Review: Legend

This black comedy thriller follows the exploits of the Kray Twins, notorious London gangsters during the 1960s. It feels quite long, but Tom Hardy has a dynamite performance as both twins.

Ronald and Reginald Kray are living the comfortable life as gangsters on London’s east side, they are seemingly impervious to the police while running clubs and battling with rival gangs. But when Reginald Kray meets a young girl, his relationship with his psychotic brother Ronald becomes incredibly tense, risking to break their lives, and everything they’ve built, apart forever.

The Krays were notorious in their day so watching Legend can feel difficult; it does its best to glamourise their lifestyle and make the audience feel sympathy for them as characters. Reginald Kray is portrayed as a decent man in an indecent world, while his brother (though truly psychotic) is described by Reginald at one point as  having “a heart of gold”. It is a black comedy at its heart, its dialogue is harsh and aggressive with English gangland humour mixing with bursts of bloody aggression.

I just described to you Reginald and Ronald as two different people. Which they are. Only in Legend the twins are both played by Tom Hardy. This is surely the meat of the experience; whether you approve of the subject matter or not, Hardy is exceptional here as both twins through clever use of camerawork, body-doubles, split-screen and surely some CG work. It isn’t what I would call a gimmick either; Hardy really does become both characters superbly well, similar and yet extremely different with Ronald’s dour, dead-eyed simplicity and occasional spouting of prose, to Reginald’s well-rounded gangster and part-time romantic. Both are very complex characters, and Hardy delivers both and interacts with himself so well that you believe there are two of him!

The heart of the film, outside of its darkness, is Reginald’s lover Frances (played by Emily Browning) who delivers occasional narration and is the audience surrogate as an innocent quickly trapped in this world. But she does bring out the best, and worst, in the Krays, especially with Ron and as a result she is in the centre of a lot of the film's best scenes.
The film's secondary characters are also very well defined, making the 1960's British gangland feel all the more richer.

I will say against the film is that it feels slightly too long. Finishing at 130 minutes, it could have been just two hours or even less; the film takes its time getting to the point, padding the runtime with a lot of familiar scenes that borderline repetition. Even with Hardy's double performance carrying through these scenes, it ultimately feels drawn out. It is also something of a classic story: a man battling between his loyalty to a girl or his brother.

I would definitely recommend it for Tom Hardy's performances alone, this is some exceptional work from him and elevates it far above what would have been a well styled but average film. 

    

Review: Kingsman - Secret Service

Matthew Vaughn continues his comic book adaptations after Kick Ass and X-Men: First Class with this bloodied, tongue-in-cheek British spy action movie.

A smart British youth who has found himself in hard times after the death of his father, but when an agent of a secret organisation requests he join the service he, and the other young trainees, might be the only ones able to stop a maniac millionaire's evil plans.

It took me a long time to finally see Kingsman: Secret Service, but it appears to have a lot of staying power here in the UK mostly because of its star-studded supporting cast and Vaughn's directorial hand. With Michael Cane, Mark Strong, Colin Firth and Samuel L Jackson you'd swear you were watching something extremely prominent, but as always Matthew Vaughn brings his classic sense of humour and style to the proceedings, making what might have been a by-the-numbers spy caper a lot more fun and enjoyable.

I cannot say I hadn't seen any of this before. The lengthy training montage of wise-cracking youths at a grand English manor is straight from Vaughn's superior First Class, dozens of homages to James Bond movies (though justified and often the movie is self-aware of these) such as a secret underground shuttle car system, tonnes of gadgets and snowy mountaintop retreats. Cane, Jackson and Firth are honestly playing the same characters they have been playing for years. Although I did greatly enjoy the villainous Samuel L Jackson's lisp.
There are some strange inconsistencies and bad continuity throughout, such as one of the opening scenes seeing a masked soldier killed only for a follow up shot to have his mask removed so we could see his face. No one had removed it. Or our villain, Valentine, being violently allergic to the sight of blood but has a henchwoman who's signature weapons are blades. She can cleave a man in half, yet after having done so... there's conveniently no massive pool of blood? 

I don't know why I feel the need to be hard on the film; the action sequences were awesome! The fight choreography, editing and timing around the battles were exceptional and eye popping, I never thought I would see Colin Firth being such a bad ass. As I've mentioned already Matthew Vaughn's style is strong, the score reminded me of First Class and there's some great music choice. Colourful cinematography and lighting make everything pop and the dialogue can be very witty.

It is good fun, and an easy way to spend a couple of hours. The pacing was strong, the story wasn't taxing or laborious at any point, nothing was wrong with the film. I guess I just wasn't expecting such a prolonged training theme and maybe more unique characters from our actors (the exception being Mark Strong's character) ultimately making it very enjoyable but somewhat forgettable.

Additional Marshmallows: I also turn in my Film Buff badge for not recognising MARK HAMILL in this film! 

Review: The Sweeney

Something about crime drama set in Britain just irks me.

Adapted from the 1970s television show of the same name, The Sweeney follows two of the more unconventional police officers in Britain, whose lack of regard for authority has them running out of allies while hunting down a devious criminal.

The film is a classic cops-and-robbers scenario but with a twist; our heroes are not the clean cut, law abiding officers. They use any means necessary to catch criminals, and their commanding officer Jack Regan (Ray Winstone) sees no problem in how his unit operates. But the higher ups look to undermine him at every turn, and his dogged nature means he won't quit.

Ultimately this is the meat of the show, but unfortunately the film doesn't provide any great sustenance for the characters. The villains are unremarkable and cardboard, while Ray Winstone... well... I imagine he is playing himself here! Certainly if you have a problem with Winstone's past performances I recommend you avoid The Sweeney; this is very much his film.
... I don't know who wanted to see him on the big screen in his boxers, not once but twice, but I know I didn't ask for it...

The gun battles that run consistently through the film aren't shabby, the music isn't bad either and the action is shot nicely so you can see what's happening, but it doesn't feel like it escalates. It feels as though the film has one setting; gruff and dogged, and it doesn't do anything else (a bit like Winstone himself really)

I don't know, it didn't grab my attention, and looking back at it I wish there was more backing to the characters and their personalities, especially with Ben "Plan B" Drew's character George. His character could have had an interesting arc but we don't get to see his origin; it is explained in rushed exposition instead.

Maybe if you knew the original television show there might be more comprehension, but as it stands The Sweeney isn't memorable and remains very average in my eyes.

Additional Marshmallows: Also, I cannot help but be reminded of UK television's Top Gear having a humorous episode shot around the filming of The Sweeney and thinking how that was better.
 

Review: Submarine

"Refreshing", "quirky" and "funny" are not words I would use to describe this laborious trip into mediocrity.

Okay, so several of you will be shaking their heads in disgust, but honestly Submarine did not grab me... at all. Not as a drama and certainly not as a quirky comedic drama.
So we follow a youth in Wales called Oliver who is a socially weird, intelligent but reclusive school boy seeking to lose his virginity and gain some respect at school. The girl he has his eyes on is a serious girl who enjoys tormenting other kids. A match made in Heaven, for sure. In the meantime, the boy's parents face their own troubles as his mother could be having an affair with their neighbour.
All of this is relentlessly monologued over by Oliver, from his downright weird mindset.

So, if anything, Submarine does have great acting and directing talent, I can give it that much. The young actors are great and  there are some subtle comedy and quirkiness coming through in the camerawork and direction... 
But my god do I not relate to this kid, at all. He seems to me like an obnoxious know-it-all who thinks he is the centre of the universe! Okay, maybe a lot of kids think that at that age but I know that's why the kids are obnoxious! They don't know any better. Why would I want to watch a film from their perspective? Especially when I wasn't like that in High School! At all!

The film is dull too. I imagined perhaps that I might get a British answer to Amelie (one of my favourite quirky dramatic comedies) but nope, Submarine wallows in the depths of British boring-as-sin reality, and runs with it with sincerity and seriousness like we want to subject ourselves to more of it!

I think it is a stylistic thing; you will love it or hate it, and unfortunately I am more with the latter. It does have great acting (for what little they are given) and great direction (for what little it has to work with) but I found myself completely alienated by the characters, I neither laughed or even cried... not even a lump in my throat for any of them! Surely a drama should get at least one of those out of me??

Additional Marshmallows: This is the director's only film currently, asides television and features. Richard Ayoade, and if you think that name is somehow familiar, that's because he was acting beside Ben Stiller in The Watch this year. Huh...