Review Category: Movie

MOVIE REVIEW: THE NUT JOB / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: PETER LEPENIOTIS / SCREENPLAY: LORNE CAMERON, PETER LEPENIOTIS / STARRING: WILL ARNETT, BRENDAN FRASER, LIAM NEESON, KATHERINE HEIGL, JEFF DUNHAM, MAYA RUDOLPH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

It’s sometimes hard reviewing a family-oriented animated movie, because for all its flaws, if it entertains kids, then its job is done. However, that does not mean that such a film can coast by with naff puns, cheese farts and ideas nicked from stockpiles of animated features from the last two decades. Enter this South Korean co-produced effort from Open Road Films. Already lined up for a sequel and with a rather impressive voice cast, The Nut Job is harmless, but the problem lies in how derivative it all is.

Set in 1959 (not that the era is of much relevance to the story) in the fictitious town of Oakton, the film sees a renegade and selfish squirrel named Surly (Arnett) falling out with his fellow park animals, led by Raccoon (Neeson), and being banished. However, when he finds himself hitting the jackpot at a peanut shop, which is currently a front for a bank robbery, the pack’s desperation for food forces a fragile truce. To say that The Nut Job has no ideas would be a fib; indeed the plot’s story of selfishness opening up to generosity is a fine one for toddlers, and the ending refreshingly sees the true hero choosing to stay out of the spotlight. That being said, by the time we get to the film’s genuinely good-willed finale, most will be too bored to care about the resolution.

The real issue here is that anything that works is indebted to something else. For instance, Surly is like a bad boy’s answer to A Bug’s Life’s Flick and the villain of the piece has Hopper-inspired moments, not to mention a Lotso Huggin’ Bear (Toy Story 3) vibe, replacing Sunnyside with a park. In fact, you spend half the time picking out where you have seen this or that in other movies. Antz, Bolt, Madagascar and especially Over the Hedge can all be felt in this film’s DNA and it’s all so lazily inconsequential. The Nut Job has a potentially interesting plot but the human element is drowned in naff gangster/heist film clichés and the animal’s story feels too similar to other and better, animated fare.

Animation does not always have to be polished; heck, much of the appeal of madcap films like Panique au Village, Belleville Rendezvous and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox can be attributed to the rougher creative stylings. However, The Nut Job feels more like a Disney Junior television special than a cinema release. There is intermittent charm and certain settings are easy on the eye, but some of the voice-work feels forced and the jokes majorly fall flat. Arnett’s leading squirrel attempts to be a fluffier, naughtier version of Remy (from Ratatouille, also featuring Arnett) but is not as likeable. In fact the only really noble character in the film is don’t-call-me-Princess-Anna red squirrel Andie (Heigl) and the token dozy dog Precious (Rudolph).

All in all – and with the teeth-grinding inclusion of an all-animal “Gangnam Style” rendition (not once but twice) neither forgotten nor forgiven – this animated effort is sadly a missable affair. Despite a stronger closing 10-15 minutes, it cannot escape feeling like a sub-par effort. There could have been a genuinely mad caper here but the makers have been watching too many flicks and omitted to distinguish theirs from the general run, leaving a harmless but massively lazy caper that kids and adults will soon forget. Think Shark Tale with squirrels, rats and raccoons!

Expected Rating: 6 out of 1o

Actual Rating:

REVIEW: THE PURGE – ANARCHY / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: JAMES DEMONACO / SCREENPLAY: JAMES DEMONACO / STARRING: FRANK GRILLO, ZACH GILFORD, KIELE SANCHEZ, CARMEN EJOGO, ZÖE SOUL, MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

In a year of pleasant surprises (Godzilla’s thematic closeness to Ishirō Honda’s 1954 original, 22 Jump Street’s success, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes triumphing this summer and that Guardians of the Galaxy post-credits scene) here is another. James DeMonaco’s The Purge was arguably not a high flier with reviewers back in 2012 but had a good premise going for it. The film was set in the not too distant future, where the annual purge has become a part of the American way of life. The purge is one 12-hour event every year where all crime (including murder) is made legal and allows citizens to cleanse their souls of darkness. The last film set up this potentially meaningful narrative but veered off more into a home invasion thriller, but for all those infuriated by that focus behind closed doors, maybe you should see what James DeMonaco offers up in this improved sequel.

The film follows three different character arcs during the twelve hours; one involving a geared up Sergeant Leo Barnes (Grillo) on some kind of mission, a couple stranded outside when their car breaks down and a mother and daughter cast into the murderous fray. Inevitably the characters meet and form a group to survive the night. Anarchy, in spite of the flaws that populate it, is a gritty and successful sequel. DeMonaco has clearly listened to the criticisms of the last film and has taken the action out onto the deadly streets of Los Angeles and consequently we have a movie that capitalises more on the concept. Anarchy really digs deeper into the rich/poor divide ideology (with a rich club subplot especially), also making time for government conspiracy and the rise of vigilantism in modern culture. It is not a groundbreaker by any means but Anarchy at least has a brain beneath the bullet-fraying violence.

This sequel in many ways feels unashamedly like a B-movie from the ’80s and Frank Grillo’s silent but deadly lead is the perfect anchor for this vibe. After his successful badass turn in this year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Grillo shows that he makes a fine leading man and a thoroughly convincing tough nut. The rest of the characters may not have quite as much impact, indeed stranded couple Shane (Gilford) and Liz’s (Sanchez) story is somewhat dropped come the climax – although Eva (Ejogo) and her daughter Cali (Soul) are believable victims with good hearts and Michael K. Williams is clearly having a ball as revolutionary anti-purge figurehead Carmelo. The film does not so much have villains as it does threats and its video game-like quality may mean there is a lack of depth or logic at times but the fun is there, as is the thought.

Anarchy takes its action, production, message and scale to a grander level and the masked hooligans, armed street gangs and shady surveillance forces all make this really live up to its title. This B-movie blast of violence and gangland thrills may have had little to live up to but all the same it emerges as a bit of a pleasant surprise. Even if the conclusion feels slightly too goodwilled for all that has come before, this is still an efficient genre picture. Years back you could well imagine Stallone or Schwarzenegger in the leading role and at times the film takes on the same violent energy as films like The Running Man and The Warriors to provide an engaging, not wholly developed but effective follow-up to a neat idea. No doubt the purge will come around again next year (in fact the closing line all but confirms it, as does the film’s nice profits thus far), but after this sequel, maybe that is not such a bad thing.

Expected Rating: 5 out of 10

Actual Rating:

 

MOVIE REVIEW: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: JAMES GUNN / SCREENPLAY: JAMES GUNN, NICOLE PERLMAN / STARRING: CHRIS PRATT, ZOE SALDANA, DAVID BAUTISTA, VIN DIESEL,BRADLEY COOPER, KAREN GILLAN, MICHAEL ROOKER, BENICIO DEL TORO, GLENN CLOSE / RELEASE DATE: JULY 31ST

A new movie title from Marvel Studios is always something to get worked up about. Their hit rate has been nothing short of phenomenal over the past few years, setting up and establishing familiar comic book characters in their own film series before effortlessly bringing them all together in the planet-conquering Avengers Assemble. But whilst Thor and Iron Man weren’t exactly household names prior to their arrival at your local multiplex they were pretty seamlessly assimilated into the popular psyche; Guardians of the Galaxy was always likely to be a riskier movie prospect. Here, after all, is a film starring a talking raccoon, a living sentient tree, a green-skinned alien assassin and a grey-skinned tattoo-covered warrior. Guardians of the Galaxy could have been a costly disaster for Marvel, a concept too far and too high for an audience more used to the Earthbound shenanigans of Tony Stark and co.

Fortunately Guardians of the Galaxy is, for the most part, a triumph. Director/co-scriptwriter James Gunn has clearly appreciated that his film could so easily have become a po-faced space opera, a muddy Star Wars wannabe creaking under the weight of endless men-in-cloaks banging on about extraordinary weapons and supreme power before launching into a string of soul-destroying space dogfights with bland square-jawed heroes. Instead he’s opted to dial back the dreary and infuse the film with an irresistible sense of fun, his mismatched heroes bickering and wise-cracking and quickly establishing themselves as startlingly believable real people despite the extraordinariness of their appearances.

Wisely the film eases the audience into its weirdness by introducing young Peter Quill (he listens to 10cc’s ‘I’m Not In Love’ on his Walkman, the boy has taste) on the night his mother dies in hospital in 1988. The devastated youth rushes outside only to be abducted by a massive alien spacecraft which hoves into view. Twenty-odd years later this self-same boy is now a man; he’s cocky, swaggering, still listening to funky music on his Walkman as he investigates “abandoned planet” Morag. He calls himself Star Lord now (even if nobody else does) but deep down he’s still Peter Quill, disenfranchised 20th century human adopted by alien scumbags known as the Ravagers. He soon attracts the attention of bounty hunting genetically-engineered talking raccoon Rocket and his tree-thing companion Groot – as well as the lethal assassin Gamora who has set her sights on a super-powerful artefact which Peter just happens to have appropriated.

The film’s plot treads a well-worn path; everyone’s after this magnificent Macguffin, a devastating weapon which will give its owner supreme power. Peter’s old Ravager mentor Yondu (The Walking Dead’s Michael Rooker) wants it but so does Ronan (Lee Pace), a Kree warrior dispatched by the mysterious Thanos (Josh Brolin) to locate and secure the artefact. Peter finds himself fighting alongside the biggest bunch of losers in the Galaxy and the film is at its best when they’re arguing – frequently – and taking cheap shots at one another. Gunn deftly gives each of his characters a (generally understated) backstory and is afforded the luxury of being able to punctuate the often relentless action with beautifully performed sequences where the so-called Guardians just snip and snipe at one another. They argue about each other, they argue about their situation, they argue about Peter’s choice of man-bag: “It’s not a purse, it’s a knapsack!”

In truth Guardians of the Galaxy stands or falls by the chemistry between its core cast and the slick wit and sense of fun inherent in Gunn’s script. Everyone gets a chance to be funny, from John C. Reilly’s stuffy Novacorps soldier Rhomann Day to Christopher Fairbank’s mannered, well-spoken historian; there’s added colour too from background characters gifted the odd one-liner or setting-up some clever sight-gag. The film only really sags when it drifts too close to the box marked ‘generic space adventure’; the special effects are impressive, of course, but they run the risk now and again of dominating and overwhelming the narrative by distracting us from the characters we’re warming to and having fun with. Gunn keeps the action moving at a pace that’s sometimes exhausting but amidst all the explosions and the crashing spaceships and exploding cityscapes there’s usually room for a quick quip or laugh-out-loud gag.

Simplistic storyline aside, Guardians of the Galaxy gets more right than it does wrong. It’s a big cast and not everyone’s best served; Karen Gillan does good work as ruthless killer (and Gamora’s sibling) Nebula but she’s pretty one-dimensional and Benicio del Toro’s Collector, glimpsed briefly (and slightly incongruously) at the end of Thor: The Dark World is little more than a cameo. But it’s really all about the Guardians and when they’re on screen together the film just buzzes. Chris Pratt, his comedy chops honed in the sublime Parks and Recreation, is a hoot as space slacker/tragic hero Peter and David Bautista brings a wonderful dryness to the literal minded Drax the Destroyer. But the show is more often than not stolen by CGI creations Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (his three words of dialogue voiced by Vin Diesel) who get the biggest laughs and, in the end, the most emotive character arcs.

Marvel Studios can breathe a sigh of relief. Their most audacious movie investment has paid off in spades. Guardians might not be the best sci-fi blockbuster of the year – it’s not as smart as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes nor, fortunately, as knuckle-dragging as Transformers: Age of Extinction. But it’s kicked off a potentially long-running new franchise in fine style; the Galaxy’s in safe hands with these Guardians.

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10

Actual Rating:

MOVIE REVIEW: HERCULES / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: BRETT RATNER / SCREENPLAY: RYAN J. CONDAL, EVAN SPILIOTOPOULOS / STARRING: DWAYNE JOHNSON, JOHN HURT, IAN MCSHANE / RELEASE DATE: JULY 25TH

Talk about playing to your strengths. With a body like a condom full of rocks, Dwayne Johnson was born to play mythical hero Hercules and definitely appears much more comfortable than Arnie ever did in Hercules in New York. Brett Ratner’s new take on the old legend is based on the graphic novel by Steve Moore and has plenty to recommend it.

The supposed son of Greek God Zeus and a mortal mother, Hercules has only one of his legendary labours left to complete as the film begins. The previous labours are all summed up in a ‘previously on Hercules’ introduction before The Rock gets serious, taking on the Herculean task of building an army and fighting a war. The myths surrounding Hercules are well known across Thrace but he and his band of merry men (and one woman) are really just simple mercenaries out to gain enough gold for an early retirement. When Lord Cotys of Thrace (Hurt) asks for Hercules’ help in quashing a deadly foe, he must battle his own personal demons and quite possibly some mythical creatures to save an empire.

So this is what The Rock has been building up to since taking on minor roles in films like The Scorpion King. Whereas that film was a disgraceful, turgid CGI mess, Hercules puts its hero front and centre and comes out on top. The muscle man who formerly rocked a fanny pack, now shows off more than just an impressive six pack. He’s a decent actor, an alpha male with a heart, and a hugely impressive physical specimen. His Hercules certainly looks the business. Whether it’s years spent in the gym or the genes of a God that have made him that way, Dwayne Johnson is a convincing son of a God.

But Hercules himself is too earnest to be a really interesting character and even The Rock would find carrying this film a burden single-handedly. His tragic past and moody present as a mercenary warrior who just wants to seek solitude reeks of seen-it-all-before. Lucky then, that Hercules is surrounded by a colourful bunch of pantomime characters. Rufus Sewell shines in a rare role where he is not the instantly slappable bad guy, Ian McShane has a ball with his future-predicting visionary and Ingrid Bolsø Berdal is a brilliantly badass Amazonian archer. Refreshingly, it’s not just the female character who gets stuck in a mini-skirt either. Hercules has an embarrassment of riches in its cast, also boasting the likes of John Hurt and Peter Mullan in major roles. While there is nothing truly meaty for them to get their teeth into, they are still given enough to do to justify the paycheques.

Once Hercules gets past his CGI labours and gets to the battles, Ratner ups the ante with some vicious and impressive battle scenes. The lack of blood is sometimes disappointing but the mostly practical fight scenes (with some CGI noticeably but not intrusively used) create some satisfying carnage. The battles are immersive and tense and all the better for not being stuffed with CGI created ‘fucking centaurs’ as Hercules calls them.

As Hercules is tasked with turning farmers into soldiers, we get lumbered with the obligatory montage and there are no points for guessing any of the last act revelations. However, when the big man and his companions are threatened, it is still a pleasure to watch him unleash the beast on his captors. Sometimes, with all the sets, special effects and star power, you might just find your mind wandering, imagining what HBO could do given this kind of budget for the rest of Game of Thrones.

Still, after watching Dwayne Johnson pumping Fast and Furious and G.I. Joe full of his franchise Viagra, it is good to finally see him fill the frame as leading man. Hercules has been a labour of love for the ex-wrestler and his pet project doesn’t disappoint. If you haven’t already tried it, now might be a good time to smell what The Rock is cooking. It definitely doesn’t stink.

Expected Rating: 4 out of 10

Actual Rating:

MOVIE REVIEW: THE DEN / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: ZACHARY DONOHUE / SCREENPLAY: ZACHARY DONOHUE, LAUREN THOMPSON / STARRING: MELANIE PAPALIA, PAT REIDY / FRIGHTFEST PREMIERE DATE: AUGUST 22ND (VOD OUT NOW)

A Woman Witnesses A Murder Online. You Won’t Believe What Happens Next. Conducting a study on internet chat programme The Den (Chat Roulette by another name), Elizabeth delves deep into the murky world of video-based social media. Predictably, she finds little at first but gyrating genitalia and self-abusing sleazeballs. It’s not long before she stumbles across her first murder.

Investigating the apparent crime, Elizabeth is unaware that she is unwittingly closing in on her own confrontation with the killer. What makes the story even more compelling is the manner of its presentation: comprised almost entirely of webcam and video chat footage, complete with whatever open windows, e-mail and spam are also running on her screen at the time. Yes, it’s found footage, but it uses the format so well that it’s hard to begrudge the film its little lapses into cliché.

The jump scares are almost constant, from its (predictably arch) opening gambit to its more genuine, brutal shocks towards the end. Melanie Papalia is a likeable lead as Elizabeth (possessing the sort of wonderfully expressive face which works so well for found footage); a vulnerable leading lady with enough intelligence and strength to not be a complete damsel-in-distress throughout. She is mostly a damsel-in-distress, but at least she gets a good few licks in first.

Presented so matter-of-factly, with a creepy understated realism, The Den is the best thing the subgenre has produced in years. Compelling, discomforting and frequently witty, it’s a lovely change of pace from the repetitive, derivative supernatural and urban legend-inspired movies that the found footage movement has been churning out for a while now. And, until we can come up with a word that describes what The Den is, found footage will have to do. Best of all though, its presentation doesn’t feel like a gimmick; being well-employed by the story in a (mostly) organic manner that serves to accentuate its scares rather than distracting from them. Even better, it doesn’t save all the good stuff until the last five minutes – keeping as steady a handle on its pacing as it does on everything else.

The Den isn’t without its problems – logistically, it’s hard to keep track of where the cameras are supposed to be and who’s operating them, while the film inevitably struggles to justify the characters constantly recording their actions. Still, such problems are easily forgiven. The Den is a rarity – a found footage horror film that actually feels original.

THE DEN plays at FrightFest on Discovery Screen 2, Friday August 22nd.

REVIEW: THE HOUSE OF MAGIC / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: BEN STASSEN, JÉRÉMIE DEGRUSON / SCREENPLAY: BEN STASSEN, JAMES FLYNN, DOMINIC PARIS / STARRING: MURRAY BLUE, GEORGE BABBIT, SHANELLE GRAY, EUGENE LEVY, GRANT GEORGE / RELEASE DATE: JULY 25TH

When Thunder the cat is abandoned by his owners, he seeks refuge in the home of Lawrence, an ageing stage magician who entertains children at a local hospital. Embraced by the old man’s horde of clockwork automata but mistrusted by his pets, rabbit Jack and mouse Maggie, he and they nevertheless must band together to prevent Lawrence’s odious nephew Daniel from selling the house out from under him.

Unlike many animated films nowadays that are made to appeal to as large an age range as possible, The House of Magic is very much aimed at children. However, this doesn’t necessarily need to be a bad thing. While its very simple story lacks the necessary twists and turns to keep adults completely engaged, kids should respond very well to the inventive methods the animals dream up to scare away potential buyers of the house.

The human characters are a little one note, but it’s the animals who are the focus of the story and each of them has a distinct, if uncomplicated personality. Thunder is sweet and lovable without being overtly cutesy (no Puss in Boots-style saucer eyes here) and as he is effectively a child himself, little kids will see something in him to relate to and find him engaging as an underdog hero.

The house itself is a lavishly designed labyrinth of wonder, somehow at once gloomy and Gothic yet lively and colourful. Made in 3D rather than converted in post production, the visual spectacle truly benefits from the extra dimension, providing greater depth (figuratively and literally) to the images and a greater sense of scale for sharp angles. Although it is occasionally utilised in the slightly gimmicky way of having things thrown at the screen, such occurrences never feel forced and fit in with the natural progression of events.

For the most part, the prevailing atmosphere is one of adventure rather than peril, and the message of the importance of trusting each other and working together is a good one for children to take away. Although things get a little intense at the film’s climax – one occurrence in particular will likely cause some viewers to balk at its use – the action is more exciting than outright scary.

Director Ben Stassen (A Turtle’s Tale, Fly Me to the Moon) has crafted a film that kids will enjoy endless repeat viewings of, and while their parents may get a little bored, they could certainly do a lot worse.

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating:

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL BAY / SCREENPLAY: EHREN KRUGER / STARRING: MARK WAHLBERG, NICOLA PELTZ, JACK REYNOR, STANLEY TUCCI, KELSEY GRAMMER, TITUS WELLIVER, LI BINGBING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Michael Bay doesn’t just want your money. He wants China’s money, Red Bull’s money, Victoria’s Secret’s money and Bud Light’s money. The product placement in Age of Extinction is as unoriginal as everything else in the fourth instalment of the Transformers franchise. Seeing those conveniently placed products and adverts shoved right in your eye sockets is nearly as unsubtle as seeing Optimus Prime ride a Dinobot through Hong Kong.

The thing is, Bay promised he wouldn’t be back. After ignoring the critics’ panning of the third film and making a mint on Transformers: Dark of the Moon (seventh biggest film of all time!), he decided not to leave the franchise and instead to have a fourth go at transforming our childhood memories into bloated blockbuster Bayhem. Anyone hoping that the infamous director has toned any of his excesses down in Age of Extinction should forget about seeing this manic but infuriating reboot/sequel.

Set three years after the events of the previous film, Age of Extinction aims for a fresh start by ditching Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and that other model from the third film. Gone too are the wacky Witwicky parents and instead, now the main character is a parent himself. Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) is a failing inventor with a barn full of busted-up robot junk and a (surprise, surprise) smoking-hot teen daughter (Peltz). While scoping out an old cinema, Cade finds an old truck which, lo and behold, turns out to be a very badly damaged Optimus Prime.

Since the decimation of Chicago three years earlier, the Transformers have become public enemy number one and even the Autobots have been hunted down and killed by a shady CIA black ops unit run by Harold Attinger (Grammer). Meanwhile, corporate bigwig Joshua (Stanley Tucci) has been building his own Transformers that he thinks will form an army to defend America from all its future enemies. 

Despite all the talk of Transformer terrorists and defending freedom, Age of Extinction has not a single subtle subtextual bone in its mighty impressive body. This is the equivalent of a director of overstuffed spectacle getting his balls out and swinging them around so hard that he knocks over all the furniture. Such is the audacity of Bay, that in an early scene he has one character bemoan endless remakes and sequels of modern cinema. How ironic… not.

This is the kind of film where the villain is introduced in a shadowy boardroom, every moment on a Texas farm is filmed at that gorgeous Malickian magic hour and every shot of the bad guys is taken from a ludicrously low angle that makes them loom over the camera. It looks superb, but beneath it all is a shallow, borderline-offensive film that is as repetitive as it is dumb.

The daddy-daughter dynamic is tired before it even gets going. Bay sticks the camera down Peltz’s top and then has Wahlberg chastise the size of her shorts. The director ogles every woman’s legs and has every exchange between Cade and Tessa be a concern over boys and dating. The only guy Wahlberg’s character should really be worried about being near his teen daughter is the 49-year-old Michael Bay. At least he holds back from draping her over any vehicles like Megan Fox put up with through two films. The dynamic between father and daughter provides few laughs and even less opportunity for character development.

Not that character development is what audiences are flocking to a Transformers film for. The new Autobots are a forgettable bunch except Hound who at least isn’t a crass racial stereotype, unlike some others. Cade is an unexceptional individual, made mildly amusing by the likeable Wahlberg. Tessa is the pretty Barbie doll to be thrown around along with the rest of Bay’s toys and Jack Reynor as Tessa’s boyfriend Shane gets little to do except drive fast and be the butt of Wahlberg’s tiresome Irish jokes. Only Stanley Tucci gets to stand out as a character who is aware of the ridiculousness of the film he is in, and even has a hysterical breakdown at the insanity of it all.

As one character exclaims, it really is both ‘awesome and insane’. While it’s all too easy to pick apart its plot, poke fun at its distracting product placement and cringe at its sexist machismo, Age of Extinction does have some occasionally outstanding action. However, what is becoming increasingly and frustratingly clear as the franchise (and Bay’s career) continues, is that when it comes to visual effects there is definitely such a thing as having too much of a good thing. While the transformations and city destruction are undoubtedly spectacular, what is more impressive are the action scenes featuring good old-fashioned cars and people. The best moments offer beautiful cars in stunning landscapes, and car chases that for the most part feel crunchily convincing. Though Bay appears forced to shoehorn China into the plot to justify financial backing, the buildings of Hong Kong make for an exciting rooftop chase between Wahlberg and one CIA bad guy.

There’s no denying that Bay has made some good, fun action comedies. However, he’s made the Transformers franchise over-complicated, from the actual robots, to the swollen stories full of characters you will struggle to remember, to the excessive city-trashing set-pieces. He may have Optimus Prime ride into Hong Kong on a Dinobot but by that time, you’re likely to be past caring anymore. It’s time for Bay to go back to what he does best: Bad Boys 3 anyone?

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10

Actual Rating:

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REVIEW: THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: ROBERT WEINE / SCREENPLAY: CARL MAYER, HANS JONWITZ / STARRING: WERNER KRAUSS, CONRAD VEIDT, FRIEDRICH FREHER / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 29TH

Robert Weine’s proto-horror movie united Expressionism and Freudian nightmares. The brand new 4K digital restoration of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a marvel to behold and has revealed picture details possibly not seen, due to print quality issues, since 1920.

Two plot twists occur in the film, but it’s the second one that is the most terrifying and thematically resonant. After the story is unveiled as the crazed imaginings of a damaged brain, the wildly Expressionist sets remain. There is no return to a more naturalistic environment that would provide a clear delineation between fact and fantasy.

The representation of a reality with no basis in our world must have been startling at the time. The characters and the world they occupy is like Edvard Munch’s 1893 masterpiece, The Scream, come to vivid life. Owing a clear debt to burgeoning avant-garde fine art and the theatre, the film’s influence on other movies would in turn be massive.

A couple of scenes feel pivotal to the subsequent development of horror cinema: Cesare waking up during a show (he’s a somnambulist controlled by the fiendish Dr. Caligari) and the kidnapping of Jane. Watching Cesare (Veidt) stirring from sleep at the command of his master’s voice is like watching a dead body reanimate after zombification. The eyes express a profound confusion and sorrow. Here, this sideshow attraction – this carny ghoul act – appears to acknowledge his own monstrousness. A brilliant piece of acting by Veidt, it’s a representation of a fiend resigned to his fate and yet it indicates, too, that not all monsters are inherently evil.

Even if the camera placement and framing (in general) does not replicate the wild angles of the magnificently artificial sets, the scene in which Cesare kidnaps Jane is noteworthy. Abandoning the initial close-ups and cuts of the sneaking murderer rising into view and creeping through a large set of glass doors, director Weine uses deep-focus to excellent effect. Jane sleeps in the foreground and Cesare approaches the girl (and the camera) with a ghostlike stealth from the background. It is an early example of palpable screen terror.

Writers have suggested that The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was a foreshadowing of the coming Nazi era. Whether you find such a theory fanciful or intriguing, the film has remained an important benchmark in cinema history as it presented us with the idea that celluloid visions could be haunting and sinister.

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

Actual Rating:

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REVIEW: MOOD INDIGO / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: MICHEL GONDRY / SCREENPLAY: MICHEL GONDRY / STARRING: ROMAIN DURIS, AUDREY TAUTOU, GAD ELMALEH, OMAR SY / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 1ST

Imagine taking Roman Holiday directed by Federico Fellini channeling Pee Wee’s Playhouse, the surreal imagery of Orson Welles’ The Trial and throwing in the work of artist Mark Ryden. Mood Indigo is a visual treat using impressive stop motion animation and forced perspectives in a surreal, Kubrickesque, cinema vérité world, but sadly, Gondry’s imagery goes on too long delivering style but no substance.

Wealthy bachelor Colin (Duris) spends his time creating odd, Rube Goldberg-inspired contraptions such as the piano cocktail (a cocktail making piano that would make Liberace blush), enjoying exotic dishes prepared by his friend and chef, Nicholas (Sy) while hanging out with his best buddy, Chick (Elmaleh), a devout worshipper and collector of memorabilia of existentialist laureate, Jean-Sol Parte (an obvious reference to Jean-Paul Sartre).

A chance meeting at a party has him smitten by Chloe (Tautou), where they fall in love dancing to music by Duke Ellington in a bizarre, nightmarish dance routine called the biglemoi that looks like something from out of a ’40s Warner Brothers cartoon.

One dream-like event leads to another in this strange, fantasy love story that includes a flying cloud crane lifting our starstruck lovers over Paris and the revolving flowers in the florist shop run by an owner whose dress changes as quickly as the flowers do.

Over time, our two lovers decide to wed, but must compete in a stop motion car race through an Escher-like church with Chick and his girlfriend. Whoever reaches the minister first, gets to be married which is quite creative.

Mood Indigo starts out as a fun, comical romp, but slowly spirals downward into the dark, sombre abyss that puts a damper on the film, especially with the melancholy ending. Gondry does a good job adapting Boris Vian’s novels, but this film will probably only satisfy effects enthusiasts and followers of Vian’s work.

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

Actual Rating:

 

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REVIEW: DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES / CERT: 12A / DIRECTOR: MATT REEVES / SCREENPLAY: RICK JAFFA, AMANDA SILVER, MARK BOMBACK / STARRING: ANDY SERKIS, JASON CLARKE, GARY OLDMAN, TOBY KEBBELL, KERI RUSSELL, NICK THURSTON, KIRK ACEVEDO / RELEASE DATE: JULY 17TH

J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson, Roberto Orci, Michael Bay… take note, this is how you craft an new entry in a long-running franchise while adding something new and interesting to the mix. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a master class in how to make an engaging prequel/sequel.

Following on from 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn picks up “ten winters” later with Caesar (Serkis) and his troupe of super-intelligent apes living happily in San Francisco’s Mount Tam State Park. Having not seen any humans for the past “two winters”, the ape’s idyllic lifestyle is rudely interrupted by a group of humans searching in the woods for something that their struggling community desperately needs; humans who know absolutely nothing of these upright walking, talking apes or their origins, setting the scene for a confrontation between man and ape that we all know the eventual outcome of.

That the path of the series is set in stone doesn’t seem to have bothered the filmmakers, who build a powerful tale of Caesar and Malcolm (Clarke), one of the founders of the human community along with Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus, attempting to build trust and friendship between the two species, and deal with the multiple obstacles in their way. What could have easily become an annoying cavalcade of obvious mix-ups between species becomes something so much more interesting as predictable sources of conflict are highlighted (the human with an irrational fear of the apes, accidental misunderstandings) and then managed competently by the characters or dismissed in favour of much more complex and interesting dynamics between the characters, both human and ape, although the apes are most definitely to the fore in this film.

Caesar and his close comrades are the core of the film, and are absolutely astounding to the point that they will inevitably be passed over in acting and special effects awards simply because they look so real. Only when the behind the scenes videos of Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, and Nick Thurston in their motion capture rigs surface will it be shown how much of the film rests on their acting ability combined with the high tech special effects. The apes’ faces are so expressive it’s hard not to over-empathise with them and even though they primarily communicate with each other through sign language, only using their voices to emphasise a point or talk to the humans, the sequences with them “talking” amongst themselves are never dull.

Matt Reeves’ direction is solid without being overly showy, the desolation of this future world underscored by occasional images of great beauty, such as a San Francisco partly reclaimed by nature, or the apes’ forest home. Reeves cleverly uses familiar sounds cues such as an iPad’s charging beep or a classic rock song to underscore just how desolate this future has become for humanity.

Despite the best efforts of Caesar and his friends, conflict and strife become inevitable and the action scenes are staged thrillingly, with a siege and battle atop a tower standing out, although there are still plenty of surprises in store. The true horror of war becomes all too real to many of the apes and humans, albeit far too late. A satisfying, if somewhat disheartening climax, seems to set the scene for an even more direct sequel, and based upon the storytelling skill on display here it’s a sequel that will be very highly anticipated.

Expected Rating: 8 out of 10

Actual Rating:

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