The Wandering Earth II

Official Australian release date: 22/1/23. Viewed: 28/1/23.
Director: Frant Gwo
Actors: Jing Wu, Zhi Wang, Andy Lau, Yanmanzi Zhu
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M

 

 

‘The Wandering Earth II’ is a prequel to the Chinese sci-fi film, that comes almost 4 years to the day after the original. I didn’t even know they were making another, so this was a nice surprise. I’ll certainly look forward to a third one! This shows the planet-wide cooperation/politics needed to deal with the impending disaster of the sun imploding and takes place over number of decades from the 2030s-2070s. The plot remains similar to the first, showing the engineering problems humanity is trying to overcome to literally move the Earth and the moon.

There’s a few key character groups and storylines we follow, with perhaps the most confusing centring on 505A/W, which is an AI reminiscent of HAL from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, but it does set the scene for sequels. The story there follows Tu Yuheng (Lau), his daughter and Ma Zhao (Ning). The other plot follows Hao Xiaoxi (Zhu) and the politics between the countries. Then there’s Liu Peiqiang (Wu) and Han Duoduo (Wang) and their astronaut journey/love story.

While some of it is very fast-paced and jumps a bit all-over-the-shop, in general, the scale of the CGI and action are thrilling and extremely well executed. Maybe slightly too long at 2 hours 45min, but there’s not too many dull moments and each new scene poses new challenges for the humans to overcome. Satisfying ending, with some touching moments near the end.

Overall: More hope-filled grand-scale sci-fi.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

The Fabelmans

Official Australian release date: 5/1/23.
Viewed: 26/1/23.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen
Genre: Drama / Biopic
Rating: M

 

‘The Fabelmans’ is the semi-biographical film of Steven Spielberg’s formative years, from ~8–18, in 1950s & 1960s New Jersey, Arizona and California. Spielberg is “Sammy” in the film, played by Zoryan as a young boy, then by LaBelle in his teenage years. We follow him growing up with his 3 sisters and being raised by parents Burt (Dano) & Mitzi (Williams). We get plenty of insight into the family’s life and it’s good to see Burt & Mitzi as actual characters with true limitations and motivations, rather than just as cliched mum & dad.

Some good cameos from Uncle Boris (Hirsch), Uncle Bennie (Rogen) and the famous director at the end. The film has some funny moments, but is primarily a family drama, following the ups and downs of a regular family, caught up in the start of the computer era, with Burt & Bennie working for GE & IBM. The sisters maybe don’t get as much time, as we follow Sammy starting to make 8mm films, but they feel real enough as characters.

The move to California as a high-schooler presents new challenges for Sammy, but the ending is satisfying and doesn’t take us all the way up to ‘Jaws’, but does show how he gets on the Hollywood path. Good performances all round, nothing too exceptional and possibly slightly too long, but enjoyable.

Overall: Well-made biopic from one of the masters

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

 

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

Official Australian release date: 12/1/23.
Viewed: 8/1/23.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Actors: Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant, Josh Hartnett
Genre: Action / Comedy
Rating: M

‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre’ is the 5th time director Guy Ritchie has used Jason Statham in one of his films – and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! This is a pretty straight-forward spy-action-adventure, with a fair bit of comedy thrown in – closer to ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ than ‘Wrath of Man’. I’d say I liked it better than ‘The Gentlemen’, but not as much as ‘Snatch’. There is only minor introductions for Orson Fortune (Statham), Sarah (Plaza) and JJ (Malone) as the spy team working for Nathan (Elwes), before we’re off and running.

Not sure why the “Ruse de Guerre” suffix was needed, but it translates as a cunning war trick. I assume it also helps if there are to be sequels. The trick is that the team use actor Danny Francesco (Hartnett) as bait for billionaire arms-dealer Greg Simmonds (Grant), to track a stolen weapon. Most of the plot is quite formulaic, but Statham & Ritchie know how to stage action scenes and there’s plenty of exciting moments.

Hartnett plays spoiled actor well; Plaza has plenty of fun; Malone, Elwes and Statham are all solid; with Hugh Grant relishing the role, having even more fun than he did in ‘The Gentlemen’. Not too long, satisfying ending, noting too new, but a nice mix of comedy and action with a good cast.

Overall: Rewatchable popcorn spy fun

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars.