Review #1,276: 'Cars 3' (2017)

From a purely merchandising point of view, Pixar's Cars franchise is nothing short of a masterstroke. Even if the films, spin-offs, and straight-to-DVD shorts aren't up to scratch - and they aren't - children will be sure to ask mummy and daddy for the latest sleek toy, no matter how obscure the character. In response, the Cars movies have added numerous forgettable new characters with each film, adding to their extensive range of collectables in the process. It's a cynical approach, but merchandise has always been Disney's bread-and-butter in their quest to seemingly own everything. As a result, Cars 2 was a huge disappointment; a half-arsed sequel to a movie that had already left many underwhelmed, which took the central story off on a random tangent and promoted the annoying sidekick to the central hero. Still, it made lots of money, so a trilogy-closer was inevitable.

Thankfully, Pixar and director Brian Fee have scrapped the spy thriller angle altogether, and relegated buck-toothed tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) back to the role of comic relief dished out in small doses. The focus is back on Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and his antics on the race track, so Cars 3 is, if anything, a massive improvement on its predecessor. McQueen is now in the twilight of his career; a seven-time Piston Cup champion and bona fide racing legend, enjoying the on-track banter with his closest rivals. However, he is given a wake-up call when newcomer Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), employing a fancy chassis, the latest in car technology, and an extensive knowledge of statistics, beats McQueen easily. Soon enough, his fellow veterans start retiring in droves, and those who don't are quickly laid off by their sponsors to make way for the new guys hot off the assembly line (or are they born?).

It's a bland and uninspiring story of the new out-muscling the old, but there are still things to enjoy in Cars 3. They've finally enlisted a female racer in the form of energetic personal trainer Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo), who treats McQueen like a car ready to fall apart at any second, and it also offers a fitting resolution to Doc's story, who was splendidly voiced by Paul Newman before he sadly passed, as McQueen seeks out a new mentor. Yet, the beautiful and detailed animation, combined with the welcome return to the grit of the race track, cannot save Cars 3 from mediocrity. It's essentially an existential exploration of midlife crisis, chocked full of childish humour and wrapped up in a sports movie formula, so it's difficult to work out just who the target audience is. It wisely makes a point of dodging genre cliches with an interesting climax, but the lack of character investment (McQueen has always been the blandest of Pixar's heroes) means that this doesn't pay off as well as it should. Like its racers, the Cars franchise seems to be stuck in an eternal loop without anywhere to go.


Directed by: Brian Fee
Voices: Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper, Nathan Fillion, Larry the Cable Guy, Armie Hammer, Tony Shalhoub, Bonnie Hunt
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,265: 'Cars 2' (2011)

Pixar's Cars is now remembered as one of the great studio's rare misfires; a formulaic animated movie that had far more to offer to the children in the audience than to the adults paying for them to be there (although I think it's one of their most misunderstood movies and well worth a re-visit). Despite this, it was a box-office smash and a dream in terms of merchandising. A few years ago, Pixar may have thought twice about extending the story of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and the town of Radiator Springs without having something new to say, but ever since Disney took over, they've taken a more relaxed attitude towards bending to audience demand and churning out an underdeveloped and unworthy sequel. The result is Cars 2, a mess of a movie with an absence of any real laughs that feels like a straight-to-DVD short stretched out over 106 minutes.

Now a four-time Piston Cup champion, the world-famous Lightning McQueen returns to Radiator Springs to see his old friends, much to the delight of best chum Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). However, formula champion Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) challenges McQueen to join him in the World Grand Prix, an event created by Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard) to advertise his new fuel Allinol. McQueen, along with Mater, Luigi (Tony Shalhoub), Guido (Guido Quaroni), Fillmore (Lloyd Sherr) and Sarge (Paul Dooley), heads to Tokyo, where Mater's buffoonish behaviour starts to grate on the racing star. Meanwhile, weapons designer Professor Zundapp (Thomas Kretschmann) and his cronies are taking out cars using an electromagnetic pulse in an attempt to scupper Axelrod's plans and secure oil profits. This catches the attention of international super-spy Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and his partner Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer), who mistake Mater for a fellow spy and hire the clueless tow truck to help with their mission.

This may sound like a bold move for a franchise built on low-key themes of friendship and humility around a traditional fish-out-of-water story, and Cars 2 fleetingly captures the imagination as McMissile swings onto an enemy oil rig, gadgets at the ready. But this is no longer Lightning McQueen's story. Instead, they push Mater, the comic relief best served in tiny doses, front and centre. Not only do his shenanigans increasingly annoy, they are also painfully unfunny. Many of the memorable supporting cast from the first movie are either heavily sidelined or given the boot altogether, and the story is so disjointed that it's difficult to keep up with the endless roster of forgettable, newly-introduced characters. Kids will love it though, and that's all that really matters when it comes to box-office receipts. There's enough colour, slapstick and racing action to keep them  on their seats, and the animation again is truly wonderful. While this may get a pass if released by Dreamworks, mediocrity never used to be on Pixar's radar, and the high standards are still expected. One need only look at their Toy Story trilogy to see how inspired their sequels can be, which makes the middling antics of Cars 2 all the more crushing.


Directed by: John Lasseter
Voices: Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro, Thomas Kretschmann, Bonnie Hunt
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,266: 'Cars' (2006)

Ever since Pixar first wowed cinema-going audiences across the globe with their feature-length debut Toy Story, the company has become the standard for cinematic excellence. Not only for their constantly groundbreaking animation and ability to entertain both children and adults alike, but for the quality of their scripts and the amount of genuine heart that pours out of them. Yet for every WALL-E, The Incredibles or Inside Out there's always a Monsters University, A Bug's Life or Brave. These films still get a pass because, after all, "it's only a kid's movie," but the disappointment is all the more crushing with the knowledge of Pixar's capabilities. Cars is firmly in the latter category, falling into the traps of a familiar plot and a script that isn't quite up to scratch.

Cars' reputation has been damaged ever further in the decade since its release, and this is no doubt thanks to the lazy and bitter-tasting sequels and spin-offs, something the company has churned out at an increasing rate ever since Disney took over. I must admit that I didn't think much of Cars back in 2005. It lacked excitement and a character to really root for, and the story of a cocky upstart learning learning a valuable lesson to change their outlook on the world can be seen in countless other children's movies. However, on my second viewing I found moments of tenderness between the cracks, an old-fashioned romanticism to really warm the heart. The movie is about more than a young race car named Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and his quest to escape the forgotten town of Radiator Spings to reach the Piston Cup. It's also about the changing face of America and the way its capitalist nature is leaving the little guys behind.

One aspect of Cars that was never criticised was its cutting-edge animation, and the way it brought the loud, dangerous world of racing and the country's glorious landscapes to beautiful life. It is still utterly glorious to look at, whether it be a wide shot of a darkening horizon or a close-up of buck-toothed tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). The small town off Route 66 is full of other colourful archetypes, voiced by the likes of Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin and George Carlin. The problems I had with the film the first time around are still present - the climax should be a lump-in-the-throat moment but is oddly devoid of emotion, and the film offers no surprises at all - but they just didn't seem to bother me as much. The hefty running-time (just shy of 2 hours) also whizzed by, despite the lack of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. So forget Cars 2, Planes and those awful-looking straight-to-DVD spin-offs you ignore in Tesco, and give Cars another chance.


Directed by: John Lasseter
Voices: Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, George Carlin, Michael Keaton
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,140: 'Midnight in Paris' (2011)

The sheer volume of prolific writer/director/actor Woody Allen's back catalogue means that any new work will always have audiences comparing them to his earlier, more universally-acclaimed pictures. Born in 1935, it has been over fifty years since his first peek behind the camera with What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966), and he still pumps out roughly a film per year. The declining quality doesn't help either, with (before Midnight in Paris) his only truly excellent film being the incredibly sexy Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008) since 1999's charming Sweet and Lowdown. Perhaps he had the idea for years, but it felt like Allen may be having a sly pop at the nostalgia-fiends feeding off his past glories with Midnight in Paris, a heart-warming and funny exploration of a writer pining for a bygone age.

Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a successful Hollywood screenwriter holidaying in Paris with his fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams). He is also struggling with his first novel, about a man working in a nostalgia shop, and his bride-to-be isn't helping matters by insisting they spend time with her rich, conservative parents and her annoying, know-it-all friend Paul (Michael Sheen). Gil feels like he belongs in a different decade, namely 1920's Paris, where the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Salvador Dali enjoyed decadent parties and frequented the boisterous bars. On a walk one night, Gil is approach by an old-fashioned taxi as the clock strikes midnight, and the passengers beckon him to join them. Soon enough, he is chatting with the likes of Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston) and his wife Zelda (Alison Pill), as Cole Porter (Yves Heck) plays piano.

As Gil's nightly visits to the 1920's play out, a wealth of famous faces bring other famous faces to life. The likes of Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) and Dali (Adrien Brody) all brush shoulders with the awestruck writer, as well as the mysterious Adriana (Marion Cotillard), a muse of Picasso who catches his eye. The fantastic performances aside - Stoll is a particular revelation - Paris itself is a star of the movie, akin to what Allen did may times with his New York-set films. It's certainly overly-romanticised, but this only serves to heighten Gil's sense of wonder, and he is hopeless romantic after all. Midnight in Paris is Allen's wittiest, warmest and most effortlessly entertaining films since 1994's Bullets Over Broadway. It may be difficult to avoid comparing this to the director's classic works, but Midnight in Paris sits easily as one of his best.


Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Corey Stoll, Michael Sheen, Tom Hiddleston, Alison Pill, Kathy Bates
Country: Spain/USA/France

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,030: 'Zoolander 2' (2016)

Way back in 2001, Ben Stiller's original Zoolander was little more than an extended Saturday Night Live sketch, stretched out for 90 minutes of hit-and-miss comedy. Despite the wafer-thin premise of lampooning the fashion industry and the shallow celebrities who inhabit it, there was a clumsy charm about it and much fun to be had with its loose, zany approach. 15 years on and Stiller delivers a sequel that nobody was really asking for, and the movie's awareness of the first's quotable, make-it-up-as-we-go-along dialogue and unapologetic daftness is ultimately its downfall. That, and being painfully unfunny.

The movie's opening sequence informs us that Derek Zoolander's Centre for Kids who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn to do Other Stuff Good Too collapsed in a disaster after being built using the same materials used to build the small-scale model, killing his wife Matilda (Christine Taylor) and damaging the beautiful face of his old friend Hansel (Owen Wilson). His child is eventually taken away from him when his parental skills are called into question, so Zoolander retreats into the frozen wasteland of New Jersey and turns his back on the fashion industry. Hansel has also retired, choosing instead to spend his time in the deserts of Malibu with his orgy of 11 fellow sex fiends, all of whom he has impregnated (including Kiefer Sutherland).

When Billy Zane arrives with their Neflix orders, he persuades them to return to the catwalk for ultra-hip designer Don Atari (Kyle Mooney), an annoying yet on-the-nose hipster who hates stuff because he loves them and vice versa. This is not the only plot thread in this convoluted mess of a film, as the tale of Zoolander braving a return to the world he feels he no longer has a place in was the exact same plot as the first film. We also have new villain Alexanya Atoz (Kristen Wiig), the return of Mugatu (Will Ferrell), Interpol agent Valentina Valencia (Penelope Cruz) who is tracking Zoolander and Hansel to help investigate the murders of music celebrities, some mythological nonsense about the Fountain of Youth, and the horrifying revelation that Zoolander's now-teenage son is, yes, fat and ugly.

It took four writers - Stiller, Justin Theroux, Nicholas Stoller and John Hamburg - to pen the movie and 15 years to think about it, and a tedious merry-go-round of re-hashed jokes, shoehorned celebrity cameos and eye-rolling innuendos ("Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher? Tonight is gonna be a total Jack-off!") is quite unbelievably the best they could come up with. By the time Mugatu arrives and the climax kicks into gear, you'll still be waiting for everything to somehow make sense. Up to this point, the most fun there is to be had is trying to spot all the famous faces (the funniest and most bizarre is a barely recognisable Benedict Cumberbarch) while Zoolander is left scratching his head trying to integrate into a world now so overcome by self-obsession. To make this point, we are made to suffer through endless social media gags that feel like the ramblings of a man trying desperately to fit in with the cool crowd. Even if you love the original, avoid at all costs.


Directed by: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penélope Cruz, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Kyle Mooney
Country: USA

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #893: 'Inherent Vice' (2014)

Following in the footsteps of Raymond Chandler and the Coen brothers' Chandler homage The Big Lebowski (1998), Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel of the same name, Inherent Vice, has its permanently perplexed gumshoe trying to navigate his way through a labyrinthine plot that never really makes sense. Joaquin Phoenix's mutton-chopped 'Doc' Sportello is rarely too far away from his next joint in a hungover 1970's, where free love and hippydom is starting to fade and Richard Nixon reigns in the White House. The plot plays second fiddle to the hazy atmosphere and distinct sense of place, so if you find yourself constantly scratching your head as the story 'unfolds', it really doesn't matter.

If Paul Thomas Anderson's work is noticeably divided by 2007's masterpiece There Will Be Blood, when his work seemed to transform from absorbing, oddball ensembles (and even an Adam Sandler comedy) into sweeping, completely hypnotic works of art, Inherent Vice is a curious combination of the two era's. While never spilling over into full-blown comedy, the film makes frequent use of slapstick and moments of surreal absurdity, all delivered with perfect comic timing by its extremely talented cast. However, there's something else going on; a bigger picture that Anderson never really grasps (and doesn't really need to), and an eeriness that may or may not be fuelled by Doc's drug-induced paranoia and bewilderment.

The story kicks off when Doc is visited by old flame Shasta Hepworth (Katherine Waterston), who informs Doc of her affair with real estate developer Mickey Z. Wolfmann (Eric Roberts) and a possible plot to kidnap and commit him to a mental asylum. Doc's investigations force him into constant conflict with former colleague Lt. Detective 'Bigfoot' Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), a buzzcut-donning hippy-hater, who assists Doc with the news that Wolfmann has disappeared without a trace. Doc is also tasked with locating two others - a member of the Aryan Brotherhood who owes money to Black Guerilla Family member Tariq (Michael Kenneth Williams), and missing husband Coy (Owen Wilson), whose wife Hope (Jena Malone) has been informed of his death. The cases all may be linked by a mysterious boat known as the Golden Fang.

The head-scratching antics and doped-up conversations can cause extreme brain fatigue at times, so this is far from Anderson's best work. But Inherent Vice is still distinctly the work of Anderson, who wraps the film in an unpredictable and unsettling atmosphere at times, with the favouring of close-up's, a technique adopted in The Master (2012), heightening the deliriousness of the experience. The real find here is undoubtedly Waterston, whose twist on the femme fatale is played with a free-spirited seductiveness that would drive most men crazy. Phoenix is predictably convincing as the permanently red-eyed and well-meaning private dick, and Brolin overshadows anyone in the same room as him with his intense and idiosyncratic stiff, demanding waffles in bawled Spanish and deep-throating a popsicle much to Doc's disgust. Anyone expecting to be satisfied come the climax may be disappointed, and, like The Master, it can be difficult to love at times, but Inherent Vice is a one-of-a-kind experience; constantly baffling, funny, frustrating and beautiful.


Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterston, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Martin Short
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #129: 'Zoolander' (2001)

Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is a slow-witted fashion model who is known for his 'Blue Steel' look, and has dominated the industry for years. When the new kid on the block, Hansel (Owen Wilson), starts taking the attention away from Zoolander, and journalist Matilda (Stiller's wife Christine Taylor) writes a mocking piece on him, Zoolander considers retirement. He travels back home to work in the coal pits with his father (Jon Voight) and brothers (Vince Vaughn and Judah Friedlander) but they reject him due to his fashion antics and general uselessness in the pits. Meanwhile, fashion giant Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell) is coming up with a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and feels that Zoolander is just stupid enough to be the hit-man.

I've never really been a fan of the work of Stiller and his usual troupe. While his films are generally entertaining, I just don't find them that funny. Zoolander, though not exactly a classic, is possibly his best, being frequently funny, silly, and most important of all, fun. For all it's prat-falls and ridiculous costumes, it is actually a pretty damn accurate send-up of the fashion industry. Many a time I've been forced to sit through the likes of America's Next Top Model and whatever new shit Gok Wan has come up with (I detest that man with every fabric of my being), and it is really this ridiculous.

The cleverist moment of the film is when Mugatu announces his new fashion show, called Derelicte, spinning fashion out of the bums and hobo's that roam the streets. It's just the type of pretentious and shallow thing that happens in fashion all the time, taking its influences from the unfortunate and putting it's own naive and clueless fingers all over it. Anyway, that's enough about my hatred for the fashion industry, now for the actual film.

Zoolander has the thing that seems to missing from Stiller's usual films, which is sweetness. As gay as that sounds, it helps elevate the likes of Judd Apatow's films above others, and helps you actually care about the film rather than it being played just for laughs. Tropic Thunder (2008) and Dogeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) certainly tried, and ultimately failed. Although Zoolander is a shallow idiot, he is certainly loveable. And as Hansel, the always-watchable Owen Wilson is just a dim-witted. When the two settle their rivalry and team up, there is plenty of chemistry. Watching them both giggle like children when talking about bulimia is a scene where if handled badly, could have been uncomfortable, but the scene is possibly the funniest in the film.

Yes, it follows the same path as many other a comedy, and some of the jokes fail to hit the mark. But it's fun, entertaining, and features a handful of solid comedy performances. And, as ever, Will Ferrell steals the show as a manically over-the-top designer.


Directed by: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, Jon Voight, David Duchovny
Country: USA/Australia/Germany

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #14: 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009)

Wes Anderson's adaptation of Roahl Dahl's book of the same name casts aside the CGI animation of Pixar for some old-school stop-motion animation. It tells the familiar story of the cheeky Mr. Fox (voiced with the usual charm of George Clooney) who leaves his days of stealing chickens behind him to marry Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) and settle down with their newly born son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman). After buying up some new property that is situated near the land of Boggis, Bunce and Bean, three farmers with a terrible reputation, Mr. Fox is tempted into his old ways. He plans the heist of the century (in fox terms) to hit each farm individually without getting a scratch, aided by his loveable-but-dumb friend Badger (Bill Murray), and eventually his visiting nephew and natural athlete Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson).

When the farmers discover what Mr. Fox is up to, Franklin Bean (Michael Gambon) unites the three and plans a revenge attack on Fox's burrow. Soon, Mr. Fox has to team up with his own gang of rather hopeless animals to escape the tractors that have begun digging up their home. They also have to face Bean's cider-loving, knife-wielding, finger-snapping bodyguard Rat (Willem Dafoe). Feeling guilty for the situation he has placed his family and friends into, Mr. Fox must come up with a plan to defeat the persistent farmers.

Anderson's sense of humour that has been so present in his previous films is in full flow here. Clooney can deliver a quirky line like no other actor working in cinema today and his time working with the Coen brothers have clearly paid off. Mr. Fox is selfish, cocky and obnoxious, but with Clooney behind the microphone he is a completely loveable character. The quirkiness is upped by the presence of Anderson regulars Murray and Schwartzman, whose personalities shine through the animation and give their clay characters an important human feel. Michael Gambon also has a field day voicing the sadistic and psychopathic Bean, who in his own way is absolutely hilarious.

Anderson's decision to go with stop-motion animation adds a nostalgic edge to the film. The book is clearly beloved to the director, and to many people who have read this or any of the number of children's classics by Roahl Dahl. I remember reading Matilda, James And The Giant Peach and The BFG as a child in school and being fascinated and enthralled, and Fantastic Mr. Fox brought those memories back. Of course, the film's sense of humour is not in tone with the book, but the overall feel and charm of the film really captures the spirit of Dahl's books. The opening heist has Mr. Fox ingeniously navigate his way through a farmyard in the style of Super Mario Brothers. It is super-charged, throwing reason and continuity out the window for the sake of having some immature fun, and it works.

Rushmore (1998) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Anderson's two greatest films, were two of the best American comedies to come out in recent years, and Fantastic Mr. Fox adds something different and equally impressive to an already-impressive CV. It also cements his status as a director whose films you can always look forward to. The film's giddiness and unashamed childishness elevates the film, and it's nice to see a children's story adapted without the need for flashy effects or feeling the need to darken the tone. Highly recommended.


Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Eric Chase Anderson, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Jarvis Cocker
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie