Review #12 - Haywire

For me, the opening scene of a film is like the first sentence of a novel, it’s first shot being the first word, and both have to grab you instantly with something inspiring or quirky or dramatic. Starting a novel with a word as bland as ‘the’ is not exactly going to peak your interest (the exception to this is if it is necessary for an awesome sentence to make sense) and the first shot of ‘Haywire’ was definitely a ‘the’. When neither this nor the following scene particularly thrilled me I immediately had a bad feeling about this film.

      Usually I have read a few snippets of articles or synopsis or at least watched the trailer several times before I go to see a movie but for once I walked into the cinema not really knowing very much. From my brief viewing of the trailer I guessed it was going to follow along the same lines as the film ‘Salt’, a gorgeous girl with kick ass fighting skills gets screwed over by the people she works for and generally shows all the men how to get things done. As it turns out that synopsis is pretty accurate; black ops super soldier Malory (Gina Carano) is set up by the very people she works for and attempts to both find the truth and exact payback. In concept it sounds as good as ‘Salt’ but in execution it was not.

      For starters the plot turned out to be a little weak, it mainly centred around the question “So what the hell did happen in Barcelona?!”, one that came to a conclusion fairly near the end and to be honest the answer was rather anti-climactic. Another part of the film that didn’t entirely make sense was the fact that she told her whole story to a stranger whose car she borrowed for a get away in the first scene so that he could pass it on to someone else but then this eventually trailed off to nothing and effectively just served the purpose of Malory telling the audience about Barcelona, something that could have been done by a simple flashback. It was also strange to see a film with barely any dialogue. Seriously, the script must have been twenty pages long at the most! Some of the lines were pretty awful as well, some of the worst being “You better run” and “Freeze punk!” Who says these things? EVER…seriously?

        The worst part however was the extended scenes of the running. Perhaps Steven Soderbergh was trying to give the film a ‘real time’ feel but personally I didn’t feel it worked. If I had been watching the movie at home my attention would have drifted and facebook would most certainly be on. It was like seeing all the boring parts of being a secret agent – the running, hiding, reversing to dodge the police, more running, climbing over rooftops, running again – these scenes just lasted too long.

        Now saying all this, I don’t want you to think that ‘Haywire’ is as bad as it’s title. It may have had a weak plot, only fifteen or so lines and seemed a little drawn out in areas but it has its good points too. The filters used (i.e. filming in black and white and sepia tones) gave the film an individual style and really impressed me. Also watch out for the scenes in the barn, they are very artistic and look more like a series of photographs that should be in an art gallery with the unusual props artistically arranged in the background combined with tilted and low camera angles.

          I was also impressed that despite having about three lines each, the actors made up a rather well known cast including Ewan McGregor (known from ‘Moulin Rouge’, ‘I Love You Phillip Morris’,‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’), Antonio Banderas (known from ‘Spy Kids’ and ‘The mask of Zorro’), and Micheal Fassbender (known from ‘300’, ‘X Men First Class’, ‘Inglorious Bastards’).  I’ve said that this wasn’t necessarily a bad film (just one I personally didn’t enjoy) but if the actors had been bad I believe this film would have been truly terrible, luckily though, as you can see from the names, this was not the case and the acting was one of the aspects that held the film afloat.

       ‘Haywire’ is basically a film about a vengeance-fuelled agent on the run (literally running, for about half the film) punctuated by fight scenes, a dying deer and four lines. If your like me and prefer a thrilling, fast paced story with a well written script and complex storyline then maybe this film isn’t for you. However if you’re interested in excellently choreographed fight scenes, a range of talented actors and a modest plot that won’t leave you in a muddle then this is the film for you. Taking an objective view I would rate this film at 3*.

But subjectively, it’s more like a 1.5*.

Review #11 - The Darkest Hour

The Darkest Hour Review

In the city of Moscow, a travelling spot for all ages, 5 unknowingly young people find themselves in the middle of an alien invasion via power supply.

 After being asked to see this film twice and my original thoughts of the trailers gave me the opinion of “this film will suck” simply by what bits of story they had shown. The trailer did not justice for the story yet did the best job at keeping the as much acting out as possible.
 With actors and actresses such as Max Minghella –  starred in “The Social Networking”, Rachael Taylor who starred in Transformers and the only other name mentioning Joel Kinnaman who recently was in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and series “The Killing”. One would think of acting that would be worth watching whereas in a cinema room of – about- 20 people and people laughing at bits that were not meant to be funny in any way obviously meant it simply wasn’t good enough.

Chris Gorak, director, known for various films including “Fight Club” has done a poor job with casting this film. As I watched the credits it came to no surprise – with the film being set in Moscow – that the cast were mainly Russian. I can’t help but have the feeling that if the film had a team of Americans behind the scenes it may have been better – opinion.

 After sitting through the hour and a bit film I can say that it was not the story that let it down – the idea was good but fell short on the acting therefore I feel the movie was not worth the money to see it in cinema. With this said the ending has left an opening for a sequel which with a bit of thought could be a lot better although it will unlikely get a sequel any time soon.
 There is not much I can write about this other than if your Cinema Unlimited go and see it when you get the chance and make your own opinion but if you’re paying the standard ticket price then it is not worth it.

I rate this 1.5* 

Review #10 - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I am told, though I have not read it myself, that the book (written by Stieg Larsson) is more graphic than the film so those who have read the novel, or even seen the Swedish version, will be expecting it’s difficult themes and dark content but those who haven’t, be warned.

   That aside, on with the review! Due to the structure of the plot, ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ falls into the genre of mystery, yet somehow doesn’t feel like a classic mystery film. Often in mystery films every character the audience meets is immediately made to seem suspicious but this isn’t so in TGWTDT. However with many of the characters being ex Nazis’ the suspicions are already there without the drawn out music and the drawn out close ups of shady eyes. In fact I thought the music was brilliant; it was a strange ‘plinky plunky’ kind of music that made it tense and unsettling, perfectly fitting for a film that’s main theme is rape. Near the end, when the murderer is detailing his crimes and his enjoyment in them, the music works to great effect incorporating echoed, painful screams that merge with the strange sounds of the music.

     There are two scenes I particularly would like to bring to your attention, firstly the scene in the elevator where the rapist becomes the victim (more so than in the scene where he is tortured) because we see how he is tormented by his “rapist” and left with the same fear and shame that his own victims had inflicted upon them. The look of utter terror, shame and fleeting relief that she had stepped out of the lift as the doors close was a particularly jarring moment.

    The second scene is the discussion with Harriet at the end. Completely different from the other scene, it is an almost tender moment between two victims. *SPOILER* Harriet (Moa Garendal) gently asks Mikael (Daniel Craig), “How did you escape” who quietly replies; “somebody saved me too”. They are swapping stories and Harriet is admitting for the first time events that she has never told anyone other than Anita before. She plays the part perfectly by showing her struggle with emotions but at the same time not completely losing it and regressing back to her 14 years old damaged self. I liked how the fact that she murdered her father was not dwelled upon as it was just accepted that it was necessary, that it was self-defence.

    Moa Garendal’s excellent portrayal of the character is truly revealed through a second viewing of the film. I actually ending up seeing this TGWTDT twice and noticed the very slight portrayals of emotion that reveal the ending if you know it but are too subtle to give it away on a first viewing. For example Harriet’s face betrays a brief flicker of shock and relief, when she hears of Martin’s death, that the audience may not notice until a second viewing. The flowers also make you think ‘could it not just be her, still alive, sending the flowers’ but it is a thought that is given no other evidence to fuel it and so it is quickly forgotten until at last the pieces begin to come together. It is a very clever, very subtle way of unfolding the mystery. Also the way Harriet/Anita speaks when Mikael first talks to him, although the character is very clever at talking about herself in the third person, analysing herself, she slips up when she says “Who? My father?” but luckily it goes unnoticed by Mikeal and most likely the audience too; All the pieces of the puzzle come together by seeing the film again

      The only bad point I could find about the film was its length. Lisbeth (Rooney Mara) and Mikael take a lot of screen time before they join forces, which makes the film more interesting and immersive but also has the effect of making it seem even longer. Then after the murderer’s death you kind of forget that there is more going on in the story that is unanswered. The modern audience has been conditioned to believe that the dramatic gunshots or explosions are followed by a dénouement, which will most likely involve estranged characters making peace, a romantic couples kissing, or the general summing up of events. However in TGWTDT the film continues past the point where the audience feels a natural ending in order to tie up the last loose end. When the film does actually end there is definitely a sense that something more is going to happen and because the audience know that this film is the adaptation of the first in a series of books we expect more to come.

   This film deals with difficult themes but is cleverly crafted; it will draw you in and genuinely keeps you guessing until the end. Parts of the film are not easy to watch but they didn’t degrade the film or put you off. Complex, dark and intriguing, ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ is definitely a 4 star film.