Bird Box (2018)

December 17, 2018 / Roger Edwards

The unfolding apocalypse and the unseen forces that bring it about are never fully explained in Bird Box. The movies also eschews overblown, CGI driven set pieces and spectacle. The scenario is simply the MacGuffin which director Susanne Bier uses to facilitate her exploration of the angst of motherhood and societal decay. This is superficially a genre movie but it’s mainly about people, performances and ideas. There have been some comparisons to A Quiet Place, but this movie is actually closer to The Mist. The film is at its best during the first act, when setting up its premise and at the start of “the event”. The second act remains above average mainly due to the strength of the cast, as they weather the ongoing storm. The denouement is somewhat functional and is possibly the weakest aspect of the film. Yet, the strength of what has gone before and as ever the robust nature of Sandra Bullock’s performance keeps things on track.

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categories / Movies, Horror, Science Fiction, Bird Box, Sandra Bullock

A Christmas Carol (1938)

December 14, 2018 / Roger Edwards

I have written previously about the versatility of Charles Dickens’ classic story and how it lends itself to multiple adaptations and interpretations. This 1938 film version tests that very theory as the reformation and redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge is presented through the medium of Golden Age Hollywood. A Christmas Carol sees the source text sanitised, infantilised and presented as a polished example of wholesome American film making. It has the high production values you’d expect from a studio such as MGM at the time, along with a cloyingly sentimental screenplay that dodges the politics of the book and renders the proceedings into an odd mixture of comedy and soft US Christian propaganda. It presents a very stylised depiction of Dickensian England and bears too many of the obvious foibles and tropes of the studio system that produced the movie.

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categories / A Christmas Carol, Movies, A Christmas Carol 1938

Scrooge (1935)

December 11, 2018 / Roger Edwards

This 1935 British adaptation of Dickens’ classic book was the first movie version of the story to have sound. Director Henry Edwards had to work creatively to stretch the productions modest budget. Subsequently the production is reliant on fog and snow shrouded sets, mainly to keep costs down. However, this does provide a veneer of authenticity in its depiction of a divided and polluted London. There are a few miniature shots showing the capital city at night and a handful of location shots inside various public buildings to establish the period setting. But mainly this is a set bound production and a sombre one at that. The underlying thrust of this adaptation is to highlight the class division as well as the contrasting wealth and poverty of the country at the time. It is this perspective that is used as the fulcrum of Scrooge’s redemption.

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categories / A Christmas Carol, Movies, Scrooge 1935

Attack the Block (2011)

December 02, 2018 / Roger Edwards

A lot was written about Joe Cornish's Attack the Block upon its release back in May 2011. I'll let you know right now that I have no intention of contradicting the popular consensus. This is an innovative, thoughtful, violent and very British Sci-Fi horror film. The contemporary inner London setting, and urban protagonists provide a very interesting take on a tried and tested subject. Do not be misled by certain journalists who try to make political capital out of claiming that the film endorses hoodie culture. It does not. There is no validation or glamorisation of that kind present. It’s simply an alternative setting for a somewhat formulaic story. As ever the devil is in the detail, which is subsequently supplied in the screenplay.

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categories / Movies, Science Fiction, Attack the Block

Writing Film Reviews

November 29, 2018 / Roger Edwards

"You’ve probably gone over it before, but I’d like a refresher for how you go about choosing the movies you watch - I’ve got Netflix and Amazon Prime, but your titles always seem to go all over the place. Did you ransack a Blockbuster Video before it went bankrupt?" Rambling Redshirt. I was asked the above question recently, via Discord chat, because I do appear to post a rather eclectic range of film reviews. So, I thought I’d clarify my respective process (or lack thereof) as to which movies I choose to write about. I’d also like to share my thoughts on what I consider constitutes a good film review and the procedure I use when writing about the films I’ve watched.

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categories / Film Reviews, Writing, Movies, Newbie Blogger Initiative

The Raid 2 (2014)

November 26, 2018 / Roger Edwards

It is very difficult to write about The Raid 2 without descending into hyperbole or gushing like a fanboy. As the movie poster shows, the popular press used pretty much every cliché available on the film’s release in 2014. If I remember, they did this previously with the original movie, The Raid in 2011. I may have leaned towards such enthusiasm myself when reviewing the previous movie. One thing that can be said about The Raid 2 is that it's a game changer and a genre milestone. It is more than just an action movie, in the same way that Enter the Dragon is more than just a martial arts movie and Singin' in the Rain is more than just a musical. Director Gareth Evans has stepped beyond the traditionally narrow scope of the genre to produce something far more ambitious.

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categories / Action, Movies, The Raid 2, Iko Uwais

The Raid (2011)

November 25, 2018 / Roger Edwards

I was not a big fan of Gareth Evans 2009 movie Merantau. Although it was an interesting showcase for Iko Uwais and Pencak Silat martial arts, the story had a ponderous narrative and was thirty minutes too long. The human drama seemed at odds with the action content. However, in early 2011 I started to hear positive things about his follow up movie The Raid. When I finally got to see the international version of the film the following year, I was summarily impressed. The Raid was the most entertaining, all out, kick you in the nuts action film I’d seen since Hard Boiled at that point. Every so often, a film comes along that breathes new life in to an ageing and tired genre. The Raid was exactly such a movie and it didn’t take long for people to take note.

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categories / Action, Movies, The Raid, The Raid: Redemption, Iko Uwais

Hanna (2011)

November 21, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Some people seem to draw parallels between Hanna and Mathew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass but the similarities are somewhat superficial. One is traditional, intelligent action thriller about a youthful female assassin. The other is a tongue-in-cheek neo-exploitation movie, involving a preteen vigilante. The more you compare them the greater the differences become. So, let us start by dismissing such erroneous comparisons.

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categories / Action, Movies, Hanna

Awake (2007)

November 18, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Publicity and word of mouth are curious bedfellows. Awake came to my attention mainly because it starred Hayden Christensen, an actor whose portrayal of a young Darth Vader, looms large over his career. Not necessarily for the right reasons. The gossip of the time inferred that his performance in Awake was of a similar nature. Yet the basic premise for the movie is quite intriguing, so I decided to see for myself. Medical based thrillers are a curious and underrepresented sub-genre. Directed by Joby Harold, Awake is a "high-concept" movie that deals with the universal fear of hospitals, surgery and "anaesthetic awareness". It also features several plot twists that takes the film in a direction that the viewer may not have anticipated. The production shows signs of being influenced by the works of Hitchcock and M. Night Shyamalan and the Italian Giallo genre.

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categories / Movies, Awake

Gone Girl (2014)

November 14, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Gone Girl is an exquisitely crafted piece of contemporary film making. Its visual aesthetic is sleek, elegant and ever so modern. At times the interior shots of Nick and Amy’s Missouri home, take on an almost clinical quality. Everything is of the finest quality but utterly soulless. This of course is the central theme of the entire movie. This is a tale to two people with no true identity of their own, who are desperately pursuing an abstract concept of who and what they should be. Gone Girl is about utterly dysfunctional, broken people, the worst excesses of the consumerist culture and the stark impact that rolling news has upon public opinion. It is not the overall storyline that is horrific but the reality of the world in which it takes place. It makes for fascinating viewing but leaves one feeling incredibly bleak about certain quarters of society.

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categories / Movies, Gone Girl

World War Z (2013)

November 13, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Contrary to a lot of the pre-release doom and gloom regarding re-edits and extensive new footage being shot, World War Z turned out to be far from the disaster that some critics implied. Ultimately there were some good ideas and snatches of interesting dialogue. Some of the characters were unusual and there seems to have been an attempt do something different with the genre. All of these things are laudable. Unfortunately, despite these positive attributes the movie clearly shows the signs of post-production interference and material from the extensive re-shoot is all too apparent. That’s not to say that is bad because that is not the case. It’s because it is noticeably different in style and tone from the rest of the film.

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categories / Horror, Movies, Zombies, World War Z

Chappie (2015)

November 11, 2018 / Roger Edwards

In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. But now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. As powerful, destructive forces start to see Chappie as a danger to mankind and order, they will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind. Sony Pictures Entertainment

There is much to praise about Chappie, which in turn makes me reticent to catalogue its subsequent failings. Once again Blomkamp uses a near-future Johannesburg to effectively paint a convincing picture of urban decay and social division. He manages to seamlessly integrate CGI with the physical and the overall design of all the paramilitary hardware on display is very credible. Image Engine once again created some solid visual effects and actor Sharlto Copley provides not only the voice for the titular Chappie but also a motion captured performance. The screenplay by Neil Blomkamp and Teri Tatchell makes a laudable attempt to explore the subject of Cartesian Dualism.

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categories / Movies, Science Fiction, Chappie

Death Wish (2018)

November 10, 2018 / Roger Edwards

The latest movie adaptation of Brian Garfield’s notorious 1972 novel has not had an easy journey to the big screen. Over more than a decade, multiple directors have been associated with the project, including Sylvester Stallone, Joe Carnahan as well as Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado. Actors such as Liam Neeson, Russel Crowe and Frank Grillo have been on the shortlist to play Paul Kersey. Yet due to differing opinions as to how the subject matter of vigilantism should be approached, most of these earlier projects failed. Joe Carnahan apparently wanted to explore the concepts of “toxic masculinity” and gun culture but studio executives simply wanted a more traditional action thriller. This resulted in a particularly acrimonious public falling out in which the boss in question was labelled a “gutless turd” by Carnahan. Oddly enough the job of remaking Death Wish finally went to horror film maker Eli Roth. And as you would expect from a director with such credentials as Cabin Fever, Hostel and The Green Inferno, his grisly signature set pieces take pride of place in the proceedings.

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categories / Action, Movies, Death Wish, Bruce Willis

The Predator (2018)

November 09, 2018 / Roger Edwards

It’s a fairly common habit for a film studio to seek out a particularly skilled director who has an established track record with regard handling specific types of movies, only to subsequently micro-manage and impede them as they go about the task they were employed to do. The net result is often a movie that falls between two stools and lacks any conviction. Furthermore, this is a malady that seems to happen far more often with genre movies. All too often you’ll read about film makers that endured tumultuous productions, running battles with studio executives and ultimately chose to disassociate themselves from the final cut of a movie. With The Predator, we have a curious situation where the opposite appears to be true. Genre luminaries Shane Black and Fred Dekker were both hired to write the screenplay and Black then went on to direct this fourth instalment in the franchise. The idea was to use their established talents to create something that would please core fans and return to the spirit of the first movie. Yet I can only describe the finished results as a classic case of trying too hard. The Predator feels like a caricature of its predecessors and fails to hit its mark.

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categories / Science Fiction, Action, Movies, The Predator

Taken 3 (2015)

November 07, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Life in the Mills family is never easy. After surviving two previous kidnappings, Brian (Liam Neeson) now finds that his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) has been brutally murdered. Framed for the crime, goes on the run from the Police, in an attempt to discover the true perpetrator and clear his name. Is Lenore's current partner, Stuart St. John (Dougray Scott) involved in some way? Can Brian protect his pregnant daughter Kim (Maggie Grace)? Has he ever stopped to consider why so many bad things happen to him? Why wasn’t this movie set in Europe like the others? What happens to the huge cuddly Panda seen at the start of the movie? Who in the name of all that is holy edited this movie?

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categories / Action, Movies, Liam Neeson, Taken 3

Taken 2 (2012)

November 05, 2018 / Roger Edwards

If it worked once already, why not just do it all again irrespective of logic and statistical likelihood? Thus, in Taken 2 Ex-CIA operative (and mail order catalogue) Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is struggling to come to terms with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) growing up and his relationship with his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen). If life wasn't complicated enough with being a Dad, Bryan finds himself up against a vengeful Albanian gang. It would appear that they're somewhat annoyed that he slaughtered their brethren in the previous instalment. Hence Bryan and Lenore are kidnapped whilst on vacation in Istanbul and face a grim death at the hands of the gang's patriarch, Murad Hoxha (Rade Šerbedžija). Once again, the criminal fraternity underestimates the resourcefulness of Mr. Mills and it is not long before the tables are turned.

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categories / Action, Movies, Liam Neeson, Taken 2

Taken (2008)

November 01, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Sometimes when a movie chimes with the public is goes from being a box office success to becoming part of popular culture. The Taken franchise has done exactly that and a piece of iconic dialogue has now become a perennial internet meme. But if you look beyond this “baggage” and subsequently judge the film by the standards of the genre, you’ll find there’s more than meets the eye. On paper Taken is a fairly formulaic thriller. But it boasts a more interesting pedigree than other movies of this kind. Written by Luc Besson and directed by Pierre Morel (of District 13 fame), the action driven story set in Paris, has all the benefits that come from a European production. But the most intriguing aspect of Taken is the casting of the lead character Bryan Mills. Instead of relying on a known action star, the part ended up with Oscar nominated actor Liam Nesson. As you can imagine, the results are not as you would expect and as a result a serious actor re-invented himself as an action star.

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categories / Action, Movies, Liam Neeson, Taken

Looper (2012)

October 29, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Rian Johnson's Looper is a thoughtful, bleak and inventive new spin to the time travel genre. The first act quickly establishes the main protagonists and the economically ravaged future he inhabits. I won't burden you with another re-iteration of the plot, because any of the trailers available on YouTube can do that far more efficiently than I. Let it suffice that the central conceit is the paradox that arises from a hitman meeting his younger self. What I would like to point out that after watching so many poorly conceived films, with little or no narrative, Looper stands out as a piece of thought provoking, quality film making. Mainstream Hollywood needs to take a long hard look at this movie and reacquaint themselves with the proper and full potential of the science fiction genre.

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categories / Movies, Science Fiction, Looper

X-Men: First Class (2011)

October 28, 2018 / Roger Edwards

Falling somewhere between a sequel and a reboot, director Matthew Vaughn has managed to make X-Men: First Class a worthy entry in the X-Men franchise that successfully explores the origins of the characters as well as Christopher Nolan did with Batman Begins. X-Men: Last Stand painted the movie series into a difficult corner by killing off key characters. This movie provides a clever means of bypassing such issue by offering an origins story that subsequent leads in later sequels to an alternative timeline that redresses past mistakes. X-Men: First Class opens with a rather bleak and dark pre-credit sequence set in a WWII concentration camp that sets up the central protagonists and antagonist. It then maintains a steady pace and unlike other more recent bloated blockbusters, it's running time works in its favour and not against it.

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categories / Action, Movies, X-Men: First Class

The Meg (2018)

October 24, 2018 / Roger Edwards

If you have seen any of the marketing material or trailers for The Meg, then you know exactly what you’re getting right from the get-go. All movies inherently require the viewer to suspend their sense of disbelief to various degrees. Naturally, the “creature feature” genre asks audience to go the extra mile with this concept. The Meg takes a major gamble by insisting that everyone goes further still, not by believing in a giant prehistoric shark (Megalodon) but that Jason Statham is a ex-navy, deep sea rescue diver. However, it pays off and the resulting movie is staggeringly stupid, but mercifully entertaining in an undemanding way. Recent movies such as Into the Storm and Geostorm are crass and made worse by their implicit assumption that their viewers are stupid. The Meg is far from cerebral but has an upbeat tone and a sense of playfulness that knowingly invites the audience to come aboard with the silliness. It’s a big distinction and the reason why I smiled a lot and frequently rolled my eyes while watching The Meg, but never with derision.

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categories / Creature Feature, Movies, Jason Statham, The Meg

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