World War Z

Even if you start to watch a film and you’re unaware that it has suffered from the old “difficulties” during production, it doesn’t take long for such problems to rear their head. Usually it means the film will come across as disjointed and World War Z is a prime example. Adapting the Max Brooks novel was always going to be difficult due to its style and Matthew Michael Carnahan’s screenplay has been re-written numerous times and the final result is basically just a number of scenes which on occasion can stand alone, but do not add up to a consistent narrative. What storyline there is has Brad Pitt starring as Gerry Lane, an ex-UN investigator who travels the world in an attempt to find an antidote to a zombie plague which is spreading across the globe. It seems to me this film was doomed from the start for a number of reasons. Pitt himself has stated that the whole thing came about as he just wanted to do a film that his children could watch. Hardly a reason to produce a film methinks. Next is the odd choice of Marc Forster as the director. Forster can handle the dramatic elements of a film, but, as proven with Quantum Of Solace, give him a huge budget with action scenes and he’s found wanting. Overall, it seems that no-one could decide what the tone or genre of the film was meant to be, highlighted by a quote from original scripter J Michael Straczynski who identified the film as a Bourne type thrill ride, whereas Forster was mentioning conspiracy thrillers such as All The Presidents Men after he had signed on. No wonder this is a bit of a mess. On the plus side Pitt’s performance is solid enough and there’s good work from the many character actors that pop up throughout the film, but the whole shebang is too soulless for you to actually care if the human race ends up as zombie snacks or not. A few of the scenes hint at what might have been, but even with numerous reshoots the big moments in the film (such as an attack in an airplane mid-flight) don’t deliver the required thrills. Plus, there is a major plot boo-boo in that he protagonists discover early on that the zombies are attracted by loud noises, but Lane appears to forget to pass on this somewhat crucial nugget of information on arrival in certain locations. At the end Pitt mutters “This isn’t the end. Not even close. Our war has just begun”. It’s doubtless you’ll care. Rating: 5/10.

The Counsellor

There’s some much wrong with this film I don’t where to begin. Perhaps a quick summation of the plot (of which there is little) would help. Ridley Scott’s new film has Michael Fassbender as a lawyer (though referred to as the eponymous title throughout the film) who is persuaded to take part in a drug deal by local kingpin (Javier Bardem). When things go awry, the Counsellor finds himself on the run as the bodies begin to pile up. Scott’s film boasts some serious pedigree what with him calling the shots, a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy, a cool trailer and a one sheet that screams the actor’s surnames. However all this does is underline what a monumental waste of talent the final production is. The main blame lies at the feet (well fingers I suppose) of McCarthy. This is the first actual script he has written directly for a film and it’s basically endless scenes of (unbelievable) dialogue which virtually none of the actors look comfortable delivering. On that front, there’s some serious mis-casting in this film. Bardem never convinces as the zany drug lord (not helped by his silly hair, get up and what appears to be a mild trace of lipstick in some scenes), Brad Pitt (who appears to have been at the pies) pops up with a distracted performance and Penelope Cruz is no more than window dressing. Worst of the lot though is Cameron Diaz. Whoever thought she would make a convincing callous queen bitch of the underworld must have been squirming in their seat at the preview screenings, though things are hardly helped by the stupidest scene of the year where her character has sex with a car windshield. Yes, you read that correctly. As for Fassbender, his performance is perfunctory enough but he also suffers script wise. His character is meant to be the central point of the film, but as he has no back story it’s hard to relate as to why he becomes such a quivering wreck with poor decision making as soon as the proverbial hits the wall. Surely he must have had some nous to get to the position he was in in the first place is such a dangerous industry? (though an amusing slip up on the continuity front involving a mobile phone suggests maybe he has unforeseen powers). Making a film work which is full of unlikable characters is always one of the most difficult aspects of film making and Scott can’t pull it off here. I don’t know either way, but surely the tragic death of brother Tony during the shooting of this couldn’t have helped matters. Overall this is a cold soulless film with little redeeming features. Apart from a few decent one liners, Toby Kebbell popping up with teeth so white you’ll need sunglasses to get through his short cameo and a spectacularly gory death of one of the main characters there is virtually no reason to see this film. Ever. Rating: 2/10.

The East

Zal Batmanglij’s last film was Sound of My Voice, a low budget thriller concerning a cult and starring Brit Marling. With a bit more budget he now follows up with The East, a thriller concerning a cult (of sorts) and starring, er, Brit Marling. Batmanglij and Marling wrote the script based on their experience of joining an underground activist group. Based on what they’ve come up with here the stereotypical views of rough sleeping and minimal washing don’t look far from the truth. However Batmanglij and Marling struggle to transpose their experiences onto the screen as their script has too many ideas going on. Anarchy, eco-terrorism, multi-nationals, corruption, fraud, love, friendship and sex all battle for position meaning the film struggles to get its message across. That isn’t to say this isn’t thrilling in parts, but once you get past the halfway point it loses its momentum before the somewhat cop-out ending. Marling takes the lead role, though after now seeing her in a few films I’m not sure she has much range beyond her bland facial expressions and she never convinces here that at one point she was former FBI Agent. Still this film does offer plenty of food for thought though, whatever your politics, seeing this is only going to reinforce whatever side of the line you already fall on. Pub Quiz Fact: Batmanglij’s younger brother is the pianist in Vampire Weekend! Rating: 6/10.

Despicable Me 2 / Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2

Some more double reviewing needing here, this time in the form of animated sequels to films that made a nice return at the box office a few years back. The difference being that whilst Despicable Me racked up a huge profit it was years behind Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs in terms of plot, jokes and overall enjoyment. However, the law of follow-ups is still accurately adhered to as both films are well below the quality level of the original production and for Despicable Me 2 that’s bad news indeed. Frankly I’m not sure I actually even need to do a review of this film and will basically do a bit of plagiarising (from my review of the original film) where I wrote “Kids will enjoy this more than adults, as the emphasis is on slapstick as opposed to anything more cutting edge or satirical”. That more than applies here, but things are even more puerile then before as fart gags begin to take centre stage. With the trailer already giving away the few funny jokes there are, adults will find this a serious chore to sit through. However, if you’ve got kids, thanks to Universal Pictures cynical / understandable marketing of those lovable minions, you’ll be dragged to this anyway. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs was one of the sleeper hits of 2009 and one of those films you saw at the cinema and immediately felt like you were part of a special club that only had (in relative terms of cinema-goers) a few other members. It hardly warranted a sequel mind, but hey, here we are. This time round Flint Lockwood and the rest of the inhabitants of Swallow Falls have been relocated whilst a clean-up job occurs on their island. However the FLDSMDFR (unless you’ve seen the first film that will make little sense to you, but it’s still one of the best repeatable gags for many a year) bursts back into life, but this time starts producing food / animal hybrids (foodimals!) which appear to have a taste for humans. The problem the film has is that the brains behind the original (writer-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller) have moved to executive producer positions this time, but from the final output on show it appears their input has been fairly minimal. Despite the silly premise of the original film it also had a slant towards the more mature side of the audience, but this mixture of pleasing both sections of the crowd has gone here as we’ve gone into mainly child pleasing territory (though ironically, I would think some of the more nasty looking foodimals on show would give some tiny tots a few nightmares). Clearly the production team have had great fun dreaming up the foodimals (tacodile, anyone?), but apart from that, there’s very little originality on show. There’s the basic plot line of not letting your family and friends down and the new villain of the piece looks like he was thought up during a lunch hour. Though any film that can get a laugh out of a “There’s a leek in the boat” gag can’t be all bad. On a side issue, prior to the film’s release Sony Pictures teamed up with a number of companies to help send a huge amount of food to families in need. Obviously the theme of the film was partly a driver for this, but it rightly puts other animated films marketing approaches (i.e. cuddly toys et al) into their shameful place. Despicable Rating: 3/10. Meatballs Rating: 5/10.

Taşkafa: Stories of the Street / 11.6

Though these films have nothing in common, I’m throwing them together as they’ve only appeared on the festival circuit so far and it’s unlikely either of them is going to see a mainstream release. That’s almost certainly the case for Andrea Luka Zimmerman’s Taşkafa: Stories of the Street, what with it being a documentary film about the street dogs of Istanbul and with a run time at just over an hour. That isn’t to say this isn’t a great watch though as Zimmerman’s charming story mainly focuses on the relationship between human and animal. It’s hardly subtle on the political side of things, but hope is addressed through Zimmerman showing various elements of society and their selfless actions towards the dogs. Some people do it because of their religion. Some because of an innate love for animals. Some have just given up on humans altogether. Zimmerman’s use of a voice over reading a poem to juxtapose the story being told doesn’t really work, but you can’t deny Zimmerman didn’t put her whole life into this for it took nine years from inception to hit the screen during which she lived in Istanbul and learnt Turkish. Long term preparation is also the key to Philippe Godeau’s 11.6, however in this case it’s in the shape of the main character Toni Musulin (François Cluzet), a driver in an armoured car delivery firm who plans to pilfer many a note during a low key non-violent bank robbery. Godeau’s film is only 40 minutes longer than Zimmerman’s, but feels double that. This is a slow-burner that burns very slowly indeed. The film has two problems that render it a frustrating watch. One is that the build-up to the robbery drags and drags and when it finally does occur it’s quite dull. Secondly, the film is actually a fairly accurate portrayal of a real life incident and a substation unresolved issue from the robbery is similarly portrayed in the film meaning unless Musulin (currently enjoying some cell time) spills the beans in real life (or the police sharpen their act up a bit) there is no closure. Apart from a nice reveal towards the end which explains the film’s title, there’s little here to suggest you should watch this as opposed to just reading the story in the press. Taşkafa Rating: 7/10, 11.6 Rating: 4/10.