Five movies for May…

First up is Marvel’s Avengers Assemble: the ending for the Phase One of Marvel’s relaunched movies, bringing together the Iron Man series, Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor. Was it worth the wait and hype? In short, yes. It’s a hell of a pay-off we get from this Whedon directed entry in the series. It manages to balance character growth while servicing a massive cast, constantly pushing forward the world-threatening plot, getting a few decent laughs in, and, most importantly, a visual treat of an action film. If you’re pre-disposed to hate action films, then all I can say is that this is the blockbuster done right. Yes, it’s over-the-top action, but it doesn’t sacrifice everything else a film should be to service more explosions. An extremely strong final chapter in this series, that makes me look forward to phase two. (See my The Avengers Twitter review).

Meanwhile, American Pie: The Reunion does not fair so well. Revisiting a long gone franchise (well, long gone if we ignore the embarrassing straight-to-DVD sequels, and we do ignore those) is a difficult thing to do, but perhaps worthwhile if we can get a new perspective on the characters. The writers try to show us how these teenagers have grown into adults, a decade on, and the effect that’s had on the shenanigans in their lives. It doesn’t do so well. It spends a great deal of time retreading old ground, and trying to service every major character in the franchise and, frankly, it does a bad job of it. The handful of genuinely funny (new) bits were all in the trailer, leaving the film with a few chuckles. It’s not awful, but it is completely unnecessary. Only for die-hard Pie fans. (See my American Pie: Reunion Twitter review).

Jeff, Who Lives At Home sees two very different brothers (and their mother) spending a day learning to throw away their hang-ups, and live in the best way they can. It’s a little schmaltzy at times, and is certainly flimsy, but it’s a pleasant enough way to pass an hour or two. (See my Jeff, Who Lives At Home Twitter review).

Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator tries to take the styling of his earlier work (where he’d play a terrible character and let real people play against it) and apply it to a more traditional film. The results are extremely uneven. It works best, surprisingly, when it is going a little bit too far and is being mean-spirited, because it’s done with such childish malevolence. When it tries to settle down into plot and character building, it’s very badly done. Cohen can act, as evidenced in Hugo or even Sweeney Todd, so to see so many lines delivered limply here is disappointing. There are moments of comic genius here, but it’s largely disjointed and poorly made. (See my The Dictator Twitter review).

Finally, The Raid is an extremely stylised and thoroughly enjoyable Indonesian action film. It strips away the plot to the bare minimum, and focusses on it’s hellish premise: a SWAT team that has been decimated and caught in gang territory, trying desperately to escape the tenement slums. Some of the action sequences are absolutely stunning, and the fight choreography is worth the admission alone. I’d liked to have seen a few longer takes, to really show off, but that’s nitpicking. An extremely good take on the action movie. (See my The Raid Twitter review).

The winner, then, is Marvel’s Avengers Assemble. If you’d asked me a few months ago if I thought this would be good, my guess would have been ‘no’, but I’ve been gladly proven wrong.

Just three films in April’s Film Fight…

First up, The Kid With A Bike is a missed opportunity. It tells the story of a small boy who has been abandoned by his family, for reasons that he doesn’t really understand. It’s about him coming to terms with the anger he feels, the difficultly he has in making new relationships, and the mistakes he makes. What should be a sad piece (possibly with a hopeful ending), doesn’t do the subject any justice. Through failings in pace, dialogue, and direction, it fails to bring any weight to the boy’s situation. We end up with a smattering of events without the feeling of any deep consequence. A shame. (See my The Kid With A Bike Twitter review).

Sean Penn finds a role that is surprising even for a seasoned character actor like himself in This Must Be The Place. Penn plays a fragile and quiet goth rocker, coming to terms with the death of his estranged father while coming to some realisations about the emptiness of his life. Penn’s performance is, as always, something to behold. For a man who has portrayed so many strongly driven characters, it’s eye-opening to see him play someone so meek. Sadly, the rest of the film does not live up to the lead: it’s a slow, meandering slog where not enough happens over far too long a period. It’s difficult to watch, not due to the subject, but simply because it is largely bereft of worthwhile content. (See my This Must Be The Place Twitter review).

Finally, The Cabin In The Woods has taken years to finally make it to the screen, and it has been worth the wait. It’s in that most troublesome group of films to review; in which any commentary could ruin the first watch, which would be a shame even though it will undoubtedly stand up to many repeated viewings. What can I say? It’s ostensibly a horror film that is about horror films, but it’s also so much more. It’s been put together with craft, style and wit into a package which we haven’t seen before in many years. I’ll say no more other than to say it is excellent. Definitely see this film. (See my The Cabin In The Woods Twitter review).

As should be clear, The Cabin In The Woods is the clear winner for April.

March sees just three films reviewed…

First up, In Darkness deals with a Polish sewer worker using his knowledge of the passages under his city to hide Jews from persecution, for a price. As you can imagine, living in a sewer has a great physical cost and the film shows many horrible moments. However, the film really fails to bring any weight or insight to the tragedies. It fails to make any deep emotional connection. Exactly how or why it failed, I am not sure, but I know this film has been done better before this. Disappointing. (See my In Darkness Twitter review).

Having not read the books and going in with very little knowledge, The Hunger Games was a relatively pleasant surprise. It has serious pacing issues, showing far too much of the story before the titular games and thereby compressing the more important acts to a greater extent than necessary. That said, we do get quite a vivid picture of the world the games are set in, and are left with no doubts about the inequalities in the society presented. For the teen fiction genre, this stands out as quite an enjoyable watch. (See my The Hunger Games Twitter review).

Finally, 21 Jump Street was an excellent surprise. Where I expected yet another formulaic US comedy with Jonah Hill, I actually got something of a classic. It’s just dumb enough to be funny without pandering, it’s self-aware without being groan-worthy, and it’s ridiculous enough to pull in the big laughs without being overly weird. It’s pacy, it tries mixing in a lot of different styles of comedy, and is, most importantly, amusing from start to finish. The funniest film I’ve seen in a long time. (See my 21 Jump Street Twitter review).

The winner for March is 21 Jump Street. The Hunger Games were good, but this comedy was better.

February’s Film Fight only has two films in it…

First up is A Dangerous Method, the story of how the relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, as well as an inappropriate relationship with a patient, shaped the early days of psychoanalysis. Despite some scenes of manic behaviour from Keira Knightley and Vincent Cassel, the strained friendship at the heart of the film just isn’t very interesting. Both men are played in an extremely cold and detached manner, reflecting the analytical nature at the heart of their work. While this may be accurate (I don’t know if it is), it certainly doesn’t make for interesting viewing. As a whole, the film was largely uneventful and dull. Disappointing. (See my A Dangerous Method Twitter review).

Carnage is, at times, amusing and kept interesting by a great cast selection. The four principal actors manage to keep the drama and comedy finally balanced, coming back at each other with the timing that such a play requires. The downside is that the film is very obviously that: a play. By sticking to the conventions of the medium, rather than adapting for film, it has more off-putting stage contrivances than are needed; when the characters start to get drunk within minutes of starting to drink, for example. On a stage, we accept these shortcuts as necessary for putting on the production. On film, they just seem a little lazy. Decent. (See my Carnage Twitter review).

While neither film was great, I think the winner was clearly Carnage.

A relatively quiet January for once, with just three films…

First up, J. Edgar is about the personal life (or lack thereof) of former FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover. As well as recalling some of his deeds (and exaggerations about said deeds), it goes to great lengths to show what kind of man he was and why. Paranoid, extremely driven, shaped by his domineering mother, and lacking much in the way of a social life, it’s a sobering picture. Leonardo Dicaprio does an excellent job in the lead role, but is often left working with material that seems extraneous. The final cut is overlong, largely because it remains relatively unfocussed. Many aspects could have easily been removed and a tighter film made. Good, but badly needs editing down. (See my J. Edgar Twitter review).

The Sitter is a pretty standard American comedy: a man-boy takes on more than he can/should handle for selfish reasons, and arrives in increasingly farcical situations. There’s nothing surprising or shocking here, but it does manage some good laughs, even if it feels like some of the gross-out moments are shoe-horned in. Sam Rockwell stands out as an unhinged drug dealer, but even he starts to wear a little by the end. Funny, but probably exactly what you expect. (See my The Sitter Twitter review).

Finally, Haywire is a spy film with all the usual genre tropes like, double-crosses and a bunch of international locations. The story itself isn’t particularly interesting or well told, and the acting from leading lady, Gina Carano, is pretty poor. That said, the one thing it does surprisingly well is the fight scenes. Not only is Carano convincing when she’s beating up everyone, as you might expect from a former fighter, the direction favours clean and clear shots. No handycam shaking or impossible to follow shots; everything here is about clarity, and it does sacrifice any energy or visual impact to do so. Not a classic, by any means, but the action scenes make it perfectly watchable. (See my Haywire Twitter review).

The winner for January was tough to pick, as none of the films blew me away, but I think J. Edgar was the best. It’s certainly the film I’d most like to see again.