May Review Round Up
La Chimera – Returning to a small Italian town, Arthur (Josh O’Connor), a mysterious figure with a spiritual connection to long lost artifacts, collaborates with a gang of misfits to swindle and sell his findings on the black market. Amidst his crimes, Arthur strikes up a peculiar relationship with Italia (Carol Duarte) - the assistant of his old friend Flora (Isabella Rossellini) – someone who may be able to reflect on him his unethical ways. Imbued with strange magical realism, La Chimera is an oddity of a film. Taking influence from Italian modernist cinema, La Chimera fittingly and filmically has one foot in the past and one in the present. It is about the connections between the past and present, how our own pasts shape our present-day persons and motivations. Josh O’Connor’s silent, cantankerous being is a curious watch, one that fills you with frustration and whose motivations remain clouded until the film’s stellar conclusion. The band of crooks he journey’s with provide moments of cooky alleviation, but also reflect Arthur’s status as nomad, seeking what is lost while his soul too is missing that piece of contentment.
Score - 8/10
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – A prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa tells the 16-year odyssey of Furiosa’s (Anya Taylor-Joy) search for vengeance against Dr. Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) the man responsible for ripping her away from her home of abundance. Mad Max: Fury Road is hailed as not only one of the greatest action films ever made, but one of the best films of the 21st century; thus, trying to replicate that film and its style would only lead to harsh comparison and disappointment. Director George Miller understands this, going for a slower paced film that gives us time to soak in the twisted world Miller has set before us. Anya Taylor-Joy’s stoic, rage induced presence gives real tenacity to her quest, matching Charlize Theron’s version of the character, making this film flow seamlessly into Fury Road. Chris Hemsworth hams it up with villainous delirium, making for one of the best performances of his career. The action is of course slick, stylish, and drowning in a diesel-punk aesthetic that makes for some of the most visually stimulating action you will likely see all year. Miller’s film is once vibrant and rich in saturation that sets itself apart from a film landscape that is desaturated and afraid of colour. While visually striking, the film does at times suffer from slightly ropey green screen, primarily within the film’s first third, and a runtime that is slightly overlong. Nevertheless, Furiosa not only stands on its own as a gloriously gritty revenge flick, but it succeeds in what a prequel should do: enriching the story of Fury Road and the world of the Wasteland even further.
Score - 8/10
The Fall Guy – Colt Seavers is one of Hollywood’s top stunt men, working with the world’s top star, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and in a blossoming romance with camera operator Jody (Emily Blunt). However, after an accident on set, Colt disappears from the stunt scene, only returning when he gets the opportunity to work with Jody on the set of her new film. Australia bound Colt knows this is his last chance to make things right with Jody, but once he arrives, he is thrown into a mystery as to where the film’s star has vanished to. The Fall Guy is a fine action comedy, one in which only few of its jokes and action beats stand out. Ryan Gosling certainly has the charisma to lead anything, and Blunt too bounces off his energy to spark believable chemistry. Yet, their constant sarcastic jabs and quipping does grow tiresome to the point where one grows disinterested in the will they won’t they of it all. The Fall Guy does have its moments, with a fun finale too that acts as a love letter towards the stunt community – which is admirable.
Score - 6/10
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Set 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, the Earth is now overgrown; humanity is nowhere in sight; and Ape colonies are thriving in peace. This peace is sullied however with the appearance of the mysterious Mae () which brings the apes from another Kingdom to lay waste to Noah’s home who now seeks answers. The franchise’s new lead is likeable, one who follows a traditional hero archetype, discovering secrets to this world as we do. The visual effects remain impressive, and the film hosts interesting ideas about the misinterpretation and subsequent weaponization of history as a tool to control. However, Kingdom’s biggest flaw is that it underutilises its greatest assets. The characters of Proximus (Kevin Durand) and Raka (Peter Macon) are exciting new additions but are strangely absent from the majority of the film’s runtime. It is not that they are simply entertaining (with full props going to Durand and Macon) these are characters that could have truly fleshed out the world’s conflicting ideologies and film’s ideas further. Kingdom also feels incomplete; a film that leaves its story threads dangling with the reliance of a sequel that may never come. Matt Reeves and Rupert Wyatt’s previous trilogy concluded each film thoroughly, ensuring that if a sequel was never greenlit their stories remain satisfying. Here, we are treated to a typical tease of what is to come – a plague that haunts so many modern blockbusters today. It is also baffling that the suggested storyline of this new trilogy already feels superfluous, already explored, with exceptional nuance, in the franchise’s previous efforts.
Score - 6/10
In Flames – In Karachi, the death of Mariam’s Grandfather causes the “vultures” to try and take the family’s wealth and Mariam’s home in the process. Zarrar Khan directs the film with realism, giving its depiction of the overbearing, entitled men utilise the patriarchy to create an unbearable existence for Mariam and her mother, Fariha (Bakhtawar Mazhar). As a seamless picture that tries to blend an important, distressing social commentary with the horror genre, In flames does not feel cohesive. There is a narrative reason as to why Mariam is being haunted by the dead, but it feels too undercooked, providing only slight scares randomly throughout instead of being consistently atmospheric. In Flames could have been a stronger film if it ditched its genre entirely, going for a more direct, dramatic approach which feels more disturbing than any of the unchilling supernatural qualities the film has to offer.