At Darren's World of Entertainment

Thursday, 16 June 2016

Warcraft: Film Review

Cast: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Toby Kebbell, Daniel Wu
Director: Duncan Jones

If Warcraft ever had an obstacle to over come, it's set out right at the start - a way in for those non familiar to the genre.

While the games and novels have been massive for years, the idea of a CGI fantasy helmed pic is a hard sell to non-fans (even ones like us blessed with the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit series) and unfortunately Duncan Jones' flick will do little to convince those who don't know their orcs from their wizards to sign up.

Half the problem lies in an info dump at the start which is confusing, exposition heavy and tries to create a breathing world that you can embrace right away. But it is muddled and drops so much that the rest of the plot somehow manages to be flimsy in its wake.

Loosely, Warcraft is about a horde of orcs invading Azeroth, a kingdom of humans and another world through a portal because their's is dying.

But the humans, led by Travis Fimmel's fighter Lothar and Ben Foster's magician Medivh, the guardian of their lands won't stand for it.

However, with one of the Orc chiefs Durotan (a mo-capped Kebbell, the unsung star of the piece) unsure of his magician Orc leader's choices and with betrayals aplenty, the fight may not be as straightforward as expected...

With too many action and bloodless fight sequences that are both brash and noisy, as well as difficult to care about, WARCRAFT's cod fantasy and slightly ropy dialogue makes this FX fest something of a drudge.

It's a shame as the visuals are reasonably impressive on an IMAX setting, with castles and kingdoms looking as good as anything Peter Jackson has ever crafted, and giving the lands a sense of being.

Equally, the first close up of troubled Orc Durotan bristles with sharp contours of skin and detail popping out and feeling realistic, rather than a rote CGI creation.

But it's the human elements and story which unfortunately don't shine here.

Blessed with too little character and a rushed execution, Warcraft barely finds space to breathe or time to invest in the emotional journeys.

Be it Paula Patton's out of place female Orc slave being set up as a potential love interest, Travis Fimmel's supposedly broken warrior, Dominic Cooper's fey king or Ben Foster's scenery chewing and mumbling Guardian, these are once over lightly protagonists that do little to sell their oh-so-familiar story arcs.

It's a shame because the conflicted Orc chieftain, as well as a warlord unwilling to embrace the archaic honour code to subjugate their own are interesting threads worthy of growth. But they wither on the CGI vine, unloved and left out in favour of the old fantasy deus ex machina, magic.

Plus emotional moments which should fuel the plot's momentum and deepen the character engagement feel rushed and less than effective in the final third.

The fact Warcraft will satiate large swathes of its core game fans (of which there are billions who've invested countless amounts of time in the World of Warcraft second world) is not necessarily a good thing.

The fact the story is frustratingly inconclusive and a desperate grab for new franchise is yet another slap in the face after 2 hours of soulless CGI drudgery that revels in nothing more than sound and fury.

Ultimately, Warcraft is neither magical nor engrossing as a saga, or the first part thereof: it's a formulaic fantasy film that's neither fantastic nor thrilling, and is dangerously close to an over-long, unexciting game of Dungeons and Dragons.

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Shots from E3 2016

Unless you've been living under a rock, you would know that the annual E3 gaming Expo is underway.

Thanks to Gavin of Pursuit PR and the XBox team who are there, here are some shots from the floor at E3 of the people, the games and the experience!

Some of the highlights include Halo Wars 2 and Forza Horizon 3!

To watch the XBox E3 showcase, click here

To watch trailers from the XBox E3 unveils, click here!

And to catch all the action, head to Twitch for XBox live streaming

Me Before You: Film Review

Cast: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Charles Dance, Janet McTeer, Stephen Peacocke, Matthew Lewis, Jenna Coleman
Director: Thea Sharrock

The Fault in Our Stars, If I Stay, Last Cab to Darwin; there have been a growing number of cinematic entrants to the pantheon of doomed love and illness literature in the past few years.

The latest contender, Me Before You, taken from Jo Jo Moyes' book and adapted by the author, is the most current addition to the cinematic experience that is kryptonite to many - the weepie.

Buoyed by likeable (and bankable) stars Emilia Clarke (she of dragons and Thrones fame) and Sam Claflin (he of Hunger Games fame), large swathes of this story are forgiven their cliches because of the chemistry between this duo.

Claflin plays Will Traynor, an aristocratic castle-dwelling guy who lives life to the full, has it all and in a sequence before the credits, has it all taken away and is paralysed from the neck down when hit by a motorbike. Trapped in a chair in a small town, his life as a quadriplegic his future.

Enter Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke as the eccentric small town girl Lou Clark, a perpetually perky, expressively eye-browed, quirkily dressed potential carer, whose life is a struggle to help her family and make ends meet. Initially reticent and hostile to Lou, Will finds her perkiness wears him down - and the two begin to form a friendship.

However, in the background, a dark secret is waiting.

Meshing the Intouchables with an English sensibility and a different performance from Clarke, this fairy tale story of the guy in the castle in the village is exactly what you'd expect from the genre.

Wrapped in portions of humour - some appropriate, some not - and blessed with two chalk and cheese leads that you actually manage to care about even though it's a story you've seen a million times before, Me Before You is a twee journey that dawdles a little on its way to its eventual destination.

The problem is that the struggle for Will never feels real and a story decision over assisted suicide feels narratively necessary for the film and book's USP rather than the cinematic catharsis. It's no discredit to Claflin at all, whose subtle performance is perfectly in keeping with the genre and shows his bitterness at times, but merely the writing which lets him down.

He's not alone though, as the film is packed full of underwritten and underused supporting characters that hardly feature except when it suits proceedings. (Step forward, Matthew Lewis aka Neville Longbottom and Lou's boyfriend)

Inevitably the Hollywood trappings and tropes of the genre forbid the darkness from seeping into this rom-com-sick-lit piece, and it's a shame that the final portion of the film actually lacks some of the emotional heft it could have achieved. (Though there were some women at the screening with wet eyes).

Still in a film where one of the leads has never seen a subtitled film or where another is constantly apparently in pain but never glimpsed, it's to be expected of Me Before You.

Shoe-horning in melodrama at the end and washing everything over with a twee brush and a MOR soundtrack is to be expected, and ultimately, Me Before You works within the confines of its genre,

However, it means this mix of wannabe optimism, bizarre take on the reality of being disabled and predictable formulaic fare is what you'd expect - but given its euthanasia edges and the debate of a right to die storyline, those involved fudge the most interesting kernel of the piece in favour of a quirky and mawkish rom-com.

Marguerite: Film Review

Cast: Catherine Frot, Andre Macon, Sylvain Dieuaide, Christa Theret
Director: Xavier Giannoli

Hollywood's already brought us this tale and in a relatively short space of time in the form of Florence Foster Jenkins starring Meryl Streep, but this French version of the same story is an eminently classier version.

This time it's 1920s Paris and it's the story of Marguerite Dumont, a wealthy woman who's a patron of the arts and opera. Imbued with the delusion that she's a good singer, her tone is less than aurally pleasant.

However, when a journalist Lucien Beaumont writes a review of her performance, Dumont misinterprets the barbs within and furthers her delusion of singing to the masses. So, deciding to organise a concert for others to enjoy, Dumont's dysfunctional belief deepens...

Marguerite is a different beast to the all together fluffier Florence Foster Jenkins.

Dividing the story up in to five chapters and setting the whole thing in some sumptuous period details is mightily beneficial.

Unlike the delayed gratification of its Hollywood counterpart, Marguerite wastes no time in showing off Dumont's dismal drone which helps make the film a different beast. Admittedly, there is still no fuller explanation as to why Dumont was encouraged to sing and why no-one took the time to be honest with her, but there are subtleties in this version that hint at the adage of never being cruel to someone face to face.

Interestingly, the film digs deeper into the after effects of Dumont's delusion, with a hospitalisation chapter hinting at a breakdown that doctors are trying to treat. There's a sympathetic touch deployed by Giannoli that's involving, and a tone that's set which is more endearing than a straight out laugh fest.

Unfortunately, if Frot delivers a stronger performance and a more heartbreaking approach in a slightly over-long film, some of the other side plots don't fare as well.

Theret is impressive as the singer brought in early on and a side-plot involving her career and potential relationship with Dieuaide's Beamount is torn asunder from the narrative with a few lines thrown in that make no sense and lead to too much for the audience to draw on.

Macon as the husband and Denis Mpunga as Mandelbos the house servant present nuanced turns as carers for Dumont; the former realising too late the damage his indulgence and laissez-faire attitude have wreaked. Elsewhere Mandelbos is clearly devoted to Dumont and it becomes his way into the film for the rest of us.

Ultimately, Marguerite's folie a deux attitude is more successful than Frears' broader take on the subject. Thankfully, a restrained performance from Frot, covered in earnestness and heart make her Dumont a character not a caricature (an important difference that Frears overlooked) and consequently makes Marguerite a film that gives more of a psychological take on an enigmatic subject.