The Man from U.N.C.L.E

I am a sucker for a good trailer and although The Man from U.N.C.L.E had a pretty dam good one I was surprised by how excited I was to see the film.  As per the norm I know absolutely nothing about the television show the film is based upon and I didn’t bother to do any prior research before heading to the cinema.  A life of ignorance can be blissful.

PLOT:  CIA agent Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB agent Illya (Armie Hammer) are forced to put their Cold War differences aside in order to retrieve a nuclear bomb.  Once Solo and Illya realise that they can work together effectively a plan is put in motion for the inevitable sequel.  END PLOT 

The Man from U.N.C.L.E is pretty standard fare which offers nothing new to the spy caper genre and is hampered by the fact that this film is Solo and Illyas’ first mission.  We have to suffer through the obligatory trust issues before the agents finally click and work together to complete the task at hand.  It’s all a bit predicable and the events unfolded with the arrogant polish of a highly intricate Stella Artois advert.

I am a fan of Guy Ritchie and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels outranks the Monty Python films as being the most quoted film in our house.  When he is on form Guy Ritchie is as good as they come but the script of The Man from U.N.C.L.E felt flat.  The only time the film came to life was when Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer were on screen together but unfortunately this was not as often as I would have expected. 

Henry Cavill is clearly having a blast and does a better Matt Bomer impression than Matt Bomer. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Cavill but it turns out that he is very dashing and is more interesting as Agent Solo than he will ever be as Clark Kent.  Armie Hammer has consistently embarrassed me by appearing in films such as Mirror Mirror and The Lone Ranger but he also fared well in U.N.C.L.E.  Hammer was short changed in screen time compared to Cavill but he held his own when given the opportunity.  Alicia Vikander is continuing her strong run and the summer exposure won’t do her career any harm at all.  The likeable cast and a few fun scenes with Hugh Grant saved the film.

The action was mostly fine although it was in no way spectacular.  The biggest set piece was hampered by the overuse of split screens and although this could have been a throwback to the tv show it ruined the moment. 

The Man from U.N.C.L.E set the scene nicely for future adventures and I can see why it would make a great tv show but I would be concerned that it hasn’t done enough to warrant the sequel it is clearly courting.  It is an enjoyable romp due to the enthusiastic cast and it is worth a look in the cinema but I expected more.  The Man from U.N.C.L.E gets 6/10.  If we could persuade the cast to reboot the tv show I wouldn’t be unhappy.

Man of Steel

 

When the Superman trailer arrived it was greeted with nothing more than a casual shoulder shrug.  I probably used the word “meh”.  Superman is a superhero that has never held any appeal.  I haven’t seen the Christopher Reeve adaptations, I remember enough about the tv show to know that I was not a fan and the previous reboot bored me rigid. 

There was no exciting build up to Man of Steel but I always accepted that I would see it in the cinema.  I had to have low expectations to give the film a sporting chance.

PLOT:  As the planet Krypton is dying Jor:El (Russell Crowe) ships his infant son Kal-El to earth to save him.  The child is adopted by Jonathan (Kevin Coster) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) who raise the child as their own son, Clarke Kent.  A side effect of living on earth gives Clarke super strength which he struggles to control as he grows up and into the rather dashing Henry Cavill.  Clarke’s secret is short lived when a surviving native of Krypton General Zod (Michael Shannon) threatens to destroy earth unless Clarke surrenders to the General.  END PLOT

Man of Steel is very much an origins story but unfortunately this is at the expense of an actual plot.  The origin aspect of the film flows well with a significant portion of the film focusing on Clarke’s upbringing on Krypton and with the Kents however once Clarke reaches adulthood he becomes almost an afterthought.

Clarke Kent puts on the suit and before you can say training montage he transforms into Superman.  The transformation rendered Superman speechless as Henry Cavill didn't have anything to say for most of the final act.  Despite the title character having absolutely nothing to do other than look good in fitted tees Henry Cavill is very good in the little screen time he gets. 

Amy Adams is fine as Lois Lane and does the best she can with the “pushy, nosey, independent female journalist” cliché.  It felt like Lois Lane got the vast majority of the screen time which surprised me.

Russell Crowe and Kevin Coster add some class to the film but, as one could have predicted, Michael Shannon steals the show.  General Zod deserved some sympathy after we discover that ensuring the survival of the Kryptonians is the only reason he was born.  The idea of Zod being a product of Krypton’s failings was handled well and Shannon’s angry eyebrowed performance added some drama to an almost drama free 2hours 23mins (IMDB).

The sets and costumes were as expected but nothing stood out as being particularly remarkable.  The best design feature in the entire production was removing Superman’s bright red briefs.

The action was again as expected however there was a noticeable lack of jaw dropping moments.  The set piece in the third act was too long and became a CGI mess in which Superman, Zod and several other nameless Kryptonians spent a good half hour throwing each other through buildings.  It was impressive the first time. It was repetitive by the second.  I was bored by the ninth.  There is however an opportunity for a drinking game in which you take a swig each time Superman ge­­ts thrown through a building.  You will contract liver poisoning in the space of thirty minutes.

As Superman and General Zod became lost in the melee it meant that the random subplot known as “Jenny’s bad day downtown” stuck out like a sore thumb.  I appreciate that Laurence Fishburne can be considered a big name actor but to shoehorn scenes with Perry and his staff during the climactic battle between Superman and Zod was completely unnecessary.  I will concede that Laurence Fishburne outrunning a falling skyscraper was the (unintentional) comedy highlight in a humour free film.

I saw Man of Steel in 2D and my eyes found it hard to keep up with the blurry CGI action.  I thank the gods that I did not even consider 3D.  The action needed to adopt a less is more attitude. 

Man of Steel had many flaws but as an origins story it did a commendable job of laying the groundwork for a new run of Superman films. It gets 6.5/10.  The balance of screen time and the action sequences need to be addressed as Man of Steel didn’t leave me wanting a sequel. It left me wanting a film which actually features Superman...........as someone who has never held any interest in Superman before this is a success.

The Cold Light of Day

The Cold Light of Day had been on my radar for quite a while mostly because the trailer featured Henry Cavill running dramatically.

PLOT: Will (Henry Cavill) is on a boating holiday in Spain with his family. After an argument with his father Martin (Bruce Willis) Will heads into town to clear his head. Upon his return Will discovers his family has been kidnapped by Israeli terrorists and the CIA is unwilling to help. Will has to return a McGuffin briefcase to the Israelis within twenty-four hours otherwise they will kill his family. Will blunders his way through Madrid and the entire film achieving nothing and looking incredibly confused. The Israelis are the enemy. The US government is the enemy. The Israelis are helpful yet simultaneously holding Will’s family hostage. There is a shoot out and Will is branded a hero despite doing absolutely nothing. END PLOT

The plot of The Cold Light of Day is basic and unoriginal however by the end of the film it had become overly complicated and I had no idea who was who as all the different people chasing Will blended into one indistinguishable group.

The dialogue was at times very clunky and although Bruce Willis got the one obligatory “fuck” his fake job title gets the biggest unintentional laugh of the year so far.

Henry Cavill is fine and has all the three characteristics a leading man should have:

1) Dude looks good with his top off and with a hat on

2) Dude looks good wet

3) Dude has a full head of hair

The problem is Will never becomes a fully fledged action hero as he essentially complains, mopes and literally cries his way through proceedings – at one stage when Will was thrown out of a car he landed in the foetal position and I honestly believed he was going to remain that way. I appreciate this is probably the most realistic way in which Joey Average would react but my god we were literally shouting at the screen for Will to man up and get on with it (there was no one else there)

Bruce Willis has nothing more than a cameo and Sigourney Weaver phones in an overly smug performance.  There is a surplus of extra nameless characters running around with Oscar Jaenada being the only familiar face.

The action takes place mostly at night and in the form of car chases but because it was so dark it was hard to keep track of what was happening. The set pieces are in no way slick and the film contains no standout moments with the action straying into silly territory far too often.

The camera work was too jumpy for its own good and the editing was noticeably choppy. The only decent shots were wide shots of Spain before the overly frantic action camera work took over.

The Cold Light of Day is not a bad film but it tried so hard to be gritty and real it ended up being a choppy melodramatic mess. If the director was more experienced or competent the film could very easily have been a decent 90min action flick but unfortunately The Cold Light of Day is nothing more than average and gets a 4.5/10

Like the bad pun I have been trying to end my review on the film should never have seen the cold light of day.

Immortals

There are some trailers which automatically catch your eye and Immortals is one of them.  I absolutely love anything based in Greek mythology and the trailer gave the impression that Immortals had potential but I have to admit that I was nervous…..

PLOT: After winning the epic battle between the Olympians and the Titans, Zeus (Luke Evans) locks the Titans inside the All Spark a cage in Mount Tartaros and hides, rather than destroys the Epirus Bow, a weapon capable of releasing the Titans and destroying the earth.  King Hyperon (Mickey Rourke) leads his barbed wire hat wearing army on a rampage in order to seek out the Bow.  The fate of mankind falls to Theseus (Henry Cavill) a young warrior trained by a disguised Zeus (John Hurt).  Theseus searches for the Bow.  Theseus finds the Bow.  Theseus drops the Bow.  Theseus finds the Bow, only to drop it again and have it stolen by a dog.  Hyperon marches to the Gates of Mordor Mount Tartaros and releases the Titans and the epic battle begins once more.  END PLOT

As Immortals is based in Greek mythology the plot had oodles to draw from yet it still fell flat.  This is mostly due to pacing as scenes seemed to drag for an extraordinary amount of time.  There were occasions when we were screaming at the screen for Henry Cavill to take of his shirt and do something!  As we were the only people in the screening cinema etiquette went out the window and we had to make our own fun.

Henry Cavill was grand as Theseus and whenever he took off his shirt he was a more than capable lead.  Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff and the gorgeous Freida Pinto were all fine but no one particularly stood out.

I was involved in a conversation before seeing the film with Mr Hernandez about the omission of the Gods in Troy.  They play such an important role in The Iliad but I think their inclusion in the film would only have made Troy more bloated than it already was. 

The Gods have a fairly decent role in Immortals however their big showdown with the Titans was reduced to a messy CGI sword fight between Poseidon, Athena and a couple of dusty looking Titans.  Essentially all the build up came to nothing.

Immortals ended with a “next time on the Immortals” so if there is a sequel we can expect a lot more action up on Mount Olympus but from what I have seen of the Gods so far I am not overly impressed.  They weren't fleshed out at all with only Poseidon getting one small moment to show off.  I didn’t like the cheap looking gold outfits or the outrageously flamboyant headgear either. 

I have no idea why it is so hard to include Greek Gods in a film that isn’t animated.  The chance of me ever getting to see Dawn and all the imagery associated with her is very slim.  It is devastating that the Gods cannot be given a decent portrayal on the big screen.    

The action was grand although there was no jaw dropping moment in the film.  This isn’t a slight against the usage of CGI as the film was visually stunning but it just lacked that big set piece to give it the epic feel it was obviously aiming for.

I’ve read my Greek classics several times (God Bless the lunch hour) so I can’t help myself by deploying full snob mode and demanding more from this genre.  Immortals is flawed but aside from some questionable pacing it is a decent film which definitely deserves a look on the big screen.  It gets a 6.5/10.  It will be interesting to see if this does well enough financially to warrant another instalment.  

 *sigh*