Attack the Block

PLOT(spoiler alert!!!):

While returning home, nurse Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is mugged in Kennington by a gang of teenagers: Pest (Alex Esmail), Dennis (Franz Drameh), Jerome (Leeon Jones), Biggz (Simon Howard), and leader Moses (John Boyega). The attack is interrupted when an object falls from the sky into a nearby car, giving Sam the chance to escape. Moses takes advantage of the situation to search the car for valuables but is attacked by a small creature; the object which fell from the sky. Together, the gang manages to kill the creature. Hoping to gain fame and profit they take it to drug dealer Ron (Nick Frost) to gain advice.

Moses asks Ron’s boss, Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter), for permission to keep the creature in their fortified “weed room” while he decides how to proceed. More objects begin to fall from the sky. Eager to fight more of the creatures, the gang arm themselves and go to the nearest crash site. They find the new aliens to be much larger, bearing huge claws and multiple rows of luminescent fangs. While running from the aliens, the gang are intercepted by the police and Moses is arrested, identified as a mugger by Sam who is accompanying the police. The aliens kill the police and attack the van, leaving Sam and Moses trapped inside. Dennis manages to reach the vehicle and drive the van away. While fleeing, Dennis crashes the van into Hi-Hatz’s car. Sam runs away while the rest of Moses’ gang catch up and they confront Hi-Hatz. Enraged about his car, Hi-Hatz threatens them with a gun, refusing to believe their story of aliens. However, his henchman is suddenly attacked by one, distracting Hi-Hatz and allowing the gang to escape.

The gang attempts to flee to the Block, their apartment building, but are attacked by the aliens, forcing Biggz to hide in a rubbish container and resulting in Pest’s leg being mauled. While carrying Pest into the building they see Sam and discover she lives there. They force their way into her home and convince her to treat Pest’s leg. An alien bursts into her home and Moses manages to kill it. Sam reasons it is safer to stay with the gang than on her own and joins them. The gang move to the apartment of neighbourhood girls believing their security gate will keep them safe. There, the aliens instead attack from outside, smashing through the window and killing Dennis. As one alien is about to kill Moses, Sam manages to stab it through the head, saving him.

The girls note that the aliens were coming straight for Moses and kick the gang out, believing them to be the focus of the creatures. Outside the apartment they are attacked by Hi-Hatz and more henchmen. The gang manages to escape while an alien pursues Hi-Hatz and his henchmen into an elevator. Hi-Hatz manages to kill the alien, though his henchmen perish, and continues his search for Moses. Attempting to make their way to Ron’s weed room, the gang again encounter aliens. They use fireworks as distractions to get by but Jerome becomes lost in the smoke and is killed by an alien. Entering Ron’s apartment they find that Hi-Hatz is already there. Hi-Hatz prepares to shoot Moses but hordes of aliens smash through the window and kill him. Moses, Pest and Sam, joined by Ron’s weed customer Brewis (Luke Treadaway), retreat into the weed room while Ron hides in the apartment.

Biggz, still trapped in the bin by an awaiting alien, is saved by Probs and Mayhem, two children, using a water-gun filled with petrol and a flame to torch the creature. In the weed room, Brewis notices a luminescent liquid on Moses’ jacket under the ultraviolet light. Brewis theorizes that the alien Moses killed was a female, and left a pheromone on him that the aliens have been tracking. The gang form a plan for Sam, who has not been stained with the pheromone, to go to Moses apartment and turn on the gas oven. Before she leaves, Moses forces Pest to return the ring they stole from her, feeling guilty for having mugged her. Sam successfully avoids the aliens, turns on the gas and leaves the Block. Moses, with the dead female alien strapped to his back, rushes out of the weed room and into his apartment. There he throws the female into the kitchen and the males follow. Using a firework, Moses ignites the gas-filled room and leaps out of the window. The explosion destroys the aliens.

Moses is shown to have survived, clinging to a flag from the side of the building. In the aftermath, Moses, Pest, Brewis and Ron are arrested, considered responsible for the deaths around the Block including the two policemen that had earlier arrested Moses. In the back of the police van, Moses and Pest hear the residents of the Block cheering for Moses, causing Moses to smile.

REVIEW:

I was hearing lots of hype and praise for Attack the Block. Some people were hailing it as the year’s greatest alien picture. That said, I didn’t see what was so great about it.

I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for this film or perhaps I just didn’t get it, but this just seemed to be a bunch of kids running around mugging people until aliens suddenly start to invade. It really leads you to think that maybe the filmmakers were promoting thuggery and such.

This is a sci-fi flick and as such, I should mention the aliens. For the most part, these things seemed to be black beasts with glow in the dark mouths. I’m not sure if that was by design or rather a matter of economics, since it appears as if this wasn’t exactly the biggest budget film to ever be made. The effects, though, actually work, and don’t necessarily look cheap.

The cast, however, seems as if they were pulled off the street and stuck in a movie. Normally, I would say this is a bad thing, but given the fact that they are supposed to be street tough, it makes sense. I just wish they were better actors, with the exception of Jodie Whittaker, who was spectacular.

In the end, Attack the Block suffers from that independent film disease that many films seem to suffer from. I cannot say that I enjoyed this picture, because I didn’t, but at the same time, I didn’t hate it either. I’m just rather indifferent to it. Chances are I’ll have forgotten about it in the next 30 minutes, if not before. I’m sure if you decide to check it out, you’ll feel the same way.

3 out of 5 stars

Griff the Invisible

PLOT:

The story is about Griff (Ryan Kwanten) a socially awkward office worker who spends his days being bullied by his workmates. At night he is Griff the Invisible, a superhero who roams the streets of his local neighbourhood, protecting the innocent. Griff has his world turned upside down when he meets Melody (Maeve Dermody), the beautiful young daughter of a hardware store owner, who shares his passion for the impossible.

REVIEW:

Last week, I watched Super, a film about a common guy who wanted to become a superhero and protect people, more or less. Griff the Invisible is another in the ever-growing line of superhero flicks featuring the everyman.

I was not particularly impressed with this picture. There was just something that didn’t quite catch my attention. Perhaps it was the attempt to be cutting edge independent something or other, but all this picture came off as was boring and pretentious.

Yes, I would like to say that there was something, anything worth commenting on, but the fact of the matter is that while this is far from being the worse picture ever made, there just isn’t anything worth mentioning. It is about as bland as can bland can be.

The cast is ok, but nothing special. I’m mostly disappointed in Ryan Kwanten, who most people know from his role as Jason on True Blood. The guy has some real acting chops, but he doesn’t get the chance to really show them here. Instead he is held back by either this character or the script. I’m not sure which.

Lastly, the story has potential, but it very confusing. We never really figure out if Griff has any powers, or if it is in his head. Also, we never quite get the idea what is so special about his lady friend. Sure, we find out at the end about all of this stuff, but the way it is handled still leaves you scratching your head.

My final verdict on Griff the Invisible is that it is nothing more than an average film reflective of the average character that it is named after. Do I recommend it? No, not really, unless you have a taste for extremely boring films. If you have a desire to watch a film about your average Joe becoming a superhero, then go watch Super, Kick-Ass, or one of the other films in this genre.

3 out of 5 stars

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) is investigating a seemingly unrelated series of crimes around Europe, believing them all connected to Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), a criminal mastermind just as smart as Holmes. After Moriarty arranges for another assassination, he poisons Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), as her feelings for Holmes have compromised her usefulness. Meanwhile, Holmes takes Dr. Watson (Jude Law) out with his brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry) for his stag party, and saves another intended victim of Moriarty’s, a fortune telling gypsy named Sim (Noomi Rapace). Holmes meets with Moriarty, who warns Holmes that if he persists in investigating him, Watson will become a target. Holmes stows away on the train taking Watson and his new wife Mary (Kelly Reilly) to their honeymoon destination, knocking Mary off the train to the safe hands of Mycroft while he and Watson battle Moriarty’s men. When the duo arrive in France, Holmes tells Sim that Moriarty targeted her due to her brother Rene’s work with him, and she was a loose end.

In Paris, Holmes, Watson, and Sim go to the opera where they believe Moriarty will strike, but Holmes realizes too late that Moriarty has deceived him; a hotel is blown up instead. As Holmes looks over the bodies, he realizes the bomb was a cover for a gunman of Moriarty’s, Colonel Sebastian Moran (Paul Anderson), to shoot a specific guest at the party. Tracking the man’s ownership of an arms factory in Germany which has recently had a large number of shares bought by Moriarty, Holmes and Watson investigate, but Holmes is captured. Moriarty reveals he owns shares in companies across Europe in cotton, guns and other goods, and plans to start a war that will create a large demand for them and make him a fortune. Watson rescues Holmes and the two escape the factory on a passing train. Holmes surmises Moriarty’s next target is a peace summit, where he will create an incident between world leaders to spark war.

At the summit with Mycroft, Holmes deduces that a set of twins working for Moriarty are not actually twins, and was an experiment to give a man the face of another. Realizing that Rene has been made to look like one of the party guests and will act on Moriarty’s behalf, Watson and Sim find out which guest he is while Holmes invites Moriarty to a game of chess on a balcony over a waterfall. Watson and Sim successfully stop Rene, but he is killed by Moran. Meanwhile, Holmes reveals to Moriarty that in Germany he stole an account book tracing all of Moriarty’s assets, the only piece of evidence linking him to his deeds, and Mary has taken it back to London, where Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) is confiscating them. Holmes and Moriarty mentally plan a battle and both realize Holmes will lose; with no other option, Holmes blows soot from his pipe in Moriarty’s eyes, distracting him so Holmes can grab him and knock both of them off the balcony and into the waterfall. Some time later, Watson and Mary prepare to go on another honeymoon while Watson finishes writing of his last case with Holmes. A delivery of Mycroft’s oxygen breathing device alerts Watson that Holmes survived, and he runs to question Mary about the delivery while Holmes reveals himself concealed in Watson’s room, rushes to the typewriter and adds a “?” after the words “The End”.

REVIEW:

When the first Sherlock Holmes was released a couple of year ago, many people found it to be fresh, but unmemorable. I can’t say that I disagreed with them. I like the film, but if you were to ask to me tell you something that etched a place in my memory, I just don’t have anything for you.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows unfortunately follows the same path, except for the test of intellect between Holmes and Moriarty really makes this film memorable, even more so than the numerous explosions and slow motion action scenes.

Let me start with those, as a matter of fact. In the first film, this tactic was used to more or less let the audience know how Holmes saw things, and in this one it is pretty much the same, but it seems as if we get more of it here, ad nauseam at times. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I fear that this may be the next step in bullet time. Heaven help us all!

I love explosions as much as the next red blooded male, but something about this time period and big explosions doesn’t mix, if you know what I mean. It is perfectly fine to blow up Chicago like they did in Transformers: Dark of the Moon because that was modern day, but to have these random dynamite infused destruction scenes just didn’t work. At the same time, though, they really helped move the film along, I will say that. I dread to know what this would have been like without them.

Now, anyone who knows anything about Sherlock Holmes will tell you that he is archenemies with Prof. Moriarty. This is one of the biggest criticisms of the first film; the fact that he only made a faceless cameo at film’s end leading to the possibility of a sequel. In retrospect, it produced this film, yes, but there was no guarantee that would have happened. If they wanted to hold him off, that’s fine, but they still could have had him pulling the strings.  That being said, not using the Joker worked in this current Batman trilogy, so there you go.

The battle of wits between these two genius mountebanks is something to behold, let me tell you, especially their final confrontation. In many films, the hero and the villain meet in a final battle and it ends up in fist to cuffs, gunplay, or something else. With Holmes and Moriarty, we get that, but not until after a game of chess and their attempts to prove that they have one-upped each other the whole time.

Storywise, I enjoyed every minute. The film moves along at a decent pace and doesn’t drag down, except for the lull in the middle before the climax that all film’s have. Are there things that I would change? Sure, but can’t we say that about any and every film we’ve seen in our lives? This is no exception, really.

I do think that the early demise of Rachael McAdams could have either been left out or told through flashback, but at the same time, it served to set up the story, so I’m torn.

There seems to be a lot more comedy in this one, which I particularly like, but I’m sure there are those that felt this should have been left out. Did it go overboard? Eh…I won’t say that, but I can see how some would see it that way. For me, it was the right mix, and besides, it wasn’t like it was Moriarty cracking the jokes and whatnot.

Downey and Law reprise their roles beautifully and their chemistry is sharper than it was in the first film.

Jared Harris brings the complex, brilliant Morairty to life masterfully. Does anyone else think this guy looks like an older version of Conan O’Brien in some ways?

Stephen Fry is a welcome addition as Mycroft Holmes, a character that I didn’t know even existed until I just looked him up. If we get a third film, hopefully we’ll get more of him.

Finally, with the demise of Rachael McAdams’ character, we need new eye candy, and we get that in the form of the gypsy Sim, played by Noomi Rapace. There really isn’t much to say about her, as she doesn’t do much, even though she comes in with a bang. I liken her character to Gambit from X-Men Origins: Wolverine in that she comes is a bona fide badass and then more or less disappears for a good chunk of the movie until near the end.

So, what did I ultimately think of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows? Well, it is an improvement over the first film, but not by much. That isn’t to say either are bad films. It is like if you lose 1 lb. You may go bragging about it, but the only one that will really realize it, even though everyone may be happy for you, is yourself. That being said, this is a good action flick with hints of comedy and romance thrown in to make the perfect December flick. I highly recommend you go rush and see it!

4 out of 5 stars