The Man – Nothing special, but definitely watchable

'Buddy cop' films have been around for as long as I have. Sometimes, they work, other times they don't. In short... simply having two people forced to work together who are basically complete opposites is not a recipe for success. Whether the film succeeds or sinks normally depends on the actors involved. And, I'm pleased to say that with the (perhaps unlikely?) pairing of Samuel L Jackson and Eugene Levy, it really does hit the spot.

Samuel L Jackson plays, well… Samuel L Jackson, while Eugene Levy plays – you guessed it – Eugene Levy.  Neither really stray far from performances you’ve already seen them give numerous times, but – again – it works.  Levy is a salesman who gets mixed up with an arms deal while having dinner in a café.  Luckily, Jackson is on hand to step in and not just save him, but also sets him up as a supposed ‘kingpin’ that he can use to bring down one half of eighties supergroup Bros (or Luke Goss to be precise – a bad guys so generic, he’d fit right in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!).

You may have guessed that a chatty and middleclass salesman is not the ideal person to play a dangerous criminal, but – yet again – it works.  Or at least it works in terms of comedy.  Yes, in real life Levy may have been gunned down within ten seconds into walking into a room with a load of criminals, but, here, they take him at his word.

There are some other minor subplots running alongside the main story, i.e. a branch of Internal Affairs are looking into Samuel L Jackson and he’s also in the process of trying to patch things up with his ex wife and daughter.  However, it’s the two leads’ show all the way.  Their chemistry and banter elevates the film and makes it totally enjoyable.  The bickering between the two is truly a sheer joy to watch as Levy’s dry comebacks slowly wind Jackson up more and more.  There’s also plenty of swearing and some, moderate violence to go with the laughs, so it’s more for an adult audience.

Samuel L Jackson has a wide range of movies under his belt, some big budget, others that feel almost ‘straight-to-DVD.’ This one sits somewhere between the two and is definitely worth a watch if you’re a fan, or just like those kind of crime/comedies with a strong sense of mismatched central characters who have to overcome their personalities in order to reach a greater goal.  A tale as old as time, but, if done right – and it is here – it’s definitely worth an hour and a half of your time.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that

Road Kill (Joyride) – Simple and effective

The simple films are sometimes the best. ‘Roadkill’ (or ‘Joyride’ as it’s apparently known in the US) is about two brothers who travel across America to pick up one of their girlfriends, but fall foul of a particularly nasty truck driver (in fact, I always think that ‘Roadrage’ would be a more apt title for the movie!).  What follows is a cat and mouse tale as the juggernaut chases their car across one freeway after the next.

Back when this was released (2001), I think it’s safe to say that there are no real stars in the film (Paul Walker had yet to rise to fame).  Just like there are very little special effects needed for one vehicle driving after another throughout the movie.  Therefore, it’s technically quite low budget and yet I remember distinctly watching it in the cinema, meaning I wasn’t the only one who thought it deserved its ‘theatrical’ release. 

What works so well is the dynamic and chemistry between the two leads.  The dialogue is all very believable and you could just see the two of them being brothers in real life.  I’ve mentioned Paul Walker who plays the straight-laced ‘Lewis,’ while Steve Zahn plays his older, more roguish brother, ‘Fuller.’ Leelee Sobieski makes the third passenger in the car.  She’s Lewis’ girlfriend and there’s a vague hint of a love triangle between her and the two boys, however that’s all part of the sub-plot when it came to the ‘meat’ of the story.

They decide to use the old CB and ‘prank call’ (using telephone terminology) a random trucker.  Naturally, the driver in question (going by the handle ‘Rusty Nail’) doesn’t have much in the way of a sense of humour and decides to persecute them beyond anything they could have anticipated.

‘Roadkill’ falls somewhere between a horror and a thriller.  It’s almost like a ‘slasher’ flick, in terms of one man trying to kill a bunch of youngsters.  However, another aspect that works well is that you don’t really see Mr Nail that much, leaving us – the audience – to speculate on what he really looks like behind the wheel of his ride.

Some people have likened ‘Roadkill’ to Stephen Spielberg’s classic early road movie, ‘Duel.’ There are definitely some similarities regarding the psychotic trucker and the simple plot, but this film is far more up to date and brings the story to life in a new way.  Yes, if you watch it now you’d probably be asking why they didn’t just ‘tweet’ the police from their cell phones – it’s hard to believe that no one had social media at their fingertips back then. 

Anyway, if you like horror or thriller films, do give this one a go – it’s simple, but very effective at just being what it is.  It never tries to be anything it isn’t.  Just enjoy it.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one

Identity Thief - A good effort, but flawed

`Identity Thief' is about a woman - Melissa McCarthy - who steals hard-up, hard-working, everyman, Jason Bateman's identity over the phone and then goes on to run up debts that he can't afford to pay for. He, in turn, seeks her out on the other side of the country and tries to bring her to justice in order to clear his name (and debts!).

It's a decent enough premise, but with one problem: Melissa McCarthy is one of the most despicable characters in movie history and the whole point of the film is to try and make us like her (and even root for her). It's easy to root for Jason Bateman - he's struggling to make ends meet and support his family and doesn't deserve to be stolen from and have his life potentially ruined. However, Melissa McCarthy steals from people without a thought for her actions. Yes, we find out that she has led a hard life, but still... she steals from families who - most likely - can't afford it. It's like making a mugger your central character and wondering why audiences don't take to them.

This is a shame, because Identity Thief has a lot of comedic acting talent on display, plus it's actually quite funny. I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. However, the bottom line is that - despite watching McCarthy for ninety minutes - I still wanted to see her brought to justice. It's not the actress' fault - it's not an easy part to play. She was great in The Heat and Bridesmaids). The film would be much better without her character, but then, her character is kind of integral to the whole point of the movie.

Yes, it's funny in places, but you need a strong stomach to put up with McCarthy's character, plus you may need to suspend your disbelief in places, as there is a certain lack of logic if you look too closely.

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights

Priest – (Very) dumb fun

Sometimes you can tell what studios were hoping for when you watch a film. ‘Priest’ may have been released over a decade later than the (highly-profitable) ‘Matrix’ franchise, but I’m sure the producers were kind of hoping this would be the ‘next Matrix.’ Plus, back in 2011, vampires were hot property.  Granted most of the – really – popular ones sparkled, but the more feared bloodthirsty ones could also hold their own on the big screen.

Therefore, when this post-apocalyptic action tale about a world, so ravaged by blood-suckers, that human kind had to retreat behind huge walled cities in wastelands, only safe due to the highly-trained ‘priests’ who were powerful enough to save them, it sounded good on paper.  And it is.  And it isn’t.  Whether you love or despise this film will depend on how forgiving you are.

Paul Bettany plays the titular clergyman, trained in hand-to-hand combat at dispatching hordes of vile vamps, without even breaking a sweat.  However, those undead aren’t going to take his antics lying down and kidnap a close family member, leaving him no option but to go against the church (who, for the sake of the story, now don’t seem to want to admit that vampires are a problem any more!) and save her.

Try as I might (and I probably should), I can’t really find that much wrong with the film.  However, likewise I can hardly list many major plus points.  You have action, you have vampire killing, a few chases across barren wastelands, the obligatory betrayal, love interest and twist you’ll probably see coming.  In short, it’s VERY generic.  But, like I say, if you’re prepared for nothing special (and while we’re on the subject of ‘special,’ I should point out that the computer special effects aren’t that special (think Playstation 3 cut-scene).

Vampire movies are ten a penny, so, if you come across this one and feel that you haven’t had enough of killing monsters that can’t go out in the daylight, give it a go.  Everyone is functional enough for what they do.  There are some good supporting actors involved, i.e. Karl Urban, Brad Dourif and Christopher Plummer, so they do raise it ever-so-slightly above average.  It depends on what you’re looking for when you sit down to watch this as to whether you’ll enjoy it.  One of those ‘rent not buy’ types of films (or, in these days, stream via online video service rather than buy).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that

Vanilla Sky – More ‘Lynchian’ than love

It’s hard to imagine that in 2001 a love story starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz was actually considered a Box Office failure.  But then that’s because it wasn’t a love story.  However, much of the marketing that surrounded it concentrated on the ‘relationship aspect’ of the film, lulling people into thinking this was what they would be getting.  Therefore, by the time they had left the cinema and their heads had stopped spinning, they possibly were among the many who simply described ‘Vanilla Sky’ as a ‘mess.’ Yes, the story is centres around a print billionaire (Tom Cruise’s) slowly falling in love with a struggling artist (Penelope Cruz) while at the same time trying to fend off his existing lover (Cameron Diaz).  So far, nothing particularly out of the ordinary.  However, once the film gets going (and I say this referring to much that comes in the second half, as the first half sets everything up without giving too much away as to what’s about to come) things start taking a turn for the weird.

Dreams are mentioned more than once and that’s a good analogy as to how the film progresses.  Things happens that appear a little random, leaving the audience to wonder whether there may ever be some form of supernatural influence involved.  The story chops and changes and deliberately leaves the viewer feeling pretty disorientated, much like you’d feel upon waking up from a particularly vivid dream.  Naturally, this form of story-telling doesn’t make for an easy ride when it comes to understanding the narrative.  I can see it leaving some people a little confused (it took me a couple of watches to actually ‘get’ the film entirely!).

I mentioned ‘Lynchian’ in my title.  This refers to film-maker David Lynch, who’s famous for his weird, surreal, completely NON classic Hollywood narrative way of telling a story.  He, like ‘Vanilla Sky,’ likes to leave a fair element of the story up to the viewers’ interpretation, rather than spoon-feeding them every plot point.  Therefore, this is most likely a film that you’re going to find yourself discussing with friends after a viewing (although, in my opinion, ‘Vanilla Sky’ actually gives you a lot more answers than the average David Lynch film!).

If you know what you’re in for I think people who are in the mood for a particularly weird and slightly disturbing type of film will quite enjoy this.  You definitely have to be in the mood.  I’ve seen it a fair few times, but, if I’m simply craving car chases and shoot-outs, then this isn’t the film I put on.  I think if anything sums it up best it’s Cameron Diaz’s performance in ‘Vanilla Sky’ – on the surface, sweet and frothy.  However, dig deep and you’ll find dark and creepy (and that’s not an insult – she’s really good in this!).

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one

Gamer - Dexter like you've never seen him before

Okay, I know that this is really a `Gerard Butler' film, but you can't talk about Gamer without mentioning TV's most charming serial killer, Dexter (played by Michael C Hall). Here, we see a side of him which wouldn't be seen dead in Miami Metro PD. He talks with a southern US accent, sings and dances while he brainwashes hordes of badguys to do his bidding - he really lets his `dark passenger' run wild!

But anyway, enough of the baddie. We're really here to watch Gerard Butler as a convict who's forced to allow himself to be controlled by a computer game playing kid in a violent game of death. And it is violent.

The shoot outs are pretty well done and there's plenty of action and sexual depravity to keep the (mainstream) masses amused.

Don't expect too much in the way of a story or character development, but were you really thinking there would be in a Gerard Butler film (bless him)?

It's style over substance. Which is a bad thing if you're looking for a deep and meaningful film. However, I was expecting rampant bloodshed and plenty of fighting and I got just that (plus Dexter behaving like he was on drugs). What more could I wish for? Well, apart from a coherent plot, but, hey, you can't have everything in life!

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that

The Raid - Never mind the subtitles

Who’d have thought that Indonisia would raise the bar when it came to action movies? ‘The Raid’ is hardly the most complicated film to review, but, if you’re into your gunplay and marshal-arts then you can’t go far wrong here. Oh, and you’ll need to be okay with subtitles.

Basically, the film is about a police raid on a towerblock containing some of the toughest (and deadly) criminals around.  And – guess what – things don’t go too well for our boys in blue.  It isn’t long before their bodies start piling up, leaving only our plucky new recruit (who just so happens to be damn good at kicking people) to survive and untangle the mess that’s quickly building up.

If you’re wondering what makes this so much better than all the other action movies out there – it’s the ‘look’ (well, for starters anyway).  It has a very professional and gritty feel to it.  The director (who, to my shame, I’ve never heard of) has obviously spent a lot of time framing each shot to give it quite a nice – almost ‘arty’ – feel.  Then there are the fight scenes – they’re meticulously choreographed and, despite being technically as unrealistic as the next marshal arts film, they are really good fun to watch.

The actors are basically cast according to their looks.  Bad people are ugly and good people have nice hair.  However, at least everyone plays their part well and, even though all the talking is subtitled, it seems that everyone can actually act as well as is required for beating people to a pulp.

There are a few twists and turns in the plot – some you may see coming, others are less obvious.  But I won’t go into them too much.  All you need to know is that, if you’re okay with subtitles and love marshal arts or action films, then you’ll enjoy The Raid (and its sequel, if you’re curious about that!).

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one