It's gonna' be the best vacation ever (47 Meters Down 2017)

 

 

 

125.

47 Meters Down

 

 

 

 

6.5/10

 

 

 

The need to stay out of the water comes back around when this adventure/horror plunges up deep into the home of one of the world's deadliest predators. Without seeing a trailer, I could imagine what this film was about before sitting down. It wasn't getting too many praises but with a small budget and simple idea, it's time to see if this is a Great White or a sardine.

The scene opens with the camera panning across the ocean floor, maybe from the point of view of a shark but raises up to the surface, showing a girl on an inflatable bed. We see her on top of the water and she is pushed over by another girl from beneath her, spilling her red wine into the water, much like a shark attack and the blood being spread. Lisa and Kate are two sisters on a holiday in Mexico. Lisa has given the space to her sister after her boyfriend couldn't make it but after a few tears, we find out that her boyfriend has actually left her. This springs the little sister into action at 1am for the girls to hit the night clubs and get drunk. The reason he left was because Lisa isn't deemed fun enough, so this trip is to regain that sense of fun for her and maybe prove him wrong. Out, after a few too many, the girls meet two guys, Louis and Benjamin, who they end up dancing into the sunrise with on a beach. The next night and the four are meeting up again until the lads walk the girls home and after an attempted kiss on Lisa by Louis, she rejects but quickly changes her mind. Before they say goodnight, the guys ask the two girls about going shark diving with them. Kate urges Lisa to come with the next day and finally gives in, knowing she needs to be more fun. The next morning, they all meet up at a dock to meet the boat's captain, Taylor. He asks the two girls if they have any experience of diving and Lisa lies, knowing she hasn't but her sister does. We see the boat out on the water and it's a piece of junk, rusty and the cage is just the same. What could go wrong, right? The two guys head down first, but not before the deckhand chucks some blood and fish guts into the water to attract the great whites. This does the trick and as the guys head down, the girls go into a room to get into their gear. Before they head down, Taylor goes through all of the safety stuff with them. He knows that Lisa is struggling as he lists off the things to look at and she clearly has no clue. They are lowered into the water but don't see anything noteworthy so Javier once again dumps some fish blood into the water. Slowly being lowered, Lisa begins to panic as the line slips a little, dropping them quicker than they wanted to. Kate calms her down, knowing that if there is any panic, they will use the oxygen in the tanks faster than they should. With this, the cable completely snaps and sends the two girls straight down to the ocean floor, 47 meters below.

 Obviously. Panic sets in again as the two are too deep to hear Taylor on the radio. So, Kate ends up leaving the safety of the cage and heads up a little in order to get Taylor on the radio and find out what is best to do. He breaks the news that he is sending Javier down with a spare cable, but to stay in the cage because of the sharks circling about. She relays the message back to Lisa and after some time, they see a torch in the distance. Surely it's Javier. Since Kate is running low on oxygen from the swimming up, Lisa decides that it's best for her to swim over and meet up with him. As she swims on, she chased by a shark and ducking into a cave, she thinks she is safe before it tries to swim inwards from the other side. Kate is worried and screams over the radio before Lisa notices the shark swimming away and leaving her with a clear path. As she finds her direction again, she reaches a drop-off point in the ocean floor and knows that this is dangerous because now the sharks can attack from below too. She finally reaches the flashlight but that's all it is. No sign of Javier and she spins around frantically looking for him, he must have been eaten, I was expecting at least an arm. Now Lisa doesn't know which direction she came from in the first place. He grabs her out of nowhere, with his eyes wide in horror and is attacked by a shark out of nowhere. Now he's a goner. Lisa swims as fast as she can, reaching the ledge she came from, she thinks and see some of Javier's remains, still holding the cable to save them. She finally hears Kate's voice again and is led back to the cage by Kate seeing her torch's light. She attaches the cable and swims up to tell Taylor that Javier is gone but the cable is now attached. He tells her to get back into the cage as fast as possible, he's about to pull them both up. They get to about 20 meters when the inevitable happens, the cable snaps and off they go again, heading down. This time, there's a lot more spinning and Lisa gets her leg trapped between the cage and the ocean floor. Noticing that both girls are now running low on oxygen, Kate swims up to tells Taylor, who sends down another two tanks, along with some flairs. He warns them that they may start hallucinating because they will be out of air for a bit when they switch tanks. Well, I can tell where this is heading. Why would we be given that piece of information otherwise? Kate sees the tanks coming down and is heading back to the cage when a shark is spotted and she ducks down to the floor and in between some rocks. With how dark it is, the two girls lose sight of it and after a while, the girls figure that it's headed off but as Kate makes a break for the cage, out it comes and kills her for her troubles. The tank lands need the cage, close enough for Lisa to make an attempt. Lisa is distraught from her loss but after a while, her oxygen tanks beeps due to it being so low, so it's time to get the new one. Being trapped though, she doesn't know how, until she spots a spear gun that she grabbed from Javier earlier. She tries to drag it towards her but the trigger is stuck on a cage piece and accidentally shoots her in the hand, drawing blood and obviously leading to drawing the sharks. Looking at her wound for a while, she quickly gets over it and throws the spear at the tank to drag it over her way. There's the usual scene where she fails a couple of times, but eventually gets the tank and switches it over as if she was the pro at diving after all this time.

Lisa begins to hear a voice. It's Kate and she's still alive, but maybe not kicking as she explains she's bleeding out and attracting more sharks. Surely this is the hallucinations? Lisa uses her gear to lift the cage and free herself, cutting her shin in the process but heads off to find her sister before it's too late. Kate's leg is a right state so it's time to swim to the top. Finally reaching the voice of Taylor, they use the flares to ward off the sharks and with one down, Kate drops the next so it's onto the last one. As is sparked, three sharks are revealed to be opened jawed around them. They have to wait in one place for five minutes in order to decompress, which is obviously spent fighting the sharks off. Then swimming to the surface and over to the boat, the lads start pulling them aboard, only for a shark to grab Lisa by the leg and drag her back under. She does what I can only think of doing and that's go for the eyes. Maybe this is real then. Finally, the shark lets go and both girls are laid down, as their legs are treated to. Lisa, lying there, begins to look at the wound again and Taylor leans over her but his voice begins to break up. She notices that he blood is weirdly blowing off in the wind. Oh Christ, she was hallucinating. Everything after Kate's death was a dream and I kind of knew it was coming. Her leg is still pinned but in the distance, we see many torches. The coast guards are here to save her. Lifting the cage and her off the bottom, they grab her around the waste and take her to the surface. Tears rolling down her eyes, I wonder if she wants to go back to being boring. Bastard rusty boats.

    I couldn't classify this as a true horror. It led to jump scares and then instead, chose not to deliver them. Instead it was quite predictable, so instead of going into this expecting everything, it's actually best to empathise with the situation and think about how scary it would be. With a small budget, it's still a clever concept and a very tense movie with a dark surrounding, which led to the girls constantly carrying the story by explaining what they were doing. As for the hallucinations towards the end, it was a very predictable moment, which reminded me of the ending from 'Gravity'. That being said, the atmosphere created and use of suspense with the music caused some edge of your seat moments. It didn't deserve to be as slated as it did and it's really worth a watch.

He better go home and cure a disease... (Saving Private Ryan 1998)

 

 

124.

Saving Private Ryan

 

 

 

9/10

 

 

A war film which I am embarrassed to say that I have never had the time to watch, until now. This epic film was won plenty of awards and is considered one of Stephen Spielberg's greatest and one of the greatest war films ever made. Going through a World War II set of films at the moment meant that this was a must. The film is loosely based on a true story about brothers of a different name. Time to storm the beaches and see if this soldier makes it home.

A film takes a softer start with an American flag blowing in the wind and the camera pulls back to reveal a veteran and his family walking through the American Normandy cemetery and memorial. The man walks towards a certain gravestone as he drops down to his knees distraught. His family rush over to him and the camera zooms into his face until we are directly into his eyes, maybe symbolising that we are about to see him account of things that he seen. We are transported to the beach in Omaha, on June 6, 1944. On bad conditions, American soldiers are crossing the English Channel in landing vehicles. We see how nervous each man is and the Captain, Miller, is played by Tom Hanks. Commanding his men to clear the holes and check their rifles as they get onto the beach, we are about to see a scene lasting 27 minutes, which depicts the conditions that landing onto the beaches often meant. As soon as the doors were lowered on the vehicles, many men didn't take a step before getting mowed down. Bullets spraying, into the water as well as the land and vehicles meant that many men didn't stand a chance and were literally lambs to the slaughter. The way this was filmed was so emotionally triggering that I sat there in silence watching on. Some drown under the weight of the gear, others hid behind obstacles meant to stop tanks landing. In tears, men were looking for their lost limbs and holding their stomachs together, begging for a medic. Miller crawls up the sand and a motor hits nearby, making the man lose his hearing for a brief time. We are in the zone with him, as all we can is ringing and action without sound to accompany it. He sits and watches as men are shot around him, until his Sergeant asking what the next move is. Many of the soldiers don't make it to the sandbank and the ones that are injured, seemingly bleed out, even with the help of the medics. Whoever made it to the sandbanks below the turrets, Miller commands to use explosives and break through the barbed wire and mines so that they may advance. After reaching and dealing with a nest of machine guns, the sniper takes centre stage and the men can advance, finally blowing up and sending in a flamethrower to deal with the main bunker. One soldier requests letting them burn instead of shooting them, showing the brutality of both sides. The men also encounter more Germans who are running for escape. Miller watches on, as they are ruthlessly gunned down by his men and the face on him states that he isn't too happy about it. Pvt Caparzo, played by Vin Diesel, finds a Hitler youth knife on a body and chucks it to Pvt Melish, who begins to cry, knowing that some of these were simply kids. He doesn't show this weak moment in front of the other men. Horvarth, the Sergeant, puts some soil into a can labelled France and puts it into his bag along with Africa and Italy, showing were he has already fought. He tells Miller that the beach is quite a sight, as the camera pans out and shows the many bodies of the soldiers lying dead. The water and sea is running read like a scene from the bible but the most significant part would be one certain soldier. On his backpack is, 'S. Ryan' and he didn't make it off the beach.

Back on America soil, we are in the War Department, where a load of secretaries are writing death notes to the families of the fallen. One woman discovers three letters for three men from the same family. The mother will get all three letters at the same time. The forth son or the Ryan family is still out in France somewhere but the whereabouts are unknown due to the Airborne Division missing its target for the drop off. This whole scene is filmed without any words and the audience still know the extent of what is happening, which is very clever. The letters are brought to the attention of the General, who after reading out a letter from Lincoln based around similar circumstances, demands that his officers find this man and bring him home to his mother. Back in Normandy, three days after the beach landing, Miller meets with his commanding officer and is given the job of finding Ryan. He gathers up what men he can and enlists a Corporal Upham as a translator. Walking through the untouched countryside, Upham tries to talk to some of the men but he finds them insulting and unfriendly, even though he is of a higher rank. A Brooklyn born soldier questions this mission, asking why this guy is so important as to put this groups lives in danger to find one man, when there are bigger battles to be won. Miller has feelings along the same lines but knows that orders are orders and demands the team talk about the mission at hand. The squad arrives at a little village where men are already stationed and fighting German forces. Miller asks about Ryan but no one knows him. They try to cut through the town and find a French family stuck in their home and Caparzo tries to rescue the kids against orders. He is shot whilst out of cover and falls to the ground, still alive, begging the men to take a letter to his father, but to rewrite it as it's covered in his blood. He knows that he won't last. The sniper is in a clock tower and the American sniper, Jackson, spots him and shoots him through his own scope before he can kill again. Miller shouts that this is why they follow order and the men move on, after taking the letter out of the dead soldier's hand. Another part of the village and the men take a breather but one sits down on a plank and it heads into a brick wall, causing it to fall and reveal a squad of Germans. After a standoff, the Germans are blown away by another unit on the rooftops and their Captain, played by Ted Danson. Again, the question about Ryan is asked but this time, the Captain has a James Ryan in his rank, thankfully. The man breaks down, understandably, as he's told that his brothers have been killed in combat. Now I already know this isn't the right Ryan because of the actor playing him, but the scene carries on as this James Ryan tells Miller that his brothers are still in school. Miller tells him that he's sure his brothers are fine and we move onto the next. Poor bastard.

The squad take a rest in a church, as one of the men, Wade, is rewriting the blood-stained letter. Horvath and Miller talk about how many men have been lost under Miller's command, but he puts a spin on it by explaining that it's for the greater good. Later Upham and Miller talk about the betting pool the men have as to guess Miller's actual occupation and come to a silent agreement that when the money pool is big enough, he will reveal it to Upham. They reach a rally point and loads of men lie wounded as Miller talks to the pilot of a nearby crashed glider. He, yet again, doesn't know of Ryan but gives Miller and his men a bag of dog tags to search through. The men pour the bag onto a crate and begin searching as many soldiers walk past. Wade takes offence to this and begins to pick up the tags as the walkers stare on at these cold-hearted soldiers. Miller decides that Ryan isn't in the bag and in a desperate turn, starts questioning the walkers by and finally gets a lead. A soldier who lost his hearing from a grenade tells him that Ryan is in a mixed unit that is guarding a bridge across a river. The bridge is of vital importance to both sides of the war as it's one of the only one that the sides can cross in tanks. As the scene draws to a close, it makes me realise how morale was so important and shown in this movie. Even though his own unit's morale is low in looking for Ryan, Wade makes a move to hide the tags to keep the tags out of sight from the passing men.
Back on the road, the squad comes across another machine gun nest and although Reiben suggests that they go around undetected, Miller wants to close it down so that other men don't get killed. The squad aren't happy with his plans but he hands out their jobs and Upham is to stay behind with the equipment. Upham watches the advance through a sniper scope until he hears the men call out for him to join them with the bags. When he gets there, Wade is lying on the ground surrounded by the other men. He's been shot several times and as he calls out that he wants to go home, the men dose him with morphine, even though they know it's wasted on him. He dies where he lays and one of the Germans is captured alive. The men react badly to him, wanting to punish him for their friend's death, but with his surrender, Upham and Miller know that this isn't right. Miller makes him dig the graves for the dead America's that are already there and Wade, digging an extra for the German himself until. Miller then takes a walk and breaks down, with his right-hand shaking, as we have already noticed from his first landing onto the beach. The nerves as showing in this man, but he won't let his team see. As the rest of the squad finally want to kill the remaining German, Upham, who has mildly become friendly to the German as he was digging, begs for the man's life. We see the German saying that he hates Hitler, signs the American anthem and does anything to save his own life. Miller blindfolds the man as asks him to walk until he can surrender himself to the next allied unit. Reiben, the cocky Brooklyn soldier, is offender that his Captain can just let this man leave. He wants to dessert, explaining that this mission has gotten two of his friends killed. Horvath orders him to fall in line but he continues to pack his things and head off. The sergeant pulls out his gun and threatens to shoot the man, causes the entire squad to argue with each other as Upham begs Miller to stop this. The only way to stop it is to unveil his job back home. He's a teacher and goes on to say that this war will have changed him, which I'm sure it has for many men. He's afraid that his wife may not even recognise him anymore. All men all stop, very surprised by the news. He figures that is finding Ryan will get him home earlier, then that's what needs to be done. With the squad settling down, they carry on burying the men together.
As the men reach their village, they first cross a field and a German tank passes by. Hiding in the grass to let this one pass, explosions get set off but it's not from our men. A small group of Americans pop their heads up and identify themselves as the unit that Miller and his squad have been looking for and there he is, Pvt James Ryan, played by Matt Damon. Back at the village, Miller learns the extent of what they are doing to guard the bridge. Then he heads on to break the news to James Ryan about his brothers. He's obviously devastated by the news but tackles his emotions by having the need to help his team defend the bridge rather than leaving them a man down. He wants to remain with the only brothers that he actually has left. Miller knows he won't be able to change his mind, therefore he decides that his own squad will remain and help them fight too. Gathering the weapons, Miller gives the plan outline for the squad to take on board. They need to lure the Germans into the streets, their sniper will be in the tower, Reiben will ride out on a motorbike as bait and they ultimately try their best. Upham is given the job of running ammo to where it needs to be. As the men wait, Upham seems to have been finally accepted into the team. Ryan is trying to remember his brother's face, with the help of Miller, who tells him to remember something they all done together. Suddenly, the floor begins to rumble as the tanks are getting closer. Jackson signals from up top, that there are a number of tanks and at least 50 German ground troops on their way. One of the soldiers tries to plant a sticky bomb on one of the tanks, but waits to long and blows himself up. We are already one man down. One by one, Germans and Americans are killed in dramatic scenes. They switch positions several times as the Germans advance from all directions with a range of weapons and slowly they start to run out of ammo. Jackson is killed in his tower by a tank, as Melish is attacked by a German soldier in the room he's been shooting from. After some hand-to-hand fighting, the German soldier wins as he drives a knife into the American's chest. As the German leaves, he passes Upham on the stairs. He had heard what was going on, but was too afraid to help his fellow out. The German simple walks past him, knowing that the coward in no kind of threat. Horvath has been wounded and he fights a German soldier, who is also out of ammo, by using his helmet until they finally shoot each other with pistols. After killing the German, he grabs Upham and runs over the bridge as Miller orders everyone across. They plan to make their last stand and blow the bridge so that no one can cross it. The last remaining tank follows them, aiming for the men as it goes. Miller goes to blow the bridge but a shell hits the wall behind him and he drops the trigger. Heading back across the bridge, he gets shot in the chest by the same German soldier that he had let go earlier on. Upham witnesses the shooting from behind some rubble and the Germans are now standing next to his hiding spot. As Miller falls tot eh floor, he sits himself up and shoots with his pistol. He's aiming at a tank, which he obviously won't beat but still, the bloody thing explodes. The camera quickly pans out to reveal a small squad have come to help, along with an aircraft. Reiben and Ryan rush to Miller's side and shout for a medic. Upham, finally finds some courage and reveals himself with a rifle. Asking the small squad of Germans to surrender and the German that killed Miller recognises Upham. Calling him by his name means nothing as Upham shoots the man instead.
As Miller lays dying, he calls over Ryan and asks him to earn the life he has been granted. Many have lost theirs in the search to get him home. In a voiceover that follows, the General read a letter that he is sending to Ryan's mother, letting her know that her son will be heading home. Ryan stands looking at a dead Miller, as the camera zooms in on his face slowly, it morphs back into the elderly man from the start. It's revealed that he is standing over Miller's grave and begs his wife to tell him that he has lived a good life. The film ends as we once again see the American flag blowing in the wind.
This film was brilliant and I'm sad that it took so long for me to watch it. The camera angles included some hand held, to make you feel like you were right in the action. The use of sound as times, including silence to emphasise the importance of the scenes was spectacular. One scene should the rain hitting leaves as they waited in a field and the rain drops slowly turned into the sound of bullets as they crashed against their destination. Graphic violence was not there just because they wanted it, it's to add the realism from what happened at the time. The film is based around a family called the Niland brothers and although one son was sent home, years layer another was found in a Japanese prison camp. The cast was brilliant and each character was different in their own ways. The movie took me out of my seat from the start and Spielberg done an incredible job. The is one of the best war films ever made. 

 



The call went out. We have to go to Dunkirk (Dunkirk 2017)

 

 

123.

Dunkirk

 

 

 

 

8.5/10

 

 

 

A film that a lot of people have been waiting for after the plenty of trailers, documentaries on the real events and posters everywhere. Christopher Nolan made my favourite Batman films, so anything that was coming from him will always be worth a watch. This time it's realism rather than his usual surrealism, let's see how he added his creative side to one of the biggest events in World War II. Dunkirk is the story of allied soldiers, surrounded by the Germans on the beaches of Dunkirk and the attempt to evacuate the 400,000 men during the earlier stages of the war. Let's hit the beach.

This review is going to be a lot different to the rest of the ones I've already written. The way that the movie is told is through three different aspects of the evacuation. We have one on land, which shows the first attempts of the evacuation on bigger ships, known as the Mole and covers the events over one week. The second is on the sea and covers one day. Finally, the third is set in the air with three pilots and covers one hour. Films usually form a linear narrative, which means the story has a beginning, a middle and an end. This film, because of its timelines, form a non-linear narrative so I will focus on each one on their own and then finally link them together. As the movie begins, we are straight into it. Following a group of soldiers down a deserted street, looking for any water and somewhere to go to the toilet. Posters are flying everywhere, sent from the Germans, stating that they have all the allies surrounded. Suddenly bullets are flying and all of them are picked off except Tommy, a young British soldier, who leaps a wall and runs into a French blockade. The French shoot at him before realising and sending him down to the beach and the camera pans out and shows how many men are lining up waiting for a trip home. As he heads to a dune to carrying on with his toilet break, he sees another youngster burying his friend in the sand but we see they dead man doesn't have shoes on as the silent youngster is tying up his laces. He's taken them from the body, but Tommy nods at him and helps his cover the dead man in sand. The two head to join a line as German planes head in and start dropping bombs. Once this wave is over, they get up and see a man lying on a stretcher but the medics are dead. Picking him up, the head to the Mole, which is a gangway onto the boats and push through the crowd to use this injured man as their pass onto the boat. Once they have dropped him off, they are refused the chance to stay on and instead climb under the Mole to hide. The vessel gets attacked as it leaves and as it sinks, Tommy drags another soldier, Alex, to stop him being crushed in between the boat and the Mole. Alex is played by the One Direction band member, Harry Styles. The scene has shown how desperate people were to get home and would go to anything length to get on a boat. The two hiders, dip themselves in the sea and pretend they were on the sunken boat in order to get an advance onto the next vessel. This one again is sunk as Tommy and Alex are below deck. The silent guy, Gibson, is hiding by himself. Something is up with him. My guess, he's French, sneaking onto the boats to skip the British queues. He heads to open the door for Alex and Tommy to escape and the three, along with the other survivors, head back to the beach. The next day, the three join a group of Scots who head to a boat that is stranded because the tide has gone out. Bad news though as the boat isn't in the allied occupied area and the Germans start using it for shooting practice. Some foot prints are heard on deck and they pull down a Dutch captain, who owns the boat. Looking to reduce the weight so that boat can still float, Alex accuses Gibson, who has been silent throughout the film, of being a German spy. Finally, it's revealed that he is French and stole the identity of the British soldier in order to evacuate. As the ship starts to move, with the Dutchman starting the engine, it quickly begins to move as the Germans continue firing, knowing that there are now occupants. The lads swim out and into the open sea but Gibson, the Frenchman, gets tangled in a chain and we see him slip away to his death. Tommy and Alex swim for a minesweeper but it's sunk by a bomber. Mr Dawson, who we'll get to in the second part, picks them up, covered in oil and takes them back to Britain. Alex thinks that they will get a bad welcome home for their retreat but instead are given beer and food and a heroes' welcome. Back on the walkway and the Commander, Bolton, is watching as the last British soldiers leave, as one wakes up and fears he's been left behind but there is one last space for him. Bolton has decided to stay behind to make sure that the French evacuation goes as planned where possible.

The second story, which is intertwined, takes place on the sea for one day. The Royal Navy are taking control of private boats in order to help with the Dunkirk evacuations so are asking people to empty as much of them and fill them with lifejackets. Mr Dawson follows orders without question but instead of the Navy taking the ship, he decides to head out himself. With the help of his son Peter and their teenage helper, who jumps on last minute, George. George wants to do something of note after his teachers and family think he will come to nothing. The first thing we come across is a sunken ship with a shell-shocked soldier sitting on top, who jumps aboard the boat but doesn't speak for a while. Played by Cillian Murphy, he tells the story of what happened and we see a flash back to where he was on a rescue ship which found Tommy and Alex from their sunken ship. He was later sunk himself and was the only survivor. As he discovers that they are heading back to Dunkirk, he becomes erratic and pushes George down the steps, below deck, where he hits his head and although Peter treats him as best as possible, the young boy can no longer see. Duty calls though and they continue onwards. Getting closer they see a spitfire plane ditched in the sea and head over in case the pilot is still alive. They pull Collins, the pilot aboard and the Dawson family reveal that the other son was a hurricane pilot who was lost in the first moments of the war. Carrying on, they see a minesweeper being attacked, the same one as already mentioned and the story links as they pull men, covered in oil aboard. As many as possible before the oil catches fire and spreads to the boat. Tommy and Alex head in and most are crammed downstairs where George is. As Peter asks them to be careful, a soldier reveals that he's no longer alive. Instead of breaking the news to the already broken shell-shocked soldier, Peter lies to him and tells him that George will be ok. Finally getting home. Mr Dawson is congratulated for the amount of men he has saved, as the soldiers questions Collins as to where the hell the Air Force were. George's body is carried off the next morning Peter heads to the local newspaper with a picture of George and his story as he is on the front page as a youthful hero of the war for all that doubted him to see.

The third and shorter point of view of events come from the Air. With the information that by the time the spitfires made it to Dunkirk, they only had enough fuel to dog fight for thirty minutes, this account takes place over the space of an hour. Three spitfires and their pilots are heading over, they encounter enemies, which shoot down their leader. Farrier, a pilot played by Tom Hardy, has his fuel gauge shot out but takes command of the pair. They win the next fight but Collins takes fire and his plane is damaged so ditches into the Channel. Where he obviously gets picked up by the Dawsons. He reaches the beaches, where he sees attacks on the evacuating soldiers. He takes out the bombers to applause across the beach and sea. Now out of fuel, he glides with his attacks until finally there is suspense as his wheels are slowly coming out for landing, just as he hits the sand. He sets fire to his plane as the Germans advance and he is taken as a prisoner.

I really enjoyed this movie, even if I didn't know the true events and the history behind it. The film had been made before, which I had never seen but this newer version seemed to win over the audiences and even the people who were there to experience the reality. With a mixture of unknown actors and well known, it gave a great account and because of the way the story was told, there was never really a chance to become attached to any characters. With this though, at times it would feel a bit empty for some, that feel the film is only there to show its visual prowess. The way the sounds mixed with the ticking clock through vital moments worked very well as the film relied on very little speech, so the suspense was built in other ways. The film doesn't rely on CGI but instead is shot on location with over 6,000 cast members making this not only a film, but an experience.   

 



Long Live Lemons (Cars 2 2011)

 

 

 

122.

Cars 2

 

 

 

 

6/10

 

 

 

With the release of a third movie, I needed to catch up on the second, just in case any storyline carried over into the new one. I really enjoyed the first in the series but have heard mixed things about this movie but opinions are just that so with my enjoyment for Pixar anyway, I could still think this is a decent watch. Let's put the pedal to the metal and see if we have a winner.

The film begins with a spy receiving some information of a location so jumps on a crabbing boat to get to the location but are soon stopped but a massive armoured boat, asking them to turn around or else be shot. When they turn and the crabber chats to the spy, we discover he is no longer there and instead he is clinging onto the back of the war cruiser in order to further his progress. It takes him to a dock where he climbs on of the cranes and looks down onto a secret meeting between some lemons. Lemons are described later on, but they are cars that have constant engine trouble and need work done to them. He radios in to his head to let him know what is going on but sees two major pieces of information. One is a TV camera that is in a box labelled by the World Grand Prix and the other is that the boss he is radioing to, is nothing but a crushed cube! The lemons notice Finn, our spy and chase him down. Finn take out a few with his James Bond style guns before flying off the side and into the water, opening some skis and speeding off over the waves. The lemons board the armoured ships before being released and giving chase. Finally aiming with missiles, we have a direct hit and watch as Finn sink in the eater with a trail of oil representing blood but he activates a submarine mode and escaped to safety. Finn is voiced by Michael Caine. Who better to play a stereotypical, English spy?

Our next location is Radiator Springs, where our hero Lightening McQueen has returned from his latest race season and won another trophy. This is the first year that they have renamed the cup after his trainer, Doc Hudson. The car is shown to have passed away but this coincides with the man who voiced him, Paul Newman, who also passed away in 2008. Mater, the red-neck tow truck, is excited to see his best mate is back and sets up loads of things for the two to do before McQueen tells him that he also wants to spend time with his girlfriend Sally. The lovers go for a meal but their waiter is Mater, who has snuck in to spend time with McQueen again. Inside the restaurant, the TV shows that a millionaire, Miles Axelrod has turned himself into a fully electric car and also developed a new alternative fuel source called Allinol. He's setting up a race called the World Grand Prix, which we have little seen already and he along with the presenter are interviewing a confident racer called Francesco Bernoulli, who is played by John Turturro. The Talk turns to McQueen who refused entry because he needed a rest but the Italian car simply puts it down to the fact that he is better than the American anyway. There is a call-in segment and Mater has called in after hearing his best friend being bad mouthed on the show. The show soon attracts other guests in the restaurant and then Sally and McQueen go inside to see what the commotion is about. With the Italian now insulting Mater, McQueen takes offense and vows to race instead of taking a vacation. Turturro is always good for some humour, as shown in Transformers, so to play a mouthy car was a good call. Assembling his usual pit crew, he also gets asked to take Mater, who has been dying to go to one of his races.

Heading out we have a montage of the best friends travelling by plane and driving through the streets of Japan, seemingly having a great time together and emphasising how close they are as friends but as soon as we get to the party before the race day, McQueen has to tell Mater to start acting more normal and keep a lower profile. Other guests included Finn, the spy from the beginning and his partner, Holly Shiftwell. I'm loving these names based around cars and their actions. The pics he took in the beginning weren't good enough so they are meeting an American spy to get some better evidence for their case. They notice there is a decent amount of lemons at this party and figure they must surely be up to something. Axelrod makes an appearance on stage and suggests that using is fuel for the race will show the world how good it is. McQueen is invited onto the stage with him and in the meantime, Mater has tried some wasabi, not knowing what it is and reacts badly to it, breaking past the interview, to the waterfall behind McQueen and Axelrod, to wet his whistle and cool his mouth down. He embarrasses himself though as he begins to talk to the two about the moment he rang into the show and he leaks oil on stage. He insists it wasn't him because that never happens but drives to the toilets to clean himself up. While messing about with the Japanese style toilets, the American spy strolls in along with two lemons who are looking to end him. They are stopped as Mater exits the stall and gets in the way. Rod, the American spy knows he isn't escaping so quickly puts the information he is carrying, along with a homing beacon, onto the undercarriage of Mater. This leads the two English spies to follow the tow truck, no thinking that he is the spy because of the tracker. Holly makes a move to interact with him but he simply thinks she is trying it on with him and becomes flustered. They agree to meet the next day and once mater makes it back to the gang, he lets them know and obviously they don't believe him because Holly is a decent looking model. The same evening, Rod is tortured by the lemons and Professor Zendepp. He's filled with Allinol and the Professor explains that once it's heated, it can become and explosive. After the lemons decide who Rod could have given the info to, they see once of Mater and decide they need to kill him, just as Rod's engine explodes.

It turns to race day and Mater is in the pit with everyone, only for Holly's voice to come over his head set warning him that there are lemons near, closing in on his location after noticing him on the big screen. Mater doesn't realise that it's a secret frequency and his words distract a racing McQueen which leads to the Italian race car overtaking him and winning the race buy a bumper. The race will be remembered though for a few cars' engines blowing out. The two lemons from the toilet attack have been focusing the TV camera on cars and stopping them with a laser. Axelrod is questioned about the alternative fuel and instantly defends it as safe. During the race, Mater had to escape and drove down street that Holly directed him down. Finn came to help him fight off the lemons but yet again no-one believed his story when he got back to the pits. The two best friends of McQueen and Mater have a falling out and Mater leaves the team to head home. At the airport, he is met by Finn who quickly leads him to his own plan whilst being chased by the usual two lemons. McQueen is in his hotel, where he finds the goodbye letter from Mater. Although he feels bad about pushing him away, he is comforted by the fact that his friend will be back home and safe. Meanwhile, on the plane, Mater, Finn and Holly are discussing their next move once Holly has found the info underneath Mater. The photos show an open hood to a car and next to it are spare parts. Although the real spies are clueless, Mater actually knows his stuff and realises that this would be a lemon too. Amazed by this, the spies fly to Paris to meet a well-known, dodgy dealer. Paris is also where the next race will take place. Once they meet the dealer, he only has information on where the parts were sent too, so that's where the gang will head next, knowing that lemons are collecting there. McQueen and his gang make it to a village where one of his pit crew, Luigi's, parents live and the father notices that the racer isn't himself. McQueen tells him the story of Mater in a recurring theme about friendship in this movie.

The spies have now hacked into some security cameras to spy on the lemons travelling to a massive mansion, all being towed by trucks because they keep breaking down. Finn knows that these are part of a larger crime family, kind of like the mafia, but cars. The trucks towing them are familiar to Mater, so the plan is put his undercover to get more information. They try to put a new disguise on him but it won't work because of his dents. When Holly goes to buff them out, he refuses because each one is like a memory for him. By now, Mater is trying to explain that he truly isn't a spy but Finn is having none of it and over the headset, Mater has to hear Finn telling him that he plays the fool very well in order to not break character. Putting on the disguise with his voice activation, he heads over to pick up one of the lemons and heads inside where the room are greeted by the Professor. The main leader isn't coming to the meeting, but instead is communication over a TV with the simple image of his engine again, along with the voice being disguised. He then goes on to explain his main plans to end the racing. With the Professor knowing about Allinol's explosive contents, the intend to sabotage the races and destroy, Axelrod's plans for cleaner energy. Having found a large deposit of oil, they are set to make millions. To finish the meeting, champagne is brought to the tables as the race is shown on TV and again, one by one the racers are taken out by the two lemons and their camera laser. The race ends with McQueen beating Francesco by a second but they are the only two to finish. Finn has tried to stop the two Lemons by driving over rooftops but is stopped by a massive magnet on a helicopter. Holly is also cornered by some black lemon cars, representing the mafia in their suits. Back at the meeting, as all the lemon leaders celebrate, Mater fears for his friend who has come out and said he still wants to use Allinol even though Axelrod said he will not be continuing to sell it. Professor and the rest decide to end McQueen's engine, causing Mater to try and escape but instead he turns his disguise off and everyone starts shooting at him. Absolutely blagging his way through the scene, Mater whips out some guns and shouts shoot, which deploys a parachute and he flies away to safety. Heading to the beach to warn McQueen, he is cornered in the end and kidnapped, but McQueen heard his friends voice and pushing passed the crowd, he couldn't find him and found another tow truck, that is linked to the lemons.

Mater is knocked out with gas and in his head, is the constant talk of him being a fool and memories of how he has messed up in the past few days. As he wakes, he realises that he is tied up in London. He is in Big Bentley, the car world version of Big Ben. Clever. Finn and Holly are also tied up together on the massive cogs, as the usual two lemons have set their camera up in the clock to look down onto the race. The rest of the friends from Radiator Springs have joined the put crew. After thinking he heard Mater in Paris, McQueen asks where is friend is but none of the gang know where is has gotten to. Axelrod has now pulled up and thanks McQueen for his confidence in his product. As the race starts, the laser is pointed on McQueen but nothing happens and the two lemons decide to head down and do the job themselves but let the three spies know that they have planted a bomb nearby in case all else fails. Mater realises that his mini guns may not have bullets left but the friction caused by them rotating can cut through his ropes. It works and he heads off with the other spies' blessing to save the day. The two are left but manage to escape and find Mater's filter from his engine leading to the shocking truth that he was the bomb. They've planted it on him, knowing that he will go and try to save Lightening. McQueen notices his friend is in the pits but Mater wants to run away to save his best friend. McQueen doesn't realise this and doesn't want his friend to run away again. Meanwhile, the two spies have come across the crime boss as the Professor drives away to escape, heading to one to the armoured ships at the docks. Finally grabbing him before he escapes, they take him back to Mater to deactivate the bomb, but it doesn't work because he's not the one that set it. Mater is out of ideas but soon something clicks as he sets his rockets on and flies to the finishing line with a very confused McQueen in tow. The podium is in front of the Queen and of course, a well-named, Prince Wheeliam. Mater suddenly starts to accuse Axelrod of his electric transformation being fake. He accuses him of the leak in Japan because he is really a lemon and if he popped the bonnet, we would all find out. Those parts needed in the pictures were actually for him and getting closer and closer to Axelrod, the bomb ticks down until Axelrod deactivates it before he gets blown up, proving Mater right. This was the leader all along. He wanted to make the money through the oil but making sure that Allinol failed.

The end comes as Mater is himself, trying to make the palace guards laugh before being knighted by the Queen. The Grand Prix is cancelled but everyone is invited to Radiator Springs for a friendly race, including the Italian. Finn and Holly arrive and she admits to being Mater's girlfriend before blasting off to their next mission. Mater refuses to go with them as he is suited to his home town and even joins in the race after asking to keep the rockets as a reward for his work.

This was a very interesting second movie in the franchise for me. Although it's called 'Cars' you would always expect Lightening McQueen to be the main character, but this wasn't the case. Instead we have a story about his best friend, a clumsy but loveable, rusty old tow truck. His stupidity carries the humour for the film and it seemed like something I have seen before as someone falls into a spy job when they aren't meant to be there, but still come out smelling like roses. I wouldn't rate this anywhere near the top for a Pixar film and not entirely sure that a third film will be needed but it's happened. There was hardly any racing in this, which attracted people last time and instead there was quite a bit of underlining violence. It can't really be aimed at the younger viewers but maybe at the kids who loved the first and are now a little more grown up. 

Ape Together Strong (War for the Planet of the Apes 2017)

 

121.

War for the Planet of the Apes

 

 

 

 

9/10

 

 

 

It's time for the third and final film in this rebooted franchise. After the Tim Burton atrocity from around 15 years ago, it's safe to say that the first two movies in this trilogy have brought back the audience's love for the stories and characters involved. With a lot of hype leading up to this and the fact that the first days of showings were only available in 3D, there was always a wonder as to whether it would live up to expectations. Let's find out if this makes the audience go ape for the right reasons or it ends on a slip of the banana skin.

The film now takes place 15 years after the virus first got released to the world. The remaining humans have called it the Simian flu and although Caesar has tried to keep the peace between the apes and humans, it's come as nothing short of a failure. They now hide in a base in the Muir woods as a special ops colonel seeks the clan to kill them once and for all. As a team slowly moves through the forest, they set their sights on the entrance to the base, monkeys on horses and more patrolling. They are being helped by their own collection of apes, which were once loyal to Koba and instead of going to face the consequences from their fellow apes, they became traitors and help the humans instead. These apes are being called 'donkeys' by the humans and are abused along the way, being used for all of the dirty work like slaves. They all launch an attack on the base with a series of sniper shots leading to explosions with many casualties. The apes are in serious numbers as they come out on the winning side and capture four humans and one of their ape accomplices. We cut to a POV scene, looking through the eyes of something walking through the ape's trenches and we can work out that it's going to be Caesar, with the camera rolling around to reveal him, he lets the prisoners go as a sign of mercy but chooses to keep Red the traitor. He escapes the clutches of Winter though and runs back to the human camp. Deeper inside the camp and Caesar's son, Blue Eyes, returns from a trip to find a new place to live. We are also re-introduced to Caesar's wife Cornelia and his new son Cornelius. They all site with further apes to discuss moving the clan to a safer location.

As the apes rest, we see unknown assailants are seen moving into the camp. The soldiers are easily picked up by the patrolling apes and Caesar in the tunnels but he has left his family alone, alone to be gunned down by Colonel McCullough, played by Woody Harrelson. He escapes through the waterfall as we see a relentless side to Caesar who grabs the rope to get him back but it's cut and he falls to the water below. Returning to his part of the cave, Caesar and the other apes are searching for his youngest son, who appears from behind a rock and into his father's arms. The next day he places his son in Lake's care. Lake was Blue Eye's love interest and will now look after the youngster as Caesar decides to leave to find the Colonel for revenge, sending the clan to head towards the desert, their new home. He won't be going alone though as Maurice, Luca and Rocket want to go and protect their leader. Coming across the military camp, they enter the tents and to their surprise find Winter. He's been promised to be saved if he defects to the human side. Revealing the information that the 4 apes needed, he then makes a break for escape but is grabbed and keep quiet by them. Caesar is a little too heavy handed though and ends up strangling him to death. He becomes distraught as he believes that an ape must not kill another ape or risk becoming like his one-time friend, Koba. This leads to the leader having a dream that night about Koba, telling him about not killing another ape. They continue forward to search for the Colonel and come across a deserted colony and a lone man who tried to shoot them but Caesar empties his gun first and kills the man. They enter his home and find a little girl who doesn't have the ability to speak, although she is of the age to be able to. Maurice hands her a doll and hopes to take her with them. Insisting that he cannot leave her behind, his leader reluctantly agrees and they have a new member to their party. Heading up to the snowy mountains, they find three bodies of soldiers, buried in the snow with gunshot wounds and one is still alive. He has trouble speaking to them, just like the girl and Caesar puts the man out of his misery. The apes climb a transmission tower for a better look, only for the girl to stay with the horses and someone in a coat steals their equipment and one of the horses. Chasing them into the mountains, they enter a snow lodge and the thing has run into a fire place, throwing out the stuff that it has stolen and slowly revealing themselves as a small chimp. Calling himself Bad Ape, he is hairless and very ugly but seems very harmless. He offers his coat to the girl because she seems cold and the gang stays for the night, receiving food and we see that this chimp is as capable of speech as much as Caesar. Most of the others are relying on sign language. They explain that they are after the Colonel and Bad Ape isn't too pleased. Giving them food labelled, California Border, they ask where it was retrieved from. After the information from Winter, where he told the apes that the Colonel is off to meet men at the boarder, they figure that this is from the same place. Bad Ape tells them that it is like a 'human zoo' and not many people make it out of there alive. With a little more comedy added through this new ape, we have a back and fore between the girl picking up his things and him being protective until he gives them back in exchange for them not wanting to go to the camp. One of the items is a car badge reading Nova, which Maurice give to the girl as her new name.

Finally, the new chimp takes the other to the quarantine camp, where Caesar and Luca are attacked by soldiers but after killing them, we find out that the gorilla, Luca, has been fatally wounded. He is slowly dying but before he goes, Nova has a moment where he gives him a flower that Luca helped he reach earlier on and she breaks down in tears. Caesar sees the side to humans that makes him remember why he wanted peace but also his hatred is growing inside at the death of another friend. Maurice tells him that he is becoming Koba, just as their leader tells them that this is why he wanted to come alone. Caesar now leaves the others and heads into the camp by himself, seeing other apes chained to wood, he quickly realises what kind of place this is. Looking down into the camp, he sees his worst fear, that his clan has been captured and are caged her, being made to work to build a massive wall in front of the main camp. From behind, two soldiers knock Caesar out with a gun. He wakes up to find himself in the presence of the Colonel and explains that he hasn't come to free his clan, but to kill the Colonel for what he has done. The man gives a shit apology and explains that he was only meant to kill Caesar. There is a massive map in the middle of the room and it's quickly worked out that the wall is being built to keep other men out. Ones that don't like the Colonel's beliefs in killing other humans who won't follow his leadership.

Caesar is put to work, just like the other apes and he sees Lake and his own son in another cage from the rest. Calling out in distress for his father, it's a hard moment for the leader who for once, feels helpless. The whole clan are starved and unhappy with Caesar for leaving them. One ape falls and is whipped for his troubles but Caesar steps in, regaining the respect of his fellow apes as he is whipped in his place. The Colonel demands that work continues, even as the leader tells him that they need food and water in order to carry on the work. He holds a gun to the ape's head until Lake and others being to work again in order to save Caesar's life. Red is the main gorilla 'donkey' in the army he, along with a soldier named Preacher, lead Caesar to the main office again where the Colonel starts to tell his story. He has a son who turned into a primitive state. So as the apes were getting smarter, humans affected by the virus are becoming primitive. He killed his own son out of fear that there isn't a cure. Going on to explain about the men that are coming and the reasoning for the wall, which I have already mentioned. The next day and the apes are finally fed and watered except for Caesar as the Colonel intends to break him down. He has another vision of Koba, who this time tells him to join the army. Back to the outskirts and we are with Maurice, Bad Ape, Rocket and Nova as they are looking into the camp. More humour as Bad Ape wonders why they are so far away but he's holding the binoculars the wrong way around. Nova walks by herself and straight into the camp and to Caesar's cage to make sure he is ok. Listening to the calls from the other cages, she heads over and picks up water and food for him and then gives him her doll for safe keeping. As the soldiers approach, Rocket distracts them by sacrificing himself to be caught so the girl can hide. The next morning when Caesar is retrieved from his cage, the Colonel notices the doll and gives the eyes that he knows something is going on. The two remaining free apes find a way into the camp but from underneath, where they begin to dig upwards in two different areas, under the two main cages. One problem is that the one under the children's cage is flooded so they cannot free them in that direction. Caesar and his second in command, Rocket, find a way to save everyone and whilst the others dig, Rocket creates a distraction by doing what apes do best, flinging poo at one of the patrols. They find some keys and release the children, who climb on the wires and into the other cage to escape through the hole. One ape is left to get down the hole and it's the leader but he turns to Rocket and tells him that he is like Koba and cannot let the Colonel live for what he has done. Without a second thought, he heads back to the Colonels office just as we see in the distance that the other army has arrived to confront him. Helicopters begin laying rounds into the base and the Colonel is nowhere to be found to lead his troops. In his office is a mess, bottle of alcohol line the floor and the Colonel is lying in a bed as Caesar approaches him. He sits up slightly and begins to speak but we notice he can't. This bastard has got his comeuppance by contracting the virus himself and turned primitive. This isn't going to stop revenge though and the ape holds a gun to his head. He can't pull the trigger though, even though the Colonel welcomes it. Instead he leaves the gun for the job to be done by the man himself. As the chaos outside ensues, the other apes have nearly escaped into the forest and Caesar wants to join them but one of the soldiers on the wall spots them and begins firing rather than aiming at the opposing army. Red, the donkey, is the one to reload the gun for him. Caesar picks up some grenades and launches one to blow up part of the wall and stop the attack on his clan but Preacher shoots him with an arrow from behind. This soldier is the one from the beginning that Caesar releases to show mercy but it's come back to haunt him. Red goes to get his soldier a grenade launcher and Preacher is about to kill Caesar but is blown up by the donkey in a turn out for the books. Caesar finishes the job with him grenades by blowing up a tanker which explodes through the gas lines and reduced the site to rubble. As this happens he makes a break to the tunnel and escapes to the outside. Standing up he notices the size on the new army, as one by one they turn around and notice the ape's leader whilst slowly raising their guns. Instead of shooting him, a rumble is heard further up the mountain and the explosions are created an avalanche. Terror ensues as the army is covered and destroyed but also the apes are in trouble and climb the tallest trees for safety.

The apes and Nova continue their journey to their name home and finally reach their new peaceful land. As Caesar and Maurice look over the happy apes celebrating their freedom, Maurice notices the arrow wound that his leader received earlier. Knowing that his time is up, Caesar asks Maurice to make sure that his son is protected and Maurice replies, saying that his son shall know what his father did to protect this clan. With that, Caesar, the hero, passes away in peace underneath the only tree in sight.

This was a brilliant end to the trilogy but also a sad one in more ways than one. This ending not only finished a great set of movies but also brought a close to the life of an ape we've all come to know. Andy Serkis is without fail the most underappreciated actor in how much time and effort he puts into each role he plays. The special effects throughout this movie were second to none and being able to show emotions on each single ape and make them have their own characters was simply phenomenal for everyone involved. Along with the dramatic musical score and storyline, with the adding of some humour in order to balance out the darkest of the three, this film will take some beating if they ever choose to go back and reboot this in the future. Even Woody Harrelson as a bad guy worked. Matt Reeves will now move onto The Batman with my blessings. The bravery, sacrifice and love shown throughout, in the end showed how humanity should be, except the apes were better than the humans by the end, through no fault of their own.



I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees (All Eyez On Me 2017)

120.

All Eyez On Me

 

 

 

 

 7/10

This film is the true and untold story of Tupac Shakur, the rapper, poet, actor and activist for black rights. Named after his forth studio album, this movie was highly anticipated by his fans. I've loved two movie including rappers, on being 8 Mile with Eminem and the second was Get Rich or Die Trying with 50 Cent. If there was going to be anywhere near them, it would have to grip me from the beginning. A lot of people know the story of how Tupac's life ended, including me but it would be interesting to see the early years and what came in the middle. The murder still remains unsolved to this day, even if people have an idea of what happened. Instead of a full synopsis on the blog, I'll just be skimming over the main parts of the movie and focusing more on how it delivered the information needed to make the movie enjoyable. It needed to appeal to people that didn't know any of the story but also to the audience that have the knowledge but still want to be entertained. Let's put it on centre stage and see if it hits the right notes.

The film opens in a jail that Tupac is being held in and he's being interviewed by a documentary maker to get the real story behind Tupac's life. Tupac is being played by Demetrius Shipp Jr. and has come under a lot of scrutiny for how he acted in the role. Seemingly this is going to create a lot of flashbacks for us, in the way of Tupac telling the interviewer. Instantly we are back in 1971 New York with his mother being released from prison and he is being taught about black pride from his stepfather and mother. His stepfather is a wanted man by the FBI and is eventually caught after a heavy handed raid on Tupac's home. As he grows up, he distances himself from his mother's views and actions and moves out along with his sister. He even catches his mother buying drugs and acts violently towards the dealer. He takes his mother to find help for the addiction and we can already see the kind of man he is and how much his cares for his loved ones. He switches school a lot and in Baltimore he makes friends with a girl called Jada. This is actually Jada Pinkett-Smith, which I had no actual clue about and came as a shock that they were such close friends and maybe even in love.

The music begins when he joins his first label with a bunch of guys who love a smoke and love women even more. When he tries to branch out to become bigger, record labels won't take him on due to controversial songs such as 'Brenda's got a Baby', which was about a young girl, raped by her cousin and turned to prostitution and selling drugs in order to pay the bills. His argument is that these are real songs, songs from the hood and real stories being told when no one wants to hear them. When the attention is turned from that because they all agree is sounds good, they worry about how he focuses on women in a bad way, maybe because of the way he feels about his mother. This is tackled when he releases a song as a tribute for black women.

1991 brought about some roles in movies and collaborations with Biggie Smalls and creates as much praise for himself as controversy as he donates money to the poor black community. He has constant head butts with the police and is beaten by two racist police officers. In one case, he and his friend, see a young black man being beaten by two white men and once he produces a gun and shoots one in the leg, he finds out that they are of duty police men. He gets off with a caution as the men were breaking the law themselves for taking police property out of work grounds. When they try to make a public appearance at a town fair, men approach them to cause trouble and when someone fires a gun from the rival side, a young boy is killed, instantly causing the press to blame the terror on Tupac's antics. Tupac then becomes involved with a drug dealer in order to raise his profile in another city and things turn nasty when there is a falling out and the new man, Nigel, needs to stop his gang from killing Tupac. They still go against the orders though, but nothing much comes to boil. 1993 sees Tupac meet a girl who becomes obsessed with him and when he doesn't want anything further to come from it, she cries rape and a court case will be coming. Every scene is now flying back and fore between the story and the interview to remind us that it is Tupac telling this story. He's getting questioned about what was going through his head at the time and soon it moves back into another flashback. 1994 brings massive event as Tupac is ambushed in a hotel lobby on his was to meet Biggie Smalls. Three men shoot him five times, leaving him for dead and Tupac is taken upstairs to the party as some men don't look to concerned and the scene ends with use seeing a point of view shot from Tupac with Biggie looking into his eyes. He's taken to hospital and as Biggie tried to visit him, he is escorted away for not being family as Tupac panics and checks himself out after not feeling safe. Back to the trial and he is found not guilty of rape but guilty of harassment with a sentence of 18 months in prison. During the trial, he gives one last statement and tells the judge that in now part of the proceedings did he make eye contact with him. He doesn't care about the justice and his life is now in God's hands. This is now leaving the story up to date with the interviewer. So, from here on out we are simply seeing the story for what it is and no flash backs at all. While in the courtyard, music is being played and it's Biggie's new song, 'Who Shot Ya?'. He figures that this is a 'diss track' and completely loses him mind. He comes into contact with another inmate, he stepfather, who tells him to keep working. Mutulu, the stepfather later stabs a man who stood up to him and we see Tupac doesn't have it two easy as guards of different colours give him a beating. He sorts a deal with Suge Knight following his release from prison, to work underneath his label on the West Coast. With the likes of Snopp Dogg, Dr. Dre and more shown in shorter scenes, he releases the hit songs we have all heard in one way or another. His response to the 'diss track' is one of his own and this brings Jada back. Not liking the man he has now become and the fact he is flaunting an affair with Biggie's girl, she turns her back on him for good. While working for Suge, he sees another side of him, a brutal side that is plain for us to see as he calls out another member for stealing money until he orders is mean to give him a beat down.

Tupac's life is on the up when he meets another girl and after a chase, they finally get together and even engaged. After she meets his mother, all seems well in the house hold. His mother is now out of rehab and looks full of life once again but is worried for her son because the government will try anything to bring him down for his style. She wants him to use his fame for a higher purpose and he is a leader, but he is having none of it. He wants higher again, to produce his own label but instead Suge gives him partnership and to lead the East Side part of the label he is already working on. He's reminded that he is still in debt with Suge himself so he shouldn't take the offer too lightly. In 1996 the gang are in Las Vegas, watching a boxing match, again there is commotion when Tupac jumps a guy who earlier attacked his own team. Escaping to his hotel room, where is fiancé is waiting, he changes and heads out to the club. The future wife isn't too happy but he tells her that he will only be gone for a second and a scene gets created as both stand each side of the closed hotel room door. This would be to emphasise the last interaction that the two had together before the untimely death of the rapper. Stopped at a red light, a car pulls up and lays several bullets into Tupac's side of the car just before it pulls away. Suge rushes him to hospital where he is stopped by the police before the other members show up and one shows his own badge for them all to step down. Lying, bleeding out, Tupac's life drains from his face until the screen fades slowly to black.

The ending is a screen of text, depicting that 7 days later, Tupac lost his life and that the murder still remains unsolved to this day. With his discography and movie roles all earned before he was 25 years old, this rapper will for ever have a legacy. The film concludes with real life footage of Tupac Shakur telling the interviewer that there are people out there that know the real him and I'm sure there are.

All in all, this film was a decent watch but seemed longer than it needed to be for a movie that was constantly change its time line. For leaping years ahead time after time, there was still a long, messy screenplay for nearly two and a half hours. Jada Pinkett-Smith said this movie was a disaster but I wouldn't go that far. I still enjoyed most of it but there's a feeling that it would have worked better as a TV series. The movie didn't show how influential he was with her word and instead made him look like a silly spoiled brat and many think I has ruined the legacy. Overall it showed people shouldn't leave the cinema glamorising his life or hating him all the same. Instead they should know this was simply an attempt to show it all in one movie and it was too much to cover. This was simply the Hollywood story.

You Can't Trust Anyone But Family (It Comes At Night 2017)

119.

It Comes At Night

 

 

 

 

 

6.5

 

 

 

I'm so glad that there are plenty of horrors films hitting the big screen this year and this was one that interested me. There wasn't much exposed during the trailer so I was left to my own devices and I think that's the great thing about the genre. The trailer was very dark, in colour more than images because everything was either at night or inside a house without light. I wonder if this film will leave dreading the night.

We are straight into asking questions as we see a poorly old man sitting up, wheezing, covered in boils and seemingly near the end of his life. His daughter is seen telling him that everything will be ok but she's wearing a gas mask so clearly that isn't the case. Soon he's laid down by his son-in-law and wheeled out into the woods by him and his son, the ill man's grandson. There, Travis, the son-in-law, lays the old man down and puts a pillow over his head, then shoots him and rolls him into a grave before setting him on fire. Well that was a beginning to remember. The family is scene to live together in a wooden house in the forest, far away from anyone else and with their dog, Stanley. They are away from the rest of the world because it's implied that a deadly virus has set itself on the population and no-one actually knows what is going on out there. Since the death of his Grandfather, Travis, has constant nightmares. He sees himself walking through his house, into a room at the end of a long corridor and seeing a man sitting on the bed, wheezing just like his Grandfather until he approaches and then suddenly wakes up. The door at the end of the corridor is bright red and it resembles something that I have seen in movies before. It's made to resemble a door that leads to hell, or a demon's lair. This time it leads to a room where the old man died and also the room that is the only entrance to the house or exit to the outside. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not but it is something to think about. Back to Travis and he is jolted awake to see his mother in his room telling him that there is someone in their house. A lot of banging is heard as the family grab their gas masks and gloves and head to the red door. Paul and Sarah, the parents, grab their guns. The intruder breaks through the door for Paul to let off a shot and miss. Running into the room through some plastic sheets, we see the man willing to surrender. They find out his name is Will but is unsure of his true intentions once he tells them he thought the house was empty and he was just looking to find some food and water for his family. He's alone but Paul goes outside to check anyway because all he trusts is his family. Knocking him out with the butt of his gun before leaving, he's still unconscious when he ties him to a tree outside the next morning. A large sack is placed over his head and some tape over his head. Watching on, Travis takes all this in and it leads to another nightmare that night. He sees Will standing up over him with dark eyes.

Around 24 hours later, Paul gets to Will and decides to ask him some more questions about where he came from, his family and what his intentions are. We learn he has been living on his brother's farm, but travelled to a house a few miles away, where his son and wife still are. The farm was 80 miles away and on his travels, he has seen no-one on the road. He is willing to swap some animals for resources but instead Paul decides it's best to move the family in with them for more protection and the good set up he has. All of the house is boarded up so that's why it's still dark inside, even in the day. He unveils a truck and drives with Will in the back. As they go along the country road, someone suddenly shoots at the truck and smashes the window, causing him to drive off road and crash into a tree. He clambers out and under the truck as he sees Will jump out the back and run. He shoots a man hidden behind a tree. Getting out, he sees Will on top of another man, beating him but also asking Paul not to shoot him. In the heat of the moment, he does. Will loses it a little because he wanted to ask the man questions but Paul doesn't believe him and for a while thinks that this was a set up by Will. Later, the two return to the original house and make the introductions that are necessary. Straight into laying down the rules though. Everyone chips in, no one goes out at night, Paul has the only keys to the outside and everyone pisses in a bucket at night because the toilet is outside.

Both families settle in well and get on with their day to day work, eating together and quick scenes show everyone getting on well, Travis colouring in with the little boy and everyone having a drink and a laugh. Will and his wife Kim constantly get it on and Travis likes to listen through the walls and floor boards whenever he can. He develops a crush on the new woman and instantly she is in his dreams. She climbs on top of him and begins to kiss Travis, pulling away, she spews black bile into him mouth, causing him to wake vigorously and run to the toilet to wash. Travis heads into the kitchen and suddenly becomes nervous when he sees Kim, his interest, sitting at the kitchen table. She notices that he is eyeing her up so quickly ends their conversation on desserts and he heads off to bed. The next day, Stanley is barking and something and runs off into the woods with Travis following him. Deeper and deeper they run until the barking stops and there is no sight of the dog. Paul shouts at his son for running off alone but Travis is sure he seen something moving out there. That night Travis finds Andrew, the young boy, sleeping at the foot of his Grandfathers bed. He takes him by the hand and leads him back into his parent's room. As he leaves he hears banging again and runs to wake his parents who grab the gun and head into that room again. This time Paul finds Stanley, lying bleeding and hardly breathing, he mercy kills the dog beyond Travis's wishes and the night ends. We've got a scene where Paul takes Will into his study and they have a bottle of whiskey together, discussing their personal life. Will talks about being an only child. Hold up! wasn't he staying at his brother's farm? Questioned on this, because Paul picked it up too, he passes it off that it was his brother-in-law's. Paul quickly ends the conversation there, clearly worried about the new facts. This guy has trust issues. 

Every is sitting around the kitchen table the next day and people are looking pretty shook up. Travis explains that he found Andrew where he did that night and saw that the red door was open whilst he heard the banging and before he went to get his parents. Will and Kim get very defensive about their son, who doesn't remember sleep walking that night. As things start to get heated, we see some cracks appearing and Paul decides that everyone should take provisions and stay in their rooms for a while. Paul questions his son in private about whether he touched the boy and obviously he led him back to bed by hand. Paul is upset knowing that there were no gloves involved and he thinks that the family may be sick with the virus. Travis has another, worse nightmare that night. He sees boils up his arms, spews black bile and also sees his Grandfather across from him, covered in black veins with blackened eyes. Travis is the first to wake up in the morning and her hears Andrew crying and whining from down the corridor. The first thing he does is tell his father, who goes to knock on their door to ask if things are ok but also demanding that he enters the room. Sarah is standing around the corner with a gun, ready for any action. After a while, Will allows him in but we see Kim crying and holding her son's head into her chest so we never get to see if his eyes have changed at all. Will produces a gun and demands that Paul lets them leave, insisting there is actually nothing wrong with his own family. Taking Paul by gun point, they head downstairs but Sarah points her gun out of the shadow and demands that Will lowers his. Both doing so at the same time, Paul wrestles the man for his weapon as we notice that Kim has made a run for it through the house and tries to get out the door.

We now cut to what could be the ending as a dazed Will is wheeled out to woods and probably the grave site. Tossing him to the ground we see the Kim is still holding Andrew but Sarah has her at gunpoint now. Will gets up and tried to fight his last fight but Paul smashing him over the head with a rock and Kim runs off into the woods. Paul takes aim and fires, all we hear is screaming but it doesn't sound like pain. He's killed the boy. She begs to get killed too and Paul doesn't really hesitate after knowing his mistake. Will slowly dies from a shot to the back and Travis can't believe his eyes as he runs back inside. This is a really dark moment in this movie. After sometime, Travis is completely overcome with the virus. Sarah sits over him but this time there is no gas mask. Maybe this is because she consoled him after the dog was killed or hugged him when everyone was arguing, but either way, she's doomed to I think. We see a scene of Travis walking the corridor and heading to that red door again, maybe on his way to death, as his mother tells him he can let go now. The last shot is of the mother and father, Paul and Sarah sitting at the kitchen table alone. We can see Sarah's eyes are slowly starting to turn black but before we see anymore, the screen turns black.   

Ok, ok, I understand which was way this horror was heading but it wasn't what I personally enjoy in the genre. This film was focused on a paranoia within the family, how protective one man can be and the lengths he will actually go for them. The film had some really dark scenes with the killings and a few seconds or gruesome effects with the virus and dreams. Other than that, it felt like the film stayed in third gear and never took that extra step, just when you thought you were about to see something, it was over or was an anti-climax. I liked that fact that it was a cast I didn't recognise other than Paul who was played by Joel Edgerton because I didn't know what to expect from each of their style. I left with so many questions but not in a good way. What was 'it'? Because it never came. What caused the virus? Surely the virus is simply airborne so the gas masks make no difference when you don't wear them in the day. A low budget movie that let me wondering rather than needing to know. It was an interesting idea but 'it's' not for me.