Movie Review

  • Quarantine (2008)

    Quarantine (2008)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, December 2009) Taken on its own terms, Quarantine is a pretty good horror film: Original, tense and effective enough to distinguish itself from so many forgettable bloody movies.  If you’re lucky enough to come across the film completely cold, without any prior knowledge whatsoever, go and have a good time.  Unfortunately, two things killed much of Quarantine for me: the knowledge that it was a remake of a Spanish horror film called Rec and the film’s entire promotional strategy.  If you’ve seen the trailer’s final moments, its poster or even the cover of the DVD, then you have already seen the very last shot of the film –and you will be waiting for it!  Having deliberately seen Rec moments before watching Quarantine, I spent most of my time during the second film trying to spot and analyse the differences between the two –a task simplified by Quarantine’s perfectly justified decision to ape almost every single shot in the original and add to it.  To spoil my conclusions, they boil down to “overproduction”:  The sparse and clean elegance of Rec has been overlaid with a far busier lighting scheme and constant sound effects.  Helicopters shine spotlights and roar outside the building, adding to the creaking pipes that create much of the film’s soundscape.  Elsewhere, Quarantine’s bigger budget has both good, neutral and bad impacts:  Extra scenes have been added to flesh out existing and new characters, which doesn’t add or remove anything, except when Rec’s meticulously calculated rising tension is suddenly disrupted by two sudden deaths (the elevator attack and the death-by-camera) that feel too gruesome for where the plot is at that moment.  More happily, Quarantine gets to include two shots that should have been in the original film: A fleeting look at the situation outside, as well as a staircase fall that seems perfectly well-integrated in the action.  It all amounts to a fair remake, both taking and adding to the original without necessarily “betraying” anything: I may have been disappointed by some additions, but it’s very recognizably the same film with the same strengths, up to a point where Quarantine has few surprises for fans of the original.  The DVD contains an entertaining director/producer’s commentary and instructive making-of features that detail the film’s intense production scheme, it also wilfully avoids even mentioning Rec anywhere –an omission that becomes particularly maddening when it comes the time to discuss the story’s origin and the tweaks made for the American version.  Booo!

  • [Rec] (2007)

    [Rec] (2007)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, December 2009) Now that Rec has been remade for American audience as Quarantine, you may think that there’s little reason to seek out a small-budget foreign horror film.  But there’s a reason why Rec was chosen for remaking, and the original film remains a strikingly effective piece of horror cinema.  Another first-person camera chiller, Rec proceeds from the elegant premise of a TV camera crew following firemen for a slice-in-the-life fluff program and then getting trapped in a building as increasingly disturbing events occur.  As this meticulously-paced film advances, we come to realize that the situation has escalated all the way up to a claustrophobic zombie thriller… and it just keeps getting worse.  Manuela Velasco is magnificent as a ditzy reporter stuck in an impossible situation, but it’s really co-directors/writers Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza who deserve the credit for a slick horror film that knows exactly what it’s doing: the bright clean cinematography is gradually stripped away, and the conceit of the filming camera is handled with a great deal of cleverness.  There are shocks, there is a growing sense of dread and the terrific final images are strong enough that they were co-opted for the entire American remake’s marketing strategy.  It’s nothing short of a perfect treat for the horror fan, even those tired of the current zombie craze.  If you can manage it, try to see Rec just before Quarantine for an instructive comparative lesson in how a lot more money thrown at a premise doesn’t necessarily result in a markedly better product.  The Canadian DVD contains the film in Spanish, French and English, but few other extras.

  • Quadrophenia (1979)

    Quadrophenia (1979)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, December 2009) Five minutes after this film started, I really wasn’t looking forward to the rest of the picture: mid-sixties Britain may have given us The Beatles, but in many ways it felt like a terrible place to live, and the prospect of spending even 90 more minutes there alongside a rebellious teenager really wasn’t appealing.  But through its protagonist, Quadrophenia ends up testifying about a way of living: There are echoes of A Clockwork Orange in there, but also an entire era in which Britain redefined itself.  By the time the film sets up its conflict between mods and rockers, the hook is in: While the self-destructive protagonist isn’t much more sympathetic, there’s a real drive to find out what will happen to him next.  But the film’s greatest moment is easily its lengthy sequence detailing an urban riot between mods and rockers set in Brighton.  The antagonism between the two groups may feel silly, but as a depiction of urban unrest in a densely-packed setting, it has few equals: Loosely based on real events that I ended up researching with wide-eyed amazement (read up on “Mods and Rockers” on Wikipedia and keep following the links), Quadrophenia ends up providing a window into an era that is still, in some ways, embedded in the modern teenage experience.  For a few moments, the film brings together a lot of threads about moral panics about teenage experimentation, the origins of a pop-cultural movements and the place of music in that matrix.  But don’t be frightened off by social analysis: Quadrophenia is perfectly enjoyable as a teenage drama, a musical opera (the soundtrack is amazing), a fount of obscure trivia (including a small but striking role for Sting) and a generally well-made film: The direction still holds up well even today.  For a film I wasn’t sure to keep watching five minutes in, it ends up being a minor classic of its era.

  • Armored (2009)

    Armored (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theaters, December 2009) As far as B-grade action thrillers go, Armored has a number of things going for it.  Most notably, it adopts an unusual high concept (protagonist refuses to cooperate with his colleagues during a multimillion heist; finds himself trapped in an armoured truck while they scheme against him) and then spends an hour milking the premise for all it’s worth.  Much of it feels mechanical, but there’s no denying that the claustrophobic set-pieces are effective.  It feels just a bit fresher than many other thrillers out there, and the trio of familiar actors (Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne) headlining this practically all-male film is a bit amazing considering that in almost all other aspects, it feels like a straight-to-DVD feature.  But the problem with Armored is that it simply doesn’t take things beyond the obvious.  The actors seems to be slumming in their roles, the character dynamics feel simplistic and contrived; the action sequences are not particularly spectacular and the plot is simple enough that alert viewers will figure out the next plot twist shortly before it occurs.  Add to that a number of credibility problems (traceable dollar bills, convenient bottom hatch, etc.) and it’s easy not to be impressed.  This is pure formula thriller filmmaking, and while it’s generally enjoyable (it will whittle away a lazy evening), it remains much less than what Armored could have been.  Moviegoers with long memories for French-Canadian thrillers will see the film with the added handicap of remembering 1987’s gutsier Pouvoir Intime as another take on a similar premise.

  • Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

    Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, December 2009) There are a few movies out there that I really should have seen earlier, and Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill was one of the most obvious ones.  A deliberate and unapologetic blend of speed, sex and violence, this exploitation film remains gripping even almost 45 years after its release, even as its most respectable contemporaries have fallen into obscurity.  This probably says a lot about how our base impulses are universal ones while the rest is just masquerade, but never mind philosophical considerations when pure movie-making fun can explain so much:  From the very first lines (“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to violence, the word and the act.”), there’s a mesmerizing quality to the film, one that transcends busty beauties and schlocky acts of violence.  Even in revolving around a trio of truly independent women, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Still feels somewhat edgier than more modern fare.  The plot itself isn’t particularly important when compared to seeing actresses such as Tura Satana and Haji (who, strangely enough, was born in Québec) on-screen, biting into bigger-than-life dialogue –some of which recognizable from the strangest places.  There’s a reason why this film endures as a cult classic: it’s almost compulsively interesting even today.  At the very least, it lives up to its amazing title.

  • Ninja Assassin (2009)

    Ninja Assassin (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, December 2009) I can imagine the arguments that got this movie green-lit: “Every kid loves pirates, cowboys and ninjas!  Disney owns pirates and westerns never make any money, so let’s go for ninjas!”  That, along with an unshakeable desire to recycle decades of ninja-movie clichés may be what brought Ninja Assassin to the big screens, and the result feels as familiar and redundant as the film’s title.  Devoted to reviving the mystique of the ninja (even imbuing them with slightly-supernatural abilities), this film has plenty of dull dialogue and very few surprises in showcasing all the permutations that fans could ask for: Ninja-vs-criminals, ninja-vs-SWAT-team and the ever-popular ninja-vs-ninja.  And yet, two things make the film stand out: First, the unnecessary amount of gore sprayed everywhere: People aren’t just cut or sliced in this film as much as they’re decapitated, dismembered and cleaved in halves.  Second, though, is the general competence in which the film achieves its own objectives:  As far as a B-grade action films about ninjas are concerned, Ninja Assassin is pretty much what it wants to be.  Add to that Naomie Harris (whom I’d watch in just about everything), overblown CGI effects, the obligatory climax set on a burning set, a fine performance by Korean pop-singer Rain (in a Hollywood environment not known for lead roles for Asian actors) and director James McTeigue’s film is quite a bit better than the low expectations set by the boring trailer.  I didn’t like Ninja Assassin all that much, but it works in some clunky fashion, and I wasn’t bored for long.  For a film that indulges into two of my least-favourite action scene clichés (namely; dimly-lit sets and frantic over-cutting), that’s about as much praise as I can give.

  • Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

    Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, December 2009) I have trouble dealing with We Anderson’s oddball sensibilities, and wasn’t feeling all that confident that I would like Fantastic Mr. Fox, especially given the unappealing design aesthetics of the stop-motion mode used in the film.  And, for a few moments at the beginning of the film, it doesn’t look good: The humour seems based more on incongruity and discomfort than anything else, and the film looks just as ugly as in the trailer.  But not much more than fifteen minutes in the film, something happens and the film gradually grows more and more interesting.  The stop-motion aspect recedes (when it comes back, it’s to wonder at the way it’s being used to show us something), the characters fill up, the humour broadens and the real story begins.  What follows contains a lot of innovation, comedic riffs that feel both fresh and familiar, a small-scale epic battle of wits and a fantastic voice performance by George Clooney.  It ends up, fairly easily, being my favourite Anderson films yet, with a dash of hope that he will learn something from the experience.  But even if he decides to go back to more annoying projects, Fantastic Mr. Fox will remain a small wonder: Witty, hip, deadpan and a bit subversive (there’s a sustained gag about the word “cuss” replacing another word that took me far too long to notice.)  If there’s an issue with the film, it’s an impression that it’s being a bit too self-indulgent for its own good, that it could have been just a touch more accessible.  But that may just be my residual wariness about Anderson’s films.  One thing’s for sure: This is one animated film that will be most appreciated by adults than their kids.

  • The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

    The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, December 2009) Given the runaway success of the Twilight series, it’s useless to review this second entry in the “saga”: Fans of Stephenie Meyer’s books don’t care, anti-fans don’t care in a different fashion, and practically no one will pick up this film at the video store going “I wonder what this is about?”  The dumb indulgences have been turned into holy writ, the film is slave to the book and the result is aimed squarely at a particular demographic segment, those who actually know what “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” means and actually have an opinion about it.  (Me, I’m “Team Victoria” all the way.)  Still, there are still a few things to say about this film.  Plot-wise, I was pleased to see that the universality of the first film’s essence (you know, “as a teen girl, you will be seduced by a dangerous creature that has the power to change you forever”) doesn’t completely goes away in New Moon: Poor featureless Bella gets stuck moping around and teasing a much-better boy who nonetheless turns out to be a manipulating control-freak by the last reel of the film.  Surely that rings a few bells among the target audience.  But what’s significantly improved this time around is the budget and the direction: Chris Weitz lets a bit more color flow into the film, and seems marginally more comfortable with the demands imposed by the special effects.  The film feels fresher and better by the change of approach –although I miss some of the first film’s musical choices.  While the film is still aimed at a specific fannish audience, still annoying in many ways (who just wants to hit Edward over the head with a shovel?), still in love with its own quirks and angst, it’s a passable movie-watching experience, far less painful than you’d expect, even though much of the humour may work at the film’s detriment (“So, Bella, your friend would rather hang out shirtless in the forest with four of his ripped buddies?  There’s nothing gay with that at all.”)  But, as I’ve said before, Twilight is not made for you, fellow cynical hipster cinephile: let the kids have their fun and don’t begrudge them a bit of honest passion.

  • The Road (2009)

    The Road (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, December 2009) There’s been a lot of post-apocalyptic films lately, and hopefully The Road will signal that we can go back to something else, because it’s hard to imagine a realistic take on the end of the world that could be greyer, sadder and more relentlessly desperate than this one.  There’s no glamour, fun or adventure in this film set about a decade after an unseen, unspecified but all-encompassing catastrophe: The rare survivors are grimy and constantly forced to fight cannibals on their way.  As an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, it’s pretty faithful: Charlize Theron has a far bigger role in the film’s trailer than in the entire book, but the rest is pretty dead-on.  This means that rather than reading 241 bleak pages trying to find new ways to describe “gray doom”, you get to see 112 very long minutes of the same.  While The Road is a success in that it does manage to hit most of its objectives, it will take a special kind of viewer to appreciate it.  The rest are likely to spend their time looking at their watches and wondering when it will finally end (and if the characters can’t die a bit sooner for it to happen.)  I suppose that film scholars will have a lot to say about the film’s nuanced take on fatherhood, man’s inhumanity to man, the nature of hope and the way decaying character is seldom self-perceived, but first you have to endure the post-apocalyptic gloom.  Viggo Mortensen fans will be pleased; so will those looking for buildings unexplainably still burning ten years after everything goes gray.  As for the rest, well, 2012 is also available.  Now that is a catastrophic choice.

  • The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)

    The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, December 2009) This sequel would normally have come as a surprise given the first film’s nonexistent theatrical release, but the intervening years have seen The Boondock Saints become a bit of a cult classic, and this sequel is all about bringing back the fans to the video store: Once again, two McManus brothers are in Boston laying waste to the city’s criminal elements, and we’re supposed to cheer for them as the film provides a steady succession of shootouts.  It’s supposed to be cool and funny, and writer/director Troy Duffy actually delivers on this promise: All Saints Day is often dedicated to pure fan-service, and those who haven’t seen the first film may feel left out of the fun.  Beyond the winks, though, there’s a decently entertaining crime comedy, noticeably funnier  than the  and perhaps even more striking now that Tarantinoesque crime comedies don’t show up as often at the local Cineplex.  This time, Julie Benz steps into Willem Dafoe’s shoes as the standout character: a drawling FBI agent so smart she “makes smart people feel like retards” but whose feistiness (and high heels) brings much to the film.  Her character’s dramatic arc is nearly identical to Defoe’s in the prequel, reaching an apex during a crime scene re-creation, and then dwindling down in the film’s closing moments until a little bit of a twist.  The other strong scene of All Saints Day belongs to David Della Rocco, who returns to the series just in time for an inspiring speech.  Otherwise, the writing can be a bit hit-and-miss, but the overall result is faithful to the original in providing a mixture of righteous vigilante violence.  (Too bad we also have to ignore the racist stereotypes, mild homophobia, low-budget corner-cutting or occasionally dull back-story.)  Fans will be satisfied and non-fans are advised to look to the first film as an indication of whether this one will make them happy.

  • Planet 51 (2009)

    Planet 51 (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, December 2009) Most of its characters may be green and sport head tentacles, but there’s not much more to Planet 51 than a vintage “teen learns self-confidence” comedy for young adults.  Much of this old-fashioned approach is deliberate: The title winks less at Area 51 than at 1951 itself, and so our alien civilization takes place in this charmingly retro environment than hasn’t evolved much beyond nasal TV newsmen, poodle skirts and drive-in monster movies.  (One notes that the film originates from an overseas studio.)  It’s good for a few laughs -the best ones tackling alien-invasion clichés-, but the lack of Planet 51’s ambitions eventually feels hollow, and whatever good sentiment we have for the film aren’t rewarded by anything more substantial.  It’s for the kids, mind you, although the fifties nostalgia may end up flying over their heads.  But even on kids terms, the films’ art design may end up annoying rather than charming: familiar objects have been “alienified” by ludicrous design touches that stick out, and credibility matters aren’t helped by rock showers and pets urinating acid –although this leads to a couple of terrific gags, including a pretty cute one at the very end of the film.  Otherwise, well, most characters behave like they’re idiots, and the script’s jokes about hippies feel just as forced as they were in our own early sixties.  Of course, watching Planet 51 for cultural enlightenment is a waste of time: this is the kind of film designed so that parents can park their kids in front of the TV while they go do other things.

  • The Boondock Saints (1999)

    The Boondock Saints (1999)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, December 2009) After years of hearing about The Boondock Saints’s cult popularity on DVD (it never received a proper theatrical run, which explains why I missed it in the first place), I took the release of a sequel as a good reason to finally watch the film and see what the fuss was about.  It turns out that the cult appeal of the film’s success is partly based on the material itself: the story of two catholic Boston brothers taking on the city’s organized crime, The Boondock Saints often feels like an extended apologia for vigilante justice and gunfight sequences.  But writer/director Troy Duffy is a bit more self-aware than most: The ending (in which the villain is murdered) is reprehensible in the way most American action films are, but it assumes this blood-thirstiness.  What’s a bit more disturbing is the way the film actually feels fun and cool: The pacing is right, the action beats are interesting, and the dialogue has good moments.  Despite some puzzling moments (which you can either blame on a first script or a very low budget), the non-linear structure of the script works well and showcases its lead actors in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.  The standout performance here belongs to Willem Dafoe, who plays an ultra-competent FBI agent with gusto.  (The sequences in which his mind meshes with the crime he’s investigating are as good as this film gets.)  There’s also quite a bit of intriguing directing, with judicious use of hand-held and slow-motion cinematography.  Otherwise, well, The Boondock Saints is a mixture of crime, comedy and violence and action that finds resonance in the works of John Woo and Quentin Tarantino, certainly not as fully mastered as them, but definitely aiming at the same targets.  I’m a bit sorry I only saw it ten years after it came out.  The DVD contains a sympathetic commentary by writer/director Duffy and another one by Billy Connolly.

  • 2012 (2009)

    2012 (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, November 2009) It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that Roland Emmerich’s 2012 tries to ape and one-up much of the disaster-movie genre.  Where else can you find a 10.5 earthquake, a super-volcano and a mega-tsunami in the same movie?  As such, it demands to be considered according to the particular standards of the disaster movie genre, and that’s indeed where it finds most of its qualities.  The L.A. earthquake sequence is a piece of deliriously over-the-top action movie-making (I never loved 2012 more than when the protagonists’ plane had to dodge a falling subway train), the Yellowstone volcano sequence holds its own and those who haven’t seen an aircraft carrier smash the White House now have something more to live for.  The problem, unfortunately, is that those sequences are front-loaded in the first two-third of the film, leaving much smaller set-pieces for the end.  This, in turn places far more emphasis on the characters, dialogue and plot points, none of whom are a known strength of either the genre or 2012 itself. Sure, the cast of characters is either pretty (Thandie Newton!  Amanda Peet!), competent (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover) or entertaining (John Cusack, Oliver Platt).  Of course, we want to see them live through it all.  But as a too-late consideration of ethical issues bumps against less-impressive sequences and significant lulls (including a 15-minutes-long prologue), it becomes easier to see that this 158 minutes film is at least 45 minutes too long and suffering from a limp third act.  The defective nature of the roller-coaster also makes it less easy to tolerate the hideous conclusions, screaming contrivances and somewhat distasteful ethics of the screenplay.  While the clean and sweeping cinematography (interestingly replaced by a hand-held video-quality interlude during one of the film’s turning points) shows that 2012’s production budget is entirely visible on-screen and will eventually make this a worthwhile Blu-Ray demo disk, there isn’t much here to respect or even like.  At least special-effects fans will be able to play some destruction sequences over and over again.

  • The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

    The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theatres, November 2009) As someone who read and enjoyed Jon Ronson’s non-fiction book shortly after its initial publication, I’m perhaps a tougher audience for a film “inspired by” The Men Who Stare at Goats.  It’s certainly not easy to adapt: an exploration of the often-strange ideas (including psi powers) that the US Army investigated, Ronson’s work straddles a thin line between goofiness and weightier moments.  To its credit, the film does manage to do justice to a number of moments and ideas: the militarization of peaceful ideals, the way “non-lethal” torture can be dismissed as a joke, the twisted logic that leads to paranormal research, and so on…  Even the book’s most disturbing moment (“…it almost looks as if he’s laughing”) gets a nod.  (There’s also one spectacularly unfunny moment caused by the sheer improbable juxtaposition of the film’s release a day after the worst home-base shootout in US military history.) The film’s structure also manages to weave a coherent history taking place over three decades (at one time nestling a flashback within a flashback) and almost act as an imagined sequel to Ronson’s book, which often stops with characters being “reactivated” for mysterious purposes.  Various odd scenes and progressive concepts also make The Men Who State at Goats richer in ideas than most satirical comedies: It ranks with The Hunting Party and Lord of War as a member of the growing geo-sardonic genre.  But what’s less impressive is the way a very traditional buddy-movie structure (with a heavy dash of “mid-life crisis” and “kids playing tricks on bumbling authority”) has been imposed on the material, leading the film to less and less believable moments.  Ewan McGregor and George Clooney do great things with their roles (much of the Jedi jokes are much funnier when spoken by “Obi-Wan” McGregor, and Clooney has no perceptible shame in an often-unglamorous role) but the film itself goes from the fascinating to the cliché at high speed, and the result feels like a let-down, especially during the second half.  But such are most adaptations, of course.

  • Julie & Julia (2009)

    Julie & Julia (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In-flight, November 2009) Nora Ephron’s films are generally amiable and unobjectionable, but after a short absence from the big-screen, it’s good to see her move slightly-away from romantic comedies to tackle a film about cooking, blogging and female empowerment.  The twin true stories of Julia Child (who, in the fifties, popularized French cuisine in America) and Julie Powell (who, nearly fifty years later, took on the project to cook her way through Child’s first book in a year and blog about the experience), Julie & Julia is perhaps most enjoyable as the journey of two foodies.  It’s practically impossible to sit through the film and not be shamed into becoming a better cook.  Food remains the film’s love interest even as various romantic subplots are weaved in the narrative.  The film’s biggest problem is that its two true stories don’t necessarily intersect with grace (although there are a few nice transitions) and that the conclusion feels a bit flat: There are no big dramatic finales built into the true events that inspired Julie & Julia, and some of the most intriguing elements of the story (such as Child’s lack of affection for Julie’s blog) are not necessarily explored.  More happily, it’s striking that the best depiction of a blogger so far in mainstream American cinema (what motivates them, the challenges they face, the thrills of being read) has been in a fluffy food romance.  Who would have thought?  Otherwise, there’s little to dislike in Julie & Julia: maybe a sense of material not being fully exploited, but the funny moments, another great performance by Meryl Streep and food-friendly atmosphere usually compensate for those.