Tag: 2012

Review: Taken 2

A disappointingly hollow second outing that might raise the body count, but is also lighter on the fun.

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Director: Olivier Megaton

Writer: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

Runtime: 94 minutes

Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Sherbedgia

Distributor: Fox

Country: US

Rating (?): Rental For Sure (★★)

More info

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If the original Taken created a screen action hero in Liam Neeson, then its sequel is about recapturing the magic in a bottle. When the first entry was released in 2008, it would be safe to say that nobody really saw it coming. The Oscar-winning actor became an overnight action sensation at the age of 56, taking out half of Europe’s underworld at a cracking pace in the process. The success of this role led directly to The A-Team (2010), the similarly plotted Unknown (2011) and this year’s surprisingly good The Grey. Yet Taken 2 fundamentally fails to understand the irony of its predecessor’s success, perpetuating the Neeson action status when the machine should be lining him up for The Expendables 3.

“The dead cry out to us for justice!” exclaims family head Murad (Rade Sherbedgia) as he mourns the loss of his son and the fellow clansmen killed by retired CIA man Bryan Mills (Neeson) in the first film. Mills takes some time off in Istanbul with his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), but daddy-daughter-ex time doesn’t last too long when Murad’s gang snatches Mills and Lenore to do nasty vengeance things with them. Kim has managed to escape their clutches, and she must now run about an unfamiliar city as their only hope of rescue.

Taken pushed the boundaries of good sense in all the right ways, and remains a justifiably batty modern cult classic as a result. Yet Taken 2 throws all notion of logic out the window, writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen perhaps only remembering the ‘old man kicking ass’ elements of the initial outing. It would be easy to say that much of the problem lies in the character of Kim, who is for all intents and purposes a woman in her early 20s but behaves (and is treated) as a girl of 15. That much of her arc involves her running through the streets of Istanbul throwing live grenades, simply so that Mills can get a bearing on her location (!), only adds to the realisation that Taken 2 is a misguided venture from start to finish.

The unequivocal star of the genre has also been largely sidelined, with Neeson quite literally phoning in entire sequences from a basement. When he does finally spring back into action, it isn’t so much of a leap as a stumble, his six decades beginning to show in the more frenetic action sequences. The first entry could be characterised by its lightning speed, glossing over any plot deficiencies with pace and a pure adrenaline rush that we’ve come to expect from The Transporter‘s Besson and Pierre Morel. Yet director former graffiti artist Olivier Megaton (not his real name) fails to leave a distinctive mark on this entry, giving us enough time to not just stop and smell the gunpowder, but question its relevance as well.

If the first film can be accused of a thinly veiled racism, stereotyping Eastern Europeans and all of Albania for good measure, then the sequel dispenses with the veil, searches through its bags at the airport and holds it for questioning for an undisclosed period of time. The ‘other’ is very bad in this film, and despite the story of familial vengeance during the exposition, the enemy is a series of faceless and dispensable non-Caucasian cannon fodder. It doesn’t matter to Mills, as his politics are fairly straightforward: mow them all down before they can do any harm to his own people.

Given how disarmingly fun the first entry was, Taken 2 disappoints with its otherwise straightforward action flick. Perhaps it is the copycats that have poured out in the last few years, many of them starring Neeson, but the premise feels neither fresh nor entertaining. Indeed, it is insulting to the audience that made the first film a minor hit, throwing them the scraps that weren’t quite good enough to make the cut the first time around.

Taken 2 is released in Australia on 4 October 2012 from Fox.

October 4, 2012
Review: Lore

Australia’s official foreign-language entry to the Academy Awards is an ethereal journey through a forgotten period of history.

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Director: Cate Shortland

Writer: Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee

Runtime: 109 minutes

Starring: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Ursina Lardi, Nele Trebs, Mika Seidel, André Frid, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Eva-Maria Hagen

Distributor: Transmission Films

Country: Australia/Germany/UK

Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

More info

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If the history of the Second World War can be told in cinema, then it has been a fairly one-sided affair to date. For all of the focus on the horrors of one of the most devastating conflicts of the 20th century, it is surprising how few films have been made about the immediate after-effects in Germany following their surrender in 1945. History would tell us that the Allied victory neatly led to the Nuremberg Trials and the dawn of the Cold War, but the reality in Germany was far more grey. Based on a section of Rachel Seiffert’s novel The Dark Room, Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland‘s long-awaited follow-up to Somersault (2004) examines a grieving nation through the eyes of disbelieving children, unable to completely comprehend what kind of ‘good German’ they are meant to be in this emerging new world.

It’s 1945, and as the Allies begin to carve up Germany, the teenage Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) is coming to grips with the tumultuous period. After her parents are arrested and taken to prisoner of war camps, Lore must look after her younger siblings as they journey across the country. In the middle of the war-torn nation, she encounters Jewish refugee Thomas (Nele Trebs), who collides with the pampered worldview she has maintained from a lifetime of indoctrination and parental indulgence.

What is immediately remarkable about Lore is just how little this fascinating period of history has been depicted in cinema. Shortland uses the same ethereal dreamlike style that catapulted Somersault to the top of the art house heap, and here it is appropriately used to view a world through the eyes of a teenage girl who is seeing a new world for the first time. Shot entirely in Europe, Australian cinematographer Adam Arkapaw maintains the same drifting distance that made the horrors of Snowtown a physical experience for its viewers. Here, his camera lingers long on moments or objects – from an article of clothing to a precious ceramic figurine carried over the 500 mile journey – but also gives the lengthy trek an immediacy, albeit one that doesn’t pay off right away.

Effectively a coming of age story, just as much for a nation as it is for its titular character, the revelation is the introduction of the young Saskia Rosendahl, just as Abbie Cornish was in her breakthrough role in Somersault. She carries the emotional weight of the film on her inexperienced shoulders, but it would be difficult to imagine a more capable performer in this difficult role. Forced to survive while her notions of right and wrong are rapidly broken down, there are parallels with this year’s blockbuster The Hunger Games, at least by way of Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout (1971), a comparison aided by the terrific use of the forest landscapes. However, while that bigger budget picture may neatly eschew any moral ambiguity by not forcing its lead to directly participate in killing, Lore’s moral dilemmas are far weightier and she must grow up faster than any citizen of a fictional world.

The incredible restraint and arm’s length distance the visuals create may not give the satisfaction that those requiring immediate gratification require. Instead, Shortland spends the time allowing audiences to observe and reflect on a multitude of conflicting ideals, suddenly force to commingle across arbitrary borders. It also marks a terrific leap forward in what Australian filmmakers can achieve with increased collaboration, and not having to sacrifice what is unique about local voices in the process.

Lore was released in Australia on 20 September 2012 from Transmission Films.

September 26, 2012
Reel Anime 2012 Review: Wolf Children

Mamoru Hosada’s third film proves him to be an unstoppable weaver of magic, creating another instant masterpiece.

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Director: Mamoru Hosoda

Writers: Mamoru Hosoda, Satoko Okudera

Runtime: 117 minutes

Starring: Aoi Miyazaki, Takao Osawa, Haru Kuroki, Yukito Nishii

Distributor: Studio Chizu, Madhouse, Madman (AU)

Festival: Reel Anime 2012

Country: Japan

Rating (?): Certified Bitstastic (★★★★★)

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When former Digimon director Mamoru Hosoda dropped The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006), he put himself on the map as a filmmaker to watch. With his follow-up Summer Wars (2009), we saw the awakening of a magnificent talent, proving he deserved to be spoken of in the same terms as the unstoppable Studio Ghibli. Such comparisons bring with them a certain degree of expectation for all future films, and the intimate/epic dichotomy of that second film seemed unlikely to be topped any time soon. Having already denied the sophomore slump, Hosada now delivers a hat-trick with Wolf Children, an uplifting and heartbreaking tale of family.

Although the full title of this film is The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki (おおかみこどもの雨と雪), the focus of the film is actually Hana (voiced by the superstar Aoi Miyazaki), who we meet as a college student who falls in love with the mysterious man who is sneaking into classes. She soon discovers that he is a wolfman, and the two become inseparable. When tragedy strikes, she is left to look after her two children Yuki and Ame, who have the ability to transform into wolves. Fearful that they will be revealed if they stay in the city, she moves the family out to the country, where the children must ultimately decide which part of their dual nature they wish to embrace.

Like Summer Wars, Hosada’s latest is a simple tale about family masquerading inside of a high-concept. Once the initial premise is established, much of the film concentrates on the trials and tribulations of a single mother raising two (unusually gifted) children on her own. Unlike the frenetic energy of that previous film, which seamlessly intertwined the digital and traditional worlds that make up Japan, Wolf Children is a far more languidly paced affair. Indeed, in many ways this third film sees a far more confident Hosada at the helm, freeing himself from the duality of his sci-fi past and crafting (with regular collaborator Satoko Okudera) a picture that revels in its own simplicity.

Wolf Children proceeds at a much gentler pace than the director’s previous outings, and even its lycanthropic leanings can’t diminish the beauty of the film. Imbuing these simple constructs with a world of emotion is an amazing voice cast, led by the beautiful Aoi Miyazaki. Just as she did with her character in Solanin, she conveys heartbreak and earnestness in every line. Like the film, she invites you to spend time with her family, and the joy and tears (both of which can be found in abundance) come in natural waves.

The animation is once again gorgeous, perhaps Hosada’s most handsome to date, beginning in an almost ethereal fashion before stunning with rolling hills of green and sparkling backgrounds. The comparison Hosada has earned with Hayao Miyazaki is a flattering one, and it is certainly apt in terms of the timeless fable quality to each of his films. Yet with Wolf Children, Hosada also firmly places his own stamp on the medium and crafts a masterpiece of his very own.

Wolf Children was released in Japan on 21 July 2011. It screened in Australia in September 2012 as part of Reel Anime. It will continue to play at Cinema Nova in Melbourne following Reel Anime. It is planned for an US released in October 2012.

September 24, 2012
Review: Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania invites you to check it, if only it can work out exactly who you are.

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Director: Genndy Tartakovsky

Writer: Peter Baynham, Robert Smigel

Runtime: 91 minutes

Starring: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Jon Lovitz, Cee Lo Green, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade

Distributor: Sony

Country: US

Rating (?): Wait for DVD/Blu-ray (★★½)

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In just a few short years, Sony Pictures Animation has gone a long way towards being a legitimate competitor for DreamWorks and Disney/Pixar. While the fun but uninspiring Open Season (2006) put them on the map, it was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) that made them a real success story. With Hotel Transylvania, Sony scores another coup by acquiring the talents of Russian-American animator Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of such Cartoon Network hits as Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack and the original Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series. While this feature debut contains the madcap energy of his previous outings, it also lacks the cohesiveness required for a full-length film.

Haunted by his past encounters with humans, Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) has built a resort for monsters who want to relax without any worry of human persecution. Fuelling the fire of their fear, Dracula keeps his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) as a virtual shut-in, despite promises of liberation on her 118th birthday, spooking her further with false depictions of the outside world. However, things change radically when clueless human backpacker Jonathan (Andy Samberg) stumbles into the hotel, threatening to undo Dracula’s carefully constructed reality. Breathing new life into Drac’s drab decor, can he hold up a mirror to someone who doesn’t cast a reflection?

Much of the creative team behind Hotel Transylvania, from co-writer Robert Smigel to a number of the cast, are current or former Saturday Night Live alumni. Like the last few decades of SNL, large parts of the film are simply a sketch that doesn’t know where to stop, with a healthy chunk of the middle section dedicated to mostly running around, hiding and musical sequences. The confusion extends to the intended audience as well. It was Walt Disney who once said “You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway”. Yet Tartakovsky’s film makes the almost fatal flaw of trying to be all things to all people, and lands in the awkward middle.

Often too silly for children, and definitely too frightening for the younger children, Hotel Transylvania is like many Sandler films: an extended version of an inside joke. Yet there is also much to like about the movie, particularly the character designs and voices. The downtrodden wolfman Wayne (Steve Buscemi) and his wife Wanda (Molly Shannon) are sufficiently exasperated with their countless children, providing a number of visual and audio gags throughout the film. Likewise, Kevin James nails Frankenstein as a not-too-bright guy who is still afraid of flames (“Fire bad!”). Gomez is suitably earnest as Mavis, only a few shades away from her Wizards of Waverly Place persona, but at least provides a recognisable voice for a key demographic.

Some beautiful animation can be found in the macabre mixture of gelatinous goop, monolithic monsters and dripping fangs, and there is little doubt that the technical craft behind Hotel Transylvania is at the top of its game. However, propping up a potentially intriguing story is a textbook example of stunt casting, designed to throw as many names on a marquee as possible (even Cee Lo Green!), rather than simply getting the story right. It’s not that the film isn’t frequently fun, it’s just that it isn’t fun consistently. By the time the end musical number rolls around, it’s clear that the film tried to be all things to everybody, but mastered none.

Hotel Transylvania was released in Australia on 20 September 2012 from Sony.

September 23, 2012
Review: Ruby Sparks

A charmingly retro high-concept of romance that weaves its meta-fictional web in a case of art imitating life. Or is it the other way around?

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Director: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Writer: Zoe Kazan

Runtime: 104 minutes

Starring: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening,Elliott Gould, Steve Coogan

Distributor: Fox

Country: US

Rating (?): Better Than Average Bear (★★★½)

More info

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While Ruby Sparks may see an artist trapped in a scenario of his own creation, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris could scarcely be accused of being caught in a rut. Already legends in the music video world for their work with the likes of R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers and their award-winning work with The Smashing Pumpkins (“Tonight Tonight“), the husband and wife team of Dayton and Faris made the successful leap from short form to feature with the critically acclaimed Little Miss Sunshine (2006). Yet in the six years since that feature, the team have been painfully absent from our screens, reportedly working on an adaptation of Tom Perotta’s The Abstinence Teacher, now said to be in the hands of The Kids Are All Right director Lisa Cholodenko. With the release of Ruby Sparks, we hope that their next absence isn’t so lengthy.

In a case of art imitating life, actress Zoe Kazan writes herself into a cinematic romance with real-world partner Paul Dano, last seen coupling on-screen in Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff (2010). Her screenplay concentrates on novelist Calvin Weir-Fields (played by Dano), who is struggling with writer’s block. After a brilliant debut with his first novel, Calvin finds himself unable to write anything else that comes close. As an exercise, Calvin’s therapist (Elliott Gould) suggests that he write about someone who likes his dog Scotty, something of a beast of burden to Calvin. From his mind comes Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan), who he quickly realises he is falling in love with. Then to his surprise, and to the incredulity of his brother Harry (Chris Messina), Ruby appears fully formed in real life. Has he gone off the deep end, or is it true romance at last?

Dayton and Faris might relate to the dilemma of the difficult second artistic birth, with their second production coming over half a decade after their last. As they did with their debut, they have relied on the writing talents of a debut screenwriter, and on the surface Kazan has fallen back on the familiar trope of the ‘imaginary friend’. More accurately, this film is of the magical-realism school that is owned by Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), with a lead character that seems as stubbornly out of time as one of Woody’s creations, or even Mr. Allen himself. Steadfastly sticking to his typewriter, baffled by modern technology, and a dog named after F. Scott Fitzgerald, his retroactive charm makes the premise endearing, and the existence of the walking stereotype in Ruby all the more palatable.

Far more alluring that a giant talking rabbit, but less so than a store Mannequin (1987), Ruby flips from happy to sad on a dime, often on the whim of her creator. From here the film takes a much darker turn than one would expect from Kazan’s imaginative premise. Calvin reveals himself to be overly controlling in a relationship, and the fantastical device allows this to manifest literally in at least one sequence. Watching couples therapy play out on-screen may not be the most romantic of premises, but like last year’s Crazy Stupid Love (2011), Ruby Sparks is a reminder that falling in love is easy, but staying in love is the hard part. The delightful indulgence of Calvin’s hippie mother (Annette Bening) and a clearly loving it Antonio Banderas as her free-spirited boyfriend may be familiar totems, but despite his protests, in many ways Calvin is seeking the same in Ruby but can’t let himself enjoy it. As much a coming of age piece as it is a romance, which is increasingly the trend for films about 20 and 30-somethings in love, it’s a high-concept Pygmalion where the creator is the one that ultimately ends up changing the most.

At times Ruby Sparks is almost too consciously twee, and the cogs of the meta-fictional are more visible than usual. Yet it is a sweetness that wins out in the end, Kazan, Dayton and Faris successfully parlaying their fantasy into a believable reality. Kazan brought her own creation into existence through words and deeds, and asks us to believe in her concept of romance for a while. If you are willing to follow her, there’s a rewarding charm to it all as well.

Ruby Sparks is released in Australia on 20 September 2012 from Fox.

September 19, 2012
Review: Resident Evil – Retribution

The long-running series is given a jolt in this stylish and sexy new outing that takes us back to the origins of the species.

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Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Writers: Paul W.S. Anderson

Runtime: 96 minutes

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Kevin Durand, Sienna Guillory, Shawn Roberts, Aryana Engineer, Johann Urb, Oded Fehr, Li Bingbing

Distributor: Sony

Country: US, Canada, Germany

Rating (?): Worth a Look (★★★)

More info

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The Resident Evil films may have been inconsistent in their quality, but despite critical lashings they have remained the most popular and prolific set of video game based films in history. The series follows Alice (Milla Jovovich), once an operative of the nefarious Umbrella Corporation, a bioengineering pharmaceutical company that is responsible for unleashing the T-virus and turning most of the world’s population into zombies. Having fought off the hordes of darkness through four films, Alice is now the company’s ultimate adversary, destroying their plan for evil at every turn. With the fifth and perhaps penultimate entry Resident Evil: Retribution, director Paul W.S. Anderson returns to remind us why this series has been so enduring.

Picking up immediately after the events of Resident Evil: Afterlife, Alice fights for survival as troops attack the Arcadia freighter filled with the last survivors. Knocked unconscious, Alice seemingly awakes in suburbia with no knowledge of her past exploits. However, this proves to be an illusion, as Alice has been captured by Umbrella. Soon she must team-up with an unlikely ally and some old friends to once again defeat the machinations of the evildoers and their undead minions in environments from around the world..

Anderson begins this fifth outing, his third as director, with a stylish and original vision of the freighter fight played out in reverse. The clever trick delays our satisfaction long enough to keep the audience off-balance, but it also means we sit through the whole thing again only minutes later flipped the right way around. Anderson is a filmmaker that has typically put style ahead of substance, and with the heavy narrative lifting already done in the previous entries, Resident Evil: Retribution is content to simply let it all hang out in a fairly straightforward fashion. Indeed, despite the time-loopy opening, this latest outing plays out in the linear fashion of level-based video games. Alice and her team make their way through a series of artificially created ‘platforms’ based on American suburbia, New York, Tokyo and Moscow, before hitting the ‘boss’ level for a series of final fights. Yet this gives the film a focus that its immediate predecessor sorely lacked, and allows for some impressive set-pieces on the way.

The plot is a generous second to the action at any rate, and if you haven’t been following the series to date then some of the extraneous details may be head-scratchers. Which leaves the uninitiated with two options: go and catch up or just go with it, the latter being a decent option for series devotees as well. Indeed, this film throws in some decent helpings of fanservice, pulling in characters from the previous films and the video games. Most anticipated have been Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb) and Ada Wong (Li Bingbing), but there’s also the return of Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez) from the first film in dual roles. The film also introduces a ‘daughter’ character for Alice, which further gives the action purpose, even if it means scenes and plot devices are lifted wholesale from James Cameron’s Aliens (1986).

There is something almost comforting about the existence of the Resident Evil series, gracing our screens every two or three years with their familiar vibes. It is hardly a spoiler to reveal that Resident Evil: Retribution by no means wraps up the series, setting the scene for what Anderson has promised to be an ultimate finale to the saga. While the ending might seem like a cop-out, this time around it doesn’t feel like as much of a cheap shot, as Alice and the whole saga has actually moved forward in a rapid fashion in this action epic. It may not be smart, or even original, but it’s a stylish and sexy action flick that doesn’t come burdened with the pretensions of its more bloated contemporaries. Bring on the next one!

Resident Evil: Retribution was released in Australia on 13 September 2012 from Sony.

September 16, 2012
Review: The Watch

A lame rehash of sci-fi comedies that have come before it, The Watch is less than the sum of its parts.

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Director: Akiva Schaffer

Writers: Jared Stern, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

Runtime: 102 minutes

Starring: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Rosemarie DeWitt

Distributor: Fox

Country: US

Rating (?): Wait for DVD/Blu-ray (★★½)

More info

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After years of draught, sci-fi has undergone something of a revival in the last few years, having been lost in the wilderness of summer blockbusters. Yet the renewal has come just from aliens, but another kind of invasion: a British one. The Simon Pegg/Nick Frost team on Paul may not have led the box office charge, but it wore its influences on its sleeve, and reminded us of all the great moments in science-fiction over the last few decades. Even more of a forebear on The Watch was Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block, in which a group of South London kids show aliens that they picked the wrong neighbourhood to mess with. Devoid of that originality, The Watch must rely on the comedic appeal of its leads, and this doesn’t always pay off.

In the small town of Glenview, Ohio, the community minded Evan Trautwig ( Ben Stiller) revels in his management position at the local Costco store, and his various club activities, although his relationship with his wife (Rosemarie DeWitt) is less than ideal. Shocked by the violent death of his security guard friend, Evan announces the formation of a neighbourhood watch patrol. However, he only manages to gather three people to his cause: Bob (Vince Vaughn), a construction worker and doting father, borderline case Franklin (Jonah Hill), who dreams of being a cop, and recent divorcee Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade). As the group begins to bond, they uncover an alien conspiracy that well and truly gets them out of their regular routine.

Perhaps we’ve come to expect too much from the Superbad/Pineapple Express/Knocked Up writing team of Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, here rewriting Jared Stern’s original screenplay. From the promise of Stern’s story came a chance for a Ghostbusters-style comedy for the 21st century, but the quest for the hard (US) R-rating and star power has severely diminished The Watch‘s capacity for sustained laughs. Instead, we bear witness to a seemingly endless barrage of dick jokes, occasionally punctuated by references to balls. Falling into the same trap as other recent comedies, including the contemporary Jay Roach’s The Campaign, the pursuit of increasingly tasteless gags actually hinders attempts at comedy.

Individually, each of the stars of The Watch are quite funny, and it shouldn’t be suggested that the film is completely devoid of some genuine laughs. Jonah Hill in particular is the most skilled at the kinds of improvisational moments the script calls for, and Richard Ayoade is a breath of fresh air in the midst of some overwhelming Americana. Yet as with any comedy with this many personalities, the stars are climbing over each other for the next ‘classic’ one-liner, with group discussions taking up far too much of the first two acts, delaying the inevitable action finale. When any level of drama or emotion is attempted to be sandwiched into the mix, the comedy grinds to a screeching halt, as if the fabric of space-time has been ripped apart and we’ve been dragged into a parallel movie.

The Watch is a collection of missed opportunities. Indeed, the always wonderful Rosemarie DeWitt is criminally underused until the final act, and even then she is only around to provide a relief from the sausage fest that preceded her reappearance. Despite some impressive effects and sporadic moments of comedy gold, Akiva Sachaffer’s second film (following the little seen Hot Rod) is less than the sum of its parts.

The Watch is released in Australia on 13 September 2012 from Fox.

September 12, 2012
Review: Madagascar 3 – Europe’s Most Wanted

While the third entry in this popular series might be a feature-length cartoon, it…da dah da dah duh da Circus Afro, polka dot polka dot Afro!

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Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon

Writer: Eric Darnell, Noah Baumbach

Runtime: 93 minutes

Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Bryan Cranston, Jessica Chastain, Martin Short, Frances McDormand

Distributor: Paramount

Country: US

Rating (?): Better Than Average Bear (★★★½)

More info

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When the first Madagascar (2005) film came out seven years ago, DreamWorks Animation was struggling to find something to fill the void between Shrek films. The woeful Shark Tale (2004) had performed well at the box office, but was critically mauled, coming just over a year after Pixar’s amazing Finding Nemo (2003). Madagascar brought us a familiar and relatable tale, about a group of animals in a New York zoo who wish to see the outside world, but inadvertently wound up getting shipped back to Africa, only to be shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar. The film has spawned several sequels and a television spin-off, and now they’re back to go on the run from the stereotypes of Europe.

Alex the lion (Ben Stiller) and his friends are still trapped in Africa, and he worries they will never escape. After being presented a miniature model of New York City for his birthday, Alex encourages zebra Marty (Chris Rock), giraffe Melman (David Schwimmer) and hippo Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) to go to Monte Carlo to get the penguins so they can return home. However, when they cause a spectacle, they are on the run through Europe from Monaco Animal Control officer Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand). Finding refuge in a circus, they convince Vitaly the tiger (Bryan Cranston) and jaguar Gia (Jessica Chastain) that they are also circus animals in the hopes of getting a gig that will take them home.

While feature animation has worked hard over the last few years to prove that it can be as compelling, dramatic and as human as live action, the joy of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is that it throws all that out of the window. Defying the laws of physics and logic, the trio of directors has staged an unabashed cartoon, literally firing animals out of a canon, swinging them off wires and coupling a bear on a motorbike with a lemur. The animation itself is gorgeous, also relying on simple designs but imbuing them with detailed amounts of hair that you just want to curl up inside. The newest characters fare the best, benefitting from being completely original designs, and the sheer amount of colour coming at audiences in 3D may be permanently burned into retinas.

Thanks to a familiar family of recognisable voices, connecting to the film requires very little effort from the audience, but pays off with an entertaining run of set-pieces and gags. The impressive award-winning list of new voices from McDormand, Cranston and Chastain are all heavily accented, and realistically could have been played by anyone, perhaps another by-product of the culture of stunt-casting animation. Yet it also ensures that these caricatures are imbued with something more than silly voices, even if the ultimate aim is a few cheap laughs at the expense of the Europeans.

Intriguingly, Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg) is listed as one of the co-writers on the film, although apart from the presence of the always neurotic Stiller, and some politically confusing dialogue about the animals ‘taking back the circus’ (didn’t we all agree that was cruelty?), it is difficult to see any of his trademarks on the series entry. While a spin-off for the series, The Penguins of Madagascar, is set for 2015, this third film proves that there is still plenty of life left in this fun franchise. If nothing else, the infectious Chris Rock-led “Circus Afro” tune will be an mind-battering anthem for the next few months.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is released in Australia on 13 September 2012 from Paramount.

September 9, 2012
Review: Kath and Kimderella

It’s not different, but it is unusual and it might only be fans that fight the first big-screen adventure of the Fountain Lakes ladies ‘noice’. Bruce Munro reports from the Australian premiere.

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Director: Ted Emery

Writer: Gina Riley, Jane Turner

Runtime: 86 minutes

Starring: Jane Turner, Gina Riley, Magda Szubanski, Peter Rowsthorn, Glenn Robbins, Rob Sitch, Richard E. Grant

Distributor: Roadshow Films

Country: Australia

Rating (?): Wait For DVD/Blu-ray (★★½)

More info

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The red carpet was lined with frizzy perms as a stretched pink Hummer pulled up, a pure status symbol no less. As the door rose one could just make out the sheer beauty that was behind the tizzed up glitz and glamour. The Sydney premiere of Kath & Kimderella had taken over Fox(y) Studios. The foxy morons Kath (Jane Turner) and Kim (Gina Riley) were joined by poor Sharon (Magda Szubanski) and purveyor of fine meats Kel (Glenn Robbins) alongside a gaggle of clones.

The highly successful Aussie comedy series Kath & Kim originally grew out of a comedy sketch created by Turner and Riley in Big Girl’s Blouse. Four series and a television movie were to follow spanning from 2002-2007, where we witnessed this suburban family travel through domestic bliss and the key moments in their lives from connubials, childbirth, dieting and woine time to adultery and separations.

Five years on, high maintenance Kath and fashion victim Kim are in a rut with Kel having turned into a boring couch potato and Brett (Peter Rowsthorn) the balding wingnut. Kim dreams of a life fit for a Princess. Dreams come true sooner than expected with Kath winning the trip of a lifetime to the heel of Italy, Papilloma thanks to Terry Paterson Pharmacy. Hornbags Kath and Kim step straight into their Aussie day fairytale, with Sharon coming along for the ride as per usual. This fairytale has the storybook formula with a twist including a romance with a phantom prince, an evil queen, glass (or rather an Ugg) slipper and a fairy god mother thanks to the TAFE course in witchery. Supporting cast include Rob Sitch as King of Papilloma, Richard E. Grant and a cameo from Dame Edna along with other recognisable faces from the series.

The “umour” of the film is a mixture of familiar lines and phrases from the series along with new scenarios and relations brought about by the jet setting adventure. One of the main running comedic themes is based on Sharon who is so unlucky in love and her sexuality. Coincidently snooty homewares assistants Prude and Trude are off to Italy on a “business trip” at the same time as the plotted Royal Wedding. Their broad accents, along with cleverly scripted play on words, present a highly entertaining subplot to the story demonstrating how both Turner and Riley have firmly developed numerous characters throughout the series. The music that plays as soundtrack to their trip is full of “shocking” and classy tracks like Pussycat Dolls “Don’t Cha” and a memorable chamber performance of “My Humps” by Kim herself.

The script is written in such a way that it is not essential to be familiar with the series, covering the history and background of characters. Some of the essence of the series was lost due to how the film was shot for cinema. The magic of the show that comes from the candid nature of the scenes, comic timing of character tension and line delivery along with dramatic narration wasn’t as present here. Even without these elements Kath & Kimderella is still a hilariously fun experience.

Kath & Kimderella is released in Australia on 6 September 2012 from Roadshow Film.

September 6, 2012
Review: Hit and Run

A frenetic retro road movie that makes the most of its unlikely ensemble cast as Dax Shepard lives out his own fantasies on screen.

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Director: David Palmer, Dax Shepard

Writer: Dax Shepard

Runtime: 100 minutes

Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Arnold, Bradley Cooper

Distributor: Pinnacle Films

Country: US

Rating (?): Better Than Average Bear (★★★½)

More info

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Dax Shepard’s self-styled action vehicle is something that we’ve not seen since the heyday of the action road-trips of the 1970s, and while the lead may not be a household name, you wouldn’t know it from watching this throwback to a previously bygone era of action comedies. The star of TV’s Parenthood re-teams with his Brother’s Justice (2010) co-director David Palmer for an interesting hybrid of everything from Burt Reynolds to Quentin Tarantino, literally pouring half of its low-budget into the soundtrack.

Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard) is a former getaway driver who has gone into the witness protection program under the watch of the inept Randy Anderson (Tom Arnold). When his girlfriend Annie Bean (Kristen Bell) is offered a job across the country, he decides to throw caution to the wind to be with the woman he loves. However, her ex Gil Rathbinn (Michael Rosenbaum) is determined to expose whatever secrets ‘Charlie’ is hiding. Enter Bronson’s former partner-in-crime Alex Dimitri (Bradley Cooper), who is just as likely to care for your dog as break your nose.

There is an unmistakable energy to Hit and Run that never loses momentum for a second. For a film that runs on its own fumes, Shepard and company overcome the generic nature of their title to deliver a vehicle-swapping caper that literally runs through the contents of Shepard’s garage. Not content to have his name on the credits as star, writer and co-director, Shepard’s collection of cars – from his classic hot rod Lincoln Continental to the insane off-road racer – are also legitimate stars in this goofy and infectiously fun road flick.

Keeping things light is a genuine ensemble cast, ostensibly led by Shepard, who is in reality under the shadow of his star girlfriend Bell. The duo have an easy chemistry on-screen, giving star performances in a film that only had a budget of $2 million. The real surprise here is Bradley Cooper, a leading man in his own right, happily relegated to the dreadlocked thug with a heart of gold, imbued with a surprising amount of depth but an even better sense of comic timing. Even Tom Arnold, mostly seen in direct-to-video dreck these days, restrains his typically one-note stylings for a caricature that knows just how much of the spotlight he can soak up before handing it back over to the lead.

Essentially one long chase, Shepard and Palmer cleverly keep track of all the loose ends so that the ar chases, kidnapping and gunplay all make sense within this often witty and motor-mouthed script. The bastard redheaded stepchild of Doug Liman’s Go (1999) and Cannonball Run (1981), perhaps put into the foster care of a Death Proof (2007) during its formative years, Hit and Run is a loving tribute to itself – but also a slew of movies that inspired it. Shift yourself into neutral and let the film do the driving, it will be more fun that way.

Hit and Run is released on 6 September 2012 from Pinnacle Films.

September 6, 2012