Movie Review – Black Mass (2015)

Director: Scott Cooper

Stars: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard

The true story of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger (Depp), notorious Boston gangster who enjoyed an alliance with FBI agent and friend John Connolly (Edgerton).

Black Mass is a fairly decent gangster film, but it’s standard and follows the same beats as most other gangster films. The most interesting aspects are that Bulger has a close friendship with Connolly and is brothers with a Senator, although I have to say that I was expecting Cumberbatch to have a larger role. Depp gives a good performance and is terrifying in places, while Edgerton depicts a somewhat tragic figure, although he does come across as being, quite frankly, an idiot.

Connelly spoke of loyalty and was evidently devoted to Bulger because of what had happened in his youth, but it was a very one-sided relationship. I feel that perhaps a flashback to their youth would have given more substance to their relationship and more reasons why Connelly had such unwavering loyalty to Bulger.

The structure of the film had potential to be interesting as it showed all of Bulger’s crew revealing secrets about him, so the film should have been really tense as it showed how Bulger could lose the loyalty of these trusted men, but there were so many time jumps it felt like a lot happened off-screen, and much had to be intimated. Much of what Bulger did was only hinted at as well, and it just feels like the balance of the film is off. It spans a long time but there’s a lack of focus, and it means that it doesn’t get to explore anything in any great depth. For what it wanted to cover I feel that a tv series would have been better.

All in all it was an okay movie with good acting. I feel that it wanted to do too much and should have had more of a focus.

Movie Review – Wreckers (2011)

Director: Dictynna Hood

Stars: Claire Foy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shaun Evans, Peter McDonald, Sinead Matthews

Dawn (Foy) and David (Cumberbatch) have moved back to David’s childhood village in the hope of starting a new life. However, soon after arriving they’re paid a surprise visit by Nick (Evans), David’s brother, who has just come home from the war. They take him in but soon realize that he’s suffering from PTSD, but that a lot of his troubles are rooted in his and David’s childhood. As a result of this Dawn is shown a side to her husband that she has not seen before, and it casts her marriage in a whole new light.

Wreckers is a film that feels like it wants to be high on human drama but then forgets to follow through with it. There’s adultery, jealousy, lust, greed, secrets, deceit, all the ingredients to weave a tangled web of lies between the small group of characters and yet it all ends up feeling rather empty and hollow. The main problem, I feel, is that it tries to be too ambiguous with its subject matter. A lot of the motivations and feelings of the characters aren’t defined clearly and by the end I didn’t have a real insight into what was happening. I felt the actors did an okay job at conveying certain emotions but not enough was stated explicitly.

The arrival of Nick causes a lot of secrets to come from the past, and this is interesting as I like a bit of mystery and there are some dark secrets. But they always seem to be lurking in the background and when they are uncovered they barely register with the characters, and are only mentioned briefly before the film moves on to the next problem, and the next secret. As a result they pile up without being resolved.

The central theme of the movie seems to be that we should gloss over the bad parts of life for the sake of fully enjoying the good, but I’m not sure this is a suitable philosophy to promote. But again, that’s just my interpretation of the nebulous theme, it could well be that there is no theme and the director simply wanted to show a dark side of human nature.

To illustrate my concerns I’ll give you an example. At one point there’s a sex scene between two of the characters and initially it seems like rape. He comes into her house uninvited and creeps up the stairs while she waits, frozen and wide eyed. Yet later on she doesn’t flinch when she sees him and in fact greets him cheerily, and this confused me a great deal because at no point was I sure of how I was supposed to feel about anything that was going on. I suppose it could be a commentary on the complexity of human interactions but I feel like I have to struggle to piece together a meaning of the film, and the one question I’m left with is, ‘is it worth it?’.

No, it’s not. I don’t want to have to put this much thought into figuring out a film when the film doesn’t give me much to work with. It’s all well and good introducing secrets and problems, but I want to know why they happened. I want to know what the characters feel. In Wreckers the characters seem distant and it feels like the viewer has to do the majority of the work to find enjoyment in it, so I can’t recommend it.

Movie Reviews – The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

Director: Peter Jackson

Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Aiden Turner, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Stephen Fry & I think that’s pretty much all the major players but there are loads more so I’m not going to write them all out.

This weekends sees the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The cinema I go to decided to show The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug prior to the new release to create an 8 hour triple bill of Middle Earthy goodness, meaning you get three reviews packed into one post! Aren’t you lucky?

Prior to this I had not seen any of the films as I only saw the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings last year (as a hint, I thought they were pretty good but I did have some strong dislikes and overall I found them to be overrated). So going into this marathon I wasn’t as excited as many of the other people in attendance, of which there were way more than I expected. It was a Thursday evening from 6pm – 230am so I didn’t think it would be convenient for most people but it was packed, so there we go. As such, parts of the films blur into each other.

An Unexpected Journey begins with Gandalf helping a company of Dwarves to take back their home; a mountain fort that is currently occupied by a terrible dragon called Smaug. Bilbo Baggins (who you may be familiar with thanks to the huge Leonard Nimoy hit ‘The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins‘) is recruited to be their burglar and they set off across Middle Earth to take back their home annnd, well, not much else happens in that one, except that there’s also a darkness entering the land in the form of a mysterious Necromancer. In The Desolation of Smaug there’s a detour to the Wood-Elf kingdom as the company make their way to the mountain, and then they go through Lake Town where the distinctively-accented Luke Evans is waiting for them (seriously, I love that dude’s voice, it’s amazing). Then it’s dragon time! The Battle of the Five Armies is about as self-explanatory as it gets.

I’d say I probably like these a little less than the original trilogy. The plus points of The Hobbit is that there’s barely any Frodo or Gollum, who are both characters that I don’t like at all. The last film only has one ending, unlike the 47 of Return of the King. I like the throughline of greed and corruption, and how it can eat away at the soul. It’s a good thematic connection with the original trilogy and it works well to provide a sense of foreboding once Bilbo gets his hands on the ring. It’s present in all three films and the future is reflected in Smaug and Thorin. There are hints about what’s to come with Sauron but I liked how it was in the background and how the ring was just something Bilbo picked up along the way.

The main story of the Dwarves getting back to their home though….eh. It’s not something that I felt hugely invested in. Part of the problem is that aside from a few Dwarves none of them felt developed as characters. Thorin was obviously the one that we had most invested in, but then there was Gimli’s dad, James Nesbitt, Zachary Quinto lookalike, Zachary Quinto lookalike’s brother, the old one, the angry one, and the rest. As a result the whole quest fell a bit flat, and this is most obvious in the first film. Nothing much of consequence happens and I feel the events of the film could be summed up in a short passage at the beginning of the second film and you wouldn’t miss out on much. The action set-pieces feel like they’re there to draw out proceedings rather than add anything to the story.

The second films beings with a bizarre prologue to the first film, where Gandalf meets Thorin. Very odd. The Dwarves continue their journey but this time they get into Elf territory and everyone’s favourite Elf (aside from Will Ferrell) appears! Legolas adds some presence and I enjoyed Lilly as Tauriel (the female presence in these films was severely lacking, would it have hurt them to turn a few of the Dwarves into women? Although given the lack of development it would have been a token gesture, but still, it’s better than nothing). The two of them are basically superheroes and pull off some incredibly cool attacks, although at times they do feel a bit too unbeatable.

Smaug is impressive and there aren’t enough good films about dragons. I liked how the fact that he talked was simply accepted and we didn’t have to have a whole backstory about how he was able to talk. I also loved the part where the gold starts moving and it gives a sense of just how massive he is. The effects are great and the fight between the dragon and the dwarves is a pretty awesome spectacle, I’m not going to lie, especially with the shimmering gold in the background. However, as much as I liked that the ending is complete rubbish. It’s the worst type of ending where it feels the film has been chopped off unnaturally, especially since it’s wrapped up quickly at the beginning of the following film, and in a telegraphed and predictable manner!

There was no need for that cliffhanger and it annoys me because it feels like manufactured tension. They could have easily resolved Smaug’s story in the film ABOUT SMAUG.

That leads to The Battle of the Five Armies and actually I really enjoyed this one. It’s basically one big battle and the fight scenes are really cool, I liked how the different factions interaction with each other and how the corruption played into the battle. The rivalries that had been built up paid off, but again Legolas has the best moments. The spectacle of the whole thing is impressive and I really did like the creepiness of the Necromancer.

So those are my impressions. I think they’re pretty good but I’m not completely enthused about them. While there are good moments in each of the films it’s only the third one I can say I really enjoyed. The other two are okay.

Movie Review – The Imitation Game (2014)

Director: Morten Tyldum

Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong, Charles Dance, Allen Leech, Rory Kinnear, Matthew Beard

The Imitation Game is the story of Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) as he and a team of cryptologists race against time to try and break the seemingly impossible German Enigma code, while also showing the tragic events of his later life.

The Imitation Game floats between three time periods. The main chunk of the film is around WWII, but it also jumps between his childhood a school and then his later life when he gets burgled and a tenacious detective starts to look into Turing’s past. I thought each of these periods were interesting to watch but I found it strange how some of them were marked with a date and location while others weren’t. Still, it’s not difficult to tell which time period is being focused on.

I found the plot about Enigma fascinating, as most war films focus on the blood and thunder of the battlefield (which makes for more epic and rousing cinema). I liked how it focused on the puzzle of the code, and Tyldum was able to eke out surprising tension from watching dials on a machine rotate. There are scenes of warfare thrown in though, so one never forgets that there is a horrible conflict going on. Cumberbatch has received many plaudits for his performance already so all I’m going to say is that they’re well deserved. The rest of the cast give strong performances as well, most notably Keira Knightley who shows a steely resolve.

I liked the kind of brain trust and the dynamics of the team, because no-one really liked or trusted Turing. At one point during the film it’s revealed that there’s a Soviet spy working for the codebreakers, but nobody seems that worried about it and it’s almost forgotten about. In fact I had wondered whether it was all a ploy to set Turing up, since after they proved it wasn’t him it wasn’t really mentioned again until much later. I did, however, love the ethical and moral decisions that they had to make towards the latter end of the film.

I thought The Imitation Game was pretty good. The treatment of him for being homosexual certainly sheds a light on a horrible part of our history and it’s awful that anyone should have had to gone through that, let alone a man who should be (and now is) considered a war hero.

Movie Review – August: Osage County (2013)

Director: John Wells

Stars: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Margo Martindale, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Misty Upham

After the patriarch of a family dies, the members gather at his house after the funeral where tensions run high. There’s a lot of betrayal, anger, and pain as secrets are revealed and old hostilities are brought boiling to the surface.

These types of films can be hit and miss because while you’re watching a film you ask yourself why do you care about these people? August: Osage County is definitely a hit. At times it can be gruelling to watch because the characters are mostly unlikeable and at times you just want to shout at them to chill out, but that’s good because it sucks you into the film and makes you invested in them, in a twisted sort of way. It’s a fairly big cast, and an immensely talented one at that, and they all at least get a moment to shine. However, despite the ensemble nature it’s really Streep and Roberts’ film.

Streep is Violet, the widow, who is suffering from mouth cancer and also an addiction to pills. Roberts is Barbara, the headstrong child who clashes with her mother over and over again. The two of them give powerful, unflinching performances and anyone who wonders why Meryl Streep is so highly regarded should watch this film. Its a powerhouse performance that absolutely dominates the screen and commands attention, and it’s only really Roberts who can keep up with her.

I don’t think this film will be for everybody because it is quite bleak and at the end a lot of things are left unresolved, but this isn’t really a plot driven story. It’s providing a window into these peoples’ lives and the strength of the characters is what sees this film through. So if you like family dramas then I highly recommend this film.

What Next for Star Trek?

It’s been a week since I watched Star Trek Into Darkness. I’m planning to see it for a second time in the next few days but I’ve been thinking about the film a lot over the past week. I still have a few qualms with certain elements of the story but I’m intrigued by the possibilities they left open for the next film. I consider myself a bit of a Trexpert so I’m going to outline a few ways into which the franchise can boldy go. Obviously there will be spoilers for Star Trek Into Darkness, so if you haven’t seen the film yet go watch it right now, then come back and read this (and check out my review).

1 – Khan

I told you there would be spoilers. I apologise if this did spoil you but you should have followed my instructions and watched the film! Anyway, so Khan isn’t marooned on Ceti Alpha V but he is put back into suspended automation. I wasn’t too enamoured by the use of Khan. I think that because they took so much effort to establish this new continuity it opened the world up for brand new stories and it seemed a shame to revisit Khan in the very next movie, of course sometimes it is fun to encounter familiar things with new twists. I think my main disappointment is that they cribbed almost an entire scene from The Wrath of Khan, which took away a lot of the emotional drama. 

 However, Benedict Cumberbatch was awesome as Khan. He had such a powerful, chilling presence that you just want to see more. I think now he has more of a reason to seek vengeance against Kirk (or perhaps his wrath will be directed more towards Spock) than he did in The Wrath of Khan. But I wouldn’t like to see him in the next film. There’s a tendency for laypeople to elevate Khan as Star Trek’s main villain, but prior to this movie he was only in one episode and one movie. Out of 700+ hours that isn’t much. I’d rather not see the focus of the movies narrowly stick to Khan so while I’d like to see Benedict Cumberbatch return as Khan I hope it isn’t for the next movie or two at least (assuming they get that far). 

2 – War with Klingons

Admiral Marcus seemed to think war with Klingons was inevitable. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s proved right. They haven’t featured much in the new films but I loved the little bit we did get. They’re always an intriguing race and are a huge part of the fabric that makes up Star Trek. Outside of Deep Space 9 there haven’t been many huge fleet battles. The closest we’ve come in the movies is in First Contact. The budget and special effects could do such a battle justice and I’m sure it would be an incredible sight on the big screen. Also, the landscape of this Alpha Quadrant has changed with the destruction of Vulcan, and I think the Klingons may be willing to press for war. Let’s not forget too that in The Original Series it was only the Organians that prevented an all-out conflict between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. 

Having said that, it risks turning Star Trek into Star Wars. If they do go this route I hope there’s a lot of drama and context to give the war depth rather than just ‘kewl space battles pew pew pew’. I would like to see some proper ship-to-ship combat though. So far the Enterprise has gone up against two vastly superior ships, so I’d like to see a ‘Balance of Terror’ situation, which would help flesh out Kirk’s character as we get to see a side of him that has gone explored – the strategist. 

3 – Borg

This is one idea I am completely behind. I know they appeared a lot in Voyager and they lost a lot of their menace but The Borg have the potential to be one of the most scariest antagonists. I’d love to see what the Bad Robot team would have in store for a redesign of The Borg, and hopefully they would be Queen-less. And, aside from the books by William Shatner, Kirk has never faced the Borg and it’s something I would love to see. I fear though it would be a bit of a retread of the “Earth is in peril from a badass ship” story though, so perhaps they would be best saved for a fourth film (Borg Khan?). 

4 – Space, the final frontier…

Perhaps my favourite moment from the film, I loved the last scene where the Enterprise warped off on her five year mission, with the voiceover by Kirk, something we hadn’t heard since The Original Series. Part of what I love about Star Trek is the exploration, and with such a big galaxy to play in I think it’s better to get away from Earth and the surrounding area. I think it’s important not to forget about the ‘Trek’ part of the title so it would probably be wise to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilisations etc at some point. 

5 – Re-vamp existing episodes

So they’ve gone back to Khan which has had a mixed reaction but what if they took an existing concept which didn’t quite work the first time around? There could even be an in-joke where Spoke gets Sylar’d and loses his brain! Or we could have an updated version of Lazarus, this time with a consistent beard! The possibilities are endless… 

I’m half-joking there, but as I said earlier it is nice seeing new twists on familiar things. So it might be cool to see an updated Doomsday Machine, or a Salt Vampire, or the organism from ‘The Immunity Syndrome’, or the Talosions, or an encounter with Balok, or the Horta.

I really want to re-watch The Original Series now. 

4 is my preferred option, possibly combined with 5 but if the teaser for the next film is just a red laser shooting out from the distance I will be extremely excited. I hope there’s no time travel though. 

– Man of Yesterday

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

For those of you who don’t know me it’s worth pointing out that Star Trek is my favourite thing ever. I love all the tv shows and the old movies and I really enjoyed 2009’s Star Trek. I love the energy and vigour J.J. Abrams has introduced to the franchise so I was very excited for Star Trek Into Darkness. As with Iron Man 3 I’ll do a non-spoiler review and then a spoiler one.

I and a friend went to a midnight showing and we were given a free poster which was a nice little bonus. Then the film started, and I sat, engrossed, with a childish grin on my face for the next two hours. The action set pieces and fight scenes were well executed and the humour elicited many laughs from the crowd. However, the emotional beats were somewhat forced and while I appreciate that they appreciate original Trek, some parts of the film come off as too self-referential and it took me out of the movie. The other unfortunate bit is that the film is entirely predictable but that didn’t necessarily dampen my enjoyment and the performances of the actors elevated the story. Chris Pine has captured the essence of Captain Kirk with all the swagger, bravado and vulnerability that Shatner originally brought to the role. But while Pine has inhabited his character, I’m not entirely convinced that Zachary Quinto has the same gravitas as Leonard Nimoy, although that could just be because his Spock has been shaped by the recent trauma. I won’t say too much about Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison, but he was a chilling presence and a worthy adversary. The rest of the cast all had their moments, I’d have to say Scotty was the stand-out of the supporting characters.

With lots of action and humour I’m sure it will be a hit. It’s just unfortunate that the predictability lets it down. There’s also a hollowness to some of the emotional beats, but by the end I was left with a smile on my face and excitement in my heart which is all I ask from Star Trek. My main disappointment came from the fact that it had to end. Two hours of Star Trek every three years just isn’t enough!

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Now, spoilers.

Where shall I start…well first of all the movie started with a mission that felt like classic TOS, and I enjoyed seeing the crew on a regular mission. Then the film starts and we’re introduced to the bad guy – John Harrison. Due to Bad Robot’s secrecy there have been a lot of rumours and a lot of denials but after watching the movie I’m left wondering why, because in the film it wasn’t exactly a dramatic reveal and it came fairly early on, plus it was so obvious after John Harrison’s first scene. It pales in comparison with the way Iron Man 3 handled its villain. He’s Khan by the way. It feels so good to type that because I can’t share it on Facebook. Khan. Khan. Khan. Khan. Khan. And he is an awesome Khan, a bit less…seductive than Ricardo Montalban’s initial appearance but the circumstances are different. He does a skull-crushing thing which is really cool, and every fight scene he’s in he just oozes power.

He’s not the only bad guy though, and it was Admiral Marcus who revived Khan to help prepare for an inevitable war with the Kingons. Peter Weller gave an imposing performance as the grizzled Admiral, and the mention of Section 31 was a nice reference for the fans. There were a number of other references too, including models of the NX-01 and the ring ship, a name drop of Christine Chapel and a visit to the Daystrom Institute, plus a lot more. However, while I enjoy these little nods there were more overt references to a previous Trek film, and this is where my main criticism of the film comes in.

The Wrath of Khan is my favourite movie ever and while it’s great to see moments from that film re-enacted with a new spin, I’d rather the writers create their own lines and their own moments of emotional importance rather than cribbing them from other films. What was supposed to be an emotional part of the film took me completely out of the film, and just repeating iconic lines won’t give them the same emotional weight as they had when they were first heard in their natural context. This time it’s Kirk who becomes irradiated, but it’s far less shocking than The Wrath of Khan because we’ve already seen it before, and also because they telegraphed an obvious way to bring him back to life. Having said that, this time it is Spock who yells Khan’s name and I think it does work better in this context, and the rampage which follows is some great work by Quinto. I know I mentioned earlier that I think he lacks the stoic gravitas of Nimoy, but the more I think about it, I believe it’s just a case of getting used to his more emotional portrayal.

Speaking of the Enterprise, there are some nice shots of her and one of my hopes for this film is that Kirk (and we) had a chance to fall in love with her. There was a nice shot of her in spacedock, but it wasn’t a slow lingering reveal as in Star Trek: The Motion Picture or Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Still, the shots of her emerging from the water were impressive and there was a particular fist-pumping moment as she rose through a blanket of clouds. I love the warp effect too. The film simply looks gorgeous.

The one thing that did come as a nice surprise was a brief appearance by Leonard Nimoy. There’s also a sequence with Klingons which was cool, and I like the designs of their ships.

I did like how it drew on the classic Trek themes of a balance between logic and emotion, gut instinct and thoughtful reflection and the ideals that are present throughout the various incarnations. At first Jim is bent on revenge against Khan and is determined to make him pay for killing so many innocent people, but in the end he realises humans are better than that, or at least they should strive to be.

After the battle with Khan is over we see him in a stasis tube with his other genetic supermen, ready to be revived for another day. I think it was a good idea not to kill him, so that they can bring him back in the future but I am somewhat surprised and slightly disappointed that Jim didn’t maroon him on Ceti Alpha V. I think that would have been a more fitting punishment, rather than leaving them in stasis.

For me, the true climax of the film came right at the end when the Enterprise embarks on her five year mission, and Chris Pine gets to speak the iconic words, followed by the updated TOS theme which is still beautiful to the ears. It’s at this point when I just want to spend more time with these characters and I hate that the film ends.

It’ll be interesting to see where they go with the next film, and who directs it. I’d quite like to see the Borg, although more Klingons wouldn’t go amiss. I wonder if the war is as inevitable as Admiral Marcus seemed to think. Whatever happens I can’t wait for 2016, it seems to far away at the moment.

– Man of Yesterday \\//,