Scarlett Johansson

The Jungle Book Review

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With Cinderella last year and Beauty and the Beast next year, it seems Disney is set on remaking their well-known animated classics into live-action. I along with many others, were sceptical if those stories would work through the change. But Cinderella proved me wrong, so now I’m pretty excited about the new films. The newest film to be adapted is the 1967 The Jungle Book. Does the film still work at nearly 50 years old?

The Jungle Book stars Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o and newcomer Neel Sethi and is directed by Jon Favreau. Based on the books by Rudyard Kipling, the film follows young child Mowgli (Sethi) as he has to leave the jungle for fear that tiger Shere Khan (Elba) will kill him.

First off, the animation is superb. While I talked about the attention to detail in Disney’s earlier Zootropolis, it was mainly cartoon versions of animals. Here it’s more like a nature documentary. The animals of the jungle howl and roar and they stalk their prey through the forest with an amazing sense of realism. The environments help. They look photo-realistic and the CGI creations merge with the live-action sections of the film.

The cast is what makes it though. Several strong voices, each giving a top performance. They are so many more than the ones I’ve listed already, Scarlett Johansson (as the now female Kaa, who isn’t in it as long as the original), Christopher Walken as King Louis and Giancarlo Esposito as Akela. Even original Spiderman director Sam Raimi gets a small cameo. It’s a great list and it gets you invested in the film. You don’t care that animals are talking, because they sell the hell out of it. I wasn’t too impressed with Neel Sethi as Mowgli, (he’s better than most child actors, but that isn’t saying much) but seeing as it’s his first film I feel like going easy on him.

The film obviously has to tip it’s hat to the original 1967 version, but it’s in these moments that it lost me. Sure the songs are what have kept the film a well-loved classic for so long, but they feel out of place here. Christopher Walken’s rendition is laughably awful (while adding new lyrics) and Murray and Sethi’s version of Bare Necessities doesn’t have anything on the original. It works a lot better when it deviates from the first film. Kaa’s new version of hypnosis is clever update of the 60s psychedelic wavy lines, and the new design King Louis, as a 12-foot gigantopithecus (a now extinct type of ape) is a sight to behold; he’s no longer the swinging and jiving jazz singer we knew. Hands down, the build up and reveal of the Ape King, as well as the following action scene around his palace is one of the best scenes in the film and will become a standout of Disney’s catalogue. And no, there are no vultures bearing similarities to a certain Liverpool band in this version.

The film as moved from a U rating to a PG. I guess it comes with the territory, with the more life-like creatures and with fighting being a major theme of the story, The Jungle Book is skewing to a much more darker sense. The violence is mostly off-screen or is hidden, but the tone is less child-friendly than the 1967 version. The man-hating Shere Khan (who Idris Elba gives a great sense of menace) has an evil presence over the film, as well as the entire King Louis section, it has a much more intense feel than the original. If you are worried whether you kid will be scared by the prospect of a realistic tiger jumping at them, have a look at the trailer. The trailer does a good job of setting the general tone of the film. If you think that they can deal with it then go for it. Just be prepared for angry tigers and panthers jumping at the camera.

Score: 9/10 A great adaptation and remake that changes the feel for the better.

Hail, Caesar! Review

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The Coen Brothers are probably the most multi-talented duo in Hollywood at the moment. Both Joel and Ethan have produced, written and directed films for over thirty years, recently working on the script of Bridge Of Spies. Now, their new film, Hail, Caesar! is in cinemas.

Hail, Caesar! stars Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Scarlett Johannson and Alden Ehrenreich and is directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen. The films follows a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Brolin), a “fixer” for a major Hollywood studio during the 1950s.

The film is set in the Golden Age of Hollywood and there are several jokes and references to the films of yesteryear, the film is basically a love letter to Hollywood. We see behind the scenes of the films such as in the cutting room and the board meetings, with funny scenes at every turn. It reminds me of Singin’ In The Rain to an extent. We jump from movie lot to movie lot, seeing snippets of biblical epics, westerns and musicals. The film also moves between several genres of film, with parts being mystery, noir, romance and comedy. Unfortunately, this was one of my problems with it, as the film didn’t feel consistent with its tone. The film also changes aspect ratio whenever it goes into one of its film-within-a-film moments, which also annoyed me a little.

With the Coen Brother’s also writing the script as well as directing, the jokes come thick and fast. The Coen’s know how to construct farcical scenes well and hide little jokes in the margins for the more eagle-eyed viewers. My favourite from Hail, Caesar! is an extended back-and-forth between Alden Ehrenreich and Ralph Fiennes (the first of several cameos in the film) over pronunciation of a line of dialogue.

The film is littered with cameos from actors and actresses, each one bringing their all to the film. Tilda Swinton (in two roles), Frances McDormand, Jonah Hill, Michael Gambon and Channing Tatum all fill out the side space well. Channing Tatum, who leads the best scene in the film, a highly choreographed tap dance/Broadway song is brilliant, but is in the film for less than ten minutes. It’s nice to see all these talented actors, but ether they don’t feature enough or bog down the narrative with added weight. Michael Gambon does some voice over but it comes out of nowhere at has no narrative cohesion. It doesn’t open and close the story, it just pops in whenever it feels like it.

Watching the trailer, you would think that Hail, Caesar! is a crime comedy about George Clooney being kidnapped and Josh Brolin has to go out and find him. In all honesty, that story is only around a third of the film. The Coen’s add side-story on top of side-story, smothering the main plot with additional characters and stories that are either never resolved or end too quick. When we do get back to the main plot, it potters around for a good while before being resolved far too quickly. This blurring of stories is what the Coen’s do in a lot of their films, but it makes Hail, Caesar! feel very disjointed.

Hail, Caesar! is a very quirky film. If you’re a fan of Wes Anderson’s work then you might find enjoyment here. If you’re a real film history buff then you’ll get all the nods and jokes to the 50s production, but to the average movie-goer, those same jokes will fall flat. It’s not for everyone, but for those who get it, you’ll find several laughs within.

Score: 7/10 Baffling and a bit odd, but still very funny.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

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I have an odd history with superhero films. I’ve caused outrage with some diehards fans of the genre by saying that I quite enjoy Batman and Robin, or X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I’m not really that impressed with The Dark Knight and I do believe that there might possibly be a superhero overload with the eighteen confirmed Marvel films coming between now and 2020. However, I do own the Marvel Encyclopaedia, so I guess I’m a sort-of fan. Either way, let’s get on with Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Quick heads up before I get going though. Some details will be on the vague side, due to my views on spoilers (mainly not giving any away). I do hope I give nothing away, but this is just a small note to say that certain details on characters, their arcs and plot points will be missing from the review.

Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner as our usual caped, cowled and suited superheroes, with Elizabeth Olson and an almost unrecognisable Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver respectively.  When a new threat emerges to destroy the world, our old Avengers must assemble once again, this time with the help of the two new recruits, to save the day.

First off, before you watch AAOU, you might need to watch the last couple of Marvel films. With returning plot points and returning characters from the last few films, you might want a small refresher watch just to make sure you can just jump straight into the new one. Luckily, through exposition, those who may have missed on some of the earlier films are brought up to speed fairly quickly.

The acting from all involved, be it the frontrunners or the background characters from earlier films is of the highest quality (did we really expect anything less from Marvel?) Highest kudos goes to Elizabeth Olson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who look like their having the time of the lives in the film, and also managing to pull off the Eastern European accent very well, unlike some other big budget release recently (Child 44 anyone?) Credit also needs to be given to James Spader, who voices the villain Ultron, giving a CGI robot some fun character traits.

Danny Elfman’s music throughout the film fits very well, giving some scenes a dark sense of danger, a route that many fans had speculated the film was going to take. Despite these darker tones the film is still a great laugh, with the jokes coming thick and fast at the beginning, but petering out relatively quickly so that our attention is focussed solely on the bombastic action scenes that are punctuated throughout. These action scenes are grand affairs, with explosions and destruction being main highlights of a fair few of them. At times they threaten to slip into a vat of sameness (seen one ruined building seen them all) yet each one is spiced with a flair of its own, with enjoyment coming from the times where members of our Avengers team up to see what happens when you cross things like Thor’s lightning and Captain America’s shield.

Now on to what could be considered the “bad stuff” of the film. First of all, the length. At 142 minutes the film feels extraordinarily long, which wouldn’t be a problem, if the film did not skimp on details. Some characters go missing or look to be grievously injured for a while during the film, and when they return we are not given any indication of where they were or how they survived. Second, those bombastic fights scenes that I talked about can be sometimes a handful to take in, and with the pace they are set at, it can feel as if the action has gone right by you and you haven’t a clue who is who and whether any of them have been injured.

Third, The CGI has remarkable dips in quality, with certain scenes looking downright awful. It’s shame because most of the CGI throughout the film is spectacular, with characters like Ultron having great attention to detail. It just pulls you right out of the film when the CGI takes a plummet in quality. Fourth, a blossoming romance between two of the Avengers, to me anyway, felt a bit forced and contrived, mainly because I couldn’t feel any chemistry between the two actors.

Finally, with the setting up of several other films, with older characters coming in to fill roles, absent characters joining the Marvel roster and plot devices being implemented for sequels, the film does set up many plot threads which we will have to wait a while before we get a satisfying end. And while it is fun to see all these characters and objects being slowly added to the Marvel Universe, some of it does seem unnecessary given the already astronomical length of the film. Okay, now I’m probably just being nitpicky.

In conclusion though, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a worthy sequel to one of the most refreshing superhero films in a long while.

Score: 7/10 A second blazingly fun romp with Earth’s mightiest heroes.