Review #1,048: 'Gods of Egypt' (2016)

Alex Proyas's return to directing following a 7 year hiatus couldn't have come at a worse time. Just as the film industry was up in arms about the #OscarSoWhite debacle, Gods of Egypt arrived in cinemas boasting a near-all Caucasian cast despite being set in Africa. The demand for diversity in Hollywood duly followed, and rightly so, but the questionable casting isn't even the worst thing about the film. Gods of Egypt is a bloated, garish and nonsensical piece of trash, the cinematic equivalent of Raheem Sterling's bathroom. Is this really the same visionary who brought us The Crow (1994) and Dark City (1998)?

Sadly it is, and it completes a steady quality decline in Proyas's output which began in 2004 with his middle-finger to Isaac Asimov, I, Robot. On paper, the big-budget tale of Gods living amongst humans battling it out for the throne may seem like the perfect the opportunity for some campy, brain-on-auto-pilot fun. However, it fails to even offer any sort of camp appeal due to a cast either gobbled up by the video-game cutaway special effects or so utterly devoid of charisma. The main offender is Brenton Thwaites, a young actor who looks like he's been custom-built to appeal to any teenage girls in the crowd. He plays Bek, a human living in a thriving Egypt governed by ten-foot Gods, and sadly he is our protagonist.

Bek, along with his pretty girlfriend Zaya (Courtney Eaton), witnesses the handing-over of the crown from the abdicating Osiris (Bryan Brown) to his dashing and popular son Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). The coronation is rudely interrupted by Osiris's uncle Set (Gerard Butler), who feels that the time has come for him to rule, killing his brother and ripping out his poor nephew's eyes in front of a terrified crowd. With the Egyptians forced into slavery to satisfy Set's greed and vanity, Bek, a talented thief, swipes the plans to Set's vault in the hope of stealing back Horus's eyes and assisting him in defeating his uncle. But when Zaya is killed after the successful theft, Bek strikes a deal with Horus to help guide him through Set's pyramid in exchange for returning Zaya from the underworld.

The main question lingering over the head of Gods of Egypt is why was this film made? For a modern blockbuster from a talented director, the film lacks maturity and brains. For a film possibly designed to appeal to fans of explosion-heavy sci-fi/fantasy extravaganzas such as Michael Bay's Transformers franchise, the CGI is often embarrassingly bad. And for anybody hoping for a throwback to the kitschy B-movies of the 1950's and 60's, where giant monsters and grotesque gods mingled with us puny humans, you will find more charm in one frame of any movie involving the work of Ray Harryhausen than you will for the entire 2 hours of Gods of Egypt. The whole thing just feels oddly out of place, paling in comparison to even the most sickly of recent CGI-fests. Re-telling essentially the exact same story told a thousand times since Homer put ink to paper, this could be re-titled as A Simpleton's Guide to the Hero's Quest. Utter tripe.


Directed by: Alex Proyas
Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, Courtney Eaton, Elodie Yung, Chadwick Boseman, Rufus Sewell, Geoffrey Rush, Bryan Brown
Country: USA/Australia

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #930: 'Munich' (2005)

Steven Spielberg's Munich questions the value of compromising your own ideals in the name of retaliation, whether 'doing what your enemies do' is a necessary stance or the beginning of a downwards spiral towards violence and bloodshed of which there is no end, and ultimately, no point. There are ancient political and religious rivalries in Ireland, South Africa and, especially, Israel; countries that have been torn apart by civil unrest. There seems no reasonable solution apart from forgiving and forgetting, but this doesn't seem to be an option. In the wake of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munch Olympics, Israeli prime minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) decides that lawful justice will not suffice for the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and team members.

A crack team is put together to carry out a series of carefully planned assassinations of alleged members of the Black September group. The group's leader is Avner (Eric Bana), a Mossad agent and soon-to-be father who is briefed of his task by the shadowy go-between Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush). The rest of the team is Carl (Ciaran Hinds), a clean-up man, Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), an expert bomb-maker, Steve (Daniel Craig), a South African weapons handler, and Hans (Hanns Zischler), a professional document forger. Their first hit takes them to Rome, where they are sold information on the whereabouts of target Wael Zwaiter (Makram Khoury) by a Frenchman named Louis (Mathieu Amalric), who claims to work for an organisation unaffiliated with any government.

Highly controversial upon its release, some extreme views questioned director Spielberg's sympathies and ultimate goal. For most people not directly linked to the various religious groups and organisations seen in the film, it should be clear that Spielberg makes a point in showing both sides as equally sympathetic and morally ambiguous. Every attack and execution is a result of one action or another, bringing into question the whole idea of revenge (the movie is based on the book Vengeance by Yuval Aviv, who Bana's character is a fictional substitution for). Israel itself plays a key role. Although we spend little time there. Munich takes us to Italy, Greece, England, Spain, Lebanon and America, but Israel's disputed lands are never far from the characters minds.

Avner is an especially haunted soul, questioning the ethics of his operation and plagued by visions of the events at the Munich Olympics, the latter of which are portrayed with a chilling authenticity at various point throughout the film. He later meets Louis' 'Papa' (Michael Lonsdale), who argues that family, over any government or religious organisation, is the only unit worth fighting for, casting Avner's mind back to his recently-born child. The ensemble cast do a very good job at carrying the weighty tones of the film on their shoulders, but it is Spielberg himself who is the most deserving of acclaim here. It is the director at his most mature and unsentimental, and as the industry's most famous Jew he has taken a huge risk by tackling an extremely sensitive issue. It upset the people on both sides, but that is precisely the point. How can anyone come out of such a bloodied conflict, of which there is no clear end in sight, with a clear conscience?


Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Eric Bana, Ciarán Hinds, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Ayelet Zurer, Geoffrey Rush, Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale
Country: France/Canada/USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #254: 'Green Lantern' (2011)

Disgraced aircraft pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) is chosen by a green ring to be Earth's representative in the Green Lantern Corps - a police force that spans the galaxy that protects the universe from evil. The ring gives him the power to materialise his imagination into a green force powered by will. The ring was brought to Earth by a crash-landed alien, Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison) who had, in the past, defeated a deadly foe named Parallax (voiced by Clancy Brown), who after escaping from his prison, attacked Abin Sur and caused him to flee his planet. Meanwhile, scientist Hector Hammond (Peter Sargaard), son of Senator Robert Hammond (Tim Robbins), is brought in to perform the autopsy on Abin Sur. A part of Parallax that has lingered with his corpse latches on to Hector, causing him to develop telekinetic powers and a rather large forehead.

Green Lantern is one of those adaptation that has been thrown around Hollywood for years, with many writers, directors and stars named as possibilities and then dismissed as quickly as the idea came around. For some films, this proves a good thing. An example, Zack Snyder's Watchmen (2009), was a hell of a long time coming, with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger being banded round to star as Dr. Manhattan. But several writers and directors later, it came to someone who had a passion for the material, and he created something very good and loyal to the graphic novel. While it was by no means a perfect film, it was just about as good as one could hope from a movie adaptation of a very difficult novel. In the case of Green Lantern, perhaps the troublesome journey from comic book to screen was there for a reason, as the finished film is pretty poor.

As likeable as Ryan Reynolds usually is, he doesn't have the charisma or the loveable rogueishness that, say, Robert Downey Jr. has as Tony Stark in Iron Man (2008). Hal Jordan is generally unlikeable - he is cocky, reckless and selfish. Tony Stark's arrogance makes him stand out, and separates him from the mere mortals he swears to protect. Jordan is seen at the beginning of the film sacrificing his wing-man (or wing-woman - the sexy Blake Lively as Carol Ferris) in order to beat a rival company in a dog-fight. He is evidently an emotionally torn character - we see this in an extremely soppy flashback which shows us how Jordan witnessed his father blowing up in front of his eyes. Well boo fucking hoo. I couldn't ever warm to his character because he doesn't deserve his power. Perhaps if his back-story was served with a little less cheddar and a bit more originality then maybe I could root for him.

The premise that he can harness his imagination as his power is an interesting one, and certainly one ripe with limitless possibility. Yet director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale (2006), The Mask of Zorro (1998)) and the four different screenwriters seem to leave many gaping plot holes. Jordan is seen throwing up fast and imaginative defences when being trained by Green Lantern Corps combat trainer Kilowog (Michael Clarke Duncan), yet when being faced by the giant-headed Hammond, everything goes out the window. Hammond holds Carol as hostage when Jordan bursts in brandishing his ring (the one on his finger!) when Hammond makes him aware that Carol is being held telekinetically in mid-air with a syringe filled with what I can only imagine as poison floating near her neck. Jordan appears to be helpless. So why doesn't he imagine a steel wall around Carol, and a giant knife across Hammond's throat? Because that would be to easy and would require the writers to come with better ideas, of course.

The film really isn't quite as bad as the critics have made it out to be. It is sporadically fun, and features the ever-watchable Mark Strong as Green Lantern Corps leader Sinestro. But the film is just so annoyingly stupid that it made me question why someone so stupid would be chosen to wield such power. And the script is so bad that you can hear the desperation to try and forge some humour out of the thinly-written supporting characters (the 'comedy relief' best-friend is so bad the director just seems to cut him out of the movie half way through). Not exactly a Ghost Rider (2007) sized pile of steaming shit, but nothing to give Christopher Nolan sleepless nights. DC better book up their ideas, as Marvel seem to be running away with it (although Marvel have yet to make a film as good as The Dark Knight (2008)).


Directed by: Martin Campbell
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Clarke Duncan
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #32: 'The King's Speech' (2010)

There seems to be an ever-growing obssession with our monarchy these days. In the recent years of political blunder, the credit crunch, and the folly of Iraq and Afghanistan, people seem to be turning to our Royal Majesty and her ancestors for comfort, possibly harking back to the days when we were a super-powerful empire. Yet the press are never too far away from finding a way to criticise or unveil an unspoken truth. I've never known a subject that can be so simultaneously loved and despised in equal measure. The cinema-going audience remain eager however, with the recent releases of The Queen (2006), The Young Victoria (2009) and now The King's Speech proving critical successes as well as audiences flocking to see them.

Arriving just in time for awards season, The King's Speech has been heavily praised and awarded in equal measures. It depicts the struggle of Prince and Duke of York Albert (Colin Firth) to overcome his severe stammer. In an era where the radio was becoming a powerful method of communication between the monarchy and the general public, it is something of a worry to the Prince, who with his father's illness and his brother's dangerous love-affair with an American socialite, is looking at a possible long term as King. His dedicated wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) tries one last possible solution in unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), who methods prove trying for the short-tempered Albert. Soon enough, his father George V (Michael Gambon) passes away and his brother Edward (Guy Pearce) abdicates soon after taking the reign to be with the woman he wants to marry, and with the seemingly unavoidable conflict with Germany brewing, Albert must find a remedy to his affliction in order to speak to his people.

What struck me almost instantly about the film was the unique visual style. Not unique to film in general but to a genre that usually loves to linger on pretty dresses rather than trying to conjure up emotions through clever camerawork. Cinematographer Danny Cohen seems to trap Albert in a tight box, shooting up close and watching Firth twitch every muscle in his face. It's a very effective method, and alongside Firth's excellent performance, you get a feel of Albert's inner struggle and the overbearing pressure that is quickly building up on top of him. It also looks somewhat bleak. For a film that spends most of it's time in beautiful palace settings, it looks somewhat brown and drained of colour. It's almost as if it wanted to capture an age that we see mainly through black-and-white footage and sepia photographs. Critic Martin Filler described it as being 'steeped in strong tea' and he's bang on. It captures a certain Britishness that so many films in the genre attempt but ultimately fail.

It raked up the awards, taking the Best Picture and Best Director awards, as well as an Oscar for Firth and for the Screenplay. This did initially put me off, but I reset my attitude and hoped for an excellent film.. In a way, it is an excellent film, but hardly worthy of being labelled the best film of the year. The acting is excellent all around, the music, script and as mentioned, the cinematography are also outstanding. But there are niggling problems with the film that stuck with me and brought the film down. Minor historical inaccuracies aside, which always have to be accepted to a certain degree, I was puzzled with the insistence of including Winston Churchill's (Timothy Spall) character, who seems to be there for no other reason that for us to say 'oh look it's Churchill!'. The character just seems like a caricature and the scene which he is mainly involved in took place with someone else anyway. Also Edward's character has obviously been altered to make him more of a sneering villain, a man whose selfishness and disloyalty to his country has placed Albert in this avoidable situation.

A very good film all-round, notable for Firth's excellent performance as well as his supporting players who are equally as good. In a year full of strong films, I just don't think this is quite up to the same level. But I don't work on the voting board at the Oscars, so what do I know, right?


Directed by: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie