action – Page 2 – NZ Film Freak

The Dark Knight (2008)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Characters created by Bob Kane
Released: July 2008
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman
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Oh. My. God. What a spectacular film! Well made – as per usual – with incredibly talented actors from the late Heath Ledger to Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. The epic music made shivers go down my spine! The total lack of humanity that Batman’s enemy, The Joker, had put me on edge. This is by far, the best superhero film I have seen.

Bruce Wayne has Iron Man’s wealth and ingenuity, James Bond’s gadgets, Superman’s intelligence… and he is nothing like Spiderman. Batman is the ultimate hero – especially since he really doesn’t have any super powers.

the_dark_knight_joker — Heath Ledger as The Joker, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes

He certainly has the scariest enemies too. The Joker has the best lines in the film with the constant feeling that one would not be able to reason with him. This film is pretty freaky with no time to catch your breath! It’s fast paced with tongue in cheek humour. You will frequently catch yourself laughing nervously – particularly when The Joker is speaking.

Here is one of many fantastic scenes with Heath Ledger’s character:

The cinematography is absolutely flawless! The dim lighting is certainly taken advantage of, with eerie shadows and silhouettes being used so well that every shot could be paused and it would be good enough to frame and hang on your wall. The look of the film is just as if it is a moving comic book.

This film isn’t worth seeing once, it’s worth buying. Because you will catch fantastic lines that you missed before, and see things that you didn’t see before in the detailed shots.

Without a doubt, this film was way beyond my already high expectations.

Jodie’s Rating: 9/10

Avatar

Director: James Cameron
Writer: James Cameron
Released: 2009
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver
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When I watched this film in 3D, my review would have been very different to what this review of my second watch is. At first, I would have said that it’s a storyline we’ve seen before, that the characters were typical and that it was all about the technology.

However, this is not exactly what I think now.

Having seen the first hour of Avatar on TV recently, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it compared to how I felt about it roughly two years earlier. After the adverts interrupting my good time a few too many times, I just had to get the DVD. Which I did. And here’s my verdict:

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and I think it is mostly because it is very easy – too easy – to compare what happened to Pandora to what is happening everyday on Earth. At least in New Zealand, we’re struggling to prevent businesses fracking the rocks below the surface to collect gas/oil which has massive effects on the environment and the people living nearby.

James Cameron made this before there was the amount of struggle between the value of the environment versus the financial value of the environment, that there is today. So Avatar hit home pretty hard the more realistic the story became.

Beyond the deep and meaningful, the technological advances of this film are at a level that will take a long time for anybody to measure up to. It’s all motion capture – so that’s all green screens and dots – but you would never be able to tell that the actors have no Pandora environments to work with.

The designs of the people (Na’vi) and the intrepid creatures that roam the strange planet and how they all share a similar colour palette to show the interdependence between the environment and it’s inhabitants. With the main message being that it is all about balance.

It is a film of action, adventure, fantasy and science-fiction. It’s kind of like exploring Wonderland, but Wonderland from the future. So it’s not at all boring for a second. Which is why after buying the DVD (and finding it had no special features -_- not cool James, not cool) I had to go back out and buy the 3-disc version to get the ins and outs of the story.

It’s got everything that would make you wish that you were there. Riding on flying dragons, galloping through the jungle on six-legged horses, exploring a land rich in life and colour. Pandora is the land you’ll soon want to exist.

Because although it is a ridiculously long film (although it is actually a lot easier to handle than any of Peter Jacksons epically exhausting creations) I found there was still a lot I wanted to know about Pandora and the tribe of Na’vi. Plus, Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) back story is quite an eventful one.

I mean, come on, this is James Cameron we’re talking about. The writer and director of Titanic! So of course this is a film worth watching. In fact, I think Cameron should be famous for his writing more than his directing.

I think this film is one of very few that is very beneficial in 3D! The landscape designs look idyllic and the creatures are so intriguing. I am weary of the sequels, however, that are meant to be on its way…

So depending on what ‘filter’ you’re going to watch this film through, whether it’s from a political point of view, an environmental or religious point of view or, just watching it for plain entertainment, you will find something to take away from Avatar. It’s all about values, balance, the circle of life and appreciation.

Jodie’s delayed rating of: 7/10

In Time

Director: Andrew Niccol
Writer: Andrew Niccol
Released: 2011
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried
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I think this is going to be a short entry today. Because I’ve been mulling this film over and over in my head for a good few months since I watched it.

It’s a film about how in the future everybody would be paid in time. With a count-down timer on our arm (which would make a pretty cool tattoo) we have to use that time to pay for things we need such as bus rides and food.

This film does have some powerful points, such as the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer. It does make a stand how unfair it is that the few wealthy and powerful people in the world have total control over 99% of the planet’s population. It’s a film about greed which is parallel to real life.

Unfortunately, this become secondary to the romance, which dilutes the impact of the potentially strong and shocking political statement trying to be made.

Quite simply, this thought-provoking Matrix/Inception–like film could have been a decent action/thriller if it wasn’t for the following three things:

NUMBER 1: If the story line wasn’t so obviously and devoted to the old-age tale of Robin Hood. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Justin Timberlake wasn’t a bad actor, but his character was too unrealistic. Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) was a worker with just enough income to survive, until a ‘rich’ man donates all of his time to him. Sales then gets into top security places and eventually steels most of the money to donate to the poor sections of the world which he continues to do until every body is equally rich.

Not very original, is it, if you replace the guns with bow and arrows and the city with a forrest.

NUMBER 2: This turned into a romance. Like, I would say that this film was not a “Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy” (according to Rotten Tomatoes), but a Romance/Action. How the love interest (Amanda Seyfried) could run in those six-inch heels and still rob banks… I do not know.

NUMBER 3: It is quite simply too far-fetched. They should have stuck to developing the lifestyle and internal struggles of watching our life tick away from you. I think that would have been way more interesting…

Intime Arm Count down

I was pretty disappointed with this one, actually… But perhaps I was wanting to see a deep and meaningful movie when In Time was essentially a chick-flick disguised as a sci-fi/action in the trailer.

Jodie’s Rating: 5/10

Public Enemies

Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Michael Mann, Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman
Released: 2009
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Lang
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After reading the blurb on the back of the $9.99 DVD I was preparing myself for a mind-numbing 143 minutes of car chases and gunfire. With such an instant dislike you may wonder why I bothered rescuing this film from the bargain bin. Well, I put my faith in Johnny Depp’s reputation of being in the best of films.

Three words; Way. Friggin’. Cool. The car chases were not boring (possibly for the simple reason that the 1930s cars are wicked!) and the gun fire had consequences. i.e. it wasn’t random gunfire for the most part – some bullets did actually collide with people or surroundings, which is always a bonus.

John Dillinger mug shot — The real John Dillinger

Public Enemies is a true account of John Dillinger’s (Depp) bank robberies, successes and being on the constant run from the cops during the depression of 1933-34. Despite it being rather difficult to distinguish many of the male characters during the dimmer scenes due to their very similar wardrobe, the characters were pretty well rounded and before you knew it, you were rooting for the ‘baddies’. You know the writers and film makers have done their job when you end up supporting the murdering protagonists. It’s like Dillinger is perceived as a superhero villain/rock star… He’s the dark superstar of the 1930s.

This action thriller is fantastic because it did happen which makes all of the gasping and gob-smacking moments even more appropriate. However, after doing about ten-minutes worth of research after watching the film, I realised that they embellished the love-interest and missed out the hugest mystery of all; the question mark over Dillinger’s death!

Apparently there was a look alike named Jimmy Lawrence who was a petty thief who became Dillinger’s alias in Chicago, and because John Dillinger burned his fingers with acid to remove his fingerprints, the post-mortem was inconclusive despite the FBI closing the case – possibly to save any more embarrassment in relation to the long chase. I think they should have included that, and laid off on the love interest of Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) a tad.

The filming and lighting was FANTASTIC! It was mostly hand-held with slow motion shots that made chills go down your spine and incredible shadows which created the entire mood.

“What keeps you up at night?”
“Coffee”

Jodie’s rating: 7.5/10

Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney
Released: 2011
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Stephen Fry
—

Well, it’s all peaches and gravy in this corner. (Unlike NZ’s major film critic, Kate Rodger, with her surprising 2/5 rating) However, I thought this film was a fantastic sequel to the flawless first Sherlock Holmes‘ film!

What I liked in particular was the continuity between the two films, unlike the Twilight Saga and Harry Potter series which are all directed by different people each time, subsequently creating very different looks per film. I think that the continuity was mistaken as the Sherlock movies being “exactly the same”, but I strongly disagree as it keeps a regular tone.

Oh. My God. The COOLEST scene EVER was when Holmes and Watson were running through a dark forest being shot at, and it was all in slow motion with close ups of the bullets shattering tree trunks and bombs blowing up soil which was so pin-sharp I could see a bit of dirt fall in Robert Downey Junior’s eye!

I did think this scene looked an awful lot like the running-through-forest scene of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1…

Sherlock Holmes forest scene:

Harry Potter forest scene:

The major difference between this Holmes film and the last is the absolute hilarity of the second! It became like a black comedy/action film. My favourite parts being when Sherlock Holmes creates lycra-like suits with various patterns such as a wooden print or the same pattern as a chair which allows him to literally blend into the furniture around the house.

A Game of Shadows showed the relation to James Bond films, due to the amount of ammunition and shooting scenes, which became a tad boring after a while. I think some of it could have been cut to make the 2.5hr movie a tad leaner.

You see a lot of the world in this film too. From London to France to Switzerland – you see the whole kit and caboodle – way cool. Way cool.

Guy Ritchie’s style was clearly carried through to the sequel. Everything we loved, such as the slow motion and pre-planned fights Holmes talks us through. Love it.

Not to give anything specific away, but the fate of a certain character was disappointing, and I don’t think it should have panned out the way it did. It goes against the genre’s structure. But, at least it’s original.

Fantastic film – just like the first!! How the ratings are so low, I really do not know.

Jodie’s rating: 9.5/10