Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Joe Carnahan
Cast: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie, Joe Anderson
RunTime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: InnoForm Media & Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://thegreythemovie.com/
Opening Day: 23 February 2012
Synopsis: In "The Grey", a group of oil-rig roughnecks are left stranded on the sub-arctic tundra after their plane experiences a complete mechanical failure and crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. The survivors, battling mortal injuries, biting cold and ravenous hunger, are relentlessly hunted and pursued by a vicious pack of rogue wolves. Liam Neeson plays the leader of the team.
Movie Review:
“Man is the weakest of animals- he is born naked and unarmed, without fangs, claws, horns or “instinctual” knowledge. Physically, he would fall an easy prey, not only to the higher animals, but also to the lowest bacteria; he is the most complex organism and, in a contest of brute force, extremely fragile and vulnerable. His only weapon—his basic means of survival—is his mind.”
The survivalist movie ‘The Grey’ pits a half-dozen or so oil-rig rouchnecks against a den of rabid wolves, and though the man-versus-nature premise has probably been done to death, writer/director Joe Carnahan’s portrayal of that elemental struggle for survival breathes new life into the genre by being unusually thoughtful and philosophical. Indeed, right from the beginning, Carnahan brings an unexpected sobriety to the proceedings by introducing his protagonist Ottway as a deeply troubled man who has lost his will and purpose to live.
The riveting prologue not just hints that Ottway has somehow lost someone very close and important in his life, but also establishes his suicidal state of mind as he brings the barrel of his gun to his mouth after killing a grey wolf. In Liam Neeson’s trademark gravelly voice, we learn that the sharpshooter who has seen his fair share of killing over the years now makes his living protecting the riggers out in the Alaskan wilderness, but can’t quite figure out why he’s now safeguarding a bunch of men he describes as “unfit for mankind”.
Ottway is quickly put to the test when the transport plane ferrying him and his co-workers home after a gruelling five-week shift crashes into the wilderness in the midst of a blinding blizzard. That terrifically exciting sequence is just one of many similarly thrilling ones to come, as Carnahan and his cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi display an uncanny ability of thrusting their audience right into the heart of the peril facing the characters. Only a fortunate handful survive, the fragility at which life is so easily lost emphasised by a stirring moment where Ottway holds the hand of one of the dying and tells him not to fight it, and another where a fellow survivor says a prayer for the dead while thanking God for sparing and helping those who lived.
Nonetheless, Ottway and the ragtag group of survivors- Burke (Nonso Anozie), Henrick (Dallas Roberts), Talget (Dermot Mulroney) and Diaz (Frank Grillo)- realise that death in this instance might be the easier way out as they are forced to traverse the harsh wintry terrain in order to escape from wolves. Aside from Ottway, it’s anyone’s guess how long the others will survive- and Carnahan and his co-screenwriter Ian Mackenzie Jeffers are shrewd enough not to paint any of the supporting characters in the caricatured way lesser movies often do that inevitably give away the surprise. Instead, like Ottway, they impress as strong independent-minded characters with their individual motivations to stay alive.
So they do what is necessary to survive- crafting improvised weapons, taking turns to keep watch at night, building fires at every rest stop- while admirably never leaving their fellow men, wounded or otherwise, literally to the dogs. Their fundamental struggle is told with unvarnished clarity, and Carnahan’s attention to the little details in every scene makes the journey thoroughly mesmerising every step of the way. Despite the primitive nature of the struggle, there is something lyrical about the proceedings, illuminating the stark truth that man’s most formidable weapon against nature’s beasts is mind and spirit.
Appropriately, the climax pits the alpha male from both species- though audiences looking for that rush of pure adrenaline as man is reduced to the level of a beast in order to confront one will likely be disappointed. Yes, consider this as fair warning that Carnahan doesn’t reward those looking for some action payoff at the end; but in those final moments of ambiguity, he reiterates the salient purpose of Ottway’s drive to keep himself and the rest of the others alive as best he can- but stay right through the end credits for a final coda that hints at the outcome of the climactic showdown.
At the heart of this harrowing movie is Liam Neeson, whose perfect combination of intelligence and masculinity holds it together from start to finish. Though the Irish actor found himself catapulted to iconic status just three years ago with his slick actioner ‘Taken’, Neeson is so much more than just an action star- and ‘The Grey’ while marketed to draw audiences taken with his earlier movie efficiently blends both his newfound action star qualities with his well-established dramatic roots. It’s no overstatement to say that Neeson is terrific in the role, demonstrating with utmost keenness his character’s fragility beneath the bravado.
And with Neeson, Carnahan has made a movie with the right balance of action and emotion that is thrilling, heartfelt and unexpectedly meditative. Beyond the man-beast polemic oft explored in such genre pictures, it isn’t afraid to go one step further to confront a more challenging spiritual dilemma- that of whether life is really worth fighting for, or death is really worth fighting against. So poetically is its very essence embodied in the words of this short recurring poem pivotal in Ottway’s existence:
Once more into the fray
Into the last good fight I’ll ever know
Live and die on this day,
Live and die on this day.
And like the quote at the beginning of the review, it isn’t just a viscerally gripping survival tale, but one that embraces the very cerebral nature of every man-animal battle worth its weight.
Movie Rating:
(The rare survival tale that isn’t just gripping but thoughtful and contemplative, thanks to a peerless performance by Liam Neeson)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: In the action film Colombiana, Zoe Saldana plays Cataleya, a young woman who has grown up to be an assassin after witnessing the murder of her parents as a child. Turning herself into a professional killer and working for her uncle, she remains focused on her ultimate goal: to hunt down and get revenge on the mobster responsible for her parents' deaths... even if it means losing everything she loves.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Liked many of their previous collaborations, scribers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen’s “Colombiana” is skimmed on the details and easily another forgettable fast-paced thriller from Besson’s factory process-line.
Directed by Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3), Zoe Saldana plays Cataleya, a woman who vows to avenge her parents after witnessing their death by ruthless drug lords. Under her uncle, Emilio (Cliff Curtis), she trains and become a professional killer but her ultimate goal is to track down her parents’ killers even if it means sacrificing everything she has.
Taking a leaf out of Besson’s acclaimed “The Professional” and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, “Colombiana” is simply a revenge tale with a female lead anchoring the entire movie. To be fair, Zoe Saldana did a fair enough job displaying her physical prowess and sexy bod, unfortunately she is let down by the generic plotting that fails to lend much weight to her role. With the except of a flimsy romance angle, the movie is strictly derived of much details on her enemies, their motives or even much exposure on Cataleya’s own inner demons.
However if you are looking for some stylistic action sequences, “Colombiana” delivers them in spades. Sliding in and out of aircon ducts in skintight catsuit, arming herself with deadly weaponry and shot beautifully by the DP and Megaton, Saldana is ready to give Angelina Jolie a run for her money. Not forgetting the obligatory parkour footchase and fist fights.
One major problem remains is that “Colombiana” is too serious at times and comparing to the director’s “Transporter 3” which is trashy fun stuff, this particular title just doesn’t find its footing and occasionally the character kills plainly for the sake of killing and we can only attribute it to Besson’s taste for exquisite death for example a baddie being shot into a pool of sharks. But wait, we don’t even know this guy except he is somewhat connected to Cataleya’s parents death I guess.
As expected from any Europa’s productions, the production is all style and seriously not every title is a jackpot liked “Taken”. “Colombiana” ends up as another paint-by-numbers action movie that Besson and team churned out every quarter or so.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD comes only with a Trailer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visually, the transfer is perfect, taint in an intended golden aura. The sound transfer is excellent with strong gunfire and explosions. Dialogue is natural and clear.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama/Biography
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Cast: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant, Harry Lloyd, Anthony Head, Olivia Colman, Roger Allam, Susan Brown, Alice da Cunha, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Iain Glen
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Nudity)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.theironladymovie.co.uk/blog/
Opening Day: 16 February 2012
Synopsis: Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister, now in her 80s, is at home having breakfast in Chester Square, London. Although her husband, Denis, has been dead for several years, her decision finally to clear out his wardrobe has triggered a slew of memories. Indeed, as she sets about her day, Denis appears to her as real as when he was alive - loyal, loving, mischievous. Margaret's staff express concern to Carol Thatcher about her mother's apparent confusion of past and present. The concern becomes stronger when, at a dinner she hosts that night, Margaret captivates her guests but is then distracted by memories of the dinner at which she first met Denis 60 years previously. With the dinner party over, Margaret retires to bed but cannot sleep. She gets up and digs out some old home movies which she watches and reflects on the sacrifices made in her private life in pursuit of her career. The day after the dinner party, Carol has persuaded her mother to see a doctor. Margaret maintains that there is nothing wrong with her. She reveals nothing to the doctor about the vivid memories of key moments of her life that are invading her waking hours. Back at Chester Square, Margaret fights against the rising tide of memories. She packs up Denis’s belongings and asserts her independence - of course she will have memories but she also has a life in the present - a smaller life than before, but one no less worth living.
Movie Review:
Meryl Streep is every bit as good as you’d expect her to be in “The Iron Lady” but that wondrous application of mimicry does not extend to the film itself. A shallow, inert attempt at a biopic that finds an unhealthy fascination with condensing its subject matter into melodramatic pulp -- mercurial and intriguing it is not.
Director Phyllida Lloyd (reuniting with Streep from “Mamma Mia”) and writer Abi Morgan start off with a terrific shot of an old Thatcher, removed from office, reaching for a bottle of milk in the supermarket, recalling the famous “milk snatcher” jibe given to her prior to her tenure as Prime Minister. It sets up a self-reflexive view of the subject from the get-go, one that could have considered context and historical perspective as a vantage point in approaching its divisive character. Unfortunately, the film abuses this approach and steadily crafts self-consciously superficial scenarios and characterisations that strip whatever veracity exploring subject like Thatcher deserves from a biopic.
On the other hand, Streep is memorable in her upstaginess, her control of the scene evincing a fiercer sense of scale that becomes increasingly clear that even the film itself is unable to handle, let alone harness. She offers so much by giving brief insights not just into Thatcher but of people of her ilk – angry, out-of-touch and fiercely siege-like – the film becomes almost embarrassed at having this wealth of themes at its disposal, choosing to gloss over the internalisation of such a character in lieu of a grossly simplistic overview of the chronology leading up to its framing device.
The film paints Thatcher in three primary lights – old and dithering in the present, idealistic and feisty in her early years, and arrogant and stubborn during her time in office. It’s a conventional narrative device that urges the utilisation of histrionics and reduction as prevailing ideals. Dementia sets in as Thatcher starts to see hallucinations of her dead husband; she recalls her rise from the being the daughter of a grocer (the film makes a five-course meal out of her humble beginnings) to her stint as Education Secretary in a male-dominated Parliament, all the way into her unlikely appointment as Prime Minister during the country’s economic downturn.
This device severely limits the storytelling potential of the film. A flashback, when used correctly, solidifies an audience’s emotional connection to the character through a uniquely slanted perspective. However, the film misuses it to a grave extent. We do not see so much of the character as we do of the circumstances surrounding her – the key moments as ascertained by raucous distortion of facts and a self-defeatist avenue of inquiry.
Starting off with an agenda already set in place by positioning Thatcher as a key figure of feminism, it informs every scene as a paean to her rise and dismantling of a patriarchal club that once excluded her. It touches lightly on her famous disposition – ideas before emotions – as being as far away from a conventional description of a lady as possible. It even approaches near respectability at times when it asserts that a rigid stance based on courage of convictions might just be the wrong thing to have in a world begging for a nuanced and proportionate approach – just one example of correlation to contemporary context the film could have used. It also undercuts Thatcher's legacy at the end as a nasty old woman playing at politics when it ends the film with her doddering around the kitchen.
Perhaps this might be the film’s greatest misstep in addressing a famous personality like her. The film merely ignores the politics she stood for, relegating the people of England into news sound-bites as it focuses on her insipid relationship with her children instead of the true fascination of her time in office. She influenced a veritable lexicon of 80s’ to 90s’ pop culture through a political gravitas that resonates till now – the irrational, tyrannical and at times alienating portraiture of right-wing politics can be seen through her prominence in European politics. Thatcher is inextricable from her policies and to ignore this vital aspect is to show a muddled view of the woman -- an exploration of a leader is futile without taking the pulse of the people he or she leads.
Movie Rating:
(Streep is expectedly phenomenal – by far and away the only saving grace of a ridiculous and ill-conceived biopic)
Review by Justin Deimen
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A Teaser for Jackie Chan's CHINESE ZODIACPosted on 04 Jan 2012 |
Genre: Thriller
Director: Heitor Dhalia
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter, Wes Bentley, Sebastian Stan, Socratis Otto, Emily Wickersham, Erin Carufel
RunTime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Musictronic Entertainment & Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://www.gone-movie.com/
Opening Day: 19 April 2012
Synopsis: GONE tells the story of Jill Parrish, who discovers that her sister Molly has disappeared. Jill is convinced that Molly has been abducted by the same serial killer who, a year before, pulled Jill from her bed and threw her into a bone-filled hole in the woods. At sundown, when the killer came down into the hole to butcher her, Jill escaped. Jill goes to the police for help, but they don’t believe her. So when she reappears with a wild story about her sister’s abduction, they send her home. Jill threatens to track down and kill the man herself. Armed, Jill embarks on a break-neck rider, discovering clues that she believes are leading her to the killer. When the sun sets and the police close in on her, Jill finds herself driving deep into the wilderness to meet a man she believes is the killer. Is Jill mentally ill, chasing shadows, or will she rescue Molly before it’s too late? The answer lies in a hole in the woods.
Movie Review:
Chances are relatively high that a film is likely disastrous if film reviewers aren't given a chance to sneak a peek, and if that in the US is any indication, then Gone just fulfilled a self-prophecy, especially when the trailer seemed to suggest a psychological thriller that could go either way, but leaning toward something that's a bit of a formula and belonging to B-grade genre territory. However, this film by Brazilian director Heitor Dhalia does pull some nice surprises once in a while, although the story by Allison Burnett is still laden with the expected loopholes.
Amanda Seyfried continues to expand her filmography by starring in a film that apes to be a female version of The Fugitive, although the cops chasing her aren't really of Tommy Lee Jones' pedigree. Dismissed by everyone as a nutcase given her psychiatric history, and unproven abduction by a stranger who pulled her out of a bed and into a hole in Forest Hills, Seyfried's Jill leads a semblance of a normal life thanks to an unbreakable bond shared with her sister Molly (Emily Wickersham), herself a recovering alcoholic, where the two girls live out in the suburbs and look out for each other. Things go all topsy turvy when Molly disappears, and Jill is quite adamant her abductor is back and in a case of mistaken identity, captured her sister instead.
Or so we're led to believe. With the background shared, and Jill's really jumpy, aggressive behaviour toward everyone, especially the cops, there may be some truth that she may be facing a relapse of a mental condition, or if we explore how cinematic crazies behave, Seyfried seemed to have somewhat nailed it, and you'd go into full conspiracy theory mode that she could be imagining the entire episode - her own and that of her sister's, or worst, perhaps her sister could be a figment of her imagination. Or how about proving everyone wrong by going through the whole nine yards and finally coming up with some proof? Dhalia plays with the audience successfully by keeping some cards under his sleeve, and pulled out a limited number of aces that will catch the complacent amongst us offguard.
The narrative moved like an investigative drama, with Jill being the unlikely detective jumping from lead to lead, and very good ones at that, which only happen in the movies since everything developed in under a day. Clues got left unadulterated, and led to other more conveniences either in the form of chatty witnesses who were extremely accurate and descriptive, and to more clues being left out in the open, ripe for the picking. Everyone seemed to be more than glad in helping the wide-eyed blonde who can conjure up tales in a flash, which of course plays up the prowess of her imagination.
But as the suspense built, the tables got turned, and a glaring loophole somehow spoiled the good work done in the first two acts. The real message in this story however, must have stemmed from some experience dealing with inept policemen in the Portland police department, and got an axe to grind. Every single one of them in the film got outwit by a teenager with plenty of baggage, and got made to look silly, from the refusal to go all out to bring in someone considered armed and dangerous, with investigative skills that really demonstrated zilch to procedures, knowledge and know-how. Fronted by Sergeant Powers (Daniel Sunjata) and new transfer to the homicide department Peter Hood (Wes Bentley), they epitomizes those in the force who talk a lot, flex a lot of muscle, but ultimately having their incompetence exposed, and have nothing to show for in their investigations and capability.
With cops like that, who's keeping the faith on law and order?
Movie Rating:
(It's the revenge of the loony fugitive)
Review by Stefan Shih
Genre: Martial-Arts
Director: Gordon Chan
Cast: Collin Chou, Anthony Wong, Crystal Liu, Deng Chao, Ronald Cheng, Sheren Tang
RunTime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Nudity)
Released By: Encore Films & Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 26 July 2012
Synopsis: When counterfeit bills appear in the capital city of the Song Dynasty, the court-run Six Fan Gate Constabulary and the independent Divine Constabulary are assigned to investigate. Coldblood of Six Fan Gate is sent undercover to Divine, where he befriends fellow independent constables Life Snatcher and Iron Hand, as well as the beautiful Emotionless. Emotionless discovers Coldblood's identity but growing affection between the two keeps her from telling anyone. Coldblood causes the shut down of Divine but before he has time to regret it he becomes involved in a battle against God of Wealth who plots to overthrow the government...
Movie Review:
Watching The Four is a depressing prospect, not only for the shameless grandstanding we are sure to witness from the wholesale theft of ideas that worked better elsewhere, but for the near-certainty that the movie will crumble into a mess under the unfortunately ham-fisted direction of Gordon Chan. By turns confused and clueless, The Four never really settles on an identity that it’s comfortable with, resulting in parts that feel woefully out of place. At least Chan delivers an honest effort with the action but it’s not worth the trouble.
The recent circulation of counterfeit money has landed the capital of the Song Dynasty in a predicament. The Department Six Constabulary and Divine Constabulary are sent to investigate but complications arise when the competing constabularies constantly get into each other’s way. The Divine Constabulary is eventually suspended but spearheaded by the eponymous The Four, the constabulary continues to work on the case. It soon uncovers a more sinister plot to overthrow the government and must rush against time to stop the perpetrator before he plunges the dynasty into chaos.
Chan tries to put on a heady, feverish spin to this underlying material yet succeeds only in overwhelming it with unnecessary ideas that I suspect many of you would have trouble making sense of. From off the shelf romantic malarkey to flame-throwing mutants to jarringly misplaced zombies in settings that don’t otherwise account for them, it seems fairly clear that Chan will steal from anywhere to build a brazen showpiece that feels more awkward than fulfilling. Unfortunately, he is nowhere near the wisdom that will make it all work and it shows in his unfocused direction where he demonstrates his inability at making smooth transitions. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not discouraging creativity, only saying that The Four could have benefitted more from a far less ambitious approach.
There’s little doubt that Chan’s heart is with the more action-orientated parts of the movie as he quickly morphs the supposed crime procedural drama into a battle between cadres of mutants. It’s here that The Four breaks out its mishmash of characters that are blatantly copied from the other side of the world: A mind-reading girl bound to a wheelchair with a ‘X logo’ wheel, who can also control objects with her mind is an embodiment of 2 certain characters from X-Men, an assassin who can turn totally invisible and create a force field is a concept lifted directly from a certain character in Fantastic Four and a hubris-laden, quick-witted man who can set himself on fire (and freeze people for good measure) draws traits from another character in Fantastic Four. It seems really ironic that a movie dealing with counterfeit money is in fact the most glaring counterfeit showcase.
At least the movie’s serviceable special effects and professional, if completely routine action set-pieces do the Chinese rendition of Marvel characters justice but I sincerely question whether The Four really wants to be saved at all at this point. The conclusion is conservative, uninspiring and uncreative, and really all about relying on an untidy myriad of special effects to put out the fireworks than mitigating its embarrassments with a rousing display of well-choreographed action. There’s nothing from The Four to take home with – just a reminder of a disaster that could have been avoided had the movie been crafted with more thought and less narcissism.
Movie Rating:
(An utterly messy affair that has no respect for originality)
Review by Loh Yong Jian
Genre: Fantasy/Action
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Cast: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Danny Huston, Rosamund Pike, Ralph Fiennes, Edgar Ramirez, Toby Kebbell, Bill Nighy
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Released By: Warner Bros
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Official Website: http://wrathofthetitans.warnerbros.com/index.html
Opening Day: 29 March 2012
Synopsis: A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus-the demigod son of Zeus-is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity's lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus' godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramirez), switch loyalty and make a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans' strength grows stronger as Zeus' remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth. Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon's demigod son, Argenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.
Movie Review:
The Gods indeed deserved better than the 2010 remake of ‘Clash of the Titans’, a wholly ill-conceived attempt at revisiting the campy Ray Harryhausen sword-and-sorcery epic that instead replaced the original’s stop-motion visual effects with second-rate CG effects. And certainly, the producers seemed to have heeded the call with this sequel, retaining the fine cast from the original- Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes- while opting for fresh writers and a new director.
It’s still as important however to keep your hopes down for ‘Wrath of the Titans’, especially for those expecting a sweeping mythological epic. Taking over the reins from French director Louis Leterrier is Johnathan Liebesman, and going by his previous works- ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” and “Battle: Los Angeles”- the man is at best an efficient but uninspired director who pays more attention to visceral pleasures than to anything resembling depth.
That is certainly true of his work here, which vastly improves the action sequences of the original but little else. As if singularly devoting his time to create mind-numbing big-budget sequences, Liebesman invests little in the story and in his characters- God, demi-god and human alike. Both are mechanical at best and engineered with a specific purpose of taking his viewer from one jaw-dropping sequence to another, never mind the inconsistencies or the leaps of logic along the way.
So despite the exposition, the plot of the entire movie can be summed up in a one line- to save Zeus (Neeson) from his conniving brother Hades (Fiennes) and jealous son Aroes (Edgar Ramirez), the demi-god Perseus (Worthington) leaps back into full battle mode since retiring ten years ago to a quiet life in a small fishing village. Before facing the worst of them all, Perseus will have to go up against a host of hideous-looking monsters- a fiery-mouthed Chimera with two heads at the front and a snake’s head at its tail; a trio of towering Cyclops giants; a Minotaur; and a band of half-man, half-rock soldiers with four arms and two bodies that twist around on a pair of legs.
There’s no denying that the creatures this time are much more inventive, and the action sequences choreographed much more skilfully, adding up to a much more thrilling time than what its predecessor offered. Saving the best for last, Liebesman also crafts an epic finale with a gigantic lava-spewing monster known as the Kronos that also involves a whole legion led by warrior-queen Princess Andromeda (Rosamund Pike). The victory call at the end may be a tad overdone, but the climax alone is worth the price of admission and surprisingly impressive even in post-converted 3D.
Pity then that the rest of the movie often pales in comparison- and perhaps the most jarring of all is the poorly defined interfamilial conflict between Zeus, Hades and Aroes. Screenwriters Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson (working off a story that’s also credited to Greg Berlanti) give Aroes little motivation behind his father’s betrayal other than his envy of Perseus, nor do they manage the sibling tension between Zeus and Hades convincingly. Worse still, they try to turn Hades into a less straightforward character by casting him as a reluctant pawn in Aroes’ scheme midway into the movie, and the subsequent reconciliation between Zeus and Hades is laughable even with the considerable acting talents of Neeson and Fiennes.
Certainly, both thespians are well aware of the thin material here, but kudos to the pair for trying to imbue their Godly characters with the gravitas they usually bring to their roles. Among the more interesting additions to the cast are Bill Nighy as the loony weapons-maker Hephaestus whom Perseus approaches for help to gain entry to the underworld labyrinth Zeus is held captive, as well as Toby Kebbell as Poseidon’s son Agenor and the only other character besides Hephaestus to have a sense of humour in the entire movie.
Indeed, the movie takes itself too seriously for its own good, ignoring its own campy origins in favour of a self-serious sensibility to its storytelling that only further exposes its plot and character flaws. This is, and perhaps has always been, about watching Gods, demi-gods and monsters go at each other with sound and fury- and thankfully, this sequel easily betters its predecessor on this regard alone. That’s not likely to be enough to make the Gods happy though, but for those of us mortals looking for big-budget mind-numbing spectacle, this will do just fine.
Movie Rating:
(A marked improvement from its predecessor, this sequel offers thrilling action sequences but is still let down by a thin plot and weak characters)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: William Brent Bell
Cast: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, Ionut Grama, Suzan Crowley, Bonnie Morgan
Runtime: 1 hr 23 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Horror and Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.devilinsidemovie.com/
Opening Day: 1 March 2012
Synopsis: In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) confessing that she had brutally killed three people. 20 years later, her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) seeks to understand the truth about what happened that night. She travels to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away to determine if her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. When she recruits two young exorcists (Simon Quarterman and Evan Helmuth) to cure her mom using unconventional methods combining both science and religion, they come face-to-face with pure evil in the form of four powerful demons possessing Maria. Many have been possessed by one; only one has been possessed by many.
Movie Review:
Considering the phenomenal success of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise, it should come as no surprise that similar found-footage scare pictures should surface like the plague in recent years- and this made-on-the-cheap (i.e. the movie costs less than a million dollars to make) horror follows in the footsteps of ‘The Last Exorcism’ by applying a faux-documentary style to the exorcist-movie genre. Unlike its similar low-budget predecessor however, this latest attempt at injecting verisimilitude into an oft-misunderstood Catholic rite isn’t quite as successful.
Indeed, the very setup of two medically trained priests conducting exorcisms right under the radar of the Vatican supposedly because of the bureaucracy of the Church is itself dubious. Would not word-of-mouth spread? How would they even get to know the possessed? But logic isn’t exactly helmer William Brent Bell nor his co-screenwriter cum co-producer Matthew Paterman’s strong suite, judging from how little time they spend explaining the ease with which a triple-homicide murderer could be so easily acquitted after committing the crime in the United States and shipped to a mental hospital in Italy.
Opening with an intriguing blend of newscast footage and crime-scene videos, Bell skips over the events that follow the brutal slaying of three exorcists by suburban mom and housewife Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) in 1989 and proceed straight into 2009 where her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade), still traumatised from the incident, heads to Rome to find out the truth. Of course, a cameraman- Michael (Ionut Grama)- is in tow, with little reason beyond which to supply the point of view from which the movie unfolds.
There in Rome, Isabella gets the incredible opportunity of sitting in a class by the Vatican School of Exorcism where she meets the two said priests- Ben (Simon Quarterman) and David (Evan Helmuth). They express conviction in the occurrence of demonic possession where their peers have only scepticism, and to convince Isabella, decide to let her watch an exorcism in progress. In the confines of the dark basement, Ben and David supposedly banish the demon from a tormented young woman (Bonnie Morgan and her credited contortionist Pixie Le Knot) in what passes as the most terrifying sequence in the movie.
From just watching a videotape of Isabella’s encounter with her mother at the mental hospital, Ben decides to go ahead- rather impetuously if you ask us- with an exorcism, despite David’s reservations about doing so without a more thorough investigation. Bell would have us believe that Ben and David can conduct an exorcism right in the hospital with all the scientific equipment these medically trained priests need- never mind that given the Vatican’s strict watch on exorcisms, performing one would probably require much higher level authorisation.
Obviously things go awry, resulting in what is apparently called ‘transference’- basically a hokey way of saying that the demon goes from one person to another. The last half hour of this thankfully brief movie shifts its focus from Maria to the consequent effect on David and Isabella, trying its frenetic best to sustain a riveting pace before crashing (and we mean this literally) to an end. If logic and reason are already in short shrift during the first hour, they are thrown out the window within these last 20 mins- no spoilers here for those who still intend to satisfy their craving for some horror, but we’d just warn you to prepare yourself for an abrupt and rather frustrating climax.
Perhaps even more annoying is how the filmmakers have made their audience put up with the nausea-inducing handheld format de rigueur for a found-footage movie without bringing the necessary realism into the proceedings- even more glaring for some technically impossible shots that can’t ever be done on a handheld camera. The phoniness extends to Isabella too, who seems way too calm and composed for someone who’s never seen her mother in two decades and then reacts to her possession as if she’s seen it countless times before.
Despite some effectively low-key scary moments, this found-footage exorcism horror doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Aversion to holy objects, speaking in foreign languages, preternatural movement and strength- we’ve seen all that before and much more effectively in other genre pictures. There’s also little case for the found-footage format it adopts either, given the cavalier way in which the film regards realism. Beginning with the self-serious advice that ‘The Vatican did not endorse this film nor aid in its completion’, it is understandable why the Church did not want itself associated with the movie- and let’s just say it was a wise decision after all.
Movie Rating:
(Despite some effective low-key scares, this found-footage exorcism horror undermines itself by throwing realism out the window)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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