Film Reviews by GI

The title signposted that a sequel was always intended if not the series that eventually arrived. And what a disappointment that series turned out to be when this first film is such great fun. A swashbuckler fantasy film that was very original in its concept and much of the sparkle and originality comes from Johnny Depp's characterisation of the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, reputedly inspired by Rolling Stone Keith Richards. Any follow up film was always going to struggle once the audience knew this character and so they relied more and more on the spectacular whereas this film had some very good character emphasis. Ok there are extravagant effects but they work so well to create a family fun filled film that has monsters, sword fights, romance and a great story. As a child Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the daughter of the British Governor of a Caribbean island chain, comes into possession of a strange gold medallion. Years later this medallion is sought after by a band of ruthless and cursed pirates led by Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). They kidnap Elizabeth for nefarious reasons and are pursued by Will (Orlando Bloom) and Norrington (Jack Davenport) both of whom are in love with her and they are aided by the notorious Jack Sparrow, a pirate with his own agenda. Marvellous fun, similar in style to The Mummy (1999) and the Indiana Jones series, this has laughs, excitement and is brilliantly written. Forget the sequels and just enjoy this as a stand alone movie.

This incredibly moving drama has a very dark undercurrent. Based on the book by journalist Martin Sixsmith it tells the story of how, during the 1950s, the Roman Catholic Church systematically abused young unmarried mothers in Ireland, forced them to work and sold their children to wealthy Americans. Written and produced by star Steve Coogan who plays Sixsmith, having recently been sacked from his job with the Labour Party becomes depressed and aimless. Until he finds out the plight of Philomena (Judi Dench), a woman who yearns to find her son who was forcibly taken from her by the nuns of an Irish convent. Martin reluctantly takes on the story which leads the two of them to America. On the journey trying to track down her son Philomena and Martin bond together especially the cynical Martin who becomes more angry at what he discovers went on. The film intentionally highlights the international scandal of the Church's actions and the thousands of women who are still trying to track down their lost children today obstructed by the Church and it's minions. Coogan plays Sixsmith with a weary cynicism and humour and Judi Dench is as excellent as ever as the lovely yet thoroughly sad Philomena who can't bring herself to be angry at what happened to her and her son. But I challenge any viewer not be enraged by the story. A moving and quite heartwarming story and a film I highly recommend.

This is one of Clint Eastwood's most underrated films as a director. It's a multi-layered crime drama set in Texas, 1963. Kevin Costner stars as 'Butch' Haynes a career criminal who escapes from the State Penitentiary and a manhunt begins led by Clint Eastwood's cynical lawman, Red Garnett. Forced to take hostage 8 year old Philip (T.J. Lowther), Butch takes to the road and a bond forms between the boy and the criminal, he becomes the father figure that Philip has never had. It's a relationship that is very touching and as the story plays out other connections are gradually revealed along with some of Butch's past. There's so much to admire in this film. It has humour, gritty action pieces that are suitably restrained and fitting and a good support cast including Laura Dern as a young criminologist who recognises what motivates Butch and respects his intelligence. Eastwood wisely takes a supporting role and doesn't actually have any scenes with Costner until the films climax. One of Eastwood's best films as a director and one that reveals more every time you watch it. It's a marvellous movie and definitely one I recommend if you want to see Eastwood at the top of his game.

This is gloriously good fun, a horror comedy that doesn't hold back, has great chemistry between the cast and throws in buckets of gore and a great plot. Dan Stevens seems to relish every role he's given and here he plays a ruthless ex cop criminal who nominally leads a gang who have been recruited by a mysterious man calling himself Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito). Their job is to kidnap the daughter of a notorious gangland leader, hold her for 24 hours in an old country house until an enormous ransom is paid. Unfortunately for the team things aren't all they seem and what appears an easy route to big reward soon turns into their biggest nightmare as the girl, Abigail (Alisha Weir) may only be 12 years old but she's no pushover! It's no spoiler to say that this is a vampire film, a gloriously over the top one at that. Weir as the ancient vampire child (reminiscent here of Kirsten Dunst in 1994s Interview With A Vampire) is guttural, mischievous and thoroughly monstrous as she reveals her power. Melissa Barrera, Kevin Durand and Kathryn Newton support as the crew that struggle to deal with their situation and Matthew Goode as a great cameo. It's all played for bloody and gory laughs without becoming silly although the final quarter of the film pushes the boundaries a bit but overall this is a blast.

This is what a good action thriller should be like. A great story, exciting set piece action sequences, car chases, two charismatic leads who don't have to get it on with each other for the film to work. This film rattles along at a breakneck speed and it's thoroughly great entertainment from start to finish. The plot centres around the theft of nuclear bombs involving a dissident Russian General and a Croatian terrorist. The Americans save the day with nuclear expert Dr Kelly (Nicole Kidman) aided by maverick military intelligence man Devoe (George Clooney - proving his action star credentials). The story flits around Europe, has a fantastic Bondian car chase in Vienna, a helicopter attack sequence and climactic and tense hunt for the terrorist in Manhattan. Yes there's plot holes and if you stop to think about it too much it's all way over the top but it doesn't matter because it's a really good action movie with some very memorable scenes including a night time attack on a train with the red eyes from the night vision goggles of the thieves that you'll remember for ages afterwards. If you've never seen this then check it out you won't be disappointed.

This is an effective and entertaining home invasion/slasher/horror thriller that has some plot twists that are a little obvious but that aside the film rattles along at a good pace and has all the gore, tension and surprises that this sort of film needs. Set in a remote country house of a wealthy couple who have invited their family to join them for an anniversary celebration and to help heal some family rifts. The various siblings all arrive with an assortment of boyfriends and girlfriends and as the family sit down for their first evening together they find they are attacked by a group of scary masked men intent on killing them. But one of the girlfriends, Erin (Sharni Vinson) turns out to be no pushover! The house allows for lots of creeping and stalking through the corridors and rooms and there's some influence of Straw Dog (1971) on show. Director Adam Wingard is adept here at keeping the film feeling fresh despite the genre being quite well used. This is better than a lot of films of this story type and its well worth checking out.

It was in the 90s that Harrison Ford really cemented his action film credentials and the two films he made playing Jack Ryan are really good and hold up as solid and entertaining action films. When Alec Baldwin bailed out of reprising the role after The Hunt For Red October (1990) Ford stepped in and has become the best remembered actor to play him. Ex CIA analyst Jack is on holiday in London with his wife and daughter when he steps in and foils an attempt by an IRA team to kidnap a member of the royal family. In the process Jack kills one of them and his brother, Sean (Sean Bean) vows revenge. He manages to escape custody and the plot is his obsessive attempts to murder Jack and his family. Jack is lured back into the CIA in order to lead the hunt for the terrorists. There's some gritty action scenes and a remarkable sequence of the SAS attacking a terrorist camp viewed via satellite images. The film rattles along at a great pace, with a gripping detective style plot and the cast are excellent including James Fox as the targeted royal, Patrick Bergin and Polly Walker as terrorists and Richard Harris has a cameo as an old IRA man. It's always worth returning to these films because they are well made, solid entertainment and unpretentious.

To yearn for the historic moments in music history is arguably a symptom of getting older and looking at the past through rose tinted spectacles. This film will appeal hugely to fans and anyone who lived through or at least near to the events that are here portrayed, whether the appeal will find a younger audience we'll have to see. I suspect though that the electric performance of Timothée Chalamet's as Bob Dylan seals this as a very entertaining, interesting and absorbing music biopic. It charts the early rise of Dylan as he arrives in New York in 1961 as an unknown and under the guidance of veteran folk singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) his songwriting and unique singing voice soon finds a big audience and music industry interest. In fact the film skirts quite quickly through anonymity to fame via Dylan's relationships with early girlfriend Sylvie (Elle Fanning) and then already famous singer Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). Chalamet plays Dylan with a vague sinister, seductive, often funny whilst with a smirking and/or scowling persona. As Baez says in the film "You're kind of an asshole Bob" and that's often how this complex character comes across. The narrative climaxes with the infamous Newport Folk Festival performance of 1965 when Dylan played a short electric set to the consternation of the folk music nerds although it does play a little loose with real events. But this is not a documentary and this is a rather good biopic of a singer who is very difficult to nail down and therefore to portray on screen. In this film it surpasses itself in that regard. This is also unusual in that this isn't a standard rise and fall story, it's all rise here, really of a music messiah and the christian references are clear to be seen here. But this is Chalamet's film, an assured, complex and damn good performance and his singing is very, very good.

In some ways you could describe this bawdy British comedy as the UK M*A*S*H (1970) although this film, based on a successful novel by Leslie Thomas, is more in the Carry On vein. It does portray the life of young men, mostly just boys, on National Service, thrust into a strange country, poorly trained, bored and obsessed with sex or more accurately losing their virginity. Set in Malaya in 1951 where the UK was attempting to re-establish its colonial empire after the Second World War but facing armed rebels intent on securing their independence. The British army is made up of conscripted men who spend their time trying to find ways out of duty, in one sequence four of them ask for circumcision hoping for an extended period on sick leave for example! The narrative focuses on one young soldier, Brigg (Hywel Bennett) and the equally bored and sexually frustrated daughter of the Regimental Sergeant Major (Nigel Patrick) played by Lynn Redgrave. The array of characters get into various scrapes and try to buck the rules until they are thrown into combat with the rebels and soon see the consequences of battle. It's an interesting film in it's bold, for the time, take on prostituton, STDs and homosexuality. The film feels a little dated today but it's an interesting take on the issue of conscription that formed a big part of the lives of young British men in the 1950s. There's a host of familiar faces who went on to become big names in film and/or TV in later years including James Cosmo and blink and you'll miss him but David Bowie has a very small walk on part as a soldier.

With obvious references to The Wicker Man and Don't look Now (both 1973) this British folkloric pagan horror is an interesting and absorbing film that could have drifted into silliness if it hadn't been for the forthright and sincere central performances of Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark. They play married couple Richard and Juliette who have moved, with their young son, to the old remote house on the moors that was once Richard's father's house. The time is the 1970s. He's an archaeologist and has started a dig on the land following the writings of his father about an ancient tree and site supposedly there. When tragedy strikes the couple's lives are thrown into emotional turmoil and Richard's discovery of some ancient bones leads to strange happenings. There is a sinister and mysterious aura to this film that does draw you in although opinions may divide over the specifics which may stretch credibility a little too far but I found the film a rather intriguing and thoughtful horror story. It's not a specially frightening or scary film but it has an unsettling element and, for me, it worked well. British character actor Sean Gilder supports in a role that hints at menace.

Stanley Kubrick's First World War drama is a film of sheer brilliance. It was only his second feature film (he had made some shorts before) and it marked him as a significant director and effectively launched his career. Having secured a major star in Kirk Douglas for the lead role the mould was set for a masterpiece and the film is still revered today. Set on the Western Front in 1916 and the French army decide to launch a futile attack on a fortified German position. When the attack fails General Mireau (George Macready) accuses his men of cowardice and has three of them selected at random to be court martialled. Colonel Dax (Douglas), the three's commander and a former lawyer decides to defend them. Not only does this film have a very realistic battle scene and a superb recreation of the trenches (even Winston Churchill was impressed by the authenticity) but it is also a drama about immorality, shameless ambition and corruption as well as the degeneracy of class over humanity. It's riveting stuff and it's one of those films that is really a must see at all costs because this is a topnotch movie.

This documentary is more like an extended 'audience with....' rather than a detailed, warts and all, look at the life and career of the often ego inflated but somewhat iconic William Shatner. The film is basically him sitting in a big warehouse speaking about his views on life, death, the Earth and such like and you get very little about his journey through acting, into the legendary role of Captain Kirk and beyond. So if you're hoping for all the insider info on his infamous rift with Leonard Nimoy and the rest of the cast of Star Trek you'll be disappointed. Shatner does for the most part take himself very seriously although there are chinks that he gets that he's often a figure of fun and he gives his insight on being a comedian, not something he's particularly known for! But it's ultimately a bit boring really.

Writer and director Robert Eggers' passion piece, his remake of the infamous 1922 German Expressionist classic Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror. If you don't know it's essentially the Dracula story with some differences and name changes but most of the elements will be recognisable for anyone familiar with the Dracula novel and various film versions. Eggers talent lies in his atmospheric creation of his cinematic worlds and here he has the sombre, grey and dour world of 19th century Germany as his backdrop and where an ancient evil is awakened from slumber by the naive sexual appetites of a young woman. Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen is the heart of this film, Depp gives this role an erotically charged core as her dreams summon the vampire Count Orlok who becomes obsessed with her. We only see the creature in shadow form for much of the film keeping the tenseness there but the reveal is slow in coming. It's the voice that stirs the film and Bill Skarsgård as the vampire in full prosthetics gives us a unique presentation of the vampire. However what the film lacks is a sense of dread, it's just not scary and the scenes of vampire attack are more disgusting than frightening. Willem Dafoe as the eccentric Professor who arrives with knowledge to help destroy the creature hovers between being a comedy character and the key to the film's narrative progress. Sadly Aaron Taylor-Johnson is trapped in an underwritten role and never gets to shine here. Nicholas Hoult, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson are all good in their roles with Simon McBurney excelling as the Count's weird acolyte. Anyway essentially the story is that having strange erotic yet frightening dreams young married woman Ellen inadvertently awakens the long 'undead' vampire Orlok. His lust for her results in Ellen's husband, Thomas (Hoult), an estate agent, being sent to Transylvania by his boss to finalise Orlok's purchase of a house in their town. Orlok makes his way to the German town where Ellen awaits and causes mayhem on his way there and eventually with those closest to Ellen but a Doctor (Ineson) and a batty Professor (Dafoe) team up with Thomas and others to bring him down. Eggers cinematography is quite exquisite throughout this film and it's this that gives the film its unique approach to the story but narratively it's a film that is somewhat underwhelming. It never seems to lift the expected heights of terror that is implied by the atmosphere and build up in the beginning of the film. In many ways this has extraordinary cinematic traits but I came away a little disappointed overall.

Clearly influenced by, if not based on, the early career of David Bowie this ode to 'Glam Rock' is littered with Bowie references not least the title which is also the title of a Bowie song. Essentially this is a rise and fall of a megastar narrative with the price of fame the theme that runs through as it recreates the strange days of the early 70s as flower power and hippies gave way to the glitter and glamour of a new music genre where sexuality was the driver for difference. The story here follows a journalist, Arthur (Christian Bale) who in 1984 is given an assignment to track down Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an enormously successful rock star who faked his own death on stage and was ridiculed for it subsequently disappearing into obscurity. The hunt for Slade takes Arthur back to his own connections with the world of glamrock and the leading lights of the day. The story of Brian is told in a series of flashbacks especially his rise to fame under the tutelage of his money oriented manager (Eddie Izzard) and his friendship with American singer Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor), a character based on a hybrid of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Kurt Cobain. Like many films in this genre it deals with the depravity brought on by unlicensed freedom with drink, drugs and sexual excess leading to inevitable self destruction. The film certainly captures the visually spectacular and theatrical elements of the time and boasts Toni Collette as Brian's American wife. This is definitely a film to check out if you've not seen it.

There's no getting away from the somewhat surreal aspect to this rather standard music biopic of Robbie Williams. That is the very obvious gimmick of portraying him as a chimp! I get the the idea; difference, cheeky, a scamp and perhaps even the hint of being a bit out of control but I'm not convinced it's enhances this film beyond the story which is another 'price of fame' narrative with the charismatic singer revealing his depression, alcoholism, drug addiction and emotional baggage built up from his childhood principally around his father who deserted him as a boy. However once you get past the monkey thing the film is entertaining and an interesting account of a somewhat unique character in British music. The film gets across the toxic world of the music industry but the use of the chimp guise soon wears off and offers little to the film overall.