What have you watched recently? 3D!

Spoilers ahead.


'Unbreakable'

The first part of M. Knight Shyamalan's loose (very, very loose) "trilogy" dealing with people who are "others" and who can be seen as comic book heroes and villains operating in a more realistic world than a comic book could provide. A film that puts forward the idea that what if Superman was here n Earth, but he didn't know he was Superman. This "Superman" is Bruce Willis, who has an enormous strength and an extraordinary ability to endure pain and damage, but has suppressed his abilities in order to live a "normal" life. A life that is in some turmoil, as he estranged from his wife and withdrawn from his kid, due to internal conflicts that he fails to understand.

His co-star, Samuel L. Jackson, is a man who suffers from Osteogenesis imperfect, which affects his bones, making them extremely brittle and prone to braking. Called "Mr. Glass", by other kids during his childhood, he has developed the idea that if he was so susceptible to braking, that logic would dictate that their must be a person (or people)in the world that are not.

Shyamalan's career has had its fair share of ups and downs, with many observers claiming that his career zenith was his third feature and the one that shot him to fame, 'The Sixth Sense', and that he's never managed to reclaim that plateau with his subsequent movies. While 'Unbreakable' can't live up to 'The Sixth Sense', the latter film remains a very interesting watch on its own merits and its central premise is a satisfying twist on the usual superhero story.

It's not without its faults, though. Willis's powers are ill defined, perhaps purposely, leading to the audience wanting to know more about what he can do. The family subplot can kill the film stone dead at times and comes off as somewhat unnecessary and, on the whole, the film is ultimately a superhero "origin" story that goes nowhere, even if it all runs along in a relatively satisfactory manner.

7/10


'Split'

A clumsy follow up to 'Unbreakable', which never seems to be a sequel until a strangely tacked on ending reveals itself as such. However, while the effort to make 'Split' a sequel comes off as a complete afterthought, the film itself is very well done and is considered by many as Shyamalan's best movie since 1999's 'The Sixth Sense'.

Sporting a generally superb performance by a chameleon-like James McAvoy, 'Split' is genuinely creepy in its initial setup that sees a deeply troubled man kidnap three teenage girls for reasons that initially appear unspecified. McAvoy's character(s) suffer from a deep multiple personality disorder, hence the title, and over the course of the film, a number of them slowly unveil themselves and their various motives, all of which have the semi-united purpose of preparing for the coming of "the beast".

'Split' can be watched as a stand alone film, separate from 'Unbreakable' (if one ignores the ending, of course) and in a number of ways, it's more satisfying to do that, even if setting the film in same narrative universe as the 1999 movie is ok, when everything is weighed up. As a viewer, you just get the feeling that it never needed to be and that the story can survive in its own right.

The film's real strength, though, lies James McAvoy's excellent turn as the stricken D.I.D. sufferer and he elevates the film above what could have been a laughable exercise in the hands of another actor with lesser ability. It's a genuine joy to see him switch from one personality to another, sometimes in the same scene. His presence is aided very well, too, by a more measured (but no less satisfying) turn from Betty Buckley as his psychiatrist, who comes to understand and fear her patient. The main protagonist is provided by the strange looking, but attractive, Anna-Taylor Joy, who transcends what could have been a simple "final girl" trope and makes the role more interesting than its surface suggests.

While 'Split' also goes off into superhero - or villain - territory in its final third, its association to 'Unbreakable' is never truly comfortable, even if "the beast" exhibits the same super strength as David Dunn (Bruce Willis) in the previous film and I can understand why some audiences felt that it went off the rails, in a way, toward the end. But as a whole it's fine, if uneasy, and with the release of M. Knight's latest film, 'Glass', those associations may be strengthened in a more cement-like fashion.

7/10


'Sicario'

Put simply, one of the best thrillers made in the last ten years, 'Sicario' is another feather in director Denis Villeneuve's cap, a piece of headgear that already features quite an impressive plumage.

Choosing wisely to focus on FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), the film uses her as an appealing audience stand in, as she learns her role in the story along side the viewer. A story that's shrouded in dodgy actions and activities, even from the supposed "good guys", who in reality never even appear. Mercer and co-agent, Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluuya), volunteer to be attached to a special government sanctioned task force, who have orders to perform crackdown missions on Mexican drug cartels, who wreak havoc on the local population and who's export does the same in the U.S. Becoming increasingly appalled, however, by the questionable methods that the task force employ, she begins to question her decision and just exactly what her role is in these missions.

'Sicario', which means "hitman" in a bastardised Spanish slang, motors along at perfectly balanced pace and fills its 2 hours in a more pleasing way than most modern films. There's no flabby scenes at all and everything is used for a reason, even when it first appears not to be the case and it showcases at least a couple of superbly tense setpieces. Villeneuve's direction is as tight as a tripwire and with excellent support to Blunt's lead from Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, there's little here to be harsh on. But, I suppose if a criticism does come to mind, it might be the film's depiction of Mexico, which has been overwrought, if somewhat understandably for dramatic purposes and there may be some confusion as to who the task force's ultimate target is.

9/10


'Sicario: Day of the Soldado'

A completely unnecessary sequel to a fantastic film, the awkwardly titled 'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' has much to recommend it, however. Not least of which is a fantastic performance from newcomer Isabella Moaner as the daughter of a Mexican drug lord, who is kidnapped by the same U.S. task force - featuring Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro - that we were introduced to in the first movie. This kidnapping is a black ops attempt to spark a feud between the major cartels in the hope that they will thin out their numbers and make them more manageable for the U.S. Eventually, mission creep causes everything to go to hell and inevitable division raises its ugly head.

The sequel to Denis Villeneuve's 2015 film is not up to its predecessor's quality, but it's certainly not a bad film in its own right and once it gets over an extremely ill-judged opening sequence, it settles down into its own engaging story. It misses the Emily Blunt character initially, but once it gets going properly, you realise that she isn't really needed all that much, as she's already done her job in the first movie. Plus, her "audience usher" role has been replaced in a way by Moaner, whose pretty face becomes a wide eyed landscape of terror, as she goes through her horrible, if educating, experience, eventually winning the audience's sympathy.

The film's reasonably fine story does threaten to boil over into melodrama here and there, and it may come across as a terribly cynical venture to some, but its main issue is that it has to live in the shadow of Villeneuve's excellent film. There's also a bit of 'Murica going on in the aforementioned opening that can put a bad taste in the viewers mouth, but that's quickly forgotten about once the story proper gets going and its ending is just as ill-judged as its opening. But over all, 'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' is a decent film that's well able to stand on its own two feet.

6.5/10

'Bumblebee'

Goofy and silly, but not entirely without its charms, this Transformers prequel, set in 1987, is probably the best of these types of films. Although, I'll confess to only having seen 2007's 'Transformers', which I thought was pretty poor.

'Bumblebee', after a dodgy start on Cybertron, settles down into a standard fish out of water story, which sees Autobot forward scout - B-127 - sent to Earth because the war on his home planet has gone badly, with the Decepticons gaining the upper hand and the Autobots fleeing. On earth B-127 meets Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), a teenage grease monkey Smiths fan who longs for her own car, which B-127 fulfils in the form of a VW Beetle, that he uses as a form of camouflage to avoid detection by other humans. But two Decepticons follow B-127 to Earth and are determined to destroy him and discover the location of the other Autobots.

Like all Transformers movies, and the entire franchise itself, 'Bumblebee' is utterly ludicrous, and probably has the most entertainment value for grown up 80's kids, who fondly remember the cartoon, and other children of all ages. It does its best to channel any 80's movie you can think of and, in fairness, it does it pretty well at times. Plus, the decision to "mute" B-127 was a really smart one, as it allows the two main characters strive for communication and understanding an endearing one. There's one or two times where the story turns into a schmaltz ridden mess, but it rights the ship continually, with several well placed moments of humour that actually work, helped in no small part by Jorge Lendeborg as the nerdy boy next door and John Cena as an 80's Reganite military blockhead.

There's a pleasing script by Christina Hodson and it's fairly well directed by Travis Knight, who allows the film to zip along, but isn't afraid to slow things down a touch either. There's also a definite touch of Spielberg going on in the background that suggests his Executive Producer role may have had more impact than is usually the case. A fitting 80's soundtrack is also provided that helps set the period, although it does become a little over cooked at times. But, Bumblebee's use of the 80's radio classics as a form of communication is very well handled.

As you would expect from a Transformers film, it is laced with CGI, and it is well done for the most part. But the speed at which the robot fights unfold are rapacious on the eyes and can lead to some confusing fatigue. There's a couple of surprisingly clumsy moments where the fakery is incredibly obvious, however, but it doesn't subtract from the film in any real way.

By its end 'Bumblebee' comes off as an enjoyable time at the pictures and its comparatively smaller scale to the other Transformers movies helps it no end and while it is a prequel to 'Transformers', you don't really have to endure that movie or the rest of them to enjoy it.

7/10

Vice at the cinema this evening. I thought it was very good

Birdbox

It’s a moderately entertaining movie but lacks almost everything that made the book so good. There’s very little tension and the sense of unease that the book generated is non-existent.

Obviously after reading the book I knew what to expect but I would still hope the film would be able to portray some feeling of dread or terror.

The casting is laughable. It’s movie making by committee, 2019 Hollywood style. Bland and safe.

"Polar" 2019 on Netflix.

The world's top assassin, Duncan Vizla, aka The Black Kaiser, is settling into retirement when his former employer marks him as a liability to the firm. Against his will, he finds himself back in the game going head to head with an army of younger, faster, ruthless killers who will stop at nothing to have him silenced.

Off after less than three minutes - utter tripe. 0/10.

'Shane'

The well known 1950's western that sees a troubled gunfighter, who wants to forget his past, befriend a homesteader family who is under pressure to up sticks and vacate their land because of a ruthless rancher who believes he has a bigger right to it.

Finding myself more agreeable to the "revisionist" westerns myself (although I'm not really a fan of the genre at all), 'Shane' is about 20 years too early for my tastes generally. But, the film is a bolted on classic that deserves the title and despite some awkward period trappings - if you knock ten shades out of a guy, he'll respect you and all your problems can be solved with a gun - 'Shane' still lives up to its movieland status as one of the best westerns ever made.

It's well acted by everyone, with Alan Ladd (Shane) and Van Heflin (Joe Starrett) coming off as genuine men forming a believable bond and George Steven's direction does a lot to add to the basic story that may have been absent in the hands of another director of the period. It's also got its fair share of great, familiar faced, character actors, like Elisha Cook Jr, Ben Johnson and the always watchable Jack Palance as a nasty piece of hired trouble.

But, what's most interesting about 'Shane', is that despite its surface layer white hat/black hat simplicity, there's an attempt to add grey area to the story, which was unusual for the time. Although there are definite "bad" guys, they have genuine motive for their actions, as elaborated on during a scene where Ryker (the ruthless cattle merchant) explains why he wants to get rid of the homesteaders that are on "his" land and that are interfering with the open range. His reasoning being that he and his family/friends were the ones who "tamed" it years before anybody else moved in and that the homesteaders get in the way of the natural resources that the range provides, by fencing off their own little areas.

His argument is clearly countered by Starrett, who correctly points out that the Indians and trappers were here long before Ryker and the other pioneers were and that the land wasn't tamed by him at all as he's essentially just passing through. It's a small, but important scene that gives everyone more depth than the usual Hollywood western tropes provide.

'Shane' is not only a great western, but a great film, which has had an enormous impact, not only on other westerns, but on films outside of that bracket too, and it's fully deserving of its place in cinema history. It's beautifully shot as well and makes good use of its Wyoming surroundings, which look fantastic on the Warner Blu Ray and I've never seen the film look as good.

To some, it may seem a little clunky here and there because of the time it was made in - and Brandon DeWilde's Joey can be a little irritating - there's still an awful lot to it that makes for truly satisfying viewing today.

9/10

"Rogue Agent" (2015) aka "The Operative" on Netflix.

A very slow Eastern European (made) thriller which only comes to life in the last 10 minutes and not worth watching. Serbian language dubbed in English.

Save yourself the trouble and watch the trailer instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApX5ZEfXS9A

0/10

IO: Last on Earth (2019) a Netflix original.



Yet another depressing Sci-Fi/Apocalyptic movie that has little to recommend it.

The earth has become so polluted that most of the surviving population have already left in a fleet of spaceships while the few that remain prepare to evacuate. With a cast of just two (!) this films staggers to its inevitable conclusion at a painfully slow pace. Not to be recommended, especially if you're already feeling in anyway depressed.

Edit - there was one other actor who appeared very briefly.

1/10

"State of Play" 2009 on Netflix.



A political thriller with a strong cast including Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck. Slightly convoluted plot but it cracks along at a good pace and I would recommend to anybody who likes the genre. 7/10

Raiders of The Lost Ark It's also pretty f**ked that this thing got a PG rating when you look at it properly. A lot of the scenes in this are really really brutal. Faces melting, lads chopped up by rotating propeller blades, people literally incinerated

Nah it's no issue as long as it's happening to the Nazi characters :P

Aye all those space plumbers and space electricians on the death stars

Happy Deathday 2U at the cinema yesterday. It was very good