Sherlock Holmes: Movie Review

Sherlock Holmes: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan
Director: Guy Ritchie
Ah, the quintessential hero could really only be played by the quintessential comeback kid.
So it is with this new take on Sherlock Holmes which sees Robert Downey Jr taking on the mantle of the detective.
Upon capturing evil Lord Blackwood (played with the usual flair by Mark Strong), Holmes (Downey Jr) is taunted by his promises that it's not over.
Things get even more surreal when Blackwood apparently rises from the dead and begins to terrorise London.
And despite this being Holmes and Watson's last case together (Watson's off to be married), the pair soon find themselves pulled back into the English criminal underworld as Blackwood's true machinations begin to unfurl.
As if that wasn't bad enough for Holmes, his one true love, the untrustworthy Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) is back on the scene - and it appears she's got plenty of secrets to keep Holmes intrigued.
Sherlock Holmes is a good reintroduction into the characters - but I have to admit, I felt much of the muddled plot was there simply to serve as exposition ready for the sequel (once you've seen it you'll understand why - and there's no spoilers here).
That said, there's much to admire about this latest rendition of Holmes - Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law have an excellent partnership as Holmes and Watson respectively; the pair are like brothers and Holmes can't resist pulling Watson back in the more he tries to get out of the crimesolving game.
Downey Jr makes a great Holmes - and director Ritchie plays his Holmes as a bored genius; Sherlock's feckless and restless when he doesn't have a case to solve - and he's never happier than when he has a riddle to deal with. Once again, Downey Jr proves the screen presence - although it's mainly thanks to his foil of a human Jude Law that the partnership works so well. The pair's bickering and squabbling clearly hides a deep love - and Holmes is jealous that he's about to lose his long time companion to a woman. It's these kind of character tics which really make Holmes quirky and reinvents him for the 21st century.
Mark Strong is as good as ever in the character role of Lord Blackwood - his taunting and teasing of Holmes clearly does a lot to show once again that Strong is an incredibly menacing and versatile actor onscreen.
Guy Ritchie's also brought that inevitable sense of Lock Stock cinematic style to ancient London - I had to admire the way he used his traditional slow mo shots to show how Holmes deals quickly with a problem in his head before physically dealing with it. In one fight scene, Holmes works out mentally how he will incapacitate his opponent through a series of slow mo cut shots - then seconds later, we see the physical action. It's a great way to demonstrate how Holmes' intellect and quick thinking works.
If there's to be a criticism of Sherlock Holmes (other than the film feeling like it's getting us ready for Sherlock 2) then it's that thanks to a slightly muddled plot, it never quite crackles and fizzes as well as it should - witty dialogue, quick repartie and some good (at times comedy) action pieces (including a very novel set piece on a dry docked boat) work well but the story drags it down slightly.

Holmes is clearly where the heart is, and Downey Jr's already said he will play the role again - so it's clear that the game is indeed afoot.

Alvin and The Chipmunks 2: Movie Review

Alvin and The Chipmunks 2: Movie Review

Rating: 5/10
Cast: Alvin, Simon, Theodore, Zachary Levi, Jason Lee, David Cross, Wendie Malick
Director: Betty Thomas
Alvin and the gang are back in this hideously titled follow up to Alvin and the Chipmunks.
This time, Alvin, Theodore and Simon are facing a life away from their pal Dave (Jason Lee - who's reduced to a mere cameo in this sequel) after an accident at a concert lands him in hospital.
Dave dispatches the helium voiced trio to live with his nephew Toby (Zachary Levi) - and as an added bonus, Dave decides it's time for them to go to school.
As if the peer pressure of fitting in at an American high school wasn't bad enough, the Chipmunks face a new threat - a female equivalent trio, the Chipettes, who are being masterminded by former manager Ian Hawke (David Cross) who's determined to get back into the big time and rain on Alvin's parade.
Can the Chipmunks beat their toughest ever threats and triumph?
So it's summer and the movies are all really about entertainment at the moment particularly with the school holidays now in full force.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel isn't bad entertainment - it just unfortunately fails to bridge the all ages gap. There'll be some younger movie goers who'll love the fart gags and the continuing pratfalls of the main cast - and that's perfectly fine.
But for the older portion of the audience (ie the mums and dads who are dragged along by their brood), it may be a little more of a struggle to get through. The human actors - David Cross and Zachary Levi (of TV2 fame as Chuck) acquit themselves well - Levi continues to get by on his lovable goofiness and slacker charm whereas Cross proves why he's such a comic genius by steering his Ian Hawke away from stereotyped bad guy into idiotic despot territory.
The Chipmunks themselves are all fine - at times, they sparked off memories of the Gremlins because of their continuing buffoonery.

However, there's some morals on display here too - Alvin has to learn some harsh lessons about never abandoning family as well as peer pressure and that pride comes before a fall; Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette, the new Chipettes provide the requisite romantic spark but all in all Alvin and The Chipmunks - The Squeakquel is a fairly light piece of unsubstantial holiday entertainment.

Morris A Life With Bells On: Movie Review

Morris A Life With Bells On
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Chas Oldham, Derek Jacobi, Ian Hart, Dominique Pinon
Director: Lucy Akhurst
Morris dancing - it doesn't sound like your average choice for a film.
However, this spoof doco about the perils faced by the world of Morris could change that.
Set in rural England, a documentary team follows the life of Derecq Twist.
Actor Chas Oldham is Twist, a young morris dancer whose moves have set the world of the dance alight and whose thoughts of modernization are causing ripples within the governing body who oversee all things bells and sticks.
However, Twist is expelled from his local group and cast asunder from the UK world of Morris dancing by the powers that be.
So Twist heads abroad to follow his fame and worldwide reputation and its there that he starts to realize that while you can take the man out of morris dancing, you cant take the morris dancing out of the man.
This mockumentary is quite a gentle film - if you're blessed with a knowledge of rural parts of England and their quaint ways (thatched cottage roofs and slightly accented speaking) it may well appeal to you a little more than the average viewer.
There's a casual charm to the central cast; Twist's wrapped up in his morris ways but he has a disarming attitude which hooks you in from the start. Derek Jacobi as Quentin Neely, the head of the morris dancing organisation, is full of the pompous self importance and priggery you often find on jumped up committees worldwide. And as for the cameo by Pinon (Delicatessen) as the French sailor who washed up on the shores and discovered the joys of the Lord of the dance, well, quelle amusement there.
The humour is sly and wry there is a lot of casual throwaway comments which will catch you out if you're not paying attention. A lot of the dialogue is very similar in places to Spinal Tap at one point, one character says they are all about the 3 Ps - passion, practice and the desire to be best. It's that kind of subtle humour which reels you in without realizing.
There is actually plenty of serious Morris Dancing (aside from the American Backstreet boys style number) which shows the cast, while slyly mocking the subject, clearly has a lot of admiration for how it's done.

Morris A Life With Bells On is an antidote to the bigger Christmas blockbuster fare - it's got rural rustic charm all over it and will leave you with a wry grin through out.

Avatar: Movie Review

Avatar: Movie Review

Avatar
Rating: See below
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
Director: James Cameron.
Wow.
It's been a long wait for the world James Cameron - along with WETA - has created for Avatar - and it's finally here.
Sam Worthington is Jake Sully, a paralysed former Marine who takes his dead brother's place on a mission to new world Pandora.
It's there that the Earthlings find themselves in conflict with the planet's indigenous people, the Na'vi (a 10 foot tall, blue skinned cat like spiritual race)
The Earthlings want to get their hands on a rich deposit of unobtainium, a rare mineral which could prevent the energy crisis back on earth.
However, that deposit is slap bang in the middle of the Na'vi's spiritual land - so Sully is sent in (via his own blue skinned Na'vi avatar) to try and see if there's a solution - be it military or negotiation...
So, what can you say about Avatar?
Blessed with superlatives already by critics worldwide (including Peter Jackson at the launch of the Lovely Bones ) and now given Golden Globe nods , it's fair to say Avatar is nothing short of a wondrous cinematic visual experience.
Weta has done such a thrilling job bringing James Cameron's vision to life - lush landscapes bristle with plant life made up of purples, oranges and deep greens. Every attention to detail in the world around the protagonists has been captured - in the early stages of the film, the cameras pan round technology of holographic scanners in a command centre as if it were the norm. The world is set up so quickly that pretty soon you adjust to life on another world.
The stop motion technology used to bring to the Na'vi and the wildlife around them to life also needs to be shouted about - it's game changing in terms of what films can do. And will do from now on. I can guarantee you've never really seen a film like this (other than in your mind's eye when you've been reading certain books) - the Na'vi are a fully formed breathing entity complete with layers of detail and glistening spots in the depths of the jungle.
I really don't have the words to explain how awe inducing it is up on the big screen - this is a film that will remain as an experience in 2D cinema, but will lose its majesty outside of the 3D world where it's brought to life. It's outstanding the level of detail which those behind the camera have gone to (see if you can spot the subtle difference between the Na'vi and the humans' Avatars)
However - yes, I'm sorry to be the bearer of some bad news - there are a few niggles with Avatar.
It's not the most original of stories - the plot (such as it is) is predictable and the usual adage of it being a big blockbuster light on plot does come to mind. All of the actors are good in their roles (although it's a little disheartening to see Zoe Saldana's Neytiri character go from strong warrior to female sidekick - and the marine in charge Colonel Quaritch - played with stereotypical Marine arrogance by Stephen Lang is so one dimensional). Sure, these are the usual complaints about plot, character development etc.
Yet, I'm more than happy to concede that (and even shout about the fact) Avatar is a game changing film and revolutionary - it's raised the bar so high in terms of effects that it'll be a struggle to see anything live up to its standards and the experience.
Granted, this first film is really about showing off the results of the technology - the challenge will come in the stories James Cameron will tell on the world in the sequels.
You really do have to see this on the big screen - and preferably in 3D to fully experience what Cameron - and Richard Taylor's Weta team - wanted you to live through.

Rating: 10/10 for effects and WOW factor - 5/10 for plot

Amelia: Movie Review

Amelia: Movie Review

Rating: 5/10
Cast: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston
Director: Mira Nair
Hilary Swank stars as the symbol of optimism and hope to many during the great depression in this latest attempt to bring Amelia Earhart to the screen.
(The first of course was the button nose Amy Adams in this year's Night At the Museum 2)
Earhart's story is obviously one which is well known given how her final flight turned out - although the mystery behind it has never been solved, there's been endless speculation about what exactly happened when she disappeared.
Book-ending this film is that flight - as the film opens, Earhart's in the plane with her navigator - but from there, we're cast back into the past as we see exactly how she became interested in the whole business of flying and cracking the gentlemen's club of the time. The story's told in flashbacks as we see Earhart taking her final flight, the 1937 round the world attempt from which she disappeared.
Earhart first meets with publisher George Putnam (Richard Gere) who asks her why exactly she wants to fly. He's after a female face to help sell a book - and interest - in aviation. But Putnam's reckoned without Earhart's moxy and her ambition to fly solo (something which was framed upon in the boy's club of the time).

Amelia is a disappointing biopic - despite Swank's uncanny resemblance to Earhart, there's little passion in the film - even an affair with Ewan McGregor's Gene Vidal is brushed over without any real depth and feeling. And Putnam's desire to keep Earhart and his jealousy over her friendship with Vidal is fumbled over as well. It's a case of missed opportunities with this biopic.
Earhart was clearly a conflicted, passionate character - she was forced to endorse products she didn't believe in because of the harsh reality that a lack of product placement would mean no cash to finance the flights. We see her give in with little fight and it's frustrating.
Director Mira Nair's used to great effect old aeroplanes and some of the old reel footage which exists of the flights at the time (the newsreels fade into excellent recreations of the scenes) and there's a wonderful sweeping score.
But set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, I never really got a sense of how Amelia Earhart was the modern hero to those who suffered so badly in the 30s - and I certainly never felt that the filmmakers got that message across well enough.

There's a simplicity of story telling within Amelia - but unfortunately it's a little too broad brush and treats the subject a little too lightly. It's very tempting to say the biopic rarely takes off (sorry) but in all honesty, Amelia just doesn't gel together; the story's a little flat and it's hard to emotionally engage with Amelia herself and sympathise with her plight as she tried desperately to pioneer her way in the skies.

Under The Mountain: Movie Review

Under The Mountain: Movie Review

Rating: 7/10
Cast: Sam Neill, Oliver Driver, Tom Cameron, Sophie McBride
Director: Jonathan King
How do you adapt a classic?
Particularly one as inherently Kiwi and steeped in our culture as hokey pokey ice cream or The Topp Twins?
That's the dilemma facing the director Jonathan King in this new adaptation of Maurice Gee's much loved book Under The Mountain, first published back in 1979.
In this version (a little removed from the iconic eighties television series) teen twins Theo and Rachel (Tom Cameron and Sophie McBride) are growing apart after the death of their mother.
The psychic bond shared by the pair is under strain as Theo refuses to face the reality of the situation - however, the pair stay with relatives in Auckland and discover their future lies in helping Mr Jones (Sam Neill) defeat the Wilberforces before they unleash the power beneath the volcanoes and destroy the world..
Personally I think it's hard to really appreciate Under The Mountain out of context of New Zealand - the whole production is clearly a NZ venture; from the sweeping panoramic shots of Auckland and the NZ countryside to a very funny aside about the reality of calling in the New Zealand Army, Under The Mountain is steeped in Kiwiana.
Maurice Gee's book is considered a classic by many - and it's fair to say there's a weight of expectation on this adaptation.
What director Jonathan King's managed to create is an incredibly creepy and, in places, downright scary film - the oozing menace from Oliver Driver's head Wilberforce is likely to give kids nightmares. He is a boogeyman for the 21st century and thanks to WETA workshop's impressive prosthetic work and Driver's staccato vocals, there'll be plenty who'll want to sleep with the lights on for a while to come.
The effects are equally as impressive - whereas the directors could easily have used CGI to create everything, they've opted for a mix of live action and CGI which seamlessly blend in.
Scenery plays a vitally important part in this film - Rangitoto towers in the background, forever lurking and casting a shadow over what transpires in the film - beautiful panoramic shots highlight the juxtaposition of the alien decay of the Wilberforce place on Lake Pupuke in comparison to the life and vitality of Auckland's finest.
For first time actors, Tom Cameron and Sophie McBride acquit themselves not too badly; and Leon Wadham's cousin Ricky, who initially grates as a comedy relief, finds something meatier is required of him when the Wilberforce threat becomes real - Sam Neill as ever brings gravitas and a degree of humanity to his role as Mr Jones.
If there's to be a criticism of Under The Mountain (and unfortunately there has to be), it comes after the 60 minutes mark - after building an incredible atmosphere of menace and threat, it all becomes a little unstuck and the ending is somewhat rushed and a little muddy. A moment of sacrifice from a major character unfortunately doesn't ring as emotionally true as it should and it clouds the film's denouement.

Overall, Under The Mountain deserves to do well in New Zealand as it's imbued with an inherent love of the source material here - for the young kids, there's a brand new generation of Wilberforces to give them the heebie jeebies - and for those who fondly remember the iconic TVNZ series, there's plenty of moments to empathise with the kids as their teen fears are realized.

The Time Traveller's Wife: Movie Review

The Time Traveller's Wife: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston
Director: Robert Schwentke
Based on the best selling book by Audrey Niffenegger about a time travelling librarian (yeah, who knew?), the film version of The Time Traveller's Wife finally materialises in cinemas.
Bana stars as old and young versions of Henry deTamble, who, thanks to a genetic anomaly, can travel back and forth through time. Without warning, he simply disappears, leaving behind a pile of clothes and questions - and shows up somewhere else stark naked.
However, one day at a library, he meets Rachel McAdams' Claire Abshire, who tells him that they've met before - only Henry's never met her. Yet.
So they start a relationship and Henry begins to realise that he's met the young Claire - and as their life together grows, Claire begins to suffer the strain of not knowing how long Henry's around for her and what they can do together.
Can their love survive? And what hurdles will they face in their future - will Henry's genetic problem be passed onto their children?
The Time Traveller's Wife may have you leaving the cinema doing one of two things - either scratching your head over the intricacies of jumping around in your own timeline (the bane of sci-fi - and Sam Beckett - for years) or bawling your eyes out.
It's a romantic fantasy with a narrative that jumps back and forth (although not as strongly as the book did) - director Robert Schwentke has made the narrative as linear as he could.
Bana and McAdams bring considerable charm to their respective roles - and the effects of Bana melting away as Henry are pretty cool (like water running through a painting) - but The Time Traveller's Wife has a kind of mournful spirit throughout.
Henry's condition is never seen as anything more than a curse for him - he can't save his mother from a fatal car accident and he never seems entirely happy to just disappear. Even when flashes of his death appear, it's a nice touch to see that Bana's character is scared because he finally has something he wants to stick around for and that's now out of his control.

The Time Traveller's Wife won't set the world alight - despite some of the corny lines, there's a quiet air of sadness in it which induces a major case of the weepies at the end.