The Shape of Water – Del Toro does it again

‘The Shape of Water’ is the latest movie from Guillermo and, if you’ve seen anything he’s done before, you should have a good idea of what you’re going to get.  I’d say, out of all his previous work, this is closest to the much-lauded ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’ Personally, I enjoyed that one, too, but I do recall one of my friends saying something about how he went into the film expecting a monster/sci-fi/fantasy film and all he got was a war film with a couple of fantastical scenes.  Okay, so his appraisal was technically correct, however I stand with the majority of audiences when I say I didn’t mind that – just like I didn’t mind that ‘The Shape of Water’ was basically a war film with a monster thrown in there.

However, that than being a subtitled film set during the Second World War, this time we go a little closer to present day and find ourselves in ‘Cold War’ America where government agents have captured a mysterious humanoid/reptilian life-form and intend to use it in their space-race (I’m not sure how this was to be achieved, but never mind!).  Again, anyone who has seen any of Del Toro’s previous films where a humanoid aquatic creature is involved, can probably picture what this one looks like (especially as it’s even played by the same actor!).  And, it’s fair to say that this weird-looking half-fish-man isn’t having a whale of a time (pun intended).  He’s routinely tortured by scientists and equally-creepy men in black (primarily) by Michael Shannon – who’s probably more of a monster than the monster itself thanks to his overuse of an electronic cattle-prod device of torture!

However, just when it looks like our fishy friend is doomed to a life of torture and dissection, he’s befriended by young cleaning lady (Elisa, played by Sally Hawkins) who’s also completely mute.  They then form a bizarre friendship which – hopefully – will lead to a better life for both of them.

I enjoyed ‘The Shape of Water,’ but I can see that it’s probably not for everyone.  If you’re a fan of Del Toro’s other work then you’ll like it.  The sets and period details and perfect and a wonderfully-magic atmosphere is created out of a normally mundane setting.  At first I found it a little weird, having a protagonist who never uttered a word for the entire two-hour runtime, but Hawkins is a capable lead and uses all other bodily actions and expressions to convey just what she’s thinking and feeling (plus she can curse using sign language!).  Like I say, it is two hours and, although beautiful to watch, does tend to feel a little overly-long here and there.

Richard Jenkins plays Elisa’s friend and provides some much-needed ‘heart’ and humour into the film, but the stand-out goes to Michael Shannon, who portrays the most sinister man in black since ‘Agent Smith’ from ‘The Matrix.’

Don’t expect wall-to-wall action, think of this as more of a ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ type film just with more ‘signing’ and less subtitles.  Also, if you have a soft spot for cats, you may want to close your eyes mid-way through – or just never bring a wild monster home if you have pets.

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

The Rock - The greatest film ever made (sort of)

Okay, so it may not be the greatest film ever produced, but it sure is up there with the most fun.  Sometimes a film is just perfect.  Or, to be precise, it’s absolutely perfect for what it is.  No, ‘The Rock’ will never be hailed up there with such greats as Citizen Kane or The Godfather, but it is the perfect popcorn-munching action film.

Nicholas Cage (back when he still starred in decent films) plays a self-confessed FBI lab-geek who specialises in defusing explosive chemical weapons.  And, by one hell of a coincidence, an insane ex general (Ed Harris) only goes and steals a load of explosive chemical weapons and sets up his hollowed-out volcano lair (well, sort of) on the disused prison-site of Alcatraz.  Guess what poor ol’ Nic’s going to be getting up to today?  Unfortunately, he’s not much of a soldier and doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating Ed’s band of hired marines.  However, that’s where the only man ever to have escaped Alcatraz comes in – retired (and imprisoned!) British Secret agent, Sean Connery (his character probably has a name, but – like every film he’s in – Sean Connery basically plays Sean Connery).  So, as the tag-line says... in a prison where no man has ever broken out, two men must break back in.

I hope whoever wrote that tagline got well paid.  It really does say it all.  You really don’t need to know much else about the film.  You only need to enjoy action films.  And, when I say ‘action films,’ I mean action films that are actually quite fun, rather than the dark and depressing style we’ve been treated to in recent times.  The Rock never tries to be ‘gritty’ and ‘realistic’ – it just has great action, numerous explosions and a plot so over-the-top it will envelop you completely and let it take you along for one hell of a ride.  If the sheer joy of the chemistry between Cage and Connery isn’t enough to entice you to watch this film, it’s actually worth noting that Ed Harris’ villain isn’t actually as villainous as you might expect, being one of the only evil bad guys with a conscious whose point of view you can also emphasise with.

Also, don’t let Michael Bay’s name put you off.  It was made ‘pre-Transformers’ where he actually made some decent films.

Don’t think about the plot.  Just love it for what it is – the perfect action film that really sums up the nineties (oh, that line could also be applied to ‘Speed’ – that’s pretty damn awesome, too).

10/10 The Monty Python Knights of Camelot are currently looking for this

Prisoners - Dark, gritty drama

‘Prisoners’ is about two young girls who disappear in suspicious circumstances and what the parents (or rather mainly Hugh Jackman) does to try and get them back.

And, as you can probably tell by that subject matter, it’s certainly no ‘feel good’ movie. You have to be in the mood for something pretty horrible and disturbing to sit through it. So, if you’re in the mood for that (and don’t have young children!), you’ll find a decent enough thriller with powerful performances from both Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal (who plays the cop in charge of the subsequent investigation).

It’s quite a long film (over two hours), so don’t expect everything to be revealed at once.

The only drawback is that, mainly towards the end, there are a few ‘ploy holes’ which the writers obviously think you’ll probably overlook as you’re caught up in the drama of the final act. If you don’t look too closely and focus on the performances, you should still enjoy what is really a pretty bleak movie.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one

 Leviathan - So, it's 'Alien' underwater... so what?

I hear the pitch meeting for 'Alien' was simply... 'Jaws in space.' If that urban legend is true then I reckon the pitch for 'Leviathan' was just 'Alien underwater.' Yes, it's that original, but no - it's not that bad.

In the near future a team of... people are working in a deep sea underwater base when they get hideously attacked by something big, nasty and designed by SFX master Stan Winston.  What more do you need to know?

'Leviathan' is just your average B-movie and, if you're looking for something deep and meaningful, then you'll see that as a put-down.  However, despite nothing being that special about it, it's still an awful lot of fun if you're in the mood for a cheesy, monster-munching B-movie with an over-the-top monster picking off the cast one by one.

First of all the cast is pretty top notch.  No, there may not be many Oscar winners among them, but you're sure to at least recognise one or two from other similar movies.  The star is Peter 'Robocop' Weller and, although he may be about the only person you really are sure who's who (Ernie Hudson is about the second most familiar face and, if you're into your early 'X-Files' you may recognise the female lead as Mulder's ex girlfriend, but she was only in one episode).  However, just because you may not know exactly where you've seen every cast member, doesn't mean they put in a bad performance.

In there sorts of films, it's easy to get one character mixed up with another and they're all kind of interchangable.  Not here.  They're actually pretty original and individual, so you may ever feel some kind of emotion when they're eventually mutilated beyond belief.

The sets look like something out of 'Aliens' (you'll see I say 'Aliens' over the original) and the two could well be set in the same universe.  The direction and soundtrack are nothing special, but the creature effects are decent enough.  Before excessive CGI film-makers actually had to make practical effects.  Yes, they may look a little dated today, but the film-makers clearly put a lot of detail into their hideous creations and it shows.

'Leviathan' was never a hit when it was released, but it does look like it's developed a cult audience over the years, which I think is fair.  It may not be anything original, but it is definitely a bright spot in a sea of otherwise forgettable monster munching B-movies.

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

Monsters University - Will adults enjoy this?

Let's face it... that's an important question every parent asks, because, at the end of the day, we know it'll be us who have to sit through this film as well as our kids. Children tend to be able to sit through most films/TV as long as it has cute characters and lots of primary colours. But us adults' eyes tend to start to glaze over as we pray for the end credits to roll.

That was why films like `Toy Story' and `Shrek' were so popular - because they were just as enjoyable for adults as kids. Luckily, `Monsters University' tends to lean towards those. It's probably not technically as good and/or funny as either, but it will definitely entertain the kids while not annoying the adults who have to watch it with them.

Obviously, if you liked the humour/characters in the first film (Monsters Inc) then you'll probably love this, too. However, even if you haven't seen it, you and your kids will easily pick up the plot. Of course there are the usual moral messages which go over the youngsters' heads and us oldies roll our eyes at.

But, at the end of the day, it's a fun film which the kids will probably want to watch again and again. And, even better still, we won't be that bothered to sit through it with them.

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

Lone Survivor - It does what it says on the tin

I know you really shouldn’t put ‘spoilers’ in film reviews, but the title itself must give you a bit of a clue regarding what eventually happens. ‘Lone Survivor’ is the true story of an ill-fated U.S. Navy Seals mission to root out the Taliban.

Mark Wahlberg plays the leader (or at least the main) Navy Seal on the mission, so no prizes for guessing who’s the one who makes it to the final credits.  However, just because you probably already know what happens, doesn’t really detract from the film’s tension.  No one really stands out as giving the performance of a lifetime.  All the main characters (who speak English) are functional, i.e. the play battle-hardened soldiers as you’d expect.

It’s actually pretty scary stuff.  There aren’t exactly a million different special effects used (or required) to tell the story.  It’s quite a simple affair, i.e. a small squad of soldiers in the woods, deep behind enemy lines.  But, when they finally come into contact with those they’re there to destroy, things do not go according to plan and they end up being the ones on the receiving end.

Being a true story helps.  It does make you ponder what troops go through and the lack of big budget special effects give it a much more gritty feel (although, sometimes watching guys run through a wood did make it feel a little like a ‘made-for-TV’ movie).

It’s nothing revolutionary, but, if you’re into true life war films or are generally interested in modern armed conflict, it’s certainly worth a watch.

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

Kong: Skull Island - My latest guilty pleasure film

Okay, so I’ll start by saying that ‘Kong: Skull Island’ is hardly high-brow entertainment.  It’s mass marketed nonsense aimed at the lowest comment denominator.  I guess I would have to include myself in that bracket, because I thoroughly enjoyed it!  We’ll ignore Peter Jackson’s recently take on the ‘King Kong’ story, as it bears no relevance here.  Instead, back in 1973 the U.S. government discover an island that’s remained hidden throughout the years and decide to send in a team to investigate.  We’re treated to a brief introduction to all the major players and a quick briefing on board the battleship which reminded me of something out of ‘Aliens.’ And, while we’re on the subject of ‘Aliens’ Ripley would be most proud about the way the military starts dropping bombs all over the island (with a view to ‘study’ it – no, seriously).  So, while helicopters do their best to ‘nuke the site from orbit’ one of the island’s indigenous occupants – an oversize monkey – doesn’t take kindly to this course of action and takes down every last one of them, leaving those few survivors not blown up in the massacre to do their best to make their way across the island to the pick-up point before something even worse happens to them.

Now, it’s not just enraged monkeys who they have to worry about.  They have natives, giant spiders and horrible lizard-things who live underground to contend with.  And they soon realise that Kong is the least of their problems!  I’m lead to believe that this will be the first in a line of these movies, some even crossing Kong over with other existing franchises (‘Godzilla’ anyone?) so naturally Kong is – justifiably – the star.  However, this does mean that some of the humans are kind of left in the background a bit.  It does try to handle quite a large cast and not all of them get the screen time they deserve.

Arguably the film’s (human) star is Tom Hiddleston.  He’s basically everything you’d expect a fantasy/action film’s leading man to look like.  And, as anyone who’s seen him in action as Loki in any of the Marvel films, you’ll know he’s got the screen presence to pull off the leading man role.  And, I’m sure he can.  He just never really gets the chance here.  It just feels like he never gets a true chance to shine as there are so many other people to also feature that he’s only there to look manly and give us a possible hint at a romance with the obligatory female co-star.  Of course when you also have Samuel L Jackson among the cast, you really need to give him something to do as you don’t want to run the risk of wasting acting talent like his.  And, to be fair, he does his best with all the screen time he’s afforded and the ‘stare-down’ between him and Kong is truly chilling.  John C Reilly is also worthy of a mention, simply because he balances some much-needed humour with a role that allows him to be more than just the standard ‘comic relief.’

Now, with any film where there’s a strong element of danger in it, you expect there to be a bunch of cast members who are there only to make up the numbers and will be routinely killed off at various points in the film. ‘Kong: Skull Island’ certainly has plenty of these and – yes – most end up in the belly of a giant arachnid or something.  However – without wishing to spoil anything – a few of them make it further into the film than you’d imagine.  They’re given next to no screen time, yet they last longer than characters you’ve grown closer to.  Of course all human stars play second fiddle to the ‘real’ star of the show – the titular character ‘Kong’ himself, who is looking pretty good for his age!  In other words the computer effects used to bring him to life are realistic enough to give him more than just your standard CGI monster.  And, isn’t he the real reason we’re going to watch this film?

If there is a down-point it’s that it’s a little long and some scenes seem a bit drawn out.  Plus, when Kong smacks down on other CGI creatures, the effects do blur together a bit into one fast-moving mess (but at least it’s still not as bad as any of the Transformers movies!).  However, if you’re expecting a popcorn flick which, despite hardly re-inventing the wheel as far as plot and character development go, you should get some enjoyment in seeing Kong battle it out against all manner of human and monster foe.  It’s not meant to be a great work of art, so please forgive it its failing and enjoy it for what it is.  Let’s just hope that whatever sequels and crossovers its success spawns don’t dip in quality too much (Transformers, I’m thinking of you again!).

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one