Wreck-It Ralph

In hindsight Wreck-It Ralph is quite an odd film. It’s nostalgic set up concerns video game arcades and characters that will invoke wistful memories for many grown-ups, but will be lost on the majority of kiddies that watch this. However, the youngsters will enjoy the thrilling computer animation, chase sequences and moralistic story. For most adults though these highlights will be standard at best. This is obviously marketed as a family film though I’d say it’s not consistent for either demographic during its running time. In terms of what we do have all the way through is the story of Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly), a computer character in an arcade game who gets tired of playing the villain of the piece day in day out and (plenty of plot machinations later) eventually finds himself in a racing game called Sugar Rush in which he assists Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) in winning a race before everything is destroyed by a load of computer “bugs”. As you can see the plot is hardly all that taxing. Director Rich Moore has a background in The Simpsons and Futurama, but the satirical nature of those gems isn’t really relevant to this type of outing. This is basic stuff in today’s oversubscribed animated genre and it does little to try and make itself stand out amongst the crowd (not helped by its one dimensional main protagonists). The concept of the film was first mooted at Disney towards the end of the 1980’s so for something that’s been around for so long you would have hoped for a bit more script wise. Of course the main thing that has advanced since then is computer and film graphics themselves, so at least the film realises a vision that wouldn’t have been possible back then. On that front, according to Disney this film is the first of theirs to utilise “bidirectional reflectance distribution functions” (no, me neither). This appears to have got great reviews across the board, but to me, especially in the film’s final third, the overload of colours, noise and general mayhem masks the fact that not much is really going on. Overall, if you’re a fan of computer games and their characters from the past 30 or so years, then you’ll have a field day watching this and you’ll probably smugly be enjoying a lot of the visuals gags that most people won’t even spot and / or understand.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Some memories of coin operated games and joysticks aside, the storyline isn’t involving enough for adults. Kids will probably love it though. Rating: 6/10.

The World's End

So it’s reunion time for Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as they complete their “Cornetto Trilogy” with The World’s End. And the theme of reuniting is what drives the plot for the film as Gary King (Pegg) convinces a group of his old school friends (Frost, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Martin Freeman) to meet up and return to their childhood town of Newton Haven and complete a famous pub crawl that they failed to finish some twenty years previous. On its own that sounds like a two-part drama on ITV or possibly something from the stable of Loach or Leigh. However, this is from the pen of Wright and Pegg so they throw in an alien invasion for good measure. Though this is a film for both sexes to enjoy, all the men in the audience will recognise themselves as the now 30 and 40 something’s discussing old flames and scrapes from the past. The nostalgic ambiance is soon forgotten though when the boy’s night on the beers is turned on its head when they discover (in a clever genre changing scene) their old town has been taken over by aliens and they must fight for their own survival. Well, I say survive, but these aliens are from the John Wyndham invasion school, i.e. not overtly scary and somewhat lumbering. That’s actually slightly problematic for the horror aspect of the film as you never really feel the characters are in any real danger and the fights, though choreographed by Brad Allen, just come across as stagey, not helped by the invaders “bleeding” light blue paint. Wright and Pegg’s screenplay is good on the joke front though, with the gags coming so thick and fast that any that fail to land their mark are quickly forgotten about as a new chuckle comes along shortly thereafter. There’s even some social commentary thrown in (see the lovely gag concerning the look of the first and second pubs) and a soundtrack that will kill for anyone who was a teenager in the early 1990’s. It’s a shame then that it goes so drastically wrong in the last twenty minutes with any wit usurped by “comic” swearing, dodgy specials effects and an ending that is so off-kilter with what has gone before it leaves you leaving the cinema wondering whether this had any test screenings. Shaun Of The Dead and, to a lesser extent, Hot Fuzz also suffered from weak endings, but this really is terrible, including a character reveal that is so dark in tone it sits uneasily with the atmosphere of general mirth. On the acting front Pegg is fine as the eternal man-child, though it’s Frost who steals the film putting in arguably his best ever performance. He really comes into his own as an actor here in, ironically enough, a style of film that doesn’t really warrant it. Plus he raises one of the biggest cinematic laughs of the year with a mini speech and drunken exit from one of the pubs. As for Wright’s direction this is him in a more sober (sorry) mood. The usual quick edits and cuts are here, but this lacks his usual flashy signature. In terms of the triumvirate, this is the weakest of the three films, but that’s no surprise when you consider the stiff opposition that is represented by the first two films.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

This has its missteps (the ending the ending the ending), but it’s unlikely you’ll see a film this year that will make you laugh out loud as many times as this does. Rating: 7/10.

Man Of Steel

Stroll up for the latest re-booting of a superhero, in this case Zach Snyder’s take on Superman. Well, I say Snyder’s take, but with with Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan as producers, Hans Zimmer on scoring duties and David S Goyer scripting (with help from Nolan) it’s hardly a surprise that this film has the look and feel of the most recent Batman trilogy. Perhaps Snyder thought it made sense to follow a design that’s produced billions of dollars in revenue, but his film lacks the directorial flourishes that are a feature of his back catalogue, regardless of the overall quality of his films. What we have here is another origin story telling us how Supes (Henry Cavill) was born, how he ended up on earth and why General Zod (Michael Shannon) thinks he is a very naughty boy. The problem is it’s told in such a cold dry manner, as if already assuming that’s the style an audience wants these days. So whilst the film is well structured (if a little rushed), it really isn’t much fun. The first two thirds of the movie are pretty good though, with an impressive middle section including plenty of fisticuffs. Though theses endless fight scenes can’t escape the old problem of the audience knowing that nothing can hurt the protagonist, they are still fast and frantic enough to just about overcome this and the general feeling of repetition. There are also plenty of background references for fan boys to spot throughout the running time. The finale is a huge disappointment though, with yet another smack down in an American city that gets totalled. How many times have we seen that in superhero films recently? Just think how much better one of these films would be if the writers actually came up with something original for the denouement. On top of that, the conclusion to how Supes is received by the world doesn’t actually make much sense in respect of what has previously passed in the film and the way he disguises himself in order to blend in with the normal population is again at odds with what has occurred in previous scenes. On the acting front Cavill isn’t bad, but the film is told in such a way that it could be re-shot tomorrow with a different actor and the end result would be much the same. Amy Adams (looking bizarrely just like Zooey Deschanel at the start of the film) as Lois Lane is nothing more than scenery and though Michael Shannon gives good shouty as Zod he is miscast. These kind of roles aren’t his strength. Overall what this needed was a bit more humour and less conforming to the current superhero style of storytelling. I’m not saying re-booting a much loved character / franchise is an easy task, but Snyder proved with his excellent Dawn Of The Dead remake that such a mission is not above him. It seems there were too many cooks here spoiling the Snyder broth.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Miles better than Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, but there isn’t enough here to justify yet another superhero re-launch. Are there no original ideas left? Rating: 6/10.