The Monuments Men Review
The Plot:
Monuments Men is inspired by the extraordinary but often forgotten true story of the unlikely team of soldiers who battled on the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi theft and the devastation of war. Racing behind enemy lines these passionate museum curators and art lovers turned soldiers raced to preserve 1000 years of culture by protecting mankind’s greatest achievements
The Good:
Directed by leading man George Clooney, The Monument’s Men boasts an impressive all-star cast that includes Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman and Cate Blanchett. The well-known ensemble deliver predictably accomplished if understated performances, which keep a contemplative script watchable and compelling. Solid supporting work from Hugh Bonneville and Bob Babalan in particular add some sincere heart and humour to a tale of unexpected heroism.
George Clooney balances writing and directing responsibilities with a typically assured on camera performance. Lending his thoughtful gravel voiced charms to the role of group leader for the impassioned ‘Monuments Men’. Clooney’s directing style continues to reflect the well-considered poise that distinguishes him as an actor and permeates many of his performances, including this one.
Though the film never delves too deeply into the violent chaos of war, it dose inflict poignant loses on its heroes that injects elements of danger and uncertainty, particularly as the film reaches it’s increasingly urgent climax.
Acclaimed composer Alexandre Desplat provides a beautiful soundtrack which is vital in evoking the subtle emotional tone of the film. This music often entirely transforms scenes by providing invaluable depth to the frequent moments of otherwise quiet reflection that frequently punctuates the film.
While the film is neither a hilarious heist flick nor a sweeping war epic, it sits somewhere between those two extremes vaguely in the spirit of The Great Escape or The Dirty Dozen. Taking it’s time to tell a story filled with a perhaps surprising amount of optimism.
The Bad:
The Monuments Men suffers under an inevitable weight of critical expectations given its intriguing subject matter and luminous cast.
Those anticipating a jaunty high spirited comedy caper may find the films methodical pace and often muted tone somewhat unsatisfying. Likewise those hoping for a heart-breaking and emotionally charged account of one of the most devastating periods of human history may find the film perhaps lacks the scale and intensity required.
A calculated marketing campaign pitching the film as Ocean’s 11 goes to war, overstates the film’s credentials as a ‘heist’ movie and outright comedy. It misleads audiences even if the actual film itself may not ultimately disappoint them.
The Ugly Truth:
The Monuments Men might lack the awards grabbing showmanship many critics anticipated but it remains an enjoyable and easily watched wartime adventure, filled with a assured performances from a well assembled A-List cast.
Check out video interviews below with the full cast and author of the book which inspired the film:
Robocop Review
The Plot:
In the near future, OmiCorp, the world’s leading weapons manufacturer, sets out to create the first ever man/robot hybrid to protect the streets of America. But things soon go wrong when their test subject, family man Alex Murphy begins to go against the machine inside him. Joel Kinnaman dons the iconic suit in this remake of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 action classic.
The Good:
The film begins the way it intends to carry on, with action exploding from every corner of the screen that will surely make every action fan giggle with glee for the next two hours.
When Alex Murphy is nearly killed in a car bombing he becomes the unwilling guinea pig in OmniCorps lab as he’s wired up and sent out to protect the citizens of Detroit in his new gear. The uniform is rather impressive and perhaps the main event of the film.
Having last graced our cinema screens 11 years ago with Robocop 3, it was only a matter of time before the studios revived the series. Starting with a clean slate, this new entry scraps the classic silver look for Robocop and shows off a new sleek black appearance. It’s perhaps the most superficial and obvious way in which the franchise has been made a little more glossy and contemporary. Borrowing liberally from the visual styles of recent reboots like Tron Legacy and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Night trilogy.
The headlining hero is not the only thing to enjoy in Robocop. A supporting cast of Samuel L Jackson, Michael Keaton and Gary Oldman help explore some interesting questions amongst all the gunfire ad hi-tech mayhem. The film makes a real effort to engage with both political and ethical issues. Samuel L Jackson’s TV flamboyant TV host highlights the insidious dangers of mass media propaganda. Likewise, Gary Oldman’s character actively questions the murky moral implications of OmniCorps latest project.
The Bad:
Although the action comes in bucket loads, the accompanying story could have benefited from a little more depth and attention. Whilst Joshua Zetumer’s script does have a good idea behind it, it does feel predictable and bland at times. The usual corrupt government theme eventually rears its head and sets up the film’s inevitable climax.
Though the film touches on interesting themes, it rarely abandons its preoccupation with a steady barrage of crowd pleasing action, deployed to keep audiences heavily distracted. The film misses out on the chance to create a truly complex and original story by sticking closely to generic action genre expectations.
The Ugly Truth:
When it touches on the ethical and political ramifications of OmniCorps plan, Robocop almost becomes more than just an action blockbuster. However these ideas aren’t expanded as much as they could have been. That said, if you go in wanting two hours of good action you certainly won’t be disappointed.
Robocop is out in cinemas nationwide today. Check out interviews with the cast and director below from the IMAX World Premiere:
The Lego Movie Review
The Plot:
An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be an extraordinary MasterBuilder is recruited to join a quest to stop and evil LEGO tyrant from ridding the known world of imagination using a mysterious ultimate weapon.
The Good:
Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller demonstrated their own extraordinary creative potential with surprise blockbuster hit Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Now armed with an endless toy box of LEGO possibilities the screenwriting duo has delivered a brightly coloured adventure packed with imagination and winning one liners. It’s a perfect fusion of big kid nostalgia and childish wonder.
It helps that the Lego movie has assembled a truly magnificent array of recognisable voices, enthusiastically breathing life into the familiar yellow faced playthings. Will Ferrell is at his maniacal best as sinister Lord Business and Liam Neeson steals the show as his mean faced henchman Bad Cop. Chris Pratt is a likeable chump as accidental hero Emmitt and Elizabeth Banks is his sexy saviour Wyldstyle. Morgan Freeman even lends his god like voice to the wizardly resistance leader Vitruvius.
The film also makes the absolute most of the studios creative properties and LEGO’s numerous franchise partnerships. Will Arnett’s deliciously arrogant LEGO Batman is among an endless array of amusingly random heroes on show. Comedic cameos from Wonder Woman, Dumbledore, Green Lantern, Gandalf, Ninja Turtles, Han Solo and Superman all add a joyous insanity to proceedings.
The LEGO movie benefits from the quick wit and lush visual charm which Lord and Miller evidently know how to deliver. Those dwelling on memories of long hours spent painstakingly assembling LEGO play sets will find the big screen version far more wondrous and action packed then they might expect. The film reimagines the static LEGO universe as a frenzied Technicolor explosion of constant creation and destruction. The film’s animation has a vivid tactile quality quite unlike anything you’ve seen before.
Working with Chris McKay (Robot Chicken) the film’s vast team of animators deliberately created photorealistic 3D animation much closer to stop-motion than the artificial gloss of typical CGI. Individually crafting each of the 15 million bricks used on screen, the filmmakers proudly shunned lazy generic backgrounds and painstakingly created every single frame. The result is near perfect balance of epic cinematic storytelling with playful homemade charm. The animation precisely captures the true spirit of LEGO as both a simple pleasure and something ingeniously complex.
The film delivers children a fairly familiar message about everyone being special in their own way, but it does it in an utterly unique and consistently funny way. It also exploits an interesting conflict between different ways people actually play with LEGO in real life. The tension between those that slavishly follow the instructions and those that prefers to build randomly with reckless whimsy.
The Bad:
There’s very little to criticise with a film that puts together well chosen pieces to make a complete cartoon package. The only slight caution is that more unimaginative grown-ups may find the constant barrage of noise, colour and frantic building block action a little relentless or exhausting. But for anyone with a shred of childhood imagination left in them it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
The Ugly Truth:
Much like Pixar’s masterful Toy Story, The Lego Movie assembles an action packed adventure which builds to a surprisingly poignant emotional climax about what it truly means to play with your toys. Bursting with colour, laughs, imagination and charming vocal performances it’s a must see piece of masterful cartoon creation.
Mr Peabody & Sherman Review
The Plot:
The world’s smartest dog Mr Peabody takes his adopted human son Sherman on adventures throughout history in his time machine the WABAC. But after Sherman gets into trouble at school an ill-advised trip with his classmate Penny finds the unlikely pair trapped in a race to repair history and save the future.
The Good:
The Lion King Director Rob Minkoff struggled for nearly a decade to bring cult cartoon heroes Mr Peabody & Sherman back to life on the big screen. The character originally featured as a memorable part of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show in the 1960s. The unorthodox duo of a genius talking dog and his adoptive son remains a clever piece of role reversal. Subverting both the classic boy and his dog relationship and throwing up obvious parallels with the evolving definition of the modern family unit.
Appropriately, ‘Modern Family’ star Ty Burrell provides Mr Peabody with a voice that oozes a well-judged mix of erudite confidence and sincere affection. Peabody could easily have been a smug professor stereotype but as a talking dog and doting parent he exudes a bow tie clad charm instead. In particular his calm kind hearted tone allows the film to slip in a lot of educational content without off-putting a younger audience.
Mr Peabody is instrumental in setting the comedic tone of the film, inventing as many silly puns as he does ingenious contraptions or plans. The chemistry between him and his clueless young protégé Sherman is right at the heart of the film and works effectively throughout. Relative newcomer, 10 year old Max Charles, gives Sherman endearing legitimately child-like qualities and spars well with Mr Peabody.
Though the film isn’t above slapstick aimed at grabbing easy laughs from a young audience, it never forgets that beside every child watching will be an accompanying adult. For example it quickly follows jokes about Greek warriors being smelly with a decidedly more adult themed reference to Oedipus.
The historical periods and characters the story introduces are predictable but none the less; play fondly with familiar historical stereotypes and well-established clichés. It’s perhaps understandable that aiming for a young audience the adventure stays conveniently away from any sensitive or remote historical eras.
The Bad:
DreamWorks has never truly equalled the photo realistic CGI magnificence of rivals Pixar and yet again delivers a style of animation which is more obviously cartoonish. Perhaps this time it is part of a deliberate visual choice to stick visually closer to the original cartoon. However it still skews towards a younger audience an may leave older kids feeling a little more self-conscious than they would be settling down to watch The Incredibles or Up.
Whilst the film is generally kind hearted, Sherman’s bullying classmate Penny certainly isn’t. Though she inevitably softens as the film progresses and obviously serves as a catalyst for the story, her presence does distract at times from the more interesting dynamic between Peabody and Sherman. The film perhaps also does too good a job of establishing her as an obnoxious bully early on, leaving her a little irritating for much of the film.
Although the films premise features a few unique elements, in truth the appearance of historical figures like King Tut, George Washington, Marie Antoinette and Leonardo Da Vinci is hardly a huge surprise. It certainly won’t be the first time you’ve seen Da Vinci pop up in a children’s movie as a scatter-brained Italian inventor.
Likewise, the film’s final act feels a little like an obligatory blockbuster climax. The film toys with the idea of making unconventional choices and veering off into more offbeat territory, but ultimately comes back to wrapping everything up in predictably neat conclusions.
The Ugly Truth:
With Mr Peabody and Sherman, DreamWorks delivers another mostly satisfying animated effort. It’s a good natured history lesson for young audiences kept entertaining by the obvious charms of a talking dog and a superb supporting voice cast.
Dallas Buyers Club Review
The Plot:
Matthew McConaughey delivers an award worthy performance in the inspiring true story of Ron Woodroof, an AIDS sufferer who desperately tries to help not only himself but others in his situation by obtaining ‘unapproved’ lifesaving medication, by any means possible.
The Good:
Much has already been said about Dallas Buyers Club over in America where the film has already been released to so much critical praise that it’s hard to decide where to begin. Having already nabbed two Golden Globes for both Actor and Supporting Actor, as well as six Academy Award nominations, it’s easy to see why. McConaughey brings his best performance yet to the screen as troubled AIDS sufferer Woodroof, finding the perfect balance of mixed emotions. What’s more, he seems to do it with such ease.
As Woodroof is given thirty days to live by the doctors and denied treatment in the form of the new supposed miracle drug, AZT, which is being trialled, he sets out to acquire it any way he can. A plan which works well for a while before bringing him back to square one. Thus prompting him to set out to Mexico to get better treatment. After experiencing the positive affects his new drugs give, Woodroof then begins a business supplying a better medicine to other AIDS sufferers at a better price with his partner in crime, Rayon, played by the superb Jared Leto.
It is hard to believe that McConaughey can be outshone in this. That is until Leto is introduced. The character of Rayon is so unlike anything Leto has ever done, both in physical appearance and characteristics. He immerses himself in his character so much he even donned the makeup and dress before he was confirmed to play the attention-grabbing transsexual. For Rayon is indeed attention-grabbing. Holding up each scene he appears in just as much as McConaughay that it’s often hard to decide who deserves more praise.
The Bad:
Although McConaughey and Leto are the shining stars in this thought provoking drama (and deservedly so), this does leave the supporting cast, mainly Jennifer Garner, to be left struggling in their shadow. This is a shame as Garner proves just as worthy of attention if only she’d had more to do. Her scenes although few compared to that of her two co stars are just as powerful. As is the story of her character, a doctor struggling to accept the terms of her job in having to deny people like Woodroof they medication they so desperately need. For a drama that is nearly two hours long it would have done some good to increase her role by a few more scenes.
The Ugly Truth:
With a powerful story which touches upon many different important subjects, Dallas Buyers Club undeniably deserves all the attention it can get. Even with the slight dismissal of Jennifer Garner’s character, the film still manages to send a clear message.
Dallas Buyers Club is released in cinemas Nationwide on 7th February. Check out our red carpet video interviews below form the film’s London Premiere: