Star Trek: Into Darkness (IMAX 3D)

"So, shall we begin?"

            That's right, put the evil super genius in a glass prison, nothing bad is ever going to happen then...

DIRECTOR: J. J. Abrams

CAST: Jack Ryan, pointy eared hipster, that shit negotiator from 'Four Lions', William Burke, Judge Dredd, Neytiri, Harold, the Russian Kyle Reese and Mickey Smith...

PLOT: The crew of the USS Enterprise are back and seemingly a little bit more experienced. This outing sees an English villain (how original!) named 'John Harrison' (Benedict Cucumber-batch) who is out to settle a mysterious vendetta against Starfleet.


Ever since J. J. Abrams, the new Hollywood golden boy, took over the colossal 'Star Trek' franchise in 2009 with a reboot that was fantastic, doing everything that a reboot should do - it kept the huge and diverse fictional universe, it kept the politics as an important subject, it promoted diversity and tolerance and most importantly, it kept the characters that so many already know and love; and the strengths often come from the interaction between the wonderful 'Enterprise' crew, and all that come into contact with it. But it also added an abundance of action, fast-paced narratives, amazing special effects, an attractive, but no less talented, cast, and tonnes of popcorn for the disposal of your general cinema-goer. It was obvious that this wasn't going to be like any past renditions of 'Star Trek' that we were used to as we watched Chris Hemsworth get blown up in the opening scene. All of a sudden, 'Star Trek' was cool.

There has been many previous Trekkies grumbling on the internet or at the closest person who cares about how "it isn't Star Trek anymore". Yes, I'll be the first to admit that it is a lot more mainstream now, that much is obvious when the screening was more busy than 'Iron Man 3', and it's not a material that is only aimed at science-fiction nerds anymore, which in my opinion is the main thing that gets so many people's knickers in a twist, as it's now aimed at a much larger and wider audience. At the end of the day, if you're going to spend almost $200 million on a film, then common sense suggests that you cannot be aiming for a niche market.

Grumblers and keyboard warriors will constantly react in the same way, just as they always do for remakes, reboots and adaptations. Just as they do when their favourite novel is adapted into a film, or if an old film is remade. Just as they did for the prequel trilogy of 'Star Wars' (the only difference is, the 'Star Trek' reboot is actually good). What these people tend to forget is that the original sources still exist. J. J. Abrams' new take on the much-loved universe isn't going to wipe the former takes out of history. Your old DVDs will not cease to work. If you prefer the wonderful original series, then go watch it. Or if you just generally enjoy a mix of great things and face the fact that everything evolves, get down to the cinema now.

So, shall we actually begin this time?

As previously mentioned, the predecessor for 'Into Darkness' was a bloody good film - it was fresh, entertaining and exciting. 'Into Darkness' may not come as close to a pleasant surprise, but that's simply because we now know what to expect. It's nice to get away from the origins story of 'Kirk' and 'Spock', which was done very well, but it just means that we can sit back and watch them all interact with one another, as that is often where much of the joy comes from. The characters have always been brilliant, ever since the sixties, and still are over 40 years on. It just shows how the original series was way before it's time, such was the talent to craft characters who are still fascinating today. The cast is so varied, entertaining and interesting - every single actor gives it their all, and every single character gets their moment to shine. When a cast is this big, it's no wonder that 'Into Darkness' has to be a fast-paced film to ensure that everyone gets their moment.    

Karl Urban's 'Bones' and Simon Pegg's 'Scotty' are the two characters who are arguably given the biggest increase of screen time, much to the joy of many. All of the characters are written superbly, keeping in the same vein that makes all of them so lovable, 'Bones'' metaphors and voice of caution and 'Scotty''s wit and quick thinking especially.

Much of the best writing still comes from the relationship between Chris Pine's 'Kirk' and Zachary Quinto's 'Spock', though. Their relationship will always be an alluring one - the heart vs brain, instinct vs logic, wild passion vs caged intellect. These are the themes that are universal to all and most of us can see ourselves in both of them, preferring to be a mix of the two.

                                 The phrase 'bigger than Jesus' had gotten to Spock's head a bit

The biggest fault of 2009's 'Star Trek' was Eric Bana's 'Nero'. It wasn't a great performance and he never seemed as much of a threat or as interesting as Benedict Cum-in-my-snatch's 'John Harrison', almost the perfect being, the only person who gets under 'Kirk's' skin with alarming ease. What's most interesting is his anonymity, his moral ambiguity. Experienced Trekkies will most probably guess the big reveals and see some of the inciting incidents coming, but it still doesn't deter from the epic impact that the film brings us time and time again. His character is still drenched in mystery and Cupboard-latch plays on this, absolutely nailing the right notes and often making 'Harrison' terrifying. It's nothing new having an English villain - the accent does wonders, adding sinisterness and an air of intellect - but it's rarely done as well as this.

Away from the fantastic character studies that the film offers, it's impressive in every other aspect as well. Action scenes are at an epic scale, with large production values, frenetic pacing and expertly shot fight scenes on ground and in space. There will be many a time that you find yourself wanting to scream at the action on screen, cheering on your favourite crew member. Hairs on the back of necks will raise, edges of seats will be perched upon. A stand-out being 'Harrison' engaging in a battle against a certain alien race who will no doubt be heavily featured in the inevitable sequel.

The splendid special effects add to the visual beauty as the whole universe is realised, especially the planet in the opening sequence, which is almost a film-stealer. The 3D, despite being converted, does the film justice, and it also stopped Abrams from going overboard on the lens flares again, welcomed by all, as it would surely be assaulting to the eyes with an extra dimension. If you're close to a cinema that offers IMAX, get yourself there now, as the grand scale of it all is further highlighted.

Importantly, 'Into Darkness' took everything that made its predecessor good, and then just inflated those positives. There's more exhilarating action, more impressive effects, more character development, more comedy and more emotion to the point that I was almost moved to tears. The sequel does follow the Hollywood trend of going darker, even to the point that it's in the title, but that doesn't mean that there isn't any fun to be had here. There's an excellent balance between light-heartedness and engaging and serious darkness. Abrams is now the go-to guy for reinventing big franchises, but he still manages to keep the previously existing plus points and adds his own charms. I am now convinced that the future episodes of 'Star Wars' are in safe hands, to have Abrams at the helm to propel 'Star Wars' back to its former glory is only logical. But I would be lying if I said that I wasn't more excited for the sequel to 'Into Darkness.

It's very rare that I come out of a cinema speechless, struggling to put a film into words that justifies its entertainment. If I was to nit pick, I'd only complain that a bit more 'Uhura' would have been welcomed, and to show Alice Eve in her underwear was unnecessary - yes, we know the cast are all sexy and it's obvious beforehand that there's a mutual attraction between 'Dr. Marcus' and 'Kirk'. But those are two minor negatives in a movie of gigantic positives. All of the many remaining big-budget summer blockbusters definitely have a huge task to live up to this. Does a material that would have usually been exclusively aimed at a bunch of science-fiction nerds really have what it takes to become the biggest film of the summer? The answer is a resounding yes.

* * * * * 

Iron Man 3 (IMAX 3D)

And in the blue corner, hailing from Oz, theeeeee Tin Maaaaaaan!

                                             You came to the wrong neighbourhood, friend

DIRECTOR: Shane Black

CAST: Robert Downey, Jr. as himself, a woman who generally named her daughter 'Apple', Peter Weyland, Gandhi, Terrance Howard... wait what?, Happy Gilmore and Liverpool FC...

PLOT: The genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist is back for a 4th Marvel outing on the back of 'The Avengers', and now he's quite pissed off with terrorists (Ben Kingsley, et al.) attacking the country while he tries to get over his own demons due to his near-death experience via aliens and a wormhole. However, judging by the trailer (nice house, by the way), 'The Mandarin' might be an even bigger pain in the arse than 'Loki' was.

The third instalment in the 'Iron Man' series, now arguably the most popular superhero in cinema thanks to the ever-charismatic Mr Perfect known as Robert Downey, Jr., has an awful lot of hype to live up to. The first was brilliant, the second not quite as bad as people like to make out, it simply fares worse due to the fact that the first one was such a delightful surprise, and 'The Avengers' went on to become the highest grossing superhero movie ever made. But now Marvel's golden boy (not literally) is back on his own as the others go on holiday or do whatever demi-God's and super soldiers do in their down-time, and leave our dear 'Tony' to deal with his own problems. Just try and block out the fact that had one of 'The Avengers' had 'Stark's' back, let alone all of them, then the villains in this would have probably been vanquished so quickly that your shawarma would still be warm. By the way, I'd love it if someone could tell me how that tastes.

The writing, probably the weakest aspect of the second 'Iron Man', is returned to the top drawer, perhaps receiving a surge of inspiration from Joss Whedon's brilliant script for 'The Avengers'. Downey, Jr. does what he does best more than ever - throwing out zingers and cocky lines that would be agitating if recited by anyone else. Not many actors could get away with calling an eight-year-old boy a "pussy", but this is the same man who punched a child in the face in 'Due Date', so Downey, Jr.'s continued hatred for children shouldn't come as a surprise. It's rather become a quirky feature. It's reasons like these that often make 'Iron Man', in general, more fun in the 'talkie' scenes than when he's blowing shit up

The new narrative strand exploring anxiety in 'Stark' had myself worried that the makers would suffocate him of all of his light-hearted and effortless wit, and do what every sequel these days seems to do - make it unnecessarily darker. The decision actually works to the film's advantage though, and adds even more depth to 'Stark', reminding us all that underneath the suit lies a human being, albeit a very impressive one. 

Another thing that the second 'Iron Man' arguably lacked was a credible villain in 'Ivan Vanko' due to poor scriptwriting and character development, which is a crying shame even more so as Mickey Rourke's talent is heavily wasted. Also to follow on from Tom Hiddleston's exceptional 'Loki', it meant that there was a huge amount of pressure on Ben Kingsley, the legendary actor tasked with playing one of Marvel's most loved supervillains. We already knew that they were taking a slightly different route from the character in the comic books, for a start Kingsley neither looked nor sounded like he had been born in China - a decision made perhaps to prevent any critics claiming racism, as is sometimes the case with the character in the comic books. Also in the comics, 'The Mandarin' is built like a brick shit-house, something that Kingsley quickly proves that he doesn't need.

A lack of screen-time in the first half means that 'The Mandarin' never really feels like a threat to 'Iron Man'. He doesn't do anything as brash as slicing up his racing car with big energy whip things. We merely see him on dodgy camera recordings with over the top sets as he purrs threats against the US with a wonderful and idiosyncratic voice - the face of terrorism. He serves as a fantastic tool to offer this superhero film more than just an exploration of good vs evil, but also an exploration of the media's representation of terrorism that has made life difficult for a countless number of people living in the western world. Good and evil isn't simply a case of right and wrong, it's not coloured black and white. It's a welcome critique, maybe making 'Iron Man 3' the most political superhero movie ever made, and this is where Kingsley's character is given depth and becomes both interesting and important to the story. A brave choice by the writers, and one that may disengage some viewers partway through the film, who perhaps don't understand the message; but those people are probably simply content with being in Downey, Jr.'s company for over two hours, even if he was only reading them a story from a book.

Downey, Jr. is also given great assistance by his strong supporting cast. Series regular Gwyneth Paltrow is as lovable as ever and given even more to do in this instalment, at times given her time to shine in the spectacular action scenes. Don Cheadle is fun as the 'Iron Patriot', sharing some quality best-buddy chemistry with 'Stark'; a fun part with the two is when they share mockery towards the excessive patriotism of the suit formerly known as 'War Machine'. Ty Simpkins features as a bullied child who 'Stark' befriends, and is actually very likable and confident, one of the few child actors who you won't want to kick off a bridge. And Guy Pearce is a welcome addition to the franchise, taking over untrustworthy sleaze-ball duties from Sam Rockwell's 'Justin Hammer' - he's a good pick, with his doubtless acting ability and a face that is both handsome and a bit funny looking at the same time. Oh, and Stan Lee is given yet another fun cameo - hooray!

                                        "This furniture goes dashingly with my costume!"

The biggest criticism when it comes to character comes in the shape of the difficult-to-kill supersoldiers who are utilised by the film's villain. Like many thugs and cronies in cinema, their motivations for their actions are a bit shady, never fully realised. It's a small fault in the character set-up, and because of the extensive cast which is largely impressive, a small and excusable slip-up is to be expected, one that I'm more than happy to brush underneath the carpet.

Overall, 'Iron Man 3' is a true superhero spectacle, once again proving that 'Stark' doesn't need his team around him to carry a good film after the pot-hole of the second. His wit and charm takes front and centre, and the visual effects and action sequences that compliment the terrific script are magnificent as always. It's surprisingly not only intelligent in the immense script, raising media and political based questions on its treatment of the ideology of terrorism, but never prevents the film from being downright fun, despite combining with the new touchy character trait of post-traumatic stress disorder bestowed upon 'Tony'. In that respect there's something for everyone. This is a fine introduction to the summer blockbusters of the year, and if the rest follow in suit, then we're all in for some entertaining treats. Disney should be doing all they can to keep hold of Downey, Jr. for more Marvel movies, as he continues to show why he is a man marketing mountain. 

P.S. Wait until after the credits for a fun, 'Avengers'-esque post-credit scene.

* * * *

The Place Beyond the Pines

Apparently it's just as depressing as the place before the pines...

                                                 Apparently the wings tasted like shit

DIRECTOR: Derek Cianfrance

CAST: That actor who mumbles all of the time, 'Face', nipples, Henry Hill, the Australian guy who needs to wash his hands, 'Harry Osborn' and a 23-year-old teenager...

PLOT: Tattooed, blonde-haired thug (not Eminem, Ryan Gosling) is a motorcycle stuntman who travels with a fair, but when he finds out that an old fling (Eva Mendes) resulted in a child (Dane DeHaan later on) he decides to rob banks for a living instead, in an attempt to provide for his not-so-loving family... 

Well, that's the first 50 minutes or so, and then Bradley Cooper gets caught up in some police crooked police work, but more on that to come... 

If ever there was a film that moved me and infuriated me at the same time, it would be Derek Cianfrance's second feature-length Ryan Gosling starring film, 'The Place Beyond the Pines'. This is because the film is excruciatingly a film of two halves, with the first half being much stronger than the second. The narrative more or less changes completely, only keeping to the same themes of family, the relationships that father's hold with their son's and the skeletons in the closets of those attempting to live the American Dream. The pace is changed, and we see a transition from seething family drama with a pinch of crime to a seething crime drama with a pinch of family. 

The second half, which is brought about by a huge inciting incident, is by no means bad as a film or a story, and Bradley Cooper continues to win plaudits since his Academy Award nominated outing in 'Silver Linings Playbook', but when it's compared to the astonishing first half which has Ryan Gosling front and centre, who continues to display why he is one of the most sought out actors in the world right now, you just find your arse beginning to ache as the long running time begins to stretch and you wish you were reliving the beautiful opening hour.

Right from the get-go you instantly get the feeling that you are in for a special ride as a wonderful long-lasting tracking shot follows Gosling's 'Luke Glanton' playing with a butterfly knife in his trailer at the fair - the kind of fair that we all envision when we think of the forgotten US, away from all of the mansions and swimming pools - until he is called to perform and we then watch him walk through the fair from behind, only seeing his tattoos and the smoke of his one of many cigarettes being puffed out like a train until he reaches his motorcycle being cheered on by lots and lots of rednecks. It's an impressive shot and we're all reminded as to why Cianfrance is one of the most exciting directorial prospects in the US after his praised 2010 effort 'Blue Valentine'.

                                         A wonderful shot of Gosling struggling to count

But it's the acting that much of the film relies on as it is essentially a character study above all the exploration of society and crime, with a hugely popular and talented ensemble of attractive people showing their ugly sides in bare and brave performances. Cooper continues to show everyone that he can do more serious roles than films such as 'The Hangover' and its un-respective sequels, Eva Mendes shows that she's not just a pretty face, Dane DeHaan follows up on fantastic performances in both 'Chronicle' and 'Lawless', Ben Mendelsohn is brilliant as always as a sleazy but an apparently well-meaning partner in crime and Ray Liotta out-sleazes everyone. The only member of the cast who is questionable is Emory Cohen as Bradley Cooper's irritating son and pigmentation confused thug whose voice will make you want to get hit my a hammer to the temple. He doesn't come across as a poor actor, it's just a rare example of poor casting, as he's supposed to be playing a 17-year-old when in reality he's built like a brick shit house and looks as if he's pushing 30; plus he looks nothing like Cooper.

However, it's Ryan Gosling who will rightfully win over the majority of the critics, who is surely pushing for a well-deserved Academy Award nomination and only makes me more excited for his upcoming drama/thriller, 'Only God Forgives'. Surely the best at conveying emotions from a performance without the extensive use of dialogue, only adding to the seething tension and drama. His high-pitched shouting during robberies is expertly utilised to highlight the fish-out-of-water, the man who is desperate to be rich in a nightmarish America rather than a dreamy one, screeching orders to bank employees with fear and worry. A small touch, but an inspired one that digs deep down into the cracks of the cool and calm persona that has been attached to Gosling since 'Drive'. 

The performances and wonderful cinematography give 'The Place Beyond the Pines' its depth and grace, and lack of grace many a time. The themes are deep and welcomingly explored and the story is a realistic strum of the heart strings. It's just a shame that the best came first and the film rather fizzled out as it continued to plod along. If the film improved as it went along this review would be a lot different, perhaps even pushing five stars. It's never bad, it just feels forced at times, as Cianfrance tries to say too much and confusing the pacing with too many characters and inciting incidents. A story like this might have been better told in a TV drama series, but then we would suppose the ensemble cast, the main strength of the film, would have been near-impossible to obtain for a television programme. 

* * * ½