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Child 44 (2015)
Tom Hardy great..the movie not so much.
I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the film for it's confusing telling of the story. The film is based on a novel which I have never read, and as I was watching it, it was evident that the story had a lot of holes in it and at times the sequence of events just did not make sense. To start with, at the beginning of the film Leo at age 10 or 12 is shown playing with a coin that seemed to be of sentimental value to him but we are never shown the background story of that. Raisa, Leo's wife, at times is shown to hold resentment towards her husband who loves her dearly, and again there is no direct explanation to that. When Leo finally confronts the murderer towards the end, the murderer indicates that he knows Leo or knew him in the past but again there is no explanation for that.
Tom Hardy, as always, delivers great performance, owning the screen every time he shows up, captivating your attention with his characterization of a reluctant Russian soldier haunted by his childhood and the things he had to do in the line of duty. Noomi Rapace also portrays the character of Raisa beautifully and holds her own against Tom Hardy. Gary Oldman, on the other hand, did not do much in the film as his character was not given much space anyway, so I think any actor would be able to fill in his shoes.
The 7/10 that I'm giving this film is only in appreciation for the great performances by the two leads, if I was only rating the film I would give it 5. I don't know if the film was really meant to come out the way it did, but I'm willing to bet that the plot holes were caused by too much editing and cutting that resulted in the omission of important sequential events.
Legend (2015)
Tom Hardy rises to expectations..but no the movie.
Legend depicts a specific period of time of the lives of Britain's most notorious twin brothers, Reggie and Ronnie Kray. Tom Hardy, once again, rises to the challenge in portraying the very different characters of both twins, and does a brilliant job submerging himself in character, specially Ronnie, that you find yourself looking for Tom Hardy trying to establish that it is in fact him playing that character. Hardy, as usual, succeeds in bringing the Krays characters to life, playing the role of Ronnie, the mentally and psychologically unstable brother, as well as the Reggie, the more laid back, smart and romantic brother. Hardy without a doubt deserves the praise for finding it within himself to change his state of mind and alter his perspectives to comply with the transformation into each brother at a time to bring out their individuality but also their complicated relationship.
Hardy's brilliance aside, the movie failed to fulfill my eagerness to know more details about the Krays. For example, it had no background history of the Krays and the story is told around the time the Krays had already established their gangster reputation, which I found a bit confusing since I had no information about the brothers before watching the movie. Also, after researching the Krays and reading about them, I found that the movie skipped so many important details of the Krays lives that would have better demonstrated their legendary criminal acts, especially Reggie, when instead it focused on the romantic side of him.
Overall, the movie was good and a must watch if you are a fan of Tom Hardy who executed the characters brilliantly. However it could have been a real " Legend" if it had focused a little less on the romantic details and more on the criminal gangster life the Krays truly lived.
The Finest Hours (2016)
The finest hours
I cannot deny that this movie kept me on the edge of my toes with its thrill packed sound and picture effects and the not knowing if the rescue mission will succeed or not. However these were the only positive elements for me. I was just a little bit disappointed by the performance of Chris Pine who, in my opinion, over acted his role as Bernie, as I felt like he was trying too hard to look like a genuinely good and honest man that it was clear that the man was acting. The thing is he doesn't need to try so hard because his face and his eyes, if utilized well, will do the job for him. Another disappointment was Casey Affleck's performance as he was the total opposite of Pine, because he was not trying at all and looked like he was not drawn to the character or the story, even looked bored in some scenes. Eric Bana, one of my favorite actors, was the most disappointment for me as he did not look interested in the character he was playing and overall it was weak performance for Eric Bana.
My overall experience watching this movie was somewhat enjoyable .. the love story did not seem necessary for the plot nevertheless it was not necessarily bad either..the movie focused on its main goal which is the rescue mission and the bravery of Bernie and his men and in that it succeeded.
Bronson (2008)
Tom Hardy as Britain's most violent prisoner Charles Bronson
At first it was only the poster of this movie that captured my attention, browsing Tom Hardy's filmography, and I watched the trailer online. That same night I couldn't help searching for the movie online and watching the whole thing on my mobile phone. There was not one moment through the movie that I felt distracted or bored, to the contrary of that I did not want to blink so that I wouldn't miss one split of a second of Tom Hardy as Charlie Bronson. The movie did not try to give reasons or justifications of why Charlie Bronson was so self destructive, enjoyed violence and pain and preferred solitary confinement over freedom.
There is no logic that you can wrap your head around watching Charlie Bronson portrayed by Tom Hardy, going to prison for armed robbery on a post office, receiving 7 years in prison and ends up being locked away for 34 years, 30 of which are in solitary confinement. You certainly will not find a rational explanation why he would suddenly take a hostage just so that he would start a confrontation with the guards, then strips naked and wait for them to come so that he would beat them up and eventually ends up overpowered, bleeding and in agony.
The theatrical comic way which the director adopts in filming this movie helps to lighten the violence and brutality of Bronson yet it also helps bring to life his true nature and a depiction of what was going through his mind. I must say, I found myself laughing with confusion as Bronson prepares to torture these poor guards yet once again.
Tom Hardy definitely put his heart and soul into this character, going all the way to stripping naked (full frontal), ramming himself naked into a dozen prison guards, sparing no small details to depict the real raw existence of Charlie Bronson.
In the end you don't really know how to feel about Bronson, as he never committed murder though he had ample opportunities to do so which would imply that he might not be as evil as one would expect, at the same time his unexplained and un-triggered incline to violence wins your empathy as well as fear of him.
The Revenant (2015)
A story of survival triggered by the powerful desire for revenge.
I must admit that going to see this movie, I was expecting prolonged boring scenes to serve the purpose of brutal loneliness in the wild. However, the opening scenes of mini battles between native tribes and the fur trapping squad, the theatrical method by which the director captures these moments drew me right in. Certainly the director with his cast and crew members spared no effort to depict man's merciless battle over the riches of one land, the rawness and brutality of how far a man would go to survive death even if it was on the expense of another man's life.
Without a doubt the director's decision to shoot this movie in the hostile wilderness made the movie what it is and helped the actors rise to the state of mind of the real life characters who lived that same rawness and hostility.
What intensifies this piece of great work are the two gravely talented actors, Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hardy, playing Hugh Glass and John Fitzegerald. These two continue to excel and prove that they are indeed the best in their generation. Leo with his amazing utilization of his body and face to portray the character's agony, despair and finally determination was behind yet another Oscar nomination. Tom Hardy,on the other hand, as John Fitzegerald shows off his humongous acting skills with the use of his eyes and voice, as the rest of his face is covered in this big beard, to create this unyielding, rugged and sometimes seemingly unstable character, that also won him the appraise of the academy with a nomination for best actor in a supporting role.
The movie would not have been the same without those two men.
The Revenant has been nominated for 12 Academy awards including best picture, best lead actor and best actor in a supporting role and I am rooting for this movie in all these categories.