Snake Eyes: DVD Review

Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins is not the kind of film that really commits to anything.

Bloodless despite katana being wielded and plenty of people being sliced or shot in the head, the film's inherent desire to neither be fish nor fowl means it does a huge disservice to both its scowling lead Henry Golding and the toyline it clearly exists to promote.

The story begins with the younger version of Golding's Snake Eyes witnessing the death of his father at the hands of an unknown killer. Vowing vengeance for the murder, Snake finds himself mixed up in the world of the Yakuza years later, working to get scraps of information where his father's killer could be.

But caught in the clash of warring Japanese clans, Snake finds a new family with Andrew Koji's Tommy who takes him under his wing after he saves him. However, Snake Eyes finds himself questioning loyalty and family on his journey to vengeance.

Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins is so stultifyingly dull throughout that it makes it hard to care about any of the proceedings.

Golding scowls and growls his way through some choppily-edited action sequences and what little cliched  dialogue there is in the first place. He may have charisma a-plenty in Crazy Rich Asians, but RIPD director Schwentke knows that it isn't what's needed here and suppresses any of that throughout.

Murky action sequences and dour atmospherics do little to enhance the Snake Eyes experience, and while the film finally feels like it comes alive in the last 20 minutes, you're left wondering why you should even bother to invest this late in the day. Throw in the arrival of GI Joe's Scarlett (played with gusto by Samara Weaving), a COBRA conspiracy and hints of the groundwork being laid for a sequel, and it's clear the film could have done with a harder edge and a tighter script to steer things through its 2 hour run time.

It's not aided by some utterly laughable CGI anacondas that even Jon Voight would have trouble mustering the energy to sneer at - there's just no panache to be had in anything happening here. And any film that utterly squanders the skills of Iko Uwais' martial arts prowess, as is done here, is utterly disgraceful.

It's hard to believe GI Joe fans will be wowed by this origins tale given how Snake Eyes spends the entire film with his face visible and his voice audible - the chances of a sequel feel slim as fans and non-fans will feel massively short-changed by it all.

A severe waste of two hours of your life, Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins may be an attempt to reboot the GI Joe franchise, but this turgid, lifeless attempt at an "action movie" fails utterly, totally and miserably.

The Rescue: Film Review

Director: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Free Solo's directors take on a story that everyone knows the resolution to - but it robs none of what transpires on the screen of its urgency and compelling nature.

In June 2018, when the Wild Boar soccer team became trapped by monsoon weather in the extensive and labyrinthine cave Tham Luang in Northern Thailand, the world watched hoping for a miracle.

For over 2 weeks, the boys and their coach were trapped, threatened by potential oxygen loss and rising rain waters pouring through into the caves. And still the world watched - as did the directors in the aftermath, feeling there was a film with high stakes to be told here.

But what could be a case of a mawkish and almost manipulative documentary becomes something so utterly compelling and intricately told that you'll almost forget you know exactly how it ends.

Using second hand footage, and clever graphics to show the intricacy of the caves, as well as a sprinkling of talking heads from those involved in the rescue, directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi carefully tell the sickening race-against-time story of the volunteer divers brought in from abroad.

It's in the interviews from Rick Stanton, John Volanthen and Aussie Richard Harry Harris that you get the true sense of what lay ahead for them and what they add to both the archival footage and the reconstructions is something utterly gripping.

"I've seen chaos, but not on this scale," one of them laments of the scene at the cave, and what the directors do is shape that chaos into something that becomes inspiring and so engrossingly told, that even though you know the outcome, you can't help but have your heart in your mouth as the end nears.

In fact, it's in the final rescue that the enormity of what lay ahead for the rescuers is tactfully and carefully laid bare. Scenes of boys being drugged, fitted with masks and pushed under water are frighteningly nightmarish in this doco, even though none of it is played for drama. The grim reality of the preparations are forensically mentioned, again showing the directors' flair for covering as much of this whirlwind as they could.

Whilst it's a shame The Rescue doesn't have anything from the families and the kids themselves other than archival footage, it does become a salutation of the unsung heroes of the operation - and a reminder that sometimes, just the careful construction of a story can prove to be utter dynamite for movie goers.

Night Raiders: NZIFF Film Review

With a dystopian sheen and a sci-fi flavour running through its veins, Danis Goulet's Night Raiders is an exercise in intelligence and an impressive execution on a low budget.

With indigenous voices coming to the fore, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is Niska, who's trying to protect her daughter Waseese from forces which want to snatch her away. But when Waseese becomes seriously injured, Niska has no choice but to give up her daughter to the mystical Academy to ensure her survival.

However, as months pass, Niska starts to see the more totalitarian edges of the regime, and feel the oppression of the conditions she and others are forced to live in - and she decides to fight back, and get her daughter back. Will she be too late though?

Goulet's day-after-tomorrow world building is horrifyingly realistically envisioned, with elements of scifi thrown in for good measure. Drones litter the skies, tracking and tracing before meting out callous justice.

But Night Raiders is no balls to the wall scifi - it's a thoughtful pensive piece about the treatment of Indigenous races, about the fears of mothers and about what it takes to rise up. 

Central to all this is Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, a rugged and grounded presence, who helps sell The Last of Us vibes of the film, the decay of society and the breakdown and mistrust of others. A spiky Goulet helps things along too, with the unpredictability of the script really pushing the envelope at times. A spare OST also helps to build an atmosphere of unease in this road trip movie which has psychological edges washed all the way through.

Clever use of drained and drab colours helps create a world in decay, as the story tackles brainwashing, assimilation and indoctrination. 

If Night Raiders falls short, it is, in truth, in its final moments with a denouement that doesn't quite have the power it should, but a lot of Night Raiders marks the advent of many new talents both behind and in front of the cameras.

Mothers of the Revolution: Film Review 

In 1980s Britain, the threat of the Cold War's nuclear endgame hung terrifyingly over everyone's daily routine.

Public address videos discussed what could be done in the 4 minute warning period, British artists like Raymond Briggs told tales such as "When the Wind Blows" and a general atmosphere of impending end times accosted most lives.

Director Briar March's latest looks at how the mothers of the time addressed these global fears, with the UK slap bang in the middle of the firing line between Russia and the US. 

Centring on a quartet of women who had become new mothers, and who were worried by the threat of nuclear war, March uses current day reflective interviews and footage from the time, as well as some illustrated interludes, to fashion a documentary that's as much about the salutation of the chorus of the downtrodden, as it is yet another shameful examination of the toxic masculinity espoused by authority figures from the past.

Galvanised by the arrival of cruise missiles on UK shores, the women began a peaceful protest march from Cardiff in Wales to Greenham Common, to demonstrate not everyone is happy about what's transpiring. What March does, via a combination of talking heads and archive footage, is create a picture of a movement that was naive but headstrong in its plans and was dismissed as "cleaners" when they arrived at the base.

March also captures lightning in a bottle, exploring how media obsessions over Diana's wedding and a panda failed to seize on the fears of the public, and whose exploration of events at Greenham Common where the protests became centred proved them to be one-sided. 

At times, Mothers of the Revolution feels like a spy film, with punkish vibes and spitting soundtrack fashioning proceedings; in others, the shocking treatment of the women at the hands of police investigators is appalling but sadly expected. 

March carefully constructs the narrative to ensure a non-preachy approach to the story of the peace movement, and as a result, this careful treading of the lines means Mothers of the Revolution has more power than a didactic history lesson.

With a message of "Don't think you're too little to do big things," Mothers of The Revolution is a stirring call to arms, and a calm and measured exploration of a little saluted movement that truly changed the world.

Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer

The final trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home has arrived.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is exclusively in cinemas December 16.

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero's identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. 

When he enlists Doctor Strange’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.

 

Directed by: Jon Watts

 

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau with Marisa Tomei

Based on the MARVEL Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Riders of Justice: NZIFF Film Review

A shaven-headed Mads Mikkelsen, a trio of helpers who make the Lone Gunmen look over-qualified, a plethora of Daddy Daughter issues and a side order of unexpected comedy all make up the mix of this Danish movie.

Mikkelsen is Markus, a war veteran who's forced to return home when his wife is killed in an apparent accident on a train. But when Markus is approached by the man who gave up his seat for his wife on the train, he is soon dragged into a conspiracy that claims the deaths were cover for the murder of a soon-to-testify witness who was on the train.

Angered by the death, and fuelled by the desire for revenge, Markus sets out to use his particular set of skills and get the closure he needs...

There's an intriguing mix of comedy, melancholy and masculinity issues in this thriller, that in truth, stretches about 20 minutes too long.

A script that's peppered with insights into grief helps things along, and a lashing of brutal violence ensures the tone never settles for something that's too indulgent. 

In amongst it all is a dead-eyed Mikkelsen, whose parental advice to his daughter who's struggling to come to terms with the death veers on the ice-cold realism that nobody needs in their darkest hour. But Mikkelsen keeps things taut and honed with a frisson of uncertainty as the story unfurls.

The black edges of Riders of Justice give the story an unpredictable trajectory that's worth clinging to, and the pearls of examination of masculinity cover the whole paradigm of fragility, over confidence and vulnerability with a sheen that's hard to shake.