Category: Film

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

As if this one needs an introduction. We’d hoped to see it at the IMAX as I saw the first two episodes there. Unfortunately, you have to book at least a day in advance at the Glasgow one due to their steam-powered booking system (assuming you can even find it on their web site). Also, simply due to popularity, the film is booked out for every evening performance until the middle of this week – and with Littler Miss working her way down the birth canal slower than a barge through treacle, we can’t risk blowing the cash on something we may not be able to get to. So, off to Parkhead we went. Oh, and with no concerns about trying to find a 2D showing as there was no crappy, revenue-driven urge to produce a 3D version of the film. Thank you director Christopher Nolan for putting your foot down about that one.

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

I’ll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible. The film follows on very closely from the end of The Dark Knight, with prisoners incarcerated as a result of the Harvey Dent Act. Gotham is free of organised crime and, as a result, the mysterious Batman has disappeared. However, this is Gotham. And this is a trilogy. So something has to happen.

Cue villain-of-the-moment Bane, born of darkness and out to destroy Batman – and Gotham City while he’s at it. It’s difficult to go too much further without giving anything much away so I’ll leave it at that and focus on the overall quality of the film. Before you see it, though, this excellent article on ScreenRant is worth a read. It’s pretty much spoiler-free!

There’s no denying the acting pedigree of the cast. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine return as Fox and Alfred respectively. Two of the most respected actors of their generation, and deservedly so. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, takes on a major part of the story. As well as an ensemble cast, it’s a multi-faceted story which ensures these people aren’t just background to Christian Bale‘s hoarse whispering Batman and Tom Hardy‘s muffle-voiced Bane.

Ah, yes. Bane. Huge, scary but often hard to understand. On the whole, I got most of what he said but there were some lines I just didn’t catch. In fairness, Batman was just as unintelligible one a small handful of instances.

The film runs for a long time – 2hrs 45 mins, in fact. Be prepared for a long sit and don’t expect a thrill a minute or a bucket of laughs between the action sequences. Dark Knight Rises is a dark film – very dark. Unrelenting in places. It could be worse. Some of the death scenes are cut away from rather abruptly which is probably what’s earned it the 12A rating in the UK rather than a 15.

The action and effects are, as expected, fantastic. They’re not as “big” as those in, say, Avengers Assemble, but they’re more gritty. Having said that, I found the fight sequences lacking a little something, perhaps because the two main proponents (Bane and Batman) are so heavily padded. Anne Hathaway‘s Selina Kyle (she’s not referred to as Catwoman at all during the film) are actually slightly better to watch and not just because she fills a leather outfit so well.

Expectations are bound to be high for this film and mainly as the last film was, simply put, absolutely outstanding. However, you’re never going to get that chemistry again. In fairness, all three films in the trilogy have aimed to be different as well and bearing that in mind, Dark Knight Rises is successful. It’s not like the other two, it is an intellectual level apart from other superhero films and it’s very much a wonderful piece of work.

However, it’s also not as good as I was hoping. Some of the dialogue just clunked for me and I think I was expecting more of the action scenes. I do think I’d have enjoyed it more visually if we’d caught it at the IMAX, but that’s only the visuals. The pace would still have been slow and Dark Knight would still be kicking it for overall quality.

It’s good. In fact, it’s very good. But it’s not the utterly amazing classic it’s been built up to be. It’s really only let down by its own hype and the expectations put upon it by the second episode in the series.

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The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

What a long name for a film. And it’s even got a different one in the US (Pirates! Band of Misfits) just to confuse matters. Anyway, the local Cineworld had a showing for £1 this Saturday morning (although you have to take a child with you to get in) thus demonstrating one definite advantage in having a couple of nippers in the house. I took Little Mister while his big sis, and gestating little sis, were at a guitar lesson.

The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists!

“I HATE PIRATES!”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Crap pirate tries to win Pirate of the Year prize by being less crap, but still while made of Plasticene

See it if you like: the other Aardman films, and very impressive animation

Just a quick review as I’m rushed for time. On the whole, not a bad film. The animation is probably the best I’ve ever seen from Aardman, with some astoundingly details scenery and characters. I gather there is a touch of CGI, mainly for things like water and the sky, but everything else is hand-crafted and absolutely beautiful to behold.

Little Mister didn’t seem to be enjoying the film as it progressed and I can kind of understand why. Kids need a simple, obvious good character in a film to root for and there simply isn’t one in Pirates! Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) is the one who comes good at the end, but he’s not really good. He’s just crap at being a pirate along with the rest of his crew. Throw in the nasty competitors for Pirate of the Year, a backstabbing Charles Darwin (David Tennant) and an insane, scary Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and I can see why he said on a few occasions that it was “too scary”.

Having said that, by the time the titles were rolling I had to encourage him out of his seat and he was chattering about how much he wanted to tell mummy about it. So like Pirate Captain, I guess it came good for him in the end!

There is a good run of humour through the film from chortlesome slapstick to the typical wonderful visual humour that Aardman seem to just throw around as if anyone can do it. A chief example is Bobo the monkey who “talks” using pre-printed cards. There’s no explanation as to where these cards come from, or how they happen to have the right words on. They’re just there. And they allow a degree of comic timing that any stand-up comedian would kill for.

The story is good and it doesn’t run for too long. There is a wealth of background gags, so it would probably stand up to repeat viewing by adults – and if you get it on DVD for the kids, you just know you’ll be subjected to it multiple times. If I had a problem with it, it was that the volume of the voices seemed a little low at times which made it difficult to pick up some of the quick one-liners. However, there’s always the possibility this was an issue particular to the cinema.

Not bad, and enjoyed by a 4 and a 38 year old today.

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The Amazing Spider-Man

With the surprise additions of Little Miss who decided to extend her “world’s latest bedtime” record until after 11pm, we opted for cheap-o-vision rather an IMAX to see the umpteenth version of the Webbed Wonder. Astoundingly, there were more 2D than 3D performances at the local Cineworld so we didn’t have a problem getting tickets.

The Amazing Spider-Man

“You seriously think I’m a cop in a skintight red and blue suit?”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Seriously? OK… boy gets bitten by spider, gets spider powers, faces big nasty bad guy. Happy?

See it if you like: Comic book adaptations with a very strong story, which don’t stay as close to the version you’re used to as you may expect

First things first – did they deliberately hunt out a director called Marc Webb purely for this film or did he change his name for publicity reasons? Either way, he’s done a good job and even turned a doubting Thomas like me into a believer. I simply couldn’t believe they were “rebooting” a franchise that was barely ten years old, with the last instalment not even five years ago.

Reboot they did, though, and relative unknown Andrew Garfield was cast in the Peter Parker role. A part, incidentally, he’s very good in. He has all of the confused teenagery-ness that Maguire had… and then some. Parker’s “proper” girlfriend as per the older comic history, Gwen Stacey, is drafted back in in the form of Emma Stone. Pretty, yes, but definitely doesn’t pass for a high school pupil. At all. Denis Leary is superb as her dad, Captain Stacey, and it’s great to see him in a film role for the first time in ages (not counting voicing animated sabre-toothed tigers).

There are many other differences between this and the last series, which is a good thing. I really enjoyed the previous trilogy, and it’s a welcome thing to see that they’re not effectively being remade. The basic story is still there (MINOR SPOILER: orphan who lives with aunt and uncle is bitten by spider, develops powers, has fight with uncle, uncle dies, boy tries to hunt down killer) but beyond that we’re in fairly new territory.

Despite appearing in the previous films, Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) never actually featured as a villain. In this, he’s the central one and a great character with two very interesting sides to his story. There are many nods to other parts of Spidey-history that fans may be familiar with, but they are really just on the periphery – The Bugle, OsCorp and so on.

Oh, and of course the obligatory (in fact, I believe contractual) Stan Lee cameo. This is the best one he’s done so far. Even better than that from Thor (which was, let’s face it, the only good bit in that film).

If there’s a problem with the film it’s that it’s a bit too drawn out and slow to get going. Gillian and I felt it, but it didn’t bother us too much. Little Miss, on the other hand, definitely needed the action to kick in a little earlier. At 137 minutes long, it’s a long time to wait to see some ass-whupping. Having said that, once it gets going the action sequences are superb. Not too fast, while still being clear and imaginative. Much use was made of acrobats and actors rather than CGI and it shows in the character movement making them all the more realistic and enjoyable to watch.

Would this have been worth the extra cash to see in 3D at the IMAX? Yes, I think it would. There are enough huge scenes that I think it would benefit. However, there’s nothing wrong with seeing it in good old-fashioned 2D.

A cracking film, and a good take on what’s becoming a very familiar story.

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Ice Age 4

Time to take the kids to the cinema for a change, and with the holidays here (or “coming soon” if you’re south of the border) we’ll shortly be inundated with choice. Right now the big release is:

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift

“Holy crab!”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: as the earth starts to reshape itself, Manny and his crew become separated from the herd

See it if you like: the other films in the series

And the ongoing saga of the mammoth, sloth and sabre-tooth continues in this fourth instalment. After a disappointing and mawkish sequel, things perked up with the third film. So how does episode four match up?

The first point to note is that it held Little Mister’s attention for pretty much the entire duration. This is a Good Thing. Even around the hour mark when he informed me that he needed to go to the toilet, I had to walk him out backwards so that he could keep watching the screen until we got through the doors! Little Miss seemed to enjoy it, too.

Like more animations these days, the story and humour are on several levels and IA4 does manage to appeal across the board. The animation is bold and impressive. The geek in me is still impressed with realistic hair (Manny’s daughter Peaches is the great example of this) and the movement of the characters is a joy to watch.

Thankfully there’s only one song in the movie with the exception of the awful mess in the end credits, so the story doesn’t really slow down too much. Of course, being a kids’ film there’s a lot of focus on not being mean to people, family being important and all that. Getting past that, though, there’s enough other stuff going on to distract adults from the forced moral issues.

Star of the series, if course, is Scrat the squirrel-like creature in constant search of the perfect acorn. He doesn’t disappoint during his sequences here and – as ever – is by far and away the highlight.

Oh, as a bonus there’s a Maggie Simpson short before the main feature that is well worth catching. With no speech at all, it’s a bit of a novelty as far as Simpsons episodes go, but it’s cute and clever at the same time.

I’m sure Ice Age 4 will be decreed as “unsuitable” by the more extreme Christian web pages as it deals with evolution and continental separation. From the point of view of a non-idiot, it’s a fun film for kids with enough going on to keep their accompanying parent-folk happy.

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Storage 24

Sneaking in a quick late night showing after the kids went to be, we were limited to the one option – a new low-budget British horror:

Storage 24

“yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap…”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: escaped monster/alien goes on the loose in claustrophobic area with a handful of civilians left to fight it

See it if you like: low budget jumpy horrors with a twist of dark humour

I’ve seen this described as “Attack the Storage”, but it’s a very different film from the recent sci-fi comedy Attack the Block (which I was amazed to see was on TV the other night – so soon!). The cast is much smaller, there’s only one monster (no spoiler, you find that out in about the first 10 minutes) and it’s not got the same level of laugh-out-loud humour.

It’s written by and stars Noel Clarke who I think most will recognise from his stint on Doctor Who. Flicking through his bio, I notice that he’s actually appeared in most of the things he’s written (amongst them Fast Girls which is also currently on release, Kidulthood, Adulthood, 4.3.2.1 and an episode of Torchwood). The plot’s nothing deep and has plenty of influence from older “trapped in an enclosed area while the monster picks them off” films.

Obviously, the trick is to make things a bit different. There’s a decent amount of inter-character backstory that comes out once Charlie (Clarke) and his mate Chris (Colin O’Donoghue) bump into Charlie’s ex Shelley (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) and her mates in a storage lock-up as they divvy up the remainder of their relationship.

Shortly before their arrival, a plane crash has deposited a nasty creature in the area and is also affecting the electrics which drops all the shutters and locks them in. Stage set, let the stalking commence!

Credit to the director, Johannes Roberts, for keeping things tense while still allowing the characters to develop in such a short film. Also, the creature effects – for what is definitely a low-budget effort – are pretty damn good. Roberts ensures that the creature gets plenty of screen time without revealing any zips or strings.

Despite not having the laughter level of Attack the Block (sorry, but it is going to get compared a lot) there are some good guffaws in just the right places to relieve the tension.

Other than this, there isn’t much to tell. It’s short, sharp, enjoyable and has a brilliant twist in the last few seconds which absolutely made the film for me. Don’t go in expecting Hollywood-level effects and you won’t be disappointed. Possibly a cult classic in the making, somewhere along the lines of a more scary Doctor Who episode than an Alien-beater.

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