Review: John Wick

Keanu Reeves is back in this high octane revenge shoot 'em up. Full of style and plenty of bloody carnage, I enjoyed it a lot.

When a crime-lord's son takes a fancy for John Wick's car, he decides to steal it as well as murder John's pet puppy, mere days after the tragic death of his wife. 
What he didn't know, and his father certainly does, is that Wick is a retired hitman; one of the most ruthless and professional killers ever. Despite John having worked for the crime lord, will his cold vengeance remain limited to just the son's life?

John Wick is one of those classic, by-the-numbers action shooters. We have a criminal element that even has the cliche of a hot-headed crime-lord son who's in over his head (played by Game of Thrones' Alfie Allen) we have scenes on a rain soaked graveyard, gunfights in neon-lit nightclubs and knife fights in the rain. There are plenty of reasons to say this film is cliche.
But I enjoyed it a lot. I think its because there's very little narrative fluff and no padding, like forced romance subplots; it is as straight and narrow as you can get. Man is angry, he has an arsenal of guns and a hierarchy of bad guys to blast his way though. Though it does have a nice sense of dry humour running through it, usually coming from the fact that everyone in New York knows John Wick by reputation; the man can just stroll through people's businesses and they know not to bother him.

And I have to say also... I personally don't like dogs, but the producers of this film found one of the most adorable puppies available to star in the beginning of this film. I wasn't convinced I would really care for all of our hero's grievances when I heard the synopsis but damn... it was so cute!

I've always liked Reeves; Speed was one of those action films I watched frequently when I was younger alongside the likes of Die Hard with a Vengeance, and its great to see him here looking positively transformed. He looks grisly and hard, and the film doesn't burden him with silly quips either. As one of Hollywood's nicest guys, he really makes this film work, giving the character a total sense of apathy and reluctance to everything he's doing; all the death and carnage, is just part of the course.

I recommend it to all action junkies. It isn't rewriting any rules by a long shot, but compared to the grand scope of average modern shooters, this one is slick and styled enough to stand above them.

Review: Avengers - Age of Ultron (2D)

Conquering heroes The Avengers return in their second outing as an ensamble cast. This time they must defend Humanity against a peacekeeping AI developed by Tony Stark after it goes rogue.

Is it wrong to say anything negative about a Marvel property these days?
*Cinema Cocoa brings up the blast shields*
Okay so it is fair to say that the sequel has less limitations than its predecessor Avengers Assemble, since all the characters are established now and the story can give us both barrels, but is it possible that during the revelation that Avenger films work Marvel has become... overconfident?
Age of Ultron could be evidence to support this.

Now I am not saying it is bad: action set pieces are incredible; peaking at the Hulk Vs Hulkbuster fight, the humour is still top notch; everyone gets a go, even Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye and Ultron himself!
Speaking of Hawkeye, he is probably the best character for development. The poor guy starts out the movie getting injured and out of commission again, but miraculously Renner is given character material to work with that some of the lead cast haven't had! Well done, Marvel.
Ultron himself is cool, voiced by a gravely James Spader, here's a villain Marvel has been looking for. Malicious, calculating and born from all of Tony Stark's worst traits.

Another boon for the film is its heavy representation of our heroes saving civilians. It is worth remembering that Avengers Assemble had been directly compared to DC's Man of Steel as being the better representation of superhero justice. One can't deny that this feels like a direct attack on DC's property. 

But telling you this film has great dialogue and great action is a no brainer. I think people would have left half way through had those things not been present; this is an Avengers film, if you even remotely like the first one you will find enjoyment here.
But...

This film feels sloppy. It feels rushed, and more importantly it feels utterly careless with what the non-Marvel fandom audience can consume. In an effort to outdo the first film, Ultron cuts narrative corners, makes unreasonable logic jumps without explaining it and possibly the worst offender for me: random exposition dumps.
I can accept, barely, characters literally jumping from place to place between cuts, but having the Avengers (our lead team of superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) learning about the crucial Infinity Stones through some ridiculously contrived illusion/dream/prophetic vision of Thor's, that's unlocked by newcomer Scarlet Witch's powers, and distilled by standing in some underground pool.... No.
We know what Infinity Stones are: Star Lord and friends had them explained really really well in Guardians of the Galaxy, don't make it look like you are laboured in finding a place to tell your main protagonists this incredibly important information. Especially when your screenplay is so heavily invested in explosions and battles.

Another very unnecessary addition were "The Twins", introduced in Captain America 2's end credit stinger, Quicksliver and Scarlet Witch. While they aren't in any way bad, and I can see how the franchise wants to move forward, for this film they are completely unnecessary.
A final note that almost slipped by me, Ultron's final act does little for the female characters; the usually strong and capable Black Widow is randomly imprisoned. I have no idea why, and it is so brief that I almost forgot about it.

Oh dear, that's a lot of negatives isn't it?
Avengers: Age of Ultron is an excellent showcase action movie, it has a quick fire pace and really does have some great moments between the characters. It feels like a reunion party with Don Cheadle's Warmachine helping out among others, and an early drunken scene of "Who can lift Thor's hammer?" is memorable. Many quips too, Captain America absently saying to himself: "If the hammer is in an elevator, the elevator isn't worthy," all give a great chuckle from me.

Marvel need to be careful. Bonanza is all well and good, spectacle will bring the crowds for a short while, but you are trying to tell a story, a narrative, over hours and hours of film. So tell it. 
Don't get stuck in a formula (which you already have, in my opinion) otherwise I will become less intrigued by Avengers milestones and more intrigued by new properties ala Guardians. 

Just, write good.

Review: Locke

Tom Hardy is the focus of this dramatic piece as a man who's life collapses as he takes a long nighttime drive.

Ivan Locke is the head of a construction company with nine years under his belt as a reliable workman and surveyor, his peers and superiors know him as level-headed. But tonight Locke makes a decision that threatens to destroy his family and end his career.

Locke is a short film with a narrow point of focus; we follow Tom Hardy's Locke while he is driving during the entire film. He doesn't stop anywhere en route, he doesn't encounter anyone on the road, we are only interested in him and what he says to his family and colleagues over the phone.

So the film is very subdued and very quiet. We aren't told anything until Locke converses with the appropriate person over the phone, making the start of this film very compelling as we hang on every word he says to learn what is happening in his life.

Hardy is, once again, pulling an accent here and a Welsh accent at that. It is quite convincing. The other characters he speaks to over the phone are never seen, but are well enough developed that this sliver of presence is enough to go on.

The extent in which Locke's life dissolves provides the adversary for his own convictions; if Hardy's performance wasn't as excellent as it is (as you know it will be) this film would have collapsed into obscurity.

So having said that, this film is Tom Hardy's performance and little else. It is very nicely shot: the colours of street lights, the car interior and reflections as well as the pacing of the film are great.

But it does mostly just stop. I realise that the artistry of the film would have been lost if Locke finished his road journey and met someone, but I felt I was missing a portion of the conclusion by the way it was structured. Not that I don't appreciate the subtly of the film's message about how life can so drastically change around you with one decision.

Overall, without giving anything away story-wise (it is the meat of the film) I enjoyed Locke for all of its short run-time. Maybe not the most memorable of stories, but it left me with food for thought.

Review: Fast and Furious 7 (aka Furious 7)

I want to make it clear, first and foremost, anyone dying is a tragic thing, Paul Walker was far too young and his career was only just beginning. I don't want my opinion of this film to be considered disrespectful.

Furious 7 is so, so far from what the franchise used to be that I found myself ceasing to care. When did this series forget it is about cars?

Set after the events of Fast and Furious 6, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his friends, excuse me “family”, become targets for Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) who is out for revenge after they killed his brother. Toretto's team is recruited by a shadowy covert operation to hunt Shaw down, but to do so they need a device called The God Eye, a computer hacking tool that can simultaneously access all of the cameras in the world.

This film has excessive action sequences, often running for twenty minutes or more at a time, explosions, attack helicopters, predator drones, hundreds of half naked women everywhere, flashy cars for no reason at all, bad jokes, product placement, over-long running time and most of all lazy writing. Sounds familiar right? Yet unlike many Michael Bay films this gets a free pass from critics?? This is appalling.

At first I had high hopes; the opening features Dom attempt to remind his Amnesia-saddled girlfriend Letty of her past by taking her to Race Wars (a key moment in the first film) as well as his visit to Tokyo and speaking to the forgotten lead actor Lucas Black from the third film Tokyo Drift. An early bout between Statham and Dwayne Johnson's returning Agent Hobbs was also excellent. 

But it lost me after the sky-diving cars (yes, sky-diving cars, if you haven't seen the trailer) when our heroes, for the most redundant reason ever, must go to Abu Dhabi. After a manic mountainside battle they somehow go to Dubai in the flashiest super cars which even Toretto wouldn't drive. A Bugatti Veyron, seriously? Where did they get one of those? From the local Dubai Veyron rental service??

Going to Dubai is because a chip required for the God Eye device had been installed in a super car... literally no reason why. This makes the sixth movies' idea of putting a valuable microchip inside a tank inside an armoured motorcade seem believable!

But why all of this nonsense? Why do we need a God Eye device? Because Jason Statham's character is so skilled that he can virtually teleport around the world completely untraceable. Or as I like to call it: lazy writing.

The film is a constant, constant battlefield after the first twenty minutes. Not only do we have Statham appearing randomly throughout, but we also have Djimon Hounsou as a... a... bad man? The character development is astounding. We have his stock Asian martial artist, as well as a random burly woman in a dress for Michelle Rodriguez to fight once.

This review is going on a bit, but this film is just immature nonsense; a weird mash of Mission Impossible, Michael Bay films and The Expendables.

The action sequences when appreciated in isolation are impressive, that scene in Abu Dhabi is awesome and certainly something I've never seen before... But I need story substance and narrative cohesion to care; the Fast films used to have some semblance of structure to them, now its just a barrage of noise.

Review: Run All Night

Liam Neeson returns to defend a family once again in this action packed thriller about eye-for-an-eye vengeance.

Jimmy Conlon (Neeson) is a rundown assassin working for crime boss Shawn (Ed Harris) who, despite having distanced himself from his family, must defend his son after he kills Shawn's son in defence. Shawn sets everything after Jimmy and his son Mike, from corrupt police and professional killers.

While it is all fun and games to chuckle and say: "Gosh, how many times does Liam Neeson need to protect his family?" what with the three Taken films and now this, and the barrage of Neeson action films from The Grey to Non-Stop, it is kinda true. In the last five years he has made around six of these things.
What drew me to see Run All Night (I have not watched the Taken sequels) was its 15 certificate. But, it does have a familiar vibe to it... which given what I have just told you, is detrimental to its success.

It is altogether enjoyable however, at least it is a decent way to spend a couple of hours. We get to see Neeson in another action movie but this time he starts burnt out, the laughing stock of his criminal buddies; his ever growing conscience of his dark past leaving him reluctant and timid. This I liked.
Ed Harris, a favourite actor of mine, plays his old familiar character: a steely-eyed man of principle. Yet the early friendship with Neeson's character is genuine and it is great to see these two powerhouse actors together.
Even Joel Kinnaman does well here as Neeson's begrudging son Mike, recouping a lot of credibility after the lacklustre turn as RoboCop2014.

The action is excellent too with a great mid-point car chase, stealthy shoot-outs and brawls. The film is almost entirely taking place in one night (hence the title) and like all good action films, it is set around Christmas. I like my action movies at night. It takes on a very 1990s action vibe.

But whether or not I was expecting more, perhaps my own mistake, but Run All Night didn't feel as engaging as it could have been. For such a simple premise: Father kills other man's son, other father wants revenge in kind, the story feels very compartmentalised. This strikes hardest when Harris hires a professional hitman to go after our heroes, this must be half way through the film, and feels like a sub plot thrown in for a longer runtime. Plus this guy is cartoonishly evil, with a monocular glowing green night-vision device and a red laser sight on his pistol, having half his face burnt off yet he shrugs it off like its nothing? 
He's a Terminator! 
   
I don't know, it felt like a deviation from the real story: Harris and Neeson's relationship, and while that does pay off really well I felt even more time dedicated to it would have gone a long way. That and less stock dialogue, like one of Harris' first lines: "I'm a legitimate business man now", or "You should have killed me when you had the chance".

It is a good movie, mostly for the car chase and all of the scenes with Harris and Neeson, both easily carrying the dialogue and story. A gritty, urban, night time chase.

Review: Chappie

From the director of District 9 and Elysium, a robot is given a chance to experience growing up in a city of gangland warfare after an experimental artificial consciousness is loaded into it.

Dev Patel (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) plays Deon, a praised robotics designer responsible for ending most crime in Johannesburg by inventing Scout robots for the police forces. When one of these scouts is terribly damaged he takes the opportunity to experiment; installing an artificial intelligence he designed into it. But when his child-like prototype falls into the hands of two gangland thugs intent on raising the robot as a criminal and a fellow robotics designer wants Deon's Scouts replaced by his own military robots, Deon has a fight on two fronts.

First things first, I really enjoy director Neill Blomkamp's first two films, but yes... Chappie is part RoboCop, part Short Circuit. There are even scenes ripped clean from those movies, from our synthetic hero being helplessly beaten up by thugs, being pinned down and dismembered, which would pull at my heartstrings had I not seen it before. Hugh Jackman stars as Deon's rival Vincent Moore who has designed a robot almost exactly like ED-209.
But wait, before you start calling me a hypocrite; if you read my blog regularly you will know I hate remakes and have even stated I would prefer things to be like other films rather than direct remakes. Chappie is one such movie. Yes it is inspired by and borrows from classics, but it is its own invention. I will take Chappie over the 2014 RoboCop any day of the year!

Neill Blompkamp's style is everywhere, and I love it. The man's obsession with the destroyed, crumbling and ruined city of Johannesburg continues, the music is synth, people are covered in tattoos and speak in impenetrable accents. The visual effects on Chappie are incredible, motion capture and voice acted by Blomkamp's mainstay Shartlo Copley (gratefully allowed to ham up his acting this time, being an eccentric robot) and the action is strong, although perhaps not as incredible as District 9's finale.

But unlike his previous films, Blomkamp's third part of his self-styled "trilogy" is perhaps the most human. While a lot of characters are as self centred as his previous ones, by the finale I found myself really sympathising with them, even the ones who you positively hated earlier. When that happens, you realise this film has been doing something right all the way through.

It was a decent movie, though maybe not as involved as District 9 or as grand as Elysium, I enjoyed it.

Additional Marshmallows: The two gangsters who take in Chappie, Ninja and Yolandi are actually named Ninja and Yolandi and are hip-hop and electronica musicians.

    

Review: Shaun the Sheep Movie

Possibly the most innocent, light hearted and casual experience I have had in the cinema, Shaun the Sheep proves to be simple but unique fun.

Shaun, a young sheep in a flock, are tired of the same day-to-day routine on the farm, but when they play a trick on their farmer to get a day off things go awry; their farmer is lost in The Big City and they have to get him back! 

I think a lot of people can forget, creator Nick Park first wrote the character of Shaun the Sheep in his Wallace and Gromit animated short A Close Shave back in 1995. Since Ardman Animation Studios have grown a movie starring Shaun the Sheep has always been a possibility. Between the years of 2007 and 2010 he had a television show, but only now did the Shaun movie come to be.

First off, this movie has the sweet style of a silent film, which works wonders for a film with an entire cast of sheep and dogs. It sets it nicely apart from other claymation animation pieces, it even sets it apart from other Ardman films which have a tendency to rely on star voice actors far too heavily.
As someone who grew up loving Park's original Wallace and Gromit shorts (A Grand Day Out, the awesome The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave) I found a lot to like here; it felt like a return to lazy childhood Sunday afternoons, or Boxing Day Creature Comfort features. It is a lot better than the bloated Curse of the Wererabbit.

So as I said the film is a silent film style experience in that our heroes don't speak, being sheep, but also the human characters don't speak actual words; they instead grunt and "babble" to give the appearance of what they are saying. This makes the popular music choices that spring up regularly feel even more punchy and fun to listen to. It makes for a very quiet, casual experience (you will hear people eating their popcorn!)
Of course there's plenty of slapstick action comedy, that is Ardman Animation and Nick Park's bread and butter after all. Our woolly heroes are pursued through the city by an aggressive animal containment officer, making a lot of the film a manic chase with sheep trying to blend in with funny consequences!

I will say though, it isn't exactly a big screen experience. I could have watched Shaun the Sheep as a Saturday morning feature. I left this viewing very late so I was in a small theatre, but this didn't bother me with this film.
Some people might find it too casual and too happy, but it was exactly what I was expecting and it was a good bit of light fun.