Author: Callum Forbes

I’ll throw my arms up here, I’ve not really watched The Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. I was a kid of the ‘90’s, so I know that’s a kind of crime, I guess I was just more into the stuff on Disney mornings or CBBC. That and I thought it sucked. Whenever I did watch it as a kid I was bored and just turned it over. It really wasn’t the show for me. So, the announcement of a new movie wasn’t exactly tacking me to the edge of my seat and the screen of my computer. But I’m nothing if not an optimist, and I have found films like this that surprised me before (21 Jump Street comes to mind). So, I decided to finally dive in head first.

The Power Rangers Movie, I guess Mighty Morphing was a little too silly (which, yeah it is if we’re being honest), is about a group of five teenagers who discover five different coloured coins. These coins give them super strength, speed, agility (though not intelligence sadly) and the ability to grow an armoured skin, the armour of the Rangers of course. For these teens have just become the Power Rangers. And as the new defenders of planet Earth, they must stop villain Rita Repulsa from destroying the very life of Earth (or something like that) in her quest for power. But along the way the Rangers must battle something far more dangerous; their self-doubts, teenage angsts, the fact that they don’t fit in and the feeling of not becoming the people they want to be…that’s, actually quite profound for what is basically a mindless superhero blockbuster.

I didn’t have any hopes for this film going in, so imagine my surprise when I found myself really getting into these characters. The five teens who are to become the Rangers are actually really good characters. They all have attitudes and quirks; like one of them has Asperger syndrome, one of them is gay with homophobic parents, one skips school to care for his terminally ill mother and the other rebels because he’s sick of being seen as nothing more than the town golden-boy. But these quirks never feel like a quirk; it’s not like a Shyamalan film or a Joss Whedan show where the characters are defined by that one thing, these feel like actual people who have Asperger’s or are gay or feel the need to rebel. And their attitudes never grate and they don’t feel force or over-the-top, we all know the feelings that they are going through, and if you don’t then you will do one day and they play it perfectly. It’s not like Harry Potter, where he comes off as a whiny brat, this is understandable and, most importantly, relatable. I hope that these actors get more work from this because from what I’ve seen here, they could be phenomenal. It’s easily some of the best young adult character acting I’ve seen all year.

Alongside then, we also have our celebrity actors to spice things up. Brian Cranston (who apparently voiced some of the monsters in the show) plays Zordon, the great teacher of the Rangers. He’s mostly Cranston being Cranston, but Cranston is an amazing and awesome actor so I’m one to complain. Bill Hader voices this really annoying robot thing in the Rangers base, but to be fair he’s not in it long. And we have Elisabeth Banks as Rita, and I have a feeling she thought that this was going to be a very different film. Subtlety was only a mild suggestion here apparently, Banks over-plays every syllable and gesture. I do get it, this is what the acting in the original show was like and I’m sure Miss Banks saw this script and decided that she had earnt the right to a bit of fun now (which she has, from looking at her career), but it did feel like she belonged to a different film.

Ironically, I thought that the film was at its weakest when it was about the Power Rangers and the training to become them and the villain that they would face. It’s so bizarre because my thoughts before were that the action was going to be alright and the drama would kill it. How we got it the other way around I will never know. For those who are coming to see the Power Rangers though, be warned, because they’re not in the suits for very long at all. Remember that Godzilla film from 2014? Well you see less of the Ranger’s armour than you do Godzilla in that film. And when the action does come on, it’s very boring. The effects aren’t too great and I can’t help but feel that I’d seen this before. Back in 2009 to be exact, with a film called Transformers. And, true to the show I suppose, the dialogue is awful. The first joke of the film is about masturbating a bull, that’s how low we go. Still, give credit to these actors they took these awful lines and saved, well most of them. It’s like the original Star Wars films or Sam Raimi’s Spiderman trilogy, the dialogue has always been weak but the actors make it work.

But my major criticism is something I didn’t believe I’d have to talk about. For those of you who don’t know, films like to use product placement to beef up the budget a bit. This means that some films basically advertise a product or company that has given them the rights to use the products or logos. It’s nothing new and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. It can also be used well; examples are ET had Reese’s Pieces, Blade Runner had the Atari logo and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? had numerous Disney and Warner Bros. characters (some in prominent roles). Some, like Demolition Man with its Taco Bell rights, use it as a kind of parody. But then you get films like Evolution and anything Michael Bay makes, where your film becomes a shameless advert for these companies. Power Ranger The Movie falls into the latter category. I don’t think I’ve seen such a gross use of product placement in a very long time.

So, what is it they advertise you ask? What is it that they shove down our throats, that becomes a (no kidding) pivotal part of the plot, and why my keyboard is getting icing and jam on it as I type? It’s Krispy Kreme. You know, the doughnut place. And, it is so cringe worthy! Without giving away too much, something that the villain needs in under a Krispy Kreme stand, fair enough. But then as soon as everyone finds out they keep saying Krispy Kreme. They are giving orders to go down to the Krispy Kreme. There is even (again, no joke) a scene when the villain picks up a plate of doughnuts from the stand and takes a big, joyous bite out of one of them. It makes me want to go to the rival company it’s so shameless. Shameless being the word there, it was just a shameless advert forced into a decent film.

In the end I really don’t know what to make of Power Rangers The Movie. I’m definitely glad I saw parts of it. I honestly wouldn’t be against seeing these characters without the Power Ranger’s side to the story; a teen drama about the struggles of identity. I’m not too sure what fans of the show will think of it, I can’t say they’ll love it or that they’ll hate it. As a non-fan though, I think it was a surprisingly decent film, one that blew me away with how good one element to it was, but then disappointed with an average-to-mediocre rest of it and the shameless advertising. I would take it over Life personally, and if this is the lowest of action blockbusters this year, then I think we’re in for a good one.

Life finds a way. Okay now that we have that obvious joke out of the way, let’s talk about Life. From the advertising, which seemingly came out of nowhere, I had a feeling that Life was going to be my kind of film; a claustrophobic deep-space horror. Ever since I saw Alien, I loved the story of being trapped in space with something that wants to kill people. Alien is of course the best of this story, but there have been numerous other great or just fun takes on it; Sunshine, 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Alien sequels, Moon, these are all great films. Even Event Horizon, that film’s garbage but it’s also a very entertaining cult film. So, I was indeed looking forward to seeing Life. How does it fare against such classics of the past though?

The story of Life is a satellite picks up a pod that is carrying specimen samples from Mars. They discover a microscopic and constantly evolving lifeform among the specimens, which they name Calvin. However, as Calvin gets bigger and starts spooking members of the crew it promotes a certain crew member to attack him, which in term makes Calvin turn against us. As time goes on tensions rise as Calvin turns out to be the perfect killing machine and the crew must contemplate what this means for their lives and that of humanity.

When this film started, I was fully impressed. The ship has no gravity and that leads to the film’s most impressive feature. Throughout the whole film there is no gravity, at all. The cinematography and practical effects of the film constantly sell us on the fact that the characters are floating in space. Not to mention that the cinematography makes us feel like we are floating in space too, which does wonders for the claustrophobia of the film. And the effects on the satellite are top-notch. I have no problems believing that we are on the ship with them.

Of course, a good aid to this is the acting. There are only six characters in the whole film and all are perfectly played by great actors. Three of which are the poster boys (and girl), Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebeca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds. And I do mean to list them in that order, despite what the adverts may have you believe Reynold’s is not the main character of this film, that falls onto Gyllenhaal; which I have no problem with personally, with him being one of my favourite actors, but I can see it being at least surprising to others. The characters they play are sadly not that interesting, from the beginning you can more or less tell what’s going to happen to them and when, but they are still well played.

So, we have good performances, effects and a great atmosphere, so why is it my reaction to this film is actually pretty negative? Well that comes down to three sadly major issues I have with it. As I mentioned before the characters are not the most interesting. Three of them are clearly just going to be victims, one of them is clearly the one who’s going to go insane and the other two are just there to be our protagonists. Again, they are charming thanks to the actors, but they never really escape that issue. Another problem I have is the gore. Well, okay gore isn’t really the right word, cruelty is better fitting. The first victim of the film was just stomach churning; now Alien and other such films have the same formula, making the first death the most graphic so as to add tension throughout the film. But barring the fact that this is a horrible effect, the blood looks about as real as those seen in a Sy-Fy channel original, it’s not what I was expecting. Which I was willing to forgive, but then came the other deaths. Again, the effects on the gore, and even on Calvin itself, are not good and they also have this weird mean-spirited tone to them. I’m fine with “nasty” films and gore-fests, I don’t go looking for them but I have loved some that fall under that category (some like The Evil Dead, Dredd and the first two Hellraiser films are among my favourites), but when it’s nasty and cruel for the sake of nasty and cruel I have a problem. The thing is, I could have also taken that with a pitch of salt if it wasn’t for my biggest issue with it.

The story to Life is so muddled and so uninspired that I find it hard to give these past issues a pass. For the most part Life is just the story of Alien, with elements of Sunshine and some of the look and themes of Gravity mixed in there. And these films did it better, so why would I watch something that’s the same but worse? It also really is not as smart as it thinks it’s being. It acts like a commentary on life and evolution and are place within the law of nature, but it also wants to be a horror film with entertainingly gruesome deaths. This is evident with a somewhat Michael Crichton-esque start and a slasher finish. And that is what really hurts the story, its lack of focus.

Calvin is meant to be a strange innocent, made to attack because of how we treated it; yet it was only mistreated in one scene and then it starts killing everyone indiscriminately. It’s said to be the perfect killing machine, yet its final form is too large to hide and looks like a cross between a cobra, a squid and a plastic bag. And the film just makes it too over-the-top to be threatening. Calvin is only powerful because it can’t die. And I mean it can’t die; they burn it, freeze it, electrocute it, starve it, stab it, lock it outside the ship and it’s not even harmed. They even say that it could survive re-entry into a planet’s atmosphere; I’m sorry but that is way too far a stretch for me.

It’s a shame to say it but Life just wasn’t the film for me. It’s by no means a terrible film, it may not even be a bad one, but the negatives just kept me from enjoying it. I recommend seeing it if you’re really into these types of films or if you’re a big gore fan, I’d even say it’s worth a look for the space effects and performances if they interest you at all. But personally I would rather watch Event Horizon. It has its moments for sure, but Alien Life is not.

Every year I watch many new films, and like the majority I mostly aim to see the new blockbusters. Sure, every now and then I’ll treat myself to something small or independent in nature, but it’s mostly the blockbuster. With the bombastic action, gut-punching laughs, quotable dialogue, big stars, three-act structures and the latest in special effects. I love blockbusters. But, like eating too much cake, they can become just a drone and so I do find it nice to break the monotony with something quite different. When something like Paterson comes along, it’s like a breath of fresh air; a pleasant break before I return to the adrenaline-fuel once again.

Paterson is about Adam Driver is a bus driver. He aspires to be a poet and writes down his poems in a secret note-book in his spare time. He is married to a beautiful woman who has an artistic eye, dreams of being a country singer and has plans to sell cupcakes for a living. And, that’s it. We follow these two people over a week and become familiar with their daily routine and mundane lives. Considering that the plot itself has been summed up that quickly then surly this must be a character drama, entirely focused on the people at hand. And that is exactly what Paterson is.

Paterson is a film that almost feels like it celebrates the mundane, just the day to day lives of ordinary people. And, it really succeeds at it. When the film started, I did wonder if I was going to be bored throughout this film, if there was going to be that one scene that just wouldn’t end or even a bunch of scenes that just padded the film out. But none of that happened. I was never bored and the film felt like the perfect length, without wasting a single moment. That is accomplished by the fact that Paterson and his wife are such interesting characters.

As a couple they feel perfect, even though they are both imperfect people. Paterson loves to write poems and idolizes other poets, clearly wanting to be one himself. Yet he constantly puts himself down and keeps his poems to himself. When he writes them we do hear what he’s writing and we even see it come up as text on the screen, but he never shares it with anyone else in the film. Even his wife is kept in the dark with his writing, although he is more open to her than anyone else. As a writer myself I can completely sympathise with his feelings on the matter, like anything in life it can be hard to find courage in your skills and the drive to push forward with them. He tends to mumble a lot and is quick to agree with others, but he never feels weak or pitiful for it. He’s just a normal guy like any you would see on a sunny day. And his wife clearly aims a little higher than what she can achieve. Although it is made very obvious that, despite her dreams and creativity, she is very bored at home. Again, a very relatable feature for a person to have.

This is helped out greatly by the performances. Adam Driver, who was very impressive as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, really impressed me here. In many respects this is a polar opposite to Kylo Ren; that being a slightly over-the-top villain in a big blockbuster franchise, while Paterson is a subdued and charming character in a small independent film. He and his wife have excellent chemistry, they feel like any couple out there today. And it really is the realism that sells this film. Director Jim Jarmusch really knows how to capture the mundane without making it feel pretentious. It is very easy to make such a film as Paterson just another art-for-the-sake-of-art film, but I never felt manipulated by it. I only felt like I was seeing a week of a couples life. There is a lot to say when direction is so good that you hardly notice it at work. The cinematography and editing are on point and never fail to sell the emotion of the film. I will say that the music was an odd choice however. I don’t know, it sounded like something from a horror film or thriller at times, it was just really out of place.

I can see a number of people not liking Paterson for the simple fact that it is very simple. Nothing really happens in it and there is no three-act structure. But what I found was a very charming and very nice feel-good movie. If I could sum it up in one word it would be: pleasant. I definitely recommend it, whether for the change or just because it is so nice. It’s got lovable characters and some good laughs, and more than enough to keep you entertained throughout it. Proving that life and poetry definitely come hand-in-hand.

Did you ever wonder if your aulersonal faults were manufactured? I hope not, as faults are far more complex than that, but it does make for a good story. There are a lot of good ideas living within such a concept, and I’m somewhat surprised that it hasn’t been explored in film before. I say that, yet I hadn’t thought of such a concept until I saw Gary Roberts’ short film, The Problemless Anonymous.

The story that comes with this concept is a man has been summoned to a clinic, under the threat of prison time. Why has he been summoned to the clinic? Because according to an all-encompassing yet mysterious test, he’s a perfect person. So he is kept within the clinic until the doctors can “prescribe” him with a personal fault, an imperfection to make him a “normal” person. Most of the film is spent within the waiting room, where our lead nervously discusses his worries and opens up to a strange young woman called Bonny.

One thing that really jumped out to me about this film was how bizarre it is. I know, big surprise that it’s a strange one with that plot; but while I liked that too, I meant the atmosphere the film gives. Oddly enough the film manages to be both light-hearted and upbeat, and dark and surreal at the same time. The tone and filming style feels like a mix of Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick. We have an oddly upbeat, good humoured and eccentric tone to the film, but all the while there is something unsettling about the whole thing, leading to a darkly comical finish. It’s haunting, yet funny. It’s unpleasant, yet completely delightful. It feels almost corporate, despite the fact that this is very clearly a labour of love from Gary Roberts.

Roberts shot this film in only two days; that is a fact that does not show in the finish product. This is, despite its quirks, a very professional looking film. It looks like everyone knew what they were doing and how to achieve it. The film deals with many in-depth themes and messages; including self-acceptance, manipulation and insecurity. And all of it is told in an Orwellian style. I paused the film at one point in the film to see what was displayed in the background, which gave me more of this Orwellian sense. There are numerous posters and advertisements on a board and they told me all I needed to know about the society outside of the clinic walls. We see that this is a society that appears to be run by the corporation, but this corporation doesn’t do what, say Minority Report does in keeping everyone to a strict and uniform image. This is a society that plans on making money out of any fault a person may have, to the point where people’s life’s will be ruined…but at least they have the excuse of “well, we’re not perfect”. It’s a nice and subtle parody of what we have today, with ads and fliers for such things as self-help, quitting smoking, marriage counsellors, plastic surgery; I have often found my Facebook bombarded with adverts and “advice” for environmentalism and weight loss. To me, it was just hilarious seeing the opposite, where there is literally an advert saying go out and smoke and get drunk, just so they have a problem. The whole film is like this, with every little thing in every shot feels important somehow. Which is the perfect, and possibly even only, way to get this story and this world across to us.

But to make all of this work we needed good characters with good performances. Which is ultimately what was delivered. From the get go our lead strikes instant sympathy and relatability with us. Why? Because he doesn’t feel perfect, something that more people than who would like to admit can get behind. The film is also very clever in making you wonder if the test machine made a mistake with him; which is exactly how you should feel. He feels like an outsider, who finally comes to grips with where he stands in this world. This mirrors what we feel as an audience as we begin to understand the film. It’s easy to see him as just the tool for the audience to view this world, but then the ending comes along, giving him a strange sense of identity. But the better character is Bonny. Along with the previously stated themes, Bonny brings one more far deeper depth to the story. The theme of the fear of change, and some of the extremes that we will go to in order to avoid change. She is quirky and very funny to watch, as well as somewhat tragic. Her actions hide and reveal her all the way through. It’s amazing what a simple detail like an eyepatch can do for a character if used correctly. Her arc was endearing and heart-warming, until the shockingly hilarious ending. Speaking of, I can see the ending throwing a few people off. I was definitely thrown by it; not because it’s bad but because I didn’t see it coming and it went completely against my predictions. It’s the same reason films like Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange can throw you, because that was the intention; therefore, to blame them for doing so is actually a form of compliment.

It’s hard not to applaud a film like The Problemless Anonymous. A film that has such a grip on its tone that it can feel like The Office one moment and then A Clockwork Orange the next and you wouldn’t notice the difference shows a sign of talent. It’s a short film that does require numerous viewings, but it also makes you want to re-watch it. It’s hard to pick a fault with it without nit-picking. There was clear love for this project and it does clearly show in every second. For a film about the faults of people, here’s a film with very few. Almost ironic really.

Back in 1991 the Oscars made film history, by nominating an animated film for best picture; that film was Beauty and the Beast. Today it still remains a Disney classic, loved by all. To me Beauty and the Beast is one of the best films the studio has ever produced! It’s one of those rare films where every time I see it I love it more. So when Disney mentioned that it was getting the live-action treatment I was understandably sceptical. But it started getting positive reviews and word of mouth was very good too. I booked tickets to see it, which was a good idea because the showing was full, and sat and watched a new take on the tale as old as time.

The story…you know what, I really shouldn’t have to tell you the story. We all know it; a prince is turned into a beast for his selfishness, his staff into ornaments and utensils, and is cursed to remain so unless he discovers true love. Love found in a selfless, kind-hearted and of course beautiful girl. The film this time does add more to the story, with numerous subplots and backstories to flesh out the world, as well as twisting the rules of the curse a bit.

So, what did I like about this film? I will say that Kevin Cline as Belle’s father was a surprisingly inspired choice. He was charming, worked well with Emma Watson and you related to him almost instantly. He was also funny, being Kevin Cline and all. There is actually a nice early scene with Belle and her father; the scene is almost told completely visually. It’s just a lovely scene. There’s a really good twist with the rose and the castle. You see in this version when a petal from the rose falls the castle crumbles a little. And when it does the inhabitants become less human and more like the objects they are becoming. This leads to a pretty good moment towards the end. And I have just mentioned the best scenes in the film, but they are really good scenes. And…umm…yep that’s it. Okay time to make some enemies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Nl_TCQXuw

Emma Watson, this woman can’t sing! She hits the notes but she can’t hold them. It’s unfair of me to say that though, to be fair…because the same can be said about every single member of this cast! And Watson is giving possibly the worst performance of her career. I don’t blame her though, because there was nothing for her to work with. The comparisons to Paige O’Hara are unavoidable at this point, but we also have a terrible script and complete misdirection. She just felt completely miscast. But again, that isn’t fair to say to her because (with the exception of Cline) everyone felt miscast. This cast includes Dan Stevens as Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as LaFou, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts and Stanley Tucci as a piano. How do you make every single one of these actors feel completely out of place? McKellen sounds miserable all the time, I can’t tell what accent McGregor was doing but it wasn’t French and Emma Thompson, one of my favourite actresses, stop impersonating Angela Lansbury! Even Luke Evans as Gaston, who starts the film with such promise, becomes so hard to watch towards the end. Gaston is one of my favourite Disney characters, and personally I always saw him as a Bruce Campbell like figure, big and over-the-top and just silly with a hint of madness. This guy is just unpleasant and not entertaining to watch in the slightest, after the butchering of tavern song “Gaston”.

This film was directed by Bill Condon, the man who gave us Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2. That should tell you all you need to know about this film’s quality. He has a horrible habit of giving us lovely, gorgeous sets and locations and then shooting them in such an unflattering and sometimes blurry shot. Also, Belle’s village is like Hook in how obviously it’s a set on a studio. The action shots are not chaotically shot and you can tell what is going on in then: Hurray! But the action itself is slow, uninspired and badly choreographed: Boo! And the special effects are a mixed bag. Beast and the inhabitants of the castle look good for the most part, although each of them has that one shot where they just look terrible. The wolves look alright but are clearly made in a computer. But the castle looks awful! It’s passable in establishing shots when it’s just the castle, but when it’s a person looking out of a window or down from a rafter then it’s Gods of Egypt bad with how obvious the green screen is. And the designs of the living furniture, which was once cute, is now hideous. These characters are horrible to look at now.

But what kills Beauty and the Beast here is the writing. Everything else aside the writing, coupled with the directing is just a travesty. It is trying to be different, it really is but it also copies too much from the original. When it tries to be new though, it doesn’t nearly live up to its potential. Examples are: the revelation that the Beast had a horrible father who made him as he is today. That’s just glanced over. Why? LaFou is now gay; great, go LGBT rights. But it’s just an unsubtle and undeveloped character point that it just doesn’t work, and feels more like an executive decision to get more people in the cinemas with controversy. Belle’s mother died of the plague. What does that have to do with a beast in a castle? And when they do the ball scene, crapping on a musical masterpiece as they do so, we get a shot of the decorations shaped like instruments playing the music. That’s great and really creative, but’s it’s just one shot, why?

And how can I forget about, what I have called, The Book Of Plotholes! There’s a book in the castle that teleports you to wherever you want. I don’t mean as an illusion, it actually teleports you. This makes the whole story mute! Gone is the isolation! Gone is the character’s common sense! And fuelled is the theme of Stockholm syndrome! It’s like they feel they should restrict themselves for familiarities sake.

And when it’s just playing the original it’s nowhere near as good. Examples: when Belle leaves the Beast sings about his feelings. Forgetting that this is a forgettable song (if that makes sense), this is far less emotionally effective as the Beast just roaring in emotional pain in the original. Belle’s father is going somewhere and gets lost on the road. In this version I have no idea where he’s going, the market I suppose, but how do you lose the road to the market? The Beast is fighting Gaston, nearly kills him; here Beast says “I’m not a beast”. That’s true, but in the original that’s told only through his facial expressions. But the kicker to me was when Belle wishes to go back and save her father. Here she says that her father needs her help…and Beast says go to him straight away. In the original, he looks at her, then the mirror, and then the rose; he has a look of horror as he sees how few petals there are, but then softens, cradling the rose and then tells her that he has set her free. Five emotions compared to absolutely none! That could have been avoided if there was any form of chemistry between Belle and Beast, but there isn’t a shred of it.

I could go on much longer but this review would never end if I did. I know what some will think: it’s a different film and shouldn’t be compared to the original. Normally I would say so too, but this film is adamant of reminding us about the much better film. It’s shot for shot at some points, it’s just insulting. The songs that I love are butchered, the characters sucked dry and the passion is replaced by product. And that there is the worst crime of all. The original is such a passionate film, dripping with imagination and wonder. This abomination is the most cynical product I have seen in a long time. Technically films like Assassin’s Creed, Underworld Blood Wars and The Great Wall are worse films, but none of them came even close to angering me as much as this did. And then it has the gault to be a success, not just with money but with critics and audiences. How? Why? I will never know. Although, I will give it this much credit; it has made me appreciate the 1991 animated film more than I have ever done before. If it isn’t baroque, don’t fix it.