The Call of the Wild: Film Review

The Call of the Wild: Film Review

Cast: Buck the CGI dog, Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, Karen Gillan, Omar Sy
Director: Chris Sanders

Chris "How To Train Your Dragon" Sanders dials up the beauty of the Yukon for this relatively tried and tested formula story on owning a dog.

Based on the 1903 Jack London novel, The Call of The Wild follows the rambunctious pooch Buck, as he finds himself dognapped and sold into the Yukon wilds to the highest bidder. Initially falling in with Omar Sy's mail courier, and falling foul of the pecking order of the sledding pack, Buck's world appears to be a harsh one as he tries to find his place in the world.

But when he is taken under the wing of Harrison Ford's grieving prospector John Thornton, he finds a different life as he tries to help Thornton come to terms with what life has dealt him.

Essentially The Littlest Hobo mixed in with a very familiar wilderness story and poured through a prism of old time sentimentalities, The Call of the Wild has heart under an uncanny valley CGI dog.

Initially fine, Buck's transmission to the screen soon becomes a little too hyper real (a WWE move on another dog being the defining moment) - but when the film settles, it uses simplicity to convey its heartfelt message of finding your place in the world.

Episodic by nature (Buck's kidnapped, Buck's new owners, Buck's perils among the Snow Dogs) the film lags in its final third, even as it tries to find legs for the true nugget of the tale - Buck's discovery of his wilder side, and how humanity is not for him.

That's a big theme to rest on the film's shoulders, and it doesn't always quite pull it off.

But a grizzled and silent Ford (he's acted with a furry companion to reasonably famous effect before) brings out the film's gentler and more contemplative edge - even if that's partially ruined by Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens hamming it up as the big bad.

There may be stock standard elements of a family film here, and there may be no surprises as the sentiment's piled high enough for mush in this Yukon Tail, but The Call of the Wild may find you feeling more stirred than you would like.

Jojo Rabbit: Blu Ray Review

Jojo Rabbit: Blu Ray Review

Marketed as an anti-hate satire, and facing unprecedented levels of hype out of wins at the Toronto International Film Festival and talk of Oscar buzz, director Taika Waititi's latest, Jojo Rabbit, is more a damp quietly burning squib than sensational fizzer.

Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit

It's the story of Jojo "Rabbit" Betzler (a superb turn from Roman Griffin Davis, who exudes confidence in every scene), a wannabe Hitler Youth whose days are haunted by imaginary best friend, a dimwitted Hitler (Waititi) and whose world is turned upside down when he finds his single mum Rosie (Johansson, soft and nurturing) is harbouring a Jew Elsa (a quiet McKenzie, aching with loss, fear, uncertainty and touches of bitterness) in the attic.

Confused and conflicted over what to do thanks to his core inner beliefs, Jojo finds his inner turmoil tough to deal with in the final days of the Third Reich.

While Jojo Rabbit opens with Waititi's trademark fantasy edges and comic touches, the film soon settles into something that resembles a form of disappointment as the satire fails to hit anything resembling scathing.

Perhaps more a soothing bittersweet love story, Waititi's Jojo Rabbit fails to touch on anything that verges on satire's sharpness, making the Nazis buffoons, or buffoons with heart, in something that seems to resemble great British sitcom 'Allo 'Allo (certainly in the case of Stephen Merchant's appallingly Bristolian Gestapo officer).

It's a film that revels in the quirks to start off with, before settling for this more cutesy and softer approach rather than revealing the horror of what transpired.

Whether it's enough to do this because it's through the eyes of a child is debatable, but it's perhaps somewhat morally reprehensible to try and pierce current climates and leanings with its weaker message, as perhaps those involved with the film want to do.

At its heart, Jojo Rabbit lacks the courage of some of its convictions, favouring whimsy over showing Jojo struggling more with his core Nazi beliefs, and making his inevitable epiphany feel unearned.

That's not to say it's without some successes though.

Davis is an incredible lead, a wide-eyed innocent who's able to carry the lighter comedic edges with ease, and who has the requisite softness for the more dramatic interactions with an equally strong McKenzie. Their relationship is obviously key to the film, and the love message that Waititi clearly wants to convey. Equally scenes with McKenzie and Johansson conversing, reflecting and hoping, are quietly enticing.

Rockwell's laissez-faire Nazi, complete with regret over an injury, is endearing, a resentment bubbling under for reasons that are again too spoilery to discuss; and McKenzie's quiet sadness as Elsa is genuinely heartbreaking, a fragility laid bare by an actress unafraid to let the silence speak for her.

There's one moment in the film that's truly devastatingly breathtaking - to say more is to ruin Waititi's directorial flair for the dramatic, but it is easily one of 2019's best on screen sequences.

Elements of Moone Boy and Moonrise Kingdom permeate Jojo Rabbit, but its reluctance to tackle fanaticism, and dogma with anything more than surface level whimsy is disappointing. Conversely, the film truly misses Waititi when he's not on screen, a sign perhaps of the confusion the tones mix.(His final appearances go someway to espousing some of the bilious hate of Hitler, and are terrifying to watch).

Make no mistake, there is a darker version of this film to be made, a film that fulfills more of the promise of Johansson's lamentations that she has lost her son to blind fanaticism as she opines at one point; a film that tackles the horror of the Nazis and overcomes it with the heart of a child and their burgeoning take on reality.

Jojo Rabbit is not it though - while Waititi may have been played into a corner with the best way to develop this passion project, there's much that leaves Jojo Rabbit wanting, a film that promises so much, and buckles, sadly, under the weight of expectation and ultimate execution.

Ready Or Not: Blu Ray Review

Ready Or Not: Blu Ray Review

Ready Or Not's mix of comedy and horror sometimes treads a fine line between successful and thrilling and sometimes, it meanders too much on the wrong side - but it's never less than compelling thanks to the grit and determination of its lead, Samara Weaving.

Weaving plays Grace, the new bride of Alex, the heir to a gaming family, who've made their money and whose members are worried Grace is nothing more than a gold-digger.

On their wedding night, Grace is told it's a family tradition to play a game - and it's her random choice. She draws a game of Hide and Seek which has, unbeknownst to her, has deadly consequences...

Ready Or Not is a pulpy wannabe horror, occasionally subverting genre thrills and skirting some commentary between the rich and the poor.

Yet, at times, as mentioned, the film's not quite sure which way it wants to go under its Radio Silence directors and script.

Scenes of tension and horror are undercut by over-the-top moments of laughter as well as sentiment, which sometimes feel misplaced in the mix. The tonal jumps mix in with the utterly ludicrous plot, and while the film plays with all of them, skating between genres, its true success comes in its heroine.

Weaving is stoicism personified, a satire on the woman taking on the patriarchy (by wearing Converse under her wedding dress, natch) and dealing with the family from hell. She's never empowered enough to kill, adding a layer of the poor don't sink to the rich's level commentary within. But there's enough of her on show to make for a compelling heroine to root for from the beginning.

In an over-the-top laissez faire finale, Ready Or Not reveals its hand, and gives its cat and mouse game the cult feel it's clearly aiming for. But played more for laughs than outright horror, it sometimes makes it difficult to fully care or engage with anyone but the heroine as she tears into societal norms,

That's no bad thing, and while Ready or Not may offer some vicarious thrills, they're fleeting and the class war premise is left as nothing more than a simple and entertainingly brief rollercoaster thrill ride. 

Come To Daddy: Film Review

Come To Daddy: Film Review

Incredibly Strange programmer and industry stalwart Ant Timpson's directorial debut is a strange slice of sentiment mixed with the usual gonzo horror gore you've come to expect.

A terribly haircutted Elijah Wood is Norval, a hipster musician who's called back to his father's side after a letter shows up without warning decades after they were last seen. But upon Norval's arrival, his father is a crude and unsympathetic father figure, apparently disinterested in his son, but fervently keen in abusing him and mocking his musical success and limited edition Lorde designed phone.

However, things take a turn for the dramatic as time goes on.

To say more about Come To Daddy is to rob the ride of some of the uncertain richness that's portrayed within. And that's kind of the point of most of the film, as it toys with the intimate and preys on the audience expectations.

But what Timpson's delivered, along with writer Toby Harvard, is a film that ripples in parts, and feels under-explored in others as it bends genres and audience hopes.

Shot in close up styles, and with a cast that's best described as intimate, rather than sparse, there is more of emotional heft than you'd expect as you watch Wood's uncertain Norval try to impress his father and reconnect. Wood channels awkwardness and misplaced bluster as he tries to show off, and the excruciating scene is made even stronger by some tautly shot moments and some wide angles suggesting the divide between them.

Apparently, there are autobiographical elements within, and one senses the early scenes speak to a generational gap that has been witnessed for years as families try to reconcile their hopes for their siblings / paternal relationships.

Timpson makes great fist of the claustrophobia here and there, and never loses the propensity for laughs - obvious or otherwise (a plastic bag on a beach being one of the chief examples).

But when the film moves out of the confines of its dramatic journey and into genre areas it's destined to fulfill, it loses some of the scope that's kept it together as it looks to satiate an audience seeking a gore quota and a sleaze factor.

The payoff is an interesting one, and one which speaks volumes to the relationship, but which to discuss more is to spoil - ultimately, Come To Daddy may offer a Friday night's worth of entertainment, but it's never as gory or as humorous as it could or should be.

And for that element alone, it's more of a sentimental film than you'd ever expect from Timpson et al - and all the more interesting because of it.

Win a copy of Oscar winner Jojo Rabbit on DVD

Win a copy of Oscar winner Jojo Rabbit on DVD

To celebrate the release of director Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit on Blu Ray and DVD, thanks to Universal Home Pictures, you can win a copy!

About Jojo Rabbit

Writer director Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE), brings his signature style of humor and pathos to his latest film, JOJO RABBIT, a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy (Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo) whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. 

Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.

Jojo Rabbit is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray.


All you have to do is email your details and the word JOJO!

Email now to  darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com 
Or CLICK HERE NOW  

Competition closes February 29

The Legend of Baron To'a: Film Review

The Legend of Baron To'a: Film Review

Cast: Uli Latukefu, John Tui, Nathaniel Lees, Shavaughn Ruakere, Jay Laga'aia
Director: Kiel McNaughton

Ambition on a budget meets a degree of heart and family legacy in director Kiel McNaughton's debut.

It's the story of Latukefu's Fritz, an Aussie-based businessman who needs to sell the old family home in New Zealand to finance a deal back home. Landing in his old cul-de-sac, he finds some things have changed since the days when his wrestling father, Baron To'a, ruled the roost.

But when a local gang makes off with his dad's prize wrestling belt, Fritz's uncle refuses to sell the home until it's returned - sending Fritz on a collision course with his own personal and troubled history.

The Legend of Baron To'a starts with two of the actors (Latukefu and Tui) apologising to the Tongan King for what they're about to see, but exalting him that they wanted to show a true to life story.

In truth, the cul-de-sac where the story takes place could be anywhere where bad apples have set in and the rot's begun, and where family and community have been torn apart by crime and deliquency.

On that front, McNaughton and his writing team have seized on a vein of veracity that's got plenty to be mined for dramatic effect.

Yet in parts, The Legend of Baron To'a lacks some of the dramatic KO that it's clearly going for - largely in part due to the writing of Latukefu's Fritz. Prone to going all Beautiful Mind and writing on windows, Fritz is a hard character to really care about, despite the Robbie Magasiva-like Latukefu's best acting intentions. And certainly when the chips are down, there's more a sense that he was entitled to what was coming, rather than favouring this underdog.

A cartoon-like element underpins some of the brutal beatdowns, with not one ounce of blood spilled throughout, despite some of the violence on show - it's moments like this that take the film out of the reality and grittiness it aspires to.

And yet, in its flaws, this genial pic packs in heart when it needs to - particularly with moments of Tui's To'a, a legend in his own cul-de-sac. Glimpsed in flashbacks and in old videos of wrestling, it's clear there's a legacy here, and Tui makes the absolute most of the limited screentime.

Equally, Laga'aia's subtle and simple portrait of the long-time dweller offering advice to the newcomer is a stellar performance, one doused in subtlety. Laga'aia lifts some of The Legend of Baron To'a's shortcomings when it truly counts. Billed as a comedy, the laughs are, to be frank, in short shrift, and The Legend of Baron To'a is more a family dramedy than anything else.

With fight scenes that resemble UK's World of Sport Wrestling TV series, McNaughton makes great fist of the small spaces to bring the action alive, clearly channeling Tongan Ninja and Kung Fu Hustle.

Overall, while The Legend of Baron To'a may lack a few killer KO moves throughout and would have benefited from a tighter script, it does proffer a solid night out for NZ cinemagoers.

Richard Jewell: Film Review

Richard Jewell: Film Review

Cast: Paul Walter Hauser, Kathy Bates, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Jon Hamm
Director: Clint Eastwood

If Richard Jewell achieves anything, it'll be proof that the best performances come from unshowy actors determined to fall into their roles and make the best subtle use of their time on screen.

Eastwood's tale of one man caught in a maelstrom is perfect for his ageing Libertarian views, as he aims a salvo at the media and pushes the old ways of the American dream.

Hauser plays Jewell, a vulnerable oaf caught in his belief of authority and his inability to see the system is out to get him and manipulate him when he's accused of bombing Centennial Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

With his profile fitting the FBI's suspicions he's not the hero he's hailed as after he saved many in the park, Jewell finds his life - and that of his mother's - caught in the headlights.

Richard Jewell benefits from terrific turns from Hauser as the wronged man, Rockwell as the lawyer who decides to take the case after years of friendship, and Bates' silently-stoic-but-ultimately-rising-to-the-occasion mother.

When it concentrates on this triumvirate, the film packs a power punch that's subtle, unshowy and ultimately engrossing.

Which is why it's a shame that those swirling around Jewell's escalating plight, and those plotting his downfall, are nothing more than once-over-lightly stereotypes and caricatures.

From Wilde's contentiously sleazy reporter Kathy Scruggs who's made to trade sex for scoops (something the film's been slammed for) to Hamm's just bad FBI agent who was caught off guard when Jewell discovered the bomb, the film's outer edges damage the relatively engrossing tale that ensues.

Throw in Confederate flags, a scene of the US flag being waved in full camera that Roland Emmerich would be proud of and the whole mix starts to feel a little queasy, a touch of retro jingoism of the worst order.

Ultimately, Richard Jewell deserves to be seen for Hauser and Rockwell's performances alone, their character moments dazzling quietly under the ensuing heavy-handedness that Eastwood and his writer deploy.

It may be following Eastwood's desire to laud the common man caught in the unstoppable force of
the Government crusade his latest films have pushed, but the more powerful moments of Jewell, thanks largely to Hauser's understated and overwhelming performance, soar high above some of the other misdeeds of the rest of the film.