Hacksaw Ridge (November 2016)

Official Australian release date: 3/11/16. Viewed: 31/10/16.

Director: Mel Gibson

Actors: Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving

Genre: Action / War

Rating: MA

‘Hacksaw Ridge’ (sounds like a good horror movie!) is a World War II film that does an admirable job of spending almost half the film in America, before they even ship off to Japan to fight. This gives us plenty of time to meet Desmond Doss (Garfield) and his family and find out how/why he ticks. He decides he can’t sit by why others go off to defend America, but he also conscientiously objects to killing another human, so can’t use any weapons. Big moral dilemma and the film deals with it well. It also gives us time to care about some of the other characters in the unit, so we know who’s who when the fighting starts.

It’s kind of amazing Mel Gibson has only directed five films, considering two of them (Braveheart’ and ‘Apocalypto’) are classics – with this film soon to join them. He could turn into the next Eastwood… He also knows his way around a war film, having been in ‘Gallipoli’, ‘Air America’ and ‘We Were Soldiers’, so it’s no surprise ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ is handled expertly. It’s nice to see him populate the film with quality Australian actors (it was filmed in Sydney) – Weaving as Doss’ dad, Griffiths as his mum, Worthington as his Captain, Palmer as his girlfriend, Nable as a Lieutenant, Bracey as his nemesis and Roxburgh as the Colonel.

When they do arrive at Okinawa, Japan, obviously all hells breaks loose, with some great shots of the artillery explosions, then the chaos of bullets, grenades and blood – certainly no punches pulled when it comes to the body count or the gore shown. The scenes with Doss rescuing dozens of his injured comrades from the battlefield are astounding. Garfield really shines as Doss and it hits home how much of a hero he was – highlighting that there’s always room for some good in the harsh world.

Overall: Excellent and unique the war film.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Doctor Strange (October 2016)

Official Australian release date: 27/10/16. Viewed: 29/10/16.

Director: Scott Derrickson

Actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen

Genre: Action / Fantasy

Rating: M

‘Doctor Strange’ is the 13^th (14^th? 15^th? Even I’m losing count!) Marvel film, and continues the trend of 'Guardians of the Galaxy', ‘Ant-Man’ and ‘Deadpool’ – not the most well-known comic book characters, but they’ve given chance to breathe and create their own energy separate to the Avengers, and are more fun because of it. Simple premise here – Dr Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) is a famous, conceited, surgeon who has a car accident and can no longer fully use his hands. In search of radical treatments, he visits Nepal and encounters Mordo (Ejiofor) and The Ancient One (Swinton).

He – like us – has to surrender everything he thinks he knows and enter the world of mysticism, spells and magic. There’s some funny scenes and remarks as he comes to grips with these new possibilities in the world. The film is actually funnier than I thought it was going to be, since Dr Strange is no Spider-Man or Deadpool in terms of quips, but it’s handled well. The director, Derrickson, is coming off a patchy output at best – ‘Deliver Us From Evil’, ‘Sinister’, ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ – but does a decent job of keeping the pace up and not having too long between scenes with action. Some of the “city/room-bending” scenes are great to watch.

While the tone is sometimes dark and “we’re all just a speck in this world, which is only part of one universe, let alone the multiverse”, it’s generally upbeat and handled more with awe and fun than seriousness and fanaticism. Christine (McAdams) serves as the real-world foil and Kaecilius (Mikkelsen) is an adequate bad-guy. Cumberbatch carries the film and is a douche when needed, and a strong presence at other times. The end-credits scene has a nice quick Thor appearance. I look forward to seeing more of Dr Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Overall: Good entry into unknown territory for Marvel.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (October 2016)

Official Australian release date: 20/10/16. Viewed: 22/10/16.

Director: Edward Zwick

Actors: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger

Genre: Action

Rating: M

The second Jack Reacher film (based on Lee Child’s 18^th book, ‘Never Go Back’) is much the same as the first film – still not as good as the novel, but a serviceable action film nonetheless. I’m not sure why, if they’re going to franchise the series, they don’t go in chronological order? It takes most of the plot from the book: a Military Police Major, Turner (Smulders) is framed for espionage, so Reacher (Cruise) decides to exonerate her by finding/killing who has set her up.

It’s amazing Cruise doesn’t appear to have aged at all in 4 years! People still hate that he’s not the 6 foot-plus hulk from the books, but Cruise brings an intensity to the role, while not always being stony. The difference is that instead of being a loner, he’s paired up with Turner and Samantha (Yarosh), so there’s three of them on the run, making for a different dynamic that doesn’t always work, especially since he’s not the most paternal. Since it’s a cruise film, there’s plenty of running – see above – which even Smulders gets in on!

It’s certainly not bad – enough hand-to-hand fights and shoot-outs to tick the ‘action’ box, as well as a bit of a murder-mystery to be solved. The main issue is it’s a little long and there’s nothing unique in it – it’s all pretty standard and unforgettable.

Overall: Adequate action flick.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

Sully (October 2016)

Official Australian release date: 8/9/16. Viewed: 15/10/16.

Director: Clint Eastwood

Actors: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Mike O’Malley, Laura Linney

Genre: Drama

Rating: M

‘Sully’ is the biopic of Captain Chesley Sullenberger (Hanks) and his First Officer, Jeff Skiles (Eckhart) who had to land their plane in New York’s Hudson River in 2009, after both engines failed directly after take-off. Even though it was all over within five minutes, the film does a great job of exploring a bit of what happened before, a lot of what happened directly after and plenty of the investigation. It’s edited well, so it’s not all chronological.

Surprisingly, this is Eastwood & Hanks’ first collaboration, and they’re both in good touch here – Hanks is the no-nonsense, but relatable soon-to-be-retired pilot, Eckhart is the slightly-younger and more enthusiastic co-pilot and Eastwood keeps the narrative flowing and never allows it to get too boring, technical or bogged down in the passenger’s experiences. Linney is sparingly used as Sully’s wife Lorraine, and Porter (O’Malley) is head of the NTSB investigation – essentially the ‘bad guy’.

The film works as an investigation/mystery, casting some doubt, but also has plenty of tension and action showing the actual crash and aftermath. While it’s not sad per se, it did almost bring a tear to my eye in some parts, as it is a feel-good film at its heart, with “this is some good news that New York really needed – especially when involving a plane” really hitting home.

Overall: Well-made, well-acted true story.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Deepwater Horizon (October 2016)

Official Australian release date: 6/10/16. Viewed: 3/10/16.

Director: Peter Berg

Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez

Genre: Action / Drama

Rating: M

‘Deepwater Horizon’ (already sounds like an ominous novel!) is a disaster film about the BP oil rig off Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico, that blew up in 2010 and caused the largest oil spill in US history (800 million litres). Mike (Wahlberg) is the Chief Electronics Technician on the floating rig and they set-up his home life (Hudson is his wife and gets a few token scenes), as well as Andrea (Rodriguez), the helmsman. When they get to the rig, the Transocean rig workers – Jimmy (Russell) is the boss – are clearly distinguished from the BP visitors/owners, including Vidrine (Malkovich).

The film is intentionally overt in painting BP as careless, profiteering “sons of bitches” and almost the sole cause of the disaster, which is probably not 100% accurate, but can’t be too far off. Great line from Mike: “Hope is not a strategy”. After 40min of setting the scene – with the set apparently one of the biggest ever built –  the action begins and the pace doesn’t slow at all after. There’s some great underwater shots and the issues with pressure are explained well enough. The last hour is a hectic and tense amalgamation of explosions, gushing oil, people getting thrown around by explosions and Mike and Jimmy trying to evacuate everyone off the rig.

This is Berg and Wahlberg’s second film – after the great ‘Lone Survivor’ – and it’s a well-made disaster film, with no dead air, not too much posturing, a likeable lead in Wahlberg, builds tension well and then has some awesome shots of the rig burning and exploding. Nice memorial at the end.

Overall: Very solid action/disaster flick.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Kubo and the Two Strings (October 2016)

Official Australian release date: 18/8/16. Viewed: 2/10/16.

Director: Travis Knight

Actors: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara

Genre: Adventure

Rating: PG

‘Kubo & The Two Strings’ is a stop-motion animation film set in ancient Japan – and it’s superb. Kubo (Parkinson) is a young, one-eyed boy who lives outside a small town and tells stories with origami characters that come to ‘life’ when he plays his guitar – this is amazing to watch and expertly done. When he finds out his Grandfather is the Moon King (Finnes) who wants to steal his remaining eye, he sets out on a quest to find the mystic armour.

He’s helped by Monkey (Theron), his guardian, & Beetle (McConaughey) a samurai man-sized rhinoceros-beetle – Beetle has the best lines and quips in the film and really adds to the adventure. PG is right – I’m not sure I’d let a child under 8 see this, due to some of the darker scenes and it does deal a fair bit with death and spirits (the ‘sisters’ [Mara] are particularly scary!). This studio, Laika, is on a roll (‘Coraline’, ‘ParaNorman’ and ‘The Boxtrolls’ – all good), and with ‘Kubo’, they’re starting to give Pixar a run for their money!

The plot is essentially predictable, but it’s the heart the actors and animators infuse the characters with that makes this film stand out. It looks stunning and there’s plenty of imaginative and original things that pop-up throughout. Highly recommended.

Overall: A fun and unique adventure.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

The Magnificent Seven (October 2016)

Official Australian release date: 29/9/16. Viewed: 1/10/16.

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Actors: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Peter Sarsgaard

Genre: Action / Western

Rating: M

‘The Magnificent Seven’ is perhaps an unnecessary remake – almost 56 years, to the day – but it’s just as good as the original. Still the same simple premise – a Western, where a small town is being overthrown by a villain, so they hire a bunch (well, seven, to be precise!) of drifters to help them fight to save the town. It’s still set in the 19^th century, but the main differences are that the town’s not in Mexico this time, and there’s much more focus on the church (not necessarily religion).

The leader this time is Chisolm (Washington), a bounty hunter (Yul Brenner’s character), with Faraday (Pratt) a wise-cracking gunslinger (Steve McQueen’s character), Goodnight (Hawke) a former sharpshooter, Billy (Lee) a knife-master, Vasquez (Garcia-Rulfo) the Mexican, Red Harvest (Sensmeier) the Comanche and Horne (D’Onofrio) – the best character – as the mountain man. Still no real motivation for them to help the town is given, but let’s go with it anyway. Sarsgaard is good as Bogue, infusing him with plenty of contempt and no empathy. Bennett is OK, but mostly a token female character.

Does what a good Western should – plenty of shoot-outs, sweeping vistas, explosions, horses riding and jumping, staring from under hat brims, and a healthy death toll! Has a few slow points in the first half, but the battle for the final 30min or so is done very well. Doesn’t necessarily add to the original, but nor does it do it a disservice. A straight-down-the-line 3.5.

Overall: Good cast deliver a solid Western.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.