The Meg

Official Australian release date: 16/8/18. Viewed: 11/8/18.

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Actors: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Cliff Curtis, Rainn Wilson

Genre: Action

Rating: M

   

From the director of ‘Cool Runnings’, ‘Phenomenon’ and ‘Last Vegas’ (diverse filmography, Turteltaub!) comes ‘The Meg’, a film about a really big shark. So big (25m!), in fact, that it’s a prehistoric Megalodon. It’s pretty much the same premise as ‘Piranha’ – which begs the question – why did this film require three writers?!? Needless to say, there’s not much plot, other than Jonas (Statham) trying to save people from sunken submersibles, that keep getting attacked by the “Meg”.

Now, for such a ridiculous idea, it’s played quite earnestly throughout, especially with romantic interest Suyin (Li), her Dad (Chao), Jonas’ friend Mac (Curtis), and to a lesser degree, Morris (Wilson), the billionaire who’s bankrolling the oilrig-turned-marine-science-lab. Definitely could’ve done with more tongue-in-cheek-ness – although Suyin’s daughter Meiying (Cai) steals all her scenes. Ruby Rose, Jessica McNamee and Page Kennedy are mostly wasted.

Main gripe – needed more deaths! If you’re watching a film about a giant shark (which doesn’t appear for first 30min), you want to see 20+ people getting eaten. Not sure it even cracks 10… All that being said, there’s a few jumps, some laughs and it definitely doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. Not as kitchy as it could’ve been, but certainly no ‘Jaws’ or ‘Deep Blue Sea’.

Overall: Average Statham-saves-the-day film, with shark.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars.

Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings

Official Australian release date: 26/7/18. Viewed: 28/7/18.

Director: Hark Tsui

Actors: Mark Chao, Shaofeng Feng, Kenny Lin, Sichun Ma

Genre: Action

Rating: MA

   

‘Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings’ is the third in this series of Chinese kung fu films, after the original ‘Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame’ back in 2010 and ‘Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon’ (2013). The plot follows Dee (Chao) as he leads an ancient FBI and his friendship/rivalry with Yuchi (Feng) and mentorship of Shatuo (Lin), as they try to protect/hide the Dragon Taming Mace, which has powers (like Excalibur).

Despite the four ‘heavenly kings’ of the title, they barely make an appearance or have an impact on the story. Rather, it’s all about sorcery and a clan (the “Wind Warriors”) who want to topple the dynasty. The sorcery aspect means there’s plenty of special effects, most of it really well done. The dragon and the battle at the end are exceptional. Even the “illusionists”, including Water Moon (Ma), are pretty cool.

There’s still some mystery and police work for Dee to solve, but it’s also merged well with the sorcery and political intrigue with the Empress and Emperor. It’s well paced, not too long, with some funny moments and, obviously has excellent stunts and fight-scene choreography that’s more than worth the price of admission. It all adds up to a fun ride!

Overall: Another enjoyable piece of foreign cinema.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Official Australian release date: 2/8/18. Viewed: 27/7/18.

Director: Chris McQuarrie

Actors: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg

Genre: Action

Rating: M

   

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (MI6) follows on closely from ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, with the IMF trying to round up the Syndicate/Apostles. This leads them to chasing some stolen nuclear bombs – always good when the stakes are high! Most of the gang are back – Ethan (Cruise), Benji (Pegg), Luther (Rhames), Ilsa (Ferguson), Julia (Monaghan) & Hunley (Baldwin) – but no Renner, with Lane (Harris) still the main bad guy controlling the bad guys. Walker (Cavill) is the new guy – a CIA agent sent to watch over the team after they initially lose the plutonium.

As always, the highlight is the action – there’s some exceptional fight scenes here (especially the best bathroom fight since ‘True Lies’) and some excellent car/motorbike chases. There’s also the classic M:I masks and possibly a quadruple-cross? I lost count, but it certainly makes things intriguing.

The stunts are stunning – and very impressive, given Cruise is now 56 – and kudos to the director for leaving in the building-jump where Cruise breaks his ankle: it looks great & is so realistic! The helicopter scenes are exceptional and, as always, there’s plenty of Cruise running. The scenery – Norway & New Zealand filling in for Kashmir, plus Paris and London – adds another layer to the action. Six films in 23 years seems right – not overload, but enough to keep you interested (there’s been eight Bond films, by comparison). Very enjoyable spy thriller.

Overall: Best one yet?

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

Occupation

Official Australian release date: 12/7/18. Viewed: 13/7/18.

Director: Luke Sparke

Actors: Dan Ewing, Temuera Morrison, Stephany Jacobsen, Charles Terrier

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

   

‘Occupation’ is an Australian indie film, which happens to be a sci-fi invasion film with lots of special effects. It’s essentially a cross between ‘Tomorrow, When The War Began’/‘Red Dawn’ and ‘Monsters’ – and unfortunately isn’t as good as any of them. Its not all bad, but you can tell it’s a low budget film with not the best actors.

Part of the problem is too many characters – 10 main ones. Why not just focus on four or five? The main stars are Matt (Ewing), Peter (Morrison), Amelia (Jacobsen) and Jackson (Terrier). Other major gripes: why would aliens invade Murwillumbah, population 10,000? Why would they be playing Australian Rules and not Rugby League? Why do aliens always have to be humanoid & approximately human-sized? Why do they need to have such large eyes? That being said, it’s nice to see Aussie scenery & hear our accent for a change and the filmmakers certainly tried.

There’s probably a bit too much shaky-cam and gun battles, but the main concern is that a lot of it comes across as too corny and/or earnest. Could’ve done with a bit more humour/tongue-in-cheekness. Some good explosions and fight scenes, and doesn’t take too long to get going.

Overall: Unpolished, but valiant alien flick.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars.

Ant-Man & The Wasp

Official Australian release date: 5/7/18. Viewed: 4/7/18.

Director: Peyton Reed

Actors: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Hannah John-Kamen

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: PG

   

‘Ant-Man & The Wasp’ is the third Marvel film in the last five months – but importantly, it’s the first since ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and the last for eight months. Definitely recommend seeing Infinity War before this. This sequel sticks to the winning formula of the first – Scott/Ant-Man (Rudd)’s charm/humour, Hope/Wasp (Lilly)’s resolve/smarts and Hank (Douglas)’s mentorship/atonement. Less of a heist focus this time, though – more of a rescue mission.

Excellent support cast again, most notably Luis (Pena), who has plenty of great lines and laughs. His two offsiders, Dave (TI) and Kurt (Dastmalchian) also get some screen time, as does Cassie (Forston) – Scott’s daughter. There’s also FBI agent Jimmy (Park), Bill (Fishburne), Janet (Pfeiffer) and Burch (Goggins), all having something to add. The film starts a little slow, trying to establish where we are (after ‘Captain America: Civil War’, just before ‘Avengers: Infinity War’).

The film picks up with the introduction of Ghost (John-Kamen), who’s an interesting antagonist, with her phasing powers. Plenty of good action scenes, balanced (mostly) with humour. Once again, the most stunning scenes are the sub-atomic/quantum realm shrinkages, with exceptional and trippy visuals. As always, stay for the end credits. Not better than the first film, but no worse either.

Overall: Another fun & slightly off-kilter ‘superhero’ film.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Official Australian release date: 21/6/18. Viewed: 20/6/18.

Director: Juan Bayona

Actors: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Rafe Spall, Isabella Sermon

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

   

‘Jurassic Park 5’ starts pretty well, with the giant crocodile thing & sense of foreboding doom, as we’re reintroduced to Isla Nublar and what’s happened to the abandoned park in the last three years. Both Claire (Dallas Howard) & Owen (Pratt) are brought back in to help rescue the dinosaurs – basically it’s a mash up of the plots of JP2 & JP3. My only wish for the film – we see dinosaurs kill over five humans…

They try to bring back Ian Malcolm (Goldblum), but he’s given far too little screen time, as are the new sidekicks – Franklin (Smith), Zia (Pineda) & Maisie (Sermon). You sort of get to know them, and then they’re hardly used. The same could almost be said of Pratt, who almost seems a passenger in the film, basically phoning it in. Cromwell and Jones are likewise great actors underutilised. The only one who plays his part with relish is Eli (Spall), the profiteer.

There’s some good scenes – and a few frights done well where I had to clap – but overall, I’m left feeling that the film didn’t really add anything to the franchise or story. Sure, we get to see plenty of dinosaurs (including a stegosaurus, yay!) for a few minutes, but mostly its’s spent in a weird CGI-castle. The “bad guy” is another genetically-improved raptor (didn’t that happen last film?) and there’s plenty of what I’m sure the director hopes are call-backs, but just seem lazy. I don’t like how they only pull out the T. Rex when convenient. Still, there was at least 10 people eaten by dinosaurs, so it’s not all bad…

Overall: Starting to overstay it’s welcome, but still – dinosaurs!

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.

Incredibles 2

Official Australian release date: 14/6/18. Viewed: 14/6/18.

Director: Brad Bird

Actors: Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Vowell, Bob Odenkirk

Genre: Action / Adventure

Rating: PG

   

‘Incredibles 2’ is the long-awaited (14 years!) sequel to one of Disney-Pixar’s best films. Bucking the norm, this film is actually better than the original – it’s more assured, the CGI is fantastic, the action scenes almost flawless and there’s plenty of humour and life-like family interaction. That being said – it’s almost worth the entry fee to see the short film at the start, ‘Bao’ – it’s also hilarious, and poignant.

It’s like putting on an old shirt – it’s familiar, but comforting and not tired. Mr Incredible/Bob (Nelson), Elastigirl/Helen (Hunter), their kids – Violet (Vowell), Dash (Milner) & Jack-Jack (Fucile) – are back as the super-powered family, along with Frozone/Lucius (Jackson). This time, after a ‘Civil War’-like ban on superheroes is implemented, philanthropists/siblings Winston (Odenkirk) & Evelyn (Keener) campaign to have superheroes made legal again by putting them – well, Elastigirl – back in the spotlight. Odenkirk’s voice is so recognisable and his character even looks like a young Saul Goodman!

As well as being a bit of a pastiche of comic book films – you basically have Superman, Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Flash and Iceman – ‘Incredibles 2’ transcends the parody, and plays as an exceptional superhero film in it’s own right, with the set-up, early victory, apparent loss and inevitable triumph due to teamwork. What makes it all work is how they interact and make it feel like a real family. Jack-Jack being cute and having hilarious giggles also helps! Great for all ages.

Overall: Another excellent, fun animated superhero outing.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.