Stars Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-Sik Choi, Amr Waked Directed by Luc Besson As a writer and director, Luc Besson has come up with some truly engaging heroines. He previously directed Michelle Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi in The Lady, and he tackled French comic book heroine Adèle Blanc-Sec. Going back further and we have The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and The Fifth Element with Milla Jovovich, he introduced us to Natalie Portman in Léon: The Professional, and then there’s his most resilient creation La Femme Nikita (1990) which spawned a US remake in 1993, a Hong Kong remake in 1991 (that had a sequel), a TV series with Peta Wilson (5 seasons) and a current TV series with Maggie Q. For a track record, there are hits and misses. I like his work (ever since Subway) and will probably see everything else he’ll come up with, especially if he’s handling writing and directing - yes, even The Family which I felt he might have been to slavish to the book and didn’t push the finale just that little bit further. Lucy puts Besson on some familiar turf with an engaging female lead and some popping action beats. Aside from little niggling detail we have to take on faith - that Lucy is a student, which might make her much younger than the lead actress - it’s Scarlett Johansson’s screen presence that carries the movie through as Lucy begins to evolve. That happens when Lucy is exposed to some synthetic drugs that unleashes the potential of her mind. Where the movie goes with this is not what you’d expect. Certain ideas and concepts are played with here leading to a finale that fans of classic science fiction might appreciate. Besson has admitted that this is a project he’s been working on for the last ten years and given how science can advance, there are some out-dated ideas Human Beings use 10% of their brain capacity? At the start, Lucy appears to be operating on 2% if we follow the narrative count on the screen. Much of the ‘science’ exposition is delivered by the authoritative god-like voice - and presence - of Morgan Freeman (if you’re going to be typecast, it’s not a bad gig), who probably best reflects the befuddlement of the audience as Lucy continues to evolve. Bad guy duties are courtesy of Min-Sik Choi, who enters the story looking like an slightly pudgy asian Gary Oldman stepping out of Léon: The Professional (see trailer below). Not quite as crazy or insane but menacing all the same. On the side of the law, recruited by Lucy, is Amr Waked’s Pierre del Rio who brings some comic relief, not as a inept cop, but more one who is way out of his depth. There in lies Besson’s typical absurdist humour. The influences of comic books and anime (Akira comes to mind at several points) are apparent as are Besson’s touch of humour and his handling of action set-pieces, from vehicular mayhem to bullet-ballets (see oh-so-many of his EuropaCorp/Digital Factory movies). The movie runs a brisk 90 minutes buoyed mainly by Johansson, and Eric Serra’s driving score. There are some impressive effects work courtesy of ILM. All that may appeal to fans of Besson’s work of even those who enjoy comic book action films. The science fiction elements and the nature of the ending, thought provoking as it may be, may turn a few audience members off. That doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable, because it’s always cool to have Scarlett Johansson kicking-ass on screen. Rating: ***1/2
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Stars A truck load of testosterone (or just refer to the cool teaser above, or the poster to the right) Directed by Patrick Hughes The Expendables had a cool concept when it first came out in 2010. It pooled some of the top action stars from across three decades and turned on the blender, putting out some tough action beats hanging on a paper thin plot - just like they used to back in the day. It’s all about the star power and the action then. Two years later, they did it again by pulling in an action star from the 70s (going back an extra decade) while shining the light on a few rising stars. At this point, it might be considered as “The Leftovers” (although, I hear that title is taken by some TV show) although one particular action star we’d like to see in the mix is still missing. Having wrangled his Rocky IV co-star (that’s Dolph Lundgren) Stallone has now brought along his Assassins co-star, El Mariachi (version 2), Antonio Banderas, and his Demolition Man co-star, Wesley Snipes, into the mix while managing to snag Frasier himself, Kelsey Grammar, and one Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford. And on villain duties, who better than ‘Mad' Max Rockastansy himself; crazy Martin Riggs; the hearty William Wallace; gentlemen, strap your boots for Mr Mel Gibson! With less showboating this time around, we’re treated with some truly cool action beats that lead to the all-out finale that actually focusses on the action rather than the ‘cool’ factor of having Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis striding along side-by-side and mowing down the bad guys in a hail of gunfire. The plot is still paper thin, but the story does provides some great zingers and one-liners although it’s Antonio Banderas who steals every scene he’s in and walks away with the movie, much like how he did it in Shrek 2 as Puss in Boots. The movie has three very distinctive acts. The first part features a jailbreak from a speeding train, and that brings in exExpendable, “Doc” (Wesley Snipes). Snipes owns the first act. They go from that ‘rescue’ to an on-going mission that introduces Mel’s mad villain, Conrad Stonebanks, who is not only an exExpendable but one of the co-founders! Once that mission goes south, Sly’s Barney Ross disbands the current team and puts together a new team to take out Stonebanks. That’s where we get our rising stars such as Kellan Lutz (last seen in The Legend of Hercules and the more recent animated Tarzan), Glen Powell, boxer Victor Ortiz and MMA fighter Ronda Rousey who does little to dilute the testosterone levels. This is also when Gibson starts to shine as the bad guy, reminding us of the star power he used to carry and still has, and we even get a cameo from Mr. Robert Davi! The third act is all hands on deck which includes Harrison Ford’s Major Drummer as the company man replacing Mr Church (Bruce Willis - who does not appear at all), and Antonio Banderas’ Galgo, all heading into an extended action sequence that could put most war movies to shame. Every character gets their moment to shine and Banderas still swipes some from others, providing much of the humour in this last act. It’s also very evident that Ford is having the time of his life, clearly relishing the opportunity to be a part of this. When his character says that this is the most fun he’s had, you can believe it’s Ford saying it himself. For an action movie fan, you really can’t ask for more than to have fun with these guys. Aussie director Patrick Hughes (who made the excellent Red Hill) manages the action very well, surpassing the efforts by previous action director, Simon West. He also manages to carry some of the drama through, especially with Stallone’s help. The Bulgarian locations also lend to some very attractive cinematography, be it in the city (the Museum assault) or the countryside (hiking to Stonebank’s War Zone). The action beats have an intense edginess without going overboard although the costume design makes it a little difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys once all hell breaks loose. In all, Hughes delivers a snappily paced action movie with some strong character moments for a few of them If this is the last hurrah for these guys - Schwarzenegger is looking rather weary - then it’s a fine way to cap the series, even with the promise of a next generation. Fans of the stars will have their moments, the humour works and the action delivers where it counts this time. There’s a real boost from the new additions unlike with Chuck Norris’ token appearance or Van Damme seemingly phoning in his performance in the last flick. What we get here is a reminder of why these stars ruled back in the day, even if they acknowledge that it may be time to step down. And yet, there’s fun to be had. Rating: ***1/2 Add (Aug 16)- Did an additional write-up here. For Comparison The Expendables [2010] *** The Expendables 2 [2012] ** Stars Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Pete Plaszek, Jeremy Howard, Minae Noji with Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub and Whoopi Goldberg Directed by Jonathan Liebesman Well, at least the got the characters of the turtles right. The overall design, however, is down to personal taste since it does breach the Uncanny Valley - CG designed characters whose realism just doesn’t sit right for one reason or another. We might have accepted them as cartoons, or even rubber suited in their previous incarnations, but striving for grounded realism here has led to a sense of hyper realism that sometimes lead to some really scary looking close-ups. That being said, the serviceable plot does give us some nice moments and action set-pieces. The ‘snow battle’ as handled by stunt master Dan Bradley (listed as Snow Unit Director) is a key highlight and just about the best thing in the whole movie; an amazing action set-piece worthy the price of admission. In comparison, the final battle feels anti-climatic, unless you’re a pure Ninja Turtles fan, then it might be to your liking. The villain’s plot feels like a under-developed idea from The Amazing Spider-Man (or even TMNT, for that matter), but it is beside the point here. The problem some fans might have is the issue of the origins that tie April O’Neil (Megan Fox) to Splinter and the Turtles, as well as how her father had a hand in their creation, while unknowingly working for the Foot Clan, who now come across more as Yakuza thugs than the ninjas they were before. April herself is a TV fluff reporter, looking for a scoop to climb the career ladder, but her boss (a very under-utilised Whoopi Goldberg) is having none of it. Begrudgingly assisting her in her quest is her cameraman, Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett) who has a crush on her. Yep - no Casey Jones, fanboys. Director Jonathan Liebesman, who brought us Battle Los Angeles and Wrath of The Titans, does a serviceable job in pulling the elements together, perhaps save for one niggling bit that bugged me* to no end. (I’ll put it at the end with a spoiler warning.) Anyway, given that the turtles are motion captured performances on location, the effects work gels well enough to give us some thrills. As mentioned, he does get the characters of the turtles right even if Leonardo does seem a touch under-used. Donatello’s nerdy geek is out in full force while Michelangelo’s party dude persona brings the comic relief (note the elevator scene) and Raphael’s the cynical tough guy who’s often challenging for leadership. April is more sassy and independent which makes Megan Fox, surprisingly, the next best thing in the whole movie after the turtles. The humour works although the bad guys fall short. The design for Shredder is impressive, but I had some flashbacks to Silver Samurai in The Wolverine. The speed at which these characters move suggest extensive CG work - or at the very least, motion captured performances - which brings us back to the Uncanny Valley and the feeling that, just perhaps, it should have been a cartoon after all. While Liebesman would bear the responsibility of the overall product, it would be more fair to look to the writers, or maybe the producers. The exposition is heavily laced throughout the movie as if there is this need to explain everything and tie elements together. You can feel the influence of Bay-hem. Like any of the Transformers movie, this is a ‘check-your-brains-at-the-door’ flick that would become a guilty pleasure for some in the long run. The action set-pieces and humour do make up for the lack of story, but just by a little, while Megan Fox delivers a credible performance that shows how serious she took this project, nicely making us forget about those giant robots stuff. Ultimately, the movie does come across as fluff. It’s too lightweight to matter, save for that middle bit in the snow. Aside from Fox, who does try, the other live stars are phoning it in. William Fichtner has been better elsewhere and Goldberg has been funnier. There is a sense that quite a bit of material was cut out, and if it was done to serve the turtles, more might have been cut from the beginning. They do take a long time to turn up in their own movie. Rating: **1/2 of 5 *Spoiler filled complaint. In executing their nefarious plan, Sacks took the helicopter from his private residence to New York city. Shredder stayed to duke it out with the turtles, and left later - but somehow managed to get to New York even as Sacks’ helicopter landed on his building. The turtles, being in pursuit, tool their sewer shortcuts, and still couldn’t beat either to the location. How did Shredder move that fast? If it were a cartoon, it wouldn’t even be an issue. While it’s worth watching the whole show, skip to the relevant part at the 7:10 mark. |
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