The Eagle Huntress: Film Review

The Eagle Huntress: Film Review

Cast: Aisholpan Nurgaiv, Rys Nurgaiv, Voice of Daisy Ridley
Director: Otto Bell

Blasting as much female empowerment as it's allowed and with a closing track from Sia with the refrain You Can Do Anything, The Eagle Huntress comes dangerously closing to over-egging its cinematic pudding.

But thankfully, the simplicity of execution for this story helps it soar as highly into the skies as one of the titular birds the cameras are following.

It's the story of 13-year-old nomadic Mongolian Aisholpan, who's determined to smash centuries of patriarchy and tradition that dictates women can't be eagle huntresses, as it's the sole domain and right of the men.

However, Aisholpan is a falconry prodigy and despite her always smiling, red-faced exterior, she's determined to ensure she follows her heart and dream.

Thankfully, with a tremendously supportive father, the pair set out across the remote Altai Mountains to achieve their goal. First, it entails Aisholpan getting her own bird, then taking part in the eagle festival and finally off out into the wintry plains to hunt.

Through the traditional coming-of-age tale that unfolds, director Otto Bell's managed to craft something that looks spectacular and cries out to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
Mountain vistas and the barrenness of the world inhabited by Aisholpan and her father make for eye-popping visuals.

There's more to this simple tale though than just pigtails and pluck.

The chubby faced Aisholpan embodies a spirit that's facilitated to shine on the screen, and it's easy to see why the likes of Morgan Spurlock and Star Wars' Daisy Ridley are involved with this tale - it screams empowerment as its simple MO.

There's little in-depth interviewing of the family, Bell's camera is simply there to capture the moments and transpose them to Western worlds unaware of a life lived. There's little intimacy, but Bell hilariously and simultaneously decries the decades-old detractors, determined to dwindle Aisholpan's flame. Showing scenes of her school friends engaged and excited by the prospect of her break-out adds elements to the innocent 13-year-old's journey but doesn't deify it; this is a kid who not once loses her charm and sweetness as the path to destiny is trod.

Blessed with beautiful cutaways, and literal eagle eye views, The Eagle Huntress is hypnotizing in its simplicity, but what shines through is not what you'd expect.

For in among the traditional coming of age triumphs as Aisholpan innocently decimates the decades-old way of doing things, emerges as tender a portrait of a father- daughter relationship as has ever been committed to celluloid. Bell's eye for the more intimate moments between the two speaks more to the familial bond, than it does to the bird or the tension of competition.

And while you could level claims of the film lacking bite in parts, the lingering image of a father and daughter trekking on horseback together, along with brief moments of Aisholpan's father's fears speak more loudly than any eagle's cry ever could or do.

A United Kingdom: Film Review

A United Kingdom: Film Review

Cast: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Jack Davenport, Tom Felton
Director: Amma Asante

The director of Belle returns with another piece that looks at the strife caused by interracial relations in this period piece about King Seretse Khama (Oyelowo), who caused a stir and a division of nations in the late 40s when he fell for - and married - a white woman.

Seretse is a law student, whose life is about to change as his uncle recalls him to take his rightful place as the heir of Bechaunaland (aka Botswana). But within days of departing London, he meets and falls for Rosamund Pike's Ruth.

Determined to marry and despite protestations from their homeland, and British government concerns, the duo's relationship creates divides at home and abroad. As the political storms threaten to engulf the pair and Seretse's land, they find their Apartheid naivete coming to the fore - and hoping their love can save the day.

A United Kingdom is a slice of prime prestige picture, served largely up by BBC Films.

It's centred by an earnestness and two leads who gel (though, arguably, a more stoic Oyelowo is the stronger of the pair) while the political machinations whirl around them.

The film's attention to period detail is beyond stunning and the cinematography early on of London is beyond eye-catching. But for the necessity of the narrative, the England side of events is matter of factly dismissed and dispatched so the action, such as it is, can relocate to Bechauanaland. It's here the film anchors itself and the colonial sneery machinations of Jack Davenport and Tom Felton's characters come to the fore, promising barrier after barrier to this relationship.

Pike, who's initially a bit of a blank sheet of paper, rises in the second half as the compassion for the power of her new people infects her - and an impassioned Oyelowo really raises the bar when the exile of Seretse kicks in.

But while the parts are all there, and the pieces all assembled correctly, there's a distinct lack of anything really making the film soar. Its earnestness is obvious in the way the nicely told story unfolds, but the political drama crushes the emotional edges that should hit harder than they do.

There's a clarity of story to A United Kingdom, and it's a story which is worth expounding on; Oyelowo and Pike remain the reasons to view this tale - but you may feel that it never quite hits the heights it was aiming for and should have fully achieved.

Suicide Squad: DVD Review

Suicide Squad: DVD Review

Bad guys have all the fun, right?

Well, for at least the first third of Suicide Squad, the DC's anti-heroes Dirty Dozen-esque smackdown based on the 1959 comics series, that's probably true.

The opening of this teaming up of the bad guys after they're enlisted by a government agency to take down a baddie who's terrorising the world (in usual portal opening fashion downtown in some New York style place) is a blast. With its pop art aesthetics and its (over-use) of big music hits all over the place, it's a real attempt at a thumbing of the nose at those who say DC can't match Marvel for cinematic chutzpah as it trots out a montage of tranced up fever dream proportions. (Though Guardians of the Galaxy has no need to worry).

But, then the creative wheels dramatically fall off as it hurtles into rote formulaic shooter CGI destruction comic book territory with nary enough character to propel it through or a villain that's more super-sized than this clutch of imprisoned bad guys.

And on top of that, logic and character fall right through the floor as the film fails to follow any of its own rules.

Don't even let's get started on either the Joker's extended cameo and the way the camera fetishizes and leers over Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. (That Quinn thing may be in keeping with the comic books, but it just feels creepy as it transpires on screen).

To be fair though, what Suicide Squad gets right, it gets completely right.

The twisted abusive relationship love story between Robbie's Harley and Leto's deliciously deranged Joker is reverent to a tee from the source material, even if a few too many flashbacks hit the pace of that portion.

Overt problematic leering sexism from the camera aside, Robbie absolutely owns the part of a manic Harley Quinn, and nails the nuttiness of the coquettish doctor who suffered from Stockholm Syndrome to a tee; hers is one of the few on screen who get the characteristics right on and gets enough from the script to breathe life into the film.

And Will Smith's on target as the sharpshooter Deadshot, with a combination of dialled down quips and seriousness, which, to be honest, Ayer's film would have been better following. Hints of a love triangle with Quinn flounder however, and could have been an intriguing development.

However, it's the way Suicide Squad squanders its promise and becomes a formulaic exposition heavy CGI blockbuster that's the biggest disappointment - and a lack of characterisation doesn't help matters too.

When it comes to the rest of the squad, they barely figure in the character stakes; a jumbled muddled mess of a supporting troupe that get nary a moment to shine through or time to shine. From Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's underused Killer Croc to Karen Fukuhara's Katana who's simply there to pose post Samurai sword slice, the squad's sidelined or disposable. Even Leto's psychotic take on Joker is reduced to a mere extended cameo.

It means the stakes are less than high at all as this mash up of The Raid and any of the Avengers films plays out, with the Squad taking on CGI rejects from The Mummy films in a disappointingly familiar conclusion.

The supernatural Enchantress aka Cara Delevingne doesn't hold enough threat to give the film the edge it needs or the emotional investment it's crying out for - and certainly her reasons for doing what she's doing are unnecessarily muddied and a bit average beyond belief.

Overblown, overwrought and overwhelmed by such a formulaic path after such an electric start, Suicide Squad is a muddle of a film - if they'd simply put more effort into the Squad or trimmed down parts of it to nail a tighter focus, this Suicide Squad could have soared.

Instead, this mess flounders, begging you to put it out of its misery in an audience assisted suicide

Dec 7

Red Dog: True Blue: Film Review

Red Dog: True Blue: Film Review

Cast: Jason Isaacs, Levi Miller
Director: Kriv Stenders

Five years ago, a truly Aussie shaggy dog story took the family box office by storm.

Red Dog, complete with its canine star and capturing of the ocker Aussie sensibility, managed to reel in audiences of animal lovers and family film lovers apiece with its tale of a dog uniting a township and getting to the heart of what it means to be an Aussie.

So, some five years later, it's no surprise that a sequel, nay a prequel that meshes the story within a story ethos is being dispatched on the family summertime box office as an antidote for the end of the year cynicism that hits.

Wrapped up in nostalgia, this is the story of Blue, the Kelpie, and Mick (Miller in flashbacks and Isaacs in current day, a father who's become work-obsessed and forgotten how to have fun). Sent to his grandfather's station in the Outback due to his mother being locked in a hospital, Mick struggles to find his place. But when a puppy literally falls from the sky after a cyclone hits, Mick's friendship with his dog grows.

However, when a girl called Betty (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) ends up at the station, upending all the boys' lives, Mick finds his own coming of age arriving quicker than expected.

Swathed in nostalgia and Aussie characters, Red Dog True Blue may lack the heart and emotional connection of the first film as it pursues its one boy and his dog's adventures ethos into Saturday matinee territory.

Complete with some truly stunning countryside shots from the Pilbara deserts, Red Dog True Blue is in many ways an old school film that's blessed by solid performances. Brown, as the grandfather, is the gruff heart of proceedings and generates more warmth and empathy than you'd expect - and Miller's solid, if unspectacular, as the young Mick struggling to avoid being upstaged by the dog.

With an episodic feel, some spiritual leanings thrown in and some bush fires for drama, this tale of love and coming of age down on the farm may lack some of the first's immediate charm, but there's no doubting it'll find a younger family audience to embrace, thanks to the antics of Blue.

It may not be a memorable family film in the way the first set hearts and box office alight, but Red Dog True Blue's warmth and fuzziness may prove to be the ideal antidote for those seeking a feelgood flick to start 2017 off with.

The Secret Life Of Pets: DVD Review

The Secret Life Of Pets: DVD Review

It's the eternal question of every pet owner - what do your animals do during the day while you're out?

While the reality is potentially a tad dull (clever money is on sleeping and eating), animation house Illumination's The Secret Life Of Pets posits the theory that they have great adventures.

Set in New York, it's the story of terrier Max (Louis CK), who believes he's the luckiest dog in the city, thanks to the bond he shares with his owner Katie. But when Katie brings home a new dog in the form of Duke (Modern Family star Eric Stonestreet), Max finds his world upended. Determined to be top dog, Max tries to lose Duke on the streets; however, it goes wrong when the duo lose their collars and end up in the grips of animal control...

Essentially as light and fluffy as the animals within, The Secret Life Of Pets is a fairly safe, solid bet for some family entertainment at the movies.

If you're after deep emotional connection with the furries on display here a la The Incredible Journey, then you're looking in the wrong place.

Packed full of sight gags, some cinematic references and a gratuitous plug for upcoming Illumination flick Sing (seriously, subtle is not the place for Illumination) The Secret Life Of Petsis a singular story stretched a little thin in parts across New York and Brooklyn, but still likely to amuse its core audience.

While the dogs have it ruff (sorry) in the film, and there are elements of Toy Story / only child syndrome at play here, the focus is solely on providing visual gags, some laughs and a degree of insight into pet owners and their pride and joy.

Leading large parts of the laughs is a psycho bunny Snowball (Kevin Hart) the leader of the Flushed Pets, a group of abandoned animals. For once Hart's OTT delivery and lunatic edges are perfectly suited to the white ball of fluff on the screen.

While some may cry there could have been a touch more innovation in the story (it's a tried and tested formula complete with tragic back-story for the abandoned animals) and that the film wears its influences on its sleeve (an Alien gag, a Lost World cracking windscreen, Puss in Boots cute eyes, some Looney Tunes moments), The Secret Life Of Pets proffers up as fun and fluffy a piece of entertainment as the cast of critters within.

Granted, it's instantly forgettable as it races through its zany pace and some of the best gags were spooled out in the trailer that showed the animals kicking back when the owners leave, but The Secret Life Of Pets is a furry family sized piece of entertainment that won't melt your heart with its emotional journey, but will see you leaving the cinema with a renewed fervour for your own animals.

Rogue One - A Star Wars Story - He Said She Said Review

Rogue One - A Star Wars Story - He Said She Said Review

Here's the very latest episode of He Said, She Said, as we take a look at Rogue One - A Star Wars Story!

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison Of Belief: DVD Review

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison Of Belief: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

Unlike Louis Theroux's recent My Scientology Movie, Alex Gibney's rich and rabbit-hole worthy extensive doco is very much a definitive look into the world of Scientology.

Clocking in at under 2 hours and still feeling like there's further echelons for it to explore, Gibney's approach is a lot of talking heads and talking to those directly affected by the Church's behaviour. Using testimonials, Gibney's knitted together a film that really does show the heart-breaking effect that some of the bullying and alienation techniques have had.

Using footage from their galas and a fairly damning expose of why Cruise is held in such high esteem by the Church, the film's ferocity is in its straight down the line, smart reporting. There's never a feeling that Gibney is following an agenda and a desire to take the Church down, and it's refreshing.

Ultimately, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison Of Belief is perhaps the perfect documentary; smart, intelligent and expertly crafted, it's hard to see anyone being anything other than horrified as it plays out.