The Raid – let’s get fighty!!

The Raid is awesome. That’s all you need to know. People get thrown into walls, fridges get blown ups, machetes get swung. If you like action you’ll love The Raid. Forget about slow motion or over the top explosions, having  a small budget works to The Raids advantage as every punch and kick matters. No special effects here just very hard working martial artists demonstrating their ability. If you don’t like action (think Die Hard meets Enter the Dragon) The Raid is not for you and is unlikely to win you over, but for everyone else this is a rarity of an action film that leaves you wanting to invest in a rusty machete and practice your roundhouse kick.

Pencak Silat (the Indonesian martial art used in the film) enthusiast (and Welshman) Gareth Evans started off making documentaries on martial arts and his love of the combat is much evident in The Raid. There’s a lot more ‘common sense’ to the combat than we’re used to in action films. Yes there is still the elaborate move that’s more for style than realism but he makes the action move in a realistic way. When two people attack one person the second doesn’t wait on the side for the other to be defeated, they both go all out. It’s always intense and creative action but never silly and in Iko Uwais he has found a lead man who can deliver punches and kicks while the audience root for his good nature.

Uwais plays Rama, a soon to be father and rookie member of a SWAT team assigned the difficult mission of taking down Tama, the criminal boss of Jakartas underworld who hides away in a tower block occupied by some dodgy residents with an aggressive dislike for the police. Things aren’t always what they seem and before they know it like lambs to the slaughter the team are picked off one by one by Tamas gang, leaving Rama the difficult task of fighting his way out of the building.

And that’s really it, there’s minor character revelations here and there but for the most part this is simply a man fighting his way out of a building, albeit the most threatening building you’ve ever seen. No window is safe as snipers shoot anyone who peeks out. Every door hides another threat, whether it’s an unarmed expert in martial arts, a man with a machete, a man with a gun, or a group containing each, and the big boss Tama is as ruthless as they come showing no mercy. And don’t get me started on his henchman Mad Dog. Legend.

The film mixes together elements of John Woo with Bruce Lee with Die Hard with Leon and really is something special. The filmmakers have done a lot with a small budget (i’m pretty sure the same room is used over and over again with just the furniture rearranged) and made an intense gem of a film.

Go see and enjoy, then high kick a lamppost on your way home.

4 out of 5

The Dictator – great trailer, bad film!

Starting off strongly with a dedication to the deceased Kim Jong-Il, The Dictator sets its boundaries as non-existent from the word go. Unfortunately it’s all downhill from there and bar a few scenes that hint at some clever writing it all flies by a bit too fast and leaves you feeling like whether it was worth watching more than the trailer.

I was glued to Sacha Baron Cohen as a teenager. His Ali G slots on ‘The 11 O’Clock Show’ were inspired and original. When he moved to his own show some of the novelty was lost but it was still a joy. With The Boart and Bruno films he confirmed he could work on a cinematic level. ‘The Dictator’ does away with his documentary style roots and puts his new creation General Aladeen, the treacherous dictator of North African State Wadiya, at the forefront of an actual film. No innocent bystanders, no awkward interviews, proper filmed staged scenes and (apparently) a story. What made a great trailer though does not make a great film.

Sticking with Borat and Bruno director Larry Charles proves a mistake. The film moves at a horrible pace where it never really establishes itself. Scenes are over before you know it, feeling as if someone told a bad joke and wanted you to forget it so changed the subject to cover their crime. The story unfolds awkwardly and while there are several comic scenes they are not integrated into the story efficiently, leading to a rushed and forced love story to connect set pieces.

Cohen is fine as Aladeen, but sugercoats the brutality of the man and ignoring plot threads so as to allow a romance sub plot to unfold. Had this romance been excluded and the true character been shown this could have been more fun. His performance is energetic and likeable but unfortunately neither film nor script match him.

There are some fun moments, particularly the Chinese delegates wink and nod to China ‘also’ being a democracy, but it’s not enough for the weak story that unfolds so badly. Hire a new Director and get in a decent scriptwriter to join the comedy moments together in an integral way and get back to us Cohen.

2 out of 5

Avengers Assemble – feck off stupid Stan Lee cameos

I had a lot of hope for this. Iron Man was great and the sequel while although inferior confirmed that yes Robert Downey Jnr is as cool as chips. Thor was a bad film but Chris Hemsworth was a hell of a lot of fun as the demi-God and weak as the story was the character was a joy. Captain America was good fun and The Hulk I have not seen, but alas with Joss Whedon on board The Avengers was looking promising. I walked into this full of hope after only hearing positive things. Commence hate mail. I did not like The Avengers.

Banished God Loki (a great Tom Hiddleton) has teamed up with an alien race (who are given no characterisation whatsoever) to steal a magical cube that will allow for an invasion on earth to rob us of our freedom. Luckily for us we live in a world of Iron Mans and Hulks who will protect us, despite the fact the earth is populated by poorly second unit directed crowds of extras. For some reason Samuel L Jackson is there too to say everything in the same tone with the same expression whilst flying an invisible aircraft carrier, that only add unnecessary stupidity to an already dull storyline.

Joss Whedon is a talented man; see last months Cabin in the Woods for evidence, so I’m putting this down to a rushed production. This film was turned around very fast to fit into Marvels schedule of promotion and releases of other tie in films, which is a shame because having such great characters in the same film should have been an absolute joy had more time and care been put in. The first third of the film is particularly poor, with no real pace or interest. Scenes stagger and get repetitive as each character goes through the same motion of hearing their needed due to impending doom, at first declining and then as they realise the threat come around to it. There’s also a poorly made chase scene as the cube is stolen that even the filmmakers seemed not to care about as no characters we’re bothered by are involved.

It all picks up when our heroes step into the same room together, with Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk being a stand out. They have some nice banter as tensions and egos grow but it’s all over too easily and too fast and before we know it the story has not developed one bit and the final third is standard action where we know no major character will be harmed.

Scarlett Johansson is given too much screen time as Black Widow. Her acting is fine but when you have a God with a hammer and an Iron Man in the same her dull character is of little conern. Black Widow and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) just add unneeded stupidity to the film, despite having no superpowers they kick aliens (easily twice their size) and the aliens conveniently fly backwards ten feet. I’m sorry people, say what you like about it being a comic book world, it’s just stupid.

A shame. When the superheroes are on screen it’s great, but Whedon does not create a world for them to exist in. It reeks of studio back lot and staged implausibility. There’ll be a sequel, it’s made enough money, and hopefully they get it right next time.

2 out of 5

Headhunters – good Norweigean fun, they just need to clean up the plotholes!!

Another Scandinavian book adaptation with a looming American remake, Headhunters follows hot on the heels of its big sister The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hoping to find the same success. Produced by the same studio and containing just as much violence back dropped by IKEA furniture for the most part this works, and further cements the genre of ‘Scandi Crime’ as being something to take note of. Whilst far from perfect Headhunters is fine entertainment for two hours and will leave you with equal horror and amusement at the sight of a dog mauled by a tractor. Good night at the cinema I think not.

Short in stature but more than compensating with a lavish lifestyle he struggles to afford, Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a head-hunter for an Oslo firm, interviewing potential candidates for high level jobs. This pays well but not well enough for all the gifts he showers on his artist wife in the hope she won’t leave him for a man of greater stature so Roger also moonlights as an art thief, stealing rare prints and selling them on the black market for millions. He soon crosses paths with Clas Greve (Game of Thrones Jamie Lannister Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and becomes intrigued with a painting Clas may have in his possession, but is Clas all he seems?

The story chops and changes plenty to keep the audience on its toes. It starts off slow and misleading, showing us what almost seems like a character study of an art thief, but soon this is all thrown out the window in favour of a chase film. The chase whilst always exciting is never near as intriguing as what has come before, and it is this mid-section where the film lags. Luckily it returns to form for the final third to compensate for this. Hennie in the lead is in every scene, and is a good find. Expect to see him crop up in Hollywood bit parts. He’s believable as a man of comfort thrown into a messy situation there’s no easy solution to, and we are always aware of his stature meaning that even when attacked by a woman or dog there’s a believable sense of threat to him. Coster-Waldau is also great as his nemesis but could have done with more screen time. The character is never fully fleshed out adding some confusion to the extremes he goes to to get his man.

Similar to the Dragon Tattoo films Headhunters shows that Scandinavia has some interesting stories to tell but unfortunately also like Dragon Tattoo at times the direction is weak. People move from one area to another with no explanation over non-disclosed periods of time. Plot devices are awkwardly woven into the film early on with little or no subtleness. Take the web camera for example, a banner may as well have flashed up on screen stating ‘this will come in handy later on!!’ If the current wave is to continue they need to clean up these elements as it’s what’s currently keeping them from making good but not great films.

An enjoyable tale with plenty of twists and turns but there is definitely much for the Hollywood remake to improve on, nevertheless though if you spend your money on a ticket to see this you won’t be disappointed.

3 out of 5