One of the reasons the film fight series has been a little delayed this year is that I was a little less obsessive about my record keeping than normal. One consequence of this is that I only seem to have seen one film in May. This could be true (I was travelling a lot) or possibly not. Either way…
Magicians is what happens when two of Britain’s best comedians, David Mitchell and Robert Webb, get watered down to fit a mainstream audience. While this could’ve been another great and fairly dark piece of comedy, like Peep Show at its sickest, it’s barely more than a children’s film with some blue references. Forgettable, and uninteresting. Avoid.
Sadly, despite the review, Magicians wins for May… unless I can remember what else I saw.
Update: I found the other two ticket stubs for May!
28 Weeks Later is that rarest of things: a sequel that pays adequate respect to the original material, while standing on its own feet. The opening sequence is both stunning and shocking, the excellent score making it one of the most intense openers I’ve seen in a long time. As zombie films go, 28 Weeks Later is ok. It isn’t trying to make a point, but has a reasonable vision of how the world would go wrong. There are some fairly trite missteps, such as the main character zombie (a device used effectively by George Romero in his series of zombie films, but abused here). Overall, this is still fairly enjoyable.
Finally, Zodiac is David Fincher’s latest master work: an account of the Zodiac murders, largely from the perspective of the cartoonist who became so obsessed with the story that he wrote one of the definitive books on the matter. As the case was unsolved, Fincher focusses on the paranoia and fear found in this time and place, while expanding on the details. Every scene is beautifully shot, with CGI used seamlessly (as it should be), and excellent performances from the whole cast. Although it doesn’t quite match some of his previous work (Fight Club, Seven), it’s still a fantastic piece of cinema.
With that, Magicians is no longer the winner for May, Zodiac wins.