Film Reviews by GI

One of the great action films of the 90s, a hi-octane thrill ride from start to finish and a film that cemented Keanu Reeves as a movie star. He plays Jack, a hotshot LA cop who, with his mentor/partner Harry (Jeff Daniels) foils a plan by psycho bomber Howard (played with relish by Dennis Hopper) to blow up a group of people he has trapped in an elevator. But Howard has other plans and plants a bomb on a bus that will explode if its speed drops below 50mph. So Jack has to save the day aided by plucky passenger Annie (Sandra Bullock). The film rattles along at a grand old pace and has some fantastic stunts many of which Reeves reputedly performed himself. He and Bullock have a great screen chemistry and like all good action films it's not over even when you think it is. If you've never seen this then seek it out it's wonderful and if you have then time to have another look, you will not regret it.

A stupendous Roman epic that never fails to entertain even after seeing it many times. It's a stirring story with a really touching love story at its heart, a fantastic huge battle scene and a tearjerker ending. This is a cinema at its most spectacular and if you ever get a chance to see this on the big screen then I urge you to take the opportunity. With a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, who at the time was blacklisted for his communist sympathies, you'll find allegory to the McCarthyist witch hunts that plagued Hollywood in the 1950s. This film's success effectively lifted the blacklist once and for all. Kirk Douglas plays the title role in the story, set in 73BC, of a Roman slave who gets trained as a gladiator and leads a slave revolt which escalates across Italy forcing the Roman senate to send an army to destroy his slave army. This is led by Crassus, played by Laurence Olivier in a fantastic performance and the film has acting support from Peter Ustinov (who won an Oscar for his performance), Charles Laughton, Tony Curtis and Jean Simmons. There's wonderful Cinematography and the big set pieces are wonderful not least the climactic battle which for its time is quite realistic and bloody. There's political intrigue, romance, humour and gritty action in a wonderful epic of a film that everyone must see at least once. Brilliantly restored a few years ago with some lost scenes reinserted, including the infamous 'oysters and snails' conversation, this is a must see film. This is simply fantastic.

After battling aliens, herds of mercenaries and even Batman I suppose the devil was all someone thought was a big enough adversary for Arnold Schwarzenegger. With the obvious influence of The Omen (1976) this is basically a shoot em up action film combined with a horror narrative. It's really a very cheesy script and with some daft ideas even though Schwarzenegger gets to try some different character flaws as here he's a grieving father and husband, an alcoholic and depressive suicidal ex cop all rolled into one tough guy. He's Jericho Cane (it doesn't get any more biblical than that) who now works for a private security company in New York. In short after a failed assassination attempt on a client he gets caught up with the hunt for an innocent girl (Robin Tunney) who has been coveted by the devil, in the form of Gabriel Byrne, who must copulate with her before in the last hour of 1999 to bring about the 'end of days'. Armed with a veritable arsenal of weapons and with more or less everyone else as either a devil worshipper or a crazy priest of Cane sorts it all out. The devil is basically a sex addicted suave corporate type, so easily despised; the girl is young, virginal and beautiful, and everyone else is a basic staple of the two genres. The wisecracking partner (Kevin Pollack), the wise old priest (Rod Steiger), and the faithful devil worshippers (Udo Kier & Miriam Margolyes). This is a silly film really, it has some entertainment value but it's nowhere near the best of Schwarzenegger's action films.

This is best described as a psychological drama although it flirts around in the dark comedy arena, and not always successfully, so it's difficult to categorise and ultimately it makes it a strange and unfulfilling film. Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) is a timid, repressed young woman who cares for her alcoholic, abusive ex cop of a father (Shea Wigham) and works as a filing clerk at a local young male prison. The setting is the 1960s and we watch Eileen have various fantasies highlighting her sexual and occasional violent escape fantasies. She becomes emotionally excited by the arrival of a new, glamorous psychiatrist (Anne Hathaway) who begins to show an interest in Eileen. A sexual encounter seems on the cards as the relationship follows a similar one as seen in Carol (2015) but the narrative switches into a more sinister direction. This is a solemn and intense film that has its moments and the performances are watchable but you're left feeling a little baffled by it all.

The middle film in planned trilogies are notoriously difficult for the makers whose audience is aware this is not the conclusion of the story. However here director Nia DaCosta has triumphed with a horror film that is entirely unique and audacious and is tonally different and in that sense extremely compelling. Following on from 28 Years Later (2025) this zombie film feels different and fresh from the very beginning and like many films (and indeed TV series) in this sub genre it explores the horror in the survivors reactions and actions over that of the zombies. Young Spike (Alfie Williams), who left the security of his island fortress home in the previous film, has fallen into the gang run by Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell). Jimmy is a deranged psychopath who believes he's the son of the devil and on a mission to purify survivors through torture and death. Spike wants to escape and finds an ally in another of the gang. Meanwhile Ian (Ralph Fiennes), a former doctor, still survives and continues to build his monuments to the dead out of their bones. More importantly he's begun to study and relate to the 'alpha' zombie in the area. He calls him Samson and believes that there still might be some remnants of his humanity buried within. But when Jimmy and his gang come across Ian a bizarre interaction begins. This is a hugely clever horror film, the gory violence is quite shocking but this never tips into gratuitousness, it just adds the ingredient of violence to the inevitable conflicts that the film studies. The vision of the land returning to a pastoral wilderness contrasts brilliantly with the horrors that lurk all around. The 'infected' are still around and when they do appear it's jump scare time, although the most interesting take is in the development of the Samson character which lends a new side to this genre. There is always tension created when Samson is on scene but with an added sense of caring and emotion. This is where this is a superbly crafted film and it will be considered one of the best in the series. The coda sets it nicely up for the concluding film yet to come.

Director Joe Carnahan makes old school action genre films that are entertaining if somewhat unsubtle. The Rip is no exception but benefits from the big budget, a solid and clever script and that it stars two skilled dramatic actors with immensely strong screen charisma in Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Based on real events this is an American action cop drama that you need to stick with to get full satisfaction because it takes awhile to bed in and it's important to concentrate early as everything is relevant. Damon is Dane, the commanding officer of a Miami based narcotics squad, and Affleck plays JD, the tough sergeant. They have an apparent frosty relationship which is exacerbated after the murder of their boss and the apparent slow progress on finding out who killed her. Dane gets a tip about cartel cash stored in a small house and he gets his team to raid it. What they find is far more money than they imagined and tensions begin to form within the squad over the money. Then they find they are suddenly under attack but is there more going on than is realised? Some neat action set pieces, solid performances and a conclusion that's more like a mystery whodunnit. This is like a 70s cop thriller and an entertaining potboiler. It's certainly a great thriller for a Saturday night viewing.

From the late 70s to the mid 80s Walter Hill made some really entertaining films, full of action and violence, the sort of B movie style that are great fun and exciting without being over pretentious. Strongly influenced by Sam Peckinpah, although without his poetic edge, Hill's films are usually about people struggling in a wild environment so they often have a survivalist theme. Southern Comfort is one of very best, and whilst he denied it, it's a blatant allegory of the Vietnam war and a sharp condemnation of American militarism and bigotry. Set in Louisiana where a squad of National Guardsmen (weekend soldiers!) are sent on an exercise into the swamps. What should be a simple task soon goes awry when one of them pulls a stupid trick on some local cajun hunters. The squad soon find themselves lost, leaderless and being hunted by the cajuns. It's gripping stuff and utilises the presence of a section of American society that live a separatist lifestyle away from mainstream society so in the sense this is narratively similar to Deliverance (1972). There's no romance or male bonding going on in this film it's a story of a real struggle for survival against nature and a very hostile enemy. With a great cast of Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward and a wonderful soundtrack by Ry Cooder this is a fantastic gem of a film and if you've never seen it then you're in for a real treat.

A genuinely captivating film, a romantic fantasy that has been adapted from a novel and imagines that William Shakespeare wrote his most famous play, Hamlet, as a consequence of his grief over the death of his young son. The film begins in a languid, almost ethereal way as it follows Agnes (Jessie Buckley) beginning with her sleeping foetal like at the base of two trees with co-joined roots. She is a child of the forest with a reputation as a 'forest witch'. Her beauty attracts a blossoming poet, Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), and they become lovers and then marry with Agnes already pregnant. Later they have twins, one of whom Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) is the apple of his father's eye. As Shakespeare's writing gains more fame he spends more time in London and whilst away tragedy strikes at home. Agnes reacts to William's subsequent return to London with anger but she discovers he's been expressing his deep grief in a new play. It has to be stressed this is not a historical biopic but it's a powerful fictional study of human connection, of loss and anguish. Buckley is captivating with every look, gesture and word expressing a deep emotional presence that makes the film heart wrenching at times. Mescal is also equally superb here portraying the male reluctance for outward emotion but bringing the depths of his pain in every nuance of his performance. This is a beguiling and beautiful film with two of the most talented actors of our time. A must see.

It's something to debate as to whether the memoir on which this based was ripe for a 21st century reimagination or not. The infamous 1974 film was basically a soft porn film that explored the relaxation in the depiction of cinematic sex that arose at that time with Sylvia Kristel portraying the title character as a naive and sexually inexperienced young woman who is lured mostly by exploitative others into bizarre sexual encounters. In this new version Noémie Merlant plays her as a more mature business woman on a troubleshooting mission to a luxury Hong Kong hotel ostensibly to get evidence to allow her bosses to sack the manager (Naomie Watts). But that storyline is by the by because the central narrative is on Emmanuelle as an aloof, somewhat moody woman who is seeking some hedonistic pleasure in sex with strangers. At the hotel she becomes intrigued with an enigmatic guest (Will Sharpe) who appears to have no desire for her. The trouble here is that this is a cold film, it fails to be one thing or another. Its erotic scenes are somewhat unsexy although Melant is a beautiful woman she portrays the main character as almost unable to gain any satisfaction from her encounters. The film lacks a sense of direction and its slow, languid feel in place and speech, leaves it a tiring experience. It's shame really because a modern take on this story could have been something original and interesting. Sharpe proves he's an actor of diverse talent playing the strange Kei as the most intriguing but it's the pacing and story arc that leaves his presence as almost boring. An average erotic drama that deserved better.

Director Duncan Jones second feature and an intricate, brilliantly constructed sci-fi thriller that races along at a great pace. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Army Captain Colter Stevens who finds himself aboard a commuter train heading into Chicago but has no memory of how he came to be there. When the train explodes killing all on board Colter awakes in an experimental capsule where he is told that he is on a special mission to find the bomber on the train by the use of a revolutionary device that enables him to be transported back to relive the eight minutes before the explosion over and over again. Each time he has to add to his knowledge to expose the killer. But there are aspects of the experiment that the controllers keep from him. With a great support cast of Michelle Monaghan (always underused in films), Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright this has an originality to it that makes it very entertaining and it remains enjoyable even after seeing it before, as you can spot the clues that are littered along the way as to what is going on. Jones has kept the film to a quite short running time packing it with a sharp story and gritty plot. This is a little gem and if you loved Jones' first film, Moon (2009), then check this out.

Thematically and visually complicated drama from director Peter Greenaway. This is an allegorical story that depicts the religious and political affect of totalitarianism and tyranny as depicted in the monstrous character of Albert played by Michael Gambon. Albert is a brutal, ignorant gangster who owns an opulent restaurant run by Richard led by French chef Richard (Richard Böhringer). Nightly Albert arrives with his entourage, terrorising staff and other customers as well as dishing out violence to those he takes a dislike to. His abused wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) accompanies him. But one night she spots another diner, the quiet book reading Michael (Alan Howard), and they soon begin an affair within the restaurant carefully protected by the chef and his staff. But when Albert finds out he responds with excessive and cruel violence but Georgina decides enough is enough. Clearly influenced by the Restoration period of English history this is film that uses colour and sumptuous sets to recreate the vision of corruption, tyranny and violence in contrast to love, intellectualism and humanity. There's a a lot to unravel here and whilst this is not an easy film it's certainly original and interesting with superb performances particularly from Gambon and Mirren. An arthouse crime drama that is unique and challenging.

A superb action/adventure drama and one of the great unsung films of the 70s. A remake of the French film The Wages of Fear (1953) although the credits indicate the source novel is what has been used for this adaptation. Sorcerer was a massive box office failure upon it's original release mainly for two reasons, firstly it came out at the same time as Star Wars: A New Hope and secondly it didn't boast any major star names even though Roy Scheider had been in the hugely successful Jaws (1975). But in recent years Sorcerer has been rediscovered, fully restored for DVD and BluRay and it's a minor masterpiece by a director at the top of his game. Four desperate men (one with an agenda perhaps) are hiding out in a South American country, each of them on the run from different countries. They get hired by a mining company to carry a load of unstable explosives in two trucks across 200 miles of hazardous jungle and mountain terrain. The first part of the film shows the incidents where the four men end up as fugitives with stories in Mexico, Jerusalem, Paris and New York and then the latter part of the film is the gruelling journey with the explosives, which are so volatile they could explode if jarred too much. It's a brilliantly filmed story and the journey especially is gritty and exciting with some fantastic stunt work as the two trucks have to navigate over fast flowing rivers and through dense jungle, it's actually one of the great thrillers of the 70s and a quite visceral experience to see on the big screen. A really great film and definitely a little gem that you should definitely look out for.

The famous story that the set of The Exorcist (1973) was in some way haunted or possessed has carried on over the years and here we have the son of Jason Miller, that film's star, Joshua John Miller, directing a horror film about a demonically possessed film set. It was probably a decent idea but what we have is a choppy and fragmented film that lacks any real depth and must have been a nightmare to edit. Starring Russell Crowe, in another of his B movie roles, it's a film that dips into various themes but never grips any of them and fails totally to produce a narrative that makes any real sense. Crowe is Tony, a once famous actor who succumbed to drink and drugs and is now in recovery, he also has a haunted childhood after abuse by a priest. He lands the central role of a priest in what seems to be a remake of the The Exorcist after the first cast actor dies in mysterious circumstances. It appears thereafter that a demon has possessed the film set and eventually infects Tony. His daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to deal with him aided by a priest (David Hyde Pierce) who is the film's advisor on all things demonic! Sam Worthington has a small role and gets to die nastily but otherwise apart from Crowe getting to play both possessed and exorcist more or less in the same scene this is a bit of a mess.

Director Neil Marshall tries to be a Guy Ritchie wannabe with this cockney crime drama that suffers from a painful script, very obviously staged fights and set pieces and a lead actress with a limited range of facial expressions of acting ability in Charlotte Kirk, who happens to be Marshall's girlfriend. This is a silly, violent crime/revenge thriller with Kirk as a street wise London pickpocket who catches the eye of a bent diamond smuggler and ends up as the love of his life. He introduces her into his violent world and gaining the nickname Duchess the film charts her rise in the criminal world. The film is littered with pointless slo-mo, usually of Kirk emerging from a swimming pool, voiceovers like Ritchie's early London crime films. Stephanie Beacham cameos as a nasty bitch and Colm Meaney makes an appearance that is for no reason other than to say he's in the film! Sean Pertwee co-stars and is the only redeeming thing about this film. It's sequel friendly ending is a worry though so hopefully we''l be spared that. It's utter tosh.

A typical John Wayne vehicle from the mid 60s and made just after he had had major surgery as part of his cancer treatment. It's a mildly entertaining western that doesn't try and do anything with the genre other than allow Wayne and his cast to have some roustabout punch ups, some comedy thrown in and a climactic shoot out. It's essentially the age old story of the old west coming up against the new west. When their mother dies four brothers reunite for her funeral and find she has been conned out of her land and money by a rich businessman who probably also murdered their father. Wayne is the reputed gunfighter, John, Dean Martin the second brother who is wanted for murder and Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson Jr the two youngest. The age difference between them is obvious and unrealistic but this is just a film that is designed to be nothing more than a bit of fun and a release for the then highly popular Wayne. Henry Hathaway directs but he utilises Fordian styles in the presentation and in many ways this is an example of the western as it was starting to fade in popularity and just as the spaghetti western phase was beginning as the genre began a key revisionist period. It's all good fun but not Wayne's best by any stretch.