'SUICIDE SQUAD' REVIEW

Release Date: Friday the 5th of August (UK Release)
Directed By: David Ayer
Written By: David Ayer
Produced By: Zach Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Geoff Johns, Steven Mnuchin, Bruce Franklin and Andy Horwitz
Starring: Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Cara Delevinge, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez and Jared Leto
Distributed By: Warner Brothers

2016 has already seen a real range of both highs and lows for the ever present Comic Book Film with the likes of Marvel’s ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Captain America: Civil War’ both receiving great praise from critics and fans alike. This year has also brought along its share of disappointments with the previously reviewed ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ failing to bring forth the fun and enthralment of the franchise’s previous two instalments. The most notable failure however has been Zack Snyder’s (Deep shudder) attempt at kickstarting The DC Cinematic Universe  (DCCU?) with the heavily marketed ‘Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice’ which was met with great disdain in equal parts from fans and Critics. 

There were those who found the relentless grit, gloom and grime a worthy introduction to building an entire cinematic world and the poor story telling a worthy adversary to the seemingly unstoppable machine of Marvel Studios. Now; six months later a second DC movie moves into view hoping to regain some faith as well as expand the previously marred universe, in order to bring about another cinematic giant. The question is, does the David Ayer helmed ‘Suicide Squad’ deliver?

Taking place a few months after ‘BVS’,  with America in fallout from the death of Superman, ‘Suicide Squad’ begins with Government Official Amanda Waller (Davis) believing that Superman may have much deadlier and malicious alias’. With this in mind she proposes a team to combat this unpredictable threat, in the form of the worlds most deadly criminals whom are under lock and key. With the rise of a possible world endangering threat, Waller’s team is swiftly compiled together lead by the drawling Southern Rick Flagg (Kinneman). With the team consisting of a wide array of ‘The Worst of The Worst’ (Oh how that phrase will come back to bite them later), the squad set out to achieve their mission, encountering more than they bargained for along the way. 

Unlike many critics have done upon its release, I feel I must point out the merits within this film which are apparent and out of respect to David Ayer must be acknowledged. Beginning at the heart of the sense of John Ostrander’s creation which is of course the characters. One of the icons throughout the marketing process of this film was of course Harley Quinn who had yet to receive the silver screen treatment. Stepping up to the plate is Margot Robbie who; once pictured in costume seemed a worthy representative of the high pitched, mallet wielding partner to the clown prince of crime. Fortunately for the film, Robbie delivers Quinn’s iconic quips and characteristics to great success and remains one of the few highlights of the film. 

Another appraisal is given to Will Smith’s incarnation of marksman assassin Deadshot who appears to be enjoying himself greatly as he wisecracks, aims true and butts heads consistently with Kinneman’s Flagg creating a conflicting if well worn ‘Alpha Male’ back and forth. Unfortunately the remaining characters fail to be deemed enthralling with some bearing at all watchable though not from a lack of trying. Courtney’s turn of Aussie bank robber Captain Boomerang (For whom else would you rely upon in times of apocalypse?) is standard enough though painfully underwritten, leaving the presumed joker of the pack (genuinely no pun intended there) with very few wisecracks and  a ‘superpower’ as compelling as a two minute conversation with Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. 

The lack of depth with two thirds of the cast is a fault which, once recognised, affects the progression of the narrative up until the last shot. Trying her best to work with what she has however is Viola Davis’ Waller who from the source material is the true villain in this horde of villains, yet despite obtaining an Academy nominated powerhouse, ‘Suicide Squad’ fails to give the puppeteer enough to chew besides a steak dinner and a brief moment of scenery in the third act. The same fate is given to both Killer Croc (An incredibly made up Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Karen Fukuhara’s Katana whom, aside from a brief moment in a scene each are giving nothing to do but either sit there or smash and dice villains in perhaps one or two frames. Copping for the least amount of anything, primarily backstory is Adam Beach’s Slipknot who again possess a skill which would perhaps be more beneficial to an episode of ‘Bear Grylls: Mission Survive’ (The man can climb well, oooft, take that Wonder Woman). 

The final three character’s who certainly receive a backstory, though severely lack any intrigue are Kinneman’s Flagg, Jay Hernandez’s Diablo and Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress/ June Moon. Hernandez is given a somewhat inefficiently tragic backstory which leads into a redemptive arc with almost no emotional tie whatsoever, including an obscene amount of cliche’d line after line of dialogue leading to a true feeling of being underwhelmed by a character who had the promise of being the most meta human and therefore threatening in the entire squad. Whatever lack of interest is brought about from Diablo’s arc, it is still more appealing in comparison to that felt by the ‘romance element’ (deep sigh) crowbarred in between Flagg and Moon. Already lacking any chemistry whatsoever (both actors are given somewhat mundane characterisations, in particular Delevingne’s Enchantress), Ayer chooses to simply spoon feed this ongoing relationship to the viewer through Davis’ character in a few sharp sentences, yet again leading to an underwhelming payoff for this arc along with not caring in the slightest for these two characters throughout all acts of the film. 

With our protagonists quickly becoming a mixed bag in both interesting characters and well rounded performances, its time to look at those worse, or at least implied to be. The initial premise of the mission the squad are tasked to involves retrieving a high value target, this very swiftly descends into an incredibly formulaic and third rate apocalypse style “Why don’t we throw as much CG at the screen as possible?”. At the centre of this is Enchantress who’s motives whilst never truly delved into, again suffer from being underwritten, leading to a severe lack of interest and engagement from the viewer. 

When looking at the villains as a point of analysis, it becomes clear that post ‘BvS’, studio interference lead to a crackdown on the violence and obscenity allowed in this film which one can understand but given the title alone implying something a little more daring and with DC’s history of moulding incredibly dark themes and violence, there is a sense that for a true tone of John Ostrander’s characters, this film should really be pushing the boundaries of its 15 certificate (PG - 13 in the States). Indeed, with promises made by ayer that this would be an ‘edgy’ film with an almost ‘punk rock attitude’, the muddled tone proves to be less Stiff Little Fingers and a more polished All Time Low (A thought Im sure we can all agree is as far from punk rock as is possible). 

The ‘punk’ vibe is very much hit upon at various intervals throughout this film. From the retina burning neon at every opportunity to blisteringly on the nose musical cues (The first forty minutes of the film cramming in as many best of album hits with no real reasoning behind them) which hit wave after wave before becoming obsolete at the halfway mark. So far from the perfect pairings in the trailers.

One of the elements of this film which got fan boy and girl alike excited wasn't just the first cinematic incarnation of Harley Quinn, but of her lover. Yet another incarnation of The Clown Prince of Crime was on the cards, teased at various intervals during marketing and with a recently Oscar accoladed Jared Leto stepping into the iconic role. The result of this is underwhelming at best. Lightyears away from the late Heath Ledger’s grizzled rip roaring performance, Leto opts for a more streetwise, crime boss Harlequin of Hate. That is when we see him, barely meriting a cameo, Leto pops in at various intervals (mainly a few of many flashbacks) leaving a full decision on The Joker yet to be fully made, (A shame considering his vigorous preparation for the role) though its worth noting at this point, it could be the worst yet. 

Whilst the antichrist of cinema Zack Snyder is just producing this time around (say for a brief directing stint in a scene containing a world expanding cameo), this project was in the hands of David Ayer who would seem a perfect choice to direct a dark yet entertaining picture with films such as ‘Training Day’, ‘End of Watch’ and ‘Fury’ under his belt. With this in mind it becomes difficult to find the Ayer tropes throughout the narrative which is a shame and can only be put down to studio interference. That said the element of comic book splash pages lead to some fantastical shots which hint at a very realised and visually appealing film here. The problem however arrives with the lack of these shot types and instead become filled with shaky, oddly angled action set pieces with buckets of rain and gloom thrown in. 

One notable aspect about any film is that good characters can make up for a lack in story. This is true of Suicide Squad as previously mentioned Robbie and Smith squeeze the most from their characters to make for some enjoyable moments. What characters cannot do however is make up for poor story telling and editing. With an opening pace which seems so sure of itself it needs two introductions for various characters, ‘SS’ jumps from flashback to present day with little to no set up as well as jumping from scene to scene with the most curious of cuts.  The stitches are clear as to wear the reshoots were spliced in and as for a ‘BvS’ style extended cut non existent, this is not about to change. Further fuel to the fire of disappointment is the entire third act in which character motivations set up in the first two acts seem to go out of the window in favour of an even more formulaic denoument. For a film in which it's core and veritable success depends on the engagement and understanding of its characters, this is yet another issue which begs the question, how will the follow up address these issues?

As 2016 closes on the DC Cinematic Universe, the hype at the start of the year has certainly scattered to the winds. With Wonder Woman set to make her debut in March, this will truly be the make or break for the quality of the franchise we can expect to play out over the coming years. Its unfortunate however that a first outing for some of DC’s most iconic villains fail to be the antihero team of the summer (You'll find no Guardians of the Galaxy style fun here) and instead swap the Dirty Dozen level of charm and fun for a gloomy grouping of bad writing, frustratingly underdeveloped characters and the stale stench of studio panic. 

"I don't know what they told you, but I'm a hitman, not a fireman, I don't save people!" - Floyd Lawton (Deadshot)

'FINDING DORY' REVIEW

Release Date: Friday the 29th of July (UK Release)

Directed By: Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane

Written By: Andrew Stanton and Victoria Strouse 

Produced By: John Lasseter, Lindsey Collins and Bob Roath

Starring: Elllen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O'Neil, Kaitlin Olson and Ty Burrell

Distributed By: Disney Pixar

With Pixar suffering through a somewhat rough patch in recent years, due to a stream of releases which seemingly failed to represent the sky scraping with releases post Toy Story 3 including ‘Cars 2’ and ‘Brave’. Then in 2015 with the release of an original film ‘Inside Out’, Pixar put forward their most creative and thought provoking film yet proving the magic certainly hadn't left the studio. 2015 was a also a double release for Pixar with ‘The Good Dinosaur’ receiving a November Release which was greeted with much more middling responses, leaving it to the next picture to give a definitive answer to whether Pixar were still at the top of the animation game. Now, 12 years after one of their most iconic creations, Pixar returns with the submerged sequel, ‘Finding Dory’.

Taking place a year on from the tear jerking adventure ‘Finding Nemo’ (With Nemo failing to have aged a day I might add), Dory is now living with her new found family Marlin and Nemo when the sudden memory of her real family she lost years ago spurs a journey across the ocean in order to find her parents. Along the way however, Dory is separated from her clownfish cohorts and whisked away to the Marine Life institute. From here on it’s a race against time as Marlin and Nemo must find Dory (Deja Vu anyone?) and Dory must find a way out of the institute, meeting friends old and new along the way. 

With a twelve year wait for a sequel which was never truly longed for but more than welcomed, it’s safe to say the hype for this feature grew immensely upon the announcement of the sequel back in 2013. With that said, the marketing during the build up to release seemed somewhat lacklustre in comparison to Pixar’s other beloved characters (The likes of ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Cars’ garnering a much more widespread campaign). If anything however; this paired with the stigma of Pixar’s seeming drop in quality lowers the expectations, making the thoughts on this film all the more positive. 

One of the most admirable aspects of the first instalment of this fishy franchise was the vibrancy and much welcomed variety of the characters. This follow up is no exception with cult favourites Sea Turtles Crush and Squirt making a gnarly (if brief) cameo along with the sea shanty singing Mr Ray. One of the biggest strengths however, lies within Pixar’s innate ability to create a vast array of new characters and sprinkle them into their sequels instead of lamely taking the same characters and conjuring a story around them. These new characters include far sighted Whale Shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), Sonar struggled Beluga Whale Bailey (Ty Burrell) and Cockney Sea Lions Fluke and Rudder (Idris Elba and Dominic West). The highlight however is wry and wisecracking Septopus Hank (O’Neil) who, with the gravely voice of a hard boiled 70’s detective, splats and slides from room to room ingeniously camouflaging with every tentacle twist. 

One of the most notable criticisms to arrive with the film first glance however, is its seemingly unimaginative set up which could easily be seen as a parallel of the first instalment with one fish going missing only for another fish to try and find them. This basic outlook is true but aside from these minor points its safe to say this is a completely different film, much to my delight. Indeed with Dory only a secondary character in ‘Finding Nemo’, there was still much of a story to be told as well as being somewhat fresh in terms of having a female hero with a disability. This turns out to be something of a theme in relation to the new cast as each character has a dysfunction of some kind. Hank being something of an amputee having only seven tentacles, Destiney’s far sightedness and Bailey’s problem with his sonar all combining to create a thematic construct focusing on how a disability cannot stop you from achieving. 

Indeed, despite Dory’s quirks (the ten seconds of humour the whale speak emits, rears its head for a questionable length of time) she is very much the lynchpin of each character interaction which in itself is an impressive feat in story telling. Every character she comes into contact with packs an emotional punch of some description, be it a rib tickling slapstick riddled pram ride to tear jerking reunions (Yes I cried at fish). As a sequel DeGeneres was somewhat gunning for for years, her voice work has become one of the most iconic characters in the Pixar canon as she is on top form as the forgetful yet heartwarming Blue Tang. 

As is the case with Pixar, family themes are more or less always at the forefront of each picture, here that is very much the case with two family narrative threads at the core of this story, Marlin and Nemo’s father/ son dynamic (with Brooks re-embracing a career highlight to great effect.) and of course the primary plot device which is Dory and her long lost mother and father (played charmingly by Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy). With a character as sympathetic as Dory however, this seemingly cliche’d set up gains a new found depth with somewhat relentless twists and turns particularly in the third act leading to a patchy denouement. The sparkling aspect throughout this 93 minute animation however is DeGeneres’ inextinguishable charm with a clear love for the character which bleeds through the screen, infecting each audience member whether they like it or not. 

With Pixar still having a slight uphill struggle to be claimed the one true animation studio to beat with the surrounding studio’s such as Dreamworks and more recently Laika Entertainment upping their game with every release, ‘Finding Dory’ serves as a strong sequel and further addition to the high flying studio’s filmography. Whilst not on the level of the likes of ‘Toy Story 3’ (nor ‘Monsters University’ which is a personal favourite) it certainly serves on the top tier of returning visits to a beloved world. 

“Hi I am Dory, I suffer from Short Term Memory Loss” - Dory 

'THE BFG' REVIEW

Release Date: Friday the 22nd of July (UK Release)

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Written By: Melissa Mathison, Roald Dahl

Produced By: Kathleen Kennedy, John Madden and Kristie Macosko Krieger

Starring: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton and Jemaine Clement

Distributed By: Amblin Entertainment, Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Meida

 As is the way with Disney in recent years, live action reboots of well loved classics are the ways to go. In this case, instead of a literary classic from centuries ago Disney have opted for a reiteration of child author Roald Dahl’s 1982 novel ‘The BFG’. Orchestrating this giant adaptation and working for the first time with Disney is renowned cinematic legend Steven Spielberg. Does the seemingly dreamlike pairing make for a squiffling success or a Spielbergian slip up?

Beginning in an undefined decade of London in which the Victorian cobblestones and gas lamps adorn the streets, yet fashion magazines are posted through letterboxes in the early hours; our child protagonist Sophie (Barnhill) is swept away after being seen by a twenty four feet giant (Rylance) in the early hours of the morning. Travelling to the distant land of giant country, the two quickly form a friendship and set out to stop the nine much larger and much more menacing inhabitants of giant country. 

Whilst not the first adaptation of Dahl’s heartwarming tale (The 1989  Animated TV Movie starring David Jason stands as one of the strongest cinematic transfers so far), the prospect of finding the actor for the titular character would make or break this picture. Luckily upon hearing the news of renowned Thespian Mark Rylance, fears were very much set aside before being all but vanquished with the release of the first trailer. Having won an Oscar thanks to Spielberg this year for ‘Bridge of Spies’, Rylance sinks his teeth into this role, emulating a kindly West Suffolk accent, brining to life the wondrous grammatical creations from Dahl’s novel. 

It is clear that Rylance’s motion capture performance is the highlight, taken to even greater levels when in conjunction with Barnhill’s Sophie who in a year of seemingly strong standout young female performances (joining ‘The Nice Guys’ Angourie Rice) seems set to go far in the coming years. Having only two actress credits to her name including this one, Barnhill’s performance perfectly captures the outcast yet feisty child who is not only a staple of Dahl’s work but also that of Spielberg himself with this film in particular, relating to his 1982 iconic picture ‘E.T.’ with two isolated outcasts becoming inseparable. Fitting it should also be connected by the same screenwriter Melissa Mathison as well as legendary composer John Williams who’s contributions are easily and welcomely recognised throughout the narrative progression. 

One of the most welcome aspects of this film, lie within its production and art design, in particular the creation of The BFG’s cave, with the playing of scale executed to brilliant success involving a galleon as a bed and a motorway road sign as a serving tray. It’s here where the true imagination of both Dahl and Spielberg who merge together wonderfully making for the highlights of the picture.   The visual wonder continues in an all too brief section focusing on BFG’s plot driving role as a dreamcatcher, in which Avatar esque balls of light stream to and from the frame in a Northern Lights styled night sky. 

Amongst all of its visual delight and protagonist hits however, issues stem from the progression of the well known tale. Whilst there are naturally necessary beats to hit and unmissable scenes to include (those of which are dealt with in an excellent fashion) it’s the joints between which seemingly suffer greatly as a great deal of running time becomes a two hander between young Sophie and her twenty four feet friend, which whilst pleasant enough, fails to contain enough plot driving elements and sorrily becomes a slow paced series of simplistic conversation scenes. 

That said, the seminal moments from the book are wonderfully brought to the big screen including a brilliantly Spielbergian moment in which we see BFG’s dream blowing skills in full form and a truly rib tickling breakfast scene at Buckingham Palace in which the childlike concoction known as Frobscottle is and in doing so, highlights Spielberg’s knack for physical comedy. 

A common feature of Dahl’s literature was his previously mentioned knack for creating rich and vibrant characters. With the exception of  the two leads, this highlights another issue with the retelling as all supporting characters feel somewhat under developed leading to a less enveloping journey. 

One particularly loyal aspect of the 1989 animated film was the representation of the sheer fearsomeness of the nine antagonist giants who stand much taller than our hero with the leader reaching fifty feet high. In both the novel and animated version, the menacing personalities of these villains come through as well as their atrocious act of eating little “chiddlers”. In Spielberg’s take, whilst a demolition derby style game in Giant Country is all very well and good, there is never really a sense of fear created from these monsters with only the leader of the brutish bunch Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) gaining a full speaking role. This effect also spills onto the human supporting characters somewhat as the likes of Mary the maid (Rebecca Hall), Mr Tibbs (A seemingly accent muddled Rafe Spall) and The Queen (Penelope Wilton) are somewhat all too brief. As the meeting of these characters occurs within the third act of the film, the ending feels something of a rush as the well remembered capturing of the giants is seemingly brushed over within five minutes, further leaving the actual threat of the giants in an even more questionable state. 

As a fan of Brian Cosgrove’s darker 1989 adaptation, I went into Spielberg’s ‘The BFG’ with a certain expectation in receiving visual flair with very much the right BFG at its core. In Rylance that rings true as do the visuals in the first Dahl adaptation to receive the CG treatment. Whilst it may not stand as the best adaptation, (a position I feel is somewhat tied between Wes Anderson’s ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ and Mel Stuarts classic ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”) it certainly contains the best of both Dahl and Spielberg’s themes of spectacle and social outcasts coming together in a visually stimulating if somewhat steady paced picture. 

"I cannot be right all the time. Quite often I is left instead of right" - BFG