Figment Reviews: March 2019

Sunday, 31 March 2019

Dumbo (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written March 31st, 2019*

Well, it begins. The first of the four live-action remakes Disney are releasing this year and sadly, this is definitely one of the more middling entries in what I've found to be a pretty solid set of films so far. I was actually kind of interested in this one. The original Dumbo is one I adore and one of my favourites from Disney, a brisk 70 minutes that manages to pack in heart, humour and beautiful animation into a very brief run-time.

Tim Burton is also a very interesting choice of director. His last few films haven't been great and the last time he worked on a Disney film was an atrocious mess (His Alice in Wonderland holds a strong place as one of my most hated films of all time), but he's slowly started crawling back to the Burton I loved from the '90s. He's still got a ways to go, but Dumbo is definitely one of his stronger films of recent years, despite its many problems.

I don't mind the idea of Disney re-imagining their older properties for a new generation and I appreciate the attempt at adding more depth to a very thin story, but while it's all perfectly serviceable and has a good anti-corporate message (The irony, considering it comes from Disney), it just lacks the heart and soul of the original.

I'm just having a hard time wondering why Disney bothered to hire Burton to direct this, when it ended up being so devoid of what makes Burton so great and unique. It's such a workmanlike and cookie-cutter creation that fits perfectly in line with what Disney are up to these days. Making films that are ticking boxes to satisfy broad, mainstream audiences in order to make some easy money, but failing to incite anything creative or original in fear of driving away audiences that shy away from anything even remotely different or interesting.

That's why I'm having trouble with this. The execution of this is something I absolutely hate about modern cinema, but at the same time I kind of enjoyed it and mostly had a good time, despite how utterly by the numbers and passable it was. There are moments where Dumbo shines, which I will get to, but for the most part, it's very much cynical Disney, yet at the same time, very watchable. There's only so many free passes I can give to these films and I can feel my patience growing thinner with each one, there's only so much more I can take. Much like how I feel with superhero films, I think Endgame will be my turning point for that genre too.

It's not all bad though, like I said, this is certainly watchable and tells its story well enough with a great cast and mostly well-rounded characters. Danny DeVito unsurprisingly steals the show as the head of the failing circus, although it is hard to distinguish DeVito from Frank Reynolds at this point, but he's so insanely watchable and charismatic (Also, the Always Sunny cameo is gold). Colin Farrell is choosing some interesting projects right now, so it was a shame to see him be an absolutely fine lead with an obvious arc and doesn't get much in the way of showing off his acting skills. Michael Keaton on the other hand is clearly having the time of his life in his hammy performance that brought a lot of life to the screen during his screen-time.

Dumbo himself is a fantastic creation and just so adorable and easy to love. The photo-realistic animation is pretty astonishing and he feels like a real living creature, making it very easy to root for him and care when he's clearly in distress. An easy move for me, I hate seeing animals unhappy in any context. So that all worked.

While it does lack Burton's Gothic flair and weird quirkiness, this is at least a beautiful film to look at, with a dark, rich colour pallet and fantastic set-design that really didn't feel like the work of CGI at all. They do attempt to do the infamous "Pink Elephants" scene from the original, but it is remarkably tame and far less weird and out there redo of that moment, which is a shame considering that's what Tim Burton is so good at. The most Burton the film gets is when we reach Keaton's futuristic circus that is a wonderfully designed steam-punk wonderland that I didn't expect at all. Once we reach that location in the third act, it's a damn smooth ride from there.

I don't know what else to say about this, I had enough trouble even coming up with all the previous things I just said. Tim Burton's Dumbo is a perfectly watchable remake that lacks what makes a Burton film unique, but the cast are great and it tells a story worth revisiting, but Disney really need to let these directors put their vision on the screen rather than just a cookie-cutter cash-grab that feels more like a list of boxes to tick as opposed to a film from a director with a singular vision.

6/10 Dans

Dumbo is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Sunday, 17 March 2019

Super (2010) - Blu-ray Review

Review:

*Originally written March 16th, 2016*

2010's Super is a bizarre little film that was sadly over shadowed and mostly forgotten due its release so close to Kick-Ass, a film with a similar premise and ultra-violence. The comparisons are there and while I feel Super is definitely the weaker of the two films, it still holds up on its own and has its own unique feel and quirk to it.

After losing his wife to a drug dealer played by Kevin Bacon, Rainn Wilson takes up the misguided journey of winning her back by becoming a vigilante called the 'Crimson Bolt', he eventually is joined by Ellen Page's kid sidekick 'Boltie'.

The tones all over the place, it jumps from drama to pitch black comedy mostly very well, but there were a few moments that did not sit well with me at all. The rape scene in particular just felt off to me. Some of the jarring violence also just didn't sit with me either. While being a comedy, the violence is so graphic and gory, like way more than Kick-Ass, which went for more cartoony and over the top. Super on the other hand feels far more grounded with its portrayal of violence, you see people get killed in such brutal and low-key ways that it just felt disgusting. We're meant to root for this guy, but at one point he smashes a guy and woman's heads in with a wrench purely for butting in line, it really drew the line for me in whether I should be rooting for the "hero" of the story.

Rainn Wilson's character Frank is clearly a disturbed guy who justifies his violence and sees his mission as a sort of calling from god, which he sees in his own delusions. So the guy is clearly mentally ill, something I wish was explored a lot more. Wilson's performance was excellent though, I can't imagine anyone else in this role, he goes from pathetic, to sympathetic, to bad-ass over the course of 90 minutes and it felt right.

Ellen Page was also great as the sidekick, although her character was grating at times, she started off as really annoying, but her character grew on me as it went on and she delivers some of the best lines of the whole film. Her character's end is also extremely shocking and unexpected.

I do appreciate James Gunn's use of practical gore, it truly is horrific and disgusting at times, which I'm sure is the intention. I do sound like I'm being negative about it, but I do really like Super, I like the idea of a more grounded normal man as a superhero film, despite the shortcomings. I don't believe this deserved to flop or be forgotten as much as it did either, but I'm glad Gunn managed to move on and get a gig directing Guardians of the Galaxy, which he did an amazing job with.

I also really like how it subverted expectations with some of the twists. Involving a subplot with a police officer which comes to an unexpected and abrupt end, and the same with Ellen Page's character who goes down during the final battle.

One of my biggest problems is just how cheap this looks too. It feels very televisual, which is due to the low budget, but it does look ugly despite a nice colour scheme. Some of the editing is also really weird, I didn't like the use of '60s style Batman cartoon fonts popping up either, it just felt weird.

There was a surprising heart at the centre of it all too, all thanks to Wilson's performance. You really do care for Frank most of the time and at moments it is really touching. Helped by Tyler Bates excellent score which delivers some genuinely nice tracks like "Two Perfect Moments", which I have loved since ever since the films release.

Super is an angrier and more nasty relative of Kick-Ass, but it still holds its own thanks to Rainn Wilson's performance, Gunn's writing and direction and some nice gore, you just need to look past the bitter taste and the insane tonal shifts.

7/10 Dans

Super is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Wednesday, 13 March 2019

Captain Marvel (2019) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written March 13th, 2019*

So... this is the sort of film you virgin incels try to boycott? Not films starring or directed by rapists, racists or homophobes? But a film starring a woman who made a joke about a terrible film at the Oscars and suggested media journalism needed more diversity than mostly just white males? You chronic wanking hentai watchers will take any excuse to hate women because they won't fuck you in your mums basement after you tip your fedora to them and hold a door open for them, won't you? Time to shave the neckbeard and focus on real problems, losers.

Anyway, Captain Marvel is another very solid entry in the ever-growing MCU. I had my reservations with this due to the very underwhelming trailers that made it seem like any other Marvel affair for the most part, but aside from the odd shot of formulaic familiarity, I ended up having a really good time with this. Might have been low expectations, but I believe this is definitely one of the best of the origin stories for this series.

I'll admit it gets off to a rough start with a pretty incoherent first act and I really had very little idea what was happening. It throws you right into the middle of things and bombards you with exposition, making it very easy to get lost and confused as to what these characters and their motivations are. Thankfully, once it hits Earth, things are a lot more fun and engaging.

Brie Larson shines in the titular role, playing it with a strong amount of confidence, charm and just the right amount of snark. I got a little worried early on that she'd just be sarcastic and annoying most of the film, but that quickly went away as she won me over. There's even a surprisingly compelling arc she goes through as she slowly discovers her true origins and her previous life on Earth. It all works very well.

Larson shines most when she's paired with Nick Fury (Who has an insanely convincing de-aging job that makes Samuel L Jackson look like he walked straight off the set of Pulp Fiction). The two have great chemistry together, making all their scenes a joy to watch. Plus it was great to see a younger, more inexperienced Fury, who had yet to discover the existence of super-humans/aliens. I'd love to see a series based around Fury's adventures in the '90s on Disney's upcoming streaming service.

One of my worries was the appearance of Ben Mendelsohn, an actor I love, but I was afraid he would be wasted as yet another forgettable and bland MCU villain. But again, my expectations were subverted and he gave a far more interesting performance with a nice twist that turned things on its head towards the end. It was nice to see him not be yet another forced bad guy he's sadly been typecast in these past few years in films like Robin Hood and Rogue One. Check out The Place Beyond the Pines to see what Mendelsohn is really capable of.

One of my biggest question marks surrounding this was the appearance of Jude Law and he's merely fine. It was pretty quick and easy to see what was going to happen with his character based on just how obvious it was towards the beginning and the trailers. I just wish they'd done something far more interesting with his character than what we ended up getting.

Being a hugely budgeted blockbuster, everything is gorgeous CGI wise, from the space stuff at the beginning, alien designs and explosive third act. It makes me wonder what went wrong with the CGI in Black Panther that was similarly budgeted. How on Earth can the same company release a film with effects as good as the stuff here, then release a film with those awful CGI rhinos and PS2 cutscene final battle?

As fun as the action is at times, there really lacks a sense of directorial style. There was just no signature here, leading me to believe it was competently made, but lacked any sort of personality or visual flair, which is a great shame, as the MCU was really growing in starting to let directors do their own thing, but it seems to be gone here. At the very least this actually looks like a proper, cinematic film and not the televisual ugliness of say Avengers: Age of Ultron. I was also pretty disappointed with the score, which started off pretty well with some great synthy stuff, but quickly devolved into me forgetting the film even had a score at points.

I have to get it off my chest that the fact the MCU has only just released a female starring film after 11 years and over 20 films while DC managed to do it in less than half the time and films. I don't know what went wrong there, but it's a severe and backwards decision from Disney that should have been amended years ago. It's a shame that they waited this long, because it clearly works (Like it obviously would) and I really hope they finally ramp up with the Black Widow film after the success of this.

Captain Marvel is another great entry in the forever growing MCU. It starts out rough, but quickly became some of the most fun I've had with this franchise in a while and Brie Larson is an excellent addition to the series and I cannot wait to see more of her and how she factors into Avengers: Endgame. My superhero film fatigue might have just got a new boost of life.

8/10 Dans

Captain Marvel is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Triple Frontier (2019) - Netflix Review

Review:

*Originally written March 13th, 2019*

A rare Netflix Original Film that is actually damn great. I was intrigued by this due to the cast and crew involved. I remember very little about it, but I remember liking J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year. My only worry about this was the fact it was a Netflix Original. They obviously have a tendency to completely waste a talented filmmakers time by releasing what seems like a low-effort, straight to video release. Just look at Dan Gilroy, who went from the masterpiece Nightcrawler to the Netflix Original Velvet Buzzsaw.

Thankfully, this wasn't the case, Triple Frontier is a gripping action thriller that slowly builds its character and plot to familiar places, but is no less engaging thanks to the strong performances from the cast, great action and compelling, no nonsense script. It's a pretty simple script, a group of ex-servicemen come together to rob a drug lord in South America for millions of dollars so they can all leave their dead-end lives behind. Things escalate and things don't go to plan as they have to fight their way out of the country with whatever money they can carry.

It's simple, but effective stuff, made better by the fact I have a huge soft-spot for heist films, but this goes above and beyond the solid, if messy, similarly budgeted heist films of recent years (Den of Thieves and Triple 9 come to mind). Thanks to J.C. Chandor's effective direction, every moment of the actually heist is a tense affair with some cold and brutal violence mixed in their too, plus some good morality plays from the characters were a welcome addition.

I did appreciate the time built towards building the characters before the actual heist takes place. Being an ensemble cast, some of the characters get sidelined a bit as the focus is mostly on Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam and Oscar Isaac. All three do a fantastic job, Affleck in particular as the rugged and weary soldier trying to turn his life around as he slowly gets more greedy once he sees the stakes of what he's got himself into. Hunnam is someone who has never really managed to find much success outside of Sons of Anarchy, like most TV actors going into film, thankfully, this is by far his best film role I've seen to date from him. Then Isaac is still a massively charismatic presence that I was surprised to find out pretty much leads the film and carries the most screen-time.

One of things rare and always welcome from a Netflix film is how much this actually looks like a real and cinematic film, unlike most of their other releases that look more in line with high budget TV than an actually film, mostly due to the gross, high-key lighting. Triple Frontier looks pretty gorgeous, making the most of its lush, South American setting. Watching this in 4K with Dolby Vision was a treat in itself, I wish Netflix would start releasing films physically, as I would happily own 4K copies of this, Beasts of No Nation, Apostle and Roma.

As an action film, this also works extremely well. The set-pieces are cold, brutal and pack a hell of a punch. Nothing feels gratuitous or over the top. There's no moment of bombastic heroics or Rambo like actions, it's just brutal and when people die, it's with no fanfare or sentimentality, they just drop dead and it feels cold and realistic. It was obvious from the get-go that not everyone makes it out here alive, but even knowing that, it was still a surprise to see what characters actually don't make it.

Triple Frontier is one of Netflix's best original films to date. A gorgeous, brutal heist thriller with a great cast who all have their time to shine. Netflix films are actually starting to get better, for the most part.

8/10 Dans

Triple Frontier is streaming now on Netflix worldwide
Watch the trailer below:

Sunday, 10 March 2019

The Expendables 3 (2014) - 4K UHD Review

Review:

*Originally written March 10th, 2019*

For many, this entry in the Expendables franchise killed it, and to be honest, I can see why. It ditches what people loved about the series so far. The gimmick of these films are the nostalgia of throwback, violent action with the faded action heroes of the '80s and '90s. So it really is bizarre for them to release the third film in this series as a toned down, cleaner entry that sidelines the characters in favour of a younger cast of unknowns.

Based on this, it's not hard to see why this was received so poorly and has left the franchise dormant for 5 years now (With on and off reports that The Expendables 4 is happening with an R rating again). Despite all the things they just got plain wrong, I still kinda had a good time with this. Sure, the blood, swearing and tone is mostly gone, but it's still head and shoulders above the awful original and it's hard for me to not just take this for what it is and just enjoy it.

The series continued to improve its villains with each entry and this was no different, Mel Gibson is an absolute, scenery chewing maniac here and it is wonderful to see. This came along after he disappeared for a while after his legal troubles and phone call leaks (You can listen to them of YouTube, essential stuff). It's just sorta nice to see him here having a good time and hamming it up, he's the perfect sort of addition to this series. Would love to see Danny Glover in a future entry.

In terms of the new cast, they are mostly just brutal. A bunch of nobody actors I'd never heard of, aside from Ronda Rousey, who is just awful in everything she does. The whole MMA fighter turned actor thing rarely works, and this might be the best example of that. It's just disappointing what they do with the original Expendables, Terry Crews is quickly written out for most of the film and Jet Li is nowhere to be seen until the end, but he does at least get a surprising pairing with Arnie that is far funnier than it should be. Oh, and Harrison Ford pops up too, who seems to be having the most fun he's ever had on a film in decades. Remember when that guy used to have charisma before giving up? Which reminds me of Bruce Willis's curious absence from here and a few characters just mentioning he's a dick. What happened there?

The action does lose the violent impact of the first two and suffers from some terrible quick-cut editing in order to work around some of the more brutal kills. Why even keep Jason Statham's character as a knife specialist who stabs people brutally if you're just going to cut away? There is some cool stuff going on, the relentless wave based assault on Mel Gibson's compound at the end certainly held my attention for longer than I expected. I'm pretty sure I watched the uncut version too, which did very little to leave an impact on the violence.

Outside of a few choice action scenes, there really is very little here, but it is oddly quite fun, I can't quite put my finger on it. I should absolutely hate this, but I still enjoy it. I think I might even be oddly invested in these characters too, I hadn't seen this in about 4 years and I was strangely compelled and interested by Stallone's Barney Ross here dealing with a ghost of his past. Stallone does a merely okay job conveying emotion, but for what this is, it's fine.

I was also pretty torn over this 4K release too. On one hand, the detail is extremely strong, pretty much reference quality consistently throughout, but the HDR is a complete mess, colours looked off and weird, blacks looked more like a dark grey than the usual deep and inky blacks I'm used too. It's just a shame, as the detail is so sharp, but someone really fucked up the colour grading of this release.

The Expendables 3 is far from great, but it's the third in the series of B movies starring faded action stars and it lacks a bit of what made the second entry the best in the series, but it's still good fun and Mel Gibson is endlessly watchable as the villain. Hoping they sort out The Expendables 4 soon. It's been 5 years. I'm ready.

6/10 Dans

The Expendables 3 is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

Thursday, 7 March 2019

Alien (1979) - 4K Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written March 7th, 2019*

It's always pure joy for me to get to see one of my favourite films of mine at the cinema. Even better when it's presented in a gorgeous 4K remaster like the one displayed here. I've had a long history with the Alien franchise, I used to frequently watch Alien and Aliens on DVD on repeat as a kid, but I always liked this one more than Aliens. I just prefer the slow-burn slasher aspect of this to the more action-heavy sequel. The less said about Alien 3 and Resurrection the better though.

Being it's 40th anniversary, this still holds up extremely well. This is Ridley Scott on the top of his game. There is so much detail in every part of the production design, from intricate Nostromo ship to the foggy alien planet, everything is a feast for the eyes. Made even better with its reference quality 4K transfer. One I will be buying when it hits disc in late April.

It carries a very simplistic plot. A crew of a spaceship investigate a distress signal on a planet while on their way back to Earth, but end up bringing in an Alien entity that slowly starts to pick off the crew one by one.

What helps most is how likeable the crew are at the beginning. We spend a good 50 minutes or so with these characters before the chaos starts. The cast all work well off each other, making for some surprisingly decent bursts of humour that I had completely forgotten were in this film. Sigourney Weaver is obviously the most developed of the characters, but it's a stroke of genius that she doesn't become front and centre until very late into the film, making me appreciate how much of a surprise her survival and role must have been back when this released. Weaver herself is fantastic though, a strong female lead that takes control of the situation and is never once a damsel in distress, making for one of the most iconic characters in sci-fi.

The Alien itself is still an absolute masterclass in creature design. The practical costume looks incredible and is used just enough to keep it mysterious and intimidating. It really shows that less is more, using the shadows and dark areas to hide various parts of the costume is a smart move that pays off in spades. I wish the franchise would go back to its roots and use suits like this again, as this holds up far better than the overly CGI look of the creatures in Alien: Covenant, which was only 2 years ago.

I won't lie when I say some things just do not hold up. It's easy to make fun of a film made 40 years ago, but I could see why some people could find some of the effects a bit cheesy and laughable. In particular, after the alien bursts out of John Hurts chest, it runs across the table, and it looks a bit dodgy to say the least. Then there's the scene where Ash starts to malfunction and make weird sounds while all I could think of is he might just puking up lots of cum.

I also miss what a talented filmmaker Ridley Scott used to be before having one of the most hit-and-miss careers of any director I can think of. He uses everything to his advantage here to rack out tension from nearly every scene. It's such a shame he's never managed to live up to this high standard as he continues to try continue the Alien franchise, but never coming close to what made this original film so great.

The sound design is utterly insane here too. Jerry Goldsmith's score is one for the books and seeing this in a loud theatre with surround sound was such a treat. It made me appreciate just how important sound design is to a film like this and how much it brings to the tension and dread of the whole thing.

Alien is still a defining sci-fi horror classic and easily the peak of the series. One of my favourite films of all-time brought back to life with a gorgeous 4K transfer that makes me appreciate a film I already loved so much. The peak of the franchise and possibly Ridley Scott's career. Pure cinema.

10/10 Dans

Alien is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK with a 4K UHD release due out April 22nd with a steelbook available from Zavvi to pre-order

Watch the trailer below:

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