Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

2014-08-05

He doesn't look too happy. — He doesn’t look too happy.

Twitter Plot Summary: Marvel risks it by giving us a bunch of characters most people have never heard of. It’s also set in outer space.

Five Point Summary:

1. I must get my hands on this soundtrack.
2. Avengers, assem…. hang on, never mind.
3. The Collector… any point, really?
4. That whistle weapon is evil.
5. Behold, the immense scope of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Guardians of the Galaxy has been regularly touted as Marvel’s “big risk” in terms of providing a cinematic experience to audiences who have been used to Earth-bound stories featuring the likes of Iron Man, Captain America and, for the most part, Thor. This story is one that takes place in a far-flung corner of the Marvel universe, a full-blown space opera that revels in the joy of its setting and establishes itself as a modern and incredibly colourful variation of the Star Wars template.

Our lead character is Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) who was kidnapped from Earth at the age of 8 and now, some 26 years later, is effectively a mercenary completing jobs for hire out in the galaxy. In quick auccession he’s united with fellow outcasts Gamora (a green assassin), Drax The Destroyer (brute, has no concept of metaphor), Rocket (a genetically modified raccoon-like creature), and Groot (a plant). This unlikely group join forces to stop Lee Pace’s Ronan The Accuser from destroying the planet Xandar. Their interactions, and the humour laced through the script specifically, are what marks Guardians out from its fellow Marvel movies. It positively zings with James Gunn’s dialogue and his handle on slowly giving the audience background detail on its characters is second to none. To introduce this many main characters and still tell a solid story in two hours is a feat, and Gunn succeeds where others may have failed.

It wouldn’t be a James Gunn film without Michael Rooker’s presence, and he does of course show up in some striking blue makeup as the mercenary who kidnapped Quill back in the 1980s. He’s a delightfully sinister presence, controlling a weapon solely through whistling. More of him in the sequel wouldn’t go amiss.

The rest of the cast are surprisingly ideal in their roles. Chris Pratt achieves leading man status with barely any effort and bodes well for his turn in Jurassic World next year. Quill is he Han solo archetype, but with a personal history that leads to him being as conflicted and morally grey as he is when we meet him in full Indiana Jones mode following the opening credits. Zoe Saldana seems keen to work her way through every possible skin colour in existence as the green assassin Gamora, having previously been a blue Na’avi in Avatar. She’s perhaps a little under-served here but with any luck will have a bit more to do in the follow-up. Then there’s the biggest surprise in the form of Dave Bautista, who proves that it’s not just The Rock who can transition successfully from professional wrestler to film actor. His Drax The Destroyer is layered and combines brute strength with a level of emotional vulnerability.

She was in Doctor Who, y'know. — She was in Doctor Who, y’know.

In the CGI department it’s amazing how much Gunn makes us care for both Rocket and Groot, the former voiced by Bradley Cooper and the latter voiced by Vin Diesel, who had perhaps the easiest time in the recording studio through only having three words to say – “I am Groot”. Groot gets most of the laughs, but both of them feel real despite only being a collection of special effects. Rounding off the human cast is a random appearance from Glenn Close, with able support from John C McGinley and a welcome appearance by Peter Serafinowicz, all of whom work for the galactic police the Nova Corps.

There are a couple of minor issues overall that may affect your enjoyment if you think about it too much, such as the lack of purpose The Collector has on the story, or the lack of definition given to the villains. Ronan The Accuser is a big part of the comics world yet hasn’t much to do here beyond growling and spouting the same old tired cliches we’ve come to expect from a typical big bad villain. Whilst it’s always nice to see Karen Gillan, she too is terribly two dimensional and exists solely to act as a blue counterpoint to Gamora. There’s also the story structure itself – the final act in particular rips off the final act of all of Marvel’s other Phase 2 movies and it reeks of unnecessary repetition. Why couldn’t we have an epic space battle instead?

Despite falling into the same story structure as the rest of Marvel’s Phase 2 movies, Guardians of the Galaxy remains a thoroughly entertaining film that manages to maintain a constant source of laughter mixed with a slow drip-feed of information about our central quintet that gradually reveals their history and depth to their personalities. There’s a big galaxy out there that’s opened up and ripe for new adventures, and Marvel would be foolish not to try and do something with it.

Score: 4/5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crIaEzXgqto

Hercules (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-08-04

Twitter Plot Summary: Hercules, the man, the myth, the legend. But mostly the legend.

Five Point Summary:

1. Ahh, not your typical Hercules tale, then.
2. Ian McShane and Rufus Sewell – legends.
3. Centaurs? Hmm.
4. He. Is. HERCULES!
5. Let’s just destroy everything, why not?

The legend of Hercules has long been a favourite topic for filmmakers over the years, and in a perfect example of cinema’s Twin Films syndrome (where at least two films with a similar theme or concept are released in a particular year) there have been two such films released in 2014 featuring the half man/half god strongman, one firected by Renny Harlin and the other, this one, directed by Brett Ratner.

Ratner’s take on Hercules is notable for its revisions to the myth and the legend – that can be attributed to the original comic book writer rather than Ratner, to be fair. Hercules is at the end of his trials, however despite being incredibly strong he is just a man, a man who bleeds and has foibles just like the rest of us. His legend has been created by a small team of warriors who each have a particular set of skills (sorry, Liam Neeson is nowhere to be seen). Through some skilled storytelling on the part of Hercules’ nephew, his legend now makes him seemingly undefeatable, and yet he finds himself as a mercenary for hire and is primarily interested in the acquisition of gold. This is in part down to his tragic past and the fate of his wife and children, but that is covered in more detail within the film itself.

Rufus Sewell is on top form as Autolycus, perhaps Hercules’ closest friend and ally. He’s a skilled knife thrower and has an acerbic tongue to match his skills. Lovejoy himself, Ian McShane is a seer who has foreseen his own death, which is teased at multiple points throughout. In the category for Best Scenery Chewing are John Hurt as the king who hires Hercules, and Peter Mullen as his croaky voiced general. Suffice to say, each and every performance is laced with almost camp levels of humour, and the overall tone joyously embraces this slightly silly perspective. It’s clear from everyone’s performances that they’re enjoying themselves, and it bleeds out into the film and, vicariously, to a suitably attuned audience.

Lovejoy just couldn't get it into his head that he was supposed to stab the enemy. — Lovejoy just couldn’t get it into his head that he was supposed to stab the enemy.

Hercules features the best use of an F-bomb in a 12A rated film, practically smashing through the fourth wall as it does so. For a film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson you’re not going to expect Shakespeare, and funnily enough your expectations are met completely. The CGI is barely competent and frequently gives the impression of being stolen from a video game. Unlike the majority of other cases, this actually does work in Hercules’ favour, and manages to enhance the dumb, cheesy action by being exactly on par with it in terms of quality.

It’s a big and bombastic swords and sandals movie, and one that benefits from being seen on the biggest available screen. The action is frequently entertaining but not as intense as it had the potential to be, and the story itself is about as comic book as it gets, but in the grand scheme of things these are minor complaints in what is a thoroughly enjoyable romp.

Score: 3/5

The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-08-03

Remember, he's not The Punisher. — Remember, he’s not The Punisher.

Twitter Plot Summary: On the annual Purge night, where all crime is legal, one guy heads out to seek vengeance.

Five Point Summary:

1. The Punisher on Purge night, apparently.
2. Let’s just arbitrarily throw all these people together, shall we?
3. All families are homicidal, it seems.
4. The rich are horrible, horrible people.
5. Morning. Long night, that.

The Purge was a surprise hit last summer, set in a world where one night a year all crime is legal and citizens head out onto the streets to kill with impunity. That film was contained to a single family home and the assault that befell them from a group of privileged youngsters looking to bump off a former military veteran who had taken refuge there.

This time we’re on the streets on the night of The Purge. A year has passed since the home invasion horror and the scale is decidedly larger than its predecessor, showing the horrors on the streets and the lengths people will go to on Purge night. It highlights all of the usual issues about human existence, that we are by our very nature an aggressive species no matter how we may appear on a day to day basis. Unlike the original film, Anarchy goes into much more detail regarding the world they now live in, the New Founding Fathers and the methods used to control both the levels of crime nationwide and the number of people living in poverty. It goes without saying that they don’t just give them a blanket and directions to the nearest shelter.

For a film that was made in less than a year, Anarchy is a very accomplished piece of work. Any film made in such a short space of time lives or dies on the strength of its script, and thankfully it’s a confident and occasionally gripping tale where Frank Grillo’s grizzled Punisher-infused antihero stops to help a mother and daughter whose apartment block has been raided by masked bad guys. He also inadvertently picks up a couple who are being stalked by a street gang and escorts them all to safety. At seemingly every corner they are stalked by both the street gang and a lorry which has a mobile command centre and massive

The budget may be quite tight when compared to other action thrillers, but it either doesn’t show on screen or has been cleverly masked through smart editing and choice of angle. There are moments of increasing tension and, despite much of it being signposted in advance, still retains the ability to draw you in. That and, because we don’t know the characters beforehand, there’s always the possibility that somebody could die suddenly and the plot could take a twist at a moment’s notice.

The story successfully expands upon the premise established in The Purge, fleshing out the political and social ramifications of Purge night and by extension asking questions about current political policy in the US in particular. The political angle may be horribly overblown and slapped in your face like Monty Python’s fish slapping dance, but at the same time as a concept it’s an intriguing one that warrants further analysis and consideration – no doubt this will come in further sequels and/or prequels. There is perhaps a little too much in the way of convenient plotting for Anarchy to be truly remarkable, but in all other respects it’s a polished piece of work that revels in its premise.

Score: 3.5/5

Friday The 13th Part VIII – Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Simon Prior

2014-08-02

That's never going to work, is it? — That’s never going to work, is it?

Twitter Plot Summary: Jason stows away on a boat, kills a load of people and ends up in New York.

Five Point Summary:

1. Let’s all jump on a boat to New York, why not?!
2. Some people die. As per the norm.
3. Finally – New York!
4. A fistfight with Jason Voorhees? Pull the other one!
5. Jason in Times Square. That took AGES.

For the first time, the Friday The 13th series manages to break away from Crystal Lake and transposes Jason to the murky world of 1989 New York. The city looks as it always did in films from that era – dingy, mucky and rife with crime. Anybody who has seen the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film knows exactly what this interpretation of New York looks like, albeit substituting a bunch of mutant ninja turtles for a crazed killer wi a gradually yellowing hockey mask.

Part VIII is competently made, but not enough of it takes place in New York (despite the title) and spends far too long on the cruise ship- we’re more an an hour in before they sail in and spot the Statur of Liberty. Furthermore the attempts at giving the characters a bit of background is a failed exercise, in some cases they feel like inserts from a completely different film. The stern father in law, the expectant ship’s captain, even the insane crew member hearkening back to the first two films, all add nothing to the narrative. With that said, at least it did attempt to do something new with the slasher template, although having Jason run rampant on a cruise ship is a sad indication of the direction of the franchise – little wonder that it did so poorly at the box office. Eight films in a decade really did push audiences to their limits.

This isn't worth the wait, honestly. — This isn’t worth the wait, honestly.

There are a couple of good moments – dropping all sound here and there, in particular ahead of an attack, helps build the occasional segment of tension, and Rennie’s visions of a young, slime-green Jason Voorhees add a little intrigue to the otherwise generic story. The odd moment of levity, such as the boxer engaging in a protracted fight with Jason before a somewhat epic punchline (no pun intended), or a street gang having words with Jason and somehow not being killed, are interspersed with vast moments of general boredom and lethargy. The kills are less inventive, the gore has been toned down and, frankly, the fun has been taken out of it. You can’t even call it horror by numbers because it remains resolutely not scary. There’s a consistency issue with Jason’s killing efforts too – until now he has killed literally anyone who gets in his way, whereas once he moves to Manhattan he primarily targets the survivors from the cruise ship and barely glances at the residents of New York.

Part VIII is a product of its time, capturing the feel of late 80s cinema but failing to capitalise on the formula that made the Nightmare on Elm Street series a much more entertaining prospect and upping the blackly comic tone. It would have also benefited from spending more time in New York rather than on a cruise ship, but then the budget offered by the studio has more to do with that than the efforts of writer/director Rob Hedden. At least there was opportunity to see Jason in Times Square, an 80s icon in an iconic location.

Score: 1.5/5

Friday The 13th Part VII – The New Blood (1988)

Simon Prior

2014-08-01

She's either channeling her mental powers, or she's making toilet in the lounge again. — She’s either channeling her mental powers, or she’s making toilet in the lounge again.

Twitter Plot Summary: Jason’s back, but this time he has to contend with a girl who has psychic powers. Go figure.

Five Point Summary:

1. She has psychic abilities? Rilly?
2. There’s something dodgy about that psychiatrist.
3. More people dying. Traditional territory.
4. Machete attack!
5. Well now, that was a very silly ending.

Time has once again passed at Crystal Lake and Jason has been trapped at the bottom of the lake for that entire time, again apparently dead. Naturally, that isn’t going to last for long – it’d be an absolutely awful film if Jason didn’t liven things up a little bit. The New Blood had originally been intended to combine the Friday the 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street franchises by having Jason and Freddy face off against one another. When that didn’t pan out, the story was adapted to feature a girl with telekinetic powers instead. That girl, Tina, feels guilty after accidentally causing the death of her father years previously, and inadvertently releases Jason from his watery grave to wreak havoc anew. Other than the random inclusion of telekinesis – which true to form gets no explanation – this is standard Friday The 13th fare.

Once more another group of random teenagers happen to be in the area to act as Jason’s victims. Many of them are so identikit it’s frequently difficult to tell them apart. On the whole they’re definitely less well defined than previous teens in the series, with the possible exception of the nerdy girl who makes efforts to make herself more attractive, and the poet writer type guy who dresses in army fatigues and spouts nonsense story ideas because he’s, you know, creative and all that. Besides Jason’s return, Tina also has to contend with her antagonistic psychiatrist, of whom there is seemingly more than meets the eye.

Jason's human-shaped machete holder was saving him a fortune in lost machetes. — Jason’s human-shaped machete holder was saving him a fortune in lost machetes.

Fans of the original Transformers series should look out for Susan Blu, who played Arcee in Transformers The Movie and later served as casting director on Beast Wars. Here she plays Mrs Shephard, Tina’s mother. For everybody else, the only standout performance is Kane Hodder as Jason. He demonstrates just the right amount of menace as the masked killer, and is almost the only part of the production worth tuning in for. You would assume that portraying a mute, freakishly big killer would be easy, but Hodder somehow manages to prove that there is a way to get it just right.

While the template remains disappointingly similar to what has come before, we’re also sadly back in familiar territory as the terrible subject of poor gender politics rears its ugly head and pointless female nudity makes its return. At the same time the knowing comedic tone has completely disappeared so the deaths, whilst inventive yet again, work less impressively because they are intended to scare – which they don’t. Instead they appear to be an attempt at returning to the grindhouse tone from the earlier entries, but instead lack any sense of fear or tension. This is in part thanks to the quick cuts that shy away from all of the violence, to the point where Jason looks mildly ineffective despite having killed a vast number of people already. The biggest tragedy of all, of course, is the horrific 80s fashion which dominates everything else. In hindsight the poodle look is not a good one, and they all should’ve known better.

Score: 1.5/5

Room 237 (2012)

Simon Prior

2014-07-31

Some gubbins about crossfading symbolism.

Twitter Plot Summary: The crackpot theories of five experts on the film The Shining.

Five Point Summary:

1. Crackpot theories abound.
2.Skier as a minotaur… rilly?
3. Faked moon landings? Come on!
4. So many twisty turny corridors.
5. Okay, so the layout of the carpet kind of makes sense.

Film critics often analyse a film from every possible angle, looking for symbolism and meaning in every scene, every placement or use of the camera, every choice made in production design. Of course, if everybody did this it would soon get very boring indeed, the possibility of over-analysing something to the point of tedium becoming an increasing concern. Therein lies the problem with Room 237, a documentary exploring the subtext and symbolism within Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a film rife with symbolism, imagery all from the hands of a very precise and exacting director.

Featuring input from five experts on the film, they discuss their theories on Kubrick’s decision which vary from the vaguely plausible to the outright insane. Almost everything is analysed to a ridiculous level, from the colour and design of the carpets, to where characters have chosen to stand, and to the confusing layout of the hotel. There’s a lot more to it than this, but to go into any more detail would be an act of indirect support for their mad notions and also potentially ruin the original film, which itself adapts Stephen King’s source material wonderfully. Room 237 manages to take a running jump off the cliff into the ocean, taking it all far too seriously and nearly eating itself like an ouroboros of film analysis.

Room 237 resolutely fails to maintain interest for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the constant repetition of footage from The Shining and Kubrick’s other works. In truth there is perhaps too much focus on Kubrick’s earlier 2001: A Space Odyssey, which in itself is a film rife with symbolism, but to compare that with The Shining, simply because they were directed by the same guy, smacks of laziness.

...what are they pointing out here? — …what are they pointing out here?

Kubrick’s films are rife with symbolism, there’s no denying it, however it is very easy to fall into the trap of looking for symbolism where none was probably intended, more so when you have crackpot theories given airtime in Room 237 about Kubrick having some involvement in faking the moon landings (news flash, folks – they did land on the Moon). It really is bonkers, and scarier when you consider that these analysts really do believe what they’re saying – maybe it’s for the best that we don’t ever see them on camera. From a more positive perspective, it’s an example of how far it is possible to go when you analyse a film. Most of us will consider the basics but there’s a whole other level of thought demonstrated here. Perhaps it’s a proof of concept that it is entirely possible to think about this sort of thing a little too much. At least we know there are people out there who do this sort of thing so we don’t have to.

Rather tellingly, the opinions stated within the film are not endorsed by Kubrick’s estate, which makes this glorified audio commentary nothing more than the ramblings of an overly obsessed group of fans who really should get out a bit more. Coming from somebody who does tend to over-analyse films, that’s really saying something.

Score: 1/5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHE5YUNkssQ

Jason Lives: Friday The 13th Part VI (1986)

Simon Prior

2014-07-30

That's not going to have much of an effect, is it? — That’s not going to have much of an effect, is it?

Twitter Plot Summary: There’s more killing going on in Crystal Lake, but this time the film’s half decent.

Five Point Summary:

1. So now Jason is a supernatural creation?
2. Self-referential humour is a good thing.
3. That soundtrack’s pretty epic, to be fair.
4. And apparently Jason doesn’t kill children.
5. Water-based finale.

The mind of poor Tommy is in disarray, which will come as no surprise to anybody who saw the fifth film in the Friday The 13th franchise. Who in their right mind would dig up Jason’s body, for example? This is precisely what Tommy does in a fit of hubris, and via a freak bolt of lightning Jason is resurrected once again and his rampage of killing and death is permitted to continue afresh. Don’t worry about an explanation, just go with it.

Part VI somehow marks the high point of the franchise to date, reducing the ludicrous amounts of gratuitous nudity and sexism towards women and finding a perfect balance between scares and pitch black comedy. There are still the usual array of victims for Jason to dispatch, but the script is much more knowing about this – a girl at the start, on seeing Jason in the road ahead, remarks that she’s seen enough horror films to know how this ends. And, predictably, that’s exactly how it goes.

There are many other similar examples throughout of this self-referential meta-humour, and in hindsigh it’s simultaneously a shame that subsequent movies didn’t follow this template, but understandable why they decided to return to the old template – Part VI didn’t make nearly as much money as had been hoped and so a return to the old ways was perhaps inevitable.

The template is much the same as usual, however there is more a sense of fun with regards to how the deaths take place and how each of them is approached. It would soon get very boring if everybody was killed in exactly the same manner, and luckily for us a bit of thought has been put in to make them sufficiently different. Part VI doesn’t scrimp on the gore either, there’s plenty of claret and violence that frequently outdoes the violence in the first five films, albeit tempered by the comedic elements. When you have stuff to laugh at, apparently you can get away with as much violence as you feel necessary.

Jason’s supernatural return from the dead is never explained, but to be frank it never needed to be. He does appear however to have some basic moral code by refusing to kill children. One might argue that this is an attempt at giving Jason’s character a bit of depth, but that’s never implicit in the film itself amd is probably either a mistake on the scriptwriter’s part or an element from an earlier draft that wasn’t removed.

The soundtrack also takes a positive step forward by adding Alice Cooper to the mix, so to speak. Tracks Teenage Frankenstein, Hard Rock Summer and He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask) feature prominently, and work nicely in conjunction with the slightly more accomplished production values that the franchise has now exhibited. It’s not something that would last, of course, but here at least the balance was achieved and the franchise can lay claim to having at least one film that wasn’t half bad.

Score: 2.5/5

Begin Again (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-07-29

His sudden increase in facial hair did not go unnoticed.

Twitter Plot Summary: A music producer with no apparent prospects strikes gold with a songwriter who is just about to make her way home back to England.

Five Point Summary:

1. Dingy club, but nice imagination, Dan.
2. Adam Levine and his amazing array of facial hair styles.
3. Out on the streets of New York.
4. Will she… won’t she…?
5. Everything tied up quite nicely.

Gretta (Knightley) is down on her luck – she’s just moved to New York in order to be with her pop star boyfriend (Levine) who is on the verge of hitting the big time after working on a much lauded film soundtrack. Their relationship turns sour following his indiscretions, but just before she can head home she is forced onto the stage at an open mic night to perform a song. Fortunately for her, equally down on his luck music mogul Dan (Ruffalo) is in the audience and sees potential in her songwriting abilities. With a little persuasion he convinces her to record an album guerrilla style across the city, background noise and all.

There is much to be enjoyed in Begin Again. Ruffalo is as intensely likeable as ever, bringing layer upon layer to the character of Dan and slowly peeling through those layers to reveal the cause of his descent into alcoholism. There’s a lot of depth to the character and Ruffalo pitches it at exactly the right level. The obligatory family issues and troublesome daughter angle is given an endearing if not entirely fresh spin, assumptions as to why Dan is in the doldrums are soon swept aside. Knightley meanwhile proves herself to be a perfectly adept singer, autotune or not. Gretta has an indie sensibility and nothing to lose, so forming a band from willing volunteers from across the city and recording without a licence to do so seems like a good idea.

Making an album guerilla style. — Making an album guerrilla style.

There are amusing turns from CeeLo Green as a star who benefitted from Dan’s guidance earlier in his career, and James Corden is a surprisingly likeable presence as Gretta’s fellow Brit trying to make ends meet in a foreign land by busking on the streets. Adam Levine isn’t anywhere near as bad as you might expect as wannabe pop star Dave, although clearly his involvement here is to provide a really catchy soundtrack rather than demonstrate that he has acting chops. At least he gets to show off some impressive facial hair to draw attention away from his acting abilities.

The city of New York is clearly designed to be considered a star in its own right in Begin Again, a love letter to the city and its residents whilst simultaneously commenting on the current state of the music industry. That marks one of the key differences between Gretta and Dave, him being drawn in by the glitz and glamour, embracing the world of celebrity whilst she has no interest in that world and simply wants the music to speak for itself. There’s no doubt that performers and artists from both sides of this divide will see truth in Dave and/or Gretta’s perspective on events.

The script may tie up its ending a touch too cleanly, but otherwise Begin Again marks perhaps the biggest surprise this year – a film with some solid characters, an effective emotional core and – most importantly – track after track of catchy tunes that will have your foot inadvertently tapping along throughout.

Score: 4/5

Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

Simon Prior

2014-07-28

Make the most of Corey Feldman while he's there. — Make the most of Corey Feldman while he’s there.

Twitter Plot Summary: More Jason mayhem which picks up from the previous film. More people die, yada yada yada.

Five Point Summary:

1. Corey Feldman! For 2 minutes, anyway.
2. Random death. But then, he deserved it.
3. People start dying…
4. Only a couple of them left. Heh.
5. Final showdown in a… barn?

It is indeed a new beginning for the Friday The 13th franchise in this fifth instalment – it doesn’t start with a montage recap of the previous film(s) but does feature a returning Corey Feldman as Tommy, who dreams about Jason Voorhees coming back from the dead. Again. It soon transpires that several years have passed since Jason’s last killing spree, and Tommy’s since grown up but is now a resident in a home for people with mental health issues. That’s an understandable turn of events given the trauma he experienced as a child. This time jump has clearly done the franchise some favours, allowing for a new take on the slasher template (although not by much) and also permitting a transition into Freddie Krueger territory by upping the comedy undertones and taking a much needed step away from the 30 plus deaths that occurred in and around Crystal Lake in the first four films.

In fairness they have tried to do something a bit different with the story, so it’s not the same old stuff that we’ve seen repeated four times previously. There is of course the expectation for Jason to go on a killing spree, and that does come to fruition – now though it’s not just teenagers caught in various stages of undress who are on the receiving end of his violence, now it’s everyone who is unlucky enough to get in his way, no matter their age or their interest in carnal activities.

There’s nothing new about Jason’s method of dispatching his victims, more often than not keeping it simple and just stabbing folks in the gut, or going old school and stabbing them through their mattress from below – which does raise the question as to how Jason manages to fit under there without being seen. He’s not a small chap after all. The effects work is competent but lacks the “awesome” factor that Tom Savini brought to the previous entry.

The Strictly Come Dancing results came as a surprise to both of them.

It wouldn’t be a Friday The 13th movie without yet more gratuitous female nudity, and A New Beginning delivers on this once again. It also delivers great big bucket loads of cliche screaming and propagates the helpless, shrieking woman stereotype despite the series’ previous (admittedly minor) progress in this area. Eventually, after everyone else has bit the dust, we’re reduced to a couple of survivors – seemingly picked out of a hat at random when the script was written – and it’s up to them to bring Jason’s rampage to a close. By that point we’ve already experienced a vast number of classic 80s stereotypes given a crew lines of dialogue each before quickly being murdered by Mr Voorhees.

If you were expecting a logical conclusion to all the mayhem, then you won’t get one. The resolution is yet another one of those moments picked out of a hat by the writers and has only a tenuous link to logic. But then that should be expected from the franchise by now. Leave your brain at the door, watch a couple of moderately entertaining death scenes, then move on.

Score: 1.5/5

The Social Network (2010)

Simon Prior

2014-07-27

Zuckerberg's chair was always slightly lower than everybody else. It was intended to combat his ego. — Zuckerberg’s chair was always slightly lower than everybody else. It was intended to combat his ego.

Twitter Plot Summary: The creation of Facebook, and all the legal disputes associated with it.

Five Point Summary:

1. Crikey, a time before Facebook!
2. The Winklevi aren’t happy.
3. Napster chap gets involved.
4. Screwed over. Nice office though.
5. Friend request sent. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

Pretty much everyone in this day and age who isn’t a member of some isolated Amazonian tribe is aware of what Facebook is, for better or for worse. The social network that has, through some clever marketing and business acquisitions, positioned itself as one of the biggest internet companies of the modern era, and has done its fair share in killing off either prospective business rivals or absorbing them into the blue and white coloured Facebook family. Despite the fact it’s free to set up an account, lets us communicate with long lost friends and family, and enables us to log in to a number of different websites by using our Facebook details, it is ultimately just another business that is out to make money and, perhaps most gallingly of all, ensure we all receive our fair share of Candy Crush Saga invites. It is this aspect in particular (the business model, not Candy Crush Saga) that The Social Network covers in great detail.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a fast talking computer expert who somewhat ironically is unliked by the majority of those whom he encounters. The story begins in 2003 with Zuckerberg blogging (negatively) about a girl who has recently spurned him. This leads to him collaborating with college friend Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) and them setting up an internal social network for college students at Harvard University, which soon expands and, if current expansions are to be understood correctly, will lead to Facebook taking over the world by 2020, Skynet style.

If Eisenberg’s interpretation of Zuckerberg spoke at normal speed, the film would be likely double its 2 hour running time. His Zuckerberg speaks at a million miles a minute, seemingly having so much in his head that it needs to be dumped on the world at the fastest possible speed. Based on reality or not, this movie version of Zuckerberg is an ironic creation in that he is the creator of the most expansive social network in the world yet is a thoroughly unlikeable person who doesn’t make friends easily. Indeed, he usually alienates those closest to him, and his attitude works as a commentary on our own social interactions as well as his own.

That'll be coming out of his deposit at the end of the school year. — That’ll be coming out of his deposit at the end of the school year.

Fincher has come a long way since the Alien 3 debacle that started his feature film career. His direction is assured and confident, not overly flashy and tells the story in a clear and uncluttered manner. This is for the best given that much of the story follows Zuckerberg attending near-constant litigation and disciplinary meetings. Despite the frequent moments set in the meeting rooms with opposing counsel – which are gripping in their own right – the real meat of the story is in Zuckerberg’s relationship with both original business partner Eduardo and his subsequent litigation dispute with the Winklevoss twins, one played entirely by Armie Hammer, and the other’s body played by Josh Pence but the face again played by Armie Hammer thanks to some cunning use of CGI head replacement trickery.

His friendship with Sean Parker (the creator of Napster) aside, Zuckerberg is portrayed as somebody who will do whatever it takes to succeed. Rightly or wrongly, it makes for a far more compelling film than if he had been blundering his way through all of this and being incredibly nice. Whilst its basis on reality may be called into question, that doesn’t stop it from being a genuinely good character study and an analysis of the pressures of success.

Score: 4/5

1...454647...90 Page 46 of 90

SIMONPRIOR.COM