Review: Baby Driver (2017)

Strap yourself in for a fun ride. I was initially not all that excited to see Edgar Wright's latest directorial effort. I like/love his films, but there was something about this film that didn't really get me initially - I think it was the actual title. As stupid as that sounds, I thought the title "Baby Driver" sounded a bit lame. But, as time went on and I saw a trailer and then the reviews started flooding in, well, I changed my tune.

I asked a mate that loves car films to see this with me. He likes to watch films without knowing anything about them. I told him it was called Baby Driver - that's it. He wouldn't have looked it up. What I was secretly wondering was whether he would indeed like this film - hell, I wondered if I would too. You see, he hated Hot Fuzz after I recommended it to him. I love Hot Fuzz by the way.

What did we think? Not only is it a fun ride, he thought it was awesome. I think he reacted to it better than what I did, and I loved it.

The car scenes are very well executed. They're exciting and tense, and there's some playfulness to them. Baby, the Driver, listens to his iPod almost incessantly. He has specific tracks to drive to. To set the mood, to give him perfect timing behind the wheel. From the first scenes, you know you're going to enjoy the movie.

The other aspect that got me is the emotional story behind Baby. Without going into it, as an audience member it was important to feel that connection to him and his story, and Wright really nailed it. His chemistry with Lily James is on fire. She is just an absolute delight.

The humour is great, but not too over the top. After all, this is a reasonably serious situation for Baby with deadly consequences in this world of crime he's reluctantly involved in. Another aspect I really liked, is that the story doesn't go the way you think it will.

This is definitely a must-see film. The music is groovy and really tops off the driving scenes. I can tell you now, the drive home from the cinema was an inspired one.

4/5

Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

The 6th film in 15 years and the 3rd actor to play the iconic role. I admit, I wasn't really excited to see this film. With a baby in my life now, this was probably going to be one film I decided to miss at the cinema. Well, I am glad I took the opportunity to go with some mates - because it was a blast.

Tom Holland made his debut as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. He was often cited as stealing the show in that film. I don't think so, but he was a great addition to the already bumper cast. It intrigued me to see where they could go with the character, but, I wasn't exactly hanging out for it. I suppose I was still wanting to see Andrew Garfield get a chance to have a great third film in his turn as the character. I loved Amazing Spider-Man, somewhat liked Amazing Spider-Man 2, but really wanted to see where that universe would go. Oh well...

Back to this film. Holland nails it. I have absolutely no clue about how Spider-Man is portrayed in the comics or the animated shows, but he really does provide a fresh take on the characters of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. This is the aspect that got me the most - it didn't feel like a retread.

Peter Parker in this film is a real teenager. Although Holland is 20-21, he perfectly encapsulates what it is to be a teenage boy. He and his geeky sidekick build lego star wars, check out chicks out of their league and get teased by seniors.

Michael Keaton as the villain Vulture - excellent work from the 89/92 Batman. Keaton is great as a good guy and as a bad guy in films. Here he is really showing how masterfully he can play unhinged, not to the point of batshit insane, but just enough to make him unpredictably deadly.

Much to my surprise, the story is fairly grounded and the presence of Tony Stark/Iron-Man is limited. I was concerned that the film may focus too much on this character and take away from Peter - but, this is definitely a Spider-Man film. Stark plays a great mentoring role, and that's pretty much it.

There's plenty of humour in this. I was laughing out loud quite regularly, and very invested in the journey of the Parker/Spider-Man. The action is exciting but not over the top. This is an excellent film overall. It stands up there with the first two Tobey films - maybe even higher.

4.5/5

Review: Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

In simple terms - a fun film and pure popcorn cinema. However, it does lack the excitement and emotion of the 1, 3 and 4. Let me expand a little.

Transformers 5 is exciting - in parts. For great periods of this film it gets lost in establishing and explaining the story. One key thing as well, even though I did like the story, is the lack of actual Transformer action. There are moments here and there, but the main piece is at the end. At least with the other films, a lot of the action was more Transformer centric. In this one, it seems to be more about Cade Yeager. Now, yes, the human element should be prominent, but I think the balance was way off here. There are also a lot of human characters being juggled, at the expense of Transformer action.

Even though I was enjoying it, this one actually did feel a bit long. The major element though that hit me quite late in the film, is the lack of emotion in it. There are hints of it, but I realised towards the end that the absence of a central character is why it felt a bit empty to me.

Overall, it is impressively shot. There isn't many out there that can shoot action on the scale that Michael Bay can. I'm a major fan of his work, but here he seems to be focussing on bigger scale and in the process he lost sight of the emotional element to the added dimension in the story.

3/5

Review: Wonder Woman (2017)

Gal Gadot and Director Patty Jenkins deliver the goods - in a big way. Before Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, I didn't have a huge amount of interest in Wonder Woman. Sure, I've seen the Linda Carter tv show as a kid, but, to me it's always been about Batman and Superman.

In BvS, Gal Gadot just shined as Wonder Woman. She had the beauty, strength and screen presence to really make me sit up and take notice. Since then, I waited with great anticipation for her origin story.

As far as origin stories goes, this is top notch. It is right up there with the best including Spider-Man, Batman Begins, Iron Man and Man of Steel. As part of the DCEU, I would say I love it as much as MoS and BvS.

Jenkins and her crew bring to life a great story. The opening scenes in Themyscira are exciting and showcase the fighting skill of the amazon woman. The journey from there to London and into the battlefield adds greater depth to Diana as she discovers the bleak reality of men and their passion for war and terror. The fish out of water scenes are handled well. Not too comedic but enough to show you how sheltered the paradise has been from the outside world.

Gadot has been perfectly partnered with Chris Pine. Together, their chemistry sizzles. Pine himself is excellent as the hero that is not necessarily a superhero, but just a damn good man - perhaps an above average one.

Overall, the production is excellent. Perhaps some not so convincing CGI in some places, and some lulls in the pacing, but they're minor complaints. I look forward to Justice League even more now, and really do hope we see another solo Wonder Woman film.

4.5/5

Top Films for 2016

2016 felt like a really big year for me. I haven't been tracking my films watched for many years, but with 330 films under my belt in 2016 it must be one of if not my best ever. The 330 includes 98 rewatches and a bumper 42 visits to the cinema. Damn good year, and definitely one of my last big years for a quite some time - baby on the way. 

I usually do a write up for my top films list, but this year I took some inspiration from others and did a top films video instead. It's is a 5 min clip, with honourable mentions also included. My top films are any film I rated 4 star or more and it's based on Australian release date. My honourable mentions are 3.5 star films. Enjoy! .... And thanks for reading and watching. 

Review: Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Once I heard earlier this year that Mel Gibson had a new directorial effort coming out, I knew it would be a must see film for me. Even though he has made few films from behind the camera, they are all arguably very good or great films. The man knows how to tell a story - and typically quite violent ones. Gibson's last film as director was Apocalypto (2006). Hacksaw Ridge has been worth the wait.

Andrew Garfield stars as Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist that enlisted in WWII as a conscientious objector. He refused to carry a gun and kill the enemy, instead he wanted to help soldiers as a medical officer. What plays out on screen is not necessarily a religious story, but more the story of one man adhering to his convictions in the midst of an extremely harrowing part of history.

The film is comprised of two distinct sections. The first half is the introduction of the Desmond and his family life. We see him fall in love and decide to enlist. The second half is the war, and this is where the what may be perceived as a slow first half comes full circle. If you think you have experienced intense war films - think again.

Blood, guts, bullets, dirt, sweat, emotion and every nightmare (literally) of war is realised to perfection. Doss and his fellow soldiers in hell on Hacksaw Ridge. The performances throughout and especially in the war scenes are impressive. Garfield himself is outstanding, and I will be shocked if he doesn't see some recognition for his role come award season.

Gibson takes us deep into the belly of the beast that is war. Not only is this film an overall amazing production, the depiction of Desmond's story and the the emotional journey ensures you can't just let it go when you leave the cinema. All hail the return of Mel Gibson - I for one, am so glad he is back.

4.5/5

Review: Doctor Strange (2016)

I went into this one not really knowing much about the character or the film at all - and I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I have known a huge amount about the previous characters either, but since we've had a whole bunch of films with the same characters, it was nice to have something new. 

Doctor Strange stars Benedict Cumberbatch - in what seems a perfect fit. The story is, in the end, very similar to other Marvel films, but it has a fresh feel to it. That is mainly due to the visuals and action scenes and the fact his powers are pretty different to other superheroes - he's a sorcerer. 

I really enjoy magic and wizardry, so the fact this film focuses on that realm is pretty cool. The film wastes no time in delving straight into that side of things either, with the first action scene being a real mind bender. This is where we get to see how different this film is to the rest of the Marvel catalogue - the visuals. Think Inception and buildings folding in on themselves while people walk, run and fight in gravity defying fashion, and you might have an idea. It is not a rip off, but it takes the concept and adds some awesome sorcery effects to it. 

The film has a nice pace and good balance of action and humour. As usual, we're left wanting a little more in character use and development, but this film still delivers an entertaining 2 hours. I certainly look forward to seeing more Doctor Strange in upcoming Marvel entries.  

4/5

Review: Deepwater Horizon (2016)

Peter Berg absolutely knocks it out of the park with this tragic true life story. This film has an almost documentary like feel to it. The acting is superb, with the script and production giving the audience quite an authentic experience on an oil rig.

It takes its time to get going, but the slow build is necessary to show the audience the events that lead up to what could have been prevented.

The special effect and stunt work on display here is exhilarating. You definitely need to see this on a big screen with big sound - the complete immersive experience. During this film, keep in mind this shit happened. Events may be dramatised for the film going experience, but, could you imagine an oil rig disaster that wouldn't be this dramatic?

Definitely one of the best films of the year.

4.5/5

Review: The Shallows (2016)

Collet-Serra has delivered some pretty enjoyable films (Non-Stop, Run All Night, Unknown, Goal II) - not necessarily great, but fun nonetheless. He continues that with The Shallows.

Blake Lively stars as an everyday girl on a solo trip of self discovery. She travels to a secluded beach to surf - a place her mum had travelled to in her youth. The story and runtime is barebones, but what we get is a reasonably paced and intense 80 mins of girl vs shark.

The location is beautiful, the cinematography often stunning, with some impressive scenes of Lively in the water. I had a little gripe with the occasionally dodgy CGI surfing scenes (that wasn't Lively surfing?) but the actual shark is very well done.

What makes this work is Lively's performance and the fact this film is not a straight up gore fest with flashy death scenes. The scenes successfully provide dread and really put you in the film, stranded with Lively - you feel her anguish and desperation. Of course, this is a movie with a great white shark being a menace, so there is gore, but it is not like you would expect. It is the anticipation that gets you, not the ripped flesh.

The film occasionally loses pace, but for the most part it is edge of your seat cinema. Some minor grips aside, this is an efficient thriller.

3.5/5

Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

Ok, first up, this is not a trainwreck of a film. It has issues, but nothing to warrant the absolute lambasting it seems to have received. What is it? It's a good popcorn action film with jokes and some pretty dark characters. Is it the smash hit that the trailers promised? No - and that is where the disappointment side of things comes in. Damn that marketing was great. The trailers were astonishing and set it up to be fantastic.

What we do have is some pretty interesting bad guy characters smashed together to fight an evil more evil than them. Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn are the clear standouts here. Robbie in particular is great. She is completely immersed into the character, much like Ledger did with his Joker in The Dark Knight. Speaking of The Joker, Jared Leto gives a completely different portrayal than Ledger, which is a good thing, but it is nowhere near as great as Ledger's. In saying that though, Leto is good. I wish there was more screen time from him to really get a proper feel for it, but unfortunately he's probably got about 10 mins all up. Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis give pretty good performances. Jai Courtney does well as the bogan/ocker Captain Boomerang. In fact, I quite liked the whole cast of characters. Killer Croc in particular looks pretty menacing. They work pretty well together and seem to be having a blast.

So, where does it falter? For me, it is in the editing and the story/script. Probably less so the actual dialogue, but the story just felt too light on. It is almost like there could have been an extra 20 mins in this film to beef up the plot lines of either the characters or the main threat. The motivations and danger posed by the main villain seem too simple, but that is quite often the case with these big comic book films. The editing is a bit choppy, and some confusion can set in with the flow of scenes. I understand films need to keep a pace, but I really was getting a feeling of scenes missing.

The big aspect in the marketing of this film was the music. I can't leave without mentioning that. For the most part, the music works. It may be over done, but like Guardians of the Galaxy, it adds an extra funky element to the storytelling.

There you have it. An enjoyable comic book film that I will watch again on Bluray and hopefully like more. It doesn't change the game, but it doesn't need to be shit on. I look forward to seeing the SKWAD back together again someday.

3/5