Spectre (2015) (James Bond)

Disclaimer – This writer is a massive James Bond fan.  He has collected every single release of James Bond on DVD and plans to convert the same (shortly) into an enviable Blue Ray collection before the release of Bond 2017-18.  He can rarely find fault in a James Bond movie and therefore can be classified as a “classic fanboy”.  Read on.

Skyfall

It’s a dark corridor in a not so great looking room. Just that kind that James Bond (Daniel Craig) would find himself in. He takes a few steps. Prepares to take aim, walks into a slightly brighter room where 2 bodies are lying on the floor. In the next room, lying on a single seater sofa is Agent Ronson (Bill Buckhurst) who has been shot and is losing blood. Bond helps Ronson by putting some pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding but duty calls.

There is a laptop that’s lying smashed on the floor. The Hard Drive is missing. The drive that contains the identity of every MI6 agent under cover with several terrorist organizations across the world. Bond is asked to give chase and joined in a by-lane by an unidentified gorgeous dark lady (Naomie Harris) and a chase ensues. They bring a black Audi down but the killer – Patrice (Ola Rapace) gets away on a police bike.

A superb chase sequence ensues that leads you across the streets of Istanbul and then onto the roof tops. All through the chase, you are holding onto the arms of your seat. Unidentified gorgeous dark lady cuts off killer on bridge. Killer is smart and jumps off the bridge onto a train that’s passing by. Bond follows suit. Gun Shots flying all around the place. One gets Bond on the right side of his chest when he is getting into an excavator that is being transported by the same train.

Killer is smart. Tries to delink the two bogies. Bond is smarter. He uses excavator to grab onto the top of the bogie that’s ahead. Crushes a few VW Beetles in the process and jumps onto the front car. Fist fight time. That goes over a few kilometers inside tunnels across the hills. In the meantime, unidentified gorgeous dark lady has overtaken train and is setting up to take a shot.

No clear shot available. M (Dame Judie Dench) orders her to, “Take the bloody shot”. Bond is hit. Falls off the train into a ravine and a river a few hundred feet below the bridge. Cut to Skyfall by Adele that reminds you of Shirley Bassey singing the early Bond tracks. By now, you are quite certain – this is a great Bond movie coming up.

The entire cast oozes complete class. The classic Bond sarcasm still intact. Just enough chases and fights to ensure that the concept of Bond doesn’t take the back foot. Very slow and intriguing build up to the climax. A villain that makes your blood crawl and has unfortunately not been given sufficient screen time – Bardem enters halfway into the movie. If anything was missing, it would have been the women who weren’t available in plenty like they usually are.

For a Bond fan – superb movie. For someone who isn’t – you may not like it. I loved it. Especially the Sam Mendes touch – not someone who you would associate with a Bond movie but then – once a class director, always a class director. Ensure this is part of your weekend. 8 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi973841433/

Dream House

It would not be wrong to suspect that Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz (oh you broke my heart Rachel) kindled their romance on the sets of this movie. Considering that they got married in 2011 and started seeing each other as confirmed from most sources around December 2010. So I think it is safe to assume that Dream House indeed was the Dream come true for one of the more popular Bonds in the world to date and also the reason for a million hearts (including mine) breaking. *sigh*

But having said that, the million hearts breaking would not be the reason for Dream House not having done too well @ the Box Office. One would have expected a deeper story line from the likes of a Jim Sheridan. I mean, one look at Sheridan’s resumé and you would not have a question about the capabilities at all. There are at least 6 Oscar nominations there. Ergo, it would not be unfair to expect a movie that was definitely better than quite most released last year. However, I guess age and fatigue catches up with the best of us and it has with Sheridan.

Somehow, Dream House, never really grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me up as I would have expected it to. It takes a few minutes to settle in first of all and once done, it takes about 5 minutes for someone with reasonable intelligence to start predicting the next scene or 2. The predictability being one part of the reason for disappointment, the other being the not so great performances from the entire cast. I could imaging Craig and Weisz being more focused on each other but will someone please explain to me what is happening to Naomi Watts as the days go by? She seems to be getting more and more jaded by the movie. The support cast doesn’t add much value either.

The movie is intended to be a thriller and does achieve the objective in parts. But unfortunately doesn’t build up to a great finish like a thriller should. Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) is a successful editor with a leading publication who decides to quit his job in the city and get back to his family. The reason being he has not been able to spend enough time with them. As much as he or they would like to. And he does get back to them to their immense happiness. But only to realize in a matter of a day or so that he is probably not Will Atenton. And with all the neighbours staring at him as if he is a ghost from the past, it doesn’t take much for the audience to also put 2 and 2 together either.

Somewhere I think Sheridan lost the plot by making it a bit too obvious. There was no element of suspense. One would expect that in a movie of this kind. Nevertheless, I was a bit disappointed in the end. 5 on 10 is my rating. Downloadable watch.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi64658457/

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (English)

Obviously by now, you would have already read the book. For those who haven’t, you have about 10 more days to do so coz this one is going to hit the screens in India on the 10th Feb 2012 (hopefully). PVR has started advance booking for the same. You can pre-book your tickets on the PVR Cinemas website. For those who are unaware, here is the link. http://www.pvrcinemas.com/movie/pre-book-form.aspx?pid=8N/SGuOj9j8=&movieid=rDJnnCx7F1KWUI4/ffc0hg==

This is the review for the English version. Just happened to catch up with it in Adelaide. Could not have waited till I got back to India because the damn teasing was getting too much to handle. It was to be released about 2 months back and I have no clue why the distributors were taking so long. Plus, how could I have missed an opportunity to post a review a full 10 days before my primary audience can watch it. Will post the link again a couple of days before the actual release in India if you would like me to that is.

David Fincher has been one of my favourite directors of all time. Starting from the spine chilling Se7en (not including Alien3) all the way to the exceptionally well directed Social Network that got him his second nomination (other than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) at the Oscars. So you could have imagined my happiness when I realized that TGWTDT was to be directed by him in English. But my happiness has been for the first time ever so slightly belied by Mr. Fincher. Through the movie, there are small instances of deviating from the actual storyline that was written by Stieg Larsson. But it keeps building up to a point where you actually get a little peeved because he changes the ending which is supposed to take Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) to Australia and closes it at London instead. Left me quite perplexed as to why he would make so many changes. And then there are consistency errors – can you believe that about Fincher. I couldn’t myself so I think I will watch the movie once again to reconfirm the same.

However, Fincher continues to score on all the other aspects. The Casting was impeccable. Rooney Mara well and truly deserves her nomination. A pity she will lose it to either Meryl Streep or Viola Davis. Craig as Blomkvist and Plummer as Henrik Vanger were brilliant. The Editing had Fincher’s direction all over it to say the least. Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall who won it for Social Network continue to give their best here as well. Great camera work especially in some scenes which are outstanding like after Lisbeth tattoos Nils Bjurman on his chest and camera moves right over her. Simply stunning.

I did however think that a lot was overdone. Like the emphasis on the physical relationship between Blomkvist and Salander. The siphoning of Wennerstorm’s funds. And the last few pages of the book which show Salander losing out on love yet again. To name a few, these were the sections which need not have been addressed at all. And therefore, important parts such as Salander’s father and the exciting build up to finding out the murderer of Harriet Vanger get compromised. To Fincher’s credit, he has given the right importance to aspects such as the relationship with Erika Berger which was downplayed in the Swedish version. Overall, not upto Fincher’s standards. But definitely well made. No surprise though that the Oscars have ignored this one. 7 on 10 is what I say.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3830160409/

The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of The Unicorn

The ever revered and loved Herge (may his soul rest in peace) had once gone on record to state that if there was anyone who could have made Tintin into a movie it would have been Steven Spielberg. Now why would anyone else not dare to challenge this statement? To figure out the answer to this conundrum, you will not have a choice but to watch the movie. It is only Spielberg who can do justice to an enigma that has regaled us for over 8 decades now. A fantasy, that has transformed every child’s ambition at sometime or the other from wanting to become a pilot or a businessman or a doctor or an engineer to just that of an investigative journalist. A cult classic that has been enjoyed by even those who have crossed the half century mark in terms of years walked on earth. A phenomenon that took the world by storm in 1929 and has truly stood the test of time. On a different note, only Tintin could have inspired Spielberg to make his first animation movie. Spielberg was meant for Tintin and Tintin (the movie) was meant to be made by Spielberg and no one else.

For those who have not had the good fortune of being Tintin slaves, I can only quote the term, “deprived children”. Do take this opportunity to read The Secret of The Unicorn before you watch this movie because it personifies another term that expresses the desire of any book lover (comic or otherwise) – being true to the book. Spielberg has turned every single window from the comic book into a frame and not left anything to chance. Every single detail has been brought to life and that would hearten both the Tintin maniac or otherwise alike.

John Williams start to the movie with the jazzy tune does remind you a bit of “Catch Me If You Can” (DiCaprio, Walken) but I don’t think it could have been done better than what you hear. The soundtrack is simply stunning and one track is aptly titled “Loch Lemond” (visit any of the Tintin fan sites to research this piece of trivia). I could not resist smiling when I read this in the credits.

The casting is picture perfect. Jamie Bell is superb with the voice of Tintin but the highlight to me was Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock and Daniel Craig as Red Rackham.

What catches your eye immediately after the titling are the blue grey eyes of Tintin. Herge would have been thrilled to bits (and I would be putting this mildly) with the idea of the simple dots being replaced with “eyes”. The attention to detail is stunning – including the simplest of details like the anchor on Captain Haddocks jaded blue sweater. And yes, one cannot help but wait for the “Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles” and “Thousands of Thundering Typhoons”. If it would get a tear to your eye – fear not my fellow Tintin Crazy Fan because it is indeed worth shedding a tear on.

The trailer calls it - A Race against Evil. A World Beyond Imagination. An Adventure beyond belief. I don’t think words would do this masterpiece any justice. It hurts me to say this but my lead runner for this year’s Oscars in the animation category, Cars 2, has just found itself some really stiff competition. It would break my heart to see Cars lose out yet again but Spielberg has given the jury enough to chew about. I give this 8.5 on 10. I leave the judgement to you as to which one was better.

One last point - This is the first Hollywood movie to be premiered in India.  Over the world, it is releasing only Christmas Day.  Rocking I Say!!!!!!

Trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2415828505/

Layer Cake

When was the last time you saw a movie on VCD? I just did last weekend. Was browsing through a friends collection of movies and found L4yer Cake. I had been looking for the DVD for a long time now but had not found it. So it wasn’t the least surprising that I was thoroughly excited at the prospect of watching it. But then it turned out to be a VCD – I don’t remember the last time I had seen one. The worry with watching a movie like L4yer Cake is that it is extremely dialogue intensive. And VCDs don’t have subtitles. Lowly mortals like yours truly are unfortunately not blessed with a capability of being able to listen to dialogues on media that has truly low quality audio (excuse to ignore the 3 pegs of whiskey that was already in the blood stream ). So it is with great difficulty that I managed to push myself through one whole CD of L4yer Cake. Needless to say, I was hooked and had to watch the 2nd as well (in case you have forgotten, VCDs come in 2 discs and not one like DVDs do :D:D:D)

This is the 2nd Matthew Vaughn movie I am reviewing in as many months, the previous one being X Men First Class. The only complaint I had about XMFC was the lack of consistency between the Bryan Singer version and the versions all through. However, there was no such worry in L4yer Cake for certain. Matthew Vaughn makes his debut in Hollywood in 2004 with L4yer Cake. An exceptionally strong movie to start one’s career with for certain. Guess it merits giving his other 2 movies – Startdust and Kick Ass – due consideration.

Based on a JJ Connolly novel of the same name, L4yer Cake tracks the life of an un-named drug dealer, called XXXX (Daniel Craig) in the credits who decides to call it quits but is convinced to run a couple of more jobs by his supplier Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham). X doesn’t quite like the idea but is pushed to accept the assignment. As if it wasn’t bad enough. His last deal with an extremely shady character called Duke (Jamie Foreman) goes woefully wrong. Duke is trying to palm off a million ecstacy tablets to X. The trouble is that these tablets have been stolen from Serbian war criminals led by a guy called Slavo (Marcel Iureş).

L4yer Cake offers just the right heady mixture for a thriller that takes Guy Richiesque proportions. Its pacy and with barely any drops in excitement levels, makes for a wonderful watch any day of the week. The only complaint one may have is that Sienna Miller isn’t shown enough during the movie. There is enough of action though to compensate for the lack of any women in the movie. Be prepared for edge of the seat British action. 7 on 10 for this one.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2510946585/

Cowboys & Aliens

It may seem like ages that we have seen Harrison Ford on screen but when you look at his filmography, there are 10 movies starring what Hollywood has described as, “The Most Bankable Star” which have released including What Lies Beneath in 2000. And there have been only 3 years where a movie has not been released. Now lets look at this gentleman called Daniel Craig for whom it has definitely been the first release since Defiance since 2008. But, he has 4 movies already signed up, 3 of which are in post production and due to release this year – Dream House, Adventures of Tintin and Girl with a Dragon Tatoo – all of which are supposedly solid movies. And if they were not sufficient, Bond 23 is due to release next year. Lastly there is Jon Favreau who is not really the best director in the world but did quite a good job with Iron Man 1 and 2. More importantly, he also has his acting to fall back on. Why then would three people who are reasonably well off sign up for a movie called “Cowboys and Aliens” which has absolutely nothing different to offer in their lives. We are talking about Indiana Jones, James Bond and Iron Man who I am certain can offer and have offered enough and more thrills to Ford, Craig and Favreau respectively – so doing something different is crossed out. And then there is the question of money which the world is quite certain these 3 do not have any less of. So the only conspiracy theory which would hold good are the existence of some photographs in certain compromising positions which involve our 3 stars. I cannot find any other explanation for their presence in this movie.

I am actually struggling a lot to complete this review because I really don’t have much to say. And it is definitely not because of writers block. There is definitely nothing new in Cowboys and Aliens that you have not seen in any other Alien movie. In fact most other movies offer much more. The movie is littered with really bad screenplay and very average direction at best – probably the makers really did not pay Favreau enough. Ford and Craig keep the movie at a reasonable level and full credit to their acting talent. Without them the entire experience would have been really crappy to say the least.

One would see a few “flying machines” in 19th Century USA (when flying was unheard of) whose only business is to run sorties over the topography picking up unsuspecting villagers for research. You would also be privy to some well done special effects which are the only high points of this movie. And yes, the aliens look a bit different. They continue to be ugly and have retractable hands around their hearts – I mean other than 4 appendages that they are normally provided with. Net Net, nothing you haven’t seen before or would miss if you don’t see this one. 4 on 10 is what I would give this at best.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi161586201/