Unthinkable

Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Michael Sheen, Carrie Anne Moss
Directed by: Gregor Jordan

When an FBI agent Brody (Moss) and a black-ops interrogator, H (Jackson) are brought in to press a terror suspect (Sheen) for the whereabouts of three nuclear bombs, right and wrong no longer exist.

When conventional interrogation methods fail, high level officials authorise H to use his signature torture techniques to extract the information, no matter the cost. Sickened by what she sees, it is up to agent Brody to get the information and find the bombs before H tortures a man to death and the the values of a nation are irreparably tarnished.

It took me a day or two to figure out whether I enjoyed this movie or not, and that I suppose is the whole point. Like Hard Candy, Unthinkable toys with what you think you know about right and wrong and it does this very, very well. Sure the pace is a tad uneven and it can be a bit bull-in-a-china-shop in places but on the whole I really quite enjoyed it. Moss, Sheen and Jackson delivered commendable performances, even if some of the supporting cast left a little to be desired, and the direction was more than competent, acting as a great tension builder.

Verdict:

If you enjoyed this, check out: Hard Candy, The Siege, The Sum of All Fears

From Paris With Love

Starring: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Directed by: Pierre Morel

When handed his first “real” assignment, low-level CIA operative James Reece (who is acting as personal aid to the US ambassador in Paris) couldn’t be more thrilled… until he meets his partner. Trigger-happy, wise-cracking Charlie Wax leads Reece on a white-knuckle trail of destruction through the Parisian underworld and leaves him craving his desk job once again. But when Reece discovers he may be involved in the terrorist plot they are trying to stop, he realises he has no choice but to stick with Wax.

Like a cinematic meat-head, From Paris With Love packs a lot of punch with very little brains. Action, reminiscent of a ham fisted Jon Woo is drawn out by a ridiculous story and dialogue that would make porno script writers cringe. Travolta is too old to be doing this kind of thing and Meyers… well Meyers was okay but, let’s face it, you can’t polish a turd.

While not the best remove-brain-insert-popcorn movie ever made, From Paris WithLove did have its moments. Some of the fight scenes were exciting and some of the big explosion set pieces were pretty good too.

Verdict:

If you enjoyed this, check out: The 51st State, The Big Hit

The Book of Eli

Starring: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis
Directed by: Albert and Allen Hughes

Eli, a lone traveller makes his way across a post-apocalyptic America with  a book that holds the key to mankind’s salvation or destruction. When he stops at a small trading post for water Eli encounters Carnegie (Oldman) who is intent on obtaining the book to control the town’s population and branch out to other settlements.

Solara (Kunis), one of Carnegie’s captives, decides to help Eli reach his destination and make sure that the book doesn’t fall into Carnegie’s hands. The pair make the last effort to reach the west coast, pursued by Carnegie and his band of mercenaries but can they reach their destination in time?

Remember how Deep Impact and Armageddon were released pretty much at the same time and they were nearly the same movie? Well The Book of Eli was, bizarrely released at the same time as The Road. The only fundamental plot difference between the two movies is that Eli has a specific destination. The protagonists in The Road just had to keep moving. That said, I think I enjoyed The Book of Eli a little bit more. It wasn’t as subtle with its message but the pace was a lot nicer and the ending wasn’t so depressing.

At first I thought the movie was a little too Jesus-tastic but the more I think about it the more I realise The Book of Eli is as much of an indictment of organised religion as it is a case for its existence. Combine this interesting story with some intense action and threat and you actually have a pretty successful movie.

Verdict:

If you enjoyed this, check out: The Road

A Serious Man

Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen

A Serious man follows Larry Gopnik, a Jewish college professor who watches his life suddenly unravel by way of a number of sudden unfortunate events. While looking for meaning in this troubled time, Larry not only finds no answers but stumbles into yet more misfortune.

Seriously odd-ball, A Serious Man is Coen Brothers through and through. This will most certainly not be for everyone but I was pleasantly surprised. While not laugh-out-loud funny you will find yourself identifying with how comically accurate a representation of day to day life it is. Not only this, you’ll find yourself exploring the ideas and undertones of the movie in your own mind for days afterwards and I don’t think I’m the only person who will want to watch it again in the future.

Performances were great all round and despite being a tad self-indulgent on the directors’ part the movie holds together very well.

Verdict:

If you enjoyed this, check out: Burn After Reading, No Country for Old Men, Donnie Darko (trust me, you’ll get why after you watch it)

Dorothy

Starring: Carice Van Houten, Jenn Murray
Directed by: Agnes Merlet

When a court appointed psychiatrist Jane Van Dopp arrives on a remote island to investigate Dorothy, a troubled young girl accused of abusing a baby she was babysitting she soon discovers that not everything is as it seems with Dorothy or the community on the island.

What at first seems like a textbook case of multiple-personality disorder begins to reveal itself to be something all together more supernatural and sinister. Can Jane solve the mystery in time to save herself and Dorothy?

Not at all what I was expecting, Dorothy is a fairly decent concept for a film and offers a nice twist on the usual multiple personality story. Unfortunately a low budget, unrefined direction and underwhelming cast let it down. The strongest cast member was Jenn Murray who played Dorothy and five other personalities throughout the movie but even this was sketchy at best.

The film’s marketing job was a bit of an abortion, if I’m honest. The trailers, packaging and tag lines all set the movie up to be like The Exorcist, Godsend or Birth when in actual fact it has more in common with Raising Cain and Deliverance. The interesting premise makes Dorothy worth a watch… just.

Verdict:

If you enjoyed this, check out: Raising Cain, Identity

Alice in Wonderland

Starring: Pretty much everyone you’d expect in a Tim Burton movie.
Directed by: Tim Burton

Tim Burton’s long-awaited re-imagining of the classic Alice in Wonderland sees Mia Wasikowska play Alice, a 19 year old girl who falls into a world from her childhood imagination to fulfill her destiny; to end the Red Queen’s reign of terror.

Although typically twisted and bizarre, Alice in Wonderland seemed to be a little too disjointed and removed from the source material. Proof positive that you can only mutate something so much before it becomes something else entirely. Burton did the exact same thing with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Things seemed to just happen that, I’m sure made sense in the mind of Tim Burton but to average Joe, just seem totally misplaced and random.

One saving grace was the level of acting on show. Depp and co. performed admirably and smaller performances from Alan Rickman and Stephen Fry went down a treat.

Unfortunately, this time Burton has gone a bit too far into the surreal and turned out something a bit naff and all over the place. I’d much rather see the likes of his earlier work such as Beetlejuice and Batman. Those were the real gems.

Verdict:

If you enjoyed this, check out: The work of Salvador Dali

Like I said, let me know if you like this format because I’ve got a couple of days off work at the end of the week so chances are I’ll be doing the same again. I already have 44 Inch Chest and Splice ear-marked.

In a bit!

Twenty-six years and seven sequels later, Wes Craven’s most recognisable horror creation is re-booted. This re-imagining of the classic horror tale has been on my radar for some time now as I was a huge fan of the 1984 original starring Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. When I heard that Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach from Watchmen) was set to play Krueger in the reboot I was even more excited to see what could be done with Craven’s over-worked baby.

What we have here is pretty much a straight re-make. Very little in the way of artistic licence has been utilised. I guess the makers didn’t want to stray too far from the source material in fear of a backlash from the die-hard fans (Odd, seeing as most of these die-hard fans were against any form of re-make from the outset.) The major changes are seen in Freddy’s back-story, something that was only touched on in the 1984 film. Instead of a child killer, Krueger is now portrayed as a paedophile with a penchant for knives and cutting who is outed by his young, victims; pupils at the pre-school where Krueger worked as a gardener. I’d seen some reviews complaining about this deviation but I thought it was handled very well. It brought the subject matter very much into the 21st century and added to Freddy’s malevolence in a way that would have probably been hard to do back in the 80’s.

As for Freddy’s character; Haley pretty much nailed it. Gone are the days of Robert Englund’s over-exaggerated campness. Haley’s Krueger is darker, nuanced and infinitely more threatening. This is only enhanced by the new look to the makeup. OTT pizza-face is out and gaunt, hollow realistic burns victim is in. Black emotionless eyes coupled with Haley’s deep growl make for a more than successful re-imagining of a horror icon.

Unfortunately this is where the good points stop. Aside from Freddy there is not one memorable character; at least none that you’d want to remember. Langenkamp’s strong yet vulnerable Nancy is replaced with an under-developed, awfully acted character who, if it wasn’t for the amount of screen time, you’d mistake for a third tier supporting character, not the lead. Her troubled kinda love interest type person, Quentin (Gallner), feels like a character we’ve seen a hundred times and wish would just fuck off. Oh yeah, and Nancy’s dad (you remember; the town Sheriff)… nowhere to be seen! What, did the money run out?

But at least there’s some sick gore and memorable kills right? WRONG! Even with all the very expensive special effects in this movie, the kills in the 1984 version were a hundred fold better. The one where the girl is thrown around the room by an invisible Freddy sucked in this version! The scene where Nancy’s boyfriend is pulled into his bed before being ejected in liquid form all over the cieling wasn’t even in this one! And it’s not just the kills that are replaced with cheap knock-offs. Marshmallow stairs are replaced with poorly lit, crude oil hallway and booby-trapped house gives way to generic dingy school basement. Gay!

On the whole, the movie was watchable. However this was only because Jackie Earle Haley carried the fucking thing, single handedly, from start to finish. I hope we see him for a sequel because his version of Freddy is something I want to see more of but for the love of god; hire some better writers and a director with half a  fucking clue!

Verdict:

It’s been six months (well about 2 years, our time) since Tony Stark threw down his cue cards and announced to the world that he was Iron Man. The world is a different place, it is at peace and the worlds first walking nuclear deterrent doesn’t only have to worry about enemies on the battlefield. The government wants his suit, his company is on the verge of ruin and the arc reactor chest piece that saved his life is now beginning to kill him. When things couldn’t get more challenging, enter Ivan Vanko, son of Howard Stark’s disgraced Russian employee, intent on destroying Tony; not just the man, but the symbol he has become.

I’ve been waiting for this since the credits rolled on the first movie back in 2008. Since then I’ve been drip fed nuggets of info that have just made me want to see it even more. War Machine, a new Iron Man suit Black Widow and more cool tech than you can shake a repulsor at. Couple that with rumors that the movie would see an even stronger resemblance to the source material (the comics) and you’ve got the makings of one exciting movie.

As has become the standard with Marvel comics adaptations since Marvel studios took full control of the productions; I was not disappointed. It seems the team at Marvel studios aren’t stupid, well they have been giving geeks what they want for over 60 years. They kept all the things that made the first movie so great and then added more!

The movie is certainly intense; especially the Monaco grand prix scene which, thankfully, the trailers didn’t ruin at all. War machine and The Black Widow are introduced in an unfamiliar but graceful way. Even the one character I had my reservations over, Micky Rourke’s Ivan Vanko, was skillfully and effectively portrayed and despite him not getting that much screen time still painted an appropriate amount of threat through the story.

One thing is clear in Iron Man 2; Marvel love tie-ins. Any fan of their comics has seen how good they are at crossover storylines with Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and most recently Siege being very well received. No surprise then that in Iron Man 2 we see a shit load of subtle (and not so subtle) references to upcoming titles The Avengers, Captain America and (if you stay past the credits) Thor. These references work in varying degrees but even at their worst, see Cap’s shield, don’t do much to tarnish the movie.

So the performances were all good, the action and geek-o-meter all satisfied and it was as consistent, with regards to the first movie, as it could ever hoped to have been. However it wasn’t without its problems. As with the first movie, Iron Man 2 suffers a kind of cinematic premature ejaculation. It peaks early and once this happens the plot seems to wander a long while before returning for its second wind which isn’t as good as its previous, premature climax. For me the grand prix fight between Iron Man and Vanko is infinately more exciting than their final confrontation, albeit not as grand.

The movie also kind of teeters on the edge of a common comic book movie killer; character soup, y’know, that thing Spider-man 3 had. Though oddly I kind of wish some characters who didn’t appear did have little roles. For example I was well psyched for seeing Iron Man throw down with the Hulk, something that was rumored for some time during the movie’s production. But hey ho.

All in all this was a really entertaining movie and a more than competent sequel. Let’s hope that they hold it together for the next installment and, of course The Avengers.

Verdict:

Based on a comic book mini-series that wasn’t even finished when production began, Kick-Ass follows Dave Lizewski, a teenager who buys a costume and hits the streets as a “super hero” to help people. Using the moniker Kick-Ass he discovers that he is way out of his depth when he meets the real deal in the form of Hit Girl and Big Daddy, a father and daughter pair of vigilantes on the trail of mob boss Frank D’Amico. As Kick Ass begins to get the blame for the pair’s “work” he finds himself in the sights of the D’Amico family who put their own “super-hero” on the streets to trap Kick-Ass.

I’ve been excited about this movie ever since I read issue one of the series about a year ago. I only became more and more excited as I only heard good things from magazines and other reviews. Empire gave it a full five stars. In actual fact the movie left me conflicted. Here’s why.

I’m not going to lie to you. I massively enjoyed the movie. It was cool, snappy and didn’t try to pull any punches with language or violence like many films do these days to secure a lower certificate. Characters, especially Hit Girl were portrayed wonderfully and I really can’t see a weak link in the cast. Similarly, the direction, score and action were all top notch. No problems there either. What left me conflicted was the not so graceful deviations from the source material: the comic book series.

I’m the first to admit that in certain comic to film adaptations you have to make changes, either to flash out the content to fit a 2 hour movie or to cover up things that simply can’t be translated from comics (see Wolverine’s blue and yellow spandex). In Kick-Ass, though things were changed that really shouldn’t have been. Most of these I could overlook but two points; climax and Dave’s relationship with the girl of his dreams differed so much that it left me feeling disappointed. Maybe if you hadn’t read the comics these things wouldn’t bother you. but they bothered me.

***Possible Spoilers***

But the thing, on reflection that bothered me the most is how they translated the character Red Mist (Christopher Mintz Plasse) from comic to screen. In the comics, the true nature of Red Mist is only revealed when the double-cross is punctuated by a swift pistol whip to the back of Kick-Ass’ skull. In the movie, the set-up is dealt with out in the open and as such an opportunity for a great plot twist is thrown away.

In the grand scheme of things these flaws are minor. Kick-Ass is up there with Iron Man and Watchmen at the top end of the comic to film genre. I recommend you go and see it then read the comics.

Verdict:

Tired of mankind’s wicked ways, God has had enough. He instructs his general; The Archangel Michael (Bettany), to lead his army to earth to exterminate the human race for good. Convinced that there is still hope for man, Michael gives God the finger, heads down to Earth and cuts off his wings, transubstantiating into complete human form and heads to a diner in the middle of nowhere. There he meets up with a motley crew of misfits including a woman pregnant with man’s only saviour. It is here the final battle for mankind’s survival will unfold. Oh yeah, did I mention that Michael has a fuck load of guns? Probably should have.

Got all that? Good. Legion had some decent potential. Constantine mixed with Assault on Precinct 13 mixed with The Prophecy… with MOAR GUNZ!? Hell yeah it sounds like something I could get on board with. The reality, however wasn’t so great. In fact, it was downright disappointing. Not the plot or premise so much but the execution.

First of all, the dialogue was apparently written by a 5 year old. Subtle and nuanced is most certainly was not. Plus, I got the distinct impression that at certain (seemingly random) points during a scene that someone behind the camera gave the actors a signal to throw in an arbitrary F-Bomb. That’s how asinine it was. The only saving grace here was Charles S. Dutton gave the best dialogue of the whole movie and a pretty decent gag related to his character’s prosthetic hand.

Next big problem was how dark the bloody thing was. I appreciate that it probably didn’t have a monumental budget but come on, guy! Shrouding everything in total darkness might cover your bargain basement CGI but it’s fucking annoying. Did AVP2 not teach us anything!? Had it not been for this, the movie might have just been passable as a semi-decent Saturday afternoon actionfest… but no, the bastards ruined that too!

The final nail in the coffin for this debacle is the fact that it used every cliche in the book! Not just the action and scenes, things like 9mm MP5s that can not only shred cars from 500m away but also never run out of bullets, but even the camera work! It seemed like every other shot was a panning close-up of a person or object with a horribly executed shallow depth of field that looked like a faux tilt-shift photoshop effect.

“At least we get to see a kick ass fight between some hard-core angels and shit right?” No. You see 2 minutes of hopelessly dark blurry CGI followed by some bullshit cop-out of an ending that will leave you going “What… but what about the… WHAT!??! Oh fuck you, movie!”

So yeah, Not so much.

Verdict:

When his daughter is gunned down in front of him, aging detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) begins an investigation that will lead him into the darkest realms of corporate conspiracy and government corruption. Edge of Darkness sees Gibson return to kicking ass and taking names and also stars Ray Winstone and Danny Huston.

The most notable thing about this movie is that you don’t get what the trailers lead you to believe you’ll be getting. From the very first (and very gory) death scene, Edge of Darkness is a fast paced revenge come man-with-nothing-left-to-lose tell with some great suspense and a marvelous performance from Gibson. Anyone who thinks he’s too old can sit down and shut up!

Truth be told, this movie has a great deal in common with Taken, a movie that received mixed reviews but I, personally loved every ass-kicking minute of. What Edge of Darkness has, however that Taken didn’t have is a surprisingly complex plot involving a rather large amount of characters. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as complicated as something like Primer but it’s not your average brain-dead shoot-em-up either. The number of characters, however did the movie one small injustice in that, at times the pace was a little jittery and fractured as newly introduced characters are developed (as with Ray Winstone’s character) outside the context of the main plot.

This flaw is only a minor one, however and the sheer adrenaline and ferocity of Mel Gibson’s character are enough to satisfactorily fill any cracks that may appear. The flaw that costs the movie the fifth star, though is the ending… I mean the very ending… I mean literally the 30 seconds before the end credits roll which, because of spoilers I won’t go into. It almost felt like an afterthought, or maybe even an added extra thrown in at the whim of a certain aging Christianity enthusiast… say no more. The scene that directly precedes this could have been played up a lot more to create a far more satisfying finale (think the end of Watchmen).

All things considered, Edge of Darkness remains an extremely accomplished and entertaining conspiracy thriller with enough thematic backbone to stand up to all the action, bullets and snappy dialogue that the director and star could throw at it.

Verdict:

James Cameron returns to the fore after a 12 year hiatus with his $3oo million game-changer, Avatar. This simple story of man’s ruthless desire to take anything he wants has been brought to life in stunning 3D. Paralysed ex-marine Jake Sully is the last hope of a peaceful arrangement with the native population of the planet Pandora, the Na’vi. Using a remote controlled Na’vi body called an Avatar, Sully must gain the trust of the native population and urge them to move away from their home, an area of great interest to the human invaders. As patience runs out, Sully finds that he may have been on the wrong side of the fight all along.

Not many films get hyped as much as this one. First of all, it’s the director’s last movie since 1997, and that was the highest grossing movie of all time. Secondly it’s been delayed so long because we were assured by the director that the technology he was using would be worth the wait. So high hopes all round. But does the movie deliver? Well, yes. Yes it does. But not in the way that you might expect from a sci-fi epic written by one of the most revered sci-fi writer/directors working today. You see, Terminator and Terminator 2 were shooty, explodey eye-candy movies but they had quite a complex underlying plot that raised a lot of questions about time travel that were very very original. Aliens had great special effects, sure but it was also a very well written sequel, devoid of plot holes and other nasties and despite being a sequel was, again very original. Avatar is a bit of a curve ball. The plot is very basic, sure there are some complex ideas and some very well thought out intricacies, but on the whole it’s essentially the plot of FernGully: The Last Rainforest. What Cameron has chosen to focus on here is the visual experience of a new, alien world and it’s many inhabitants.

This is where the movie knocks the shit out of pretty much everything else ever released. Cameron’s new 3D camera technology has produced quite simply the most beautiful film ever to hit the big screen. From the word go you are immersed into a lush and vibrant world unlike anything that has ever been seen before. The new style of 3D cinema brings this to life even more. Cameron has done the seemingly impossible; truly integrated special effects into a movie so well that they become like another character, in fact more influential than a character. The importance of the world to the natives is not told through emotional character exchanges, although there are some in there, it is told through the visuals. Because of this, Avatar can transcend the age range. There is a dark indictment of the cruelty of mankind and cool-as-fuck military hardware for the adults but because of the elemental way the story is conveyed through visuals, nothing will be lost on the younger generation.

Avatar is simply spellbinding. The only thing that I recommend more than going to see it is that you go and pay the extra to see the full 3D version. The added depth isn’t just a gimmick, it completes James Cameron’s vision and gives you the full intended journey. District 9 taught us that originality is what we make of it. That movie took pretty much all of it’s concepts from other sci-fi movies such as The Fly and Alien Nation but it remained truly original in the way that it delivered those concepts. The same applies here. We may have seen this story before but nothing can prepare you for Avatar.

Verdict:

Richard Kelly once again squeezes our mind-grapes in his trademark style. The Box follows a couple played by Diaz and Marsden who are offered the opportunity to make a million dollars to push a button and be responsible for the death of one person, somewhere in the world, they don’t know. Unbeknown to the pair, this choice is just the beginning of a mind-bending series of events that will tear the family and even the human race apart.

Let me be clear about one thing. This is not the movie that is advertised in the trailer. What we saw in the trailer was a glimpse of a rather boring mediocre chase thriller. Only fleetingly do we get a sense of the hard core attention-hungry sci-fi that The Box turns out to be. I, for one, was very happy that this was the case. The surprise of being given a thinky, head-scratchy sci-fi that has been given the Donnie Darko treatment by Kelly was a pleasant one.

Lead performances were admirable, if not out-standing and Frank Langella provided the best of the bunch as the malevolent Arlington Steward. Supporting performances did, however leave a deal to be desired. But the acting of the cast played second fiddle to Kelly’s strange, love-it-or-hate-it style of direction. It was his intense close-ups and dramatic long zooms that almost provided an additional character that turned an easily forgettable sci-fi mindfuck into something more. This coupled with an eerie, mis-matched score certainly kept me on my toes throughout the film’s two-hour running time. Another aspect of this Donnie Darko treatment is the fact that Kelly has very deliberately chosen a time period other than the present to provide the perfect setting for the movie. Setting The Box in the 1970’s means he not only has great stylistic components to work with but it also allows him extra credibility when working with his characters’ placement in NASA’s golden age. That’s not mentioning the fact that there is no Internet and there are no mobile phones, two things that could have blown planet sized holes in the plot had it been set in the present.

The weakest part of the movie, sadly, is the ending. It seems rather abrupt and leaves you asking more questions than it ultimately answers but you also get the feeling that this is exactly how Kelly wanted it. Donnie Darko did the same thing and many people believe it to be the key to that film’s success. The Box’s ending, however lacked a lot of the finesse of Donnie Darko and depending on how much you enjoyed the preceding 90 minutes you will either find this a mild annoyance or a nail in the coffin.

All of these factors are subjective. They won’t be for everybody. Certainly if you didn’t enjoy Donnie Darko, there’s a good chance that The Box won’t do anything for you either. Still, if you like classical sci-fi that doesn’t insult your intelligence then it could well be worth checking out when it somes out on DVD.

Verdict:

Brutal vigilante thriller crosses the pond as Michael Caine stars as the titular Harry Brown, an elderly widower who takes the law into his own hands when his only friend is murdered by a gang of local thugs. As Harry journeys deeper into the seedy and violent criminal underworld he must find the inner strength to not only avenge his friend but also make it out alive, with his soul in tact.

Like a key in a lock, Harry Brown fills a gap in the existing mile-high stack of vigilante dramas. That gap being a lack of realism. The Brave One was too slick, Death Sentence was too Hollywood and the Boondock Saints was more surreal comedy than anything else. Not only is Harry Brown realistic (except for a bit at the end but I’ll get to that in a bit) it was also something else unique; an accurate representation of modern inner-city Britain through the eyes of the victims. The violence reeks of frivolity, just as it does in the real “endz”. Victims are chosen seemingly at random and life is worth less than nothing. Drugs and guns are not only available, they are dealt with complete disregard for who might notice. The looming threat of a violent reprisal is enough to stop anyone from breathing a word in protest.

Among all this we see Harry Brown. There is no two ways about it, this is an absolute tour de force for Michael Caine. Playing a vigilante is a difficult business; too soft and you look like a pushover, too hard and you’re just another criminal. Caine pulls this balance of with aplomb. His former royal marine character is so totally believable yet his calm demeanor when carrying out his violent brand of vigilante justice is completely natural and you get a hearty sense of the threat and fear his targets must feel.

Newbie director Daniel Barber allows his gritty up close and personal style envelop the film without compromise. Exreme close-ups set the scene in many shots that would have felt incomplete any other way. There is no sugar coating, not only in the plot or dialogue but also in the direction. Violent outbursts from villains or sudden gunshots will make you jump out of your seat because, as in real life, you don’t see them coming. There are no tension building strings in the score. Things just happen.

It is this superb realism that makes the film’s one small flaw seem a lot more major. I won’t go into the details because it’s sort of a twist that I don’t want to spoil, but a sudden turn of events and a revelation about the true nature of a character we trust throughout the film just feels too written. Too orchestrated and devoid of the menacing random fickleness of the antagonists, both tangible and intangible that built up the film to its slightly unfulfilling climax.

Even with that flaw, however, Harry Brown is a masterpiece. Not only for the cast, in which I failed to spot a single weak link, but for the director who, considering this is only his second film, has perfected his style and hit an absolute home run. Go and see this and enjoy what I believe is one of the best, if not the best, vigilante thriller ever made.

Verdict:

Ewan McGregor plays Bob, a disillusioned newspaper journalist who, following his divorce goes to Iraq in search of a story, a goal and something to believe in. It is here he meets Lyn Cassady played by George Clooney who begins to tell the story of how he and other soldiers were involved in a secret military operation to create psychic soldiers. Bob is inadvertently swept up into Lyn’s current secret mission to find a hidden military installation in the Iraqi desert by means of “remote viewing”. Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges co-star in this voyage of discovery that, I guarantee isn’t what you’re expecting.

Nothing about this movie is conventional. From the way it begins, to the characters, to the dialogue to the way that past and present plot lines occur in tandem, often sharing undertones and situations. Over all, however I found this unusual take on a military memoir to be really refreshing. The movie suggests that more of the story is true than you might think although it never indicates just how much that might be. While some movies have used this device to their detriment, The Men Who Stare at Goats utilises it to fantastic effect. You find yourself at many times thinking “Well that couldn’t have happened… right? Well, I suppose it could have…” and this just goes to make the movie all the more fun and the characters all the more easy to relate too. A good job then as the main characters in the story are some of the weirdest to ever hit the big screen.

While McGregor and Clooney both perform more than admirably, the undeniable star of the show is Jeff Bridges as New Earth Army commander Bill Django, a Vietnam war vet who had his eyes opened to the spiritual and paranormal through the combination of a near death experience and several years of heavy drug use. The character is more than reminiscent of what I consider to be Bridges’ best role to date, The Dude from The Big Lebowski. The two characters share the same hippy appearance and hilarious care-free attitude that Bridges acts like nobody else can.

Outstanding performances are contrasted, however, by the relatively inexperienced (Some TV work and just 4 movies) director’s slightly un-matured style. Certain scenes lacked the punch that they could have delivered and at times I found myself fidgeting through periods where seemingly very little happened. There were also parts where the storytelling wasn’t quite what it could have been. Some scenes that could have been further explored were cut short and others that should have been brief weighed in a little too long. The comedic side of the movie is clearly influenced by the Coen brothers (most likely an influence brought in by both Clooney and Bridges who have both worked with the acclaimed filmmakers in the past.) but this again lacks their subtlety and  flawless delivery and as such will only raise a scant few real laughs.

Over all, I enjoyed the movie although it took me a few hours to really realise it. My friend Rick Nunn can testify to this as we walked out of the screening with the same “I think I enjoyed it…” sentiments. I can say with some certainty that if you’re a fan of the Coen Brothers’ more dry and subtle stuff such as Fargo, and O, Brother Where art Thou you should enjoy this one too. Bridges and Clooney have carried it through to an understated, yet clear victory.

Verdict: