Sam Neill

The Final Conflict [Omen III: The Final Conflict] (1981)

ByChristian Sauvé 2019-10-152023-03-18 Movie Review

(On TV, October 2019) There’s something curious about how many of mainstream Hollywood’s portrayal of the Christian faith are often found in the horror genre. Things don’t get any wilder in this regard as Omen III: After two movies in which the Antichrist was born, got rid of his opponents, grew up a bit, got rid of more opponents; here we have a grown-up opponent (a genius businessman bringing good to the word) finally able to exert some real power. Except for … the rebirth of Christ, coming to destroy him in his ascendancy. It’s all very prophetic mumbo-jumbo talking about “the Nazarene” from a Satanist perspective, but the tables are turned and the result does have some entertainment to it. An early role for Sam Neill gives him ample opportunity to chew on scenery and ham it up as far as he can. Meanwhile, the deaths are alternately grotesque or overdone: it’s not enough for an avenging priest to be hanged by a freak TV studio accident: he must be set on fire for good measure. And the way the editing transforms a pack of adorable beagles into a bloodthirsty pack is nothing short of admirable. Then there’s the plot, which has the Antichrist killing every male child born in the United Kingdom during a certain amount of time. (And an assistant privy to his most insane reflections, but who doesn’t have the sense to run far away when his own newborn son is targeted. Guess who’s the anti-Antichrist?) But what’s perhaps most surprising about The Final Conflict is its finality: by the end, the evil is thoroughly defeated in a way that seems even further sequels impossible. There’s even angelic music and scriptures quotes to make you feel better about the whole thing. I still don’t think The Final Conflict is a good movie: it’s far too scattered, occasionally ridiculous, and underdeveloped (supposedly taking place in a dystopian future, although you’d never know it once past the first few minutes) to be anywhere near good. But I will grant that it does have some decent entertainment value. Especially compared to its far dourer predecessors.

Movie Review

The Commuter (2018)

ByChristian Sauvé 2019-09-032023-04-04 Movie Review

(Netflix Streaming, September 2019) The first thing that comes to mind while analyzing The Commuter is the brazenness with which both lead actors Liam Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra boldly recycle the bare bones of one of their previous collaborations. As with the earlier Non-Stop, here we have a disgraced cop being manipulated in finding an unknown person aboard a closed transportation vehicle. It was a plane in the first film, it’s a commuter train heading out of Manhattan in The Commuter. This being the latest in a surprisingly long-running series of action movies starring Neeson, we already know the broad outlines of the plot. Of course, this is all a big conspiracy. Of course, he’s being framed. Of course, it’s going to go from one suspense set-piece to another. Of course, we’re going to stay on the train until the bitter end. Still, even with this heavy set of baggage and expectations, I ended up enjoying The Commuter far more than I thought I would. A little bit of this is due to (still) liking Neeson as an actor. A little bit is due to being sympathetic to Collet-Serra’s directorial style (although he’s noticeably less ambitious and/or crazy in his choices here). More than a little bit of it is due to my unexplainable fascination for the Manhattan commuter lifestyle (I blame Mad Men). And most of it is due to my own fondness for high-concept action thrillers, of which The Commuter definitely is. The film has fun playing with red herrings, audience expectations and a fairly large cast of characters. I can’t say that there are major surprises here despite the red herrings—for all of the minor plot twists and the spectacular crash at the end of the second act rather than the end of the film, we know that you don’t simply use actors such as Sam Neill and Patrick Wilson in small roles without bringing them back in a significant capacity at the end. Still, it’s well-handled, effective when it needs to be, and it feels as if it systematically exhausts all of the dramatic possibilities of its setting—a very favourable thing in my own playbook. Despite reaching retirement age, Neeson is absolutely rock-solid in the lead and that does help the film gain a credibility that it would have struggled to reach with another actor in the lead. While the result isn’t earth-shattering, The Commuter does work as an exemplary thriller and that’s quite enough.

Movie Review

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

ByChristian Sauvé 2018-08-132019-07-28 Movie Review

(Netflix Streaming, August 2018) On paper, the premise of Hunt for the Wilderpeople sounds like it leads directly to the dullest film imaginable—some kind of heartwarming bonding thing between a disaffected teenager and his foster father set in the woods of New Zealand. But it’s all in the execution, and considering that it’s from writer/director Taika Waititi (who has achieved considerable name recognition lately thanks to This is What we Do in the Shadows and Thor: Ragnarok), it deserves a good look. The first few minutes aren’t that impressive, with a disaffected teenager being welcomed on a farm by a couple of older foster parents. But the film does get crazier and funnier at it goes on, as the teenager’s attempt to run away gets more complicated when his foster father tracks him down, gets injured and the whole thing becomes a national manhunt. The climax is straight out of action blockbusters (albeit tempered by a limited budget), which is not necessarily something that we could have predicted from the quiet onset. There’s a unique comic sensibility to the result, not necessarily based on slapstick or one-liners (although “Skuxx life!” does have its charm), but on off-beat gradual character development and a strong emotional arc. Sam Neill is up to his usual high standards as the foster father, while Julian Dennison is a revelation as the teen protagonist, and Rachel House is hilarious as an overzealous child services officer. It’s another strong comedy from the New Zealand scene—and I was gobsmacked, having spent all of four days in the country, to actually recognize the Auckland train station. It’s a surprisingly engaging film, and a quiet little success in its own right. [March 2019: … and now I see the similarities with Waititi’s earlier Eagle vs. Shark]

Movie Review

Jurassic Park (1993)

ByChristian Sauvé 2017-03-192023-04-04 Movie Review

(Second viewing, On DVD, March 2017) If memory serves me right, I saw Jurassic Park on opening night, which happened to be my last day of high school classes. A fitting anecdote for a movie that pretty much redefined the modern blockbuster, with top-notch special effects, near-perfect direction by Steven Spielberg and iconic performances that are still references even today. Revisiting Jurassic Park nearly twenty-five years later is not unpleasant. The movie holds up far better than most of its contemporaries—the blend of practical and digital effects is still largely effective and the pacing of the movie remains exemplary. In-between Sam Neill, Laura Dern, peak-era Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough (not to mention Samuel L. Jackson in a minor role!), the movie benefits from an embarrassment of thespian riches. Still, the star here is Spielberg—Other than Jaws (which I’ll revisit soon) I’m not sure he’s directed a better suspense film than Jurassic Park—the T-Rex sequence is an anthology piece, but the Raptor climax is really good, and there’s something justifiably wondrous about the first glimpse at the dinosaurs (ba-ba-baaa, ba-ba). Ironically, the thing that dates the film most are the glimpses at the computer screens—the CGI itself, save from some imperfect compositing, is still pretty good. It helps a lot that the script is so slick at what it does—from the “Mr. DNA” exposition sequence to the great way in which the script improves upon Michael Crichton’s original novel (which was quite a bit more scattered and needlessly dark), David Koepp’s work on the script remains exemplary. Jurassic Park is the complete package: great lines, great actors, great direction, great scenes, and great special effects. It remains a landmark for a reason, and could be the best movie of 1993 if it wasn’t for that other Spielberg film Schindler’s List. Two near-perfect movie in a single year: peak-Spielberg time.

Movie Review

The Hunter (2011)

ByChristian Sauvé 2012-12-022014-11-04 Movie Review

(On Cable TV, December 2012) Alongside the kind of frantic urgency that characterizes much of the so-called “thriller” genre these days, it’s a refreshing change of pace to find a film like The Hunter, which trades hyperkinetic editing for meditative long-shots, and character study in lieu of shootouts. Willem Dafoe is a convincing presence as a professional mercenary hunting down a rare creature while dealing with various opponents: He says a lot without saying much, and seems perfectly suited to an introvert lead character. (Meanwhile, Sam Neill also makes an impression in a generally unsympathetic role.) Dafoe’s rugged features reflect that the real star of The Hunter is the Tasmanian countryside: stark and colorful, majestic and harsh. The plot isn’t particularly complicated, but viewers sympathetic to a slower pace will find much to like in the way the film unfolds slowly, gradually ratcheting the tension on its taciturn protagonist. There’s some unexpected philosophical content here, tackling upon environmentalism and the choices that we make in-between duty and emotion. There’s a surprising amount of silence in what is supposed to be a thriller and while the result may not thrill those looking for a bit more movement, the result excels at what it intends to do.

Movie Review

Jurassic Park III (2001)

ByChristian Sauvé 2001-07-132023-04-03 Movie Review

(In theaters, July 2001) The first Jurassic Park was an action-adventure classic. The second was the epitome of the well-directed stupid blockbuster, with insanely enjoyable highs (the plate-window sequence) and jaw-droppingly bad lows (the gymnastic sequence). The third one, thankfully, is far more consistent, even though in the end it feels simply like a competent adventure film. Once again, idiot capitalist characters make a mistake and are stuck on a dino-infested island. This time, it’s Sam Neil who’s back as the crusty paleontologist Allen Grant. (There’s a funny scene in which his lecture is packed… but everyone wants to ask him about the events of the first two films.) Though deception, flattery and other usual tools of adventure scripts, he’s soon back on the island and he doesn’t like it one bit. As well he shouldn’t, given that he’s soon once again running for his life. Hey, you’ve seen this film before and the only things of interest are the action set-pieces, right? Well, they’re good. Not great, mind you, but thanks to director Joe Johnston they’re good enough to make you enjoy the film in a monster B-movie kind of way. Pop-corn, air-conditioning, human-eating monsters…. this kind of fun. Could have been better if more characters could have died (especially the annoying ones), but then again we have to “think about the children!” Worth a rental as long as you expect more of the same.

(Second viewing, On DVD, May 2002) Given the straight-up action/adventure focus of this third Jurassic Park epic, it’s not a surprise if the DVD of the film spends almost all of its allotted bonus space talking about the special effects. The commentary track is especially bad, what with a half-dozen effects geeks discussing ad nauseam how this or this particular shot did or didn’t contain puppets or computer-generated dinosaurs. It gets tiresome very quickly, even for die-hard effects fans like me. It doesn’t help, naturally, that a lot of the information is repeated from segment to segment. The rest of the DVD is a lot like more of the same over and over again; wouldn’t it have been easier to just schlep everything in one single making-of? (Don’t miss browsing the “posters mock-up” gallery, though, as it suggests a series of far more interesting Jurassic Park III projects.) As for the film itself, well, it remains an average adventure B-movie. People. Dinos. What else do you want? Well, okay; a higher body-count.