Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

For as long as comic books and superheroes have been around there have been two constants that are arguably the most loved and most ingrained into popular culture, announced 2 years ago Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice features both on screen together for the first time, and the V of that title asking the question, who’d win in a fight?

                The film follows on from 2013s Man of Steel, which for all its faults was a pretty decent way to restart the Superman story and give somewhere to kick on from. Batman V Superman opens with a re-treading of familiar ground as we bare witness once more to Bruce Wayne’s parents being murdered, if it had to be done again though, at least Zach Snyder had the thought to do it as a stylish credits sequence, presenting it with enough originality to make it seem worthwhile. The film then jumps into a Rashomon style revisit to Man of Steel’s explosive finale this time looking at it from the perspective of Bruce Wayne as the human cost of that destruction is witnessed and the seed is planted for Batman’s animosity to Superman. It’s an exciting opening with an interesting idea that establishes the nature of this films Bruce Wayne fairly quickly. So far so good then. It’s at this point where things begin to take a turn, a sharp turn in fact, a sharp turn that bounces down a rocky ravine and tumbles off the edge of a cliff.

                The film begins to bounce around incoherently for what feels like a life time, there are entire plot strands that don’t seem to amount to anything and moments that feel completely out of sync with the rest of the film. Most frustrating of these incoherent moments are the bizarre dream sequences which slow what is already a slow film to a grinding halt, and add nothing to the film other than more confusion. After this aimless bouncing around for a couple of hours we get to the big fight. After the ridiculous smashing and crashing of Superman V Zod in his last outing, Snyder should be commended for showing some element of restrain in the fight, but despite the long run-time leading up to the fight it still doesn’t feel in any way that these characters actually do hate each other and the fight ends up feeling perfunctory, particularly with a mind boggling writing decision that leads to them becoming BFF’s. Then Wonder Woman turn’s up (that’s right she’s in this too) and the three of them team up to fight a big energy monster thing called Doomsday in a very loud and explosive finale.    

                There exists within this mess elements of the film you want and it's not entirely without merit. For starters I don’t believe that any of the blame for this can be laid at the feet of Zack Snyder, the incoherence comes from the script, but stylistically the film is quite sound and there a frequent moments of visual beauty. Ben Affleck’s Batman (Batfleck) is the most impressive aspect of the film, others will bemoan the fact that Batman, previously depicted as the high watermark of moral crime fighting has actually turned into a bit of a psychopath here, but within the context of the film it works, and his moments of fighting are the most impressive in the film. In her fleeting appearance as Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot does enough to make you want to see her in a solo film (much to Warner Bros delight). It’s a shame then that other female characters are a bit blah, particularly Amy Adams’ Lois Lane who spends most of the film getting rescued from falling or drowning or potentially being shot by African terrorists. Performances elsewhere are also unimpressive, Holly Hunter as a senator and Scoot McNairy as a Superman ‘victim’ are ably performed but their characters and sub-plots are woefully underwritten. Then there’s Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman. Whether Cavill is a dull actor or not is debatable, but the Superman that has been created here is tedious to monstrous proportions, long gone is the beacon of hope depicted in comics for the last 80 years, is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the incredible sulk. Then there is the small case of Academy Award Nominee Jesse Eisenberg and his new interpretation of Lex Luthor. He is without a doubt the most irritating screen villain of the decade, it’s not entirely his fault as he is lumbered with irritating monologues that are meant to sound profound but really don’t say anything at all, but Eisenberg’s twitchiness and his hammy nature really don’t help elevate it. Luthor also suffers from having the most underwritten motives of any screen villain, it will be weeks later and you still won’t quite be able to work out what his plan or endgame was.

                The completed vision of this film is properly ludicrous, which in a way could have been very fun, but if it was meant to be fun then the film definitely isn’t aware of it because it is far too po-faced. There’s no suggestion that all superhero films have to be a laugh a minute joy ride, but the very nature of men in tights fighting bad guys is inherently absurd and if there isn’t a least some small acknowledgment of that then the film becomes unintentionally irritating and monumentally dull.

                What’s most disappointing about this is that it feels like it was very close to being a good film, but in the end it has the feel of a project where 50 people came up with 1 interesting idea each, and then they decided to put them all in, but forgot to work out how to string them together. What started out as a Man of Steel sequel has been retrofitted into a Batman V Superman film that will also see the dawn of the Justice League (all briefly feature in this). By forcing the Justice League so early rather than taking the time to build to it Warner Bros have created a complete mess of a film that could have been so much more, fingers crossed for Suicide Squad though right. (Low 3 Stars)

Hail Caesar Review

The Cohen Brothers have forged an odd career, for every Fargo and No Country for Old Men there’s a Burn without Reading or A Big Lebowski. They do sinister with comic undertones, and then just out and out silly, they’re an acquired taste and if your ear isn’t quite tuned to their sensibilities then there’s every chance that you just don’t get what makes them so great.

                Hail Caesar centres on Josh Brolin’s Eddie Mannix, a fixer for a Hollywood studio in the 50s, work is building up for him as he’s dealing with troublesome films stars as the studio try’s to bring about their latest production, Hail Caesar. Things are complicated when the star of the picture is kidnapped and held for ransom by a group of Hollywood communists. The plot is essentially, and also deliberately, ridiculous. This isn’t a film that’s based on plot though, that’s merely there to throw us head first into this wonderful classic Hollywood which oozes with charisma and charm. The film is a collection of very funny moments, ably performed by very talented actors, all loosely strung together with a nonsensical plot. Fortunately for the sake of the film those individual moments are glorious. There are few modern films that allow for a 10 minute long Channing Tatum dance number inspired by On the Town, it’s also incredibly self-indulgent of the Cohen’s to have a big synchronised swimming number, but the charm of these scenes give them a pass. Josh Brolin holds the film together, and George Clooney gets laughs as the idiot movie star Baird Whitlock, but the film is stolen in its entirety by the hilarious performance of Alden Ehrenreich as Hobie Doyle, the sweet and lovable Hollywood western star who unfortunately can’t act. A scene between himself and a director trying to get the correct pronunciation of a line is both stupid beyond belief and also laugh out loud hilarious.

                It’s fair to say that if you weren’t already a fan of the Cohen’s to begin with, then Hail Caesar is a wonderfully silly and glorious love letter to the golden age of Hollywood, and for days later you’ll be repeating to yourself the line ‘would that it were so simple, would that it were so simple’. (4 Stars)

this isn’t going to be the film to win you over. However

Deadpool Review

Superhero films are now populating cinemas so densely every year it’s amazing that, to this point, there hasn’t be a case of superhero fatigue setting in. Different studios are all taking different approaches with the quippy fun over at the Disney owned Marvel Studios being the undisputed box office daddy. The latest  superhero outing comes from 20^th Century Fox, who after their disastrous Fantastic 4 reboot last year have taken a risk this year in the form of the violent, sweary, frequently masturbating ‘merc with a mouth’ known as Deadpool.

                Deadpool has actually been on screens before in the not so impressive Wolverine solo film, but here he is finally given his full due, R rating to boot. Deadpool focuses on the story of mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who after being diagnosed with terminal cancer enters into a program to heal himself, which unfortunately mutates him, though he is now empowered with regenerative healing he has physically changed, meaning his appearance is not befitting of the former sexiest man in the world , described at one point ‘you look like Freddy Kruger face fucked a topographical map of utah’. Deadpool is also undeniably insane, other heroes have rules about killing, Deadpool’s only rule seems to be to have fun whilst you’re killing.

                Its fair to say that this isn’t like other superhero films, for starters the film is very meta, in that the character of Deadpool is aware that he is in a film and breaks the 4^th wall to speak directly to the audience. There are moments where Deadpool, being played by Ryan Reynolds makes reference to the fact that Ryan Reynolds is playing him and how uncool that is. Deadpool also makes constant references to other superhero films, making one wonder how if this film does become a success in what way is this ever going to be able to fit into other 20^th Century Fox properties?

                There is a lot of fun to be had with this, Ryan Reynolds was born to play this role, his quick wit really brings so much to the comedy of this film and lines like “shit spackled muppet farts” and “chrome cock gobbler” are frequently funny. Unlike the PG-13 exploits of other caped crusaders, Deadpool is often gloriously violent which brings a new dynamic to this universe. The problem however is that the film is nowhere near as smart and ground breaking as it thinks it is. The 4^th wall breaking very rapidly becomes smug, it takes shots at other films for their inferiority forgetting that if it wasn’t for their existence and success, a film like this couldn’t even exist. It also uses the 4^th wall breaks as a mask for what is essentially a very formulaic film, it’s a film where the hero has to save the damsel in distress from the villain. The villain in this case is Ajax, who even by the low expectations of superhero villains still disappoints because of how utterly dull he is. A problem also lies in that outside of Deadpool himself there aren’t any characters that really register, Deadpool is such a big character that no one else is really left any room.

                There’s no question that this film is going to be a success, but no matter how much audiences love it, they will never love it as much as it(3 Stars)   

loves itself.

Spotlight Review

In a year when Messrs Innaritu and Miller have been descending into the frozen wilderness and causing carnage on the fury road, Spotlight director Tom McCarthy brings us down to earth telling the true story of the Pulitzer prize winning journalists of the Boston Globe, and their ground breaking story of systemic child abuse among the catholic clergy in their city and beyond. There’s something so impressive about seeing a film that doesn’t rely on any overzealous artistic flourishes to mask potential flaws, instead it’s a film that hangs entirely on the strength of its story, and Tom McCarthy does a brilliant job at condensing the events into a seamless narrative. Seeing the Spotlight team in action reminds you of the cinematic intrigue of investigative journalism, the endless interviews and meetings and researching shouldn’t be cinematic, but just as audiences were engrossed in Woodward and Bernsteins work back in All the President’s Men so too are they invested emotionally in the investigations of the Spotlight team.

                The emotional investment is in no small part down to the brilliant performances from a cast on top form. After a career redirection last year in the Oscar winning Birdman, Michael Keaton brings a stoic if occasionally weary nature to his team leader Robby. Brian D’arcy James and Rachel McAdams as Matt and Sacha do really strong work, particularly M

cAdams whose character takes on most of the interviews with the victims and manages to pull off the tricky balancing act of pushing for answers and being aware of the sensitive nature. Mark Ruffalo will be taking a lot of limelight given that his performance as Mike Rezendes is definitely the showiest of the bunch, but he never plays anything too big, Mike is passionate but it never feels forced, when he eventually cracks and loses his temper, it’s entirely deserved. The one performance that will be under-appreciated by most, is Liev Schreiber as The Boston Globe’s new editor Marty Baron. Marty is the start to this whole story, he’s an outsider, he’s not from Boston, he’s a Jew in a heavily Catholic city, and it took an outsider to look at something and see that it didn’t seem right. Schreiber gives one of the most wonderful understated performances there’s ever been, everything is small smiles and slight nods, or furrowed brows and minor head shakes, it’s the type of acting that can only really be picked up on film and it’s a treat to behold.

                McCarthy has created a very strong picture that works because of the emotional level that it registers with people. It’s a film that rests on its story, and Spotlight rises or falls on how interesting the story is. Fortunately this is a story to get you angry and passionate and eventually fill you with pride for the willpower these people showed for their search for the truth. (5 Stars)     

The Revenant Review

Alejandro G Inarritu, the current holder of the best director Oscar and now it looks like he’s set to win it again this year.  There has been so much in the news about the gruelling process of the making of this film, freezing temperatures, shooting entirely in natural light, climate change making continuity a nightmare, and a CGI bear that had at it with Leonardo Di Caprio. Putting that all to one side however, it has to be judged on its own merits and determine whether this gruelling process has actually led to a good film.

                Set in 1823 Montana, The Revenant focuses on Hugh Glass (Leonardo Di Caprio) a fur trapper who is attacked by a bear leaving him near death. Betrayed by one of his compatriots John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and left for dead in a shallow grave, Glass goes on an epic survival journey to claim revenge against Fitzgerald. The story sounds simple enough, what elevates the film is Inarritu, his style of using long sweeping takes and making the camera part of the action is extraordinary, in an early attack sequence in the film the violence and fear really come across as men are being picked off by arrows left, right and centre. This year also looks like it’s going to be the third consecutive win for cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki who shot the film using natural light, it may have made the film ten times harder to shoot, but the result is beautiful and deeply engrossing shots that make you feel the cold in your bones.

                Di Caprio also looks certain to pick up the best actor Oscar this year, which is long overdue. His performance as Hugh Glass is a great one, a largely silent character who holds most of the screen time Di Caprio manages to convey so much using just his body, which for most of the film is broken and weather beaten. However, the character of Glass feels like an underdeveloped one, there’s not much to him that is built up over the film, it’s a great performance but the character feels underwritten, if Di Caprio was to win best actor it feels like it should be for a better character. In addition to Di Caprio there are very strong supporting performances, most notably from Oscar nominee Tom Hardy as Fitzgerald, his accent seems like an odd choice for that period but it is consistent and his performance gives off a brilliant tortured and broken vibe to it, even from his earliest moments Fitzgerald feels untrustworthy. In smaller roles there is the excellent Domhnall Gleeson as the captain of their fur trapping expedition who really feels like a genuine leader in amongst the difficult circumstances. Then there is Will Poulter who shows how he has a very promising future ahead of him, in a brutal world with brutal people the innocent nature of his character Jim Bridger feels like a warm and welcome relief.

                                Inarritu has a style that feels very modern and innovative, the start and end of the film are gripping, with moments littered throughout that evoke genuine awe. However Inarritu seems to betray his own sensibilities throughout a large part of the film. A survival story and a revenge story are simple enough, add the innovation and this really could have been something, but the decision to enter into bizarre levels of mysticism with visions and people floating and other people speaking in hushed whispers is really perplexing, those moments feel more at home in a Terrence Malick film than an Inarritu film, and its these tonal and stylistic differences that undermine the overall experience. There is no question that this really is a brilliant technical triumph, that alone however doesn’t make it a brilliant film, it’ll be great in a cinema, though it might not necessarily hold up as well on DVD. (Low 4 Stars)    

The Hateful 8 Review

If you were to believe what Quentin Tarantino told you, which would be unwise given his previous form, then The Hateful 8 means he is now only 2 films away from retiring. Hard to imagine given how big an impact his films have made that he has in fact only made 8. With classics from the 90s that broke the mould like Reservoir Dogs and possibly his greatest work Pulp Fiction, he has more recently been making an impact with historical pieces such as Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained, so where then does The Hateful 8 fit into his body of work?

                Travelling through a heavy snow a stagecoach carrying 2 travellers comes along a man sat in the middle of the road, it’s during this scene that Tarantino introduces the first 3 of our so called Hateful 8. The first is Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L Jackson), a bounty hunter who is heading to town to claim the bounty on the heads of the 3 bodies he has with him. The second is John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell), a grizzled paranoid bounty hunter himself; he is claiming the bounty on the head of the third hateful character, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a foul mouthed rough looking criminal who spends most of her time being beaten by Ruth. Along the road Tarantino introduces the 4^th character in Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who is heading to Red Rock to be their new sheriff.  Upon arriving at Minnie’s Haberdashery to wade out the oncoming snow storm we our introduced to the other 4 hateful characters, there’s the Mexican Bob (Demian Bichir), Red Rock’s hangman Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), cow farmer Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) and confederate General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern).

                Setting the film almost entirely in one room really allows Tarantino room to stretch his dialogue to new lengths; the film is in 2 halves, which dramatically works quite well. The first half is about a group of very different people being forced into a room together and watching the paranoia and fractures creep in. They clash over race and profession and everything else they can, but there is constant sense that nothing is what it seems. The interval comes at a crucial turning point when the tensions finally boil over, then by part 2 everything lets rip. The performances are by in large pretty brilliant, Marquis Warren being the closest thing the film has to a lead means that Samuel L Jackson gets a lot of the films best moments, and this is definitely his best performance for a long time. Kurt Russell is brilliantly mean and surly as John Ruth and Jennifer Jason-Leigh fully deserves her Oscar nod for making Daisy Domergue so particularly hateful in a room filled with utter bastards. Walton Goggins is very enjoyable as the racist but somewhat affable Mannix, he’s in essence the comic relief of the film and he carries that burden well. Madsen, Bichir and Dern are decent but given less to do. At first it feels like Tim Roth is playing the British Oswald a bit over the top, but later revelations make the character seem more interesting than first thought.

                For the first time in a while this film feels like it’s actually about something, in the past Tarantino has been very good at making individual scenes but he fails to pull them together as a whole film, Hateful 8 does suffer from moments of this but for the most part it does feel like an actual narrative of sorts. Also, it does feel like Tarantino is actually trying to comment on racial relations post-civil war and though it is done in fairly broad strokes its effective. In addition to the usual Tarantino tropes, for the first time his film has an original score, provided by Ennio Morricone no less, it’s a brilliant dark score that captures the tone of the film but is used rather sparingly which feels like a waste. There has been much written about the film being shot in 70mm, which as impressive as it looks in the opening scenery shots, in particular the opening credits, It surprisingly works just as well in the claustrophobic setting of Minnie’s Haberdashery.

                The problem, as ever with Tarantino films, is Tarantino being his own biggest fan. There are few films which you can come out of and say that they would be improved if you removed 45mins of footage, but Tarantino is so self-indulgent that his films are nearly always far too long. What The Hateful 8 needs is someone with a greater sense of urgency, not so that it has to be fast and free with its editing, it just needs someone to say that maybe there doesn’t need to be so much time spent getting to the haberdashery to begin with.

                Problems aside though, there are so few filmmakers who make films like this, there’s an energy to this that seems like it’s only found in the work of Tarantino, it’s not his best by any means, but it feels like his best for a while. (4 Stars)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

Disney spent big, $4.5billion big in fact, add to that the budget of The Force Awakens, this latest Star Wars outing had a pretty substantial number hovering above it, so it’s a credit to JJ Abrams that he even took this on.

                The Force Awakens set roughly 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, focuses on the disappearance of Luke Skywalker, who has gone into hiding. The void left by the collapse of the Empire is filled by the new evil-no-gooders The First Order. The Resistance (essentially the Rebels from the original trilogy) are led by former princess, now general, Leia Organa. Both sides seek to find a map that leads to the location of Luke.
                The premise for the film is essentially the exact same as the original Star Wars, there’s good and evil, a bad guy who wears a mask, a droid with secret plans who finds a noble young helper on a sandy planet, and of course there’s an heroic attack on a giant space station. What really works for the film though is how well it executes this formula, and adds something to it for films further on in the saga.

                Probably the films greatest strength is its new additions, Rey who is a young woman who discovers the plans on the droid unit (the adorable BB-8) is an intriguing character who is smart and courageous and also really inventive, and she embodies a lot of the spirit of the Leia character only she seems to be leading the pack rather than assisting. Oscar Issac’s Poe Dameron is really enjoyable and charismatic, used sparingly in the film his cocksure nature and personality feel strong enough to take up the Han Solo mantel. Then there’s John Boyega

’s Finn, a Stormtrooper whose conscience leads him to desert the First Order, he’s sort of an affable clown, heroic but feckless, Boyega is brilliant at the comedy and his performance definitely makes this the funniest Star Wars outing yet. Over in the villainous corner are some great new additions also, Domhnall Gleeson caps of a brilliant year as the snarling General Hux, think of him as Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin only better and given much more to do, including a spine tingling speech to his troops. Then there is Kylo Ren. There’s the obvious Darth Vader comparison, he’s an evil Sith lord who wears a black mask and wields a red lightsaber, however what separates him from Vader is the depth the character is given. Whereas Darth Vader was a disembodied voice coming out of a big black plastic head, Kylo Ren feels like a petulant child whose prone to tantrums, he feels he is more powerful than he really is, and in the same way Luke resisted the dark side, Kylo Ren fights the lure of the light, he’s a great creation helped by Adam Driver’s brilliant performance.
                Abrams has essentially done everything he had to do, reset the franchise after the disaster of the prequels and make sure the film took a heap load of money. Yes it doesn’t feel very original, even within its own universe, and there does feel like some missteps, but what The Force Awakens has done is put the franchise back into a good position to move forward with. It makes new fans of 8 year olds and makes old fans feel 8 years old, and with it smashing all sorts of box office records it won’t be long before that $4.5billion feels like a drop in the ocean. (High 4 Stars)