This superb dramatic action flick and absolute darkest Batman movie to-date doesn’t live up to the impossible hype but still delivers an excellent and entertaining 2 and a half hours of dramatic quality movie going fun.
Category Archives: Review
Wanted
I’ll be honest, I was nervous. I feared that Wanted would be just another Smokin’ Aces or Shoot ’em Up. Not that I didn’t enjoy those two movies, I did, but I hoped Wanted would be something more. I wasn’t disappointed. What I was disappointed about (as I’ve already blogged) is the limited release it has in the UK, hardly any performances and no premier seating. Anyway, we decided to catch it today and I’m glad we did.
Wanted is the story of a collection of assassins (The Fraternity) who are under siege from a rogue member, and they need Wesley (James McAvoy) to come and save them. It’s based very loosely on a comic book of the same name (there are some major differences, it’s not a comic book adaptation, it’s a screenplay based on some concepts in the comic book). It’s rated 18 in the UK, and it deserves that rating with some reasonably graphic scenes. As you can imagine, being about a group of assassins, there’s a lot of killing and I’m sure the movie will be lambasted as glorifying gun use.
But the reason I wasn’t disappointed is that Wanted is deeper than just a movie about killing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a deep movie, but it’s not simply another Shoot ’em Up either. The screenplay is interesting, McAvoy’s character (the only one who really has any depth) is well played, the pace is superb and the adrenaline pumping action is very, very good. But what brings this movie just a notch above the standard is the tale of morality and what happens when you achieve absolute power.
The twists aren’t unexpected, and they aren’t ground breaking, but they turn an otherwise flat action movie into something just a little more thoughtful and I’m looking forward to seeing it again as soon as it comes out on DVD.
Once the credits were rolling and what it was about began to sink in, I found myself playing earlier scenes in the film back in my head straight away; realising how some of the elements and threads had been laid down from a very early stage. That was enjoyable and gave the movie more credibility in my view, that it wasn’t merely an excuse to see Angelina Jolie shooting guns and looking hot – although that’s a credible aim as well, obviously.
Don’t take the kids, don’t take your pre-conceptions, but do go along expecting something fun, entertaining and not entirely without morality.
Wanted
A fast-paced high quality action movie with a morality based plot and interesting story, Wanted deserves it’s 18 (uk) rating and delivers a visually stunning experience.
Cars
We were sitting in the sitting room and found Cars on the TV, missed the first 5 minutes or so but doesn’t appear to have been anything serious. It’s not the kind of movie I’d rent or pick to watch, but it’s also the kind of movie I know I’ll probably enjoy if I do watch it.
Cars is the story of a cocky little race car who discovers maybe his life is shallow, and ends up turning it around and coming good.
There’s nothing surprising in the story, but the characters are great, even if they’re cliched, and the voice acting really brings them all to life. After only a very short time I had totally forgotten I was watching computer animation, it’s very accomplished and provides a very accessible platform for the show. There are a few laugh out loud moments (tractor tipping) and some tender moments and it has a nice glowing happy ending feel. A fun movie, worth watching once.
The Fugitive
I want to say two things before I start, I’ve seen this movie at least twice, maybe three times before writing this review, and I love Tommy Lee Jones. Ok, so that’s out of the way.
The Fugitive is a who-dunnit thriller in which Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford) is accused of killing his wife, before making a run for it and being chased down by Marshal Samuel Gerard (Jones). There’s a decent back story, a good underlying plot and a couple of twists to keep you interested, but this movie is good not because the story is engaging, but because Jones brings the chase to life. Ford puts in a solid performance, playing an understated role and giving Kimble a totally believable appearance. Jones gives us an overblown chariacture of a US Marshall and steals every shot he’s in as a result. Despite the size of the performance Gerard still feels real and his energy keeps the story moving forward when the other scenes are determined and rather more slow paced.
It’s a tight cast, and if anyone’s ever spoken to me about books and movies you know I prefer a small tight focussed cast. It works well, Kimble’s involvement in what turns out to be the reason for his wife’s murder slowly becomming more clear through his research, while the US Marshalls slowly catch up with him. At the outset, in their first interaction Kimble tells Gerard he didn’t kill his wife and Gerard replies, “I don’t care!” The US Marshall is just doing his job, and plans to capture Kimble and let justice run its course. However, as the story moves forward, Gerard can’t help but consider the circumstances around the original murder, and that just makes later scenes where Gerard ‘just does his job’ even more profound.
This is an excellent high quality 90’s movie, with a solid script, good story and top quality acting from everyone involved. It’s a role that Tommy Lee Jones looks like he had a lot of fun playing and for me, the movie is about Gerard more than Kimble. I really recommend this one.
The Fugitive
High quality thriller from the early 90’s with a good-enough story and superb performances from Tommy Lee Jones (the US Marshall chasing the ‘bad’ buy) and Harrison Ford (the ‘bad’ guy).
No Country for Old Men
This was my first Cohen Brothers movie, yeh I know, so many ‘good’ films I’ve not seen. I’ve never claimed to be an intelligent movie watcher, I enjoy escapism in the cinema and I’m bound to select movies that offer that. It’s not that I find movies which make you think unenjoyable, it’s just that habit causes me to pick certain films over others. But, I thought I’d buy No Country for Old Men and give it a shot, not least because I love Tommy Lee Jones.
The film is an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s book of the same name. I’ve not read the book, but by all reports it’s a faithful adaptation, taking most (all?) of the movie dialog straight from the book. It tells the story of a Texas Sherriff (Tommy Lee Jones) trying to understand a drug-deal gone wrong, following the trail of the guy who’s running with the money (Josh Brolin) and the killer who is also chasing the cash (Javier Bardem).
It would be a mistake to think this movie is about either Brolin’s (Llewelyn Moss) character or Bardem’s (Anton Chigurh). It’s about Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, and how he is coping with a new kind of crime and a new kind of criminal since the increase in cross-border drug traffic with Mexico. Bell provides a voice over for various parts of the movie and the implication is he’s narrating the story, at least in part, and the claim therefore is that scenes in which Bell appears are presented as his view and skewed by his perception and his re-telling.
The overall pace of the movie is pretty slow, even when good guys are running from bad guys you get the feeling they’re taking their pretty littl’ time of it. Despite the pace it is gripping and every single scene moves the story forward in some way and is engaging. The dialog is first class and all the lead characters provide excellent performances. There is tension although the pace means it’s never quite edge of your seat tension, and it’s easy to empathise with Moss even if it’s not always easy to like him. Chigurh is enigmatic and obviously deadly, and every time he’s on screen you get a sense of how quietly insane he is, and how at risk anyone near him may be. Bell is understated, subtle and superb. There’s no hint of Marshal Samuel Gerard here, not even a glimpse.
And yet despite the obvious quality of everything, I was left dissapointed. In order to provide my opinion I’m going to need to spoil certain aspects of the plot, so if you’re planning to watch this movie, and don’t want the major plot elements spoiled, stop reading now.
The first three quarters of the movies focuses on a short period of time, or apparently short, during which Moss tries to evade Chigurh. Then suddenly time accelerates, and we see the death of Moss, his mother-in-law, his wife, Bell’s retirement and Chigur’s accident which must have taken place over a few weeks. Once we’re done with those, the movie ends, Bell retiring and discussing two dreams he’s had with his wife, obviously trying to cope with having lots of free time on his hands.
The actual end of the movie is abrupt and disorientating. That may be because I’m far too used to a certain style of movie ending, or it may be because I really didn’t grasp until after the end that the story is about Bell, and not in fact, about Moss and Chigurh. Perhaps I’m stupid and should have noticed it earlier, perhaps the movie is too subtle for me, maybe I’m not cut out to watch movies which don’t conform to the ‘hollywood’ standard of having some kind of end-game.
Reading online after I’d watched it revealed what I had missed, that it’s about Bell, that he’s narrating, that the scene towards the end in the motel room where Bell might or might not see Chigurh is pivotal and then the film is showing us the lie that Bell tells, that he never met Chigurh, never caught up with him. The dreams are a manifestation of this, telling us how Bell regrets he wasn’t strong enough, feels he has failed in his role, and worries how his father will view him.
I’m used to missing things in movies, subtle references, and I don’t mind having them pointed out, but when I miss what appears to be the very reason for the story to exist it’s dissapointing. I question whether I wasn’t paying enough attention, or whether I’m stupid.
However, there’s that old addage that if you have to explain a joke, maybe it was never funny. Of course, proponents of the joke would claim that some find it funny, and hence it shouldn’t need to be explained. I’m sure some people got the story on their first viewing, I’m sure others got it on their second or third, and I’m sure some people discussed it and worked it out with friends and felt satisfied. For me though, the movie watching experience is a totality of the watching period involved, I want to be satisfied at the end of it, happy that I understood, pleased with how it all turned out.
I don’t need happy endings, but I do absolutely need an ending that I understand.
No Country for Old Men is a technically briliant movie, with an amazing cast, engaging dialog and beautiful cinamatography. I might even watch it again. But I won’t look back at the time I spent watching it and think ‘that was enjoyable’ or ‘that was worth it’, just ‘that was dissapointing’. At any stage, I was on some level enjoying the watching experience, but as a total experience at the end, I was left wondering what it had been about and why.
No Country for Old Men
A very high quality movie that doesn’t fit well in any single genre, brings together a superb cast, gives them a superb script, and ultimately lets you down at the end.
Wing Commander
I played the Wing Commander on my ‘386 and marveled at the amazing sound and graphics. It was inevitable that I’d get the Wing Commander movie on DVD, but I never realised it was nearly 10 years old already! I started watching it 5 minutes after turning off AvP – Requiem so I was already in the right frame of mind for some dire cinema.
I have to say, Wing Commander is only ‘laughable’ rather than being terrible. The effects look older than 10 years in places, the script is moronic, the acting is cheesy and the characters are paper-thin, and yet despite all that it was still watchable. Oh I laughed at the parts that weren’t meant to be funny and I cringed at some of the interactions, but at least I could see what was happening on-screen, and it was no worse than a raft of old sci-fi movies.
Should you go and buy this? Well, probably not unless you’re a huge fan of the game, or just someone who likes watching cheesy sci-fi, but if you have a few beers and a few geeky friends around, it may just pass an hour or so and give you something to smile at.
Wing Commander
Low budget sci-fi movie exhibiting all the floors you come to expect from that genre including but not limited to terrible dialog, no characterisation, bad effects and a limited storyline.