Review Category: Movie

Every now and then, Hollywood takes a franchise that is beloved by many and adapts it for the big screen, yet sometimes, they tend to process it and reconstruct as a means of targeting specific demographics rather than create a good movie that would honour its own legacy. There have been big examples of that with the recent Transformers movies and the recent two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films (notice a patterned connection there? *cough* Michael Bay), but in the case of 2017’s Power Rangers, it stays faithful to its core aspects, as well as trying to be a modern update. It is true that the filmmakers involved are trying to set up a new movie franchise, but unlike the aforementioned Bay-backed movies, this is much more a character-driven story where our main protagonists are actually likeable and you do spend time connecting with their personalities, flaws and ultimately, close friendship, by the end.

 

We are given a much more mature approach to the mythology of Power Rangers without it falling into the clichéd trend of going dark and gritty, feeling more like a Marvel movie with the heroes discovering their powers and discovering themselves and their mission in life, while also embracing the fun side of being a hero. Even when moral lessons are being learned, the movie has a sense of humour and heart with these characters bonding over the course of the movie, and the chemistry between them is believable and genuine. Plus, each of our main heroes have clear motivation, growth, personalities and go on a journey that changes them forever, starting out as troubled individuals before becoming better ones.

 

This is greatly reflected in the performances, and despite the fact that these young actors are fairly new to the acting business, Dacre Mongomery, Naomi Scott, R.J. Cyler, Becky G and Ludi Lin all give very charming and charismatic performances that helps elevate their characters to being much more than just your generic teenagers with attitude, which is demonstrated during a pivotal campfire scene. Power Rangers’ veteran Bryan Cranston brings grit and wisdom to the uncle-like Zordon, whilst Elizabeth Banks easily steals the show and appears to be having an absolute blast as Rita Repulsa by chewing up the scenery, being sadistic and creepy, as well as gleeful and fun. She could’ve easily been the worst or most annoying aspect about the movie, but Banks pulls it off with real gusto and verve.

 

That’s not to say the film is flawless as it definitely has its issues; the visual aesthetic is something that will divide audiences, and to this reviewer, the design choices feel too Guyver-esque, especially with the suits that are very bio-boosted armour inspired, and the spaceship interiors feel too much like a rip-off from the design work of Man of Steel. In regards to Alpha 5, the character is as problematic as he was in the show, and it feels almost as if Bill Hader was far too restricted with the material he was given, which makes his delivery feel rather forced. While the whole action-packed climax perfectly nailed the balance between the emotional stakes and the campy fun, it all feels rushed in execution, which means that if you were hoping to see the Power Rangers in action for a long period of time, you might feel disappointed. Oh, and stop it with your Kirspy Kreme product placement! SERIOUSLY!!!

 

While Power Rangers isn’t entirely a perfect movie, it is in no ways the absolute misfire everyone feared it would be. It is not Josh Trank’s Fant4stic, neither is it the recent TMNT and Transformers movies; it easily overshadowing all of them thanks to its heart, humour, spectacle and having characters that are genuinely likeable and charming. Even when the dialogue is occasionally ropey and clunky, that doesn’t show thanks to the commendable performances on display, and these young actors ought to have a bright future ahead of them. Director Dean Israelite has done a solid job of creating a reboot that’s actually been given a lot of care and attention, which is something that’s very rare nowadays considering the current state of reboots (Ghostbusters 2016 anyone?). It reinvents the franchise in a bold and mature way, while never losing sight of the campy fun that made Power Rangers so beloved to begin with, and for that alone, that makes this movie a worthwhile surprise.

 

POWER RANGERS / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: DEAN ISRAELITE / SCREENPLAY: JOHN GATINS / STARRING: DACRE MONTGOMERY, NAOMI SCOTT, RJ CYLER, LUDI LIN, BECKY G, ELIZABETH BANKS, BRYAN CRANSTON, BILL HADER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Expected rating: 5/10

 

Final rating:

With another summer season of superheroes and rampaging robots just around the corner, here’s a very welcome gift in the form of a new, non-franchise science-fiction movie which, although there’s clearly elbow-room for a sequel, appears to be content to tell its gripping, pulse-quickening story and then get the Hell out. But we do use the word ‘new’ quite advisedly; in truth Life tells a sci-fi story we’ve seen literally dozens of times before in a lineage of titles which goes back to 1958’s It! The Terror From Beyond Space and probably still most famously realised in 1979’s Alien. But a good story is always worth retelling and Life suggests that there’s still plenty to offer in primal tales of small groups of people trapped in enclosed spaces terrorised by something monstrous and extra-terrestrial.

 

A team of scientists aboard the International Space Station take custody of an alien organism collected from the barren surface of the planet Mars. Humanity rejoices. We are not alone! The organism – “all muscle, all brain, all eye” – is christened Calvin courtesy of a school competition and is subjected to rigorous testing by the scientists, and our genre foreknowledge warns us that this might not be the most sensible course of action. When the creature – little more than a lump of twitching, trembling goo – appears to become inert, one of the scientists decides to jab it with an electric prod to wake it from its spacey slumbers. Seriously bad idea. All Hell quite literally breaks loose as the creature explodes back into…well, life…and plunges the scientific team into a nightmare which threatens the safety of the Earth spinning slowly beneath them.

 

The mileage you get from Life depends on what you want from a science-fiction movie in which a voracious alien life-form causes havoc in a space station and, indeed, what you want from a science-fiction movie per se. If you’re after something cerebral and thought-provoking like Arrival you’ll need to look elsewhere because Life is clearly content to be nothing more and nothing less than a shameless regurgitation of ideas, characters and situations which we’ve seen a hundred times over. But sometimes that’s more than enough. This reviewer sat through Kong: Skull Island (twice – so far), inwardly purring at a movie which delivered exactly what it promised and with no pretensions towards being anything else. Life, too, dusts down decades-old ideas and delivers them cleanly, slickly and with the gloss and sheen that only modern CGI and filmmaking technology can provide. The alien – ultimately a thrashing mass of translucent tentacles – is a ferocious and formidable creature supernaturally resistant to both extreme heat and the unfathomable cold of the vacuum of space and it’s clearly determined to stay alive and thrive as it races around the dim corridors of the space station and, when it finds itself out in space, scuttling around the exterior like some ghastly outer space arachnid. Cinema has given us some extraordinary alien species over the years but this…thing…is right up there amongst the most chilling.

 

So there we have it. Monster loose in spaceship picks off the crew with deadly alacrity and quite a bit of icky body horror ensues. The characters are pretty thinly-sketched, of course, with Jake Gyllenhall giving a world-weary earnestness to his role as Dr. David Jordan, Rebecca Ferguson as tough, no-nonsense crew captain Dr. Miranda North and Ryan Reynolds delivering what’s likely to become his post-Deadpool default turn as the wise-cracking smart-arse Rory Adams. The script does just about enough for you to give a damn about what happens to them even if, you’ll not be surprised to learn, they’re all pretty much cannon fodder for the relentless, remorseless alien which will do everything in its unfathomable power to stay alive.

 

Life is unapologetically derivative – you’ll enjoy ticking off all the boxes and spotting all the similarities to other genre favourites (“That bit’s pure Quatermass!”, “There’s The Thing!”) and yet it’s still an edge-of-the-seat thrill ride, visually stunning, impressively performed (the small cast simulating weightlessness throughout the movie) and although you might spend the entire running time wondering if and when it’s going to offer up something, anything, we haven’t seen before, we think we can guarantee that the ending will blow your sci-fi socks off, even if you’re smart enough to see it coming a few minutes earlier. It’s Life, then, almost exactly as we know it – and it’s really rather brilliant in its own way.

 

LIFE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: DANIEL ESPINOSA / SCREENPLAY: RHETT REESE, PAUL WERBECK / STARRING: JAKE GYLLENHALL, REBECCA FERGUSON, RYAN REYNOLDS, ARIYON BAKARE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Expected rating: 8/10

 

Starburst rating:

No other animated Disney movie has captured audiences’ imaginations quite like Beauty and the Beast ever since its initial release back in 1991. Even now, there are many who regard this as one of, if not, the best Disney movie of all time, and it isn’t hard to see why as everything about that movie was perfect in every way. It told a timeless story that’s been around for years, whilst nailing everything else like the two titular main protagonists, the villain, the romance, the songs, and so on. It resonated with audiences’ young and old, and went on to become the first animated feature to get nominated for the ‘Best Picture’ category at the Oscars. However, with Disney on a winning streak for the last couple years thanks to their successful live action adaptations of Cinderella and The Jungle Book, it was only a matter of time before Beauty and the Beast would get the same treatment.

 

Ever since it was announced, this version has been the most highly-anticipated movie of this year in a lot of people’s minds and is perhaps Disney’s most ambitious project yet. As it stands now, this movie does a solid if slightly unremarkable job of delivering what the target audience was yearning for in terms of delivering a faithful adaptation whilst also adding in some minor tweaks to make it feel unique enough on its own without becoming just a carbon copy of the original. On the plus side, the story still works on its own and the characterisation is still spot-on, with Belle still acting like an independent role-model or Gaston still being the vain, arrogant rogue. From ‘Gaston’ to ‘Be Our Guest’, the songs are just as iconic as before, while the three notable new songs on display prove to be noteworthy additions to such a classic soundtrack. Plus, the cast involved all deliver superb performances, with particular standouts being Luke Evans’ surprisingly scene-stealing turn as Gaston, Josh Gad’s equally scene-stealing turn as La Fou and Kevin Kline as the lovable yet eccentric Maurice.

 

However, with the story, the casting choices, and the musical score/songs working, the real question that still persists is: Why doesn’t this stand out more? Ultimately, the core reason why is nothing to do with what’s been written down but more in terms of execution, and in the hands of Dreamgirls and Twilight: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 & 2 director Bill Condon, the end result on screen feels incredibly safe and ordinary as a result. There isn’t anything on the screen that feels theatrically or cinematically grand and epic, and it appears that Disney got cold feet and played it almost by-numbers. That is especially notable with the overuse of CGI on display here; unlike Cinderella where the VFX involved was used almost sparingly or The Jungle Book that hugely benefitted from its phenomenal photorealistic use of CGI, the CG used here feels very artificial from the sky, to the castle and to even the Beast himself, which did distract from Dan Stevens’ performance. Honestly, with enough time and money at their disposal, they really could’ve used practical effects to bring a lot of this to life surely?! Perhaps, if this movie was in the hands of a more seasoned filmmaker like Cinderella’s Kenneth Branagh, then this movie would be so much more than what it ended up being.

 

While this live action reimagining of the Disney classic isn’t terrible or mediocre by any stretch of the imagination, it isn’t exactly the masterpiece we were all expecting, especially given the fact that both Cinderella and The Jungle Book proved that the live action treatment could work if done correctly. The tale that’s old as time still works, the songs (old and new) work and the cast involved gives it their all, but given how Bill Condon’s execution feels very pedestrian and lacking in any ambitious creativity, it actually has you longing to watch the animated version. As it stands, this version is still an enjoyably solid watch, but it’s just not the ambitious masterpiece that it could’ve been.

 

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: BILL CONDON / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN CHBOSKY / STARRING: EMMA WATSON, DAN STEVENS, LUKE EVANS, EWAN MCGREGOR, IAN MCKELLEN, EMMA THOMPSON, JOSH GAD, STANLEY TUCCI, KEVIN KLINE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Expected rating: 9/10

 

Final rating:

Ben Wheatley follows up his J. G. Ballard adaptation of High Rise with an original project, Free Fire, which is billed as consisting almost entirely of a gun fight.

Boston, 1978. Frank (Michael Smiley) and Chris (Cillian Murphy) are two members of the IRA heading to buy guns. They are chaperoned by their go between Justine (Brie Larson) and Ord (Armie Hammer). Their seller is Vernon (Shalto Copley), an over the top guy with a love of women and suits. As personalities clash the deal breaks down.

The beginning third of Free Fire is a lot of fun. The dialogue is quick, snappy and quotable and all of the characters, though they are all dislikable, are all entertaining to watch. You can tell that the actors are having a lot of fun, each of them really sinking their teeth into the dialogue and all getting their own moments. Sharlto Copley and Armie Hammer are particularly enjoyable, with Copley turned all the way up to eleven. We’re in Sightseers and Down Terrace territory, where grim laughs are the order of the day and there are plenty of them. However, you are just waiting for the gun fight to kick off. Everybody is sizing each other up and playing the big guy, trying to assert themselves as the alpha. With so many volatile personalities something is bound to kick off and a coincidence and some very misplaced words break the deal down into a hail of gun fire.

Free Fire has a bullet count that Rambo would be proud of and everybody gets tagged by a bullet at some point. Making a film set entirely in one place is difficult and having it mostly consist of a gun fight makes things even more challenging and Wheatley doesn’t quite nail the job. He tries to keep things exciting with quick edits that move from character to character but doesn’t give you a good sense of place for each player. You only have a vague idea of where they are in relation to each other and this means that any tension is dissipated as you don’t see who is aiming for who. You’ve got to have quite a lot of inventiveness to keep a straight scenario like this interesting and Free Fire doesn’t quite have that so some tedium does creep in. You just wish that they had kept on talking to each other instead of resorting to guns.

The great cast get to have a lot of fun with some enjoyable dialogue but things slow down once the shooting starts. It’s just entertaining enough to last the ninety minutes but you’d rather the characters were talking rather than shooting.

FREE FIRE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: BEN WHEATLEY / SCREENPLAY: BEN WHEATLEY, AMY JUMP / STARRING: BRIE LARSON, SHARLTO COPLEY, ARMIE HAMMER, CILLIAN MURPHY / RELEASE DATE: 31ST MARCH

It’s a not-so-distant future and a remote nuclear facility has gone offline. This new kind of nuclear station was powered by a special engine built to repair the damage caused by the previous plants on that site failing catastrophically, and turns the resulting radiation into clean power. Now some years after, a new dawn of safe energy has come about. So it’s hugely concerning that this plant is potentially in trouble too, particularly as it should be infallible. Abby (Habel), a recently promoted safety engineer, gets herself sent out to the facility deep in the desert to find out what has happened and ensure everything gets safely back online.

 

Upon arrival the place is far from the utopian ideal presented in company promotional videos and is falling into disrepair. It has only two employees, Robinson (Monaghan) and Dr Zek (Sizemore). Abby’s not exactly welcomed by the nervous and jittery Robinson. There’s no sign of Zek and Robinson suggests the doctor is doing some things he shouldn’t be, including wandering outside in the contaminated land surrounding the facility where he shouldn’t go. Things quickly get worse when Abby finds out the problems with the station are due to sabotage. It could be Robinson who is dangerous or Zek, or perhaps it’s both of them.

 

So what we have here is a done-on-the-cheap SyFy movie. The central trio make up most of the cast and the main focus is on Abby and who she can trust. Blowing most of the effects budget in the first 10 minutes to try and convince you this is going to be interesting, it briefly echoes things like the series Continuum. It’s a shame that much of what follows is people walking through bland corridors slowly making their way towards an underwhelming conclusion. What could have made a relatively interesting short film with some environmental themes if done differently is dragged out to the point where you cannot possibly care as all is revealed to be a damp squib.

 

Monaghan has the most showy role as the weird, possibly creepy Robinson. He’s the type of guy who likes walking in on people in the shower and whilst he’s having fun, it’s too broad a caricature. Sizemore has much less screen time but at least reminds us that outside of his well-documented personal issues he remains a fine, charismatic actor. The bulk of the film rests on Habel’s shoulders and she is the best thing about Atomica by far, doing her best with her character’s non-interesting back story and underwritten role. The biggest mystery behind this so-called science fiction thriller is why anyone bothered making it at all.

 

ATOMICA / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: DAGEN MERRILL / SCREENPLAY: KEVIN BURKE, FEDERICO FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO, ADAM GYNGELL / STARRING: SARAH HABEL, DOMINIC MONAGHAN, TOM SIZEMORE / RELEASE DATE: 17TH MARCH (CINEMA) OR 21ST MARCH (VOD) (US); UK RELEASE DATE TBA

Nicolas Pesce’s The Eyes of My Mother is easily one of the most disturbing and beautiful horror films of the last year, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

In a year full of lucrative Blumhouse flicks (The Purge: Election Day, Ouija: Origin of Evil) and arthouse Giallo (The Neon Demon), Pesce’s shoestring-budget stunner is an impressive feat. First off, it’s a beautifully shot film and the black and white imagery was a great move. In colour much of the mystery could have easily been lost, whereas this way there’s an element of doubt around every glimpse of potential gore, every pool of potential blood; there’s a graphic exploitation missing and it renders the film disturbing in its uncertainty. Perhaps this is Pesce’s biggest success: to convince us at points we are watching a nightmare through time jumps, conversational grotesquery, and pristine moments of terror.

The Eyes of My Mother feels like a painstaking loveletter to many horror classics, but never to the point it feels like a recital. Pesce has quite reservedly, nodded at his influences and forged his own disturbing fever-dream. There’s elements of Psycho, Martyrs and, especially in the opening scenes, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Pesce’s film feels like a postmodern dialogue on the nature of suffering, what it means to be a victim, and the cycle of abuse. There’s some scares in here that stick with you way past the credits as ideological horror as opposed to nicely made monsters or well-conceived icky bits.

The Eyes of My Mother is perhaps most haunting when it points out how simple it would be to skew a child’s moral compass, or how ridiculous the idea of closure is in terms of a horror film. The Eyes of My Mother is ace and, like the film’s haunted cinematography, has a mesmerizing tranquility to everything, especially its most upsetting moments.

The gems of the last year have been unexpected “indie” projects which seem to erupt out of nowhere whilst the big studio produce has been fine for fun, but never really as disturbing. The Eyes of My Mother takes its place quietly, unassumingly along the bench from The Witch, The Boy and The Wailing. We’d love to call it a mind-fuck, but – like Martyrs before it – it’s more of a soul-fuck. There’s nothing winking at us or jibing us to name the film, no smart-ass wisecracks, just a well conceived story about a horrible scenario.

If you’re down for upsetting yourself, look no further.

THE EYES OF MY MOTHER / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: NICOLAS PESCE / STARRING: DIANA AGOSTINI, OLIVIA BOND, WILL BRILL, JOEY CURTIS-GREEN, FLORA DIAZ, CLARA WONG / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 24TH

Expected Rating: 5 out of 10

Actual Rating:

In these heightened times, the more intensely human stories of evolution tend to be simplified at the compromise of the story. When it comes to disability and bullying, only a certain facet or side of the nature of such individuals is revealed. Ultimately, when you think about it, it is about interpretation and understanding, which in itself is the perfect canvas for filmmakers and cinema as a whole.

 

A brand-new Japanese animated film, A Silent Voice, adapted from a manga strip by Yoshitoki Oima, provides a honest analysis of both examples of human nature. In 2016, the manga was ranked as one of the year’s Top Ten Graphic Novels by the Young Adult Library Services Association. The key creatives here are both female – director Naoko Yamada and scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida and Kyoto Animation look like they have taken up the reins of Studio Ghibli on the evidence here.

 

The story tells of a shy girl called Shoko, who can only communicate through a notebook to her new classmates at a new school. She is also deaf and has trouble speaking. This in turn sets her out to be an easy target for a boy called Shoko, who wastes no time taking advantage of her along with other pupils in the class, stealing her hearing aid and berating her for using sign language and such-like. However, his actions only lay the foundation for personal trauma and troubles that emerge five years on when he encounters Shoko in a different environment and context….

 

A Silent Voice is a remarkable piece of animation, which fans of Ghibli will reach out to. The themes of bullying and disability are sensitively handled and honestly exposed. Shoko is a more rounded bully than a Biff Tannen in Back To The Future and the film has as much to say about teenage angst and development as any number of Hollywood youth offerings like Mean Girls and The Breakfast Club.

 

Like some of the recent Disney and Pixar offerings, you forget that you are actually watching an animated film at times, a testament to the strength of the storytelling and imagery on show. There is a potent mix of the subtle and spectacular here, as well as a celebration of the Japanese culture and environment. Both lead and supporting characters are fleshed out with care and courtesy and there is a liberal sprinkle of good-natured humour that affectionately encapsulates the joys and deliberations of growing up, as well as reminding yourself of the consequences of your actions in any given age.

 

A Silent Voice is a profoundly moving and engrossing coming-of-age fable that should be seen by everyone as an example of the challenges and concerns that bullying and disability yield in the world.

 

A SILENT VOICE / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: NAOKO YAMADA / SCREENPLAY: REIKO YOSHIDA / STARRING: MIYU IRINO, SAORI HAYAMI, AOI YŪKI, KENSHŌ ONO / RELEASE DATE: 15TH MARCH

It’s almost unbelievable that King Kong has been around for 84 years without managing to spawn a successful franchise like his scaly mates in Japan have done. There’s certainly been a jinx upon previous attempts to kick-start the ape train. From Toho’s bonkers man-in-suit version in the 1960s via Dino De Laurentiis’ robotic (but still mainly man-in-suit) escapade in 1976 to Peter Jackson’s overly reverent snoozathon in 2005, the best that can be said was they tried, which seems a sad kind of legacy for the cinema’s premier monster. So is Kong: Skull Island a new lease of life or a last gulp of breath?

On the day Nixon declares the Vietnam War over, the Monarch institute (first encountered in 2014’s Godzilla reboot) sends two scientists (John Goodman and Corey Hawkins) to a previously undiscovered island in the South Pacific that satellite images suggest may be sustaining an ancient eco-system. They are accompanied by a US Army platoon led by Samuel L. Jackson, an ‘anti-war’ photographer played Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston as a very British ex-special forces ‘tracker’ hired to keep them safe on the ground.

Yes, it’s a bit Jurassic Park, but remember who did this stuff first. From those brawling dinosaurs in the original 1933 version to that disgusting pit of giant slugs that ate Andy Serkis’ head in 2005, the creature-packed island has always been the dramatic ace up Kong’s hairy sleeve, so it’s very pleasing to report that Skull Island lives up to its title. Nor does it waste any time getting us there; the mid-‘70s America opening set-up is a lot of fun and makes for some neat visual jokes at the expense of the technology of the time (not to mention the very first line being a Trump dig), but before you can say ‘bugged phones’ we’re off to the jungle in a bunch of military choppers, descending through a CGI storm front above the  beautiful uncharted island greenery with Samuel L. Jackson giving it his best Apocalypse Now shtick over the radio. It’s not original, but it’s a whole lot of fun.

As is the movie. In only his second dramatic feature (after 2013’s The Kings of Summer), director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has succeeded in making the best Kong film since the very first. Wisely, Legendary have not attempted yet another remake of the original Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper tale, choosing instead to re-launch the mythos with a new backstory and characters. They’ve also done something rather smart with Kong himself, which will stand him in good stead if their plans to launch their own version of the Toho Monsters series come off – he’s now the size of a large office complex. If this ape tried to climb the Empire State Building it would collapse under his weight. But some things never change; he’s still the lovable, misunderstood fuzzball he’s always been – it’s other creatures that cause all the trouble. In a series of standoffs, the human cast does their level best to steer clear of, we get the Toho-style monster throw downs we’ve always craved from these Hollywood reboots. No standing on ceremony here, Kong: Skull Island is wall-to-wall monstering and all the better for it. And don’t think just because we don’t visit New York we don’t get to see Kong snatching aircraft out of the sky and tossing them to the ground with relish, that scene is here but very cleverly re-worked.

The only slightly duff note is the casting of Tom Hiddleston as the tough-guy hero. Hollywood’s obsession with elevating every spare British posho with an Equity card to leading man status has definitely hit the wall here. Nothing about his performance convinces – not the flat-lining dialogue delivery, not the three-month pecs poking off his string bean body, not the laughably forced pose he strikes every time he stands still – zilch. But he’s fun to watch nonetheless, if only because he’s so wrong for the role. And at least he’s not Adrian Brody.

So, big sigh of relief, the ape is back in shape and just maybe we have ourselves a franchise. Stick around after the credits for a Kong vs. Everything primer. Bring it on!

KONG: SKULL ISLAND / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: JORDAN VOGT-ROBERTS / SCREENPLAY: DAN GILROY, MAX BORENSTEIN, DEREK CONNOLLY / STARRING: TOM HIDDLESTON, SAMUEL L. JACKSON, BRIE LARSON, JOHN C. REILLY, JOHN GOODMAN / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 9TH

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10
Actual Rating: 
 

With comic book movies being the only thing that Hollywood wants to make these days, it’s a sad fact that one of the world’s most interesting and comprehensive comic-strip franchises has been tragically underserved by the silver screen. The stories contained in a single issue of British Anthology comic 2000AD could easily power a movie studio on thrill power alone, and yet features have been few and far between.

It’s not for want of trying though, and 2000AD owners Rebellion have staff dedicated to making it all happen. In the meantime though, whilst we wait for some sort of Dredd sequel, the fans are hard at work showing the world exactly how it should be done. Namely by picking some of the more recognisable 2000AD stories and making near-perfect homages to them.

Search/Destroy – A Strontium Dog Fan Film is only 20 minutes or so long but captures the world of Strontium Dog perfectly. For those who aren’t familiar with the comic strip; Strontium Dog is a set in a post-apocalyptic Britain where much of the population has become mutated. Most of the mutations are horrific, and one of the few jobs open to them is as Search/Destroy agents; Bounty Hunters. The main protagonists are Johnny Alpha (who has glowing eyes) and his friend Wulf Sternhammer (a Viking).

The plot of this short movie feels like it comes straight from the pages of the comic. We open with a shoot out, and learn that someone is murdering S/D Agents. From there, the heroes take on aliens, thugs and other kinds of monsters. Frame by frame, the film feels faithful to the source material. Matthew Simpson is the perfect blend of square jawed hero and humble warrior as Johnny Alpha, and Kevin Horsham nails it as Wulf Sternhammer. The supporting cast are also a delight, Guy Hepworth is amazing as Harvey and Integra Fairbrook puts in a strong appearance as the deadly Durham Red. The costumes and special effects are extremely well done; from the weapons to the Doghouse space station, every care has been made to make this look and feel like they’ve used issues of 2000AD as a shooting script.

We should firmly stress that this is a fan work and made not for profit. It’s a labour of love and it looks absolutely amazing. The feature will be available via the internet in May, and in the meantime fans can catch at various festivals throughout the UK. We can only hope and pray that when Hollywood does call, it looks this good.

SEARCH/DESTROY – A STRONTIUM DOG FAN FILM / CERT: N/A / DIRECTORS:  STEPHEN GREEN, STEVEN STERLACCHINI / PRODUCER: STEVEN STERLACCHINI / MUSIC: MICHAEL SAVAGE / STARRING: MATTHEW SIMPSON, KEVIN HORSHAM, EDMUND DEHN, GUY HEPWORTH / RELEASE DATE: MAY 2017

At first glance, Jordan Peele’s Get Out looks and feels untouched by the popular comedian. The film represents a maturity on Peele’s part, a departure from the subversive yet silly antics that characterized Key and Peele and, more recently, Keanu. During the months leading up to its release, many people were taken aback by the tension and….realness on display in the marketing. However, despite its hard-hitting message and cutting criticism, the film exercises a restraint that further reinforces the suspicion that Peele knows he can do more with less. It’s this restraint that pushes his directorial debut from goodness to greatness; whenever a scene or a character strays too far from near-subtlety and into a more overt territory, he deftly redirects and defuses the tension building at an alarming but controlled rate. Get Out finds Peele at his absolute best, which is a high bar to clear considering his impressive resume and limitless talent.

 

Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) has been dating Rose (Allison Williams) for five months. When Rose invites Chris to her parents’ rural estate, he is hesitant. She neglected to tell her parents that he was black, a topic he feels should have been brought up during initial discussions. Upon their arrival at her parents’, Chris immediately feels welcome….in the worst way. The house and its inhabitants hide behind a veneer of pleasantness that’s almost as unsettling as the truth they’re so cleverly concealing.

 

Thankfully, the racial themes underpinning Get Out never once feel pointed or passive-aggressive. Peele’s attention remains fixed on society itself and not on one particular group of people. At times, the execution creates the illusion that it’s the other way around. However, Peele simply seeks to establish a deeper connection between himself and the audience by gifting us with a world viewed through his eyes. The interplay between whites and blacks in modern society isn’t an uncommon topic of discussion by any stretch, but the comedian manages to infuse his directorial debut with an originality that makes the film thoughtful, while still retaining a necessary sense of fun.

 

Clocking in at just over 100 minutes, the film packs plenty of critique into its lean runtime, even as it manages to have some fun with its premise. The protagonist sports charm and charisma that are atypical of such a quiet, reserved character, becoming a hero we can get behind within minutes of the situation heading south. Kaluuya, a relative unknown whose credits include an episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror and a minor role in Kick-Ass 2,  proves himself a capable lead worthy of our affections and admirations.

 

There’s something almost playful about the way Peele weaves his tale. The film boasts the aesthetic of a horror movie and the bite of sociopolitical commentary without ever force-feeding either to viewers. Instead, he gives audiences license to interpret what he’s offering in any way we please. The brilliance of Get Out lies in its ability to tug us in two directions and have both rings true. It’s this brilliance that makes Peele’s foray into horror/thriller territory a winner.

 

GET OUT / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JORDAN PEELE / STARRING: DANIEL KALUUYA, ALLISON WILLIAMS, BRADLEY WHITFORD / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 17TH

 

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

 

Actual Rating: