World War Z

• Released Internationally on 19/06/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 26/06/13

Preview (as published 01/06/13 in VIDA Magazine)

Watching Malta succumb to a zombie epidemic should be fun, which probably means that this film will be a local box-office hit, whatever the international outcome is. You might recall that, quite a while ago, Brad Pitt was in town, accompanied by the lovely Angelina and their personal child care centre. The result was extensive and ambitious scenes of zombie warfare shot in various parts of Valletta, Floriana, and even the Malta International Airport, amongst others. Shooting then moved to Glasgow, so it remains to be seen who does the best undead impression.

Despite the scale and international appeal of the project, as well as the star at the helm, alarm bells started ringing when extensive reshoots and alterations were announced - something that usually indicates that the film is going to be a bit of a mess. The first trailers didn’t do too much to dispel those worries, with the admittedly impressive footage being a bit too chaotic, and not exactly the best special effects we’ve ever seen.

Hopefully, however, the extensive post-production period has allowed for things to be polished and refined, and we’ll get the epic apocalyptic disaster movie that summer audiences deserve. Zombies aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, of course, but when you might recognise one of them as Uncle Tony or Aunty Phyllis, I think it’s worth plucking up the courage and heading to the cinema.

 

Review (25/06/13)

3-word review: Zombies, but serious.

It’s tricky making a zombie film. No matter how much gravitas you pour in, and how big and respected a star you land as your main guy, it’s hard to shake of decades of zombie film reputation and reactions. The reason is quite simple - zombies tend to be a perfect mix of looking terrifying and looking ridiculous. We all know how to walk like one, and if you add a blank stare and outstretched hands - voila! - instant zombie party. Which is why the more successful zombie films in the past have either dialled-up the horror to the point of making it a guilty pleasure gore-fest, or else added generous amounts of humour. In recent years, two good examples of this were Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. The former toned down the gore but had some of the best humour of the decade, and ended up being a joy to watch. The latter took the gore to new extremes, but still managed to coat it all in wonderful, self-aware, dry humour, including an inspired opening monologue that sets the quirky tone splendidly.

Here, however, nobody smiles. There is nothing remotely funny or amusing about the whole film, and it very clearly aims for the ‘tragic, heartfelt, disaster movie’ genre, but replacing the usual recipes of aliens, outbreaks or asteroids with zombies. It very nearly manages in that regard, and the worldwide scope is palpable, and befitting of the film’s title. But inevitably, you can expect to hear occasional guffaws from the audience, because zombies still look ridiculous, or at least they can do when they’re not running after you or biting your leg. Possibly because of this, the Z-word isn’t heard until a good half-hour into the film, and great care is taken not to portray them in any amusing way.

International unity

The paranoia sets in very effectively during the opening titles, with the overused-but-still-very-effective method of using newsflashes. Once Piers Morgan appears, you can tell things are going to get really unpleasant. And sure enough, we cut quickly to the chase, with widespread chaos having set in barely minutes into the film. As is necessary in any such film with an emotional core, we zoom into the main character’s family briefly, but we’re shown enough to make them a key motivation throughout the rest of the film. Normal life is shattered, as within moments ordinary citizens are on the run without their car, without their wallet and without their asthma inhaler.

But then we zoom back out and take in just how bad things are getting. The international scope of the film is well-maintained throughout, with the global fight against the zombie epidemic playing out like some huge competition - some countries are winning, some cities have fallen, some nations have ‘gone dark’. The powers that be are suitably international, with the UN and the WHO being the main players here, and Brad Pitt’s character as their man in the field.

Ideas that work

The urgent search for a cure plays out well, with hints dropped along the way and eventually coalescing into a feasible solution, although the film doesn’t hang around long enough for practical loopholes and problems to be given much thought. The whole zombie phenomenon is also given a few interesting twists not often seen is such films - such as their being drawn to noise, and their being aggravated by the killing of fellow zombies. These minor points help to add tension and drama at a few key points in the film. The other main factor that drives this film forward is how the plot delivers us into seemingly safe locations - sheltered homes, aircraft carriers, planes, countryside - before ruthlessly yanking them away from us, thus driving home the message that “movement is life”. Thankfully, amidst all the wanton destruction and killing, there are also a handful of moments to remind us about the true value of each individual life, especially in the case of a female Israeli soldier who ends up being one of the more interesting characters in the film.

Malta and more

On a purely Maltese level, the film is also highly recommended from a sightseeing point of view, as Malta doubles for Jerusalem in the middle section of the film. There’s lots of Valletta on display, as well as our airport being overrun during an aerial escape sequence. Once the plane manages to leave, it allegedly marks the point where the film’s direction was altered after the first draft was made, resulting in extensive reshoots, a few new early scenes, and an entirely different third act. The last bit, set in a claustrophobic WHO facility in Cardiff, does in fact seem very different from the rest of the film - in tone, in pace and even visually. But it manages to deliver some of the more tense scenes of the film, on a minimal budget, and manages to give this film a satisfying conclusion whilst leaving the options open for the inevitable sequel.

 

 

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/worldwarz/

Quantum of Solace

• Released Internationally on 31/10/08
• Released in Malta by KRS on 14/11/08

Preview (01/11/08)

In a nutshell

Cinema’s most successful and long-standing franchise is back for its 22^nd outing, fresh from the reboot it received in 2006’s Casino Royale, where Daniel Craig debuted to great acclaim as the man in the tux.

Who’s in it?

Craig returns as Bond, which is no surprise considering the new life he breathed into the character two years ago. All concerns about his blonde hair and looks were swept aside by his performance, and the film was a huge critical and box-office success. Olga Kurylenko is the new Bond girl, Camille. This Ukrainian model and actress was seen in last year’s Hitman, but this is her first big role. Let’s hope her acting is even half as good as her looks. Gemma Arteron, the young British actress who had a small role in the recent RockNRolla, plays a feisty M16 agent, and Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright and Giancarlo Giannini reprise their roles from the last film as Bond’s boss M, Felix Leiter from the CIA and René Mathis the French agent, respectively. Last but definitely not least, the French actor Mathieu Amalric makes his entry into the 007 archives as the latest Bond baddie. Last seen as the star of last year’s wonderful The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, he also had smaller parts in Munich and Marie Antoinette, apart from his extensive work in French cinema. It was decided that he wouldn’t need any grotesque physical oddities in order to appear menacing, as opposed to many of his predecessors.

Behind the camera, Marc Forster sits in the director’s chair, in his first Bond outing. His impressive body of work includes the brilliant Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction, Monster’s Ball and The Kite Runner, so let’s hope he keeps to that run of form. The story is an original one, and numerous writers contributed, as often happens with Bond films. The most notable contribution comes from Paul Haggis, who is famous for having penned or adapted Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima and Casino Royale. David Arnold, who has been composing Bond’s characteristic music ever since Tomorrow Never Dies, is still on board, and this time the all-important Bond song is written and performed by Jack White (from The White Stripes) and Alicia Keys. The duet, a first for the franchise, is called Another Way To Die. I guess they couldn’t find many lyrics that rhyme with Quantum of Solace.

Why we’re hyped

Even at its worst, this franchise has always managed to provide wonderful entertainment, and people of all ages flock to the cinema knowing exactly what they’re going to get – espionage, explosions, femme fatales and vile villains. But in the last outing, the franchise turned out to be in top form, with less self-indulgent frills and a grittier, more emotional Bond. This film picks up moments after the last one ended, with Bond still aching from the loss of Vesper. So we can hope for more of the same, but with a Bond who’s growing into the role and gaining confidence.

Review (14/11/08)

So where were we?

Not needing any introductions, and having had a whole film of back-story, this film starts out at break-neck pace, with a stunning (and for Alfa Romeo lovers, painful to watch) car chase through the outskirts of Siena, Italy. Famous for its Palio, or annual bareback horserace, this city adds class to the film’s first act, and Bond just happens to arrive in town as the Palio is about to begin. Cue the opening credits.

Another way to die

The title sequence is of course as much a Bond trademark as the martinis and the gadgets, and over the years the franchise has presented us with some stunning combinations of visuals and title songs. This time around the theme is sand dunes, but the display seems uninspired, and backed by a disjointed theme song it manages to seem overlong despite clocking in at around four minutes. Pity, because Casino Royale’s titles were amongst the series’ best.

Location, location, location

Bond’s passport gets stamped a number of times this year, starting off in Italy as mentioned above, and rushing through Haiti, Austria, Bolivia and Russia. The scenery is great, especially before Bond has wrecked everything in his path. Some of the sequences suffer from awkward directing however, with Forster choosing to intersperse many action scenes with largely irrelevant scenes happening elsewhere. It works at times, such as the stylish and effective opera sequence, but at other times it’s distracting.

The Bond essentials

With Casino Royale, agent 007 was stripped back to his basics, and presented as a tough, no-nonsense agent still earning his wings. There were no fancy gadgets, no cheesy quips, and overall less gloss, but it worked, as Bond was praised as being closer to Ian Fleming’s literary character. This sequel follows that trend, but I have to admit, I’m already starting to miss some of the old Bondisms. He’s even starting to slack when it comes to female conquests, though I guess that could be excused since he’s still fuming over the death of Vesper (in the previous film).

Perla De Las Dunas

For the final fireworks, Bond finds himself in the middle of the Bolivian desert, where the setting for the big bombastic finale is an environmentally-friendly luxury hotel surrounded by sand dunes. Despite plenty of flames and fist-fights, the climax is a bit disappointing, although the later epilogue in Russia offers the film a better ending. Ultimately, this is a hard-hitting action film which should appeal to nearly everyone, but as a Bond film it left me disappointed.

Trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/quantumofsolace/ (High-res QuickTime)