 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
The Machinist |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
THE MACHINIST You should be paying attention to the plot. You should be absorbed by the bleak, gritty direction or the lush, theremin-heavy soundtrack. Instead, it's fairly likely you'll spend the first five minutes of this stylish headscratcher staring slack-jawed at the screen and thinking "My God, he's so THIN!!!" Christian Bale's physical transformation for this dark thriller is already legendary, but you can't truly appreciate it until you seem him in character. Having dropped 63 pounds in weight, he's like a ghostly skeleton wrapped in skin, but it's all just a physical symptom of the deep problems lurking inside the head of main character Trevor Reznik. A worker in an industrial machine shop, Reznik is a haunted loner who hasn't been able to sleep for a year. His grip on reality is tenuous at best- but when a sinister new worker named Ivan (Sharian) starts bothering him, Reznik ends up being responsible for a gory, limb-ripping accident- but afterwards, he discovers nobody at the machine shop has ever even heard of Ivan. In the grip of serious paranoia, Reznik is soon convinced someone is out for revenge, and he goes to increasingly lunatic lengths in trying to find out who is responsible. Most of all, he has to work out the meaning of the sinister Post-it notes that are being left on his refrigerator door, and a game of Hangman that may hold all the answers. The hints of a conspiracy unravel quickly, and instead what we have is a dark, Kafkaesque character study that builds to a reality-warping examination of guilt and self-loathing. Set in an American everytown but shot in Barcelona, the film has a grimy, timeless feel, even though the script can't help occasionally feeling like an over-extended episode of The Twilight Zone. In the end, what pushes this edgy, thought-provoking drama beyond being just another trippy psychological thriller is Bale's astounding portrayal of a damaged personality falling apart at the seams. It's yet more proof that he's one of the finest screen actors around, and it'll have you waiting for his take on Batman even more urgently than ever... * * * *
MARTIN MARTIN'S ON THE OTHER SIDE * * 1/2 When the blurb announces that an SF-related book is in the same company as 1984 and A Clockwork Orange, it's easy to hear alarm bells ringing. However, the exceptionally odd Martin Martin's on the Other Side does manage to be distinctive enough to warrant the comparison, even if the novel can't always balance what it's trying to say with the confrontational style in which it's saying it. Set in the kind of not-too-distant future where New Labour's vision of Britain has turned into a distorted nightmare, it's the story of Jensen Interceptor, a heavily medicated government enforcer who's recruited to infiltrate an offbeat gang of cultists. They're worshippers of Martin Martin, a long-dead television psychic who's developed a messianic reputation, and soon Jensen is finding his outlook on the society around him changing, while he starts getting bizarre visions which may be coming from Martin Martin himself... Wernham has written a mix of dystopia and supernatural fantasy that's packed with a lot of anger at where modern day British politics could conceivably take us, and also gives the story an effectively tragic edge as it builds towards a series of bizarre, mind-expanding revelations. Unfortunately, he's chosen to do this in a clunky, slang-heavy prose style, and through the point-of-view of a tremendously unpleasent lead character. The first 100 pages are like being trapped in a lift with a drunken, foul-mouthed bore who won't stop talking, and even once the style settles down and Jensen begins to evolve, Wernham's satire frequently backfires on him, leaving the novel sometimes feeling more like a lecture. There's plenty of challenging and relevant material here - it's just a pity that Wernham has made getting to it such a serious slog.
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS * * It was supposed to be the "Year of the Matrix", twelve months when we'd thrill to the continuation of one of the funkiest sci-fi action epics in decades. Instead, 2003 turned out as the year we stared at the cinema screen and asked questions like "What the hell did the Architect just say?", "Will this stupid Rave sequence never end?" and "When exactly did the Wachowskis forget how to make movies?" True, MATRIX REVOLUTIONS is both visually stunning and a marginal improvement over the mechanical MATRIX RELOADED, but anyone looking for the first movie's pace and energy is wasting their time. Pompous and self-important, it's pitched like the Wachowski's cyberpunk version of the Sermon on the Mount, but instead we're just left giggling at the sixth-form cod philosophy and wishing Hugo Weaving's stunning performance was in a film that actually deserved it. Particularly in the wake of RETURN OF THE KING, the daft dialogue and minimal emotional impact of REVOLUTIONS suddenly makes it all seem terribly silly- although putting in a vomit-inducing "cute ethnic kid" and revolving huge sections of the plot around the boring inhabitants of Zion was asking for trouble. Annoyingly, you can still see fragments of the crazed Manga-epic the Wachowskis were aiming for, like Neo's arrival in the surreal Machine City, but their self-indulgence finally gets the better of them. Time to hang up your long black coat and put away your shades- the Matrix has left the building, and there's not many who'll care if it's ever coming back... DVD Extras: Warners has learned their lesson;- the goodies on show are an improvement on the RELOADED disc's shoddy selection, with plenty of short but highly informative featurettes, as well as a 3-D timeline, storyboards, trailers and a shameless plug for the upcoming MATRIX ONLINE game. It's not as good as the original MATRIX disc, though- and who wants to gamble there'll be a more extensive "super-ultimate-extreme" edition in six months?
MEET THE ROBINSONS * * * Ever since their 'Kings of Animation' crown was stolen by Pixar in the mid-nineties, Disney have been going through a serious identity crisis. They've spent the intervening years struggling to keep up, even recently switching to full CGI animation with the shriekingly horrible Chicken Little. Their latest feature is still dwarfed by classics like Toy Story or The Incredibles, but it is a sweetly enjoyable romp with the added benefit of a complete absence of sassy talking animals or post-modern fairy tales. Instead, it's a tale of retro-styled sci-fi that fuses The Jetsons with Futurama, as young orphan inventor Lewis sets off a chain of events that results in him being whisked into the future by time-travelling kid Wilbur Robinson. Here, in a world of inflatable skyscrapers and jazz-loving gangster frogs, he encounters the entire Robinson family, a clan of likeable eccentrics who celebrate strangeness and failure, and also ends up being stalked by the villainous (and not particularly competent) Bowler Hat Guy, who's out to avenge himself by using a time machine to alter the course of Lewis' life. Despite a couple of surprisingly dark moments (including an 'industrial nightmare' chase sequence that wouldn't be out of place in a Star Wars prequel), it's no surprise that Meet the Robinsons doesn't really work as a sci-fi story, instead feeling like a grab-bag of fun ideas in desperate need of something to stick it all together. What it does have on its side is some deliriously loopy humour (including Adam West as a heroic pizza-delivery man, plus an out-of-nowhere gag involving Tom Selleck) and a rapid-fire pace, showcased best in the dizzying sequence where Lewis first meets the family. There's also some genuinely touching moments where the film briefly holds back on the otherwise sledgehammer-level sentiment, while the animation is colourful and fluid, if never quite hugely impressive. At the least, it's distinctive and good-natured enough to stand out from the derivative CGI tat currently clogging up cinema screens- just don't think too much about the time-travel element of the plot, if you don't want to give yourself a migraine...
MEMOIRS OF A MASTER FORGER * * * * Described as an 'autobiography' (although it's actually a novel written under a pseudonym), the title of this mysterious book suggests a confessional crime thriller, and the cover blurb makes it seems like an oddball demon-hunting fantasy. Appearances can be deceptive, however - it's actually a heartfelt work of literary fiction that dances nimbly along the border of the fantasy/horror genre without ever toppling completely over. It's the tale of William Heaney, a potentially talented writer and self-confessed fraud who spends his life in London drinking too much, writing terrible poetry, and concocting book-forging scams to help finance a homelessness charity. He also has the ability to see demons - shadowy creatures preying on everyday life, attaching themselves to people and feeding off the negativity of the world. Whether what he sees is real or only in his head, Heaney is soon having to confront the uncomfortable secrets lurking in his past, as well as maybe edging closer to the hope of redemption. A moody, poetic and sometimes angry novel, it's a beautifully written portrait of guilt, forgiveness, and the people who fall between the cracks. At certain moments, Memoirs almost plays like a very low-key issue of comic series Hellblazer, but is careful to keep its minimal supernatural element as highly ambiguous, ultimately allowing the reader to make up their own mind. Admittedly, this slow-burning approach means the book takes a while to get going, but once it does, the whole story builds in atmosphere and class until it reaches a moving, almost transcendent climax. It's hard to decide whether the odd 'autobiography' gimmick works or not - but this intelligent and well-crafted novel is more than strong enough to stand on its own two feet.
THE MESSENGERS * * 1/2 Remember when Asian Horror was fresh, new and exciting? Now, with derivative clones and bland remakes cluttering cinema screens, the novelty has departed, and hopes weren't riding high for the English Language debut of Hong Kong sibling directors Oxide and Danny Pang (The Eye). As it turns out, however, there's more to The Messengers than meets the eye, and while it might eventually collapse into jaw-dropping silliness, there are genuine chills to be found along the way. The set-up is traditional ghost story territory, with a Chicago family moving to rural North Dakota, and troubled older daughter Jessica (Stewart) discovering their new abode may have some unwelcome visitors. A sinister stain on the wall refuses to go away, her younger brother is seeing otherwise invisible presences, and Jessica herself soon comes under attack from supernatural forces- but, thanks to her recent bad behaviour, her parents take this as an attention-grabbing stunt to force them to move back to the city, and refuse to believe her. Jessica has to figure out the truth behind the weird visitations, but anyone who's seen a horror film in the last twenty years will already have figured out the answer. Thankfully, while the story offers few surprises, the Pang Brothers conjure up an excellent gothic atmosphere, as well as creating some delicious scares. Visually inventive, the best moments come through slow build-up and creepy silences, while they handle the actors well, getting an impressive performance out of Stewart, and giving the film a good sense of conviction and reality. It's just a pity they aren't sensible enough to ease off on the film's dafter excesses, as eerie Hitchockian thrills morph into shrieking Evil Dead-style ghouls, leading to a Shining-inspired climax that's too ridiculous for words. The screenplay also ruins the first hour's excellent build-up by refusing to give its ghosts any kind of character, instead throwing in random, arbitrary shocks seemingly for the hell of it. The end results may be far from perfect, but still showcase some groovy visuals, and if the Pang Brothers can get hold of a better script, their next Hollywood project may well be worth a look...
MIRRORMASK Film: * * * * Extras: * * * 1/2 Deliberately sticking two fingers up at photo-realism, Mirrormask is a very different breed of CGI movie. It's the work of artist-turned-director Dave McKean, with longtime collaborator Neil Gaiman on screenplay duties, and together they've crafted a low-budget children's fantasy that brings McKean's eye-popping art style (best known from the covers to The Sandman) into 24-frames-per-second reality. Following circus-dwelling teenager Helena (Leonidas) as she descends into a surreal dreamworld thanks to her guilt over her mother's illness, it's a derivative but engaging quest movie that splices together Labyrinth, Alice in Wonderland and The Company of Wolves, while still finding plenty of room for wit and weirdness. Leonidas makes an engaging heroine, keeping the emotional heart of the film beating even while she's acting against non-existent CGI backdrops, and there's excellent support from Gina McKee in an eye-catching multiple role, and from Jason Barry as the less-than-trustworthy masked juggler Valentine. The film even manages to make the occasionally slack pacing and excessive dream-logic seem insignificant thanks to characterful humour, memorable set-pieces, and McKean's utterly ravishing approach to the visuals. CGI has rarely been used in such a beautifully abstract way, and there's a massive selection of genuinely stunning moments- from eyeball-spiders and cat-like sphinxes to hovering stone giants and a room full of creepy jack-in-the-boxes singing "Close To You" by the Carpenters. Diehard Gaiman fans may find this a little lightweight, but in the frequently bland and homogenised world of family cinema, a film as dark, inventive and downright freaky as Mirrormask is something to treasure. Extras: A small selection, but quality wins out over quantity. Along with a highly informative and entertaining commentary from Gaiman and McKean, there are eight short but fascinating featurettes (totalling 45 minutes) dealing with the making and development of the movie, including plenty of interviews and a fascinating time-lapse photography sequence showing a day in the life of the shoot.
< Back to Articles & Reviews / Return to Top of Page / Next > |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
All
written material is (c) Saxon Bullock 2009. For further details,
click here |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
