Top 10 Films of 2012 (Part 1)

Films of 2012

2012 has been a vintage year for film, for both blockbusters and indie flicks, so here are my top 10!

10. The Master

The film I was most unsure about, and, in truth, if I’d seen a couple of films (‘Argo’ and ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ I think), this probably wouldn’t feature in my top 10. However, the performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman are not to be underestimated, the pair shining as patient and the titular ‘Master’. Phoenix is a big nervous man, unsure of the world after returning home from war, not fitting in anywhere, until he meets Hoffman, a leader of a Scientology-eque (is that a word?!) cult. The story is long, drawn out and at times, boring, something director Paul Thomas Anderson needs to brush up on a bit, but the cinematography, attention to detail and score mark this up. The motorcycle scene, managing to track the main pair as they blast along a desert, is breath-taking. Not a cinematic masterpiece by any stretch, but an interesting mess? Yes, sounds about right.

9. 21 Jump Street

Whoever would’ve thought Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill would be 2012’s most hilarious double act?! Not me that’s for sure, but the two had audiences in stitches with great roles in cop-comedy ‘21 Jump Street’. It’s self-aware, sweary,but most of all, just really funny! Hill and Tatum, freshly-qualified as a couple of cops are drafted into a programme that sees them go covertly undercover in high-school, with the aim of busting a drugs ring that is killing kids. The story rarely allows it to be come dark and grim though, with one of the 4 stages of the drug known as ‘Tripping Major Ballsack’, as bigger indication as any of the type of humour. It did, unexpectedly, make my family laugh though, so the appeal is there. In any other year, ’21 Jump Street’, would be my top comedy of 2012, however this year has been a good one for the genre…

8. Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderson has always been a Marmite filmmaker for many, myself included, his works often derided for their lack of personality, emotions and general plot. Infact, I used to defend his own ‘The Life Aquatic’, until a recent watch proved it to be shallow and just plain old boring. However, the stop animation style of ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’, showed a different side to Anderson, and I loved it. So, going into ‘Moonrise Kingdom’, starring his favoured alumni, Murray, Schwartzmann, Balaban, with a few extras in the shape of Bruce Willis and Tilda Swinton, I was filled with trepidation, hoping not to be desperately disappointed. And I wasn’t.

For, ‘Moonrise Kingdom’, is a great piece of work, tackling love with its two lead young newcomers, whose characters are complicated and wise, despite their youthful appearances, whilst the glittering cast of adults are merely reduced to acting like kids. It’s a smart twist, as they instigate a search party for the pair of child runaways, but find themselves to be complicated too, Willis has an affair with the girl’s mother, Murray is an closed-off father, and Ed Norton is a fantastic scout leader, who genuinely cares for his troop, but can be reduced to tears within seconds by a superior scout leader! Everyone has issues, as is the case with many Wes Anderson films, but it all amounts to a happy, beautiful-to-look-at film, worthy of tonnes of praise. Let’s hope Anderson can continue his recent hot streak, and not get caught up in his own hype.

7. Looper

I wouldn’t have expected ‘Looper’ to have charted this high when I first saw the trailer, sure it looked good, but good at the most, I mean when has their ever been a good time-travelling film?! However, it blew me away, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, again?!, lighting up the screen with their joint-portrayal of ‘looper’ Joe. It manages to incorporate a time-travel plot line successfully, with an opening monologue explaining the concept in a couple of minutes, but the plot moves about, so you genuinely don’t know where it’s going next, a good thing in this! Supporting turns by Emily Blunt and the best child-actor I’ve ever seen in a film, add to the concoction, with a genuinely surprising ending, that is daring, something many modern-day films wouldn’t have done, and all credit must go to director Rian Johnson, a man who must be on the shortlists for many of the big studios next big pictures, as a result.

6. Prometheus

Whilst many were let down by Ridley Scott’s long-awaited, is it a prequel or a sequel, to ‘Alien’, I enjoyed it immensely! Sure it wasn’t anything like its predecessor, but I think you’d have been a bit silly to have expected a carbon copy of such an iconic film. What we got added to the mythology in spades, with a lot of mystery and action throughout, complimenting each other well. The beginning is slightly stodgy, taking a while to kick in, especially on repeat viewings, but when we get going, we definitely get going! There’s a lot I don’t want to spoil just in case, but s**t goes happen to the crew of the ‘Prometheus’ crew, as they are sabotaged from within, and from dormant beasts. A couple of scenes in particular, one involving a caesarian of an alien creature and the ever-present android, David, played by the magnificent Michael Fassbender, as he causes such events, are brilliant.

Fassbender is the best here, but is complimented by a wealth of talent, both male and female. Idris Elba, the ship’s captain, and a man given the role of leading a blockbuster all by himself in next summer’s ‘Pacific Rim’, original ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, Noomi Rapace, who aside from a dodgy English accent, does the job. Charlize Theron, the second of her big roles of the year, as an is she or isn’t she robot, along with Guy Pearce as a stationary old man, the man who sent them on their journey to the deep reaches of space. ‘Prometheus’, is almost as epic as it gets, and, again, isn’t a complete masterpiece, but I enjoyed it very much!

Part 2 of 2012 is coming soon!

Film Review: Prometheus (2012)

“Prometheus” is incredible. It’s a grand, epic thrill ride from start to finish that rarely lets up in terms of shock and mystery, whist still managing to tend to the storyline in such a great way. For those wanting answers from the “Alien” franchise here in “Prometheus”, you’re going to be disappointed, for the film creates (and answers) more of its own, as director Ridley Scott aims to create a new, modern-day franchise to scare a whole new generation. For me, someone who has only seen the original “Alien” film once, and only recently, I really enjoyed “Prometheus”. It felt fresh and exciting, almost a reboot of the classics, as there were obvious links to each other, but rather than the two sets of films being brothers or sisters, they were more distant relatives, sharing the same strands of DNA (you’ll get it if you’ve seen it!). The film’s open ending too, gives hope for sequel to finish off theories and unanswered questions that currently plague the Internet.

The set up is this, then: Dr’s Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) have made several discoveries on Earth, linking several ancient civilisations to a set of star constellations. They see it as an ‘invitation’ to find out who our creators were. Thus, a band of hardy wealthy-hungry mercenaries are recruited and shipped off to the distant stars, to answer the ultimate question: who created humans?

Obviously, you have to go with the film to be able to properly enjoy it, whatever you are religiously, forget it! In fact, several of the film’s characters have mini-discussions about how discoveries effect their various beliefs, which is interesting for the reasons that it is human nature, and something real people would do. The characters were diverse in range, with the aforementioned scientist couple, played excellently by Swedish “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Rapace, and relative newcomer Marshall-Green, really excited about the possibilities, the pilot of the craft, Idris Elba, seemingly non too plussed about the whole journey, despite the fact it’s cost him 2 years of his lifetime through sleeping to get there! We have the ice-cold Charlize Theron in another hard, tight-lipped role for the second week running, following the previous ‘Queen’ role in “Snow White & the Huntsman”, as a Weyland (the company who ran the mission) executive, who has strict orders not to interact with any life-forms they may find, a couple of generic, greedy engineers and David.

David is the best character in the film, BY FAR. Michael Fassbender, who is fast becoming the world’s finest actor, tears the screen apart as android David, who we first experience as the sole inhabiter of the titular ship, as the rest of the crew sleep. We watch as his creepy movements are performed to perfection, and he interacts with the environment around him, delving into his crews brains as he goes, watching classic films, casually playing basketball whilst riding a bike and brushing up on his ancient languages, like you do. He’s a mysterious character, who everyone seems on edge with, never quite trusting, not knowing his motives, or indeed, if he haves any motives. The audience may expect him to be distant, attached from the rest of the group, perhaps an elaborate scienceexperiment, but during the movie we find him to be one of the most human of the lot. For further evidence of just what an excellent performance Fassbender made, and for David’s creepiness levels, check out his advert, released as a viral video for “Prometheus'” promotion.

The film’s plot is always transparent, we know what the crew’s goal is right from the off, and the shocks, thrills and spills that follow them are intoxicating. Yes, at times, it plays upon the audience, making them wait for the next potential outburst of violence, and Scott has a fine tendency to switch wildly from various groups of the crew, to the other, to the ship and back again. However, it isn’t a massive issue and you soon get used to the quick, back-and-forth nature of the narrative. I won’t go into specific plot details, as you’ll want to go into the film as cold as possible on information, but it is brilliant. The revelations are shocking, but require the audience to create their own answers to a few questions, some that may be brought up in a potential pre-sequel (see what I did there?!) and some that may not. Some say this is a result of writer Damon Lindelof, of “Lost” fame, influence on the script, as that series was full of twists and turns, that some say, were never truly resolved. Again though, there’s nothing mind-bendingly awful about it at all, nothing that’ll make you come storming out of the cinema in rage. The film’s horrific moments are good too, with a few jumps, splattering’s of gore, but most importantly, tension, a device rarely used in mainstream, blockbuster films, which, with a budget of $140m, is what “Prometheus” is. At a 15 certificate it pushes the boundaries, but just about manages it, I do wonder with a rumoured 30 minutes cut from the film, already a meaty 2hours long, could we see a truly epic, 2 and half hour, 18 rated uncut edition released that would satisfy disgruntled “Alien” fans?

“Prometheus” is an excellent film and caters to different audiences rather well, not treating them like total idiots, but as intelligent human beings. The story is ambitious and grand in scale, but, in my opinion, manages to pull it off, delivering a tightly bound film, that will entertain and scare in moderation. Oh and if there’s any further doubt as to whether “Prometheus”, is a prequel or not, just wait till the very, very end.

9/10

Film Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Robert Downey Jr has it all at the minute. He’s the star of two of Hollywood’s most recent money-spinning franchises, here with ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and also in the superhero genre with ‘Iron Man’, with the potentially biggest movie of 2012 already lined up in the humongous ‘Avengers’ movie, there’s not much wrong the man can do. In ‘Sherlock’, in particular, he’s quickly making the age-old role his own, in the same, eccentric way as Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, but can he manage to continue his recent strong of successes with ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’? Let’s find out…

The film sees Sherlock and his capable sidekick Dr. Watson (played well by Jude Law), aiming to track down the mysterious Professor Moriarty, who is trying to make himself a lot of money, and start a world war at the same time. Moriarty is played by Mad Men’s Jared Harris, relatively unknown other than to fans of that show, but plays the typical traditional villain, very intelligent and gets his henchman to do his dirty work for him. It’s this that I struggled with at times; Moriarty seemed so in control and capable, that I couldn’t see how Sherlock was ever going to defeat him. Throughout the film’s 2hours and 8 minute length, although it didn’t feel as long as that, the story isn’t very clear. Director Guy Ritchie, doesn’t really outline his plot aswell as in the first film, with it only really clicking thanks to Stephen Fry’s performance as elder Holmes brother, Mycroft, and the dialogue between Sherlock and Moriarty, which does come sometime well over the halfway point.

Despite the story not being the most clearest thing ever, the film does still entertain. As predicted, Downey Jr, brings his trademark wit and humour with him, aswell as a variety of disguises. His fighting scenes are brough back from the first film too, with his breakdown of how he is going to take down his enemies in slow motion with his commentary over the top, before he puts his skills into action. Jude Law is great as his able sidekick, Watson, and one of the most humourous scenes, involves his new wife being thrown off a train by Holmes into the well timed viaduct below. Infact, the train sequence is just one of many well-shot chases, and action scenes, something which the director clearly excels with due to his past work. I also loved the super slow-mo action sequences, especially towards the end when everyone is running through a forest, with bullets flying all around. The visuals and sound fit perfectly, and it was a real ‘goosebumps’ moment. The landscapes of Germany, France and England are well used, and provide variants for the two main characters to work wit, ensuring that the on-screen action never becomes too repetitive.

I was also impressed with Noomi Rapace, famous for her lead role in the original Swedish ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, in her first English film, although you wouldn’t know it! I’d seen in previous reviews that she doesn’t feature much, and when she did, she didn’t offer a lot at all, but I found her the complete opposite, and played her role as the gypsy, Sim, very well. Stephen Fry is great as ever, with his own unique sense of humour a great foil for Downey Jr. One scene in particular involving an almost naked Fry, Dr Watson’s wife and the elderly butler Stanley, is hilarious. Hans Zimmer, THE greatest, current movie soundtrack composer, strikes gold again, with a reprisal of his ‘stringy-drum’ style of the first movie, my description may be awful, but it is really catchy!

The film is a wonderful mix of action and comedy, and is really unique, in that it is not a massively serious film most of the time, unlike ‘Transformers’, which is literally robots hitting each other over and over, but has little laughs. This is similar to the first, but is still as exciting and fresh as it. The ending was good, and leaves it open for a third installment, which wouldn’t be a bad thing, if the story-telling could be worked on. Sure, it won’t win any Oscars, but ‘Sherlock Holmes 2′, is a great action-comedy, and importantly family friendly movie, that will entertain everyone!

4/5