Review - Oblivion

At the Theater - "Oblivion" - Although it's a pastiche of a myriad of ideas from a host of past Sci-Fi films, it's a very well made one. Excellent effects work, gorgeous cinematography, a pulsing OST from M83 and Tom Cruise giving it his all highlight this Asimov-esque tale of a post-apocalyptic maintenance man questioning his mission on a shattered Earth. Of the (relatively) limited amount of films I've seen at the theater this year, it's thus far my favorite. 

Director Joseph Kosinski's eye for striking visuals is once again on par with the best effects-heavy auteurs in the business, with Oscar-Winning Director of Photography Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi) providing consistently stunning work of his own. The film features a multitude of excellent set pieces and impressive props while the human aspect of the story is substantially warmer to the touch than Kosinski's previous effort, TRON: Legacy. I had a difficult time finding anything involving the FX work that I didn't like- there's nothing gaudy or excessive to speak of.  Furthermore, there wasn't any moment throughout the film that I second-guessed the logistics at hand- it's one of the more efficient films of it's nature that I've seen in quite some time.

I don't mind Tom Cruise- I actually believe he's putting in some of the best work of his career and could care less about the offscreen baggage that seems to interest and rankle so many others. Comparatively, I also believe he's currently amongst the very best leading men in film. He's terrific here as "Jack Harper" (generic name, I know), the sole drone repair tech working to harvest a war-ravaged Earth's remaining resources for the benefit of an orbiting space station harboring the planet's remaining survivors.  Cruise exhibits the presence and charisma of a seasoned vet with nary a false note to speak of.  He's not one of my favorite actors, but I struggled to think of someone who could have done a better job in the role.

Andrea Riseborough portrays Harper's base coordinator and love interest, "Vicca"- I've honestly never seen the actress before but felt she was pretty damned good throughout.

Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace) is only a baby-step better than the last time I saw her in a film- she's decidedly uneven as a figure from Harper's past who throws events into motion. Morgan Freeman is as dependable as ever in a limited supporting role, while Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (HBO's Game Of Thrones) isn't given nearly enough to do.  Melissa Leo (The Fighter), as the space station's mission control agent who's constantly checking in for status updates, sports a Texan accent that I found annoyingly phony and wholly unnecessary. My biggest disappointment was finding that Kiwi Stuntwoman/Actress Zoe Bell (Death Proof) has somewhere less than a minute's worth of screen-time- there's no good reason for that.

I'm guessing most who've had the pleasure of watching Duncan Jones' Moon will recognize a substantial plot development and feel that this film copies it- I do seem to recall that Oblivion's story was a long-gestating graphic novel from Radical Comics which preceded the release of Moon by a couple of years, though.  Expect certain other parts of the story and visual design to emulate other films of the Sci-Fi genre like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet Of The Apes (1968) and Independence Day. I actually enjoyed the many similarities and references.

Although the narrative is at times familiar, Oblivion is an entertaining, logistically sound and aesthetically pleasing bit of escapism featuring some impressively sharp production values, fluid direction and a fine lead performance from Cruise. Highly Recommended for fans of the Sci-Fi genre- it deserves a viewing in a quality theater.

8.5 out of 10

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Review - The Sweeney

On Blu Ray and DVD - "The Sweeney" -  Solid production values and a smoldering performance from Ray Winstone can't quite save this British cops-n-robbers flick from a garbled, cliched-to-a-fault script.  Based on a popular UK TV show of the same name that ran from 1975 to 1978, it feels like Cliff's Notes for a more substantial, fleshed out work. A few shockingly stupid moments and a woefully miscast Ben Drew (a British Rapper known as "Plan B") as an up and coming supercop doesn't help matters in the least.

Taken from Wikipedia.org - "The film's title derives from "Sweeney Todd", which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad", a real life branch of the Metropolitan Police force specializing in armed robbery and violent crime in London."  -  That this special police force shows up to an armed robbery in progress with the majority of it's officers armed with only axe handles and baseball bats will boggle the mind.  This bit of ridiculous nonsense occurs twice in the film and I must admit that I was done with it as a serious bit of entertainment from there on.  Whoever dreamed this kind of crap up shouldn't be allowed to write in the genre ever again.  It's just that stupid.

Ray Winstone (The Departed) plays Detective Inspector "Jack Regan"- the kind of grizzled, old-school, hard-nosed cop we all love to watch beat the hell out of and ultimately blow away the bad guys. The veteran actor is very good here and I found it increasingly frustrating that his character wasn't featured in a better script- it's a missed opportunity in the grand scheme of memorable ass kickers.

Ben Drew is Regan's sidekick and protege who never fits the part in any way, shape or form.  He's a blank-faced bit of worthlessness that I hope never gets a serious role again. 

The lovely and talented Hayley Atwell (Captain America: First Avenger) portrays a member of the squad and Regan's love interest while Damian Lewis (HBO's Band Of Brothers) is wasted as the Chief Inspector of the force- Lewis is barely in the film and his character's motives and alliances are often difficult to follow when he does pop up.

Steven Mackintosh (Underworld: Evolution) is a determined Internal Affairs Agent looking to bring down The Sweeney- although his character is unaware that Regan is sleeping with this wife (Atwell), he's hell-bent on nailing the crew for no apparent reason other than that's what Internal Affairs agents are expected to do...

A mid-film bank robbery should have been rearranged to end the film- you'll be amazed at the overall poor marksmanship of the so-called professionals on both sides of the law.  There is a decently staged car chase to close out the picture, though too many characters and situations are of the cookie-cutter variety in between the action segments to give the narrative any kind of pulse or momentum.  The musical score does get a bit unnerving, almost forcefully trying to make you to care.

Winstone chews scenery with the best of 'em, the film is nice to look at and a couple of action sequences are rather impressive, though I couldn't quite get past the overwhelming feeling of "been there and done that" that permeates the entire film.  Only those desperate for a quickie action fix should check it out- others should skip it.

5.5 out of 10

Review - Olympus Has Fallen

At the Theater - "Olympus Has Fallen" -  The makers of "Olympus Has Fallen" are desperately hoping that you haven't seen a little flick from 1988 entitled, Die Hard. I'm fine with action films using the formula; Die Hard on a Battleship (Under Siege), Die Hard on a Train (Under Siege 2), Die Hard at a Hockey Game (Sudden Death), Die Hard on a Bus (Speed), Die Hard on a cruise liner (Speed 2), Die Hard on a Plane (Executive Decision, Passenger 57, Air Force One, Con Air), Die Hard on Alcatraz (The Rock), Die Hard in a Tunnel (Daylight), Die Hard in the Rocky Mountains (Cliffhanger), etc., because some of these "variants" have resulted in some quality entertainment able to stand on their own two legs. Olympus Has Fallen, Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), goes so far as to rip off specific scenes in their entirety.  Not cool. Mix in a few large-scale action scenes marred by 3rd rate CGI effects (courtesy of Ghost VFX) along with a generic main villain plucked from the token section of Hollywood's bad-guy stockroom and you've got a middling actioner that's only able to tread water in Guilty Pleasure territory due to the well-utilized presence of Gerard Butler (300) and a Hard R approach. 

Although I'm generally not a fan of computer-aided effects in action films grounded in reality, they can be fantastic when used as an assist by quality crews (see True Lies).  This particular film appears to have either undershot the effects portion of the budget or simply employed a substandard FX group- a car accident in the film's prologue, an early segment featuring a C-130 vs two F-22's and a final act siege of the White House by 6 Black Hawk helicopters are just plain gaudy. There's no excuse for an entirely CGI rendered car in a $70 million movie- it's just plain ol' bad decision making.  Anyone remember the awful plane crash at the end of Air Force One?  Yeah, some of the effects shots in this film are that kind of bad...

Gerard Butler settles back into action star mode quite nicely.  He's a likeable actor with believable presence to spare.  I'm a fan who has hoped the Scot would ditch the ill-advised, half-hearted, rom-coms he's been settling for, though I hope his next action role is in a sturdier production.  Most will notice his accent bleeding through now and then but it's a worthy effort.

Aaron Eckhart (Battle Los Angeles) does commendable work as the Commander In Chief taken hostage, though I wasn't buying for a second that the remaining American Cabinet would place the lives of billions at risk in an effort to save him.  Eckhart's got a starring role in the upcoming I, Frankenstein, yet I can't help but wonder if the actor's one misfire away from spending the rest of his career in supporting roles.  Given the material, he gives the best pure performance in the film.

Rick Yune (The Fast And The Furious) takes his rightful place amongst the more forgettable main villains in action movie history.  His work here as the terrorist mastermind, "Kang", is every bit as uninspired as his turn in 2002's Die Another Day- what a difference a decade doesn't make.  Midway through, I couldn't help but picture Choi Min-Sik (Oldboy) in the role...

Morgan Freeman's always solid, even in paycheck mode as the Speaker of the House. With the President and VP being held hostage, the decisions of his acting Commander In Chief are decidedly ludicrous.  Angela Bassett (What's Love Got To Do With It) is the Secret Service Director while Radha Mitchell (Man On Fire) is our hero's wife- both talented actresses are underused.  Melissa Leo (The Fighter) isn't very believable as a rather defenseless Secretary Of Defense while the great Robert Forester (Alligator) is painted as the obligatory, war-mongering General.

Dylan McDermott (ABC's The Practice) and Cole Hauser (Pitch Black) are U.S. Secret Service agents-one's a stand up guy while another harbors treasonous intentions.  McDermott might be a helluva guy in real life, but there's just something about his face that cries "TURD"- I don't believe I've ever liked him in anything he's done.

Ashley Judd (Kiss The Girls) has little more than a cameo here as the First Lady, featured in no more than 2 minutes of total screentime.  Anyone who's seen the trailer for this film probably already understands that.

Try as I may, I still can't remember seeing just what the hell happened to the Vice President here- although I'm sure his departure was covered at some point, it's extremely brief.

With all that I disliked, Olympus Has Fallen isn't awful- the opening ground level siege of the White House is appropriately bloody and very well staged, there are a few legitimately tense moments throughout and Gerard Butler back in kick-ass, zinger-flinging mode is most agreeable.  See it at the theater only if you must (I'll recommend it as a rental), but be forewarned that another Die Hard in the White House comes out in late June in the form of Roland Emmerich's (Independence Day) "White House Down"...


5.5 out of 10