RED

Director: Robert Schwentke
Stars: Bruce Willis, Mary Louise-Parker, Morgan Freeman, Hellen Mirren, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, Richard Defuses, Ernest Borgnine, Brian Cox

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Director Robert Schwentke may seem like an odd choice to direct the comic book adaptation RED, considering his pedigree. His last feature was The Time Traveller’s Wife, and branching out into the action heavy genre is definitely a step in the right direction.

Gone are the days when a comic book movie would elicit a mass groan, as fans leave the cinema in droves scratching their heads in disbelief. Those moments are now reserved for The Last Airbender. More recently, a throng of directors have stepped up to the plate to deliver solid, extremely watchable films such as Kick Ass, The Losers, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, while remaining true to the source material, and RED is no exception.

The acronym RED stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous and relates directly to ex-operative Frank Moses (Bruce Willis, The Expendables). Formerly the best of the best in Black Ops, he’s now relegated to a mundane civilian existence where the highlight of his week is the phone call to his pension fund manager Sarah (Mary Louise-Parker, Weeds) complaining about his missing cheque (which he destroys on purpose, regularly).

The situation changes drastically when a faceless pencil-pusher green lights Moses “RED” and sends a clean-up crew to “retire” him. The results are fairly predictable—and spectacular—leaving Moses on the run with Sarah in tow for her own safety. On the run with The Agency on his trail Moses seeks out his former squad members to “put the band back together” and find out who’s on their trail and why.

Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman, The Dark Knight) lives out his days at a retirement home, with the most action he sees being glance at a nurse’s firm chassis while tuning the TV. Years of government sanctioned LSD abuse has left RED team member Marvin Boggs a paranoid conspiracy nut, this train-wreck is played to perfection by John Malkovich (Burn After Reading) with great comedic timing.

The standout of the crew is the masterful casting of Helen Mirren (State of Play) as wet-works specialist, Victoria. Her poise and grace coupled with her knowledge of heavy calibre weaponry is a joy to behold, nicely balancing out the male cast.

Hot on their trail is the opportunistic and eager Agent Cooper (Karl Urban,  Star Trek), who realises he may have bitten off more than he can chew after a brief altercation with Moses.

Without giving away too much of the plot, RED is a standard “clear our names so justice can be served” flick, but the way it’s handled by Schwentke gives the viewer much more than a by the numbers shoot ’em up. The tone and score emulates Ocean’s Eleven with a snap in its step via the fantastic chemistry between the leads.

The action sequences are restrained, with more focus on memorable moments than mass explosions, whether its Moses stepping from a moving car to light up Agent Cooper’s SUV or Victoria manning a .50 calibre mini-gun (worth the price of admission alone!).

The cast is rounded out with a stellar performance by Brian Cox as a Russian adversary-turned-ally,  Julian McMahon as the whiney V.P. of the United States (who has a plastic surgery and botox problem), Richard Dreyfuss as a slimy weapons manufacturer, and the great Ernest Borgnine as the keeper of CIA records. His role is not a stretch in the least, but it’s always a treat to see the old fella on the big screen.

Fun, action-packed, with a dash of romance and great chemistry all around, RED is a return to action movies that don’t take themselves too seriously, but rather focus on snappy bantering and real acting rather than a massive budget to get it across the line.

Red opens nationally October 28

Review: Dave Kozicki

LET ME IN

DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves

STARS: Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas

ICON

VIEWED in isolation, Let Me In is a competently made movie that offers an unusual take on the vampire tale. Here, the bloodsucker is an eternally 12-year-old girl who, although supernaturally fast and strong, still has the emotional dependence of a child—craving companionship and allowing herself to be cared for. The central human character is no mighty monster-slayer but an introverted boy powerless to avoid the daily torments of the class bully.

When vamp Abby (Kick-Ass’s Chloe Moretz) meets wimp Owen (The Road’s Kodi Smit-McPhee) in the snowy courtyard of their apartment complex one night, he offers her someone she can relate to more than her grizzled guardian, while she gives him a secret happiness and strength. As friendship turns to innocent love, the inevitable happens and Abby’s need to feed threatens to expose her, forcing Owen to choose just how far he will let her into his life.

Unfortunately, however, Let Me In can’t be viewed in isolation because it is a remake of the 2008 Swedish flick Let the Right One In, and besides dumbing down the title and changing the character names, Hollywood’s alterations are all for the worse. Attempts to inject extra action into what is essentially a mood piece are jarring, and “colour” such as the video arcade make the setting less believable as a sleepy community where a vampire might go unnoticed.

Worst of all, the made-for-each-other strangeness of Oskar and Eli in the original just isn’t there with Owen and Abby. Kodi and Chloe may be fine young actors, but in these roles their words and pauses never seem meaningful. In fact, their very presence smacks of studio-exec logic—take a Euro hit, add the up-and-coming stars of two American hits and you’ve got a guaranteed winner, right? Oh, wait, and let’s make it more of a cop story… people can’t get enough cop stories…

The only conceivable reason to see this in preference to renting/buying Let the Right One In on DVD is if you flat out refuse to read subtitles.

Let Me In opens in cinemas on October 14.

THE TOWN

Director: Ben Affleck

Stars: Ben Affleck, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Chris Cooper, Pete Postlethwaite
ROADSHOW

BEN Affleck returns to his hometown to shoot a gritty adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s best-selling novel The Prince of Thieves.  Affleck impressed with his 2007 directorial debut of Denis Lehane’s novel Gone Baby Gone and his work directing The Town does not disappoint.

There are more than 300 bank robberies in Boston every year, and most of the professionals live in the one-square-mile neighbourhood of Charlestown. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) has a criminal past but he doesn’t consider himself a career criminal. He always wanted to get out.  And unlike his family and friends, Doug had a chance to escape following in his father’s Stephen MacRay’s (Chris Cooper) criminal footsteps with a hockey scholarship that he failed to fulfil.

With nothing left to fall back on, Doug became the leader of a crew of four bank robbers, thieves who pride themselves on stealing and getting out clean.  The gang is controlled by Fergus ‘Fergie’ Colm (Pete Postlethwaite), man with a secret past who holds power over many of the neighbourhood men having established his criminal bona fides from working with their fathers.

The only family Doug knows are his partners in crime, especially James “Jem” Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), who despite his hair-trigger temper, is like a brother to Doug, and his sister Krista (Blake Lively) is a Southie moll who also happens to be Doug’s former girlfriend. The trio live together in an increasingly unstable home environment as their interests diverge irrevocably.

However, everything changes when the gang’s most recent bank job results in Jem taking bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) briefly hostage.  When the gang discovers that Claire lives in Charlestown, just around the corner from them, Jem becomes nervous that they might run into her and that she could recognise their voices.  He insists they check out to check out what she might have seen.

Knowing how volatile Jem is, Doug agrees to speak with Claire to see what she knows.  He picks a coin-op laundry to make contact.  Claire has no idea that the encounter is staged and the two, following initial conversation, discover that they are genuinely interested in each other.

As his relationship with Claire develops into romance, Doug’s desire to get out of crime, and Boston, and start a new life consumes him. But with the FBI—led by Special Agent Adam Frawley (Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm)—hot on the gang’s heels and Jem questioning his loyalty, Doug realises that getting out of the life, and Charlestown, will be the most difficult challenge he has faced;  he must either betray his friends or lose the woman he loves.

In essence, The Town is a simple tale about taking a chance, about having the guts to try to be more than what you are, and about not letting your past define your future.  It’s also about crime and punishment, friendship and betrayal, and the salvation of love and hope.

Affleck is solid and believable as Doug, but it is his work behind the camera that dazzles: the action sequences are fast, clean and engaging, and the personal relationship between Claire and Doug are touching without being hammy. The script, by Peter Craig, Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard is effective in its simplicity and (thankfully) not as predictable as the trailer may suggest.

The usually exciting work of composer Harry Gregson-Williams is confusingly reminiscent of Michael Kamen’s iconic Band of Brothers score throughout the personal scenes and of Hans Zimmer during the action scenes.  Not that this is a bad thing, but for this reviewer, it did detract somewhat from the film. Otherwise, The Town is a thoughtful exploration of human relationships and a solid follow-up to Gone Baby Gone. Whatever Ben Affleck chooses to direct next, will be eagerly awaited.
The Town opens in cinemas on October 14

The Other Guys

Director: Adam McKay

Stars: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Ray Stevenson, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, Rob Riggle, Daymon Wayans Jr.

Continue reading “Reviews – Film: The Other Guys” »

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Director: Edgar Wright
Stars: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwartzman, Brie Larson, Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong, Brandon Routh, Chris Evans

Review: Dave Kozicki

The comic book-to-film adaptation is a fickle mistress. For every The Dark Knight and Sin City that challenges our perceptions and exceeds our expectations, there is a Ghost Rider or X-men Origins: Wolverine to remind us that Hollywood considers the graphic novel and comic book genre to be a box office no-brainer, a target market cash cow, with ad-hoc consideration of the source material.

The  independent film market often fares considerably better, resulting in the exceptional Kick Ass, and Wanted. Now indie comic book hero, Scott Pilgrim, gets the big screen makeover. Much as Matthew Vaughn’s Kick Ass used the graphic novel as a basis—artfully taking the film in an action-packed and “movie friendly” direction so it feels like a companion piece to the source material—so too has director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) taken the whimsical core of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s digest-sized morsels and added kinetic camera work and an impressive grasp of action flick lore in creating Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Any doubts are allayed quickly as the film kicks off with an 8-bit pixellated rendition of the Universal studio logo and a fun reworking of the studio’s introductory theme via Super Mario keytones. Pop culture status approved. Rating: Awesome!

Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad) plays 20-something Scott Pilgrim, an “in between jobs”  slacker who has retreated into his shell after a particularly nasty break-up. Distracting himself with his band, Sex Bob-omb, he lives a carefree existence and platonic relationship with his 17-year-old Catholic High School girlfriend, Knives Chau (newcomer Ellen Wong), until a dream encounter with  spunky Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Deathproof) results in instant attraction/near obsession for the newly invigorated Scott.

When the two begin dating it soon becomes apparent that Ramona has major baggage—namely a Legion of Seven Evil Exes who Scott must fight, and defeat, in order to date Ramona.

While the colourful cast of side characters and evil exes do ultimately steal your attention, thanks to Michael Cera’s layered performance, the impressive supporting cast are the icing on the cake as opposed to the main course.  Kieran Culkan (Igby Goes Down) is great as Scott’s sardonic flatmate, Wallace, and Chris Evans (The Losers) shines in his all-too-short stint as heartthrob action hero, Lucas Lee, a hilarious mesh of Wolverine and Vanilla Ice, with a dollop of douchebag.

However, the most rewarding Evil Ex is without doubt Todd Ingram, played by Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, Chuck). After several double takes to confirm that yes, this is really Superman, Routh’s interpretation of vegan-powered, bleach-blond bass player (and evil ex) Todd Ingram is riveting, but just one of the film’s many highlights.

Director Edgar Wright’s eye for action is impressive, with all fight scenes brilliantly choreographed—so much so that you can believe that Michael Cera could kick serious ass. Each battle has its own tone and is rife with heavy-handed but welcome videogame references. The pacing is spot on and entertaining from the moment the film begins until the final credits roll. The only criticism: the brushed-over development of Scott and Ramona’s relationship, with the chemistry between Scott (Cera) and Knives (Wong) both while dating and laying the smack down, offering real electricity.

Those who question Wright’s ability to move beyond the comedies of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, to bring a cult classic to life will enjoy sitting down to a double serving of humble pie, as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the most quirky, perfectly paced, action-oriented and entertaining film of the year, so far.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World opens August 12

Knight And Day

Director: James Mangold
Stars: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Saarsgard

DIRECTOR James Mangold has taken the zest and sass of a 1950s Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie and paired it with the high-octane thrills of a modern day action movie for Knight and Day, rescuing the film from the bucket of saccharine-laden relationship pap that clogs our cinemas.

Patrick O’Neill’s witty script focuses on keeping the obvious attraction between the two leads realistically suppressed—just like in the real world, where tact, ego and the to-and-fro of the male-female dynamic creates sparks. And he does a great job.

Similarly, Tom Cruise is very enjoyable as the titular super-spy Roy Knight—part Cary Grant, part Jason Bourne. Cruise moves through the demanding (and impressive) action scenes with total confidence and not even the occasional awkwardness between himself and onscreen love interest Diaz can’t be (mostly) smoothed over with his roguish charm or via dazzling fight scenes.

Diaz is the Doris Day to Cruise’s Grant: part ditz, part self-assured woman in charge; but, disappointingly single faceted and low-lit against the mega-watt Cruise, who deserved a better partner to romance in an albeit light and fluffy female role.

The plot is thus: June Havens (Diaz) rebuilds classic cars and is on her way to visit her sister In Boston for her wedding. At the airport, June’s path crosses that of secret agent, Roy Knight (Cruise), who is on the run after a failed mission. Once June is dragged into Roy’s plans, he realises that her involvement—no matter how accidental—will most likely get her killed, so he is forced to monitor her actions from afar in an effort to keep her safe.

Monitoring her actions at times uncomfortably resembles a Crime Channel date rape recreation where Roy almost constantly drugs June with  Rohypnol-like substance and increasingly creepy sexual overtones (such as changing her clothes for a bikini while she’s passed out) with “hilarious” repercussions.

However, as slightly creepy as this is, the regular drugging mirrors June’s increasing bubble-headedness, which grows incrementally concomitant to her unconscious states. Coincidence or heavy-handed plot-point coping mechanism?

Anyway, back to the plot: Roy is pursued by his former partner, Fitzgerald (Peter Saarsgard, in a very Keifer-Sutherland-in-24 turn) and his former agency, both believing that Roy tried to kill an asset that he and Fitzgerald were tasked to protect, and both on the hunt for the zephyr, a new form of perpetual energy created by bookish wunderkind kid, Simon Feck (Paul Dano), that is stored in a capsule the size of a vehicle cigarette lighter.

Whoever owns the technology will change the power structure of the world, and so Roy’s fight to keep both June and Simon alive forms the crux of the film as the trio jet, drive and boat across the globe, pursued by the American government and unnamed drug cartels, represented by the dead-eyed Antonio (Jordi Molla, channelling a delightfully crazy Latino Fisher Stevens).

In between the elaborate car chases, helicopter attacks, exploding buildings, and rapid gunfire lies the kind of witty banter not heard nearly enough in modern Hollywood movies, and in this case the combination of ADHD action with old-style cinema dialogue rescues Knight And Day from being just another churn-and-burn rom-com.

Knight And Day is released in cinemas nationally on July 15

PANDORUM
Director:  Christian Alvart
Stars:  Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cung Le, Antje Traue
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Review:  Suzan Ryan

PANDORUM is a refreshingly edgy, dark sci-fi thriller that doesn’t quit. The tension is artfully applied to keep you guessing (and stressing) through every minute.

Pandorum affects brain and body functions in a way that is similar to the bends experienced by deep-sea divers—it is a rare yet decimating side-effect of space ‘hyper-sleep’, where temporary memory loss combines with feelings of paranoia and disorientation, which if untreated, results in a descent into madness.

In this instance, Earth’s final survivors travel into deep space aboard the Elysium, a supership carrying a Noah’s Ark of species and humanity hoping to start again on a distant world called Tanis.  Astronauts Payton (Quaid) and Bower (Foster) awaken in a locked hyper-sleep chamber without their short-term memory.

Payton remains while Bower crawls through the ventilation to attempt contact with the crew, only to find the ship’s reactor failing, the decks empty and the ship crawling with creatures that have replaced humans at the top of the food chain.

Employing elements of fear and paranoia done so successfully in movies such as Event Horizon and Aliens (thanks to co-producer Paul WS Anderson), Pandorum is a taut thriller that will reward investigation.

A PROPHET
Director:  Jacques Audiard
Stars:  Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif
Sony

Review:  Suzan Ryan

IT’S obvious why this French film won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival; it’s a corker.  Forget Hollywood’s overly polished prison dramas, this is the real deal: a character study of 19-year-old Malik El Djebena (a riveting performance by newcomer Rahim), sentenced to a six-year stint inside that charts his progression from naïve boy to wary and wily man via the decisions he makes, the alliances he creates, the mistakes he must deal with and, finally, his emergence to rejoin the populace as a man transformed.

Malik is part Arab, part Corsican and accepted by neither ethnicity, instead his mixed heritage earns him the attention of César Luciani (Arestrup), head of the Corsican gang, who strong-arms the terrified Malik into murdering an Arab due to testify in an associate’s trial.  In exchange, Malik is offered protection by the Corsicans, along with the role of errand boy and general shit-kicker.  However, Malik’s unique status allows him to mix freely between gangs and allegiances, and to form his own partnerships, both inside the prison and out, with unexpected results.

Withholding judgement on the prison system, prisoners, redemption and other hokey themes, A Prophet is a mature, interesting, violent and exciting movie that will restore your enthusiasm to part with $15.

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN
Director:  F. Gary Gray
Stars:  Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Colm Meaney
Roadshow

Review:  Suzan Ryan

IT could have been so good.  The premise is exciting: family man and electronics whiz Clyde Shelton (Butler) is forced to watch his family murdered during a home invasion.  The devastated father looks for justice in the US courts, only to discover that one of the killers has made a deal with prosecutor Nick Rice (Foxx) to send the other guy to the chair while he gets three years.  The attorneys call it a victory, but to Shelton, it’s an abomination.

Shelton takes matters into his own hands, and after a clever and shocking series of revenge murders, he is jailed, but still the killings continue.  Rice and DA Jonas Cantrell (Bruce McGill) must stop Shelton from striking again, but first they have to discover how he is doing it from his maximum-security cell.

What begins as a fresh look at the fall of the American empire from its corrupt core of misplaced values—with an Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) inspired feel to the script, in pace and suspense—degrades into an ‘America is always right’ mawkish family-values drama that’s an insincere and as rotten as the killers.

By mid-point  you may find yourself wanting Rice and Jonas to get whacked; their vapid and ignorant posturing is nauseating, and a single-faceted performance by Foxx overshadows an understated turn by Butler, effecting bitter disappointment after such a promising start.

REVIEWS:  FILM

IN THE LOOP
DIRECTOR: ARMANDO IANNUCCI
STARS: PETER CAPALDI, TOM HOLLANDER, CHRIS ADDISON, GINA MCKEE, JAMES GANDOLFINI
MADMAN

AMERICAN General William Westmoreland said: “The military don’t start wars. Politicians start wars.”

Black comedy In The Loop explores how this might happen. Despite enormous opposition from their own governments and citizens, an unnamed US President and a similarly anonymous UK Prime Minister plan to launch an armed conflict in the Middle East.

When meek British minister Simon Foster (Hollander) gets flustered during a series of interviews in which he appears to support military action, the gears of war begin turning in London and Washington, where ruthless Scottish spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (Capaldi) prepares to take advantage of the situation.

Meanwhile, Foster and a few American allies, including the respected Lt General George Miller (Gandolfini), try to keep the peace.  An impressive directorial debut from Armando Iannucci (best known for co-creating the Alan Partridge character with Steve Coogan (who incidentally appears in the film).  In The Loop is a sharp, well-acted political satire packed with brilliant and witty one-liners.  A movie that would be that much funnier if it weren’t so close to the truth.