extravaluejotter Reviews

The Last Drop (2006)

Pure cack down to the last drop

[1/10 · 5 May 2014]

A pointless mishmash of war movie and heist movie. This sort of thing has been done so much better in movies like "Kelly's Heroes". There is nothing of any quality in "The Last Drop". Actors put their best pantomime accents on. Laurence Fox's stock Nazi villain sports the obligatory duelling scar on his cheek. American talent Billy Zane emails in a performance from somewhere near San Francisco. Uniforms look like fancy dress. Vehicles are mostly postwar Eastern Bloc.

Everything about this movie screams "Cheap"! "The Last Drop" is proof that the most talented actors are prepared to do pretty much anything for money.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Thinking Person's Blockbuster

[8/10 · 2 August 2008]

It's been said that in "The Dark Knight" the forces of darkness spent as much time behind the camera as they did in front of it. Well, fair enough. Christopher Nolan doesn't direct light romantic comedies. If you're looking for a standard comic book franchise movie, there's loads of thinly-veiled toy adverts out there. "The Dark Knight", however, follows the graphic novel trend of the 80's & 90's, catering for a sophisticated adult audience. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to sit through a 2-hour toy advert (even "SpiderMan 3") and walk out humming the theme tune, but I've reached a stage in life where I also like to be treated as an adult rather than a source of revenue when I go to the cinema.

The Bunker (2001)

Grim Viewing

[4/10 · 18 May 2008]

"The Bunker" features a cast of fine British character actors and Charley Boorman. That's not to say that Boorman isn't good in his role, just that this film is more his level. Guys like Jason Flemyng, Jack Davenport, Christopher Fairbank and even TV regulars Eddie Marsan and Andrew Tiernan could do this sort of film in their sleep, although they all pitch in to "The Bunker" with enthusiasm.

Well, I say "enthusiasm" but I mean war-weary cynicism. The film is set at the nadir of the Third Reich and all the actors in "The Bunker" portray German soldiers in varying degrees of despair or denial. This was what kept me watching the film, as the men stuck in the bunker were forced to face some unknown evil and ended up tearing themselves (and each other) apart.

It's a variation on the standard "Old Dark House" horror theme and it works quite well, but "The Bunker" brings very little that's new or exciting to the screen. There aren't many shocks - more a sense of creeping dread as events unfold, and what could be referred to as "The Twist" at the end has been regularly signposted all the way through the story with grainy flashback scenes.

You may enjoy it but this old couch potato won't bother with "The Bunker" again. It's a quality production let down by a 6-bob screenplay.

Desperado (1995)

A Classic (Just not sure why)

[5/10 · 5 May 2008]

I wouldn't say that "Desperado" is unwatchable but it didn't merit a second viewing for me. I saw that it was on TV and stayed up to watch it, then wondered why I bothered. It beats "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" into a cocked hat in terms of plot but it does rely on the screen presence of Antonio Banderas, Steve Buscemi and others to keep the viewer interested.

The gunfights are ludicrous, with villains spraying rounds about like hose sprinklers and the good guys knocking them down with shot after shot. It reminded me of the "A Team" TV series, although Hannibal and co shared the poor aim of the bad guys.

One word sums this film up. "Overkill". Too many guns, too much casual killing and not enough snappy dialogue. It also has a disappointing climax that makes it look like the producers couldn't afford another bloody and spectacular set piece to finish it off.

Black Book (2006)

A Finely Crafted War Movie, But...

[7/10 · 22 April 2008]

There is a lot to recommend "Black Book" to international audiences but the scale of the movie eventually works against it. The screenplay is based on actual events within German-occupied Holland during WWII, but Paul Verhoeven and his co-writer Gerard Soeteman have over-egged their story.

Despite some fine acting from Carice Van Houten and her supporting cast, there are moments in "Black Book" where you may begin to wonder how one person copes with so much tension and bad luck. Rachel Stein is (I assume) a composite character and this is the film's main weakness. Verhoeven and Soeteman, it seems, couldn't bear to leave anyone's anecdote out of their original screenplay and the result strained my credulity quite badly. I don't think that I would bother buying "Black Book" on DVD because, for all its atmosphere and tension, it's at least 20 minutes too long.

Whilst trying to portray what German occupation was like for Dutch people, Paul Vehoeven's otherwise admirable film tries to cram too much incident into one person's lifetime. The film does deliver quite a satisfying twist at the end but slides alarmingly toward the "Showgirls" end of Verhoeven's movie scale on the way on the way to its climax.

Having dissed it for 3 paragraphs, I would like to finish off with a recommendation to give "Black Book" a try if you like war films. It's better than a lot of recent efforts in this genre.

Transporter 2 (2005)

Transporter Poo

[1/10 · 5 April 2008]

Having enjoyed the 1st "Transporter" movie, I was severely disappointed by this sequel. Jason Statham and the rest of the cast go through the motions in a tired Miami-based 007 retread, all guns and gadgets and very little of what made the first film so entertaining. The car chases and fight scenes all look stagey and the use of CGI is too obvious.

It's hard to believe that Luc Besson would even think of lending his name to this grubby little film, but there he is in the credits. The man clearly has no shame.

Someone else with no shame is Kate Nauta, who plays a sub-Bond villainess with all the sexiness of a hatstand, despite spending most of the movie semi-naked, tricked out in high heels and some sort of combat body harness. All I can say about her role is that she must have been offered a lot of money.

I managed to sit all the way through "Transporter 2" but it was more in hope than due to any entertainment value. 'Surely it'll pick up soon,' I kept telling myself, but this was a forlorn hope. I still recommend the first "Transporter" as high-octane entertainment, but stay away from this diesel-powered golf cart of a sequel.

Night Watch (2004)

Impressive Dark Fantasy

[7/10 · 7 October 2007]

What makes "Night Watch" so good is the fact that it's not a Hollywood movie. Yes, it's clearly been influenced by Hollywood movies like "The Matrix" but there's no doubt that it was made approximately 9,000 miles from Tinsel Town and that it was paid for in roubles, not dollars.

The story is pretty simple but it's the entangled relationships between the characters that keep you watching "Night Watch". Well, that and the bravura action sequences. There are some bone-crunching fight scenes in this film. I'm not normally a fan of CGI but "Night Watch" manages to integrate it into the story pretty well. There are only a few CGI scenes in the movie that look patently fake and they aren't dwelt upon for very long anyway.

If this is the sort of cinema that we can expect from Russia in future, I can see myself becoming a big fan.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Bloody Brilliant

[8/10 · 4 August 2007]

No-one can doubt the huge cultural impact of "Hot Fuzz". My work colleagues and I frequently blow raspberries, flick the Vees and invite each other to "Jog On".

Just as they did with "Shaun of the Dead", Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have taken a fairly stale movie sub-genre, fed it a few drinks and filmed it making an ass of itself in public. People expect UK comedy movies to be gently mocking, middle-class tales about Hugh Grant falling for an unattainable American or a bunch of Northerners who form the world's only nude brass band. "Hot Fuzz" manages to combine traditional British whimsy with a healthy dose of American Action Steroids and the result doesn't so much break the mould as blow up the mould factory.

Is it any good? You bet. "Hot Fuzz" is a high-octane blend of running gags, snappy one-liners, clever observational comedy, fine acting, gunplay and messy murder scenes. "Hot Fuzz" is the perfect antidote for anyone who's overdosed on one-too-many Brit gangster flicks, American cop-buddy movies or Richard Curtis's so-called comedies.

Guest House Paradiso (1999)

An Overlooked Classic (Sort Of)

[6/10 · 1 August 2007]

"Guesthouse Paradiso" is a typical low-budget British movie. You've seen most of the cast on TV dozens of times and everything about it screams that no expense has been spent in its production. There are dozens of movies like this languishing on the shelves at BlockBusters so why pick up "Guesthouse Paradiso"?

Only because it's pretty much the last hurrah of anarchic comedy duo Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall, who have spent the best part of 2 decades getting laughs out of bodily functions and cartoon violence. Anyone who is a fan of their "Bottom" TV series will know just what to expect.

"Guesthouse Paradiso" is as deep and complex as a puddle of vomit but has a high content of laughs, wince-making fight scenes and stunts. Ignore the thin plot and concentrate on Mayall and Edmondson as they have a laugh and try not to injure each other too seriously.

Two Men Went to War (2002)

Dad's Army Reloaded

[5/10 · 15 July 2007]

The UK TV premiere of "Two Men Went to War" was shown directly after a vintage episode of "Dad's Army". This was clearly a BBC progamme scheduler's attempt at mind control. The story of a has-been sergeant's personal invasion of wartime France shares a lot of territory with "Dad's Army" but "Two Men Went to War" is a pale shadow of the classic TV series.

Despite being based on true events, the movie portrays its protagonists as a sort of Laurel and Hardy double act. The real Sergeant Peter King and Private Leslie Cuthbertson were a tough and resourceful duo who managed to survive on their own in enemy territory and commit several acts of sabotage before returning to home soil.

Kenneth Cranham portrays his character well, despite the fact that he is in his 60s and the real Peter King was 26 in 1942. Not only this, but saddling the character King with a medal for changing a car wheel under fire in WWI cheapens the efforts of the real King, who won a Military Cross in 1944 and the DSO in Korea.

Leo Bill matches Cranham in the acting stakes but plays his character as a Londoner when the real Cuthbertson was from Tyneside. I don't blame Bill for not attempting a geordie accent but it's another jangling note of inaccuracy in a story that's supposed to be "Mostly True". Cuthbertson is portrayed mainly as boyish and inept, but in reality he served as a soldier in the Durham Light Infantry after his adventures in France.

I doubt that either King or Cuthbertson would have been very happy with this movie if either were still alive. While its premise is comic, too many liberties have been taken. In the movie, the 2 men are saved from being branded as deserters by an intelligence officer who credits them with the destruction of a Freya radar array. By coincidence they manage to wreck it in parallel with a British commando raid on nearby Wurzburg radar dishes. Trying to tie King and Cuthbertson's ad-hoc sabotage operation in with a bowdlerised version of the Operation Biting raid on Bruneval is simply too much.

"Two Men Went to War" may be based on fact but pitching it as a "Dad's Army" - style comedy was a mistake. Surely the true story of 2 army dentists who invaded German-occupied France in 1942 was worthy of a more embellishment-free screenplay?

Black Hawk Down (2001)

An Ill-Considered Movie about an Ill-Considered Raid

[1/10 · 15 July 2007]

Letting Jerry Bruckheimer produce this movie was a mistake. Bruckheimer's gift is the creation of stupendous summer blockbusters with good guys, bad guys, mad stunts and huge explosions. I can understand him wanting to handle more serious material to gain credibility but "Blackhawk Down" is not one of his better films.

The movie has won quite a few technical awards. Ridley Scott's direction is fantastic, and the special/sound effects are well-rendered. The movie cast are top-notch and do an admirable job. What lets the movie down is the script.

In "Blackhawk Down" the Somalis of Mogadishu are portrayed as a baying, faceless mob. Little or no effort is made to explain why both civilians and militiamen reacted so violently to the botched US "Gothic Serpent" raid depicted in the movie. A previous US air attack in downtown Mogadishu had killed many tribal elders and innocent civilians. This generated a lot of public support for the armed militias. Ordinary Somalis began to look to the warlords for protection from what they saw as unprovoked American attacks.

No distinction is made between the Somalis caught up in the fighting and the combatants. No accurate figures exist for the number of Somalis killed during the fighting although the movie estimate is 1,000. It is unlikely that all of this number were Somali militiamen. Many ordinary Somalis were caught up in the streetfighting, pinned down and killed by fire from both sides. No records were kept at the time but aid agency estimates put the number of Somali civilian dead and wounded as high as 3,000.

While "Blackhawk Down" is meant to be a tribute to the courage of the US soldiers who fought and died in the 1st Battle of Mogadishu, it is also guilty of lazy racism and a selective, revisionist view of events. The Pakistani UN forces (who provided rescue vehicles and troops for American casualties) are depicted as surly and uncooperative in the movie. Pakistani UN forces were not afraid of a fight in Mogadishu and had lost 24 men killed in a single action against Somali militiamen before the American raid was launched. The Malaysian UN element is not mentioned, despite providing additional rescue vehicles and troops for the evacuation of US casualties.

IMDb is perhaps the wrong place to make political statements, but "Blackhawk Down" is little more than a gung-ho propaganda film in the tradition of such dire revisionism as John Wayne's "The Green Berets". It can be viewed as a gritty and realistic depiction of urban combat against incredible odds. However, it is also guilty of concentrating solely on the experiences of US troops without explaining why they were there.

"Blackhawk Down" relies on the biased (after 4 US journalists were killed in riots in Mogadishu) American media perspective of events in Somalia far too much. Its one concession to reality is the admission that the "Gothic Serpent" raid should never have been launched.

Jerry Bruckheimer is a great producer and Ridley Scott is a fine director but "Blackhawk Down" is little more than a skewed snapshot of a greater tragedy. It is one of the few war films that I wish I had never seen.

The Matrix (1999)

Ignore the sequels, this is The One

[7/10 · 14 July 2007]

"The Matrix" is the driving force behind a string of half-arsed sci-fi/fantasy films (including 2 bloated and inferior Matrix sequels) that have appeared (and sunk without trace) in its wake since 1999. This film had a similar cultural impact to the original "Star Wars" and its high rating is well deserved. Often imitated but seldom equaled, "The Matrix" set so many new standards that it became sci-fi's yardstick for the new millennium.

It has that potent blend of action, adventure, philosophy and sex appeal that distinguishes a classic blockbuster movie from all the summer season also-rans. Name me one other big-hitting action movie from 1999. You're struggling, aren't you?

Of course you are. "The Matrix" was one of the first films to use "Bullet Time" camera effects in its gravity-defying slow-motion stunts. The bone-crunching fights and action sequences were choreographed by a Chinese martial arts master. The soundtrack was littered with catchy tunes. The dialogue was peppered with smart one-liners. The female lead spent a lot of time dressed in figure-hugging shiny black PVC costumes. The set design and CGI was awe-inspiring in scale. Did I mention the figure-hugging shiny black PVC?

"The Matrix" is lightning in a bottle. The Wachowski brothers tried to capture it in 2 subsequent attempts and failed. Fortunately the formulaic sequels haven't dimmed the appeal of the original film.

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Kill Bore Vol. 2

[1/10 · 1 July 2007]

I couldn't watch it to the end. Well, I kind of knew what was going to happen anyway. Quentin Tarantino was going to meander around, alternating pointless violence with hip dialogue until Uma Thurman's character finally got her revenge. Or not. To be honest I really didn't care if Beatrix set up home with Bill and they baked cookies together forever instead of her killing him.

Everything that was wrong with the first movie is wrong with this one in spades, despite the contributions of some talented actors and some fine cinematography. Overlong, derivative and self-indulgent, Quentin Tarantino's homage to world cinema mediocrity really knows how to outstay its welcome.

I honestly hope that Tarantino has another film like "Reservoir Dogs" or "Jackie Brown" in him. It would be tragic if the last films he ever made were as pointlessly bad as "Kill Bill" 1 & 2.

Dust Devil (1992)

Impressive Dark Fantasy

[7/10 · 14 June 2007]

I hated Richard Stanley's "Hardware", an overlong, overwrought sci-fi horror flick based on a 2-page comic cut from "2000AD". However, I had to admit that it WAS visually stylish and watched "Dust Devil" after it was recommended to me by a friend. I watched it and was duly converted into a Stanley fan. Why has this man made so few films?

In "Dust Devil", Stanley's screen writing skill and directorial flair combine perfectly and the result is an above-average horror movie. The African locations provide a perfect backdrop to a tale that is as grisly as it is poignant. The director's cut is a must-see for horror fans and Simon Boswell's pounding soundtrack is wonderfully evocative. Highly recommended.

American History X (1998)

Nasty, Unsettling, Possibly a Classic...

[7/10 · 14 June 2007]

"American History X" is a pretty conventional film. The plot could be summed up as "Good boy gets led down the wrong road, realises the error of his ways and tries to distance himself from his misdeeds."

Hollywood has done this sort of thing hundreds of times before but there's something about "AHX" that gripped me from start to finish. I thought that I knew how the movie would end, but I didn't. There was just enough exposition about race hate to make me question my own prejudices. There were some powerhouse performances, particularly Edward Norton's.

"AHX" isn't a perfect film by any means. Some scenes (like the one establishing Derek's father's racist credentials) don't work because their messages are too obvious. The pathos of the final scenes are diluted somewhat by a flagrant disregard for police procedure, which almost pushes the film into melodrama territory.

I wonder what the film would have been like if director Tony Kaye had been allowed to complete his edition of it. As it stands, it's a thought-provoking and mostly uncompromised glimpse of the racial tension that simmers in every mixed-race culture. Perhaps Kaye WAS taking too long to finish off a simple story, but perhaps the message that he wanted to convey would have been more powerful if the studio suits hadn't rushed him..?

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Good, but...

[5/10 · 7 May 2007]

Only the ache in my legs when I got up told me that I'd sat through over 2 hours of the latest Spider-Man film. It was full of wham-bang action and quality acting and I was glad to have caught it on the big screen.

This is where the "buts" come in...

However, at times I caught myself wondering if Sam Raimi hadn't over-reached himself with this movie. There were a lot of complex special effects on display in some of the action sequences and as well-rendered as they were, they required me to suspend my disbelief on a very slender webline. In places there was just too much going on to take it all in.

Raimi and his cast did a good job of telling a human story as well as providing a golly-gee action romp, but as the kids all around me shuffled and muttered during the "quiet" bits, I began to question the way that the Spider-Man franchise was being marketed.

There's the obligatory appearance of Spidey's co-creator Stan Lee (and the great man gets a little dialogue this time, yay!), great supporting performances from Ted Raimi, Theresa Russell, Bruce Campbell, Rosemary Harris and J K Simmons. Kirsten Dunst is given a run for her money in the "Screaming Girlie" stakes by Bryce Dallas Howard. Tobey Maguire and James Franco get to do some scenery chewing while Topher Grace and Thomas Haden Church provide us with a pair of reliably human villains. Unfortunately, all this talent on show only increases the feeling that "Spider-Man 3" is a quart jammed into a pint pot. Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, James Cromwell and Bryce Dallas Howard are wasted in this film, with thin and sketchy cartoon roles designed to fit the plot. Dunst and Franco are particularly ill-served, having provided sterling support in their previous Spidey outings, with their characters doing little more than jumping through a series of plot-driven hoops. A lot of the heart of the previous films has been torn out of "Spider-Man 3" by forcing its main characters into a contrived and immature storyline rather than continuing to spin the Peter-MJ-Harry love triangle thread.

It's just too good, which I know is a strange criticism for a film. What I mean is that it needed to be slimmed down at the planning stage, instead of chucking so many good actors and so much quality CGI at a "Worthy" screenplay. All of the Spider-Man movies have something to say about the people we all want to be, but in this 3rd instalment it feels a little like the drama has been dumbed-down to make room for all those eye-catching visual effects. The cringe-making TV reportage of Spidey's climactic battle with the bad guys is symptomatic of the movie's "More is Less" malaise. It's simply unnecessary and it's badly done too. Another ridiculous add-on is Harry Osborn's butler Bernard, who was conspicuous in his absence in Parts 1 and 2. Bernard's earnest little speech about Harry's father is one of the most contrived pieces of exposition ever witnessed outside a Matrix movie.

"Spider-Man 3" is nowhere near as good as 1 or 2, and Spidey will become another victim of The Law of Diminishing Returns unless someone takes a long hard look at what makes this franchise work. Having now viewed it on DVD, I'm downgrading it to "Average". A lot of the action scenes are cluttered and confusing and the contrived 3rd act seriously undermines Sam Raimi's reputation.

The Proposition (2005)

Murder Ballad Movie

[5/10 · 28 April 2007]

I wouldn't watch "The Proposition" again, for much the same reasons that I don't have any Nick Cave CDs in my collection. Screenwriter Nick Cave is an intelligent and insightful man and there are scenes of great intensity in this movie. However, there is little here that doesn't feel borrowed from other movies or classic tales.

Philosophical and grisly in turns, "The Proposition" is an art house revenge tale. It's well acted, well shot and well written but still somehow manages to be less than the sum of its excellent parts. Let down by a predictable final act, Mr Cave's opus left me ambivalent. I sort of understand why he's as well respected as he is, but his movie has no place in my DVD collection.

The Core (2003)

Barking Mad Premise, Average-to-Good Movie

[5/10 · 22 April 2007]

"The Core" surprised me. I was expecting a sub-Emmerich disaster movie (and I HATED "The Day After Tomorrow") and I actually found myself wanting the movie's Terranauts to succeed after the first hour.

Despite a glut of CGI (how else are you going to show a boring machine in the most hostile environment this side of the sun's surface?) there was enough science and humanity in "The Core" to grant it a sort of classic status. The movie harks back to 60s sci-fi gems like "Fantastic Voyage" in terms of concept and plot and it's a brave attempt.

Unfortunately it's let down by odd details (such as London pigeons that sound like the monsters from "Pitch Black")and the fact that the script is a sort of underground re-tread of "Armageddon". However, the cast never lose their grip on reality and treat the script with respect, making "The Core" a workmanlike and reasonably entertaining movie.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Hollywood 1, Environment 0

[1/10 · 22 April 2007]

I can't comment on the ending of this film because I was forced to switch off after about an hour or so of over-the-top CGI and overwrought plotting.

"The Day After Tomorrow" was trumpeted as Hollywood's first Carbon Neutral movie. Unfortunately, it's also Talent Neutral. Roland Emmerich has some good films in his bio, but this is not one of them. The film's grand scale is what lets it down, reducing the possible effects of a global super-storm to popcorn movie levels. The big set-piece destruction scenes of LA and New York are obviously rendered by guys sat in front of PCs in air-conditioned offices. They are therefore even less realistic than the destruction of a plaster and balsa wood Tokyo by a guy in a rubber lizard suit.

Oh yes, "TDAT" harks back to another Emmerich clunker, "Godzilla". Despite the director's ability to elicit good performances from his human actors, Emmerich has yet to learn that less is more when it comes to special effects.

The Italian Job (2003)

No Sauce, just Plain Boiled Pasta

[1/10 · 27 March 2007]

This is a woeful Hollywood remake of a classic British film. Everything that made the original "Italian Job" entertaining has been bled out of this festering sore of a movie "scripted" by Donna and Wayne Powers and listlessly "directed" by F Gary Gray. I am amazed that Troy Kennedy Martin (the screenwriter of the original film) allowed his name to be used in the credits for this pig's ear. Martin has worked on some of the finest film and TV projects of the last 40-odd years. Even being vaguely associated with this stinker is NOT A GOOD THING.

The humour is forced, the drama is laboured, all the characters are cookie-cutter likable crims (with the exception of Charlize Theron's implausible, beautiful safe cracker/rally driver)and the plot only matches the original on the following points:

(1) Three Minis (the modern BMW-made versions, but Minis nonetheless)

(2) Use of the names Croker and Bridger for 2 of the main characters

(3) Disrupting a city's traffic control system to provide a safe route through it.

(4) Er, that's it.

Otherwise, what you get is a bland and implausible American by-the-numbers heist movie in which a gang of jolly pirate chums eventually get the better of their evil associate. Believe me, it feels like an awful long time before they do. The cast do their best with what they're given but it seems that they all accepted it as a turd-polishing exercise after reading the script. None of the original film's quirky nature and distinctly British flavour has survived being fed into the Hollywood hamburger machine.

Do yourself a favour and watch the original 1969 movie instead of this sucking chest wound. It's a wonder that Noel Coward hasn't done an Aunt Nelly, jumped out of his grave and kicked the teeth of everyone involved in this tepid remake halfway down their throats.

Italian Job? More like Italian Jobbie.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

OK, Seen It, Next!

[5/10 · 26 March 2007]

I've always wondered what a film that focused on the characters of Jay and Silent Bob would be like. Now I know. Whoopee-doo.

This movie did have me giggling like an idiot quite a few times. There are a whole slew of celeb cameos, including Matt Damon and Ben Affleck making fun of themselves in the sequel to "Good Will Hunting" - "Hunting Season". There are some good (and not-so-good) movie parodies to chuckle at and Jason Mewes is In The Zone as foul-mouthed stoner Jay.

Now the bad news. Kevin Smith mugs far too much as Silent Bob and his writer/director/star shtick leaves me cold. For someone who's only seen "Dogma" (and thoroughly enjoyed it) the movie is too self-referential. It feels like one big in-joke for the Kevin Smith fanboys and girls. That's a shame, because Smith has genuine movie-making talent. I just hope that he takes a wrong turn on the road that leads up his own behind.

Casino Royale (2006)

Bond Begins

[8/10 · 21 March 2007]

There seem to be quite a few people around the world who have a problem with "Casino Royale". There are even anti-Daniel Craig websites, most of which would have you believe that the 39 year-old English actor and latest 007 is on a par with Osama Bin Laden in the "evil" stakes. Let's try and gain a little perspective here, shall we? The Bond franchise is a string of movies with different actors playing the same central character, most of which conform to a formula invented by Ian Fleming a long time ago, in a beach house far far away. Daniel Craig is simply the latest actor to slip into a tux and order a vodka martini, not the AntiChrist.

A lot of people seem to want the same old 007 formula in their Bond movies, forgetting the stale old guff of the late Roger Moore era when the scripts looked even more tired and drawn than the ageing star. The only reason that the franchise continued for so long with Moore as Bond was because he was used to acting within formulaic constraints. His previous long-running role as "The Saint" on TV definitely helped! I'm not saying that the next Bond movie should be directed by Lars Von Trier and scripted by Baz Luhrman and Gus Van Sant, just that a little re-invention is no bad thing.

Attempts were made to liven things up when Timothy Dalton took over, but the scripts continued to follow Lt Commander Fleming's not-so-secret recipe and Dalton struggled to make anything of the role as the Cold War began to thaw and secret agents went out of fashion. Pierce Brosnan enlivened the role of Bond when he took over (with a more modern take on global politics evident in his movies,) but he too fell victim to the rigidity of the Bond format. "Die Another Day" was as stale and flat as "A View to A Kill". John Cleese simply did not work as Desmond Llewelyn's replacement in the Q Department and Samantha Bond had nowhere to go as Moneypenny after her virtual reality snog with 007 put her character's cards on the table. The Must-have-Q-must-have-Moneypenny rules were in dire need of burning, along with the predictable Bond plot format.

Going back to Ian Fleming's first 007 book from 1953, "Casino Royale" was the perfect opportunity to give James Bond a bit more room to move and for the franchise to develop. Anyone who's read the book will see that the film takes a lot of cues from its source material. Before Fleming started churning out his "Girls, Guns & Gadgets" production line novels (a well-developed formula by the time Sean Connery starred in "Dr No" in 1962,) he initially developed the character of James Bond in "Casino Royale", his original Bond novel.

Criticising this film because it's nothing like "Goldfinger" is like criticising Daniel Craig because he's not Sean Connery. So what if Daniel Craig doesn't have dark hair? The English-as-can-be Bond has been played by a Scot, an Australian, a Welshman and an Irishman in the past. In the light of these liberties, quibbling about Bond's hair colour is pretty desperate.

View "Casino Royale" without judging it against other Bond movies and it stands up well on its own. The action scenes and stunts are bone-jarring, the dialogue is well-written, the plot is functional and the cast performances are of a very high calibre. Compare it to the "Bourne" movies starring Matt Damon and it fares pretty well too. Bourne is the spy thriller benchmark for the new millennium and this new Bond comes pretty close to unsettling the young CIA upstart.

Daniel Craig is a younger, bulkier, blonder Bond and about time too. Long may he reign...

Layer Cake (2004)

The Dessert that Satisfies

[7/10 · 19 March 2007]

Matthew Vaughn has learned a lot from Guy Ritchie. The producer of "Lock Stock", "Snatch" and "Swept Away" made his directorial debut with "Layer Cake" and provided his audience with everything that they expect from a modern British crime thriller. Vaughn is clearly a man who loves London, and he has worked closely with cinematographer Ben Davis to show the city's glamorous side, as well as its dark underworld.

There is a lot of surface glitz in "Layer Cake" and the story is hardly an original one, but it is well written (adapted from his own novel by J J Connolly) and well acted by a fine cast that includes some of the UK's best character actors. What sets it above the slew of post-"Lock Stock" Brit gangster flicks of recent years is its conviction. The story is played straight and any moments of humour arise naturally from the interplay between the characters. The cinematography is blessedly free of pop video tics, but Ben Davis is not afraid to view things from odd angles. The scene where a beating is viewed from the victim's perspective is particularly well shot.

This is the most important lesson that Matthew Vaughn has learned from Guy Ritchie. Shooting a film like it's a pop video and filling it with comedy stereotypes only works once. Vaughn deserves credit for taking a stale Brit-flick genre and giving it a much-needed injection of style, instead of trying to copy "Lock Stock" like so many before him (including Guy Ritchie's "Lock Stock" re-tread, "Snatch"). "Layer Cake" is up there with "Get Carter" and "The Long Good Friday". It doesn't get much better than that, son.

Warlock (1989)

Barking Horror Popcorn Movie

[6/10 · 19 March 2007]

"Warlock" manages to take a number of pretty stale ideas and turn them into something really rather good. Nuff Respect to director Steve Miner and writer David Twohy for creating this time-travelling good-against-evil odd-couple romp.

Nuff respect also for casting UK actors Julian Sands and Richard E Grant in an American movie. Apparently the part of Giles Redferne was originally offered to Sean Connery, who looks and sounds nothing at all like Richard E Grant. Skinny Grant has to fill some big boots as the warlock hunter and he does very well. Julian Sands is perfectly oily as the son of Satan and clearly understands how much ham makes a tasty sandwich.

Lori Singer is charming in her kooky sidekick role, although she does appear to take it all a bit too seriously at times.

"Warlock" is a perfect example of thrill-ride horror popcorn fun, much like Steve Miner's earlier hit, "House". Recommended.

Birthday Girl (2001)

Watchable, but...

[5/10 · 19 March 2007]

The main problem with "Birthday Girl" is that it can't decide whether it's a black comedy or a drama. If I'd been editing it, I'd have lost all the "comedy" performances from the likes of Stephen Mangan, Sally Phillips and Alexander Armstrong. The incidental elements of comedy in "Birthday Girl" are well done but the bank scenes are patently false and appear to have been pasted in from another movie.

Another problem is La Kidman. You can see the Acting Gears churning in every scene she appears in, until it's revealed that she's not really a mail-order Russian bride. Well, I'd sort of guessed that as soon as she turned up at the airport. La Kidman has now reached a stage in her career where she takes her craft very seriously and the result in "Birthday Girl" is that her character is transparent. Kidman acts like a Russian woman who is pretending to be a mail-order bride and you can see her doing it.

Fortunately La Kidman's uber-Streep performance is counterbalanced by Ben Chaplin, who plays repressed bank clerk John very sympathetically. Vincent Cassel and Mathieu Kassovitz also turn in good performances as Russian con artists and there are a few UK comedy actors who acquit themselves well in minor roles elsewhere in the film.

Ignore the forced attempts at comedy and you'll enjoy "Birthday Girl".