The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

 

• Released Internationally on 11/12/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 13/12/13

Review (12/12/13)

3-word review: Necessary, uninspired viewing.

It’s 2013, and this second part of the Hobbit is released worldwide on the 13th of December, and once again features a rowdy company of 13 dwarves. So here’s 13 reasons why you should watch it, and, maybe more convincingly, 13 reasons why you shouldn’t.

13 reasons why you should watch ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’.

1. It’s more entertaining than the rather dull first instalment.
2. It’s slightly shorter, too.
3. It starts off with a prologue sequence in Bree, which might bring you fond memories of The Fellowship of the Ring, as it is intended to.
4. Martin Freeman is once again fun to watch as Bilbo, and Ian McKellen is his usual classy self as Gandalf.
5. The first half is quite fast-paced and features a couple of interesting and fresh new characters.
6. There’s an exciting and well-choreographed action sequence involving lots of barrels and lots of dwarves, which stands out in the book and is brought vividly to life here.
7. There’s finally one place that looks, sounds and feels completely new - a picturesque town on a lake, which is probably the first part of the Hobbit trilogy not to look like a recycled Lord of the Rings set.
8. The leader of said town is portrayed by Stephen Fry.
9. The magical sense of occasion that permeated throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy finally returns once the company reaches their destination and knocks on the door of Smaug the dragon.
10. Smaug himself looks quite stunning (albeit similar to most other dragons we’ve ever seen on screen), and is voiced by the ever-eloquent Benedict Cumberbatch.
11. The way that Smaug is revealed and introduced lives up to all the hype surrounding such a magnificent character.
12. Just like the recent second Hunger Games film, and many famous second films in trilogies, this one has the luxury of ending with a cliff-hanger.
13. You need to see this to be able to see the climactic end to the trilogy next year.

 

13 reasons why you should not watch ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’.

1. The main flaw of the first film has not been addressed, and in a sense could not be addressed. Once they committed to making three films out of such a short book, there was no way it was not going to be dragging, drawn out and stuffed with ‘filler’ material.
2. The filler material includes the largely pointless prologue scene which feels so forced and fabricated, even including a repeat cameo by Peter Jackson just like in The Fellowship of the Ring, that you can’t but feel let down even before the main titles start.
3. The lack of excitement is a recurring theme – such as in a long, complex scene involving huge spiders, which fails to provide anything new at all when compared to the excellent Shelob material we’ve already seen in The Return of the King.
4. Gandalf is off on his errands as usual, but this time they are tedious, seemingly pointless, and to a large extent fabricated, besides slowing the films pace down even further.
5. Nearly six hours into this tale, it’s still hard to sympathise with, delve into or even recognise most of the dwarves, despite evident attempts to make them distinguishable thanks to ridiculous hairstyles and traits.
6. Evangeline Lilly (Lost) is a new main character, but her role also screams desperation - a desperate attempt to introduce some girl-power and a fresh face.
7. Legolas (Orlando Bloom) is dragged into the proceedings, despite being completely absent from the source material, in what seems like a sad attempt at sharing some of the Lord of the Rings love and linking the two time frames.
8. Surprisingly, the visual effects stand out as below par in certain instances, particularly the barrel action sequence.
9. The attempts at linking the story with that of The Lord of the Rings, beyond the obvious links created by Tolkien, leads to the focus being stolen away from Smaug at certain key moments.
10. Some scenes in the third act are so painfully long and dragging that you start to wonder if there was a pre-determined minimum length established for this film.
11. None of Howard Shore’s new music, including the new themes for the town on the lake, stand out as half as inspired or memorable as the countless themes he wrote for the original trilogy.
12. None of the dwarves are half as endearing as Gimli.
13. The end credits song is an very unfortunate choice, and not a great fit for the tone of the film and the excellent end credit songs that preceded it.

 

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thehobbitthedesolationofsmaug/

Saving Mr Banks

 

• Released Internationally on 29/11/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 29/11/13

Review (28/11/13)

3-word review: Unusual Disney Magic.

Most people alive today, or at least those in the western world, have had their childhood years sprinkled with Disney magic in some form or another. The baby boomers were around when Walt Disney himself was transforming the world of animation and family cinema; my generation got to savour the Mermaid-Beauty-Aladdin peak and all the unforgettable music it brought with it; and today’s children are spoilt for choice thanks to the excellent quality of recent offerings, especially the collaborations with Pixar. Mary Poppins has somehow persisted through all of this, with its most recent incarnation being a stage musical. A childhood without ever having heard the word ‘Supercalifragilistic-expialidocious’ is not one I would wish upon anyone.

The making of

Which is a large part of the reason why this very unique film has such a great, nostalgic appeal to it. It is basically an entertaining, moving, film version of what you normally would expect to find amongst the extras on a DVD set. It is essentially a behind-the-scenes look at how 1964’s Mary Poppins was made. The reason it makes for entertaining viewing is that the author of the Mary Poppins children’s books - a very British lady who went by the name of P. L. Travers - was a very hard nut to crack, and it took Walt Disney many years and tonnes of charm to draw her to tinsel town and let him make the musical version of her books that he had promised his daughters.

Nutcracker

There are few more enjoyable things to watch than a hard nut being slowly cracked, and acting goddess Emma Thompson is wonderful to watch as she slowly, and only very slightly, warms to the carefree Los Angeles ways and cautiously lets go of her precious literary creation. A large part of the persuasion process comes by way of the sublime music that the famous Sherman Brothers (portrayed here by B. J. Novak from The Office and Jason Schwartzman from The Darjeeling Limited) were composing at the peak of their powers, and which can still gets throats humming and toes tapping fifty years later.

Walt

Filling the powerful but warm role of the head of the Disney empire himself is Tom Hanks, who delivers yet another seemingly understated but ultimately excellent performance after his recent Captain Phillips, although if he gets any awards glory this year I imagine it will be for that, not this. His to-and-fro wrangling with Travers whilst never wavering in his determination to make the film he wanted to make is the stuff of warm drama films, not forgotten DVD extras, so I’m glad it has been given this first class treatment. These scenes are carefully woven in between scenes from Travers’ childhood, where her loving but unreliable father (Colin Farrell) was a clear inspiration for the imperfect Mr Banks, and where the events that followed explain her unwavering devotion to the characters in her books.

In the end

Ultimately, the film owes much of its feel-good factor and audience appeal to Mary Poppins itself, and even lifts a couple of songs for key scenes and touching moments. But the two stories are undeniably melded together, so it is a rare and wonderful joy to see this companion piece reach our cinema screens, and remind us of the excitement we felt, back when the winds were in the east, and the mist was coming in.

 

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/disney/savingmrbanks/

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

• Released Internationally on 20/11/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 21/11/13

Review (20/11/13)

3-word review: Even better sequel.

I think I’ll stop rushing to read books before they are made into films. It makes the films so much more enjoyable when I have no clue what’s coming next. I hadn’t read the Hunger Games books when the first film was released, and I enjoyed it so much I decided not to read the other two, despite itching to know what comes next. And here I am, hugely satisfied by the second film, and itching to know what happens in the third. But I’ll be patient.

Of course, the eternal debaters between the book and the film choices would point out that reading the books without having seen the films offers the same raw joy, but considering how many books I have lined up waiting to be read, I think I’ll be fine without delving into these particular  three.

 

So where were we?

But I digress. This second film definitely assumes you have watched the first, and picks up soon after Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence, now an Oscar winner) and Peeta (subtle but effective Josh Hutcherson) have won the 74th edition of the infamous Hunger Games, in a dystopian world somewhere in the future. Their stirring victory and apparent love story has sent ripples of admiration and defiance through the twelve districts of Panem, and President Snow (a wonderfully malicious Donald Sutherland) rightly fears a revolution. He schemes with his new Head Gamesmaker (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to get them eliminated or at least have their image deflated, by hosting a 75th Hunger Games that involves participants selected from amongst past winners. So sort of like the Champions League, but instead of getting knocked out, you’re killed.

 

Deeply disturbing stuff

Much like the first film, the strength of this sequel is the worrying concept at its core, and the unsettling similarities to the world we live in, where TV and reality work together to manipulate audiences, and too much is done purely for show. The capital city’s thriving population feeds off the work and misery of the backward districts, and their celebrity TV presenter (a finely-tuned manic performance by Stanley Tucci) turns shocking and morbid news into sound bites for the cheering crowds. Death is reduced to a mere TV event, and lives are judged by their impact on TV audiences. It’s a far exaggerated version of the reality TV scenarios we have today, but so much of it rings eerily true. The helpless people on TV are instructed to merely be a distraction, so that the unwashed masses in the audience don’t have time to think about the real problems in their lives.

 

Making us accomplices

One of the impressive feats of the film, although I’m not sure whether intentionally or not, is that during the extensive build-up to the games, as we meet the eventual participants and see what is really at stake, the revulsion at the concept of the murderous games is mixed with a palpable anticipation for the games to start. I for one felt a rush when the countdown finally began and all hell broke loose. It’s hugely entertaining of course, and just like the manipulated workers of Panem I was eager to see the contest unfold. But of course, these are not straightforward games like we saw in the first film.

 

Cast and crew

The star-studded cast makes for quite an impressive list. Complementing Tucci as another well-executed fake is Elizabeth Banks (Zack and Miri Make a Porno) as the District 12 escort, and trying to keep calm and grounded amidst all the craziness is celebrated designer Cinna (Lenny Kravitz). Woody Harrelson also returns as the previous District 12 victor who mentors the new stars, and Liam Hemsworth (younger brother to Thor star Chris) resumes duties as Katniss’ close friend and hopefully more. The new participants in the games include a few familiar faces too - Jeffrey Wright (Syriana, Casino Royale), Amanda Plummer (Honey Bunny from Pulp Fiction), Lynn Cohen (Munich) and Jena Malone (Donnie Darko). This sequel has a new director (Francis Lawrence, I Am Legend) and writers (Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire; Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine) but they do a remarkable job of continuing seamlessly where the first film left off, also thanks to the recurring musical themes of James Newton Howard (Batman Begins, The Sixth Sense).

 

In the end

This is extremely entertaining cinema, and it touches on a host of themes, from unrequited love to the power of the media, and all showcased in a post-apocalyptic world where excess and poverty feed off each other. The plot is taken up a notch in this second instalment, after the seeds of revolution were sown in the first, and I eagerly anticipate the next part of the story. The film also has that rare luxury only offered to second films in trilogies, which The Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers made such excellent use of - the downer, cliff-hanger, ending.

 

Trailers:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thehungergamescatchingfire/

The Counsellor

• Released Internationally on 25/10/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 15/11/13

Review (14/11/13)

3-word review: What a waste.

It is unfortunate when the collaboration between numerous talented people turns out to be quite a mess. This is one of those instances. Ridley Scott isn’t very consistent, but for over three decades now he has been directing films from a wide range of genres, many of which turn out to be hugely successful and established as classics. Cormac McCarthy, an American novelist, has a very particular style which makes it hard to put his books down. His fame soared recently thanks to the excellent adaptations of two of his best novels - No Country For Old Men and The Road. This is his first attempt at writing a screenplay. Cast-wise, Brad Pitt, Penélope Cruz, Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz and Javier Bardem hardly need any introduction. Yet, despite all these big names drawing you in and raising your expectations, there is a distinct feeling of ‘so what?’ by the time the credits roll.

No ordinary world

The technical aspects are fine, as expected. Everything looks great, from the tantalisingly sexy intro to the bleached look of the scenes in the Mexican desert. The film is set in a world of sharp contrasts - where the filthy-rich owners of pet cheetahs share business dealings with the filthy and crazy world of drug cartels. Michael Fassbender’s clean cut lawyer is new to this underworld, and he hopes to make just a quick visit, for one big-paying job. His crazy client (Javier Bardem) sets it up, but he warns him that it’s hard to not get sucked in. Brad Pitt is the wise, mysterious advisor who has seen it all and is trying to get out while he can. Cameron Diaz is the client’s sexy but dangerous girlfriend. The only seemingly normal person, and presumably the one the audience should try to relate to, is the lawyer’s girlfriend, played with wide-eyed innocence by Penélope Cruz.

Deliberate

Things plod along fairly slowly, but at least it is to McCarthy’s credit that the dialogue is lyrical and attention-grabbing. But the rather thin plot takes much too long to develop, and things rarely get exciting or moving in any way. A few key sequences stand out as vivid ideas that the author might have dreamt up, but they serve little purpose except to allow some character to describe them in disgusting detail. It’s as if he thought of a couple of ways to kill a person, and a couple of fascinating anecdotes, and built a film around them. They make for a few memorable scenes, but not for a good film. Some of the resulting episodes are not for the squeamish, although the most disturbing stuff happens off screen, which makes it all the more effective.

In the end

The word ‘cautionary’ comes up as the counsellor is warned about the dangers of what he is getting himself into, and ultimately that is what The Counsellor is - a cautionary tale. I imagine it would have made for an interesting book, but in heading straight for the screen is has ended up as rather dry and uneventful. There are many slow-paced, deliberate and observational films that I have loved over the years, but this is definitely not one of them. I predict that a couple of sequences will stick around in my memory, but the rest is a forgettable missed opportunity.

 

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/thecounselor/

Gravity

• Released Internationally on 03/10/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 08/11/13

Review (07/11/13)

3-word review: Go watch it.

Some films are beautiful, whilst others sacrifice the sweeping vistas and slow shots to deliver a fast-paced thriller instead. Gravity manages to do both, resulting in a film that manages to be gripping from start to finish, whilst still finding time to be a gorgeous feast for the senses.  

Simple, always simple

The first beautiful thing about this film is its simplicity. Two astronauts - one a seasoned veteran (George Clooney) and one a first-timer (Sandra Bullock), are on a space walk when their mission goes very wrong. Cut off from their usual lines of communication and well-rehearsed procedures, they need to struggle to survive. That’s more or less it. No cliché pre-take off introductions on earth, no flashbacks, no deus ex machina. Just a simple, immersive story that leaves you stunned for an hour and a half.

Great performances

As ground-breaking as the technical wizardry on display is, the film succeeds largely thanks to the wonderful presence of both Clooney and Bullock. Clooney is in familiar territory here, character-wise, as the wise veteran who knows all the tricks, offers a voice of reassurance, and never takes things too seriously. His calming presence is vital to his partner in space, whom Bullock instils with equal doses of insecurity and deep-seated determination.

A visual feast

Nowadays, it’s rare that I catch myself wondering ‘How did they do that?!’ when watching a film. I thought it a handful of times during this one. The sheer logistics of creating these completely convincing spacewalks and zero gravity accidents must have caused many a headache, but the end result makes you glad you have your 3D glasses on and a huge screen in front of your face. One scene in particular, as Bullock’s character enjoys a much-earned moment of freedom in zero gravity, is one of those priceless scenes where everything gels perfectly and makes you catch your breath.

Don’t let go

The film somehow manages to keep the tension and action going for most of its running length without ever getting tedious or tiring. Things keep going wrong, but not once does it feel far-fetched. The audience is toyed with continuously, given fleeting moments of security before they are pulled out from under us. This makes for a powerful human drama, the rise and fall of which is played out on the rate of Bullock’s breathing.

Technical masterpiece

This is an astounding achievement in every regard. The eerie, pulsating music; the visual effects; the spectacular shots of earth; the great use of sound - it all comes with a sheen of excellence and feels so much better and cleaner than anything I can recall in many months. Easily the best film of the year so far, and one of the most accomplished pieces of cinema I can remember experiencing.

 

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/gravity/

Teaser Trailer

Thor: The Dark World

 

• Released Internationally on 30/10/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 30/10/13

Review (29/10/13)

3-word review: London gets hammered.

Possibly better than the first one

I was a bit wary of this sequel. Kenneth Branagh’s Thor was entertaining enough, but it felt a bit heartless, and focused too much on the pomp and circumstance of the world of Asgard (where Thor and his dad, Odin, are from). When the action shifted down to earth for something us viewers could relate to, it was small towns in the middle of nowhere, and hardly scenes befitting a movie of that scale. Thankfully, these flaws have nearly all been addressed this time around.

Not all Dark

The prologue is rather grand, with battle scenes reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings prologue, and although I usually prefer the earthly action to the other-worldly lore in these films, the backstory and mythology don’t outstay their welcome. We’re introduced to a new nemesis - the silent and scary Malekith, portrayed with not many words but a lot of presence by Christopher Eccleston (Elizabeth). The fine details of his history and masterplan are not too important, of course, but the film does require a rather hefty suspension of belief for us to grasp that when instructed to hide a great evil power somewhere in the universe where nobody would find it, someone hid it in an abandoned building in a London industrial zone. But anyway, things move swiftly to the action.

Loki Loki Loki

For all his posturing and unsightly prosthetics, the new bad guy still pales in comparison to the hugely effective Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who post-Avengers gets to walk that delightfully ambiguous line between friend and foe, and who makes very good use of his screen time in this instalment of the Avengers saga. His chemistry, or lack thereof, with his adoptive brother Thor allows for a few well-conceived scenes and a good dose of Asgard family dynamics.

Between two worlds

Thankfully, the Asgard scenes, as well as those in other worlds, are regularly interrupted by down-to-earth action that help keeps the film somewhat grounded and relevant. The focus is mostly on present-day London, with the Shard getting the sort of attention cinema used to give to Big Ben, and the recent ‘walkie talkie’ building also making an appearance. The film’s final confrontation takes place on British soil, and is rather enjoyable if you manage to ignore all the ridiculous scientific explanations that Jane (Natalie Portman) and her team insist on shouting out intermittently.

In the end

Chris Hemsworth (Rush) manages to keep Thor likeable and reliable, despite him not being half as interesting a hero as Iron Man, or even Captain America for that matter. The film slots nicely into the Avengers timeline, and doesn’t take itself too seriously, with even an amusing cameo or two, as expected. Director Alan Taylor has previously done an excellent job directing Sopranos, Mad Men and even Game of Thrones episodes; and here he shows that he can handle an event film like this one. It’s nothing too refined, but at least it’s good fun. And of course, make sure you sit through the end credits.

 

Trailers:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/marvel/thorthedarkworld/

Captain Phillips

• Released Internationally on 10/10/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 18/10/13

Mini-Review (29/10/13)

3-word review: Hanks excels again.

Some of the best films ever made focus on a single person’s struggle, and Tom Hanks has portrayed that person on numerous occasions. He’s back in top form here, as the true life captain of the first American cargo ship to be captured by Somali pirates back in 2009, before these hijackings became regular news. Director Paul Greengrass (United 93, The Bourne Ultimatum) gives us a simple, no-frills look at the unfolding events, and Hanks perfectly portrays the ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His powerful acting starts off subtle and unremarkable but ends in a powerful finale as the hostage situation reaches its conclusion. Credit must also go to the supporting cast, especially his captors – clearly desperate and unprepared, but led by the chillingly calm Muse (impressive first time actor Barkhad Abdi). It’s a moving story of confrontation and survival, and a great piece of cinema.

 

Trailers:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/captainphillips/

The World’s End

• Released Internationally on 18/07/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 23/10/13

Review (08/10/13)

3-word review: Sadly, too silly.

The Cornetto Trilogy
I am a huge fan of the first two instalments of this unofficial trilogy, which features different stories set in different times, but sharing a certain level of craziness and black humour. They're all written and directed by Edgar Wright (who also brought us the wonderful Scott Pilgrim), and they all star the duo Simon Pegg (Star Trek) and Nick Frost (The Boat that Rocked), who have great chemistry on screen. The first, Shaun of the Dead, was a near-perfect humourous take on zombie films; and the second, Hot Fuzz, was a wildly entertaining homage to over-the-top action films from the 80s. This third outing unfortunately falls short of its predecessors, especially in the second half.

The World's Start
Things start of promisingly, with a fast, joyous and entertaining prologue sequence that introduces us to five old friends and the legendary antics they got up to a few decades ago. Their present day incarnations are all rather serious types, except for the loose cannon Gary King (Pegg), who never quite grew up. The one thing he has going for him is his infective enthusiasm, and he manages to convince the old gang to head back to their hometown and try to complete the famous pub crawl that they attempted many moons ago. Apart from Pegg and Frost, the central quintet is rounded off by Martin Freeman (The Hobbit), Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Eddie Marsan (Happy Go Lucky).

The Nostalgia factor
Of course, as happens with nostalgia, things aren't as amazing as everyone remembered them to be, and the film offers some half-hearted commentary about the unfortunate gentrification of British pubs, and the rose-tinted distortion of childhood memories. It is, however, fun to watch the central five warm to each other as the pints get consumed and the stories start coming out. When the levels of testosterone get too high, Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) waltzes in to offer a female touch, and she triggers off a whole slew of further memories.

But...
The above lasts all of forty minutes, and is fun to watch, in a warm, non-demanding way. Then, as expected, all hell breaks loose. I was, of course, expecting this, since the film's title is evidently not just the name of the pub crawl's final pub, and in Hot Fuzz, the sudden change in tone of the film half-way through was marvellously executed and great fun. But here, things manage to get too silly. I am fully aware that 'silly' was a core element of the previous two films, but there's a limit. This film crosses that limit, and hands us a second and third act that are too ridiculous to sustain any prolonged interest. It's a pity, because in between all the carnage and nonsense there are a handful of good jokes and potentially touching moments. But it's all drowned in a big, expensive-looking mess.

In the end
The messy ending is made even worse by an epilogue scene that adds nothing and doesn't make much sense, and by the time the end credits rolled I had nearly forgotten the high hopes and warm feelings I felt throughout the first part of the film. Thankfully, the three films in this 'trilogy' are separate entities, so in future years we can still look back at Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz with the respect and affection they deserve, whilst hopefully forgetting about this one.

Trailers:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/theworldsend/

Diana

• Released Internationally on 20/09/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 02/10/13

Review (30/09/13)

3-word review: A missed opportunity.

This is by no means a successful, definitive, biopic. Those films are hard to find, and in recent years have often been passed over in lieu of films focusing on specific periods or incidents in famous people’s lives, without ambitiously claiming to be an all-encompassing account of the person’s time amongst the living. The King’s Speech was a wonderfully-executed example of these focused types, whereas The Iron Lady was a rather successful overview of Thatcher from her dawn to her twilight. 

Making a modern royal biopic must be quite tricky. A chunk of your intended audience probably have the subject of your film on some pedestal and will carefully scrutinise your every move and see if the film is worthy of its subject. Another chunk hate the idea of a monarchy and will gladly ignore the film or tear it to shreds. But it gets even trickier when your subject is one of the most photographed and public figures of the past decades, and everyone has an opinion about her.

As superficial as it sounds, however, a lot is riding on the resemblance of your main star to the person in question, aided as necessary by prosthetics and makeup. Which is a large part, of course, of why The Iron Lady worked. Naomi Watts, despite her very good acting and wonderfully 80s hairdo, does not look like Diana, and it takes a while for this to sink in and allow you to look past it. In fact some of the best shots in the film feature her from behind or from an angle, and I found myself making a double take to see whether it was archival footage or a carefully re-created scene. 

Unfortunately these designed re-enactments of iconic Diana photos and moments are the most enjoyable aspect of the film, since the love story itself feels like a standard soap-opera romance, which could be completely accurate, or mostly conjecture - we might never know. Naveen Andrews (Lost, Sinbad) is confident enough to pull off the role of the heart surgeon who stole Diana’s heart, and Watts manages to combine enough grace and fragility with occasional moments of daring to remind us what a complex person Diana must have been.

It’s interesting to dip back into the mid-90s, in an era of flip-phones, Concordes and cassette tapes, because back then the internet was brand new, and despite Diana’s constant media presence she was spared the endless, permanent internet plastering that some celebrities get today. Which might be why she managed to enjoy this modicum of privacy and have a last few years searching for happiness, albeit away from her sons for long stretches. “My boys need to see me happy”, she said, and at least she gave it a good try.

The cardiac love story plays out as we expect it to, and the film feels like it could end there, but of course it needs to go on a bit longer so that Dodi Fayed (Cas Avnar - Argo) can come into play, and lead things towards that fateful night in Paris. The chilling, famous scenes most of us will recognise provide a powerful coda to this sad tale, but ultimately they fail to lift this film to the incisive portrait it could have been.

Trailers:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/diana/

Pain & Gain

• Released Internationally on 24/04/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 04/09/13

Review (03/09/13)

3-word review: Entertaining Bay display.

The unmistakable Michael Bay

Whether Michael Bay’s films feature asteroids, giant robots or weapons of mass destruction, or even if they do away with all the sci-fi and gadgetry and just focus on present day crime, they are all easily identifiable as larger-than-life Bay spectacles. Not one to go for subtlety, Bay has often divided opinions with his over the top style. Everything must be drenched in sweaty, unforgiving sun, everything must be bursting with colour, and lots of action needs to happen in slow-motion and accompanied by wailing electric guitars. You also need at least one shot encircling the character from below, and one with a massive plane flying directly overhead, if possible. 

But while the end result is often a big hot mess (the Transformers films, especially the two sequels), or not worthy of the subject matter (Pearl Harbour), it does occasionally result in wide-eyed cheesy entertainment that is a joy to watch (The Rock, Armageddon). Those instances, however, where Bay does away with all the extras and stamps his style onto a crime film, are in my humble opinion the instances where his controversial talents are best displayed. Which is why this film works, just as the two Bad Boys films worked. When your subject matter resembles something out of an MTV reality show, what better way to present it than looking like a big budget music video?

“My name is Daniel Lugo, and I believe in fitness.”

Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, The Fighter), stars as the gym-obsessed ex-convict Daniel, who dreams of a life beyond his mundane personal trainer job and realises he can’t obtain that life through strictly legal means. He singles out a wealthy, seemingly helpless client of his (Tony Shalhoub - The Man Who Wasn’t There, Monk) and after getting fired up by a motivational speaker (Ken Jeong - The Hangover trilogy) he decides to go for broke and try to skim every last penny off the unsuspecting Jewish businessman. The trio he assembles for the job include his colleague and fellow fitness-fanatic Adrian (Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker) and built-like-a-bus Paul (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson - Fast & Furious 6). 

Fargo, on steroids

Between the three of them they have enough brawn to intimidate anyone, but not enough brain to pull their ridiculous scheme off. And thus ensues a regular winning formula in literature and cinema - the convoluted scheme which goes impressively wrong, partly due to misfortune, and partly due to sheer stupidity. Fargo remains one of the most nuanced and engrossing examples of this, with A Simple Plan trying to repeat the formula a couple of years later. This is nowhere as subtle or high-brow, but it is very entertaining nonetheless, although admittedly in a similar way to watching disastrous reality TV or other instances where you can shake your head and feel hugely superior to the protagonists. Wahlberg anchors the trio well, with his trademark puzzled expression perfectly suited for the enthusiastic but clueless gang leader he portrays. Dwayne Johnson is the most entertaining, however, managing to shift between highly-string cocaine fiend and his character’s recently discovered happy-clappy religious side. 

This is still a true story

By the time a private detective (the ever-bankable Ed Harris - A Beautiful Mind) is brought in to try and uncover the fraudulent scheme, and by the time our anti-heroes have spent all their money and are itching for a second hit, Bay does well to remind us, during one particularly insane scene, that “this is still a true story”. It takes some convincing, but we are shown the real-life protagonists during the end credits, and the events in the film did in fact happen in the mid-90s. Which is why the film is also a wonderfully cheesy collection of 90s styles and music, which cements the comparison with Bad Boys even further.

In the end

By the time the explosions have died down and everyone has come down from their steroid rage or cocaine high, there isn’t all too much substance to take home, apart from the very obvious moral lesson that crime doesn’t pay and that the elusive ‘American Dream’ needs to be attained through hard, honest work. But who cares? It’s an entertaining two hours, and despite being Michael Bay’s second least expensive film to date, I think it’s one of his best.

Trailers:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/paingain/