When I first saw a poster for TMNT, my jaw quite literally dropped; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an early 90s thing, something that was great, but surely not cool anymore. Apparently recent toy sales were surprisingly strong, leading the license-holders to believe that there was life in the old franchise yet, and I am so glad they gave it a go. This computer-animated movie is genuinely funny, has a lot of heart, and will keep both children and fanboys happy.
As the film begins, we see that the team of Turtles is in a bad way. Leonardo, the oldest brother and natural leader, had been on a training expedition to South America, but has decided to stay and help people living in the jungle. Raphael, the angriest turtle, has taken to being a lone vigilante, whilst the other two are doing decidedly un-ninja-ry jobs (producing some of the funniest moments). When Leonardo returns, Raphael’s bitterness at having to be led means that the brothers can no longer work as a group, which is very sad. It takes a shared enemy to bring them together, as they have to work as a team to take down an ancient evil. The storyline is quite light-weight, with a nice emotional arc setting up things for a sequel; though obviously it requires a suspension of disbelief (this is a universe with pizza-eating, human-sized turtles we are talking about), it makes sense in its own reality (a rarity nowadays in genre films).
On the animation front, they’ve gone the way of The Incredibles with the humans by making them very stylised. This is slightly off-putting, since the backgrounds are beautifully realistic, but everything else looks excellent. I especially loved Splinter; he was so gorgeous and furry, I could have eaten him with a spoon. Totally adorable. The camera movements and the panoramas of New York during the fights bring to mind the best of the Spider-Man films. Voice casting is very good, with a nice sense of character. Obviously aware of their geek audience, the film-makers have got Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stuart), Buffy (Sarah Michelle Geller) and The Human Torch (Chris Evans) in the cast.
This all adds up to a lovely little film that is much more fun than one feels it ought to be somehow. I don’t know why this is, though, because the Turtles were so popular back then for a reason, but it is so easy to forget. I’m not sure if TMNT has made them cool again exactly, but that day may be fast approaching. They are well on their way to getting those awful live-action films out of the collective consciousness, at least.
Friday 30 March 2007
Review - INLAND EMPIRE
There are certain narrative conventions that have developed to allow the cinema audience to be carried along by a story in sure and certain hope that they know what is going on. Directors have long loved to use these to trick the viewer, carrying them down dead ends with Smart Alec glee. But it is David Lynch who tries to actively go against them to confuse and perplex. It may not make any sense, but INLAND EMPIRE is an amazing dream-like experience for those who are willing to follow Lynch down the rabbit hole.
The story, if there is one, seems to concern an actress (Laura Dern) as she wins a plum role in a movie. It turns out, however, that this movie has a dark and sinister past, and extremely strange things start happening. I think. I’m not sure if that’s what it is about, but I’m definitely confident about the ‘extremely strange things happening’ bit. Nevertheless, individual scenes are mesmerising, even if one doesn’t understand the context, alternately deeply disturbing, moving, and very funny. David Lynch is the master of mood, and in this film he shows off his skill with great aplomb.
There are so many things going on, so many characters and competing realities, that it would be easy to lose sight of the lead. It is all the more remarkable, then, that Laura Dern has given her best ever performance here. She plays terrified, ballsy, innocent, everything, with an amazing naturalism and lack of self-conciousness. Her whole role could be compared to Naomi Watt’s dazzling and startling audition scenes in INLAND EMPIRE’s partner film, Mulholland Drive, but sustained over 3 hours. Justin Theroux is also excellent as her co-star, and there are a myriad of great cameos from the likes of Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton, and Grace Zabriskie.
It is quite heavy going, and this wouldn’t be a good entry-point to those unfamiliar with Lynch’s work, but for those with an open mind and consciousness, it is a revelation. Filmed with digital hand held cameras over many years, it shows what can be done with imagination and full directorial control, regardless of budget. The coda over the end credits is an ecstatic romp, which makes me wonder whether it is as serious a film as it might seem; Lynch is having fun with us, and if you are up for it, I’d urge you to join in and lose yourself in this strange maze.
The story, if there is one, seems to concern an actress (Laura Dern) as she wins a plum role in a movie. It turns out, however, that this movie has a dark and sinister past, and extremely strange things start happening. I think. I’m not sure if that’s what it is about, but I’m definitely confident about the ‘extremely strange things happening’ bit. Nevertheless, individual scenes are mesmerising, even if one doesn’t understand the context, alternately deeply disturbing, moving, and very funny. David Lynch is the master of mood, and in this film he shows off his skill with great aplomb.
There are so many things going on, so many characters and competing realities, that it would be easy to lose sight of the lead. It is all the more remarkable, then, that Laura Dern has given her best ever performance here. She plays terrified, ballsy, innocent, everything, with an amazing naturalism and lack of self-conciousness. Her whole role could be compared to Naomi Watt’s dazzling and startling audition scenes in INLAND EMPIRE’s partner film, Mulholland Drive, but sustained over 3 hours. Justin Theroux is also excellent as her co-star, and there are a myriad of great cameos from the likes of Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton, and Grace Zabriskie.
It is quite heavy going, and this wouldn’t be a good entry-point to those unfamiliar with Lynch’s work, but for those with an open mind and consciousness, it is a revelation. Filmed with digital hand held cameras over many years, it shows what can be done with imagination and full directorial control, regardless of budget. The coda over the end credits is an ecstatic romp, which makes me wonder whether it is as serious a film as it might seem; Lynch is having fun with us, and if you are up for it, I’d urge you to join in and lose yourself in this strange maze.
Tuesday 6 March 2007
Review - Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider is really a second-tier superhero, but he is certainly one of the coolest-looking. As is the trend with Marvel’s characters, his power is also his curse; a deal made with the Devil when a teen-ager has meant that Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) turns into a biker with a flaming skull at night, and is forced to do the Evil One’s bidding. This might be highly rad, but it plays havoc with your social life. This slice of hokum tells this origin story and has Ghost Rider bagging his first villain in a light and fun way.
Nicholas Cage is obviously having a blast finally playing a superhero (he is a huge comic geek), and he adds some great kooky touches to the character; he does his usual bad-ass Elvis shtick with great aplomb, making it obvious that this isn’t a film to be taken seriously. Peter Fonda is suitably menacing as Mephistopheles (the Devil in Marvel-speak), Donal Logue is charming as Johnny’s best friend Mack, and Eva Mendes has a nice spunky edge to her as the love interest. The whole tone is quite comedic, overlaid with some Goth and Wild West motifs. The focus is mainly on the fire- and motorbike-heavy action, which uses some very good CGI for the hero and his ghostly villains.
Ghost Rider has one major flaw, though. It doesn’t really make any sense. The MacGuffin at the centre of the plot (some sort of contract) is very sketchily drawn, and at the end when you expect answers, you don’t get them. Weirdly, I didn’t mind that that much, as it was a fun, if superficial, ride. This was the director Mark Steven Johnson’s follow-up to Daredevil, a film I liked, though no-one else seemed to. Other people did like the Director’s Cut, though, because the story actually made sense in it. Let’s hope there’s a director’s cut of this lying around somewhere to absolve him all over again.
But even if that never surfaces, this is still a good popcorn flick with a wonderfully enthusiastic central performance, which should enthuse the audience for its 114 minute running time.
Nicholas Cage is obviously having a blast finally playing a superhero (he is a huge comic geek), and he adds some great kooky touches to the character; he does his usual bad-ass Elvis shtick with great aplomb, making it obvious that this isn’t a film to be taken seriously. Peter Fonda is suitably menacing as Mephistopheles (the Devil in Marvel-speak), Donal Logue is charming as Johnny’s best friend Mack, and Eva Mendes has a nice spunky edge to her as the love interest. The whole tone is quite comedic, overlaid with some Goth and Wild West motifs. The focus is mainly on the fire- and motorbike-heavy action, which uses some very good CGI for the hero and his ghostly villains.
Ghost Rider has one major flaw, though. It doesn’t really make any sense. The MacGuffin at the centre of the plot (some sort of contract) is very sketchily drawn, and at the end when you expect answers, you don’t get them. Weirdly, I didn’t mind that that much, as it was a fun, if superficial, ride. This was the director Mark Steven Johnson’s follow-up to Daredevil, a film I liked, though no-one else seemed to. Other people did like the Director’s Cut, though, because the story actually made sense in it. Let’s hope there’s a director’s cut of this lying around somewhere to absolve him all over again.
But even if that never surfaces, this is still a good popcorn flick with a wonderfully enthusiastic central performance, which should enthuse the audience for its 114 minute running time.
Saturday 3 March 2007
Review - Hot Fuzz
These days, hit British comedy films tend to be written by Richard Curtis and make you want to scratch your own eyes out in an attempt to get Keira Knightley’s smug face out of your brain. It is refreshing, therefore, to witness the movie success of Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright. I was a huge fan of their sit-com Spaced (which was co-written by Jessica Stevenson), and with the track record of TV comedians in film so bad, it’s great that their first film Shaun of the Dead was an international hit. The follow-up Hot Fuzz more than lives up to expectations. Like Shaun, it slams genre movie conventions in the middle of Middle England, producing ample room for spoofery. This time they’ve put gun-toting, car-chasing cops in a Gloucestershire village.
Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the Met’s top cop. He’s a perfect shot, very enthusiastic about following the rules, and has an arrest record that puts all the other officers to shame. His superiors get rid of their embarrassment by posting him to the middle of nowhere, the quiet village of Sandford in the West Country. After a series of mysterious (and extremely gory) accidental deaths, Angel’s fish-out-of-water soon finds out that it is not as quiet as it first seems.
Hot Fuzz is a whole lot of fun; they’ve tied all the gags around a reasonable storyline that keeps things moving along. Simon Pegg is suitably serious as the straight man, and Nick Frost (obviously playing the sweet and stupid best friend. Obviously.) is lovely as PC Danny Butterman. Almost everyone from the British comedy scene seems to make cameos in this, with my particular favourite being Olivia Coleman (Sophie off of Peep Show, and Bev of the Trev and Bev AA adverts) as a saucy female police officer. Timothy Dalton does a great moustache-twirling turn as a deliciously malevolent and highly suspicious Somerfield manager. But although I wanted to love it, I only liked it. I think this is just because I love Spaced so much that nothing seems to live up to it; maybe I liked Jessica Stevenson’s contribution more than Pegg’s without knowing it. But this is my own personal hang-up, and it was genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, which I suppose is all you can ask for a comedy. This is British film comedy made for and by geeks, something which can only be applauded.
Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the Met’s top cop. He’s a perfect shot, very enthusiastic about following the rules, and has an arrest record that puts all the other officers to shame. His superiors get rid of their embarrassment by posting him to the middle of nowhere, the quiet village of Sandford in the West Country. After a series of mysterious (and extremely gory) accidental deaths, Angel’s fish-out-of-water soon finds out that it is not as quiet as it first seems.
Hot Fuzz is a whole lot of fun; they’ve tied all the gags around a reasonable storyline that keeps things moving along. Simon Pegg is suitably serious as the straight man, and Nick Frost (obviously playing the sweet and stupid best friend. Obviously.) is lovely as PC Danny Butterman. Almost everyone from the British comedy scene seems to make cameos in this, with my particular favourite being Olivia Coleman (Sophie off of Peep Show, and Bev of the Trev and Bev AA adverts) as a saucy female police officer. Timothy Dalton does a great moustache-twirling turn as a deliciously malevolent and highly suspicious Somerfield manager. But although I wanted to love it, I only liked it. I think this is just because I love Spaced so much that nothing seems to live up to it; maybe I liked Jessica Stevenson’s contribution more than Pegg’s without knowing it. But this is my own personal hang-up, and it was genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, which I suppose is all you can ask for a comedy. This is British film comedy made for and by geeks, something which can only be applauded.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)