I'm a little behind because of my hectic schedule but here is my latest addition from my trip to the cinema on Friday the 11th of March.
This little trip found me watching "Rango" again (see previous post), "Battle Los Angeles" and "Drive Angry" (finally).
So "Battle Los Angeles". I kind of had some high expectations when I saw the trailer for this a few months ago. I suppose I could say I was a little disappointed but only slightly and only because I was probably expecting too much.
It's a good film and it's enjoyable, if a little drawn out but it's fairly predictable. It takes an interesting twist on the war movie what with it being a fight against an unknown enemy from another world taking place in LA but it doesn't really get much further than that and eventually you're just watching another war film. It also produces some cliche character introductions with young guy with a pregnant wife and "1 day from retirement" guy both make a showing.
Aaron Eckhart deals with the predictability well and pulls off a safe performance. Topping the rest of the cast but without giving the role more than it needed. As ever, I think that Eckhart is a solid choice with whom you can't go much wrong.
Michelle Rodriquez. I don't know where to start. I just don't like her. She always has the same role. She thinks she's great. She isn't. I'm glad that she only entered in about half way through the story but I'd forgotten about her by that point and when she arrived on screen I was awash with disappointment. She was annoying me within her first 10 seconds on screen. I thought she died at one point but then she got up. I'll stop there. I think I got my point across.
A few words about the camera work. Hand held as you'd expect but maybe a little too shaky. Sure, it's a warzone and a shaky hand held camera certainly adds that sense of realism but a couple of shots were just unpleasant. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil the story but there's an over head shot which seems really unnecesary and unprofessional and a later shot which is just a bit all over the place and a bit disorientating.
All in all, a decent watch but only a little above average. I'm going to give it a 3/5.
I'd also like to compare it to another couple of alien invasion movies from the last 6 months or so. "Monsters" and "Skyline". "Battle Los Angeles" sits comfortably inbetween these two films.
"Monsters" is up top with a story that's original and interesting throughout, only being boosted by the impressive story of its creation.
"Battle Los Angeles" is in second place with an original idea that's executed with a fairly unoriginal story.
"Skyline" is down in 8th place (I dropped it down a few places because its just that bad). Not one likeable character. Uninteresting, predictable(and more so that "BLA")... Just plain crap. And with aliens invading every major city in the world to steal people's brains, two questions need to be asked: First of all, what the fuck do they want with the brains of people from LA? Fair enough, they're getting everyone else's brain but surely they'd leave certain places alone because... what's the point? Which brings me to my next question: If you're going to make a film about aliens who are stealing the brains of people from the entire world, why tell the story of a bunch of douche bags from California? Surely there are more interesting and likeable people in the world?
Anyway, I think that's enough ranting. On to "Drive Angry".
I have to say. I loved it. I expected to because it looks pretty stupid and it has Nic Cage in it but it was even better than I expected.
I do have to mention though, that the 3D effects, though well executed were still incredibly irritating and unnecessary. My tally chart tells me that I noticed thirteen instances of shit flying at the screen which is ridiculous. It didn't even need it. There are films that are shit and have shit 3D throughout. These films may need this nonsense to justify such a ridiculous gimmick. I really don't think this film did. Though I hate 3D and wish it a quick and violent death, I thought the 3D in this film was decent enough for it to not need crap flying at the screen to remind you that there's a reason you have some stupid glasses on your face. I was pleased to see that the title at the beginning of the film did not have "3D" present. That shit is stupid.
So, the actual film. It's funny, it's uncompromising and it gets pretty brutal at times. I actually didn't realise that it was an 18 until I got ID'd when buying a ticket. I didn't have my ID but when I told the lady that I'm 23 she just laughed and gave me my ticket. I'm glad the cinema isn't as strict as the supermarket.
Amber Heard wasn't nearly as annoying as she very easily could have been in her supporting role. In fact, she was actually quite likeable(and not just because she's fit and wearing hot pants).
Both Nic Cage and William Fichtner both nailed bad ass motherfucker as well as expected and, again were both very likeable.
I think what's happened here is that a film has been made that knows that it's daft and has not only managed to pull of pure badassery but has excelled in it whereas a lot of films will perhaps try to forget that they're daft and in doing so look more daft and fail at whatever else they're trying to accomplish.
The only real disappointment that I want to mention is the end. There's a bit of an anti-climax which I think we can blame the 3D for to an extent. Some sketchy looking CGI kind of kills the moment. It might not have been much better in 2D but I think it would have been a little less disappointing.
I don't know what else to say. If you had some doubts about this film but still couldn't decide whether to give it a go or not, go see it before it's too late. Paying extra for unwanted 3D is lame but in this case it's acceptable.
I'm going to give it a 3.5/5. It's awesome but I'm afraid denominations have to be made for the fact that it's in 3D and the anti-climax. Still very much worth watching.
A couple of trailers worth mentioning:
"A Turtles Tale": I caught this just before "Rango" started and I was a little offended. The whole thing was appauling. It was emotionless, the music was just lame and the film just looks like an even crappier "Finding Nemo".
"Tomorrow: When the War Began": Started out pretty lame, then it went all "Red Dawn" but shit. So some army invades Australia and some kids who are hiking decide to take them on. Frankly, it looks shit.
"Scream 4": I don't know where to start. I used to think "Scream" was good when I was in high school but it isn't. I know it's a big joke about horror films but it doesn't really come across in my opinion and, going off the trailer, "Scream 4" just looks as if it's going to be taking that to a whole new level, trying even harder to be funny and failing even harder still. A pointless reboot of something that shouldn't have been a saga and that was never really all that good.
So, that's it for now. Until next time..
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