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.

Jumanji: The Next Level

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

Director: Jake Kasdan

Actors: Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart

Genre: Action / Comedy

Rating: PG

  

‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ is technically the fourth ‘Jumanji’ film, but the second of the new sequels, with all the main four back – Martha/Ruby (Gillan), Bethany/Sheldon (Black), Spencer/Bravestone (Johnson) and Fridge/Franklin (Hart). They obviously get sucked into the game again, but for a stupid reason – and this time, Eddie (DeVito), Milo (Glover) and Ming (Awkwafina) are along for the ride too.

The concept is pretty much the same, with most of the comedy coming from the actors playing the “real life” versions of themselves, which is funny when it’s The Rock acting like Dany DeVito. Kevin Hart talking really slow like Danny Glover is great to watch. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, as Eddie & Milo come to terms with the video game they’re in. It’s also good to have Nigel (Darby) and Alex (Hanks) back and Awkwafina is funny as usual, but doesn’t get too much screen time.

Some new settings, with the desert when they first enter the game and snowy mountains for the final act. It’s obviously left open for another film, but it does fly by and seems like less than 2 hours. It’s fun and easy to like, with not that many flaws, once you suspend believability. I think focusing on Martha & Spencer is OK and the story of Milo & Eddie is very nice. The Rock has less to do and the first half is mostly carried by Black and Gillan, which works for the film.

Overall: Good, fast-paced family comedy.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Ip Man 4: The Finale

Official Australian release date: 20/12/19. Viewed: 23/12/19.

Director: Wilson Yip

Actors: Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Van Ness, Yue Wu

Genre: Action / Drama

Rating: M

  

‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’ is the final film in Yip’s saga of kung fu Master Ip (Yen)’s journey of taking his Wing Chun teachings across China, and this time to America. Not sure there needed to be a fourth film, but they wanted to shoehorn some of Bruce Lee (Chan) into it, as he was Ip Man’s most famous student. Ip Man travels to San Francisco to find a boarding school for his son, so he can learn independence.

Once in America, Ip Man is confronted with adversity from other kung fu masters, led by Wan Zong Hua (Wu), the tai chi master – they don’t like Bruce Lee trying to teach non-Chinese people kung fu. Ip Man must prove himself is an impressive battle with Hua, as Bruce Lee has to do in an alleyway fight scene.

The political commentary comes from a young marine, Hartman (Ness), who wants to incorporate Wing Chun into the US Marines’ hand-to-hand combat training. This is not appreciated by Geddes (Adkins), the racist Sargent who then becomes the main villain and beats Hua and then has the final fight with Ip Man. It’s a bit predictable by the final act, but it’s very impressive to see Yen’s skills and see what he can still do as a 56 year old.

Overall: Solid conclusion to kung fu saga.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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

Director: J.J. Abrams

Actors: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac

Genre: Sci-Fi / Action

Rating: M

  

‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ (Episode IX) is the final piece of the trilogy of trilogies that comprise the Star Wars film phenomenon. It’s hard to sum up the film objectively, as there’s so much history, emotion and identity associated with the films – I can only imagine what it’s like for people who saw the original trilogy in cinemas. I doubt this is the last time we’ll see the opening title crawl & trumpets, but it will be the end of the Skywalker saga. It’s a massive shame Carrie Fisher didn’t film all her scenes before she passed away, but Leia still has an important role in the film   

Similar to the last two films, the plot centres on Rey (Ridley), Poe (Isaac) and Finn (Boyega) as they try to stop Kylo Ren (Driver) and the First Order. I don’t think it’s a surprise to say the Emperor (McDiarmid) is back in this film – via cloning and the Dark Side – adding to the direness of the Resistance’s situation, as they have to fight more than they bargained for. There’s plenty of cameos from old hands and new, and a small but suitable role for Luke (Hamill) one last time. The glue holding the story together is the interactions between Rey & Kylo, their ability to communicate even when not in the same place and whether Kylo will return to the light or if Rey will fall to the dark.

The overall palette is dark & foreboding, with the Unknown Regions planet the Emperor is on being the setting for the third act, with plenty of clouds, stone and lighting. But, as ever in Star Wars, hope is never lost, so long as they stick together and help one another. Plenty of nice moments throughout – I almost cried at a moment with Chewie – and the film does well to tie up 42 years of shared film history. It’s by no means the best film, but is certainly not the worst of the series. Will see how it ages as a ending over the next 30 years before comparing it to ‘Return of the Jedi’!

Overall: Fitting finale that holds true to the Star Wars ethos.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

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.