A Fantastic Fear of not working with Edgar Wright!

So in keeping with my gregarious and generous nature, I very kindly got my younger brother a copy of 'A Fantastic Fear of Everything' on BluRay for Christmas. I know, I am too kind sometimes. And no one would doubt my intentions for saying this, but I was pretty keen to check this film out myself. But luckily not a whiff of ulterior motives at all, so it is a win win situation. Especially for you, as you get to read my ramblings on another film of modest public exposure.

So as you may or may not know, this film is produced by and starring our very own homegrown Mr Simon Pegg! Now he pretty much is the film, so you are going to have to be a big Pegg fan to enjoy this film. I essentially follows the life of an newly agoraphobic writer, who after ditching children's books to write about something a bit more gritty, has found himself closed off from the world in his flat through fear of being assassinated by anyone of the Victorian murderers that he has been researching for his new dark materials.

Due to this particular personal foible, this means that 90% of the screen time is just us, Pegg and his paranoid narration, jumping and screaming at any shifting shadow or creaking door. Luckily Pegg manages to prove to be a both comedic and sympathetic character, by being able to pull off the look of jumper and Y-Fronts with quiet grace that would rival Beckham in an H&M advert. Sure he is no Adonis, but he wears this outfit with such conviction that this is a perfectly normal attire for a man to be wearing whilst cowering for three weeks in his flat without a shower, that you are rooting for him to make good almost instantly.

Ever accompanied by his trusty bread knife, he even manages to make this a part of his ensemble, to the point that unless there is a gag based around him carrying it (or accidentally having it glued to his hand for that matter) you don't really notice it until it is gone. Like a behind the scenes sidekick noted only by his absence.

Seeing that you only ever experience characters from Pegg's perspective, via a phone call or shouting at people through his letter box, the flat and its contents become as much characters in this piece as the main man. The flat itself is shot in with drawn out dark shadows, filled with hidden corners and subtle eyes of the clippings of killers that he has been collecting. It is shot ion such a way that is far removed from realism, but to help us gain insight into how Pegg's character perceives his world.

And it is not long before you start to join in with the speculation! Being led through this tale by a man with severe paranoias and anxieties, it cannot be helped but to try and figure out the 'clues' with him. An inconspicuous spider broach on his agent's lapel must surely mean something?!?

Having a quick conversation with his therapist though is enough to kick Pegg into action and leave his flat to attend a meeting with a publisher. All he needs to do is pop to the laundrette with a knife glued to his hand, wash his smalls without notice and be on his merry way. But when the title suggests a fear of 'everything', this does not stop at laundrettes, and transpires to be the focal point for all of his fears. Without wanting to spoil the end, the film transpires that his most absurd fear proves to be the greatest he should have had, but by darn does he learn some lessons and get some inspiration for writing along the way!

Shot with a dream like quality and beautifully roaming the world of Pegg's mind, the film could almost look like something by Wes Anderson. But the scripting is clearly something that you can envisage Pegg being involved in. I can't help but being reminded of his 'Spaced' character Tim, but a version who has grown up a bit, and then gone completely over the edge.

As I have said though, for fans of Pegg and for a good bit of quirky British comedy, this film will definitely tickle you funny bone. Especially when they break out some gangster rap and refer to a children's story hedgehog as a "prickly cunt". If you aren't into the Pegg-mania you might want to tread a little more careful if you are thinking about this film. Beats going to the laundrette though...

Happy viewing...

Aquamarine Valentine

Ok, so although last time I commented on how long it has been since I last made a post, it has definitely been longer this time. I can assure you that this is purely down to my own laziness. Coming up to a new year though, an in keeping with all that 'new leaf' rubbish, I will try and keep this a little more of a regularly updated thing in the future!

Well, on to the good stuff, chatting amateur about films I have watched. In preparation for this post I thought I would go outside of my standard horror film rant (totally in keeping with my new leaf) and check out recent film with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine.

Now it has been quite some time since I have seen a film which is so simultaneously uplifting and depressing about a romance. It essentially tells the tale of the relationship between the two main characters at the very beginning and end of their relationship, which spans about a decade. As you can imagine the beginning is all romance and grand gestures. The type of thing that you are looking from a life affirming romance film.

At the beginning, Gosling is characteristically believable as the charming New Yorker from the wrong side of the tracks trying to impress a girl from classes above his station, and Williams plays a very convincing girl-next-door type, and her struggles at home with her family turn Gosling from gritty underdog to a knight in shining armour to rescue her. So far, so Pride and Prejudice.

In the sections covering the latter days of their relationship, the pair manage to portray a loving home for their child together, whilst also making it abundantly clear that any spark they may have had in their relationship has gone out the window many years ago. Gosling is believable as a solid father and friend to their daughter, willingly crawling around on the floor with her and playing animals to make sure that she is entertained and not subject to any arguments he and her mother might be having. Williams manages to completely flip her vision of the younger version of her character, and comes across as a world weary and strung out mother who is struggling to come to terms with the reality of her life many years down the line.

Jump back to the initial meeting, and despite the obvious chemistry between the two leads, their courtship comes cross as very twee and sometimes like the screenwriters are trying too hard to make a quirky/indie romance story. One scene in particular is Gosling singing and playing his conveniently stashed ukulele whilst Williams tap dances in a shop door way.

This difference between the beginning and the end are essentially juxtaposing the differences between the perception of love and a relationship, and the realities that need to be considered. Making the tag-line 'A Love Story for Anyone Who's Ever been in Love' all the more appropriate. The difference is also presented to us in even subtler ways. The camera work in the early years is a lot more dynamic, and almost comes across as handheld, which carries with it the nostalgia of a home movie. Contrasting this is the smooth more even shots of the latter years, showing a more realistic and sombre toned depiction of the realities of a long term relationship.

The films isn't all about bunches of flowers and "our" songs though, as both time lines dip their toe in some darker territory. The young Williams has to deal with the idea of having an abortion and making a decision during he procedure whether to go through with it or not. While the future couple have a tense encounter after trying to spice things up by visiting a sleazy sex motel, where they have a choice of staying in the 'Cupid's Cove' room or the 'Future' room. The lack of sexual drive between the couple is distinctly contrasting to the lustful throes of their youth, and casts into doubt the stability of the paid as a couple.

The film is carried by its two leads, who managed to make the characters they are showing at different stages in their life seem like completely different people, but with hints of their old selves shining through. Despite drunken bursts of rage, Gosling still manages to bring a tenderness to his older character, which makes him more endearing tat your would think. He is in essence the type of person who believes in the early years of the narrative, and is struggling to come to terms with the reality of the final result.

So as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the best way I can describe this film is to be simultaneously uplifting and depressing. Despite how thickly they lay it on at the early stages of the relationship, when this is contrasted with how things turn out, it actually comes as a relief and a brief reprieve to what could have been a thoroughly feel-bad film. So if you're not sue what kind of film you are in the mood for, this might be a good shout. If you don't enjoy all of it, you may enjoy at least half of it.

Also it is worth nothing, that despite 'old' Gosling having a terrible receding hair line, there seems to be little Hollywood can do to bring him out the top ten movie heart-throbs...lucky bastard.

Happy viewing...

Brothers in Arms

Sooooooo, it has been quite a while since my last post on here. I have had some difficulty accessing the internet for the past few months as I have moved out again, and taken an inordinate amount of time getting my connection sorted out. Then there was the issue of trying to remember my password! Which took me at least half an hour to log in tonight. But now that we are here, let's chat about a film!

Today's cinematic tidbit laid on the table is the 'fighter-film' Warrior. The story of two brothers, struggling to come to term with their own issues whilst being estranged from each other, comes to a head when they end up fighting each other in the final of the Sparta fighting final! I know what you are thinking, what are the odds! Two brothers who haven't seen each other for fourteen years, just happen to be at all the odds and face each other, and their demons, in a cage for a winner takes all brotherly bout.

What may be seen as just  film for muscle heads and MMA fans (that's Mixed Martial Arts to you and me), actually turns out to be a film about family bonds, skeletons in closets and catharsis. The five million dollar prize is the reward that both fight for, but or very different reasons. Tom Hardy's Tommy is fighting so that he can support the family of a fallen comrade in Iraq. Joel Edgerton's Brendan is fighting so that he can keep his home for his family alive. A very empathetic character in this current financial climate. It is set up early on that these brother's were trained to fight at a young age by their alcoholic father, played by Nick Nolte. This implies that the only way that they know how to communicate and resolve friction in their family is to resort to violence. That is why the fighting in this film is more about an expression of an unspoken feeling of exasperation or resentment, rather than about fighting. and it is the dialogue and the acting in between these massive bouts that give them meaning and hold the film together.

It is because of this that the players in this story are key to how the plot develops and how much more gravitas is given to the battles and how they plan out. The character of Tommy played by Hardy, is the archetype of a mistreated and misled youth, who has grown up into an intensely intimidating yet vulnerable adult. And there is no one better suited to playing a man with that dual persona that Hardy. We have seen from Bronson and the upcoming Dark Knight Rises that he ha more then enough physicality to show that he can appear to be a man made of pure fury. But behind that facade, we can see the tenderness and uncertainty of his movements that belie a far more significant side to his character. The contrast of how he fights, direct and brutal, contrast to his more awkward social interactions with his father, brother and adoring fans. It seems that only through confrontation can he feel truly sure of who is is, and for what cause he is doing what he is doing.

Contrary to the pure animalistic quality of Hardy, Edgerton's Brendon is played far more as the valiant and idealistic hero of the piece. Although by the end fight you really are rooting for both parties to be victorious, there can only really be one victor. Brendon is the perfect combination of the family man and tactical fighting machine. Where-as Tommy is brutal, and most of his fights are over in a matter of seconds due to big well chosen hits, Brendon appears to have a far more enduring fighting style, which sees him take more and more hits from the opponent, as he slowly works out their style, until it is time to strike. He finishes all of his matches with tap outs from crippling holds, rather than plain knocking to the ground with his fists, like Tommy does. By having his fighting style like this, he comes across as far more resilient, and therefore a lot easier to root for, as he is always the fighter making the comeback.

Now the influence the personalities have on the fights overflows into their personal lives. Tommy is a loner, a recluse, who defies the company of anyone, especially his family. He has infrequent burst of insight where he tells of his mother's death, but the majority of his heart ache and anguish comes from his fighting, which is to the point and brutal. Brendon, much like his tactical fighting style, has a far more complex relationship with his family, and is constantly trying to make amends with his brother. Also he is perpetually influenced by his family in the films, and is always trying to keep some form of balance, be it between his fighting and his family's perception of him as a loving husband and father, or between his job and fighting. Though I would have to admit, if my teacher at school was a cage-fighter on the side, I would of paid a shit load more attention in class.

Visually, the film is very engaging throughout. The filter on the lens is gives the entire film a very golden glow to it. Like the entire picture is shot through the vision of what a family photo album would look like. This represents how even the ferocity of the action is all rooted in the struggle to maintain the familial status quo. There is also extensive use of steady cam shots, giving a realistic POV or documentary visual to the film. This grounds the picture in more of a reality, making the hits feel harder, and the arguments more volatile. The realism of the shooting is carried throughout, with many of the shots being taken from odd angles, in which we manage to see everything we need to, but also have some sort of obstacle, be it the tessellation of the cage wiring or members of the crowd obscuring our vision. this creates distance between the audience and the action, showing the fighters in their own wold, and it is something we can only have a glimpse of, but not be involved in.

In all this film is well worth taking some time out to watch. Other than outstanding performance from the two leads, the supporting cast adds depth and character to roles which allow our mains to play off them well, and, again, set the whole story into the realm of the real. The gritty urban setting of Pittsburgh contrasts the warmth of the family and community felt in this film. This reflects the tone of the film in its whole. While the premise is that of a film about two brother locked in a war of muscle and brawn, the back drop and true story lies in the creation of an emotional journey of characters just trying to get by and live in the world that has been created around them.

Happy viewing...

A little less "Sixteen Candles", a little more "Friday 13th"

Well, my aim to blog more regularly hasn't been going fantastically well, but better late than never! Yesterday I was pretty bored and looking for something to easily pass the time. And what better choice that a low budget horror film! The more obscure the better. So I went for a little know Australian film called The Loved Ones. Basic plot is, crazy girl abducts high school hunk, and inexplicably tortures him at a home made prom night in the company of her father and invalid mother. I know what you are thinking, standard Saturday night in, yeh? Pretty much within the genre of gorenography, you can appreciate the efforts gone into to try and make this a more original film, but it does seem somewhat lacking.

The main give away for this feeling is the inclusion of seemingly pointless subplots. We repeatedly flit out to the main character's hapless best friend on a date with someone way out of his league, but a little off the rails. It provides the occasional bit of comic relief to ease the tension of the main scenes, but holds absolutely no bearing to the development of the main plot. Only a tenuous link is made between the girl and a previous victim of the psycho prom queen. This comes across to me as lazy writing, or at the very least just a bit desperate to make the film feature length. I get the feeling that they came up with the concept for the film initially, but had trouble in the screenwriting process to pad out the whole scenario to something over an hour. The answer; meaningless filler plot! The staple of any failing horror film.

So flagging sub-plots aside, when we are viewing the main action, it is quite good viewing. They manage to aptly build tension as the tortures of our lead get progressively worse. The thing I like about the approach here, is that they don't stop at the stage you think they will. Where as our normal expectation of a horror film would normal take us up to the point of maximum tension, and then hit us with some relief, a narrow escape, or a cut away, The Loved Ones delivers on the promise of what the tension has been building towards. For example, the psycho girl at one point is looking to drill a hole in the forehead of our protagonist. This is slowly built, with a few mishaps in her handling of the drill along the way, but right as the tension has been built up to breaking point, instead of the jump and calm, she just keeps going. We get to see her drilling into this young gentleman's head, and through his skull. Even a bit of smoke coming off it, just to you know how rough this is. They are nothing if not helpful in getting you into the moment in horror films. This happens in a few other instances in the process, from nailing his feet to the floor to injecting his throat with bleach so that he can't scream, apparently. (I'm not too sure on the scientific accuracy of this last one, but I am never one to question the logistics of a horror film too deeply)

Now the lead male in this piece (Brent) isn't the most empathetic character in the world. Sure, he is set up as being partly responsible for his dad's death when he crashes a car they are both in, so you start think he can't be all bad, and has had some trouble in his life, undoubtedly making him quite surly. But he does come across as quite melodramatic at times. Wearing a razor blade round his neck on a chain, so that he can self harm at any given moment to awesome rock music to showcase his teenage angst. While we are on the topic, his girlfriend notices his self abuse mark in the opening five minutes of the film, but just ignores them and carries on. No wonder he's got issues. Nobody seems to give a shit about this guy. Least of all me. I'm never really fussed enough about the outcome of this picture to really be rooting for anyone. I'm not cheering the villain and I am not cheering the 'hero'. In fact I am not cheering at all. Just sitting watching a film. Do please note, I don't actually spend most of my time literally cheering in room by myself watching films, complete with foam hand and vuvuzela. I'm more of an air horn guy anyway.

But in all the film is watchable. Not something I would watch again any time soon, but definitely worth a look if you really like the new wave of gore-horror films. The cast varies massively in the quality of performance, but the really memorable ones are the two crazies. They have an odd chemistry on screen which shows a lot of different sides to their, admittedly weird, relationship. There is the obvious protective father and daughter combo, the nurturing trainer and trainee ensemble, and the frankly weird man and woman Oedipus thing. This is by far the most uncomfortable thing to watch in the film, but at least they are trying to make things different. As the characters are the resident psychos in this flick, they are always going to be the ones with the most character, and most leash for the actors to go all out with the eccentricities. The psycho queen does well to flip between all out crazy lady and sweet yet malevolent girl, to make her an unpredictable force to be reckoned with. She evens gets her own Jason Vorhess/Michael Myers moment, when she is diligently crawling after her pray with a knife, after being hit by a speeding police car. Classic horror!


Happy viewing...

Steal my Sunshine

Sorry it has been a while since I have last posted. I have been relocating from the city to my home town, so has taken me longer than expected to pack all of my unnecessary belongings and DVDs. So now that I am settled I have been perusing the world of films I have not seen, and came up with a Danny Boyle film called Sunshine from a few years back. Initial impressions of getting myself ready to watch this film were high due to liking a lot of Boyle's work in the past, but a little bit hesitant due to the 'Sci-Fi' setting and concept of the film. Especially considering I have seen Duncan Jones' Moon before this, and was sceptical that a powerful drama set in space could be so aptly achieved twice in as many years. I will come to whether Sunshine achieved this as I go through my thoughts on the film.

Looking at the cast, there is a variety of actors here, and a fair few recognisable faces on the bill. But as this film was reeled in 2007, a lot of the faces would have not been as recognisable upon release. I think this is why I have not been as eager to watch the film until now. As the years have gone by some fine actors have come out f the wood work, and I like seeing how Boyle had his attention caught by them earlier, and to the reasons why they have made it into higher and higher profile films. Cillian Murphy has obviously worked with Boyle before on 28 days later, so you are aware of the performance that Boyle is able to get out of him. Chris Evans is a face that we are more used to seeing in a comedic tough guy role, who has especially shot into stardom in the last year or two due to his high profile role in Captain America as the titular hero. The other two big names we see are Mark Strong, the go to bad guy in cinema at the moment, and Rose Byrne who has been in three or four big films in the past year or two. The most established is probably Michelle Yeoh of Crouching Tiger... fame, but other than that the cast is relatively unknowns for bigger roles.

The point I am trying to make above, is that although many of the stand out actors in this film have mainly come into prosperity since the release of this film, it is reassuring to see that they have a good reason to be. The standard of acting from many of the cast is commendable, considering the fantastical nature of the concept. Essentially the characters in this piece are sent on an 18 month mission to release a bomb into the middle of the sun, to kick start it and prevent the end of mankind. Like I said, hardly a situation or state of mind you can really "method" your way into. None the less, the characters manage to portray a seemingly realistic depiction of the variety of reactions to such a weighty task, and to such extended isolation.

Chris Evans has a surprisingly strong turn as the pilot/mechanic 'Mace'. He is one of the first to show, on screen, examples of frustration with being cooped up on a ship with only seven other people for months and month on end. After this brief blaze of emotion, Mace soon withdraws the character to a far more detached position, and as someone who puts importance behind the mission over all else. He is the one who after all suggests that they don't go looking for a lost space ship when they hear a distress beacon, as the fate of humankind is in their hands, and any risk is too high to deviate from the job at hand. This point of view is followed through by Mace in the rest of the film, and reflects a quiet stoicism to him. A character that could have come across as a generic muscle head of the film, has been given depth by Evans, as he resists human nature to look out for his fellow man, and prizes logic and the big picture over sentimentality.

Conversely to Evans' performance, I found that Cillian Murphy to be relatively flat in his role. By all means I appreciate carrying a film of this scale in concept is difficult, as I discussed above, it is hard to deliver an accurate performance for a situation that is not conceivable in our current time. None the less, I found that Murphy was lacking in creating a character with which to empathise as our leading man. He was seemingly absent of personality, and was purely a blank canvas with brains to help progress the plot and explain some of the more complicated premises. Almost every other member of the crew had a passion, or a focus, that made them feel they had more depth that their role on the ship. Murphy's character 'Capa' was amazed by the fusion of the bomb they were carrying, but this was only really shown at the beginning and end of the film, and wasn't carried through in the rest of his performance.

Actors aside, the film is handled with a massive deal of care by Boyle, and visually, it is absolutely stunning. The slow moving shots of the ship as it floats through space is an obvious homage to the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but still manages to show it in a new and innovative way. It really shows the quality of the production design and the artistic direction that they have created such beautiful wide shots of the external scenes. the challenge here would seem to be that the backdrop of space if infinitely blank, and so without having and scenery to augment the image the ability to create these images is impressive, and quite frankly beautiful.

So although this is a high concept drama, with focus on the human condition under beyond human conditions, Sunshine is a very watchable film. There are enough enigma, fast paced action sequences and tense dialogue to keep the pace going. All the while asking posing big questions regarding the place of humanity on a small individual scale, when looking on saving humanity on global scale. The parallels with current events where people look to ignore smaller morale issues in light of working towards "the greater good" are evident, and begs the question, where do we draw the line. A film made by the supporting cast and cinematography, a definite watch for fans of Boyle and modern takes on the Sci-Fi genre.

Happy viewing...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Disappointment

Ok, now I am a pretty big Harry Potter fan. Mainly of the books rather than the films, but I still invest a lot in the films whenever they get released. They tend to be lacking for the main, but I always like seeing what I read and imagine from the books blown up on a massive scale on the big screen. Now from watching the eighth and final instalment of the saga in the IMAX, I have to say I felt very underwhelmed by the whole experience. I have tried to put a bit of distance between the viewing and writing this blog, in a hope that my observations would be less reactionary. However I feel that time has done little to subdue my discouragement with this film. There may be some spoilers further down, but as usual, I will just rant at you as things pop into my head about the film.

So overall the film felt half baked. I have spent the last 6 months defending the slow pace of the first part of Harry Potter 7, advising my friends and colleagues that the reason it wasn't the broom flying, spell casting extravaganza of previous Potter films, was that it was all building up to the second part, which would be a cacophony of magical mayhem to satisfy even the most discerning Potter-phile. I was wrong. The pacing of the film felt extremely stunted. It didn't build to a natural climax. Instead had a maelstrom of offbeats and haphazardly placed dueling sequences. although there was far more wizardry tan the first part, it seemed that it was squeezed in between the rest of the film, so that you didn't get to revel in the more exciting parts of the film.

For example the battle sequence of the attack on Hogwarts. Now in my mind this was going to be an epic clash of good versus evil on a Helm's Deep scale, from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Instead there were a few firework looking spells, some disorientating camera moves distracting from what was going on, and Harry and Co. running by exploding masonry, alluding to a much more interesting event happening just out of shot. Which it appears there was. After the first phase of the attack, Harry walks through the Great Hall, and spies all manner of characters dead on the floor. And we didn't see any of it. Tonks and Lupin, lying holding eachothers' hands, but not a glimpse of their grand final hurrah before death. After spending ten years building up these characters so that they worked on screen as well as they did on paper, just to have them lying on the cold floor with no attempt to let them leave on a high was really disappointing for me.

The one person we did get to see die was Bellatrix Lestrange. Now her final battle against Molly Weasley is notorious throughout the world of Potter fans, as Molly drops the 'B-bomb' all over Bella. But even this was robbed of importance, as the entire duel took up no more than 10 seconds. I saw the fight happening centre stage, a ring of people around them as the fight got more and more heated and extravagant, until the eventual demise of Bellatrix. now I know I am starting to allude to the various ways that I would have shown this film, and I know that the main reason I have an issue with this film is down to my affinity with the source material. Ah well, its my Blog, so I am probably going to continue in this manner anyway.

Fumbling of cherished parts of the story aside, there were a handful of redeeming factors in this film. anything where Alan Rickman was involved was amazing. From the get go he has been the epitome of what Severus Snape should be to me. His ability to honestly portray a character who we really cannot tell his moral leaning until the final denouement, still had me believing he could go either way, even though I knew before the film his true allegiances. The revelation of Snape's past and involvement with Harry's mother throughout, was touching and intriguing at the same time. It still required a slight more detail to show how Lily Potter turned from Snape to James Potter, but was by far the most developed piece of the film.

Another redeeming factor was some of the cinematography. as I have mentioned before, a lot of the battle sequences felt a little over complicated and confused the detail to which you could see the events on screen, but the wider establishing shots  of the castle, Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest were beautifully handled, and manged to regain some of the grandeur that a film looking to tackle a franchise of this size should be looking for. Harry, Ron and Hermione gliding across a London skyline on a dragon's back was particular stunning by subtly blending the familiar with the magical.

But in all the film couldn't be saved by these points. there were many things that were left unexplained, or relied on knowledge of the books to fill in the gaps. this is something in film adaptations that I don't like. It is one things to have little homages to the source material, that fans can pick up on. But to rely on this for larger facets of the plot seems to me to be putting too much onus on the viewer. The biggest thing that went unexplained, was also the point in the film which I knew I wasn't going to be able to look back on it favourably. When Harry is entering the Forbidden Forest to face off against Voldemort for the final time, he slowly walks into a clearing, with him on one side, and a platoon of Death Eaters and Voldemort on the other. Oh, and one addition, Hagrid. Hagrid goes to bellow at Harry "What are you doing here?!". No Hagrid, what the hell are you doing there! For someone who hasn't even been mentioned for the past two hours, only to turn up for no other reason than to look sad and carry a tiny Harry back to the castle afterwards, I feel he has no right to casting any aspersions upon anyone else for their reasoning for being there. As anyone who has discussed the film with me in person will know, this line is my least favourite thing about the whole film.

So I know that my disillusionment with this film is most likely my own doing for having such high expectations after loving the books so much, but it can't be helped that I feel let down by the finale to the Potter saga. Nonetheless, I still feel that considering how much of the final book they got out of the way in the first part, they did not make the most of the stellar material they left themselves with. Handled differently, and with the flow of the film managed better, this could of at least satisfied as the final instalment, but instead left you wishing they hadn't bothered with the film, so at least in your head the film could still have been as limitless and emotive as the book. And I won't even go into the '19 Years Later' scene...


Happy viewing...

I Am Legend...wait for it...dary!

I have recently taken to going though my back catalogue of films looking for something to blog about. It is through this random trawling that I came across a film I haven't watched in ages, the post apocalyptic film that is I am Legend. now, although this is strictly speaking a zombie film, it is one of a far more dramatic vein than most that I watch. Part of this is due to the time setting, being in a far more established future, 3 years after the infection has broken out. Also it focuses on a solitary character, Robert Neville, and the day-today of his life surviving a zombie-esque virus outbreak.

By focusing on the human element of the story, and narrowing the perspective to just one character, we are able to fully explore the psyche of our protagonist. The level to which we can empathise to Robert, is a testament to Will Smith's acting chops, as he has very little dialogue. This is because he has no one left to talk to, save for his trusty dog Sam. The interaction between Robert and Sam is heart-wrenching to say the least. As the film develops, we see more and more how much isolation has affected Robert's ability to cope with his daily routines. Frequently he has whole conversations with Sam, leaving pauses for response that only he can hear.

The desperation of Robert's scenario is shown at its peak with the death of Sam. After three years of no company but one man and his dog, the loss of this ever faithful companion, leaves him desolate, and seeking conversation with mannequins to fill the void. We see Robert talking to mannequins at earlier points in the film, but it always has a sense of levity to it. Like he is happy to throw idle chit chat at inanimate objects just to keep himself occupied. But when he confronts one mannequin, after Sam has died, and he weepingly begs them to say "hello" back to him, we get to see the cracks in sanity burst open through his awareness that he is alone.

Smith's performance throughout the entire first half of the film is enough to carry the whole piece on merit. But I feel that the second half does a lot to reduce that effort in the beginning. My main concern is with the portrayal of the 'infected'. While the majority of zombie based films will settle for slapping a bit of blood and make up on a person to give the effects of death, I often find myself wishing they had added a little more to it. In this case I wish they had taken some more away. The infected are almost entirely computer generated, and so have that crisp smooth look of being digital, in a film where the major strength so far has been the realism of Smith's acting. It leaves the monsters of the piece looking a little cartoony, and depleting their impact on screen when they are present and getting up to all sorts of mischief.

But as I said, this detail is more of a by-line in the film, when compared to the soulful and melancholic presentation of Robert by Smith. He has adopted an odd squint and grimace that belies his thoughts, and adds depth to the character, as if showing his constant state of anxiety and paranoia that the day he is currently living out could be his last. So we see him roaming around the empty city streets of New york, hunting game, farming crops and scouting for supplies, to show how by creating his own normality within an abnormal circumstance, he is able to keep those anxieties at bay as best he can.

Speaking of the deserted streets of New York, this is something that is truly a spectacle to see. I cannot even begin to comprehend the logistical nightmare of blocking off areas of Manhattan for some of these shots. Although you know it must have been done most with CG back-drops for the wider establishing shots, it does nothing to remove from the grandeur of the images. A sky line and city we are so used to seeing in popular culture as being the city that never sleeps, being transformed almost literally into an urban jungle is so profound, that it has to be viewed to be appreciated.

So the film as a whole is watchable, but not unmissable. If you are a fan of Will Smith, and I can't imagine many who aren't, then it is definitely worth watching for his performance alone. Keep an eye out for a cameo from his daughter Willow "Whip My Hair" Smith too. As a zombie film, far from the standard, an an interesting new perspective on the genre. But if it is something a little more gratifying in the zombie department that you are after, I would recommend sticking to the classics.

Happy viewing...