So I was away for a while recently, in terms of blog work on here. I didn't post anything for a while, despite having seen a lot of movies and I am not really sure why to be totally honest. Anyway, this entire post is going to be a catch-up of a set of 5 reviews of movies i saw over the course of the summer just to give you my opinions on them before my workload properly begins to build again. Before that though, I'd like to give a thank you. The IT review was my first post in a while and, to be honest, I don't put these out there expecting them to do well. 20-40 views is typical for me and I consider that a success. That said, the last review broke over 100 views in the first night and over 200 by the next day. I made a stupid joke on Twitter about thinking I'd been hacked but it means a lot of you guys are clicking on it in the first place. It also got a pretty positive reaction where I shared it and that means a lot. Basically, thank you to everyone who actually bothers to take a read at this little project, and if you enjoy it. It means a lot that you take the time to read these, especially since initial exposure is the biggest problem on the Internet these days, particularly in such a saturated market. Thanks for giving this one a chance and even bothering to click on it in the first place. Anyway, with that said, let's jump into these 5 new reviews!
Dunkirk - Heartless War
It feels like so long ago that I actually watched this movie, which is a testament then that I can still remember it so vividly. This was the newest movie from Christopher Nolan (coincidentally also my favourite director), and he certainly did not disappoint. The big success of the movie for me was the creativity and intrigue in the plot structure. Rather than having a singular main character or group of characters, the writers have opted to tell this story from three separate perspectives: from land on the beach of Dunkirk, from the sea, and from the air. It's an engaging three-part narrative which keeps the audience engaged throughout the entirety of the runtime, and the true brilliance of this is indicated later on when the three begin to cross over. It also has some fantastic emotional moments. The acting is also excellent. Christopher Nolan regulars Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy are excellent as always, while Mark Rylance also stands out from the rest of the cast as the owner of the main boat in the sea storyline. The big surprise was Harry Styles in this movie for me, who actually gives a shocking deep, engaging and relatable performance despite his seeming stunt casting in the months prior to release. The action and set pieces of the movie are also breathtaking and almost unbearably intense, perfectly showcasing the horrors of war. Hans Zimmer delivers a predictably excellent score as you might have imagined, and the sets and make-up work shown off in the movie is also on point. If I have one complaint, it would come down to the amount of time devoted to character. The portions of the movie set at sea certainly do have more time dedicated to advancing on those particular elements, the land and air have considerably less. There's one very easy test for anyone who has seen this movie and may be disagreeing with me: name three characters. I'll be generous as well, you can watch this movie again and then try and name them afterwards. The point I am attempting to drive home is that these characters do not undergo any significant development and even seem to lack names to qualify them as...well, characters in the first place. I understand as well that the point of this might well have been to symbolically show the scale of death in war, in a way highlighting that soldiers might have been considered numbers more than names, as not everyone would have known every name. That works well from a symbolic stand point and is actually quite admirable if this was the case. From a movie stand point? Not so much in my opinion. That said, that does not take away from the incredible writing in terms of plot, the acting, the intense and breathtaking action set pieces, and the all round success accomplished by Nolan in practically every other area of the movie. It might not be considered the best war movie of all time in the years to come, but it certainly is one of the most memorable.
Rating: 9/10
Original Release Date: 21st of July 2017
Starring Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Harry Styles, Tom Glynn-Carney, Barry Keoghan, Jack Lowden, Cillian Murphy, and Kenneth Branagh
Atomic Blonde - All Style, No Substance
Of these five movies I'm reviewing in this post, and quite possibly indeed of the entire year, it's safe to say this was one of the most painful to sit through. At the very least, it's certainly one of the most disappointing. This Charlize Theron starring and produced action thriller clearly did not know exactly what it wanted to be. I'm unclear on whether the writers were aiming to create a straight-up action movie, or a smart and sophisticated spy thriller. On either front, it failed in my mind. The writers evidently thought that the story being presented here (resolving around Theron's MI6 agent hunting a double agent in 1980s Berlin prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall) was much smarter than it actually was, feeling the need to layer the story with an absurd number of betrayals, reveals and plot twists, practically all of which occur in the last 15 minutes. Until that point, the story was not simple, but was generic. The final 15 minutes overcomplicates the entire film to the extent that my friends and I struggled to comprehend what had actually happened and work out exactly what the final twist in the film was meant to be. Ultimately, we were left largely confused by the entire affair, and that comes down to the dreadful pacing and the insanely quick sequence of reveals rather than spreading these out. Even then I doubt it would make sense but it would have been slightly better at least. On the converse, the action thriller possibility, it also does not work because the entire film is surprisingly boring. There are too few action sequences spread out throughout the movie, only one of which truly stands out after seeing the movie. Again, the problem comes down to the rest of the action being incredibly generic, and the pacing of these throughout the film. Some of this starting to sound familiar? Other elements in the film are also dreadful. The word 'character' should not be used in relation to this film, because any development or interesting personality traits are nonexistent. The supporting cast are all terrible as well, wasting great names like John Goodman and the up and coming Sofia Boutella. To be fair, however, the script does not give them much to work with. The cinematography is awful and only helped to give me a headache, and the editors attempts to be stylish all fall flat, ultimately coming across as more over-the-top. There is also an overabundance of pop music from the era. Rather than adding to the period however, the amount of times this is used causes some of the more shocking or emotional moments of the film to be greatly lessened. This is a modern trend which needs to stop and only be used where it actually adds to the film! It's not all bad though, believe it or not. The two main leads in the film are consistently great, with Charlize Theron and James McAvoy both doing the best they can with what they had to work with. They can't create interesting and layered performances with that material, but they at least ensure that they are enjoyable to watch throughout. There is also one stand-out action sequence in a stairway. The entire scene is about 10 minutes or just over that in length, and is spectacularly choreographed. It is the only time where I really felt the weight of each hit and blow in the action, and it is also edited very well to give the illusion that it is actually filmed in one take. There are cuts, but they are cleverly hidden. It's a shame successes in these areas here could not be carried over to the entire product. Finally, the period setting, despite the overuse of music as previously mentioned, is fairly well recreated here, and 1980s Berlin could actually prove an interesting setting for a spy movie in the hands of a more capable writer and director. These points are not enough to save the movie, however, and Atomic Blonde ultimately proves itself to be little more than a dire and exasperating movie to have to sit through.
Rating: 3/10
Original Release Date: 28th of July, 2017
Starring Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Sofia Boutella, Eddie Marsan, Til Schweiger, Bill Skarsgård, and Toby Jones
The Hitman's Bodyguard - Bro-mantic Comedy
The buddy cop (or just buddy movie) genre is one which has been severely lacking from modern cinema in recent years. The film Chips from earlier this year makes me happy about that fact to an extent. Despite that, however, some of my favourite comedies growing up were from that genre, and I'm eager to see it make a return to form. Although it's just a step, The Hitman's Bodyguard is certainly a step in the right direction. Just without the cops. The film revolves around hitman Darius Kincaid (played by Samuel L. Jackson) being given a deal in his imprisonment to testify against an Eastern European former dictator (Gary Oldman) for his crimes. However, due to the various attempts on his life, Interpol agent Amelia Roussel (Dardevil's Élodie Yung) brings in Ryan Reynolds' bodyguard Michael Bryce to see him safely to the court in Europe to deliver his testimony. This type of movie lives and dies on the chemistry of its two leads, and thankfully this is an area in which the movie excels. Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson make for a highly enjoyable on screen duo, and their interactions with each other are ultimately where the majority of the film's humour comes from. Both men give excellent performances and bounce off each other throughout the film, and it's an act that thankfully never gets boring. The rest of the humour in the movie is also excellent, and there are very few jokes in the movie that do not land, delivering a mix of traditional humour though character interactions as well as visual gags throughout the movie, achieving a nice balance and variety. Unfortunately, the story does not fare so well. Although it starts off well enough, the story as it progresses becomes increasingly more generic and recognisable, and it's undoubted that you will be able to piece together exact events and the outcomes of various sequences in the movie long before that climax is reached on screen. It's a shame because the premise is so unique and original, and perfectly lends itself to a plot very different from other movies, so I find myself questioning why the writers were content to fall into stereotypes and clichés. The supporting cast in the movie is also fairly weak. To give credit where credit is due, Élodie Yung gives a credible performance throughout the movie, and Salma Hayek in particular is outstanding in her various short scenes as Kincaid's wife. Jackson and Hayek have excellent chemistry and perfectly sell the relationship between the two characters. However, besides them, the cast is largely unremarkable. Gary Oldman is a massive disappointment as ex-dictator Dukhovich, and it ultimately comes across as if he took this role solely for the pay cheque that he was being offered. He seems content to deliver a very phoned-in performance and put on a stereotypical Eastern European accent, as if that is enough to craft an interesting character. A colossal let down. The rest of the cast is incredibly unremarkable and no other actor stands out as having delivered a necessarily dreadful or enjoyable performance. Other aspects of the movie the movie succeeds in are the action, with every set piece in the movie (especially the Amsterdam chase) being extremely enjoyable and riveting to watch. The effects where implemented by CGI are also convincing, but it is the practical stunt work that is especially admirable. In the end, The Hitman's Bodyguard is, in my mind, a mixed bag to be sure. It's weighed down in large part by a weak supporting cast and generic story but it is brought up brilliantly by some fantastic leads, a lot of excellent humour, and some outstanding action among other things. In a summer of some great highs and some dreadful lows, it's certainly a solid movie.
Rating: 7/10
Original Release Date: 18th of August, 2017
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Élodie Yung, Salma Hayek, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Kirsty Mitchell, and Richard E. Grant
American Made - Some Of This Really Happened(?)
Tom Cruise is one of my favourite actors. I used to say he was my favourite, but I don't think that's true anymore given the quality of work of so many other actors these days; regardless, he is consistently enjoyable to watch (except in The Mummy, but we don't talk about that one). His latest role as Barry Seal, however - who famously performed jobs and deliveries as a pilot for the CIA, mercenaries in South America, and famous Colombian drug barons such as Pablo Escobar simultaneously - is a massive return to form after his summer let down, and the movie is all in all excellent. The plot, which I've just briefly described and resolves around Seal's attempts to balance all of his employers and his home life, is an extremely engaging story, and one which is consistently interesting to watch. That largely for me comes down to having very little knowledge of the actual events surrounding Seal in real life, including how the film would end, but I would bet that anyone who did have this knowledge would also find the film's presentation of the events interesting. That's largely due to the suspense that has been masterfully injected into the script throughout, keeping the audience on edge as Cruise's Seal constantly finds himself in situations which are seemingly impossible to escape from. This suspense builds as the movie progresses and comes to a head in the third act in particular. The movie also perfectly achieves a balance between the suspense and a great sense of humour, however, which also ensures that the movie is also fairly light-hearted and you'll be laughing throughout the movie. With all that said, the entire movie, no matter how engaging, is still difficult to become immersed in. The words 'inspired by a true story' (or I may be paraphrasing there but you get the idea) appear at the beginning of the movie, and the clear word here is 'inspired'. The writers clearly (and naturally) have also taken liberties with the events for the sake of the film itself, but ultimately, whether events or scenes have been left out or not, the problem with the film (and it is a small one) is unfortunately that a great deal of the plot comes across as incredibly unbelievable. That said, it still is enjoyable and engaging. The acting in the film is also all excellent. Tom Cruise delivers a redemptive performance as I mentioned above, while Domhnall Gleeson continues to make a name for himself in Hollywood, giving an enjoyable turn as CIA agent and Seal's confidant Schafer. The setting is also brilliantly recreated for the period (thankfully in this instance without the over use of pop songs), and the cinematography is excellent. The movie is filmed almost in the style of a documentary, with an extremely strange camera ratio being used, but it actually works to set the film apart from other biopics and is actually an effectively stylish addition. Ultimately, the whole film, although perhaps questionable in its presentation of events, is an extremely stylish and enjoyable movie to watch. Of all the films that have bombed at the box office this year, the commercial failure of this one might be the one that upsets me the most.
Rating: 9/10
Original Release Date: 25th of August, 2017
Starring Tom Cruise, Sarah Wright, Domhnall Gleeson, Jayma Mays, Caleb Landry Jones, Jesse Plemons, and Lola Kirke
Logan Lucky - Heists and Hillbillies
Now, this one was a pleasant surprise. Marking Ocean's 11 director Steven Soderbergh's return to cinema, Logan Lucky is a heist movie with a twist, focusing on a group stealing from a speedway rather than a casino or bank, and with a band of misfits who don't have access to some of the high technology seen in heist movies, or access to different people or areas like Danny Ocean for example. It's definitely an underdog story, and it really works. Soderbergh films the movie in an incredibly stylish way, which intertwines perfectly with the editing of the movie. The entire film is put together in an incredibly clever way to keep the audience on our toes, and in fact makes the whole movie much more engaging to watch. The use of colour in the movie is also excellent and makes the sets and shots look incredibly lively and vibrant. As I hinted since this is an underdog story, the plot is also quickly engaging since you of course want to see these characters succeed. What surprised me in regards to the plot is that there is actually a surprising amount of emotional resonance to be found in the film. The main character Jimmy (Channing Tatum) and his relationship with his daughter is a strong anchor for the story, and inspires us to support these characters even more in their endeavours than we already do. That said, there are a few story problems in regards to suspension of disbelief. Of course that is needed in most movies, but when the movie attempts to have a grounded plot and even cares to explain some of its more ludicrous concepts with science, some more ridiculous and ludicrous plot points in relation to the heist stand out much more than they perhaps would have in other circumstances. The acting in the movie is also excellent. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver make for a fantastic lead double act as Jimmy and Clyde Logan, while Riley Keough also deserved much higher billing in the marketing due to her excellent performance as their sister Mellie. The stand-out of the cast as you might have guessed from the trailers is Daniel Craig's phenomenal turn as explosives expert Joe Bang. Craig steals every scene that he is in, and the remarkable change of appearance and diversity from his usual type of role makes this all the more impressive. That said, there are a few performances which stand out as especially terrible. Seth McFarlane is a black stain on this movie as what I suppose the writers think is a British stereotype, and is dreadful throughout. Hillary Swank also appears for the final 15 minutes despite her fourth billing in the marketing, and delivers a terrible performance in this time, conveying no emotion and little to no skill in her delivery. Other aspects of the movie are also excellent, such as the music, perfectly capturing the movie's Southern essence, and the sense of humour the movie has throughout feels natural and is incredibly funny. Credit is due to both the writers and the actors for their delivery in that regard. All in all, it's not a perfect movie, but Logan Lucky is certainly a fun ride.
Rating: 8/10
Original Release Date: 25th of August, 2017
Starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Seth McFarlane, Katie Holmes, Dwight Yoakum, Katherine Waterston, Hillary Swank, and Daniel Craig
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