Author: Alton Williams

Knight and Day ***

The fourth and final entry into this year’s quartet of male-female action comedies – the others being The Bounty Hunter, Date Night and Killers – Knight and Day is without a doubt the most high profile of the lot, both featuring the biggest stars and carrying the largest production budget. These two things, however, don’t necessarily translate to great word of mouth or impressive box office and the response from the film’s release in the states has been mixed at best, the box office performance best described as okay, at least until its earnings are compared to the production budget it has fallen considerably short of. International box office takings thus far have salvaged the film though and for all the underwhelming word of mouth coming from the states, this is still a film with some quite impressive credentials behind it. Director James Mangold has such an impressive track record that it seems almost surprising that he is involved in this film, his past credits including critically acclaimed films such as 1997’s Cop Land, 2000’s Girl, Interrupted, 2003’s Identity, 2006’s Walk the Line and 2007’s 3:10 to Yuma, even though his 2002 film Kate & Leopold poses a slight blip on an otherwise quite impressive list of credits. This film is also the first time Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have appeared on screen together since 2002’s Vanilla Sky. Cruise’s involvement, however, does seem to be one of the reasons why the film hasn’t taken off as might have been expected. In recent years his star power has diminished significantly and it was it was an awfully big assumption that he was popular again when there was never any real evidence to support this assessment. Regardless of his popularity, though, his hilarious appearance in 2008’s Tropic Thunder as foul mouthed studio head Les Grossman showed the world that he has a knack for comedy and in Knight and Day he demonstrates this once again, it not quite as successfully.

Normal girl June Havens (Cameron Diaz) has her life turned upside down when she gets mixed up with a super-spy named Roy Miller (Tom Cruise). Their first encounter is on a flight to Boston where June finds herself hiding in the washroom while Miller fights off the crew and passengers – all of whom are assassins – before crash-landing the plane. June then wakes up in her own bed, unharmed and with no idea of how she got there. Heading for a dress fitting for the wedding of her sister Alice (Maggie Grace), she finds herself bundled into an unmarked car by a team of sinister men who seem to be government agents and who are taking their orders from the rather sinister Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgard) who informs her that Miller has experienced a full on break with reality and gone rogue. That’s when Miller intervenes again, and, despite not being completely sure about whether or not she can trust him, June ends up joining him on a glamorous, globetrotting and awesomely dangerous adventure, where nothing and no one – even the now fugitive couple – are what they seem.

The reason I say that Tom Cruise isn’t as quite as successful in showing off his comic prowess in Knight and Day as he was in Tropic Thunder is that his performance here is too obviously him. As Les Grossman he was virtually unrecognisable, him becoming a character for once rather than playing him, but here he is just the Tom Cruise we all know well. He plays the role of Roy Miller (whose character shares his name with that of the character played by Matt Damon in this year’s Green Zone) essentially like a deranged, comedy version of Ethan Hunt from Mission: Impossible and while he does succeed in being very entertaining and pretty funny at times – the way he plays the role almost seriously at times makes the delivery of his lines seem much funnier than if he was just playing full on crazy, although he does do the crazy and unhinged thing pretty well too – he never quite manages to be completely hilarious like anyone who has seen Tropic Thunder will know he can be. Likewise can be said of Cameron Diaz, who also proves very entertaining but whose character spends too much of the film either shrieking as bullets fly around her or knocked out after being drugged by Miller. So, on their own terms, neither of the film’s stars are at their best but this doesn’t stop them from having an electric chemistry on screen and the film glides on their charisma for much of the duration. Which highlights another problem that prevents the film from being as good as it could be. Despite a great start to the film and plenty of thrilling and some very funny globe-trotting action sequences – fist fights, car chases, shoot outs and a run in with some stampeding bulls are what we get here – the film loses a lot of steam as it progresses. A key reason for this is that the plot, while offering plenty of twists and turns, isn’t all that interesting and it never really feels like all that much is at stake, the writing somewhat lacking in several areas. There is perhaps on overreliance on banter between Cruise and Diaz’s characters at times and, while there is some quite humorous dialogue, the film never manages to be as funny as it could be, the laughs more intermittent than nonstop. Also, while the film delivers on the action side of things (it being great to see Tom Cruise in action mode again), the romance element never really takes off, the result of a lack of character development and scenes that show us exactly how and why the characters grow to be so close. So, overall, Knight and Day is definitely not one of James Mangold’s better pieces of work. Enjoyable but not unmissable, as long as you don’t expect too much and don’t take it seriously, this is a film that you can certainly enjoy but definitely won’t love.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore 3D **½
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore 2D **

Nine years ago almost to this day, Cats & Dogs was released in cinemas and, despite being a merely passable and completely unmemorable piece of family cinema, the almost genius take (the idea behind the film, not the film itself) on the age old rivalry between cats and dogs struck a chord with moviegoers to the tune of more than $200 million in global box office takings. A certified hit, it was little surprise that a sequel was quickly greenlit. What is surprising, though, it just how long it has taken for this sequel to actually get the sequel made. Having been stuck in the depths of development hell for the best part of a decade, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore only now graces our cinema screens. The big problem is that, in the nine years since it was released, the unmemorable original film has been all but forgotten by moviegoers, those kids who enjoyed it when it was in cinemas now grown up and today’s kids likely never having even seen it. Simply put, while the box office numbers for the first film may have suggested that a sequel was viable, no one could really care less about what is a completely needless sequel that seems destined for rejection by both movie critics – that much was always a given – and the paying public – the film has already flopped at the US box office with a mediocre opening weekend of just $12 million. Even the addition of 3D doesn’t really seem likely to attract attention. And this review is unlikely to help much either.

In the age-old battle between cats and dogs, one crazed feline has taken things a paw too far. Kitty Galore (voiced by Bette Midler), formerly an agent for cat spy organisation MEOWS, has gone rogue and hatched a diabolical plan that will not only bring her canine enemies to heel, but will also take down her former kitty comrades and make the world her scratching post. Faced with this unprecedented threat, cats – represented by agent Catherine (voiced by Christina Applegate) – and dogs – represented by veteran agent Butch (voiced by Nick Nolte) and rookie agent Diggs (voiced by James Marsden) – are forced to join forces for the first time in history in an unlikely alliance to save themselves – and their humans!

The tagline for Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore reads “Just like real spies…only furrier” and this is a theme that is played on quite heavily in the film. In many ways I suppose, this is kind of like a James Bond movie only with cats and dogs as the secret agents and this is evident in everything from the 007 style opening credits sequence complete with theme tune to the dastardly over-the-top plot orchestrated by the villain, not to mention the name of the villain herself – Kitty Galore a blatant reference to Pussy Galore from classic Bond movie Goldfinger – and the fact that former 007 Roger Moore lends his voice to one of the feline characters. Trying to emulate a James Bond movie, however, does not put a film in the same league as one and, while this sequel manages to lose the domestic setting of the first Cats & Dogs film it does not better it. A series of semi-enjoyable action sequences are offered up that will keep undemanding kids happy but satisfy few others, the CGI is decent but never spectacular, (if you see the 3D version) the 3D effects are pretty well done if not utilized as fully as they could be (this being a post production conversion job rather than a shot in 3D film), plot is virtually non-existent and the humour, while clearly trying to cater to older viewers – a gag involving first film baddie Mr Tinkles putting in a Hannibal Lecter style cameo appearance and another showing cats getting high on catnip are notable examples of this – generally only raise giggles rather than that out loud laughs. Much of the humour is clearly aimed at kids of course, the film offering up cat and dog puns a plenty, and the kids at least should be satisfied while accompanying merely tolerate what is essentially a wathchable but not especially likable family movie. On the acting front there is little to speak of with former Robin Chris O’Donnell (playing Diggs’ human owner who is searching for him) hardly being on screen for much of the duration and 30 Rock star Jack McBrayer (as Kitty Galore’s loving but dim-witted owner) being completely wasted. The voice cast fares better – all the cast members doing a pretty good job – but the surprisingly impressive list of star names – in addition to those aforementioned, Katt Williams, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, Wallace Shawn, Joe Pantoliano and Michael Clarke Duncan (notice that while many of the canine characters from the first film appear in this sequel, the only returning voices are Joe Pantoliano and Sean Hayes, the latter as Mr Tinkles) – still adds little to the film as a whole. So, essentially, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore affirms itself as a mediocre sequel to a mediocre movie, a film that is certainly watchable and that the kids will definitely enjoy but that really shouldn’t anyone’s first choice to see at the cinema right now.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

The Karate Kid ****

Remakes can mostly be classified into three categories. Firstly, there are the ones that are genuinely worthy, the ones that bring something new to the fold that was perhaps missing from the original and maybe even prove to be superior. Secondly, there are the ones that are only really made to cash in on the original film’s name, bringing few new ideas but having some hook that makes them at least worthwhile on some level. And, finally, there are the completely needless remakes that are made for no purpose other than to cash in on the name of the original film, both failing to provide a new spin on the original formula or provide any real hook to make them stand out. Its UK release preceded by considerable hype and impressive box office numbers in the states (it has already grossed over $170 million there), the 2010 version of The Karate Kid falls firmly into the second category. Aside from a change of setting – the California locales of the 1984 original are replaced by China – and a change of fighting style – kung fu is substituted for karate, thus rendering the film’s title somewhat inaccurate, ‘The Kung Fu Kid’ being a more accurate name – there is little about this film that is especially different to the original and certainly this could be classified as a needless remake – after all, who ever really wanted to see a remake to The Karate Kid? Yet, the star combination of Jaden Smith (he’s the son of Hollywood superstar Will Smith in case you didn’t know, his father also being a producer on this film, along with wife Jada Pinkett Smith) and Jackie Chan has clearly provided a powerful hook and this film proves to be something more than what you might expect it to be.

Twelve-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is just a normal kid from Detroit, but then his mother (Taraji P. Henson) makes a career move that takes them both to China. Dre likes his classmate Mei Ying (Wenwen Han) but cultural differences make problems for their friendship. Even worse, Dre’s feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng (Zhenwei Wang). Dre knows some karate, but Cheng’s kung fu skills quickly put ‘the karate kid’ on the floor. Dre feels alone in this strange land, but then he meets kindly maintenance man Mr Han (Jackie Chan), who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han becomes Dre’s mentor, he teaches the young karate kid that kung fu is not just about fighting, but about self-control and adaptability. But will Dre ever learn enough to defeat the bullies?

While The Karate Kid certainly is an unnecessary remake, this is not to say that it isn’t a worthwhile one. Sure, it doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the story and the plot goes down a very predictable path but this is a film with many things to recommend it. Going not down the comedy route as you might expect but rather being a drama that happens to feature some humorous moments, there is some dramatic depth that you might not expect to find, with a few emotional scenes likely to pull on the heart strings a bit, and while comedy moments are sparse, when they do appear they prove to be very amusing. In a change of pace for Jackie Chan, this film does not feature his trademark comic fight scenes. In fact, this film is a change for the star in more ways than one, his role here being more serious than comedic, even though he does prove amusing at times. His performance here is easily his best in some time, his emotional portrayal of a man hiding a tragic secret being both convincing and heartbreaking. Chan, however, is not the star of the film. That honour goes to Jaden Smith, who shows himself to be a very capable performer, displaying genuine charisma and being quite engaging in his role. He shows real a potential as a movie star but does still have a long way to go before he displays the level of charisma and gravitas of his father. Smith also engages well with his co-stars, sharing a good master-student dynamic with Chan, a convincing a mother-son relationship with (an extremely underused) Taraji P. Henson and a very sweet chemistry with (the truly delightful) Wenwen Han. Smith also performs well in the physical elements of the film with the fight sequences showing off very good choreography and kung fu moves and Mr Han’s training techniques (“Jacket on, Jacket off”) being suitably unorthodox. Also of note is that the film’s depictions of Chinese culture are both authentic and respectful and that the Chinese locations provide some truly beautiful backdrops to the film’s events. If there is any criticism to be made of the film it is that, at 2 hour 20 minutes long, the film occasionally proves a tad too slow moving and long winded. This, however, is only a minor criticism in a film that has a sweet and inspiring story at its heart that it is hard not to be won over. Simply put, The Karate Kid is a near-perfect feel good movie where good triumphs over adversity and it is definitely a top choice to see at your cinema over the summer holidays.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)