After watching this little cracker of a movie the other day, I really wished that we had gone to see it on the Opening Night of the Brisbane International Film Festival. It is such a good movie that would be so fun to see with a group of people who could cheer and fist pump along with you. This is going into my "DVD Gems" category because it is a fantastic movie but one that people might not have heard. Do yourself a favour and hire it out!
Here are some reasons that I guess you might not have heard of or watched this movie:
Attack the Block is the first movie written and directed by Joe Cornish, an associate of the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost trio (Shaun of the Dead guys). His only previous fame came from co-writing the screenplay for Tintin with Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat. The cast are largely young, unknown or first time actors. The budget was only $13 million (Battleship had a budget of $200 million). It lasted only 2 weeks in our cinemas, if that. You might have heard people saying that it is hard to understand what the actors are saying between their thick South London accents and street slang.
Here are some reasons you should see this movie:
1) It's really fun. The movie is set over one night where an alien invasion is overlooked by the authorities due to coinciding with a giant fireworks display, so it's up to a gang of thug teens of about 15 years of age to defend their council estate (The Block) from the nasties. The 5 boys are quick to twig to the alien threat, retreat to the Block, arm themselves and fight back. It's like a darker Gremlins or Goonies.
2) The aliens are a point of difference to other alien movies. The aliens that have been created for this movie look like nothing else you've seen, are super cool, and aren't here for earth domination. They can also kill or be killed quite easily. They are really threatening and scary, great effects for such a small budget. There is some gore and violence.
3) It's bold. The movie opens with the five teens menacing and mugging a female nurse who is innocently walking home. Arming themselves to fight aliens is pretty simple when they already have knives, baseball bats etc. in their personal aresenal. These are the guys we're supposed to cheer for against the baddies in the rest of the movie? Well, yes, but for a first time writer/director he is very clever at not making these boys sypathetic and doesn't actually ask you to care about them even while you do want them to overcome the alien invasion. As the nurse who is forced to team up with the kids who mugged her only a few hours earlier if she is to survive, Jodie Whittaker walks a very good line between reminding them they're not heroes and understanding them.
4) It's funny. There are a lot of funny moments between the boys and some allies they pick up along the way, including unfortunate drug purchaser Brewis who's always in the wrong place at the wrong time, head drug dealer of the Block Hi-Hatz and his employee Ron (Nick Frost). Little fellas Mayhem and Probs also provide a fair bit of the comic relief as they try to tag along with the older boys. The accents are far from the worst that have been put on screen (I've still not seen Snatch in full - can't understand a word they're saying?) and they are smart by using the street slang repeatedly so that even if you don't know what a word means the first time, it gains context until you understand it.
5) It's kinetic. The film has an appropriately beats heavy soundtrack that accompanies the action which just keeps pumping along. There are only a few moments to draw a breath as they try to figure out how to overcome an ever growing horde of dark black creatures.
I hope I've convinced you that this is a real DVD gem. We really enjoyed it and look forward to more from this talented Brit.
Sunday 29 April 2012
Tuesday 24 April 2012
Upcoming Movies to Get Excited About!
Ooohh, The Avengers is out tomorrow! I have been excited about this move since I heard it might be made. Not just 1 superhero, but many! The Marvel Studios guys have really set this up so well with all the little clues and ties coming up during Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 1, Thor and Captain America. All leading up to this moment, as Loki threatens Earth with an alien army and S.H.I.E.L.D tries to save us all by assembling the greatest team of superheroes ever.....and Black Widow who has no powers possibly other than the ability to slay men with her tight black jumpsuit. I would lurve to go see this tomorrow, Day 1, and soak in the excitement but B is just not the type of guy who likes big ticket lines and sitting elbow to elbow with strangers who munch non-stop and check phones during movies. Actually neither do I come to think of it. Maybe next week. Promise I'll try to see more movies before their last day so that if you like the sound of it you can actually go see it!
This got me thinking about what other movies I'm excited about. Here are a couple of upcoming films and their trailers which I think look really cool and you may be keen to see as well.
1. Ted - From Seth McFarlane (Family Guy) a movie about a guy whose teddy bear is real and talks back. A movie version of Wilfred except the girl can see and hear the teddy bear? Looks very funny though and the presence of Mila guarantees we'll be going to see it for B's sake.
2. Moonrise Kingdom - the new Wes Anderson looks delightful. Thanks to B for bringing this to my attention.
3. Prometheus - the long awaited next movie from Ridley Scott in the Alien realm - is it a prequel? It looks very good and has Michael Fassbender so I've got some expectations happening.
4) Dark Shadows - I'm not familiar with the original TV series of the 60s, but how can you go past Tim Burton collaborating with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter? That would be enough for me usually, but having seen two different trailers for this, I am now champing at the bit. Love the gothic stylings mixed with the "fish out of water" comedy.
5) Casa de mi Padre - Will Ferrell's new Spanish soap opera movie looks hilarious, despite seeming to have been savaged by the users of IMDB.
I love the part where they say "and introducing, Will Ferell"! Get the joke people!
And in addition to these great movies, we have a big blockbuster winter ahead (thank you American summer blockbuster season) and you can look forward to The Dark Knight Rises (final in Chris Nolan's trilogy of Batman reboot films), The Amazing Spiderman (just saw trailer and I have to say, the first person web spinning flight through the city is pretty amazing and will be mind-blowing in 3D - this changed my mind about seeing this reboot), Snow White and the Huntsman, Men in Black 3, The Dictator (I thought I was over Sacha Baron Cohen's parodies, but we saw preview for this and totally want to see it now), The Bourne Legacy (reboot with no Bourne, no Damon and no director Greengrass), Expendables 2 (saw the original on DVD and it was surprisingly good).
What are you excited about this year, dear readers?
This got me thinking about what other movies I'm excited about. Here are a couple of upcoming films and their trailers which I think look really cool and you may be keen to see as well.
1. Ted - From Seth McFarlane (Family Guy) a movie about a guy whose teddy bear is real and talks back. A movie version of Wilfred except the girl can see and hear the teddy bear? Looks very funny though and the presence of Mila guarantees we'll be going to see it for B's sake.
2. Moonrise Kingdom - the new Wes Anderson looks delightful. Thanks to B for bringing this to my attention.
3. Prometheus - the long awaited next movie from Ridley Scott in the Alien realm - is it a prequel? It looks very good and has Michael Fassbender so I've got some expectations happening.
4) Dark Shadows - I'm not familiar with the original TV series of the 60s, but how can you go past Tim Burton collaborating with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter? That would be enough for me usually, but having seen two different trailers for this, I am now champing at the bit. Love the gothic stylings mixed with the "fish out of water" comedy.
5) Casa de mi Padre - Will Ferrell's new Spanish soap opera movie looks hilarious, despite seeming to have been savaged by the users of IMDB.
I love the part where they say "and introducing, Will Ferell"! Get the joke people!
And in addition to these great movies, we have a big blockbuster winter ahead (thank you American summer blockbuster season) and you can look forward to The Dark Knight Rises (final in Chris Nolan's trilogy of Batman reboot films), The Amazing Spiderman (just saw trailer and I have to say, the first person web spinning flight through the city is pretty amazing and will be mind-blowing in 3D - this changed my mind about seeing this reboot), Snow White and the Huntsman, Men in Black 3, The Dictator (I thought I was over Sacha Baron Cohen's parodies, but we saw preview for this and totally want to see it now), The Bourne Legacy (reboot with no Bourne, no Damon and no director Greengrass), Expendables 2 (saw the original on DVD and it was surprisingly good).
What are you excited about this year, dear readers?
Friday 20 April 2012
Movie #11 - The Hunger Games
The disclaimer for this review is that I haven't read the books (see Twilight review) so I won't be able to comment on how close it is to the book. This review is purely based on the merits of the movie.
For those of you who've been living under a rock like I was, knowing nothing about the hugely popular book series, here is the briefest rundown I can give you. For the others, skip to the next paragraph:
Set in a dystopian future, the country Panem is split into a number of districts and the capital city. After a previous uprising of the citizens against the Government, the law states that each year there must be a 'Hunger Games' tournament as both a punishment and reminder to those 12 districts of their folly. The 'Hunger Games' requires a young boy and girl from each district to be selected to compete in a tournament where the point is to kill the others until only one survives, who then becomes very wealthy. The games are televised for the entertainment of the population and sponsors can be attracted for the competitors to give them advantages during the 'game'. In the first of the series, a young girl called Katniss Everdeen is the first ever volunteer for the Hunger Games for District 12 after her weak younger sister is selected. Katniss is better equipped than Primrose, with some hunting skills and emotional toughness having raised her sister after their mother fell to pieces when her husband was accidentally killed. The boy selected, Peeta, has had a crush on Katniss but never said anything due to her close friendship with the boy Gale. What will happen when they are pitted against each other, and 22 other young people, when the tournament begins? That I can't reveal.
The thing I found most disturbing about this movie and book series is the fact that it features a tournament where very young children are forced to kill each other for no real reason other than entertainment. Some of the competitors are about 10 years old. While I understand that the point of the book is to say how wrong this is and make some kind of comment on society's increasing desensitisation to violence and increasing intake of banal/disturbing reality TV, I have to say that I didn't really get that from the movie. If you haven't read the book and just watch the movie, there are 2 key points that are not obvious at all: 1) the reason for the uprising in the first place that resulted in the creation of the games and an exploration of how it reminds them not to criticise the government 2) that the citizens of Panem are forced to watch the show and how some of them choose to fight back by not watching. I only know these things because I've read a lot about the movie in the magazines and from the author. These issues are sidelined or non-existent in the movie and the end result is that you feel like you are cheering for a 16 year old girl to kill this group of teenagers so she can win and get home to her little sister. This is really wrong and it feels like you are adding to the problem rather than reducing it. The only saving factor is the way that Katniss plays the game is very honourable and turns it more into survival than brutality, and SPOILER ALERT MOVE ONTO NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT she does find a way to circumvent the cruel creators of this 'game'.
The movie has obvious comparisons to the Japanese film 'Battle Royale', which you may be surprised after reading the above paragraph to hear is one of my favourite movies. The difference for me between the two movies is the fact that the beginning of Battle Royale explores the increasing laziness, apathy and violence of school age youth and that this is the direct reason for a school class being selected to compete in the Battle Royale. While some of the classmates are innocent, not all of them are and the game is a direct punishment to the guilty. In Hunger Games, the upbringing of Katniss and Peeta seems to be very innocent and almost idyllic in some ways other than the hard economic times they obviously live in. It seems that most of the competitors are total innocents and are being punished for something done by their ancestors a long time ago. The other difference is that Battle Royale was completely over the top and brutal, whereas Hunger Games tones down the violence a lot and avoids looking at the death too much to keep the PG-13 rating needed for the tween audience the books enjoyed. I don't know why, I really can't explain it at all, but to me I feel like the over the top approach was much better at conveying how wrong this scenario is and the watered down approach just doesn't give the message any impact. The fight scenes are confusing in the Hunger Games because they are editing it to avoid showing anyone being badly injured or dying, or girls being hit by boys. There also seems to be very little lingering on the emotions of the competitors after they kill someone and showing how they deal with this, which I would expect would be an enormous struggle for a 14-16 year old child but is barely looked at here. Katniss seems far more upset by the death of a fellow competitor she seems to barely know even though they helped each other, than by the killing of various people, of course out of necessity to survive.
The best thing going for The Hunger Games is the casting of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. She is a very good actress for one so young and inexperienced, and she has a nice, healthy image that makes her the perfect heroine for young girls to look up to. She tries very hard to convey the struggle and strength of Katniss, but I feel that the dialogue and editing prevented her from exploring these issues to the fullest. Josh Hutcherson is okay as Peeta but just doesn't get enough screen time to really explore his feelings of inadequacy and feelings for Katniss. Aussie Chris Hemsworth as Gale has so little to do that I wonder why they even sent him on the promotion trail for this movie. The big love triangle I was expecting was a non-starter, although this could be something that pops up more in the sequels perhaps?
The production design is another good thing, with some great sets, costumes, makeup and hairstyles for the citizens of the Capitol. However, this just confused me about why there was such a contrast between the Capitol and the districts in technology, food and standard of living. This was obviously to create the rich/poor dichotomy but the size of the gap, particularly in technology, was so great that I was just perplexed by it. Something you probably need to have read the books to understand.
Sorry about the psychoanalysis in this review, but it is quite a serious movie and a serious concept and I can't figure out how I felt about it and whether it has really achieved the goal of the author. Overall I felt the movie took too long explaining the history and rules of the games in the beginning and getting Katniss and Peeta ready for the games. The next movie will probably be better because the ground work has been done and it will be able to get straight into the action. I would give this a 2.5 out of 5.
For those of you who've been living under a rock like I was, knowing nothing about the hugely popular book series, here is the briefest rundown I can give you. For the others, skip to the next paragraph:
Set in a dystopian future, the country Panem is split into a number of districts and the capital city. After a previous uprising of the citizens against the Government, the law states that each year there must be a 'Hunger Games' tournament as both a punishment and reminder to those 12 districts of their folly. The 'Hunger Games' requires a young boy and girl from each district to be selected to compete in a tournament where the point is to kill the others until only one survives, who then becomes very wealthy. The games are televised for the entertainment of the population and sponsors can be attracted for the competitors to give them advantages during the 'game'. In the first of the series, a young girl called Katniss Everdeen is the first ever volunteer for the Hunger Games for District 12 after her weak younger sister is selected. Katniss is better equipped than Primrose, with some hunting skills and emotional toughness having raised her sister after their mother fell to pieces when her husband was accidentally killed. The boy selected, Peeta, has had a crush on Katniss but never said anything due to her close friendship with the boy Gale. What will happen when they are pitted against each other, and 22 other young people, when the tournament begins? That I can't reveal.
The thing I found most disturbing about this movie and book series is the fact that it features a tournament where very young children are forced to kill each other for no real reason other than entertainment. Some of the competitors are about 10 years old. While I understand that the point of the book is to say how wrong this is and make some kind of comment on society's increasing desensitisation to violence and increasing intake of banal/disturbing reality TV, I have to say that I didn't really get that from the movie. If you haven't read the book and just watch the movie, there are 2 key points that are not obvious at all: 1) the reason for the uprising in the first place that resulted in the creation of the games and an exploration of how it reminds them not to criticise the government 2) that the citizens of Panem are forced to watch the show and how some of them choose to fight back by not watching. I only know these things because I've read a lot about the movie in the magazines and from the author. These issues are sidelined or non-existent in the movie and the end result is that you feel like you are cheering for a 16 year old girl to kill this group of teenagers so she can win and get home to her little sister. This is really wrong and it feels like you are adding to the problem rather than reducing it. The only saving factor is the way that Katniss plays the game is very honourable and turns it more into survival than brutality, and SPOILER ALERT MOVE ONTO NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT she does find a way to circumvent the cruel creators of this 'game'.
The movie has obvious comparisons to the Japanese film 'Battle Royale', which you may be surprised after reading the above paragraph to hear is one of my favourite movies. The difference for me between the two movies is the fact that the beginning of Battle Royale explores the increasing laziness, apathy and violence of school age youth and that this is the direct reason for a school class being selected to compete in the Battle Royale. While some of the classmates are innocent, not all of them are and the game is a direct punishment to the guilty. In Hunger Games, the upbringing of Katniss and Peeta seems to be very innocent and almost idyllic in some ways other than the hard economic times they obviously live in. It seems that most of the competitors are total innocents and are being punished for something done by their ancestors a long time ago. The other difference is that Battle Royale was completely over the top and brutal, whereas Hunger Games tones down the violence a lot and avoids looking at the death too much to keep the PG-13 rating needed for the tween audience the books enjoyed. I don't know why, I really can't explain it at all, but to me I feel like the over the top approach was much better at conveying how wrong this scenario is and the watered down approach just doesn't give the message any impact. The fight scenes are confusing in the Hunger Games because they are editing it to avoid showing anyone being badly injured or dying, or girls being hit by boys. There also seems to be very little lingering on the emotions of the competitors after they kill someone and showing how they deal with this, which I would expect would be an enormous struggle for a 14-16 year old child but is barely looked at here. Katniss seems far more upset by the death of a fellow competitor she seems to barely know even though they helped each other, than by the killing of various people, of course out of necessity to survive.
The best thing going for The Hunger Games is the casting of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. She is a very good actress for one so young and inexperienced, and she has a nice, healthy image that makes her the perfect heroine for young girls to look up to. She tries very hard to convey the struggle and strength of Katniss, but I feel that the dialogue and editing prevented her from exploring these issues to the fullest. Josh Hutcherson is okay as Peeta but just doesn't get enough screen time to really explore his feelings of inadequacy and feelings for Katniss. Aussie Chris Hemsworth as Gale has so little to do that I wonder why they even sent him on the promotion trail for this movie. The big love triangle I was expecting was a non-starter, although this could be something that pops up more in the sequels perhaps?
The production design is another good thing, with some great sets, costumes, makeup and hairstyles for the citizens of the Capitol. However, this just confused me about why there was such a contrast between the Capitol and the districts in technology, food and standard of living. This was obviously to create the rich/poor dichotomy but the size of the gap, particularly in technology, was so great that I was just perplexed by it. Something you probably need to have read the books to understand.
Sorry about the psychoanalysis in this review, but it is quite a serious movie and a serious concept and I can't figure out how I felt about it and whether it has really achieved the goal of the author. Overall I felt the movie took too long explaining the history and rules of the games in the beginning and getting Katniss and Peeta ready for the games. The next movie will probably be better because the ground work has been done and it will be able to get straight into the action. I would give this a 2.5 out of 5.
Thursday 19 April 2012
Movie #10 - 21 Jump Street
Ever since this movie came out, I've been walking around singing the theme song from the TV show, which is one of the only things I think I remember from the show. Given it ran from 1987 to 1991, when I was 10-14 years old, it's probably strange I don't remember more but I think maybe my parents didn't let us watch it too much. We finally got to go see it on Monday night, following a recommendation by a friend that it was 'the best movie ever'. We'd also heard a few comparisons to "Anchorman", one of our favourite comedies of all time. We don't agree, but it was amiable fun and gave us a few giggles.
In case you don't know, 21 Jump Street was the location of a police station that specialised in investigating youth crimes using young looking police officers who could go undercover among the teenaged suspects. They had to be able to pass for high school or college students so they could blend in and get the goss. The show was the launching pad for Johnny Depp, but most of the others didn't end up doing much. Holly Robinson, Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise appear in cameos but I didn't spot Richard Grieco or Dustin Nguyen in there.
The two new recruits to this 21st century Jump Street are Schmidt (a much slimmed down Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum of GI Joe fame), both kinda screw ups who individually don't amount to much but together they could be a good cop. When they accidentally stumble across a potential career making drug bust on their first day on the job but screw it up, they are moved down to the Jump Street precinct and assigned to infilrate a high school drug dealing ring.
The biggest laughs for me came from the initial sequence where the guys are preparing for their first day back at high school and then arrive for their first day. Things have changed quite a bit in the years since the boys went to school, and they find that what used to make you popular doesn't anymore, and what used to be nerdy is now cool. For example, the popular kids now are into the environment, trying hard at school and being tolerant. This is a real shock to Jenko, who was the popular jock type, and a pleasant surprise to Schmidt who was an unpopular nerd rejected by the ladies. An accidental switch of their fake identities which makes Schmidt the jock and Jenko the science nerd also results in some very humourous sequences. A lot of good jokes come out of this scenario both initially and throughout the movie and give it a little more resonance than if it was just another buddy cop flick. Of course, Schmidt does get carried away with his popularity and Jenko gets jealous, but hey this is a Hollywood movie after all so some cliches have to be present.
Schmidt gets in with the drug dealers, who are also the popular kids, but the guys are still pretty slow to find out who the actual supplier is, much to the annoyance of their boss (played by Ice Cube as a funny/angry police captain). When they finally find out who the suppliers are, things get pretty serious. We get some car chases and shoot outs but still the jokey banter carries on.
I enjoyed the movie and there are some standout scenes (the drug trip, the party) but it is not the most memorable and it didn't quite have that X factor. I'm not putting it on my best movie ever list and it certainly doesn't match Anchorman for laugh quotient and quotability. There is some good interplay between Jonah and Channing, and some good supporting work by Dave Franco and one of our favourite girls Brie Larson (the daughter from United States of Tara) but it doesn't have that outstanding ensemble work that Anchorman had either. It's actually making me want to revisit the original TV series for a comparison. A solid 3 out of 5 stars for this one.
In case you don't know, 21 Jump Street was the location of a police station that specialised in investigating youth crimes using young looking police officers who could go undercover among the teenaged suspects. They had to be able to pass for high school or college students so they could blend in and get the goss. The show was the launching pad for Johnny Depp, but most of the others didn't end up doing much. Holly Robinson, Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise appear in cameos but I didn't spot Richard Grieco or Dustin Nguyen in there.
The two new recruits to this 21st century Jump Street are Schmidt (a much slimmed down Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum of GI Joe fame), both kinda screw ups who individually don't amount to much but together they could be a good cop. When they accidentally stumble across a potential career making drug bust on their first day on the job but screw it up, they are moved down to the Jump Street precinct and assigned to infilrate a high school drug dealing ring.
The biggest laughs for me came from the initial sequence where the guys are preparing for their first day back at high school and then arrive for their first day. Things have changed quite a bit in the years since the boys went to school, and they find that what used to make you popular doesn't anymore, and what used to be nerdy is now cool. For example, the popular kids now are into the environment, trying hard at school and being tolerant. This is a real shock to Jenko, who was the popular jock type, and a pleasant surprise to Schmidt who was an unpopular nerd rejected by the ladies. An accidental switch of their fake identities which makes Schmidt the jock and Jenko the science nerd also results in some very humourous sequences. A lot of good jokes come out of this scenario both initially and throughout the movie and give it a little more resonance than if it was just another buddy cop flick. Of course, Schmidt does get carried away with his popularity and Jenko gets jealous, but hey this is a Hollywood movie after all so some cliches have to be present.
Schmidt gets in with the drug dealers, who are also the popular kids, but the guys are still pretty slow to find out who the actual supplier is, much to the annoyance of their boss (played by Ice Cube as a funny/angry police captain). When they finally find out who the suppliers are, things get pretty serious. We get some car chases and shoot outs but still the jokey banter carries on.
I enjoyed the movie and there are some standout scenes (the drug trip, the party) but it is not the most memorable and it didn't quite have that X factor. I'm not putting it on my best movie ever list and it certainly doesn't match Anchorman for laugh quotient and quotability. There is some good interplay between Jonah and Channing, and some good supporting work by Dave Franco and one of our favourite girls Brie Larson (the daughter from United States of Tara) but it doesn't have that outstanding ensemble work that Anchorman had either. It's actually making me want to revisit the original TV series for a comparison. A solid 3 out of 5 stars for this one.
Movie # 9 - The Raid
I think this movie is now closed in Brisbane unfortunately (we only caught it on the last day of it's run as it started while we were away overseas) but it may be on elsewhere and should come out on DVD so I'll still review it.
In short, The Raid is the most kick-ass action movie you will see this year. Really super violent, in a good way. The story is simple - a group of top end police officers are on a mission to infiltrate an apartment building to take down a criminal overlord and his henchmen. However, they have badly underestimated the situation and how many shady underworld types are living in the building. Their plan to quietly go in and take down only the people on their list goes astray when the alarm is raised by lookouts inside the building, and from there all hell breaks loose. The original 30 cops are reduced down to less than 10 within a very short space of time, and we follow the survivors as they try to fight their way out of this mess.
I should say here that despite having a Welsh director, the movie is set in Jakarta, Indonesia and is in the Indonesian language with English subtitles. Even if you don't like subtitles, this should not put you off because there is really not a lot of talking in this movie once it gets going.
The movie smartly puts much of the focus on a young cop, Rama, who has extensive martial arts skills. Not only is he a sympathetic hero (his wife is close to having a baby, which means you want him to live through this) he is also an incredible fighter and is given a reason to try to continue the mission against seemingly insurmountable odds. There are a large number of fight scenes in the movie involving many different types of weapons - handguns, machine guns, machetes, knives - but the most impressive scenes are the hand to hand combat, sometimes featuring improvised weapons like chairs, bins, walls and doors or whatever comes to hand. These fights are choreographed so, so well and you can fully understand what is happening and who is who and a lot of it feels really realistic. There isn't any wire work or CGI here and most of the time it looks real and brutal although in a few spots I thought they were pulling their punches. There is only one part of the movie where you feel that the fighters maybe should have been a bit more bruised and battered and sore than they were, but I can overlook that.
This movie is rated R for a reason - the fights and death scenes are brutal, they don't pull away from blood spurting from slashed throats and knees, or broken necks. One death in particular is really unique and cool and had the whole audience saying "Woah". In fact large parts of the movie were enjoyed very vocally by us and our fellow moviegoers. I even overheard one girl saying "Wow, I've never seen a movie like this before". I bet not many people have unless they are a big martial arts fan!
If you are into full on action movies or martial arts in any way, I think you'd enjoy this film. The tension is wound up tight as the mission quickly collapses, the action is brutal and non-stop and the storyline feels fresh even though I know it's not. I really enjoyed this one - I'd give it a 4 out of 5.
In short, The Raid is the most kick-ass action movie you will see this year. Really super violent, in a good way. The story is simple - a group of top end police officers are on a mission to infiltrate an apartment building to take down a criminal overlord and his henchmen. However, they have badly underestimated the situation and how many shady underworld types are living in the building. Their plan to quietly go in and take down only the people on their list goes astray when the alarm is raised by lookouts inside the building, and from there all hell breaks loose. The original 30 cops are reduced down to less than 10 within a very short space of time, and we follow the survivors as they try to fight their way out of this mess.
I should say here that despite having a Welsh director, the movie is set in Jakarta, Indonesia and is in the Indonesian language with English subtitles. Even if you don't like subtitles, this should not put you off because there is really not a lot of talking in this movie once it gets going.
The movie smartly puts much of the focus on a young cop, Rama, who has extensive martial arts skills. Not only is he a sympathetic hero (his wife is close to having a baby, which means you want him to live through this) he is also an incredible fighter and is given a reason to try to continue the mission against seemingly insurmountable odds. There are a large number of fight scenes in the movie involving many different types of weapons - handguns, machine guns, machetes, knives - but the most impressive scenes are the hand to hand combat, sometimes featuring improvised weapons like chairs, bins, walls and doors or whatever comes to hand. These fights are choreographed so, so well and you can fully understand what is happening and who is who and a lot of it feels really realistic. There isn't any wire work or CGI here and most of the time it looks real and brutal although in a few spots I thought they were pulling their punches. There is only one part of the movie where you feel that the fighters maybe should have been a bit more bruised and battered and sore than they were, but I can overlook that.
This movie is rated R for a reason - the fights and death scenes are brutal, they don't pull away from blood spurting from slashed throats and knees, or broken necks. One death in particular is really unique and cool and had the whole audience saying "Woah". In fact large parts of the movie were enjoyed very vocally by us and our fellow moviegoers. I even overheard one girl saying "Wow, I've never seen a movie like this before". I bet not many people have unless they are a big martial arts fan!
If you are into full on action movies or martial arts in any way, I think you'd enjoy this film. The tension is wound up tight as the mission quickly collapses, the action is brutal and non-stop and the storyline feels fresh even though I know it's not. I really enjoyed this one - I'd give it a 4 out of 5.
Sunday 8 April 2012
DVD Hall of Shame #1 - Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1
Several disclaimers upfront about this review:
1) I have read the Twilight books and quite liked them even though I didn't realise it was young adult fiction when I bought the first one.
2) I didn't mind the last Twilight movie.
3) I was on a plane flying to Thailand when I watched this movie in the seat back screen.
4) There will be spoilers in this review so do not read if you are planning to see this movie and don't know what happens.
Do any of the above influence how I felt about this movie? Possibly the third one (when you watch movies on a plane to Asia they have usually been cut, plus there are so many stops and starts and distractions on planes) did contribute but I think no matter where I saw it, it would still be a stinker. The first half of the book was so boring and this whole movie is the first half of the book.
The plot of this instalment is very basic - Edward and Bella get married, go on their honeymoon, fall pregnant and have a baby. That is why the movie is so boring. Literally nothing of interest happens for the first half an hour at least. The wedding is sappy and the honeymoon is sooooo slow and dull - Bella's "seduction" attempts on Edward are laughable. For a real-life hot and heavy couple, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson don't have a lot of chemistry even when acting out the sex scene which of course is heavily veiled for the teen audience, just as the book was. When Bella realises she is pregnant with a half human-half vampire baby, which should not be possible in the book's mythology, things do start to happen. The main one being that the werewolf pack finds out and decides the baby must be killed, which splits the pack as Jacob vs the rest. The vampires must band together to protect Bella, who is fighting her own battle against the baby inside her which grows too fast and has a thirst for blood.
The only action in this movie is a brief vamps and werewolves vs werewolves fight which is well executed. Everything else is just really dull, with even cornier dialogue than previous outings and Jacob rips his shirt off and runs off into the forest, muscles rippling, inside the first 3 minutes. The thing I found most annoying was the bits in the book that were left out of this movie, even though being split into two instalments there should be more time to cover things off. One of the more interesting parts was how Rosalie was made into a vampire and therefore why she is the only one who sides with Bella about the baby - this is all skipped over leaving you wondering why she is suddenly so protective when she had previously been very cold towards Bella. Another part that was not conveyed well in the movie if you haven't read the book was how BIG of a goodbye Bella is saying to her family as she leaves for the honeymoon. With her plan being to be turned into a vampire after the honeymoon, she will not be able to see her family and friends anymore. However, you wouldn't really understand the emotion from the movie and Kristen's acting, other than to think "wow, that was an extra long hug". OK, perhaps disclaimer #1 above does influence my view of the movie a little.
In summary, the movie is corny, boring and very average. The ending does promise something more interesting to happen in the final instalment, as the ruling Volturi clan get wind of the baby's existence and speculate on what her special power may be and how it might be of use or threat to them. Do not read the next sentence if you don't want a spoiler - stop reading now. The funniest thing about the ending is that it seems to be quite promising of action and drama, but if you've read the book, you will know that it is all a bit of an anti-climax. Will I be going? I think I'll wait for DVD.
1) I have read the Twilight books and quite liked them even though I didn't realise it was young adult fiction when I bought the first one.
2) I didn't mind the last Twilight movie.
3) I was on a plane flying to Thailand when I watched this movie in the seat back screen.
4) There will be spoilers in this review so do not read if you are planning to see this movie and don't know what happens.
Do any of the above influence how I felt about this movie? Possibly the third one (when you watch movies on a plane to Asia they have usually been cut, plus there are so many stops and starts and distractions on planes) did contribute but I think no matter where I saw it, it would still be a stinker. The first half of the book was so boring and this whole movie is the first half of the book.
The plot of this instalment is very basic - Edward and Bella get married, go on their honeymoon, fall pregnant and have a baby. That is why the movie is so boring. Literally nothing of interest happens for the first half an hour at least. The wedding is sappy and the honeymoon is sooooo slow and dull - Bella's "seduction" attempts on Edward are laughable. For a real-life hot and heavy couple, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson don't have a lot of chemistry even when acting out the sex scene which of course is heavily veiled for the teen audience, just as the book was. When Bella realises she is pregnant with a half human-half vampire baby, which should not be possible in the book's mythology, things do start to happen. The main one being that the werewolf pack finds out and decides the baby must be killed, which splits the pack as Jacob vs the rest. The vampires must band together to protect Bella, who is fighting her own battle against the baby inside her which grows too fast and has a thirst for blood.
The only action in this movie is a brief vamps and werewolves vs werewolves fight which is well executed. Everything else is just really dull, with even cornier dialogue than previous outings and Jacob rips his shirt off and runs off into the forest, muscles rippling, inside the first 3 minutes. The thing I found most annoying was the bits in the book that were left out of this movie, even though being split into two instalments there should be more time to cover things off. One of the more interesting parts was how Rosalie was made into a vampire and therefore why she is the only one who sides with Bella about the baby - this is all skipped over leaving you wondering why she is suddenly so protective when she had previously been very cold towards Bella. Another part that was not conveyed well in the movie if you haven't read the book was how BIG of a goodbye Bella is saying to her family as she leaves for the honeymoon. With her plan being to be turned into a vampire after the honeymoon, she will not be able to see her family and friends anymore. However, you wouldn't really understand the emotion from the movie and Kristen's acting, other than to think "wow, that was an extra long hug". OK, perhaps disclaimer #1 above does influence my view of the movie a little.
In summary, the movie is corny, boring and very average. The ending does promise something more interesting to happen in the final instalment, as the ruling Volturi clan get wind of the baby's existence and speculate on what her special power may be and how it might be of use or threat to them. Do not read the next sentence if you don't want a spoiler - stop reading now. The funniest thing about the ending is that it seems to be quite promising of action and drama, but if you've read the book, you will know that it is all a bit of an anti-climax. Will I be going? I think I'll wait for DVD.
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