Review: The Equalizer (2014)

I'm a huge fan of Denzel Washington. I pretty much love anything he is in. I haven't seen everything though, and that is something I must rectify. When I heard he was doing The Equalizer, I was very excited. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day with Denzel) has proven he is no slouch when it comes to quality action/drama films, and the result of the two together again is great.

This film has a slow introduction to the character's at play, but not boring. We get to learn about our Equalizer and his life at the moment and the people he's interacting with daily. From this we can see he is just a guy with a dark past, but with a heart of gold. But, as the film gets going, it releases its rage on you, as you feel every punch and action beat the film throws out. It's not glossy action, but a raw hard hitting type. Robert McCall is a quiet and calm man, but has a ferociousness that, if unleashed, will decimate everything in his path. 

The story, in brief, sees McCall help out a young girl caught up in the prostitution racket for Russian mobsters. He doesn't know the extent to which these people's power extends when he "assists" her. This in-turn unleashes a villain that is quite satisfactory in the form of Marton Csokas. This guy is always playing bad dudes, but I really liked this one. He had the brawn and brains to match those of McCalls. What plays out is a great game of sorts between the two.  

I really enjoyed this film. It has some imaginative fight/action scenes, great character development and, well, I love a good vengeance orientated movie as well. Denzel would have to be one of my favourite actors, so I may be a little biased when it comes to his movies. But, seriously, this is a quality action/drama/thriller film. Fuqua has proved to me at least that he knows how to craft a solid picture, and this is certainly of high standard. I hope this film is a success, as it very much deserves to be. 

Rating:

4 out of 5.

Review: The Rover (2014)

I'd really been looking forward to seeing David Michod's follow-up to the great Animal Kingdom. The Rover is a completely different film to that, and frankly, I was a little bit disappointed. I've probably hyped it up too much for myself after such glowing reviews. I did the same thing with Snowpiercer - felt let down after that one too.

The Rover is technically an excellently produced film. The cinematography of a stark post apocalyptic Australian outback is fantastic. You really get immersed into the barren world created here. You can feel that sweat and dirt that the character's are covered in. The flies hanging around are almost like character's themselves.

The film starts out quite well. The plot itself is pretty simple - Guy Pearce's car is stolen, and he wants it back. So, we see this theft pretty early on, and then the initial chase. This is quite a tense sequence of events. After this though, it almost completely drops off.

What happens then is a study of Pearce's and Pattinson's characters. It's not that i didn't enjoy the interaction, but it just felt like I was sitting around wating for more to happen. The whole time I'm wondering more and more about the back story for each and we're getting tidbits, which is good, but, I think that slow pace is what let it down for me. Although it picks up in the last 15 or so mins, and the ending closes some of those 'what is going on?' questions, I just felt deflated.

Pearce and Pattinson are very good performance wise. Guy is pretty good in almost anything, but Pattinson is the surprise here. He's completely ditched the Edward Cullen persona in this film. I almost felt like he was channelling Billy Bob's character is Sling Blade at some points.

All up, worth watching for sure, and I probably will again one day. But, just not the gut punch I thought it would be.

Rating:

3 out of 5.

TMTW August 2014 Review

This month I watched 23 films, which includes 5 rewatches. Of the 23, my recommendations would be anything I rate 3 or more out of 5. For me, 3 stars is a good film, worth watching once. The best new release I watched this month was Guardians of the Galaxy. Read my full review here

Films

5 star films

Warrior (rewatch)
Groundhog Day (rewatch) 

4.5 star films

Star Trek Into Darkness (rewatch)
Kingdom of Heaven (rewatch)

4 star films

Calvary

Guardians of the Galaxy
Insomnia (rewatch)

North by Northwest
The Shining

3.5 star films

Lucy (review here)

Out of the Furnace

Homefront

Misery

The Book Thief

Man on Wire (Documentary)
Predestination
Not Suitable for Children

3 star films

Safe
The Expendables 3 (review here)

Dog Day Afternoon
Sleeping Beauty (2011)

Below 3 star films

The Other Woman (2.5 stars)

In The Cut (2.5 stars)

I usually write a short review for most films, with major blog entries for some. My short reviews can be found here on letterboxd.com

TV

This month I finished a great show - True Blood. This show has been such fun to watch. Caters to my love of vampires, with more than a dash of sex. I've been a fang banger wannabe since day one, and it was sad to see this show come to an end. The final season was quite a slow one, plodding along and closing off the character's stories. I was mostly happy with the overall ending. Can you ever have the perfect ending to a tv series? Goodbye True Blood. I have very fond memories of you. 

Finished season 2 of The Following. I have to say, although I like and enjoyed the season, I probably won't be back for season 3. It's just not as gripping as when it first started. I find I am being a lot more picky these days. I finished season 1 of The Americans. Again, I did enjoy it, but I just don't feel the pull to come back for season 2. I haven't made up my mind on this one, so we'll see. 

Started and finished the miniseries Top of the Lake. It's a mystery thriller cop show set in New Zealand. Beautifully filmed, and well acted. The story is pretty engaging, and the ending will leave you a bit like......fuck! Probably a little odd in places, but it had an authentic small town story vibe going on, which was quite good. Definitely check it out. 

Said goodbye to another very much loved show - The Killing. This show hit the chopping block after season 2, but it got a reprieve. season 3 had a blow you away ending, and then the show got cancelled - again. I recently found out it got a 6 episode season 4 run to finish it off properly, which was extremely satisfying. This show actually ended perfectly. 

Finally got started on season 5 of The Vampire Diaries. I know what you're thinking - "really, you watch this show?" It's the real guilty pleasure amongst my line-up. It has a fast pace, and is just so cool. Again, I love vampires, so it is catering very nicely. Another show about vampires I am continuing with is The Strain. It has gotten better each week, but I feel it still hasn't reached an addictive level for me. I'll definitely continue with it though, as I would at least like to give the first season a complete go. 

Thanks for reading. Share your thoughts and/or recommendations below.