Now that the hell that was A-Levels is finished, I'm free to kick back and watch as many movies as I want. Rather than bombard you lovely people with several dozen review, I've decided to give a brief summary of each.
1) Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) - 4 Stars
I was massively impressed by this movie. It takes it's sweet time to establish the world and it's characters before accelerating into some incredibly visceral action. Vince Vaughn is really terrific, and it's nice to see him playing against type as a Bruce Willis esque action hero. It's a slow burn and it's definitely not for the faint of heart, but it's a really great watch.
2) Garden State (2004) - 4 Stars
Your enjoyment of this movie revolves around your opinions of Zach Braff. Personally, I love him and as a result I really loved Garden State. It's a really impressive directorial debut, with some intelligent and quirky methods employed to create a sense of originality and style. Braff is also great in front of the camera, proving he has some real acting chops. Natalie Portman is tremendous and her performance elevates the whole film.
3) Moon (2009) - 4.5 Stars
Rewatching only further solidifies how brilliant this movie is. With a budget that couldn't by you a Transformer's foot, Duncan Jones crafts a visually stunning world and a captivating narrative. Sam Rockwell's performance is outstanding and made all the more impressive by the fact he is playing off of himself most of the time. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the most accomplished Sci-fi movies of all time.
4) Atomic Blonde (2017) - 3.5 Stars
David Leitch is one of the best directors of action working at the minute and this is a really showcase of his ability. The whole film oozes style, from the steampunk cold-war aesthetic to a phenomenal soundtrack. Charlize Theron and James McAvoy are great in the leading roles. It has it's issues - some elements of the plot linger on for a little too long and the ambitious triple twist ending doesn't quite stick the landing. However, the one take fight sequence in the middle more than makes up for it.
5) Dunkirk (2017) - 4 Stars
I was gutted to miss out on Dunkirk upon it's release. For my money, Christopher Nolan is one of the best directors to ever live and whilst Dunkirk doesn't quite reach the heights of some of his other works, it's still a great film. The sound effects are editing to perfection. The sense of claustrophobia and tension is consistent throughout. The performances are all strong - even Harry Styles does a solid job. It's a quality movie that serves as an appropriate tribute to the miraculous real life events.
6) Children of Men (2006) - 5 Stars
This falls firmly into modern classic territory - Children of Men is a masterpiece in filmmaking. The story is high concept and compelling. The world that is crafted is the right blend of dystopian and realistic. There are some astonishing performances from a stellar cast . Clive Owen, whom I usually find to be quite dry, gives a career defining turn. The action set pieces are simply exceptional. The lengthy, one shot sequences in the car fight and the war in Bexhill are truly staggering and are among the best action scenes ever filmed. This film is perfect in every aspect.
7) Call me by your Name (2017) - 4.5 Stars
Another of last years Oscar crop that I was really late to. Call me by your Name is a really lovely movie. The story is impossibly charming, the whole film is shot and scored beautifully and the ending will jerk a tear from even the most reserved of audiences.
8) The Prestige (2006) - 5 Stars
This is, to me, one of if not Nolan's best works. Given that it's from fairly early in Nolan's illustrious career (before Batman begun), it's so assured and confident. The dialogue is smart as a whip, delivered brilliantly by the stacked cast. The chemistry between Jackman and Bale adds a whole other level to the turmoil and torture of their relationship. Nolan shows even better slight of hand than the magicians themselves, offering you just enough information to let you think you know what's going on before hitting you hard with an always shocking twist ending.
9) Unbreakable (2000) - 4 Stars
I'm not a massive fan of everything that Shyamalan has done, but I'm very excited for Glass in 2019 and Unbreakable is the main reason why. This is the film that made audiences sit up and take notice of him in his early days as a director. There are some ingenious uses of framing and blocking in this film. Whilst you can argue that many of them are purely style over substance, there is no denying that Shyamalan had such an eye in his early works. Unbreakable also offers one of the few successful Shyamalan twists.
10) Jurassic Park (1993) - 5 Stars
I adore this movie. For a film that is primarily scary - the raptors in the kitchen scene still shocks me to this day - there is so much charm and warmth to the story. The animatronic dinosaurs still looking incredible today. Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum are all fantastic. The iconic theme has never sounded better. Frankly, if you don't like this movie, we can't be friends.
That's all folks. Stay tuned for part 2.
*Also please be sure to follow me on Twitter (@T_F_T_S_R) and Letterboxd (theboymarshall) for more film related fun.
Wednesday 15 August 2018
'Mission Impossible:Fallout' Review
The Mission Impossible series has clearly missed the memo that 5th and 6th films in a franchise are supposed to be bad. If anything, these films are on an upward trajectory, with Rogue Nation being my personal favourite of the series. Falloutitself certainly follows the pattern - it's a tremendous piece of action cinema.
After an IMF Mission goes wrong, the world is at risk of nuclear catastrophe. Ethan Hunt, of course, takes it upon himself to achieve their original task but his progress is hampered by the presence of CIA agent Walker (Cavill), tasked to keep an eye on Hunt as the government begin to lose faith in him, and the return of Isla Faust (Ferguson), who is working with her own agenda.
Even with such a fantastic cast, Christopher McQuarrie's keeps the emphasis on character scenes short but sweet. Mentions of Ethan's love life or his relationship with his fellow IMF agents are fleeting, but they all land with plenty of impact. In fact, most of the character work is wrapped up in the first hour, which coupled with a fair amount of exposition and a needlessly overcomplicated arc of one of the villains might make the the opening feel a little slow. But it's only slow in comparison to the relentless final hour with is pretty much perfect.
The action scenes throughout are truly spectacular. Without exception, every single set pieces is jaw-dropping. The brawl in the bathroom is incredibly visceral and weighty, the race across London rooftops is the perfect mix of exhilarating and hilarious, and the closing helicopter chase is stunning. The level of technical work that goes into creating these sequences is mind boggling - take the HALO skydive, where Tom Cruise has to steady himself a couple of feet away from another dive with an IMAX camera strapped to his chest. My pick of the bunch in the motorbike chase through Paris, which is just mesmerising. You can genuinely feel the wind whipping past. The commitment of both Cruise and McQuarrie to the authenticity and originality of each set piece is staggering. As far as action set pieces go, these are not only highlights of this franchise but the genre as a whole.
Away from the action, the entire film is shot beautifully. Lots of effort went into scouting and accessing real locations to film in and they are used to full effect. There are numerous long, sweeping shots of some stunning landscapes in Paris, London and Norway.
The beating heart of this movie is Tom Cruise. He and McQuarrie build a fascinating narrative around the audacious action, presenting a character study of Ethan Hunt. The ever-present 'Your mission, should you chose to accept it' is dissected, as McQuarrie questions what kind of man would keep accepting these missions, continually risking his life for others. The answer is simple. Hunt cares about one life as much as the thousands, and he will do everything in his power to save them. Watching Hunt go toe to toe with Walker (played well by Cavill, sporting the most expensive moustache in cinematic history) is the perfect why is illustrate that.
Overall, Mission Impossible: Fallout is a fantastic movie. It's captivating plot and intelligent use of character work is excellent. The action set pieces are truly phenomenal. It's gripping, it's intense, the final hour doesn't let up for a second. It's a brilliant watch and is definitely up there with the best action movies of all time.
5/5 Stars
*Also please be sure to follow me on Twitter (@T_F_T_S_R) and Letterboxd (theboymarshall) for more film related fun.
After an IMF Mission goes wrong, the world is at risk of nuclear catastrophe. Ethan Hunt, of course, takes it upon himself to achieve their original task but his progress is hampered by the presence of CIA agent Walker (Cavill), tasked to keep an eye on Hunt as the government begin to lose faith in him, and the return of Isla Faust (Ferguson), who is working with her own agenda.
Even with such a fantastic cast, Christopher McQuarrie's keeps the emphasis on character scenes short but sweet. Mentions of Ethan's love life or his relationship with his fellow IMF agents are fleeting, but they all land with plenty of impact. In fact, most of the character work is wrapped up in the first hour, which coupled with a fair amount of exposition and a needlessly overcomplicated arc of one of the villains might make the the opening feel a little slow. But it's only slow in comparison to the relentless final hour with is pretty much perfect.
The action scenes throughout are truly spectacular. Without exception, every single set pieces is jaw-dropping. The brawl in the bathroom is incredibly visceral and weighty, the race across London rooftops is the perfect mix of exhilarating and hilarious, and the closing helicopter chase is stunning. The level of technical work that goes into creating these sequences is mind boggling - take the HALO skydive, where Tom Cruise has to steady himself a couple of feet away from another dive with an IMAX camera strapped to his chest. My pick of the bunch in the motorbike chase through Paris, which is just mesmerising. You can genuinely feel the wind whipping past. The commitment of both Cruise and McQuarrie to the authenticity and originality of each set piece is staggering. As far as action set pieces go, these are not only highlights of this franchise but the genre as a whole.
Away from the action, the entire film is shot beautifully. Lots of effort went into scouting and accessing real locations to film in and they are used to full effect. There are numerous long, sweeping shots of some stunning landscapes in Paris, London and Norway.
The beating heart of this movie is Tom Cruise. He and McQuarrie build a fascinating narrative around the audacious action, presenting a character study of Ethan Hunt. The ever-present 'Your mission, should you chose to accept it' is dissected, as McQuarrie questions what kind of man would keep accepting these missions, continually risking his life for others. The answer is simple. Hunt cares about one life as much as the thousands, and he will do everything in his power to save them. Watching Hunt go toe to toe with Walker (played well by Cavill, sporting the most expensive moustache in cinematic history) is the perfect why is illustrate that.
Overall, Mission Impossible: Fallout is a fantastic movie. It's captivating plot and intelligent use of character work is excellent. The action set pieces are truly phenomenal. It's gripping, it's intense, the final hour doesn't let up for a second. It's a brilliant watch and is definitely up there with the best action movies of all time.
5/5 Stars
*Also please be sure to follow me on Twitter (@T_F_T_S_R) and Letterboxd (theboymarshall) for more film related fun.
Saturday 4 August 2018
'Antman & The Wasp ' Spoiler Free Review
It's a minor miracle that Antman is as good as it is. Movies that lose their directors that late into production often turn out to be steaming piles of hot rubbish (cough Justice League cough). It was also a massive shame to see Edgar Wright, whom I love as a director, leave the project because a part of me always wondered what his full version of Antman would have looked like. To me, at least, one of the biggest intrigues about Antman and The Wasp was to see what kind of narrative and world Peyton Reed would create, after being in charge of the whole project this time around. The answer is a fairly conservative but enjoyable Marvel movie.
Two years after the events of Civil War, Scott Lang (Rudd) is under house arrest due to his affiliation with Cap and co. He is called back into action by Hope (Lilly) and Hank (Douglas) as his experience of going sub atomic might hold the key to rescuing Janet Van Dyne (Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm. Their progress is halted by numerous threats, including the presence of the mysterious Ghost, who needs their tech for her own personal reasons.
As you would expect from a movie with their names in the title, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are the two stars of this film. To the surprise of no one, Rudd gives a such roguish charm to the character and is at the heart of most of the films best laughs. Lilly is also great throughout, and this film is generally a really strong introduction of The Wasp. Whilst Scott bears the brunt of most of the comedy, Hope is central to the films best action sequences. It's refreshing to see The Wasp fully powered from the get-go of this movie, and it's used to full effect throughout.
Elsewhere the cast is solid. Douglas and Pfeiffer share good chemistry (good to know that mascara is easily accessible in the Quantum Realm). Michael Pena is terrific again as Luis and Reed is smart to play into his hilarity more, including the much welcomed return of his infamous monologues. Laurence Fishburne is a good addition as Bill Foster, whom I would definitely like to see again. Hannah John-Kamen does a great job as Ghost, offering the right mixture of unhinged and sympathetic. Walton Goggins is suitably smarmy secondary antagonist.
On the whole, this movie serves as an MCU palate cleanser, after the craziness and devastation of Infinity War. The whole situation is far more small scaled (perhaps appropriate for the heroes) and the threat is more on a personal level than any catastrophic event, which allows for more levity in the film's tone. As well as heaps of sight gags, Reed also throughs in some meta jokes regarding the Marvel Incognito starter pack (sunglasses and a baseball cap) or the overly complicated technical mumbo jumbo ("do you guys just stick Quantum in front of everything?"). But not everything is addressed with flippancy. The MCU is expanded even further with the exploration of the psychedelic Quantum Realm, and the shocking end credits scene ties directly into Infinity War.
Whilst I do appreciate the need for a more grounded narrative after Avengers 3, the small scale story of this film does boil down to be a little too simple. A lot of the time we jump from A to B with very little of importance in between. There are some really creative uses of the growing/shrinking Pym particle, but regrettably most of which are spoiled in the trailers (I feel like I've been saying that more and more lately). Also, as much as I love Paul Rudd and enjoy him in this role, I feel like most of his screen time is just devoted to him Rudd-ing about. Hopefully in the future he gets a little more opportunity for character work.
The shortcomings of Antman and The Wasp are probably more of a symptom of the success of the MCU rather than any fault in the movie itself. It is a much needed smaller story, and the performances, action and humour are all solid throughout. Yet, after witnessing the diversity of Black Panther and the scope and emotion of Infinity War earlier this year, Antman and The Wasp can't help but feel a little flat in comparison.
3/5 Stars
*Also please be sure to follow me on Twitter (@T_F_T_S_R) and Letterboxd (theboymarshall) for more film related fun.
Two years after the events of Civil War, Scott Lang (Rudd) is under house arrest due to his affiliation with Cap and co. He is called back into action by Hope (Lilly) and Hank (Douglas) as his experience of going sub atomic might hold the key to rescuing Janet Van Dyne (Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm. Their progress is halted by numerous threats, including the presence of the mysterious Ghost, who needs their tech for her own personal reasons.
As you would expect from a movie with their names in the title, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are the two stars of this film. To the surprise of no one, Rudd gives a such roguish charm to the character and is at the heart of most of the films best laughs. Lilly is also great throughout, and this film is generally a really strong introduction of The Wasp. Whilst Scott bears the brunt of most of the comedy, Hope is central to the films best action sequences. It's refreshing to see The Wasp fully powered from the get-go of this movie, and it's used to full effect throughout.
Elsewhere the cast is solid. Douglas and Pfeiffer share good chemistry (good to know that mascara is easily accessible in the Quantum Realm). Michael Pena is terrific again as Luis and Reed is smart to play into his hilarity more, including the much welcomed return of his infamous monologues. Laurence Fishburne is a good addition as Bill Foster, whom I would definitely like to see again. Hannah John-Kamen does a great job as Ghost, offering the right mixture of unhinged and sympathetic. Walton Goggins is suitably smarmy secondary antagonist.
On the whole, this movie serves as an MCU palate cleanser, after the craziness and devastation of Infinity War. The whole situation is far more small scaled (perhaps appropriate for the heroes) and the threat is more on a personal level than any catastrophic event, which allows for more levity in the film's tone. As well as heaps of sight gags, Reed also throughs in some meta jokes regarding the Marvel Incognito starter pack (sunglasses and a baseball cap) or the overly complicated technical mumbo jumbo ("do you guys just stick Quantum in front of everything?"). But not everything is addressed with flippancy. The MCU is expanded even further with the exploration of the psychedelic Quantum Realm, and the shocking end credits scene ties directly into Infinity War.
Whilst I do appreciate the need for a more grounded narrative after Avengers 3, the small scale story of this film does boil down to be a little too simple. A lot of the time we jump from A to B with very little of importance in between. There are some really creative uses of the growing/shrinking Pym particle, but regrettably most of which are spoiled in the trailers (I feel like I've been saying that more and more lately). Also, as much as I love Paul Rudd and enjoy him in this role, I feel like most of his screen time is just devoted to him Rudd-ing about. Hopefully in the future he gets a little more opportunity for character work.
The shortcomings of Antman and The Wasp are probably more of a symptom of the success of the MCU rather than any fault in the movie itself. It is a much needed smaller story, and the performances, action and humour are all solid throughout. Yet, after witnessing the diversity of Black Panther and the scope and emotion of Infinity War earlier this year, Antman and The Wasp can't help but feel a little flat in comparison.
3/5 Stars
*Also please be sure to follow me on Twitter (@T_F_T_S_R) and Letterboxd (theboymarshall) for more film related fun.
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