With a cast that includes a shell-shocked Cillian Murphy, aerial aces Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden, casual seaman Mark Rylance (with his son Tom Glynn-Carney and helper Barry Koeghan), Colonel James D'Arcy, Kenneth Branagh as a naval commander, a surprisingly decent Harry Styles and Fionn Whitehead as the lead soldier, there's always the strong possibility of actors being under-utilised or even - if we dare say it -squandered. The most compelling characters in Christopher Nolan's war film about the Dunkirk evacuation are on board the SS Rylance, where Murphy, Rylance and the two young actors are given more breathing room for characterisation. Branagh has the least to do; his highlight is a meagre look of fear and acceptance in the face of danger.
In any case, the cast are all more than adequate and the characters well-sketched enough to sympathise with. The real focus is on the spectacle. And by Krishna there's a lot. Nolan puts his cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema to work in capturing the dynamic air battles, which - as you'd expect from the auteur - use a surplus of practical effects and genuine props for an authentic and completely immersive experience. It's all underpinned by Hans Zimmer's score, varying from simple but effective ticking in urgent moments to an utterly triumphant orchestral theme. In the last five minutes, it's the perfect accompaniment to (spoiler alert for those who don't know the Nazis didn't conquer Britain) the achievement of the courageous acts of heroism that kept the Allies in the war. Aptly, Nolan deserves praise for his achievement of recreating Dunkirk on land, sea and the air in a respectful manner; few filmmakers would undertake such a difficult shoot, let alone succeed.
As one soldier is about to be captured by Germans, the shallow focus makes them barely visible as he defiantly looks away. This exemplifies Dunkirk: brave men not concerned with fighting, but saving the fight for another day, and ultimately, doing so against all odds and beating the enemy. Hence the depowered Nazis. Take that Hitler.
Pretty much FIVE STARS. Inspiring stuff. And Harry Styles looks like less of a gonad with short hair.
As far as remakes go, little separates Don Siegel's The Beguiled and Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled. The plot beats are mostly identical, save for the lack of slaves, which definitely makes the women of the girl's school more likable. Because, you know, not having slaves is a nice thing to do. The main justification for the remake is to subvert the borderline exploitation film that was the 1971 version, a film which would give Barbara Creed an aneurysm.
Here, Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst's characters aren't quite so easily tricked - dare I say, beguiled - by Colin Farrell's earnestly charming union soldier John as they nurse his wounds, especially the naive portrayal of the latter's naive Siegel counterpart. There's also plenty of feminist subtext to sink your teeth into without beating you over the head with a phallus about it. For example, some telling french lessons and a 'typical' female chore that is dangerous for the unsuspecting male. Nous sommes femmes.
The cast are all solid, but the younger cast are the standouts. The Nice Guys' Angourie Rice and Southpaw's Oona Laurence hold their own well against veteran award winners. Something that is transposed from the original is the lack of suspense for the first hour. It's not a detrimental element, but it will make the film meander for some. For the most part though, it is a quietly suspenseful thriller with enough emotional tension among the repressed women to keep people on-board.
FOUR-ISH STARS. The cross-cutting of Clint Eastwood's lies with the truth is missing, but that does make Colin Farrell's successor more ambiguous, even if it was the highlight of the original and did make John a gloriously loathsome bastard.
When you look at the Academy Award nomination John Hurt received for Elephant Man, it becomes even more baffling that Andy Serkis' work as Gollum or Caesar was snubbed, seeing as they are essentially both performances covered by special effects. The only difference is Caesar's performance-capture is more advanced than Joseph Merrick's make-up.
Anywho, WFTPOTA is (possibly) the end to the consistently strong thinking man's franchise, with another emotive show from the lead, breathtaking special effects complete with photo-realistic fur and a 'man are the real monsters' vibe. This time around, Caesar wages a personal war with the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), who - although he lacks a surname - is most probably called Kurtz. Harrelson is competent, but there is some delicious (if a little obvious) subtext about a mad man building a wall and oppressing people who are a different race. Deliberate trumping?
Matt Reeves returns to the murky, damp world he expanded upon in Dawn, and delivers more of the grimly beautiful imagery; he really is an ideal candidate for directing The Batman. It's amazing how moving the plight of chimpanzees is, with credit largely going to an extraordinary cast making them oddly relatable no matter how much your brain tells you they are CGI apes. It's particularly effective when Caesar interacts with his young son or the young human child The issue is simply that an otherwise great film is littered with niggling mistakes. A superfluous inter title here, character cameos in nightmares here. The supporting cast is probably the noticeable Achilles heel of the film. Steve Zahn's Bad Ape is a welcome presence, but as a comic relief, his humour is too broad and misplaced. Elsewhere, a gorilla travelling with Caesar (how telling the name is forgettable) isn't given enough time to gestate and make an impression for his relationship developments to be believable. In addition, the trilogy ends on a mostly moving yet arbitrary note, summarising this film in a way: satisfying but occasionally something feels a bit off.
Still, FOUR STARS. Let's leave it there lads, no need for CGI Charlton Heston to land on the planet.
Do not expect a straight horror film. Some viewers initially anticipated It Comes At Night to be a spooky supernatural indie flick, but really it has more in line with the low key post-apocalypse drama Z for Zachariah than any mainstream horror. A lot of the elements in a similar setting (sexual tension, mistrust) are present here too in writer/director's Trey Edward Shults' second outing.
Shults' manages to sustain utter dread for ninety minutes as Paul (an intense yet sympathetic Joel Edgerton) and his family (Carmen Ejogo and Kevin Harrison Jr) attempt to preserve their humble existence in a disease-ridden environment. The presence of a second, potentially infected family stokes distrustful exchanges. After being captured by Paul, the other patriarch Will (Christopher Abbot) is tied and interrogated in an especially ell done scene filled with desperate dialogue and camera movements reflecting the transition of power as Paul begins to let his dominance diminish. The cinematography throughout is outstanding, seemingly taking cues from German Expressionism by utilising high contrasts, shadows and low key lighting to enhance the suspense.
For the most part, the suspense leads to some disturbing imagery, making the film a drama punctuated by the odd freaky beat. And damn it's effective. What's out there? How is infected? What sublime horror will A24 release next? It's all tantalising ambiguous, with a simple conversation being as gripping as a shootout with bandits. The acting is all excellent, but ideally Carmen Ejogo would have a bit more to do, although that gripe is a small one. A mildly burnt corner on an otherwise delicious cake. A nightmare infested cake.
FOUR STARS. More goats.
The issue with re-watching the Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield Spiderman films is the underlying sadness as loved ones die and relationships fail. As Marvel showed in Civil War, Tom Holland's iteration is the fun-loving teen that the comics set him up as. Homecoming continues that portrayal with a gusto, and doesn't repeat what came before it. The school bully is now a rival academic, the love interest isn't just Mary Jane or Gwen Stacey and we aren't subjected to another Uncle Ben death. Any more and Sony is technically a serial killer.
Jon Watts channels John Hughes High School films along with high-spirited action in a story which sees Peter Parker wanting to fight proper crime and join the avengers. A montage of low-level misdemeanor-fighting set to Blitzkrieg Bop sums up the sheer fun being put on screen. Watts is now 2 for 2 on his last two feature films (disregard Clown and definitely check out Cop Car).
Holland - as we know - is a lively, lovable hero, but an intimidating villain is needed to match him. Michael Keaton delivers exactly that as The Vulture, issuing straightforward threats and an enjoyable straightforward plan: steal the leftover material from previous Avengers films. The rest of the supporting cast are also good in their roles. Jacob Batalon. Zendaya, Donald Glover, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau. Robert Downey Junior is used to without overshadowing Holland, but Donald Glover is completely under-utilised in a brief scene as a criminal.
Ah well. Plenty of easter eggs for fans, yet another great soundtrack and an excellent plot twist. Let's say FOUR STARS and a little bit. I'm phoning it. Don't care. Tired.
The minions take the backseat in this threequel after their own 2015 outing, which is probably for the best as the urine soaked nuggets' welcome becomes increasingly outstayed. A solid subplot where the unemployed critters go to prison features some genuinely funny airline gags.
Gru is also made unemployed after being bested by retro villain/ former child star Balthazar Bratt (a spirited Trey Parker), before meeting his long lost incompetent twin Dru, leading him back into his old villainous ways. It's a children's film really. Regardless, logic will still be applied to question why Gru continually attempts to catch Bratt in such a cack-handed way, using hands over gadgets. He definitely should have been sacked.
Still, Steve Carrel delivers more of his vaguely European tones, and remains highly watchable in the lead role. It's just that the gags aren't as abundant as in the first two films. There are more soppy familial arcs, this time surrounding new mother Lucy (Kristen Wiig). With such little steam left in the franchise, Minions 2 feels like overkill.
THREE STARS. The goat is good.
