Category: Film Review

The Impossible: Film Review

When a film like ‘The Impossible’ comes along, there’s always accompanying question of ‘Is it too soon to make a film about this?’ In the case of ‘The Impossible’, it’s the December 26 2004 Tsumani, the biggest natural disaster of our time.

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, ‘The Impossible’ is based on a true story of a separated family’s struggle to find each other once the Tsunami hit. Watching ‘The Impossible’ will bring through a range of emotions, shock, horror, disbelief and this is backed by the knowledge we have of the events. It’s also inspiring and will leave you uplifted.

Ewan McGregor and Noami Watts are superb as Maria and Henry, parents to three boys will arrive in Thailand for the Christmas holidays but Tom Holland who plays their eldest son, Lucas, shows himself to be a fine young actor and definitely one to watch.

There’s no denying parts of this film are hard to watch and credit must be given to Bayona and his crew for fantastic direction, cinematography and set design. The first part of the movie focuses on the family arriving for their holiday in the serene setting but knowing something is going to happen, the watcher always has an edgey feeling. That’s why the actual tsumani sequence had to be so well filmed and put together. Filmically it’s stunning, humanly it’s an emotional roller coaster. As with any well scripted film, it’s the story that hooks you in and away from the disaster scenes, it’s the compassion, love, hope and never say die spirit, that’s get you straight in your core.

An amazing piece of work, bring the tissues.

December 27, 2012
Alex Cross: Movie Review

I haven’t read James Patterson’s books based around the character Alex Cross and I’m not sure how closely linked this film is to them. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. What I do know is that this film is one hundred minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

Where to start. Alex Cross is directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast and The Furious) and features Tyler Perry as psychologist cop, Alex Cross. Yes, I know I didn’t say stars. It also features Matthew Fox, he of Lost as the baddie and Edward Burns as Cross’ cop partner. Piacasso (Fox) goes on a killing spree and Cross and his partner have to figure out what’s going on and try to stop him from getting to his next victim.

Ten minutes into the film, it’s already apparent the story is flat. The characters are two dimensional and hard to relate to, it’s hard to feel anything, good or bad, for any of them. There’s not enough back story for us to empathise with the lead character, despite getting good news in the opening scenes, there’s nothing here to bring you into the story. The first segment of the film also moves from Cross’ home life to that of the bad guys but we’re not given how the two are related at all. It all just leaves the viewer cold. Plus, for all the detective work going on, Cross comes across as a complete know it all, again without the likeability factor that Gil Grissom has in CSI.

There are, at times, when it’s obvious that the cop pairing are trying to work jokes and a certain amount of humour that the Lethal Weapon films possessed. Here, they just don’t work as we don’t have a loveable Riggs character. It’s hard to know whether to pick fault at the direction of the film or place the blame solely on the script. There are some well-shot scenes, one in particular in a disused movie theatre stands out.

I made myself sit through the film and the longer it went on, the more it reminded me of mid week nights in the early nineties when you’d head down to the video shop and all the good movies were gone. You’d pick a random movie, occasionally striking gold but more often than not getting a complete dud. This was one of them.

I’m not sure how movies like this get financed when there are so many more up and coming talented film directors and script writers that could do a lot more with less of a budget. Avoid.

December 18, 2012
Lawless: Movie Review

Set in prohibition era Virginia USA, Lawless is based on the true story of the Boundurant brothers, rogue moonshiners who have a good thing going until the authorities send in a new deputy to straighten out Franklin County.

As things unravel, violence flares and the brother’s relatively peaceful set up leaves them with more than one war wound thanks to a deputy who wants to get a share of the profits. Resistance only drives Charles Rake (Guy Pearce) to achieve his goal his way by any means necessary.

Tom Hardy plays the level headed ring leader brother, Forrest, a man of few words who gets things done and has a knack for not getting killed. His brother, Howard, (Jason Clarke) is fan of their own merchandise. The coming of age of youngest brother Jack is played brilliantly by Shia LeBeouf. His story charts him falling for the right girl, which is a problem when you’re the bad boy, being introduced to the family business, building it up and ultimately being a cog in its downfall.

It’s beautifully directed by John Hillcoat, who also directed ‘The Road’ and he shows fantastic attention to detail here.The screenplay for the film was written by Nick Cave, who also gets a cameo. There’s also a supporting role for Gary Oldman as gangster from the city, Floyd Banner.

Despite being on the wrong side of the law, you can’t help but root for the brothers. Their parts are played so well but also Guy Pearse has brilliantly turned his character, along with his weird haircut, into the most horrible character in the movies this year.

Lawless is bloody, it’s violent but when ladies enter the brother’s lives, it’s also quite tender. It’s a really good piece of film making. If you miss this, you will be missing one of the best movies of the year.

September 7, 2012
Magic Mike: Movie Review

Magic Mike gives director, Steven Soderberg a chance to redeem himself. After directing the decent Contagion, he came along with Haywire. Yes, it was partly shot here in Dublin but that didn’t help how not great it was.

But something must have worked as Soderberg teams up with Tatum Channing again for Magic Mike. Channing plays Mike, ‘an entrepreneur’, construction worker by day, who dreams of having his own custom furniture business. Along comes Adam (Alex Pettyfer) to work on the construction site with Mike and manages to last one day. Adam sees Mike out on the town and no money to get into the club, asks Mike to get him in. In return, Adam just has to chat up two girls. This is where we find out that, by night, Mike’s a stripper or should I say, part of a Male Erotic dance troupe? Either way, he takes off his clothes.

Thus begins the journey where Mike introduces Adam to the stripper lifestyle while Matthew McConaughey (Dallas), introduces him to the stripper moves. It’s not all fun and games though as Adam’s sister Brooke (Cody Horn), quite rightly expresses her concerns as to what this decadent lifestyle is doing to her brother.

The story of Mike, is one of coming of age, OK, slightly older than most but this is an undercurrent that runs throughout the stripping and dance routines. Ah yes, the dance routines and the stripping. On stage, you’ll probably see the six of the hottest male bodies that Hollywood has to offer right now. Throughout the film, we’re treated to both group and solo dance routines. These are totally over the top, entertaining and very funny. One thing that stood out for me, Tatum Channing can dance!!

Running at 110 minutes, this film could be fifteen minutes shorter, it meanders a tad but it captures a vital thing. Girls want to get with them, guys want to be them (Yes, you do! You want that attention) Couple all this with a great soundtrack and you’ve got one of the most entertaining films so far this year.

Worth it!

Magic Mike is in cinemas across Ireland from July 11th

July 8, 2012