The Hound of the Baskervilles Blu-ray Review

The Hound of the Baskervilles Blu-ray Review

This review is written by someone ignorant of the original story. Some points made in this review may be the fault of the source material rather than the film in question. Enjoy!

Review: Hammer Horror lend their usual brand of campy shlock to this 1959 adaptation of the classic Sherlock Holmes story, with stellar performances with Peter Cushing as Holmes and Christopher Lee as the terrorised old money Henry Baskerville. Not, as Arrow Video's press notes would have you believe, the genius detective's "most terrifying adventure!", although that does not negate the film's many inspired moments, largely courtesy of a chilling score and the starkly beautiful Dartmoor setting (actually the exotic locales of...Surrey.) The mystery offers few surprises for Doyle fans or people who spend too much time watching movies (yours truly would know nothing about that. Obviously.), yet serves as a satisfactory background for wonderful interplay between the perfectly cast crop of characters. Andre Morell makes an excellent Watson, far more jovial than more recent versions. The supporting cast also includes Francis de Wolff and Ewen Sollon are both excellent as Dr Mortimer and the scheming farmer Stapleton, whose webbed hands become an unlikely plot point in later proceedings. Cushing is the Holmes to whom all other versions must be compared. Never before or since has an actor more convincingly captured the essence of the timeless character; his fervent intelligence and boyish enthusiasm embodied perfectly in every scene. Unfortunately, as is the way for many Hammer productions, the film is a slow-burn building to a rushed denouement. Sherlock doesn't appear on Dartmoor until passed the half-way point, with the final twist coming in exactly five minutes before the end of the movie (including credits). You get the sense that if director Terrence Fisher (a Hammer veteran, responsible for many of their best works) and writer Peter Bryan had  the patience to stick with the story for a while longer, this could reside in classic status. For now though, it remains a well-played and proficiently told gothic horror in search of a more engaging mystery.

Extras: Along with Arrow's standard high-definition transfer, collector's booklet and reversible cover art, this impressive set also includes a brand new documentary on the film (featuring critic Kim Newman and Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss), a new commentary with Hammer experts Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby, a featurette on Morell's work with Hammer, an archive interview with Lee, excerpts from the story, a theatrical trailer and an "extensive" image gallery (judge for yourselves on that last one)

Five-Word Verdict: Benedict Cumberbatch can step aside

Score: 3½/5

The Hound of the Baskervilles is out on Blu-ray on 1st June

May Round-Up Review (Mad Max, Pitch Perfect 2, Tomorrowland + San Andreas)

May Round-Up Review

Mad Max: Fury Road: The title is an understatement in this wildly entertaining romp, which manages to be both thrilling and moving, with a clear feminist message; more than welcome in a genre saturated by testosterone. Tom Hardy smoulders, Charlize Theron steals the show. Quite possibly a masterpiece from veteran George Miller. Film of the year so far 5/5

Pitch Perfect 2: The same lazy, unfunny and one-note characters populate this shockingly mean-spirited "comedy" sequel. Whilst the impressive a cappella covers and Anna Kendrick' charisma make it passable, the fact this franchise has a devoted following staggers me 2/5

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond: Dopey subtitle aside, Incredibles director Brad Bird's sci-fi adventure is a breath of fresh air in a film world populated by cynical doomsaying. Newcomers Britt Robertson and Raffey Cassidy threaten to outshine an underplaying George Clooney, whilst Hugh Laurie plays Villain McBadGuy. Bird remains a brilliant storyteller, if only Damon Lindelof's script could match him 3½/5

San Andreas: A pretty rubbish, yet likable, disaster film starring everyone's favourite wrestler-turned-actor-turned-wedding-officiate (www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-B7UJtvlLM) Dwayne Johnson. The CGI destruction scenes are undeniably arresting, and the film has just enough heart to prevent the silliness from going completely overboard. Still rubbish, though 3/5

That was 15-29th May in very brief review. My review of Arrow Video's release of the Hammer classic The Hound of the Baskervilles will be up sometime tomorrow. 

Big Game Mini-Review

Big Game Mini-Review

Tonally chaotic and formulaic to the extreme, Big Game is nonetheless a wildly entertaining action-comedy-ish from Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander. The star of Helander bizarre debut Rare Exports, Onni Tommila, plays 13-year-old Oskari, who must journey into the Finnish wilderness and kill a deer within a day to become a man. Instead, he discovers Samuel L Jackson as the President, forced to evacuate Air Force One following an attack by terrorist mercenaries and his bodyguard (a sleepwalking Ray Stevenson). The film's sly genius is in featuring two of the most incompetent, ill-equipped and frankly useless heroes in action movie history. Oskari is incapable of shooting an arrow further than five feet, whereas the President can barely makes his way around a firearm. These unlikely comrades, assisted by Jim Broadbent's sandwich-chewing former agent Herbert, bond over their mutual ineffectuality in a slow build-up before all hell breaks loose in an enthralling final act. The tone wavers between kid-friendly adventure fare and brutal action movie, with middling results. Taken in earnest, this would be a complete disaster. However, if you can buy into the tongue-in-cheek attitude, the well-handled action and endearing performances should provide enough thrills to compensate for the cookie-cutter villains and overt masculinity. If nothing else, it surely delivers the year's greatest death scene. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it...

Five-Word Verdict: Rubbish, in a good way.

Score: 3/5

The Train Blu-ray Review

The Train Blu-ray Review

Review: The most shocking thing about watching the The Train was not only how little I knew about it beforehand, but how much it has inspired over the last 50 years. From the one-man army set-up of Die Hard to the claustrophobia of The Raid; from the ensemble cast of The Italian Job to the daring heist of Ocean's Eleven, the entire recent history of the action genre seems directly drawn from John Frankenheimer's exquisite war movie. Whilst its later impact arguably makes it greater than the sum of its parts, this is still a brilliant war movie that simply demands to be seen.

France, 1944. Art lover and fanatical Nazi Colonel Franz Von Waldheim (Scorpio's Paul Scofield) has plundered a Paris museum for its masterpieces, including works by Van Gogh, Picasso and Degas. His intention is to have them transported by rail to Berlin, but one man stands in his way. Aware that the Allied forces are fast approaching the French capital, Resistance fighter Paul Labiche (Burt Lancaster, star of one of my favourite films: Local Hero) need only stall the train for a few more days, but he’ll have to use all of his wits and skills to do so. The plot essentially exists to generate pulse-pounding action scenes, such as a palm-sweating train painting sequence (way more exciting than that description) and a brilliant Wages of Fear-style derailment (just watch the movie, okay?). The genius of setting a film almost exclusively aboard a vehicle is that the film, just like the characters, is always moving. Whilst this unfortuantely leaves little room for character developement or intricate dialogue, Frankenheimer's leads manage to engage on presence alone.

Scofield, who I was unaware of until The Train, is magnetic as the brutal leader, whose tyranny is matched only with his manipulatve nature which sometimes (perhaps unintentionally) has you siding with his quest for artistic sanctimony. Lancaster, although as expressive as a chair at times, is well-suited to the action hero mould. As with Die Hard's John McClane, Labiche is not a superhero; he spends almost half of the film with a bullet lodged in his leg! This allows for a more relatable and gritty action movie, populated by real (if somewhat exaggerated) people with selfish agendas of their own. The supporting cast adds a wealth of charm and character to the film  in an ensemble comparable to The Great Escape sprawling role call. Albert Remy and Charles Millot are excellent as Labiche's partners in morally acceptable (probably) crime. The bond the trio form during their derring do (apparently this is something people say?). Jeanne Moreau is again fantastic in a small, yet pivotal, role as the kind-hearted innkeeper with a habit of attracting Resistance fighters suffering from bullet wounds. My personal favourite has to be Michel Simon as the elderly engineer with his own scheme to halt the locomotive. His appearance is a short one, whilst simulataneously one of the film's strongest and most poignant. 

Frankenheimer, whose previous work includes The Manchurian Candidate and and French Connection II, here reveals himself to be a master of action filmmaking. Despite essentially being a director-for-hire, Frankerheimer runs the show with a hypnotic blend of long, unbroken takes and tough, Clouzot-esque editing techniques to create a disorienting and off-putting atmosphere, expertly mirroring his protagonist's increasingly desperate psyche. The director's stunning grasp of the use of movement and composition matches the all-time greats of the genre; George Miller, James Cameron and John McTiernan being easy comparisons, with grindhouse favourite Jack Hill a more immediate competitor

Whilst the momentary pacing issue (an oxymoron, surely), along with a purposefully ambiguous ending, prevent this from being a full-on masterpiece, what can't be denied as that The Train is easily one of the best action movies of the 20th century and a rollicking good time all-round. A must-see for action nuts (whilst equally essential for everyone else), this is one re-release you do not want to miss

Extras: Along with a new 1080p restoration of the film, this Arrow Films release also includes a commentary by Frankenheimer, interviews with the director and Simon, a news report on the making of the film, footage from the premiere, a trailer and abooklet with new writing on the film’s production and subsequent impact

Score: 4.5/5

Five-Word Verdict: Better than Die Hard. Sorry.

The Train will be released on Blu-ray on 11th May

Far From the Madding Crowd Mini-Review

Far From the Madding Crowd Mini-Review

Carey Mulligan shines in the latest adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic romance novel. She plays the impossibly atrractive Bathsheba Everdene, a fiercely independent farm owner being courted by three very different (yet equally passionate) men. Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts is Gabriel Oak, the impossibly attractive shepherd with a heart of gold. Tom Sturridge hams up to portray the impossibly attractive Sergeant Troy, a bitter man using Bathsheba to cope with his previous love life. Michael Sheen, however, out-performs everyone as the impossibly attractive (and equally pathetic) William Boldwood, a lonely soul desperate for some company. Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg makes his English-language debut in his  most restrained movie to date, departing from his typical social realism for an old-fashioned love story bordering on the quaint. Charlotte Bruus Christensen's soaringly beautiful cinematography, along with Craig Armstrong's virtuoso score, lend the film an ethereal quality to contrast the film's earthly settings. A surprisingly funny (courtesy of David Nicholls' excellent screenplay) and feminist retelling of a beloved classic, Far From the Madding Crowd is impeccably made and well-acted  counter-programming if Avenging isn't quite your thing...

Five-Word Verdict: Your English A-Level in brief

Score: 4/5

Avengers: Age of Pointless to Review

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

The title is not a joke; there is literally no reason for me to review this movie. You already know whether or not you want to see it. If you have a soul, then congratulations and enjoy one of the best blockbusters in years. If not, tough luck. Ah well, beats contemplating my existence...

Avengers: Age of Ultron is the latest in the seemingly unstoppable winning streak of Marvel Studios, a studio seemingly incapable of making a bad movie (except Iron Man 2, but let's not go there *shivers*). Whilst technically a sequel to 2012's megahit The Avengers, it also carries over elements from all of Marvel's Phase Two films, as well as setting up future instalments such as Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther. Ultron sees Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr in the role he was born to play), Captain America (Chris Evans, still nailing it), Thor (the enjoyably hammy Chris Hemsworth), Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo; perfect), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, perfect in a slightly different way) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner, finally getting something to do and doing it admirably) face a new threat of their own invention: the malevolent "murderbot" Ultron [cue gasps]. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner (Iron Man and Hulk. Try to keep up) decide to create an AI to, basically, do their jobs for them. After all, what could possibly go wrong from designing a self-aware robot in a blockbuster, right? Guys? Ultron employs the help of twins Quicksilver (runs fast) and Scarlet Witch (makes scary dreams) to save the world by...destroying it? Makes sense...

The Avengers was written and directed by geek god Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and my favourite TV show of all time: Firefly. He seemed like a strange choice at first, with only one feature (the cinematic hurrah of Firefly: Serenity) under his belt but his creative voice is creative voice is now so integral to these films, it's hard to imagine an Avengers movie without him. Whedon specialises in a mixture of humour, heart, brains and thrills. Nowhere is this infectious blend more apparent than in Age of Ultron. For a film marketed heavily as "the dark one", it's almost shocking how much fun this really is. Almost every line is an absolute zinger, especially in the opening action scene. The whip-sharp dialogue is so perfectly crafted, it truly is a marvel (get it?) that only one man could come up with it all. Not only is Whedon brilliant at hilarious character interplay, his work always carries with it an impressive emotional and thematic maturity. For example, the film's stance on artificial intelligence is both wildly unexpected and wholly refreshing.

The action scenes are uniformally terrific, the stand-out being the second-act Iron Man vs Hulk battle. A perfect combination of bombast, humour and melancholy. Serious question: is there anything Joss Whedon can't do? Let me know if you think of something; then shut up. The only disappointment in the action department is Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver, who was always going to suffer from comparison to Evan Peters' pitch-perfect portrayal in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Whedon struggles to utilise super speed in any interesting ways. Quicksilver just runs around and...does it really quickly? Elisabeth Olsen fares far better as Scarlet Witch and not just because I would happily marry her tomorrow! Well, can you blame me? Scarlet Witch is arguably the film's secret weapon, simultaneously a compelling character with believable motivations and a complete bad-arse.

The MVP, though, most go to James Spader as the smooth, charismatic and psychopathic Ultron. Spader is clearly relishing the role, one that could so easily have fallen into cliche, yet one he makes his own. The film sort-of implies that Ultron learns his witticisms from Stark, but it's open to interpretation. What is clear is that he is at least a parallel to his creator, with the same sarcasm, off-the-charts IQ and penchant for blowing s**t up. The motion-capture work gives real presence and weight to Spader's virtuoso performance, with Whedon's brilliant writing rounding off what is easily the best villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far.

Studio interference is evident at times, predominantly during the rushed finale. At around the two-hours-ten mark, the plug is basically pulled on the movie in time for a timely rap-up. Whedon has confirmed that his original cut was over three hours long, and it really shows in the closing moments. Whilst blatantly financially motivated, it was wonderful to see Hawkeye given more development, given his "the other guy" status prior to this instalment. Although, it does slightly ruin this brilliant sketch from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ27iS1mkuo

If this really is Whedon's final bow in the franchise, his absence will be felt. Nobody can balance so many components and make them all fit naturally together like him. Whether it's a touching Hulk-Black Widow romance or an exhilarating castle siege interrupted by Captain America's hard-line rules on profanity, these films simply won't be the same without his influence. Nevertheless, with the Russo Brothers (whose Winter Soldier I grossly underappreciated on release) seemingly taking on the mantle, I can't wait to see where these characters go next. By the way, does anyone have Elisabeth Olsen's phone number?

Five-Word Verdict: Vote Joss Whedon for President
Score: 4/5