The Expendables

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham & Jet Li

While featuring a, unsurprisingly, predictable plot and its characters being largely two-dimensional, The Expendables certainly features enough old-fashioned action and an impressive, if aging cast, that there is enough to excite fans of these stars and of the 1980s/1990s action films of whose tone is trying to be captured here.

Several years in the making and boasting a cast of some of the biggest heavyweights of 1980s and 1990s action cinema, The Expendables seems like a dream film for many an action fan. The Expendables is the latest film in Sylvester Stallone’s comeback after reviving his characters of Rocky Balboa and Rambo to mixed results (Rocky Balboa was a touching look back at an aging pro’s career, Rambo a disappointing flop). This time Stallone tries for something more ambitious in uniting other action legends many of whom, like Stallone, haven’t seen successes today to match their glory days. While some names like Seagal, Van Damme and Snipes turned down roles, others like Lundgren, Li, Rourke, Willis and Schwarzenegger accepted and are complemented by current action stars like Statham and wrestlers like Austin and Couture looking to build film careers. The resulting film is one that could never live up to expectations of audiences and doesn’t really try to either which is disappointing but there are enough fun moments and action to make this a worthwhile film for fans of the genre and these stars.

Having recently had to expel a teammate from going too far, Barney Ross (Stallone) and his mercenary team dubbed ‘The Expendables’ are called upon by a CIA operative named Church (Bruce Willis) to take on a mission on the island of Vilena where a general named Garza (David Zayas) has become a dictator and with the help of a former CIA operative named Munroe (Eric Roberts), have enslaved the island and producing mass amounts of heroin. The Expendables’ mission is to oust Garza and Monroe but, to do so, must face down an army, Munroe’s henchmen and possible conflicts with old teammates.

As action cinema has moved away from the style of films seen in the 1980s and 1990s featuring muscle bound heroes and more towards leaner action heroes such as Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne or the recently revamped Bond films with Daniel Craig, many of the stars of those older action films have either retired from acting, moved towards other genres or continued making action films in that old mould but with straight-to-DVD fodder. The Expendables however, is Sylvester Stallone’s attempt to revive the style of action film where he once made his name and, in doing so, has enlisted an impressive cast of names who were once legends. There is certainly enjoyment to be found for fans of those older films in The Expendables even if age has resulted in some being unable to equal feats performed in their earlier films. There’s room for study somewhere in the film over the fate of that older style of action film and in its stars trying to relive old glories to see if they are still capable of doing so. It is disappointing that, for such an impressive cast, that the plot of The Expendables is very thin and very predictable with two-dimensional villains and even several of the heroes filling over-familiar personality types. There are things to enjoy however as if ever a question was asked over who would win in a fight between Dolph Lundgren and Jet Li, or wrestlers Randy Couture and Steve Austin or in seeing the long awaited onscreen appearance of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis which stays just on the right side of fun, though isn’t the gun toting scene fans may have hoped for. Expectations for a film such as The Expendables amongst fans could never be met but there is some fun here, some decent action though the thin plot and characters leave you feeling that something better was deserved

A film like The Expendables isn’t one where concerns over whether an actor’s dramatic performance is good are an issue. The cast merely need to look tough and perform well in action scenarios and on this ground, the cast mostly deliver. Stallone is a dependable leading man where Jason Statham and Jet Li get the more energetic fight scenes. Dolph Lundgren gets more to work with as an Expendable that’s washed up and feeling resentful while Rourke is likeable as another Expendable that has retired to work as a tattoo artist. Schwarzenegger and Willis fit in a few wisecracks in their short scene together though the remaining Expendables members such as Randy Couture and Terry Crews are largely sidelined until there is an action sequence requiring them to turn up armed. David Zayas and Eric Roberts lead the cast of villains with neither being particularly memorable or threatening and Steve Austin just spends the film looking mean as one of Munroe’s henchmen until the finale requires him to actually fight.

While there is some decent action and some fun to be had at seeing so many old, and new, action stars on screen at once, The Expendables never lives up to expectation with a thin plot and undeveloped characters though if you’re in it for the action, as most likely are, there is enough to satisfy though not of a quality that matches past action classics.

Rating: 3/5

Salt

Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Chiwetel Ejiofor & Live Schreiber

Despite a plot and plot twists that stretch credibility, Salt is still and enjoyable and fast paced action thriller with a good performance from Angelina Jolie continuing to cement her position as an action heroine.

Originally meant as a project to star Tom Cruise, Salt was forced to undergo re-writes when Cruise turned down the film in fears that its concept and characters were too close to those of the Mission: Impossible franchise that Cruise had already starred in. The director, Phillip Noyce, then turned to Angelina Jolie whom he had worked with in 1999 on The Bone Collector, re-writing the script to have the film focus on a female lead rather than a male. The resulting film, while not matching the quality of Noyce’s films Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger in terms of realism is nevertheless a fast paced and enjoyable action thriller in the mould to the Bourne Identity series though remarkably more far fetched.

Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is an American spy working for the CIA, when a Russian defector walks into a secure facility claiming he has knowledge of an assassination attempt that will soon take place on American soil to kill the Russian President, Salt is assigned the task of interrogating him to decide if his story is true. When this defector, Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), makes claims that the assassin is a Russian spy working within the CIA and names that assassin as Evelyn Salt, Salt is detained for questioning though Salt, who claims to be being framed, is unable to reach her husband who she fears may be in danger. Salt escapes custody shortly after Orlov does the same and goes on the run claiming to be looking for her husband and hoping to find the real assassin though her escape compounds her guilt in the eyes of her colleague Winters (Schreiber) and Agent Peabody (Ejiofor) who has been tasked the assignment of capturing Salt and stopping the assassination. Is Salt innocent as she claims and who is manipulating her and the Americans?

Fast paced and with some exciting action sequences, Salt seems to be trying to outdo The Bourne Identity films whilst also cementing Angelina Jolie’s status as an action heroine and launch a spy franchise with Jolie to rival that of Bourne and Bond. While Salt certainly lacks some of the complexity or the feelings of realism that can be attributed to the Bourne and Bond films, it certainly matches them in terms of action, a memorable lead and exceeds them when it comes to plot twists. Salt does suffer somewhat from having too many plot twists as loyalties switch, switch and switch again sometimes at so fast a frequency to stretch credibility though one mid act twist involving Jolie’s character serves to strengthen the film and the character by muddying her motives and leaving audiences guessing over who it is they are rooting for. The action sequences, while often enjoyable also occasionally stretch credibility beyond that that is often seen in the Bourne and recent Bond films which are more willing to acknowledge the toll some actions take upon their heroes. A scene inside an elevator shaft and another in a police vehicle involving Salt, an officer and a tazer are amongst the more ludicrous moments as well as one act of disguise where Jolie comically, though perhaps unintentionally, resembles Cruise. Still, despite some of its silliness, Salt is still enjoyable and certainly has the potential to lead to more films with its lead character.

Angelina Jolie is a good choice for the lead role of Evelyn Salt, even during some of more unbelievable action sequences; Jolie sells her character’s capabilities with conviction and cements herself as cinema’s current, leading action heroine. Jolie is able to portray the character’s humanity early on whilst making the transition to superspy almost believable later on though still able to convey her vulnerabilities as seen in one moment when her character witnesses a distressing act but must maintain her composure to survive. The relationship Salt has with her husband is somewhat less credible, as seen through several flashback sequences that are needlessly saccharine, though Jolie’s struggle to make them convincing is somewhat down to the script and direction than the performance. Providing support in Salt are Live Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor as two agents tracking her down, the former a long time colleague of Salt’s. While neither of their characters are particularly well developed nor Schreiber or Ejiofor’s performances particular memorable as a result, both actors are nevertheless fine in their performances.

With plot twists and action sequences that make the recent Bond and Bourne films seem even more realistic in comparison, Salt is nevertheless an enjoyable if often ridiculous action film though the conviction of Angelina Jolie in the lead role makes for a memorable action heroine and certainly has the potential to launch a new franchise in the spy thriller genre.

Rating: 3/5

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Jason Schwartzman

Fun, funny and faithful to the comic books on which it is based without being slavish; Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an engaging and enjoyable film mixing action, comedy and romance to great effect.

Based on the popular graphic novel series and directed by Edgar Wright of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World comes to cinemas with high expectations from its fan base. The film is a successful adaptation of the graphic novels remaining largely faithful to satisfy the fans of that series whilst not being slavish to every scene and detail like the adaptation of Watchmen which resulted in a film with limited appeal beyond fans of the comic. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a fast, energetic, funny and loveable romantic comedy with enough videogame-inspired action sequences to make the film more satisfying than any videogame adaptation released in cinemas.

Scott Pilgrim (Cera) is a 22 year old slacker. Scott has no job, performs in a small band named Sex Bob-Omb and has just started dating a high school girl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wang). His laid back lifestyle undergoes changes however when a girl he sees in his dreams turns out to be real. Persuading the enigmatic Ramona Flowers (Winstead) to go on a date, Scott believes her to be the girls of his dreams but soon finds that, to keep dating Ramona, he must first defeat her seven, evil ex-boyfriends all bent on making Scott’s life hell and with one, named Gideon (Schwartzman) looking to get her back. So Scott must fight for his life, win over the girl of his dreams, help brings his band to success and stardom and deal with the fact that he’s already dating someone. Scott’s life is getting suddenly complicated.

The Scott Pilgrim graphic novels have seen their popularity grow as the series approached its conclusion (the sixth and final volume was released a month prior to the film’s release). Released in a Manga-style format, mixing comedy, action, and romance but with many references to videogames of the 1980s and 90s, the series had broad crossover appeal. So, any film adaptation would have pressure to meet the expectations of the already existing fan base whilst also allowing the film to be accessible to new audiences. Fortunately the series is very accessible anyway and so is the film. Adapted by Edgar Wright, known for the film Shaun of the Dead but also for the cult TV comedy Spaced which also mixed comedy and romance with action and references to old videogames and films, Wright seems a suitable candidate for directing the film and he does so admirably. Condensing the plot of six books into one film, Wright has managed to not only preserve most of the story, but the quick pacing of those books along with Wright’s fast editing style allows the film to be packed with many recognizable characters, scenes, jokes and references from the books that even though there are alterations to the story in places, it still feels faithful yet isn’t hindered by trying to include everything such as what happened with the adaptation of Watchmen. Wright also adds to the film, but unlike the slow-motion fighting of Watchmen or added camp in Kick-Ass, Wright’s additions to the film feel natural as though they always part of the series such as some alterations to some battle scenes (Lucas Lee’s in part, the Twins more significantly) but also lines. The adaptation isn’t perfect, Ramona Flowers’ character arc is not as strong as her comic book counterpart’s and the same applies to the role of Envy Adams but the broad strokes regarding their characters and their development is maintained to the degree that they are served satisfactorily if not ideally.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World features an impressive cast and despite there being many characters to include in the film, each is casted with care so that they are all memorable even if some don’t get screen time equivalent to the time they have in the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. Michael Cera certainly impresses as Scott Pilgrim with Cera’s past persona of playing more introverted characters initially making him appear suitable for the role but here Cera tunes his neuroticisms towards Scott’s naivety, his slow-wit and short attention span leaving Cera’s performance surprisingly effective. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also gives a good performance as Ramona who, despite not having as much moments to explore her character more deeply to the expense of her sometimes coming over cold, is still able to add enough to hint that the character does have more depth than she wishes to be seen and is still sympathetic thanks to Winstead’s mannerisms and expressions. The Evil Exes are cast by a mixed bunch with some characters like the twins appearing too briefly for their actor’s performances to be memorable while others like Chris Evans as Lucas Lee and Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram are able to steal scenes with their performances. Jason Schwartzman as the final Ex, Gideon relishes the role of the lead villain bringing much smugness and feelings of superiority to the character that he is memorable and a suitable mastermind for events. While all the smaller roles from Scott’s band mates, to his sister, to his own ex-girlfriend are memorable, the last two stand out performances are from Kieran Culkin as Scott’s wisecracking gay roommate who steals many scenes and Ellen Wang as Knives Chau, Scott’s high-schooler girlfriend who is very endearing and whose vulnerability works against Scott’s likeability effectively.

While not quite a perfect adaptation of the graphic novels, Ramona’s character not getting as much development as in the series, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World nevertheless is one of the best adaptations yet but remaining fast paced, accessible and fun for new audiences unfamiliar with the source material. Edgar Wright keeps the story largely intact, packs the film with enough characters, scenes and gags to satisfy fans and adds touches of his own that feels natural. The cast are enjoyable and memorable, particularly Culkin, Routh and Ellen Wang and Michael Cera proves to be an enjoyable Scott Pilgrim. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4/5

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Director: Jon Turtletaub
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jar Baruchel & Alfred Molina

An unremarkable, though still likeable, film: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice features some nice effects and an enjoyable cast even though it offers nothing particularly memorable.

The second attempt by producer Jerry Bruckheimer to start another, family friendly, film franchise to follow Pirates of the Caribbean in 2010, the first being Prince of Persia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice comes to cinemas inspired by the popular sequence in Disney’s Fantasia. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice turns out to be a fairly enjoyable film with a likeable cast and good effects though it succeeds most when it strays away from elements that inspired it and, despite its likeability, doesn’t really offer many characters or moments that are particularly memorable.

After a battle in 740AD, the wizard Merlin lies dying and his nemesis Morgana (Alice Krige) trapped in a nesting doll after possessing one of his apprentices, Veronica (Monica Bellucci). Merlin tells his other apprentice Balthazar (Cage) that only his successor can defeat Morgana and entrusts Balthazar with his ring which will alert Balthazar as to who that successor will be. Over a thousand years later in the year 2000, Balthazar has not found Merlin’s successor but has tracked down and trapped many followers of Morgana’s, including another of Merlin’s apprentices named Horvath (Molina) who betrayed them all to Morgana in the past. Balthazar finds Merlin’s apprentice by chance, a ten year old boy, but is trapped in an urn for 10 years along with Horvath after Horvath escapes the nesting doll. 10 years later, in 2010, both escape the urn and seek out Merlin’s successor Dave (Baruchel) who has grown up to become a nervy, though talented, physics student. Dave, reluctant to believe or accept his destiny as Merlin’s successor must nevertheless learn the skills from Balthazar if he is to survive Horvath and stop him from bringing back Morgana.

Inspired by an animated short starring Mickey Mouse that was part of the feature film Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice mines more than what was present to build its story and characters much like the Pirates of the Caribbean films did with the theme park rides on which they were based. It is with the new material where The Sorcerer’s Apprentice impresses most as a scene paying homage to the most famous scene from the cartoon stands out as being out of place. The film’s most intriguing and enjoyable twist is to introduce science into a film about magic and wizards. Its lead character, Dave, grows up to become a physics student building Tesla Coils in and abandoned subway to conduct electrical experiments. While this elements leads to an enjoyable romantic scene with Dave’s love interest where he ‘plays’ the Tesla Coils as each burst produces its own musical note, the science elements also compare well with the magic elements where the wizards control fire and produce plasma balls that look, not too unlike, the energy emitted from Dave’s Tesla Coils. This blending of science and magic, or scientists and wizards is fun though when the film strays from this blurring of lines, such as in a set piece with a dragon in Chinatown, it disappoints. The science however, is the film’s one most notable achievement as the plot itself remains predictable and some of the characters thin. There is also a curious lack of danger which, even for a family film, undermines some of the tension and Dave’s journey and romance with an old school sweetheart seem to occur because the story dictates they should rather that through a process that feels more natural and satisfying.

None of the cast of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice especially stands out. All seem to be playing personas they have played before though many are, nevertheless, satisfactory. Baruchel still entertains with his nervy, nerd persona with jokes coming better when he is able to infuse them with his nervous energy. Nicolas Cage puts in a rather restrained performance as the pretty grumpy wizard Balthazar which is decent but could have benefitted from some of the nervous tics he better known for. Toby Kebbell gets to steal a few scenes as an assistant to Alfred Molina’s Horvath as Kebbell’s character has exploited his abilities in the present to become an entertainer, a famous magician and thus infuses his performance with some swagger. Molina too is entertaining as the villain Horvath though is not able to truly make the character feel threatening unlike his performance in Spider-Man 2 which was threatening as well as sympathetic depending on the needs of the scene. The rest of the cast are largely average and/or forgettable. Monica Bellucci and Teresa Palmer appear as love interests for Balthazar and Dave respectively and are given very little to do accept appear interested whilst other characters barely have time to make an impression.

While possessing a likeable cast, effects and some interesting blurring of lines between magic and science, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice plays things too safe too often, sticking to a too familiar formula that makes the film enjoyable but not particularly memorable.

Rating: 3/5

Splice

Director: Vincenzo Natali
Starring: Sarah Polley, Adrien Brody & Delphine Chaneac


An entertaining genre piece that is often effective and exploits fear of the unknown quite well though it descends to less satisfying, more typical scares by the finale.

Written and directed by Vincenzo Natali, Splice was originally intended to be the project to follow Natali’s debut, Cube. However, neither the budget nor the technology was available to Natali at the time. Now, 13 years later, Natali finally brings Splice to the big screen to mostly positive reviews. The film, while entertaining, does have some flaws. There are comparisons that can be made to the 1995 Sci-Fi Horror Species, though Splice is frequently more effective, and the ending unfortunately descends into something more generic going for somewhat cheaper, monster movie scares. Splice is still an enjoyable horror film that touches upon some relevant real world fears and ideas.

Clive (Brody) and Else (Polley) are two pioneering genetic engineers who have just succeeded in creating a new life form from splicing the DNA of several Earth species. Wanting to take the research further to include human DNA, they find themselves obstructed by their financiers who wish to avoid the controversy of using human DNA and focus upon exploiting the life form they have developed to produce a new protein that can be sold to aid in medicine. Unwilling to let this stop her, Elsa proceeds with experimenting with human DNA, pressuring Clive into supporting her and the result is a strange new hybrid that Elsa names Dren (Chaneac). Trying to keep their discovery a secret, Else and Clive come into conflict over the ethics of what they have done whilst Clive is ever fearful of how dangerous Dren could become. When they are forced to take Dren out of the lab and hide her on a farm that belonged to Elsa’s mother, they have further troubles as Dren becomes attracted to Clive whilst her rebellious behavior begins to turn Elsa against her, all the while Dren continues to go through more strange and frightening transformations.

Like most horror films, Splice exploits real world, often irrational, fears. In the case of Splice it is fears over science, particularly over the progressions within the field of genetic engineering. Taking two scientists whose ambition is at odds with some moral standards, they end up creating a being that could be exciting but could also be a great threat to themselves and to those around them. There is some interesting drama to be found over the film’s question of ethics as seen in the differing opinions of its lead characters though most favor, conservatively, to support the argument that experimenting with human DNA is wrong. More interesting than the moral dilemma is the creature Dren herself, Dren is an interesting character and creature than bears many human traits and as he grows, she appears to undergo a kind of adolescence which means struggling with many new, often strong, emotions which given some of the character’s more animalistic attribute, notably her tail with poisonous stinger, makes her frightening more out what she may do almost innocently. The teenage rebellion angle on Dren’s behavior also makes her a sympathetic creature too as many of her actions, particularly in response to her treatment by Elsa, are those of a child. Despite some interesting ideas and themes in Splice, there is also a lot that feels derivative of other horrors. The similarities between Splice and Species are sometimes obvious such as the splicing of human DNA with non-human DNA to create a new, female, creature that could be dangerous and a sex scene that is similarly laughable rather than disturbing. The ending of Splice also disappoints as it descends into a generic, run from/fights the monster conclusion with characters picked off too quickly to care.

Leading the cast of Splice is Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody as the two scientists, Elsa and Clive. Polley has the more interesting character and gives the most interesting performance portraying Elsa as a character, not so much oblivious to making ethical decisions, but rather driven by issues of parenting instilled from her relationship with her mother and also her sense of ambition. Polley’s performance portrays Elsa as a character that is sometimes ruthless yet sometimes driven by a need to love something, like a mother, that also makes her sympathetic. Brody gives the more sympathetic performance as the member who is initially against the experiment, but then develops concern for Dren effectively switching places with Polley’s character in relation to their attitude to Dren. In the role of Dren, Delphine Chaneac gives an interesting performance having to convey the character’s emotions, its childlike attitudes through body language rather than be delivering dialogue and does so effectively. The remainder of the cast, Clive’s brothers, Clive and Elsa’s bosses are generally two-dimensional and forgettable.

Overall, Splice is an interesting horror film, more so for the relationships between its three lead characters and the performances of Polley and Chaneac than over some of the scares which, while effective in the first half of the film, become too much like any other monster movie by the finale. An interesting film but one not as original as might be expected.

Rating: 3/5

Knight and Day

Director: James Mangold
Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz & Peter Sarsgaard

Trying too hard to be a fun, breezy action comedy, Knight and Day struggles to amuse or thrill with its uneven pacing, slight characterization and an annoying turn from Tom Cruise.

Having spent many years struggling through development seeing changes in director, cast and re-writes of the script, Knight and Day comes to cinema screens as a vehicle for Tom Cruise which unites him with Cameron Diaz with whom he starred alongside in 2001’s Vanilla Sky. The result is a film that struggles to entertain, where the frequent changes in the scripts and production show in a film that feels a little disjointed and even the presence of Cruise does not help, with Cruise putting in a performance where his, at one time, natural charisma feels forced and less than charming. Knight and Day comes away feeling quite generic.

June Havens (Diaz) is on her way home to prepare for her sister’s wedding when she bumps into a stranger at the airport named Roy Miller (Cruise) whom, after some confusion over seats, she ends up sitting beside on her flight home. Finding Roy attractive, June’s preconceptions are shattered when Roy attacks members of the flight crew leaving the pilot dead and Roy to land the plane. Roy tells June he is a spy, framed and on the run and for her to deny knowledge of having met him. When June is approached a day later by FBI agents claiming to be looking after her safety, Roy reappears to save June whilst creating havoc and damage on a highway then proceeds to take June on the run with him whilst he clears his name and protects an important device and its creator from forces within the FBI that Roy claims are out to exploit it. Is Roy telling the truth or has he suffered a mental break down as the FBI claim?

Knight and Day’s premise, a spy caper/romantic comedy that stars Cruise and reunites him with Diaz, seems one guaranteed to succeed however the finished film is far from perfect or even satisfying. There is some energy in the film’s action sequences such as a highway pile up and a race through the streets of a Spanish city but little that feels new. The plot feels disjointed at times, perhaps a result of the many writers involved in the script with the action taking jumps from place to place and across continents with little explanation as to why but to offer different locales around the world for audiences to see. There is also little to enjoy about the romance being developed between it’s two leads as Diaz’ June is frequently subjected to drugging to keep her docile while Cruise’s Roy takes her from place to place and most of the finale features June drugged on a truth serum leaving her to act drunken and reckless. As treatment of a female lead character it is poor, as treatment of one that is supposed to feel for the man who is doing this to her it defies belief leaving the romantic element even more unsatisfactory than the spy/secret agent thread that features over familiar tropes like macguffins and double crosses.

The performances in Knight and Day are also fairly average. Cruise, once a star able to charm with ease comes across as forced here as Miller. Cruise is enjoyable sometimes as Miller when he goes into super secret agent mode giving action sequences some energy though this part of the role feels seen before and too much of the time Cruise’s performance borders on the hysterical, bringing into mind similar behaviors Cruise has exhibited in his personal life over recent years. Diaz is quite likeable at times but since her roles leaves her character often drugged and passive or requiring Diaz to act overly hysterical as bullets and explosions fly around her, Diaz is left with little to work with but follow behind Cruise. Sarsgaard is good in the villainous role and Paul Dano makes the most of a minor supporting role but the film is dominated by Cruise and Diaz, but mostly Cruise.

A big disappointment, Knight and Day offers a few enjoyable action sequences but there is little that hasn’t been seen before while the performances consist of a hysterical Diaz being dragged around by an OTT, dominating performance from Cruise with even the romance feeling forced.

Rating: 2/5

The A-Team

Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley & Quinton Jackson

The big budget remake of the 80s TV series often looks the part, with some good action and a likeable cast but does lack the heart of the series on which it is based and goes too OTT with the set pieces by the film’s finale.

With many TV series from the 80s and 90s seeing big screen adaptations over the past decade, few seemed as suitable for a big budget remake than The A-Team, an 80s TV series known for its action. The A-Team series though owed much of its popularity to its cast making any remake’s success reliant upon its casting of those roles too. Spending more than a decade going through development with John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) signed on to direct with Ice Cube to play B.A. Baracus until recently, Joe Carnahan (Narc) stepped in to bring the series to the big screen at last with help from original series producer Stephen J. Cannell and some revised casting decisions. While the casting of the four lead characters turns out to be quite enjoyable for the most part, they and the film as a whole still lack the charm of the original series.

On a mission in Mexico to rescue partner Templeton ‘Face’ Peck (Cooper) and depose a renegade General, ranger John ‘Hannibal’ Smith (Neeson) enlists the aid of two fellow rangers, Roscoe ‘B.A.’ Baracus (Jackson) and the eccentric H.M. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock (Copley), Hannibal completes his mission and takes his team on to 80 more successful missions over the next 8 years. Now in the final days of the U.S.’s military involvement in Iraq, Hannibal is contacted by a C.I.A. operative named Lynch (Patrick Wilson) to take on one more black ops mission to recover stolen treasury plates that could be used by criminals to print their own U.S. currency. Completing the mission successfully, Hannibal’s ‘A-Team’ find themselves framed for theft and murder when the only General who could verify their mission as authentic is killed and the plates stolen by a rival named Pike (Brian Bloom). Sentenced to 10 years in prison, the team are given a chance to escape and clear their name by Lynch whose own motives are unknown whilst the team are also pursued by Captain Sosa (Jessica Biel), a former flame of Face’s now tasked with the mission of apprehending the A-Team.

Facing competition from comic book adaptation The Losers and Stallone film The Expendables, both ‘soldiers of fortune’ films themselves, The A-Team has help from the familiarity of the characters and concepts of the TV series it is adapting to draw in audiences which also means the film has a lot to live up to, to both reintroduce The A-Team for new audiences whilst satisfying fans of the 80s TV series. Casting of the four, now cult classic, lead characters from that series is important to the film’s success but so is also capturing the spirit of the TV series and The A-Team film suffers mixed results on both. Part of the charm of the TV series was it seeing the team able to escape almost any calamity through the team’s resourcefulness, their ability to take whatever materials they have at hand to produce a plan to win and the tools to ensure it. Taking this idea and pushing it to levels unseen in the TV series thanks to the budget of an action movie, The A-Team film sees some fun action sequences throughout its first half including the opening Mexico scene which brings the team together and includes a memorable helicopter chase and a mid film sequence where the team “fly a tank”. Both sequences are fun, big and memorable in keeping with the tone of the TV series however the film’s climax falls apart with a plan begins too OTT to begin with but suffers from poor CGI and a mad dash to resolve the film’s plot that undermines some of the fun that came before.

With a cast as fondly remembered as that of the original TV series cast, the cast of the film are largely enjoyable even though they don’t quite live up to the performances of their predecessors. Liam Neeson is enjoyable as Hannibal Smith, bringing some of the same confidence and swagger to the role that George Peppard brought though not quite the same level of warmth or charm but is enjoyable nonetheless. Bradley Cooper certainly brings charm to his performance as Face and is likeable but his youth makes his charm and cockiness feel less justified than that of Dirk Benedict’s performance. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson brings a similar level of physicality as Mr. T did to B.A. Baracus but his performance is the weakest of the cast with Jackson’s performance feeling too soft, less angry than would be expected for the role. The best performance of the new cast is Sharlto Copley’s, following on the success of his role in District 9, he brings an enjoyable level of manic energy to the role of Murdock that, while more frenzied than the performance of Dwight Schultz in the 80s, is still fun and Copley steals most scenes. Amongst the supporting cast, Biel and Bloom are merely satisfactory in the roles of A-Team hunter/Face love interest and villainous henchman respectively though Patrick Wilson is quite enjoyable as C.I.A. agent Lynch.

The A-Team movie could never live up to the memories and expectations of audiences who grew up with the original 1980s TV series but the cast are mostly fun, Copley as Murdock especially, and the first half of the film features some enjoyable action sequences. The second half however disappoints with a set piece that goes overboard, featuring some awful CGI. Decent overall but nothing compared to the TV series.

Rating: 3/5

Toy Story 3

Director: Lee Unkrich
Starring (voices of): Tom Hanks, Tim Allen & Joan Cusack

Over a decade after Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3 arrives and manages to maintain the level of quality we’ve come to expect from Pixar with an entertaining sequel that brings the characters’ stories to their natural conclusion.

Having risen to success in 1995 on the back of the first Toy Story film that not only marked Pixar as a major studio but also revolutionized animation and animated movies, the first Toy Story is still considered one of, if not thee, best Pixar films in a 15 year history that has resulted in the finest animated films produced. Toy Story 2 came in 1999 and not only maintained the quality of the first film but also expanded the cast of characters and range of jokes for children and adults alike. Following success after success including Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E and Up, Pixar return to the Toy Story characters almost a decade later with Toy Story 3. With the pressure of not only having to live up to the quality of the first two films but also Pixar’s other films and those of competing studios, Pixar needed Toy Story 3 to be a success both commercially but critically. Fortunately Toy Story 3 is a very enjoyable film that pays respect to the earlier films, their characters and their audience and, while not pushing the franchise to greater heights, is at least the equal of those earlier films in terms of quality.

After years as Andy’s toys, the day they all knew would come has arrived as Andy prepares to leave for college. Facing an uncertain future that could mean life stored in the attic, being sold or even thrown away, Andy’s toys led by cowboy Woody (Hanks), space ranger Buzz (Allen) and cowgirl Jessie (Cusack) amongst others decide what to do next. However, when Andy’s mother makes the mistake of throwing away all but Woody, the toys escape and donates themselves to Sunnyside daycare despite the assurances of Woody that they are still wanted by Andy. Life at Sunnyside, where children play with toys every day, seems ideal at first but the chief toy there, Lotso the bear (Ned Beatty) turns out to be not as warm and friendly as the toys think and the process the toys go through to get to the best play rooms means facing destruction at the hands of children to young to play with properly. As the toys plan their escape from Sunnyside, Woody also plots to rescue them but even if they succeed, what future will they have with Andy gone to college anyway?

Under a lot of pressure to not only live up to the expectations of audiences who have loved the first two Toy Story films but also to live up to the quality set by those films and every subsequent Pixar production, Toy Story 3 had to succeed. Fortunately it does. While the general framework of the story does cover similar ground as the first two films with its central characters questioning their worth and the plot going from misunderstanding, leading to a new location, new characters, a new life then escape, reunion and battle with a villain, Toy Story 3 nevertheless builds upon this familiar plot in a way that makes it feel natural. Having posed the question 11 years before in Toy Story 2 over what will happen when Andy, the toys owner, grows too old for them, Toy Story 3 feels like the natural progression of the character’s story and also justifies the time that has passed between movies for the audiences. For audiences that were there for the first two films on their release, they too have grown up and while they look back on those early films with fondness, there is the question as to whether they too are too old for these characters now. Fortunately the key to making the story engaging to adults is that the characters themselves feel like adults an in a sense like parents seeing their child grow up and leave home while they look forward to possible retirement. Toy Story 3, like its predecessors, has a lot of heart and while some comes heavy so as to be understood by younger audiences, it still feels genuine. Toy Story 3 however, still has much to offer kids with many new toy characters, action set pieces and gags including several alterations to Buzz’ programming that leads, amusingly, to his original persona returning and then that of a Spanish alter-ego and also a transformation for Mr. Potato Head that are particularly memorable. Not all of the new characters are as memorable as Jessie from Toy Story 2, but of the new characters, the introduction of Ken as a love interest for Barbie is a highlight.

Most of the original cast return including Hanks as Woody, Allen as Buzz, Cusack as Jessie as well as Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Don Rickles and Estelle Harris as Hamm, Rex and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head respectively. The cast all perform enjoyably with each still able to slip into these characters with ease even after 11 years. Of the new characters and voice talent, Michael Keaton stands out as the voice of Ken with the character’s assertion that he isn’t a girl’s toy leading to an amusing performance by Keaton who ably conveys the character’s attempts to act tough when he’s really soft. Ned Beatty gives an enjoyable performance as Lotso, but his character is somewhat too similar to Kelsey Grammer’s the Prospector in Toy Story 2 with Beatty’s performance not comparing quite as well. Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin and Bonnie Hunt are good in smaller roles and John Morris, the original voice for the young Andy in previous films, returns to voice the older Andy and gives a warm performance too.

Toy Story 3 doesn’t really break from the formula of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and doesn’t push CG animation forward as much either but it is certainly a worthy sequel to the those films progressing the story of the characters naturally whilst also offering enough humour and feeling to keep audiences happy.

Rating: 4/5

Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Marion Cotillard

Ambitious and breathtaking, Inception is a blockbuster film that rewards intellectually whilst delivering action set-pieces that amaze in their scope and execution better than blockbuster films driven by spectacle.

Having initially come to the attention of cinemagoers with independent films such as Following and Memento, Christopher Nolan has since developed a reputation of being a skilled director of big budget blockbusters after being brought on to direct Batman Begins and the even more successful sequel The Dark Knight. Infusing those films with as much that was intellectually stimulating as they were adrenaline stimulating, Nolan has now turned to bringing Inception to the big screen, a film he has been developing since the early days of his directing career that has many of the cerebral aspects of his early works in terms of themes, ideas and execution but also Nolan has managed to secure a larger budget with which to realize them and produce a film that also succeeds as a summer blockbuster. Inception is an engaging and challenging film that also thrills and excites with its spectacle.

Cobb (DiCaprio) is an expert in the field of extraction, a complicated process where he and a team can enter the dreams of an individual and steal secret information by creating an artificial dream environment that convinces the dreamer that it is reality. Cobb is unable to return home to America to be reunited with his children due to a crime which he has been accused of committing. Cobb is approached by a former mark called Saito (Ken Watanabe), who wants to hire Cobb and his team to perform Inception, a difficult and risky process where an idea is planted into someone’s mind rather than taken which, in return, will see Cobb’s charges back home dropped. Cobb himself is unable to create dream worlds anymore due to his wife Mal (Cotillard) appearing in them and sometimes endangering Cobb and his jobs so Cobb recruits a new ‘architect’ named Ariadne (Ellen Page) to create a scenario where Cobb and his team delve deeper than they have before, a dream within a dream within a dream, which is the only way to successfully complete the mission but soon encounter problems, some created by Cobb’s own secrets, that threaten the lives of his team and the success of the mission.

The ambition of Inception is impressive. Nolan has created a film that has many layers of meaning. Inception delves into dreams and human consciousness and explores themes such as whether an emotional catharsis experienced in a dream is as valid as one experienced through actual experience; it explores ideas of life and death and life after death through the mind’s construction of dreams that feel real and where time can stretch out in various depths of dreaming as a metaphor for an afterlife (even the term Limbo is used in an interesting way); the film also explores filmmaking in a manner as Cobb’s team involves an architect, a forger, a financier, a mark and Cobb’s right hand man amongst others which parallel the roles of set designer/cinematographer, actor, studio, audience and produce with Cob as director with those same roles also working within the film’s framework of being a heist film. The plot is based around the conventions of the heist film which, while allowing Nolan to explore many other themes, also allows Nolan to produce a film that involves action and tension and which he can develop set pieces that amaze but with the spectacle working simultaneously as block buster action and also as visualizations of the dream state and of Nolan’s themes seen most effectively when the heist/job reaches it’s later stages and see three simultaneous action sequences occurring on three separate levels of the dream world and over three separate time frames including a zero-gravity fight scene that is one of the most impressive action sequences put on film.

Inception features a strong ensemble cast. Leonardo DiCaprio is impressive in a role where his character is struggling with own history involving dream worlds and secrets involving his wife that threaten to consume him and disturb his own grip on what is real and what is fantasy. It plays nicely against his performance in Scorsese’s Shutter Island where DiCaprio playing a character suffering similar problems but here DiCaprio’s role and performance is filled with more emotion. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets less to work with in terms of character but impresses as an action star getting the film’s key action sequence. Ellen Page is warm and sympathetic as Ariadne who is enamored with the idea of creating dream worlds but is also Cobb’s key sympathizer and conscience. Tom Hardy is charming and funny in the ‘actor’ role while Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Tom Berenger and Dileep Rao are solid in other supporting roles. Marion Cotillard is suitably threatening despite her appearance and Cillian Murphy delivers an impressive performance as the mark who the team are trying to infuse with a new outlook and experiences an emotional catharsis as a result that is truly believable.

Overall, Inception is an impressive film combining the spectacle of a block buster action film, the thrills of a heist movie yet featuring many layers of meaning over filmmaking, dreams, perceptions of reality and life and death that mean Inception engages on an intellectual level better than most block buster films. Audiences are just as likely to debate the film’s ideas and meaning as they discuss its action sequences. Fantastic.

Rating: 5/5

Predators

Director: Nimrod Antal
Starring: Adrien Brody, Alice Braga & Topher Grace

Better than other sequels to the original Predator film, Predators is very enjoyable even though it owes a lot to nods to the original film and does not really stand out as being very original.

The original Predator film in 1987 was a big hit and fast became a cult classic film with a memorable monster that has since stuck in the memory of action and sci-fi fans. The film’s first sequel, Predator 2, in 1990 was less well received due, in part, to the absence of Arnold Schwarzenegger and disappointing execution of its promising concept of relocating the action from the jungles to the city. No other sequels presented themselves afterwards with the Predator character living on in the form of comic books until 2004 saw the first of two Alien vs. Predator films that put the Predator up against another cult monster. Both films were disappointing, lacking memorable characters or humour and sticking to slasher film formula so Predators, produced by director Robert Rodriguez, comes to cinemas with a lot to live up to and, whilst not feeling particularly original, turns out to be far more enjoyable than any other sequel and certainly feels very much like a sequel the original deserves.

Waking up in freefall, mercenary Royce (Brody) lands in an unknown jungle and soon finds himself not alone when he discovers several other humans who have also been mysteriously dropped into the same jungle including black ops sniper Isabelle (Braga), a Spetsnaz commando, a drug cartel enforcer, a Sierra Leone death squad soldier, a death row convict, a Yakuza assassin and Edwin (Grace), a doctor. The group soon find that the jungle they’re in is not even on Earth and the one thing most of them have in common is they’re all predators in one way or another. They realize they are in a game preserve and they are the prey for a band of alien hunters and are forced to fight for their survival.

Produced by Robert Rodriguez and directed by Nimrod Antal, Predators feels like a sequel that maintains the spirit of the original film. There are many references to the first film and similar themes throughout. From bringing back the original score, to the jungle setting, familiar Predator technology and hunting methods, lines of dialogue and weapons like a mini Gatling gun, Predators generates much fun for fans of the franchise in spotting references but the film also offers moments that were only teased in the first film such as one-on-one knife fight between Billy in the first film that occurred off-screen now realized as a sword fight on screen between a Predator and the Yakuza character of Hanzo. Such tributes and fanboy-ish moments (the film also features a Predator vs. Predator stand off) show a love for the original film and respect for it as the events of the first film are even referenced directly as a plot point that allows the cast of characters to learn from those events and apply it to their survival strategy. However, while much entertainment is derived from its references to previous films, they also stand as one of the film’s weaknesses as Predators often feels too much like a retread of the original film. Predators also features some poor moments of CGI such as a sequence involving Predator-dogs that not only feels unnecessary to the plot in that it delays the moment when the Predators themselves get more involved, the effects also stand out as being unlike anything seen in the first film when many other effects feel in keeping with those used in the 1980s i.e. costumes and physical effects/stunts.

The cast in Predators is generally decent overall. While Predator in 1987 was short on name actors or characterization, it did benefit from the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role who was always convincing as a hero that could challenge a Predator. In Predators, that lead role goes to Adrien Brody as Royce. While Brody does deliver a dependable performance, one believable as an anti-hero, he is less convincing as a person capable of challenging a Predator even in spite of obvious efforts on Brody’s part to bulk up physically. Brody is still a decent lead but it’s Alice Braga who generates the most sympathy as a black ops sniper who at least has a code of honour that doesn’t strictly involve putting her own survival first. Amongst the rest of the cast there are few that really stand out. Walton Goggins is best served getting most of the memorable lines as a nervy, somewhat unstable death row convict and Laurence Fishburne is OTT in a cameo role. Topher Grace’s character and performance is the odd man out as the person who is out of place amongst the cast of killers but it leads to an interesting, if unsurprising and somewhat ridiculous twist later in the film but adds some additional comic relief when he is paired with Goggins.

Overall, Predators is certain to entertain fans of the original film through its frequent nods to the original and moments that fans have probably been longing to see on screen though this also means that there isn’t enough originality for the sequel to stand equal with the first film. Fun but not fantastic.

Rating: 3/5