So, this weekend saw Mrs Jim and myself undertake something of a movie marathon as we strove to catch up on the rather large pile of films we've not had chance to watch lately. Were they any good? Did I overdose on popcorn? How quickly did I lose all feeling in my legs? Blast through these super-short reviews to find out!
THE NEXT THREE DAYS
First up was Paul Haggis' latest. Russell Crowe plays the husband desperate to prove his wife's innocence after she's convicted of the murder of her boss. Well-scripted, beautifully shot, convincingly acted and reasonably believable (a fine trick for any jail-break flick), it's a solid, enjoyable thriller that's well worth a couple of hours of your time.
MEGAMIND
Overshadowed by the released-at-the-same-time Despicable Me, Megamind has a great cast (Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill), a less predictable story arc than Despicable Me and plenty of darker, funnier moments. I can understand why it didn't do so well as its rival as the truly interesting and funny moments are defiantly adult in tone and would certainly go right over most pre-teens' heads. One for the teenagers and adults in the family. Also, "Forget Me Stick" LOL. Watch it to understand...
MONSTERS
Quite apart from having the best title of any film ever, I have to say that, while it's a very good film, I was vaguely underwhelmed by Gareth Edwards' SF flick. It's been touted as an SF masterpiece, but in actuality it's a pretty straightforward road movie, doesn't explore any themes that haven't been tackled a dozen times before and features some fairly thinly-drawn characters. It looks great though (the Art Director certainly earned his wages here), the performances are excellent and I'd certainly still recommend it. Just don't expect anything on a par with recent SF masterpieces such as Cloverfield, Moon and District 9.
UNSTOPPABLE
Denzel Washington is Statesman-like (for about the 37th time in his career), Chris Pine is the Rebellious Young Greenhorn (a role he's falling into a little too often for comfort) and Tony Scott pulls off the trick of making something that sounds utterly uninteresting (a runaway train) compellingly watchable for an hour and a half. Some things go boom. Other things go bang. People look worried. Rosario Dawson keeps her clothes on for once. Perfect Saturday night popcorn fodder.
THE TOURIST
Apparently, "two plus two" does not always equate to "four". This should have been a slam-dunk. An old-fashioned European mystery/identity thriller with a dash of 'caper' thrown into the mix. Beautiful locals (predominantly Venice) an absolutely stellar cast (Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Steven Berkoff, Rufus Sewell, Timothy Dalton), a great director (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director of The Lives of Others) and a script by Julian Fellowes and Christopher McQuarrie. What could possibly go wrong?
Er, everything apparently. You'll guess the "twist" within about 5 minutes, everyone looks either bored or on autopilot (even Berkoff misses the opportunity to chew the scenery, something unheard of), the script is stilted and weak, the cinematography is pedestrian, there are some incredible leaps of logic and the police are presented as utter imbeciles. Which I'm reasonably sure they're not. What should have been a fun, tongue-in-cheek, breathless caper of the sort Cary Grant was famed for is, instead, a shambling, slow, derivative, predictable bore-fest. Disappointing in every way.
Phew. I feel the need to get outside now.
And yes, I did overdose on popcorn; and it took about half an hour to lose all feeling in my legs. I have the distinct feeling my circulation is utter bobbins.
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