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The Informer - The Review

27/8/2019

Ex-con and ex-special forces operative Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) is recruited by the FBI in order to help take out the 'General' a major drug kingpin of New York. But when an undercover operation goes horribly wrong, Koslow is forced into an incredibly tough situation where the odds of him coming out alive are virtually nil.

A taut story with a carefully constructed cast, The Informer is by no means the bog standard crime thriller. Caught between the proverbial "rock and the hard place" add Hell and Hades to Koslow's compass and you'll begin to understand the gravitas of the position he is forced into. In having to handle the mob, cops, the FBI, prison inmates and wardens, Koslow has to constantly be aware of all the changing angles and motives of these groups, whilst working out a way to protect himself, his family and his new clean name.

A complex story that intertwines fates, the success of The Informer can be mostly attributed to the superb cast that all hit the right notes in supporting Joel Kinnamen, in his aria as Pete Koslow. Rosamund Pike in particular is brilliant as a conflicted FBI agent, trying to do the right thing, but also forced to face internal posturing, red tape and maintain self-preservation. Common's depiction of an NYPD cop determined to get justice, showcases some of his best acting yet. Common, a.k.a. Lonnie Lynn, displays a natural and comfortable charisma and is even silently powerful in some of his interactions. Overall, The Informer is a worthy watch and is on general release August 30th.

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Franchise Kings #5 - Keanu Reeves

18/8/2019

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With a trajectory no one could chart, the man whose name means 'cool breeze over the mountains' has managed to stay relevant for 4 decades, regularly coming back with projects that go on to be major franchises and cult favourites. Starring in movies that interest him personally, Keanu long gave up on picking roles that critics and audiences alike expected to see him in...if at all.

BILL & TED

Some might put Bill & Ted straight into stoner comedy territory, but with its heart in a good place and with a semi-covert, but superseding narrative about the importance of education and destiny, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) was more than a zany adventure. Full of facts, figures and phrases that immediately entered the lexicon zeitgeist, Keanu played 'Ted' (Theodore Logan) one half of a duo that weren't ever going to be known for their academic contributions to society, but were destined to build the founding one through the power of their music. A sequel in the form of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey followed 2 years later, but whereas the original was made for only $6,500,000 and grossed a significantly high revenue of $40,500,000, it's follow up was made for over 3 and a bit times as much ($20,000,000) and only grossed $38,000,000. At the time of writing, a sequel; Bill & Ted Face The Music is currently being shot and this time around sees Bill & Ted in their middle age phase, needing to write a song, that will save the entire universe. I'm not sure if the term 'mid-life crisis' is an understatement in their new bogus adventure, but I'm sure they won't let us down.

THE MATRIX

In 1999, one of the most original films of 20th century was released - just as we were about to leave it. Making its debut in cinemas at the end of the century came The Matrix, a movie that did not just wow audiences with its high story concepts, but received universal praise for its well executed action sequences and its kinetic originality too. Introducing the world to "Bullet Time" (time slice photography), The Matrix would be the first film to have this particular type of CGI employed, which for about the next decade would have other films (whether they really needed it or not) copying in abundance. The Matrix and its two main sequels saw Keanu play Neo; a chosen-one figure who is suppose to start a revolution against a race of machines that have waged war on humans and plunged the Earth into a dystopian future. From birth, humans are kept in check by plugging them into a virtual reality matrix, where they think they are conducting normal lives. In reality; most humans are living a fake simulated existence, whilst also being used as 'batteries' to power the machine world. The Matrix was made for $63,000,000 and grossed $463,517,383, The Matrix: Reloaded and the last in the trilogy The Matrix: Revolutions were made back-to-back for $150,000,000. Reloaded earned a whopping $742,128,461 and Revolutions grossed $427,343,298. For the first film, Keanu was paid $10,000,000 and received 10% of the movies overall gross. For the second and third films he was paid $15,000,000 per film and received 15% of the overall gross for each film. All in all, he made around $256,000,000 over the course of the trilogy.

JOHN WICK

Much like The Matrix, nobody knew who or what John Wick was until they actually saw it and of course most were pleasantly surprised. On the face of it (via the trailer) the story looked like your bog standard action revenge thriller. The story didn't come from a comic or a book and so there was no previous knowledge of who this legendary badass was and would become in popular culture. What made the films so popular was the stunt team's dedication to making every move of assault both technically and artistically a feast for the eyes. And it was a nice change from seeing the current dominance of Filipino techniques being overused in films by characters such as Jason Bourne. The methods of attack and defence being bigger and more flamboyant, it was a real visual contrast to see the likes of Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Sambo and Gun-fu so expertly brought to the forefront. The original film was followed with another 2 chapters and a fourth movie has been announced, its release date set for 2021. John Wick was made for $20,000,000 and grossed $88,761,661, John Wick: Chapter 2 was made for $40,000,000 and earned $171,539,887 and John Wick: Parabellum was financed for $75,000,000 and made $321,162,659.

Legacy

Keanu Reeves is an actor with a fantastic memory and a willingness to push his physicality to correctly portray a character. His one fight scene in The Matrix: Reloaded against the multiple 'Smiths' had more moves in it than the entire first movie. Also appearing on stage as Hamlet (a serious memory undertaking too), Keanu has never been shy about appearing in period pieces and can be seen in films such as Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Little Buddha (1993). Reeves has shown his versatility appearing in films that you might not expect to see him in and is also happy to not be the lead. Then of course there are his other genre defying, iconic action films, such as Point Break (1991), Speed (1994) and Constantine (2005), which were also reviewed and watched to commercial and critical acclaim. Keanu Reeves' legacy in the acting world is that he remains versatile, open and is willing to take chances despite any label given to him. Other notable films include: The Devil's Advocate (1997), Street Kings (2008) and The Gift (2000).

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No John Woo, No John Wick

9/6/2019

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With the third instalment of the popular John Wick series currently doing the rounds and with a fourth film having already been announced, we thought it was time to share the gospel of director John Woo, an auteur whose personal style changed the way that action stories were told and shot. So unique was his delivery of balletic mayhem, that his vision officially became categorised as "Heroic Bloodshed" the reason that such films as "The Raid" and "John Wick" exist today.

THE CINEMA OF HEROIC BLOODSHED

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Godzilla: King Of The Monsters - The Review

29/5/2019

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The third film in Warner Bros' Monsterverse stable of Kaiju (strange beast) films has hit our shores and our skies and is set to go all-out with some epic battles! This time, Godzilla is pitted against a rogues' gallery of deadly destroyers, each with their own reputation for mass destruction.

GODZILLA - THE INTROVERT

When it comes to monster movies, a clear and visible personality in the beasts has always been a key element to my enjoyment. I have always appreciated Peter Jackson's adaptation of "King Kong" (2005) and likewise certain dinosaur depictions from the "Jurassic Park" franchise, as whether it was shown through a raw, primal instinct (usually hunger related) or akin to that of a devious human being with a personal agenda, seeing the deliberate motivations and communication of these creatures, is part of what distinguishes these films from just being expensive B-movies. In the western portrayals of "Godzilla", I have never really seen the same detail placed in its character. Godzilla for the most part has always been this evasive, slow to see, slow to rise, mass force of nature, that appeared for uninspired fights and then disappeared. The commercially successful 1998 version doesn't even bare mentioning and even though it made $379,000,000 from its $140,000,000 budget, it is probably the reason that it took 16 years for a Godzilla movie to be seen on the big screen again.

THE MONSTER RECAP - GODZILLA (2014)

In 2014, "Godzilla" the first of the Monsterverse films was released. The story centered around the emergence of ancient creatures that had been dormant and underground for many years and then due to nuclear disturbances created by the current surface dwellers - humans, they are awakened and quickly go about causing all manner of major havoc. Their natural prey in the form of Godzilla, would apparently always arise in synchronicity, in order to take them out and preserve the Earth, but the humans finding themselves stuck in the middle of epic battles, with massive collateral damage, formed a secret organisation; Monarch in order to investigate and protect mankind. Monarch is what links all the films in the Monsterverse together...

THE MONSTER RECAP - KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)

Following on from Godzilla; "Kong: Skull Island" (2017) is set in the 1970s and sees a team of soldiers, scientists, one mercenary and one wartime photographer, take on a mission to a new island, accidentally discovered by roving satellites. Led by a high ranking Monarch official, the trip is disguised as a mapping expedition, but really it is an exploration for unseen phenomena in the realm of giant creatures. What the team soon realise, is that in abundance, Skull Island births giant creatures, friendly and otherwise. Whereas "Godzilla" was dark and moody, "Kong: Skull Island" is a much more bright, fun and energetic film.

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS...

Between the fight and devastation left by Godzilla vs MUTO in the movie that kick-started the Monsterverse, the whole world is now aware of the existence of monsters, that have been nicknamed "Titans". The Monarch group is now under investigation for its role in the whole saga and are on the verge of being shut down by governmental powers, though the verdict on what to actually do with the beasts is yet to be delivered, as Godzilla did defend mankind. Away from the tribunal, there is an escalating monster fever beyond Godzilla's existence, as the Monarch group and an opposing rouge mercenary organisation are all dedicated to awakening more titans. Both working with radically different agendas, the mercenaries' wish; is to restore the natural balance of the Earth...you know, the scenario where humans get wiped the hell out and nature can once again grow and thrive in city spaces. Their plan is to release all the titans steadily, one by one, as for some strange reason, they think that subtle annihilation is somehow better than straight out utter termination, but the best laid plans and all that jazz...

O DEAR...

With a budget of $200million dollars on the line, one would think at this point in cinematic knowhow, that all the best efforts would go into making sure that audiences would be left with something memorable. But in "G:KOTM", the plot is immediately convoluted and messy and the personal motives of characters constantly changing...changing like they hadn't really thought out the consequences of their cataclysmic global machinations. The biggest draw for any creature feature is obviously the monsters and so I am annoyed at the repeated frustration, that most of the film and the fights take place at night or in dark spaces. Why is this? Why can't we see the creatures during a sunny day, with clear blue skies like in the King Kong films? And to compound this element, the camera work is too often, shot so close to the monster action, that I'm sure that half my brain had to reroute power, just to be able to make out what the hell was happening on screen. Also, amongst the monsters there is very little colour variation, we are subject to dark browns, dark greens and dark brownish reds, I know it's not suppose to be "My Little Pony" but that's as exotic as it gets.

THE WRAP-UP

A lot of work has been put into the effects - in fact the whole film, but per scene, there is usually something present to ruin the moment. The dialogue is clunky and corny and more than 3 times, it had the audience laughing in the wrong places. Then there are the motivations of characters, some of which change for no reason and some of which never made sense to begin with. Characters are being subjected to this mass apocalyptic, end of the world event and people are acting as if it's a mid level tornado. Characters are also quite happy to put themselves in proximity to the scariest beasts on Earth with no fear and are even brave enough to magnetise danger unto themselves with virtually with the same attitude. Lots of movement, does not mean that we are travelling in a coherent direction and because the layout of the story is scattered, incoherent direction is what you get. All I can say is some of the fighting, when you can actually see it is good, but I would say that this film is for die hard fans only, as for the most part the film just leaves a monster of a void.

The film is out now and the 4th in the series: King Kong Vs Godzilla is scheduled for a March 2020 release date.

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The Informer - The Review

Franchise Kings #5 - Keanu Reeves

No John Woo, No John Wick

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters - The Review

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