Cinema Review: Thor (2011)

Since they started producing their own films in-house with Iron Man, it's been eminently clear that Marvel have one precise goal in mind: the Avengers movie, due next year under the direction of fanboy god Joss Whedon. They've already given Tony Stark and Bruce Banner (A.K.A. The Incredible Hulk) their lead-in movies; this year they slot their final two primary cast members into place, Thor being the first out of the blocks. Having a superhero film whose main character is the Norse God of Thunder certainly makes a change of pace from the typical bitten by a spider/exposed to radiation/is really really rich (i.e. Iron Man, Batman) origin. Thor goes more for the Superman route, treating its main character's home realm, Asgard, as a sort of otherworldly Krypton, and the protagonist as an alien to whom Earth cultures are strange and foreign.

As has already been shown, that sort of fish out of water premise is ripe with potential, some of which Thor attains but not all. In terms of character and wit, director Kenneth Branagh and his team of scripters score highly; there's an appealing sense of humour in many of the Earthbound scenes and the obligatory central love story is played subtly and believably. Aussie Chris Hemsworth grows into the title role well, initially seeming hamstrung by the very Branagh-esque accent he adopts, but apparently relaxes as the story progresses. He certainly looks the part. Natalie Portman is rewarded with the relatively thankless love interest part and manages to be endearing and believable, even if we're not really given any character information other than the fact she's a scientist. She looks much more engaged here than in her last blockbusters, the Star Wars prequels - no wonder.

Branagh was certainly an eyebrow-raising choice as director, and the end result is not far from what you'd expect from past experience. He's confident with dialogue scenes and character beats, less so with the action stuff, which tends to devolve into murky CG-laden mush (particularly an early set-piece on an ice planet). It's not helped by the addition of the third dimension - everything just looks too dark (many of the off-world scenes are quite darkly lit in the first place) and the film rarely makes any use at all of the potential of 3D. The film's attention is divided between Asgard and Earth, the first act being devoted to the former, and despite - or because of - its distinctive art design style the fantastical world never convinces. In both settings, Branagh overdoes the Dutch angles, such framing rarely having any evident justification. The Earth sections are more compelling, but keeping the action centred around a New Mexico desert town makes the film feel small.



Summary
Once again, a Marvel movie feels like little more than a tease for something bigger to come. At least Thor is distinctive and rather original in terms of comic book movies, differing from the familiar template, and the casting is successful. The Avengers had better be a suitably spectacular payoff after all this time and effort.

Blu-ray Review: Tron Legacy (2010)

From my cinema review -- If there was ever a time when it could be said that the music maketh the movie, Tron: Legacy is it. Get rid of the score, and it would become a plodding, murky, too-serious sojourn into basically ridiculous subject matter, with dialogue that often hardly rolls off the tongue and a narrative that feels like box-ticking ("We need a light-cycle chase here! A cool frisbee battle there!"). Add in the bass-heavy notes of French electronica duo Daft Punk, though, and it transforms into a hallucinatory audio-visual feast where the fusion of pictures and music takes the job of the storytelling. The film is a visual marvel, building on the famous Tron look and enhancing it with 28 years' worth of digital evolution.

Tron: Legacy's journey to the screen has certainly been unusual. The sequel to a minor 1982 effort most notable for its groundbreaking use of (now laughably antiquated) CGI, the original Tron has since gained a cult following and its own band of enthusiasts. In fact, its main legacy has been in the technology it pioneered - Pixar's John Lasseter was inspired by the film to experiment with digital animation, and the rest is history. Such is the power of the geek now in Hollywood (Legacy's debutant director, Joseph Kosinski, grew up with the original) that here we find ourselves, 28 years later, treated to a belated follow-up.

The crucial player in its revival has been Jeff Bridges, who resurrects his character from the first film and was involved in the development of the sequel, agreeing to appear in a short film that Kosinski used to pitch to the studio. Bridges has an accordingly mythical, Godlike presence in the final film, appearing as both an aged version of Kevin Flynn and villain Clu, a version of Bridges that CG boffins have de-aged to around his age in the original. The effects are not seamless (the Benjamin Button team are responsible, where the use of the technique was more careful and successful) but it somehow works, given that most of the film is set within a virtual environment where nothing is actually real anyway. The creation of the virtual world itself is superb, bringing the wonderful art direction to life now that almost anything is possible to recreate on screen. The look - mostly blue, black and orange - does get a little tiresome and oppressive after a while, but that may be a consequence of the 3D dimming. [Blu-ray viewing note: In 2D on my TV I never once tired of the look. 3D therefore detracts from this movie.]

Bridges is reliably enjoyable, bringing more than a hint of The Dude to the Flynn character ("You're messing with my Zen, man!"), and Olivia Wilde (TV's House and The O.C.) is delightful as his naively wide-eyed companion. Wilde quickly becomes the heart and soul of the picture once she appears. The main plot revolves around Sam Flynn's (Garrett Hedlund) attempt to rescue his long-lost father from being trapped in the digital realm, but despite his solid work, Quorra is the most affecting character, her arc providing the biggest emotional payoff. The storytelling is sometimes ponderous but certain scenes stand out as particularly well-directed, such as a tense dinner table conversation just after Sam and Kevin are finally reunited, with Quorra is an awkward third party. Similarly the film excels in action scenes, standouts being the iconic light-cycle battle and a brawl in a glitzy nightclub run by a manic Michael Sheen. There's a cameo in that scene by Daft Punk, wearing custom made Tron suits - they're the club DJs - and despite all the visual spectacle it serves as an apt reminder as to the number one reason that the film works.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: Double Play / Discs: 1 BD, 1 DVD / Distributor: Disney

Presentation
Smooth - that's the word that comes to mind when describing both the look and sound of the film on Blu-ray. The visuals superbly replicate the rounded, sleek art design of the film. What's more, given the emphasis on light in the Tron world, they seem perfectly suited to being watched on a TV, which emits light, rather than a projector screen which simply reflects it. It makes for a much more vivid, enveloping experience. (Admittedly, I did not see this film in IMAX, which must have been incredible.)

The soundtrack is similarly "smooth" in that rather than battering you over the head with sheer volume, it gradually builds and builds (much like the music, which is very prominent throughout) to reach several high points and then a stunning crescendo in the finale. Directional sounds are used to phenomenal, immersive effect. Delivered in DTS-HD 7.1, it's the sort of soundtrack that will test the mettle of any sound system - mine couldn't quite cope with the ending.

Extras
Disney have been a bit on the skimpy side here, unfortunately. No commentary or PiP options are offered. There are three featurettes of around 10 minutes each - focusing on the project's genesis, casting, and design - and a 3-minute piece showing the San Diego Comic-Con audience being recorded for the crowd scenes. The most interesting revelation is how many of the sets and costumes - and their lighting effects - were done practically, without CGI. "The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed" is an interesting piece, a 10-minute prequel/expansion of sorts to the events in the movie, giving extra background to what happened in the years between the two movies, and featuring cameos by some of the actors. I'm sure Tron geeks in particular will get a kick out of it. Otherwise, there's a Daft Punk music video, and a trailer for a new Disney cartoon series, Tron: Uprising.



Summary
Competently made, well acted, masterfully scored - Tron: Legacy is a success on a surface level. It never particularly engrosses, but it looks pretty and sounds great. The Blu-ray provides possibly the best audio-visual presentation I've yet seen; at points it's nearly overwhelming. The film benefits significantly from it.

News: Zemeckis returns to live action

After dallying in motion-capture CGI for the last decade, Robert Zemeckis - the genius behind Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Forrest Gump and more - is looking like he'll return to real flesh and blood actors for his next flick.

Chud.com reports that he's in talks to direct a movie called Flight, about an airline pilot who becomes a hero after a successful emergency landing, but he's wracked by guilt afterwards because he was (unbeknownst to the general public, it seems) on drink and drugs at the time. Denzel Washington may play the lead, who also has another interesting-sounding thriller on the way at the moment, Safe House.

To me the real news is that Zemeckis is intending to drop the motion capture technology. He's been a technological pioneer since he hit big with the time-travelling DeLorean, but his recent output has left me cold, and his apparent goal of making photo-real CG humans looks no closer to being realised now than it did when he made The Polar Express. His last live action film was Cast Away in 2000 - no classic, perhaps, but certainly a very good film, and far better than anything he's made since then (though I haven't seen his A Christmas Carol). The final straw for Disney, his backers, has been the complete failure of Mars Needs Moms, a recent mocap effort which Zemeckis produced.

Zemeckis, at his best, is a true visionary, and I firmly believe he has shown the talent in the past to forge a career similar in standing to Steven Spielberg's. Now his experimentation in digital toys is (hopefully) out of the way, he can get back to making great movies again.

Feature: Summer 2011 Preview

It's late April, which means we're mere days away from the start of the official summer movie season (May to August). This year, we get a lot of superheroes, a lot of sequels, several reboots or remakes, and even one or two originals. Here's my list of what's on my radar for the months ahead in order of personal anticipation, with embedded trailers from YouTube for your delectation. The release dates refer to the UK.

Blu-ray Review: Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner presents the most seamless and convincing dystopia that has ever been depicted on screen. The extraordinary look of the film has received so much attention that it has obscured the other delights it has to offer, and the criticism that it received in some quarters that it is all look and no substance is unfounded. The film's focus on the visuals is entirely in keeping with its central themes: Blade Runner is all about looking, seeing and whether we should believe what our eyes show us. Its central moral quandary concerns that age-old science-fiction conundrum: if a machine becomes sentient, at what point is it human? Blade Runner's replicants (androids) look and feel like people, yet they are hounded by their in-built four-year lifespan. At the beginning of the film we learn that four have illegally reached Earth; it is the job of Harrison Ford's Blade Runner Deckard - a cop, or state-sponsored bounty hunter - to track them down and eliminate them.

Ford's performance here is underrated, even by the actor himself, who grumbled during the filming that he felt more like set decoration and who demonstrated his dislike of the film for many years by refusing to talk about it in interviews. (He has since come round to its charms somewhat.) Rutger Hauer is chilling as the replicants' leader Roy Batty, and the most quoted piece of dialogue from the film is a wonderful bit of nonsense - what are C-beams glittering off the shoulder of Orion? - written by the actor himself that in an indefinable way manages to be extremely moving. It also makes us doubt what the film has led us to believe prior to that point - that replicants are incapable of emotion. Can a machine cry?

The line between human and replicant is extremely blurred, which is one of the film's major strengths, and has led to its most enduring question: is Deckard himself a replicant? Scott toys with this concept in the film on more than one occasion, but never gives a definitive answer (not counting recent interviews given by the director). It's most blatant with the famous Unicorn dream, but also in more easily missed moments: at one point, for example, Deckard's eyes glint a subtle shade of gold - an effect glimpsed in the eyes of several of the replicants he hunts down. The ambiguity is fascinating.

There are not enough superlatives to describe how good the film looks and sounds in crystal digital clarity. Scott has made a name for himself as a magnificent visual craftsmen, with Blade Runner remaining his artistic peak. It is essential to be fully absorbed in the environment of 2019 Los Angeles to gain most enjoyment out of the film, and that immersion has never bean easier than it is now with this sparkling Final Cut. The emphasis in Blade Runner is clearly on atmosphere rather than plot or characters, and the few flaws that it does have - the pace slackens at times, for instance, particularly in the second half before the Deckard/Batty showdown - are rendered irrelevant by the unbeatable level of immersion that the film achieves.

Certainly it is a difficult film to watch in some respects. It is perhaps the most visually dense film ever shot, and does not reveal all its treasures in one viewing; it even requires multiple viewings simply to notice everything in the frame. The fact that it was a commercial flop at first is no surprise. Such movies that are so ahead of their time, that arrive and suddenly redefine the what it is possible to accomplish in cinema often only find their audiences years after their initial release. Now, however, Blade Runner stands shoulder-to-shoulder with 2001: A Space Odyssey at the summit of serious science fiction film.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: The Final Cut - Special Edition / Discs: 1 BD, 1 DVD / Distributor: Warner Bros.

Presentation
One of the early must-haves in HD, Blade Runner reached stores while Blu-ray and HD-DVD were still engaged in their battle for supremacy, and was released on both formats. It only takes up half of Blu-ray's full capacity, housed on a 25GB single layer disc (50GB discs are mainly used now; dual-layer HD-DVD could hold 30). Blade Runner looks bloody good, though, transcending any storage restrictions. Only the slightest hint of artefacting caused by the light grain, barely visible even on very close examination, might be eased with a higher bitrate. Otherwise this looks damn near flawless; it's certainly one of the more impressive restorations of a film of its age. It's remarkable how well the effects hold up - they're more convincing than those in most of today's blockbusters - and, of course, the intricate mise-en-scene absolutely shines in 1080p clarity. The colours and contrast are much more realistic and robust than DVD could allow, too.

The soundtrack is similarly healthy; it's a fully remastered new 5.1 mix based on the original 6-track stereo master, transferred to disc via the Dolby TrueHD codec (not PCM as stated on the box). It's a very active, brilliantly judged soundfield that really sucks you into the world of the film. The everpresent rain sounds like it's falling all around you, while Vangelis' awe-inspiring score fills the room (though the end credits music seems to be mixed a little on the quiet side, oddly).

Extras
Disappointingly, Warners only saw fit to release the 5-disc set on DVD in the UK; this 2-disc set is the only Blu-ray release here. (It's actually the film on one BD accompanied by the same second disc as the DVD set.) You can hardly call it a bad selection, though - there are three commentaries and the "Dangerous Days" documentary on Disc 2 is three and a half hours long and utterly enthralling. The commentaries comprise a solo affair with Sir Ridley - he's a bit of a monotonal talker so listening to him for two hours is a challenge, but he offers a vast amount of insight - and two group efforts focused on the writing and design sides respectively.

With my copy I encountered a manufacturing glitch that may be isolated but is worth mentioning. Both discs are labelled as Disc 1, adorned with the Blu-ray symbol, whereas in fact one of them is indeed the standard DVD containing the documentary.



Summary
A magical, difficult, intoxicating masterpiece, Blade Runner stands the test of time. Its Blu-ray release may be from the format's early days but it still looks and sounds incredible.

Blu-ray Review: Iron Man 2 (2010)

From Joel's cinema review -- While the first Iron Man film wasn't exactly a shock hit (studios aren't prone to spending north of £100m on a movie they don't think there's an audience for), the scale of its success did take the bean counters by surprise. After all, the package was hardly conventional. A summer superhero flick starring a middle-aged guy half the teenage demographic had never heard of, directed by Jon Favreau, that bloke from Swingers? Even the character of Iron Man himself was hardly a household name - geek households excluded. The Dark Knight this was not. But with an international box-office take of nearly $600m a second outing for the ferrous fighter was never in doubt.

Thankfully, given his somewhat chequered history with pharmacological substances, the only pills and potions Downey Jr. was using in preparation for the role were an extensive range of vitamins and nutritional supplements. When you're a 40-something actor being thrown around like a superhero 20 years your junior, it would seem essential to at least strengthen your body and be prepared for the punishment of the shoot, and Downey Jr. is again in great shape. It's his charm as Tony Stark though which audiences flocked to see, not a physical resemblance, and the New Yorker, reprising his role as the industrialist and master engineer is magnificent again. The problem lies with the ammunition he is given.

Ultimately, the film simply isn't as much fun as its predecessor. Sure, Downey Jr. still manages to exercise his comedic chops but its Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Stark's business rival, who wins the tussle for excellent dialogue, especially in his scenes with Mickey Rourke's Ivan Vanko (Whiplash), the main antagonist. Rourke is perfect for the role as the Russian villain as both his film and real personas are completely badass already - he has the tattoos, the unwashed hair, and the acting ability already built-in. Like Jeff Bridges' performance as Obadiah Stane in Iron Man, the writers felt Rourke's appearance allowed the application of 'less is more' and this theory works. From the opening credits to his impressive action sequence at the faux Monaco Grand Prix and the final showdown with Iron Man and Don Cheadle's good-guy War Machine, you always want to see him.

Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) seemingly becomes more attractive with age and is once again solid as Stark's budding love interest and business partner. For the teenage boys however, pure eye candy comes in the form of Scarlett Johansson's Natalie Rushman. She's a welcome addition - there's something a little more natural for youths to be fantasizing about a bona fide sex symbol of the age in comparison to Paltrow's innocent yummy mummy - but she's just an unnecessary addition. It's all very well having her present as SHIELD alter-ego Black Widow, but Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury is perfectly capable as the organisation's representative.

There's just not much conflict in Tony Stark's world of luxury. Cheadle's Rhodes and Miss Potts could have quite easily defected or been captured and used for ransom (and would have been normally in a narrative of this type), but it's only really our protagonist's high blood toxicity which causes major personal problems, aside from the constant villainous onslaught. Furthermore, in between the impressive action sequences Favreau seems to let his foot off the gas. Seeing our hero sitting in a huge doughnut for example does not constitute a valid illustration of comic relief. Conversely, Stark storming around in an Audi R8, purchasing strawberries with his watch as currency, packing a model of a city through the roof, and even sipping Dom Perignon and getting plastered in his superhero suit do draw chuckles. The fine soundtrack of classic rock from AC/DC also adds a touch of classy showmanship to the Tony Stark character but Favreau doesn't make the whole enterprise adventurous enough for a sequel or as a gung-ho as its predecessor.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: Triple Play / Discs: 2 BDs, 1 DVD / Distributor: Paramount

Presentation
The slight grumbles I had about the picture quality of the original Iron Man are comprehensively quashed this time. Replacing the clumpy, crispness-reducing grain I saw there is an attractively fine grain structure that brings out the most minor details of costume and sets. Colours are bold and lifelike. The DTS-HD soundtrack is a showstopper. It's incredibly loud when it wants to be but not at the expense of fidelity or precision, the satellite speakers often working overtime. Check out the Monaco Grand Prix sequence for a real system showcase, both visually and aurally. Reference quality through and through.

Extras
The set ticks all the boxes - there's a welcome Favreau commentary this time round - but, like the film, sometimes seems simply like it's going through the motions. You can't fault the quantity or depth, but it's all a little familiar. Here's a costume fitting. Oh look, some on-set improvising from Downey. And yes, some tech wizards press keyboard buttons and make VFX magic. I'm being a little harsh, as the documentary is commendably thorough (~90 mins) and is accompanied by several more featurettes. Inevitably, little is mentioned of Favreau's apparent discontent with being forced to rush this out to meet Marvel's deadlines.

The selection of deleted scenes are interesting, particularly for a funny and energising alternate opening which could (and should) have remained in the final cut alongside the opening that they ultimately chose. There are also a couple of Java-enabled features on the first disc, including the "S.H.I.E.L.D. Data Vault" - a feature where text and images pop up that link the film to Marvel's other cinematic ventures - and the option to view picture-in-picture storyboards.



Summary
Superhero sequels are often accused of succumbing to Too Many Villains Syndrome. Iron Man 2, uniquely, is guilty of the opposite - there's simply not enough threat or drama. Nevertheless, the action scenes are considerably better this time around and the film continues the enjoyably light-hearted tone and witty banter of the popular original.

Cinema Review: Scream 4 (2011)

"New decade, new rules" says the tagline, but the truth turns out to be more like "New decade, same old story". Scream 4 (or, officially, Scre4m), despite the marketing angle, is no reinvention of the wheel. This isn't an example akin to Wes Craven's Freddy Krueger rebirth New Nightmare, where the film went in a rather different direction from its predecessors. Scream 4 remains, instead, content to tread familiar territory, albeit accounting for the passing of ten years since the poorly-reviewed third instalment. Of course, much has happened in the genre in that time - a resurgence in popularity instigated by the first Scream - and there are repeated references in the dialogue (penned by Kevin Williamson, returning to the franchise after skipping Scream 3) to such crazes as torture porn and remake-itis. A problem arises in that at times the film crosses over from ironic to smug in its putdowns of its imitators, because it is not able to match its own prior quality itself.

This new round sees the addition of several bright young things to the cast list, led by Emma Roberts' Jill, as the inheritor of Neve Campbell's prime screamer role, accompanied by the likes of Heroes' Hayden Panettiere (with a gravelly voice sounding like she's been chain smoking since her TV run ended) and Kieran Culkin. The Holy Trinity of Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette are all back and accounted for too, lest the previous generation feel overlooked. Indeed, there are a lot of characters involved, mostly played by recognisable faces presumably tempted by the allure of Craven's well earned genre reputation. The sole purpose of pretty much all of the new characters proves to be either stabbing fodder for this film's Ghostface or for providing misdirection regarding the inevitable shocking reveal of the Big Bad (a reveal that has become more and more ludicrous with each passing sequel, although it's just about within the realms of acceptable here).

One of Scream's trademarks is its opening sequence in which some hot, fairly-famous actress gets bumped off in increasingly elaborate ways. Amongst Scream 4's most innovative touches is the way it uses this built-in reputation to wrongfoot its audience in the opening few minutes, to humorous effect. After that, the frequent killings become rather more mundane and repetitive, few standing out as memorable or creative. (A parking garage scene, for example, pales in comparison to the one in Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell.) There's notably little suspense, which is a shame; at its best the Scream series had always been good at combining laughs with genuine scares. This time out, the cast acquit themselves well, and the director and writer are clearly having some fun revisiting past glories, but the end result is a film that does give you what you pay for but little more. It is entertaining, at least.



Summary
Fun, if a little overly self-satisfied at times, Scream 4 is a forgettable yet passable sequel. What was once a trend-setter now seems a little old hat.

Feature: Review of 2010, Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of FilmVerdict's look back at the previous year of films. This time, it's Joel's turn to give his list of the top ten films of the year.

DVD Review: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Director Sidney Lumet sadly passed away on 9th April at the age of 86. As a tribute to his brilliant career, here we're reposting Joel's review of arguably his best film - a title it competes for with other Lumet classics such as 12 Angry Men (1957) and Network (1976). His talent will be missed, but his legacy will live on.

Bank robberies were seen in films before Sidney Lumet's masterful thriller, and heists with slicker and more audience-friendly plots have been seen since. Nothing however can refute the glorious charm, unique plot, and sheer humanity of the character portrayals which make this New York based comedic suspense vehicle a feast of cinema. Reuniting the Serpico (1973) team of Lumet and Al Pacino was never going to be an easy task seeing as the latter firstly refused the lead role of Sonny due to acting exhaustion. After some gentle persuasion though, Pacino did accept the part and braved the inevitable public onslaught and press reaction of a genuine star playing a bisexual protagonist. He took the risk and pulled off an outstanding performance based on the real-life John Wojtowicz, the American bank robber who inspired the film. In Hindsight it's a good job the script was based on a true story, as the 1970s studio executives would probably have never greenlit such a diverse account of a bisexual bloke and his buddy robbing a bank to fund a sex-change operation!

Lumet and Pacino undertake both of their tasks flawlessly, and what at first seems like a laughable premise, turns out to be a great piece of dramatic cinema. Some comedic moments do filter through, like the questioning from the hostages about a specific plan, and the pizza delivery being paid for by Sonny, but Lumet never blurs the focus of the film and the narrative never slips off the realism radar into the ridiculous. Pacino and John Cazale play the robbers, Sonny and Sal respectively, in an excellent manner, amplifying the craziness they both possess with a magnetic idiocy that rubs off on the hostages, and in turn, the witnesses of the crime on the street and the viewers of the film. Pacino in particular illustrates the contrast between intensity and naivety perfectly, mixing it up in a faultless chemistry between his Sonny and Charles Durning's Detective Moretti. The "Attica! Attica!" scene has become an iconic and frequently quoted piece of cinema, and two telephone conversations Pacino has (without a cut) is a sheer acting work of genius.

For further realism purposes, the soundtrack only contains the Elton John song "Amoreena" in the wonderfully shot opening sequence, and improvising is kept to a minimum, but used as a tremendously effective instrument when Pacino and Lumet felt it a necessity. In addition, Lumet shoots the film in such a way which makes you feel drawn into entering the bank, negotiating with the authorities or being present down the street, despite the wackiness of the plot. When you feel involved in a film to such a degree, it can only point to a successful picture.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: 2 / Version: Special Edition / Discs: 2 / Distributor: Warner Bros.

Extras
Disc One's commentary with Sidney Lumet is quality, echoing his directorial brilliance and knowledge on the industry. Disc Two looks quite basic on first look at the menu, but after digging deeper, you realise "The Making of Dog Day Afternoon" option is divided into four documentary features. All are relatively informative although fairly concise. Nevertheless, the central points which are put across do touch on the important artistic and cultural moments of the film such as the Attica scene and the relationship between director and star. The Lumet featurette is mediocre.



Summary
A powerhouse cast and director turn an inimitable idea into a breathtaking magnum opus in a hit or miss genre. This film is certainly a delight with Pacino at the top of his game.

Cinema Review: Faster (2010)

In Faster, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson sometimes seems to be trying so hard to atone for his recent family-friendly output that it comes across slightly too desperate to be cool and hard-edged. His character, for instance, is only ever referred to as Driver, even receiving an on-screen caption naming him that. He's a man of very few words, but his muteness sometimes seems overly affected. There are whole scenes where characters talk to him and he says not a syllable back to them, yet the person doing all the speaking doesn't even notice. That said, Johnson exhibits good screen presence here, growing into a role that is well suited to his physicality. When he does talk, his delivery is believable and natural; he's clearly improved in the acting department since his Scorpion King days. His action prowess was, of course, never in doubt, which Faster also gives him opportunities to prove again.

Change Faster's lead character to a woman, and the plot would sound a lot like the film Quentin Tarantino had promised to make with Kill Bill: a 90-minute tough and gritty revenge flick. Johnson's Driver is double-crossed after a bank heist, and shot point-blank in the head. Somehow he survives, and after a prison sentence, sets out on a quest for vengeance against those who wronged him. A simple, and familiar, framework. Faster complicates it by making it into a three-hander, also following Billy Bob Thornton and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, similarly identified on-screen as simply Cop and Killer respectively. Thornton is enjoyable, if hardly giving his all, but the "Killer" thread - following an English assassin with the body of Adonis as he is assigned to track down Driver - feels like unnecessary padding, Jackson-Cohen coming across rather wooden.

The three-pronged narrative prevents the film from feeling like the lean, quick thriller that it should do. Ironically, given the name of the film, it moves quite slowly, and certainly feels longer than its 98 minutes. Had the film devoted the majority of attention to Driver, it would have probably been more gripping, as these sections - with some memorably abrupt deaths and well-handled, if brief, action scenes - are easily the best. The sort of neo-noir trappings of the plot are undercut by its lack of single-minded devotion to its central character, but the film does at least establish an appealing sun drenched yet sordid atmosphere. A late twist is telegraphed - it's the sort of mystery where there's only one culprit - but the film does then manage to surprise with an additional, if improbable, turn of events. Just a shame it struggles to get to the finish line.



Summary
Faster never quite gels, spreading its attention between three characters when two would have been easily enough. The action, including of the vehicular kind, doesn't kick into high gear either.

Blu-ray Review: The Crazies (2010)

As renowned as his Dead series is - mainly 1968's Night of the Living Dead and 1978's follow-up Dawn of the Dead - George A. Romero's other work tends to be forgotten. The Crazies was one of his "lesser" efforts, a 1973 horror/thriller that replaces zombies with people infected with a virus that turns them into violent, insane killers (admittedly, the difference is therefore relatively cosmetic). It's undoubtedly a suitable sort of film to remake - one with a premise that has great potential, but not a film so classic or iconic that any attempt at a do-over would seem pointless or futile. The Hollywood remake factory was bound to turn its gaze to it at some point, given the exhaustingly long list of other horror staples that have been remade in the last decade or so, but what may not have been expected is that the remake is pretty damn good.

In the same vein as Romero's other films of the time, the original was built around a clear political message, infused with late-Vietnam-era paranoia and anti-government feeling in the US. Breck Eisner's (Sahara) remake largely ditches the subtext, despite its makers' insistence of contemporary relevance to topics such as the feared H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, but what it loses in substance it makes up for in efficient and suspenseful storytelling. It depicts a typical small town in rural Iowa experiencing an outbreak of, well, craziness amongst the populace, causing long term neighbours and even family members to start murdering each other. Before long the military origins of the outbreak become apparent. Naturally, a handful of residents avoid infection, led by Timothy Oliphant's Sheriff, and attempt to escape the area while eluding the attention of both the crazies and the government troops.

Originality is not a strong suit, then, but Eisner has certainly learnt the tricks of the trade, putting together some brilliantly staged sequences of controlled suspense. The director wastes no time in kicking off proceedings - the baseball game at which the first "crazy" appears occurs within about five minutes - and there's a real sense of uneasiness that pervades particularly the early stages of the film. Oliphant, updating his Deadwood lawman persona to the present day, is certainly a watchable lead, and Radha Mitchell - permanently stuck in the horror genre now, it seems - is again excellent as his wife. A couple of the plot developments are rather signposted (yes, a member of the core group turns out to be infected), but the film doesn't take its characters in entirely predictable directions, and there's commendably no reluctance in picking off its cast.

The Crazies therefore continues the strong track record of Romero remakes - Night... and Dawn of the Dead have both been redone successfully - and, ironically, is probably better than anything Romero has made lately, if the reviews of Diary... and Survival of the Dead are anything to go by.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: B / Version: N/A / Discs: 1 / Distributor: Momentum

Presentation
The transfer is pretty typical of recent HD releases, with few flaws to point out. It can't quite boast top-drawer detail and clarity, but it still offers an entirely satisfying image. One thing worth mentioning is that it comes across quite dark overall, even in daylight scenes. The soundtrack, meanwhile, is exemplary - I have rarely heard surround effects used as well as this in the sake of generating unease and dread, and the low end is nicely robust. The packaging only lists standard Dolby 5.1 (640kbps), but the disc offers full uncompressed PCM as well for those who can accommodate it.

Extras
You get a fairly standard, but thorough enough, selection here. Eisner gives a solo commentary, and there are numerous featurettes looking at the Romero influence, the makeup, the story, and so on. They hover around 10 minutes each. There are also four motion comic stories included which are quite lengthy and will probably only appeal to major fans.



Summary
Slick, efficient, and occasionally ruthless, The Crazies won't linger in the mind but does exactly what it says on the tin - very effectively.