Review: Fury

It is not often we see war films being made.
The latest releases that can I think off the top of my head are War Horse and Defiance. So I am not sure if this is a treat or something that will not conjure up any surprises.

Before going into the screening, I was quite excited after the decent buzz it got from the London festival, and from war veterans. I also enjoyed the tense trailer and that Brad Pitt was the leading the way and his back catalog in performances and film choices is pretty consistent.

I was amazed at the attention to detail director David Ayers gave to this film. For example, he used actual tanks from World War II, borrowed them from the museum and did some heavy research into the behavior of the soldiers back then which I think is the perfect homage for our war veterans which seems to have won them over.
It is beautifully shot and the tank-on-tank action is quite impressive and should be seen on the big screen. However, as for the script that is where the film slowly moves down to a good rather than great film. There were some great moments, but not enough to credit the script. It just felt a bit too basic and did not give enough depth. Another negative was that it was too long. There is one scene I can see a lot of people losing patience and I think that part could have easily been cut out. Once that is done, you then have a nice duration for a film like this.

As for the performances, they were vital in this film and thankfully they all played their part to make this film a great watch. Brad Pitt's character was powerful, intriguing and very inspirational.  Logan Lerman play his character to how it should be and shone brighter the longer the film went. One performance that deserves a mention is Shia LeBouf. After being heavily criticised for years in the Transformers franchise, I think LeBouf delivered and will get the praise that he rightfully deserves.

I think that it should have been better, but I still enjoyed it. The main reason for it not meeting my expectations was the lack of depth I felt it had. Also the pace of the film seem to stall far too many times.
But thankfully, the surface was great, the set-pieces were gripping and the action would easily match the best ever in the war genre. The performances were great, they held the movie together to make enjoyable viewing and you can easily engage with them. You can see the hard work put into this film which I think a lot will respect, but I did not think it was enough to be considered as one of this years greats. I would still recommend it though.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Maze Runner

Best-selling novels that have a big following that mainly consist of teenage girls seem to be a big market for the film industry in the last few years.
From Twilight and The Hunger Games, to more recent features like Ender's Game, Divergent and The Giver. We now have the first of a trilogy of post-apocalyptic stories.

Weirdly, the director chosen for this potentially successful trilogy was given to Wes Ball, a heavily inexperienced director. It is a pretty big risk for a major movie studio (20th Century Fox), but with the cast nearly consisting entirely of teenagers and young adults, this looks to be a mass learning curve for everyone involved.

For a first big feature, I felt it was a pretty solid start to his and many others careers. Throughout, I could see the potential in this till the very end. But I do not think the ideas were to put to best use and the constant flaws and general flimsiness of it all made it o.k viewing.
I do not usually unravel films as much as this, but a lot of it was so obvious that it made me question the source material.

So I think for what Ball has been given, I felt he did a solid job. The performances were perfectly fine with a few minor stand-outs and the action shots had reasonable amounts of tension.
The ending felt really tense. But as I was leaving the cinema, I was gradually picking it apart until it eventually became a big mess on the ground. It was a huge shame as at first I quite enjoyed the ending. I was enjoying the ideas, but when I was breaking it apart, it just did not make sense and felt that it just did not make sense anymore.

A lot of actors lead by Dylan O'Brien did a decent job. Blake Cooper and Thomas Brodie-Sangster did good jobs in giving us characters we can care about. As for Kaya Scodelario, she either felt totally mis-castor her character is actually not that pleasant. I guess I will have to wait to see the development of her character in the next installment as I am not a book person.
The big standout performance has to be Will Poulter. His performances in Son Of Rambow and The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Drawn Treader showed everyone his potential. Thankfully he has bucked the tread of many child actors to become a proven young adult actor. You can see the experience and talent in him and the casting choice was perfect as it seems the character was a very interesting one.

After an exciting opening, the rest of the film had an o.k paced to it and then a heavily flawed remainder. Also, there were a serious of moments during the film made the ending not as surprising which I think was a schoolboy error by the director. But I think the problem is with the flimsy source material rather than the directing skills.
I think Ball will get a nice amount of box-office takings, but I am afraid I will not be buying this when it is out on DVD.
Once you think about it, it is really not that compelling. This sort of idea has been much better in books and films decades before this was made. Nevertheless, I will be interested to see the sequel.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Gone Girl

When you think of a David Fincher film, you think of tense viewing, thrilling pace, interesting characters and never afraid to go over the edge.

Like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Fincher has decided to try his hand at another critically acclaimed novel.

In this one, we are dealing with another crime thriller. However, it sees a couple on the verge of another wedding anniversary, but the sudden disappearance of the wife makes their local town become the talk of the nation. As the story goes on, the spotlight is turned to the husband. From then on, we get such a thrill ride that was made for Fincher.

For the first third of the film, you seem relaxed in your seat watching a solidly paced feature. But as the town suddenly start turning on its sympathetic characters, you are on the edge of your seat, gritting your teeth and peaking through the spaces between your fingers.
Despite the generally poor final scene, you still feel exhausted and leave the cinema feeling highly satisfied and entertained.

Fincher's films always bring out memorable performances and the stars of the show certainly deliver. Ben Affleck plays his role well and we certainly feel for him. But his role only works with the truly unforgettable character played by Rosamund Pike. For most of her career, I have had Pike a solid actress in British films, but never delivers in the big blockbusters. However, we finally have the exception and it should get her quite a lot of major award nominations.
She plays with the audiences mind so beautifully. We have polarizing feelings for her character throughout the film, and that is a quality few can create. It is certainly a career best performance.

For the minor characters, there are some great contributions that further cements my approval of how enjoyable this film is. The most notable performances come from Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick-Harris.

With Perry being known for dressing up in ridiculously stereotypical films that are just terrible, his role with Fincher certainly steals a few scenes. Every time he comes on screen, anything he says constantly surprises you with your emotions.
A bit like Perry, Harris is well-known for being in comedies, but with better class than Perry's. In this, we see a much creepier side to Harris' acting that was both pleasing and refreshing to see.

Another part of the film that you can see Fincher's hands all over is the cinematography and look of the film. The choice of dark colors and grungy look gives it the right tone that Fincher excels in.
Also the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose really gives it that tense viewing like they did with The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

All in all, Fincher has delivered in a big way that has put him in contention for more awards nominations. He gives us a crime thriller that leads you into a false sense of security and turns into a dark, twisted and slightly satirical look at marriage in suburbia and how the media cover stories involving missing people.
It is a shame that the ending is very abrupt. But with everything you saw before it, you feel like you can let that go and just praise it.
There is also a great vintage feel to the story that we do not see that often. This deserves to be noticed, especially for Fincher's direction and Pike's jaw-dropping performance.

Rating: 9/10