Recent Reviews Return!

Well, it's been a long time since our last post.
Too long.
But we're back, with more determination to chronicle our favourite things to watch, listen to, and look at than ever! Our proper 2010 reviews will start soon, but for now here's a brief round-up of three films that caught everyone's eye over the Christmas break. Let's start with the best of the three. Let the wild rumpus start!
Where the Wild Things Are

We were all wondering how Spike Jonze was going to turn one of the best-loved (and shortest) children's books of all time into a full-length feature. Well, with great care, skill and affection is the answer. The film starts as Max (Max Records) builds an igloo outside his house. He starts a snowball fight with his older sister's friends to get their attention, but in the ensuing melée the igloo is destroyed. Tearful and humiliated, Max wrecks his sister's room. When his mother (Catherine Keener) returns home, she scolds him but forgives him, and Max's mood improves. The following night, Mom doesn't pay enough attention to him while cooking dinner for her new boyfriend (a blink-and-you'll-miss-him Mark Ruffalo), and Max acts out. When Mom yells, Max runs out of the front door.

After crossing a great sea, Max lands on an island and meets the Wild Things. After convincing them not to eat him by telling them he's a King, he becomes their leader. He promises that he will help them build a fortress that will keep out feelings of sadness. But how long does he have before they realise that he is not in any position to promise total happiness?

There really is a lot to love about Where the Wild Things Are. It's nice to see a Jonze film that embraces beautiful landscapes as opposed to claustrophobic rooms and corridors. As the wild things run riot through the forests, pulling up trees and hurling mud-clods, it's easy to forget that this is the man who brought us the cramped, wet portal into John Malkovich's brain. The wild things themselves are also a triumph. Surprisingly emotive, you never question the reality of these creatures. This is helped enormously by the incredibly strong voice cast. Each of the wild things represents a characterstic, and the actors are chosen accordingly. The cast of voice-actors is superb, with James Gandolfini (short-tempered Carol), Catherine O'Hara (bitter Judith), Lauren Ambrose (kindly KW), Forest Whitaker (good-natured but slow Ira), Chris Cooper (sensible Douglas), and Paul Dano (whiny Alexander). It's also worth noting just how good Max Records is as Max. The character isn't always sympathetic, he's often bratty, making him just like a real little boy. His interaction with Carol is especially superb, as Max recognises aspects of himself, which is both exciting and scary.

There has been some concern over how scary the film is. Well, there is a strong element of danger but nothing too much for children. I don't think it's just me whose fondest memories of the films watched as a child are those films that had a scary aspect to them. These moments are balanced with moments of humour and moments of touching emotion. Jonze and his team have succeeded in making the wild things recognisably human, despite their rough exteriors. It's a triumph, and enough to make you want to howl in appreciation.


Next up,
Sherlock Holmes
Which is, of course, Guy Ritchie trying to prove that he can make a film about something other than London gangsters. The choice of director seems odd, and frankly a lot of other filmmakers could have done a better job of it, but it's entertaining enough. He's helped no end by Robert Downey Jr. in the title role and a surprisingly good Jude Law as Watson. Their dialogue deliberately recalls Withnail and I, and there are few actors who can do verbosely sozzled as well as Downey Jr. The plot is a fun mix of the supernatural and procedural, making good use of the lamp-lit London sets. Come to think of it, lamp-lit late-1800s London sets always look good. Even From Hell got that right. The plot is nothing too complicated: Evil Lord Blackwood (an under-used Mark Strong) is put to death for sacrificing young women for godless, wicked purposes. He promptly rises from the grave, and it's up to Holmes and Watson to stop him from completing his murders and his nefarious plan. Rachel McAdams fares well as tricksy love-interest Irene Adler, and Eddie Marsan lends some needed grit as Inspector Lestrade.

So, what's gone wrong? Well, for one thing, Ritchie's need to place his visual stamp on the film gets irritating fast. When Holmes narrates a forthcoming beating in the opening minutes in slow-motion, before putting it into effect in regular speed, it's a neat gag. When it keeps happening, the novelty has gone. And bare-knuckle boxing? Really?

While Downey Jr.'s accent does tend to wander, it's such a mannered performance that it somehow works. But as the plot moves towards its conclusion, a sense of urgency is lacking. Blackwood is kept offscreen for much of the movie, and Strong is effective enough when he appears that we miss him when he's gone. Try and remember exactly what he was trying to do after you leave the movie, though. Meanwhile, Hans Zimmer's score strives for wacky and kooky but ends up being intrusive.

All that being said, it's entertaining enough. The two leads have a good chemistry, they're given good dialogue to work with, the supporting cast is pretty solid and there's some nice detail in the production design. It's just a shame it was given to Ritchie to direct.



Finally, there's
Avatar
I wonder if I was ever going to like Avatar. I wanted to in the beginning, before all the hype. I will admit I was one of the naysayers when the first trailer arrived, and everything I heard after that reinforced my belief that it would be a disappointment. After seeing it in 3D IMAX, my opinion stayed the same. It's a wasted opportunity

Now, my blog co-author and I agree that, if you are going to see Avatar, you should see it in 3D at the cinema. It certainly looks good. But, having seen My Bloody Valentine and Coraline at the cinema, I'm familiar with 3D movies. I realise that Avatar fans would probably be upset at hearing the film mentioned in the same breath as MBV3D, but, honestly, I enjoyed the slasher movie more.

The plot, such as it is, is the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-marine who is called to Pandora to replace his identical twin in the Avatar program, which allows humans to walk around the planet's poisonous surface while looking like the native race, called the Na'Vi. Sully's supposed to be giving the military a way in so they can mine the precious Unobtanium (Yeah. I know.), but falls for beautiful Neytiri, and decides to join forces with the natives to keep the evil soldiers from destroying the beautiful home world

So, yes the film looks good. Great, even. Eye-popping colours, visuals, and you feel like you're there, for some of the scenes at least. But my problem with the film was with the plot. If you want to be kept on your toes by a film's narrative, skip this. At no point during the long running time are we in the dark about what's going to happen in the next ten, even fifteen minutes. Is Sully going to fall in love? Is she going to love him back? Is Sigourney Weaver's gruff, smoking scientist going to warm to Sully after some early insults? Are the marines going to stab him in the back?

Sam Worthington is one of those actors who seems to be given the "star of tomorrow" tag, even though this is his second big blockbuster after Terminator Salvation. He was the best thing in that film, and is solid here too, although his American accent frequently slips. Zoe Saldana is great as Neytiri, all primal fierceness, while Weaver does well in one of the better-written parts. There's also a surprisingly good turn from Michelle Rodriguez in the under-written "Bad-ass chick" part of Trudy. Of course, the baddies have all the fun, as Giovanni Ribisi does oily glibness as company man Selfridge and Stuart Lang hams it up as the ruthless Colonel Quartich.

I can't call Avatar a disaster, and I can't call it a masterpiece. It just is, really. Some of the sequences are amazing, visually. But the predictability issue, the bad script, it all just makes it as hollow as a video-game cut-scene. As a film, it seems to exist purely for Cameron to develop this new technology. The last time that happened was with The Abyss, a similarly over-long movie, poorly written about misunderstood creatures and military bad guys in an unfamiliar world....at least that had Ed Harris.


It's now the top grossing film of all time, so I suppose this opinion doesn't really count for much! Maybe we'll be the tip of the backlash spear!

We'll be back soon with more recent reviews, lists, and rantings and ravings!