This time, I am giving my thoughts on the films I’ve seen recently, at the end of a busy summer.
REVIVING OLD TV SERIES
Mission: Impossible and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. were contemporaneous TV series, both starting in the mid 60s, though the former ran for much longer. I have fond memories of the re-runs of both series – and in particular the U.N.C.L.E. spin-off movies – from my youth. Mission: Impossible is an already established film franchise, with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation being the fifth instalment. This time, Tom Cruise back as Ethan Hunt, and his colleagues at the IMF are pitted against The Syndicate, an International organisation hell-bent on destroying the IMF.
Whilst it doesn’t quite match the previous outing, Ghost Protocol – the best in the series to date – it is still everything you want in an action film. The memorable action sequences include a slow building but tense assassination attempt at an opera, an underwater race against time, and nerve-shredding motorbike chase. As well as being well executed, they are also very different from each other, a lesson that the makers of the Mad Max movies need to learn! It also has a memorable villain in Sean Harris’ Solomon Lane. Cruise is also ably supported by both the regulars – Jeremy Renner (though he is a little underused), Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg – and in particular Rebecca Ferguson as British agent Ilsa Faust.
A new movie version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has been mooted for nearly as long as the Mission: Impossible franchise has been running! Numerous stars and directors have been attached to it over the years, and it has finally surfaced this summer, directed by Guy Ritchie, with Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo and Arnie Hammer as Ilya Kuryakin. It gets off to a promising start with an amusing and well-staged car chase scene in East Berlin, and it is pleasing it has been set in the same time period as the TV series, as it probably wouldn’t work at all if set in the modern-day. Other than that the film turned out to be a huge disappointment. The biggest issue is that both leads are incredibly wooden.
Cavill has a physical resemblance to White Collar star Matt Bomer, and I couldn’t help thinking throughout how much better he would have been in the part, being able to bring the necessary charm to the role. The plot gets bogged down during the middle section and wasn’t even redeemed by the final action sequences that were bungled by Ritchie, as they were rushed and lacking in any tension. Ritchie’s annoying visual ticks, such as unnecessary flashbacks to earlier scenes in the film, appear in particular towards the end of the film. There are some decent supporting performances from Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki and a scene stealing Hugh Grant, but none of them can save this bore of a film.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation: 8 out of 10
The Man from U.N.C.L.E: 4 out of 10
MODERN COMEDIES
I may be on my own, but I think that the quality of comedies coming out of Hollywood is improving. The number of pure gross-out movies seem to be reducing and the sort of comedies that were popular in the 80s and 90s seem to be making a comeback. The unfairly maligned Hot Pursuit, has a distinctly 80s feel to it. Reese Witherspoon plays a cop (Cooper) trying to protect gangsters widow Daniella Riva (Sofia Vergera) as they drive to a trial in Dallas. Both leads are good value, and there are a few hilarious sequences – particularly Cooper’s reaction to accidentally taking cocaine and the pair avoiding their pursuers inside a deer skin. A running gag about Witherspoon’s height and Vergera’s age works really well too. As is usual with films of this type, the last act becomes too concerned with the plot and the gags reduce, but this is an easy-going and fun movie.
The original adventures of the Griswold family are mostly fondly remembered, and I was wary of the attempt to reboot the franchise with Vacation. Whilst Ed Helms is no Chevy Chase, the excellent Christina Applegate is an improvement on the bland Beverly D’Angelo and the rest of the cast are also very good. The in jokes referring to the original films are well done and not over used, just the right amount of gags are re-used, the new ones mostly hit the mark and Chase provides a funny cameo. I hope that the family’s adventures will continue into Europe.
Of the more modern fayre, there was one particular highlight in August. Mistress America, the second film this year from the hit and miss Noah Baumbach, is a perceptive and funny movie. Lola Kirke turns in an excellent performance as Tracy, a college student newly arrived in New York who befriends the older Brooke (Greta Gerwig) as their parents are soon to be married. Baumbach manages to pull off a typical tacky New York based comedy in the first half of the film and more surprisingly a farce / screwball sequence that takes up most of the second part of it.
American Ultra suffers from a common problem for modern comedies, in that many of the best bits are shown in the trailer, which also suggests that it was going to be more of an all out comedy than the action heavy film that it actually is. It is kept afloat by the performances of the two leads, Jesse Eisenberg (Mike) and Kristen Stewart (Phoebe) as the stoner couple who have an unexpected background involving the CIA. I also enjoyed Arrested Development’s Tony Hale in a minor role.
Not faring so well currently are British comedies. Absolutely Anything had lots of potential, an impressive cast – Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, the Monty Python team and an underused Alexa Davies – and a good premise of a man being given the powers to be able to anything. However, it was hugely disappointing. Only 2 or 3 gags worked, Robin Williams’ voicing of Pegg’s dog (his final credit) was irritating and although only 85 minutes, the film really dragged.
Gemma Bovery is a French – British co production about the titular heroine (Gemma Arterton) moving from London to Normandy with her husband Charles. Their neighbour Martin, soon realises that Gemma not only has a name similar to Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovery but her life seems to be following the same path. The film tries to be too clever for its own good and it suffers from changes in tone and an unsympathetic lead character. Fabrice Luchini is very good as Martin, but there is little else to recommend other than the glorious scenery.
Hot Pursuit: 6.5 out of 10
Vacation: 7.5 out of 10
American Ultra: 6.5 out of 10
Mistress America: 8.5 out of 10
Absolutely Anything: 4 out of 10
Gemma Bovery: 5 out of 10
THE WORD OF MOUTH SUCCESS
he Gift is an effective suspense tale from first time director Joel Edgerton. It made a brief appearance at my local Cineworld, before being taken off and then brought back again, presumably due to public demand. Jason Bateman, in a rare break from comedy roles, plays Simon who moves to Los Angeles with his wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall). They meet Gordo, an old schoolmate of Simon’s (played by Edgerton) who befriends them, and events start to take a sinister turn. Well made and acted, it would have rated higher if a number of major plot points were not given away in the trailer, including a clip from a key scene from the climax of the movie!
The Gift: 7 out of 10