The B.F.G

Never get out of bed, never go to the window, never look behind the curtain...and that is where our story begins.....

Roald Dahl has always been a favourite author of mine, from an early age I remember my "granddad" George reading about his marvellous medicine, hearing about The Champion of the World and the tales of a Fantastic Mr Fox.  I recently purchased a collection of all his works that I could read to my daughter and look forward to the days that we can read these stories together and hopefully she will have the same experiences.

The BFG always reminds me of George, he almost looks like him.

I felt awash with emotion and joy when the "Runt" first appeared on screen and hearing the immortal gobblefunked speech of the giant just brought back so many fond memories, but to counteract this, there was Sophie.  I know child actors are a thing to take with a pinch of salt, but we really have been blessed in some recent films and TV shows (take the Netflix Original series "Stranger Times" for an example), Sophie was OK in parts, but the just downright awful in others. Even to the point were it took me right out of the nostalgic moment.


This is a nitpick but one that did not deter from the thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The BFG is wonderfully portrayed by Mark Rylance and the Giants of Giant Land have great personalities that really stand out from each other.  It has been a while since I have read the original story, but it all came back to me and as I recall the film encapsulates it very well.

Some of the CGI is a little ropey when it comes down to the interactions between Sophie and the BFG, mainly when she is sat in his hand, but the characters models are just divine.

Possibly a little too scary to start with for younger children, but all this is resolved in the first few minutes and they will be soon laughing at all the whizzpopping

Nerve

I saw the trailer for Nerve during one of my recent visits and it had no impact on me whatsoever.  I liked the premise, but my interest had dissipated by the next trailer in the list.  Then a few days later I caught some of the reviews and was intrigued.  How can this run of the mill, uninteresting trailer bring forth a film that my go to critics are praising, this sparked my inner film buff and the ticket bought soon after.


With technology and online celebrity becoming vastly beyond it's means, the crux of Nerve seems very plausible and likely.  Participants either choose to be a "Watcher" or a "Player" in an online truth or dare game without the truth element.  Watchers film players and throw increasingly tense dares their way.  The more risque the dare, the higher the price and and if you fail or bail you lose everything.  How far would a regular girl go before enough is enough?

We spend the majority of the film with Vee, a shy girl who due to the loss of her brother a couple of years earlier does not seem to be getting the most out of her life, purely existing.  The good thing is, Vee is actually a character that is likable.  In most tween fiction films, the main protaganist is someone I cannot stand and therefore the consequences do not hold any threat because I just don't care.  Recent examples are Bella (Twilight), Catniss (Hunger Games) and due to this I avoided such films as The Maze Runner series or Divergent franchise.  With Vee being a likable and endearing character, it makes all the difference.

With only a short run time, Nerve starts pretty quickly and is over with before you start to pick holes.  There are some enjoyable moments that make the journey to number 1 a much more engaging route.  The ending for me was a little flat and unfortunately predictable, I liked were it was going and then it took the easy way out, but I am sure this is the way the book it is based on ended so little extra they could do there.

The side characters are there to add a little extra tension to the running, but they are far too generic to care about.  Thankfully, after the opening scenes we spend little time with them.  Dave Franco as Ian is well played, a "Player" that Vee gets attached to with something hidden in his history.

Easily something I could watch again when it eventually appears on some streaming service and one I can recommend with a cold beer, glass of wine and a duvet

Lights Out

I saw the YouTube sensation that is "Lights Out" a couple of years ago, thankfully in a well lit office early in the day.  That 3 minute short was truly terrifying.  Created on a very, very tiny budget but managing to capture the fears of a lonely woman going to bed with little noises freaking her out until the climatic finale.  It had a massive impact on me and one that still lasts to this day.  Prior to the release of this film, it would be one that I would always recommend a watch to for any horror aficionado.

I have put the video here for anyone that is interested....

When I saw the trailer for this, just after the new Blair Witch trailer....really?....I thought, "surely 3 minutes was enough to convey the message of the film, can it be dragged out to a 80 minute movie?"

I was almost expecting the film to start with the original, like Pixar always have a short animation at the start of their films, I was wondering if this would be the same,  unfortunately not.  This would have proven that 3 minutes and little to no budget can achieve pretty much the same as dragging it out for another 77 minutes.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some genuine scary moments that really flare up the goosebumps in the extended version and thankfully it never seems to slow down for the whole run time unlike recent horror films, but there is not much you can do with this which is why the short works so well.

The fact that Diana can appear literally anywhere in the shadows is a haunting notion, nowhere is safe whilst always being nerving and ominous, and with the character being physically there instead of a CGI cartoon character the added tension was noted.

As far as a horror movie, Lights Out is enjoyable, scary in parts and with decent pace, but I still feel that the 4 minute version achieves a lot more than this big budget version. I hope this is not a new venture for James Wan scouring youtube channels for his next ideas.

Mechanic Resurrection

Is there any real differentiation between a Jason Statham film since Snatch?  I hadn't seen the original "The Mechanic" and noticed that it was on Netflix, so a couple of days before I thought I would catch up on the next Stath-franchise.  I then received a new thread called, "Because you watched The Mechanic", these films were...Transporter, Transporter 3, Hummingbird, War, Safe, Blitz, Wild Card.  All these films have the same premise, Mr Statham has really been type cast since his initial role as Frank Martin, The Driver.

The Mechanic, although a fun 90 minutes, was nothing new and original but still something that easily whiles away the early hours whilst feeding a baby (this was how I watched it anyway), so my expectations were pretty low for Arthur Bishop's next outing.  Unfortunately, I hadn't lowered them enough for the disaster that I was about to see.

It seems there were two separate films at work here, two generic Jason Statham action romps just merged them into one mishmash of a film.  The plot was incoherent, the run time of the film (although short) seemed to drag as nothing really happened on screen that engaged, even Statham seemed very bored with it all.  Jessica Alba, as lovely as she is, seemed to be there for no real reason at all and for most of it, I don't think she was.  The bad guy was so 80's Bond villain-esque that it just seemed so generic.

In my review of Jason Bourne, I commented that the original films changed the dynamic of the Action/Adventure film and subsequently the for next 10 years the genre seemed to take a formulaic route.  It seems that Jason Statham films have become stuck in a rut, but that rut is somewhere still in the late 90's.

I know that until we see a return to form of Turkish or Bacon from Mr Statham, I will resort to late night feed entertainment from Mr Generic rather than a visit to the cinema.

Jason Bourne

When The Bourne Identity was released to the world it was a genre changing film.  Similar to The Matrix, Rocky, Raiders of the Lost Ark and countless others throughout history, the film revisited a repetitious genre and gave it the boost it needed.  The sequels, Supremacy and Ultimatum only strengthened the hold that Jason Bourne had on the Action/Thriller genre.

Films like Taken and The Daniel Craig Bond Series were heavily influenced by Paul Greengrass and his film styles.  Several others tried to adopt this style and failed miserably (included in this list is The Bourne Legacy)

So 14 years after the first film was released, Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass (who previously said there would never be another Bourne) decided to make another Bourne film.  Excited by the team up, I was looking forward to a genre re-defining product,  Giving the genre another well boosted kick to launch the next series of copy cat films.

I think Mr Greengrass went down the route that my Dad takes with DIY, "If it's not broken, then why try fix it".  Admittedly, this is a reasonable stance to take, The Bourne films work, and they work well.   Some say that each of the original trilogy films just get better and better with each outing.  The action is intensified, the chase scenes are exhilarating and the constant cat and mouse feel is superb....but it has all been done before.

Jason Bourne is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable film.  A worthy successor to the Bourne helm, and I left the cinema happy that I had witnessed this rip ride tour of Europe and America with Mr Damon and his almost mute anti-hero.  Alicia Vikander is superb (although her accent falters throughout) and it is always a delight to see Julia Stiles in any film

I was in similar thoughts to Jeremy from CinemaSins last year, and although I am happy that Jason Bourne was made, I think it is either time to leave the franchise as strong as it is or do something genre defining again in the future

Suicide Squad

Even after the DC Universe defining flop that was BvS:DoJ, I still had high hopes for The Suicide Squad.  Knowing DC's current "show all and everything" tactic in their continuous bombardment of trailers and TV spots I also decided that one trailer was enough and avoided everything the was subsequently released, I wanted to enjoy the film without knowing every plot point prior.

This was definitely the right approach for me.  Unfortunately, the reviews of the film were harder to ignore.  Negative critical reviews bombarded the interwebs and the berating of the DC franchise continued.  Always in competition with the brighter and more enjoyable Marvel Expended Universe, DC has a tall order ahead of them.

The Suicide Squads teams up a rogue gallery of villains from the DC universe, each with restrictive explosives embedded in their necks to avoid any insubordinate behaviour.  They must embark on a rescue mission and protect a city from annihilation against their will but using all their "meta-human" strengths and acquired skills.  Among the group are fan favourites, Harley Quinn, Dead Shot, Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang (ok, so the last one may not be a massive favourite).

This is more the Anti-Hero Movie were the good guys are not that good and the bad guys are really bad.  Margo Robbie is perfectly matched to Harleen Quinzell and perfectly embodies the role, Will Smith as DeadShot is basically Will Smith with all his usual charm and the supporting cast each have their moments.  The big let down for me was Jared Leto as The Joker, there was a lot of hype around his embodiment of the Clown Prince but the film could have achieved more without him.  Admittedly, he was enjoyable to watch, but it felt like his scenes where shoehorned in just to raise a little interest to the film, they felt superfluous to the actual narrative. A little cameo (there are a couple in the film already - no spoilers) would have sufficed.

It was great to see a full cinema on the opening night with almost all showings with limited availability.  It goes to show that the interest in the film, and not having a massive name on the title card, was there from the start.

Suicide Squad is a thoroughly entertaining, leave your brain at the door, film.  Some enjoyable characters (although the big bads were far from menacing...or interesting) and some great interactions with the bigger named actors.

The Shallows

A truly brilliant film where the main premise focuses on the terrorising of a small group by a formidable shark.  When the budget for the film cannot afford to spend too much time with the watery menace then the main goal is to create tension, atmosphere and build the characters into some of cinema's greatest.  Some scenes create a feeling of absolute isolation that it feels you are sat completely on your own listening to the tide, creaks and groans, waiting for the inevitable moment that the monstrous teeth will rise again from the shallow depths and fill us once more full of dread.  I think this films shows a true masterclass in character development and it will always hold a place in my personal top ten of films.

Enough about Jaws, The Shallows features Blake Lively as a surfer returning to her mum's isolated Mexican beach to ride the waves in her honour.  Whilst there a shark decides that she looks quite tasty and has a nibble on her leg.  Thankfully there is a low tide which reveals a previously submerged rocky surface.  Too far to swim to shore and with no other dry land available, she must try to survive, bleeding one her rocky solace whilst the black eyed predator circles waiting for the tide to rise once more.

Whilst occasionally enjoyable, The Shallows tries to focus on Blake's character, but she does not have that much to offer and as we spend 90% of the film with her, talking to herself and her newly adopted, shark-mauled, seagull, Steven (yes, he is named Steven Seagull...oh how I laughed!) the film seems to lack any development.

The shark in question is menacing enough, but the final scene is more ridiculous than anything from Jaws II, III, or even IV and this took away any previous malevolence that the predator had before. The seemingly tactical and persistent omnipresence that the toothed behemoth held for the majority of the film is whisked away for a few closing moments.  Personally, I think this film would have ended better without the Hollywood influence.

A Saturday night film with popcorn and treats, but then again, why not just watch Jaws!?