Movieblaze

It is always a good year for film when you are hard pushed to whittle what you have seen in the last 12 months down to just 10 films, sadly this means that films such as The Kids Are All Right, Going The Distance, Due Date, Robin Hood and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo have narrowly missed out on a spot. There were stand-outs with the top 5 being a no brainer, however deciding on the number 1 spot proved much harder meaning they are pretty interchangeable though there must be a winner and … well read on to find out what it is and if you have yet to see any of these gems seek them out as soon as you can!

10.) Iron Man 2, it was a toss up between this and Due Date for the annual Downey Jr. slot, falling into the lower ebbs of my top ten defines that this was not quite the film Iron Man proved to be but was still a knockout none-the-less. Offering up enough great characterisation to match the spectacle as all good summer blockbusters should, and of course Downey Jr. was on top form especially in the all too brief altercations with an equally great Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer…if only we could have had more Ivan Vanko/Whiplash action!

9.) Winter’s Bone, this years Indie sleeper hit, it triumphed on the festival circuit (quite rightly so!) and was the most gritty couple of hours spent in a cinema auditorium all year, you could almost smell the woods and feel the grime under your fingernails. Concerning, as it did, a teenage girl’s (the excellent Jennifer Lawrence) search for her father amidst the Ozark community, this was more than a film transcending the boundaries to present an experience, one where you were so embroiled in the young girl’s plight that the tension was constantly and at time excruciatingly palpable.

8.) Daybreakers, for those in search of a proper vampire tale amidst all this angsty Twilight based tosh Daybreakers was a breath of fresh air. Action Horror film-making hasn’t been this well presented or handled since the original Blade, gore used to great effect and a great concept help make this a film that becomes much more than a sum of its parts. Ethan Hawke is as good as ever, balancing his serious side against the tongue in cheek banter of a game Sam Neill and Willem Dafoe. This was the biggest surprise of 2010!

7.) Toy Story 3, no-one had any right to expect anything other than greatness from Pixar though a third entry in the Toy Story franchise seemed pushing it given the lofty heights reached by the first sequel. Alas this surpassed even that film with its excellent finale and a plot that spun a prison movie out of a box of toys, the best since The Shawshank Redemption I would even go as far to say. Lotso was the triumph of the newbies but this really was Woody’s film, and his send-off, come the finale there won’t be a dry eye in the house and in a good year for animation was surpassed by only one…

6.) The Town, following up Gone Baby Gone was not an easy task. A masterpiece thriller in my eyes Ben Affleck’s second film needed to be something else to surpass it’s forebear, something it didn’t quite do but offered a crime saga in the mould of Heat that can stand toe-to-toe with Affleck’s debut. Dynamic and tense heist’s matched with some brilliant acting marked the man’s arrival as a director with real clout and more importantly talent along with bolstering his status as a leading man once more, the boy CAN act AND direct…the next Clint Eastwood, you can count on it!

5.) The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, for me this overcame a hell of a lot of bad press from the other side of the Atlantic, not particularly hyped it just failed to spark interest with audiences, this is a great shame as it is a wonderful flight of fantasy. Yes it’s light and frothy but it does what it sets out to do perfectly, entertaining from start to finish it never misses a beat, Cage gives a fantastic turn as Balthazar that is matched by Molina as the villain. Avoiding the usual pitfalls of this kind of film, over-plotting, too many characters etc. it comes out the other end shining bright, a great shame we are unlikely to ever see a sequel.

4.) Let Me In, overall a terrible year for horror fans (of which I am a big one) there was thankfully a saviour late-on as those dreaded words “Hollywood remake” adorned Matt Reeves, Let Me In. Thank God then that it managed to overcome the remake bug of being awful and actually turned out to be the only genuinely scary film I have watched in a very long time, up there with The Shining and th exorcist this was one film that was everything a great horror film should be, creepy with a pervading sense of dread and actually disturbing whilst gripping with a story of interesting characters.

3.) How To Train Your Dragon, not only the best animated film of the year but the only film that actually benefitted from being presented in three dimensions for the flying in particular. Everything here was spot on, voice cast, pacing, story, action, though what won out for me over Toy Story 3 in particular was the character design and the way we were presented with a story as old as time that was fundamentally very simply and have it feel fresh and fun whilst packing a real emotional whallop, the film with the biggest heart of 2010 by some way.

2.) The Social Network, a pitch perfect script by Aaron Sorkin, controlled direction with some excellent visual flourishes by Fincher and the year’s best ensemble (bar Inception!) mean that The Social Network actually managed to live up to, and surpass, my absurdly high expectations. The Jesse Eisenberg for Best Actor at the Academy Awards starts here! Though that really would fail to do justice to equally great casting in Justin Timberlake, and Andrew Garfield and Arnie Hammer as the Winklevi’, I could rant and rave all day about the merits of how great and how clever this film is, so I shall stop right there and let you discover for yourselves.

1.) Inception, all of the above means that Inception has managed to creep into the coveted number one slot. Deservedly so, as this is a film that has topped many critic polls and will likely see at least a swathe of mods during award season even if it will likely miss out to more astute entries to come in the next few months. It is hard to know where to start when congratulating Inception, bottom-line is this is proof that a big budget blockbuster can be intelligent, offering enough thought and intricate plotting and ideas to balance out and compliment the astounding set pieces, pieced together with the years best editing between no less than 4 action sequences all set to a magnificent score. Hyperboles lavished upon Inception seem the only praise and leave me yearning for what Nolan has to offer us in the future, aside from The Dark Knight mk. 2!

Thankfully 2010 proved hard to pick out 10 truly bad films, whether they be hugely misjudged, poorly acted, total failures, or botched opportunities this was a year where I saw only a handful of films that could fall into any of those descriptions, mediocrity was rife as ever but all the real stinkers just about fill the Top 10 Worst as judged by Movieblaze, it is important to note that there are obvious omissions as I simply couldn’t face Sex and the City 2 or The Last Airbender or any number of other shoddy releases I simply couldn’t find it in myself to waste two hours of my life on…as these 10 abominations did!

So in ascending order here they are,

10.) Repo Men, this was an early one out of the gates arriving in the first quarter of 2010, the signs were bad and general reception far worse frittering away any good-will Jude Law had built up after Sherlock Holmes. A confused mish-mash of pointless gore and witless action culminating in on of the year’s daftest endings (and not in a good way), also Forest Whitaker…why? We thought your B-movie days were long gone!

9.)  Tamara Drewe, oh dear what a misjudged effort from a usually good director. It had all the ingredients for a solid Bridget Jones’ style rom-com, albeit with a little edge, but managed to mangle something that should be light-hearted and fun into a boring and tedious slog through country-set affairs of the heart amongst characters with no charm or redeeming features, nasty in the worst way imaginable.

8.) Legion, the first of a a number of badly missed opportunities on this list, Legion is pure high-concept heaven, an angel is sent to protect the human race by using BIG GUNS, instead a budget that barely covers the cost of a weak cast simply fails to do the concept justice. Paul Bettany is desperately in need of a hit, suffice to say this is not the way he should go about doing it, by playing an angel bereft of any angel-y aspects (no wings, duh!). Movie-hell for sure!

7.) Saw 3D*, Where would this roster be without the latest Saw entry, and Saw 3D proved no different with yet another weak entry in the one time great series (well the first film was anyway). Slightly better than the last two but that’s like saying syphilis is better than herpes! 3D helped not one iota in attempting to inject originality meaning we were left with more dull traps and a convoluted plot that at least saw some kind of conclusion, though don’t count out another one despite “The Final Chapter” subtitle. *Though on a side note, this Halloween’s other horror Paranormal Activity 2 was lucky to miss out on this list!

6.) The Expendables, what a massive waste, not so much of talent but of testosterone. Let’s face it we weren’t expecting great acting or pathos, but some spectacular action harking back to the 80′s heyday of Stallone et al would have been nice, instead we got a bog-standard DTV effort that, save an okay opening, failed to deliver a memorable scene for the entire running time, shocking considering how many icons were involved and the promise that this would be the action film to end all action films.

5.) Jackass 3D, it came as a shock to no-one that this was simply more of the same, though what that actually meant was more of the same just not funny as the stars of Jackass look as tired throughout as you will come the end of the 90 minutes of bodily fluids flying around between dire sketches involving men dressed as OAP’s or gorillas. Here’s hoping the guys have decided to call it a day before all the good-will for what once was funny has dried up!

4.) Predators, it is questionable whether this would have been any better had Rodriguez himself taken the helm as it’s problems reach far beyond simply plodding and pedestrian direction. Bad casting is a big hurdle to try and overcome, and it is one that hinders something that has the potential to be good fun from the off. That the title promised swathes of the titular aliens is misleading and those that do appear have nothing redeeming as far s entertainment goes beyond a cool intro, definitely the years biggest disappointment.

3.) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the saddest thing about this entry is that as a trilogy the adaptation’s of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy could not have had a better or more promising start as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was certainly one of the best thrillers of the year narrowly missing out on a top 10 spot, where that had pace, thrills and involving characters you cared about this is just plain dull, plodding and bereft of any pace or a satisfying conclusion.

2.) Gulliver’s Travels, a late entry but as deserved of its place as any, why anyone thought that the source novel would make a good Jack Black vehicle is anyone’s guess and it turns out to be as hideous a mess as you’d expect. Squandering all the comic talent involved while throwing up numerous plot points that are neither built on or offered a satisfying resolution…and whoever thought having the villain be a sub-par Transformer really needs their head testing, it’s a truly bad film that makes you yearn for the ineptitude of Night at the Museum!

1.) Burke & Hare, a case of all the right elements being there, just that none of them gel properly. John Landis return to the directors chair has not been the thing of dreams despite his old stomping ground of comedy horror, An American Werewolf in London this is not. Even Simon Pegg can’t save this one, with a confused tone and one of the worst plot machinations of the year that involves raising money for an all female production of Hamlet!!! the abundance of British comedy greats can’t mask that there really isn’t a single laugh to be found in the script meaning that it completely misses both it’s genre bases (comedy and horror) by a country mile to morph into the years most excruciating cinema experience!

Starring: Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet, Chris O’Dowd, T.J. Miller. James Corden, Catherine Tate

Director: Rob Letterman

Writer(s): Joe Stillman, Nicholas Stoller, Jonathan Swift (novel)

Cinematography: David Tattersall

Original Score: Henry Jackman

Running Time: 93 Mins.

The Boxing Day family film has become something of a tradition in recent years, usually they are hugely underwhelming (at best) attempts to cash in on the families seeking out a post-christmas treat for everyone from little cousin Timmy to Grandma Olive by way of those pesky teens. Last year saw us treated to something that surpassed the usual duff output in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, a film that managed to tick all the boxes while still being one of the years best films. There was no danger of Gulliver’s Travels ever traversing those lofty heights but something mildly entertaining seemed a possibility, sadly it mines much closer to Night at the Museum…

Here is a film based upon a much-loved literary source novel, starring one of the biggest comedy actors (despite his output ranging wildly from great to down-right awful) and a support cast made up of some comedy greats, Connolly and Segel, while throwing a few newbies into the mix, O’Dowd and Corden, add to this the writer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and a few good jokes are probably the least you may expect. Then the trailer arrived, it was unfunny, gave no time to anyone other than Black who looked to be at his excruciating worst and gave no respect to it’s roots as a great story. You may have thought that this was simply a case of a film being under-sold but alas it is everything the trailer was but infinitely worse.

Often when my expectations for something begin low I find myself having a surprisingly more enjoyable experience than anticipated, not this time, if anything Gulliver’s Travels was worse than expected, no mean feat as you may have guessed. It is hard to know where to place the blame, Black himself seems a sensible place to start, offering a turn that is annoying when it should be funny and detestable when it should be endearing, given controlled direction and a script to boot Black and his particular brand of improv work a charm (School of Rock, Tropic Thunder) but when allowed to run amok as he is here the director is fighting a losing battle.

Though fundamentally this isn’t the main issue with Gulliver’s Travels, no, that would be the fact that the story itself really is not a fit for the kind of family friendly farce starring Black and filled with pee and poo jokes that we have hacked together before us. There is space for awe, wonder and a charming tale to be moulded from Swift’s novel, none of these aspects have been exploited. The effects are passable though not helped by a yet another poor 3D conversion and scenes jump erratically from one to another giving no single character time to grow or at the very least provide a laugh or two.

Like the Night at the Museum franchise here is a film stuffed full of comedy talent yet fails to give any of them anything remotely funny to do, quite why Segel chose to play second fiddle in something this weak is shocking given his star should be on the rise not flailing around Black’s feet singing Prince songs. It seems a moot point to say the “acting” is cringeworthy with every scene seemingly shunted together in an attempt to find some kind of plot line however flimsy each one may be…and don’t even start me on the bookend scenes and the supposed love stories between Peet/Black and Segel/Blunt, it wouldn’t matter tat they don’t convince if either were given any time amidst the years weakest run of “jokes” and a completely out-of-place battle with a rejected robot from Transformers. A late contender for the years worst film, I’d say so.

VERDICT

Gulliver’s Travels is downright awful, simply put it is weak, unfunny and a waste of talent, Jack Black should hang his head in shame and as for those who allowed the title to be used, shame on you…Jonathan Swift will be turning in his grave!

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, Bruce Boxleiter, Serinda Swan, James Frain

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Writer(s): Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz

Cinematography: Claudio Miranda

Original Score: Daft Punk

Running Time: 127 mins.

So, it’s been a long time coming and in this year of belated sequels (Wall Street) Tron Legacy may just be the most eagerly anticipated of them all, the hype for this “movie event” as the trailers boom has been built up to fever pitch with a slow drip feed of teaser trailers leaking from the last two Comic-Con’s and the realisation that a sequel to the 80′s favourite Tron was possible in terms of realising the vision director Kosinski had in mind, helped in no small part to last year’s 3D event movie, Avatar.

Like Avatar, Tron Legacy comes at us amidst a tide of expectation, the hype doesn’t help as film’s rarely live up to it especially when it has continued for so long, also like Avatar this is a film that promises the pushing of technological boundaries. Cameron had mo-cap’d blue folk, and Tron Legacy takes the process a stage further. Meaning we have the welcome return of Jeff Bridges to not one but two roles, returning as Encon and 80′s Tron character Kevin Flynn, but here’s the coup, Bridges also plays the villain, Clu, created using mo-cap and the de-aging process implemented for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button he provides yet another stepping stone in the age of anything being possible by way of CGI trickery.

Having a Bridges sr. vs. Bridges jr. setup is tantalising and more than value for money in the acting stakes, but while the digital creation of Clu is impressive it is not perfected meaning he looks a little stilted and artificial at times. Thankfully it works here given the film’s nature, which means the film-makers could just about get away with claiming the slightly off look is intended, that aside it is not an issue that distracts but rather adds to the villains menace. The question is, is there anything more to be seen other than a digital bag of tricks?

Well, in truth not really, but what a bag of tricks it is. Tron Legacy is a film with the same emotional depth and story problems that faced Avatar, which means it not only shares that films strengths but also its weaknesses, albeit with character types that aren’t quite as stilted something helped by Bridges presence and an assured if pedestrian turn by Garrett Hedlund, an actor for whom standing in the supporting ranks of films like Four Brothers and Troy should change quite promptly following this. Bridges is as eminently watchable as you’d expect, as Flynn he is like the God of the grid stepping in and causing standstill with his mere presence and purring lines about “zen” and “karma”, he is The Dude, just a little less stoned!

Clu is the coup though and as mentioned before the slightly stilted, but hugely impressive, effects add a level of originality to an otherwise linear story that carves close to a Star Wars-y vibe right down to the final aerial battle on light-planes. He is a menacing and foreboding villain without ever becoming camp or OTT even in his most dastardly acts, on the flip side are a handful of “other” turns that either make little impact or too muc in the worst possible way. Olivia Wilde fits the former while Michael Sheen puts in a career worst turn as a sub-Bowie “fixer” of sorts that bring to mind the camper elements of The Matrix sequels, no good thing by a long stretch!

Add to this a smattering of quite frankly baffling ideas contributing to the world of The Grid and the reason for Flynn’s return and the discoveries therein and you have the worst kind of plotting, linear and confusing all at once. On the plus side the setting alone provides room for enough spectacle and some of the greatest visuals of the year, set pieces are free-flowing and all hit the mark it’s just the flab of confusion and dullness stringing them together where Tron Legacy falls flat on its face which is a great shame given that when Daft Punk’s score (one of the ears best incidentally) kicks in and the light-cycle/plane/disc battles go you will be transported to another world.

VERDICT

There’s an hour’s worth of A-grade film in Tron Legacy including some of the years finest effects and action scenes (enhanced rather than hindered by 3D for a change) along with a cracking and pitch perfect score by Daft Punk, unfortunately it is strung together by a rather pedestrian plot that problematises itself by inserting baffling ideas that scream of desperation for some depth, but come across as downright dull.

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Rufus Sewell, Steven Berkoff

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmark

Writer(s): Florian Henckel von Donnersmark, Christopher McQuarrie, Julian Fellowes

Cinematography: John Seale

Original Score: James Newton Howard

Running Time: 103 mins.

This year has seen a strong boost in “Movie Star” driven Hollywood films, that is to say those films that hark back (or try to) to the Golden Age of film-making where people paid their hard-earned pennies to watch a production that was sold on glamourous actors such as Spencer Tracey, Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, to name but a few. So much was the draw of these stars that plot really didn’t matter all that much meaning all too often the plot was nigh-on inconsequential lacking much in the way of depth and leaving a clear path for some good old fashioned star-power to take centre stage.

With Salt, The American, Knight and Day and now The Tourist 2010 has seen those kind of shoe-string plotted “romps” through pretty locales with even prettier people populating them, problem is in this day and age audiences seem to be unable to sustain interest unless there are endless explosions, giant robots, mythical creatures or boy-wizards. Can an old school vehicle compete? On the basis of returns from The American, Knight and Day and Salt the answer is seemingly not quite cutting muster, hardly flops these are films that seemed unable to inspire audiences and The Tourist is unlikely to change this trend.

It is refreshing to see a film aimed not at a teen/early twenties age demographic, the locale, Venice, the glamour, Jolie, the bumbling yet ridiculously handsome leading man, Depp, and the simple plot? Not quite there. With his first English language film Donnersmark (who last helmed the award winning The Lives of Others) handles the gorgeous sights well, lingering on the ridiculously glamourous Jolie and pacing the action very well, making for a bright and breezy film. Sadly that is all it is, which means it cannot take that step beyond the surface sheen, though arguably it never seems to strive to be anything more other than in some rather tired plot twists late in the game. One of which I guessed from the other and the other a little more surprising.

Twists, however, are a funny thing. Some films are built upon them building up to the big reveal while others seem not to know what to do and pull the rug from under you with little to know effect other than that of surprise, to make a film seem cleverer than it really is! Make no mistake The Tourist is far from clever, and though the through line of the film’s love story (for it is a love story first and foremost) is built around some clever ideas of identity they are never fully formed or studied at enough depth. This means when the twists come they are a bit out of left-field and will leave you wondering why as much as anything.

The story utilises eleents of spy films and gangster films but not really in a coherent way, and with any event played for frothy fun rather than any sense of seriousness it all feels like a big budget panto romp around beautiful locales, though at Christmas time what is more apt. A lack of chemistry between leads and a handful of supporting turns by “dastardly villains” can be overlooked at this time of year for those in search of something that is delightfully fun with no substance.

VERDICT

Intelligent, full of depth and full of nuanced performances are some thing The Tourist cannot claim to be. If however you are after something that is light, frothy and starring some beautiful people in gorgeous locales generally having fun, this is for you, old school “movie star” entertainment that won’t trouble your brain but it will entertain if only until you leave the cinema.

Starring: Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie henley, Will Poulter, Tilda Swinton, (the voices of) Simon Pegg, Liam Neeson

Director: Michael Apted

Writer: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Michael Petroni, C.S. Lewis (novel)

Cinematography: Dante Spinotti

Original Score: David Arnold

Running Time: 115 mins.

New director, new studio, the latest instalment of the Narnia saga comes at us refreshed and revitalised after the last episode, Prince Caspian stalled at the box office. Not a flop as such but it was a franchise that demanded a big budget to bring it to life, something past studio Disney seemed unwilling to lavish on what it must have considered a dead horse, clearly seeing some potential it has been saved by Fox for which many fans I suspect will be grateful, especially given that in it’s new home it has found potentially the most exciting story in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader along with the a new director in Michael Apted and the culling (save a brief cameo or two) of two of the weakest actors as the focus switches to Lucy and Edmund.

On the upside Narnia is in keeping with the past two films though in that respect it also shares the same flaws as those films did along with a couple of extras thrown in to boot, these aren’t the kind of things that can spoil the film but they very much leave it wallowing in the wake of much better fantasy adaptations such as The Lord of the Rings, and the more obvious Harry Potter, particularly unfortunate bearing in mind the short release gap between this and Potter 7a only a few weeks ago.

Where the boy wizard is slipping into very dark territory however, as all franchises seem to feel the need to do the Narnia series has always, in staying true to the source material, never veered anywhere other than family friendly (and I mean all ages), with the darkest moments to be found in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’s Christ allegory in Aslan. Again this ham-fisted religious sub-text is prevalent, perhaps even more so in some scenes and lines (Aslan, “In your world I go by another name…”) this has always been an issue in the Narnia films and while Caspian veered away from this a little Dawn Treader steers ever closer again. Parable is no bad thing but when handled with the finesse of a sledgehammer it does little more than grate on you as borderline preaching!

Over-looking this, which is subtle enough to ignore until Aslan’s arrival in all fairness, there is enough rollicking action to stop you ever being bored though whether it stands up to repeat viewing is unlikely owing to a far too episodic structure. Where Prince Caspian had a fully formed narrative arc with enough depth to immerse you this time around there seems to be very little at stake with a quest that pulls Edmund, Lucy and cousin Eustace back into Narnia to recover 7 swords to place on a table, for what reason I can’t recall even now. What this does do is allow for plenty of mythical creatures and some great set pieces that excite temporarily but are in truth just exerts from much better films.

Where the film wins a small victory is in some of the performances, not showy but not bland, Reepicheep (this time voiced by Simon Pegg) and Eustace (Will Poulter) make for one of the years better double-acts and are both afforded the more rounded story arcs with everyone else largely reduced to bystanders waiting to react to the next monster or haphazard event, save for Caspian himself. Apted having released Barnes of his annoying latino/Spanish accent seems to act in a much les stilted and more convincing way, looking to be having fun in a part that should be. He is the rollicking centre giving drive in the way that Sam Worthington seemed unable to do in the similar Clash of the Titans, the guy has charisma and a commend that makes him the perfect Caspian.

If only the rest of the events unfolding around him matched that level of consistency and fun and Narnia would edge ever-closer to the other magical franchises it so obviously strives to run with, hopefully if Fox get another crack at the series more of the wrongs will be righted and a great rather than good to middling film will come of Narnia…

VERDICT

Another middling visit to Narnia awaits with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, some pitch-perfect turns make this more than forgettable and some of the effects and magical touches ht the mark but all to often the tone is set to coasting through an episodic and uninvolving nature.

Starring (the voices of): Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, Brad Pitt, Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller

Director: Tom McGrath

Writer: Alan J. Schoolcraft, Brent Simons

Cinematography: David James

Original Score: Lorne Balfe, Hans Zimmer

Running Time: 96 mins.

When it comes to animation there is little doubt the Pixar is king, however with the likes of How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda Dreamworks is doing a fantastic job of offering films that stray further from the usual buddy formula that Pixar seem wary of stepping away from, experimentation is commendable in its own right even if the outcome isn’t always a success. Dragon and Panda mined this originality well and to great success, so much so I would argue they are up there with Pixar’s best. However for every animated masterpiece there is a more pedestrian effort that undoubtedly entertains but will not stay with you beyond the credit roll…Madagascar and Monsters vs. Aliens are the prime culprits and unfortunately this is where Megamind finds itself sitting.

Much like the aforementioned films Megamind takes an interesting idea that is unfortunately undermined somewhat by other films that it resembles a little too closely, especially when one of those films was recently only weeks ago in Despicable Me. That film was intermittently fun thanks to a jovial and game voice cast, the same stands here with Ferrell and Cross proving to be very funny and warming in equal measure but this is perhaps despite rather than owing to the script which is pass-able at best finding its best jokes in the lines that reek of improv (in the best way).

The plot borrows heavily from The Incredibles, as well as Despicable Me, the loveable villain (with echoes of Dr. Evil) the surprise “actual” villain, the disillusioned hero, so on and so forth it goes offering no surprises and a couple of weak turns to balance out those that are good. Pitt should be the perfect superhero with chiselled jaw but his delivery is too stilted to be a.) funny or b.) convincing, made all the worse when he’s up against such a pro as Ferrell.

Though the plotting is predictable it never bores, proving gripping enough to sustain the fact it is sat in Despicable Me’s shadow, though that looks rather weaker even in the face of Megamind, one such case in point is the persistence at using 3D. Though the process is standard now for CGI films it is certainly the best fit for it. Megamind’s 3D is outstanding as it goes, that it involves a lot of flying scenes helps (Dreamworks have cottoned onto the fact that 3D works best for flying) and it matches How to Train Your Dragon on that front offering up swooping through buildings thrills as explosions fire off left, right and centre. If we must endure this onslught of 3D technology I’d rather watch it done effectively.

VERDICT

Megmind is middling Dreamworks, which means worth a watch but don’t expect to remember anything bar Ferrell’s “oo-loo” beyond the credits…great use of 3D though.

Starring: Scott McNairy, Whitney Able

Director: Gareth Edwards

Writer: Gareth Edwards

Cinematography: Gareth Edwards

Original Score: Jon Hopkins

Running Time: 96 mins.

There is a strong possibility that the build up to the release of Monsters, SFX man Gareth Edwards debut as director and writer, has led you down the garden path so to speak. This years District 9 or Cloverfield many have shouted, and with a marketing campaign that saw teaser posters emblazoned with THAT title and a logo reminiscent of last years District 9 you would be forgiven for expecting such a film. Alas, if you go expecting the film the title suggests you will likely be hugely disappointed on one front, while on the other if you can appreciate a film that favours character development and subtlety over big-budget action scenes, and just so happens to be set against the backdrop of a post-monster apocalypse you will find a gem of a film that is original yet without pretence, a truly rare occurence.

Edward’s shot Monsters on a miniscule budget, knowing this means alarm bells would ring pre-film as to what you should expect in terms of action etc. that is not to say there aren’t tense scenes, there are though these are generally few and far between and are over as soon as they have begun, just as would actually happen, you see for all the fantasy to be found among the alien-based plotting this is a rooted in reality as any film, the monster apocalypse used to enhance a situation between to characters. It is a dynamic that sees Kaulder and Sam (McNairy and Able) journey from one side of the USA to the other, however to do this they must risk the “infected zone”, the place where an alien probe crashed 6 years earlier and left the titular Monsters to roam and reproduce amidst attempts by the constant military airstrikes to control their movement, something which we learn only angers the creatures further.

The creatures themselves are vast, tentacled things that come across as a cross between War of the Worlds UFO’s and the Cloverfield creature, signalling their arrival with honking and whale-like sirens your nerves will be jangling whenever they are on the approach to the central duo, in one sequence there is a strong reminiscence to Jurassic Park’s T-Rex attack, it is that tense, a tension which is always prevalent throughout but does not get in the way of the human element which is ultimately where the thrust of the narrative drives us, always back to Sam and Kaulder. Acting out their journey amongst a cast of non-actors, locals always picked at random who keep the tone as real as you could hope and only further the intimacy of a film that could so easily have veered into generic monster movie territory.

Everything must always be drawn back to the two actors however as it is their story we are drawn into, the beauty here is that there is a love story element but one could never label it as such for it avoids slipping into cliché, the first kiss, the slow burning romance etc. this is a real relationship coming into fruition, likely spurred on by an actual attraction (the couple are now married) theres is a relationship that culminates in a scene of beauty, and true love  though not in the way you will expect. It is a scene that has poignancy and tragedy in equal measure particularly in light of a downbeat ending that isn’t hammered home but works perfectly in context with all that has come before bringing us full circle.

There is little doubt many will not get what they bargained for with Monsters, I certainly didn’t in expecting something more akin to Cloverfield, it was refreshing to be disappointed on that front as originality of this kind is rare even if won’t be wanted by those seeking more bang for their buck and in that respect the this is not a film for the friday night crowd but if you like your movies with more than surface sheen then look no further … Skyline this is not!

VERDICT

Monsters isn’t a creature feature with plentiful action scenes and cardboard cut-out characters, what it is, is unexpectedly intimate, sporadically tense and hugely involving with one of the year’s best endings.

Starring: George Clooney, Paolo Bonacelli, Violante Placido, Irina Bjorklund, Thekla Reuten

Director: Anton Corbijn

Writer: Rowan Joffe, Martin Booth (novel)

Cinematography: Martin Ruhe

Original Score: Herbert Gronemeyer

Running Time: 105 mins.

Holed up in a small largely isolated Italian town, Jack is doing two things, recovering from a tragic event that unfurls in the films opening beats and resonates throughout the film, and Clooney’s character, and taking on that most clichéd of assassin films “the one last job”. Given The American is written by Rowan Joffe (he behind many an intimate Brit flick) and more pertinently directed by Anton Corbijn who last helmed Control you would be foolish to expect a whizz-bang action thriller in the mould of Bourne et al, what we get is much closer to In Bruges, without the laughs or lightness of touch but with lashings of existential angst and more importantly a touch of warmth.

It is in the warmth that the American becomes more than simply another pretentious art-house film starring a big name actor masquerading as a Hollywood thriller, indeed it is meticulously shot and beautifully realised by Corbijn tackling yet another tortured individual, (Control‘s Ian Curtis being the last) the picturesque yet stark Italian landscapes hammering home the metaphors of lonliness and a life of solitude, while the lighting is used to evoke a sense of mood (red for the brothel, glaring sunlight for times of exposure) that many will likely find it too obvious and too desperate to carve out a niche as a moody art-piece, but that is if those viewers can get beyond the plodding and rather sluggish pace.

That is not a fast paced film should not turn you away though, bear with it, revel in the vistas, and most importantly feel the empathy with Clooney’s character that Corbijn is reaching fro and you will be rewarded, this is a slow character piece first and foremost, forget the pretentious visuals if you must, and push aside any preconceptions you have about this as another Bourne-lite and you will find one of the years best performances in Clooney and his subtleties. Joffe’s script is sparse, sparse as the countryside in which the film is set, but each word counts and is meant to, characters don’t needlessly speak meaning you can simply enjoy the mood evoked through a single look, glance or stare (smiles are few and far between!).

There are many ingredients pulled from many a film, the priest for our anti-hero to confide in, the hooker with a heart, heck even the overall plot arc is as old as time itself, but these elements are interspersed with enough class and talent that it can be overlooked especially in the face of a trio of great action beats, this isn’t the action of Michael Bay or even Paul Greengrass but here each bullet counts. The opening scenes set the tone and an event that should make us struggle to empathise with Clooney’s character at the very least does quite the opposite, something not many actors could achieve successfully, likability and acting finesse rarely come hand in hand this easily, and especially in such a potentially underwhelming film.

The American seals it’s “fate” with a finale that is somewhat expected, yet thrilling none the less, the sense of immersion you will likely find in the whole film should have its pay off as Corbijn, Joffe et al risk an ending that is on one hand deeply heavy handed yet on the other hugely moving, a telling sign as to the approach The American takes in its entirety.

VERDICT

George Clooney IS The American, no not in the same was as Daniel Craig IS James Bond but rather without the ”silver fox” this is a film that would sink in its own pretentious/clichéd approach, thankfully it manages to avoid this label and rises as a superbly acted and involving character study.

Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Annika Hallin, Jacob Eriksson, Sofia Ledarp, Anders Ahlbom

Director: Daniel Alfredson

Writer: Jonas Frykberg, Stieg Larsson (novel)

Cinematography: Peter Mokrosinki

Original Score: Jacob Groth

Running Time: 148 mins.

Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy began with excellent The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a pacy, excellently shot and very well acted thriller in the style of Silence of the Lambs, it was followed by The Girl Who Played with Fire which furthered Lisbeth Salander’s back-story hinted at in Dragon Tattoo and played out as half a solid thriller, and half a turgid and rather dull film about an investigative journalist. It was a film that failed to hide its roots as a one-time TV series, condensed for a British/American market, which left us waiting to see what would eventually become of the rather convoluted conspiracy drama, and Lisbeth herself who was shot numerous times and buried alive …the answers to those questions do lie within The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, it’s just that they take a long time coming and offer a far from worth-while payoff.

Here is a film that is a slave to its TV birth even more so than its previous chapter, hacked down from what could be considered only a mildly interesting mini-series we are still left with a 2 and a half hour snooze fest that never once teeters on the brink of being remotely thrilling, or more importantly, engaging. Noomi Rapace is a magnetic screen presence, this we know from Dragon Tattoo but reduced to a passive presence she remains as stern and strong of a figure but without the spark and ferocity that made her so great to begin with. It is only in the final 15 minutes (more on that later) that she gets to do anything more than lay in a hospital bed hacking via a phone or looking morose, or briefly appearing in court all mohican-d up and mono-syllabically answering questions.

This wouldn’t be such an issue if the ensuing plot revolving around a deep government conspiracy and corruption to do with secret police and the mishandling of a 12-year-old girl (Lisbeth) were actually interesting, it isn’t, and will likely leave you wondering what is actually going on amidst the hack job that sees much of the story lost and has Michael Nyqvist, again so good in Dragon Tattoo, simply running around not actually appearing to do much other than be shot at while trying to publish the latest issue of Millenium magazine, something which will supposedly help free Lisbeth of the murder charges brought against her whilst revealing the treatment she endured at the hands of many nasty men!

Where The Girl Who Played With Fire had a similarly dull narrative thrust in the investigative journal thread, it at least had some sporadic yet interesting action/thriller scenes with a great (if clichéd) denouement that was both brutal and revealing, Hornet’s Nest has neith of these saving graces and the Bond-lite villain of Played With Fire is here reduced to killing on random and seemingly pointless occasions while waiting to get revenge on Lisbeth, for no apparent reason other than he is her half-brother. There is something deeply unusual about this character tha jars against the supposed seriousness of the rest of the film, but perhaps it is the most revealing aspect in giving away the stories pulp-y roots.

This tone is only ever given thrift again in a ending that is apparently only there to provide Salander with the opportunity to get some first hand revenge and add a little spice that the previous 2 hours and 15 minutes lacked, it is tacked on but by far the most enjoyable aspect of a film littered with non-events. Maybe if the whole film forged a little closer to this pulpy aesthetic we would have something that was at least mildly entertaining rather than simply dull, a great shame given the brilliant beginning’s of the trilogy, hopefully David Fincher’s upcoming remakes can at least rectify the issues of parts 2 and 3 while retaining what was good about Dragon Tattoo.

VERDICT

There’s only one thing that is worse than a bad film, and that is a boring one, and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is as deathly dull as they come. Anything resembling a thriller is lost beneath a mass of incomprehensible plotting and conspiracies which mire the performances of Rapace and Nyqvist who are here reduced to passive and confused, much like their audience then.