The Great Gatsby: Movie Review

The Great Gatsby: Movie Review

Cast: Leonardo di Caprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher
Director: Baz Luhrmann

So, with much pomp and ceremony, director Baz Luhrmann's take on F Scott Fitzgerald's book (and the fifth movie to be made since 1926) arrives.

It's late in the 1920s and on Long Island where we join Tobey Maguire's Nick Carraway, who's recovering in a sanitarium and recounting the story of millionaire playboy Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and how their paths crossed at the height of the roaring twenties.(1922 to be precise).

Carraway's cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) also shares a connection to Gatsby - five years ago, they were in love when he disappeared at war. So, she married Joel Edgerton's Tom Buchanan, and apparently moved on. But when Daisy reconnects with Gatsby, it throws all manner of spanners into the lavish works with Tom suspecting her of an affair, even though he's cavorting with another woman (played by Isla Fisher).

The Great Gatsby movie is all manner of spectacle and unfortunately, all lacking in real soul.

It starts off with real energy and sumptuous excesses as a visual symphony explodes before your very eyes. Using CGI and plenty of shots of a camera pulling away, Luhrmann sets a wonderfully evocative film as Tobey Maguire's haunted and laconic (almost stoned) voice-over plays out.

Through dizzying shots, Luhrmann cramming as many people as he can into any given party scene and ramping up an old school soundtrack with current musical sensibilities, his sense of delivery as a director borders on the OTT in places. Luxurious elegance crams every corner of every frame and opulence flows from the screen as the 3D use falls into place and the myth of the mysterious playboy Gatsby is fuelled. Plus Luhrmann uses lines from the text to sing out from the screen, which is evocative, innovative and respectful of the source material.

And yet, once the scene is set and the reveal of Gatsby himself is done (a scene where a grinning Cheshire cat style DiCaprio turns around as fireworks go off in the background is so crammed with cheese you can almost taste it), the fizz and sparkle of this spectacle goes limp.

It's no criticism of the acting on show, more a realisation that once the pomp and vulgar opulence have faded, the human element needs to come into play and it simply becomes a story of a thwarted love and a condemnation of the American Dream in the 1920s and the excesses of the times for the rich. Di Caprio impresses as Gatsby, as he struggles to put on a performance as the rich millionaire playboy; Maguire looks laconic and a bit disinterested as Carraway, the narrator of the piece; Joel Edgerton manages the best he can of a one-note character and Carey Mulligan is fairly wispy and ethereal as Daisy, managing to not entirely convince as a love interest.

The Great Gatsby is more a case of style over substance I'm afraid; it's a film of scale, but one which is built on very little foundation. It's hard to care for or even about any of the characters in the central story as the doomed love story plays out. Interestingly unlike the characters in Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, you don't connect in the same way and it renders the final feeling as one of indifference and detachment rather than romantic longing. Maybe it's a flaw of not having read the book that I don't get that these characters are supposed to be wrapped up in all their own worlds (even though Carraway hints at how sickened he is by life).

Shallow and a little hollow, The Great Gatsby movie is impressive in places and aesthetically astounding - but it can't match the ambition of its director and its first half in terms of narrative.

A sudden change of pace and direction in the second half leaves you a little floundering and hoping that the overlong production would come to an end. Despite the wondrous costuming and period detail, the charm of Di Caprio and his acting, not once was my heart touched - and for a doomed love story that is the Great Gatsby movie, that's a fatal flaw.

Rating:

Shopping: Movie Review

Shopping: Movie Review

Cast: Kevin Paulo, Julian Dennison, Jacek Koman, Alistair Browning
Directors: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland

From the writers of the award nominated The Six Dollar Fifty Man comes the first foray into feature film making.

It's New Zealand 1981 - a time of racial tensions between the Samoans and New Zealanders. Brothers Willie and Solomon are caught up in the middle of this in their own ways. Solomon, the youngest of the two, is lost in a world of his own and knows only the guiding light of his older brother, Willie. But Willie's on the verge of making his way into the real world, starting with driving lessons from his father Terry.

However, when Terry lets Willie down over the lessons, Willie's relationship with his father is strained. Tempted into a world of theft after a chance encounter with charismatic thief and immigrant Bennie (Koman), Willie discovers a family bond, lacking in his own life.

With the possibility of this surrogate father taking him in, Willie's keen to do anything to impress - but his immersion into Bennie's world sets him on a collision course with disaster.

Shopping is an at times, bleak and darkly put together film festival-like tale.

Beautifully shot (on the Kapiti coast) and wonderfully evocative of the era (the attention to period detail is stunning), it's a tale which takes a little while to unfold but when it finally does so, does very well.

It helps that the two young leads are gifted natural actors; Paulo, a first time actor, imbues Willie with a nuanced performance that's subtle and restrained. He manages to convey the inner turmoil and the mix of confusion and anger well without any real over-acting. Likewise, the young Dennison helps build a realistic bond with his brother which feels natural and warm.

Inevitably, the film follows the NZ norm and uncovers some nasty home truths of beatings and so on, but rather than over-indulge in that side of it, the story wisely veers away from indulging in the domestic issues (which aren't quite as strong as the other story threads) and concentrates on Willie's inauguration into the thieves' world. Though, it has ventured to the Sundance Festival this year and played there, which is extremely commendable.

A mix of meandering narrative in the early stages and tension set the scene well and when the final explosion comes as Willie's two worlds meet, you are gripped by what unfolds as the misery comes home to roost with a real blow to the senses.

Thankfully, the film wisely ends on the relationship between the two brothers - and it's a good choice to help cinemagoers leave with some form of optimism. Because the main heart of the film is this bond and it's in those moments that it brings something unique and magical to the screen.

Rating:

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http://newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/player/ondemand/859595137-darren-bevan-at-the-movies--may-25

Cosplay from Armageddon Day 2 in Hamilton

Cosplay from Armageddon Day 2 in Hamilton

It's the final day of Armageddon in Hamilton, before the show hits Wellington for Queen's Birthday weekend.

Here are some more pics from the cosplayers in action.

Lance Henriksen at Armageddon in Hamilton

Lance Henriksen at Armageddon in Hamilton

The star of Aliens and the much missed and brilliant TV series Millennium, Lance Henriksen was at Armageddon in Hamilton this weekend and gave a great panel.

Here are a couple of pictures from the event for you to enjoy.

Fast and Furious 6: Movie Review

Fast and Furious 6: Movie Review

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Luke Evans, Gina Carano, Jordana Brewster
Director: Justin Lin

Gentlemen, start your engines, once again for another entrant into the Fast and the Furious franchise.

Last time, if you remember in Fast Five, the gang had carried off one last heist and were taking it easy, despite being scattered around the world and living on the run. But, despite the so-called quiet life, Vin Diesel's Toretto is visited by Agent Hobbs (walking muscleman Dwayne Johnson) who enlists his help to bring down a criminal mastermind, Shaw (played with relative lack of screen presence by Luke Evans).

The hook this time, though, is that Dom Toretto (gravelly-voiced muscle-head Vin Diesel) finds out that his one time girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is still alive - despite being killed off earlier on in the series.....

Furious 6 (to give it its onscreen title name) is exactly what you'd expect from the car-racing series - pumping OST, fast cars and lots of racing scenes. This time though, it's less car-mageddon than you may be expecting. And unfortunately, despite the quality increase of Fast Five, which had some cool stunts and a not too insufferable storyline, this one's hardly off the starting blocks.

Posturing machismo, po-faced and for the most part straight-laced, Furious 6 is a bit of a formulaic racing romp with a story that's predictable and almost laughable in places. Granted, you're not expecting Shakespearean tragedy and quality acting from this series, you're after breakneck speed racing and stunts that make you gasp and gravitate to the edge of your seat. The actors give their all despite never really facing any definite peril and the series is to be praised for continually using strong action women (aside from Jordana Brewster, who's literally left holding the baby)

This time round, despite setting the predominance of the film in London (which begs the question how can these cars speed around the capital's central roads? Every time I've ever been there's a degree of congestion) and utilising the environment to the best of its ability, the whole thing's a bit of a damp squib.

Diesel barely proffers a hint of emotion in any of the delivery of his lines; likewise Evans hardly registers on the baddie scale, knocking up nary a sinister smile as a guy who's stealing some tech to wreak some kind of havoc. The racing sequences don't exactly leave you breathless this time either as they're all so predictable and shot from the same wheel hub angle all throughout; the one sequence that actually impresses is on a Spanish bridge which sees the most enthralling of conclusions. Even a catfight between two girls and some beat-downs of the other team members delivers a few bloodless thrills but stretch credibility. But, the final sequence which takes place on an incredibly long airbase strip is too dark to register anything other than muddied confusion as it plays out all guns, cars and gung-ho blazing.


Then, what would you expect from a formulaic and functional film that delivers women gyrating in skimpy clothing at a London car meet, a flying headbutt takedown from its hero and administers amnesia to bring Rodriguez's Letty into conflict with the old gang?

One final twist in the tale delivers the ultimate punch and sets up yet more of these films - but unless the producers of this series come up with something exciting next time rather than running on half-empty plot ideas, it's to be hoped that Fast and the Furious franchise is going to be taken to the junkyard and scrapped.

Rating:

Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones at Armageddon, Hamilton

Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones at Armageddon, Hamilton

Stars appearing at Armageddon is always cool - here's a couple of shots from the Jason Momoa of Game of Thrones panel on Saturday at Hamilton.