John Wick Review

John Wick

The set up to John Wick might sound a little strange. It follows eponymous retired hit man (Keanu Reeves) coming out of retirement to enact revenge after some Russian gangsters kill the dog given to him by his dead wife. Let me assure you though the movie is so ridiculously entertaining, the story is well told the action so stylized and violent John Wick is one hell of a thrill ride.

When the film starts John  is living in his cold and clinical modern house we get the sense that everything around him is too safe, the white walls of the house could be livened up with a bit of blood soon though he’s called out of his retirement. I said the set up sounds laboured  but the film sells it firstly we get a sense of quite how much the dog means to him and secondly the scene where his dog gets taken from him is done so well that you want John to get revenge on these people.  And boy does he get revenge. The film is a tour de force of immaculate action set pieces. The film is directed by David Leitch and Chad Stahelski they’re former stunt men so that’s where the film finds its strength, the hand to hand combat scenes feel more like dance.  Yet their work on the film extends beyond these action scene they manage to perfectly balance the pacing of the film it’s fast moving but when it allows itself to get some air it’s still good to watch because the film is full of little moments of comedy and ideas about this world which breathe some life into the film for instance there’s a hotel exclusively for hit-men which has a very particular set of rules and a helpful yet sarcastic receptionist.

John Wick is a young persons film about an older man getting back to his past so its especially good that Keanu Reeves who is fifty years old leads the film with the skill he does. He really makes the role of Wick his own making him the relentless badass that it could be said that action cinema has been lacking there’s also a sadness to John Wick though and among all of the action we get a sense of how he is struggling to cope with the loss of his wife. John Wick is a ruthless out of control film that never gives in and never apologizes it feels like an action film for out time and it’s sure to go down in cult history. 

Fast and Furious 7 Review

Fast and Furious 7 is almost exactly what you might expect it to be yet I feel describing it like that is doing the film a disservice. It is in fact a relentless ride of impeccable action and fantastically over the top sequences that is held up by a cast who bounce off of each other.

Something that has been key to the most recent films in the series has been the action set pieces. Five culminates in the crew driving a large safe around the streets of Rio, Six ends with an incredible take down of a military plane on what might be the world longest run way. Well let me tell you seven tops both of those sequences the first sequence is teased in the trailer. The crew parachute their cars out of a plane to land on a piece of road on a mountain to take down a crew of terrorists who have taken a hacker hostage. This sequence is genuinely great it roars along  and ticks all the boxes in terms of the entertainment that you might want from this series. James Wan handles this sequences with absolute precision whilst the sequences moves quickly you constantly understand what is going on. This is James Wan’s first film in the franchise and I have to admit I found it quite hard to see what made his direction different from that of Justin Lin in the previous entries but he handles the film very well and perfectly fits the style of the films. Whilst the mountain sequence in the film is the best in terms of storytelling I think my favourite  segment of the film has to be the part in Abu Dhabai just for the sheer ridiculousness of the whole thing.

What also makes these films is the crew themselves and whilst the crew is a bit smaller in this film (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson sit most of the film out, Han and Gisele are gone, Mia is also missing for most of the film) the repartee between the cast is still on top form. Tej and Roman still have their comic bickering. In fact I have to say Tyrese Gibson stole the show for me and it was definitely Roman drawing the most laughs out of the audience I was with. Dom (Vin Diesel) still goes on about family every fifth line. Whilst he isn’t in the film much when The Rock shows up he more than steals the show; “I am the cavalry” is a line sure to go down in pop culture history. It’s the fast we know but it’s also the fast we love. There is one element that overhangs the films though and that is the tragic death of Paul Walker. Walker died November 2013 about six months before the film was suppose to come out this left half of his scenes unfilmed. The filmmakers got past this by using a variety of stand-ins and creating a CGI Paul Walker. I have to say never for a moment did I notice what they were doing and technically it was entirely convincing. Yet most importantly they got the emotions just right. I won’t spoil what happens but rest assured Brian isn’t killed off for shock value but ultimately the film celebrates Walker and mourns his loss ultimately underpinning the family message of the franchise.

Fast and Furious 7 more than delivers in terms of entertainment between the large elaborate action pieces and the small character moments but it also perfectly manages to handle the loss that damaged the crew on and off screen.

While We're Young Review

While We’re Young is Noah Baumbach’s comedy drama about a middle aged couple (Ben Stiller & Naomi Watts) who suddenly find a new lease of life when a younger couple (Adam Driver & Amanda Seyfried) enter their world.  The film starts off as a fairly standard comedy about growing old, think “This Is 40” but less self indulgent and a bit funnier. Stiller & Watts are very funny in this section of the film as we see them try to cope with this strange modern world around them. The film manages to find quite a lot of comedy in this section despite the fact we have already seen numerous comedies about growing old before.

Soon the film changes focus however and it turns it’s attention to Ben Stiller’s character that of documentary film maker Josh. Josh meets Jamie (Adam Driver) and Derby (Amanda Seyfried) at first Josh is fascinated by the two and he is amazed at their hipster lifestyle this pushes both Josh and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) into a midlife crisis as they try to keep up with their new friends again the film finds comedy here and provides temporary reflection on the young lifestyles clashing with the old. However this coasting along familiar ideas isn’t enough for the film and it starts to push forward into new ground. The film starts of play on the fact that three of its main characters make documentaries so it starts musing on the idea of storytelling and truth vs art. It’s interesting ground for the film and it does make it stand out from similar indie fare. Personally I didn’t find that all of the stuff about filmmaking ultimately tied together and it did come out of left field from where the film was starting off which itself wasn’t a bad thing but in the end it felt a little rushed and it didn’t all make sense and often it was explained through speeches. You could make a comparison to Birdman in this respect but the film comes out much better than Birdman for many reasons lime the fact it’s considerably funnier, the writing is whilst flawed is still interesting and it moves along at a very fast pace.  The core of the film is the four main characters and the actors are all very good in their roles. Baumbach’s direction is very light and naturalistic I haven’t seen any of his previous films but he is clearly fitting this one within the established American indie style.

Overall While We’re Young is an above average comedy it’s very light with it’s touch, it’s consistently funny and it provides interesting reflection on the nature of youth even if it’s stuff about storytelling doesn’t ultimately come together.  

3.5/Stars

Cinderella Review

We live in an age were people are so hypersensitive about spoilers. People are concerned about hearing the slightest bit of information about a film based on a book that’s been out for ages. It’s this sort of thinking that damages the way we think about narratives, suddenly they become judged on how surprising and  shocking they are we no longer care about other factors. It doesn’t matter how well the story is told it just has to be surprising. This is precisely why Cinderella is a breath of fresh air. The film simply tells the age old story of Cinderella and delights in being as traditional and straight as it can and for that it is simply wonderful. Kenneth Branagh weaves a tale that is sure to entertain for generations. He doesn’t try to adapt Cinderella for the 21^st century because he knows how badly that would date instead he just takes the fairytale of old and makes it in a modern way. It’s not as easy a transition between animation and live action as you might think whereas with hand drawn animation you can have more basic  cleaner less detailed images with live action you have to feel the frame and give a sense of place this is why Branagh’s Cinderella actual feels like a very big theatrical film but in the center of the film he finds the heart and voice of the characters. 

Lily James takes the eponymous role and really makes it her own. Cinderella feels like a real character rather than a stereotype of goodness.  Jame’s Cinderella always tries to stay positive even when the worst is happening to her she isn’t just a standard goody goody too shoes she gives us a sense of Cinderella’s inner conflict as she tries to help others but till wants to do things for herself. She makes the character so likeable that it is rewarding to see the good things that eventually happen to her. The other performer who makes the film work is Helena Bonham Carter as The Fairy Godmother she is only on screen for a few memorable scenes but she narrates the whole thing with an English accent as polished as a glass slipper which contributes to the whole classical sense of the story. Cate Blanchett is a joy to watch as she embraces the role of the wicked stepmother she’s having so much fun in the role playing all the wickedness with an underlying sense of jealousy and sadness which creates for a compelling character.

One key element to the film is the costume design. Cinderella’s ball dress is one of the most gorgeous dresses ever put to film; it’s puffy and frilly  but made of this light fabric and in this gorgeous shade of blue and its decorated by small fragile fabric butterflies it is simply beautiful. The stepfamily are dressed in these garish silk colours that both repel and entice the eye and they seem like clothes that would only be worn by people with more money than sense.

Cinderella is an example of storytelling at it’s best we know what’s going to happen but at every moment  we are completely sold on the story. There were genuinely moments that whilst I was comfortable in my knowledge of the story I questioned who Cinderella was going to win.  The film rests of James performance as Cinderella and she proves herself together her and Branagh make this a fairytale for the ages. 4/5 Stars 

My review of Frozen Fever the film before Cinderella is here  http://ablogaboutfilms.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/frozen-fever.html  

Frozen Fever

Frozen Fever

Frozen Fever is a short film following on from the events of Frozen the whole piece is set to a brand new song “Making Today A Perfect Day” and the film follows Elsa as the attempts to make Anna’s birthday “Perfect”. The film is perfectly fine the colour scheme is a bit brighter than it was in Frozen so it’s a bit nicer to look at. The song is fine it’s a catchy pleasant melody but it probably won’t have the lifespan of “Let It Go” and that sort of summarizes the whole short. It’s perfectly fine and tides you over if your waiting for Frozen 2 but if your not it’s a nicely animated bore. If you want to make it more interesting have a game of “Spot The New Merchandise Bingo” in the film Elsa and Anna get new dresses and there’s a load of baby snowmen who might as well have “New Toys” written across their foreheads.

Theory Of Subtle Framing

In my original review of "The Theory Of Everything" which you can find here http://ablogaboutfilms.blogspot.co.uk/…/the-theory-of-every… I wrote about the way James Marsh plays on the framing of the film to communicate subtle short ideas which is appropriate considering the film is about the difficulty of communication in this rare marriage. When writing I had one shot in my mind and it was this shot. You see Jane and Stephen are on the opposite sides of the frame yet not only that Stephen is closer to the frame than Jane so we have two layers of distance working together (foreground and background, right & left) to show the distance between Jane and Stephen as their marriage deteriorates but the back of Stephens chair is responsible for the division in the frame emphasising how Stephen's condition is responsible for the split in the marriage but importantly both characters appear happy in the image Jane is content reading her book and Stephen is smiling whilst looking at his screen showing that the distance between them is increasing but they are still both very happy in their own worlds.

He's Started A Blog, He's Started A Blog, SJ Kamal He's started A Blog

I know a lot of different people all with different interests. But I am unaware of anyone as passionate about football as my friend SJ. I know nothing about football but you can't help but feel enthused when you see someone as passionate about something as SJ is with football and he's entertaining as well. SJ always brings a smile to every moment and he's never without a chant for something.

Anyway now you can get to know SJ better as he's started a blog on football which you can find here

http://sjkamal.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/javier-hernandez-man-uniteds-forgotten.html

Give him a read. If you like football it will be worth it!