Film Review: Merantau

After the sheer giddy joy of watching Gareth Evan's The Raid (review here) I almost immediately had a look to see if he had made any other films. I hit pay dirt with Merantau, which was the first collaboration with Evans and the star of The Raid, Iko Uwais.

Whilst The Raid wastes no time getting to the action, Merantau has a slower pace as it tells the story of Yuda who leaves his quiet village to travel to the bustling city of Jakarta as part of his 'merantau', an ancient rite of passage all young men in his community partake in on the road to becoming a man.

"Aw shit, he's got PIPES!"

When he arrives, looking to start teaching the martial art of Silat Harimau, he finds himself homeless, and soon comes across a damsel in distress in the form of Astri (Sisca Jessica) who is part of a human trafficking ring run by unhinged gangster Ratger (Mads Koudal.)

The plot is nothing original, but then again neither was The Raids, but in the case of Merantau it's a small negative, as that basic plot is dragged out a bit, whereas The Raid wasted no time in cutting to the chase. I'm not one to compare films in reviews normally, but I feel like that is a fair comparison to make.

Other than that minor quibble, it's hard to fault Merantau. The action (which does actually benefit from a slow build) is top notch, and absolutely brutal. So much so in fact that I found in strange that the film was given a 15 rating in this country. The fighting (which involved some nasty looking spills) coupled with an insanely violent and prolonged shooting really looked more like 18 material to me. U.S. readers will probably just know the film as an R.

If you liked The Raid, I can't recommend checking out Merantau enough, and after that join me in awaiting the next Gareth Evans and Iko Uwais project!

****
More kick ass action from Indonesia. Excellent fighting, but the plot does drag ever so slightly. Still well worth a watch for fight fans.

Film Review: Island of Death

So many times you get a 'video nasty', and you watch it and you just have no concept as to why it was ever classified as such. Take Visiting Hours for example. Michael Ironside plays a serial killer stalking the halls of a hospital, and William Shatner pops up in a small role, but there's nothing there that is especially shocking or that would warrant a banning.

The same cannot be said for Island of Death. Banned under the 'video nasties' act of the 80s the film has never been released uncut till now, some 35 years after it's release, and you can see why. It's still a shocking watch, where most films (and I include the likes of the Evil Dead in this) you struggle to see why a ban was given, especially in this day and age.

But whilst Island of Death isn't an especially good film, it leaves an impression that you will be hard pressed to forget.

You know it's bad when this was the only acceptable photo I could find

A British couple, Christopher (Robert Behling) and Celia (Jane Lyle) travel a Greek island and start to dish out unimaginable terror to everyone they consider to be "sinners". Naturally this is pretty much everyone they encounter. Whilst they are doling out the pain, they take photos of the acts so they can revisit (or masturbate over) them later.

It's not much of a story (although the horror movie twist is there at the end) and there are several confusing moments within - at one point Christopher wakes up and wants to have sex, Celia not so much, so he goes outside, finds a goat and has sex with that instead. And then even stranger kills it post-coitus, as if it was going to tell everyone.

The shocks continue, one guy has his hands nailed to the ground and has paint poured down his throat, a gay couple are terrorised, a lesbian heroin addict is given a massive overdose and her face blow torched (the effect looks pitiful though), and worst of all whilst seducing a middle aged slapper, Christopher urinates on her. It's not family friendly stuff, clearly.

The film could throw all the shocks in the world at you (and, to be fair, it gives it a damn good try) but the fact remains Island of Death isn't very good. If you have a dark sense of humour however you'll probably get  a lot of laughs out of the terrible acting and ridiculous antics of Christopher and Celia. Everyone else will probably be horrified. An interesting curio from the video nasty era for sure.

**
A bonus star for the unintentional comedy and just to see how far films went back in the day. Other than that, it's pretty rubbish to be brutally honest, with a unhealthy amount of the shocking moments making little sense. Namely the goat.

Film Review: The Raid (The Raid: Redemption)

It's safe to say that when it comes to action movies at the cinemas things can feel a little stale sometimes. I like films such as the Transporter series, Fast Five and The Avengers as much as the next person, but we live in an age where the action isn't really focused on, with hyper-fast 'MTV editing' so you can barely tell who is beating the living tar out of who.

Of course films like Ong-Bak, Warrior King and Ip Man give action the attention it deserves, but unless you know of the work of Tony Jaa or Donnie Yen, these films could easily pass you by. But somehow, The Raid managed to get a countrywide cinema release, and this is at a time where The Avengers is still ruling the roost, so it watching a film like this on the big screen really did feel like a breath of fresh air. And it has subtitles, and those 'sort' of films only ever hit the multiplex when they have an Academy Award nomination...

Bone crunching ruck #87

The plot is pretty straightforward and we waste no time launching into it. A SWAT team become trapped in an apartment tenement building which is run by a ruthless mobster, who instructs his men and tenants alike to kill the team. All hell breaks loose, and we have a massive fight on our hands.

That is pretty much it. Sure, there a few twists and turns in the plot along the way, and it's not exactly difficult to see these coming, but you don't go into these sort of films expecting labyrinthine story telling. The film is just 100 minute of bone-crushing action. It begins with bullets, and when they run out the characters use their fists, and whatever other weapons aren't nailed down.

The fights involve the Indonesian fighting style 'Pencak Silat' which is just incredible to watch. A US remake (groan) has already been greenlit, and I can't see Hollywood taking any chances using a fighting style like that with actors, and that is really the heart of the film. And there is no-one in the States that would be cast like Iko Uwais (Rama) or Yayan Ruhian (the frankly insane, unstoppable Mad Dog.) Sure, there are fighters like that, but they will never be cast in a Hollywood movie.

You can see the films inspiration, the classic Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films, but 'danger in a building' actioners like Die Hard. If you have even a passing interest in any of these films, The Raid is for you.


*****
Welsh director Gareth Evans has not done anything wholly original here, but that doesn't even matter. The Raid is the best action film in years, and gives the audience nothing but seat edge thrills from beginning to end, and some of the best fight sequences (which are shot properly!) you'll ever see. Check it out while you can.

Film Review: The Dictator

After the successes of Ali G, Borat and Bruno made Sacha Baron Cohen incredibly well known, it was virtually impossible to have another one of his creations blend with real life people in real life situations. Too many people would recognise him if he did it again. So instead we get the 'fictional' film The Dictator, which still manages to have Baron Cohen portray another larger than life personality, but with a bit less success this time round...

Aladeen arrives in NYC

Baron Cohen plays Admiral General Alladeen, the eccentric dictator of a fictional country called Wadiya who rules his country with an iron fist. Summoned by the UN who have worries about Wadiya's nuclear program, he is abducted, has his beard shaved off and is replaced by a double. He must now battle to ensure democracy doesn't come to his beloved country.

The Dictator is the very definition of a hit and miss film. When the gags hit it's great fun, but just as often they fall flat, and it comes across as insulting or just plain unfunny. And when I say insulting and unfunny, it's not like I don't get what the filmmakers are trying to do, or me not getting the joke, it just doesn't work a lot of the time.

The films highlight is undoubtedly a speech by Aladeen at the climax trying to sell the 'positives' of a dictatorship to America, whilst at the same time unwittingly listing all the negative things that has happened in that country in the last few years. If the rest of the film was like this, it would be getting a much higher score.

That's not to say that is the sole funny moment. A scene where Aladeen and his lackey Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas) take a helicopter tour of New York with an American couple is highly amusing, as is a good portion of the gags and one-liners.

But that leaves the rest. I can find humour in jokes about bodily functions every now and then, but that's really what a lot of The Dictator comes down to. And the jokes are poorly executed too. Or just unpleasant, such as "hilarious" jokes about the London Underground terror attacks or a disgusting birthing scene which is devoid of any humour.

And furthermore, there are only so many times that you can get away with a joke about race or religion just because the character saying it is an idiot. I could let the first couple slide, but by the end they seemed pretty unpleasant.

Yeah, people may say that it's topical, and there are dictators still in power that would do ridiculous sounding horrible things, but there are much better ways of making light of this, instead of just aiming your material at the crowd that think The Inbetweeners is the height of comedy.

And jokes like the Chinese Ambassador to the UN getting oral sex from celebrities is just pointless, even with an Edward Norton cameo thrown in, and the audience I watched it with reacted with stony silence to all of that stuff.

As usual, Baron Cohen throws everything he has at the role, and goes above and beyond (of course the press tour for the film has largely consisted of him giving interviews in character as Aladeen), and there's decent enough support from Anna Faris and Ben Kingsley, but you can't help but think that if the gross-out "humour" was pared down and the flashes of brilliance were given more time, we'd have a fantastic comedy on our hands.

**
The jokes hit about half of the time, and when they are good, they are very good. But when they miss, they are immature and disgusting. And not in a particularly funny or well executed way, either. The speech at the end of the film is a highlight though, and a glimpse at what a better film this could have been

Film Review: The Devil Inside

When it comes to found footage films, I have to admit that my patience is wearing a little thin. But for some reason, the horror genre seems to keep things relatively inventive. The most recent in the Paranormal Activity series wasn't blighted by this format at all (although I struggle to see where they can take the franchise as it rolls on), and the Spanish REC films are some of the best horrors in the last few years.

The Devil Inside takes the much used found footage (or fake documentary) format and couples it with another type of film that has long passed its expiration date, the exorcism movie. We all should get by this point that there was only one exorcism film, and that was the original Exorcist movie, which is also one of the greatest horror movies (and flat-out movies) ever made.

Funnily enough, the only way I'll watch Devil Inside again...

The sequel to The Exorcist was diabolical, and it's third would have been an outstanding film had it not had an exorcism scene shoehorned in to placate the masses. The most notable of recent exorcism movies was another found footage piece, The Last Exorcism, which wasn't actually that bad until it reached it nonsensical last ten minutes where all logic was hurled out the window.

The Devil Inside has good start, to give the film its due. But sadly this only lasts the length of it's 80's set news report footage, which is quite convincing. But the moment the movie hits present day with it's purported documentary format it falls apart. The main character of Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) who is looking for answers as to what happened to her Mother (who caused the deaths of three police officers during her exorcism back in the 80's), just looks like an actress. And it's totally unshakable throughout. And none of the other major cast members strike you in any way as a real person. It's easily the least convincing fake documentary I've ever seen.

As the story rumbles on, we get multiple exorcisms leading to another exorcism of Isabella's mother, Maria (Suzan Crowley) who acts like a cartoon version of someone possessed by the Devil. Crowley's performance is already a front runner for the worst acting of 2012. It can't even be described as 'so bad it's good', instead 'so bad it surpasses good/bad and arrives full circle at bad again' would be closer to the truth.

That's not to say that's the only case of bad acting, pretty much the entire main cast are pretty woeful, joining pretty much everything else about the film, which ends so abruptly that you can't help but wonder if the film makers just threw in the towel, agreeing that there's a strong argument for a worldwide ban on exorcism movies.

*
Another dire swing at a genre which hit its pinnacle, which can never be topped, almost 40 years ago. Throw in a format of films that had it's big creative moment in 1999, and so appalling performances and you have an absolute stinker.

Film Review: This Means War

Resorting to a video review, so I don't waste my time having to make the effort to type something about it again, comes This Means War. Let this handsome chap below tell you all about it...


      


* 
Needless to say, i t's a 1 star review...

The Expendables 2 Full Trailer

My life is complete come August... And here is my reaction to it... BRING THIS FILM ON!