Parasite

Official Australian release date: 27/6/19. Viewed: 1/2/20.

Director: Bong Joon Ho

Actors: Song Kang Ho, Cho Yeo Jeong, Lee Sun Kyun, Choi Woo Shik

Genre: Drama  

Rating: MA

  

  

‘Parasite’ is a South Korean family drama/black comedy, with some great acting and a unique premise. It doesn’t take long to establish the characters, but does well to give us time to get to know them. It’s essentially the tale of two families: the Kim’s – Dad Ki-taek (Kang Ho), Mum Chung-sook (Hyae Jin), Son Ki-woo (Woo Shik) & Daughter Ki-jung (So Dam), and the Park’s – Dad Dong-ik (Sun Kyun), Mum Yeon-kyo (Yeo Jeong), Son Da-song (Jung) & Daughter Da-hye (Ziso).

The Kim’s are poor, living in the ‘slums’, when Ki-woo gets a job tutoring Da-hye at the Park’s nice house on the other side of Seoul. Even though there’s symmetry in the parents/son/daughter, this isn’t an ‘Us’ scenario, but rather an exploration of class, social status and unconscious biases. There’s no “good guys” or “bad guys” – just a semi-realistic depiction of one family seeing the greener grass on the other side and taking an unconventional approach to get there.

All of the actors are great, with a nice mix of fun and humour, with seriousness and desperation. The twist at the end of the second act is both unexpected and still poses a lot of questions – there’s a few different ways it could’ve played out. Not quite a one-location film, but the house does serve as an extra character. Good score and cinematography. The ending is a fitting mix of bittersweet, devastating and hopeful.

Overall: See the potential Oscar-winner before it’s spoiled for you!

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Bad Boys For Life

Official Australian release date: 16/1/20. Viewed: 16/1/20.

Directors: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah

Actors: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Paola Nunez, Jacob Scipio

Genre: Action

Rating: MA

  

  

‘Bad Boys For Life’ is the third film in the franchise – and while perhaps unnecessary, three films in 25 years is not really saturation, so it can get away with it. It’s set up as a finale, but isn’t really – Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) are back as the smart-ass Miami detectives who drive around dangerously in their Porsche – or minivan. Some things have changed since the first two films, but not much – Howard (Pantoliano) is still the Captain, they still don’t play by the rules, and they still call themselves “bad boys” often. This time, a Mexican gangster’s wife, Isabel (del Castillo) and her son Armando (Scipio) are after revenge on Mike for killing Isabel’s husband.

There’s a couple of ‘twists’ – none of which are as big or impactful as they’re supposed to be. Smith and Lawrence are still good together, always wisecracking and joking with each other, but there’s not really many overtly funny moments or laughs. They team up with the AMMO team, a new police squad led by Lieutenant Rita (Nunez) and her three Millennials (Hudgens, Ludwig and Melton), who are presumably there for the sequel(s), if/when Mike & Marcus retire. AMMO are OK, but don’t provide too much.

There’s still a few car chases, lots of explosions and unlikely stunts, and plenty of gun battles. If you’ve seen the first two, you know what to expect. It’s not a bad action/buddy-cop film, but – can’t believe I’m saying this – it might actually miss Michael Bay directing. At times, it takes itself far too seriously and is more earnest than it probably should be. Could’ve done with a bit more humour and fun.

Overall: Decent enough cop-action film with Smith almost returning to form.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

1917

Official Australian release date: 9/1/20. Viewed: 11/1/20.

Director: Sam Mendes

Actors: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Claire Duburcq

Genre: War / Drama

Rating: MA

  

  

‘1917’ is both a WWI film and a masterclass in cinematography. It’s not based on one specific true story or battle, but rather the plot is inspired by stories the director’s (Mendes) grandfather told him. From the opening scene, it’s clear the “real-time” no-cuts concept is going to make the film different, as we meet Corporal Blake (Chapman) and Corporal Schofield (MacKay) and then the camera doesn’t leave them for the next 2 hours. They’re assigned an urgent mission by a General (Firth), to alert another battalion not to enter what is a German ambush.

While set in France, it’s filmed in England. The number of extras used is astounding, as is the accuracy of the trenches, barbed wire, ruins and uniforms. The trenches in particular are impressive to see as they walk through them, as they’re not just CGI from a distance. From the moment Blake & Schofield step out into no-man’s-land, the tension (and score) are ratcheted right up and there’s only a few moments of respite.

They meet a few helpful soldiers and some Germans on their journey – Captain Smith (Strong) and his troop, Colonel Mackenzie (Cumberbatch) and Blake’s brother (Madden). Other than that, only Lauri (Duburcq), a frightened French lady, have any screen time. Thankfully, both the leads are great and easy to cheer for. It’s an enthralling ride, with lots of subtle – and not-so-subtle – reminders of the horrors of war. It almost leaves you exhausted, as you feel like you’ve been on the mission with them.

Overall: Excellently executed war journey.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Spies In Disguise

Official Australian release date: 1/1/20. Viewed: 4/1/20.

Directors: Nick Bruno & Troy Quane

Actors: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Ben Mendelsohn, Rashida Jones

Genre: Action / Comedy

Rating: PG

  

‘Spies in Disguise’ is essentially a family-friendly James Bond, with the minor twist that the spy gets turned into a pigeon! It’s got plenty of action and adventure for an animated film, with Lance (Smith) the super-spy fighting the Yakuza in one of the opening scenes. He’s assisted by the weird gadget guy, Walter (Holland) as they’re framed by the villain, Killian (Mendelsohn – great to hear his Aussie accent), who has a robotic hand, and are chased down by Marcy (Jones) from a FBI-like agency.

It’s a bit like ‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs’, in that Walter is an awkward inventor of weird and wonderful gadgets, but wants to make the world a better place and make them non-lethal, rather than just guns and bombs. This obviously clashes with Lance’s views, especially when he’s transformed into a pigeon via gene-editing (100% impossible). Hence, Will Smith spends most of the film voicing a pigeon, which is also where much of the humour comes from.

There are quite a few funny moments, especially as pigeon-Lance inadvertently befriends other pigeons. It’s mostly fun and fast-paced. The main thing I didn’t like is that Spider-Man spent most of ‘Far From Home’ fighting drones in Venice, which is essentially what Tom Holland ends up doing here. I guess they’re easy to have as disposable bad guys. Cool to hear some of the voices, but the film’s heart comes from the friendship and teamwork formed by Lance and Walter, as well as the positive message that we’re all weird in our own way – and that’s a good thing.

Overall: Fun family pleaser.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

The Gentlemen

Official Australian release date: 1/1/20. Viewed: 3/1/20.

Director: Guy Ritchie

Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, Jeremy Strong

Genre: Crime / Action

Rating: MA

  

‘The Gentlemen’ is Guy Ritchie’s return to form. While no ‘Snatch’ or ‘Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels’, it’s a mostly fun British gangster romp, with a token American, this time Mickey (McConaughey) as the pot-dealing kingpin. It’s ironic in that they are mostly gentlemen in how they dress and how they speak, except or the number of c-bombs dropped! Great cast, but lots of players, so no one gets much of a chance to shine.

Mickey’s tale of selling his drug empire to Mathew (Strong) is told via a long discussion between Fletcher (Grant), a journalist, and Raymond (Hunnam), Mickey’s right-hand-man. Grant is pretty funny trying to do a possibly Welsh accent. The device of using the discussion to show the narrative, means the film can go back and correct the story when it needs to. There’s a few twists and turns and while it’s fun watching Grant and Hunnam, the film really picks up in the final act when we’re in “real time”. Good to see Farrell have fun, as well as Golding and Dockery.

The main problem with the narrative device is that Mickey doesn’t seem real and McConaughey’s character isn’t really fleshed out. Solid ending, but not really enough action or drama to engage throughout. Some funny moments, but not really laugh-out-loud for the most part.

Overall: Good British gangster story.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

Jojo Rabbit

Official Australian release date: 26/12/19. Viewed: 30/12/19.

Director: Taika Waititi

Actors: Roman Griffith Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell

Genre: War / Comedy

Rating: M

  

‘Jojo Rabbit’ is the first film Taika Waititi has directed since ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and is a much more focused film of a boy dealing with love and loss. It’s much closer in tone to the superb ‘Hunt For The Wilderpeople’. The boy this time is Johannes/“Jojo” (Griffith Davis), who is 10 in WWII Berlin and loves all things Nazi. This includes having Hitler (Waititi) as an imaginary friend. His mother, Rosie (Johansson), tolerates Jojo’s views with good humour, as she has an absent husband and a daughter that has already died.

Jojo’s world is turned upside down when he discovers his mum is hiding a 17-year-old Jewish girl in the attic. He can’t turn her in, as Jojo & Rosie would be executed too. Elsa (McKenzie) turns out to be smarter and more complicated than Jojo’s Nazi prejudices had led him to believe – some of the stories about Jews that Elsa spins are quite funny. Both the young actors are great and give the film heart.

The comedy comes mostly from Captain K (Rockwell), who has a nice arc, as well as all the funny-in-hindsight things that imaginary Hitler says. There’s some good cameos from Rebel Wilson, Alfie Allen, Stephen Merchant and Jojo’s friend Yorki (Yates). But most of this is overshadowed by the loss and devastation of WWII and the unnecessary-ness of it all. Great to hear the German versions of Beatles & Bowie.

Overall: Sometimes funny war dramedy.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.