Film Review: HAYWIRE (2011)

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Lem Dobbs
Running time: 89 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Adventure/Thriller
UK Release date: 18^th January 2012

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 10^th November 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is a film that I’ve heard very mixed reviews about. My buddy Mark really didn’t like it… this has the advantage of him not giving away a lot of spoilers; as he’s prone to do when he does like something. With us having differing tastes when it comes to movies on occasion I decided to give it the once over and decide for myself. Well, I have to say that to some extent Mark was right; it’s certainly not a great film. I’ll tell you why after this very brief summary.

We begin in a diner where Mallory Kane has stopped while fleeing from exactly what we don’t yet know. Aaron arrives and tries to take her with him. She resists, there’s a fight and she escapes with one of the customers, a young man called Scott. She begins to talk about events and people that have brought her to this point and we go into flashback mode. The upshot of which is that she is a freelance covert operative has been set up and attempts have been made on her life… It’s time for payback and it will be brutal!... I guess that sums it up really.

It’s a film that in the beginning seems extremely incoherent and that’s no mistake… it is! The disjointed musical score by David Holmes doesn’t help one bit either. As far as performances go, well Gina Carano did a reasonable job as Mallory Kane; I know she did most of her own stunt work which is quite impressive, but her acting skills may still need a little work. We then have the likes of Channing Tatum as Aaron, Michael Douglas as Alex Coblenz, Antonio Banderas as Rodrigo, Ewan McGregor as Kenneth, Michael Fassbender as Paul, Bill Paxton as John Kane and Michael Angarano as Scott who all played their parts well, but over all, for me, it didn’t quite work.

I have come across several of these films with a decent cast but I well know that this is no guarantee of a decent film. Yes, the fight scenes are pretty spectacular, but no more so than those in the ‘Bourne’ films. I found the plot far too complex and this wasn’t helped by the characterisations which I found it very hard to engage with. It does all tie up quite neatly in the end, but it touches every single base on the way there. The film is only an hour and a half long and it seemed a lot longer than that by the time the final credits rolled… This is not a good sign I’m afraid and so this one does not get my seal of approval.

SteelMonster’s verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED

My score: 4.3/10

IMDb Score: 5.9/10 (based on 42,091 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1506999/

MetaScore: 67/100: (Based on 40 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 80/100 (based on 174 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 40/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 37,015 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/haywire_2011/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Mallory Kane: Shit.
[deep breath]
Aaron: [sitting down] What the hell are you doing out here? I had to drive all night. I'm hung over as shit. And you're really starting to cut into my vacation time, so can we go please?

Aaron: This your idea of relaxing? Wine and gun maintenance?
Mallory Kane: There's another glass in the kitchen.
Aaron: You gonna leave your name and number afterwards?

Mallory Kane: I don't even know how to play that. I don't wear the dress. Make Paul wear the dress.
Kenneth: Well, I'll ask.

Coblenz: In the auction business they have an expression called the "halo effect". Do you know what that is? It's when an object or work of art is more desirable because of its prior ownership. It's very rare when it happens, you know? Maybe once in a lifetime. Gotta catch it when you can.
Mallory Kane: [circling him]
Coblenz: Look, I got plenty of drama in my own office.

[last lines]
Rodrigo: Shit.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.haywiremovie.com
Trailer:

Film Review: BLACK RAIN (1989)

Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Craig Bolotin, Warren Lewis
Running Time: 125 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama
UK Release Date: 26^th January 1990

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 12^th August 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have never made a secret of the fact that I’m a bit of a fan of the work of Ridley Scott. To that end I’m on a mission to see all the films he’s directed (not necessarily in order)… and so we come to ‘Black Rain’. I did see this back in the nineties and I didn’t particularly enjoy it back then. It was interesting seeing it again and comparing my feelings about it. I have to admit I enjoyed it much more this time around, although it is far from being up there with Scott’s best. Here’s a very brief summary before I give you more of my thoughts.

When New York cops Nick Conklin and Charlie Vincent capture Japanese Yakuza member Sato, they are assigned to accompany him back to Osaka. On arrival they are duped into handing him over to the wrong people and now feel obliged to get him back into custody. They are assigned an officer, Matsumoto Masahiro, who is to be their guide, and also make sure they stay out of trouble. Their investigation takes them into the dark world of the Yakusa and they find themselves in the middle of a gangland power struggle. Can they find Sato and get out before he finds them?... Well, you probably guessed it, I’m not going to tell you here or the Spoiler Police (Osaka Division) will have me on traffic duty (again).

I noticed at the beginning of the credits there was a piece of text that said ‘In Association with Michael Douglas’; and boy can you tell! You are left under no illusion who the star of the show is and I have to admit I did take an instant disliking to his character at first. He had almost redeemed himself by the end, but there was a big chunk of cheese that came with it. Putting my personal feelings aside for a moment, Michael Douglas didn’t do a bad job as Nick Conklin, although I felt Andy Garcia put in a better performance as Charlie Vincent. I also thought Ken Takakura did a great job as Matsumoto Masahiro. Honourable mentions go to; Kate Capshaw as Joyce, Yûsaku Matsuda as Sato and Tomisaburô Wakayama as Sugai.

Back in the eighties (& early nineties for that matter), your heroes had to be tough and uncompromising. This is what you get here, although by now it’s all become a little cliché, back then it was what was expected. What you end up with is a film that looks great, thanks to Ridley Scott, but one that is also quite dated. Not to say it’s not a great drama; I would love to see a modern remake of this without all the eighties cheese. Oh, I also have to mention a great musical score by Hans Zimmer, interspersed with pop songs but well worth listening to. Over all, I did enjoy this film, once I got over my dislike of Douglas’s character; it’s a great drama that’s well worth a look, if a little over-long (IMO), if you get the chance.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED.

My Score 7.7/10

IMDb Score: 6.5/10 (based on 23,878 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0096933/

MetaScore: NO DATA: (Based on 0 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 52/100 (based on 21 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 30/100 ‘Want To See’ (based on 26,792 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002512-black_rain/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE
Nick Conklin: Just hope they got a Nip in this building who speaks fucking English.
Matsumoto Masahiro: [overhearing] Assistant Inspector Matsumoto Masahiro, Criminal Investigation section, Osaka Prefecture police. And I do speak fucking English.

Joyce: Because you could get me killed. You see, there's a war going on here, and they don't take prisoners.
Nick Conklin: What are you talking about?
Joyce: It's between Sato and an old crime boss named Sugai.
Nick Conklin: Who else knows about this war?
Joyce: Counting you and me?
[beat]
Joyce: Eleven million.

Det. Charlie Vincent: What is this, a conspiracy to ruin my evening?

Sugai: I was 10 when the B-29 came. My family lived underground for three days. We when came up the city was gone. Then the heat brought rain. Black rain. You made the rain black, and shoved your values down our throats. We forgot who we were. You created Sato and thousands like him. I'm paying you back.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS (2010)

Director: Oliver Stone
Running time: 133 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Drama
UK Release date: 6^th October 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 3^rd September 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I must admit I did enjoy Oliver Stone’s 1987 film Wall Street, which tells the story of Gordon Gekko and how he manipulated people and events in order to make money. This cost him his liberty in the end, but as they say, that’s another story. This film picks up some time after that one left off with Gordon’s release from prison. It’s an interesting tale with quite a complicated plot, so no nipping out to make tea part way through now… Here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

Having witnessed Gordon’s release from prison we are introduced to his daughter, Winnie and her boyfriend, Jake Moore. Jake works for a Wall Street investment bank, KZI, where he deals with investments into green energy. In particular he has one project that is looking into fusion to produce cheap energy and he’s trying find investors when things start to go wrong at KZI. Due to rumours the company crashes on the stock market and the head of the company, and Jacob’s friend, Louis Zabel commits suicide. After this Jacob reaches out to Gekko and, because he wants to re-connect with his daughter, Gekko agrees to help Jacob find who was behind the rumours. The finger points at another investment bank, Churchill Schwartz, and the head of that company, Bretton James. There is much more to this, it’s so much more than a straight forward tale of revenge. There are many more twists and turns in the road to come and questions to be answered, like; “Has Gekko really reformed?”… All this and more is revealed, but, of course, I can’t tell you that here or the Spoiler Police will have me for insider trading… (or some other trumped up charge).

I must first say that this film is beautifully shot, Stone certainly has an eye for the visuals and he uses it to great effect here. The use of graphics and split screen is all done very well and, for the most part, fits the story perfectly. And so we move on to performances; well I can’t fault Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, it’s a part he made his own in the first film. Shia LaBeouf as Jacob Moore on the other hand, well I’m still waiting to be convinced by the young man, I don’t want to be disrespectful so I’ll leave it at that. I thought Carey Mulligan did a good job as Winnie Gekko but I felt her character had more depth than she was allowed to show. Frank Langella did a great job as Louis Zabel, as did Josh Brolin as Bretton James. It was nice to see small parts from; Eli Wallach as Julie Steinhardt, Susan Sarandon as Sylvia Moore, Jacob’s mother, and a very brief came from Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox (uncredited).

Although I did enjoy this film to some extent, Oliver Stone does make very long films and this sometimes means they take the story a little too far. I was quite enjoying this one for about an hour and forty minutes and then it started to drag. I don’t quite know if it was down to events happening on the screen or what, but I kind of lost interest. On the plus side, there are some good songs by David Byrne and Brian Eno which pop up every now and again. I found this quite a tough one to judge because we’re supposed to engage with people who control finances and those people, in my book, have been grossly discredited of late. It’s hard to feel sympathy for someone living in a very nice New York apartment bleating on about being poor! Ok, rant over… I guess this one is worth seeing if you’re a fan of the original; Michael Douglas is very good value.

My Score: 6.4/10.

IMDb Score: 6.3/10 (based on 31,178 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1027718/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 54/100 (based on 211 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wall_street_money_never_sleeps/

FAVOURITE QUOTE:
Gordon Gekko: Payback. Except I’m not in that business anymore - because the one thing I learned in jail is that money is not the prime asset in life. Time is.

LINKS:
Trailer: