Hugh Jackman was recently named People’s Sexiest Man Alive. I personally find him to be dull as dishwater, if nice and smiley with it. His Wolverine, though, is the coolest creature to wear a pair of jeans since James Dean (must be the sideburns). He was everyone’s favourite in the X-Men films, so a stand-alone adventure makes complete commercial sense. Whether it would make artistic sense was not so clear.
Luckily, I can report that this account of Wolverine’s life before taking residence in Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters stands up well against the modern Marvel pantheon of film adaptations: not as great as the first few Spider-Man or X-Men films, but it beats hands down the lower tier of Hulk, Ghost Rider and Electra.
Jackman is brilliant, wandering around like the cock of the walk. His romance with Lynn Collins is quite sweet, and Liev Schreiber is enjoyably jowly and moody as half-brother Sabretooth.
While this could have been improved with a bigger canvas and more ambition, you get what you need for a Wolverine film: a storyline that actually makes sense within its own universe, deadpan one liners, thrilling fights, and lots of adamantium claws. Job done.
Monday 18 May 2009
Review - In the Loop
Armando Iannucci is one of Britain’s comedy maestros. He first came to my attention presenting the satirical review The Friday Night Armistice, although I had already unwittingly experienced his writing with the sublime The Day Today. After the painfully funny I’m Alan Partridge, I followed his work with interest, enjoying the more experimental The Armando Iannucci Shows and Time Trumpet (the future versions of Jamie Oliver and June Sarpong being my favourites). Then came The Thick of It.
Widely considered the second best political comedy after Yes, Minister (that clip of John Redwood trying to sing along to the Welsh national anthem comes third in the rankings), it followed a bumbling minister (Chris Langham) attempting to build his career in Westminster, only to be foiled by his own stupidity and the tangled web of deceit and spin that encases our government. Although Langham was officially the main character, the real star of the show was Peter Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker, the PM’s top communications advisor and the angriest man in Britain.
After Langham’s public fall from grace, they still managed two specials without his character, widening the purview of the programme to include the opposition and the press. In the Loop is almost a natural progression, this time looking at foreign policy instead of domestic. I say ‘almost’, because it doesn’t operate in the same universe as The Thick of It, but in an alternative dimension where all the same faces are there, but they have different names and work in different departments. Only the spin doctors Malcolm and Jamie stay untouched by this shift, which is just slightly strange for fans.
True to form, In the Loop is a bitingly accurate take on the lead up to a war not unlike the Iraq one. Junior Foreign Minister Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) becomes caught in the middle of the battle between hawks and doves in Washington as the Secretaries of State use him as a tiny and very confused pawn. Malcolm must keep him ‘on message’ and sort out the mess, as usual, but he is dealing with bigger fish than ever before.
Worryingly, it is likely that this is a very accurate take on recent events, as Iannucci has had lots of secret advisors from both sides of the Atlantic. It’s all here: 18-year-old interns running state departments, dodgy dossiers being made even dodgier and then being presented to the UN, everything.
As previously noted, the usual players are present, muttering intelligently. They are joined by an American contingent which includes James Gandolfini as a General (he looks very pleased to be dealing with a decent script again after leaving The Sopranos), Mimi Kennedy (Dharma’s mother from Dharma and Greg with very different hair) and Ann Chlumsky (the girl from My Girl!).
But it is the writing that really makes the film. The devastating put-downs and deep social embarrassment mark this out as part of a long British comic tradition. Of course, this is tragi-comedy – we know what happened next. Hilarious, but still quite depressing, this is a must-see piece of work.
Widely considered the second best political comedy after Yes, Minister (that clip of John Redwood trying to sing along to the Welsh national anthem comes third in the rankings), it followed a bumbling minister (Chris Langham) attempting to build his career in Westminster, only to be foiled by his own stupidity and the tangled web of deceit and spin that encases our government. Although Langham was officially the main character, the real star of the show was Peter Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker, the PM’s top communications advisor and the angriest man in Britain.
After Langham’s public fall from grace, they still managed two specials without his character, widening the purview of the programme to include the opposition and the press. In the Loop is almost a natural progression, this time looking at foreign policy instead of domestic. I say ‘almost’, because it doesn’t operate in the same universe as The Thick of It, but in an alternative dimension where all the same faces are there, but they have different names and work in different departments. Only the spin doctors Malcolm and Jamie stay untouched by this shift, which is just slightly strange for fans.
True to form, In the Loop is a bitingly accurate take on the lead up to a war not unlike the Iraq one. Junior Foreign Minister Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) becomes caught in the middle of the battle between hawks and doves in Washington as the Secretaries of State use him as a tiny and very confused pawn. Malcolm must keep him ‘on message’ and sort out the mess, as usual, but he is dealing with bigger fish than ever before.
Worryingly, it is likely that this is a very accurate take on recent events, as Iannucci has had lots of secret advisors from both sides of the Atlantic. It’s all here: 18-year-old interns running state departments, dodgy dossiers being made even dodgier and then being presented to the UN, everything.
As previously noted, the usual players are present, muttering intelligently. They are joined by an American contingent which includes James Gandolfini as a General (he looks very pleased to be dealing with a decent script again after leaving The Sopranos), Mimi Kennedy (Dharma’s mother from Dharma and Greg with very different hair) and Ann Chlumsky (the girl from My Girl!).
But it is the writing that really makes the film. The devastating put-downs and deep social embarrassment mark this out as part of a long British comic tradition. Of course, this is tragi-comedy – we know what happened next. Hilarious, but still quite depressing, this is a must-see piece of work.
Review - Observe and Report
Seth Rogen is a major player in mainstream American comedy cinema. The writer of Superbad and star of Knocked Up, he seems to turn up in most films as a lovable stoner. And that’s what makes Observe and Report so confusing. This is not a film that fits into the mould of his previous films, although it gives every indication to the viewer that it does. It would be better to go in thinking of it as an indie film in the style of Juno or Napolean Dynamite, only less arch and idiosyncratic.
Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, the chief security officer in a suburban mall that is plagued by a flasher. His delusions of grandeur lead him to believe he can bring the perp to justice single-handedly, without the help of the police (led by a very tanned Ray Liotta). He also believes he can win the heart of Anna Faris’s slutty make-up counter girl.
Ronnie appears to be the usual slobby underachiever played by Rogen, but some distance into the story it becomes clear that he is unstable. His mental illness isn’t used to poke fun at him, exactly, but this isn’t a serious examination of manic depression either. Jody Hill, the writer and director, must have been hoping to achieve something, but I’m not sure what that was.
Faris is wonderfully un-self-conscious as usual, puking and hitching up her skirt with aplomb, and Rogen plays a crazed innocent well. There are still plenty of jokes, funny lines and very silly situations, but the whole thing doesn’t quite gel. Probably best not to over-analyse this one, just enjoy the weirdness and silliness of it all.
Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, the chief security officer in a suburban mall that is plagued by a flasher. His delusions of grandeur lead him to believe he can bring the perp to justice single-handedly, without the help of the police (led by a very tanned Ray Liotta). He also believes he can win the heart of Anna Faris’s slutty make-up counter girl.
Ronnie appears to be the usual slobby underachiever played by Rogen, but some distance into the story it becomes clear that he is unstable. His mental illness isn’t used to poke fun at him, exactly, but this isn’t a serious examination of manic depression either. Jody Hill, the writer and director, must have been hoping to achieve something, but I’m not sure what that was.
Faris is wonderfully un-self-conscious as usual, puking and hitching up her skirt with aplomb, and Rogen plays a crazed innocent well. There are still plenty of jokes, funny lines and very silly situations, but the whole thing doesn’t quite gel. Probably best not to over-analyse this one, just enjoy the weirdness and silliness of it all.
Thursday 7 May 2009
Review - I Love You, Man
There have been loads of reliably funny American comedies in recent years, mostly involving Seth Rogen. I Love You, Man does not, but it is another man-centred titter-fest with a load of familiar faces. Quite dirty, quite sweet, it’s everything you would expect if you think Superbad and Knocked Up – which is to say very good.
Paul Rudd plays Peter, a serious fellow who has always concentrated on his romantic relationships with women at the expense of his platonic ones with men. When he gets engaged to Zooey (Rashida Jones), he realises he has no-one to be his best man so he decides to find a friend. He meets Sydney (Jason Segel, the big dopey one from How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall), a slob with no responsibilities.
The first act is actually quite sad. The awkwardness of trying to make new friends is something that we can all relate to, and Rudd is the everyman who always seems to put his foot in it. Things brighten up when Sydney turns up, and the film’s pitch of ‘a guy learning how to be a guy’ starts.
It is a funny idea, and it is well played by the lovable Rudd and Segel. They have found themselves on the frat-comedy treadmill of late so are well-practiced. There’s a welcome role for Jaime Pressly as one of Zooey’s friends, and Jon Favreau plays against type by portraying a meanie.
All in all, this is another slightly-less-than-instantly forgettable comedy with plenty of laughs throughout.
Paul Rudd plays Peter, a serious fellow who has always concentrated on his romantic relationships with women at the expense of his platonic ones with men. When he gets engaged to Zooey (Rashida Jones), he realises he has no-one to be his best man so he decides to find a friend. He meets Sydney (Jason Segel, the big dopey one from How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall), a slob with no responsibilities.
The first act is actually quite sad. The awkwardness of trying to make new friends is something that we can all relate to, and Rudd is the everyman who always seems to put his foot in it. Things brighten up when Sydney turns up, and the film’s pitch of ‘a guy learning how to be a guy’ starts.
It is a funny idea, and it is well played by the lovable Rudd and Segel. They have found themselves on the frat-comedy treadmill of late so are well-practiced. There’s a welcome role for Jaime Pressly as one of Zooey’s friends, and Jon Favreau plays against type by portraying a meanie.
All in all, this is another slightly-less-than-instantly forgettable comedy with plenty of laughs throughout.
Review - Dragonball Evolution
I have been forced to play many Dragonball computer games over the years by my brother, so I have built-up an aversion to the brand. It was with trepidation, then, that I watched Dragonball Evolution. I needn’t have worried. The film has appalled fans for its simplified and bland Hollywood storyline, but I don’t mind. Because what it loses in depth, it gains by removing the original’s grotesque animation style. The characters may be played by rejects of High School Musical, but at least they aren’t body-building midgets with hair almost as tall as they are, as in the cartoons.
Goku is your average lonely teenager, spending his time going to school and mastering mystical martial arts with his grandfather. Little does he know that he is destined to save the world. Piccolo, an evil lord of some sort from the past, has returned and Goku and his rag-tag gang have to gather seven magic ‘dragonballs’ to defeat him.
Obviously this is a load of nonsense, but there are some decent martial arts thanks to Chow Yun-Fat, who also stars. The film is aimed at tweens and early teens (Emmy Rossum’s character dresses exactly how an 8-year-old thinks a bad girl would) and will satisfy them with thrills and giggles. The most interesting thing for a non-tween or early teen is the unusual world it presents, a Japano-American utopia (at least until Piccolo comes along) in the not-too-distant future. Otherwise, as long as you aren’t a fan, this is a harmless but low-quality diversion.
Goku is your average lonely teenager, spending his time going to school and mastering mystical martial arts with his grandfather. Little does he know that he is destined to save the world. Piccolo, an evil lord of some sort from the past, has returned and Goku and his rag-tag gang have to gather seven magic ‘dragonballs’ to defeat him.
Obviously this is a load of nonsense, but there are some decent martial arts thanks to Chow Yun-Fat, who also stars. The film is aimed at tweens and early teens (Emmy Rossum’s character dresses exactly how an 8-year-old thinks a bad girl would) and will satisfy them with thrills and giggles. The most interesting thing for a non-tween or early teen is the unusual world it presents, a Japano-American utopia (at least until Piccolo comes along) in the not-too-distant future. Otherwise, as long as you aren’t a fan, this is a harmless but low-quality diversion.
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