Film Review: SALT (2010)

Director: Phillip Noyce
Running time: 96 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Thriller/Espionage
UK Release date: 18th August 2010

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 26th June 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember when this one came out it got a lot of very mixed reviews. It has finally made it to the small screen and so I thought I’d have a look. It’s certainly not as bad as some have said, but equally, it’s not all that great either. I think it suffers from what I call the ‘Bourne Effect’, in that the ‘Bourne’ films are a pretty hard act to follow and just about every film of that ilk since has failed to hit the mark. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly watchable but it just falls a bit short of the mark at those all important moments. Here’s a brief summary.

Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent who is accused by a defector, known as Orlov, of being a Russian spy. She immediately goes on the run trying to get to he husband, Mike, who she believes is in danger. The defector also said that she would assassinate the Russian President at a funeral in New York. Her boss, Ted Winter, and the head of another department, Peabody, are in charge of tracking her down but she gives them the slip… more than once. She has a plan and in order to carry it out she may have to compromise herself. I’m not going to say any more because I don’t want a sniper picking me off while I’m eating a sandwich.

First of all I must say all of the stunt work on this film was first rate, I really enjoyed this aspect of the film very much. Performance wise, I thought Angelina Jolie did a great job as Evelyn Salt, considering the part was originally written for a male (Tom Cruise), I thought she was excellent. Liev Schreiber did a good job as Ted Winter, as did Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody and Daniel Olbrychski as Orlov.

There are many twists and turns in the plot and, of course, a big twist at the end that I’m afraid I saw coming from a mile off (sorry, no spoilers today). There were a couple of moments where the film did fall a little flat, but the pace was pretty much kept at a fairly high level throughout. I guess where it fails, in comparison with the ‘Bourne’ films, is that the plot just isn’t quite clever enough to give it the edge it needed. But as I said earlier, it’s perfectly watchable and suitably entertaining. I also like the fact that it has a female lead that is believable, so many of these films fail in that respect too. So, over all, great action sequences, a believable heroine and quite entertaining, if slightly flawed… Still though, recommended.

My Score: 6.5/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0944835/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1213717-salt/
Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/salt/
Trailer:

Film Review: DEFIANCE (2008)

Co-Writer/Director: Edward Zwick
Running time: 131 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

UK release date: 9th January 2009

Watched on DVD Sunday 10th October 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film has been lurking in my DVD collection for quite a while now, and so I thought it was a bit overdue a viewing. Finding myself at a loose end on a Sunday afternoon afforded the ideal opportunity. At two hours eleven minutes it’s a pretty long film, which probably explains why it has remained unwatched for so long. But enough of this, you want to hear about the film. The setting is Belarus in the early 1940’s. The German army has invaded and is beginning it’s persecution of the Jews in the region… oh, and by the way, it’s based on a true story.

After their parents are killed, three brothers, Tuvia, Zus and Asael Bielski, seek refuge in the forests near their home. They are soon joined by other survivors and it’s soon apparent that, as the oldest, Tuvia must take charge. The brothers are not the most law-abiding citizens and find their skills at smuggling are soon to be very useful. After finding out who was responsible for his parents’ murder, Tuvia exacts revenge on a local policeman and his family. As more and more survivors join the group tension mounts between Tuvia and Zus as they differ on how they should proceed. This culminates in a fight and Zus leaving to join the local brigade of the Red Army. Eventually the camp is discovered by the police and they are forced to move and, as winter approaches, life becomes very tough for the survivors. They now number in the hundreds and Asael meets a girl and marries her. They survive the winter only to discover that the Germans intend to sweep through the forest and take, or kill anyone they find. Zus is ordered by the Russian commander to retreat, leaving the Jews at the mercy of the approaching Nazis. And on that knife-edge, I’ll leave my short synopsis.

This is a pretty well made film with some nice action sequences interspersing the drama. Decent performances all round particularly from Daniel Craig as Tuvia, Liev Schreiber as Zus and Jamie Bell as Asael. All three stood out and put in really good performances. I should also give honourable mentions to Alexa Davalos as Lilka Ticktin, Allan Corduner as Shimon Haretz, Mark Feuerstein as Isaac Malbin and Tomas Arana as Ben Zion Gulkowitz.

As I mentioned at the beginning, it’s a pretty long film, and, despite this, I felt the filmmakers were still trying to fit too much in. It is a fascinating and awe inspiring story that deserves to be told, but I just felt it could have been done better. So, over all, it’s a pretty good film that doesn’t quite reach the standard set by the likes of Schindler’s List, but still a worthy effort. Recommended if you can spare the 2 hours, 11 minutes.

My score: 7.3/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1034303/
Official Site: http://www.defiancemovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi2692481049/

Film Review: X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (2009)

Director: Gavin Hood
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

UK release date: 29th April 2009

Watched on DVD Sunday 19th September 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have quite enjoyed all of the X-Men films, I can’t say I was a fan of the comic books, but I do remember the animated TV shows. So I was intrigued to see the back story of one of the most memorable characters from the films. I can’t say I was overly impressed, but I think that is due to the limitations the filmmakers were working under. But more of that later, here’s a short synopsis first.

We begin with Logan as a young boy discovering that he has a mutation, at this time his claws are bone. He and his brother, Victor, escape after Logan murders his father and they fight side by side all through the American Civil War, World War I, World War II and Vietnam. Yes, they are both indestructible. We come to the present day and the pair is recruited to a special team run by Col. William Stryker, a shady character to say the least. After one particular mission where Victor goes too far, Logan turns his back on the team and goes to live in Canada. He lives a simple live with the love of his life, Kayla. Six years later Victor re-appears and starts murdering the remaining members of the team. He eventually comes after Logan and ends up killing Kayla. Swearing vengeance, Logan is approached by Stryker who says he can give him the tools to beat Victor. Logan agrees and his body is infused with the rare metal alloy called adamantium. Now with his metal claws Logan is turned on by Stryker and is on the run. He eventually discovers exactly what Stryker has been doing and it’s not good news for mutants. I’ll leave it there, don’t want to give the ending away.

This film was OK, the effects and stunts were very well done but it did suffer from two problems. First of all I felt they tried to fit too much into the plot which meant that many things were only half explained, or the audience was left to fill in some gaping plot holes. The second problem was the fact that it only had a 12A certificate here in the UK. This meant the level of violence was very limited and this was to the determent of the film in my opinion. There’s lots of talk on the DVD about Wolverine being more ‘Bad-Ass’ in this film, but you just didn’t see it on the screen. If it had been a 15 certificate I’m sure it would have been a very different movie.

Having said that, the performances all round were pretty good, so honourable mentions go to Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine, Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed, Danny Huston as Col. William Stryker and Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox.

Over all, it’s a pretty entertaining film despite the rather confusing plot. Some great action sequences and all the CGI bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from these films. If you’re a fan of the X-Men films then it’s recommended, otherwise, maybe not.

My score: 5.6/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0458525/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi520356633/