Month: August 2015

Starring: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins (Non-Stop), Jason Mitchell (Contraband), Neil Brown Jr. (Fast & Furious), Aldis Hodge (The East), Paul Giamatti (Sideways)

Director: F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job)

Writers: Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff (World Trade Center)

Runtime: 2 hours 27 minutes

Release Date: 14 August (US), 28 August (UK)

The fact that Straight Outta Compton isn’t aimed at my demographic isn’t lost on me. I certainly know who N.W.A. are and like some of their songs, but neither was I clamouring to see a movie about their life story. But the key to a great movie is making it interesting for anyone, not just those familiar with the subject matter, and Straight Outta Compton accomplishes that excellently. Musician biopics aren’t anything new, but this one makes a mark by being one of the first ones about a hip-hop group. But to simply call it a biopic is underselling the movie a bit, as it’s not only about N.W.A. and their work, but also about how their influence affected not only the music industry but also the culture in general around them.

The traditional rise-and-fall story of a music biopic is so ingrained in our minds at this point that it’s not even a surprise anymore, and Straight Outta Compton still follows that expected arc. It’s hard to argue when it’s a true story, but even with that said it was easy for even a layman to N.W.A. lore like me to see where the story was going. The film pulls the “pause for effect when somebody’s about to name something important” trick a few too many times for comfort, and when they bring out the old “indicate a character is sick by having them cough constantly” bit it was almost starting to feel like a parody. However, the film ultimately works despite these flaws. Firstly, despite the film’s almost two and a half hour run time, it’s snappy and well paced enough that you probably won’t notice. That break-neck pace means certain things feel a little glossed over (and certain other major, more suspect events completely omitted), but everything important impacts in all the right ways and keeps you invested in the story. But what ultimately makes the movie work on a story level is how it melds N.W.A.’s story with the current events of the time and their impact on each other. N.W.A. was a group very much inspired by the environment they lived in, and through their music they not only showed the rest of the planet what their world was but also created a lot of discussion about authority and censorship. It’s these elements that make Straight Outta Compton more than just a biopic. It’s a time capsule of an important part of American culture that touches on subjects that are arguably just as relevant now as they were back then.

N.W.A., as the third word of their name implies, were very much a group based around attitude, and our three main players certainly have enough of it. The idea of casting the role of Ice Cube with his own son may seem like a stunt on first thought, but O’Shea Jackson Jr. not only manages to capture his father beyond mere looks, he’s actually a much better dramatic actor than Ice Cube has ever been; it’s hard to call that based on one performance, but I think he proves it. Whilst Straight Outta Compton’s depiction of Dr. Dre does sweep a lot of the nastier parts of the person under the rug, Corey Hawkins portrayal of the character of Dr. Dre is excellent throughout even if you can’t quite shake the feeling of whitewash (this is kind of inevitable considering both Ice Cube and Dr. Dre are producers on the movie). Jason Mitchell is the main standout as Easy E, giving the character a lot of troublemaker spirit whilst also nailing every dramatic scene thrown his way; it’s definitely a career-making performance. DJ Yella and MC Ren don’t get as much focus as the big three but Neil Brown Jr. and Aldis Hodge do well with what little material they’re given, and Paul Giamatti is perfect casting in the traditional “sleazy band manager” role.

In a movie about music you’ve got to have a great soundtrack. This movie does. Alongside playing all the hits from N.W.A. as well as Ice Cube and Dre’s solo careers, the film also has a great selection of songs from other period artists that help set the tone during the early scenes before the group makes it big. Matthew Libatique’s cinematography is appropriately gritty and impactful whilst also looking cinematically beautiful, helped along with period-perfect production design and crisp, neat editing.

Straight Outta Compton works as a movie for fans of N.W.A. and as a well-made film on its own. Even if you don’t have much interest in rap and hip-hop, it’s an enjoyable ride from start to finish thanks to its clever social commentary and all-around solid performances from a group of promising up-and-comers. If you’re a fan of Cube and the gang, you’ve probably already made up your mind about seeing it, but if you’re on the fence I recommend that you give it a shot.

FINAL VERDICT: 8.5/10

FINAL VERDICT: 8.5/10

Starring: Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer), Bill Hader (The Skeleton Twins), Brie Larson (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), LeBron James, John Cena (The Marine), Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Tilda Swinton (We Need To Talk About Kevin)

Director: Judd Apatow (Knocked Up)

Writer: Amy Schumer

Runtime: 2 hours 5 minutes

Release Date: 17 July (US), 14 August (UK)

There hasn’t really been an honest romantic comedy, at least for this generation. Even when trying to depict relationships in a realistic light, there’s always an aura of falsity to the proceedings, like the filmmakers want to make a blunt statement but also need to satisfy the audience with a happy ending. Trainwreck is that rare film that manages to do exactly that without feeling at all dishonest.

Whilst presented like a typical rom com with plenty of the clichés as garnish (set in New York, working at a magazine, obnoxious best friend, etc), Trainwreck sets itself apart with one simple question, “What if our heroine wasn’t looking for romance?” It’s an intriguing point of view for this story to take, and one fitting for our society’s increasingly permissive view of relationships. Whilst it does eschew a lot of the traditions of both love and the genre, it doesn’t necessarily say those ideals are wrong. It presents its core relationship in a sincere and realistic way, and any time it looks like it’s going to become too treacly or trite it swerves and surprises you. For example: you know that typical situation about two thirds through one of these movies where the couple has a falling out or some misunderstanding and they break up? You always want to say, “Just talk!”, right? Well, here they do! It doesn’t go well, but they at least tried. The film even has a third act race and a grand romantic gesture, but it always finds a way to make it work in context. It’s little touches like that that shows some effort and awareness of reality. But that’s not to say the film is a perfect example of the genre. The film is a good 10-15 minutes too long (a typical flaw with Judd Apatow’s work, but not quite so egregious here), certain scenes feel a little overlong due to obvious adlibbing, and some of the comedy does fall flat at points. But for every joke that fails, there’s at least one that gets a chuckle and there are some scenes that are laugh-out loud funny throughout. So yeah, it needs some polishing, but Trainwreck gets a lot of points purely for its honesty.

Amy Schumer’s been hanging around Hollywood a while now, and her first foray into the film spotlight is certainly a success. Her sense of humour is crude and her personality a little boorish, but it’s just the right amount to avoid being obnoxious. Her being flummoxed by the initial concept of romance seems a little OTT, but by the time she’s deep in there’s a lot of humanity there. Like with her excellent work on the screenplay, Schumer’s performance is genuine and consistently engaging and I’d love to see her get the chance to star in movies beyond her comedy roots; I really do think she has the chops to stretch further. Bill Hader is as hilarious as ever, just as unconventional a romantic lead as Schumer is, and their chemistry is palatable in all the right ways. Their relationship isn’t some destiny-laden, far-flung romance where they seem meant for each other. They’re just two people with radically different interests and professions that somehow find something that connects them. And you know what, that’s how life usually works! The rest of the film’s cast is generally good, with some surprise turns from the likes of LeBron James and especially John Cena; the scene with him and Schumer in the cinema keeps hitting and hitting with the jokes. Tilda Swinton feels a little underutilised and her character a bit wafty, as did Ezra Miller, but the focus is on Schumer and Hader and they did more than enough to compensate.

Trainwreck is a fresh and honest look at relationships and the romantic comedy in general, and a perfect showcase for Amy Schumer’s talents. Apatow’s best film since The 40 Year Old Virgin, it’s consistently funny and just sweet enough to be satisfying, but the traces of bitterness seeded throughout is what makes it such a unique movie. Whether you can’t get enough of romance or think it’s become stale, give this one a try and maybe you’ll see that sparks can still be made from this overworked genre.

FINAL VERDICT: 9/10

Starring: Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Elizabeth Debecki (The Great Gatsby), Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Hugh Grant (Cloud Atlas)

Director: Guy Ritchie (Snatch)

Writers: Guy Ritchie & Lionel Wigram (Sherlock Holmes)

Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes

Release Date: 14 August (US, UK)

2015 truly is the year of the spy movie. With Kingsman: The Secret Service, Spy and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation already released and Spectre still to come, there’s certainly no better time to be fan of international espionage. It’s a pity then that The Man from U.N.C.L.E., based on the classic 1960s television series, has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle. And it really shouldn’t be one to overlook because, whilst not quite as sharp as some of its brethren this year, it’s a more than satisfactory time at the movies.

It’s a Cold War era spy thriller, so the plot is almost self-explanatory: tension between Russia and US, threat of nuclear destruction, third party trying to spark conflict, yaddayaddayadda. It’s a formula that’s been old since even before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. doesn’t stray too far from it. Other than a decent third act twist, the story is pretty formulaic and, given common knowledge of world history, the likelihood of total annihilation occurring is unlikely from the offset. However, what the film lacks in substance it more than makes up for in style and execution. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is breezily paced and well structured, creating for a light and fun experience that keeps good time and never becomes dull. There is a great balance of action and humour, and when the two are combined it creates for some of the film’s best moments. The third act feels a bit abrupt and the final moments setting up a potential franchise are a little cheesy, but by this point you will have either gotten caught up in the movie’s swing or you won’t have.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. also benefits from a strong leading duo in Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as CIA agent Napoleon Solo and the KGB’s Ilya Kuryakin respectively. Whether working together or against each other, these two are a magnetic presence and a great comic duo. Cavill’s suaveness is on in full force here and his bravado always brings a smile, creating a character that’s still cool even when engaging in less commendable situations; he really would have made a great James Bond. On the other side, Hammer pulls off the Russian accent surprisingly well and mines a lot of great deadpan material out of Kuryakin’s stiff and bitter persona. The two play off each other in the expected bickering manner, but never fails to amuse and the bond that forms between them feels genuine by the end. Also fantastic is the ever impressive Alicia Vikander, who unfortunately doesn’t get in on the action as much but serves wonderfully as a third foil between the ultra-egos of Solo and Kuryakin. Hugh Grant also shines in his small role as Waverly, but he gets nowhere near enough screen time despite his character being a major part of the show. The main flaw in the cast is the film’s villain as played by Elizabeth Debecki. She does a fine enough job with the material and pulls off the femme fatale role almost too well, but there’s not much on the page beyond that, and other than killing one minor character she doesn’t do much but stare and look pretty the rest of the time.

Guy Ritchie has always been a style over substance director, but his penchant is very well suited to a picture like this. The film very effectively imitates the style of 1960s films using old school techniques like whip pans, crash zooms and titled angles, as well as very effective and creative use of split screen. The action scenes are perhaps cut a little too quickly, but they’re all very well staged and memorable; an early car-to-foot chase is a major highlight. Aside from the all-around excellent cinematography, the period detail is also well captured in the film’s design with great sets and fabulous costumes, and the film’s soundtrack also nails the era with a wonderful selection of vintage tunes and a catchy score from Daniel Pemberton.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is not a movie you need to rush out and see, but if you’re even slightly interested in it or you’ve seen everything else on at the cinema right now, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go. It’s not a film that’ll set the world on fire nor does it stand out as much compared to other spy movies this year, but it has its own identity and packs in plenty of thrills and laughs. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer’s chemistry is worth it alone, but the added 60s flair just sweetens the deal. I’m not certain what the film’s sequel prospects are, but colour me interested should Solo and Kuryakin team up once again.

FINAL VERDICT: 7.5/10

Starring: Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses), Rebecca Hall (The Town), Joel Edgerton (Warrior)

Writer/Director: Joel Edgerton

Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes

Release Date: 7 August (US, UK)

Joel Edgerton gets kind of a bad rap, and I think that’s a shame. He often gets lumped in with “generic” actors like Sam Worthington or Liam Hemsworth or Jai Courtney, but I don’t really see the similarities other than that they’re all Aussies. Sure, he’s made some questionable acting choices like Exodus or The Thing prequel, but films like Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty and The Great Gatsby show he has far more range than just being another generically good-looking white guy to shove in action fodder. Now he’s branching out to directing, which is a move that is either met with great praise or indifference depending on the final product. The Gift is that first one. A well-crafted and effective thriller, it’s a potential sign of great things to come from Edgerton.

The Gift is an incredibly hard film to talk about because to really explain why it’s so good, I’d have to ruin half the plot. I don’t want to do that, so please excuse my incredibly vague praise. For a film with a deliberately slow pace and a lack of action (the height of physical intensity is a brick being thrown through a window), The Gift is an incredibly tense and gripping thriller through just simple character interaction, not too dissimilar to classic Alfred Hitchcock pictures like Rear Window. The story has its predictable moments, but like all good thrillers it knows how to play with your expectations and switches up the game every time you think it’s over. The film builds from just an awkward situation to possibly something deeper and darker, but the film’s greatest strength is that it leaves a lot of the digging to the audience. Edgerton knows when to leave things quiet and let the situation play out, allowing the audience to not only figure it out but also interpret what they think is really going on. The film’s final moments are highly ambiguous, which may frustrate some viewers who want a definitive answer, but it perfectly wraps up a very well played game of cards and fits perfectly in with the film’s twisted view. Again, without saying too much, it’s ultimately the “boy who cries wolf” story taken to its final destination and a cautionary tale about how one insignificant moment in one person’s life can drastically alter another’s. Read into that what you will.

With a film that relies this heavily on character, you’re going to need some damn fine performances and the triple threat of Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and Edgerton himself are certainly up to the task. Bateman is another actor most people underestimate, mainly because he’s usually typecast as yet another variant of Michael Bluth from Arrested Development. But when allowed to do something a little different, he can be phenomenally good and here he gets that chance. Like the film’s plot, the characters of The Gift are very ambiguous and Bateman’s character very much fits that description. From moment to moment, you either sympathise with this guy or hate his guts, and that game of flip-flop is what helps keep the tension so high. Edgerton casting himself in a supporting role is a smart move that allows him to focus on directing, but he’s no slouch in his performance. His character of Gordo is meant to be hard to read and Edgerton does a good job of balancing the line between disturbing creep and well-meaning simpleton. He’s a peculiar guy, but there’s a lot of sympathy in him too that makes him relatable. I’ve known people like this; heck, I’ve probably been this guy to someone in some way. Rebecca Hall acts as mediator between these two personalities, and she does a great job of being the audience perspective in this increasingly uncomfortable scenario.

This has been a hard line to balance on, but ultimately the takeaway from this should be that you should see The Gift. It’s a solid and nail biting thriller made out of a seemingly unexciting situation, and one that offers a unique perspective in a genre that has gotten all too predictable. It’s not Gone Girl good, but for a late summer release from a first-time director it’s highly impressive. I don’t see Edgerton getting signed on to direct the next Hollywood blockbuster, but if he keeps putting out little movies as good as this I’ll happily go see them.

FINAL VERDICT: 8/10

P. S. : I’ve put the trailer here as usual, but if you’ve not watched it I’d urge you actually not to. I went into the movie pretty cold, and I think that’s the best way to watch it.

Starring: Miles Teller (Whiplash), Kate Mara (Transcendence), Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Reg E. Cathey (House of Cards), Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk)

Director: Josh Trank (Chronicle)

Writers: Jeremy Slater (The Lazarus Effect) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) & Josh Trank

Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes

Release Date: 6 August (UK), 7 August (US)

The Fantastic Four haven’t had it easy in Hollywood. Sure, the two films directed by Tim Story from the mid-2000s weren’t the worst the genre had to offer, but as adaptations of Marvel’s first superhero family they were a complete disservice with poor storytelling, even worse pacing, and some bafflingly poor casting choices. But even then, that’s not arguably the worst thing they been associated with. Remember that low-budget Fantastic Four movie they joked about in the fourth season of Arrested Development? That wasn’t just a joke. That actually happened! Watch if you don’t believe me:

But now a decade after they originally messed it up, 20^th Century Fox is taking another stab at making a Fantastic Four movie with a drastically different tone, a younger cast, and a fresh director in the form of Chronicle helmer Josh Trank…and yet still they just can’t catch a break. Ignoring the frankly disgusting amount of backlash against Michael B. Jordan being “wrong” to play Johnny Storm because of his melanin levels (geez, it’s 2015. Are we still on this?), the film has been plagued by reshoots, a very late marketing campaign, and vague reports of Trank being difficult on set. I’ve been an avid defender of this project from the word go, but as it went on even I got a bit nervous. Now having seen the result of their labours, I can safely say, “Damn it! The haters were right this time!” Much like the team itself, Fantastic Four is a noble experiment gone horrifically wrong and yet another embarrassment for the much-loved comic book.

The film draws most of its inspiration from the “Ultimate Fantastic Four” reimagining of the story, so the complaints about changes like the younger cast and retooled origin should be quelled. One of the main ideas it draws from this run is treating the story as less fantastical and as more of a hard science fiction story. It’s an interesting point of view on the material, viewing the story and characters in more of a real world context and how they would fit into our reality, much like what Man of Steel did. But just like Man of Steel, sloppy execution ruins it. Of all of Fantastic Four’s problems, all of them link back to its incredibly uneven pacing. The first half of the movie is actually pretty decent, slowly building up to the event when they get their powers and actually getting to know the characters a bit. Sure, it essentially takes them half the movie to get them their powers, but the slow burn gave it more of that sci-fi feel and was a nice change of pace compared to the rushed origin in the 2005 version. During this time, they also manage to actually make sense of some of the more silly aspects of the source material; for instance, they better explain why each of them gets drastically different abilities, and also why certain less qualified characters like Johnny (Jordan) and Ben (Bell) tag along. But once they finally get their powers, the movie then takes a complete left turn into awesomeness…for about ten minutes, then takes another left turn and promptly implodes. There’s a small stretch where the film turns into a David Cronenberg-style body horror flick and, as drastic a shift and as out there as it is, it’s really unique for a superhero film and I’m surprised they had the balls to do it. I was all amped up for where they were going to take it from there, but then the aforementioned implosion happens and the movie becomes an utter mess. The pacing picks up rapidly, almost like they’re trying to make up for lost time, and rushes towards its climax so fast that it’ll take you a few minutes to comprehend that the movie is over. The jargon-heavy dialogue suddenly becomes incredibly on the nose, with plot and character developments merely stated instead of naturally woven in, and the characters go from being three-dimensional people to static chess pieces that only move to advance the now paper-thin plot. All semblance of character and atmosphere and tone and detail gets jettisoned, which in turn actually makes the good first half of the movie not only feel like a distant memory but also irrelevant; there’s even a few subplots that are set up in the first half that are completely forgotten and unresolved by the end. It really does feel like someone cut a good 20-40 minutes out of the movie, and then shot some new scenes and dialogue to cover up the seams in the most slipshod way. I don’t know whom to blame, but something just went disastrously wrong here and I don’t think I can adequately explain it without going deep into spoiler territory.

The cast of Fantastic Four has some really high calibre players and a few of them get time to shine, but those that do are flattened into nothings by the midway gearshift. Miles Teller makes an excellent Reed Richards at the start, playing the character as this socially awkward and self-absorbed genius bordering on autistic. His performance reminded me a lot of Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, in that both of their characters are really fascinating to watch even if you don’t always agree with or even like them. Michael B. Jordan is also great as Johnny Storm, squashing the haters and proving he was a great choice to play the cocky hothead, getting in the film’s best lines and providing some relief during the more reserved first half. All of this is pretty much made null and void in the middle when they become bland shells of their former selves, but it was nice while it lasted. The rest of the cast, try as they might, don’t fare as well. Kate Mara’s Sue Storm is so constantly apathetic and cynical that you never really get to know much about her beyond one brief conversation with Reed, and she spends so little time with Johnny that them being siblings is a fact you might easily forget. Similarly, Jamie Bell’s Ben Grimm is absent for most of the film’s first half and his friendship with Reed is only explored on the surface level. The scene where Reed first sees what’s become of Ben after the accident is actually genuinely gut wrenching and emotional, but nothing like that is ever explored afterwards and it just feels like a waste. Toby Kebbell’s Victor Von Doom is set up quite well as this pessimistic anti-authority figure with a superiority complex, but once he is reintroduced as the villain they spend no time on him whatsoever. They don’t explain what he’s been up to, what exactly he’s planning to do, how his powers work, what exactly motivated him to enact his vague plan, he barely even exchanges dialogue with his former colleagues; it’s like Venom in Spider-Man 3, but much, much worse. Reg E. Cathey’s main role as Franklin Storm seems to be to spout important sounding exposition (because I guess they couldn’t afford Morgan Freeman or something, because he’s the king of that), but he does share a few good moments with Johnny and their father-son dynamic is probably the most genuine of the character relationships. Lastly, and certainly least, Tim Blake Nelson’s Harvey Elder is a cookie-cutter banality of a secondary antagonist. The whole “government wanting to use experiment as weapon” story is already played out as it is, but it’s especially played out here and Nelson’s performance is so drab and unimaginative that you wonder why they hired an actor of his skill level for such a thankless role.

Josh Trank’s Chronicle was a really imaginative look at the superhero genre from a unique perspective, and the idea of that mind taking on an established property like Fantastic Four has some great possibilities. What exactly happened to that guy, I don’t know, because this movie honestly looks like it could have been made by anybody. It’s all competently shot and edited, but there’s no real sense of unique flair to it. I guess it’s kind of hard to nail down Trank’s style from only one film (and a found footage film at that), but this is starting to make me think Chronicle’s strength was in its writing and actors rather than its direction. But maybe this could be the hands of some outside interfering force, as can be seen in the film’s few fight sequences. Whilst Chronicle’s action was creative and wild and took full advantage of its characters’ abilities, the action in Fantastic Four is incredibly generic and the unique power set of its characters feels drastically underutilised. There are a few inspired moments like Sue using her force fields to fly or Reed stretching his facial features to disguise himself, but otherwise they use only the most obvious applications of these powers. The CGI is very inconsistent throughout, ranging from pretty good to “is that even finished?” Rendering The Thing in CG rather than as a practical effect is actually a rare case where the computer beats doing it for real, as it allows them to realize the true scale and impact of the character, and the effect is genuinely well done. But Johnny’s full body fire and Sue’s shields only look passable at best, whilst the rendering of the alternate dimension they visit often looks the CGI backdrop covering up a green screen that it is; the worst part is the glowing green energy seeping in the ground, which looks like somebody playing with various bloom effects in Adobe After Effects. Even the film’s score is bland, and I should not be saying that about a score co-written by Philip Glass, one of the great composers of our time.

Fantastic Four is an absolute mess, but I’ll at least concede that it’s an interesting mess. It doesn’t merely feel like some paint-by-numbers superhero film that some studio pumped out just to compete with Marvel Studios. Somewhere hidden within this jumbled heap is the spark of a great idea crafted by people who actually cared, but somewhere along the way something happened. I don’t know if it was studio interference or mere incompetence, but something went wrong and the whole film suffers for it. The first half of the movie is pretty decent, even brilliant at times, but all goodwill is lost by the end and now I’m somewhat pining for the days of Michael Chicklis in a rubber orange rock suit; at least his version of The Thing had a more defined personality. I’m not angry at Fantastic Four. I’m just sad and disappointed. I’m sad and disappointed because this movie didn’t just shoot itself in the foot. It shot itself in the face. Repeatedly.

FINAL VERDICT: 4/10