Tag: Action

The Cornetto That Saved British Cinema

British Cinema has been around since 1888, British Horror nearly as long. For years Hammer Horror was the driving force in national terror, with the likes of the Christopher Lee starring Dracula films being international classics. However, as they reached the end of the 20th century, their influence began to wain. British Cinema as a whole began to diminish, yet there was still lifeblood in the old industry, and we got British Rave Culture Cinema with the likes of Danny Boyle leading the way.

However, internationally British Cinema and British horror wasn’t what it had been, becoming a series of tired, repetitive cliches. Then came along one man who would be instrumental in raising both aspects of British film to what they had been in the golden years; that man was Edgar Wright.

Wright began out directing the cult British sitcom Spaced, the show that would launch the career of his long-time collaborator, Simon Pegg. From there Wright would go on to head the Cornetto Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End, three solidly good films.

With Shaun of the Dead, Wright resurrected British Horror and brought it back into the mainstream consciousness. British Horror had endured the end of Hammer and had kept going, but had become far more niche than it used to be; Shaun of the Dead changed all that. What is on its surface a silly film about a group of friends fighting off the Zombie Apocalypse, beneath the surface lay the hidden depths of a broader social commentary. Shaun of The Dead was so beloved domestically that it brought British eyes back to British Horror, and more impressively brought the eyes of the World to Edgar Wright.

The idea of Auteur Cinema is that a director can become so prolific that they begin to influence the very industry itself, their films are instantly recognisably and sell because of the Director name attached rather than the film itself, think Wes Craven or, John Carpenter; for British Cinema Edgar Wright was our Auteur.

Following on from the cult success of Shaun of the Dead, Wright released Hot Fuzz which instead of mocking the Horror genre mocked the Cop Action Film genre, this was even more of a success. One of the reasons at least to me that Wright’s work is so prolific is that he plays off the stereotypes the rest of the World has about Brits, in a way only a Brit could do.

Whatsmore, Wright highlighted to the World some of the best British actors of that generation, introducing us to the likes of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, to name a few. That eye for talent has stayed with him throughout his career and doesn’t look to be going anywhere soon.

To conclude Wright’s importance to Cinema can’t be understated, he has brought the eyes of the British public as well as the World back to British Cinema and has shown what we are capable of. Even know as he has become more of a Hollywood director, he is still an inspiration and shows how British Cinema is still relevant in 2019.

Joker: There Is Hope For DC

Joker is a film focusing on the origins of the iconic character who has never had in his whole history an agreed-upon backstory. This version of the character is not an interpretation or adaption of any specific comic book or film, but rather something new entirely. Joker sets itself apart from the DCEU, and is basically an Elseworlds story, taking more from the likes of the King of Comedy then from Batman Vs Superman.

The Scorsese influences on display here are undeniable; this lends the film a gritty edge- even more so than Snyder’s DC grit, and that’s saying something. The Joker’s Arthur Fleck could fit into the background of Goodfella’s or The Departed, just as easily as any other DC superhero film. That’s the beauty of this film: it’s incredibly real world while also being fantastical.

The Joker is an unrelentingly harsh film; there are a lot of scenes that will make you feel uncomfortable, maybe even distressed, but it’s all done with a purpose. These scenes heighten the subtext of the film; this idea about what happens to societies most vulnerable people when you spit on them and cast them out. It even ventures into themes of the limits of human endurance — showing the need for greater, more productive discussion and actions towards mental illness.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur to perfection, perhaps being my favourite on-screen version of the Joker to date. You can see his vulnerability both physically and mentally through the early stages of the film, and you do feel bad for him. As the arc progresses, we see him more and more like a monster, but a monster that could have been avoided, had someone noticed sooner.

Phoenix delivers a career-best performance of a man who is coming apart at the seams, Phoenix nails all the mannerisms and emotions of the character perfectly, the naivety, the insanity and the laugh. The laugh is the best Joker laugh put to film; it is both tragic and menacing.

The violence is grisly and direct, and I’m glad of it, as the character in the comics is a very mature, very adult character. If this were a 12, or PG-13 for you Americans, then it would be a disservice to the character- he would effectively be neutered to keep to an age rating. Here his brutality and murderous rage are on full display- it is shockingly visceral.

My one complaint of Joker is that I don’t like some of the things it implies about Joker, or Arthur within this universe, or in DC lore. Some of the cannon events this film alters change the whole DC universe if this were an in-universe title. These changes also feel that they somewhat cheapen the events themselves.

Overall I think this is not only a strong comic book film, but a masterpiece in the crime/ character study genres. I have tried to keep this review as free of spoilers as I can, as I think you should go into the film with no expectations of what it’s going to be. This is my favourite film of 2019 so far, most certainly up there with the likes of John Wick 3, and is something I think you should all see.

5/5

Reviewed by Luke

*I’ve not mentioned the controversy because it’s irrelevant to the nature of the film.

The Problem With Shared Universes

*A cinematic universe for anyone who doesn’t know is when different series of films, as well as other forms of media, all exist within the same world and happen side by side with each other, with the events of one film affecting the others.

We live in a post-Avengers society; Disney and Marvel have proven that franchises can crossover and be instantly profitable. However, only one cinematic universe has done this, as many would say without fault, that is, of course, the MCU. In today’s post, I am going to talk about all the different variants and their issues, as well as the problems with having a shared universe in general.

The MCU is regarded by many as the best-shared universe, a lot of this comes not only from the fact the films are good, but also because they were the first to do it. However, the MCU is also a textbook example of a problem that a lot of shared universes have, and that is that all the films feel very similar. The Marvel formula is something that has been covered a lot, but to briefly sum up, it is the way a lot of, if not all, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films are structured and written- filled with humour and easter eggs. The issue with this formula is that it can stop a lot of the movies from feeling unique and instead makes them feel like a reskin.
The Solution: The MCU won’t change because they make a ton of money, why change that.

Secondly, we have the DCEU, that stands for the DC expanded universe, which is the other major comic book shared universe. Though I loved these films, mostly, they suffer from tonal inconsistencies. In a cinematic universe, all the films have to have similar tones and colour pallets from them to fit together. Removing the audience from this world the formula works in particular cases. Having a mismatch of tones and styles can be and has proven for the DCEU, to be jarring.
The Solution: Either to start afresh and keep to one creative vision or to give up on a shared universe and have everything standalone, with minor crossover

Thirdly we have the now dead Universal Dark Universe, which was going to be all the classic monsters, The Mummy, The Wolf-Man, Dracula, etc. existing side by side. The issue that plagued this universe is that it rushed to have everything done and set up as quickly as possible. To do a shared universe, you need layered characters and dense world-building, these things take time and effort. You can’t just force the shared world to exist- in one outing. Furthermore, Universal got ahead of themselves and planned out an entire slate before their first film had even come out; which was foolhardy, to say the least.

Finally, we have Legendary’s Monsterverse; this is the one with the giant fighting animals Godzilla, King Kong, arguably one of the best-shared universes. The Monsterverse does world-building very well; it has a clear world with rules. The only thing I can fault them for is that because of the world and the lore; they’re sometimes a hard sell for a mainstream audience; in a way, it’s a double-edged sword, hurting them at the box office.

To conclude the point I wanted to make here is that shared universe are hard to do, even harder to do right. While we may want to see our favourite characters interact on the big screen, it often comes at the cost of originality and fresh takes. What’s more, things that are better standalone end up being shoehorned into a more extensive franchise often hurting them in the process, looking at you Ten Cloverfield Lane. However, all the studios want the money that comes with a shared universe, so they won’t stop until they run all their franchises into the ground.

*I didn’t mention the Hasbro Universe, because it hasn’t happened yet when I see the G.I. Joe/ Transformers crossover I will say my thoughts then.
*I also didn’t mention Sony’s Spider-verse because it is in limbo and could go either way at any minute, especially now Disney has Spider-man himself back in the MCU

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: A Love Letter To Tarantino

Preface: When I first saw this film, I didn’t like it, but after seeing it the second time I have much more of an appreciation for it.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, is the 9th film by acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino, and is in a sense a retelling of the real-life Manson Murders; all bit it with a twist, but I’m not going to spoil that here. The film itself reads like a love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood, as well as to the 1960s.

The plot of the film revolves around three intersecting stories, each focusing on one of the three main cast members, Brad Pitt,( Cliff Booth), Leonardo DiCaprio, (Rick Dalton), and Margot Robbie, (Sharon Tate). Rick’s story focuses on him realising he is past his peak in terms of acting and, needs to adapt his ways to stay relevant. Booth is mainly a supportive figure to Dalton, being there to lend a hand, although his story line does bring about the Manson Family element which adds an exciting spark to the film*.

*I believe knowing about the events of the Manson Murders before going in to see the film, adds a sense of dread to the proceedings, with you knowing it’s just a matter of time before the killings happen; if you don’t know the history the final act of the film can feel like it’s just come out of nowhere.

The third and final main character, Robbie’s Tate is by far the weakest as she is given the least to do, and I didn’t notice this the first time around, but nothing much to say as well; her amount of dialogue compared to Pitt’s and DiCaprio’s is none existent; she mainly exists to dance around to various 60’s tunes and go on drawn-out trips to the movies.

On the flip side of that, the writing and the dialogue for both Booth and Dalton is well done, both of their characters seem like people, they’re relatable and easy to root for. Moreover, one of the final scenes of the film shows the relationship between these two men, in such a perfect away, it’s incredibly effective.

My biggest complaint against the film is the pacing of it. A lot, and I mean 60% + of the scenes feel like they could have been edited down, a lot of them weren’t vital and just served to reinforce and retell us things about the characters we already knew. Adding to this complaint, we only actually see Charles Manson, for one scene; which is incredibly brief. I don’t know if they shot more scenes and they didn’t make it in, but it leaves said scenes feeling oddly out of place.

Overall there are things to like about this film; both leading men are charming, there are some excellent celebrity cameos, but it doesn’t hide the fact that this is one of Tarantino’s weaker efforts.
The man has a stellar catalogue, with the likes of Django Unchained and Inglorious Bastards, but this seems like a mismatch of different things and ideas that don’t come together.
To summaries, I loved 40% of the film, but the other 60% was just too long, too dragged out and, dare I say it too self indulgent.

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

A Beginners Guide to Comic Books

Ever since I was young, I loved reading comics; indeed, my obsession with Marvel and DC superheroes almost began in-utero. From as young as I can remember I have kept up with adventures of Batman and Spider-man, and as I have got older my tastes changed; I moved away from superhero comics, except for Moon Knight, and found a whole other world of comics and graphic novels that have nothing to do with superheroes at all.

My first foray into this world came as I started reading Bill Williamson’s Fables, which still stands as my personal favourite comic series ever, a series in which classic fairytale characters find themselves in our world in the present day. What makes the comic series so superb is that it manages to merge the silly wimsey of fairytales with the grittiness of real life; to a fantastic end.

So the subject of today’s post is how to get into, and hopefully love comics. In recent years a lot of people are getting into comics thanks in no small part to the mass success of the MCU, but there are so many different comics it is hard to know where to start. Ultimately it depends what you’re looking for if you’re trying to get into Marvel or, DC then every few years they will have significant events that restart the in-comic universe and make it more approachable for new readers. Failing that you can always find older issue of any series you want to get into at any good comic shop. If you want to get into non-superhero comics, then it’s even more accessible, as most of the time these series don’t have hundreds of back issues to sort through. As well as this most major comic publications have online services where you can read all of their comics for a fee.

How I handle reading comics is, I don’t try and keep up with every series from a particular brand, Marvel, DC, Boom, Dark Horse; instead I find authors I like and stick to their runs, exploring maybe one or, two other comic series a month. I believe this makes keeping up with comics way easier.

The reason everyone should try and read comics is not only because comics are cool, but also because so many of them have something different to say, and show the world from another viewpoint. To me, comics are the most original medium, as the creators are only really bound by the limits of their imagination, especially if they’re writing for an independent publisher. You can go from reading a comic about vampires across time to one about people who freeze time when they orgasm, the amount of variety and creativity is unlike anything found elsewhere.

To conclude I think everyone should give comics ago, yes it’s not going to be for everyone, but you might just read something that captures your imagination and engrosses you, and for some of the characters and worlds alone I think you should pick up a comic book today!

What Happened to the Arrowverse?

I remember the day the first episode of Arrow aired, it filled me with the same kind of wonder that I had when I first watch Smallville years prior. The same if not more could be said when Barry Allen appeared on Arrow in a guest-starring role, with the intention being for him to get his own series down the line. When Legends of Tomorrow came out, I was cautiously optimistic, to see how a show compromised of side and villain characters from the other two shows would be; I wasn’t disappointed. Even when Supergirl came out, I loved every minute of the first season.

Then something happened, The shows I had once loved, weren’t what I remember them being any more, the spark that was once there was extinguished. So the question I want to ask today is what happened and is there hope left?

The Problem I believe is multi-faceted; it is hard to put down to just one thing. To get the obvious out of the way, every show has a decline in quality the longer it goes on; Arrow is going into its 8th season, and the Flash is going into its 6th; as a result, they aren’t going to be as good as they were in their respective primes. With the 20-24 episode mode of storytelling, all sources of inspiration are used and then used again, as there are only so many things these characters can do before things start to get stale. The creatives know this, so they make filler content, a fairly standard practice, to pad out the season. This content often takes away from the drama and the stakes of the overall season and gives us meaningless side stories that only really appeal to a small group of people. A little bit of filler can be a nice break, but the issue with the Arrowverse at this point is every other episode is like this.

Furthermore, and this is true for Marvel and the MCU as well, the stakes on the Arrowverse shows are incredibly low. We know characters are safe, they have plot armor so they can’t die, which shatters a lot of the tension in episodes. The worst is when the episode ends on a cliffhanger and, it is set up to look as though X character is going to die, but the drama doesn’t work because you know they won’t. Now, the Arrowverse has killed off characters before that is true, but never major ones, never your Barry Allens or, your Oliver Queens: instead it’s always a side character, and even then they come back, look at Sara Lance.

Whats-more, The Arrowverse shows just become the same in the end they all follow a pattern, I’m not saying this is a wrong, a lot of people like it, but it does take away from the originality of the shows themselves. A lot of the time it is just pretty people in rooms, having soap opera level drama, that most of the time goes nowhere and, is rather inconsequential. This can be found across all of the shows and, makes it hard to be able to tell one apart from the others.

Ultimately for me the shows, barring Legends of Tomorrow which still entertains me every week, have become stale and, the Arrowverse as a whole simply relies on spectacle to sell itself, see any number of the crossover specials for evidence, and again I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m just saying it is not what it once was.

Hopefully, the Arrowverse can recapture what made it great at some point in the future.

PS Constantine is the best part of the whole Arrowverse.

Angel has Fallen: What makes an Action Hero?

There is an art to being an action star; it’s something only few can do; fewer still convincingly. Therein lies today’s topic I want to talk about what makes a convincing action star, and how all that can and will change over time. When you imagine an action hero, you imagine a tough person in the prime of their life, ready and able to do whatever it takes to save the day. Keanu Reeves is believable in John Wick because he trains incredibly hard and has excellent stunt coordination. The is true of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens as well; she is a believable badass, due to a well-developed character and great set pieces/ stunt work. This brings us to the meat of what I want to talk about today the recently released blockbuster Angel Has Fallen.

Angel Has Fallen is the third film in the Fallen series, carrying on from the events of Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen. The third film focuses on Mike Banning, (Gerard Butler), as he faces off against the Government when he is framed for murder. A big part of the film focuses on the effect being a Secret Service agent is having on Mikes health, as he is not the man he used to be anymore. Despite that being a theme, the action in this film comes off as some of the laziest and most uninspired of recent history. I understand from a plot perspective Mike can’t be doing the same things he was doing in the first film, but other than some shooting and running he doesn’t really do all that much.

Maybe I have been spoiled with well planned out, well-executed action movies like this year’s John Wick, but in any case, I don’t see a reason to release an action movie, when it is clear that no one really cares, cookie-cutter in the extreme might as well be this films tagline.

What makes this all the more troubling is Gerard Butler himself. There was a time at the start of the 2000s where Butler’s name was being said in the same breath as Jason Statham and Arnold Schwarzenegger when it came to action stars; this was mainly due to the release of 300, which catapulted Butler into action superstardom. Cut to now, and the performance he gives in Angel Has Fallen is one of tiredness, it is clear he doesn’t want to be there anymore; crucially he isn’t believable as the character in this film. I know Butler can do better than this, he proved he can still be a viable and menacing action star in last year’s Den of Thieves. However, none of what made his performance good in that film is carried over.

To conclude, I think the Fallen series needs to be taken out back and shot; it is the merciful thing to do. We are a long way from the heights of the first film and, the longer it goes on, the more unbelievable Butler becomes as an action star, which is a shame. My final thought is that Butler needs to think carefully about the roles he picks, focusing more on films like Machine Gun Preacher and Law Abiding Citizen, where he shone through as a relatable action star.
What’s more, for the love of all of us when Fallen 4 comes a-knocking, Gerard, don’t answer.

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Life and Death of Spider-man

Spider-man is one of Marvel’s most famous and beloved characters, as such, we have seen plenty of him on the big screen over the years; with three series and countless other properties attached to the character. It is these series and the future of the Webslinger I would like to talk about today, trying to keep it impartial from the whole Marvel Studios vs Sony spat; as they are both a little in the wrong.
The Sam Raimi Trilogy is to many the best of the Spider-man films to date, just don’t mention Spider-man 3, this was the first big-budget, big-screen adaptions of the character and a lot of people were very excited for it. Raimi’s trilogy nailed many vital details of who Spider-man is and what he stands for, showing his relationship with his Aunt and Uncle and as the series developed his romance with Mary Jane Watson. As the trilogy went on the films got bolder and bolder, diving further into Spider-man’s Lore; with many classic villains adapted, to various degrees of success. Therein lay the problem, as the series reached the end it started adding too many elements to the story, having so many plot threads they couldn’t all be addressed; whether by studio mandate or, by a poorly written script, it was this that would end Raimi’s trilogy on a sour note, and continue to be a problem going forward.
Years later talks broke down with Raimi to make the much speculated about Spider-man 4 and, so the Mark Webb Amazing Spider-man series was born. Webb set out right away to make sure his series of films was tonally and visually very different than the Raimi films that predated it. The humorous goofiness of the Raimi trilogy was swapped out for a more edgy and mature tone; they also favoured the Gwen Stacy romance over the Mary Jane one; all to set it apart. Of the three series, this one has the worst reputation, but I genuinely believe the first Amazing Spider-man film was excellent, the romance between Emma Stone and Andre Garfield was quickly the best and most moving part of the films. Then the Amazing Spider-man 2 came out, and just like Raimi’s third instalment, it was marred by the overuse of familiar villain characters, most likely in a hamfisted way of setting up a Sinister Six film so they could spin it out into another franchise.
Then for the third attempt at a Spider-man on the big screen, the character was returned to the MCU, where he could rub shoulders with the likes of Captain America and Iron Man. Many would say that these were the best Spider-man live-action films, and though the humour was pitch-perfect and Far From Home made me tear up a little, these films weren’t without their issues. Many didn’t like how symbiotic the relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker was, finding that the latter was losing some of his identity in favour of being more like the former, there is a scene in Far From Home that confirms this.
Now at the time of writing Spider-man is currently between fought over by Marvel Studios and Sony, with each wanting him for their films. However, what the character deserves is the chance to shine for who he is, rather than have him be just another part of a larger whole. Similarly, he deserves to have his story told the right away and not have nonsensical plot threads stuffed into his films just as an effort to set up other films to make more money.
Ultimately a great Spider-man story can be told with just a handful of characters, and a bit of careful consideration and both studios would do well to remember that.

A Beginners Guide to Anime

Anime typically describes Japanese Cartoons; these can come in all different varieties and genres, some appealing to kids, some to teenagers and some to adults. In many ways, this carries on from my previous post about the animation stigma over here in the west; said stigma being that cartoons and animation can only be enjoyed by kids; an untrue statement and one that is proven wrong by the existence of anime. A lot of anime, or at least the ones I’ve seen, deal with quite heavy, mature themes the sort only an adult audience would understand; that is because in Japan cartoons are seen as something everyone can enjoy.
Anyway, rant over, the subject of today’s post is how to get into anime, now I know for a lot of you who want to start watching anime it can be quite daunting, there are thousands of different ones to choose from and some of them have been going on for longer than you have been alive.
Worry not because it’s never too late to start, all you need to do is find one that sounds interesting and start watching it; you can even put dubs, (A different language voice-over), on if you don’t want to read the subtitles, but I don’t want to have that debate here.
Don’t be perturbed if it is a long-running series that just gives you more of the show you like; I like to watch shorter animes, but that’s just me.
I think everyone should at least try and get into anime because it is so superb, there are worlds and character that you have to see and meet and ones that could only exist in anime. Everything from a dystopia where giant humans called ‘Titans’ are attacking the last bastions of humanity and its down to a brave group of teenagers to fight back, to a magical academy where exorcists are trained to fight back against demons, with the lead character being a demon, and son of the devil himself. It’s not all fantasy though, and there are plenty of other genres of anime for you to enjoy as well, these include science fiction, comedy and so much more.
I think not to give anime a chance is reductive, as you are shutting yourself out of this whole other culture, with stories and characters that can really affect you; and that is incredibly stupid.
One final point I would like to address is that I believe anime is sometimes unfairly painted as this pervy thing, but this idea comes from a lack of understanding and, just straight ignorance. Some animes might be a bit on the spicy side, but so are some films and comics it doesn’t mean that they are all like that, as such it shouldn’t be a stereotype that is applicable to all; for again that is just incredibly reductive.
So I challenge you all who read this, to go online, or to Netflix and find an anime you’re interested in and give it a go, I bet you won’t regret it. As for me, I’m going to start season 2 of Blue Exorcist on Netflix now.