2015 yielded some great individual movies, but putting together a Top Ten proved to be trickier than I realised. I suppose overall 2015 was a bit inconsistent, but here goes with the Top Ten, honourable mentions and worst of the worst.
1. Mad Max Fury Road
George Miller’s return to Max Rockatansky’s scorched earth was the best film of the year by gasoline chugging miles. In fact, it was the best film of any year. A gloriously supercharged car chase through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, it redefines action cinema as a spectacle. There is nothing about Fury Road that is not wonderful. Tom Hardy’s absurdly taciturn performance as Max, Charlize Theron’s raging Furiosa, Hugh Keays-Byrne’s berserk Immortan Joe and an eye popping cast of assorted grotesques. Like a fruity jazz number where it’s the notes you don’t play that make it a work, it’s the things you don’t see in Fury Road that elevate it to greatness. While the focus is clearly the chase, it’s the implication and suggestion of the bigger and bolder universe they inhabit that make it great. The depth and attention to minute detail indicating the love and creativity and inspiration that went into this film. Unlike so much modern science fiction, Fury Road eschews ham fisted exposition in favour of depositing you in the wasteland and crediting you with enough booksmarts to figure it out. Production values aside, it feels like it belongs in the 70s. In 2016 I need to see the Black & Chrome cut (fan edited, Miller approved, black and white, dialogue free version). But as it stands Fury Road is a near perfect movie.
2. It Follows
So great that I have included it in two end-of-year top tens. I saw it at the 2014 Melbourne Film Festival, but 2015 saw it get a divisive general release. For my money it delivered everything you could possibly want from a modern day horror movie. It Follows juggles its inventive concept and a genuinely creepy vibe, with some STD subtext and Carpenter homage, without ever resorting to cheap scares or becoming derivative.
3. Ex Machina
Alex Garland’s existential A.I. rumination. Young corporate whizz kid gets summoned to his boss’s remote estate to test out an Artificial Intelligence experiment. Stylish, intelligent, thought provoking science fiction. Arguably the better Oscar Isaac / Domhnall Gleason sci fi picture of 2015.
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
When the first trailer materialised for The Force Awakens I tried to manage my expectations, remembering the gigantic slice of ‘meh’ pie that The Phantom Menace served up. But by the time I set foot in the cinema I was like a kid on Christmas day. The first half of the movie is a helluva lot of fun, but it does lose its way as the last act becomes a little too derivative of the original trilogy. But a decent Star Wars movie is unarguably a ‘must see’, and one I’ll definitely be going back to for a second viewing.
5. The Guest
Although technically a 2014 release, this sneaked out direct-to-dvd in Australia in 2015 so it gets included. Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s previous collaboration, You’re Next, was an interesting home invasion flick that unfortunately ran out of steam in the last third; but The Guest has the stamina for the long haul. Dan Stevens turns up on a family’s door step claiming to have been friends with their son who died in the military. But all is not as it seems. A cracking action movie / black comedy.
6. Kingsmen: The Secret Service
Matthew Vaughn’s back catalogue generally seems to fall into the watchable/forgettable category, and as such, I went into Kingsmen with very little by way of expectation. I was rewarded with two hours of pure, distilled cinema fun. An exciting, hilarious chav James Bond take on the spy genre; Colin Firth is brilliant; and it is just a 100% good time.
7. Jurassic World
Colin Trevorrow’s unlikely follow up to the wonderful Safety Not Guaranteed could not have been more of its opposite. Much like Star Wars, Jurassic World does not feel the need to tread on any new ground but finds a likeable lead in Chris Pratt and plays to its strengths as genetically engineered dinosaurs predictably run amok. And you do know how I love a good large-creature-runs-amok movie.
8. The Spongebob Movie: Sponge out of Water
Spongebob’s second theatrical feature proved he’s still got it. The regulars go 3D in pursuit of the stolen Crabbie Pattie recipe, Antonio Banderas turns in possibly his greatest ever performance as the villain, and Matt Berry appears as a future dolphin. The best animated movie of the year, and more fun than both Inside Out and Big Hero Six combined. Watched it on a plane and guffawed my head off.
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Not even remotely as much fun as the first instalment, Age of Ultron stuttered and stumbled with some less than sparkling dialogue and the first recorded case of 2015’s most common movie disease – being too derivative of a successful predecessor. Nevertheless, even operating on half a tank, the Avengers can serve up delight in the form of an eminently enjoyable principle cast and a ton of Hulk Busting spectacle. An enjoyable couple of hours, just not the (repulsor) blast we had been expecting.
10. Spy
Surprisingly amusing spy caper, with a fun story and a bunch of great performances from a decent cast. It somehow manages to make both Melissa McCarthy and Miranda Hart funny, largely due to the fact McCarthy dials back her unwatchable OTT shtick to a more bearable level. The greatest triumph of all however, is Jason Statham’s hapless spy, sending up his tough guy image to hilarious effect. The Stath is brilliant in this. But as much fun as Spy is, I still have zero interest in director Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters, due in 2016. Please burn it with fire.
Honourable mentions (in no order):
• Self/Less
• Deep Web
• Mistress America
• Ant Man
Still waiting on the strangely horror-shy Australia to get a release date for two movies I’ve been chomping at the bit to see for the majority of 2015, Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno, and the Kurt Russell cannibal/western mash up, Bone Tomahawk. No doubt they’ll silently fart out direct-to-dvd at some point in 2016 because Australia is weird.
Worst:
Deathgasm
All the worst things about generic horror and generic heavy metal in one shitty movie.
Inherent Vice
Muddled private eye lark from Paul Thomas Anderson. Lacking enough humour to call it a comedy or enough intrigue to call it a mystery, let’s just call it a disaster.
Mortdecai
Irritating Johnny Depp vehicle seemingly designed around seeing who could conjure up the worst accent. It was excruciating. I switched it off.
Queen of Earth
Two childhood friends go on vacay to a cabin and up irritating the hell out of each other, but not as much as they irritated me because it was supremely boring and all the characters were jerks.
Showing posts with label Avengers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avengers. Show all posts
Thursday, 31 December 2015
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
THE AVENGERS
Carrying on story threads from both Thor and Captain America, the plot follows the creation of the Avengers team to defend the Earth against Thor’s brother Loki; who plots to invade and conquer the planet with a little help from the Chatauri and the Tesseract, the source of unlimited power that the Red Skull craved in Captain America. The action kicks off right from the word go as Loki pinches the sparkly power cube from S.H.I.E.L.D h.q. and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) finds his only real means to get it back, and effectively save the planet is to resurrect the dormant Avengers Initiative and compile a team of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as our last line of defence. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye are all signed up and get to throw down in the streets and skies of New York as the alien horde arrives.
The key to Marvel’s adaptations has been in their near perfect casting choices for their heroes. There is no doubting the characters are great. Years of comic book storylines and legions of fans are testament to that. So the casting for these iconic superheroes has had to be spot on and they’ve nailed each and every one.
Downey Jr’s take on Tony Stark is still amazing. Narcissistic and arrogant, yet somehow Downey Jr makes these into likeable qualities and you’re rooting for him every step of the way. Iron Man paved the way for this movie and it must be said, the first Iron Man is still my personal favourite. With the Iron Man series Marvel has created the very best of the superhero genre and in the Avengers it’s just business as usual. He cannot put an iron clad foot wrong.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor is equally great. Thor was hugely enjoyable in its own right and he brings an amiable pomposity to the God of Thunder that’s hard to dislike. Some of his ridiculous Asgardian dialogue and speech mannerisms could have faltered were his conviction and believability not one hundred percent.
Chris Evans plays Captain America perfectly. Of all the Avengers, Captain America obviously had the potential to fall prey to hokey American patriotic fervour and was perhaps the one potential stumbling block for transferring the characters from page to screen. Fear not however, as Cap rises to the challenge as always. Cap is a man out of time. Old tyme values in the modern age. The emphasis is always on him being a good guy doing the right thing rather than any notion of overt nationalism (other than y’know, the costume, the shield and the name!).
Scarlett Johansson returns as Black Widow, first seen in Iron Man 2. A master of interrogation and a deadly fighter, she is also very good in this. Her introductory scene in particular is a lot of fun, as she turns the tables on some low life interrogators, calmly dispatching them with some crunchy, brutal fisticuffs; And Jeremy Renner, reprising his role from Thor as the conflicted, archery obsessed Hawkeye, plays a blinder with one of the lesser known heroes.
Finally we get to The Hulk. What to say about The Hulk? I am fond of Ang Lee’s movie. It is flawed, but underrated nonetheless. The Norton starring Incredible Hulk was also decent, if unremarkable. But The Hulk in the Avengers gets the best treatment of all. Mark Ruffalo is a revelation as Banner. He is PERFECT, and the most enjoyable parts of a movie that is more or less TOTAL enjoyment, fall to The Hulk. To say precisely why the Hulk is so great would be to give away some of the best moments, but suffice to say the scrap he has with Thor and his face off against a gigantic enemy are highlights of the whole film. If nothing else, go along to this movie and feast your peepers on the rampaging Hulk smashing aliens to bits. Incredible.
The excellent Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki, the seething, petulant brother to Thor. Sly, cunning, and pulling the strings of megalomaniacal World dominance, he is a fantastic villain and perfect for this.
Stellan Skarsgard and Gwyneth Paltrow are on board as their respective characters from Thor and Iron Man, and although their parts are diminished this time around it’s fantastic they are present for the continuity of the movie and the Marvel universe. All the boxes are ticked and the details considered. They leave nothing out – even going so far as to explain the absence of Jane (Natalie Portman’s character from Thor) from the action.
One of the real joys to this movie is that no character feels left out. Many times with larger ensemble movies, some characters in a large cast need to take a back seat (even my beloved Star Trek has fallen victim to this on occasion), but that is not so here. Nobody gets lost in the mix. All the main Marvel heroes serve the story well without feeling like they are there merely to be included. They each have their own arcs from Iron Man to Hawkeye to Agent Coulson and everyone has something to do and to contribute. And on top of all that they don’t skimp on using Loki either. Everything is evenly balanced and calibrated and the credit for that must go to Joss Whedon.
Whedon knows his onions. This is fact. To be honest I’m not much of a Buffy fan (from series 3 it all started to go a bit pear shaped for my money), but Firefly/Serenity is masterful science fiction and my hat is most definitely off to the man for that. He tests his mettle here with the Avengers and juggles multiple character arcs with raucous action that provides giddy excitement. Moreover it is funny. The tone is light without being too insubstantial, and the dry sense of humour that runs through the likes of Firefly and Buffy has found a comfortable home here alongside some more overt genuine belly laugh slapstick.
It’s a strong movie indeed. Again, its appeal is probably that this is one for both the fans and the casual Marvel dabbler, as well as your average Joe Cinemagoer. What’s all the more impressive is that although it certainly helps to have seen the other films, Thor and Captain America in particular lend a lot of character and story strands, you don’t HAVE to have seen them to be able to understand it on its own.
To call something ‘a popcorn movie’ or a ‘blockbuster’ seems almost like a dirty word these days, but maybe that’s because they so rarely deliver on their promise. The Avengers takes back the blockbuster and delivers… and then some.
I’ve seen it twice already (it’s been out 2 weeks), and I would go again. Make of that what you will!
IMDB: The Avengers
Since the official poster is beyond appalling, and far and away the worst thing about the movie (Iron Man and Captain America unmasked on a badly photoshopped mess) here is a way better version from poster god Tyler Stout.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)