Pacific Rim

For F*** Magazine

PACIFIC RIM

2013

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Burn Gorman

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

            B-movie aficionados might recall a film called Robot Jox, an immensely cheesy sci-fi flick from 1990 in which territorial disputes in a post-apocalyptic wasteland are settled by way of giant robot gladiator fights. That film was overlooked upon release and hasn’t aged well. It’s a good thing then that today’s fanboys have something like Pacific Rim to devour. It’s giant robots vs. giant monsters, boasting high-quality production values and with geek icon Guillermo del Toro at the helm. Yeah, we’re up for that.

            Beasts from another realm, or kaiju, have arrived on earth through a portal far beneath the Pacific Ocean, ready to wreak havoc, each wave of attacks more vicious than the last. The nations of earth pool their resources to build “Jaegers”, giant mecha equipped to go toe-to-toe with the kaiju, controlled by two pilots who must be psychically linked to each other. Raleigh Becket (Hunnam) is a former Jaeger pilot called back into duty five years after being scarred, mentally and physically, in combat. He is eventually paired with Mako Mori (Kikuchi), an untested rookie who lost her family to a kaiju attack as a child. They, along with the other Jaeger pilots, answer to Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Elba), a no-nonsense military man who was one of the first Jaeger pilots. With the Jaeger program in danger of being decommissioned due to diminished results, the remaining pilots must make their last stand against the destructive creatures.

            There’s this pre-conceived notion of creature features being silly, quaint and low-rent affairs. After all, most of us would remember watching guys in rubber suits duke it out against the backdrop of an unconvincing model city in Tokusatsu films or TV shows (or 50s Hollywood B-movies). It is therefore extremely gratifying to see clashes between beast and machine so lovingly brought to life in an expensive A-picture. As children, we could only dream of robot/monster melees rendered with such conviction and quality. This is nostalgia made state-of-the-art; boyhood imagination made celluloid reality. It’s the kind of film that should be seen in the IMAX format and actually is really enjoyable in 3D, despite director Guillermo del Toro’s initial reluctance to convert the film into this format.

    
        Guillermo del Toro is something of a fanboy, and his passion and respect for anime, manga and Tokusatsu fuels the film and sets it apart from something like a Michael Bay-directed Transformers film. Del Toro is far more imaginative than your average action movie director and together with the creative team for this film has come up with some very arresting visuals and ideas. Sure, it might be hard to tell one kaiju from another and all the battles are rain-soaked and dimly lit, but del Toro has somehow managed to find a sweet point between “outlandish” and “awesome”, crafting many moments which make one want to leap out of the seat on an adrenaline rush.

            If you’re not in a particularly charitable mood, the plot could be described as “formulaic”: there’s the hero who must overcome a past trauma and rise to the occasion alongside a wide-eyed but equally-tormented rookie, unstoppable behemoths not of this earth, a “combat as foreplay” scene, the battle-hardened boss man who oversees the whole operation, comic relief scientists and tech guys, a cocky rival and a ticking clock. However, there are definitely times when canned food can taste absolutely delicious, and Guillermo del Toro has cooked up a storm. Clichés and stereotypes are in full effect (the Russian Jaeger pilots look like they stepped out of an 80s Cold War thriller) but somehow, this makes it all the more entertaining. Del Toro stated that he didn’t want to make a “super-brooding, super-dark, cynical summer movie” but deliver something more palatable in a throwback sort of way instead – and that he has.

            Given the above, the characters in Pacific Rim could well have felt pre-fabricated and cookie cutter, but they don’t and it is remarkably easy to root for them. Charlie Hunnam isn’t exactly a bankable marquee name and is best-known as the lead actor on TV’s Sons of Anarchy. He makes for a very sympathetic leading man and appears equally comfortable with the more dramatic moments and the action beats. Similarly, Rinko Kikuchi isn’t your typical Hollywood faux-action chick, her Mako Mori a vulnerable but competent character, and that helps set this apart from the rest of the “movies made for 12 year-old boys” pack.

            Idris Elba could well be the next Samuel L. Jackson as he steadily builds his repertoire of badass parts. The guy has presence to spare and there’s something inexplicably grin-inducing about hearing him bellow such lines as “do not let my calm demeanour fool you, ranger!” and, of course, that “we are cancelling the apocalypse” speech. It could well be irredeemably silly in the hands of another actor but man, he pulls it off. Charlie Day and Burn Gorman make for a funny, over-the-top double act as two rival scientists working on the Jaeger program (though they might border on grating for some) and del Toro oft-collaborator Ron Perlman threatens to steal the show as only he can, playing a black market dealer profiteering off kaiju remains, selling them as health products.

            Pacific Rim may be comprised of familiar elements and, depending on your mood, an eye roll-worthy bit or two, but the sheer exuberant, childlike energy that propels it forward makes everything else very easy to forgive. Guillermo del Toro’s enthusiasm for the material is infectious and with top-notch art direction, production design and visual effects work on show, this is escapism of a very polished sort. This is a love letter to the kaiju and mecha genres written in calligraphy on fancy paper. Japanese video game creator Hideo Kojima said it best when he remarked that he “never imagined (he) would be fortunate enough to see a film like this in (his) lifetime”.

SUMMARY: A better-made and more entertaining clash of the titans than the one with Sam Worthington in it. A giant robot using a container ship as a sword is what the fantasies of your inner 12 year-old are made of.

RATING: 4 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong 

The Lone Ranger

For F*** Magazine

THE LONE RANGER

Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast:  Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter
Genre: Action, Adventure
Run Time: 149 mins
Opens: 4 July 2013
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)

Long before Chuck Norris swaggered across the small screen as Texas Ranger Sgt. Cordell Walker, another had paved the dusty path and worn that silver badge. The Lone Ranger first appeared in radio dramas 80 years ago and has endured as a pop culture icon, astride his noble steed Silver and with his trusty friend and partner Tonto ever by his side. For the first time since 1981, the Lone Ranger rides onto the silver (heh) screen again.

This film is an origin story, portraying the circumstances under which the Lone Ranger and Tonto first met and ‘pardnered’ up. John Reid (Hammer), the new District Attorney of Colby, Texas, happens to be on a train which is also transporting two criminals: notorious outlaw Butch Cavendish (Fichtner) and Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Depp). Cavendish’s crew of bandits break him out as John and Tonto have to save themselves from the train crash. John’s brother Dan (James Badge Dale) deputises him as a Texas Ranger and as advised by Tonto, John dons a domino mask to become The Lone Ranger. The newly-formed pair go about tracking down Cavendish and his fellow crooks as they find themselves in the middle of an explosive dispute over the construction of a trans-continental railway.



The film has been plagued by well-publicised production troubles, including budget problems, rain and snowstorms, wildfires and the tragic drowning of a stuntman. When your western hits a reported budget of around $250 million, maybe something isn’t going right. Some have even predicted this as the “John Carter of 2013”, in reference to Disney’s notorious box office flop from last year.

The thing is, John Carter didn’t have a marquee name like Johnny Depp starring in it. Indeed, director Gore Verbinski and co. seem to be fully aware that Depp is the movie’s best asset. This is a Lone Ranger movie in which the actor playing Tonto gets top billing – it’s like if everyone was making a bigger deal of Robin than Batman. The Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise cemented Depp’s position as a big box office draw and his Jack Sparrow quickly became this generation’s Han Solo. It appears that everyone involved in this film was fully aware of that appeal and tried to milk it for all it’s worth.



Depp has previously portrayed a Native American character in The Brave, which he also directed. Depp’s casting as Tonto has attracted controversy and yes, while stereotypes like “spirit animals” and shamanistic rituals are invoked, the film’s portrayal of the Comanche people is not derogatory. Depp clearly had a ball inhabiting the iconic role, imbuing the character with the eccentricity we’ve come to expect of the actor. For example, Tonto wears a dead bird as a headdress (apparently inspired by Kirby Sattler’s painting I Am Crow). Even if the film’s focus is clearly weighted towards the character who’s ostensibly a sidekick, Depp’s dedication to the part is still enjoyable to watch. It’s hard to imagine the guy’s already 50 years of age.

This means the film doesn’t actually have a lot of faith in its title character, portrayed by Armie Hammer. It’s a less embarrassing role than that of Prince Andrew in last year’s Mirror Mirror, but John Reid has his share of indignities to endure. These include but are not limited to being dragged through horse manure and then having said horse lick scorpions off his face later on. The filmmakers are clearly worried that the Lone Ranger might come off as a boring, generic hero, but Hammer makes him likeable enough and strikes up a decent odd couple chemistry with Depp. Perhaps Reid’s incompetence in this one can be attributed to his rookie status (though it’s more likely a result of Depp exercising his clout as executive producer).



William Fichtner is a gnarly, mangy, frightening presence as the outlaw Butch Cavendish, a ruthless fiend with a disturbing taste for human flesh – there’s just not very much to the character. Similarly, Helena Bonham Carter seems a perfect fit for the role of a gutsy brothel madam with a weaponised prosthetic leg – it’s just that the character is very underused. Tom Wilkinson is not bad as the railroad tycoon who won’t let anything get in the way of his business and Ruth Wilson is believable as frontierswoman Rebecca Reid. The standout supporting player is probably Silver the horse though, who is equal parts gallant and endearing.



Ever since the first Pirates flick became a runaway success, Disney has tried to recapture that with the action-adventure flicks Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the afore-mentioned John Carter, both times not with much success. The Lone Ranger possesses enough of that matinee serial spirit of excitement and adventure to be considered entertaining, featuring several fun action set pieces; the one on a train that kicks off the action reminiscent of the opening of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There are some pretty cool stunts, but there’s also just as much conspicuous computer-generated imagery, including ropey digital caribou and rabbits.



However, at 149 minutes, the film certainly feels bloated at times. While there are several moments of levity, most provided by Depp, the film has a surprisingly high body count and for something that’s meant as a nostalgic throwback to old-timey oaters, it’s unnecessarily over-violent. This has been marketed as a family flick from Disney, so it’s a little jarring to see the villain carve out someone’s heart and bite into it. While the film is probably as historically dubious as the Pirates movies, it doesn’t quite have that authenticity or verisimilitude that those films did.

The Lone Ranger himself might be a gifted marksman, but his latest big screen outing is very much hit and miss. Johnny Depp fans will certainly lap up their idol’s portrayal of Tonto and it is the most worthwhile thing in the film. There’s relatively satisfying action and a good number of homages to the classic hallmarks associated with the character (including Rossini’s William Tell Overture as his theme tune) but it probably isn’t “fun for the whole family” as advertised.



SUMMARY: The Lone Ranger attempts to keep the character’s legacy alive and doesn’t do a particularly bad job at it, but this is clearly Johnny Depp’s show and that’s not necessarily an entirely good thing. It’s also weighed down by gratuitous violence and an overlong running time.

RATING: 3 out of 5 STARS 

Jedd Jong

White House Down

For F*** Magazine

WHITE HOUSE DOWN

Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Joey King, Rachelle Lefevre, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Jason Clarke, Jake Weber, Garcelle Beauvais, Michael Murphy
Genre: Action, Thriller
Run Time: 132 mins
Opens: 27 June 2013
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)

After taking a short detour into the realm of speculative costume drama with 2011’s Anonymous, director Roland Emmerich is back to doing what he does best: dealing out copious amounts of punishment to 1600 Penn. After all, he blew it to smithereens with an alien death ray in Independence Day and smashed an aircraft carrier into its south portico in 2012. It seems inevitable that the maven of large-scale cinematic destruction would eventually make a film centering on the D.C. Landmark.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer John Cale (Tatum), with his daughter Emily (King) in tow, heads to the White House for a job interview, hoping to become a Secret Service Agent. Carol Finnerty (Gyllenhaal), herself a Secret Service Agent and John’s former schoolmate, deems him unworthy. While taking a tour of the place after his rejection, John and Emily suddenly find themselves, along with other tourists and staffers, held hostage. A paramilitary group, comprising various dangerous miscreants and led by hardened mercenary Emil Stenz (Clarke), begins a hostile takeover of the White House. John finds himself having to protect President James Sawyer (Foxx), his daughter and the various others caught in the fray as a national crisis swiftly and violently unfolds.



A summer blockbuster best described as “Air Force One meets Die Hard, with Magic Mike teaming up with President Django” just has to be entertaining – no two ways about it. And by gosh, White House Down is all kinds of entertaining. Sure, its PG-13 rating might disappoint fans of hardcore action and it’s not going to start a renaissance of ‘80s-style action extravaganzas anytime soon, but this is the kind of movie which has the Presidential limousine drifting across the White House lawn with the baddies in pursuit. We can tell you there’s an audience for that. James Vanderbilt’s screenplay seems to have been written with just the right amount of self-awareness: the movie revels in its relative absurdity like a toddler in a ball pit and has a lot of fun with the premise, while stopping a safe distance short of mocking its audience.

Duelling movies aren’t new; moviegoers have borne witness to such battles as Dante’s Peak vs. Volcano, A Bug’s Life vs. Antz and Deep Impact vs. Armageddon. It’s only fair that White House Down be compared to Olympus Has Fallen, 2013’s other movie about a terrorist attack on the Executive Mansion. While it doesn’t have the cooler title, White House Down does have more lavish production values and being a Roland Emmerich picture, has lots of stuff going boom. White House Down also doesn’t take itself as seriously; at times, it’s almost a buddy movie but with the Prez as the buddy.



White House Down makes better use of its setting and the film features some very realistic facsimiles of the rooms, halls and other areas of 1600 Penn. However, the afore-mentioned PG-13 rating means the violence in this one is of a less visceral variety and while the computer-generated imagery is done better here, it’s still noticeable - particularly during the aerial sequences.

Roland Emmerich’s films are known as much for their “casts of thousands” as for their big-budget spectacle. While there aren’t as many characters here as in, say, 2012, there still are a good number of players to juggle. Tatum’s protagonist is idealistic rather than world-weary and he seems to be having more fun playing the action hero here than he did in the first G.I. JOE movie. Foxx and Tatum make for a decent action flick double act, even if Foxx just doesn’t come off as presidential enough, though he makes up for his lack of a dignified air with cheesy/enjoyable moments like handling a rocket launcher and yelling at terrorists not to touch his precious Air Jordans.



While this isn’t a realistic movie by any stretch, the villains in this one somehow come off as more credible than the North Korean terrorists in Olympus Has Fallen. Jason Clarke is believable, scary even, as a tough, scruffy former Delta Force soldier-turned cold-blooded gun for hire. Jimmi Simpson is a hoot as a campy, bespectacled “evil hacker” stereotype who declares “Skip Tyler is in!” and seizes control of the nation’s defense systems. King gets to be more than just the “kidnapped daughter” and is something of an important supporting character. While Gyllenhaal doesn’t get lots to do standing around in the Pentagon’s situation room, at least she isn’t relegated to the role of disposable love interest. Veteran actors James Woods and Richard Jenkins are also on hand to lend the actioner some gravitas, and Nicolas Wright as the comic relief tour guide is, refreshingly enough, not annoying.

Emmerich has never been a critic’s darling, but his films usually possess some sort of mass appeal and that’s in full force here. Many of his films are set in multiple locations across the world, but the focus on the titular location actually prevents the story from feeling scattershot, and outlandish, exciting action sequences are not in short supply. In this era of action thrillers being too self-serious, it’s good that this strikes an adequate balance between intense moments and levity so that it doesn't come off as a downer, but as a good popcorn-munchin’ time.

SUMMARY: As can be expected of a Roland Emmerich flick, White House Down isn’t nuanced or layered, but it’s blisteringly entertaining and serves up enjoyable summer blockbuster thrills by the spoonful.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong

World War Z

Written for F*** Magazine, Singapore

WORLD WAR Z

Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Fana Mokoena
Genre: Action, Horror
Run Time: 116 mins
Opens: 20 June 2013
Rating: PG13 (Violence and Some Intense Sequences)

Hollywood, and by extension the film-going public, has long been fascinated with ways the world could come to an end. A giant meteor, a nuclear winter, a simian uprising – all fair game. In World War Z, it’s a sudden outbreak of a virus that turns perfectly healthy human beings into the rabid walking – no, sprinting dead that does the world in.

Brad Pitt stars as Gerry Lane, a former U.N. investigator who has become a stay-at-home dad to his two daughters (Sterling Jerins and Abigail Hargrove). After an ordinary Philadelphia morning unspools into utter chaos, Lane has to get his wife Karen (Enos) and his daughters to safety, and is called upon by his old boss, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umutoni (Mokoena). Lane embarks on a globe-trotting mission to track down the origin of the zombie virus outbreak, a mission that takes him to an Air Force base in South Korea, Jerusalem and Cardiff as he must survive the ruthless onslaught of the undead hordes to eventually be reunited with his kin.



The film has been rather infamously plagued by production troubles, going over-budget and over-schedule and requiring an emergency rewrite of its ending during filming. Author Max Brooks, whose book World War Z is the movie’s basis, has said that this is just the novel in name only. Adapting the book was apparently a challenge, seeing as it is presented as a faux-official documentation of the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, consisting of reports filed by a nameless investigator.

This has been re-jigged by screenwriters Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard and Damon Lindelof (as well as J. Michael Straczynski, whose draft was unused) to focus on a central protagonist, Brad Pitt’s Gerry Lane. Pitt is, as usual, a confident and competent leading man who guides the audience through the mayhem, unwaveringly calm, not quite superhuman, but still possessing incredible luck. The film can be viewed as a road trip picture of sorts, with each new destination introducing new allies and new zombie-related obstacles for Gerry to overcome. For example, in Jerusalem, Gerry meets Segen (Kerstesz), a plucky female Israeli soldier who accompanies him for the next leg of his mission.



Director Marc Forster, known for helming the Bond outing Quantum of Solace, goes for a dusty, lived-in realism, such that this is closer to Contagion than, say, Resident Evil on the sliding scale of viral outbreak movies. It almost feels like a war film, with Gerry akin to the journalist who tags along for the ride into the battlefield. The first half also has shades of War of the Worlds (Spielberg’s 2005 version) with the hero having to protect his loved ones caught in the crossfire.

To Forster’s credit, he’s managed to make the threat feel relatively credible and intense. An early scene in which panicked New Jersey citizens loot a supermarket is well-staged, and scenes of mass hysteria do get across the sense of a major global crisis. The zombies are attracted to noise, so there’s the occasional moment where someone steps on broken glass or drops something, and then everyone freezes for a moment. In such moments, Forster is able to generate sufficient tension. However, he is over-reliant on jump scares – this being a PG-13 horror action film though, that’s pretty much the only way to go in lieu of copious amounts of blood and guts.



Are the zombies scary? They aren’t portrayed with missing limbs or half their entrails hanging out and are closer to feral, diseased human beings than the undead. One scene has a zombie chattering its teeth, which could come off as unintentionally comedic. Still, they seem like a legitimate threat on the whole, even if they come off as a little artificial during the big, computer-enhanced set pieces. The 3D post-conversion is mostly unnecessary and you probably won’t miss much seeing it flat.

Fans of the book may ultimately feel that it has been watered down for the masses, but for what it is and given its troubled production, World War Z is not bad at all. It’s not a particularly fresh take on the “all hell breaks loose” apocalyptic thriller, but on the whole, it doesn’t feel slipshod or hastily patched-together. The ending leaves the door open for a sequel but doesn’t leave the audience completely hanging. It’s a relatively thrilling action-horror film, with Brad Pitt doing a decent amount of globe-trotting and zombie-slaying.

SUMMARY: Director Marc Forster and star/producer Brad Pitt have prevented World War Z  from becoming an utter disaster, managing to scare and thrill with this summer flick.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong

Iron Man 3

Movie Review                                                                                                                  25/4/13

IRON MAN 3

2013

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle

Directed by: Shane Black

   

        In the interest of full disclosure, let it be known that this reviewer is more of a DC Comics fan than a Marvel one. That said, he hasn’t missed a single one of the films in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, established with 2008’s Iron Man. The time has sped by on rocket boots, and with the Phase I films all in the bag, Phase II begins where it all started, with Iron Man.

            Robert Downey Jr. (who else?) is back as Tony Stark, tinkering with new gadgets even as the events of The Avengers give him sleepless nights. His girl Friday Pepper Potts (Paltrow) has moved in with him, but Stark just won’t give her the time of day even as the holidays approach. Enter the enigmatic terrorist mastermind The Mandarin (Kingsley), perpetrator of a series of vicious bomb attacks, one of which critically wounds Tony’s ex-bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). Tony swears revenge, and his home is assaulted by the Mandarin’s forces in return. Stranded in rural Tennessee, he enlists the help of a local kid (Ty Simpkins) to help patch his armour in anticipation of The Mandarin’s next strike. Tony also discovers links to Dr Aldrich Killian and Dr Maya Hansen, developers of the Extremis virus – a revolutionary piece of biotechnology that has turned dangerously unstable.

            Iron Man 3 is nothing short of a game-changer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the film, Happy Hogan doesn’t work directly for Tony Stark anymore – a bit of leaning-against-the-fourth-wall winking, seeing as how Jon Favreau has passed on the director’s baton to Shane Black, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Drew Pearce. Once one of the most sought-after screenwriters in Hollywood, Black proves he’s still got the mojo he displayed with his screenplays for Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout in spades. Iron Man 3 has got his stamp all over it (notice the Christmas-time setting) and yet also delivers everything we’ve come to expect of a big-budget superhero blockbuster at the same time.

            The film is tightly-plotted and expertly paced; audiences certainly won’t be twiddling their thumbs waiting impatiently for the next action scene to roll around. Said action scenes are plenty inventive though – a daring mid-air rescue which Stark compares to playing “Barrel of Monkeys” and a dazzlingly-choreographed finale involving Stark hopping in and out of an array of Iron Man suits mid-combat being the prime examples. Black shows that he understands how important such displays are to the type of film he’s making, but never lets the story get drowned out by the din of high-octane bells and whistles.

            A section of viewers have taken Iron Man 2 to task for spending too much of its running time in setting up the big event, The Avengers. Iron Man 3 suffers no such problem. The focus is squarely back on Tony Stark, and by now it is impossible to imagine the character being played by anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. At this point in a franchise, the leading man is wont to display signs of weariness or that he’s only doing it for the paycheck – nope, not here. Downey Jr., armed with a new batch of one-liners and an even bigger new batch of armoured outfits, is having as much fun with the role as ever.

He doesn’t feel like he’s hogging the spotlight though, because both Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow get more to do here in their supporting parts. Col. James Rhodes’ “War Machine” has been given an image makeover and renamed “Iron Patriot”; the film doing a good job of showing how Rhodey is at his best fighting alongside Iron Man instead of merely playing errand boy for the US military. Pepper Potts finally gets to step out of her “beleaguered assistant” corner and throw some punches of her own, playing a pivotal part in the film’s climactic shipping dock battle. The subplot with Ty Simpkins’ character serving as Stark’s kid sidekick of sorts could have come off as twee, but it doesn’t eat into the meat of the proceedings and Stark’s interactions with the boy are amusing and heartfelt.

Also new to the series are Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall. The Mandarin, the Fu-Manchu like archenemy of Iron Man in the comics, is reimagined as an unkempt, somewhat theatrical figure of the shadows – though there is of course more to him than that. Stalwart comic book fans might not like the way the character is ultimately handled, but it is clever enough and didn’t really bother this reviewer. Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian is a scientist who was ignored by Stark earlier in his career and doesn’t take too kindly to this, re-entering the fray with slicked-back hair and a spray tan. Pearce plays the “mousy to charismatic” angle well, when it could well have been overly cartoonish à la Jim Carrey’s Riddler in Batman Forever. The beautiful Rebecca Hall doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but is one of those actresses who plays “hot scientist” without a hitch.

It would seem that doing anything new within the confines of the wham-bam comic book blockbuster genre would be difficult, since every new entry seems to be measured against The Avengers or The Dark Knight trilogy. It is to the credit of Shane Black and the team behind Iron Man 3 then that the film is effortlessly invigorating, assured in its tone with a good sprinkling of humour mixed in with awe-inspiring, effects-heavy action sequences and well-written character moments. There probably isn’t a better way to kick off Phase II of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe than with this flick.

SUMMARY: Iron Man emerges tri-umphant under the direction of Shane Black with a three-quel that is anything but same-old same-old.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong 

I Give It a Year

For F*** Magazine, Singapore

I GIVE IT A YEAR

2013

Starring: Rafe Spall, Rose Byrne, Simon Baker, Anna Faris

Directed by: Dan Mazer

            Much as we’ve been told not to, it’s human nature to jump to conclusions. There’s just a lot of satisfaction in yelling out “called it!” when events unfold just as one has predicted. For example, it’s easy to look at a film and write it off based on its genre – and there have indeed been numerous stinkers from the chick flick bunch. Along comes I Give It a Year to stab the institution of marriage in its side.

            The film tells the story of corporate high-flyer Nat (Byrne) and struggling novelist Josh (Spall), who marry after a whirlwind seven-month-long courtship. Nat’s older sister Naomi (Minnie Driver), herself stuck in an unhappy marriage, reckons that Nat and Josh will stay married for a year at the longest – hence the title. The lead couple’s union is tested by Josh’s ex-girlfriend Chloe (Faris) and Nat’s business client Guy (Baker), both of whom seem to be better matches for Josh and Nat respectively. “If you can make it through the first year of marriage, you can make it through anything,” Josh’s father reassures him. But once they’re over that twelve month hurdle, it’s plain sailing. Right?

            I Give It a Year is writer-director Dan Mazer’s feature film directing debut. He’s best known for co-writing Ali G Indahouse, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and Brüno with Sacha Baron Cohen – as such, one can expect a romantic comedy with a fair bit more bite. The film isn’t aiming to be a feel-good date movie, but it is aiming at the funny bone and more often than not, hits a bull’s-eye. A film about marital trials and tribulations could have easily become a little heavy, but Mazer keeps the gags flying thick and fast.

            The film seems to exist in a world where nobody has much tact, and there is a fair bit of cringe comedy in store. Comedian Stephen Merchant, as Josh’s friend Dan, starts the ball rolling with a very inappropriate best man’s speech at the wedding. The movie goes on to offer up doves flying into ceiling fans, an awkward game of charades, an inept marriage counsellor preoccupied with her anatomically-correct dolls, a look at the myriad logistical challenges of having a threesome and arguments about misheard song lyrics. Not all the jokes work, but there are just so many of them and by the end, a good amount of laughs were generated. While several of the gags are indeed pretty raunchy, they’re never over-the-top vulgar or (too) tasteless.

            The film attempts to shirk rom-com conventions by presenting audiences with a central couple whose relationship is not meant to be really compelling, and that’s a gamble that doesn’t fully pay off. Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne don’t generate a lot of chemistry and aren’t all that likeable, but then again that might be the point. That’s not to say they don’t put in good performances – Spall in particular appears to relish the chance to goof off with some drunken dancing. Once Chloe and Guy enter the scene, it becomes harder to root for Nat and Josh to stay together, which means Anna Faris and Simon Baker do their jobs. The film’s third act takes a dip into more dramatic territory, but Mazer always keep an eye on the laughs, so there are no jarring tonal shifts. The film also gets a little cluttered with supporting characters and side gags at times.

            I Give It a Year’s biggest strength is that it manages to strike a decent balance between the cynical humour, relationship drama and big comedic set-pieces. It’s definitely on the acerbic side, but the British film manages to retain a small amount of charm and while it borders on mean, it’s never alienating. Above all, it does draw out the laughs.

SUMMARY: A contemporary look at early married life dosed with the comedic stylings of Borat’s partner in crime – it works for those who have been jaded by mawkish rom-coms and could do with a little edge in their “chick flick”.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong

           

Oblivion

Movie Review                                                                                                                 15/4/13

OBLIVION

2013

Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

            Joseph Kosinski was the man who took us back to the grid with 2010’s Tron: Legacy. While remaining in the sci-fi realm, he heads in another direction, bringing audiences a post-apocalyptic vision of Earth where the last man left is Tom Cruise.

            Cruise plays Jack Harper, a technician in charge of maintaining the drones that patrol Earth, the planet having been nearly destroyed by an alien invasion 60 years earlier. Jack lives and works with Victoria (Riseborough), but is mostly occupied with dreams of a mysterious woman he has never met but somehow remembers. In the wreck of a crash-landed spaceship, Harper discovers Julia Rusakova (Kurylenko), whom he identifies as the woman in his dreams. Jack also comes across a rag-tag gang of survivors led by Malcolm Beech (Freeman), who helps him realise that there’s a massive conspiracy afoot and that the life he and Victoria have been living isn’t all it seems.

            Oblivion is ostensibly an adaptation of a graphic novel Kosinksi and writer Arvid Nelson worked on that has been delayed and is yet to be published. The film is, first and foremost, quite the visual experience. Claudio Miranda, recent Oscar winner for Life of Pi, is the director of photography and manages to find the beautiful in the desolate. A lot of contemporary sci-fi films tend to be hyper-kinetic, stuffed to the gills with quick cuts and stylistic flourishes. Oblivion is thus very refreshing, possessing a rare, quiet grandeur and a look that combines sleek and shiny futuristic designs with the vastness of a ravaged earth. We do get some cool action sequences on top of that, most notably an intense dogfight in which Jack in his “bubbleship” craft is pursued by a pack of vicious drones.

            This is very much the Tom Cruise show, the Jack Harper character receiving the lion’s share of storytelling attention. Here, Cruise shows yet again why he’s managed to maintain considerable longevity as a big-name movie star – he’s an actor who can command attention. At the hands of a lesser performer, it’s likely that Jack Harper might blend into his bleak surroundings. Olga Kurylenko does the “mysterious exotic figure” thing well and Andrea Riseborough has a sexy/playful scene in which she takes a night swim all siren-like. What’s nice about the characterisation is that neither female lead is a guns-blazing Ellen Ripley-esque cliché. However, nobody really gets much development beyond Harper himself; this reviewer wishes that we learnt more about Beech and his gang of survivors, who tend to feel a bit Mad Max-ish at times.

            The film’s central plot twist is pretty much par for the course when it comes to science fiction storytelling devices and it also wraps up a little too neatly when a degree of ambiguity might have done it some good. There are a few interesting elements that spice up the ending and in the end, it doesn’t feel like a cop-out, nor does it undermine anything that went before (as twist endings often can).

            Oblivion is the sort of film that’s probably a lot less contemplative than it seems, and while it isn’t particularly engaging on a story or character level, the world that Kosinki and his team have constructed is a masterpiece (enhanced by M83’s atmospheric techno score) and it just pulls the viewer in. While it may not be as deep or thought-provoking as it could have been and might come off feeling too clinical for some, it is still far from superficial and empty and has a fair bit for genre fans to like.

SUMMARY: Wonderful to look at and soak in, Oblivion has a calmness about it that’s hard to find in mainstream sci-fi, but it’s bogged down a tad by narrative loopholes and a less-than-compelling human element.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong 

Olympus Has Fallen

For F*** Magazine, Singapore

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN 

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast:         Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Rick Yune
Genre: Action, Drama
Run Time: 119 mins
Opens: 11 April 2013
Rating: NC16

Terrorists have overtaken the White House and held the President hostage?

“This is blasphemy! This is madness!”

“Madness? THIS! IS! WASHINGTON!”

Gerard Butler plays Mike Banning, formerly the head of the security detail for United States President Benjamin Asher (Eckhart). An incident in the film’s opening minutes forces Banning to leave the President’s side, but his more mundane existence working at the Treasury Department is rocked by a vicious surprise attack on 1600 Penn. The attack is spearheaded by the ruthless terrorist Kang Yeonsak (Yune), who has disguised himself as a member of the South Korean delegation to Washington. With the President and Vice-President indisposed, Speaker of the House Allan Trumbull (Freeman) takes on the mantle of acting Commander in Chief, and Banning is the only man he and the others in the Pentagon can trust. It’s Secret Service Agent Leonidas to the rescue.

It’s the general consensus among genre fans that action films aren’t quite what they used to be. Well, if you’re nostalgic for the likes of Under Siege, Executive Decision and of course Air Force One, Olympus Has Fallen will probably sate that appetite. Director Antoine Fuqua has delivered an old-school action thriller that isn’t restrained by a “PG-13” rating and can let loose with the gunfire, the bloodshed and some swearing for good measure. The “Die Hard on an X” formula seems to have fallen out of favour with the Hollywood powers that be – even the last three Die Hard films themselves didn’t have John McClane stuck in a confined space. But here, the trope is in full effect, with the one-man Special Forces team that is Mike Banning trapped in the besieged White House.

However, there’s probably good reason that filmmakers have edged away from such plotlines, mainly because we’ve seen it all before. Replace the North Korean villains with Middle-Eastern ones and you just might believe this was released in 1994. Unfortunately, the sub-par visual effects, especially in the opening aerial assault, make it look that way too, hurting that potentially harrowing sequence. The action flicks of the 90s may have been more subdued than those of the preceding decade, but they were often cliché-riddled and had their fair share of implausibilities to get around – as is the case here. Apparently, wanted terrorists can infiltrate the higher echelons of South Korean government, thus gaining access to one of the most-protected buildings in the world, evading every last background check along the way. There’s also a Secret Service agent who has turned traitor with the flimsiest excuse.

It is to Fuqua’s credit then that this reviewer was more often than not willing to overlook such contrivances. The director manages to keep the tension at a consistently high ebb, and in spite of the odd silly moment and the afore-mentioned bad visual effects work, the movie never falls into abject silliness. This is also thanks to Butler, in his element as the protagonist with a gun in his hand, a chip on his shoulder and clad in “plot armour” (enemy armies can fire endlessly at him but he’ll still live) like the action heroes of yore. He clearly should be doing more of this and less playing for keeps and dispensing ugly truths.

While there isn’t much in the way of characterisation to keep the action going, the supporting cast is top-notch. An action flick like this may not be the best use of their talents, but it benefits from their presence anyway. Freeman is not required to do much other than take charge and have terse conversations with Banning over the radio, but darn if he isn’t cool as always doing it. With his lantern jaw, gritted teeth and blue eyes, Eckhart embodies the archetypical “all-American Prez” image. As the supervillain, Rick Yune is nowhere near the likes of Gary Oldman or Tommy Lee Jones, but gets the job done as our two-dimensional force of evil.

Yes, Olympus Has Fallen is brutal, exciting and has its share of white-knuckle moments, but its old-school 90s action flick pedigree is often a double-edged sword, as audiences have come to expect something with perhaps a little more sophistication. Still, the film is enjoyably earnest, a throwback without the smart-alecky winks and nudges and there’s Gerard Butler taking names and kicking ass. Just not down bottomless wells.

SUMMARY: An action thriller right out the 90s. Straightforward, rough around the edges and it isn’t the pinnacle (or Mount Olympus, as it were) of action flicks, but it’s entertaining and intense where it counts.

RATING: 3 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

For F*** Magazine

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE

Director: Don Scardino
Cast: Steve Carell, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 100 mins
Opens: 14 March 2013
Rating: PG13 (Some Drug References and Coarse Language)

There is much drama to be mined from the world of magic. There’s a sort of romanticism, danger and mystique associated with the heyday of such performers as Houdini, a world where reality and make-believe dangerously collide, a world where smoke can suffocate and mirrors can shatter…but let’s face it, there’s just as much, if not even more, comedy in there too.

Las Vegas stage magicians have long been associated with cheesy theatrics, ridiculous costumes, unruly big cats and even unrulier bad hair. Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Buscemi) are a pair of magicians in that grand tradition, best friends since their mutual love of magic brought them together as kids. However, a tiresome routine, waning ticket sales and Wonderstone’s increasing self-absorption put a strain on their working and personal relationship.



On top of that, new magic sensation Steve Gray (Carrey), a self-styled street illusionist renowned for his wince-inducing, “extreme” stunts, has poised himself as competition for a residence at a new hotel. After falling out of a glass box and from grace, Burt is forced to eat his humble pie working in a retirement community, where he meets his idol Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin), a curmudgeon whose magician days are far behind him. However, perhaps there’s a spark to ignite yet, as Wonderstone strives to recapture his glory days and win the affection of Jane (Wilde), a beautiful assistant and aspiring magician he once spurned.

We’ll come right out and say it – The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is pretty much formula from start to finish. There’s the hero whose early success has gotten to his head and who has lost his drive, the loyal best friend whom he abandons, the ageing mentor whose wisdom has yet to run out, the despicable professional rival, and of course the girl who motivates him to get his groove back.



We’ve seen it hundreds and hundreds of times and yet, the film is somehow able to rise just above the clichés from which it is constructed. There isn’t very much to the characters beyond Burt’s requisite “hero’s journey”, and many of them are not very much more than one-note caricatures – the hotel/casino tycoon played by James Gandolfini is actually named “Munny”!  Still, the cast musters enough charm to get us to actually enjoy this familiar ride.

Decked out in low-cut, bejewelled jumpsuits and sporting the most vivid spray tan this side of the Jersey Shore, Carell is, as usual, just very fun to watch. However, it is a little more difficult to buy him as the sort of guy who’d actually have groupies. The film also showcases Steve Buscemi at his least creepy and most sympathetic, and he and Carell do make a decent team. As the subversive, manic illusionist who relies more on gross-out, shocking feats than actual magic, Jim Carrey is clearly having the time of his life, and it is the craziest he’s been in a movie in a while. Olivia Wilde and Alan Arkin don’t do all that much in their supporting roles, but Wilde’s lower-key performance is a good counterpoint to the broad comedy and Arkin being the actor that he is, is effortlessly hilarious and threatens to steal the show each time he appears.



As a satire of the Las Vegas stage magic scene, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is not particularly insightful or biting, and its parody of street magicians who trade on shock factor is around ten years too late. However, there are a good number of laughs to be had and some pretty inspired gags. For example, Steve Gray’s show is named “Brain Rapist”, a side-splitting riff on “Mindfreak”, and magician David Copperfield’s cameo as himself is something of a treat. The closest the film gets to being offensive is a vignette in which Anton Marvelton visits a poor village in Cambodia, only to find that the villagers aren’t interested in magic kits and are much more in need of food and clean water – but that bit is indeed funny.

The movie’s high-energy first half is certainly its better one, and the climactic trick is both ethically and logistically dubious – but director Don Scardino ultimately succeeds in serving up silly, old-fashioned fun. Sure, the story mechanics are well-worn, but if done proficiently enough, there’s still magic to be found in even the oldest of tricks.

SUMMARY: More like a card trick than making the Statue of Liberty vanish, but it coasts by with the help of a game, charming cast and a healthy number of laugh-inducing moments.

RATING: 3 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong

Snitch

For F*** Magazine

SNITCH

Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jon Bernthal, Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon
Genre: Action, Adventure
Run Time: 112 mins
Opens: 14 March 2013
Rating: NC16 (Some Drug Use)

We’ve heard it a million times: “kids, say no to drugs”. We’ve heard it from Sonic the Hedgehog, Pee Wee Herman, Batman and every pop culture figure in between. Now, hear it from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Whatever he’s cooking, you can be sure it isn’t meth.

Johnson plays John Matthews, the owner of a construction company whose estranged son Jason (Rafi Gavron) is facing a minimum of 10 years in prison for distribution of drugs. John has a new wife and a young daughter, but the incident makes him feel responsible for his lack of involvement in his son’s life. John appeals to Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Sarandon), running for Congress on an anti-drug platform, to help his son’s case. He learns that the only way the sentence can be reduced is if he can snitch on a drug-dealer and help the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) make an arrest – hence the title.



John enlists the help of one his employees, ex-convict Daniel James (Bernthal), to set him up with a dealer and infiltrate a drug ring. Daniel is understandably reluctant as is he drawn back into the world he tried so hard to escape. DEA Agent Cooper (Pepper) heads a task force to supervise John’s actions undercover, and soon John and Daniel find themselves in way over both their heads, and John is put the test as he jumps through hoops to help get his son free.

Snitch purports itself to be based on a true story, and the premise draws inspiration from revisions to the Federal Drug Policy of the US that rewarded those who would rat out their accomplices. What’s interesting is that this isn’t an anti-drug spiel, but rather a look at the impact US drug laws have on the hoi polloi, particularly first-time offenders who aren’t even hardened criminals or traffickers but get severe sentences nonetheless.

It’s a movie that does feel very noble in its ambitions and strives for an air of social responsibility, but audiences don’t go to the movies to be lectured. It’s marketed as an action film, but it doesn’t satisfy in that regard until the climactic semi-truck chase. Snitch is heavy on the drama, and it is a good thing that we get to see how the families of John and Daniel are impacted by the events of the film, but it often borders on the maudlin. It’s also not exciting escapism, when it may well have been better off as such.



The film rides on Dwayne Johnson’s broad shoulders, and it’s a good thing that he’s up to the task. Taking on this film seems like a wise career choice: it’s a way for the wrestler to earn more “serious acting” stripes, while still pulling action hero duty. It turns out that he can play “vulnerable” just as well as “tough” and “determined”. If the Rock is wigged out by the tough cartel guys, than us regular folk had better be as well. It’s not the kind of film that allows him to arch his People’s Eyebrow or flash a toothy grin, but maybe that’s just what he needs.

Jon Bernthal, best known as Shane Walsh on TV’s The Walking Dead, feels like more of an everyman than Johnson does and is not bad as his conflicted partner, primarily succeeding in making us feel as much for Daniel as for John. However, it’s Barry Pepper and Susan Sarandon who are the star supporting players. Pepper, sporting a Sons of Anarchy-esque beard, is barely recognisable and completely believable as a DEA Agent who has experienced life undercover embedded in drug cartels, and Sarandon comfortably inhabits her relatively small role as the politician who might be actually be helpful. Benjamin Bratt puts in an appearance as a big bad cartel kingpin, but doesn’t get enough screen time to offer up much more than usual stereotype.

Former stuntman Ric Roman Waugh directs the film competently, but can’t quite find his footing as the movie struggles to reconcile its “socially conscious drama” and “guns blazing action flick” sides. It is admirable that the movie aspires to be more than a run-of-the-mill actioner and it’s great to see Dwayne Johnson flexing his acting muscles in addition to his actual muscles, but it isn’t a fun time at the theatre, nor a particularly thought-provoking one.

SUMMARY: It’s neither a proper drama nor an actual action flick, but Snitch sees Dwayne Johnson come into his own as an actor, and deserves points for attempting to tackle a social issue from a new perspective.

RATING: 3 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong