Review - Attack the Block

Grade: B+
**for the uninitiated, see the trailer below**

Good: Great characters; consistently, but cleverly funny; a welcome twist on a tired genre with a deeper than expected theme at its core

Bad: Language barrier (not an actual bad, but a deterrent for some); may be heavier than audiences expect; no 3D (again, not a bad, but a deterrent to studios, theater owners and a pocket of moviegoers)

Ugly: the first alien that lands and—not to be mean—but baddie Hi-Hatz is pretty tough to look at.

High concepts films invariably produce one of two results: either the concept will overwhelm the story or the concept will set sage for a story with a tangible degree of nuance and depth.

Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block takes a simple, if not entirely unique, concept and runs wild with it. The winner of the 2011 South by Southwest Midnight Screening Award, Attack the Block delivers a thoroughly entertaining spin on the alien invasion genre, complete with memorable characters, solid thrills and some to pointed insights on class and race.

Falling somewhere between popular British series Misfits, 80’s ‘classic’ Red Dawn, and Battle: Los Angeles, Attack the Block pits a motley gang of lower class teen miscreants--this time from a South London project affectionately referred to as the ‘Block’--against forces far beyond their control. In the process of mugging nurse, and fellow Block resident, Sam (Jodie Whittaker) at knife point, the gang--led by the stoic and obviously damaged Moses (John Boyega)--encounter a gross Gears of War-style third kind that plummets from the sky. Logically, the gang--including mouthy smart-ass Pest (Alex Esmail), nebbish doubter Jerome (Leeon Jones), brash risk-taker Dennis (Franz Demah) and talky ‘coward’ Biggz (Simon Howard)—hunt down the creature and kill it. With that one act, they endanger their entire block, which is home to a number of colorful natives like weed dealer Ron (Nick Frost), and foul-mouthed pre-teen wannabe troublemakers Mayhem (Michael Ajao) and Probs (Sammy Williams). As they struggle to save the Block, the boys must evade volatile gangster Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter) and the local authorities that are more interested in arresting the Block’s inhabitants than helping them.

Block has a laundry list of strengths—from its witty, pop-culture tinged humor (a true sign of executive producer and Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright’s influence) to its cleverly designed aliens and its gory, blood stained action scenes—but its greatest strength are its quirky characters, unexpected depth and undeniable personality. Setting the action in a housing project already brings some welcome uniqueness to the invasion genre, as it highlights both characters and complications rarely introduced in most mainstream invasion flicks. The main characters are hardly meant to be sympathetic—not because they’re smarmy jerks who should die for being pricks, but because they’re literal criminals. Other characters like Ron, the lazy cowardly weed man—played with appropriate sluggish aloofness by Nick Frost—and stoner Brewis (Luke Treadaway) clearly escaped from the set of Pineapple Express, which would be the kiss of death in a typical invasion flick. Even bratty standouts Mayhem and Probs are the type of kid characters who survive invasion films by being puppy-dog-eyed plot tokens rather than mischievous hellions. The fact that all these characters are pulled a decidedly tarnished background speaks not only to Director Joe Cornish’s willingness to play loose with convention, but it allows him to engage in some light, if damning, criticism of the treatment of people from such lower class neighborhoods—in any country.

Throughout Block, the local authorities are either non-existent or antagonistic. With no clue of the invasion and seemingly no interest in helping, they exist in a space unfamiliar to most audiences, who can always count on, at least, the military to mount some spectacular counterattack. The concept of an ignored populace is best anchored by the simmering tension between Moses and mugging victim Sam. Their interactions do a superb job of highlighting how this community and its citizens have become isolated from the world next door and retreated into protecting themselves and no one else. It’s not an entirely original idea for a more purely dramatic film, but when woven into an invasion flick it’s nearly revolutionary. Despite some of the heavier thematic material, Block still manages to expertly show trademarks of the wit and, on occasion, heart found in modern genre bending classics like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Block may not deliver the shock gags that knock’em dead in the era of the R-rated comedy—with many jokes potentially flying right over the heads of non-British audiences—but it consistently delivers character and situational bits that never get stale.

Performances in Block are uniformly solid across the board. With many of the characters written in broad strokes, most of the cast hits their notes with equal parts subtlety and exuberance, no more or less. The joy Moses’ gang has when preparing to do battle with the aliens is played perfectly by the young actors, evoking the enthusiastic response that a generation raised on video games and blockbusters would have when faced with such absurd circumstances. Undoubtedly, the strongest performances belong to John Boyega (Moses) and Jodie Whitaker (Sam). Both imbue their characters with quiet strength and a tangible resolve as they are forced to gain insight into each other, and the community.

Director Joe Cornish shows off some solid visual style with block, giving the project a true sense of foreboding before the aliens even arrive. Color pops with a fluorescent glow that gives scenes an unsettling ambiance, while some of the vertical shots of the ‘Block’ are outright intimidating (especially when viewed from a bottom row seat). Granted, some of the visual cues are aped from similar flicks like 28 Days Later (isolation) and Blade II (eerie nightglow), but Cornish gives it the right amount of pop to make his own mark.

Block may be unrated now, but an R for language and violence is pretty much a lock. The blood flies as fast and furious as the British swears and slang, which, admittedly, could lose a lot of viewers. On the upside, the pacing is exceptionally brisk with flick running a swift 88 minutes. It’s not in 3D, so audiences, studios and theaters who love 3D will be disappointed while the rest of us rejoice. My worst fear for Block is that it gets remade and watered down to a shadow of itself. Between the language barrier—which, mind you, shouldn’t be an issue for most audiences—the diversity of the cast and the heavy themes, Hollywood is bound to find a way to ruin this one. Unfortunately, a US release for Block is still pending, but, thankfully, with Screen Gems as a distributor it’s only a matter of time. When Block does reach the States, get out and see it and enjoy it before it's swallowed whole by the Hollywood remake machine.

Review - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Grade: A (for Pirates fans) B (for everyone else)

The Good: Capt. Jack and his wily antics (as always); intriguingly complex plotting with some relatively challenging issues at heart; Expands Pirate-verse with trademark charm and intrigue.

The Bad: Complex to the point of complication; Cruz and McShane are a tad overhyped and nowhere near as interesting as original cast members. Murky pallete+3D glasses make some action tough to see

The Ugly: The price of a ticket to see this in IMAX 3D (no matter how much it’s worth it).

There’s one consistent truth to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow—excuse me, Captain—is unquestionably the star, but the stories never truly belong to him. Capt. Jack is a scene-stealer, for sure, and the character generations will remember when they think of Pirates of the Caribbean, but even relieved of the Turner-Swan saga, Jack still hasn’t completely taken center stage.

That’s not a bad thing. Captain Jack prancing through the proceedings as a devil-may-care, sharper-than-he-looks trickster may keep him from being the chief protagonist of the Pirates films, but it allows these blockbusters to engage in complex—some may say complicated—storytelling with charismatic characters whose conflicting motivations reveal more depth than most movies like this ever dare to.

On Stranger Tides, based on Tim Powers 1987 novel of the same name, follows Capt. Jack as he is forced by a piggish King George (a goofy cameo by occasional Depp costar Richard Griffiths) to lead perennial rival, and newly minted privateer, Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) to Ponce de Leon’s legendary fountain of youth, which our wily anti-hero had his sights set on at the end of the first trilogy. Along the way, Jack runs afoul of old friends—including steadfast first mate Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally)—and new frenemies like the duplicitous Angelica (Penelope Cruz), daughter of a fairly unknown pirate, Edward Teach, who goes by the nickname Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Cajoled into serving on Blackbeard’s living ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, Capt. Jack must outwit all sides to reach the fountain before his multiple enemies allies do. Also charting a course to fountain of youth are agents of Spain’s King Ferdinand VI, who have their own agenda for the source of the mystical aqua de vida.

Johnny Depp brings Capt. Jack alive as only he can after a few years away from the character. This time, Jack is a bit more subdued, but no less crafty. The Pirates movies have gotten less and less lighthearted and humorous as they increase in complexity and ambition, but Capt. Jack continues to make audiences snicker with his sly subversive digs and observations. The good captain may not be as riotous as he was in the initial installment, but audiences can still count on Depp to deliver a winking performance that’s rife with mischievous charm. Geoffrey Rush continues to prove himself Depp’s perfect foil. Ever eloquent and consistently cunning, Rush’s Barbossa nurses some new wounds that make him even more dangerous. Rush rises to the challenge—as if there was any doubt—by balancing Barbossa’s trademark civility with a simmering anger.

New to the Pirates-verse are Penelope Cruz’s Angelica and Ian McShane’s Blackbeard, who are truly the engines of this story. Their quest for the fountain is driven as much by their connection to each other as it is by deeper issues of fate and redemption (yes, these concerns really do surface in Pirates movie, again). Cruz plays Angelica as a slightly feistier version of most female characters who cross paths with Capt. Jack. She’d be in love with him if she didn’t want to smack and/or kill him. As such, she barely registers as significantly different from Kiera Knightley’s Elizabeth Swan and Angelica’s journey is not likely to endear her with fans of Mr. Sparrow. McShane’s Blackbeard brings his silver-tongued menace to the table as the merciless pirate, who may or may not be particularly interested in redeeming his soul before a prophesy that will claim his life comes to pass. Essentially, he’s just playing Al Swearengen in the Age of Discovery. The fact that Blackbeard is so detached from characters who aren’t Angelica makes him a cold, but not a particularly engaged threat on the level of Barbossa or even Davy Jones, who both had a personal stake in challenging Capt. Jack.

Director Rob Marshall does a fine job of aping the visual template Gore Verbinski laid forth in the first trilogy. The world of Stranger Tides is visually on par with the later films, particularly Dead Man’s Chest, albeit darker and earthier. The darker palette makes a few of the elaborate action scenes a bit murky, but this is as much a visual issue as a problem with watching the flick through 3D glasses. Marshall also shows a deft hand at Pirates’ kitchen sink approach to the supernatural. In Stranger Tides, Jack and his compatriots encounter more than a few “beasties”, from zombified pirate slaves—again—to mermaids and magical ships. As usual, the supernatural aspect is never obnoxious or overplayed. Thanks to some exceptional work by ILM and the practical makeup teams, the creatures, especially the mermaids, don’t look as cartoonish as Davy Jones’ barnacled crewmen. But, the most impressive thing Marshall does—and I believe a lion’s share of the credit here goes to Pirates’ screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Russo—is graft some significant layering to the story.

Essentially, Stranger Tides is a fetch quest, as most fantasy/action/sci-fi flicks are these days. However, the character’s reasons for pursuing the fountain are rooted in some fairly challenging issues. Questions of faith are raised by the presence of not only the Spanish Catholics, but by missionary Phillip (Sam Claflin), a prisoner of Blackbeard and another would-be successor to the Will Turner spot. Phillip may seem to only be around as an extra piece of eye candy and half of a romantic subplot, but he, much like the Spanish, represents the presence of organized religion and monotheistic faith in a world of magic and superstition. The conflict between the two worlds is something that, with more time, could prove very intriguing for this film series. Questions of redemption and family responsibility, present in Dead Man’s Chest and World’s End, resurface and form the crux of the Angelica-Blackbeard arc, in a sinister twist on the William-Bootstrap plotline. All in all, Stranger Tides continues the trend of the last two Pirates movie by daring to be complex at the risk of losing its audience.

Folks who were exasperated by the intrigue and dueling machinations of World’s End and Dead Man’s Chest may be miffed at the maneuvering in Stranger Tides, which is significantly lesser than in other Pirates movies. Thankfully, the pacing is smooth—moving from action packed set-piece to exposition with ample balance—and should retain most viewers’ attention for the length of its two and a half hour runtime (fans should of course hang back at the end for the after-the–credits stinger). For those who weren’t fans of the last two, Stranger Tides won’t change any minds, but it does offer a more streamlined approach with less mythology and characters to follow. For those who love Pirates or want to see a fantasy that delivers a great balance of action, character and slightly complex storytelling, Pirates is as perfect as it ever was. So, go ahead…follow that horizon. It’s worth it...mostly.

Review: Priest

Grade: C
The Good: Serviceable actioner with a some occasional thrills

The Bad: Bland and generally uninspired with wooden characters and now true creative spark to make it stand out from any other gloomy sci-fi action flick

The Ugly: The master vamps, the dialogue, and the wire-fu.

Priest is a Korean graphic novel, or manhwa, series by writer-artist Min Woo Hyung about an undead holy man who hunts vampires in a post-apocalyptic frontier. It hearkens to classic Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns with a heavy dose of the supernatural and the pseudo-religious.

I used to read this series. Faithfully. I have ten of the sixteen volumes published by now-defunct American manga publisher Tokyopop. The art was phenomenal and the story was dark and ridiculous enough to earn a place in the annals of manga cult-hood.

Screen Gems adaptation of Priest has nothing to with this great series. And it is worse for it.

Priest is a bland, barely serviceable actioner culled from so many superior action and sci-fi films that I spent more time picking out familiar scenes and concepts than absorbing the trite plot.

Paul Bettany stars as a soldier in a secret religious order for the third time—once is a opportunity, twice is a coincidence, three times is bordering on pathology—as the lead Priest. His unnamed stoic is meant to evoke old school gunslingers like Eastwood’s Man with No Name, but he’s mostly a hollow vessel--this time with a spiffy cross tattooed on his t-zone. Bettany’s Priest exists is a world where a vampire apocalypse leaves the little more than Blade Runner-esque walled cities and desolate western outposts with nothing in-between. After the stodgy leaders of Priest’s order, the Church, retire their Super Secret Ninja Priests, Priest, who struggles with faith and the ability to hold a steady job, is called into action, against the will of the all-powerful Church, to rescue his kidnapped niece from an army of faceless vampires.

I’d take time to describe the performances in Priest, but how many ways can one describe deadwood. Accompanying Bettany’s sullen hero is Cam Gigandet--one of many vampire flick/shows rejects in attendance (for those who care, check out how long Bill Compton has managed to survive without being dusted)--as Hicks, a young sheriff out to face the vampire army for his own mysterious reasons. Gigandet shows a hair more personality than Bettany, but he spends just as much time being moody and stoic to make the difference negligible. Maggie Q, TV’s Nikita, shows up halfway through to act as tough girl/chaste love interest. She too has no personality to speak off, so her and Mr. Priest are perfect for each other. Karl Urban turns in a hammed up performance as a former priest turned vampire, but it is nowhere near outrageous enough to compete with the likes of classic villains like Heath Ledger’s Joker or even tepid antagonists like Stephen Dorff’s Deacon Frost.

Director Scott Charles Stewart creates a post apocalyptic landscape that looks just like post apocalyptic worlds from any number of live action and animated sci-fi epics. Endless cities cloaked in perpetual midnight lit only by neon signs, just like Blade Runner? Check. Expansive barren desert wastelands, just like Mad Max? Check. Majority of the movie filmed through a blue filter, just like Underworld? Check. Vampires that look more like quadrapedal aliens than shimmering pretty boys, just like I am Legend? Check. Slick slow-mo action scenes with guns, blades and stylish wire-fu, just like Underworld, the Matrix, and even the laborious Sucker Punch? Check.

I realize no work of art can be completely original, but very little is original in Priest. With a plot ripped out of any classic western and character types rather than characters, it’s painfully clear that “going through the motions” was the unspoken motto on this project. Not to say that there aren’t a few thrills here and there—and they are very few—but most are nothing to write home about, even the climax is painfully anti-climatic. Thankfully, the films pacing is pretty solid with the plot moving at a breezy clip to keep the audience distracted from paying too much attention to the uninspired proceedings. For those in the audience who’ve never seen Underworld, Van Helsing, or Blade this may be exciting new territory, but for those of us who’ve digested a steady diet of stylish sci-fi actioners, this is old hat. And for those of us who consider ourselves fans of the manhwa, this is the worst kind of backhanded compliment.