Clash Of The Titans

Stars:

Sam Worthington

Liam Neeson

Ralph Fiennes

Gemma Arterton

What's the plot?

The Greeks revolt against their Gods, wages war. The Gods fight back by unleashing the Kraken onto man. Up steps Perseus to fight for mankind, together with a team of warriors, travel across the lands in an adventure to seek the weapon that can defeat the Kraken and battling strange monsters along the way.

What's to like?

Greek mythology on the big screen. Don't get this often enough.

What soured it?

Distortion of the actual mythology...the gorgon was supposed to be the main objective, not killing the Kraken.

The best bit?

The warriors fighting the giant scorpions. And Andromeda...didnt see enough of her though.

Should you watch it?

Only if you didn't get enough of Sam Worthington in Avatar.

Into The Wild

by: RSJ


Stars:
Emile Hirsch
William Hurt Marcia
Gay Harden
Vince Vaughn

Hollywood may produce tons of movies every year but sadly what actually makes it to our local screens are limited to just a handful of the highly commercial ones. But business is business; the bigger the movie (and hype), the bigger the crowd. But if you crave for more than the usual ‘fast and flashy’ 109-minute fare, then you are left wanting. I got lucky stumbling upon ‘Into the Wild’, and although not knowing much at the time, soon discovered a little gem.

This movie is based on the life of Chris McCandless. Chris is a bright young man just out of college with the world at his feet. But he soon becomes disillusioned as the realities of his upbringing slowly creep in. He finally decides to discard everything and seek out the road on a passage of self-discovery.

‘Into The Wild’ documents Chris’ wonderful journey across the American landscape and its people. Chris ultimately sets his sights on the Alaskan wilderness, a place where he soon will face his greatest challenge. This real-life story is compelling insight into one person’s yearning for true freedom. But I don’t intend to give away any more of the storyline to spoil this experience.

Sean Penn directs well! I think he did remarkably, slowing the pace to provide depth, but with just enough momentum to keep a patient audience captivated with this beautiful story. I believe that Penn would have been tempted to showcase even more breathtaking shots of the American countryside and Alaskan wilderness, but he was mindful not to distract the viewer away from the main story.

I have no idea who Emile Hirsch is! But his intense portrayal of Chris McCandless was inspiring. I cannot imagine any other actor doing a better job, and maybe, some justice was done to the real Chris McCandless. And Hirsch’s performance is equally matched by Penn’s well cast supporting roles.

William Hurt (Chris’s father) and Vince Vaughn (farmer/racketeer who gives Chris a job) are the better known faces. But a number of other supporting actor/actresses were simply outstanding each carefully developed and balanced, something sorely lacking in many big productions today (e.g. wallflower Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man?).

In short, ‘Into the Wild’ is unassuming and intimate; it was not hard to find myself slowly drawn deep into Chris McCandless’ adventure. This is a Hollywood movie, but it is always nice to be pleasantly surprised. And exhibiting much maturity, director Sean Penn is definitely someone to watch for in the future.

Finally, a little bit on the movie soundtrack... Pearl Jam lead vocalist Eddie Vedder goes solo, and contributes a number of original songs. Although I consider myself a rock fan, I never did get Pearl Jam or Vedder. But set against a backdrop of folk and country tinged acoustic tones; Vedder’s characteristic deep growl is hauntingly beautiful. His heartfelt compositions raise the intensity of this already emotional story. It simply blew me away and I believe this is Vedder at his best.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Stars:
Harrison Ford
Cate Blanchette
Karen Allen
John Hurt
Shia LaBeouf

Can we handle another Indiana Jones sequel? The answer is a resounding yes. 19 years on, we are treated to the fourth sequel of this successful franchise. The year is 1957, and this time round a scruffy-looking Indy takes on the Commies after having outwitted the Nazis in two previous installments. Like the Nazis, the Russians (or more correctly, Soviets) are after certain archeological artifacts that will lead the path to world domination. Like the Nazis, they also take the short-cut way by getting Indy to lead them straight to their objects of desire.

The movie starts off with the Russians easily breaking into the famed Area 51, with Indy on a leash to sniff out this thing that is kept together with other items of secret. You might have guessed that the warehouse was also the storage for the Ark of the Covenant, and indeed in the ensuing mayhem, the crate keeping the fabled Ark crashes down and splits open partially to reveal its contents but catches no one's attention. The Russians were more consumed by an alien carcass (it is Area 51, after all) and gunning down Indy, in which the shoot-em-up and chase ended up with the detonation of an atomic bomb. How good was that as the opening gambit?

In this epic, Indy gets involved in a quest for a crystal skull that is linked to the fabled golden city of El Dorado. He goes in search of a friend Oxley (John Hurt) who is missing in Peru looking for the skull. With the Russians hot on his heels, he is joined by his sidekick (Shia LeBeouf) and later his ex-girlfriend (Karen Allen) in an adventure through the jungles of South America, complete with pulsating action involving car chases in the Amazon jungle, swordfights, flesh-devouring ants, Tarzan manoeuvres with the accompaniment of the familiar theme song.

At 65, Harrison Ford does not look much more wrinkled than he did in the previous installment, The Last Crusade, and the story does bring the timeline forward to 1957 to account for his advancing years. Donning the trademark fedora, he still manages to dodge bullets with youthful agility, crack his whip masterfully and catapult from one moving vehicle to another with amazing ease.

The rest of the cast ably supports the movie, with Karen Allen reprising her role from Raiders as the feisty Marion Ravenwood. I normally find sidekicks annoying but Shia LaBeouf played out his role well as "Mutt" Williams, even likeable as a wannabe hero who contributes to some of the action as well comic relief. I wonder if naming him "Mutt" has any parallels with Indy adopting his own nickname name from a dog ("Indiana is our family dog", Henry Jones Sr famously said in the Last Crusade). The villainous Russian, Irina Spalko, was well assumed by the talented Cate Blanchette, who must have had so much fun with the dominatrix makeover. Real Russians were casts as baddies, for the authentic accent perhaps, although their main duties were mostly to train their guns at Indy or to shoot at him.

So, how good is this movie? It's not Raiders Of The Lost Ark for sure, I doubt if any sequels will ever reach such impossible heights. It compares favourably with the other three, with more team effort here compared to before, although no one steals the show from Indy. While the pulsating action was served up in sufficient quantities, this mythological plot is perhaps less riveting compared to the others before and the ending is weak; it also would have been more satisfying if the story kept in tune with mysticism rather than lean towards sci-fi at the finale.

If this sequel was done a few years after the third, it may have been slightly disappointing, but after 19 years, it was refreshing to see a new Indy adventure that rolls back the years, kinda like watching a movie in the 80's and 90's without the elaborate CGI (save the hogs). I for one was happy that Lucas and Spielberg stuck to the old formula and Lucas reaffirming himself a master storyteller. This sequel did not carry the expectations laboured on the Star Wars prequels, and delivered just about everything; the action, humour, story and most of all, a Harrison Ford that remained a solid Indiana Jones.