Month: September 2014

Starring: Denzel Washington (Malcolm X), Marton Csokas (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass), Johnny Skourtis, David Harbour (Quantum of Solace), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Bill Pullman (Independence Day)

Director: Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) 

Writer: Richard Wenk (The Expendables 2)

Runtime: 2 hours 11 minutes

Release Date: 26 September (US, UK)

Adapting a TV series to the silver screen is often seen in Hollywood but rarely does it translate very well. There are some great examples of it working like The Fugitive and 21 Jump Street, but then there are mountains of guff like The Dukes of Hazzard, The Flintstones, Charlie’s Angels, Dark Shadows; the list goes on. So how does The Equalizer fare out? Will it even up the score, or are the odds against it?

The film acts as an origin for Robert McCall (Washington), setting up a story that shows how he became the one-man A-Team he is in the show but without delving too much into the character’s mysterious past. The film is an incredibly slow burner, taking its sweet time to get the plot rolling and continuing to drag even once it has, which should increase the intensity but it instead increases the boredom. This is mainly down to an incredibly basic and predictable plot, one that might make a decent episode of the show, being dragged out and embellished with needless sub-plots and details. Clocking in at over two hours, the film becomes a slog to sit through especially during its second act. Once it finally reaches its climax, I’d lost any real interest and just wanted the movie to get to the point already. I think the filmmakers were trying to make more of a stylish action-thriller in the vain of Drive or Leon, but it lacks those films’ unique voices and creativity; other than a couple impressively brutal fight sequences, there’s nothing here you haven’t seen before.

What mainly keeps The Equalizer chugging through its punishing runtime is Denzel Washington’s performance as McCall, bringing his usual natural charm but also imbuing the character with some well-subdued depth. He’s the kind of guy you like even though you don’t know much about him, and his intentions are always well grounded even if his methods are questionable. It makes me wish both Washington and this character was in a much better movie. Marton Csokas plays the stereotypical Russian tough guy with the OTT violence and full body tattoos, who ends up being too much of a cliché to take seriously but far too stone-faced to laugh at. Luckily, two of his encounters with McCall are particular highlights, even though it’s Washington’s performance that’s carrying those scenes. Other than these two, the film has little to do for its other name cast members. Chloë Grace Moretz is set up as an important and interesting character, being the main motivation for McCall to begin his quest, but after serving her purpose she then disappears for the rest of the movie. Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman show up for a couple of pointless scenes that could have easily been cut, Pullman being especially useless. At least Leo serves the purpose of giving an exposition dump.

As mentioned before, the film’s action sequences are decent and full of strong violence but they are few and far between; it takes over half an hour before the first one even rears its head. Sometimes mangled by constrictive cinematography and dark lighting (symptoms that afflicted Antoine Fuqua’s last effort Olympus Has Fallen too), they rely too heavily on the brutality and the use of slow motion. In particular, the film’s use of the old “character slows down time to assess situation and react accordingly” trick is nothing new and has been done far better in some of the Spider-Man films and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.

The Equalizer suffers from a bloated and banal script that does little to elevate the simple premise of its source material to something worthy of the big screen. Perhaps if it simplified its story into something more swift and impactful, maybe it would have at least been a fun but disposable piece of cinema. Other than the expectedly excellent work of Denzel Washington and a few cool moments smattered about, there’s nothing here to make this movie stand out from the packs of homogenous products clogging the film landscape.

FINAL VERDICT: 5/10

Starring: Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Game of Thrones), Elle Fanning (Super 8), Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3), Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), Tracy Morgan (Cop Out), Simon Pegg (The World’s End)

Directors: Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi (Open Season)

Writers: Irena Brignull and Adam Pava 

Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes

Release Date: 12 September (UK), 26 September (US)

The folks over at Laika certainly like to avoid the conventions of the typical animated film (at least tonally and stylistically). Film such as Coraline and ParaNorman are just as creepy as they are charming, but that used to more common than you think. Back in the old days there were plenty of films aimed at kids that were pretty disturbing, like Time Bandits or Return to Oz, and it’s good to see that gap in the market filled. The Boxtrolls certainly checks off many of Laika’s usual criteria, but is that enough to make it good?

Much like how the Boxtrolls themselves are strange creatures with good hearts, the film is an odd tale but with a sweet and simple core. The story flows like a fairy tale, quickly bringing you up to speed on its world and getting the story rolling. It does this job a little haphazardly, as I felt the first twenty minutes or so were a little slipshod with the exposition, but once the ball (or should that be box?) gets rolling it all comes together quite well. The story doesn’t stray too far from the conventional, but what helps set The Boxtrolls apart is its surprising use of subtext and self-deprecation. Elements like the villains’ henchmen questioning their own morality, said villain’s obsession with class, or the upper class’ ignorance of the obvious problems, there is a lot of cogs working behind the scenes that should amuse the parents in the audience whilst their kids are distracted by the more surface-level humour. And really, that’s how a good family film should be done; not with out-of-place pop culture references to “appeal” to grown-ups and confuse the children, but by making it work on multiple levels to where kids watching it today will grow up and realise the deeper messages. All in all, The Boxtrolls delivers a fun tale and is the true epitomization of “fun for all the family.”

A good animated film casts actors based on their vocal suitability to the character rather than relying on name recognition, and The Boxtrolls thankfully does the latter. Isaac Hempstead-Wright is a likable protagonist as the voice of Eggs, though to be fair he’s arguably the least interesting of the main characters but that’s only because the rest are so bizarre and colourful. Elle Fanning’s Winnie is a charmingly odd piece of work, combining innocence and sophistication with the disturbing thoughts of a potential sadist, whilst Jared Harris is delightfully amusing as the bumbling aristocrat who’s own poshness makes him hilariously ignorant. Ben Kingsley does his best Ray Winstone impression as Snatcher, the sexually confused villain who pines to be a nobleman, whilst Richard Ayoade and Nick Frost consistently steal the show as the stooges who try to convince themselves that they’re not stooges. Tracy Morgan is unrecognisable as Snatcher’s third and disconcertedly feral lackey, whilst Simon Pegg has a brief but fun role that I won’t spoil.

Laika do their best to keep the magic of stop motion animation alive, and here they have once again fabricated an imaginative but spooky world. The Boxtrolls themselves have a very simple but unique and ingenious design to them, the city of Cheesebridge combines the rustic aesthetic of British architecture with the warped sensibilities of German expressionism, and the animation itself is seamless and a wonder to see in motion; not once did I see through the trick.

The Boxtrolls is a quirky and highly enjoyable effort from the folks at Laika, crafting a simple tale about acceptance that has plenty of deeper layers for those who wish to dig. It’s been a stellar year for animation thanks to the likes of The LEGO Movie and How to Train Your Dragon 2, but please don’t let this gem slip through your fingers. I’d say much younger or sensitive kids might find some of the imagery a bit much, but if you’re child is of reasonable age and ready to take on something a little more challenging, then by all means take them to see it. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it too, just maybe for different reasons.

FINAL VERDICT: 8.5/10

Starring: Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Maika Monroe (Labour Day), Sheila Kelley (Matchstick Men), Brendan Meyer (Tooth Fairy), Leland Orser (Taken), Lance Reddick (Fringe)

Director: Adam Wingard (You’re Next)

Writer: Simon Barrett (You’re Next)

Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes 

Release Date: 5 September (UK), 17 September (US)

Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett showed a lot of promise last year when their long-gestating project You’re Next was finally released to the public and became a big favourite among horror fans for its amusing play on genre conventions. Not bad for a film that was essentially a bunch of film geeks mucking around. Now the duo is back with The Guest, a far more ambitious picture but with just as much love for the classics, and it’s one you won’t want to miss.

It’s hard to pin The Guest down to one genre as it dallies around with several of them, but it can be summed up as “very 80’s”. It may be set in modern times, but in terms of tone and style this film screams the 1980’s. Much like with his previous effort, Wingard owes a lot to John Carpenter but it never becomes so overt that it just comes off as an imitation. That’s not to say that is their sole influence, as there are certainly shades of The Terminator and other cult favourites, enough of them that I won’t bother listing them all. The plot moves a solid clip, gradually increasing tension and scale until building up to an insane third act where everything is on the table. It moves seamlessly from thriller to mystery to action to horror, with elements of dark comedy and possibly even sci-fi thrown in, all creating a wonderful stew of a movie. Some might find the ending a little inconclusive, but I think it just makes it that much more interesting, leaving it open for all sorts of theories and interpretations. I know I’m being very vague, but I think this is one you need to go in as cold as possible.

You’re Next provided us with Erin, one of the best horror movie protagonists in recent memory, and Wingard and Barrett have concocted another winning character in Dan Stevens’ David. His characterisation is already intriguing enough, but Stevens’ performance elevates what’s already a cool character and makes him someone impossible to dislike even in his darker moments. He brings such confidence and swagger to the part, along with fierce stoicism and a fun attitude, creating a character that is badass but also enigmatic and charming. His performance helps bolster the rest of the cast, who do a good job but don’t stand out a huge amount but I think that’s the point. This is a movie about taking a normal set of characters and circumstances, putting them in a room with something extraordinary and letting the fun happen. That said, I did have a particular problem with the bullies portrayed in the film. They are all a bunch of stereotypical douchebags like most movie bullies and, though their presence gives way to some of Stevens’ best scenes in the movie, I’d hoped a film that flips so many other conventions on their head would figure out a way to make this clichéd element seem a bit fresher.

As much as the storytelling conveys a classic vibe, it’s the presentation that gives The Guest that true old-school feel. The camerawork has more of a modern fluidity to it, but the lighting (especially during the climax) is very 80’s. The few action sequences in the movie are well handled if a little shaky at points, whilst the score wraps the entire picture together with a synth soundtrack that encapsulates the mood perfectly.

The Guest is an absolute blast for fans of old school genre pictures, mixing all of the classic elements with some modern twists to create something unique and entertaining as hell. Dan Stevens’ performance alone sells the movie, but everything else around him supports his work tremendously. Go in as blind as you can, bring along some friends and maybe some beers, and just yourself have a good time.

FINAL VERDICT: 9/10