Film Review: Spy

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Spy. Rated MA15+ (strong violence, coarse language and brief nudity). 120 minutes. Written and Directed by Paul Feig.

Verdict: A star turn from Melissa McCarthy manages to maintain our interest.

With his smash-hit romp Bridesmaids (2011), Feig launched himself, and one of the film’s stars Melissa McCarthy, into the heights of the comedy stratosphere. Bridesmaids became one of the most talked-about films of the year, gleefully dividing audiences straight down the line between those who adored its ribald, no holds barred hilarity, and those who found it all too obnoxious, crude and over-rated.

Whatever side of the Bridesmaids debate you were on may well define exactly how much you enjoy Feig’s modestly enjoyable plundering of the espionage genre.

Susan Cooper (McCarthy) is the ‘voice in the ear’ of one of the FBI’s celebrated field agents Bradley Fine (Jude Law). Using state-of-the-art tracking software at FBI HQ, Cooper guides Ford through a dangerous mission to discover the whereabouts of a nuclear device that the mysterious Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) has on the market to the highest bidder. When Ford is assassinated and the identities of all the other undercover FBI agents (including Jason Statham’s wonderfully resentful, rogue agent Rick Ford) are revealed, a guilt-ridden Cooper volunteers to take on the challenge of uncovering the bomb’s location to save the world from nuclear annihilation.

Feig’s screenplay is a good deal more ambitious than he is capable of delivering directorially, and while there are certainly some unforgettable sequences and some hilarious dialogue, the film struggles to maintain the breath-draining pace and equilibrium that it needs in order to feel like the gold-plated comedy experience it is trying a little too hard to be.

McCarthy, though, is brilliant, and Spy would be instantly forgettable if it wasn’t for her exceptional clowning skills and the extent to which she wholeheartedly throws herself both at, and into, the role of the endearing agent Cooper.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Rise of the Guardians. Rated PG (mild fantasy themes and violence). 97 minutes. Directed by Peter Ramsey. Screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire. Based on The Guardians of Childhood novels by William Joyce.

Verdict: The picture perfect way to launch into the festive season.

If there is a more perfect way to launch the festive season on the big screen, it’s impossible to imagine what it might be. Rise of the Guardians is not only bravura, ground-breaking 3D animation, but also a story for children that refuses to shy away from the grand themes of fear, belonging and the importance of believing in the quintessential goodness in ourselves and each other.

When the Boogieman ‘Pitch’ (voiced by Jude Law) threatens to replace children’s dreams with horrifying nightmares forever, Jack Frost (Chris Pine), Santa (Alec Baldwin), Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and Sandman (an unspoken role) must band together to defeat the evil spirits of fear and darkness once and for all.

Film Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Rated M (violence). 129 minutes. Directed by Guy Ritchie. Screenplay by Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney.

Mr Ritchie absolutely cements his directorial reputation with this sequel to his high-octane Sherlock Holmes (2009). With the exception of the writers, the cast and creative team that ensured the first movie was as good as it was are back onboard – and the result is, mostly, quite magnificent.

If the Mulroneys’ dense screenplay is darker than the first instalment, it succeeds beautifully in escorting us both further and deeper into the film’s enthralling visual environment and the characters who inhabit it. The overall pacing, however, feels uneven and places too much emphasis on the big action sequences – spectacularly achieved though they are.

On the eve of Dr Watson’s (Jude Law) wedding to his beloved Mary (Kelly Reilly), Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jnr) is investigating a number of bomb-blasts that are targeting high-profile members of politics and society. When he suspects that the destruction may be the work of his great foe Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), Holmes and Watson find themselves fighting for their lives (and the lives of everyone close to them) as Moriarty steps up his plan for the destruction and domination of Europe.

Mr Downey Jnr (pictured) takes his brilliant Holmes into another realm altogether – flawlessly capturing the detective’s wild eccentricities and idiosyncrasies in another virtuoso performance. Dr Watson gets a bigger slice of the action this time and Mr Law makes the most of every opportunity. Mr Harris (Lane Pryce in Mad Men and the son of the late, great Richard Harris) is perfectly menacing as the evil tormentor Moriarty, while Ms Reilly’s feisty Mary and Stephen Fry’s Mycroft (Sherlock’s brother) are hugely entertaining. Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus – currently in production) is excellent as the mysterious fortune-teller Madam Simza Heron who discovers that she, too, is a target of Moriarty’s henchmen.

The grim mood and tone of the story (there are no laughs and Rachel McAdams’ fearless Irene Adler is ruthlessly dispatched early) feels as though we have been immersed in an intricately layered novel – with the ‘shadows’ of the title richly imagined and realised in Sarah Greenwood’s perfectly atmospheric production design and Philippe Rousselot’s cinematography.

But it is Mr Ritchie’s grand directorial vision for the film that ensures it rises above its momentary and fleeting flaws to become an enthralling adventure – and one that kicks off the 2012 cinematic year in commanding form.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film review: Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes. 128 minutes. Rated M. Directed by Guy Ritchie; Written by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg; Released by Warner Bros in association with Village Roadshow Pictures; Cast includes Robert Downey Jnr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong.

At a glance: Robert Downey Jnr can do anything.

Beginning with A Study in Scarlet (1887), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring his 'Consulting Detective' Sherlock Holmes, who would be most famously portrayed (in 14 films) by South African born, English actor Basil Rathbone. Throughout Conan Doyle's 'Sherlock Holmes' canon (and the more than 200 dramatisations for film and television to follow), the pipe-smoking detective of 221B Baker Street, London, was renowned for his focus on logical thought, quaint philosophising and his unequalled powers of observation and deduction – not to forget his instantly recognisable cap, cape and cane.

Not any more. From the first frame, Mr Ritchie (who burst over the horizon in 1998 with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) dispenses with the mannered elegance and mild eccentricities of Sherlocks past and delivers, instead, a thrilling, white-knuckled ride through a post-modern Sherlock Holmes adventure so entirely of our time that it risks casting a museum-like pall over all that has gone before.

It is late in the 19th century and London's now iconic Tower Bridge is under construction. Master of the Occult, Lord Blackwood (a superbly malevolent Mr Strong), is sentenced to a date with the hangman for the death of a number women; but no sooner is he pronounced dead by none other than Dr Watson (Mr Law, who is finally back in form), he resurrects himself to resume his evil plan to lead his cult-like organisation to political domination.

More 007 than Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes' forensically researched screenplay (two writers are credited with the story and three with the screenplay) is melded to the screen with absolute relish and conviction, and features a blisteringly good performance from Mr Downey Jnr in the title role. Referred to in Doyle's stories as a formidable 'bare-knuckle fighter' and someone who has used martial arts on more than one occasion to dispense with his foes, Mr Ritchie and his collaborators introduce their Sherlock to us from deep within the underbelly of a heavy-duty, industrialised Victorian England; where Holmes' peculiar eccentricities are first revealed through the methodology he uses to dispatch of his much stronger and physically capable opponents in a boxing match.

While it is unarguable that Mr Ritchie really needed a high-impact, box office triumph to re-ignite our faith (and Hollywood's investment) in him (Swept Away, anyone? Revolver?), he has fortuitously found himself in incredibly accomplished company, and in the meantime, has managed to rediscover his sense of humour which has been sadly missing from much of his recent ouput. Much of the credit for this revolutionary imagining belongs to Philippe Rousselot's (Oscar-winner for A river runs through it) fiercely stylised, monochromatically-inspired cinematography, the deliciously rendered detail of Sarah Greenwood's (Atonement) glorious production design, and Hans Zimmer's (Gladiator) ravishing score that appears, at times, to forge the high-octane pace Mr Ritchie has set for the film.

James Herbert's editing keeps the film moving swiftly with hardly a dull moment, and while audiences will be more than familiar with both the slow- and fast-motion devices used to accentuate pivotal plot points and reveals, here they are used with great efficiency and expert timing – particularly as Holmes solves the intricate web of crimes and their association to each other. Ms McAdams (the ill-fated Regina in Mean Girls) is a worthy adversary for our recalcitrant hero, and Kelly Reilly turns in a beautifully affecting performance as Dr Watson's long-suffering fiancée Mary Morstan. But it is Mr Downey Jnr whose performance is worth the price of admission alone. And yes, the heavily sign-posted sequel is already in pre-production.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspapers Group and was published in the print edition of the Geraldton Guardian.