RUN ALL NIGHT

RUN ALL NIGHT
GRADE: D
Starring Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, Common
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Rated R (violence, profanity)
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs


It is very likely that the most depressing moment I will ever have as film critic came as I was watching Run All Night and realized that the presence of Liam Neeson in a film, like Nicolas Cage and Gerard Butler before him, now all but guarantees a bad film. In all three cases these are actors I once admired, but Neeson stands out far above the other two. Neeson gave a brilliant performance in what I consider to be the best film ever made (Schindler's List), and until recently could be counted on always to rise above even his weakest material (okay, maybe not Clash of the Titans) and make it watchable. But his string of action films has definitely worn out its welcome.

Neeson stars as Jimmy Conlon, an ex-mobster who has an at best estranged relationship with his adult son Mike (Joel Kinnaman). Mike not only has the stereotypical "You were a bad father and you were never there for me" issues with his Dad, there are the "You were a cold-blooded killer" issues on top. The only real friend Jimmy seems to have is Sean Maguire (Ed Harris), a former partner in crime (literally) who has now become a respectable businessman.  But Sean also has a son, Danny (Boyd Holbrook), and Danny is a violent thug. When Danny tries to kill Mike, Jimmy has to kill Danny. And because Sean has seen Road to Perdition and knows that the Irish gangster movie code says that when your best friend kills your no good son you have to kill him, the film becomes a chase, with Sean's goons trying to kill Jimmy and Mike.

All of the this might have at least made for a serviceable shoot-'em-up, but dramatically it's tired to the point of complete exhaustion, and director Jaume Collet-Serra (who previously made the forgettable Unknown with Neeson) alternates between limp and hyperactive (including the worst transition shots I've ever seen). Neeson and Harris are solidly professional in their roles, but uninspired. They deserve better, and so do their fans. Even Common feels wasted. Joel Kinnaman, on the other hand, is my choice as the least interesting screen presence since James Belushi. With every line he spoke I found myself wishing Channing Tatum was playing the role (even the Tatum of his early films, when he couldn't act).

Ultimately, Run All Night is just plain boring. There's nothing aoriginal or interesting, the drama doesn't work, and the action isn't fun. It's one 1 hour and 54 minutes long, but it feels like it runs all night. It's rater R for violence and profanity.

CINDERELLA

GRADE: A
Starring Lilly James, Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
Screenplay by Chris Weitz
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Rated PG (parental death, mild peril)
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

Cinderella is not a film I was anticipating with much eagerness. The truth is, I have enough issues with romantic fairy tales to write a 10-volume series of 700 page tomes on the subject, and feel in their own way they are often more damaging than something like 50 Shades of Grey. In addition, I consider Disney's current game plan of remaking its animated classics as live action films a genuinely horrifying prospect. Finally, as both a writer and a feminist I consider Cinderella herself the worst protagonist in the history of fiction, someone who never takes a single action of her own and idealizes helplessness and waiting to be acted upon. I tell you all of this because it's important that you understand how unlikely it is is for me to be telling you that Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella is a sublime enchantment that will likely make my list of the best films of 2015.

Lily James of TV's Downton Abbey stars as Ella, a sweet young girl whose beloved Mother (Hayley Atwell, Marvel's Agent Carter) passes away, leaving Ella's father (Ben Chaplin) grieving, and eventually remarrying the austere Lady Tremaine (two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett). Form here the story plays out in a traditional manner, with the cruel stepmother and bratty stepsisters forcing Ella (who they nickname "Cinder-Ella" after seeing her covered with ashes) to do all of the work and generally have a miserable life, until they are all invited to a ball thrown by the Prince (Richard Madden).

What's so amazing and joyous about Branagh's film is first that it manages to add a great deal of depth and humanity to the story beyond what any other version has (including, in subtle ways, making the heroine more proactive and self-actualized) and that it does so without becoming winkingly revisionist or betraying one of the most beloved stories in history. This is Cinderella, and it's Disney's Cinderella, but it's also a film that stands on its own, never feeling like a mere retread of the animated classic. Branagh and his team have, visually and technically, painted a beautiful picture, and Branagh, screenwriter Chris Weitz and a first-rate cast give it the kind of vivid dramatic life that Branagh's better Shakespeare adaptations had (and in fact stick to a far more classica, less self-consciously Hollywood style than some of his later ones did). James and Madden are both delightful as the respective romantic icons, making us fall in love with both of them, and adding a layer of genuine feeling that goes deeper than insipid "love at first sight" cliches (this is a Cinderella who wants to go the ball to see a friend, not because she dreams of being rescued by a rich Prince she's never even met). The always exquisite Blanchett adds pathos to Lady Tremaine, showing us the pain of a woman who has suffered great loss and lived with knowing that she was never truly loved by her second husband (Ella's father). Helena Bonham Carter is back to being a good kind of quirky as the Fairy Godmother, and Derek Jacobi is gives an excellent turn as the King. Even the mice are well represented as non-speaking characters (though some of the other animals get a chance to speak in an unexpected and quite clever way).

In his recent films as a blockbuster director-for-hire, Branagh has curbed the self-indulgent excesses that lead to his downfall as an auteur (thank heaven he's developed enough humility to know he's far to old to play the Prince), but we're also seeing in some of them a distinct touch of his unique creative vision, and it's even more plainly on display here than it was in Thor. Make no mistake, Branagh, not Disney, deserves the credit for taking what could have been a soulless exercise in profit-mongering and turning it into an engaging, enchanting film that reminded even me how joyous a romantic fairy tale can be in the hands of someone with true sensitivity. It's a beautifully rendered work of art with a lot of heart at its center, and with the perfect amounts of visual splendor, characters we truly care about, drama, humor and even a dash of adventure, it's a movie movie, exactly the sort we go to a theater to see.

Cinderella is rated PG for some mild adult themes (such as the death of Ella's Mother) but is suitable for all ages.

CHAPPIE

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: D
Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver, Hugh Jackman, Yolandi Visser and Ninja
Screenplay Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
Directed By Neill Blomkamp

Rated R (Violence, Profanity, Vulgarity, Drugs)


Director Neill Blomkamp's films are hardly for everyone's taste, but in the past he has undeniably showed a unique vision, with ultra violent but strangely thoughtful science fiction such as District 9 and Elysium.

His latest film, Chappie, is not nearly as violent as those two, though it does carry an R-rating and feature a lot more violence than it's add campaign suggests. Unfortunately, it's not thoughtful, either. In fact, Chappie may be the dumbest science mainstream science fiction film I've seen in a while.

Chappie tells the story of a robot who is designed as a member of the robotic police force in Johannesburg, South Africa (which is the center of all civilization in every Neill Blomkamp yet barely even exists in any other movies, suggesting that just maybe we should find a happy medium.). Dion Wilson (Dev Patel) has had great success creating these robots, much to the chagrin of a co-worker, Vince Moore (Hugh Jackman), who has created his own robots that are controlled by human via remote (Vince doesn't trust machines because they don't have souls.).  But Dion has bigger palns than just making automatons. He wants to create artificial intelligence. But problems arise when Dion's intelligent robot is stolen by gangsters.

This movie is a painfully forced rehash of everything from Short Circuit and Robocop to Blue Thunder, and the only thing in the film we've never seen before is Yolandi's haircut. And while we are on that subject: as if Blombamp's films wasn't self indulgently South Africa-ccentric enough, why on earth (specifically, Johannesburg) did he think it was a good idea to make a movie set in the near future and cast the rap-rave duo Die Antwoord as characters baring their own names? They are not without presence, but they are also irritating as hell and if you know who they are, it's very intrusive. (A news report with Anderson Cooper as himself is also a bad choice.).

It's good to see Dev Patel in a lead, but he seems like the bastard son of Newton Crosby and his weird Indian sidekick Ben in Short Circuit. But at least he fares better than Hugh Jackman, who plays like the bastard son of Crocodile Hunter and Flash Thompson from Spider-Man, with a touch of religious zealotry thrown in for good measure

The extremely talented Sharlto Copley does to motion capture and voice for Chappie, but Blomkamp seems to have neglected the "move like a robot' element in directing him. It's a very energetic performance, and he does succeed in giving Chappie a sense of humanity, but he's also too frenetic and unfocused. This is as blatant a case of director falling so in love with his star that he forgets to direct him as I've ever seen, which is sad.

In the end, the best that can be said about the science of the film is that it's not quite as stupid as Transcendence, and neither the dramatic elements or the action really work. But on the bright side, they are both better than the comedy, which is consists mostly of "Hahahaha! Baymax just said the F-word!"

But Sigourney Weaver still looks great, which is the only level on which this movie makes you at all excited for Blomcamp's new Alien franchise movie.