seen in Tangled seems to have been the thrust of things in the design department (outside of the existing work of game artists) which isn't a massive issue in itself. It's just a shame that while the intrigue of the opening hook lasts for the first act, I was hoping something fresh to follow it. Later into the adventure it turns out that the less interesting design work is complimented by a fairly typical family adventure plot, and the predictable elements that those usually include soon follow suit. 

The premise is simple enough, but this proves to be a strength and ultimately the weakest element of the story. Sitting atop a smashed apartment block, as a kind of Donkey-Kong or Rampage style villain, our titular residential menace is having a personal crisis after 30 years of being defeated by coin using gamers. Setting out to change his life and get the respect of a hero, the whole world and history of the videogame is set ahead of him - in a convenient tube station linking all the machines and their characters within the arcade that they are hooked into.

Ultimately though after a fun trip into a modern day sci-fi shooter (when did games get so violent?) things get bogged down way too much in the standard stuff - hero's journey to find his place, a cute unlikely romance sub plot and an outcast's chance at being part of the clique. This could have been worked around, but the problem is that the limitless possibilities offered by "game-hopping" are squandered by having all this take place in a single candy themed race track world, something that after a while feels like it could be part of any animated feature. Despite the Mario Kart vibe it suggests, most of it just comes across as a typical fantasy kingdom setting full of wacky minions and bright colours while anything Namco and Sega might have offered is sidelined. The idea of using all those years of game history, all those genres - it never materialises. Villains are revealed, tables are turned and character arcs are completed - it's just so by the numbers after such potential is built up at the start.

In the end it's a likeable, but forgettable trip that could have had so much variety considering who we meet in AA meeting style opener. Perhaps something Pixar might have handled with more finesse. Maybe it just wasn't possible with all those licenses and such a trim film length - but I guess it might just be the balance of audiences they were aiming at, a combination of arcade fans and younger film goers is probably a tricky balance and ultimately I couldn't love the resulting mix.

3/5