Fargo episode 101: “The Crocodile’s Dilemma” REVIEW

“If that was me, i would have killed that man.”

This review is spoiler-free.

Fargo is a remake of the classic Coen Brothers film of the same name that was released in 1996. It changes the character names and situations from the original, and seems to become a completely different monster altogether. It follows Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) as he is tormented by life in general. After meeting Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), who offers to kill someone who has been tormenting him, Nygaard begins to follow a dark, violent path, which leads him into making some decisions that he will probably regret. As this happens, Greta Grimly (Joey King) begins to track the case.

The cast are great, all emulating the vibe given from the original film. Although, i was surprised how much different it was from the film – the characters had all been changed, and it seemed like only the messages, and ideas surrounding life remained, as well as the setting. That really is how a remake should always be handled. It shouldn’t religiously recreate the original, but it should reference it subtly, while making the situations different. Billy Bob Thornton has the stand out performance, as his characters is so malicious and evil, that i loved to hate him. At the same time, he gave off an anti-hero vibe which made him strangely likable at rare times. He was terrifying. The other two main players were very good too, with Freeman’s descent into madness being highly engrossing to watch. Grimly gave a good performance also, but as her character was the stand out part in the original, where she was famously played by the fantastic Francis MacDormand, she fails to ever be as good as her original actress. This is a hard act to follow, but hopefully she will succeed to impress more in later episodes.

The direction was fine, but after having the Coen’s direct the source material, no director can really live up to that. It did, however, come off as a much darker piece than the original though, which i liked. Cinematography was good, if a bit simple. It had a sharp script that slightly lacked the humor of the original, but achieved portraying cruelty and malice very well.

The story was spot on for me, showing the idea of a man corrupting himself to try and do some good of the original film and turning it up to eleven. It was mad, with crazed, twisted, unexpected and bloody sequences continuously shocking. But thankfully these scenes were few and far between, leaving lots of time for great character development and plot intrigue.

I will be reviewing every episode of this ten episode mini-series, and after this review, the others will be spoiler filled.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier REVIEW

 

“Captain, in Order to build a better world, sometimes means turning the old one down… And that makes enemies.”

This Marvel sequel tells the story of Steve Rogers A.K.A. Captain America coming to terms with modern life, as he struggles to agree with S.H.E.I.L.D’s methods of national security. He is also introduced to the mysterious and truly vicious Winter Soldier who is tasked with eliminating certain Shield operatives.

It pleases me to say that it was certainly more impressive than most of the other Marvel Cinematic Universe films (the movies made by Disney), as instead of going for a outright comedic stance like the disastrous Iron Man 3, it blends action, drama and comedy seamlessly into one nice package.

The plot is extremely intricate, and at sometimes seems slightly convoluted, even for a comic book veteran like myself. That said, it’s possibly the best story in any MCU movie to date. It’s an spy/espionage /thriller type of film, which lets the many twists and turns seem plausible. Speaking of twists, i won’t spoil any here, but there are a ton of excellent ones, including a few characters unexpectedly showing up. Although, if you have read the graphic novel, which i have, you will obviously expect some of the exciting developments. This shouldn’t detract readers of the novel though, as it is very loosely based on it, and there are copious added twists which, in my opinion, make the film even better than the treasured novel.

The acting is pretty solid, with Scarlett Johansson and the excellent Robert Redford giving very strong performances. Chris Evans’s Captain America becomes a more interesting character, as a result of the performance and writing. He really gives some great scenes as he wonders about the modern world, and questions Shield’s actions. Anthony Mackie’s Falcon is also a welcomed addition to the franchise.

There is nothing particularly striking about the cinematography, but there doesn’t need to be because it’s a fun action film, which doesn’t need to rely on nice visuals. Although the visuals, in terms of CGI, are great.

The whole direction of the film was spot on, since the Russo brothers seemed to understand what makes most comic book movies great – fun action, good story lines with lots of intense and exciting twists, and a strangely relatable hero. I’m not obviously saying that people will be able to relate to Cap’s abs, but his naivety and integrity are things which most people try to have.

8/10

her REVIEW

 

“Sometimes I think I have felt everything I’m ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I’m not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I’ve already felt.”

“Her”, directed by Spike Jonze, tells the story of Theodore Twamley (Jonze stretching the bounds of reality with that name), played by Joaquin Phoenix, as he falls in love with Samantha, an operating system and attempts to recover from a breakup. 

This is the fourth film by director Spike Jonze after making Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where the wild things are. This man never fails to amaze me. The story may not be as innovative as some have been labeling it, but it is none-the-less pretty spectacular. The central tone of melancholia is shown from the get go, with Theodore writing a love letter to someone as someone else – he works for love letter writing company. He goes through so many emotional states throughout the film that he seems to be an incredibly realistic person, and more importantly, very relatable. The thing that makes him so relatable is the fact that he finds life so confusing, because when he stops to think about it, nothing really makes sense. It is also very funny, with quirky humour to be found at countless times. Although, i found many people in the theatre laughing at things that i thought were very serious and sincere, which suggests that the film is so multi-layered that everyone looks at it in a unique way. 

The script was great, Jonze making his first solo written script. It perfectly captured the theme of love as the writing was full of realism, with the couple of Theodore and Samantha talking about really obscure concepts and acting like a real couple, something rarely seen in films. 

Joaquin Phoenix is, as per usual, outstanding in the leading role. He shows a massive acting range in this film, which encompasses everything from ecstatic joy to depression. Scarlett Johansson, who plays Samantha, also strangely shows a great range through her voice work. It has to be a hard job to project that much emotion just by talking. I really bought into their relationship, with their love for each other being completely understandable and truly beautiful throughout. Amy Adams plays Theodore’s best friend, who is again great as usual. She really captures a sense of sincerity and naivety with her character. The other actor of note is Chris Pratt, one of Theodore’s work mates, who is making a name for himself as a really fantastic screen presence. I last saw him in The Lego Movie as the central character, and he will be playing Starlord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in cinemas this summer. He’s definitely one to watch.

This film has a very unique artistic style, with a vibrant array of colours creating the scenery. It does look beautiful throughout, because of Jonze’s lovely and quietly optimistic view of the near future. The cinematography is excellent, with every shot full of imagination and wonder. The costume design was also fantastic, since everyone’s clothing looked slightly off-the-wall and retro, but completely new at the same time. I really need to get myself a red shirt like Theodore’s…

Furthermore, the soundtrack by Arcade Fire was top-notch. Most of the music would beautifully compliment the film and push the whimsy and romantic nature of it.

Overall, it was pretty damn great. It can be criticised that the character of Theodore was too similar to Jonze’s other leads, but that’s kind of a non-issue, because that type of sad, conflicted artist character is excellent. The only real issue that i had with the film was that at points i felt less engaged that i should have been for some reason. For example, in some of the later sad scenes, i felt like i should have been crying, but i wasn’t. That’s a major nit-pick though. It is probably my least favourite Spike Jonze film, but thats a bit like saying ‘that’s my least favourite oscar’. 

I would definitely recommend. 

9/10

RoboCop (Remake) REVIEW

“Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.”

Which is of course one of the many excellent lines in the 1987 original, and the only memorable line in the remake…

Firstly, the original RoboCop, directed by Paul Verhoeven, is an undeniable classic in my opinion. It was smart because of it’s quitty stabs at consumerism, politics and capitalism, through great satire. It packed emotional punch, through RoboCop’s realisation that he used to be human. And most importantly, it was fun! With it’s copious blood squibs, superb score and a fantastic hero, as well as horrid villain’s who you love to hate.

Unfortunately, the remake fails to recreate basically any of the originals charm.

The tone of the movie was misplaced. The filmmakers went down the route most filmmakers take when aiming a movie at a largely male teenage audience, and took a bit of Chris Nolan’s dark and angsty juice. I love Nolan, but nobody can nail dark and angsty apart from him. Seriously, the film was so sullen that it becomes yet another film devoid of fun simply because Hollywood believes that nobody likes to have fun at the cinema. Just because of Batman Begins/Bournes success, apparently the only reason for going to the cinema is to watch a 30-something year old white man mope for 2 hours over some trauma that he experienced in the past. A film like this needs to be tongue and cheek – it’s called RoboCop for God’s sake! People go into this movie wanting to have fun, not be emotionally drained!

As well as this major fault, the film’s changes to the original source material are absolutely pointless. Giving Murphy emotion once he enters the RoboCop suit ruins one of the integral premises of the original film – the fact that Murphy regains some emotional recollection after dying. Honestly it might not seem like much, but the original film created such a sad idea around that concept, by having RoboCop visit his house in the original and have flashbacks of his family. In this the family are front and center of the story, which doesn’t work because they have very little point, and in the original it was done a whole lot better without them even being in it.

But the main problem with the film is that it’s too generic. The action scenes are in particular, which are simply overlong shaky-cam shots. Out of the four main action scenes, one of the major ones is shot almost completely in the dark, clouding the view of the probably great choreography. Everything about the film is unoriginal, and therefore uninteresting.

The acting is ok, but nothing to write home about. Same with the cinematography and the direction.

The one thing that i really liked about the movie was the way it melded some scenes with music. For example, there is an excellent scene in which RoboCop’s mind goes through a training simulation, while the Tin Man song from The Wizard of Oz plays. A true stroke of genius. As well as the Clash song “I fought the Law” playing in the end credits.

Overall the movie was poor, but there are things which are enjoyable about it. Gary Oldman and Sam Jackson are good in their roles, although Jackson does seem to be phoning it in. It was not so much a bad movie as it was a completely unremarkable one. It was pointless, since the original is such a masterpiece.

5/10