Everything one would expect from a comedy with the same 'A-level results are in so the kids will want to go out and celebrate and/or commiserate quick let's make a cheap thing from off of the telly' release-window as The Inbetweeners…
…and which wants to let you know it's from the producers of The Inbetweeners…
For the record, I enjoyed The Inbetweeners. When it was in its natural habitat of television. The Festival is essentially an hour and a half of exaggerated embarrassment and one-note dick jokes, some of which *do* work but only due to a combination of volume, frequency and the law of averages. The best part of this is probably Noel Fielding and the whole DJ Hammerhead sequence at the end, but even by the 80 minute mark the film hasn't earned it.
By no means the best comedy I've seen this year, but frankly not the worst either…
It's like being trapped in a lift with the commissioning editor for comedy programmes on BBC3 while they recount all the ideas they didn't let through…
Wait until it's on telly.
It's not.
That's possible.
There isn't.
Level 2: Nick Frost and Tony Way are in this, both of whom were in Spaced with Simon 'Plutt' Pegg.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
Moana (3D)
Cert: PG / 113 mins / Dir. Ron Clements & John Musker / Trailer
If I had a time-machine, I think I'd go back to 2002 and wait outside the busiest cinemas to comfort audiences leaving The Scorpion King. "Listen," I'd say to them. "I'm from the future, and I'm here to tell you that everything's going to be alright. Well, not the economy, politics, society at large or the permanent incandescence of opinions on the internet. But Dwayne Johnson, that's going to be fine. Yes, I'm fully aware of what you've just watched, but rest assured that a day will come when his name in the credits of a film will make you smile. I mean not in Hercules, obviously, and you might want to avoid the Doom and G.I. Joe movies on general principal. But have faith and patience, and you will learn that The Rock has a natural comic-timing, even when he's in a relatively 'straight' role. Look, just wait fourteen years before you see him animated in another fantasy movie, okay? Well, he does a Disney musical and he sings in it, and it's great… no, I am not on meth, I have a time machine. No, really! Okay, suit yourself, guys. Yeah, enjoy San Andreas…"
Which is largely why I should not be allowed a time-machine. Anyway…
Dwayne Johnson is the best thing in this movie. And it's a very good movie. Structurally, along the lines of Disney's 90s-era, with the eponymous Polynesian chieftain's daughter (ie Princess™) being set on a quest which takes her far from the insular island that's been her childhood home. Quickly learning that she is the chosen-one, she's taken from the overbearing protection of her father and warm mentorship of her grandmother, through a series of challenges and obstacles with a useful sidekick and a magical artefact, towards a climactic showdown in which she can only triumph by being herself, rather than applying brute-force. This is The Hero's Journey. The real tale as old as time, and one which never tires of being told.
From an animation point of view, the film looks absolutely flawless as you'd expect, even if the character design feels a little uninspiring (given that it's a full-on Disney production). Similarly, the story is punctuated by songs from the central players (although it's by no means 'a musical'). And while they're never unwelcome there's an over-produced blandness to the numbers which fights (successfully) against the actual songwriting and adds to the air of overall homogenisation hanging about the film. I'd hoped that perhaps this film would be doing for Polynesian island folklore what Kubo did for Japan. Alas, not.
And in addition to the mono-myth template, I also picked up quite a few more specific nods to the Galaxy Far, Far Away*1. From the moments of "What's in the cave..?" to waking, upside-down about to be eaten by a creature and 'there's always a bigger fish'. The strongest of these would probably have to be Johnson's performance as demigod Maui, who's basically Han Solo for the entire story, even down to the "Ya-hooOO! which Dwayne's got down perfectly.
But despite my eyebrow raising at the things which have been borrowed and added to the mix, Moanais its own film, and one which should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its studio-mates in the animated pantheon. It's a timeless tale in the truest sense, brought to life by the team best qualified and experienced for the job. Inspiringly written, beautifully animated, frequently funny and constantly engaging...
I only wish the film had more of its own identity and less of Disney's…
Well, I'm going to go ahead and say Kubo and the Two Strings.
Narratively, they hold the same values and standards, although the latter is the superior movie ;)
The scale of the cinematography will work better on the big screen, but the heart of the story will be fine on any size.
Just about, yes.
From the performers I'm familiar with, not quite.
From the ones I experienced for the first time here, keep up the good work.
Nope.
No, but that 'hawk-screech' sound effect seems to be used once every seven minutes or so.
Level 1: This film features the voices of Jango Fett and K-2SO.
(although the voice-cast of Moana is pleasingly diverse from an ethnicity point of view, Tem Morrison appears to be the only person in the Southern Hemisphere that doesn't have an American accent. Rachel House tries hard as the heroine's grandmother Tala, but ends up with one toe in the Pacific and the other nine somewhere in Southern California…)
*1 Although, don't I always?
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
The BFG (3D / PLOT SPOILERS)
Cert: PG / 117 mins / Dir. Steven Spielberg / Trailer
In order to explain my greatest bugbear(s) with Mr Spielberg's latest work, I have to drop some pretty big plot-points which will only hold context with you, dear reader, if you're already familiar with the story. They're called spoilers, and they begin thusly…
Some way into the third act of the film, the BFG character indicates on (well, off) a map that 'Giant Country' is located somewhere between Greenland and Norway. Now, it's about 650 miles from London (where the scene takes place) to the northernmost point of mainland Britain, and when our friendly central character earlier abducted the protagonist in the middle of the night (also in London) he then runs (and jumps, when it comes to the path of rock-stacks over the sea) to 'Giant Country'.
Even accounting for his height of 70 feet or so, he's only shown to be running at around 50mph, tops. Even in a straight line, it's going to take around 12-13 hours to reach the top of Scotland (and this journey begins at 3am, as the story explicitly states), never mind the further distance he has to cover across the sea. Let's be generous and say he can achieve twice that speed. It's possible (although unlikely) that the further north he travels, the less chance there is of him being seen by humans (this will affect his route and add extra time, though). At best, It'd still be around 10am (broad daylight) when he gets to the Highland shoreline, with the girl held in a single blanket (but not wrapped around her) and wearing only a night-dress. While the temperature will increase with the onset of daybreak, it'll also get colder the further north they travel, plus she's being whizzed (largely unprotected) through the air at around 100mph (and the faster they go, the colder it will feel to the captive). Let's be honest, Sophie would have died from shock and exposure by the time they reached Carlisle.
And if you can get over that, you'll have no problem accepting a story where, at its climax, The Queen of the United Kingdom sends a military task-force to blindly invade a previously undiscovered country and forcibly relocate the indigenous inhabitants, all on the assurance of one science-defying person that she's never met before and his radicalised recruit. I'm sure that all looked better on paper….
+ + + + + + +
Now, this film wasn't really aimed at me. The reason my inner-cynic was allowed to rampage throughout the run-time was the disengagement I felt, separating me from the events on-screen. It's not that I actively disliked The BFG at all, more that it frustrated and even bored me.
One of my most recurrent problems of the first two acts is that I couldn't tell when the story was actually meant to be taking place*1. The damp, cobbled streets of London, complete with slightly old-fashioned cars and the orphanage with the wrought-iron signage suggested the 1940s or 50s, as did the apparent lack of modern technology on display (although television gets a mention midway through the script). The rural setting of Giant Country is suitably timeless, then an extra strolls across the London set wearing a bomber jacket and baseball cap. This hung around the back of my mind, nagging at me, until a brief snippet of the aforementioned Queen features her making a phone call to 'Nancy/Ronnie', securing the action firmly in the 1980s. While it's admittedly refreshing to see a movie set in that time-period which doesn't have a Rubik's Cube lurking in every other shot, knowing the setting earlier would have at least given me more cultural grounding for the story.
The animation is superb in and of itself, but the stylisation and physics of the giants never quite sits properly in the real-world surroundings. A work-colleague of mine is looking cautiously forward to this movie, but is worried about the Americanisation of one of her childhood favourites. I'm pleased to say that it largely avoids that trap, although the requisite John Williams score feels a little heavy-handed. Very accomplished, of course (and far more engaged with the film than his work for SW:TFA), but it's always "on", filling in the gaps which the film needs to let it breathe.
And on the actually positive side, I have to say that Mark Rylance is on suitably great form, both in his voice-work and motion-capture performance. The real star of the film is Ruby Barnhill as Sophie, though, especially given the amount of greenscreen work she puts in. She's emotive, sincere and never patronising or annoying, which is almost unheard of for this sort of thing. And yet the closer the film puts the main characters (physically), the less they work together, somehow, and neither character seems to really develop.
Have you ever eaten a cake, baked by someone you know (and whose previous cakes you've loved), full of ingredients you like, which looks nice but seems to taste of cardboard and packing foam? That.
While I'm struggling to put my finger on precisely why The BFG didn't work for me, a movie this noncommittal and anachronistic from the director of Indiana Jones, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the screenwriter of E.T. should be downright impossible, never mind allowable…
I'm genuinely not sure…
If you're a fan of previous versions of the story, sure.
If it's just the kids that want entertaining during the holidays, Finding Dory comes out this time next week.
For my money? No.
To reiterate: Ruby Barnhill is superb in this movie.
She's set a high bar for herself, but great things await her.
Oh, probably not.
You'll have to explain yourself, though.
There isn't.
Level 1: The film's got Bill 'voice-consultant for BB-8' Hader in it.
Well, a voice/mo-cap version of him, at least.
*1 Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with the story itself. And while that would certainly put me on the back foot if I'd been watching a sequel or spinoff, it really shouldn't matter here.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
