Films round-up
Jul. 31st, 2016 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rich_jackoI've got behind again, so it's time I caught up with a bunch of film reviews...
The Nice Guys - Seventies-tastic crime spree as Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe play bad cop and worse cop - well, a PI and a thug for hire anyway. Their investigation takes them through an underworld of porn stars, guns, money and a huge conspiracy. Slick and very funny.
Long Way North - A beautiful Danish/French co-production about a 19th Century Russian girl named Sasha, who runs away to try to find out what happened to her grandfather on his last Arctic expedition. The animation is
traditional 2D, but in a distinctive style which has a simple beauty deally suited to the Arctic landscape. The story is full of charm and emotion. It's a hard film to track down, but well worth a watch.
Independence Day: Resurgence - This sequel did not disappoint. Well, okay, it's rubbish compared to the first "ID4", but it was every bit as cheesy as I'd hoped for! Many of the original cast return (although notably not Will Smith), the ships are bigger, the psuedo-science is bonkers (as is Brent Spiner), and disbelief doesn't so much need to be suspended as obliterated by a giant space mining laser. Yep, the aliens are copying an old Dalek scheme and are trying to steal the Earth's core, because why not? It gets progressively more stupid as it goes on, and ends with a teaser for the final part of the trilogy, which looks like being even stupider. Fantastic :o)
The Legend of Tarzan - A very lacklustre adventure movie about Tarzan's return to Africa to investigate rumours of a resurgent slave trade. Is it meant to be a sequel? I'm not sure. There's some interesting fights spiced up by the prospect of characters getting killed by a variety wildlife, but the story is dull and the characters are uninspiring cardboard cut-outs. Even Christoph Waltz seems to be dialling his performance in. Samuel L. Jackson livens things up a little, but even he can't save the film.
Ghostbusters - This reboot is to Ghostbusters what The Force Awakens is to Star Wars - enormous fun, but largely a re-tread of the first story while pretending to tell a different one. Controversial for two reasons - Firstly, how can you remake Ghostbusters? The script isn't as witty as the original and comparisons don't do the film any favours, which is why it's a shame the story isn't more different. Setting it in a world where the first team of Ghostbusters never existed is an odd choice; I'd have preferred it to have been a new team picking up the mantle 30 years on. This is only made weirder by having most of the original cast turn up in cameos, playing other roles. That doesn't work for me.
The second controversy has been the all-female line-up. I honestly don't get why this should be an issue. It makes a refreshing change, and there's some good-natured fun-poking with having a "himbo" receptionist. The four leads all turn in good performances. They are funny, likeable characters who aren't just carbon copies of Venkman and co. The team dynamics are different and they bounce off one another well. Also, I think I may be in love with Holtzmann. Overall, don't expect a classic we'll still be watching in 30 years time, but if you're after light-hearted popcorn entertainment, you won't be disappointed. Make sure you stay until the very end.
Absolutely Fabulous - This is feels more like an extended TV episode than a movie, but I guess it was always going to. Saunders and Lumley have still got it, as Edina and Patsy continue to swagger through life, growing old disgracefully. They're on the run, having maybe accidentally killed Kate Moss. There's some fun poking at celebrity obsession and something-for-nothing culture. It's okay if you liked the series, but nothing special.
Central Intelligence - The trailer did not impress me, and it's slow to get going, but ended up being a lot, lot better than I thought. The plot is confusing and nonsense, but the joy is to be had from the interaction between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's nerdy high school kid grown up to be CIA superhero, and Kevin Hart's high school sports star turned nerdy accountant. I think this is the first of The Rock's comedies I've seen, and he certainly has a gift for sending himself up. It could have been painfully unfunny, but somehow (nearly) all the gags work brilliantly.
Now You See Me 2 - The Horsemen are back for more of the same. The original was a twist on heist movies by using fast-paced magic tricks as its stunts, and as the means by which the unlikely group of conspirators pull off their goals. This does exactly the same again, with the gang out to steal a supercomputer. It still works - although one ridiculously overblown card-smuggling trick goes on way too long. The main strength is the cast, which includes Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson (twice!), Michael Caine and the legendary Morgan Freeman.
Star Trek Beyond - One of the problems I often have with Star Trek is that the characters are nearly always painfully po-faced and serious. Not so here. Having Simon Pegg share the scriptwriting duties has definitely paid off. The crew have lightened up a bit and even Bones cracks a few jokes. It makes for a much more fun film. That doesn't mean Star Trek Beyond is an out-and-out comedy. It's more like Star Trek: Fast & Furious, unsurprisingly given it shares its director. Swarms of alien fighter ships, starship crashes, lots of fight scenes, a motorbike chase, and everything exploding. This is not a cerebral film, and in a way it doesn't feel particularly Star Trekky. I'll leave it to you to decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. For me, it was the best one yet in the rebooted franchise.
The BFG - Spielberg does Roald Dahl, how could it be anything other than gloriumptious? The childchewing has been toned down a titchy bit (Boo!), and there's a little switchfiddling with minor details, most of which works for the big screen. Generally this is being a very faithful adaptation of a much-loved story. There be rotsome snozzcumbers, delumptious frobscottle, and a beautiful Dream Country. Mark Rylance captures the BFG and the squiggly way he gobblefunks around with words perfectly. Ruby Barnhill is a charming Sophie, the young human bean he kidsnatches away to Giant Country. For the most part, the film is simply being a double act between the two as they gets to know each other. It's a pleasant change for a film to take its time just building the relationship between its characters, rather than rushing along at a galloping giant's pace. Penelope Wilton makes a good queen. Also, whizzpopping corgi dogs is hilarious :o)
The Nice Guys - Seventies-tastic crime spree as Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe play bad cop and worse cop - well, a PI and a thug for hire anyway. Their investigation takes them through an underworld of porn stars, guns, money and a huge conspiracy. Slick and very funny.
Long Way North - A beautiful Danish/French co-production about a 19th Century Russian girl named Sasha, who runs away to try to find out what happened to her grandfather on his last Arctic expedition. The animation is
traditional 2D, but in a distinctive style which has a simple beauty deally suited to the Arctic landscape. The story is full of charm and emotion. It's a hard film to track down, but well worth a watch.
Independence Day: Resurgence - This sequel did not disappoint. Well, okay, it's rubbish compared to the first "ID4", but it was every bit as cheesy as I'd hoped for! Many of the original cast return (although notably not Will Smith), the ships are bigger, the psuedo-science is bonkers (as is Brent Spiner), and disbelief doesn't so much need to be suspended as obliterated by a giant space mining laser. Yep, the aliens are copying an old Dalek scheme and are trying to steal the Earth's core, because why not? It gets progressively more stupid as it goes on, and ends with a teaser for the final part of the trilogy, which looks like being even stupider. Fantastic :o)
The Legend of Tarzan - A very lacklustre adventure movie about Tarzan's return to Africa to investigate rumours of a resurgent slave trade. Is it meant to be a sequel? I'm not sure. There's some interesting fights spiced up by the prospect of characters getting killed by a variety wildlife, but the story is dull and the characters are uninspiring cardboard cut-outs. Even Christoph Waltz seems to be dialling his performance in. Samuel L. Jackson livens things up a little, but even he can't save the film.
Ghostbusters - This reboot is to Ghostbusters what The Force Awakens is to Star Wars - enormous fun, but largely a re-tread of the first story while pretending to tell a different one. Controversial for two reasons - Firstly, how can you remake Ghostbusters? The script isn't as witty as the original and comparisons don't do the film any favours, which is why it's a shame the story isn't more different. Setting it in a world where the first team of Ghostbusters never existed is an odd choice; I'd have preferred it to have been a new team picking up the mantle 30 years on. This is only made weirder by having most of the original cast turn up in cameos, playing other roles. That doesn't work for me.
The second controversy has been the all-female line-up. I honestly don't get why this should be an issue. It makes a refreshing change, and there's some good-natured fun-poking with having a "himbo" receptionist. The four leads all turn in good performances. They are funny, likeable characters who aren't just carbon copies of Venkman and co. The team dynamics are different and they bounce off one another well. Also, I think I may be in love with Holtzmann. Overall, don't expect a classic we'll still be watching in 30 years time, but if you're after light-hearted popcorn entertainment, you won't be disappointed. Make sure you stay until the very end.
Absolutely Fabulous - This is feels more like an extended TV episode than a movie, but I guess it was always going to. Saunders and Lumley have still got it, as Edina and Patsy continue to swagger through life, growing old disgracefully. They're on the run, having maybe accidentally killed Kate Moss. There's some fun poking at celebrity obsession and something-for-nothing culture. It's okay if you liked the series, but nothing special.
Central Intelligence - The trailer did not impress me, and it's slow to get going, but ended up being a lot, lot better than I thought. The plot is confusing and nonsense, but the joy is to be had from the interaction between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's nerdy high school kid grown up to be CIA superhero, and Kevin Hart's high school sports star turned nerdy accountant. I think this is the first of The Rock's comedies I've seen, and he certainly has a gift for sending himself up. It could have been painfully unfunny, but somehow (nearly) all the gags work brilliantly.
Now You See Me 2 - The Horsemen are back for more of the same. The original was a twist on heist movies by using fast-paced magic tricks as its stunts, and as the means by which the unlikely group of conspirators pull off their goals. This does exactly the same again, with the gang out to steal a supercomputer. It still works - although one ridiculously overblown card-smuggling trick goes on way too long. The main strength is the cast, which includes Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson (twice!), Michael Caine and the legendary Morgan Freeman.
Star Trek Beyond - One of the problems I often have with Star Trek is that the characters are nearly always painfully po-faced and serious. Not so here. Having Simon Pegg share the scriptwriting duties has definitely paid off. The crew have lightened up a bit and even Bones cracks a few jokes. It makes for a much more fun film. That doesn't mean Star Trek Beyond is an out-and-out comedy. It's more like Star Trek: Fast & Furious, unsurprisingly given it shares its director. Swarms of alien fighter ships, starship crashes, lots of fight scenes, a motorbike chase, and everything exploding. This is not a cerebral film, and in a way it doesn't feel particularly Star Trekky. I'll leave it to you to decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. For me, it was the best one yet in the rebooted franchise.
The BFG - Spielberg does Roald Dahl, how could it be anything other than gloriumptious? The childchewing has been toned down a titchy bit (Boo!), and there's a little switchfiddling with minor details, most of which works for the big screen. Generally this is being a very faithful adaptation of a much-loved story. There be rotsome snozzcumbers, delumptious frobscottle, and a beautiful Dream Country. Mark Rylance captures the BFG and the squiggly way he gobblefunks around with words perfectly. Ruby Barnhill is a charming Sophie, the young human bean he kidsnatches away to Giant Country. For the most part, the film is simply being a double act between the two as they gets to know each other. It's a pleasant change for a film to take its time just building the relationship between its characters, rather than rushing along at a galloping giant's pace. Penelope Wilton makes a good queen. Also, whizzpopping corgi dogs is hilarious :o)
