Friday, June 19, 2009

Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation D: McG



So I went to this film expecting to see a generic, all-out action flick. And that's basically what I saw. This 4th Terminator film is a complete change in pace from the tense, chase-like earlier films and a whole lot better than the awful 3rd film. The action sequences are perfectly executed and the story, although predictable (especially if you know your Terminator storylines) does have it's fair share of twists and turns. Essentially, with all the time traveling in the previous films we know from the get-go that John Connor, our hero played by Christian Bale, will not defeat the Cyberdyne corporation within the 115 minute running time.
That said Bale does kick his fair share of robot ass. If you're interested in this movie it's probably fair to say it's not entirely because of the story. There's some brilliant long-take fight scenes, stunning CG ships, sky-scraper high terminators, bike chases, car chases, explosions and tons more to feed action-film junkies. Terminator 4 is the one fans, apparently, have been waiting for. The all out war against the machines, and there's no doubt that the film delivers. The action is fast, clever and looks stunning!
I was excited to see Danny Elfman pop up as composer in amongst the boring opening credits. Yet throughout the film I failed to hear any particularly striking music, not even the original Terminator theme (bar the beating drums.) Perhaps this is because most of the music was drowned out by the awesome sounds of the Terminators themselves. The booming, electronic drones and grinding, eery metallic sounds of the robots themselves really selled a lot of the action sequences for me. There's just something about having your cinema chair actually shake with the sound of the film. That's real cinema!
Of course Terminator Salvation isn't all action action action. There is a genuinely interesting underlying idea behind the film focusing on the humanity of the characters and the reasons for fighting the war against machines. Helena Bonham Carter stars as a early Cyberdyne employee that helps Marcus Wright, played by Sam Worthington, get a second chance in life. Acting is great for the most part although for most characters it just involved sitting in scragily clothes and looking miserable. Of course, they had to do a bit of running as well... Oh and Bale's voice is getting beyond ridiculously low. I can hardly hear him! Additionally, Anton Yelchin will star as that guy that you know you've seen in something else recently but can't remember what. His actual character is Kyle Reese, John Connor's father. Knowing your Terminator stuff of course, John needs to meet his father to send him back in time to meet his mother so he can be born. Yes, it can be complicated but seriously, if you haven't seen the first 3, do so. Okay, maybe not the 3rd one. Either way the stories are interesting, engaging and perhaps confusing enough to justify the immense action sequences in what, I think, is a brilliant sci-fi actioner. And for the record, Yelchin is that foreign one in the new Star Trek film.

Overall
An exciting action-packed film that actually has an interesting story. With a fair share of twists, turns and surprises both in the plot and action-sequences, Terminator Salvation blows the 3rd film out of the water (or rather molten magma) whilst still keeping some of the tension, fear and cheesy one-lines from the first two.

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Man Who Wasn't There

The Man Who Wasn't There D: Joel Coen



I just can't get enough of that Coen brothers surreal movie gold. The Man Who Wasn't There is a perfectly crafted neo-noir crime drama about a man, Ed Crane, a barber who's life is a mish-mash of betrayals and other such awful situations. Remaining stoic and frank throughout, Ed narrates the story, providing contrast with his seemingly emotionless character on screen.
When Ed tries to make money by backing the new business of dry-cleaning he subsequently finds out about problems his "friend," played by the brilliant James Gandolfini, has encounted, and the film follows Ed's story as he twists and turns, covering up others and his own mistakes eventually attempting to find retribution by helping a young piano playing girl. Strange when written out like this, it just works. Ed is likeable despite his seeming lack of emotion and whilst others try to find justice or cover up events, he remains the same throughout the entire film, almost as if he wasn't there. He just continues to be a barber. It's clever.
The film is shot, as noir films are, in black and white, giving the coens a brilliant opportunity to show of their superb visual eyes. And by God they do! Every shot is carefully lit, there are creeping, waving shadows, portions of screen filled with entire darkness, brilliant contrasts, with slow-motion, mid shots to emotion close ones to sweeping wides shots where the locations engulf the characters.
I just loved it, and I can't write about it in a way that does it justice. The acting is brilliant, especially from the lead Billy Bob Thornton. Gandolifni, aka Tony Soprano, performs brilliantly and Tony Shalhoub returns from (previously "reviewed") Barton Fink to play the lawyer whoose brilliant monologues really did get me thinking. Frances McDormand has also recently become my favourite actress. Her performance in both this, Fargo, and Burn After Reading are both funny but she really gets across the different characters and is great at showing emotion without speaking.
Overall, I just love it. I really, really like films like this. They're just so arty, so much thought, so much detail, interesting characters, believable settings, quirky but different plots. Great!

Overall
A brilliantly well done noir film with a great story and a leading character that one can really relate to. Attention to techincal detail in lighting and camera make The Man Who Wasn't There not only an interesting story, but great to look at as well.