NZIFF Review - Snowpiercer

NZIFF Review - Snowpiercer

From director Joon-ho Bong, Snowpiercer's set in a future where the human population has pretty much wiped themselves out with global warming.

After finding the Earth was heating up too quickly, scientists discovered a way to cool it all down and ironically, froze the planet and killed everyone off apart from a rag tag band of survivors who inhabit a train that travels around the world.

Divvied up into classes within the train, tempers are fraying - and revolution is in the air.

Lead by Chris Evans' Curtis, the time has come for change - and when the powers that be head to the lower ends of the train inhabited by the lower classes to snatch some children, everything boils over. With a full blown assault underway and those at the front of the train desperate to quell this uprising, it's a fight for survival as the group tries to push their way through to the front carriage and change their lives for the better...

But the closer they get to their goal, the higher the personal cost....

Snowpiercer is a curious film (it's based on a series of French graphic novels) which blends action with some truly stunning production values, brilliantly realised.

Joon-ho's created a visual dystopian world within that impresses; from the grimy gritty nature of the tail end of the train where Curtis' people live in an oppressed huddle to the more luxurious front sections where the select few live it up, each door that Curtis unlocks releases a visual feast more splendid and excessive than the last.

Snowpiercer doesn't skimp on action either - with the director creating some visual smackdowns that impress and thrill in equal measure. A showdown on the train as it heads into a long tunnel is a terrifying proposition brilliantly executed and sickening in equal measures. A clash in a primary school section as well is shocking in many ways, incorporating indoctrination and lots of bullets in a way you'd never expect.

Likewise, Tilda Swinton is fantastic as the leader of the opposition, a pastiche of Thatcher with Deidre Barlow; her presence helps keep the film out of the stuffy po-faced territory and her Northern English accent is a sight to behold.

Visually, the glimpses of the frozen vistas are excellently executed, as life outside the train is showcased. The effects work is impressive and sparingly used.

But it's not perfect.

Parts of Snowpiercer feel too episodic by their very nature and don't quite hang together as the group unlocks a door, goes through that section of the train and onto the next part. Narratively, the thread dangles a little weak and a little too loosely as it plays out.

And there's one portion towards the end of the film where Evans just doesn't deliver the powerful punch it needs. A speech about the hardships they've faced feels overcooked and over-explained, lacking emotion at a crucial stage and over using exposition that's unnecessary. (There are flashes of this throughout, leaving you to feel that the whole thing's been overtly hammered home when it didn't need to have been and when the subtlety would have aided the power of the message.)

All in all, Snowpiercer tries to deliver a commentary on the classes' system - and for the most part it does so successfully, but the overall feeling is one that it could have delivered a lot more as you board this blockbuster on its 2 hour journey.

NZIFF Review - The Babadook

NZIFF Review - The Babadook

Prepare to find yourself a little scared by this new psychological horror from Aussie filmmaker Jennifer Kent.

Essie Davies stars as Amelia, a single mother on the edge; working by day at an old people's home and by night dealing with son Samuel (Noah Wiseman, who may make you think of Danny from The Shining) who claims to be battling monsters and is in trouble at school.

One night, Samuel chooses a book from the shelf for mom to read - the story of the Babadook, a mysterious creature that commands to be let in to the house. Traumatised by the story, Samuel's behaviour becomes worse as he believes the creature to be already here and promises to protect his mother whatever the cost.

Dismissing the story as fiction, Amelia tries to get on with life - but a series of events leads her to suspect there's a sinister truth in the story of the Babadook.....

Clearly an allegory for grief, loss and depression, The Babadook is a great psychological film that has a way of getting under your skin (for the most part).

The titular beast is a curious mix of shadows, the Gentlemen from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and something from primordial nightmares. Rarely fully displayed throughout the film (a wise move), it benefits from bringing sheer terror each time it harasses the increasingly frayed Amelia.

In among the suspenseful atmospherics and tension of The Babadook, there's plenty going on below the surface.

On the one hand, this is a story about a creeping malignancy affecting Amelia; a cumulative sense of shock seeping in after years of repressed trauma; a husband who died on the way to hospital to birth Samuel has given way to years of Amelia's withdrawal from life and connection to those around her; further fuelled by sleep deprivation from the fear of the Babadook and various things which go bump in the night around the drab house, Essie Davies is nothing short of plausibly brilliant as the harangued Amelia. With Samuel acting up, who wouldn't consider acting on their deepest darkest thoughts as the nights draw on?

It's this kind of nightmarish universal scenario that Kent has managed to bring so visually and viscerally to life as the trauma reaches fever pitch and the film delivers a crescendo of unspeakably uncomfortable moments. Aided by single fixed point shots of the house's darker spaces and a soundtrack which ratchets its way under your skin, The Babadook is set to be one of the greater modern horrors - and with its Baba-dook, dook, dook hook a great new entrant into the pantheon of urban horror legends. (And particularly the scene where the story book appears to come to life remains a visual flourish and a creative touch which impresses)

But it's sad to say that the final section brings out the usual horror tropes - from The Exorcist to every haunted house horror (via way curiously enough of Home Alone). And it's this part of the film which is the most disappointing because up until then, there's a subtlety that's as rewarding as it is uncomfortable. A little easing back on that side of things would have proved more effective than any kind of cliched moments can deliver.

It's the terror within that The Babadook so effectively mines, a reminder that the best horrors tap into fears we've long held since childhood and demons that lay dormant within. It's the power of suggestion boosted to the max which holds the key here - and with Kent tapping into most of that throughout, it's an unsettling horror that may ensure you want to sleep with the light on afterwards.

Read an interview with The Babadook director Jennifer Kent here.

Destiny BETA: PS4 / Xbox One Review

Destiny BETA: PS4 / Xbox One Review

Released by Bungie / Activision
Beta Platform

September is next month and it's clear the anticipation for Destiny is growing.

With over 4.6million people playing the latest BETA, which has just closed, there's clearly an appetite for this multiplayer - and quite simply, the more I play, the more I want it to be September.

Criticisms of the alpha came at the expense of Peter Dinklage's Ghost character (his line about a wizard coming from the moon has become legendary) but were completely misfounded. This time around, Bungie's saddled up with more content and more backstory as well, with cutscenes being thrown into the mix and some sense of atmosphere added in as well.

The cutscenes add a lot in terms of story but also a sense of proportion of the world around you - it's pretty impressive the scope of the game that's being set up. Sure this kind of thing has been done before, but this is the new world of the next gen platform and along with higher resolution graphics there is quite a damn sight more on the line for Bungie - and they show every intention of delivering with graphics for these scenes and dialogue that appears to be delivered by some major talent.

As you'll recall from the Destiny Alpha, there's the chance to customise your character and then get into the action - some of the sequences from the BETA were the same as the first one with missions being repeated (as the alpha was a private affair). But the level of the playability for these still appears to be extremely high, with the game feeling even more polished this time around. As you take on the Hive (The wizard line was nowhere to be seen this time), the tension's palpable and the constant onslaughts require you to be somewhat strategic getting rid of the bad guys.



But all of these require you to power up, to level up your abilities and to make it easier for you to progress through the worlds within. It means that you actually have to take on combat, rather than seeking to avoid it, which is an interesting touch when you consider how some games of a similar ilk look to help you on the path in a peaceful way. Loot chests give you material and unlockables as you face the enemy who have varying degrees of skill. Sometimes, it appears as if the AI isn't on your level and then other times you're despatched with ease. Still I guess even the baddies The Fallen have off days.

Multiplayer's going to be key to this - and I'm still keen to see what exactly happens when hundreds of people are wandering around your world and in your game. Granted, even with 4.6 million playing the BETA, there were never that many in the game at the same time as me, but you have to wonder how the servers will help to control such matters come launch. That said, if there were hundreds on board with the game at the same time, then I had no way of knowing - which shows the servers could cope with the numbers and gives great hope as to how the actual game will play without flaws. Which is extremely encouraging.

Polish is the main thing here - everything looks superb from the simple view of your character and the Crucible world around it to the cutscenes and their beauty. Money has been spent on Destiny and it shows at every turn. Hopefully, the Tower will come alive a little more - I'm still a little disappointed you can't actually interact with the traders vocally and only work through a button, but there's time for that to change. Particularly if it's supposed to be a social hub where you come to meet like minds.

What's impressive about the Destiny Beta is just how much it appears to have tweaked the experience of the Alpha - from its playability to the scope of the worlds within and the promise of what lies ahead, there seems to be a lot left to explore come September 9th. There are hints of further worlds to explore, more missions to go on and a raft of socialising to do.

Simply put, I cannot wait.

NZIFF Review - It Follows

NZIFF Review - It Follows

A terrifically old school suspenseful horror from the director of The Myth of the American Sleepover, you wonder how the likes of It Follows has not been done before.

Following a young bunch once again, director David Robert Mitchell is the story of Maika Monroe's Jay, who sleeps with her new boyfriend Hugh.

Only to be then chloroformed when there should be cuddling afterwards.

When she awakens, she's told by Hugh that an unseen something will now start following her and she has to avoid it - but that the only way to permanently get out of this pursuit is to sleep with someone else and pass the curse on.

But if the person who's been affected with the curse is killed, the creature stalks its original victim.

With a premise like that, you'd expect a somewhat trashy movie as the teens sleep their way around, promising plenty of loose sex and even looser morals.

But what actually transpires is a terrifically well-delivered, technically taut horror that makes great fist of an ominous soundtrack, perfect locations and slow seeping shots to create an atmosphere of utter dread within. At least one reveal of the thing following Jay is utterly terrifying and creatively executed, thanks to a combination of perfect timing, soundtrack and plausibility as well as tapping into one of those most horrific fears with you since the dawn of time.

The cast's fairly impressive too - once you get your head around the fact that in many ways, this is an old school horror where potential victims don't exactly make the wisest decisions. But that's not to dismiss it as retro or tacky in any way shape or form.

The relationship between Jay and her sister, as well as her first boyfriend Paul (who's happy to help relieve her of the curse) is excellently handled and the growing sense of dread is brilliantly executed throughout. Once the paranoia sets in the psychological effects are easy to understand, eminently watchable and smartly dished out. Even Jay's initial reticence to pass it on (one character remarks it should be easy for her as she's a girl) gives way to a sickening sense of inevitability for her own sanity.

Monroe is the right mix of naive and love-struck at the start, but once the horror starts to set in, her gradual descent into full-on terror and near breakdown is a compelling, if horrifying one.

Sure, you could argue this is a large metaphor for STDs and teen sex, but it's more than that. Mitchell's executed a classic horror that incorporates the terror of a faceless stalker. Wisely choosing to ignore the need for explanation for what exactly is going on, how it all began (perhaps fertile ground for another movie) and concentrating simply on delivering dread and terror, It Follows' MO is atmosphere and successful jump frights, deftly transcribed to the screen that channel a primal simple fear - something's coming for you and you can't escape it...

It Follows more than delivers on those - and don't be surprised if after seeing this, you walk home checking over your shoulder a couple of times....

NZIFF Review - The Double and Maps To The Stars

NZIFF Review - The Double and Maps To The Stars

It's another case of double identity at the New Zealand International Film Festival with Jesse Eisenberg standing in for the doppelganger treatment (with Jake Gyllenhaal in Enemy pulling similar duties).

This time, Eisenberg stars in Richard Ayoade's interpretation of Dostoyevsky's The Double as Simon James, an office worker, who's having a bad day. Things get worse when James discovers he's been usurped in the office by his exact double - who exudes more confidence, is less nervous and is on his way to the top.

Caught up in this web is Mia Wasikowska's Hannah, who falls for the double much to Simon's horror - and it's here that Simon starts to lose control of it all.

IT Crowd actor and Submarine director Richard Ayoade's already demonstrated a great eye for highly stylised film and he follows this trend in The Double, with some terrifically framed shots and some stunning visuals that bring the drab colours of greens to life in ways which leap off the screen. There's a real sense of the absurd here as Simon's world starts to disintegrate and Eisenberg does enough to balance the differences between the two - it's great to finally see Eisenberg break away from the usual neurotic fare and playing a stronger character.

But it's the visuals which are really the triumph of the film; Ayoade's captured an essence of a nightmare that seems just close enough to reality with the dark, dingy landscapes and attitudes. Patches of dry humour scatter throughout and bring a degree of levity to the dystopian proceedings. Stylistically, The Double is a triumph - though I do begin to worry that Ayoade's painting himself into an admittedly wonderful corner here; I look forward to seeing what he can do with a relatively straight story in the future.

Maps To The Stars sees the ghastly and the guru mix together in a satire of Hollywood that's masterminded by David Cronenberg.

The film opens with Mia Wasikowska's Agatha alighting from a bus in Hollywood with the whole world ahead of her and ends up with a suicide pact taking out two others in an incestuous affair. But before we get there, Cronenberg peppers his world with characters that really we don't want to spend any time with; from the monstrous Havana Segrand ( a ferocious turn by Julianne Moore) to the Justin Biber / Justin Timberlake child star Benjie Weiss (a troublingly precocious performance from Evan Bird) to the chauffeur / wannabe actor Jerome (Robert Pattinson) and self-help guru Dr Stafford Weiss (John Cusack); all have their foibles and personality traits amplified to the max, with the nastier sides coming through. Ghastly preoccupations and satirical bents there may be in this piece, but its inherent unlikeability makes it difficult to slide into.

Performances are terrific though - with Bird and Moore being the stand outs of the ensemble - but the film holds you at arm's length for most of the time, and while the satire's supposed to bite at the characters, it just feels too nasty to engage with.

NZIFF Review - In Order of Disappearance

NZIFF Review - In Order of Disappearance

Scandi-noir gets a darkly comic boost with In Order of Disappearance, a revenge saga where Stellan Skarsgard's Citizen of the Year Nils has to turn to the dark side after his son's killed by gangland crims.

With his wife believing the son had turned to drugs and lost his way, Nils is about to shoot himself when he finds one of his son's friends who had inadvertently set him up. Given the details of what's gone down and who's involved, Nils channels his inner Dirty Harry / Liam Neeson and sets out to exact revenge on those who've done him wrong.

For a film set in the white snowy expanses of Norway, this film's heart is as blackly comic as they come.

It opens with Nils running his snow plow through vast amounts of the white stuff and then takes a turn for the darker climes as the gangland element kicks in. With Nils intoning that he's "best at minding my own business" as he's given an award, you know that's never going to be the case as he cuts a sway through the criminal element, slowly and meticulously tracking them down and causing ructions in a fragile peace between the warring drug factions.

It's Skarsgard's film through and through, though his quietly determined edge sits at odds with the gangsters, who are there for comic relief and whose ineptitude shines through. Skarsgard keeps a level of dignity throughout - and scenes with his wife after their son's death drip with poignancy and emotion. It's a level of humanity which elevates this, despite some uglier misogynistic moments towards the end from the lead bad guy.

In stark contrast to the white driven snow, the film's heart is as dark as it comes, with a series of ongoing gags about how Nils is disposing of the bodies, death notices peppering the screen each time someone's offed and the gangland boss railing at how his son won't now be able to have his 5 a day because one of the henchmen's not packed his fruit.

But it's Snow Country for Old Men as Nils edges closer to his targets - the sparsity of his interactions and despatches lack the conventional Hollywood parting quip (and all are the more terrific for it) as the final showdown arrives.

All in all, In Order of Disappearance, aside from 2 moments of unnecessary repugnant ugliness, is one of the finer Scandi flicks to emerge from the Festival in a few years.

Five new Doctor Who images materialise

Five new Doctor Who images materialise

Five new Doctor Who images featuring Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara have shown up in a new issue of Entertainment Weekly.

The shots are below for you to enjoy:

Here's your first look at the Doctor Who Series 8 Full length trailer



With the brand new series of Doctor Who, starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna-Louise Coleman about to materialise on our screens, EW.com has the first look at the 12th Doctor in the opening episode Deep Breath.

Deep Breath also stars the Paternoster Gang and as you can see from the image, appears to be set in Victorian Times.

Doctor Who hits the UK on August 23rd at a rumoured time of 8pm for the feature length episode Deep Breath, directed by Ben Wheatley.

Take a first look at Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and Jenna Louise-Coleman as Clara.