The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro: Blu Ray Review

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Ent

The web-slinger returns.

In The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro, Peter Parker (a wonderful Andrew Garfield) is enjoying life; one of swinging through the city and being with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).However, when a major health and safety breach results into Jamie Foxx's socially invisible and borderline schizophrenic Max Dillon being turned into a formidable electrical villain called Electro, the two are set on a collision course.

Things get even more complicated as Peter delves into the mystery of his missing parents and with the return of Harry Osborn (Chronicle's Dane DeHaan)....and this time around, the cost of being Spider-Man could be too high.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro is a bit of webbed muddle, a mix of blockbuster tone and doomed romance.

Big set pieces dazzle, with the CGI work this time around more assured and the comic book origins more firmly grasped, but there's such a jumping around in between and a few lulls in an unnecessarily extended 2 hours 20 minutes run time that some may be fidgeting in their seats.

But in among the noise and bluster, there are three grounded human performances which helpSpider-Man defeat any accusations of being less than Amazing. Primarily, Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker - this time around, the fast quipping Spidey works as well as does the emotionally haunted Peter, who's been searching for answers about his parents (as most teens are wont to do), is plagued by visions of Gwen's dead father and is struggling to juggle the responsibility of a relationship with Gwen. It's a heartfelt performance by Garfield who transposes the weight of the material with a non-showy turn that hits the emotional heights needed. Equally, when the script demands it, the comedy works well.

Similarly, Stone fizzles with chemistry and spark as Stacy; the scenes the duo have together work exceptionally well - even if occasionally those quiet moments seem tonally at odds with the rest of the action on the screen. And Dane DeHaan, with his icy blue eyes, twinkles with frustrated teen menace as Harry, whose curse sends him over the edge.

So, it's a shame to say that comic book plot contrivances and convenient lapses in logic make this spectacle at times feel like a backwards step for the genre as it works its way through a series of sins-of-the-father issues.

Deus ex machina pop up conveniently to save the day, Jamie Foxx's Electro suddenly gains powers when captured that would have ended his captivity very quickly, and one of the scientists appears to have been plucked directly from the stereotyped scene-chewing bad guy with dodgy accent handbook. Even Paul Giamatti's Russian bad guy who book-ends the movie is OTT.  Jamie Foxx's Electro flips very quickly into deranged villain after previously being Spider-man's biggest fan - and Foxx manages to sell the earlier scenes of Max's ostracism and loneliness, before flipping out into Man of Steel Times Square style destruction. (And Parker's quest for answers over his parents doesn't quite deliver the conclusion you'd expect)

Ironically, the final sequence of the movie feels an emotionally rushed and an overly cluttered set piece - complete with two aeroplanes on a collision course (!) and a denouement that robs you of any resonance that should have lingered long after (but to say more is spoiler territory - suffice to say if you know your Spider-Lore, you won't be surprised).

With a film packed full of Easter eggs and nods to the expansion of the Spider-universe, The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro is a little too stuffed to the gills - it soars in the quieter moments such as a small boy inspired by Spidey taking on the baddies, but juggles, and ultimately fumbles, too many elements to make a superhero movie that's not quite as amazing as it could be.

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Muppets Most Wanted: Blu Ray Review

Muppets Most Wanted: Blu Ray Review

Rating: G
Released by Disney DVD

Following the success of The Muppets movie in 2011, it was no surprise to see they'd return, having been a massive worldwide box office smash.

This time, it's back to the Muppets formula and a caper rather than a nostalgia-twinged piece, which hit all the right notes - and the heart and fondness for these childhood puppet faves from yesterday.

In the latest, The Muppets are embarking on a grand world tour, having been taken on by their new manager Dominic Badguy (Gervais) - however, they're soon embroiled in a stolen jewel caper, spearheaded by a Kermit the Frog look-a-like Constantine (Kermit with a Russian accent and mole).

And things get worse when the real Kermit is imprisoned in a Russian Gulag, in a case of mistaken identity....

Muppets Most Wanted suffers in in comparison to and being released after The Muppets Movie from 2011, a film that managed to encapsulate a clever mix of self-awareness, parody, all wrapped up in a fuzzy felted glow of nostalgia and charm.

This latest starts with a brilliantly infectious and toe-tapping song which mocks the conventions of the sequel (telling line - "Everyone knows the sequel is never quite as good" and "all we need is a half-decent plot") before throwing away all of that cleverness and lapsing into a somewhat traditional Muppet movie with a half baked plot that's out more for one liners than ongoing depth.

It's not that there's anything wrong with that - it's a perfect kids movie, but for adults, this Muppet movie is a film that is more smoke and mirrors, stuffed to the gills initially with songs and more celebrity cameos than you've ever seen (seriously, I lost count at the number of people walking on for one line and disappearing) as opposed to a strong plot, blessed with the heart and warmth of its predecessor.

That said, in among the pleasantly amusing but totally predictable movie, the music (done once byBret McKenzie) is a great eclectic mix of roof-raising numbers, reminiscent of and mixing in many styles from the 80s and old school music-hall films; there's certainly no denying once the band strikes up, you can't help but get carried along by the gusto and clever word-play.

Of the live cast, Gervais shows a flair for song and dance and it's clear he's having fun with the fuzzy felt brigade; Ty Burrell (aka Phil Dunphy from Modern Family) mocks the French and Europeans as an Inspector Clouseau-style sleuth, paired up with Sam the American Eagle to investigate the robberies; and Tina Fey dons a dodgy Russian accent to head up the Gulag where Kermit / Constantine is imprisoned (though, to be fair, more credit needs to go to Jemaine Clement, Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo as the heads of the prisoners in the Gulag). And Celine Dion gains much credibility for sending herself up in one of the most surprising cameos.

Kids will enjoy this film, a silly mix of one liners (watch Christoph Waltz do the, erm, waltz) and the general paciness and gags of the old school variety family film. But the cynical adults, who were so touched with nostalgic affection during the last film, may find themselves ruing the lack of depth in this one, laughing at the gags, but find that keeping count of the celebrity cameos is cold comfort as the story, such as it is, goes on to an end.

(It's also worth getting to Muppets Most Wanted early for the short Monsters University film which puts Mike and Sully in the position of creating the greatest frat party ever - and packs more fun and creativity in than the actual film Monsters University managed to...)

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Sin City: A Dame To Kill For: Movie Review

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For: Movie Review

Cast: Eva Green, Josh Brolin, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Powers Boothe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Director: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller

The original Sin City, which bowed in 2005, was a blast, a graphic novel brought to life on the screen and drenched in pastiche and noir.

So, it's a surprise to see that a sequel's taken nearly 10 years to be made; in this latest, there's another raft of adaptations from Frank Miller's books and a few new sequences written especially for the neo noir anthology film all interlaced into one piece.

The kernel of the movie centres around a flesh-baring Eva Green as femme fatale Ava Lord who manipulates her former lover and world weary Dwight (Josh Brolin) to help her out; fashioned around this tale of sex, lies and betrayal is a story about Joseph Gordon Levitt's card shark Johnny out for revenge on Powers Boothe's corrupt senator and Jessica Alba's Nancy seeking to finish off what started years ago with "That Yellow Bastard".

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For continues the cinematic trend laid down by the first flick a decade ago - through a sleazy world brought to life in all its monochrome glory, with splashes of colour - and even brings some welcome new additions in the form of a vampy and trampy Eva Green, who provides much needed life to this second outing which sags into tedium at times despite its shallowly stylistic exterior.

Green's perhaps one of the only reasons that the second works in places; her seductively exposed energy fizzles the black and white world with colour (particularly her green eyes) and sparkles in among the moody lurid stylings painted up on the screen. Noir has thrived on the femme fatale trope, and Green certainly earns her place in the pantheon of the past. But she's one of only two well written women in the piece (along with Alba's troubled exotic dancer Nancy) and the film feels bereft when it shifts its compromised morals to other targets and stories.

Stylistically, Rodriguez carries on the great work pioneered nearly a decade ago, with bold colors imbuing the cinematic palette with striking visuals; reds, greens and blues jump out of the monochrome world and give the eyes a dazzling feast to gorge upon. But it's nowhere near as visually bold as it was many years ago, and unfortunately leads to some of the feeling that Sin City : A Dame to Kill For is simply going through the motions.

The old timers from the first get varying degrees of success in their second outings with Rourke's Marv being the best served. But Willis' Hartigan is denied much time and as such, being a pivotal driving force for the narrative of the final serving, the emotional impetus is weakened by his relative absence.

Granted, there's some life in these streets (Eva Green, a cameo from Christopher Lloyd as a heroin using doctor, Gordon-Levitt as the card shark) but there's just not quite enough to breathe any kind of real cinematic colour into the stylishly created black and white world of Sin City.

Rating:

Second Dracula Untold trailer drops

Second Dracula Untold trailer drops

If you're a fan of the Drac, then good news.

The official second trailer for DRACULA UNTOLD has dropped, ahead of its NZ release on October 2^nd.

Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6, Immortals) stars in Dracula Untold, the origin story of the man who became Dracula.  Gary Shore directs and Michael De Luca produces the epic action-adventure that co-stars Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon and Charles Dance. 

The Keeper of Lost Causes: Movie Review

The Keeper of Lost Causes: Movie Review

Cast: Nikolaj lie Kass, Fares Fares, Sonja Richter
Director: Mikkel Norgaard

Scandi noir gets a potential new franchise with this Nordic thriller, aiming to fill a spot where a Girl with the Dragon Tattoo shaped hole is.

Kass is Detective Carl Morck, who's left unwanted after a shootout that crippled one former partner and resulted in the death of another. Re-assigned to the newly established Department Q, where cold cases are looked at, Morck fears his time in the force is numbered.

But when he arrives at the Department Q, he finds Assad (Fares) his co-worker and determined to prove him wrong, the stubborn Carl starts to look into the apparently closed case of a missing female politician, who apparently committed suicide leaving her brain damaged brother behind.

However, as the duo begins to investigate the past, all is not what it seems.

The Keeper of Lost Causes feels like the launch of a franchise - and frankly one which seems more at home as a weekly crime procedural rather than a thrilling big screen event.

Granted, Norgaard pulls together the usual tenseness one would expect from the genre, but there's very little here that feels anything other than formulaic. Kass spends a lot of his time scowling and looking pained as Morck, making him a little hard to side with; but he has an easy chemistry with Fares' more sensitive Assad, giving them a feel of a duo that could work long term.

There's some strikingly put together imagery on the screen (particularly the use of colour when the reality of what's going on is revealed), and some of it is quite disturbingly uncomfortable as is the wont of the genre. But it's the formulaic feel of the movie that doesn't quite convince as the start of a new series unfortunately; exposition comes in the form of flashbacks which give it more of a feeling of trying to beef up the story rather than driving the narrative within.

The Keeper of Lost Causes is not a bad start to the series (a second film is underway) as there's some tension to be had early on - it's just that it's not quite the sophisticated dark thrill ride you'd expect from the Scandi Noir stable.

Rating:


 

John Day on Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes

John Day on Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes

John Day is a producer at Disney Interactive Studios and was in Australia to talk about the production of Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes (set to release September 2014).

How do you feel Disney Infinity is going?
Fantastic, really.  I’m really pleased with the new figures, playsets, and toybox in Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes, and the reception from everyone I’ve talked to has been really outstanding

It’s the free play which seems to keep getting people coming back as well as the endless characters, isn’t it?
The Toy Box does give players a chance to really do…whatever they want, and with our vibrant community constantly creating new and interesting ways to play, there really are unlimited things to do within Disney infinity.  And yes, everyone has their favourite character, and we’re trying to bring them out just as fast as we can.  I’ve been a life-long marvel fan, so working on a game full of some of my favourite characters has been spectacular.

How do you set yourselves limits on what you can do with them – or is the sky really the limit?
I think the goal is to set as few limits as possible.  We’re very connected to our community and try to give them whatever they need to do whatever they’re trying to do.

I’ve read that essentially Disney Infinity was inspired by the way children play with toys – is that always your modus operandi going in to developments?
That’s right – the Disney Infinity Toy Box is, in essence, a digital recreation of a kid’s bedroom floor.  A space with total creative freedom, where all sorts of different toys can coexist and play together.  We continue to try to get closer to that ideal all the time.

The 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes seems like such a natural progression given the success of the Avengers, Agents of Shield and the ongoing Marvel franchises – was it really a no brainer in terms of creative direction?
In choosing where to take Disney Infinity, it comes down to a combination of not only what is popular, but what also makes for great and varied gameplay.  Fortunately, Super Heroes are great for all of the above.  Nevertheless, it wasn’t a simple problem to figure out how to have so many, and ensure that each one was a deep, rewarding gameplay experience.

What do you want the super Heroes to bring to the Disney Infinity table?
Above all I want the super heroes to be themselves.  When you play with Iron Man, I want to have all of his different powers, and for the character to feel authentic.  I also want the promise of many different ways to play – The Hulk and Spider-Man are totally different characters, and so I want those different experiences.

Tell us a little more about the highlights of this pack
Well, in the starter pack, we have the new Avengers playset, which is a fantastic game experience, and we give players 3 of the avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow) so you can play multiplayer right out of the box.  Outside of the starter pack, we have over 20 super heroes, so hopefully your favourite is in there somewhere.  Either way, that’s a whole lot of different ways to play this game.

What’s the one feature you’re proudest of on this?
We’ve made some new additions to the Toy Box that make building and creating easier than it ever has been before.  With our new builder and creator toys, players can quickly and easily create massive, unique Toy Boxes.

What’s the one character you’ve enjoyed seeing brought to life the most and why?
I have been a Spider-Man fan for as long as I can remember, and of that series my favourite character was Venom.  Our venom character is amazing, he looks and feels great, and his power set in the game is a lot of fun.

It’s pretty cool you’re getting the Guardians of the Galaxy too…and iconic baddies as well. How closely did you work with Marvel on this and how much free reign did they give you?

Marvel was with us every step of the way on everything.  While they always left us to do the work, they were great about providing plenty of feedback to ensure that we were keeping these iconic characters true to themselves.

Where do you see the sets going in the future? You’re constantly adding characters and imagination seems to be the only limit here, is that fair to say?
Absolutely fair to say.  For now we’re focused on delivering a high quality Marvel experience. Moving forward, I’m excited to continue to delve in to the wealth of great characters that Disney has in its pantheon.

What does the future hold for the Disney Infinity set now the technology of PS4 and Xbox One are here ?
These new platforms give us much more power to throw at the game – our Play Sets and characters look better, and our Toy Boxes can be much larger and more complex.

Housebound: Movie Review

Housebound: Movie Review

Cast: Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen Paul-Waru, Mick Innes
Director: Gerard Johnstone

Writer / director Gerard Johnstone's inventively witty Housebound is already picking up accolades - both here and abroad.

With SXSW success and NZIFF Festival director Bill Gosden's praise ringing in its ears, the mash up of horror and comedy stars Morgana O'Reilly as Kylie, a sullen woman placed on home detention after a particularly Kiwi robbery goes somewhat awry.

Confined to the house with her mother Miriam (a sensational Rima Te Wiata), rebel without a cause Kylie discovers there are more horrors than just dial up broadband and regular dollops of Coro to contend with after she hears her mum talking about how she believes the house is haunted.

With a security guard Amos in tow, Kylie begins to investigate the spooky goings on...

Housebound serves up a riotous mix of shock moments, suspenseful scenes and bang on gags.

With a delicious premise and an awe-inspiring treatment of the genres, director Johnstone's infused his script by way of The Innkeepers, The Frighteners, a hint of Beetlejuice and a gory dollop of Kiwi blood and guts' homage to Sir Peter Jackson's earlier works.

But as well as infusing these all together, he's done something uniquely kiwi as well as making a film which universally accessible, thanks to O'Reilly's sullen Kylie, Glen Paul-Waru's brilliant Amos and Te Wiata's perfectly shrill and cuckolding mother.

With an eye for great one-liners ("You can't punch ectoplasm" to name but one) and a burgeoning trademark in suspenseful set ups and masterfully subtle execution, Housebound is an absolute riot, an unashamed blockbuster treat and a triumph of film-making (let's leave the New Zealand out of this one, eh?)

The pay-off is cleverly constructed and the final sequences deliver and wrap up everything that was promised so deliciously throughout the comic beats.

As infectious as Ghostbusters was all those years ago, Johnstone's flair for the comic paranormal and grip on the various genres he's paying homage to treads the right balance between out and out scares and good time humour.

Housebound's spookily and truly unmissable - it's assured massive success and shows that Kiwi film-makers don't always have to examine their own navel to create some great cinema.

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