Dark Souls III Opening cinematic launches

Dark Souls III Opening cinematic launches

DARK SOULS III - TO THE KINGDOM OF LOTHRIC OPENING CINEMATIC RELEASED!

In venturing North, the Pilgrims discover the truth of the Old Words… Discover in exclusivity the opening cinematic of Dark Souls 3! Yhorm the Giant, Aldrich Saint of the Deep, Farron's Undead Legion and more await you in Lothric.
Are you ready to fight them all?

With a release set for April 12^th, 2016, DARK SOULS III will take the fans through an apocalyptic and dark ride to unfold the last secrets of the unique universe create by Hidetaka Miyazaki, From Software and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment!

Deadpool: Film Review

Deadpool: Film Review

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, TJ Miller, Ed Skrein, Gina Carano
Director: Tim Miller

The tone for Deadpool is set within its very opening moments.

There's no denying the Merc with a Mouth's marketing has been off the chain with self-referential frenzy feeding the fanboys' every desire and the promise from Ryan Reynolds that they would stick to the R-rated character like glue.

And in many ways, this origins tale told in a slightly different manner is really Reynolds' showcase - it starts with all guns blazing and with bullet-time action slowed to a halt while looping back and forth between timelines and stories.

Mixing vulgarity with great aplomb and some meta-laugh out loud moments, Reynolds' wise-cracking Wade Wilson is truly the antithesis of po-faced superhero films. Breaking the 4th Wall regularly (although voiceover tends to achieve that effect as well) as the origins of how the former Special Forces mercenary fell in love, got terminal cancer and was part of an experiment gone wrong are unspooled on the big screen, it's clear nothing is off-limits in this scabrous assault on Marvel, the X-Men and even the Taken franchise.

It's blessed with some clever touches; credits that mock the tropes of the genres with titles telling people it includes a British villain, God's perfect creation, mocks the director calling them an overpaid tool and even throws in a Green Lantern trading card as Angel of the Morning plays gleefully on the soundtrack.

It's a film that's clearly in love with itself (as much as the red-clad anti-hero loves himself) and there's no doubt that for large swathes of the movie, it's great fun and perfectly entertaining - if ultimately shallow - fare led mainly by a lead who's prepared to give his all for Deadpool.

But what's not as clear as Reynolds' continual cinematic gusto are the antagonists facing off against him and the overall story. (Even though the narrative is interspersed by zipping through timelines and is there primarily to serve as an intro to the character and service his ego).

Both Ed Skrein and Gina Carano (as Ajax and Angel Dust respectively) are nothing short of charisma-free zones, aimed at sucking only the air from the proceedings as they play out.

Sure, this is an origin story and is entirely Deadpool's from the beginning, but the anti-hero needs to have a credible threat, and quite frankly, this is disturbingly lacking from the film and sets a worrying precedent for any future flicks featuring the world of the wise-quipping Merc with a Mouth.

In this plethora of superhero films, there's no doubting Deadpool is a welcome breeze of foul-smelling, puerile, cinematic air and granted, comic book heroes will never look the same again thanks to the inventive touches, meta-moments and way some tropes have been smashed through.

However, if you're expecting Deadpool to cast the net wider and break out of the fanboy audience and redefine the superhero genre, it may unfortunately struggle to do so.

It's perversely faithful to its perverse source material and there's no disputing the core audience has been well-served by the film, but some may struggle to see why this Merc with a Mouth has nothing more than a cult following.

The Detectorists: Season One: DVD Review

The Detectorists: Season One: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

Nobody does whimsy and wry observational comedy better than the British do.

So it's no surprise that The Detectorists, written and directed by MacKenzie Crook (The Office) comes with a pedigree and expectation. Following the non-adventures of a pair of metal-detecting enthusiasts, Andy (Crook) and Lance (Toby Jones) very little actually happens.

As they amble for one search to the next though looking for buried treasure, what Crook's actually uncovered is a veritable goldmine of gentle humour that gets under the skin of its leads and provides a show that's rarely on TV these days.

Both Jones and Crook turn in performances that are a delight to watch; these are two loveable outcasts that you want to spend time with, not because of their cringe factor but more because of their warmth and the recognisable nature of their lives.

In Crook's writing, there's an underlying sadness and layering of plots that really pay off with resonance.

This show slipped past TV networks here; I'd strongly recommend you don't make that mistake and put it firmly on your radar.

Doctor Who - The Husbands of River Song: Blu Ray Review

Doctor Who - The Husbands of River Song: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Ent

So, the annual Doctor Who Christmas special finally arrives.

This year, shorn of Clara Oswald, Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor is thrown into a romp that sees him reunited with Alex Kingston's River Song as she tries to extract a diamond from her husband's head.

The twist is though, that this husband is not the Doctor, but King Hydroflax (Inbetweeners star Greg Davies) ... and it puts the Doctor's nose out of joint when he realises she doesn't know who he is.

However, all that's put to one side when the duo is forced on the run.

Ostensibly a throwaway piece, the silliness that pervades the first half of The Husbands of River Song is perfectly suited to the post-Xmas day bloat when you're sick of the family, stuffed on good and just want a diverting spectacle.

But long term and out of context, this feels like a show of two halves.

One that provides the silliness and a second that feels like it wraps up River Song's arc.

There's a beauty and elegaic feel to Capaldi and Kingston's final scenes together and the two knock it out of the park as you realise the finality has come calling. But it's a mixed ride to get to that point and also perhaps one of the less successful Christmas day outings for the TARDIS.

The 5th Wave: Film Review

The 5th Wave: Film Review

Cast: Chloe Grace Moretz, Liev Schreiber, Ben Parish, Zackary Arthur, Ron Livingston, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe
Director: J Blakeson

Another YA outing gets a big screen event movie with Rick Yancey's alien invasion story hitting the cinemas.

And once again, all the tropes of the genre are in place, but this time around, they feel more derivative and installed into the narrative via a checklist, rather than dramatic necessity.

Kickass's Chloe Grace Moretz stars as Cassie, a high schooler whose life changes when aliens invade via a succession of attacks. After surviving electrical attacks, natural disasters, fatal disease a la Avian Flu and then body snatcher style invasion a la The Invaders which wipe out her family bar her brother, she finds herself on the run. With a desperate race to save her young brother from the army's clutches and from their weaponising him, Grace Moretz gives everything to the film and sells every ludicrously predictable turn it takes.

It's just a shame that the film gives nothing back.

Despite a stunning first 30 minutes that see the alien menace cleverly and craftily energise the story, it stalls and hits a sickening thud when it realises it needs to weave in the tropes of the genre. (Young love, life after high school seeming like the end of the world, a mistrust of authority etc etc)

After the action slows, The 5th Wave becomes an unconvincing sludge of a film that's barely able to build on the mistrust and premise. The story fractures into Cassie's search and meeting of a charisma-free dishy designer stubble potential love interest and her brother's involvement in the weaponising-our-kids-storyline - and the result is one of tedium more than anything.

Ending on a whimper and the limp promise of yet more, The 5th Wave is a frustrating experience.

Despite a crowded genre with The Hunger Games, Divergent, et al, thanks to Grace Moretz's turn and a terrific start, it could have been so much more and never once delivers anything original or compelling past its invasion schtick. It sanitises its potential brutality and its de-humanising of its lead, and therefore ultimately sells everything short that it sets out to do.

Turns out The 5th Wave from the aliens, that threatens all our lives, is actually tedium.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB Review - Room, The Finest Hours and Sicario

Newstalk ZB Review - Room, The Finest Hours and Sicario

This weekend on Jack Tame, I reviewed Room, The Finest Hours and Sicario.

Take a listen below

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-room-the-finest-hours-and-sicario/

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-room-the-finest-hours-and-sicario/

Carol: Film Review

Carol: Film Review

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson
Director: Tood Haynes

Based on The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, the prestige practically drips from the screen in Carol.

Blanchett plays Carol Aird, who meets Rooney Mara's shop assistant Therese Belivet when out shopping for Christmas in 1952 New York. When Carol accidentally leaves her gloves on a counter, Therese returns them and the pair strike up a deep friendship.

But Carol's undergoing a difficult and messy separation from her husband Harge (Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler) after a tryst discovered between Carol and her friend Abby (American Horror Story star Sarah Paulson). The enmity between Harge and Carol boils over when the friendship with Therese is uncovered and soon the pair's lives are changed forever.

Swathed in large clumps of elegance and beautiful costumes, Carol is a love story that's richly orchestrated on to the screen and subtly portrayed by its two leads.

Mara does meek well as Therese, a woman whose world appears to be mapped out but whose desires and dreams are thwarted in parts. So when she meets with Cate Blanchett's Carol, Mara uses subtlety to bring her to life, slowly blossoming on the screen from her earlier appearances where she seems lost in her world and unsure of her ultimate destination.

Equally, Blanchett, draped in the finest haute couture of the time and slathered in femme fatale gear, brings a softness and a sadness to a woman trapped in a downward spiralling situation. It's the inflections in her voice and the subtle movements on her face that convey more than words can and get to the heart of this story.

Haynes also deserves praise for the execution of Carol; its lack of overtness, its framing of parts of its leads rather than all of them at key moments may seem to be perverse, but makes for a stylish experience, which is already rightly picking up awards buzz. The film is not in a rush to get where it needs to, and at times, luxuriates in the journey; but it's highly effective because one shocking moment in the middle of the film lands with resonance though in hindsight is painfully obvious.

Carol is a film that commands your attention from start to finish - thanks to its leads above all; from its polished veneer, its sumptuous costuming and its pacing, it's a film to languish in - even if it's hard to fully grab on to emotionally in parts and seems occasionally aloof.

At its heart, Carol is a love story that's rich in resonance and high in subtlety. It's already an awards darling and it's hard to not see that continuing as it weaves its mesmerising spell over audiences in 2016.

Rating: