FILM REVIEW: End of Watch (2012)

Director: David Ayer

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Micheal Pena, Anna Kendrick, Natalie Martinez, Frank Grillo

Running Time: 109 minutes

Genre: Action drama

David Ayer has an impressive background in L.A. cop films. The writer of Oscar-winning Training Day, the underrated Kurt Russell pic Dark Blue and director of the silly, but highly enjoyable Street Kings returns with this searing thriller about two L.A.P.D. officers who get in over their heads with some with pretty nasty Mexican criminals. Using a variation of the found footage genre mixed with traditional camera set-ups, it makes for a compelling and gritty thriller that packs a punch and reaffirms Ayer's status as a promising writer/director.

End of Watch is not as much a cop film, more of a buddy picture that relies heavily (and thoroughly succeeds) on the performances of the two leads, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena. Simply put, either the film fails or succeeds on the relationship of the duo. Gladly, it is very much the latter as Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Pena) feel like fully fleshed out characters and the primary focus is on their relationship from the beginning with the oft hilarious banter or heart-to-heart conversations about relationships that don't seem forced and seems like everyday conversations two guys would have. The film's more intimate moments with Taylor and Zavala's families further back-up the full characterization of the two leads with Zavala's wife Gabby (Natalie Martinez) and Taylor's love interest Janet (Anna Kendrick) providing more personal insights into the two. Both Gyllenhaal and Pena are great, with Pena in particular excelling (as he has done consistently in his career) as second fiddle to Gyllenhaal's Taylor. The story unfolds slowly, but it does not take away from the momentum of the film, with some clever set-pieces that only heighten the sense of dread that trouble is around the corner. Once the two run into trouble, there are some hyper-violent and dazzling action scenes that are wonderfully shot and executed. Tense and thrilling in equal measure, Ayer has perfected tense gun battles (see the opening to Street Kings for further proof) and again here he excels. However, one aspect of the film that suffers is the bland generic villains that while being intimidating and proper psychopaths, never get a decent enough look inside their world to understand their motives. It is a small niggle in such an entertaining film however, as it truly is Gyllenhaal and Pena's show.

End of Watch is a tough and gritty thriller (partly in thanks to the use of found footage style) with plenty for fans of the cop genre. Moreover, there are plenty thrills, excitement and entertaining performances to be found that raise the film above the run-of-the-mill generic cop thrillers out there, thanks greatly to the commanding and charismatic performances by Gyllenhaal and Pena. 

84

FILM REVIEW: V/H/S (2012)

Directors: Adam Winguard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence

Starring: Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Adam Winguard, Hannah Fierman,  Mike Donlan

Running Time: 115 minutes

Genre: Horror anthology

The found footage gimmick is becoming stale. It's resurgence in recent years due to the success of the Paranormal Activity has brought up a host of cheap and tacky imitations trying the same trick over and over. V/H/S is a breath of fresh air in that regard. Unlike the majority of these films threats of near-misses for 90 minutes and then one big reveal at the finish, V/H/S goes straight for the jugular. It's gruesome, nasty, vile, ultra-violent and disturbing in parts, but one thing you can't deny is that it is an effective horror film that sticks a middle finger to the safe horror that is constantly being thrown into cinemas.

Rather than being one long haul, V/H/S is an anthology film, broken into six short segments (five of which are seen in one main arc called 'Tape 56'). This allows for greater variety in tone and style, which is often a hindrance on such films, where the found footage gimmick can wear thin pretty quick. Tape 56 suffers the most from being broken up in bit segments while the other shorts play and is the most confusing, but there are a few chills to be found, despite the group being a bunch of douchebags. The opening short, Amateur Night (directed by David Bruckner) is the best of the bunch. Following three guys on a night out, their drunken antics (except the quiet and nice guy of the group cameraman) and their inability to see that everything isn't okay with one of the chicks they pick up from a bar. Cue madness. This segment is bat-shit bonkers. The warning signs are evident for the boys early on and it's horror movie school 101 stuff, but is executed with such thrilling style and makes exceptional use of the found footage format. Visceral and pretty much every young man's nightmare, it's a fantastic opening segment. The second segment, Second Honeymoon (directed by Ti West) is a more subdued affair. Anyone who knows West's output will instantly know his involvement here. Slow building and full of quiet menace, a couple on their second honeymoon become victim of a deranged stalker. Here, the use of the found footage is haunting and eerily creepy. West's horror instincts (as seen in the great The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers and probably the main reason I wanted to see this film) are old school, the slow build, the ominous signs and the night scenes. They are beyond scary. The stalker using the couples camera is a master stroke. The menace and threat of the stalker in those scenes do more than the blood-letting that comes afterwards. The shockingly brutal climax will warrant a strong stomach and is about as explicitly violent a film can get without being censored. Be warned! 

The third segment, Tuesday the 17th (directed by Glenn McQuaid), plays with the slasher movie format and after the first two segments feels like a let down. It has its moments with some genuinely spooky flashes. One or two of the kills are rough and nasty, but the over-reliance on gore here (and some shoddy effects/fake looking props) hinder. It has its moments, but nowhere as effective as the previous two. The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Young (directed by Joe Swanberg) is the weakest segment of the film. Relying on a Skype camera call scenario, a young woman who suspects there is a ghost in her apartment contacting her doctor boyfriend to keep a record of the events. There are scares to be had here, as the Paranormal Activity premise is turned on its head in pretty disgusting fashion. Two impromptu surgery scenes again keep the recurring theme of extreme gore at a high. This is perhaps the weakest segment of the film, but given the tricky and confining setting, it does well all things considered. The final segment is the most fun of the bunch, 10/31/98. Directed by Radio Silence, this segment has by far the most visual scares of the film, as a group of guys go to the wrong Halloween party and enter a real life house of horrors. The scares are not a gruesome as the previous segments and there is a lighter feel to this segment (for the opening exchanges anyway). The scares are great, giving more in jumps in 15 minutes that the combined Paranormal Activity franchise combined. 

V/H/S is a great horror film. Mean and nasty, but with enough clever touches to stop it from being exploitive, there are enough scares and blood here for hardcore horror fans. Definitely not for those with a weak stomach though. All involved have made an entertaining and genuinely unique take on a horror sub-genre that has relied on safe and basic scares. V/H/S rectifies this, with blood-soaked aplomb. Be warned, it is intensely violent and gruesome. One for Halloween then!

78

RETROSPECTIVE: The Bourne Identity (2002)

Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Clive Owen
Running Time: 118 minutes
Genre: Action adventure

Matt Damon's first outing as Jason Bourne in 2002's The Bourne Identity was an exciting and occasionally exhilarating Euro thriller. The film (even more so with Greengrass's sequels) helped shape a new, darker and more realistic hero and take on action cinema, with its strive for realism over sensationalism and a reliance on intrigue and suspense filled action thrills over high and extravagant body counts. The Bourne Identity was the catalyst in the re-imagining of a genre on the wane. Released in the same year as the twentieth Bond film, the abysmal Die Another Day, Doug Liman's take on Robert Ludlum's spy franchise provided the perfect antidote to the now silly and irrelevant Bond saga that had began to sink under the sheer ridiculousness of the special effects driven gadgets and unimpressive villains/character development. Jason Bourne came at a time where films like xXx were being made and while being profitable, were just not very good. Bourne in essence returned action cinema to positive critical reception and reshaped Hollywood ideals on what the audience wanted to see.

Damon's Bourne is a complex character, one who is not the same man he was before the yacht shooting, a killer who has regained his conscience. In contrast to the ultra assured and confident guise of Bond (and backed by M16), Bourne is seen as a threat to his government, is suffering from amnesia and doesn't remember anything of his former life and has little to no backup or support. This change around, with the lead having to utilize basically a guerilla defence against his former employers and his constant being on edge with the prospect of assassins constantly on his tail allow him little time for wisecracks or any of the suave elegance Bond was afforded. There is a pace to the thrills in Bourne, they are quick and elaborate but never cross the borders of realism (on-screen 'movie' realism anyway). Perhaps the finest set-piece of The Bourne Identity (embedded below) that typifies the gritty and serious direction the film goes in is Bourne's confrontation with fellow assassin 'The Professor' (Clive Owen). There are no smiles, humour or show-boating, it is just what has to be done and the little talk between Bourne and The Professor (and with all credit to Owen, who gives a memorable performance despite the small screen time he gets) is not one hatred or illogical dislike for each other, it was what they are trained to do and The Professor's talk about the headaches (which Bourne complained about earlier) fills one with sympathy for him, as he is ultimately in the same predicament as Bourne. 

The films central villains Conklin (Chris Cooper) and Abbott (Brian Cox) are as reprehensible as possible, only self-serving and out to cover their backs which leads them to use Bourne as a scapegoat. Cooper is excellent and has a menace to his performance that draws you even closer to Bourne's fight. The most important plot point that makes Bourne likeable is his relationship with Marie (Franka Potente) and their relationship comes off as being genuine and Damon excels at these scenes, where you can see Bourne slowly falling in love with her, much like a boys first crush. A scene that Marie shows her obvious attraction to Bourne (but he is too preoccupied to notice) is when they arrive at the apartment in Paris, is a scene of genuine sweetness that only makes the viewer hope that they get away and live happily ever after. Despite all its strengths (and perhaps being held up to the vastly superior sequels), The Bourne Identity suffers from being too long and drawn out in parts and with Wombosi storyline in particular given too much screen time (despite it's necessity to the overall plot, it could have been handled better). 

Despite these small issues, The Bourne Identity all serves as a great origin story (much like Casino Royale, Batman Begins and countless others would do in the wake of Bourne's success) that Paul Greengrass would build on and elevate to unprecedented levels of greatness in the two sequels. Moreover, The Bourne Identity works as a great standalone thriller and equally serves as a good set-up for the sequels. Damon's now iconic performance as Bourne contains many of the traits that the modern action hero has come to embody, with his relationship with Marie as an emotional anchor and compass for him in his search for the truth and ultimately for freedom. Identity is a classic of modern action cinema.

84

FILM REVIEW: The Thing (2011 prequel)

Director: Matthijs van Heijiningen Jr.
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Running Time: 102 minutes
Genre: Horror thriller

A prequel to the 1982 classic of the same name on paper is totally unnecessary and uncalled for. Even now, 30 years after its release, the original film remains a masterpiece of psychological horror storytelling and the creature effects remain miraculously decent despite its age. So this prequel has an awful lot to live up to and it essentially comes off very much like 2010's sequel Predators, a film which captures the spirit of the original classic, but does little to elevate it from being a modern rethread.

A film like this can't help but be compared to the original as there are so many nods and winks to it throughout its 100 minute running time. Finding out how the Norwegian camp from the original came to end up like this was an interesting idea and at a basic level the style and set-design are excellent for the most part and consistent with the original. But much more important and an essential part of what made the original so tense was the characterization, the strong central cast who felt like more than filler for when the trouble began. In this aspect, this film fails, we are given Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Kate Lloyd, who is the sole character we get to know or appreciate in any way, with supports like Carter (underused Joel Edgerton as a Kurt Russell clone) and the two-faced Adam (Eric Christian Olsen) wasted. The rest are either cardboard cut-out characters, like the callous Dr. Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen), who are underdeveloped and given little room to be nothing but stereotypes. This would not matter if the film had a hidden ace up its sleeve, but it doesn't. Once the alien is loose, it becomes a stalk'n'slash horror with the body count rising steadily and some shoddy CGI (even compared to 1982's version, where prosthetics have held up considerably better) kill any tension that could have been sought from the creepy premise of not knowing who could possibly be the creature.

While entertaining as a throwaway action horror film, this prequel does not do enough to distinguish itself from the classic 1982 film. Much like other new rethreads of older classics, this film serves more as a homage to the original film rather than trying to invoke any unique and original scares/thrills of its own. Only for die hard 'The Thing' fans.

58

FILM REVIEW: A Lonely Place to Die (2011)

Director: Julian Gilbey
Starring: Melissa George, Ed Speleers, Sean Harris, Eamonn Walker and Karel Roden
Running Time: 99 minutes
Genre: Thriller

I saw Julian Gilbey's 'A Lonely Place to Die' knowing very little about the film. Marketed as a mountain climbing adventure that gets out-of-hand by the wonderfully misleading posters/promotional materials for the film that advertise a Cliffhanger-type thriller hide a truly great and thoroughly entertaining thriller that is tough and unforgiving and builds to a highly effective and strong finale. This is all propelled by a strong cast, relentless pace and terrific set-pieces. 

Set in the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, a crew of inexperienced mountaineers come across a kidnapped young foreign girl buried in a chamber. What follows is their attempts to get to a local town and warn the authorities. However, the kidnappers are on their trail and what should be a routine mountaineering expedition becomes a nightmare for all involved. The group, who are perhaps slightly generic on the surface with the battling female lead, the funny guy/love interest, the arsehole, the mother who misses her child and the fake lead. But with credit to Gilbey, the characters do not have long to fill these roles as once the kidnappers find out the young girl is missing, the action is relentless and the kidnapper's vicious in their pursuit of the girl. We are given very little insight to why the girl is so valuable, but with the introduction of  Darko (Karel Roden) and Andy (Oz's Eamonn Walker) the pieces fall into place. Melissa George is a great lead, tough yet inexperienced, she makes you feel for her plight. Ed (Ed Speleers) could easily be an annoying sidekick, but Speleers does a good job of keeping him amusing and genuine, and his making light of their horrible situation provides much needs moments of comic relief. The villains Mr. Kidd (the vastly underrated Sean Harris) and Mr. McRae (Stephen McCole) are worthy adversaries and are cold, vicious and brutal (as exhibited in their memorable introduction). Not to spoil from the films best set-pieces, but once the first shot is fired, the film becomes relentless in pace with the action non-stop and Kidd and McRae's menace becoming swiftly ominous. 

'A Lonely Place to Die' is a great little thriller. Despite the minor logic flaws, this a tough and entertaining film with George carrying the film with her charisma and presence in opposite to the devilish and sinisterly excellent Harris and McCole. If you like films with a raw edge, non-stop tension and action and a satisfyingly tense finale that packs a punch, 'A Lonely Place to Die' is for you. 

76

FILM REVIEW: Project X (2012)

Director: Nima Nourizadeh
Starring: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown and Kirby Bliss Blanton
Running Time: 88 minutes
Genre: Teen comedy

Early previews for Project X labelled it as the next Hangover/Superbad crossover hit. They were wrong, so very wrong. Unfortunately, unlike the two aforementioned titles, Project X comes off as a second rate crude 'comedy' that relies on the lead trio of abusing each other verbally continuously and over-reliance on "OMG we're the cool kids for tonight" type nonsense rather than genuine character progression or development. The lack of those themes in comedy have often worked a joy in the past, but for it to work, the characters need to be likeable and sympathetic to a certain degree and even more importantly, it has to be funny. The film has none of those going for it and is a cluttered mess of direly unfunny gags and swearwords.

To celebrate Thomas's (Thomas Mann) birthday, he along with his friends Costa (Oliver Cooper) and J.B. (Jonathan Daniel Brown) organize the house party to end all house parties. As the crowd grows too big and out of control, the shit hits the fan. That's it, that's the story here. How the writers thought they could possibly get 90 minutes worth of decent entertainment from that is beyond me, even if the script had at least a few laughs and the tiniest bit of charm. It fails spectacularly. The characters are generally generic cardboard stereotypes of the teen comedy genre; the geek, the fat one, the underachiever, the hottest girl in school, the John Cusack cool kid who is nice to the dweebs. The leads even lack the most basic charm or likeability as the birthday boy Thomas, betrays a girl he may be in love with to try and "get with" the school's most popular girl and woop-di-woop, gets caught in the process, but takes some drugs to get over it.  The ecstasy use depicted in the film infuriated me no end and the message that this film sends out to the no doubt legion of underage people that will be going crazy for this film. Taking ecstasy to assist in having a good party time and oh, well "I'll be fucked up tomorrow" after as the only side effect is irresponsible, even in the context of a fictional film is unforgivable (especially in a film marketed at kids). Seeing this blatant mixing of drugs and alcohol equating to fun times is irresponsible film-making and is exploitive and damaging. It's a party film, fine, but glorifying that kind of drug use on screen without repercussions (in fact, it's celebrated in the film with slo-mo scenes of underage kids taking tablets and having a 'good time'). All this would not have mattered if they learned a lesson of some sort or even if it was a genuinely funny film, but it really wasn't.

Project X misses the mark on all the promise of being the next Superbad. Mean, unfunny and basically a 90 minute advert for the latest party dance songs, this film is really poor. For those who enjoy seeing teen geeks fantasies about getting with skimpily dressed teen girls who are "out of their league", this film isn't even for you. It's that bad. Worst film so far this year.

13

FILM REVIEW: I Saw the Devil (Akmareul boattda) (2010)

Director: Kim Ji-woon
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Choi Min-sik, Jeon Kuk-hwan and Kim In-seo.
Running Time: 144 minutes
Genre: Thriller

Kim Ji-woon's return to familiar ground after the light-hearted but ravishingly excellent action funfest The Good, The Bad, The Weird is an uncompromising and tough serial-killer thriller that packs plenty of venom and shock moments. Ji-woon's talent for orchestrating gorgeous visuals (the opening blood-soaked snow scene) from bleak situations again sets this film apart from the average genre fare, as well as a thrillingly innovative game of cat-and-mouse between the terrific pairing Lee Byung-hun and Oldboy's Choi Min-sik.

After his fiance Joo-yun (Oh San-ha) is brutally murdered and dismembered by the vile and sadistic Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik), Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) is determined to have his revenge and make Kyung-chul suffer for his terrible crimes. A highly entertaining chase thriller ensues that is relentlessly bloody and gruesome as the duo trade blows. The set-pieces are adrenaline filled and quality of the highest order. Especially in a scene where Soo-hyun tracks Kyung-chul down to a house where the occupants have been taken hostage by a psychopath friend (Choi Moo-sung) of Kyung-chul's and all hell eventually breaks loose. The ten-minute scene is as exciting, brutal and terrifically choreographed scene you will ever see. Despite the films slightly long running time, the pace is relenting as the chase goes from set-piece to set-piece and as Kyung-chul becomes more desperate in his actions the tension is amped up to a finale that is as brutal and unforgiving as the previous two hours you have just witnessed. Central to the films success or failure is the performance of the two leads and gladly they both excel. Byung-hun has the tougher role as the mourning Soo-hyun, but his restrained, shell-shocked performance and relentless descent into Kyung-chul's world is fascinating and disturbing in equal measures. The real joy of the film is Choi-Min-sik's unhinged performance as the vicious killer Kyung-chul. He gives a gleefully sadistic performance and beneath his devilish smile is a psychopath unhinged with no remorse.

I Saw the Devil thrills on many levels. The role-reversal between killer and mourner is a joy and the cat-and-mouse thrills that follow are entertaining and gruesomely violent and give the film an extra edge and grit. The creative set-pieces and interplay between the two leads never fails to entertain and amuse. But be warned, this film is not for the faint of heart and is strictly for adults with a high gore and violence tolerance level. 

84

FILM REVIEW: Prometheus (2012)

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce
Running Time: 124 minutes
Genre: Science-fiction

While not up to the level of his Alien and Blade Runner efforts, Ridley Scott's big return to the science fiction genre is still a highly effective and creative thrill-ride that takes a well known mythology (of the Alien film series) and not only reinvigorates it, but turns the series in another and more ambitious direction. But while not being a proper prequel to Alien, it contains many odes and obvious references to the seminal 1979 film that made Scott an icon. This film aims to be bigger and more expansive than the Alien franchise and to a level it succeeds, but often at the expense of logic and gaps in continuity. 

From the opening scene, Prometheus is a gorgeous, wonderfully shot and epic looking film. Perhaps this epic and awe inspiring imagery covers up some of the inadequacies in the plot and with the characterization. Noomi Rapace does well with the well-worn female hero role and while being nowhere near as iconic as Sigourney Weaver's Ripley, she puts in a great effort as an archaeologist whose discovery may lead to the extermination of mankind. Her and her partner Charlie (Logan Marshall-Green) become part of the journey to explore the same star maps they found on different archaeological expeditions on earth. On board the ship (named Prometheus), we met the 17 strong crew who and their mission to make contact with extraterrestrial life. Even early on, the standout of the film is Michael Fassbender's David. Fassbender has proven himself as a terrific performer with his roles in Hunger and Shame and again here he is nothing less than stunning in his portrayal of this android. Effortlessly swaying from sinister to sincere, Fassbender's David is a joy. His emotionless performance and robotic delivery is frighteningly divisive, is he good or bad, should we be cheering him on or condemning him (especially in comparison to Alien's Ian Holm, of whom David is an earlier model of). Scott's various odes to Alien are common, none more so than the central villain of the piece, the space jockey (seen in Alien, but not explained) or as they are now called, Engineers. While fascinating and creepy, the plot holes start to come into effect here and it adds to moments of questioning that even pushes science fiction logic to its limits. But as the logic falls, the action suspense and space horror elements are very well done. There are quite a few cringe moments of gore that up the ante and bodies start piling up. Characters like Rafe Spall's Milburn and the underrated Sean Harris's Fifield get little screen time, they make enough of an impression to feel for their plight. Captain Janek (Idris Elba) is the captain of the ship and despite his lack of screen time, Elba is as charismatic as ever. Vickers (Charlize Theron) is the Burke (ooh, Aliens reference) of the film; a company woman with profit and power on her mind as well as a few secrets that turn out to be predictable and poor reveals. The biggest disappointment (besides his terrible make-up) is the genuine waste of Guy Pearce, an actor so good it's criminal to have him hidden behind 40 layers of prosthetics. 

A return to form this may be for Ridley Scott, it however still falls short of his classic Alien and Blade Runner masterpieces. But you have to admire the scale and ambition seen in Prometheus, it expands on a beloved franchise and breathes new life into a genre that has become stale and tame. Prometheus, while far from being a perfect film and having a weak plot, is a greatly entertaining science fiction thriller that is high on gorgeous visuals, big set pieces and a towering performance from the terrific Michael Fassbender.

79

FILM REVIEW: The Raid: Redemption (Serbuan Maut) (2012)

Director: Gareth Huw Evans

Starring: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhain and Pierre Gruno.

Running Time: 101 minutes

Genre: Action thriller

Indonesia is not a place you would traditionally associate with being at the center of modern Asian action cinema. Despite this, Welsh born director Gareth Huw Evans (who is based in Indonesia) has crafted one of the most entertaining, exhilaratingly pure action films ever made. Being an Indonesian production has only helped Evans in his vision, as surely a film with this level of violence and mayhem would have struggled to be financed in Western cinema. Without a doubt, The Raid: Redemption is the best action film since 2003's Thai martial arts epic Ong-Bak. 

The story is staggeringly simple and perhaps the films tagline is the perfect synopsis of what to expect here; "1 ruthless crime lord, 20 elite cops, 30 floors of chaos", simple, but highly effective. The lack of plot is almost instantly is forgiven (and forgotten) as the early exchanges only serve to amp up the 90 minutes of batshit bonkers madness that is going to follow. We are introduced to our hero Rama (Iko Uwais) and his fellow squad of stereotypes and cardboard cut-outs who we all know are only there for one thing; to die. We also get an unflinching and brutally explicit early look at the crime lord (and his two henchmen) and what our heroes are getting themselves into. Once the squad enter the building, all subtlety goes out the window and quickly descends into chaos, terrifically choreographed chaos with some of the most impressive and badass martial arts and shoot-outs ever seen on screen. While comparisons to 1988 action classic have been highlighted in some reviews (hero stuck in a building full of criminals), it bears very little resemblance and is more like Die Hard's coked-out-of-his-mind distant relative. The thrills come thick and fast and are high-octane and thrilling in equal measure. Necks snap, bones break, blood is let; it is an action junkies dreamland. But more importantly, each set piece is terrifically shot and entertaining and any slight concerns about set design or characterization go out the window (like some unfortunate characters literally do).

Gareth Huw Evans's The Raid: Redemption is the action event of the year. Highly inventive, in your face and containing a badassery level that is off the charts, The Raid: Redemption is a thrill-ride of chaos and carnage that will leave you breathless. And more good news, Evans is planning sequels. Oh my.

90

FILM REVIEW: The Innkeepers (2012)

Director: Ti West
Starring: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, Lena Dunham and George Riddle
Running Time: 101 minutes
Genre: Horror

Ti West is one of the most promising directors to emerge on the horror scene in quite some time. His films are highly influenced by stories that favour atmosphere over gore and character development over high body count. His style, highly reminiscent of 80's auteur John Carpenter, usually has a slow paced opening and a tense build to a finish that gives a finality that tends to allude most modern horror films (usually a cop-out or left open for a sequel). His latest effort, The Innkeepers, builds on the great promise shown in his previous effort, the little seen chiller The House of the Devil.

While billed as a horror film, The Innkeepers borrows from many different genres. There are elements of romantic comedy, slacker comedy mixed with psychological thriller elements that combined with the haunted house story create a peculiar and offbeat treat that is at the heart of The Innkeepers appeal. Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are working in the Yankee Pedlar Inn, a hotel which is closing down after the weekend. As the hotel is practically deserted (bar an ageing actress and a mother and son), Claire and Luke pass the time by maintaining Luke's ghost-hunters website and doing some ghost-hunting of their own in the hotel. While this all sounds like it has been done before story-wise, West builds up the relationship between Claire and Luke so effectively, that by the time the creepy stuff starts happening, we genuinely care for their safety and well-being. Paxton and Healy are great in their roles and both are immensely likeable, even as rom-com possible elements come into play. The effective build-up and introduction of actress-cum-psychic Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis) allows for the tension to grow further, as her ominous presence brings a sense of dread to proceedings. Like with his previous effort The House of the Dead, the final act sadly comes short, the big reveal of the actual ghost isn't as terrifying as it should be. But there still are still tense, effective chills to be had in the build-up to the underwhelming reveal.

Ti West is an great young talent. His old school direction technique and favouring of a slow and tense build up mixed with endearing character based development over cheap thrills and gore is a refreshing take in a modern horror film community where films tend to be blood-soaked and devoid of humanity. The Innkeepers is a traditional horror tale that embraces the ghost story genre with some modern beats. Add to this good lead performances by Paxton and Healy, where you are genuinely left worried for their safety and you have all the signs of good storytelling.

75

FILM REVIEW: How I Spent My Summer Vacation (aka Get the Gringo) (2012)

Director: Adrian Grunberg
Starring: Mel Gibson, Kevin Hernandez, Peter Stormare, Peter Gerety and Dean Norris.
Running Time: 96 minutes
Genre: Crime thriller

Mel Gibson's has had a tough time of it lately. His personal life has been full of embarrassing and controversial (however true they may be) behaviour. But whatever you may think of him as a person; as an actor, he is still the charismatic lead man that made him a worldwide star for over the 30 years. He carries this fun little thriller emphatically and even though the youthful looks have given way to an older, grizzled looking Gibson, he can still bring the chuckles and badassery when needed and with aplomb.

Driver (Gibson) is sent to jail in Mexico after stealing money from a dangerous crime boss (Peter Stormare). The premise is simple in that respect. However, the prison is unlike any prison you have ever seen before and is more like a town, where the powerful control the flow of drugs while the guards prevent violence and bloodshed. It may not be the most accurate portrayal of the prison system but it provides plenty of opportunities for fun set-pieces as Driver hatches an escape plan with the aid of a local kid (Kevin Hernandez) and his mother (Dolores Heredia). The mother and son are kept in the prison for a reason that endears them to Driver and soon we have entertaining sequences with Driver showing the kid the tricks of the trade. The humour in the film is great, it doesn't take itself too seriously and Gibson is not afraid to poke fun at himself, which is refreshing for an actor certain media have branded as a monster. In particular, a scene where love at first sight doesn't go as planned between Driver and Kid's Mom is a wonderful piece of misdirection and sets up the kind of film we're dealing with here, it's snappy and quick paced with great wit. Despite the often light tone, once the bullets start flying, it is as bloody and violent as they come. 

Gibson is back with a bang. He shows the natural charm and charisma that has delighted audiences for decades. Unfortunately due to his personal life this film seems to not have given a chance in the States and that's a great shame because this is a genuinely entertaining thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously. If you want a film that is darkly humourous and highly entertaining, How I Spent My Summer Vacation is definitely the film for you and a greatly enjoyable 90 minutes.

77

FILM REVIEW: The Dictator (2012)

Director: Larry Charles
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley and John C. Reilly.
Running Time: 83 minutes
Genre: Comedy

The Dictator could have been a great satirical comic piece that highlights flaws of a modern political world in turmoil. Instead we get a comedy that is big, dumb and not clever in the slightest. It turns out to be a great waste of the talented Baron Cohen and of a great premise, which should have been ripe for political and social parody. Instead we are offered a sluggish and obvious comedy that has more misses that hits. 

Baron Cohen's Admiral General Aladeen is the leader of the fictional country, the Republic of Wadiya. Likened to mega-rich Middle-Eastern countries with extravagant leaders, Aladeen's spoilt child leadership leads to threats from the U.S. and the U.N., whom threaten his oppressive leadership and summon him to the U.N. Headquarters in New York. Cue his betrayal and the eventual culture clash comedy we haven't seen a thousand times before. Sure some of his early insults aimed at environmentalist feminist Zoey (Anna Faris) are amusing, but it becomes a tired act quickly even in a film that is on the short side as it is. There are subtle moments of humour sparsely spaced out in the film, but they are sidelined in set pieces that act only to be crude and shocking (the helicopter trip, the zip-line scene) and are vitally not very funny. The most disappointing aspect of the film is how little it actually has to say about dictatorship and democracy, instead the focus is shifted to the joys of masturbating for the first time and assassinating anyone who does give Aladeen his way. While a speech at the end comes close to highlighting such political ironies, the preceding hour does very little to be anything more than a Don't Mess With the Zohan* rehash (although aimed at a purely adult audience, unlike Sandler's). 

After Borat and Bruno, the team of Charles and Baron Cohen have shown little in the way in progression. They have again settled for crude and shocking humour. Because of this, The Dictator is a disappointing film on so many levels. The political commentary is missing, the gags are not as funny as they want to be (oh look, another penis) and while Baron Cohen is a likeable screen presence (even as a cruel dictator), there is a lack of genuinely funny material and overuse of repetitive gags and a waster of talent (Ben Kingsley in particular) render this a dud.

36


* I haven't seen Don't Mess With the Zohan (thankfully), but from the trailer they look pretty similar in terms of rubishness.

FILM REVIEW: Monument Ava (aka Snitch) (1998)

Director: Ted Demme
Starring: Denis Leary, Colm Meany, Ian Hart, Martin Sheen and Famke Janssen.
Running Time: 93 minutes
Genre: Crime drama

A film I had never heard of until it was recommended to me on a film website, the late Ted Demme's 1998 Monument Ave. is a solid, if unspectacular crime drama, that has enough going for it through strong central performances (by Denis Leary in particular) to soften the traditional guises of the crime genre setting. 

The story follows Bobby (Leary) and his role in the Boston crime scene, where he works for the ruthless Jackie (Colm Meany) and just so happens to sleep with his girlfriend Katy (Famke Janssen). Bobby's loyalty to Jackie is tested by a murder of one of Bobby's associates, Teddy (Billy Crudup), right in front of him and his crew after his release from prison. As the police begin to interfere and Jackie becomes even more paranoid, Bobby longs to escape from his life of crime with Katy. All sound familiar? It does because it has been done to a certain degree before. Irish mob thrillers, while mainly playing second to the Italian mob film (perhaps The Departed as an exception) have always presented darker, grittier sides of crime lifestyle, portraying a more low-level criminality and it is no exception here. It is all run-of-the-mill stuff, and while Leary's performance is one of his better and more focused portrayals, the material never rises above solid into anything genuinely remarkable or memorable. 

A standard thriller. Monument Ave. has a good cast that are slightly let down by a generic set-up and finish. There are moments that suggest at something better could have been done with this film, and is evident in Leary's strong central performance, but the rest of the material never quite get to that level. A missed opportunity. 

61

FILM REVIEW: Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Director: E. Elias Merhige

Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Catherine McCormack, Cary Elwes and Udo Kier

Running Time: 92 minutes

Genre: Meta-fictional horror

Shadow of the Vampire is a fictional take on the making of F.W. Murnau's (John Malkovich) classic 1922 horror film, Nosferatu. The cast and crew are summoned to an old Slovak castle by the actor who will portray Nosferatu, Max Schreck (Oscar nominated Willem Dafoe who is wonderfully creepy), a supposed method actor who will stay in character throughout the film shoot. As the production arrives at the castle, proceedings take a turn for the surreal with Schreck's erratic behaviour seemingly behind some unsavoury events. 

E. Elias Merhige's film has a wonderful atmosphere to it, this uniquely set tale is in essence set up in such a way that echoes of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, of which Nosferatu was based on, but had the name changed due to it being an unauthorized adaption. As Murnau and his crew descend onto foreign territory, the sense of foreboding deepens as Schreck's behavior becomes stranger and as cast and crew members go missing/or are traumatized. A terrific sequence where Schreck tells of his history as a vampire is an acting master class by Dafoe, as Schreck nonchalantly catches and feasts upon a bat at the discussions end. As the full story begins to come to the light on Murnau and Schreck's dealings, a bloody finale ensues that wraps up proceedings neatly that allows the meta-fiction of the narrative to come full circle (the film is completed, but lots of people die).

Merhige has crafted a highly accomplished, atmospheric horror film that is held together primarily by the terrific performances by Willem Dafoe, the ever-reliable Malkovich and a strong cast of supporting characters. While the film has a great atmosphere and Dafoe is genuinely creepy, we never get the full promise of his horrific nature, or the scares to go with being a horror film. Despite this, Shadow of the Vampire is a entertaining peculiarity that rarely comes around, with a focus on atmosphere rather than simple chills and for that it deserves just credit.

72