Hugh Jackman and Walk The Line director James Mangold make a modest... ahem... stab at rescuing The Wolverine from bloated too-many-mutants boredom with this stand-alone adventure that owes more to Clint Eastwood's man with no name than it does to the Stan Lee back-catalogue.
Logan, once again alone and wandering the wilderness, is summoned to Japan by a man from his distant past and becomes caught up in a power struggle between the dynastic family of a powerful corporation, Yakuza gangsters, and some shadowy ninjas (are there any other type?).
On the plus side, for at least two thirds of the movie this keeps The Wolverine grounded amongst real people; vulnerable, disorientated, and in grimly emotional turmoil. Hugh Jackman doesn't have to work very hard to pull this off, his powerful presence and comfortable familiarity with the role playing to the strengths of a tale that commendably cuts free of mutant hi-jinks for most of its running time, and indulges in some fairly obvious, but pleasingly underplayed culture-clash elements inherent in this setting.
It's kind of a shame then that the film takes a jarring turn into the third act, feeling duty bound to deliver some big FX silliness. The tonal wrench feels deeply uncomfortable and also leaves great gaping holes in the arcs of previously intriguing characters.
Not the disaster of his previous solo outing. There is good work in the brooding western-influenced tale and for the most part things coast along nicely on Jackman's effortless charisma. If only they could have held their storytelling nerve through to the end.
Rating: 3/5
Wednesday 31 July 2013
Wednesday 24 July 2013
13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku) (2010)
The prolific and protean Takashi Miike, having already amassed a vast and varied back-catalogue of contemporary thrillers, romance, comedy, gore, action, drama and musicals in less than two decades, sucks it up and takes on Kurosawa with this period samurai epic.
Japan, 1840s. It is an era of peace. A time of waning power and relevance of the samurai order, and the decaying final years of the ancient feudal Shogunate regime.
Lord Naritsugu, the preening and sadistic younger brother of the current shogun, carves out a swathe of terror and suffering, seemingly out of mere listless petulance. But with higher political office likely to come his way soon, and following the protest of ritual seppuku committed by a wronged clan leader; Sir Doi, a senior official in the current political order, covertly seeks out an experienced samurai to help rid the land of this cruel and dangerous presence.
From this set up, you can probably guess the rough structure of what follows. Our de-facto master samurai must assemble a small group of warriors to ensnare and take down the evil overlord, protected as he is by a small army of his own. This will involve the recruitment of some grizzled old fighters who have seen better days, some over-idealistic young students who have yet to fight a real battle, and of course, an unruly, somewhat comedic outsider who will be grudgingly admitted into the ranks against better judgement to make some unlikely but crucial contribution.
Whether it's Seven Samurai, The Dirty Dozen, or Ocean's Eleven, this is a movie in that grand tradition of the numbered, but outnumbered team of good guys taking on a big bad against the odds. What matters here is not that we can't see what's coming, but that this is a movie that takes such care and pleasure in the unfolding of the story.
Naritsugu is a truly appalling creation, grotesque in the casual disinterest he shows in the terrible violence he inflicts, like a child half-heartedly pulling wings of insects in boredom. He's a man out of time, no longer of use to a Japan at peace and soon to join the modern world. He only seems to engage with anything when the heat of battle is up, but even then, not to care over the win or loss that he and his men might achieve or suffer, but merely to have, briefly, any consequence at all.
The samurai , we gradually comprehend, are in a similar situation. The long unfolding of the first act explores the archaic ritual and routine of their antiquated order, the rich and complex intertwining of codes of honour, and conflicting loyalties, but also of nostalgic wistfulness for glory days long passed. It's a powerful and telling moment when the leader Shimada is shown (in an effort to sway his heart in horror and pity to the mission being proposed), a woman tortured to a gut-wrenching, nightmarish vision of Dantean hell, and rather than displaying anger or grief, his mouth twitches into a wry smile. He's just been shown a reason and purpose for his continued existence.
After that, it's men on a mission greatness. Plans, maps, subterfuge and misdirection, treks lost in the wilderness, and the "let's make our stand here" turn, with all the classic war movie / western / A-Team tension-ratcheting preparation that this entails. The third act battle is coming, and it's going to be something special.
A smartly constructed, character-rich adventure that segues into an object lesson in clear, dynamic battle staging that takes up at least a third of this lengthy movie and never bogs down or loses focus. Takeshi Miike, the enfant terrible of Japanese gore, and crazed seven-films-a-year auteur of chaotic zombie-musical-comedy spoofs has pooled all his considerable talents here to craft an altogether more mature work. And, if he hasn't quite equalled the perfection of Kurosawa's samurai masterpiece, he's come majestically close.
Rating: 5/5
Japan, 1840s. It is an era of peace. A time of waning power and relevance of the samurai order, and the decaying final years of the ancient feudal Shogunate regime.
Lord Naritsugu, the preening and sadistic younger brother of the current shogun, carves out a swathe of terror and suffering, seemingly out of mere listless petulance. But with higher political office likely to come his way soon, and following the protest of ritual seppuku committed by a wronged clan leader; Sir Doi, a senior official in the current political order, covertly seeks out an experienced samurai to help rid the land of this cruel and dangerous presence.
From this set up, you can probably guess the rough structure of what follows. Our de-facto master samurai must assemble a small group of warriors to ensnare and take down the evil overlord, protected as he is by a small army of his own. This will involve the recruitment of some grizzled old fighters who have seen better days, some over-idealistic young students who have yet to fight a real battle, and of course, an unruly, somewhat comedic outsider who will be grudgingly admitted into the ranks against better judgement to make some unlikely but crucial contribution.
Whether it's Seven Samurai, The Dirty Dozen, or Ocean's Eleven, this is a movie in that grand tradition of the numbered, but outnumbered team of good guys taking on a big bad against the odds. What matters here is not that we can't see what's coming, but that this is a movie that takes such care and pleasure in the unfolding of the story.
Naritsugu is a truly appalling creation, grotesque in the casual disinterest he shows in the terrible violence he inflicts, like a child half-heartedly pulling wings of insects in boredom. He's a man out of time, no longer of use to a Japan at peace and soon to join the modern world. He only seems to engage with anything when the heat of battle is up, but even then, not to care over the win or loss that he and his men might achieve or suffer, but merely to have, briefly, any consequence at all.
The samurai , we gradually comprehend, are in a similar situation. The long unfolding of the first act explores the archaic ritual and routine of their antiquated order, the rich and complex intertwining of codes of honour, and conflicting loyalties, but also of nostalgic wistfulness for glory days long passed. It's a powerful and telling moment when the leader Shimada is shown (in an effort to sway his heart in horror and pity to the mission being proposed), a woman tortured to a gut-wrenching, nightmarish vision of Dantean hell, and rather than displaying anger or grief, his mouth twitches into a wry smile. He's just been shown a reason and purpose for his continued existence.
After that, it's men on a mission greatness. Plans, maps, subterfuge and misdirection, treks lost in the wilderness, and the "let's make our stand here" turn, with all the classic war movie / western / A-Team tension-ratcheting preparation that this entails. The third act battle is coming, and it's going to be something special.
A smartly constructed, character-rich adventure that segues into an object lesson in clear, dynamic battle staging that takes up at least a third of this lengthy movie and never bogs down or loses focus. Takeshi Miike, the enfant terrible of Japanese gore, and crazed seven-films-a-year auteur of chaotic zombie-musical-comedy spoofs has pooled all his considerable talents here to craft an altogether more mature work. And, if he hasn't quite equalled the perfection of Kurosawa's samurai masterpiece, he's come majestically close.
Rating: 5/5
Thursday 18 July 2013
Pacific Rim (2013)
Pacific Rim: a review: GIANT MONSTERS FIGHTING GIANT ROBOTS! MORE GIANT ROBOTS FIGHTING MORE GIANT MONSTERS!!!!! EVEN MORE GIANT MONSTERS, EVEN MORE GIANT ROBOTS, EVEN MORE FIGHTING!!!!!!! (something something rubbish dialogue and cheesy characters) SORRY I DIDN'T CATCH THAT, IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE FUCK-OFF GIANT ROBOTS FIGHTING THE FUCK-OFF GIANT MONSTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and that concludes my detailed academic analysis of Pacific Rim.
Rating: 4/5
Rating: 4/5
Thursday 11 July 2013
Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi) (2008)
A young boy named Yu, after the passing of his mother, dreams of finding his perfect "Virgin Mary". But years later, and racked with the displaced guilt being piled upon him by his failing priest father, he becomes, naturally, the leader of a martial-arts panty-shot photography gang, and his antics bring him to the attention of both a cult-leading psychotic with an abusive past, and the kick-ass girl of his dreams who falls in love with his cross-dressing alter-ego.
At this point we are about fifty minutes into the set-up of Sion Sono's epic Japanese misfit soap opera, and now the opening titles roll. This is not your traditional romance. It's overlong, undisciplined, funny - both ha-ha, and peculiar. But, almost sneaking it in under the radar, unexpectedly affecting.
As Geoffrey Rush once sagely observed of his punters' entertainment needs in Shakespeare In Love, "You see - comedy, love, and a bit with a dog", and he was nearly right. Just add Catholic guilt, cult brainwashing, terrorism, madness, bobbitting, upskirt-fu, blood-soaked chopsocky vengeance and a lot of awkward erections. Oh but leave out the dog. At four hours running time there's only so much you can fit in.
Rating: 3/5
At this point we are about fifty minutes into the set-up of Sion Sono's epic Japanese misfit soap opera, and now the opening titles roll. This is not your traditional romance. It's overlong, undisciplined, funny - both ha-ha, and peculiar. But, almost sneaking it in under the radar, unexpectedly affecting.
As Geoffrey Rush once sagely observed of his punters' entertainment needs in Shakespeare In Love, "You see - comedy, love, and a bit with a dog", and he was nearly right. Just add Catholic guilt, cult brainwashing, terrorism, madness, bobbitting, upskirt-fu, blood-soaked chopsocky vengeance and a lot of awkward erections. Oh but leave out the dog. At four hours running time there's only so much you can fit in.
Rating: 3/5
Friday 5 July 2013
XXY (2007)
Alex is a fifteen-year old intersex teenager, living with "her" family on the remote coast of Uruguay, and dealing with the tribulations of growing up living on medication to control her sexual development, and the difficulties of forming relationships with her peers. Now, her mother has invited a friend's family to visit with an agenda involving possible sex reassignment surgery, but the surgeon friend also brings his introverted teenage son, who strikes up a bond of sorts with Alex.
Lucía Puenzo's sensitive and intelligent drama successfully holds a steady line between what could have tipped into lurid sensationalism or mawkish melodrama with understated grace. She elicits a clutch of fine and naturalistic performances from her largely inexperienced cast, most impressively from young Inés Efron in the central role of Alex, who convinces in an obviously tricky role with a totally believable and rounded character who contains elements of sullen teenager and aggressive tomboy without allowing either to define her.
From a seemingly rather esoteric set-up, Lucia's tale engages instead with the universal experiences of coming-of-age: Bullying, rejection, first love (of a sort), and the pain of feeling like an outsider, of being different... and that this is OK.
Rating: 4/5
Lucía Puenzo's sensitive and intelligent drama successfully holds a steady line between what could have tipped into lurid sensationalism or mawkish melodrama with understated grace. She elicits a clutch of fine and naturalistic performances from her largely inexperienced cast, most impressively from young Inés Efron in the central role of Alex, who convinces in an obviously tricky role with a totally believable and rounded character who contains elements of sullen teenager and aggressive tomboy without allowing either to define her.
From a seemingly rather esoteric set-up, Lucia's tale engages instead with the universal experiences of coming-of-age: Bullying, rejection, first love (of a sort), and the pain of feeling like an outsider, of being different... and that this is OK.
Rating: 4/5
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