The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Review

2015 has seen a ‘resurgence’ of sorts for the spy movie genre, with the release of such hits as Kingsman: The Secret Service and the rather literally titled Spy, as well as the latest Mission Impossible film, Rogue Nation. The latest addition to this group is Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., an adaptation of the 1960s TV series that popularized the genre (along with Ian Fleming’s 007 series). Ritchie brings his usual quick-fire pace and style to the film and creates an effective stylish 60s aesthetic that differentiates U.N.C.L.E. from generic action fare. The plot feels inconsequential but the rest of the film is just about fun enough to make up for it, featuring snappy dialogue and great performances from the whole cast.

Set in the height of the Cold War, Ritchie and Lionel Wigram’s script puts CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) together on a mission to prevent a mysterious criminal organisation (led by Elizabeth Debicki) from proliferating nuclear weapons. It’s basically the same template as every other spy movie – Macguffin must be kept from bad guys with little motivation in order to save the world. Thankfully, the character interactions and performances from the cast really help to elevate the material. Cavill is suave, charming and is a master of line delivery, contrasting effectively against his screen partner Hammer, putting an intense, gruff and hilarious performance as Illya. With Alicia Vikander added in as the fiery Gaby, the film is at its best when the trio are bickering and eventually working together on screen.

The opening action set-piece set in Berlin is thrilling, clever and terrifically executed and the zippy first two acts fly by with sharp dialogue and decent action. Ritchie even has the confidence to cut half of a boat chase sequence so that Solo can have a ‘break’ – a move that creates the film’s funniest scene by far. However, this is where U.N.C.L.E. peaks, and once the climax kicks in, the film loses some of the fun conjured up before. Besides the leading pair, the rest of the cast feels underserved and lacking in development. Vikander’s Gaby is engaging but has little agency and isn’t given as much material to dig into like Cavill and Hammer are. Meanwhile, Debicki is wonderfully calculating and wicked for the little screentime she has, but her lack of scenes means that the villains end up feeling rather underwhelming and sidelined. 

Nevertheless, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a breezy, solid romp that continues this year's streak of strong spy movies. It is bolstered by stylish flair – particularly the delightful 60s outfits – and a set of great performances that hide the generic plot and sometimes weak character development. Based on this film, Hammer and Cavill really deserve more plaudits than they've getting based on their previous work. 

★★★

Trainwreck - Review

One of this year’s quickly rising stars has been Amy Schumer, the riotously funny comedienne and actress, currently starring in her sketch comedy show Inside Amy Schumer. Trainwreck provides Schumer with her first starring role in a film and proves her to be one of the funniest and talented actresses working in comedy. Not only does she star, but she pens the film’s screenplay which, combined with Judd Apatow’s direction, packs surprising emotional punch whilst still being extremely funny and full of heart.

Schumer’s self-titled protagonist, Amy Townsend, is a writer working for a men’s magazine (under the glorious title of “S’nuff” with headlines such as “You’re not gay – she’s just boring”) that lives like her father did, having one-night-stands, only casual relationships and drinking to her heart’s content. Whilst dealing with the difficulty of having her father (Colin Quinn) move into an assisted living home, Amy is approached to interview sports doctor, Aaron Conners (Bill Hader) where romance beyond Amy’s typical one-off encounters blooms.

The relationship between Amy and Aaron is at the centre of this film and while it plays out in fairly standard fashion for a rom-com structurally, Apatow and Schumer subvert this by making the emotional beats honest and the characters relatable. The coming together of relationships and later, conflicts in rom-coms often feel so contrived and tepid, but Trainwreck make these characters and their relationship believable while creating genuine flaws that they must grow from to reach their ‘happy ending’. It’s refreshing to see a mainstream comedy feel this truthful. And it doesn’t hurt that Schumer and Hader have tons of charisma, likability and chemistry together.

As is usual with Apatow’s films, this film is packed with hysterical supporting performances and characters, highlights of whom include Tilda Swinton as the salty and blunt magazine editor and boss of Amy, John Cena as Amy’s stacked but sensitive ex-boyfriend and LeBron James giving a masterful turn as the protective best friend of Aaron. Of course the real standout performance belongs to Amy Schumer who is positively hilarious and has amazingly sharp comedic timing. However, what I wasn’t expecting was how good a dramatic actress she is as she brings such depth to her character and delivers one of the most heart breaking speeches I’ve seen in a romance film.

So even with an overly-familiar plot and a few jokes that maybe don’t land, Trainwreck is still one of the strongest romantic comedies to hit cinemas in ages, packing in so many hysterical moments, performances and one-liners whilst still being honest and sweet. It’s Judd Apatow’s best film since The 40 Year Old Virgin and should deservedly shoot Amy Schumer into stardom. 

★★★★

Fantastic Four - Review

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There isn’t much to be said about this misguided reboot that hasn’t already been said. It really is as bad as everyone has been saying. Fantastic Four fulfils every pessimistic concern that was debated prior to its release and then some, wasting an extremely talented cast on a script that is almost like two films that have been shoved together – neither being anything good or worthwhile – with a diabolical structure, poor pacing and flat dialogue. Worst of all, all the inherent goofiness and brightness of the original comics has been surgically removed, leaving behind a flat, humourless and dull shell of what a Fantastic Four film should be.

All of the much advertised production chaos of the film really shows, particularly in Josh Trank’s script which has been left a muddled mess with questionable writing decisions and dialogue from the beginning. An hour is spent on endless exposition as Reed Richards (Miles Teller) is recruited from his high school science fair to crack the code to inter-dimensional travel, assisted by the rest of the team – Sue (Kate Mara), Johnny (Michael B. Jordan) and future villain, Victor (Toby Kebbell). Despite this lengthy period, these characters are neither developed as individuals or as a team, despite the noble efforts from the cast. Strenuous connections are briefly hinted at, while flashbacks attempt to develop Reed and Ben (Jamie Bell), but these moments are either never elaborated on or have no real relevance to the overall film. This first act isn’t particularly awful though, it's what comes next.

When the group’s transformation finally occurs after a freak accident at the other dimension – nothing really happens except all structure going out the window. The gang remain locked in a facility where their new-found powers are not explored for more than about a minute per hero, until suddenly Victor is tacked on to play the villain and set up a final big CGI battle that is anti-climactic, rushed and poorly thought out with some very ropey visuals. Even the actors seem done with this film by the end of it, making the big ‘team-up’ feel irritatingly contrived and shoehorned in since the film hasn’t previously done any character work to justify it. The other action amounts to about half a scene (which is actually fairly strong though woefully short) as a result of studio meddling apparently having everything else cut despite advertising heavily featuring one of these cut set-pieces.

As a result, this muddled and poorly executed reboot fails at even being an enjoyable trainwreck. It is instead soul-sucking and dull, not even providing great visuals in favour of ‘grittiness’, a laughable angle to approach this franchise with. Ultimately this foundation of grittiness that was pitched from the beginning is what doomed this film from the start, with what director Trank and Fox did after only making it worse. Fantastic Four could have at least been serviceable with the talent it has on board but at the end of the day, any glimmers of potential are neutered by the hot mess surrounding them. 

★½

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - Review

And I'm finally back with a film review. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of regular film reviews, so fingers crossed there'll be a lot more coming. For now though, here is my review of the latest Mission Impossible film!

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 

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It’s nice to have a franchise like Mission: Impossible in a blockbuster landscape becoming more populated with highly serialised ‘cinematic universes’ such as the hugely successful Marvel one. Mission: Impossible seems committed to pulling out thrilling self-contained action flicks that require very little knowledge of each other’s stories to be enjoyed, and Rogue Nation is certainly no exception to this. Director, Christopher McQuarrie manages to maintain the upwards momentum established by the series’ last outing, Ghost Protocol, combining a series of outstanding action set-pieces with a humorous tone along with a set of accessible characters brought to life by an excellent cast.

The main selling point of the Mission: Impossible films at this point tends to be which death defying stunt will Tom Cruise risk his life doing. Rogue Nation fulfils this handsomely by crafting several outstanding action sequences, ranging from a tense-filled and beautifully constructed sequence at the Vienna State Opera to a heart-stopping underwater infiltration to an electrifying chase sequence through Morocco. This is without mentioning the much advertised shot of Ethan Hunt hanging from a plane as it takes off, illustrating this film’s strength as a varied and exciting action flick. However, the final act in London is a step-down from what precedes it as it doesn’t quite keep up the fast pace and spectacle, resulting in a slightly disappointing finale that nevertheless wraps the story up nicely.

The plot and script built around these set-pieces is fairly bog-standard – Ethan and the gang work to stop the threat of the mysterious ‘Syndicate’ shadow organisation and prove their innocence to the CIA after they have the IMF shut down.  There is some intrigue and more sophisticated themes to be seen but not enough is made of them in order to elevate the story past generic territory. Luckily the cast is there to do just that.

Tom Cruise is reliably on-form as leading man, Ethan Hunt and remains one of Hollywood’s best action stars despite now being in his 50s. Out of the returning ensemble members, Simon Pegg as computer genius Benji is the stand out with most of the funniest lines and a winning comradery with Cruise. Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames as Brandt and Luther respectively are underused and sit mostly on the sidelines but still put in strong work, while Alec Baldwin as the brash CIA head manages to add some flair to his stock character.  As is constant in the Mission series, Rogue Nation struggles to build a particularly effective villain though it succeeds further than most of the other entries thanks to Sean Harris’s menacing and cold performance as rogue agent Solomon Lane. 

However, the real standout was Rebecca Ferguson as undercover agent, Ilsa Faust whose performance is akin to Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road as she is a perfect match to Ethan and a classic ‘femme fatale’ who rules the film. As an interesting character with constantly twisting loyalties, Ferguson simply oozes charisma, holds her own in the action scenes and has the acting chops to top it all off. It seems a shame that she is the single main female character in the film and I hope that the next entry gives more great roles to women as the series is clearly capable of it.

Overall, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is another winning entry in the MI series, proving it to be one of the strongest series currently running. It combines some of the previous outings’ best assets to create a satisfying summer blockbuster with some really fantastic action sequences, despite a lagging third act. 

★★★★

Hope you enjoyed the review! Please share your own thoughts on the film in the comments! 

My Week in London - Memphis the Musical (Review)

Last week I stayed in London and took the opportunity to see 3 shows in the West End I'd been wanting to see for ages, of which I have now reviewed to share my thoughts of them. The third show I saw was Memphis the Musical and without further ado here is my review!

Memphis the Musical (Thursday 30th July, 7:30pm)

The third and final that I saw last week was Memphis the Musical, the ‘Best Musical’ winner at the 2010 Tony Awards which arrived in the West End last October. And what a show to close my trip with! Memphis is a truly exuberant and engaging musical filled with exciting production numbers, catchy original songs and a truly outstanding cast, led by Beverley Knight and Matt Cardle.

Set in 1954 America where racial segregation and discrimination was still rife, the story revolves around the rise of black rock ‘n’ roll and R&B music thanks to white radio DJ, Huey Calhoun (Cardle) who exposes it to a mainstream audience and attempts to breach the divide. Despite the fun and numerous joyous numbers, book writer, Joe DiPietro still finds time for poignant and genuinely moving sequences that speak to the deep societal issues of this time period, whilst not feeling preachy or in-your-face.

The show’s main pairing and forbidden love between Huey and blues singer, Felicia Farrell (Knight) is brought to life beautifully by Cardle and Knight who have a great chemistry and provide the backbone to the show. Individually as performers, they are even better. Knight was just golden, knocking every number out of the park without breaking a sweat whilst bringing great personality and heart to Felicia. And Cardle in spite of having no acting experience is filled with charm and has impeccable comic timing as the goofy Huey while his “Memphis Lives In Me” brought the house down.

The supporting cast are just as good; Jason Pennycooke and Tyrone Huntley as Bobby and Gator are reliable sources of humour who sparkle throughout and nail their respective solo numbers, while Claire Machin and stand-in, Mark Carroll bring likability and complexity to Huey’s mother and radio head, Mr. Simmons. Rolan Bell is also hilarious as the biting and protective Delray and kicks the show off in style with his bluesy vocals in the infectious song “Underground”.

It speaks to the strength of David Bryan’s music that Memphis was the only show I left wanting to buy the cast recording for. Every R&B-tinged or rock ‘n’ roll tinged number sounds authentic to the era and is unspeakably catchy (and are made even stronger by the sharp direction and vibrant choreography delivered by the talented ensemble). Several show-stopping ballad numbers – including the previously mentioned “Memphis Lives in Me” and “Coloured Woman” (delivered to perfection by Knight I might add) – round out the score and add the essential emotion to the show.

So all I have left to say is, you need to go catch Memphis before it closes in October.  It is filled with humour, heart and unmissable performances that deserve to be seen and applauded for years to come. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see one of the best shows currently in the West End!

★★★★½

If you haven't already check out my Billy Elliot review and my Miss Saigon review. Thanks for reading! 

My Week in London - Miss Saigon (Review)

Last week I stayed in London and took the opportunity to see 3 shows in the West End I'd been wanting to see for ages, of which I have now reviewed to share my thoughts of them. The second show I saw was the recent Miss Saigon revival and without further ado here is my review!

Miss Saigon (Thursday 30th July, 2:30pm) 

I managed to get one of the last front row day seats for the Thursday matinee of Miss Saigon, one of
the shows I’ve been most eager to see for years. Thankfully I was not disappointed by this extravagant and harrowing production, led by Eva Noblezada’s stunning performance as Kim.

The production values and technical work on this revival is one of the main highlights of the show, as shown through the numerous ambitious set pieces such as “The Morning of the Dragon” and most notably “The Fall of Saigon” flashback, featuring the iconic helicopter sequence. When backed up by Boublil and Schönberg’s beautiful score, the whole show really feels epic. Yet this is not at the expense of the slower, more dramatic numbers and the performances.

Eva Noblezada brought the audience to their feet at the conclusion of the show which speaks for the strength of her performance. Her voice is just gorgeous and any worries in regards to her acting ability based on the show’s earlier reviews were dispelled by her layered performance combining weariness, innocence and ferocity into the tragic young woman.

Jon Jon Briones is excellent as the sleazy Engineer and almost steals the show, while I could barely tell that Richard Carson and Marsha Songcome were in fact understudies as they both sung and acted incredibly as Chris and Gigi respectively.

While I was blown away by the spectacle of the show, I did not feel as emotionally invested in the central romance between Kim and Chris as I felt I should have. The chemistry between Noblezada and Carson was strong but there was still something missing in their relationship, which is what keeps the show from being truly outstanding for me. Nevertheless, Miss Saigon is a thoroughly impressive production that I’d recommend seeing before it bows out of the Prince Edward Theatre at the end of February. 

★★★★

I'll be posting my final review tomorrow! If you haven't already check out my Billy Elliot review and my Memphis review. Thanks for reading! 

My Week in London - Billy Elliot: The Musical (Review)

Last week I stayed in London and took the opportunity to see 3 shows in the West End I'd been wanting to see for ages, of which I have now reviewed to share my thoughts of them. The first show I saw was Billy Elliot and without further ado here is my review!

Billy Elliot: The Musical (Tuesday 27th July, 7:30pm)

Billy Elliot has undoubtedly become one of the West End’s staple musicals and is currently celebrating its tenth year in London. And even after 10 years, it remains an awe-inspiring production filled with breath-taking dance sequences and both heart-wrenching and warming moments.

Even sitting in the Upper Circle at the beautiful Victoria Palace Theatre gave a great view and fully immersed you in the production. The best way to describe the show would be an emotional rollercoaster (cliché I know). Lee Hall’s book and Elton John’s music takes you through a real wide range of emotions on Billy’s journey to becoming a ballet dancer whilst the struggles of the Miners Strike of 1984-85 affect his family and local community, that left me laughing and crying at various parts of the show.

The Billy I saw, Brodie Donougher, was a terrific performer who embodied the character of Billy extremely well and proved to be strong as a singer, actor and particularly a dancer. His Electricity and Swan Lake numbers were jaw-droppingly good and gained rapturous applause from the audience. Other standouts included Deka  Walmsley as Billy’s father, who perhaps emphasized the ‘rollercoaster’ factor the most through his excellent performance channelling the stern, abrasive father who steadily releases his inner love and care for his son whilst maintaining a wicked comic timing (particularly in the ‘Audition’ scene). Wendy Somerville was a more than worthy alternate to Ruthie Henshall as Mrs. Wilkinson, while Gillian Elisa and Chris Grahamson filled out the primary cast terrifically as the rest of Billy’s family.

Elton John’s music goes from being infectious and toe-tapping (Expressing Yourself) to inspiring (Electricity) to greatly affecting (Dear Billy – both renditions) and the show is at its most impressive when merging singing, dance and dynamic choreography into impressive set-pieces (Solidarity). The only struggle was hearing some of the lyrics over the orchestra, particularly in the opening numbers of the show which felt somewhat overcrowded for lack of a better word.

Nevertheless, Billy Elliot remains an electrifying show in the West End that combines great songs, amazing dancing and an extremely talented cast to bring this inspiring and heart-wrenching story to life.

★★★★½

Check out my review of Miss Saigon here and my review of Memphis here! Thanks for reading!