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  • Monster Hunter: Another Review

    Monster Hunter: Another Review

    Ever since Mario and Luigi made their awkward big-screen transition (seriously, what were they thinking with those Goombas), video game movies have served as cannon-fodder for critics and diehard gamers alike. Between bad filmmakers’ clumsy-conceived visions (looking at you Uwe Boll) and a lackluster understanding of what makes the respective source material work, studios continue to cycle through properties with mostly disastrous results. Leave it to shlock extraordinaire Paul WS Anderson, who served as the primary visionary behind six Resident Evil films, to crack the video game curse with his latest Monster Hunter. Anderson’s colorfully crafted popcorn film hits that guilty-pleasure itch through its over-indulgent spectacle.

    Monster Hunter follows Lieutenant Artemis (Milla Jovovich), a decorated special forces leader who is suddenly transported into a different world. When she and her team discover gargantuan creatures, they must fight for their survival while teaming with a mysterious hunter (Tony Jaa) to plot their escape.

    Most video game movies can’t convey their source’s unique strengths, often truncating a thoughtfully-constructed narrative into an underbaked mess. Considering the Monster Hunter games exist as a vessel for conquering larger-than-life creatures, the brand makes an ideal canvas for Anderson to unleash his signature carnage. The director’s shamelessly kinetic voice finds a perfect partner within the monster movie genre’s vibrant appeals. A well-tuned balance between broadly self-aware setpieces and daffy comedic frames ensures this B-movie never drifts into falsely self-serious territory.

    Anderson is not foreign to criticism for his presentation choices, with audiences often dividing over his big-screen offerings (the Resident Evil franchise is equally beloved and loathed by fans). While some of his efforts present untamed technical prowess, Monster Hunter finds Anderson creating an assured blend of controlled chaos. His mixture of wide-shots and intimately framed shaky cam presents the impressive design work while throwing audiences into the flurry of each action beat. The sped-up slow-motion and frenetic edits won’t please everyone, but I love the ways Anderson gleefully embraces the excess of big-screen blockbusters. Big props also to Anderson’s design crew, as the team transform this barren desert landscape into an intriguing steam-punk flavored world.

    Monster Hunter’s cheeky appeals could easily fall apart in the wrong hands, but star Milla Jovovich ably carries the narrative on her shoulders. This is a part Jovovich could perform in her sleep at this point, continuing her run as one of the genre’s most composed action stars. Her firm presence adds gravitas to Artemis’ shallow journey home, while co-star Tony Jaa operates as an effective comedic foil to Jovovich’s stern persona. The supporting cast also has fun within their archetype roles, including Ron Pearlman boasting a hilariously convoluted hairstyle (the second you see him with a mullet and sideburns will lead to instant laughter).

    Monster Hunter is a joy to watch, but Paul WS Anderson’s abilities as a director are often undercut by his falterings as a screenwriter. I don’t take issue with the film’s straight-forward, video game-esque plotting, but Anderson fails to bring much personality to the materials’ formula. Most of the characters serve as blandly-coated stereotypes while the few humorous frames land with a clunky corniness. When the action isn’t flying onscreen, Anderson struggles to keep his routine narrative engaging.

    Thankfully for audiences, Monster Hunter’s relentless pace rarely ensures much boredom. Equally opulent and mindless, Anderson crafts an endearingly silly blockbuster for genre fans to embrace.

  • Little Fish: Review

    Little Fish: Review

    Little Fish: Review. By Alif Majeed.

    Sci-fi movies, especially ones where something causes huge worldwide chaos, has become a mainstay of the genre. An unexplained disease or ailment is affecting everyone but stops short of going full post-apocalyptic mode. There have been many classics in the genre and some terrible ones. With covid rearing its ugly head, a crop of them has sprung out, which might be seen as timely but doesn’t say much.

    Probably a reason Contagion was met with a muted response when it was released, but now it is much discussed. Steven Soderbergh just made a sci-fi thriller set in current times without cashing in on any particular current situation. So when a new movie comes where the basic premise is that a memory loss virus is making people slowly forget each other, you view it with caution at first.

    But I was taken in by what the director, Chad Hartigan, has created in Little Fish. It might not be the most memorable of the recent spat of sci-fi movies with a similar world-ending bend to it, but that is because the makers were not even trying to go down that path. What struck a chord for me is a world where people were going to rot away, unable to function with their full memory.

    Emma (Olivia Cooke) and Jude (Jack O’Connell) are a married couple who have been together for a while when the movie starts. Though a coup out initially, the more the memory virus takes control of the world, the fragmented revelation of their relationship makes sense.

    When it becomes apparent that the virus has affected Jude, and he starts losing his memory, it strains their relationship. How the couple deals with the situation form the rest of the movie.

    Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell, playing the lead characters, are lovely here. They hit their stride after Jack gets the virus. They work together in tandem to create some pleasant relationship moments that make you want to continue the journey to see if they succeed or not.

    Think of every significant biopic, and the praise goes to the person dealing with the illness, and the other half ends as a prop there to support the other person. It is a testament to Olivia Cooke’s talent that she ends up going beyond the thankless supporting role. She shows the frustration and will to plow ahead even when things are falling to pieces, and Jack loses his ability to make it work.

    There is a lovely character moment when Jack walks away, when it looks like he has completely forgotten her, where you almost see relief in her face. In that scene, Olivia Cooke’s anguish makes you want to jump in and tell her it’s okay for giving up, at least for that split second. That she is not a terrible person, but just a tired one dealing with extraordinary circumstances.

    You still wonder why Jack O’Connell has not blown up yet, after Unbroken. He is playing a character who frustrates not because he was written that way but by watching how he deals with his illness. When he scoffs at the treatment that might involve addling with his brain, you understand his wariness and distrust of something he can’t understand yet. But the moment the reports of the cure show signs of success, his jealousy and frustration at his missed shot for the treatment is understandable.

    The direction is also tight when the premise could have lent itself to going full Roger Corman territory with movies like Gasss!!, and Death Race 2000. Though I would love to imagine the treatment and premise of getting the Corman B movie thriller treatment, it required the director and writer’s steady hand in making it.

    We can focus on some minuses of the movie. The beginning portions felt a lot like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, especially when the fragmented nature of how they get together is being revealed. Also, it doesn’t make its case in originality when they shot it in the same stylish way Steven Soderbergh (including Contagion) popularized with his movies. It may be an artistic choice, but the film comes off as a clone of the two mentioned movies.

    One thing that can tick some people off is the lack of actual science fiction in the movie. Apart from a few scenes depicting the chaos in some random locations, you don’t get an idea of how much the virus has spread. It could very well be a movie about two people dealing with an illness and nothing else. That was not a negative for me as I was glued and hooked, wondering if they would succeed not.

    Watch Little Fish for its stunning performances from the lead actors and the premise that does work wonders as the makers made a wonderfully even film that avoids the trap of its B-Movie premise.

  • Away: DVD Review

    Away: DVD Review

    Away is a silent Latvian animation written, directed, animated and scored by Gints Zilbalodis. It tells the story of a boy who wakes up on an island with nothing but a bird for company, a motorcycle as a means of escape and a large, towering monster who looms over him watching his every move. The boy sees no other option but to try and fix his motorcycle and get as far away from the monster as he possibly can. Although obstacles along the way ensure that his journey will not be a simple one.

    Beautifully animated with a wonderful score, Away is a charming animation that takes its audience away to a fantasy world with humungous monsters that constantly pursue the island’s inhabitants. For those who are fans of video games, Away may also seem rather familiar as it evokes a visual style of games such as Rime and a similar thematic style to Shadow of The Colossus.

    However, although at times Away does manage to create great visual spectacle, in terms of story there isn’t really enough there to make it feel like a profound piece of work as the boy struggles to escape.

    Filled with metaphors, Away is not so subtle as it shows the obstacles that the boy overcomes in order to escape the monster. This leads to times where watching the boy struggling up a treacherous mountain and watching a turtle fall on his back, struggling to get upright is a little too straightforward.

    Although these metaphors will resonate more universally with an international audience, it does feel that perhaps Away could have spent a little more time adding a bit more variety, rather than just following the boy as he travels across the island and reminding the audience of his incredible struggle.

    Also, Away’s chapters will again remind audiences of a video game, with each section having the boy met with an obstacle or showing an incredible set piece which further enforces the idea that perhaps Away would have been better in this medium.

    An incredible accomplishment in animation, storytelling, music and sound design, Away is beautiful to watch, but with a bit more development would be a more fulfilling experience.

    AWAY is available to pre-order now from Apple TV and iTunes. It can be purchased from Sky Store, Amazon, Google, Microsoft,  Rakuten and Sony from January 18th, as well as Curzon Home Cinema from 25th January. 

  • Python, Garland, Star Wars: Weekly Round Up

    Python, Garland, Star Wars: Weekly Round Up

    Python, Garland, Star Wars: Weekly Round Up – So, it would seem that 2021 isn’t going to chill out and let us get the fuck on with our lives, so I guess we may as well just cut the chase. I know you don’t come here for a political chat, but I’ll shout from any platform I can and, well, seriously, this is a problem and we need to start recognizing that what’s happening across the pond the US has been on the rise here just as much. But, brushing all that aside for now, at least if we focus on some movie news then we can just forget about everything else and maybe imagine some sort of utopia where we all enjoy the cinema again. Maybe utopia is pushing it. Let’s just imagine a place that’s a little less shit.

    First up this week we’ve got Star Wars, a franchise that’s never been known to turn people into hateful little toads… er… anyway, last month Disney held their big investor day event and made several announcements about the future of a galaxy far, far away, including news that Taika Waititi was busy working on his entry into the Star Wars canon, and that Patty Jenkins had been snapped up to helm Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. One project that was suspiciously absent from the event, though, was the project that would supposedly be brought to us by Marvel head honcho, Kevin Feige.

    Despite Kathleen Kennedy stating that the film was still a “ways off”, this week we got some news about the project. The Feige Marvel film will reportedly be based on a screenplay by Rick and Morty producer Michael Waldron. Waldron has been working with Feige already, since he’s the chap who wrote the script for the upcoming Sam Raimi directed Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, Doctor Strange in the Multi-verse of Madness, as well as serving as head writer on the upcoming Disney+ show, Loki.

    Other than Waldron’s involvement, very little is still yet to be confirmed about this project and what it entails. Of course, the rumor mill is already busy churning out theories, but at the moment there is nothing concrete. It could be that we’ll have to way a while to see this thing in the flesh, though, since Waldron is expected to return to his head writer role for season two of Loki, a show that was originally thought to be a standalone mini-series.

    While we’re on the subject of science-fiction, Dredd and Sunshine scribe, and the director Ex Machina and Annihilation, Alex Garland has been busy on his next project, a horror film set in the UK, titled simply Men. The film will reportedly tell the story of a young woman who “goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside after the death of her husband”.

    If you’re anything like me then already this sounds rather tantalizing, and this week we got some casting announcements around the movie. Irish actress, and star of the Netflix Produced Charlie Kauffman 2020 film I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Jesse Buckley, will reportedly star in the movie alongside Rory Kinnear, an English actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Bill Tanner in the James Bond franchise.

    Anyone who reads this roundup regularly will already know that I’m a big horror fan, but I am also a big fan of Garland’s work, and so this sounds great to me. I’m very curious to learn more about it and so will keep you all posted when there is more to know. One thing I will say, though, is that I’m always pleasantly surprised whenever I learn of a film set here in the UK, especially a genre piece since the UK has such a long and exciting history with the genre, in part thanks to its incredible wealth of myths and legends.

    One such legend comes in the form of the classic tale of King Arthur, which has been brought to the screen many, many times. Perhaps one of the most famous and iconic of all these big-screen adaptations of the legend, though, is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Beloved the world over as a surreal and hilarious comedy classic, there are few TV based comedies to have ever made the jump to the world of movies quite so successfully.

    The film’s reach stretches far beyond that of the cinema though, as it was adapted in 2005 by Monty Python member Eric Idle, and turned into a wildly popular and massively successful Broadway musical called Spamalot, which earned well over $175 million throughout its worldwide run.

    20th Century Fox has originally snatched up the rights to produce a movie based on the stage show, but after the merger with Disney, Paramount Pictures have now acquired the project, which is “fully developed” with a screenplay by Idle himself. The musical’s choreographer, Casey Nicholaw, is now attached to potentially director Python Spamalot as his feature film debut, although it is also possible that he will be directing the screen version of the Mean Girls musical first.

    Mean Girls, of course, recently closed down on Broadway due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, and so it could very well be that those involved in that production are keen to get the ball rolling on a big-screen outing. It is not yet known whether any of the actors who have appeared in Spamalot on stage will reprise their roles for the movie, but the show has featured the likes of Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, and David Hyde Pierce in the past, so expect a star-studded lineup. – Python, Garland, Star Wars: Weekly Round Up

  • American Dream: Review

    American Dream: Review

    Few themes represent Americana like the pursuit of one’s dreams. A mantra of blind hopefulness often drives people to their breaking point in order to accomplish the so-called “American Dream“. This universal conceit acts as a narrative crux for several big-screen endeavors, including the latest crime/thriller American Dream. Similar to the blunt title, Dream sloppily handles universal sentiments in a misguided borefest.

    American Dream follows Nicky (Michael Huisman) and Scott (Luke Bracey), two American entrepreneurs on the verge of losing their apartment complex. After trying to secure a deal with wildcard Yuri (Nick Stahl), the two face the wrath of a scorned mobster who sets out to destroy their livelihoods.

    Two-time Oscar-winner Janusz Kaminski served as the visual lens behind Steven Spielberg’s best films (Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List). Now, the famed cinematographer slums his talents as a director-for-hire for this routine VOD pulp fest. Kaminski admittedly creates a pleasing visual aesthetic, his dingey lighting and intimate framing convey the flurry of angst and anger facing Nicky and Scott on their odyssey.

    He may show his visual expertise, but Kaminski lacks tactfulness in his shallow approach. The director never engages with the material’s thoughtful conceits, often allowing screenwriters Mark Wheaton and Duncan Brantley’s heavy-handed dialogue to take center stage. Some scenes awkwardly strain themselves in the process, straddling the relatively talented cast with clunky archetypes to work with (Bracey and Huisman share lived-in chemistry while Stahl serves as a fittingly unhinged advisory). None of the simplistic elements land with the authenticity or verve required for the material to stay afloat.

    I can get down with a taunt, relentlessly paced thriller, even if it’s lacking in substantive dynamics. That being said, Kaminski’s overly-machismo delivery lands in uncomfortably exploitative territory. American Dream props up its cruel rivalry as Yuri commits senseless acts throughout the running time. Most of these acts degrade the film’s thinly-developed female characters, throwing them through the wringer only to serve as hapless victims. The dated mean-streak often taints any enjoyment from Kaminski’s straightforward yarn.

    Destined to be forgotten amongst a wave of VOD titles, American Dream represents bottom of the barrel contrivances for the crime thriller genre.