The Baghdad Bourne Supremacy

Take the director and the star of the last two, excellent, Jason Bourne movies...and then reunite them for a Baghdad set, action thriller and you'll have a particular picture of the type of movie you're going to get. And with that collaboration, Green Zone, you'd be absolutely correct.

Like The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum, Green Zone is a thriller that starts off in top gear and then never lets up. It's relentless. And when Damon isn't chasing round dusty street corners in pursuit of intelligence leads, he's locked in tense stand offs with local bureaucrats or engaged in taut unauthorised missions of subterfuge.
Thats a pretty successful base on which to build any movie, but build it does. The search for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's), the White House's reluctance to release it's Iraq intelligence sources and the disbandment of the Iraq military form the icing on the cake to an already riveting thriller. Damon is excellent , as always, building his character while on the move (just like the Bourne movies).

The production is impressive with the recreation of a recently occupied Iraq looking as realistic as the news reports. I found this more rewarding than The Hurt Locker, but I still find Blackhawk Down and The Kingdom to be superior. But not by a lot.

I've Got A Brain Dead Wrestler & I'm Not Afraid To Use It!

The bullshit action movie is a genre unto itself. Like the gangster movie or the western, there's a certain set of expectation a genre film must deliver on to be a part of the gang. And WWE production The Marine delivers in spades. It has a basic 'bad guys took my wife and now they're gonna pay' plot. It has lots of huge, practical, slow-motion explosions every 20 minutes that are filmed over and over and over again from multiple angles. It has the hero stroll away from flames, drive through explosions and dive (twice!) out of an exploding building. Can you smell it?

But that's not all. Star, ex wrestler John Cena, is borderline wooden, with screen presence making up for lack of charisma. But in true genre fashion, Cena gets all the classic lines, that only exist in the minds of unsophisticated American screenwriters. And to balance the straight faced cliches, Robert Patrick and chums amusingly bicker, squabble and terrorise their way across the US. east coat wetlands.
The characters are enjoyable, the action ridiculous and the girls cute. For a low brow film this is great fun and far, far better than Cena's follow up movie, Renny Harlin's 12 Rounds.

Date Night Date Raped Me!

Oh, Steve Carrell, what a funny man you are. Your Anchorman performance is the stuff of legend. And Tina Fey, how your downtrodden loser routine has made me laugh while falling for your dorky, middle-aged awkwardness. But how you have fallen in to shit creek with your new movie Date Night, which has been brought to us by the "Shit Creek Canoe Company" aka, Twentieth Century Fox.

This is supposed to be make or break year for Fox's reputation as a studio. The company, as a supplier of quality entertainment, is a joke. An industry wide, Internet acknowledged joke. So in 2010, there were signs that Fox were starting to listen to their critic by hiring better actors, better writers and better directors.
The true test will come in the summer months when Predators, The A-Team and Knight & Day hit, but for now, the signs aren't too promising.

Date Night is an under-written 'comedy' with a dull, generic thriller plot imposed on it. The leads try their damnedest to create giggles (along with Mila Kunis and James Franco in wacky cameos), but it mainly fall flat due to the heavy handedness of Pink Panther director, Shawn Levy. Ladies and gentlemen...you have been full force Fox fucked. Be warned.

The Fantastic Secret Service Mr Fox

Vantage Point is a Rasomon style thriller which looks at a Presidential assassination attempt from the differing perspectives of those involved. There's aging but reliable Secret Service protector Dennis Quaid, News Producer Sigorney Weaver, tourist Forrest Whitaker, Edgar Ramirez's Spanish Cop, newbie Agent Matthew Fox and the President himself William Hurt. After an hour of seeing the same incident again and again from the differing points of view we begin to build up a picture of what's really going on. It then drops the gimmick for the remainder of the movie to follow a conventional catch-the-bad-guy thriller plot.

It's a solid, well acted piece that just about stays on the right side of engaging. But, even though we learn an extra dimension to the plot and characters every time the film resets itself to midday, there is the temptation to stop watching. And, that just not compelling enough really. A good effort, and it's great to see a good, old fashioned adult thriller trying to break format and do something a bit different. But a more gripping script is needed next time.

Two extra things. It's cool to see Zoe Saldana in an early role, before she became a break out star. And at one point (SPOILER ALERT) William Hurt's President gets replaced by a body double for an important speach. For a thriller which is realistically grounded throughout...this plot device sticks out like a sore, piss-covered thumb.

Robin Hood - Prince Of Mullets

There are three reasons why I watched Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves again recently. It was on television anyway. I hadn't seen it for an eternity. And my lasting impression is that it's ten times more entertaining than the recent Scott/Crowe collaboration depicting the legendary English hero. And while it's a long way from perfect, Prince of Thieves might very well be twenty times more superior to the 2010 effort.

There's several things that sets it above the new version of Robin Hood:-

1/ Most obviously, it's telling a much better, far more engrossing story. That's because it adheres to the established Robin Hood lore (which is compulsive viewing...there's a reason this same story's been retold countless times) and because it puts all of the character's (both good and bad) at the heart of the tale. Like many Costner movies, it's a story that takes its time in being told...gradually building character, back story and the plot foundations before Robin is forced on the run.

2/ Even if the characters are under-written in what is a straight-forward period adventure yarn, they all spring to vivid life because of the fantastic casting. Before star Kevin Costner took a liking playing morally questionable folk in the mid 90's, he was the go-to guy in Hollywood for the clean cut everyman (The Untouchables, No Way Out, Field Of Dreams). And whatever aspects of a 'petulant teenager becoming wise warrior' he might bring to his Robin, it's that quiet, centred morality he brings to the role that grounds the whole movie. Bring in an actor with less ability, or someone with more a more aggressive attitude, and the story begins to unravel.

His opposite in The Sheriff of Nottingham is infamously performed by the incredible Alan Rickman who bounds around in full-on pantomime mode. This is the stand-out, scene stealing, having-more-fun-than-criminally-allowed acting of the entire film. Everybody else excels too. Christian Slater's angry, mis-trusting Will Scarlett, Nick Brimble's tough, West Country bumpkin Little John, Michael Wincott's snarling Guy Of Gisburne, Geraldine McEwan's scheming, lunatic witch, Michael McShane's booming, drunkard Tuck, Morgan Freeman's noble, intellectual Azeem and finally, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's fragile but feisty Marion. I've never thought of her as the most attractive actress in the world, but her pitch perfect English accent combined with a studied comic delivery makes her adorable. Even tiny characters like Fanny, Duncan, Wulf and Sarah have moments to shine...just showing how much thought went into the scripting and casting process.

3/ Then there's Michael Kamen's score...absolutely a career-best piece of work. Kamen came to prominence in the late 80's with a string of action scores for Joel Silver, that included Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, Hudson Hawk and Die Hard. This was his first, full blown, epic composition since Highlander that not only had a valid life separate from the silver screen, but was instrumental in the success of the film. Not having Kamen's score wouldn't have made it a bad movie in any respect...but it's addition lifts the whole enterprise to a completely higher level; raising that sense of high adventure, thrills and grandeur. It's still one of the most accomplished score of the 1990's along with John William's Jurassic Park score and the early works of Hans Zimmer.

Still, despite all the great stuff, there's a surprising amount that doesn't come off as well as it should.

1/ Costner's mullet. WTF!?!

2/ Costner and Slater's accents. While Mastrantonio is 100% convincing as a Brit, Kev and Slates barely make an effort. But their characters are so distinctive and the story has so much momentum...you just about forgive them.

3/ It looks cheap. The forest scenes are flawless, whether it's the impressive tree house sets, the magnificent waterfall locations, or the beautiful shafts of light that pierce the woodland canopy. But the sets, from the Nottingham marketplace to the Jerusalem courtyard, all look like plywood with a lick of paint. A studio set basically. The bland photography doesn't help to sell the realism during interior scenes and the exterior shots rarely come to life unless the sun is out to lend a hand to the film crew. It means the whole enterprise frequently has a thrifty sheen instead of the multi-million dollar gloss that you'd expect from a major blockbuster.

4/ Perhaps the greatest hindrance to the film's potential for greatness is the uneven tone which director Kevin Reynolds gives the film. Much of the acting is played over-the-top, most noticeably Rickman...which is in sharp contrast (sometimes jarringly so) to Costner's restrained heroics. In fact the thespians are split firmly into two camps as to which acting style they use, with Freeman, Mastrantonio and Slater joining Costner, while Brimble, McEwan and McShane join Rickman...with Wincott treading the narrow line in between. In the first Pirates movie, Depp is the only one chewing the scenery in an OTT manner....and so the whole weight of seriousness occupying the rest of the movie neatly balances him out. But with Prince of Thieves, that balance isn't quite there. It sometimes feels like a Gilliam movie or maybe a little Pythoneque...which is fine...until you get to the next scene of Robin wrestling with thoughts of revenge and rebellion. It doesn't quite mix. However, it's down to the dynamic and compelling telling of the story that these different styles can exist in the same movie...and still make it a fun roller coaster ride.

4/ Oh, and the Bryan Adams song is shite.

The film is way too much fun for it's flaws to overwhelm it. The action is ten times more imaginative than Ridley Scott's effort and far better shot with Kevin Reynolds constantly tracking, panning, spinning, zooming and dollying camerawork. This is the type of film Prince Of Persia wanted to be but Bruckheimer never had the balls to get a cast and crew as talented as this to make it. Just 'cause a film isn't perfect doesn't mean it's not good. And Prince Of Thieves is very, very good.

The Great St Trinians Photocopy Massacre

The first St Trinians movie (the 2007 remake, not the original 50's and 60's affairs) was a bit of a let down. For a movie built upon rebellious, anti-authoritarian characters...it's rule breaking antics all seamed a bit tame. And for a movie that was basically a comedy at heart, it was all a bit laughter -free. Considering it made little impact at the box office in addition to it's artistic failings, it's amazing that a sequel was ever deliberated...let alone produced.

Well, the follow up, St Trinians - The Legend Of Fritton's Gold is no better than the first. It fact, it's practically a photocopy of the first movie...with a few alterations of course. Russell Brand, Stephen Fry and Lena Heady are out. In come David Tennant, Girls Aloud's Sarah Harding and Ashes To Ashes Montserat Lombard. It's still not funny, the Mission Impossible capers are daft, and the only thing still going for it are the girls. And before the word 'perv' gets bandied around, I should point out that all the principle girlie cast members are all in their twenties (Arterton=23, Egerton & Temple=21, Riley=24, Lombard=27, Harding=28). So in terms of this weak effort having very little to offer it's audience, at least the lads and the lesbos can perv away.

I Think Therefore I'm Sam

Ever since 9/11, and the Bush administration's questionable over-reaction to that tragic event, fictional media has been examining morality when it comes to terrorism. From The Dark Knight to Watchmen to 24, the question that is constantly being raised is, "How immoral can a Government or a Lawman be, in order to protect the greater good?".

That question is again asked in Unthinkable, which takes a scenario right out of 24, and distills it down to a basic, three character, single location screenplay. The U.S Government receive a terrorist video claiming that three nuclear bombs will be detonated in separate major American cities by the end of the week, unless his demands are met. The U.S. born terrorist, Michael Sheen, is caught, and brought to a secret location for interrogation. The head of the F.B.I.'s Counter Terrorist Unit, Carrie Anne Moss, is brought in to locate the nukes, while mysterious torturer-for-hire, Samuel L Jackson, is drafted to forcefully extract the information from the extremist.

This is small scale stuff, that's perhaps best suited for TV, as it's essentially a stage play put to film. The direction is unremarkable, but it's obviously a powerful, topical script that's managed to draw, not only the three leads, but cool character actors like Stephen Root, Gil Bellows, Brandon Routh and Holmes Osbourne. And it's a good, tense yarn with a simple, ticking-bomb premise; will Sam get Michael to spill the beans before the bombs go off? And what are the Law Officers, Army, Politicians and Torturer prepared to do, in order to save the day (and they're willing to push it to the limits, that's for sure)?

An intriguing story with great performances that's a little too uncinematic to be classed as a great film...but still very worthy. And the sad thing is, this discussion obviously takes place, in Governments, around the world all the time.