The Girl In The Spider's Web: Film Review

The Girl In The Spider's Web: Film Review

Cast: Claire Foy, Sylvia Hoeks, Lakeith Stanfield, Stephen Merchant, Vicky Krieps, Sverrir Gudnason
Director: Fede Alvarez

The Millennium Trilogy was, to be frank, a sensation.

Dark, dingy, Scandi-noir that hooked audiences, the Noomi Rapace/ Michael Nyqvist combo sustained three films and millions of book sales. The subsequent reimagining with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara fell short, even if it embraced some of the darkness and intense nastiness which percolated through the first.

And now, from the director of Don't Breathe, the book not written by Stieg Larsson has made it to the big screen, with The Crown star Claire Foy taking the lead role of hacker Lisbeth Salander.

Yet, The Girl In The Spider's Web all feels so formulaic, and largely unexciting.

The story concerns Salander who's contacted by Stephen Merchant's Frans Balder to retrieve a defence programme he's written. Salander does, but then finds herself unexpectedly under attack from others who want it, and framed for crimes she didn't commit.

Racing against time to clear her name, and stop the end of the world, Salander discovers the conspiracy has a very familial feel to it...

The problems with The Girl In The Spider's Web are largely not those connected with the execution of the film, which deploys some clever twists and starkly nasty imagery with veritable aplomb.

And the problem doesn't lie on the shoulders of a relatively emotionless Foy, who largely turns Salander into a scowling, scornful, brooding superhero type, in a performance which dials down the restraint, ups the physicality from Foy and leaves an impressive feel.

The main issue with The Girl In The Spider's Web is the story itself - it seems so out of keeping with what the original trilogy aimed for.

When Salander first appears, it's like she's cosplaying Oliver McQueen from Arrow, and the script demands an avenging angel like performance as the righter of wrongs, catapulting Salander into the echelons of damaged superheroes. And while Alvarez does much with jerky camera movements and handheld rushes to complement a sense of suspense at the start, he soon abandons for formulaic thriller territory.

The Girl In The Spider's Web still has some nightmarish edges, and while the emotional touches at the end come down to a short scene involving two people on a snowy ledge, there's little to let the light in throughout.

Stanfield is terribly and woefully underused as an American agent chasing the missing program; and in much similar ways, journalist Mikael Blomkvist is sidelined as the story goes on, robbing the film of the central spiky partnership that was such a tenet of the original series.

If all of this feels like The Girl In The Spider's Web is being damned, it's pertinent to say it's still a competent thriller, even if it's one constrained in a narrative web of its own doing.

It's just compared to the original films, and source material, no matter what Alvarez and Foy do, it's not enough to lift it from the gloom that pervades throughout - both of atmosphere and of oh-so-familiar pulp plot which lacks the sophistication and lyrical poetry of the first three.

Exciting announcements unveiled for all Blizzard Entertainment franchises at BlizzCon!

Exciting announcements unveiled for all Blizzard Entertainment franchises at BlizzCon!

Exciting announcements unveiled for all Blizzard Entertainment franchises at BlizzCon!

Greetings, friends!

BlizzCon 2018 is now underway, and the Anaheim Convention Centre is buzzing with excitement! In case you missed the Opening Ceremony, here’s a roundup of all the exciting announcements we just made.

You can also find the latest assets, press releases, developer bios, and more at blizzard.gamespress.com.

Diablo

• Diablo Immortal – Blizzard introduces an authentic Diablo experience with Diablo Immortal, a mobile MMO Action RPG and the newest entry into the Diablo series! Learn more.
• Diablo III Eternal Collection now available – Nintendo Switch owners around the world can now get their gauntlets on the Diablo III Eternal Collection, retailing for RRP $89.95 AUD/$99.99 NZD. 
• Nintendo Switch Diablo III Eternal Collection Bundle – Players looking to commemorate the arrival of the Lord of Terror to Nintendo’s newest system can now purchase this fiery console bundle at select ANZ locations!

World of Warcraft

• Tides of Vengeance – The war between the Horde and the Alliance reaches a crucial turning point in Tides of Vengeance, the upcoming first major content update for Battle for Azeroth, featuring new content including the Battle of Dazar’alor raid, the Battle for Darkshore warfront, and more.
• Watch the “Lost Honour” cinematic here.
• WoW Classic – WoW Classic will launch Winter 2019 in ANZ, and will be included with a World of Warcraft subscription. BlizzCon attendees can demo an early build of WoW Classic on the show floor. Attendees and Virtual Ticket holders can access to the BlizzCon WoW Classic Demo from home from today until 5 a.m. AEDT/7 a.m. NZDT on 9 November. Learn more.
• Adopt Whomper and Support Code.org – A new in-game pet and plushie is now available for purchase, with proceeds going to benefit Code.org—a nonprofit dedicated to expanding computer science education in schools and increasing participation by women and minorities. Learn more about Whomper, the playful baby yeti.

Warcraft III: Reforged

• Warcraft III Reforged - Experience this beloved real-time strategy game like never before. All new art and animations, 62 single-player missions, a refreshed user interface, an overhauled World Editor, and full Battle.net integration await in this timeless classic. Learn more.

Overwatch

• Ashe – A new hero, the notorious gunslinging outlaw Ashe, will soon be joining the roster of Overwatch, Blizzard’s acclaimed team-based shooter.
• McCree Animated Short – A new Overwatch animated short was revealed during the ceremony—in “Reunion”, McCree runs into his old friend, Ashe.
• Lúcio-Oh’s is here!  – With the help of Kellogg’s, the popular Lúcio in-game spray has become a reality. The cereal will be available for purchase starting in late December at various retailers in the United States. Some lucky attendees at BlizzCon and those visiting Kellogg’s NYC café in Union Square this weekend will be some of the first to boost their breakfast with Lúcio-Oh’s Sonic Vanilla flavour.

Hearthstone

• Rastakhan’s Rumble™ – A new Hearthstone expansion, launching 5 December AEDT/NZDT, pits players against the finest troll gladiators Azeroth can muster. Step into Gurubashi Arena and fight for glory with 135 brutal new cards, including Wild Gods that have manifested in the form of nine new Legendary Loa minions!
• Rumble Run – In the single-player mode for Rastakhan’s Rumble, Rumble Run, compete for glory before cheering crowds in a no-holds-barred smackdown in the Gurubashi Arena! Players will choose a troll champion and climb the ranks in this gladiatorial contest to be crowned champion. Rumble Run is free for all players; no pre-built decks are required for entry.
• Eager combatants can pre-purchase Rastakhan’s Rumble card packs via two bundles: a 17-pack Challenger’s Bundle that includes the Ready to Rumble! card back, and the 50-pack Rumble Bundle that includes the King Rastakhan Shaman Hero and the Ready to Rumble! card back. These bundles are available on any platform from $26.95 AUD/$31.99 NZD and $66.95 AUD/$79.99 NZD respectively—one of each can be purchased per account.

For more info, visit RastakhansRumble.com

Heroes of the Storm

• New Hero: Orphea – The first ever Nexus-born Hero—Orphea, heir of Raven Court and daughter of the nefarious Raven Lord—is an approachable ranged Assassin with a high skill cap who rewards opportunistic plays. BlizzCon attendees and Virtual Ticket holders will get Orphea for free when she makes her way to the Nexus in Blizzard’s fast-paced MOBA later this month. Learn more.
• Match Quality Updates and Community Content – The 2019 Gameplay Update is coming to Heroes of the Storm with the goal of making games feel closer and more competitive, including exciting new changes to the experience system and matchmaking. The Heroes team is also paying homage to some of the community’s most hotly requested items by adding Skins like Janitor Leoric, the Kevin Johnson aka Cloaken announcer, and more! Learn more.

StarCraft II

• Zeratul – Prepare to strike from the shadows with the next Commander for StarCraft II’s popular Co-Op mode: Zeratul, the renowned psionic assassin. By collecting powerful artifacts, Zeratul unlocks powerful new capabilities and the ability to customise his global top bar abilities.
• Warchest/Twitch – For the first time ever, the War Chest will integrate directly with Twitch to reward players for watching StarCraft II. Players can unlock exciting in-game content like player portraits, sprays, emoticons, banners, and for the first time ever, building skins. Learn more.

Win a double pass to see The Girl In The Spider's Web

Win a double pass to see The Girl In The Spider's Web

Lisbeth Salander, the cult figure and title character of the acclaimed Millennium book series created by Stieg Larsson, will return to the screen in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, a first-time adaptation of the recent global bestseller. 

Golden Globe winner Claire Foy, the star of "The Crown," will play the outcast vigilante defender under the direction of Fede Alvarez, the director of 2016’s breakout thriller Don’t Breathe; the screenplay adaptation is by Steven Knight and Fede Alvarez & Jay Basu.

The Girl In The Spider's Web is in cinemas November 8th.

To win all you have to do is email your details and the word SPIDER WEB to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Competition closes November 8th

The Breaker Upperers: Blu Ray Review

The Breaker Upperers: Blu Ray Review

There's no disputing the necessity and timeliness of The Breaker Upperers, a female written, directed and led comedy, aimed squarely at getting groups of women together and out into the cinema.

Fresh from success on the international circuit and at SXSW, van Beek and Sami play Jen and Mel, a couple of long-term mates who have an agency that essentially breaks couples up, because those involved are too scared to do it themselves.

Business is good, and Jen's approach is to never let it get personal.

However, when Mel gets the guilts for claiming to Annie one of those dumped that her other half went AWOL, things start to rupture between the two of them. It's further exacerbated when Mel starts dating Rolleston's lacking-in-smarts Jordan - it looks very much like the next couple heading for splitsville is Mel and Jen...

The Breaker Upperer's short run time helps, because, in parts, areas of this film feel like an extended sketch show thrown together with the flimsiest of threads and the best of intentions.

It's not to belittle any of those involved nor their intentions, but the general malaise which settles in to The Breaker Upperers is more prevalent when scenes don't centre on Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek's characters.

In between the hitherto-rarely seen on the big screen take on female friendship delivered by The Breaker Upperers, there are some high points. Sami, in particular, delivers a gutsy performance that drops the laughs with ease; van Beek's more of a straight man act to this, but it's herein the problem with The Breaker Upperers lies.

The simple cold hard fact of the matter is that everyone within is a character to varying degrees.

It means that when the emotional pull is supposed to come, it doesn't resonate as strongly as it should, largely in part to the feeling that swathes of this feel underwritten and ever-so slightly undercooked.

It's not majorly disparaging, just disappointing that there's potential here that feels lost in translation - and cameos from the likes of te Wiata as Jen's sex-obsessed hoitytoity mother and a sequence involving a 90s Celine Dion karaoke ballad means there are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments to be had.

Rolleston tries to play fast and dumb with Jordan, and a comment midway through the film as he gets a lift back home with his mum and beau in tow is genuinely one of the most scabrous and hilarious sentences uttered in the history of New Zealand cinema.

But that's the issue here - the humour is too few and far in between.

At its heart, The Breaker Upperers simply wants to be loved.

It doesn't want to be rejected like its suitors and yet it never quite offers a compelling enough reason to try and make it through the rocky periods and past the initial honeymoon period.

Edie: DVD Review

Edie: DVD Review

Less Reese Witherspoon's Wild, more a tame film that pulls no surprises, Sheila Hancock's Edie is a woman with a mission late in life.

Freed from the shackles of an abusive marriage that imploded into a stroke for her husband that imprisoned them both for 30 years and with a care home beckoning for her future, Edie decides on a whim to tackle a Scottish mountain climb.

With the cry of "Never too late for you, Edie" ringing in her ears, and with memories of a mountain promise made to her by her late father, Edie goes AWOL (with scant follow through from her daughter) to the Highlands.

After bumping into Guthrie's Johnny, Edie's conned into getting training from his so-called camping ways to tackle the journey...

Edie is predictable fare, that treads a familiar path to redemption without any flashiness or surprises.
It's in its subtlety that it works best, and with a twinkling performance from Hancock, and a genuinely empathetic grounded turn from Guthrie, the film's Odd Couple vibe of lost souls tends to work best early on.

Edie's determined to cast the shackles of the shadow of her past life off and climb both the literal and metaphorical mountain dragging her down. Equally, Johnny's uncertainty over being stuck in a small town, shackled to a partner's business plan, threatens to overwhelm his future and hold him back in much the same way as Edie's abusive husband did.

It's here that Edie stumbles really - its desire to repeatedly and unsubtly beat home parts of its message mean that - coupled with endless use of slow mo towards the end - the film becomes mired in sentiment and treats its audience with less respect. Along with the fact that logic and some key plot threads are just left dangling, this is never anything but Edie and Johnny's friendship, set to the backdrop of what appears to be shameless tourism video promotion for the rolling vistas of bonnie Scotland.

But in among the battle of unnecessary wills and heads being butted testing boundaries, Hancock and Guthrie quietly impress, imbuing the film with a resonance of a less-is-more execution.

It's unlikely that Edie will trouble either box offices or end of year lists, but it does offer an older audience a viewpoint seldom seen - of life after marriage, and in the twilight years. It's here that Hunter's film packs a quiet power - but had those in charge pulled back and removed some of the padding, the inter-generational friendship story could have flourished more than it comes close to hinting at. 

Beirut: DVD Review

Beirut: DVD Review

A formulaic spy thriller about a flawed hero called in to resolve a kidnapping that has a personal connection, Beirut is a solid but unspectacular thriller that ticks all the boxes and hits all the beats.

Mad Men's Jon Hamm is Mason Skiles, a former diplomat, who despite all the schmoozing and boozing is unable to prevent an event at his pad in Beirut turning into a tragedy in 1972.

Wounded emotionally by what occurs and having left the region, Skiles is forced to return when a colleague is kidnapped - and he finds himself entangled in the clandestine goings on of the political uprisings and the American intentions for them.

Beirut is that typical story, one of you not knowing whose side is whose, and which person is to be trusted.

In many ways, it feels all too familiar, just set in a different world we're used to seeing.
But the war torn Beirut feels gritty and grimy, and when Skiles returns a decade after leaving to see the evidence of civil uprising and the destruction, Hamm plays it excellently as Skiles steps out of the airport. At once shocked and simultaneously trying to work out how best to negotiate survival, the nuances of Hamm's flawed hero are thrown sharply into focus.

In fact, Hamm largely is the presence which keeps Beirut going; the conflict's cost is etched deep within his drawn face, his eyes puffy from decades of alcoholism and regret.

Elsewhere, Beirut's hoary tropes feel like they exist simply to hit dramatic beats, and it's not helped in parts by a script that largely feels ripped from plenty of other sources. The drama's at its best when it's invested in the personal, and it's never better than when Hamm elevates it. 

Bohemian Rhapsody: Film Review

Bohemian Rhapsody: Film Review

Cast: Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Tom Hollander, Ben Hardy, Mike Myers, Lucy Boynton
Director: Bryan Singer / Dexter Fletcher

To be honest, Bohemian Rhapsody does not, and will not, care for what critics think.

This broad, crowd-pleasing attempt to turn Queen's life story - and ultimately, that of Freddie Mercury - into a cinematic experience, is more akin to putting an inordinate amount of money into a jukebox and blasting out Queen's Greatest Hits on repeat, with Brian May's guitar riffs ultimately numbing you into submission..

That is to say, the Antony McCarten-penned biopic is electric and offers a kind of magic only when its lead Rami Malek prances around on stage, overbite and all, effecting the mannerisms of Mercury himself and the flamboyancy of performance. It's here that Malek just about manages to transcend his "Stars In Their Eyes" moment to remind you of why these songs endure.

Unfortunately, it's all the rest of what sits in between the culmination of the Live Aid performance and Queen experimenting with their sound that feels like a bum B-side, depressingly put out solely because the label demands it.

Racing formulaically between narrative beats, and hitting every familiar moment of a rags-to-riches story - including family tensions and subsequent resolutions, Bohemian Rhapsody suffers from plodding plotting, a defiant coyness over the star's bisexuality and rampant hedonistic lifestyle and also offers an insulting nod'n'wink at hidden gay sexuality throughout. (It's no wonder Frankie Howerd's Up Pompeii is playing on a TV early on).

In many ways, it feels like a three act West End musical in its execution (though some drone shots at the Live Aid performance at the end are thrilling, a sense of spectacle and scale evident in every swoop from the skies through the crowd and to Freddie himself on stage) and is pigheadedly determined to ensure that it provides more dancing to the crowd as it dances around its subject, and subsequently provides rarely any insight into Mercury other than what the downpat story beats demand of it.

While Malek is transcendant at times, and occasionally sells the internal conflict of Mercury well, he's let down massively by a script that's as formulaic as it is predictable.

Ultimately, Bohemian Rhapsody is more interested in serving a crowd a slice of rock'n'roll pie than providing a full meal - heaven alone knows what Freddie would have made of it.