Jurassic Park – still awesome

This was the film. This was the one that made me love going to the cinema. This was my first hit of how awesome a cinema experience can be. For years i’ve tried desperately to recreate that high I felt eighteen years ago. Independence Day, The Lost World, Transformers. They all failed. Jurassic Park was the film that made me actively seek out other films and got me interested in all things cinema. It made me a junkie.

Yes it’s been rereleased for money spinning purposes. Yes i’m a sucker for paying to see it again when it’s been on TV several times. But judging by the packed out cinema i’m not the only one. Jurassic Park is a leson in all things summer blockbuster. All these years later it still manages to excite and entertain despite a lot less special effects than we’ve become used to over the years.

Well intentioned but disillusioned Hammond (Attenborough) builds a theme park on an island off Costa Rica and fills it with genetically engineered dinsoaurs. He enlists dinosaur experts (Dern and Neill) and a mathematician (Goldblum) to come and approve the park to calm some investors. Unfortunately park programmer Nedry (Knight) is planning a double cross to make himself some extra cash, causing the computer system to go nuts and dinosaurs get loose, and all things mayhem ensue.

Seeing it again all these years later I notice things I didn’t before. The dynamic between the palaentologists, mathematician and park owner actually works quite well and in the first half hints at some interesting discussions on evolution and controlling life. Unlike most recent blockbusters there is actually decent attention taken to the subject and it’s implications, with some nice lines deliverd particularly well by the very fun Goldblum. In the second half this all falls apart, and the actors only exist to loosely connect the set pieces. That may sound like a complaint, but these are the set pieces cinema was made for.

The T Rex attack on the cars doesn’t happen until nearly an hour into the film. After a relatively calm setup it all goes horribly wrong. Heavy rain, a goats leg, snapped fence cables. This scene is one of cinemas greats and is still every bit as exciting today. From there we still have Nedrys encounter with a very angry frilled dinosaur and the tense kitchen scene with the velociraptors to go. All still perfect and the effects although obviously aged, still hold up.

Yes it’s flawed. In the second half the story grounds to a halt to allow for set piece after set piece. The movement and location of where the characters are is clunky. The kids are whimsical and draw attention away from the topics discussed in the first half, but they are the catalyst for the set pieces, so we can forgive them for that.

There’s just so much good on display. The music is still amazing. The sound and movement of the dinosaurs still exciting. Spielbergs ‘less is more’ approach, although probably more influenced by technology restrictions at the time than by choice, makes it all more tense and exciting, often relying on what we think we see instead of what we actually see. There’s actually very little dinosaur on display. If you count all the dino shots up its barely a few minutes. Spielberg utilises this in a way directors today don’t have to, given their spoilt for choice technology.

This is fun. The most fun i’ve ever had in the cinema and probably the most i’m ever likely to have. If you have seen it you’ll know how much it means to see it on the big screen again and if you haven’t seen it you’re in for a treat and a lesson in how summer blockbusters should be made.

5 out of 5

Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy – Disappointing

Maybe it was the lack of air con and a packed theatre causing uncomftorable heat in Cineworld Parnell Street, maybe it was the guy munching loudly on popcorn behind me, or maybe i’m just an idiot, but despite the universal praise (bar the Toronto Film Festival – go Canada!!) Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy failed to impress me. When the end credits rolled on what should have been an exciting and tense two hours of cold war espionage I simply just didn’t care.

The first thing anyone will tell you about this film is it’s slow, very slow, and you need to have patience. I have patience, a lot of patience. I’ll sit down with three hours of Malick anyday and watch him film birds flying, but slowness is all for nothing if it fails to convey a mood or atmosphere. The film achieves this already with great cinematography, use of location, and set design, not to mention the detail taken with everything from clothing and briefcases to haircuts and music. Why it then decides to slow everything down to an almost unbearable pace is beyond me. Scenes where nothing is conveyed, we learn nothing new, our curiosity is not stirred, all seem to exist for no point whatsoever.

Adapted from the novel of the same name Oldman playes Smiley, a British Intelligence Officer out to uncover a mole high up the ranks who’s feeding the Soviets all the good stuff. From word go we’re shown who the suspects are, an array of the UKs finest actors, and for the rest of the film we learn absolutely nothing more about them. We learn their name and that’s it. Colin Firths Haydon get’s a few side scenes but nothing more. As for the rest of the suspects we have no reason to feel involved with the investigation as we recieve no news on them.

Things start to pick up when the setting moves to Istanbul, and Tom Hardys Tarr gets some nice scenes and a subplot that is a welcome change of pace. Also Benedict Cumberbatch is one of the few characters who gets some kinda development and steals every scene he’s in. As for the rest, Mark Strong shows promise in an early scene only to spend the rest of the film in a caravan befriending a lonely boy, and Ciaran Hinds does absolutely nothing bar show up in a few scenes to remain silent but show off his thick neck.

Coming from Tomas Alfredson, the man who brought us the great Swedish film Let The Right One In, this is a disappointment. He is clearly a talented man, with nicely set up set pieces and some Gursky-esque camera angles (an amazing shot of three rooms at once as the action moves from one to another), but his choice of pace and how it’s unravelled fail to keep our attention.

According to the posters this is one of the best film you’ll see this year, but according to me and going by the ‘What the heck?’s I heard from the audience come the films end this is one I would gladly miss if I had the choice.

2 out of 5

The Inbetweeners Movie – still inbetween

I’ve never been the biggest fan of the TV show The Inbetweeners. I’ve always found Jay and Neil hilarious but Simon and Will fairly irritating, as well as an unfunny narration and too often desceneding into crassness. It comes as a surprise then that the film actually irons out a few creases. Simon and Will actually fair pretty well on the big screen, and the crassness seems to be sparser than usual. It’s still far from perfect though with a few too many laughs missing from the middle section and a story we can see coming a mile away.

The boys after just finishing school leave Londons suburbia for a holiday in Greece. It’s all about chasing women and drinking, there will be no sight seeing here. Things start going downhill as soon as they arrive, their hotel is worse than a ‘North Korean prison camp’ and Simon spots his exgirlfriend who he can’t get over, despite the fact nice girl Lucy (with the unrealistic patience of a Saint) is clearly a better person and interested in him. From here the plot meanders a bit, some parts are funny, and work for the most part, but some try desperately to be a coming of age story and fail. A nightime conversation about what will happen when the boys go to college fails to impact, and a skinny dipping scene just misses whatever tone it was going for completely.

The laughs are what we are here for though. Unfortunately Jay doesn’t get as much of the filthy dialogue that made him so memorable in the TV show, instead he just seems rather angry for the whole thing. Neil though gets a great speech about God that really sums up his character and is one of the films better moments. The four lads first attempt at dancing to woo some women is the comedy stand out though. It comes early in the film and is never matched again.

There’s enough here to keep fans of the TV show happy, but for someone on the fence like myself my opinion remains the same.

2 out of 5

Trollhunter – welcome Norweigean filmmakers!!

We do not know a lot about Norway. It sits there for the most part unnoticed, only occasionally wandering into our news. I cannot recall if i’ve even seen a Norweigean film before Trollhunter. One of the delights of cinema is that it can take us to a place we know little about and give us a brief insight into how things are, how the people act and how the country looks. Judging by the look of Trollhunter Norway has some epic and diverse scenery which surely is a mecca for film locations, and judging by the content of the film Norway is not short of imaginitive people either. Hopefully Trollhunter encourages more cameras in Norway to start rolling and utilising their country for our cinemas.

We join a group of student filmmakers making a documentary about mysterious bear poacher Hans (Otto Jespersen) who refuses to answer their questions and does his best to evade the camera. Hans is a mystery to all, driving around the rugged Norweigean countryside in his mauled jeep keeping erratic working hours. Soon the team discover Hans is keeping the Norweigean people safe from Trolls, huge beasts that dwell in their forests with a fondness for eating rocks and Christians. Events ensue and due to severe job dissatisfaction Hans allows the students to follow him on his day to day business and film him hunting Trolls, which isn’t always the safest occupation.

Employing the ‘found footage’ technique there’s plenty of shaky cam and talking heads, but for the most part if flows relatively unnoticed. It could probably have been realised without the ageing technique but this would have severely affected the budget, reducing the flawless special effects on show. In Hans the filmmakers have created a memorable character, a man so bogged down in the day to day trappings of his work that he approaches an agitated Troll with the same motivation an office worker approaches a photocopier. The other actors fall flat with none ever really making any memorable impact, and with no dynamic or story between them they are reduced to merely carrying the camera and running. Luckily the Trolls when on display look great, each one being a different breed with different characteristics.

The problem with Trollhunter lies with the action scenes. It falls prey to copying other found footage films too closely in its execution of the action. Protagonists edge forward with caution, the camera briefly glimpses rustling trees and possible outlines of a form, then all quiet, then the reveal where all of a sudden a supposedly unintelligent fifty foot beast sneaks up on them unnoticed, then they run. It’s the same each time and we can almost predict each phase to a precise beat. If the found footage technique is to continue to be used we need to see a different approach to how action unfolds. Also the text that appears at the beginning and end explains way too much and feels forced in trying to persuade us that the events are real. We’re ok to sit back and enjoy a found footage film, knowing it’s fake (which if you don’t you’re an idiot) will not detract from our enjoyment, there’s no need to try convince us otherwise.

For the most part though Trollhunter is a lot of fun. There’s plenty of imagination on show with the Troll mythology blended with science in some fun ways. The government agents methods of covering up the Trolls with fake bear tracks and some Polish painters delivery of a non-Norweigean bear corpse is particularly hilarious. The filmmakers obviously had a lot of fun with the story, including forms the trollhuner must fill out after every kill, some science behind their turning to stone, and their apetite for charcoal.

Far from perfect but in never taking itself too seriously it allows for plenty of fun and imagination. Hopefully this opens the flood gates to Norweigean cinema.

3 out of 5

Cowboys & Aliens – Idiot Aliens

Cowboys & Aliens starts off promising enough. A confused and determined looking Jake (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the vast wilderness of the wild west. He takes in his surroundings, notices a new accessory on his wrist, and doesn’t utter a word. Soon he’s stumbled upon by a gang and a very entertaining brawl ensues. Barely a word is spoken. It’s intense and grabs the audiences attention, sucking them into the world of the wild west. Unfortunately the rest of the film fails to keep up the promise shown by the opening, and we’re left confused as to how such early promise went so horribly wrong.

As the title promises this is sci-fi set in the old western times. Jake and his band of followers pit themselves against aliens which have abducted the townsfolk. Horses and pistols versus spaceships and lasers. Along the way Craig forms a bond with Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) a rich cattleman and Ella (Olivia Wilde) a mysterious woman who seems to know more about Jake than he knows himself. We also get some native Americans to very falsely break some cliched boundaries between cowboys and Indians, and a kid who exists for no other reason other for Harrison Ford to give a speech to on how to be a man which will come in very useful for a later convenient scene.

On paper this should have been great. The number of great actors in this film is rare for a summer blockbuster (Paul Dano and Sam Rockwell for some strange reason seemed happy enough to play very bit parts) and an imaginitive idea that Jon Favreau should be able to ace blindfolded after the success he had with the Iron Man series. Unfortunately the attention taken with some of the early western scenes is greatly abandoned once the aliens show up. Scenes flow awkwardly, characters appear in one place then another unexplainably in questionable passages of time and plotholes aplenty appear.

It’s a shame because the cast give it their all, especially Olivia Wilde who somehow manages to pull off one particularly rididulous scene without laughing. Craig does fine in the lead but seeing the intense wise guy quite easily escape being shot wears thin after the seventh or eight time. The film is beautiful looking too, with some amazing shots of the wild west. It’s just not enough though. When will we get an alien movie that actually has intelligent aliens? These guys travelled across galaxies would they really make it so easy for us to attack them?

Maybe it was over ambition that Favreau just was not ready for, trying to squeeze too much in and give every character some detail at the expense of concentrating on a smaller cast, but ultimately this will be one he’d best forget. A shame because underneath all the mess there’s some great talent that really wanted to shine, maybe next time.

1 out of 5

Fright Night – good ol fun lovin ‘ evil vampires

Horror movies have been a dying breed lately. ‘Found Footage’ movies like Paranormal Activity and Apollo 18 have managed to keep the genre just above water, but the Saw franchise as well as the latest installment of the Scream series both passing by relatively unnoticed prove that the slasher formula has all but killed itself. No longer do vampires scare us, instead the Twilight series has told us that their not blood thirsty killers but hopeless romantics bound by their curse. So can Fright Night, with a story just as silly as it’s very silly title, both scare and entertain todays audience?

Luckily yes, Fright Night achieves everything it sets out to do. Although never being too heavy on frights, it’s a hell of a lot of fun and perfect cinema entertainment. The cast and crew all seem to know what tone their trying to achieve and things are (for the most part) never cheapened for an unintelligent audience. Fright Night does exactly what it’s poster and trailer propose it will, never more never less.

Set in Nevada in a sleepy suburb of Las Vegas Charley (Anton Yelchin) ignores the pleas of his geeky former friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to help him investigate his new neighbour Jerry (Colin Farrell) on suspicion of being a vampire. Charley laughs away his friends allegations but when Ed goes missing Charley discovers Jerrys secret, and has to balance protecting his girlfriend and family with appearing sane, knowing no one else will believe his grim discovery. People disappear, blood is sucked, and before long Charley has enlisted celebrity magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant) to help him destory Jerry.

Colin Farrell, as with a lot of his recent films, is the standout, balancing fun and creepy perfectly. It’s a role that’s below him but it’s good to see him having fun. When he’s on screen he’s the centre of attention both menancing and charming as vampire next door Jerry. Anton Yelchin does fine in the lead but fails to convey the drive that would bring a young man to be so brave, with the script failing to flesh out his character fully. The script also gives David Tenant a very cliched role but he still manages to squeeze some fun out of Peter Vincent, doing his best Russell Brand impression.

A full point has to be taken away from the film for the casting of Dave Franco as Mark, the unlikey school cool guy / bully. He’s annoying and pointless and as with his TV roles is as one note as it gets. Dull and unfunny, a human equivalent of Jar Jar Binks and whoever thought this a good idea should be fired. Stop encouraging such awful ‘talent’. Hopefully Dave Franco changes his ways and expands on his acting range but for now he is only a hindrance to Fright Night.

Director Craig Gillepsie (Lars and the real Girl) is new to horror but manages to squeeze in just enough gore and dark hallways to keep us on our toes whilst never overdoing the special effects. Set pieces are well managed and the pacing makes the running time fly by. He especially excels in giving personality to the setting, conveying the isolation of the estate in the middle of the desert where the lights of Vegas can be seen in the distance but are still far from a safe distance away.

Nothing life changing here, if you miss it don’t lose too much sleep over it, but a perfectly fun way to pass a rainy afternoon.

3 out of 5