Boyhood – 12 years a kid

Not content with the unrealistic portrayal of growing up using different actors of different ages, director Richard Linklater uses the same actors filmed intermittently over 12 years in Boyhood. It’s an impressive result, with ageing of people and places carrying more resonance, and as in all Linklater films he lets the everyday conversations tell the story of life. It’s a successful experiment, but still an experiment with unpredictable results.

Six-year-old Mason (Ellar Coltrane) lives with his mother (Patricia Arquette) and sister (Lorelei Linklater) in Texas. Over the next 12 years we follow Mason and his family, including his father (Ethan Hawke), as he moves from home to home with each of his mother’s relationships, makes and loses friends and grows up.

Loosely scripted to allow for the development of the actors involved over the years, the film has no real plot to speak of, but Linklater still manages to structure in into something with meaning. It never feels overly improvised and Hawke in particular does a great job or portraying a character arc despite the long gaps in filming. His father initially running away from an unexpected pregnancy grows up as much as Mason himself over the period of time. He really shines in Linklater films, a shame nowhere else.

Linklater has an issue with alcohol; and anyone who drinks in this film is the devil. Rarely in the film is anyone seen drinking responsibly, it’s either a delinquent or an abusive husband. It may be his personal experiences but it seemed like a message being pushed too hard. He also overdoes the use of music and visuals to portray the year we’re in, using a lot of music of the time even when a musical cue is not required, or different video game consoles needlessly.

The 12 year filming period does work wonders, as a home grows, or hair changes, or clothes. Unfortunately for the main actor it backfires. As he gets older the acting gets worse, leaving us with a lead character devoid of expression. Linklater is limited in the material he can give Coltrane, leaving him a character we never really get involved with.

Not perfect but still a very interesting and ambitious film. Linklater is constantly trying new things not always based in technology which is fantastic to see, looking forward to his next.

3 out of 5

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – excellent sequel

It’s not often a summer blockbuster manages to make a lot of money while still keeping its intelligence. Luckily the latest Planet of the Apes franchise has managed to do just that. After 2011’s Rise, Dawn picks up the story and continues the high standards of its predecessor, with a massive improvement on the human characters. The apes still steal the show, and it’s far from perfect with several contrived plot points, but this is still as entertaining as a summer film gets and is never an insult to the audience like so many similar affairs.

Ten years after the outbreak of a deadly virus, mankind is down to a handful of survivors living in a desolate environment. In contrast the now intelligent apes have thrived and created a peaceful community under the rule of Caesar (Andy Serkis; again excellent in motion capture). When a dam is discovered at the ape’s home that could restore electricity to a desperate commune of humans, Malcolm (Jason Clarke) reaches out to Caesar to allow them access. Caesar accepts, trusting the humans, but ally Koba who experienced first-hand the evil of man in a lab, is less trusting and desperate for revenge.

Again the motion capture is seamless, with the apes looking, moving and feeling real. The interaction between CGI characters and real actors always convinces. New director Matt Reeves captures the world perfectly, with the slowly increasing intelligence of the apes reflected in their home, and giving each ape distinctive characteristics. The film is at its best when we’re in the ape’s community, observing their evolving way of life. When it switches to the humans in a rundown San Francisco it suffers a bit, with contrivances and typical predictable set-pieces. Luckily the apes are never far off and the drama between them is excellent, with a coo carefully built and executed preying on the apes fear of humans and their misuse of technology. Clarke is a welcome replacement for the terrible James Franco in Rise, giving Serkis a real character with motives to play against. Him and Caesar share some great moments that the predecessor lacked.

The dam plot is terribly contrived and unlikely, the second half develops a bit too fast, and it leaves the series pretty much right where the last one did, but this is still excellent cinema as enthralling and entertaining as it gets. Apes and humans have never been so tense and charged, go see.

4 out of 5

22 Jump Street – Tatum saves the day

22 Jump Street hit’s its target; unfortunately said target isn’t very high. It gives up on itself from the start and seems adamant that it can only ever be inferior as it’s a sequel. A shame, as 2012’s predecessor 21 Jump Street was a surprisingly good comedy, and with the same team reunited they could have delivered another excellent two hours of laughs. It’s still great fun, but not as much as it could have been.

Police officer’s Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are assigned a job almost identical to their previous one, except this time in college. The duo tries to track down the origins of a lethal new drug while posing as students. Unlike last time Jenko finds himself the popular one, much to the annoyance of Schmidt, who sees a crack in their friendship.

The plot is as identical as could be, with house party and drug trip episodes almost copied and pasted. It’s all fun and moves at a breakneck pace, but given how well the creative team done last time around, it’s disappointing to see them do such a lazy job.

Luckily Tatum saves the day, delivering another great performance as Jenko. Hill is fine as Schmidt but his character is weighed down by constantly referring to the gay analogy of him and his partner. He doesn’t have a lot to do this time round and struggles to make an impact.

Yes it’s a let-down, but it’s still extremely likeable. Hopefully 23 Jump Street will take a few more risks.

3 out of 5

Transformers: Age of Extinction – Classic Bayhem

Michael Bay is laughing at us, and deservedly so. Every few years he makes another Transformers film that we all give out about yet secretly go see, ensuring Bay’s films make him a ludicrous amount of money. The bad news is that nothing’s changed; Age of Extinction is still a poor film, with a script that even Ed Wood would laugh at. The good news is that Michael Bay knows and acknowledges this; he gives in holds his hands up and with a wink of the eye throws the ridiculous at us, with over the top action and product placement that is now parody. It stinks, but not as bad as the last two, and Bay’s frenzied direction at least allows it to be fun sometimes.

Failed inventor Cade (Mark Whalberg) stumbles across an old truck in Texas, which turns out to be leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime. Prime is in hiding after a secret unit of government forces, led by Kelsey Grammer, have been hunting down and killing Transformers, whether good or bad. Stumbling across a government conspiracy to create an army of controllable Transformers, Prime enlists the help of Cade along with his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) and boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor). More Transformers come along for the ride too, ensuring plenty of fights between good and evil, as well as a trip to China and some dinosaurs for good measure.

It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, and far more complicated that it needs to be. As always the action fails to register, yes the effects are great but involvement is lost as it just looks like a computer game. The Texas sunsets make more impact than a robotic dinosaur battling on the streets of Beijing. Scale and terror is lost, as despite the mayhem no one ever seems to get hurt.

Whalberg is fine, but after the step up that was Pain and Gain, he really should have pushed Bay for a stronger character. Reynor is wasted; his character only serves to be pathetic and cowardly to make Whalberg look good. After the impact he made in What Richard Did his talent is lost here. At least Shia LeBeouf got to run around and look brave; Reynor’s hero moment is reversing a car slowly. He also keeps his Dublin accent which was a strange decision from the filmmakers. Unlike Colin Farrell’s deep Dublin voice, Reynor’s is soft and often the pitch doesn’t work next to generic American accents. As for Peltz, Bay tells us she’s 17 then perves on her the whole film, it’s creepy.

It’s not all bad, Stanley Tucci is quite good as Joyce, a corporate bad guy, and the underrated Titus Welliver does the best he can with a weak henchman character. Despite all the badness Bay keeps it moving, and the almost three hours running time isn’t as unbearable as one might imagine. At least with this film he almost completely drops the military, which added another level of dullness to the previous two.

It’s still Transformers, it’s still far from art, it’s still gonna make a lot of money. An improvement on the last two, but Bay could still do a lot better.

2 out of 5