DJ Speaks Movies

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a brilliant neurosurgeon who, like a lot of people of higher intellect is a loner as he is unable to deal with others, who he looks upon as his inferiors. The one exception to this is a fellow Doctor Christine Palmer (Rachael McAdams) who he has been romantically involved with in the past. He is a little warmer towards her but still in a very condescending way.

One night he is involved in a car accident which he barely survives however, he loses the use of his hands which leaves him with seemingly no purpose in life and he pushes everybody who wants to assist away, including Christine. When modern medicine fails him he hears of somebody who recovered impossibly from a spinal injury to walk again and when he locates this man, Jonathon Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt) he points Strange in the direct of spiritual healing. Sceptical but desperate Strange heads to Nepal to seek a place called Kamar-Taj where he meets a man called Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejifor) who introduces Strange to his master known as The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). She explains to Strange that his healing can be found in the form of other dimensions and astral plains instead of the world he knows. Strange is naturally cynical but he soon realises that there is more to this world that he ever knew so he immerses himself in this new knowledge in an effort to re-find his purpose in life but his training take a dramatic upturn when a former student of the Ancient One, similar in thought to Strange, Kaecilius, who has formed a bond with the dark lord Dormammu to bring darkness to the world and is using his powers to bring the Ancient One and her followers down, attacks one of the Sanctums protecting Earth and Strange needs to use his growing, but unhoned power to try and battle the evil which is threatening the world.

If that seems like a very long synopsis, it is (There’s still no spoilers though) but I really needed to give you a lot otherwise the movie plot makes no sense, and there within lies the biggest issue with the movie. Although necessary, a lot of time is spent on exposition in order to allow viewers to understand what is occurring. Also, it’s an origin story so we need to be given a lot of back story and motivation for the lead character which, because of his arrogance makes him initially unlikable.

I watched this film in 3D and IMAX and I can safely say that it is the best use of this technology that I have ever seen to date. The visuals were superb, especially the chase scenes through portals and dimensions. Think The Matrix meets Inception on drugs!! There was also one scene where Strange is sent to the other world by the ancient one and it’s done via a psychedelic like trip that members of the flower power generation would have loved.

It is a Marvel origin story so it does follow the same routine, and a very similar story arc to iron Man, brilliant genius, has life changing experience, learns the values of love, friendship and teamwork and saves the day along the way. In fact I have a sneaky suspicion that Marvel may be hedging their bets to heavily involve Doctor Strange as a major player in the Avengers as with the powers he has he is, potentially, a bigger player than both Iron Man and Captain America. In saying that kudos much be given to Marvel for the direction they took this movie in as it feels more of fantasy or wizardry movie than a Superhero film yet it works very well. The chemistry between the characters is very good, Cumberbatch is excellent as Strange and has now cemented himself in the role (even if it felt like he was playing Sherlock for the first half and hour or so) and Tilda Swinton was superb despite the White Washing controversy.

It’s far from perfect though, with Mads Michaelson, Benjamin Bratt and Chiwetel Ejifor very underused, plus the same old Marvel issue of having poor villains was apparent once again and Rachael McAdams character just felt like a convenient plot point at times, a little like Pepper Potts did in Iron Man until they expanded her character. There was a lot of humour in the movie, perhaps a little too much which may have been masking a weak script and the whole thing did feel a little preachy at times.

In saying all that it’s still a very enjoyable movie, best seen in 3D at the very least and another step further ahead of DC for the Marvel Universe which lined the character and plot in nicely to the upcoming Infinity Wars. On a final note watch out for the best supporting clothing item performance since Tom Cruise’s sunglasses in Top Gun by Doctor Strange’s Cape and stay for both the mid credit and post credit sequences, they are worth it.

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 Out Of 10

©Darren Jones 2016

Set in New Mexico, War On Everyone is the story of a pair of corrupt police officers. Terry Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard) is an act on impulse type of guy who tends to think with his fists and has been know to have a drink or two in his time. Along with his partner Bob Bolaño (Michael Pena) the more stable of the two, if there is such a thing in the partnership, they lie and cheat their way through the day in order to get what they need and do what they want with the bonus being that they may actually catch some criminals and uphold the law along the way on the off chance. It really is a case of bad cop, worse cop and needless to say they are not flavour of the week with their exasperated Lieutenant, Gerry Stanton (Paul Reiser) who is trying his best to bring them inline without much success so they are on their final warning about their antics when they come across a potential theft being planned which seems to be linked to some of their local underworld contacts working for a new player in town. As their investigation gathers momentum so does the body count but when blackmail and framing are part of your daily routine you are bound to run into somebody just as dangerous as you are so this leads them to a showdown with the ever so British James Mangan (Theo James) acting like the lord of the manor and his creepy Alex DeLarge like, henchman Birdwell (Caleb Landry Jones).

Brought to us by John Michael McDonagh who also wrote and directed Cavalry and The Guard, he works again with Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez-Marengo and Elizabeth Eves so the similar dark themes are present once more as all the characters in the movie are flawed, some more so than others. With the use of 1970’s style vehicles, complete with power slides and wheel spins there is a very Streets Of San Francisco feel about some scenes and I kept expecting to hear Sabotage by the Beastie Boys kick in but essentially it’s a buddy cop movie so, although humorous in parts it suffered from a lack of originality which is a disappointment given the directors previous efforts.

The lack of chemistry between the two leads was also a big factor, I never bought the relationship as genuine and the friendship didn’t have the feel of a real camaraderie built up by working together, especially considering it should be stronger then most bonds given the fine line they are both walking where you need to know your friend has your back at all times. Couple this with the fact that a lot of the comedy felt forced and crude for the sake of it the film making had a very lazy feel about it.

Although Skarsgard was the more interesting of the movies characters and is the most memorable part of the film, all others are either parodies of similar genre characters or just down right forgettable. Even the dialogue which was very intellectual at times, felt like it was trying to match a speech from a Quentin Tarantino movie and instead of enhancing the characters it felt alien to the general tone of the rest of the film which is more madcap and off kilter. Despite the fact that they are not likable characters there is enough humanity left in the duo to do the right thing and with Skarsgard in particular there is a redemption in the fact that he is a good Samaritan at heart behind the tough, self hating, exterior even if his interaction is more like an owner to pet rather than human to human.

I was hoping for much more when I first seen the trailer and, although it does have its moments, it’s lack of cohesion and the omission of any real memorable moments make it a cast away watch. Yes, you will get a few laughs at some scenes but the writing and acting talent involved are capable of so much more.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10  

© Darren Jones 2016

Tim Burtons recent efforts with the Alice In Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tales have not endeared me to him in a way that his earlier work such as Edward Scissorhands did but at least there’s no Johnny Depp appearance this time.

Instead we follow Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield), a loner of a boy who feels like he doesn’t belong and is lost in life. He has always had a very close relationship with his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) who has tried to shield his nephew from his apathetic parents through his tales of travelling the world and in particular with his re-counting of a school, run by a woman who can transform into a bird called Miss Peregrine where the children are all unusual and have certain traits that make them stand out. Jake has never been sure if these tales are figments of his grandfathers imagination so while the rest of society believes that his grandfather is losing his marbles and has always been a story-teller Jake believes that there just may be something in these stories. Then, when Abe dies under suspicious circumstances, he begins to suspect that something sinister may have occurred so he convinces his father Franklin (Chris O’Dowd), with the help of his psychologist to head to Wales as part of this therapy to deal with his grief over the death. While there, Jake wants to establish first hand if there was any reality to the stories.

Burtons take on the Ransom Riggs novel has all the ingredients to be a dark tale which is usually right up his street but it falls a bit flat as, despite the potential the unusual ‘gifts’ that the children have it’s all been seen before (Professor Xavier school for gifted mutants) and for all of their unusualness there is nothing really memorable about them. We have Emma (Ella Purnell) who can manipulate air, Olive Abroholos Elephanta (Lauren McCrostie) who is a pyrokinetic, Fiona Frauenfeld (Georgia Pemberton) who can control nature, Claire Densmore (Raffiella Chapman) who has a mouth on the back of her head, Millard Nullings (Cameron King) an invisible boy, Bronwyn Buntley (Pixie Davies) a small child with super human strength and a few other all of whom are cute and charming but nothing special in reality. However the most original and interesting character for me was Enoch O’Connor (Finlay MacMillan) whose gift is being able to bring inanimate objects to life in a kind of reverse Taxidermy yet is given little to do with his skill for most of the movie and spends the majority of the film acting as the grumpy older kid who feels threatened by the new arrival and his developing bond with Emma.

A big problem for me was the central character of Jake, not that there was anything wrong with the acting as Butterfield was fine in the role, but Jake himself who is the only person who can see the Hollows and thus acts as a protector for the group, always felt like an outsider. His work around to allow the group see the creatures was fairly obvious and didn’t really require and special talents so he felt a bit unnecessary and only really served as the conduit from the past to the present. Plus we never got to see any real acting range from Butterfield and considering his performances in The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas and Hugo that was quite disappointing.

The savior of the film is Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) or, Alma LeFay Peregrine to give the character her full name, who is both mysterious and captivating as the pipe smoking head of the house who controls the time loop which keeps the children safe and also holds the knowledge to Jake’s background. Green does a great job in making the character her own as her mannerisms, speech patterns and clothing all paint the picture of somebody who is much more than she seems upon initial impression. Warm and caring one moment but who will take whatever measures she need to in order to keep the children from harm.

Also, adding his two cents as Mr.Barron is Samuel L.Jackson who once again shows that you could put him in any rubbish and he would still be able to bring elements of class to a role, as he is both terrifying and hilarious in equal measures as the eyeball eating, slightly mad leader of the evil Wights

The movie suffers from not being one thing or another as the supposed good versus evil battle only ever really manifests itself during the climactic finale on Blackpool pier but even then it’s played with a certain level of comedy so that it never really feels like there is any sense of serious drama in the situation which leaves the movie as a children’s romp with typical Burton dark tones but no real sense of adventure about what could have been an exciting time travel story with characters who have special powers, but then again I have just described a kids version Days Of Future Past?

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

©  Darren Jones 2016

Director Peter Berg brings us the tale of the 2010 events upon the Deepwater Horizon, a semi submersible offshore drilling unit, which resulted in the worst environmental disaster in the United States and during which eleven people lost their life.

Essentially told in two parts we start by meeting the main players, finding out a bit about said people and their lives outside of work. Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) is a general handyman and fixer on the rig, whom we see with his wife Felicia (Kate Hudson) and daughter and he comes across an everyday down to earth family man, Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez) who drives the rig and shows some chops by giving as good as she gets in the male dominated scenario and the experienced manager of the rig Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) who runs the ship but is liked and respected by his crew. There are also a number of BP employees on board who are worried that the project is falling behind schedule and money is being lost, central to this is Donald Vidrine (John Malkovich) who is at loggerheads with Harrell over the slow progress but all in all the picture is painted of just another regular day and unremarkable shift change.

The second part switches to the drilling unit and is all about the occurrence and aftermath of the incident. We find out that there are a number of parts and items which are not working correctly and that the pressure is on all parties as the project is running at a big loss so the BP personnel are keen to push on with the drilling and are taking short cuts around testing regimes while Harrell and his team are unsure that the drilling can continue safely and are reluctant to continue until the proper tests are run. The build up is very well done slowly peeling back the chain of events which, when coupled together lead to a drill test falsely showing results which would indicate that it is safe to proceed but unknown to the people aboard the chain reaction which leads to the blow out has already kicked in, the fuse on the ticking time bomb is lit and a disaster is imminent.

The Berg & Wahlberg partnership, which we seen in Lone Survivor, once again works well and Berg gets the best out of Wahlberg who once again shows us that there is more to his acting than his comedic timing and that, when he is on form he can take centre stage. It is great to have Russell back close to his best and what he does here he does with ease yet the performance still has the gravitas it requires. When you add in Malkovich who gives a great sleazy performance as the BP executive who is all about the monetary return for the company there is a good acting base to work off and the verbal exchange scenes between Malkovich and Russell are excellent.

Unfortunately despite all the early work I still felt very little empathy with the characters. Yes, there were heroes, signs of great camaraderie between these workers who spend weeks together in the middle of the ocean, tales of self-sacrifice and lives being put in danger to help others but rather than feeling like real people I still felt that I was watching actors in a movie and despite the terrible situation that was occurring I never got to really caring about the fate of the characters in a way that a disaster movie really should suck you into doing.

On the up side, while the movie could have become bogged down with technical details I always felt that I understood what was going on with the machinery and why the disaster occurred, so credit must be given for the moments of exposition which gave us an inside to how the drilling worked, particularly the use of Walhbergs daughters school assignment utilising a fizzy drink to show the pressure that drilling occurs under and once it kicks off it is one of the most spectacular disaster sequences I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure how much of the filming was done through CGI but the explosions and fires felt very real and there were very few occasions where I was taken out of the moment. Each creak could be the one which finally brings the structure tumbling into the sea which adds a great tension to the situation. Both the sound editing and technical camera was excellent with some very good underwater scenes around the structure base and the inside of the mechanical parts of the drill giving some insight into the unseen workings of the set up.

The last few moments film back on shore, dealing with the aftermath of the situation also falls a little flat after the intensity of the rigs demise so while not the greatest film you will see this year it’s worth checking out for the great portrayal of the disaster itself, think Backdraft meets The Towering Inferno for the modern age.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

© Darren Jones 2016

The third installment in the Bridget Jones saga sees her reaching her 43rd birthday, still single but with her new career as a TV producer going well she is a lot more upbeat than usual until a ‘Happy Birthday’ call from her mother reminds her that the opportunity for having a family is running out which gets the cogs in her brain turning towards parenthood even if there is still a glaring gap in the form of a man to fill out the biological requirements. Two chance encounters soon sort that out however as she attends a music festival, gets very drunk and ends up sleeping with an American stranger (Patrick Dempsey) and shortly afterwards she attends a Christening where she is the Godmother and old flame Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) is Godfather which throws them back together and when she finds out that the now married Mark is soon to be divorced they too end up sleeping together. Inevitably she soon finds out she is pregnant but is unsure which of the two men is the father and when the American stranger turns out to be Jack Qwant, a self made millionaire through his successful invention of a popular dating site who ends up on the TV programme she produces her quandary is complete.

I wasn’t a massive fan of either if the first two although, if the box office figures are any indication, they seem to be very popular and I’m sure this one will be no different even if it is a similar plot. Bridget ends up in varying hilarious situations while she needs to choose between one of two men both of whom fall for her quirky character and vie for her attention. Forgetting the ironic twist of him appearing in the first two movies, I always found that this character was the female equivalent of the characters Hugh Grant made his fame playing. Socially awkward, fopping around saying ‘Bugger’ a lot.

This time Bridget needs to pick between the dynamic handsome American millionaire Jack and the ever so British, handsome gentleman lawyer in Mark. Both of whom are eager to play the parent role and are unaware of the potential fact that they may not even be the father or the child as Bridget tries to keep her situation a secret. Zellweger has done a great job in making this character her own over the years and does not disappoint in her third outing and despite the fact that she has shied away from taking new roles over the last five years or so there is no obvious loss to her talents. She also has able assistance this time from her friend and news anchor Miranda (Sarah Solemani) who is a very bad influence, but in a good way and gives some very funny comic relief moments.

There is also a small but memorable performance by Emma Thompson as Dr.Rawlings who shows she has lost none of her comic talent or timing through the years and both Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent are back as Bridget mother and father to add some more comedy especially as her mother is running in a local election with her main ethos being on family values all of which add to the comedic tone of the tale.

Unfortunately the movie runs out of steam a bit towards the final third with the predictably farcical, water breaking, dash for the hospital, epidural and labor pain jokes we have seen before. But in that lies the key, there is nothing new within the film but it feels like wearing comfortable clothes, there may be nothing fancy going on but there’s no call for it either so it’s like two hours spent in a happy zone where you know what is happening, what is likely to happen but you are more than happy to be there and tag along for the ride. So despite the slushy ending and formulaic plot you still find yourself entertained.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

The villagers of Rose Creek are in a desperate situation as a wealthy businessman Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) is extracting gold from a local mine, wants the town for his own purposes and will stop at nothing to get it. When the locals try and stand up to him they are dealt with in the harshest of ways, one of whom is Matthew Cullen (Matt Bomer) who’s wife Emma (Haley Bennett) along with her friend Teddy Q (Luke Grimes) decide enough is enough and to head to a nearby town to hire some men to help them fight back. When they see bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) deal with some men in the town they approach him for assistance but he refuses until Emma explains who is at the center of their problems. Chisolm decides to take the job and thus sets out to put together a team of men that will help and thus the seven are gathered together to fight alongside the remaining villagers.

Being a remake of the original 1960 Western which in turn was a remake of the Akira Kurisawa Seven Samuari movie I doubt my review is going to bring any surprises in terms of storyline or plot but what director Antoine Fuqua does with this movie does is give you an entertaining retelling of good versus evil with a Western setting where you just tag along for the ride and stuff popcorn in your face. I didn’t realise the movie was over two hours long until afterwards and I certainly didn’t notice it during the film itself as there is rarely a dull moment in the movie, if there is not a gunfight, stand off or some form of action on screen, there’s good dialogue forming back story or character building and with Shooter, The Equalizer, Olympus Has Fallen and the very underrated Southpaw now under his belt Fuqua has repeatedly shown that he can put together an entertaining film regardless of the theme. Throw in some great cinematography by Mauro Fiore with some beautiful sweeping shots of the landscape and sets backed by one of the last scores by the late, great James Horner both of which enhance the movies atmosphere in all the right ways and you are well on the way to a winner.

Where the movie is let down is with the characters themselves. With such a large cast of main players it’s difficult to give time to each in order to develop a story arc and to ensure they all receive enough screen time for you to develop a bond of sorts with them and with a few exceptions, which I will come onto shortly, this was my biggest gripe. Neither the Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier) or the outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) were given anywhere near enough screen time and their motivations were questionable at best. Chris Pratt as drinker and gambler Josh Faraday was good but never felt like he fit with the rest of the group, it was as if they cast Pratt and then decided that he needed to have the funny one liners and smart quips which made the character feel a bit unnatural even if he did a great Man With No Name impression at times. Sarsgaard looked like he was having fun as the evil Bogue but for me his character has a bit too pantomime and over the top to be really evil and I was waiting for him to tie a damsel to a train tracks and start twirling his moustache.

I was very surprised by Vincent D’Onofrio as tracker Jack Horner, he lumbers across screen like some man beast yet his character was given real purpose despite the small amount of screen time and the surprise you will feel the first time he speaks was a turn of genius, I’m not sure if that was Fuqua or D’Onofrio but whichever it was credit must be given. Bennett gave a great portrayal of a strong woman well able to hold her own against this band of men who, while there to help are little more than mercenaries but she gives as good as it gets and is a beacon of fortitude for the struggling village. The best characters for me were the assassin Billy Rocks (Byung Hun Lee) and sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) as their chemistry was superb, you felt that the characters had a long past together and the performance of Hawke in particular was excellent as a man haunted by his past, struggling to keep things together. Lastly there’s Washington as the business like bounty hunter, I’ve always been a big fan and I cannot fault him again here. Even if I though he was outshone by Hawke he is still an absolute immense screen presence so when his big reveal comes at the end it’s an epic moment and Fuqua seems to be able to bring the best out of the man when they work together.

After a summer of relative blockbuster disappointment this one has finally hit the mark, while not perfect by any means it is an enjoyable action Western with a super finale which will keep you entertained from start to finish. Now where’s my copy of Red Dead Redemption for my Xbox gone?

DJ Speaks Rating: 6.5 out Of 10