Film Review: The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game. Rated M (mature themes). 114 minutes. Directed by Morten Tyldum. Screenplay by Graham Moore. Based on the novel by Andrew Hodges.‬

Verdict: A great story, perfectly told.

Truly great films, those rare beasts in which every single element merges into a flawlessly unified whole, have been sadly lacking in our cinemas. And it is not until a film like The Imitation Game comes along that you realise just how potentially short-changed we have been as film-loving audiences. 

The Imitation Game begins by insisting that we pay attention in case we miss something. A direct address to an audience is an audacious start to 34 year-old Graham Moore’s superb debut feature-length screenplay. And as the captivating drama of all that follows carefully unfurls under Tyldum’s expert direction and Benedict Cumberbatch’s magnificent central performance, you find yourself disappearing into the story no matter how hard you might try to resist.

Charged with trying to work out how to decode Nazi Germany’s Enigma code, mathematics genius Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) and his colleagues work day and night inventing a machine that will be capable of deciphering the millions of coded messages being used by the German command to smash the allied naval forces during World War 2. The human brain, Turing declares, is too slow, and set against the backdrop of annihilation on the high seas, the code-breakers must race against time to give the allies greater opportunity to pre-empt the German attacks.

Within a uniformly outstanding ensemble, Keira Knightley is great as code-breaker Joan Clarke, with whom Turing would develop a profound and lasting relationship. The scene where she dismisses his anxiety-stricken declaration of his homosexuality is an absolute highpoint, and it is difficult to imagine that Cumberbatch could have been as good as he is without Knightley’s career-best supporting turn as his closest, and most important, confidante.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave. Rated MA15+ (strong themes and violence). 134 minutes. Directed by Steve McQueen. Screenplay by John Ridley. Based on the memoir by Solomon Northup.

Verdict: A perfect film about a far from perfect world.

It’s rare that a film manages to transport you into the heart of another time and place so completely – to the point where when you emerge from the cinema, everything around you feels strangely unfamiliar.

McQueen’s (Hunger, Shame) and Ridley’s forensic examination of the psychological and physical horrors of slavery is an intensely gruelling experience, with an extreme level of anxiety constantly powering the saga. Even though it is beautifully framed and photographed by McQueen’s frequent collaborator, cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, the perfect lighting in every shot makes the horror of what is happening in the story even more challenging to watch.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, Salt) is excellent as freeman Solomon Northup who is kidnapped, shipped to New Orleans and sold into slavery. Separated from his wife and two children, Solomon is passed from plantation owner William Ford (a conscious-stricken Benedict Cumberbatch) to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender, on fire), where the torment inflicted on Solomon and his fellow slaves reaches an almost unwatchable zenith.

As the young female slave Patsey, Lupita Nyong'o (making her debut) is astonishing, delivering an unforgettable performance of such extraordinary depth that it defies comprehension. In what should have been an un-actable scene where Patsey begs Solomon to end her tormented existence by killing her, you may well find yourself hoping he obliges.

12 Years a Slave is a difficult film to experience. The film-makers waste no time plunging us into a world in which a noble, talented man finds himself not only powerless, but with no visible means of escape from a nightmare of someone else’s making. My lasting memory, days later, is of a beautiful world devouring itself from the inside out.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness. Rated M (action violence). 132 minutes. Directed by J J Abrams. Screenplay by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.

Verdict: A thrilling, big screen adventure.

With his magnificent reboot of the Star Trek film series in 2009, J J Abrams set the bar incredibly high for the two planned sequels, of which Star Trek Into Darkness is the first. Fortunately, everyone who collaborated with Abrams on Star Trek is back on deck for the sequel, and his spirited young cast – led by Chris Pine as James T Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock – all deliver fantastic performances of great depth and passion.

Star Trek Into Darkness begins with a stunning sequence in which the crew of the USS Enterprise are attempting to stop a volcanic eruption on Planet Nibiru that threatens to exterminate the population. When Spock’s life is at risk in the depths of the volcano, Kirk decides to break the rules and rescue him, revealing the Enterprise to the primitive inhabitants of Nibiru in the process. It’s not only a wonderfully adventurous way to begin the film, but one that sets the breath-draining pace for all that is to follow. Upon their return from the mission, Kirk is demoted for breaking ‘prime directives’ by revealing the Enterprise to other civilisations. But when Starfleet headquarters is ruthlessly attacked by a rogue agent John Harrison (a perfect Benedict Cumberbatch), the young and ambitious crew of the Enterprise – with Kirk back in charge – set out to find Harrison and hold him to account.

Abrams (Mission: Impossible 3, Star Trek, Super 8) is at his super-confident best here, with a screenplay that (for the most part) blends generous amounts of humour and intriguing moral dilemmas with lavish and brilliantly realised action set pieces. The only stumble is an anti-climactic punch-up between Spock and Harrison, which seems to belong to some other less visionary film rather than this fearless story about the clash of not only civilisations, but also generations.

Scott Chambliss’s (Cowboys & Aliens, Salt, Star Trek) production design is, once again, exemplary – with the first appearance of the Enterprise rising out of the ocean simply breathtaking. Dan Mindel’s (John Carter, Star Trek) cinematography is never less than superb, while Maryann Brandon (Star Trek, How to Train Your Dragon) and Mary Jo Markey’s (Star Trek, Super 8) masterful editing and Michael Giacchino’s (Cars 2, Super 8) thumpingly good score ensure that Star Trek Into Darkness is a thrilling adventure that demands to be seen on the big screen.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.