Review: The Gift

This is not my usual film to go and see at the cinema. But the people involved and the trailer intriguing me, that was enough for me to go and see a horror film on the big screen.

The reason that I don't go and see many horror films, is not because I am a big wimp. It is because we have rarely had a successful film from this genre in the last decade or so.

But despite being billed as a horror, it is actually more of a classic thriller. This is one of the few genres that should be done a lot more often.
Thankfully, one director Dennis Villeneuve seems to be the modern thriller director of our time after making Prisoners.

With The Gift, we have Joel Edgerton running the show in his directorial debut. With many people associating him with his acting and notable performances in Warrior, The Great Gatsby and Zero Dark Thirty, I can confidently say that Edgerton has given us a thriller that can get us talking about it long after seeing it. Even with it's stylistic cinematography and wonderfully paced story, this is one film that does make you think about your own history.
The film's story examines something that I think we can all relate to and that will make this gripping viewing for everyone.

The performances are strong, particularly from Jason Bateman who is in a rare serious role. I remember seeing him in Disconnect and he seems more comfortable in drama than comedy in my opinion.
Bateman has great moments throughout and is a wonderful choice to lead this film. Rebecca Hall as the leading female does some good work and has a believable on-screen relationship with Bateman.

Edgerton is cast in his own film in the main supporting role. It looked quite a challenging one. However, Edgerton's approach managed to give us such an intriguing and unpredictable character. You really struggle to see what is wrong with his character, which makes him essential viewing anytime he appears on the screen.

The tension is really well judged. There are a couple of big 'jump out of your seat' moments, and the Hitchcockian style soundtrack really amplified these particular moments.

Unlike most big studio thrillers, the pace never really has any explosive moments. Where something you think would not happen, does, and there are some great twists. I thought I had the finale of this film sorted, but it went somewhere I did not think it would go to.

Edgerton's craft is very impressive to watch for a debut. As director, writer, co-producer and actor, The Gift really shows of all his talents in every department.
He has created a thrilling modern suspense that had constantly nervous, fearful for the leading characters and was never bored
With the cinematography almost looking a Fincher feature, there is a certain eeriness that seems understated, and the surprise moments really sneak up on you.

There is a lot to like about this. If it was done by anyone else, this would still be a solid job. But as it is a directorial debut, I think extra Brownie points are to be given.
It is very well made with a lot of realness that toys with your emotions. It is consistent in its tone, theme and pace.
I am now really excited for anything else Edgerton is involved in as director, producer or writer. He has proved himself and have more success behind the camera then in front of it.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Fantastic Four

Despite all this success that Marvel has created, there are still some stinkers from the past that many have tried to erase from their memories.

From Elektra, to Ghost Rider, Marvel has had a fair few errors before finding that winning recipe.

With Marvel not owning all of the source material (yet)`, Fox still have the rights to Marvel's oldest set of superheroes.

The Fantastic Four is cemented in many people's minds as one of the most popular superhero teams.

Sadly in the filming world, there has been little to shout about for this quartet. 2005 saw the first of two installments released. It was not totally terrible, but it was definitely not that good.
Two years and not even it's sequel The Rise Of The Silver Surfer could give the franchise it's redemption. Despite a pretty cool pursuit scene with Silver Surfer and the Human Torch, they still did not learn from their mistakes.

With a childish tone, pantomime villains, weak story and nowhere near enough action to make it exciting, we are still waiting for the film this story deserves. At best it was serviceable and the only silver lining for me was Chris Evans' wonderfully arrogant performance as John Storm a.k.a The Human Torch. That performance for me helped Evans get his iconic role as Captain America.

With this new release, will we finally get what we have been waiting for? Or will it be third strike and it might give Marvel Studios the chance to finally get their hands on the rights?

Well, I went in with low expectations, and luckily I managed to see some good in a film that truthfully is another disappointment.
It is definitely another failure, but this one definitely had an interesting idea that was not fully grasped.

Director Josh Trank (known for making Chronicle) puts a darker spin on this origins story and bringing a grittier plot that every studio seems to want these days.
You can see their efforts to try and make this a worthy feature. But they will never succeed as the execution, directing and writing massively let itself done.
Not even the talented cast of Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell and Toby Kebbell could save the day.

Despite moments of potential, this is slow and amazingly quite boring considering it is a superhero film. There is not much action to speak of which I feel will anger a lot of the mainstream audience. The interaction between the characters is probably its lowest point as the script just felt awful. It never gave us any interesting moments, and with no action to please our eyes, there is very little to enjoy about this.

The cast did the best with what they were given. So thankfully, there was definitely nothing bad about the acting.
The visual effects were not impressive, but perfectly fine. I liked the design of Bell's character when he turned into Thing. Jordan's character when turned into the Human Torch actually looked quite scary at times. Kebbell's introduction as Doom took quite a graphic turn in the film which amazed me that this film stayed at a 12. Another part of the film that shocked me to keep the certificate being a 15 was the amount of swearing involved. This is definitely a high-end 12 at least.
And finally, the most interesting thing about it was the tone. With the use of super-powers being seen as a drawback initially felt realistic and refreshing. But as the film went on, I could see they lost faith in that idea.

Some people could see this as superhero fatigue. But I'm afraid that does not excuse the flaws in its narrative, little character development and slow pace.
It is a difficult film to care about anyone, and that will lose the majority of your audience. With a fourth failure now confirmed, it will be tough to attract people to see another installment.
My only positive is that the negatives are not terribly bad, just not that good. There is enough to make it ok viewing. But when it has enough interesting source material to work with, you have to mark it down.

I really hope this is when Fox suddenly realise that they just cannot make a good Fantastic Four film. I hope they look at what Sony have done with Spider-Man and let Marvel take rightful control.

Seeing this really made me want to watch the Fantastic Four film, because I forgot how funny Chris Evan's performance was as The Human Torch. However, the best Fantastic Four film is still The Incredibles.

Rating: 6/10