Film Review: The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner. Rated M (violence, science fiction themes and sustained threat). 113 minutes. Directed by Wes Ball. Screenplay by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers and T S Nowlin. Based on the novel by James Dashner.

Verdict: The latest entry into the ‘teens against the rest of the world’ genre is an undeniable ripper.

If an award existed for the film that wastes no time getting on with it, The Maze Runner would win hands down. Within seconds of the cinema lights dimming, our protagonist Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) rides a goods elevator known as ‘the box’ up into the Glade – a verdant oasis at the heart of a super-structure known as ‘the maze’.

A dazed Thomas is greeted by a group of young men who have spent as long as three years learning to survive in the Glade, with selected ‘Runners’ entering the maze to try and find a way of getting through it. Those that are not brutally dispatched by robotic ‘Grievers’, live to tell the tale of escaping the horror that lies within the monumental, shape-shifting structure. Thomas is determined to triumph over the structure, and when the box delivers a young woman, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the circumstances in which the ‘game’ is played are changed forever.

While it owes a debt to stories like William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954) and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, there is no doubt that Dashner’s novel, and this fast and efficient cinematic adaptation, are masterclasses in storytelling.

Ball makes an impressive feature-length debut, setting a cracking pace and keeping the focus firmly on what is at stake for his characters. His faith and commitment to an uncluttered style is well rewarded, with his ensemble delivering excellent performances. O’Brien (Teen Wolf’s Stiles), who is rarely offscreen, is simply outstanding as the young hero who refuses to play by the rules.

While there might be a sense of wearying familiarity with the ‘teens against the corrupt adult world’ genre, The Maze Runner, boasting Marc Fisichella’s superb production design, is a compelling and involving adventure that deserves to be experienced on the big screen.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Into the Storm

Into the Storm. Rated M (mature themes). 89 minutes. Directed by Steven Quale. Screenplay by John Swetnam.

Verdict: Sound and fury signifying nothing.

Anyone with fond memories of Jan de Bont’s ground-breaking Twister (1996), or any other film that focuses on the impacts of extreme weather events, will find Quale’s (Final Destination 5) offering almost instantly forgettable. While the sound and visual effects are great, the film lacks the necessary menace that these kinds of ‘Mother Nature as fiercely unforgiving adversary’ films need in order to sustain our interest in the scenes of relentless destruction and devastation.

In the all-American town of Silverton, everyone’s a film-maker. As the townsfolk brace for an epic series of tornado touch-downs, the hapless cast run around with a dazzling array of smartphones and video cameras filming anyone and anything that will stay still long enough.

Quale and Swetnam’s miscalculation is that unlike the hand-held camera found-footage masterpieces Blair Witch Project (1999) and Cloverfield (2008), the secret to the dramatic success of this particular style of film-making is as much about what we don’t see as what we do. Donnie (Max Deacon) and the love of his life Kaitlyn’s (Alycia Debnam Carey) near-death video messages from within a flooded paper-mill, for example, are nothing compared to the famous camper’s video diary sequence from Blair Witch Project.

The competent cast of bland lead characters is also frequently upstaged, hilariously, by two Jackass-inspired locals who are desperate for their five minutes of YouTube fame. The scene involving their family swimming pool and their furious mother is an absolute highlight, which is bizarre given how it is the least expensive sequence in what is obviously a massive effects budget extravaganza. Had Into the Storm managed to generate at least one more original idea, it might have been a good deal more interesting than it is.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3. Rated M (action violence and coarse language). 126 minutes. Directed by Patrick Hughes. Screenplay by Sylvester Stallone, Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt.

Verdict: Chaos reigns as the Kings of Cinema shoot lots of people.

You have to hand it to Sylvester Stallone. That The Expendables works at all is due not only to his monumental onscreen presence, but his ability to gather all his mates together into one of the largest ensembles in recent memory. And what a cast it is.

The spectacular opening sequence (there’s always one in an Expendables movie) sees Barney (Stallone) and the team freeing Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes) from a train that is delivering him to a high-tech prison. The team needs the good Doctor’s help intercepting a shipment of weapons being sent to arms trader Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) in Somalia. When the operation goes pear-shaped, Barney retires the old team members and recruits a new, more agile and technologically savvy gang.

The fatal flaw in the concept lies in the casting of Mel Gibson, who is spectacular. Plagued with all sorts of public relations disasters in his private life, Gibson burns up the screen from start to finish. When you add Harrison Ford (who replaces Bruce Willis) and the indefatigable Arnold Schwarzenegger to the mix, the young’uns (including Kellan Lutz who is currently starring as Hercules) are at a distinct disadvantage.

Australian-born Hughes and cinematographer Peter Menzies Jr are on their way to becoming a formidable duo behind the camera, but the chronic over editing (Sean Albertson and Paul Harb) suggests that this is not the break-through they might have hoped for. There are some magnificent close-ups of Stallone, Gibson and Ford (whose faces reveal years of cinema history), but the bulk of this disappointing outing for the Kings of Cinema is just migraine-inducing, blood-lusty chaos.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey

The Hundred-Foot Journey. Rated PG (mild themes and infrequent coarse language). 122 minutes. Directed by Lasse Hallström. Screenplay by Steven Knight. Based on the novel by Richard Morais.

Verdict: A simple yet involving story, beautifully told.

In the midst of Marvel Studios’ quest for global cinematic domination comes this gorgeous film about prejudice, food and the importance of healing life’s painful experiences by refusing to be defeated by them.

When political tensions erupt into violence, Papa (Om Puri) and his family flee their Mumbai restaurant and travel to Europe where Papa dreams of rebuilding their lives. After becoming stranded in a quaint French village, Papa purchases a dilapidated building and opens an Indian restaurant directly opposite Madam Mallory’s (Helen Mirren) famously upmarket establishment.

Knight’s by-the-numbers adaptation of Morais’ novel provides the perfect blueprint for the stylish Hallström (Chocolat, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) and his cinematographer Linus Sandgren (American Hustle) to deliver a sumptuously styled and photographed romance to the screen.

Puri and Mirren are delightful as the formidable elders, while Manish Dayal’s performance as Hassan (the eldest son who is a brilliant cook) perfectly captures the wide-eyed innocence and vulnerability of a young man on the cusp of greatness. While Puri and Mirren get all the fun of the spirited combat, it is Dayal who convincingly reveals the story’s heart and soul with a beautiful, revelatory performance of heart-melting sincerity.

Charlotte Le Bon is perfect as Marguerite, an ambitious and equally talented young chef employed by Madam Mallory, who refuses to allow her romantic feelings for Hassan to distract her from becoming a renowned chef.

It feels like a long time since we’ve experienced such a rich and beautifully told story in the cinema. The Hundred-Foot Journey’s over-riding message – that sometimes the solution to life’s troubles might be closer than you imagined – is a memorable and important one.

Just remember to eat before you go.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy. Rated M (science fiction themes and violence). 121 minutes. Directed by James Gunn. Screenplay by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman.

Verdict: A spectacular, hugely entertaining debut for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

Marvel Comics’ quest for global domination of our cinemas reaches unparalleled heights with this spectacular entry into its seemingly never-ending catalogue of big screen adaptations.

Arguably less well known than The Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a fantastic assortment of misfits who find themselves battling the megalomaniacal warlord Ronan (Lee Pace) for possession of an all-powerful Infinity Stone. In the wrong hands, the stone can be used to destroy entire planets and civilisations, and it is the evil Ronan’s intention to decimate the peace-loving citizens of Xandar (led by Glenn Close) and rule the galaxy.

Gunn and cinematographer Ben Davis (Wrath of the Titans) are in commanding form from start to finish, and Gunn’s screenplay with Perlman provides the enormous and expert cast with fantastic opportunities for everything from high drama, action and intrigue to hilarious moments of pure slapstick. Production Designer Charles Wood (Wrath of the Titans, Thor: The Dark World) has created a stunning visual environment, which somehow manages to not even remotely resemble anything we’ve seen before in this genre.

Chris Pratt (Moneyball) is wickedly good as Peter Quill, the rogue Ravager who would rather goof around than take responsibility for saving the world. Pratt’s winning presence and sense of humour are essential to the overall effectiveness of the tone Gunn has set for his characters. Pratt is perfectly matched by an excellent performance from Zoe Saldana (Avatar) as Gamora, an alien who has her own reasons for wanting to get her hands on the Infinity Stone.

Rocket the raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), is a brilliantly-realised CGI character, and as you find yourself being drawn deeper into his friendship with the humanoid tree Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), you will realise that the film-makers have worked a very special kind of magic indeed.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Lucy

Lucy. Rated MA15+ (strong themes and violence). 89 minutes. Written and directed by Luc Besson.

Verdict: A fine idea about our human potential is wasted in this violent fantasia.

Like Neil Burger’s Limitless (2011), Besson’s exploration of the effect of mind-altering substances on the human brain promises the world and delivers very little. It all starts smartly enough, with Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) and her new boyfriend Richard (Pilou Asbæk) arguing over who will deliver a briefcase with mysterious contents to a guest at a fashionable hotel in Taiwan.

When Richard is ruthlessly dispatched, Lucy becomes an unwilling accomplice to an international crime syndicate, who surgically implant a plastic bag full of blue crystallised powder into her stomach. When the plastic bag breaks as a result of one of Besson’s many random acts of gratuitous violence, her body absorbs the substance, resulting in rapidly escalating superhuman powers.

Known for his sci-fi thriller The Fifth Element (1997) and as one of the writers of Taken (2008) and Taken 2 (2012), Besson’s obsession with violence reduces what might have been a film of great ideas to a veritable bloodbath. Morgan Freeman, as the stately professor who Lucy finds to help her understand her new-found neurological potential, spends much of the time looking dazed and confused by all the silliness going on around him.

Johansson works wonders with the questionable ethics and morals of the material, and while she is a much better actress than most of it, the depth of her engagement with the character ensures that the film works a good deal more effectively than it might have.

But within all the ill-conceived chaos, lies a fine idea about just how little of our potential we realise throughout our lives. Why Besson didn’t chose to make a film about this far more interesting thread instead of the clichéd, drug-dealing gangsters plot, will forever remain a mystery.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Hercules

Hercules. Rated M (violence, blood and infrequent coarse language). 98 minutes. Directed by Brett Ratner. Screenplay by Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Based on Radical Comics’ Hercules by Steve Moore.

Verdict: Radical Comics make a stupidly entertaining entry into big screen Comic Book universe.

There is more than one way to skin a lion, it would seem, as Radical Comics (after a piece of Marvel’s box office pie) make their high-impact entry into the world of big screen adaptations. And if this entertaining piece of big budget schlock is anything to go by, they are a welcome addition to the fold – if only for entirely different reasons. Hercules is a message- and moral-free zone, existing for one reason only, which is to entertain.

Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand) somehow manages channel the great Mel Brooks, Monty Python and his own peculiar taste for unhinged cinematic pandemonium into an irreverent sprint through the Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) fable. Johnson, who is re-writing the book of what you need to possess in order to have a lucrative acting career, is fantastic as Hercules. The camera cannot get enough of him, and he obliges with all kinds of face-pulling and posturing, while also handling the comedy and the high drama in thunderingly good form like the supremely entertaining showman he really is.

Veterans Ian McShane (as the weary ‘Seer’ Amphiaraus) and John Hurt (as the vengeful Lord Cotys) bring presence and entertainment value to the show in equal measure, with McShane working all the best laughs to his absolute advantage as he expects to die courtesy of a flaming arrow at any moment.

As our hero and his cohorts trample all over the place killing everyone and everything that gets in their way, it becomes impossible not to simply marvel at how wonderfully silly it all is. Silly, entertaining, and done and dusted in half the time. Marvellous.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.