Kick-Ass

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage & Chloe Moretz

A fun and energetic superhero film that plays with the conventions of the genre in a manner that is both more realistic and violent yet is also more humorous and cartoonish at times than other films of its kind.

With superhero films an ever growing genre in cinema since Spider-Man in 2002 to the point that they often dominate the summer blockbuster season and annual box office takings, it was only a matter of time until a film was made that asked what it would be like if someone chose to be a superhero for real, devoid of superpowers. Based on the Marvel Comics mini-series that aimed to answer this question, Kick-Ass comes to cinema screens courtesy of Matthew Vaughn, director of Layer Cake and Stardust, whose commitment to the project saw him self finance much of the film’s production. The resulting film’s commercial appeal is yet to be seen, but it is certainly a fun adaptation of the comic.

Dave (Johnson) is an average, unhappy teen. Ignored by the girl he likes and neither popular nor talented, he spends his time reading comic books and imagines being a hero. Driven by the curiosity into why no one has ever tried to be a superhero in real life, he dons a costume purchased online and goes out to combat street crime and quickly learning, through serious physical injury, that life as a superhero is more dangerous than in comic books. When an encounter with a drug dealer has him cross paths with a father/daughter duo named Hit Girl (Moretz) and Big Daddy (Cage) who’ve also taken to donning costumes to take down the mafia, Dave has to decide whether he really has the courage and skill to be a real hero in a world where he really can die suddenly, and violently as a result and also face the celebrity status he attains when his exploits are filmed and posted across the internet.

Violent, sometimes in a cartoonish manner, and filled with gags throughout, Kick-Ass is certain to offend some whilst entertaining others. Those offended by violence on screen or at the thought of a ten year old girl swearing would do best to avoid but such instances are also highly amusing in how they play and push against what is deemed fun or acceptable in a superhero film, part of a genre that usually attempts to appeal to a wider audience and to all ages. A superhero film for children this is not, instead Kick-Ass is both a mature and immature take, depending on the scene, of what being a superhero in a world without superpowers might be like. The ridiculousness of superhero costumes, names and capabilities are portrayed as is the grim reality of the dangers one can face. When Dave’s first outing leaves him broken and hospitalised for months with later encounters also not afraid to be brutal, the reasons that would deter most from attempting what Dave attempts is made quite clear even if it over-dramatised that fight sequences are often thrilling and even funny in regards to Hit Girl whose very age in relation to her abilities is one of the most entertaining aspects to the film. The film does however veer too closely to parody at times, especially in the film’s penthouse battle finale and plays too loosely on occasion with stereotypes but generally this distracts very little from the fun though some representations of women jar for their sexism (all willing girlfriends/eye candy).

Aaron Johnson plays Dave/Kick-Ass quite well. His performance never afraid to show how naïve and immature he and his ideas of becoming a hero really is. When faced with the violent reality of his lifestyle and the threats to his life present themselves, Johnson ably shows a gradual maturity in Dave’s behaviour with him facing his self in a mirror prior to the film’s climax particularly effective in him realising what responsibilities he has taken on. Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz stand out as the over-the-top and always entertaining Big Daddy and Hit Girl with Moretz in particular enjoying the opportunity to fight crime and swear and the violence she and Cage engage in, in the film, contrasts very well with the endearing and loving the relationship they have with each other. Mark Strong is decent as the crime boss whom the heroes are aiming to take down and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) is very funny as another teen, like Dave, who takes up the chance to wear a costume and play hero.

Overall Kick-Ass is lots of fun. While trying to imagine what super-heroics might be like in the real world, some scenes that ring true (such as the danger one would face), but the film’s embracing of the more comical aspects of such a lifestyle and its increasing veer into over-the-top violence and heroics towards the film’s finale offers fun if silly ending.

Rating: 3/5

Green Zone

Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring; Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear & Khalid Abdalla

A fast paced and gripping wartime thriller that while make a few obvious statements and accusations about the way in Iraq but is nevertheless an enjoyable action film.

Having already dramatised real life conflicts several times before and receiving critical acclaim for doing so with films like Bloody Sunday and United 93 and also achieving commercial acclaim with the action packed thrillers The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass reunites with his Bourne star Matt Damon in creating Green Zone, a wartime thriller portraying a fictionalised account about the initial search for WMDs at the start of the Iraq War and based on the non-fiction accounts of journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Telling the story from the perspective of a soldier instead of a journalist, Greengrass effectively builds an action thriller that combines elements of United 93 with his Bourne films into a gripping film.

It is 2003 and the Iraq War is in its early days, assigned the task of locating WMDs in Iraq using intelligence provided by a secret Iraqi source, Officer Roy Miller (Damon) is finding himself constantly frustrated by being unable to locate any at the sites to which his team are being deployed and is finding himself questioning the value of the source providing the intelligence. Finding his attempts to raise questions on the matter shot down by his peers and by a senior political advisor named Clark Poundstone (Kinnear), Miller finds encouragement from a CIA official that there is something wrong with the intelligence on WMDs leading Miller to go rogue to uncover the truth with the help of an Iraqi native named Freddie (Abdalla) who had earlier tipped Miller off to a meeting involving an Iraqi general in hiding named Al-Rawi who Poundstone has a keen interest in locating and silencing before Miller can. What is the truth about WMDs in Iraq and can Miller make a difference to the outcome of the war even if he finds out?

Moving at an incredibly fast pace, opening with a raid in the middle of Iraq and quickly moving from one action set piece to another, Green Zone moves rapidly without allowing for much time to rest. When it does stop, it does so for the purposes of evaluating the information Roy Miller has uncovered so far before directing him in the direction of where he needs to go next to find answers. At a glance this may seem like a way to gloss over the details of the plot in favour of the action except the effect is quite satisfying with the underlying truth behind WMDs and the reasons for the war, in Green Zone at least, is thoroughly engaging despite us knowing the outcome in regards to WMDs and it playing upon long standing suspicions by the public as to the motives for the war. In between the blistering action sequences employing the handheld style Greengrass became popular for with the Bourne films, the moments of commentary on the reasons behind and effects of the Iraq War particularly for the Iraqi people themselves is enjoyable if somewhat too obvious and simplistic at times (Kinnear’s political advisor being overly untrustworthy and bearing a name like Poundstone for example) and also leaving some characters too undeveloped to feel important to the story such as Amy Ryan’s journalist.

Matt Damon reunites with Greengrass for Green Zone. While the role of Roy Miller is not one to test Damon’s acting abilities, Damon is still a reliable leading man convincing in his depiction of Miller’s determination and Damon carries the action and the drama well. Kinnear is fine as the untrustworthy Poundstone and Brendan Gleeson is enjoyable in a small role as a CIA advisor and the one character that already sees the reality of where the conflict is coming from and heading to. Amy Ryan tries to make the most of her role as a reporter but struggles to make an impression while Khalid Adballa (who worked with Greengrass on United 93) certainly does impress as the Iraqi civilian Freddie who gets drawn into Miller’s mission reluctantly but whose presence provides the voice of the Iraqis in the conflict with Abdalla giving them a sympathetic face and voice in one of the film’s pivotal roles.

Green Zone is a highly enjoyable action thriller. It may leave some characters and details underdeveloped but it still raises some interesting, if obvious, questions in a satisfying manner making the film more intelligent than some cinematic attempts to cover the current conflicts and Green Zone certainly bolsters this with some tense, gripping action sequences.

Rating: 3/5

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace & Sven-Bertil Taube

An engaging mystery thriller and adaptation of the popular Swedish novel which manages to grip with its central story and intriguing characters for most of it’s, perhaps too, long running time.

Currently riding high in the paperback charts, the Millennium series of novels by Swedish novelist Stieg Larsson (who unfortunately passed away in 2004) is finally seeing critical and commercial acclaim beyond the author’s native shores. With all three novels in the series having been adapted into feature films in Sweden with a possible Hollywood remake in the works, the first of the Swedish adaptations The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is seeing release and exposing audiences the series’ popular characters. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, on the back of much hype and acclaim, is certainly an excellent mystery thriller. While its running time is perhaps a little too long, the film is generally well paced and the mystery itself and the lead characters engaging enough that what few flaws are present don’t distract from what is otherwise an intelligent and well made film.

Mikael Blomkvist (Nyqvist), an investigative journalist who has just lost a libel case involving a business conglomerate that set him up and is now facing a prison sentence, is approached by another wealthy businessman Henrik Vanger (Taube) who wishes to hire Blomkvist to investigate the disappearance and suspected murder of Vanger’s niece Harriet 40 years earlier. With only 6 months until he has to serve his prison sentence and in need of funds, Blomkvist accepts the case which involves him delving into the sordid history of the large Vanger family. Blomkvist soon finds unexpected aid from a young computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander (Rapace), a girl with a long history of suffering abuse who had been hired to monitor Blomkvist during his libel case. Salander having chosen to continue monitoring Blomkvist’s actions finds herself able to uncover new evidence on the Vanger case and soon finds herself partnered with Blomkvist to continue the investigation.

A Swedish adaptation of a highly popular, and dense, novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is very faithful to the source material. The central mystery itself might not leave much surprise as to the identity of the story’s main villain but the depth of the investigation and of the secrets it uncovers amongst the Vanger family history is both gripping and disturbing and it is more the journey to the truth than the destination that engages throughout. The investigation is helped by how deep and well rounded the lead characters of Blomkvist and Salander, particularly Salander whose past is incredibly important to the later novels, are along with plenty of interesting procedural moments as the pair dig up, sift through and interpret the various scraps of new evidence that they find. The filmmaker’s commitment to presenting the story of the novel as completely as possible does mean the film clocks in at almost three hours in length, there are occasional moments where the pace slows a little too much (the two lead characters themselves do not actually meet for most of the first hour) and there is a brief, ten minute moment when the film swerves too close to Hollywood cliché when the villain is finally revealed involving capture, rescue, justice and the old cliché of the villain explaining it all but this is minor, only slightly disappointing, detour from what is otherwise an intelligent drama.

There are several fine performances in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo too. Michael Nyqvist is a satisfying leading man, his Blomkvist’s innocence in the face of his impending conviction never in doubt or nor his morality. While the character’s past is not delved into here, giving Nyqvist little to work with in terms of developing the character’s persona beyond him being a diligent and moral investigator, his performance is nevertheless engaging and does present Blomkvist as a man who has seen much believably. The stand out performance in the film is Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. The opposite of Nyqvist’s character, Rapace has a wealth of motive and emotional turmoil to work with in terms of performing the role of Salander and her performance believably, and impressively, portrays Salander as the tortured, tormented yet far from vulnerable individual as she is portrayed in the books, made more impressive by the actress’ slight physical frame (though she is of larger build than the novel describes Salander). The performance marks Rapace as an actress to watch and her performance do justice to the character who is the most popular protagonist in the Millennium series of novels. Amongst the solidly performed supporting roles, the one additional performance of note is Sven-Bertil Taube whose Henrik Vanger is warm and sympathetic and whose love for his niece is keenly felt in Taube’s performance.

Faithful almost to a fault, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, despite its extended running length and a brief detour into Hollywood style cliché, actually remains an incredibly gripping, well made and impressively performed mystery thriller which effectively illustrates why the novels of Larsson are so popular whilst doing them justice on screen. Impressive.

Rating: 4/5

Alice in Wonderland

Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp & Helena Bonham Carter

An enjoyable adaptation/reimaging of the Lewis Carroll novels that, while not wholly satisfying, is intriguing for its approach to the material and enjoyable for Tim Burton’s visual style and some fun performances amongst its cast.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice books have seen many adaptations in film and television throughout the long history of both mediums, highlighting the popularity of the books and their characters amongst generations of readers and audiences. When it was announced that Tim Burton would helm another feature film adaptation of the books, expectations were raised as the director’s popular visual style and depth of imagination which made his films so popular seems perfectly suited to the realisation of Wonderland on screen. What we finally see though is an adaptation of mixed results that, while enjoyable, does not quite live up to expectation. Alice in Wonderland features Burton’s impressive imagination in the representation of Wonderland and its inhabitants, features some enjoyable eccentric performances from its cast but despite not being a straight adaptation of the books, the film is somewhat let down by its conventional story structure and a tone that reminds you that this film is produced by Disney.

Plagued with dreams and nightmares of visiting a strange land called Wonderland since she was a child, the now 19 year old Alice (Wasikowska) finds herself frustrated with choices available to her regarding her future. With her dreamer of a father having passed away years earlier and her being expected to marry a rich husband irrespective of her feelings towards him or her own ambitions, Alice flees from a public engagement when she sees a rabbit in a waistcoat and finds herself falling down a rabbit hole to awaken in the Wonderland of her dreams. Convinced that she is still dreaming, Alice finds herself drawn into the affairs of Wonderland, called Underland, now under the rule of the tyrannical Red Queen (Bonham Carter) with the inhabitants of Underland attempting to drive her towards a destiny there that she does not want but is she even the Alice they are looking for, the Alice they need to slay the Red Queen’s fearsome Jabberwocky and free Underland from her rule?

Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is an enjoyable film with some quite curious direction choices, many of which at least intrigue if they don’t completely entertain. Burton’s realisation of Underland is certainly beautiful to behold. It is brimming with near-Technicolor in places whilst bearing sinister tones in the realms left damaged by Red Queen’s takeover years before. Some elements are unmistakably Burton-esque, others ripped cleanly from the illustrations accompanying early editions of Carroll’s novels while darker scenes even bear a hint of Terry Gilliam (himself a filmmaker clearly influenced by Lewis Carroll too) that the film never ceases to be appealing to the eye. Also interesting and enjoyable are the larger changes to Carroll’s original tale in this adaptation. Alice is now much older and her character, and the film, given a somewhat more feminist sensibility as Alice struggles to fight against the role society assigns her in the real world yet finds herself under pressure to be what others want her to be in Underland. However, not all changes result in satisfying results. The reorganising of characters in events in the book works in some places but ultimately leads up to a rather conventional battle sequence between the soldiers of the Red and White Queens whilst also, with this adaptation being funded and produced by Disney, there are rarely any moments in the film of danger with the tone a little too soft throughout.

Performances throughout the film are generally enjoyable. Mia Wasikowska is an enjoyable Alice, sceptical of the reality with which see is presented and stubborn and uncooperative when trying to be forced into a role she does not want or is not ready for. However, Wasikowska struggles to hold her own when sharing the screen with the larger personalities of Depp and Bonham Carter. Depp and Bonham Carter are both enjoyable despite playing roles that are underwritten and rely upon eccentricities of personality to make up for it. Bonham Carter gives the most satisfying performance of the two; her Red Queen a character short tempered with a Diva level ego and demands to match. Johnny Depp adds another colourful character to his list of performances and while his Mad Hatter is fun, Depp’s performance cannot help but feel like a patchwork of parts from other characters he has played in the past and with his character given perhaps too much screen time. The voice casting in Alice in Wonderland however, does not disappoint. With Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman and Barbara Windsor all enjoyable as the White Rabbit, Absolem the caterpillar and Mallymkum the dormouse respectively whilst Stephen Fry is charming as the Cheshire Cat.

Overall, Alice in Wonderland is an enjoyable film. It looks great, appealing to fans of the books and of Tim Burton’s style whilst the story features some interesting changes to the original story and some fun performances amongst its cast. However, some of the more obvious Disney touches leave the tone too light at times and the film wraps up in a climax too similar to that of the Narnia films to satisfy making this film enjoyable, but not as much as might have been expected from Burton alone.

Rating: 3/5

Shutter Island

Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley & Mark Ruffalo

An effective and entertaining suspense thriller, in which Scorsese excels in infusing with Hitchcock style tones, twists and direction with an excellent cast lead by a satisfyingly twitchy performance from DiCaprio.

Much like previous Lehane adaptations Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island retains the familiar elements of Lehane’s novels: the Bostonian locale and dialect, themes of crime, corruption and questions over who can be trusted all built around a central mystery, a central case to be solved. But unlike previous adaptations, Scorsese has also chosen to use the material to craft an effective mystery thriller where he can pay tribute to the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. With Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role (his fourth consecutive leading role for Scorsese), Shutter Island is a very satisfying film that is effective as a suspense thriller, as a tribute to Hitchcock and as an adaptation even though the central conceit of the plot struggles to hold together as effectively as the novel.

It is 1954. Sent to Shutter Island, a high security mental facility treating the criminally insane, US Marshall Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a patient who managed to disappear from a locked room without being seen. With a new partner in tow named Chuck (Ruffalo), Teddy finds his investigation stalled by the facility’s bureaucracy and by suspicious behaviour from several of the facility’s staff and patients including the chief psychiatrist Dr. Cawley (Kingsley) who promotes novel methods of treating the insane by encouraging them to act out their delusions in the hope of them realising their falsehoods and accepting the truth while Cawley’s partner, Dr. Naerhing believes in surgical treatment as a way of controlling patients. With Teddy also intending to locate a man he believes responsible for killing his wife years earlier who supposed to be a patient on the island too and finding a note from the missing patient implying that there was another patient also missing, Teddy suspects a cover up and the possibility that the facility’s staff are engaged in secret, immoral experiments involving their patients.

Scorsese has always been known to be a film buff and in Shutter Island, he has found a suspense thriller in Lehane’s novel with which he can pay tribute to filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. In this regard, Scorsese is highly effective. From the musical score, loud and brassy, to camera angles and the staging of scenes that recall moments from Hitchcock films like Vertigo and North by Northwest and with a plot that involves issues of trust and paranoia referencing films like Suspicion, Saboteur, Frenzy and even The Birds (there are even shower scenes though they don’t end as that of Psycho), Shutter Island is filled with Hitchcock-style themes and scenes that should engage other film fans. As a suspense thriller in it’s own right, Shutter Island is still engaging, still enjoyable with Scorsese seemingly enjoying the twists and turns of the plot, or pushing his lead actor DiCaprio into dark places and maintaining enough mystery and sleight of hand to keep all but the most sceptical guessing for a while even though when the truth finally is revealed, the pieces don’t quite hold together as satisfactorily as may be expected.

Shutter Island boasts an impressive cast and all are enjoyable, even impressive. In his fourth leading role for Scorsese, performs admirably in a role that combines the committed detective of The Departed with one under threat of mental instability and collapse like that of The Aviator. DiCaprio gives a committed performance, believably determined to uncover the truth at any cost, constantly angered by the obstacles he is facing whilst struggling to keep his sanity together as the island and its inhabitants and the mounting suspicion and fear plays upon his mind. Mark Ruffalo is enjoyable in a contrasting performance as Teddy’s partner, the calmer more concerned Chuck while Kingsley and Von Sydow are both enjoyable as the facility’s two leading doctors, particularly Kingsley who manages to give a performance that portrays his character as one that could be genuinely concerned with good intentions for his patients but could also be hiding many secrets as Teddy believes. Emily Mortimer is chilling as the missing patient Rachel Solando with flashes back to the incidents that led to her incarceration being effectively frightening coming from someone of Mortimer’s frame and demeanour. The rest of the facility’s staff and patients are filled with memorable cameos by actors such as Ted Levine, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley and Elias Koteas.

The house of cards that Scorsese and Lehane have built might not hold up to scrutiny but Shutter Island is nevertheless a gripping suspense thriller, impressively shot, with enjoyable performances especially from DiCaprio and Hitchcock fans will delight in the many references and influences present throughout. A very enjoyable film.

Rating: 4/5

Crazy Heart

Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal & Colin Farrell

The story of Crazy Heart maybe one seen before many times, but Crazy Heart itself is still a very satisfying film helped by a laid back approach to it’s characters and a great performance by Jeff Bridges in the lead role of Bad Blake.

Crazy Heart’s tale of an aging musician down on his luck do to alcoholism but finding new inspiration in loved ones to rise above and become great again is the kind of rags to riches story that has been told many times by Hollywood, often in biopics of musicians like Ray Charles (Ray), Johnny Cash (Walk the Line) and not limited to musicians or even real people as Rocky and Rocky Balboa have demonstrated with it’s infamous boxer or 2009’s The Wrestler. That these tales continue to be made and often become well received is usually down to audiences’ love to see someone triumph over adversity, especially those self inflicted, and also because such tales attract strong actors looking to test their abilities as actors in such roles. So comes Crazy Heart, the tale of fictional Country Music star Bad Blake and again it is a story worth watching thanks to the wonderful performance by Jeff Bridges in the lead role.

Once a big Country Music star but now an out of luck, near penniless, drunken shell of his former self accepting gigs at bowling alleys for cash, Bad Blake (Bridges) has seen better days and has little drive left to get himself together, write new songs or reconcile with his former protégé Tommy Sweet (Farrell). However, an encounter with a young reporter, and single mother, Jean (Gyllenhaal) leads to an unexpected romance for Blake who begins to find new inspiration to better himself, get back into performing and writing music and perhaps build a life with Jean but doing so means finding the inner strength to overcome his alcoholism and accept more responsibility for actions and mistakes both past and present.

Crazy Heart may tell a story told many times before, but it is still a very satisfying film. Much like its lead character Bad Blake, it has a laidback approach to its story with director Cooper, content to often let us just spend time with Blake to get to know his charms and his flaws with little rush to get to its inevitable conclusion. Beautifully shot, capturing the wonderful outback of New Mexico, with its characters speaking with words of wisdom in a lyrical style unsurprising of characters who are musicians, Crazy Heart has a strong feeling of romance for the world of music. The film comes alive every time a song is performed during one of Blake, or Tommy’s, gigs with the audience dragged into the atmosphere of the room and seeing the wonders characters like Blake are capable of achieving when they want to and while there are often obstacles along the way to expose Blake’s flaws, some perhaps hard to forgive, the film nevertheless keeps you rooting for its star to find some kind of redemption and happiness. Not everything works in Crazy Heart however, as a beautiful scene shared between Bridges’ Blake and his friend played by Duvall on a fishing boat hints at deeper friendships and relationships that have a history that is barely explored and therefore disappoints slightly when they are not but these are somewhat minor issues.

Jeff Bridges, an infamously underappreciated actor, is excellent as Bad Blake. When other actors perform roles like that of Blake they may be impressive but the performances often give the feeling of great efforts being made by the actor. Bridges however, gives an equally impressive performance but does so in a way that feels very natural for Bridges who is an actor whose persona is one of natural talent, laidback and not forced. Bridges is a perfect fit then for Blake giving ever line and movement the satisfying reassurance that this is a man who seen it all. Maggie Gyllenhaal is strong as Blake’s potential love interest Jean, who gives her role more vulnerability and strength in her performance than the script sometimes allows and more than some other actresses could achieve while Colin Farrell is quietly impressive as Blake’s former protégé Tommy giving Tommy magnetism on stage and showing respect and love for the man who taught him everything he now knows which, while words to that affect are delivered in a manner that feels routine, Farrell’s movements and expressions reveal Tommy’s belief in them underneath. Robert Duvall is likeable too but criminally underused and developed.

With a strong, enjoyable performance from Jeff Bridges in the lead role and from the supporting cast, the performances and Scott Cooper’s laidback direction, makes Crazy Heart a much more likeable and satisfying film than its familiar tale might deserve but nevertheless, Crazy Heart is an enjoyable film.

Rating: 4/5

The Crazies

Director: Breck Eisner
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell & Joe Anderson

A decent horror/thriller that, while not offering anything particularly original to the genre, nevertheless offers decent scares and performances from its cast.

In addition to the rise of horror films dubbed “torture porn”, Hollywood has also turned its focus towards remaking horror films of the past to drive the genre in the present. With some remakes seeing commercial, though not always critical, success such the remakes of Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes and My Bloody Valentine, as long as they continue to be successful, the remakes will continue. The latest, The Crazies, comes to cinema screens with the benefits that it is remaking a horror film with less of a fan following than some other films that have been remade. As such, while still lacking in originality, The Crazies still thrills and does feel an improvement over the original film.

In the quiet town of Ogden Marsh, Sheriff Dutton (Olyphant) finds himself in trouble when an investigation into a pair of murders caused by seemingly normal residents in his hometown turning homicidal reveals evidence of a plane crash in the marsh outside of the town which may have released a contaminant into the town’s water supply. With the risk of an infection spreading through the town and affecting the populace, Dutton with his with Judy (Mitchell) and deputy Russell (Anderson) find themselves struggling to stay alive and escape the town when government forces descend upon the town to contain and eliminate the infected and while the populace of the town go crazy and run free.

While featuring some effective jumps and scares throughout, The Crazies, much like the original film from the 70s, is most effective when it portrays the gradual breakdown of normal people into crazed killers. With dead eyed stares and monotonous repetition of simple phrases that give the impression of zombies, the results are somewhat less disturbing amongst the more faceless residents that the main characters encounter during their escapes but when the fear causes them to look at one another is when the tension rises. When one character turns to another and asks “I’m not right, am I?” it is both sad and frightening. However, such moments become less frequent as the number of infected rise and the film shifts from a slow build up of fear to more action, fighting and traditional scares. The Crazies, like the original film, also offers the interesting approach of having its main protagonists caught between both the people they once knew and the forces trying to contain the outbreak. The government presence adds to the desperation whilst offering slight comparisons to government responses to outbreaks and other threats in light of recent wars and viral outbreaks like Swine Flu though such comparisons are rarely explored in any depth.

Timothy Olyphant (of TV’s Deadwood) makes for a decent leading man, playing it stoic throughout even though his character and performance lacks the nuances of past roles such as Sheriff Bullock in Deadwood. Radha Mitchell also is decent as the Sheriff’s wife and town doctor but again gives a performance generally limited to reacting to the chaos around her. Joe Anderson, having worked with Olyphant recently in heist comedy High Life, has good chemistry with Olyphant’s Sheriff as his deputy and gets the most opportunity of any of the cast to develop his role as his character slowly comes to believe he is infected himself and making both audiences and other characters uncomfortable as his early calmness gives way to frustration and anger. Of the main cast, only Danielle Panabaker really disappoints though this is mostly due to her character being barely featured or developed by the script.

Overall, The Crazies is fairly predictable and not particularly original but it has some decent performances from Olyphant and Anderson and some reliably chilling and jump-worthy scares to make it worth a watch.

Rating: 3/5

Micmacs

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Dany Boon, Dominique Pinon & Julie Ferrier

A wonderfully whimsical and charming comedy from Jean-Pierre Jeunet which carries all the director’s usual flair for colourful characters, charm and inventive visuals.

Six years after his previous film, the World War romance A Very Long Engagement, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has returned with a film, smaller in scale to his last film but hailing back to the mood and eccentricities of Amelie and Delicatessen. While not as satisfying as those pictures, Micmacs is nevertheless enjoyable with Jeunet relishing in the opportunity to experiment with the film’s visual style and to display his love of film.

Having lost his father to a landmine 30 years before, and his mother to an asylum, Basil (Boon) now works in a video store and finds his life changed again when a gun fight outside results in him taking a bullet to his brain. With the bullet being left in on the decision of his surgeons leaving the length of Basil’s life to chance, Basil returns to find his home gone, his job replaced and himself living on the streets until he is taken in by a band of scrap collecting misfits. When the opportunity arises for Basil to get his revenge upon the corporations that produced the bullet lodged in his brain and the landmine that killed his father, corporations whose headquarters neighbour and compete with each other, Basil decides to bring them down with the help of his new friends.

Micmacs (roughly translated as 'suspect activities') is a thoroughly charming film, in typical Jeunet style. It is evident throughout that Micmacs is Jeunet having fun, Jeunet at his most comfortable. With film references littered throughout evoking the mood of Charlie Chaplin films as well as those of Humphrey Bogart and Kurosawa with even the main character Basil, like Jeunet, a film fan beginning the film working in a video store much like the early days of director Quentin Tarantino. Micmacs also features Jeunet’s usually interesting and impressive visual style present in the mise-en-scene, the cute and clever co-ordination of his misfit’s plans and in little cutaway moments such as when Basil must engage in quick mental exercises to focus his mind whenever he fins the bullet in his head inching upon his brain. The likeability of its characters and the cartoonish nature of them and the film’s plot make for a fun film though occasionally it is a little too light. A romance between Basil and a girl from the misfits with an elastic ability is perfectly charming but feels present because Jeunet feels there should be a romance rather than much evidence in the story to show it develop organically but, fortunately, such examples don’t distract much from the film’s enjoyment.

Micmacs features a colourful cast of characters and actors. Dany Boon, a well known comedian in France, is enjoyable in the lead role as Basil who, while sometimes a little too straight faced in some scenes, comes alive when mimicking Chaplin and is still quite likeable as a lead even though he lacks the magnetism of some of Jeunet’s previous leads like Audrey Tautou. Basil’s band of misfits are all enjoyably performed with Omar Sy’s Remington and Fracasse, played by Jeunet regular Dominique Pinon, most memorable while love interest ‘La Mome Caoutchouc’ is likeably played by Julie Ferrier. As the two corporate heads, Andre Dussollier and Nicholas Marie are highly enjoyable as the film’s two, cartoonish, villains both fun to watch and to root against.

Micmacs is a fun, funny and charming film that Jeunet fans especially will enjoy. Filled with Jeunet’s fondness for eccentric characters, film references and his lush visual style; Micmacs, while not as satisfying as Amelie or Delicatessen, is still highly enjoyable.

Rating: 4/5

The Lovely Bones

Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg & Rachel Weisz

A decent but soft adaptation of the bestselling novel, The Lovely Bones is an entertaining but often too tame and saccharine a film to really impress given some of its subject matter.

Following the epic trilogy of his The Lord of the Rings adaptations and the almost epic, though less well received, King Kong remake, Peter Jackson’s decision to make his next film an adaptation of Alice Sebold’s popular novel took some by surprise. The Lovely Bones however, does bear some similarities in themes to one of Jackson’s earlier films, Heavenly Creatures, but with the added budget to now allow Jackson to visualise fantasy sequences more impressively. The resulting film however, while generally faithful in plot and tone to the novel, is slightly disappointing as, while visually impressive and featuring some good performances, it has softened many of the novel’s darker moments while enhancing some of its more over-sentimental elements.

In 1973, 14 year old Susie Salmon (Ronan), with all her hopes and dreams ahead of her, is murdered by her family’s neighbour George (Tucci), a secret sexual predator and killer. With her family devastated and her father Jack (Wahlberg) unwilling to give up on the search to find Susie and identify her killer, Susie finds herself watching over her family and friends, and her killer, from a world in between the land of the living and the heavens beyond. As she watches over them she sees the effect her loss has on their lives and must comes to terms with her fate whilst helping her loved ones come to terms with it too as Susie also comes to explore and understand the realm in which she is to spend her afterlife.

The Lovely Bones is a likeable film. Given that the plot revolves around a young girl’s murder and her loved ones’ attempts to cope with the loss and, in some cases, find retribution, the film is increasingly sweet and over sentimental as it continuously reminds and reinforces the belief that Susie and her family were good people and that their love for one another was so great. While these elements were present in the novel and certainly succeed at making Susie and her family, her father Jack especially, sympathetic characters, it also threatens to overwhelm the story on occasion and undermine the darker, more serious elements of the film surrounding Susie’s killer, his behaviours and his future. Toning down the violence of the novel (Susie is not only murdered but also raped in the novel) may make the film more appealing to a wider audience but it also seems to make the film less satisfying when the film is allowed to stray into far more over-sentimental territory. What is more interesting is Jackson’s visualisation of Susie’s afterlife. Often depicted as vibrant, fantastical though rooted in natural wonder, the realm that Susie inhabits is frequently beautiful to behold (though conjures up similarities to the Robin Williams’ film What Dreams May Come) but are more impressive when they intrude upon the real world during the film’s more darker scenes such as Susie coming upon her killer bathing after her murder and scenes within the cornfields.

Performances in The Lovely Bones are generally good. Saoirse Ronan is very likeable as Susie Salmon, if perhaps a little too lacking in flaws to be wholly believable, though Ronan’s performance contrast well with her previous role in Atonement that the difference is notable. Mark Wahlberg is believably earnest and tortured in his role as Susie’s father who won’t accept the loss of his daughter though Rachel Weisz as Susie’s mother is less well served by the film’s script with Weisz often reduced to grieving silently. Very impressive however is Stanley Tucci as George, Susie’s neighbour and killer. Tucci oozes what Suzie refers to in the film as the “Heebie Jeebies” very effectively with his performance giving George a very creepy demeanour and sense of danger while also conveying an image of harmlessness to fool others.

Overall, The Lovely Bones is a decent film, it features some good performances and is often visually impressive but the reliance of over-sentimentality and the softening of the novel’s darker elements means the film is not as satisfying as it could have been and is often too sweet for its own good.

Rating: 3/5