The Maze Runner: Movie Review

The Maze Runner: Movie Review

Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Will Poulter, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Director: Wes Ball

Mixing up Ender's Game, Survivor, The Village and hints of Lord of The Flies, The Maze Runner is the latest Young Adult slice of entertainment to be served up at the cinema - and it's overall a rather superlative one.

Dylan O'Brien is Thomas, who finds himself deposited into The Glade, an enclosure of a community of boys trapped within a maze. With no memory of who he is, why he's there or how to escape, Thomas tries to fit in with the "Gladers" as they're known - but before long, he's desperate to escape the mysteries of the Maze and get out.

However, Thomas' arrival into this post-apocalyptic world stirs up more than just a few disgruntled issues and rivalries within this utopian dystopia. And that's not the only problem he faces - outside of the walls, the Maze is patrolled by mysterious creatures called Grievers which will kill them if they try to escape.

Things get even more complicated when a girl called Teresa (Kaya Scodelerio) arrives and Thomas begins to get flashes of memory of a life before the Glade...

The Maze Runner is a largely effective thriller that serves up suspense, tension and thrills as director Ball etches out the novel's mysteries with a dollop of portentous talk and ever-lurking danger.

The boys group and their dynamic works exceptionally well and the set up of the world within the Glade is brilliantly and concisely espoused so that it all feels so natural. Likewise, O'Brien's bond with the rest of the group - including the friction with Poulter's edgy Gally, who's fearful of the world that Thomas has brought with him.

It leads to some tense situations, including a thrilling Maze showdown with a nightmarish Griever (a mechanically mounted spider bug like creature) that crackles with edge of your seat nerves. Plus, the divide and rift that opens up with Teresa's arrival is nicely handled.

But, by dragging out the mysteries for the majority of the run time in the first of this trilogy, there's an inevitable price to be paid - and that comes in the final 15 minutes of the movie as a mass of garbled exposition is spouted and not all answers are revealed. It requires a few leaps of faith and some logic holes to be traversed as the story plays out. And a bond with one of the others in the group is a predictable trip to disaster, that lacks originality.

Equally, some of the fight sequences are choreographed too confusingly and shot too darkly leading to a sense of bewilderment and potentially emotionally charged moments to be dramatically squandered.

But all in all, The Maze Runner is a thrilling start to the series - it's worth getting lost in this maze, because from what transpires in the first segment, the journey's likely to be an interestingly intriguing one.

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Wish I Was Here - Movie Review

Wish I Was Here - Movie Review

Cast: Zach Braff, Josh Gad, Mandy Patinkin Joey King, Kate Hudson, Alexander Chaplin
Director: Zach Braff

Funded by the Kickstarter method, Zach Braff's latest project, after the popular Garden State, is an interesting beast.

It's the story of Jewish Aidan, a 35 year old struggling actor, father of two and general selfish soul. When his father Gabe (Mandy Patinkin) reveals he has cancer and can no longer fund his grandchildren's schooling, Aidan is forced to take them out of school, and decides to teach them himself.

However, that's not all he's having to juggle with his father's impending death - there's the issue of Noah (his brother)'s rift with his father, his daughter Grace wanting to keep the faith and his growing separation from his wife Sarah (Hudson).

Wish I Was Here is, at times, both beautiful and personal, as well as humorous and heartfelt.

But it is, also, incredibly indulgent too, with parts feeling like they would have been better exorcised from the script were a higher studio power involved. That may sound like an unfair accusation to level at a crowd-funded piece, but there are moments which could have been jettisoned to ensure the film doesn't feel as bowed down as it does.

Braff has an excellent eye for framing shots and there are some truly stunning ones committed to the screen; and there are a few natural moments that feel realistic as well with the opening banter of parents and kids being one of the highs. But his Aidan is not really a character that we care for; a man whose selfishness descends so deep as to make his wife work a job she clearly detests while he can indulge in his own dreams and whims rather than be a better father.

Inevitably, it means that Adian's journey to self-redemption follows a very predictable path that flounders in moments of cliche as well as random humour (a Rabbi taking off on a segueway and slamming into a hospital wall being the chief offender) simply because that's what Braff wants to do. (Equally, a scene where his character is reunited with his Scrubs' cohort Donald Faison offers no purpose other than a fan serving moment, a nod to those who launched his career).

That said, there are moments though which hit the heart with a poignant arrow - chiefly, a scene between a dying Gabe and Sarah in a hospital. The tenderness, regret and openness of this one conversation demonstrates the power of Braff's ability to make a film - and Hudson and Patinkin's power to deliver it (and one which shows why Garden State was so beloved).

But it's chiefly lost in a film that is all about faithlessness and searching; which ironically is perhaps how it will be defined, as it spends a lot of its time searching for itself - and never quite finding it.

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Night Moves: Movie Review

Night Moves: Movie Review

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard
Director: Kelly Reichardt

Night Moves, from the director of Meek's Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt, takes on the world of environmental activism through the eyes of three characters.

The Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg is a serious faced Josh, Dakota Fanning is Deena and the ever charismatic Peter Sarsgaard is recluse Harmon, whose paths cross when they decide to take out a hydroelectric dam.

Deena is the newcomer to the active part of the ethos and her naivete signs through thanks to a performance of vim and vigour in this slow languid piece, that relies on slow measured pans and close ups. It's a stark contrast to Eisenberg's studied and almost sullen approach, which makes it hard for us to care for this protagonist.

As liberal guilt starts to permeate their lives after the dam explosion (the build up to which is considered and measured, with tension coming at the obligatory juncture on the water with the clock ticking), it's Deena who begins to fall apart and Josh who tries to hold it together before succumbing himself.

Reichardt's wanted to put together an examination of guilt, of after effects and of consequences, but it takes an extraordinarily long time to get there and Eisenberg's turn at the end isn't quite as convincing as perhaps it could be. By honing on more on the two and the build up, Reichardt builds a degree of tense interaction even if the unfolding story is as cliched as you'd expect. The strengths lie in the build up, the creeping tension and the shocking aftermath rather than anything else, but Night Moves aims for a character study and ends up more as a shadowy film that will reward only if you invest into it, rather than expecting continual bangs and whistles.

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The Skeleton Twins: Movie Review

The Skeleton Twins: Movie Review

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell
Director: Luke Johnson

It's off to the deep dark world of indie for this emotionally rich piece about a pair of estranged siblings, whose concurrent suicide attempts brings them back together. 

In The Skeleton Twins, Kristen Wiig is Maggie, a dental hygienist , married to Luke Wilson's Lance, a loveable guy who clearly dotes on his wife and the idea of becoming a father. But unbeknownst to him, Maggie's wrestling with some big secrets behind the veneer of suburbia.

Into their lives comes Milo (Hader), unhappy and suicidal - his initial attempt forms one of the starkest images of the film as red blood seeps up through clear water in an opening shocker.

As the two gradually open up to each other after years apart, the bonds are re-strengthened and tested once again in this darkly tragic yet bittersweet piece.

Hader and Wiig have great comedic chemistry together and comedic timing (as shown in a lip synching sequence) but also have dramatic depth as the emotions start to rain down.

Director Luke Johnson drives the film well, juggling a sensitive line between dark and deliciously funny as the lies we often tell to each other are exposed. But there's an air of sadness that hangs heavy on The Skeleton Twins that's inescapable (aside from a depressingly cliched Hollywood and improbable ending that somewhat sours the experience) and provides fertile ground to explore the relationships.

Poignant, warm, effective and heartbreaking, indie The Skeleton Twins provides hidden depths to these comedic actors and delivers a uniquely skewed view on life that feels all too real and engaging. You could say there's some dramatic meat on these here bones... 

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Assassin's Creed Rogue: New Trailer

Assassin's Creed Rogue: New Trailer

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The Giver: Movie Review

The Giver: Movie Review

Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Odeya Rush, Alexander Skarsgaard, Katie Holmes, Taylor Swift
Director: Phillip Noyce

A canny cross between Utopia and Dystopia, The Giver is a slightly aloof adaptation of the 1993 Lois Lowry social sci-fi novel, where scratching the surface reveals something deeply nasty within.

It's the story of Jonas, a young man who lives the colourless community in the late 21st century. It's a world of conformity, order and seemingly perfect - and whose young citizens are given designated stations in life at the point of adulthood.

One of those is Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), who is given the role of Receiver of Memory, a title which forces him to meet Jeff Bridges' wizened The Giver, who helps bestow on Jonas a view into a life before the drab community came to life.

But with these visions of the horrors that mankind does, as well as the benefits, Jonas finds his outlook on life and those around him irrevocably changed.

The Giver deserves plaudits for covering some big meaty ideas - albeit within the trappings of parts of the Young Adult genre. The idea that a community could be washed clean of its emotions and life so sanitised isn't a bad one at all; and it certainly leads to one of the most emotionally horrific scenes ever committed to celluloid involving True Blood star Alexander Skarsgaard and a baby.

Despite outcry over how old Thwaites was for the role, he manages to convey Jonas' dawning awareness of life before quite well; Katie Holmes is almost emotionless as the mother of the piece, urging her children to use "precision of language"; Skarsgaard is practically buck toothed and goofy as the unaware father whose job is horrific; and Taylor Swift is a smart piece of stunt casting as The Giver's former protege. Bridges seems to spend a lot of the movie as if he's got marbles in his mouth and appears to be sleep walking in parts - as does Streep as the austere leader of the community.

However, in among those dystopian trappings, there's also a great deal of mawkishness which proves a bit of a disconnect here and there. Noyce uses flashes of colour so brilliantly and so vividly as Jonas begins to explore the outside world (it's all so reminiscent of Pleasantville's colour interludes all those years ago) in a new light; but towards the end, as Jonas gets more of a feeling of the evil that men have done through the years, Noyce's mixture of swelling music and deliberately emotive imagery (Nelson Mandela, tanks in Tiananmen Square) over-eggs the pudding.

Add onto that an utterly ridiculous ending that's got a neat and simple resolution which defies belief and logic, and The Giver starts to fail its at times utterly haunting and morally complex philosophical premise.

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Newstalk ZB Review: Housebound, Before I Go To Sleep and Into The Storm

Newstalk ZB Review: Housebound, Before I Go To Sleep and Into The Storm

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/listen-on-demand/audio/833504266-darren-bevan--housebound