Finding Nemo (2003)

2014-04-17

He didn't take kindly to their mocking nature. — He didn’t take kindly to their mocking nature.

Twitter Plot Summary: After his son Nemo is “kidnapped” by a reef diver, clown fish Marlin joins up with forgetful Dory on a quest to rescue him.

Five Point Summary:

1. Oh noes! He ‘s been taken away.
2. Dentists. Scary on many levels.
3. Mine?!
4. “Jump into my mouth if you want to live.”
5. Teamwork saves the day.

Finding Nemo is a delight, let me make that clear from the very start. Rife with beautiful imagery and a compelling use of the oceans around the Australian coast, it’s a story that brings together all of the key elements of what makes Pixar’s movies so great: good story, fun characters and impeccable animation. After his son Nemo is taken away by a human diver, clown fish Marlin goes on a quest to find him, aided by the dumb but loveable Dory. On this magical journey through the underwater kingdom he encounters everything from sharks to jellyfish to whales, with an added dose of turtles, crabs and seagulls for good measure. As he progresses with his journey, Marlin learns the value of friendship, teamwork and that being over-protective is almost as bad as not bothering at all.

The titular Nemo has slightly less to do than is implied – he spends the majority of the film in a fish tank in the care of a dentist, but he’s surrounded by an eclectic group of tropical fish, all of whom have basic but clearly defined personalities and foibles. In fact Nemo’s portion of the story is a reinterpretation of The Great Escape, with the fish inside the tank plotting an escape into the ocean and seeing Nemo’s arrival as the perfect opportunity to do so. It’s a huge list of characters when you think about it, but it all just works, and that’s a testament to both the script by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds, and the direction by Stanton again and Lee Unkrich. Of course, the story is dominated by Marlin, played by Albert Brooks, and his budding friendship with Dory as performed by Ellen DeGeneres. They’re an odd couple from the start, Marlin initially irritated by Dory’s dimwitted behaviour but ultimately, much like the audience, being won over by it.

A fish tank. Lucky they haven't all decided to eat each other. — A fish tank. Lucky they haven’t all decided to eat each other.

The real star though is the undersea world which we’re privileged to visit. Colours are vibrant and you actually learn something about how the system works down there without really noticing it until afterwards. Ignoring the cartoon-styled fish that naturally have to show up here and there, you could easily believe that you’re looking at photos of the ocean that have had fish superimposed over, and puts other sub-aquatic kids fodder such as Shark Tale to shame.

In a script that zings with fun characters (the shark rehabilitation group is a particular highlight), cracking jokes and its fair share of thrilling moments, a shout out has to be made for the birds and crabs of the Finding Nemo universe. The crabs are ornery types, territorial and prone to warning off anybody else that gets to close to them with a click of their claws. Then there’s the seagulls, who can only say “Mine!” in a variety of tones. Genuinely, these moments are a joy to watch and plug what could have potentially been slower and less compelling moments.

At its core it’s a film about not smothering your children (not like that), by not over-protecting them and letting them find their own way in life, make their own mistakes. It’s understandable however why Marlin is as over-protective as he is, seeing as his wife and all their other eggs were eaten by a sturgeon in the film’s opening five minutes – anyone who has seen Up will never accuse Pixar of mollycoddling its audience. In the finest Disney tradition, everybody learns a lesson by the finale and, perhaps more importantly, no princesses had to be harmed in the process.

Score: 5/5

Cast Away (2000)

Simon Prior

2014-04-16

The moment he realised he didn't have any toilet paper. — The moment he realised he didn’t have any toilet paper.

Twitter Plot Summary: After his plane crashes in a storm, FedEx bod Chuck Noland finds himself marooned and alone on a desert island.

Five Point Summary:

1. Is this film sponsored by FedEx, by any chance?
2. That’s not exactly good weather to be flying in.
3. Ahh, Wilson. Pleasure to meet you squire.
4. I think that whale might be stalking him…
5. Literally at the crossroads.

Most of Cast Away’s running time features Tom Hanks acting with a volleyball called Wilson, whose face has been painted using the blood of Hanks’ character Chuck Noland. The fact that this manages to fill the middle act of the film and remain thoroughly engaging is testament to Hanks’ acting ability and the fact that actual dialogue was written for Wilson – the volleyball – to make the one sided conversation a little more believable. Noland finds himself cast away for over four years, during which time he learns how to survive and keeps his sanity by conversing regularly with the aforementioned volleyball. Amazingly this turns out to be quite an emotional bond from an audience perspective. Hanks manages to put an amazing amount of pathos into his performance and you can almost get the feeling that Wilson is a real person rather than an inanimate object.

Maybe I was expecting a bit more from it, but there’s something missing that I can’t put my finger on. Perhaps it would be an easier film to appreciate if Hanks’ character was somewhat unlikeable. Instead he’s actually quite a nice guy – he’s played by Tom Hanks, after all – which does help us root for his survival and hope he escapes or is rescued from the island. More so because his whole reason for taking the flight in the first place was a last minute business trip and all the guilt and deep emotional scarring this undoubtedly results in. To say there’s a hefty dose of emotional undercurrent to the story would be an understatement, for both Noland and those he left behind.

There's only going to be one winner in this argument. The volleyball. — There’s only going to be one winner in this argument. The volleyball.

The part that worked best for me is the final act (no spoilers here) whereby Hanks demonstrates the slightly deadened eyes of a man who has lost everything and is trying to discover his place in the world. The metaphors are a touch heavy handed – he literally finds himself at the crossroads – but the point it makes remains valid. What is the human spirit all about, and raises questions about the path we follow in life, the choices that life makes for us, and what influence we have on those choices. For me at least, and feel free to disagree, there wasn’t enough time on the island. This is despite the 2 hour 20 minute running time. Robert Zemeckis, much like James Cameron and Peter Jackson of late, has a distinct fear of the editing suite, it appears. His major selling point though is the arc that the characters in his films follow, be they emotional, physical or metaphorical. The point is hammered home quite emphatically, but like most of Zemeckis’ recent output could do with being trimmed down by 20 minutes or so just to refine the message.

In any case, Cast Away is sold based on Hanks’ performance more than anything else. Whether or not he actually gets off the island isn’t really the point – it’s his emotional journey and the efforts he goes to in order to maintain normalcy in the face of exceptional circumstances.

Score: 3.5/5

The Black Cauldron (1985)

Simon Prior

2014-04-15

There's always a glowing magic sword in these fantasy stories. Always. — There’s always a glowing magic sword in these fantasy stories. Always.

Twitter Plot Summary: A young boy who dreams of being a warrior goes head to head with The Horned King, who wants to find the Black Cauldron.

Five Point Summary:

1. A magic glowing sword, you say?
2. The group form whilst evil lurks.
3. Gurgi. Annoying companion.
4. Witches. More darkness. A cauldron. Prison.
5. Least dramatic finale ever.

Disney had a bit of a dry patch during the late 70s and early-mid 1980s. Well, to some folks anyway – I rather like their films from this period as they’re tonally different from everything they’d made up until that point. The Disney magic had left them and their rivals – like An American Tail’s Don Bluth – were making big money at their expense. Perhaps it was indicative of the era, but many animated films had a similar feel to them throughout this decade – a darker, grimmer tone that wouldn’t dissipate until Disney’s resurgence with The Little Mermaid and their subsequent work in the 1990s.

Eschewing fun songs (in fact there are no songs at all) and embracing the dark aspects of the fantasy genre, The Black Cauldron perhaps represents Disney at their darkest and feels nothing at all like their usual output. If I hadn’t been aware of it being a Disney release before watching it – and in some respects wasn’t aware of their animation style from this period – then I may have found it difficult to categorically state that it’s the 25th Disney Animated Classic.

The relationship between Taran, our boy hero, and Eilonwy, his lady amour, is nicely plotted, and develops nicely as the story goes on – it’s typical fantasy fare where the young boy goes on a journey, the big bad wants to stop him, and there’s a big sword. The heroic troupe is rounded out by bard Fflewddur (it’s based on a Welsh myth, in case you hadn’t already guessed), and Gurgi, the obligatory creature companion who is at times incredibly irritating and clingy. Either the voice, or his whole approach to being friendly with Taran – however you look at it, it’s no wonder that Taran wants rid of him despite the fact all Gurgi wants is to be friends. That’s ignoring the pig, Hen Wen, who isn’t entirely anthropomorphised but is at least aware of what’s going on and feels a slight tonal misstep overall.

Evil incarnate always creates a green pong.

Sadly the finale is a little less obvious than it needed to be, and feels like an anti-climax – once more without delving into spoilers, the method of dispatching The Horned King is a bit on the silly side, although the method of resolving the issue of the Black Cauldron itself has heavy impact and is potentially upsetting for the audience – this is after all the first Disney film to receive a PG rating. The Horned King himself remains a particularly scary creation, given more creepiness by John Hurt’s typically excellent voiceover work.

The themes throughout are classic Disney, however – a youngster who dreams of bigger things, friendship through adversity and to look beyond the surface to find the true beauty underneath, and so on. As a fantasy tale it does its job without ever really expanding on the world of the film, so it lacks that certain something that makes Don Bluth’s output so essential. Whilst The Black Cauldron is not a bad film in the slightest, it is indicative of the problems Disney faced during the 1980s, influenced by their rivals rather than setting a new benchmark.

Score: 3/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpRmYPqX84

Point Break (1991)

Simon Prior

2014-04-14

I can't add anything to this, it speaks for itself. — I can’t add anything to this, it speaks for itself.

Twitter Plot Summary: The homo-erotic surfing adventures of Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.

Five Point Summary:

1. Dude! Like, totally excellent you’re a cop, Ted. I mean, Johnny Utah.
2. Swayze putting his Road House training to good use.
3. So that’s who the Presidents are! Not that it could have been anyone else.
4. Jumping out of a plane, sans parachute.
5. That’s a big wave.

I hadn’t seen Point Break until after I’d seen Hot Fuzz at the cinema – I know, shocking. In fact at the time of writing this review I still haven’t seen either of the Bad Boys films, but they’re on the “to watch” list. Anyway, I digress. I wasn’t sure initially if Point Break was as homoerotic, bromance-heavy as Hot Fuzz seemed to imply, but in reality it’s much, much worse. I’m certain that psychologists will be analysing the not-quite subtextual meaning that permeates every scene. It’s debatable whether Kathryn Bigelow or even the script itself had intended this to be the case, but that’s what we get.

There’s even some homoerotic subtext to the opening credits as the names of Swayze and Reeves cross over in the middle of the screen. If it wasn’t intentional then I’d be a) surprised and b) massively disappointed. Reeves is Johnny Utah, former American Football quarterback who, now aged 25, has taken up a career in the police after a career ending injury. His task is to take down the Presidents of the United States, a gang who rob banks whilst wearing rubber masks. Meanwhile we also meet Bodhi, a surfer dude who actually has a brain in his head despite also living for the waves.

Who cares that Utah enters into a relationship with Lori Petty’s Tyler? You could argue that this is just his way in to the surfing community, for want of a better term. Besides which, in my eyes she will always be Tank Girl. Reeves isn’t particularly good, let’s be honest, but his delivery fits in perfectly with the group he’s trying to infiltrate. That and his performance is elevated by Patrick Swayze, closely followed by Swayze’s big hair. Reeves is a distant third in the acting stakes amidst this testosterone-filled triumvirate.

Busey couldn't cope with the fact Swayze was stealing Reeves away from him. — Busey couldn’t cope with the fact Swayze was stealing Reeves away from him.

Just for once Gary Busey doesn’t play the bad guy – possible spoiler there, but it’s a point well worth making. He’s often typecast in the role of the unhinged bad guy, whereas here he’s the unhinged older cop. He’s desperate to put a stop to the bank robberies that plague his town for a few months every year – conveniently all of which take place surfing surfer season. I’m surprised nobody picked up on that pattern any sooner given that the town appears to have little else to it beyond surfing and banks. Oh, and adrenaline-based daredevil activities, like skydiving. Or homoerotic skydiving.

Revelling in surfer culture, with all the sun, sea and sand that entails, Point Break doesn’t go to great lengths to break away from the typical view we have of surfer dudes – with the exception of Swayze’s Bodhi, the rest of them are just as you’d expect: perennially stoned and seemingly unaware of anything besides their surfboards and the waves that crash into the coast. It’s almost fitting therefore that whilst mostly vacuous, there’s some big entertainment factors involved here, and with Kathryn Bigelow at the helm you’d expect nothing less.

Score: 4/5

The Last Days On Mars (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-04-13

He's looking a bit peaky. — He’s looking a bit peaky.

Twitter Plot Summary: A Martian bacteria causes havoc and zombies at the end of a 6 month mission to the red planet.

Five Point Summary:

1. It all looks very Alien.
2. It’s his own fault.
3. The carnage begins.
4. So far, so generic.
5. Bleak, sand covered finale.

Zombies in space? Sign me up. Ignoring the fact that the zombie action is surprisingly limited (and there is the argument that they’re not actually zombies), The Last Days On Mars is a competently made sci-fi chiller, although strictly speaking it should be called The Last Day on Mars seeing as all of the action takes place in the final 24 hours before the mission is due to end and tensions are high – more so because they have not made any significant scientific discoveries. As their ride home begins its final approach towards the Red Planet, one of the scientists makes a huge discovery and heads out to investigate, but it soon goes wrong and before you can shout “BRAINS!” a Martian bacteria infects some of the crew and the story degrades into typical zombie horror fare.

The effects are impressive, although if there is any major cause for complaint it lies with the script more than anything else. It never dares to do anything exciting with its setting or its characters, and despite a competent buildup to the first bit of undead action it starts to lose its way once characters start getting bumped off. Questions over whether those infected by the Martian bacteria retain their memories are raised but not explored in any detail. What are their motivations? They seem to have a desire for water but this is a plot strand that isn’t followed. There’s a couple of other strands that don’t get the attention they deserve, and once the devastation begins they are swiftly forgotten and/or ignored. Genre cliche after genre cliche is trotted out and the only difference between this and any other zombie/infected movie is that this is on Mars and not in a shopping mall or a housing estate or secret military bunker.

The best way to resolve an argument on Mars. With finality.

The direction is incredibly competent – for a first time director working with this calibre of cast the results are impressive. It would likely have scored much lower had it not been as competently cast as this – nobody involved is what you would usually consider for a science fiction role (well, ignoring Liev Schrieber and Elias Koteas for their other genre work), which gives it a certain level of gravitas. One aspect I quite liked is that the infection is gradual, that it’s like the body is trying to fight off the alien bacteria – again though, something that doesn’t get explored in any great detail, instead it’s something left for the audience to piece together. Furthermore the character motivations are made clear from the beginning, although nobody seems to be more than a basic archetype – the angry one, the emotional one, the family man, the weary commander and so on. With that said, the script does establish conflict between all of the characters from the off, and you definitely get the feeling of an expedition that is reaching its climax and everybody is very near the end of their tether.

As a showcase piece for what Ruairi Robinson can do with a basic idea, it’s a marvellous piece of work, but for science fiction/zombie horror fans (delete as applicable) it is little more than generic fare that we’ve seen elsewhere many times before.

Score: 2.5/5

The Quiet Ones (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-04-12

He quickly lost interest in the lecture and his thoughts turned to the Hunger Games instead.

Twitter Plot Summary: Retreating to a creepy old house, a professor studies a girl who is purportedly possessed and resolves to cure her with science.

Five Point Summary:

1. An experiment? On a girl, you say?
2. Heading to a creepy abandoned house. Yeah, wise move.
3. Manifestation!
4. The relationships are getting very confusing…
5. Yep, very obvious. Oh well.

Hammer made a successful return to film production with the 2010 remake of Let The Right One In (renamed Let Me In) after 30 years in limbo. Since then they have released four films including this, The Quiet Ones. Mixing “found footage” with traditional direction, our story takes place in the 1970s as local cameraman Brian (Claflin) takes on a job for Professor Coupland (Harris) who is conducting an experiment to try and cure a young girl of her possession/manifestation of her fears. He believes that such cases of possession have a basis in science and can be expelled under the right conditions – good luck with that, prof. When the professor loses his university funding he retreats to an abandoned house with Brian, test subject Jane (Cooke), and two students assisting with the study, Krissi (Dalton) and Harry (Fleck-Byrne).

Where The Quiet Ones fails is in its insistence on using the old faithful routine of unnecessarily loud sound effects to elicit a few jumps from its audience, and in a script that does nothing new. The merest noise is enough to justify being cranked up on the audio track by 1000%, making you jump involuntarily rather than through fear.

Then there’s the story itself, rife with cliches that we’ve seen a thousand times before. There’s nothing original about this tale, one of spiritual possession, satanic emblems and creepy old houses bathed in darkness. The few genuinely good moments – a brief instance of silence punctuated by a creaking door, uncertainty over whether the test subject is truly possessed, random acts of possible poltergeist activity – are lost in the mire. And this is the true disappointment – that the script isn’t enough to match the performances, that the staple genre cliches get in the way of you enjoying the story and stop you from being genuinely scared.

Something something something... evil baby doll. — Something something something… evil baby doll.

As the plot develops it runs through the gamut of stereotype scares. Needless trek into a dark attic? First person footage to make it feel like you’re living the sequence? A random door creaking just because it can? All present and correct. There’s some genuinely good buildup in the opening half – strange occurrences, doors opening by themselves, the constant reminders to not talk to Jane or look into her eyes – but all are ultimately without purpose. I did however enjoy the performances – Claflin is spot on as the conflicted cameraman, Cooke is fantastic as the possessed test patient, and Jared Harris is always value for money. He exudes the qualities of a prim and proper school professor yet has an edge to him that implies he could snap at any moment.

There’s also unnecessary drama regarding the relationships between several of the characters that doesn’t add value and mostly confuses the issue. Yes there is conflict as a result, but the whole possession thing should be enough without needlessly complicating the narrative. Have basic distrust amongst the group, of course, but this story goes a step too far and interlinks everybody. Furthermore if you don’t see the ending coming, you really need to see more horror films.

Score: 2.5/5

Noah (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-04-11

Twitter Plot Summary: Noah builds an ark to save all life on Earth, except for humans. Because we’re a nasty bunch.

Five Point Summary:

1. Mankind: you’ve been very naughty.
2. All that slithers, all that crawls… in CGI.
3. Avarice of man.
4. Ark attack! Sadly not Art Attack.
5. Noah the Drunk.

Adaptations of Biblical tales are always a tricky proposition. More often than not, if you’re too faithful to the source material you run the risk of alienating the general audience, veer too far away from it and the more extreme elements of said religion will boycott the film at best, or put out a jihad on you at worst. Darren Aronofsky hasn’t remained overly faithful to the original story in Noah, but hasn’t done enough to make it stand out to either crowd.

It is without doubt an entirely bonkers setup. It is an era shortly after the creation of all things, and just a few generations after Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden for eating the forbidden fruit. In that short space of time, humanity has already caused a bit of imbalance and has caused the Creator (note that he/she/it is never called God) to have serious reservations about the longterm benefits of keeping us on the planet. And so he speaks to Noah and makes him build a massive Ark within which to contain a least two of each creature living on the planet.

Ignoring the mostly woeful CGI, the performances are generally strong and the characters, whilst broadly depicted, have enough to them to appear unique. Russell Crowe is in full-on Maximus mode, and as the story progresses it becomes more a character study of him and how he chooses to interpret the Creator’s message – emphasised by the state of his hair and beard. Doing a sterling job in the near background is Jennifer Connolly, bringing a lot to Naameh, Noah’s wife, despite having very little material to work with. Ray Winstone is dependable as Tubal-cain, king of the humans the Creator wants to wipe out, although he does lapse into generic bad guy territory more often than not. Also: eating meat is apparently a bad thing, especially if you eat live animals. Who knew?

I’m not happy with the amount of screen time the avarice of man receives – I think it needed expanded upon to really hammer home the point over how bad things had become even by that early stage of creation. The narrative also loses a lot of pace once the flood happens, which doesn’t help the second half of the story. Some light amusement is provided by the giant rock Watchers who aid Noah in constructing the Ark. There are a lot of story themes at large, resulting in a massive mixed bag of a movie that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Overblown epic? Science fiction/fantasy adventure? Deep character study? It is all of these and more.

For me as an atheist, the Noah story is an effective parable about the importance of looking after the world on which we live, and to avoid becoming like the mass of humanity that live for debauchery and violence. Whilst I appreciate the religious angle, I don’t subscribe to it. Aronofsky himself has stated that the story is a common fable across a number of faiths and belief systems and subsequently isn’t strictly speaking a religious film, nor one tied to a specific ideology. Whilst it does respect the origins of the story, it’s more a bombastic science fiction fantasy epic rather than a “this is how it happened!” overly faithful religious allegory. Understandably it will alienate and/or annoy the faithful who were expecting some sort of adherence to the religious origins, but it also will likely alienate/annoy the general audience who were possibly expecting something a little less staid. Sometimes the best approach with this type of story is to perhaps not bother in the first place – but then that would obviously be too easy.

Score: 3/5

The Double (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-04-10

The first ever human skin Terminators weren't exactly as SkyNet had planned. — The first ever human skin Terminators weren’t exactly as SkyNet had planned.

Twitter Plot Summary: Simon James, mostly ignored in his job, is confounded by the arrival of James Simon – his double – who begins to take over his life.

Five Point Summary:

1. Very Eastern European look to all of this.
2. Making one copy. Prescient.
3. James starts to worm his way in.
4. Death, unravelling, Chris Morris…
5. Full circle, clever plotting.

Richard Ayoade has long been a comedy hero of mine, and not just for his work as Moss in The IT Crowd. Before that he provided us with Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Man To Man With Dean Learner and some notable appearances as Crunch-obsessed shaman Saboo in The Mighty Boosh. The Double marks what is technically Ayoade’s third feature film in the director’s chair, following AD/BC: A Rock Opera (which is actually listed as a TV movie) and 2010’s Submarine.

Based on The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Simon James (Eisenberg) is a clerk in a government agency. He is meek and mild mannered, almost entirely invisible to those around him and entirely incapable of speaking with women. His life takes a surprising turn when a new co-worker starts in his department – this is James Simon, Simon’s exact double and who is his complete opposite – full of confidence and charm. Eisenberg is impressive as both characters, and it’s a testament to his skill as an actor that you always know which of the two is on screen at any time. This is none more apparent as James starts to woo Hannah (Wasikowska), the object of Simon’s affections and, personality wise, not too dissimilar to him in many respects. It would also be remiss of me to ignore the presence of Wallace Shawn – the man needs to be in more films.

In his suit that is at least a couple of sizes too big, Simon James is an intriguing figure almost instantly. Facing an existential crisis as it looks like he is to be replaced by his slightly sinister yet eternally loved double, Simon fears becoming a boy held up by string – a narrative thread that becomes all the more prescient as James worms his way deeper into people’s affections and slowly starts to edge Simon out of his own life. Are they two sides of the same coin, akin to that episode of Star Trek where Captain Kirk is split into two people, the good and evil sides of his personality? Perhaps. You’ll have to decide this for yourself.

I enjoyed the eastern European/communist Russia visual style employed throughout – it’s dark, moody and conjures up an image of an almost fascistic state without directly saying as much. It’s almost cliche to say it, but the visual links to the likes of 1984 or Brazil are immediately apparent – unless of course you haven’t seen either of those, in which case you’ll probably just think everything is a bit dark. It’s also incredibly funny, if you’re attuned to this sort of comedy – very dark, very black, yet also raises the amusing point that literally nobody can see the similarities between Simon and James – are they all really that blind to it?

As may be expected, there are a couple of cameos from the likes of Chris Morris and Chris O’Dowd, which are nice little moments for fans of their work and are momentary distractions at some key points in the narrative. There’s also a recurring set of clips from a science fiction TV show featuring Paddy Considine as a sub-par Flash Gordon character, and whilst entirely unfeasible is something I’d like to see expanded upon and told in its own film or TV series – stranger things have happened!

I felt that the narrative in the second half wasn’t quite as clear as it perhaps should have been, but otherwise it’s an enjoyable romp. Everything established in the first act links nicely to events in the third, so whilst it may not have been as clear as I would have preferred, the script is at least tightly structured. Whilst the more intricate aspects of the plot may not have received the clarity they deserved, Ayoade has at least provided a very competently made film and, combined with Eisenberg’s performance, makes you believe that Simon and James are coexisting in the same space.

Score: 3.5/5

Divergent (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-04-09

"Stop stroking it and punch the damn thing!" — “Stop stroking it and punch the damn thing!”

Twitter Plot Summary: In dystopian Chicago, the populace is divided into 5 factions based on personality. but if you’re Divergent, you’re a threat.

Five Point Summary:

1. So far, so Hunger Games.
2. Initiation tests in Dauntless.
3. Will she make it through? Of course she will.
4. The plot thickens. Slightly. Like custard.
5. Knife throwing skillz.

We’re once again sailing the Young Adult (YA) novel adaptation waters as Divergent joins the likes of The Hunger Games and Mortal Instruments in an attempt at being the next big thing in the lucrative teen cinema market after Harry Potter and Twilight made big impressions at the box office. Based on the series of novels by Veronica Roth, this time round we’re in yet another dystopian future set in Chicago – half the city is in ruins but a massive wall protects its remaining citizens from an unnamed and unseen enemy that may or may not exist out there in the wider world.

But for now, any consideration of bigger threats is on the back-burner for a potential sequel. The focus here is on Beatrice Prior (yay, a character with my surname at long last!), later shortened to Tris, a teenage girl who discovers that she is Divergent – basically she doesn’t fit neatly into any of the five factions established a century ago to maintain order and is subsequently a threat to said order. Conveniently this all takes place at around the same time that the Erudite faction (the clever ones) are plotting to take over governmental responsibilities from the selfless Abnegation faction. This gives Kate Winslet opportunity to skirt around full-on ice queen territory as Jeanine, the not at all scarily named leader of Erudite. Shailene Woodley is acceptable as Tris, although she doesn’t have the ability as yet to make it through some of the more cringeworthy sequences without receiving some flak.

Divergent is yet another example of a young girl butting heads with authority, experiencing romance with a fellow Dauntless faction member and trying to work out who she is in a world that is harsh and generally out to get you. So far, so generic young adult fiction. As Tris chooses Dauntless as her faction, she has to demonstrate that she is brave and fearless and undergo an extensive and painful training regime, which provides the bulk of the narrative in the second act. Her Divergent skills come to the fore and she has to learn to hide in plain sight in order to survive. It’s from this angle that the young adult plotting comes to the fore as this is a recurring theme throughout the genre.

Whilst it lacks the impact and polish of The Hunger Games, the world is nicely realised and the escalating threat is kept relatively low key, fitting in nicely with the rest of the narrative and not feeling the need to resort to big epic explosions in order to finish off the story. In this respect, I tip my proverbial hat to the script – it didn’t need a Marvel style final act, and wisely chose to avoid repeating the oft-used “bigger, louder, more Michael Bay” trap that many such films fall into. It will be interesting to see how the sequel develops and expands upon the themes presented here. I doubt very much that Tris will ever be considered in quite as high a regard as Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, but she can at least hold her own in this world.

Score: 3.5/5

A Long Way Down (2014)

Simon Prior

2014-04-08

The obligatory "all of the main cast in one shot" shot. — The obligatory “all of the main cast in one shot” shot.

Twitter Plot Summary: Four suicidal people meet accidentally on New Year’s Eve and vow not to kill themselves until at least Valentine’s Day.

Five Point Summary:

1. What a coincidence – four on the same roof.
2. A pact is formed. Media glory awaits. Or not.
3. A quick trip abroad.
4. The friendship goes sour.
5. Resolution. Everyone’s happy.

It’s not the first thing that pops into your head when you think of ideas for a charming “people discovering their place in the world” type of story, yet here we are with one featuring four suicidal characters who decide to jump off a very tall building in London on the cusp of the new year. From all walks of life – well, they’re all white and relatively middle class – the four choose to form a pact to not top themselves until at least Valentine’s Day, during which time they will all try and resolve their issues and dig themselves out of their proverbial holes.

At various points the narrative splits to provide each individual character’s perspective and their reasons for feeling suicidal, akin to the style followed in Nick Hornby’s original novel. Pierce Brosnan remains as entertaining as ever – in fact I’d say his choice of roles post-Bond have been nothing less than stellar. Here he’s a disgraced breakfast TV presenter who slept with a 15 year old girl and subsequently spent some time in prison. In my opinion Toni Collette has the best section of the story. Her character is a single parent looking after a disabled son, and from an emotional perspective her story thread is the most emotionally engaging. The remaining characters – a kooky Imogen Poots and a typically restrained performance from Aaron Paul as an American in London trapped in a job delivering pizzas – have plenty to do but their actions are almost lacking a purpose. This strikes me as a little odd given that they were suicidal – give me some definition to their lives and their reasoning and I might care.

Sam Neill! You deserve far better than this!

From a casting perspective it’s also fun to note that it acts as a reunion of sorts – Poots and Paul appeared together in Need For Speed a couple of weeks back, and Poots also co-starred with Toni Collette in the 2011 remake of Fright Night. There’s nothing inherently spectacular about this fact, I just found it an interesting point to note.

As for the rest of it – there’s nothing engaging about the suicide angle. If the script had a point to make about such thoughts then perhaps it would be less of an annoyance, but it has literally no point to make about this. It’s a tricky subject to tackle, admittedly, but what works in the novel is not necessarily something that will translate to the screen. We need to care about these characters and, Toni Collette’s sequence aside, there’s practically nothing. I enjoyed the performances, but I can’t say I enjoyed the characters all that much, which is a real pity given the actors involved – even Sam Neill shows up as a politician – seriously, why are you in this? It’s always great to see Sam Neill, but I get the impression he just had a spare week in his schedule and slotted this in. That and he deserves far better roles than this.

Sadly the overall production and the subject matter at its core make A Long Way Down a difficult film to rate highly. All the characters end up in exactly the spot you expected them to be in, and there are no surprises to be found. It’s yet another story designed to be heartwarming but will probably just give you mild heartburn instead.

Score: 2/5

1...565758...90 Page 57 of 90

SIMONPRIOR.COM