Knives Out

Official Australian release date: 28/11/19. Viewed: 24/11/19.

Director: Rian Johnson

Actors: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans

Genre: Crime / Comedy

Rating: M

  

‘Knives Out’ is a mostly-light-hearted timeless ensemble “whodunnit?” Essentially, Blanc (Craig), Elliott (Stanfield) and Wagner (Segan) are investigating the death of the patriarch of the Thrombey family, Harlan (Plummer). Thankfully, there’s plenty of flashbacks in the first hour, so Plummer does get some screen time. We then meet the extended family and start to unravel various potential motives and inconsistencies in their stories.

The cast is huge and all solid – Marta (de Armas) as Harlan’s nurse, Linda (Lee Curtis) and Walt (Shannon) as Harlan’s children; Richard (Johnson), Joni (Collette) and Donna (Lindhome) as their partners; Randsom (Evans), Meg (Langford) and Jacob (Martell) as Harlan’s grandchildren. I think that the main 12 characters – needless to say, not everyone gets enough time to shine, as the focus is on Blanc and Marta trying to piece everything together.

This is Johnson’s first film since ‘The Last Jedi’ and it’s very assured – excellent set design and cinematography, with a simple score. The hose is literally a life-size Cluedo game. The film drags a tiny bit in the second act, but comes home strong. There’s plenty of fun had by the cast and Craig clearly relishes the non-Bond role – even if his Southern accent gets annoying at times! Satisfying ending – nothing revolutionary, but enjoyable. I think we’ll be seeing more of Ana de Armas in the future.

Overall: Fun and well-executed mystery.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Ford v Ferrari

Official Australian release date: 14/11/19. Viewed: 20/11/19.

Director: James Mangold

Actors: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas

Genre: Action / Drama

Rating: M

  

‘Ford v Ferrari’ – underwhelming title, but exceptionally put-together sports biopic about the 24-hour endurance Le Mans motor race in 1966. If that puts you off, the good news is that the film’s not all about racing – probably only ~30% – with much of the focus on Shelby (Damon), Miles (Bale) and Miles’ wife, Mollie (Balfe) and son, Peter (Jupe). There’s also the tension with Ferrari, where Ford executives Iacocca (Bernthal), Beebe (Lucas) and Ford (Letts) are trying to take the racing crown from Ferrari (Girone) and Agnelli (Cirfiera)

It’s nice to hear Bale using something close to his actual accent and the rapport he has with Damon carries the film. All the actors are good, but their relationship is what has you caring about what happens, rather than just the cars. The pacing is quick and it feels faster (pardon the pun) than 2.5 hours. This would be as good as, if not better than, ‘Rush’ and ‘Senna’.

Great directing from Mangold (coming off ‘Logan’) throughout, with a nice balance of family time, racing scenes and the car politics. The fact the 24-hour race is condensed to less than 20min and feels both quick and like it’s been a marathon is a true feat. If you don’t know the story, don’t Google it and let the ending be a surprise. There’s good editing, cinematography, authentic 60s cars and soundtrack throughout.

Overall: Well-made and enjoyable racing biopic.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Terminator: Dark Fate

Official Australian release date: 31/10/19. Viewed: 2/11/19.

Director: Tim Miller

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Natalia Reyes, Mackenzie Davis

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: MA

  

‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ is the sixth film in the franchise, but effectively acts as a direct sequel to ‘Judgement Day’ and ignores everything that happened in ‘Rise of the Machines’, ‘Salvation’ and ‘Genisys’. Since it’s pretending those timelines never happened, it borrows ideas from each of them. Unfortunately, this film’s first few minutes also taint the whole point of T2.

It’s good to see Sarah Connor (Hamilton) back, and (eventually) Arnie as “Carl”. However, the main characters this time are Dani (Reyes) and Grace (Davis). Grace is an augmented human, sent back from the future to protect Dani, a Mexican factory worker. They’re hunted by a Rev-9 (Luna), a Terminator that can separate it’s nanites from its skeleton. Looks cool, but not revolutionary after ‘Genisys’. It’s essentially one big car/helicopter/plane chase.

Since this if from Miller (‘Deadpool’ director), there’s no real humour or fun, which is a shame. Plenty of explosions and good fight scenes, and both David and Reyes are solid, but Arnie has far too little screen time, the film has way too many clunky explanations for what’s happened to the future – pesky time travel! – but the biggest let down is how unoriginal most of it feels and how the Sarah/John Connor storyline that was set up in the other five films seems to be betrayed.

Overall: Good action, but not up to Terminator standards.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.