The Man From U.N.C.L.E Review

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Agents 

Released : August 15th 2015

Certificate : 12A

Director : Guy Ritchie

Cast : Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer, Hugh Grant

Plot : During the cold war, an american spy (Cavill) with a past as a criminal and a KGB agent (Hammer) with a stained family name are forced to work together against their will by their superiors to stop a bomb plot.

Guy Ritchie moves on from his top class reboot of the classic English story, onto the classic American story, granted Sherlock Holmes being the better known than Napoleon Solo. But again Ritchie takes the story of a dysfunctional duo’s fight against evil from the past to a different setting. For this period action flick Richie has traded in for actors with less experienced than in Sherlock to fit the mould of the stylish comic duo of hero’s.  Henry Cavill being the leading man (as Robert Downy Jr was) known for being this generations Superman, and Armie Hammer as the companion known best quirky Disney reboot as The Lone Ranger. With the similarities in both style and structure it is very hard to compare this film to Guy Richie’s Sherlock Holmes.

The film introduces the two spy’s to us with an intro in which they are on the same mission, which set everything up perfectly within minutes. You had a largely unrealistic but also largely enjoyable chase scene across the murky streets of Berlin, with both Napoleon and Illya Kuryakin showing off each of their specific talents in a very playful way. This establishing scene, before you even had time to be introduced to the actors chemistry together, pitched the film as tongue in cheek spy entertainment that was the perfect recreation of the classic espionage films. Shortly after this you are introduced to the chemistry of the two actors together as foe’s turn friends, the chemistry of this was vital as mostly the entire film revolves around it, much like Sherlock Holmes. The approach to the roles by both actors was suited to the films tone of lacking in seriousness, which was brilliant as it avoided overacting the roles which would have turned the film cheesy. With both actors walking the line of the characters being almost cartoonish, it was evident that both actors understood the films purpose and this resulted in thankfully, great entertaining chemistry.

After this point in the film it lost momentum, between the introduction of the pair to the mission, a large part of the film had to account for the spy’s progression into the investigation which was undoubtably slow. The film picks itself up with some comic action sequences, which are not as grand as in some of Richie’s other work but were still entertaining. But still up until a certain point at which the villains and hero’s actually come head to head the film lacked to show anything original outside of the recapturing of the style and mood of the period spy films. Which despite for this feature of recapturing being very well executed as well as the chemistry of the actors, you are left wanting the rest of the films aspects to match these two effects. The film does then let the villains raise their ugly head’s resulting in a cat and mouse game which has enough curve balls to keep you entertained to a more than satisfactory level for the rest of the.

With Richie’s handiwork, it was notable to see in the opening credits effects from Richie which really set the mood of the film. The old fashion camera film showing Napoleon with crackles in the picture and lens flair showed how Richie was keen to recreate the style and mood of not just the original show but also the time period itself. His finger prints were as evident throughout the rest of the film both in script and directing. The comic edge the was brought to the two spy’s relationship via script was effective and required, something you want and expect form a Richie flick. But this aspect was not up to Richie’s best, then wasn’t the same level of banter between characters as with his other films, relying mostly on situation humour to add laughs to film, making it less effective. With directing an effect that Richie continued to employ was a split screen, many different scenes brought together in many sliced together films on the screen. As original and effective as it was in the pursuit of the spy comic book style, when it came to actions scenes and he continued to employ, you are left wishing he had just shot the action sequence, trading in style of thrill creation.

‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E’ so far is one of the biggest disappointments of the mainstream cinema world, not because it is bad, because it isn’t, but because it feels like if more work and effort went into it the film could have done so much better. The film did everything that is was supposed to do, have a entertaining two hour spy thriller that has style and driven by the relationship of the duo. But it can’t escape an air of being unfulfilled, little things such as maintaining the momentum throughout the entire film, having a more engaging and original storyline. Something that was personal missed from Sherlock Holmes was the strong presence of the villains character and the amount of interaction the hero’s have with them. You will enjoy the film, if you resign yourself to the fact that the film offers little more than comic playful redoing of old spy films with a fun duo of actors.

Verdict : Fun, sarcastic and lacking in seriousness, but maybe some seriousness would be required in order to make it something more than a action summer flick that will be forgotten. The annoying thing is it does the basics well enough to amuse and charm you, meaning your left open to idea of a sequel.

Verdict : 3/5

Quote : “For a special agent, your not having a very special day.”

Southpaw Review

Nightbrawler

Released : July 24th 2015

Certificate : 15

Director : Antoine Fuqua

Cast : Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Forest whitaker

Plot : Billy “The Great” Hope (Gyllenhaal) is the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, with an ideal family life. But Billy’s anger problems leads to disasters, and in the wake of tragedy he is at risk of losing everything.

Jake Gyllenhaal is given his chance to play the classic film character of the damaged boxer, a familiar role to the cinematic world, as is the setting of the boxing ring. ‘The Fighter’ showed us new life can be brought into the (what has almost become in its own right) genre, so despite such frequent additions to boxing film, people are prepared to be open to some pure talent funnelled in this formate. This year talent is Gyllenhaal and Fuqua partner up for the ring, but also yet another chapter in the Rocky franchise with ‘Creed’, the story of Appollo Creeds son. The combination of both Gyllenhaal and Fuqua is a partnership that sound perfect for the boxing film. With Gyllenhaal’s ability to play the darker and more aggressive character in an very visceral but believable way, pitched with Fuqua experience in handling both action and character drama. To help along the way actors such as Rachel McAdams and Forest Whitaker were employed as well as a largely Eminem driven soundtrack to add to the mood of the film.

Storyline is not the notable point of the film, as the riches to rages tale is nothing new and exciting, hence the audience will find little to engage with merely via the story. The story itself is when at a press conference shortly after defending his title for a fourth time, Billy (Gyllenhaal) is provoked by a challenging boxer, a fight ensues which leads to the accidental shooting of Billys wife (McAdams) which leads to her death. From this point Billy’s life spirals out of control from a number of different angles. Some aspects of ‘Southpaw’ execution of this generic storyline were surprisingly cartoon like, the provoking of Billy by the other boxer is so aggressive and random that it is almost unbelievable. The representation of Rachel McAdams is almost slightly shallow, shown to the audience in a overly sexual way for the short time she is on screen is a waste of McAdams talent for deeper characters. Because of these two aspects, the film has the sense of disregarding much needed development and depth for compatibility with the storyline to be made, focusing plainly on Billy’s come back story without an effective context before hand.

Despite the lack of time devoted before the disaster, Fuqua is effectively able to capture context for the main relationship of the film, which is Billy and his daughter. Granted this is mostly down to the skill of the acting, but a bedside scene between the two character  is presented very well by Fuqua so that at least we are able to have context for the main plot point of the film. In this sense the film is given the bare minimum of texture to get the audience on board with the come back tale. Fuqua overall presentation of the film warranted more respect for scenes outside the ring than inside. Fuqua attempts to employ overly exotic camera angles and movements when the actual boxing is occurring takes away from the excitement of them, surprising given his experience with the action genre, however Fuqua is worthy is reflecting the mood of our hero turbulent story outside the ring. Fuqua style is conventional but effective for the down spiral of Billy life using shaky camera movement and hazy lens flair to exaggerate Billy’s lack of control, also employing many obscured close up shots of Gyllenhaal’s face, making his performance all the more enjoyable and obvious, and the plain representation of the acting between Gyllenhaal’s scenes and his on set daughter allows the acting to shine through.

The powerhouse performance for this film however is Gyllenhaal as Billy. Gyllenhaals performance is engaging enough from the start that you are willing to let slide the fact that there is little story development present at the beginning. Gyllenhaal was exceptional at conveying Billys broken state after the death of his wife and also later on his hopeless to reconnect with his daughter, which proved to be the most entertaining section of the film. Billy’s scenes with his daughter after the tragedy are total absorbing, with a good performance from the child actor, for the most part redeem the rest of the film. The development of the characters as well are believable, turning the film into a dysfunctional relationship story which is a boxing flick in its spare time. Another pleasing good appearance was from Forest Whitaker who plays Billy’s trainer, playing the stern and truthful coach creates a trio of characters that pick the film up and carry you along the familiar path.

Its predictable as they come, with a storyline which is familiar and rushed in places, but due to Gyllenhaals performance and straightforward but never the less touching character drama, you are prepared and entertain to see another film set around the ring again. Fuqua not performing as well as his actors, only because the actors are on top form, makes this film a ‘Raging Bull’ minus Scorsese and a captivating storyline. The film can amount to another Oscar worthy turn out from Gyllenhaal (following his last in Nightcrawler) as he shows off his talent in more and more roles, only issue here is that we know this roles all to well, and the entire film doesn’t match his standards. Go and see for the touching father and daughter relationship.

Verdict : Gyllenhaals saves this picture with a performance among his best. With a welcome addition from Whitaker, makes for touching and winning character drama. Fans of either these actors will have a great time, but from one look at the trailer you know the rest of the story.

Verdict : 3/5

Quote : “How am I, I’m a fucking mess”!

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Review

Rouge Franchise?

Released : August 30th 2015

Certificate : 12A

Director : Christopher McQuarrie

Cast : Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris

Plot : Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is on another mission to take down an illusive terrorist group know as the Syndicate, but when the CIA shuts down IMF, Hunt goes rouge. Leading his loyal team against both the Syndicate and the CIA.

We arrive at the fifth film in the franchise started 19 years ago by legendary director Brian De Palma (Scarface, The Untouchables, Carrie) and of course the lead man Tom Cruise. When franchises such as these begin to reach their fifth film, it usually doesn’t prove for great results, or results of any kind. Usually this is due to the fact that there has been as much expansion as possible in both characters or story, or that makers are unable to makes films which connect with the originals magic or motive. A classic example of a franchise killing fifth instalment would be ‘A Good Day To Die Hard’. In the Mission Impossible story no sequel has match the original, but the sequels haven’t been disappointing, resulting in people happy to see Hunt on the screen again. Another pleasing aspect at outset is the return of Rhames who like Crusie has stayed loyal for the most part. And the return of Pegg and Renner who proved for worthy chemistry with Cruise in ‘Ghost Protocol’.

One factor which made this film stand out to the rest, is the usage of material sequels have brought to the franchise since the original, while still keeping in touch with the spirit of the first film, this gave the film the power to capture the whole series style in one film. The echo’s of the sequels can be seen by fans throughout, a classic motorbike chase scene from MI2, and well acted and menacing villain from MI3, and high quality death defying stunts from MI4. Whether this was deliberately done to respect the other films or not, the result is a film which in core essence of the franchise. This aspect of film is very likeable, but this could be fond to be gimmicky by some.

Also a similarity to the original is by bringing in a director who has also made other cult classic films with Christopher McQuarrie. Not a name that many will recognise, but he is the writer of ‘The Usual Suspects’ and well as this film. This was a huge help to the film, as the style of story and complexity is the factor which is most lie the originals standards. As this films story is full of spy drama, double crossing and deceit providing for a true cloak and dagger feel that a spy film should provide. The complexity of the story is surprising as we haven’t seen the likes of it since the original, but the execution of this aspect and the attitude that the film has towards it is perfect, it takes itself a seriously as it should.

McQuarrie was also able to construct the elaborate complex scenes of Hunts team breaking into impossible places brilliantly, the best since Hunt hung from the ceiling in MI1. These scenes provided tension and thrills that have lacked in the other sequels and been traded in for either explosions or big scale stunts, instead of genuine tension building. But that doesn’t mean that this instalment doesn’t have the big time stunts as well, as it certainly did, to a better quality than ‘Ghost Protocol’ tower scene due to the fact that less of them were computer animated, making for more classical cinematic stunts. So on all accounts McQuarrie has handled the film brilliantly, with writing which is engaging and entertaining and directing which makes the film well orchestrated and thrilling.

The cast again worked well together as they did in the previous instalment, helped along by the needed addition of more screen time by Rhames. Pegg is also very much needed as an effective comedy relief to the film, featuring him in several scenes directly poking fun at the impossibility of the film, effectively not being as serious with itself as needed, making the film more fun and playful. The over acting of Harris was charismatic as Seymour Hoffman in M3, doing the job well of giving Hunt a figure that could be depicted as a nemesis. Cruise continued to do Hunt as cool and sarcastic as he has in the past, unfortunately no return to the feeling of being out of depth as the first film illustrates, but for this film nobody was looking for much acting. Neither were they looking for the best gang of crime fighters to grace the silver screen, but the actors are aware of this and play there parts so that the thrills can be delivered easily without any additional emotion or drama blocking these effects.

Rouge Nation would be a high for the series to end on, all in all being the best sequel since the original. Its no ‘Godfather Part 2’, but many will be surprised as energy and excitement can be rediscovered by a series that was a film away from being just another an unwanted long franchise. So this film is defiantly a ‘Die Hard 4.0’, as it takes a series falling in quality and reminds everyone of where it all began for a surprisingly brilliant film. Hopefully this will be the final bow for the series, only because it would be very easy to make a film that doesn’t match this, and nobody wants to see Mission Impossible end on a low.

Verdict : The best since the first film, plain and simple.

Verdict : 4/5

Quote : “Benji, open the door!”