Film Review: Rush

Rush. Rated MA 15+ (injury detail and coarse language). 122 minutes. Directed by Ron Howard. Screenplay by Peter Morgan.

Verdict: A riveting tale about knowing why, and when, to stop.

Some films, on paper at least, simply shouldn’t work – and this relatively obscure story about Formula 1 drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) is a classic example. Locked in a death-defying battle over 30 years ago for racetrack supremacy, the English Hunt and the Austrian Lauda are like chalk and cheese. One (Hunt) is a privileged playboy, hell-bent on instant gratification and any cost, while the other is a master of self-discipline who believes that any kind of off-circuit, self-serving indulgences only disrespect the spirit of the sport.

In the hands of anyone else but Howard, it’s difficult to imagine this film being as engaging as it is. The time, like the cars, flies by, and just as he did with the fantastic A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Frost/Nixon (2008), Howard focuses closely and unwaveringly on the human condition and delivers a thrilling tale of tenacious and uncompromising rivalry.

Howard has built his directorial reputation by masterfully crafting character-driven films – stories about people experiencing life-changing events that require extraordinary, almost super-human responses (Cocoon, Backdraft, Apollo 13), but without the capes, shields and assorted gimmicks. Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen, The Last King of Scotland) is the perfect match for Howard’s deceptively modest storytelling ambitions, and his excellent screenplay is all lean, uncluttered cinematic torque.

Anthony Dod Mantle’s (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, The Last King of Scotland) cinematography will delight race fans, especially since no facet of the engineering masterpieces Formula 1 cars are (or what it takes to drive one) is left unexplored. Mark Digby’s (Dredd, Slumdog Millionaire) production design beautifully recreates the 1970s, with outstanding attention to colour and detail.

Hemsworth (who is undeniably on a roll) and Brühl (Good Bye Lenin!, Inglourious Basterds) are both excellent as the leads, and it is a credit to everyone involved that as you walk away from the cinema, it might be almost impossible to decide who, if anyone, really won.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: 2 Guns

2 Guns. Rated MA 15+ (strong violence). 109 minutes. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur. Screenplay by Blake Masters, based on the graphic novels by Steven Grant.

Verdict: Denzel and Mark are the new Oscar and Felix.

It should probably be illegal to have this much fun in the face of such reckless slaughter, but Masters’ (Law & Order: LA) excellent screenplay boasts an almost obscene amount of comedy – delivered with absolute relish and megawatts of star power by Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.

When undercover Drug Enforcement Administration officer Robert Trench (Washington) and his co-conspirator Michael Stigman (Wahlberg) are easily able to carry off a daring bank robbery that was supposed to end very differently, they find themselves on the run and caught up in an endless web of double-crossing and intrigue. As the motives of everyone involved become increasingly murky, Trench and Stigman have little choice but to match wits and try to stay one step ahead of the people who want them dead.

It’s not surprising that Wahlberg has teamed up with the Icelandic-born Kormákur again after their collaboration on Contraband (2012). Kormákur, like very few directors, manages to elicit a fantastic performance from Wahlberg, who responds with an engaging, often hilarious star turn that is brimming with confidence. Washington, too, fresh from his magnificent performance in Flight (2012), romps through as the police officer who inadvertently finds himself on the wrong side of the law.

The outstanding ensemble, including Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Precious), Bill Paxton (Titanic) and Edward James Olmos (Dexter), all provide excellent support to the two leads. Paxton (as ruthless CIA operative Earl) and Olmos (drug lord Papi Greco), who are both equally determined to recover their money at any cost, succeed in ramping up the stakes every time they are onscreen.

Like Quentin Tarantino, Kormákur and Masters refuse to take any prisoners, and it’s a credit to them and their two stars, that we hope these rascals live to see another day. They certainly deserve to.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Gravity

Gravity. Rated M (survival themes, disturbing images and coarse language). 91 minutes. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón.

Verdict: A majestic, actor-proof cinematic tour de force.

There is no denying the visual majesty of this extraordinary cinematic achievement that, if nothing else, will restore your faith in the scope, scale and potential of cinema as an artform. Unlike so many theatrical releases so far this year, waiting for Gravity to come out on DVD would be pointless – such is its magnificent visual and aural impact on the big screen. In 3D it is, quite simply, astonishing, and the most complete and effective use of the technology since Avatar.

As space shuttle astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and Shariff (voiced by Paul Sharma) are undertaking a space walk to service the Hubble Space Telescope, Mission Control in Houston (voiced by Ed Harris) warns them that debris from a destroyed Russian satellite is heading their way.

Stone (who is on her first mission) hesitates to follow the veteran Kowalski’s orders to return to the shuttle immediately, and the high-speed debris slams into them, causing them to become untethered from not only each other, but also any form of structure. With her supply of oxygen running low, Stone must somehow make it to the relative safety of the International Space Station, and from there, Earth.

Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Children of Men) and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life, Children of Men) deliver one visually ravishing scene after another to the screen with rare cinematic grandeur, to the point where it becomes easy to ignore Cuarón’s script (co-written with his son Jonás), which clunks along mindlessly.

Sandra Bullock makes the most out of the deep-space drama she has to work with, while the goofy Clooney mis-reads his role entirely. Thankfully, you don’t go to Gravity for the acting. You go to see and hear how stunning cinema can be when the artists behind the camera dare to dream big and loud.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Turbo

Turbo. Rated G. 96 minutes. Directed by David Soren. Screenplay by Darren Lemke, Robert D Siegel and David Soren.

Verdict: An absolute winner for the whole family.

A cute little snail called Theo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who dreams of breaking out of his ordinary little garden-variety existence and winning the Indianapolis 500? What’s not to like? As it turns out, absolutely nothing – as Theo takes on his hero, the vain French-Canadian Indy 500 champion Guy Gagné (Bill Hader), in a supremely entertaining race to the finish line.

Lemke, Siegel and Soren’s screenplay boasts some hilarious moments (a crow’s rather unfortunate demise becomes excellent pay-back), but also wins points for holding fast to its motivational “No dream is too big, and no dreamer too small” through-line. The world of the film refreshingly departs from a typically white, middle-America and takes us into a poverty-stricken mall, where Tito (Michael Peña), a taco truck driver and his taco-making brother Angelo (Luis Guzmán) are struggling to make a living.

Together with the other tenants including manicurist Kim-Ly (brilliantly voiced by The Hangover’s Ken Jeong), mechanic Paz (Michelle Rodriguez), and hobby-shop owner Bobby (Richard Jenkins) who makes custom snail shells for their motley collection of snails, Tito shares Theo’s ambition to be more than anyone else believes is possible. What makes Turbo so engaging is its delightful assortment of original and charmingly idiosyncratic characters – all perfectly voiced by a uniformly excellent voice cast.

Soren, making his feature-length debut, delivers the story to the screen with immense skill and an obvious passion for the journey of his loveable characters, while also making an impression as the snail who can’t ‘tuck’ back into his shell. But if I had to pick a favourite character, it would be the ubiquitous snail White Shadow (Michael Bell), who for some inexplicable reason, made me laugh more than I have laughed in a movie all year.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Riddick

Riddick. Rated MA15+ (strong violence and coarse language). 118 minutes. Written and directed by David Twohy.

Verdict: Vin Diesel’s loveable rogue Riddick stars in this entertaining deep space outing.

Beginning with Pitch Black (2000) and followed by The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), this third instalment in the series of films about wanted criminal Richard B Riddick (Vin Diesel) is an invigorating, entertaining and, at times, fantastically inventive affair.

If there is a distinct disadvantage in not having seen the first two films (a character from Pitch Black is referenced extensively), there is still much to enjoy about Twohy’s (the first two films and the chilling A Perfect Getaway) determination to expertly and efficiently mine the sci-fi/wild west-inspired world he has created.

Abandoned on a desolate planet, Riddick activates an emergency beacon in the hope that a passing spaceship will rescue him from the planet’s hostile predators. Two spaceships eventually arrive, but onboard are bounty hunters determined to capture Riddick and take his head back to the powers that be ‘in a box’. While our ever-resourceful anti-hero sets out to turn the tables on his foes, the planet’s ferocious alien creatures threaten to exterminate them all.

Riddick works successfully on many levels, but mostly courtesy of David Eggby’s (Pitch Black, Mad Max) moody and atmospheric cinematography, and some excellent creature action – especially the amphibious scorpion-like predators that star in much of the film’s early action set pieces, only to make an unforgettable return later.

The excellent supporting cast of marauding hunters features an impressive turn from ex-Sydney-based Rugby League footballer Matt Nable as Boss Johns (the father of Pitch Black’s villain William) who leads one group of bounty hunters, and Jordi Mollà as Santana, the unpredictable leader of the opposing group.

Ultimately though, it’s impossible to ignore Vin Diesel’s mutually reciprocal love affair with the camera. While you are either a Vin Diesel fan or you’re not, it is clear he has a genuine affinity with the titular character, and brings him to life with gravel-voiced flair and marvellously under-stated humour.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: White House Down

White House Down. Rated M (action violence and coarse language). 131 minutes. Directed by Roland Emmerich. Screenplay by James Vanderbilt.

Verdict: More than just the sets and props are reduced to rubble in this chest-thumper.

You’ve got to hand it to Emmerich (2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, Independence Day). He’s the go-to guy whenever Hollywood thinks they need to blow-up The Whitehouse again for whatever reason. And obligingly, he does – not in quite the same spectacular fashion as he did in Independence Day (1996), but boom, and the most influential building in the world is reduced to smouldering rubble. Perversely, watching this film in the week we remember the attacks of September 11 in 2001, it’s as compelling as it is grotesque.

The mess of contradictions that surround Emmerich’s film-making career make him infuriating to watch. His The Day After Tomorrow (2004), which he has also wrote, was a spectacular achievement. His re-imagining of an ice-bound New York (and the rest of the planet) was brilliantly realised, and sequence after sequence remains extremely watchable. He also revealed himself to be a fine dramatist, particularly with the unforgettable sequences involving the glass-roofed shopping mall and the tanker that drifted up the middle of a New York street.

With White House Down, it’s business as usual as ex-soldier and Secret Service Agent wannabe John Cale (Channing Tatum doing a fine Bruce Willis impersonation) finds himself making the sure that President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) gets out of The Whitehouse alive after it is taken over by some guys with Iraq war-sized chips on their shoulders. Complicating matters is that Cale and his daughter Emily (an excellent Joey King) were in the middle of a tour of The Whitehouse at the precise moment it was taken over, and Emily, of course, is taken hostage.

Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man, Zodiac) throws everything at this turgid affair. His long, patriotic and uninspired screenplay is only saved by a fine comedic line shared between Tatum’s bluff and Foxx’s bluster, which both actors play like there will be no tomorrow.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Red 2

Red 2. Rated M (violence and coarse language). 116 minutes. Directed by Dean Parisot. Screenplay by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber.

Verdict: Mary-Louise Parker saves the day in this derivative but entertaining old pot-boiler.

You’d think that by managing to reunite the top shelf cast from Red (2010) we’d have been guaranteed something memorable. While far from being a complete waste of time, the Hoebers’ cheerfully derivative screenplay (they also wrote the first instalment) treads a well-worn track and is only saved from becoming an easily dismissible parody by an entertaining turn by Anthony Hopkins as the crazy old nuclear scientist Edward Bailey and Mary-Louise Parker’s standout return as Sarah.

Sarah (Parker) is trying to enjoy domestic bliss with her retired covert operations agent boyfriend Frank (Bruce Willis). They are shopping for household appliances when the zany Marvin (John Malkovich) tracks them down to warn Frank that the baddies are after them again. A sinister operation known as ‘Nightshade’ is causing tension around the globe, and someone (notably Neal McDonough’s icy operative Jack Horton) is out to end the lives of everyone associated with it.

Much as she did with the first instalment, it is the least well-known Parker (Weeds) who walks away with the film. It doesn’t hurt that Sarah gets all of the comedy and is the only genuinely interesting character journey on offer. Watching her become more and more involved in the ‘disarm the weapon of mass destruction’ plot is delightful, and the scenes in which she accounts for Frank’s ex-lover Katya (a perfectly smouldering Catherine Zeta-Jones), are the film’s funniest running gags.

Parisot (Fun with Dick and Jane, Galaxy Quest) wisely gives his megastars all the room they need to strut their stuff, even if his primary responsibility appears to have been keeping up with them. If Malkovich wins the award for most reaction shots in a Hollywood film this year, it is always a real pleasure to watch Helen Mirren (The Queen), who has a ball sending herself (and the genre) up mercilessly.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.