The truth will set you free (Jigsaw 2017)

153.

Jigsaw

 

 

 

 5/10

 

 

Another instalment in the Jigsaw franchise and it's come 7 years after the last. I Think the last one, which was in 3D, is the only movie in the series that I have actually missed. It'll be interesting to find where the story will take us. I feel that as the movies went on and there were links between each one, they mostly focused on the gore and traps as a form of entertainment for the audience. If the last movie was intended as the last, but this one is now on its way to being the final chapter, will it truly be? The movie has already changed from Saw: Legacy, to Jigsaw, so I'm no entirely sure.

The movie starts with a quick police chase onto a roof, as a man is holding a trigger, shouting about starting a game and 'he is back'. Police Detective Halloran asks his men not to shoot, knowing this man, but instead to aim for the trigger. From nowhere, a shot hits the man, who survives and the trigger begins the game and the main part of the movie. The scene flips to a barn, where 5 people are being held captive, with a metal bucket on their heads and chains leading to a hole in a door. They are asked to sacrifice some blood in order to unlock themselves and as four do so, the one who was unconscious for the instructions from the usual type of tape, ends up on the blades. On the next task one of the four, Carly, is shown to have caused a death by robbing a woman with asthma and taking the bag that had her inhaler. To save herself and the others from the next thing that the chain is dragging them into, she must inject herself with one of three needles. One containing an antidote to a poison in her system, one an acid and the third being a saline solution. Each one has a number that is important to her and she must work it out but as the chains begin to hang each one of the characters, a member of the group, Ryan, grabs all three and stabs her with them, melting her face a killing her.

We get back to the police side of things and Detectives Halloran and Hunt begin investigated bodies that appear to be the guy who got sawed apart earlier and a melted face, so that's Carly. Halloran starts talking to the pathologist on the case, Logan and we instantly feel that there is a bit of tension between the two. Halloran questions the former soldier and doctor, whose wife was killed two years earlier. Along with him, his assistant Eleanor, is also questioned too. None can believe that Jigsaw is back, as he died 10 years prior, so there must be a more logical explanation. In the hospital, the guy from the beginning has been kidnapped and when the Detectives decide to dig up Kramer's grave to prove he is dead, they find that guy in the grave instead. The barn is shown and Ryan tried to escape through a door that says no exit. Idiot. The floor gives way and traps his leg between wire. The remaining members try to free him but shit out a little and instead move on a little with the game. The enter a grain silo and grab a tape to play. Instantly, the door is closed behind them and they start being buried underneath some grain. As the seconds pass, things like knifes, pitch forks and saw blades start falling on them. The only way they can escape is if Ryan pulls a lever and releases his own leg too. Finally mustering up the courage, he pulls it and sets them free but ends up chopping off his own leg with the wires.

Back in the lab, Logan and Eleanor are talking about their mistrust for Halloran. She takes him to her studio, where is has remade and bought some of Jigsaw's equipment from famous cases. She's an ultimate fan girl. On the other side, she's worried that anyone finding this will be convinced that she is behind the new attacks and to be fair, I'm pretty convinced myself. Detective Hunt has followed them, knowing that they could be suspects and what he finds simply backs up Halloran's own suspicions. The next test, back in the barn, shows the history or Mitch and the fact that he knowingly sold a dodgy motor bike, which killed Kramer's nephew. Kramer must be the unluckiest guy in the world. The brake was broken and his test is to be lowered into a spiral of hot blades, to reach that lever and stop the blades spinning. Anna, the third member, helps him the best she can but in the end, he's a pile of mush on the floor. Halloran has decided to investigate Eleanor's place and he, along with Hunt, find a body that looks like what is left of Mitch. He calls for her and Logan's arrest but as Hunt gets to Logan's to find the two, they convince him that Halloran is the actually copycat killer. Eleanor has worked out where the game is taking place and her and Logan head there but are unknowingly followed by Halloran. Meanwhile, Hunt is in Halloran's place and finds some skin pieces in the shape of a jigsaw piece in his fridge.
Anna attempts to escape through a door but is soon captured by the usual pig-headed character that is linked to Jigsaw. She wakes to find herself and the one-legged Ryan, chained to either side of a room, looking up and finding Kramer standing there. How the hell is this guy still alive? I've seen him die. He reveals that Anna killed her own child when it wouldn't stop crying and framed her husband. Ryan once caused the death of some of his friends in a car accident and escaped all blame. He tells them that he has gotten his message 'backwards'. He places a shotgun in the middle of the two and tells them that it is the 'KEY' to their escape. Anna picks up the gun and tried to shoot Ryan but with the talk of 'backwards' and 'key', we realise that the gun is rigged, it backfires and kills her instead, with the keys inside of the bullets, which had now been destroyed. Now there is no hope of escape. Logan ad Eleanor have reached the barn and begin to investigate. As they do, Halloran ambushes them and instantly attacks them, as Eleanor escapes but Halloran knocks out Logan, before being drugged by an unknown figure. Has Kramer walked in on them? The two men wake up in collars, both rigged with laser cutters. They are both told they must confess their sins to escape and when they are ready to confess, they press a button in front of them to talk. Halloran says that he will go first but instead presses Logan's button, starting his lasers. Logan admits that his misdiagnosed Kramer's x-rays, which caused his cancer to be missed. Despite confessing, the lasers reach his head and he's done for, I expected his head to fall into pieces but now, just some blood. Now it's Halloran's go and he confesses that he has let people go free for his own personal gain, including the people that had killed Logan's family. At this point, Logan stands up after Halloran's collar deactivates. He's still alive and instantly states his intent. The game in the barn took place 10 years ago from present day. Logan was the man who appeared to die on the blades at the start of the first game, but when we had already seen Logan change clothes earlier in the movie, we simply put his scars down to the torture he had as a soldier. Kramer felt that he shouldn't die because of his honest mistake, patched Logan up and trained to him carry on his ritual. The bodies that were found by Hunt and Halloran were the criminals that were let walk by the Detective. Logan put them into the same type of tests. The guy at the beginning with the trigger, was actually the one who had killed Logan's wife. Logan decides that Halloran broke the rules on who was going first so decides to reactivate his collar and then frame him as Jigsaw. The laser cut clean through his head and finally, we have our last bit of gore. Logan walks out and slams the sliding door behind him in a well-known moment from the series.
This is nothing more than another Saw film. It linked in with the main guy but as seen with a few others, it used a time scale in order to catch out the viewers. The casting is off the usual standard, where they are youngsters that are easily forgettable by the end of the movie, mainly because they never make it that far in the first place. The film relies a lot on the blood and gore as always and the clever, intricate traps that Kramer has set up. This time around, none of the traps were very memorable and seemed a lot tamer than normal.  It is always interesting when it comes to the final 10 minutes because the whole storyline comes together with flashbacks of things that the viewers will have already seen, but missed throughout the movie. It was always going to have its work cut out but couldn't resist being around for Halloween. Not too sure whether this sequel needed to be made though. It could have had potential but as the series of movies go on, they seem to only deteriorate with each instalment.



We'll be saving all the best bits of the planet! (Geostorm 2017)

152.

Geostorm
 

 

 

 

7/10

 

I'm always an avid watcher when it comes to natural disaster movies, so when I seen the trailer, I'm thinking maybe The Day After Tomorrow, and there's a little bit of space involved, so crossed with Armageddon? Armageddon is my favourite movie, I won’t be anywhere near that calibre, when Michael Bay wasn't hated, not that he is doing this movie. The main star and producer of this movie is Gerard Butler, mostly iconic for his role in the movie 300. The movie seems to feature plenty of special effects, which may have needed to be seen in 3D, but I'm going for 2D with my tight schedule. Is this going to be a world saver or nothing more than a shower of shit?

The movie starts with the opening credits as normal, but in the background, we can hear thunder, leading straight into a girl giving the explanations of where the world is now. They were threatened with extinction as the effects of global warming was causing massive natural disasters. An international coalition has banded together to create a system of satellites that are designed to control the climate. The main section of the film begins with Gerard Butler's character, Jake, getting out of a taxi and walking into a court case. He is being reprimanded for using the satellites, named Dutch Boy, to stop a typhoon that threatened lives, without authorisation. He is subsequently fired and replaced by his younger brother Max. We can see that Jake is a quick witted and suborn character, who is a law to his own, even after the warnings from his brother. Max works for the Secretary of State, Leonard Dekkom, who pushes him forward to be in charge.

It only takes three years for shit to hit the fan. A village in Afghanistan has been wiped out by a frozen spell, caused by a malfunction. As the satellite is pulled in for inspection, an Indian worker steals the data and shiftily hides it in a locker, before being shot into space through a malfunctioning tunnel on the space station. Do we have our first suspect? As he was hiding the date, a French work was also giving a shifty look, so could he be the one who caused the tunnel to break free? The President of the United States calls a cabinet meeting to discuss Dutch Boy and Max wants a full investigation to take place. Dekkom wants Jake on the team to lead the investigation an after Max finally agrees, he sets off to find his brother. There is clearly tension there about their past and Jake now lives in a small trailer on the outskirts of the launch station. Proving that he never really got away from the job. His daughter is staying with him for a couple of days and isn't too happy to find out that her father is leaving her to go into space. She begs him to come back in one piece, before leaving in a taxi. On the other side of the world, another satellite has kicked in and created a firestorm in Hong Kong. This nearly kills Max's work college, who is head of that department for Dutch Boy. So far, the graphics for each disaster have been pretty exceptional.
Jake has now arrived in space and is clearly in his element. He meets with the commander, Ute Fassbinder, who shows him around and what has changed on board since his last time. He is set up with a team that include the dodgy looking French guy from earlier, a cocky British guy and a couple of others. They call in the satellite from the Hong Kong problem, only for the arm holding it, to malfunction and nearly kill the team with its constant swinging. The only member of his team not to be in the hanger though was the 'Frenchie'. Was he behind this again? The data has now been erased from the damage caused and again we are back to square one. Back on Earth and a hailstorm takes down Tokyo and Cheng, Max's mate from Hong Kong, has realised that his log in details don't work, just as he finds out that a global 'Geostorm' may be on its way. They had to stick the name in there. Max too discovers that he cannot log in to the satellites and it has been stopped on purpose. Cheng flies to American to meet with Max, after evading a team of mercenaries that are on his tail for knowing too much.
Jake and Ute, the commander, decide that they need to fly outside of the ship and retrieve one of the blast doors that got stuck in the main satellite after it had blown and killed the Indian in the beginning. With it not going to plan, predictable as it is, they get back but Jake lies about whether he has the data and instead tells him little team that he lost it along with the door when his suit malfunctioned. Clearly, it is still someone on board who is creating these malfunctions. Jake suspects a traitor, only trusting Ute. The two looks for the error but are again blocked out. He goes to a private room to contact his brother, but knows that they are still being monitored. He doesn't give too much away now and Max is off to see Cheng. At the meeting point, the guy is run down by a car, intentionally, before Max and his girlfriend Sarah, can reach him. Sarah is working security for the President too, so she tries to track down the killer but fails. There is a side story of these two's secret love, that really does feel like other disaster movies. Constantly back and fore between their mini arguments at times. So, the next plan is too stop the satellites but crashing new ones into it, using the replacement ones. Max and Sarah have begun sorting out the patterns between the attacks that have already taken place. The know the simulation will carry on to create the biggest Geostorm possible. Jake figures that with everyone looked out of their logins, a virus was put in to knock everyone out of the system. Jake suspects that the President is behind the attack because now he is the only one who has the kill codes to shut down Dutch Boy. He instantly gets in touch with his brother, to let him know his suspicions. He uses a coded message that Max needs to work out, just in case others are listening in. This code is one that the brothers used to use when they were younger and enjoying each other’s company. The message is to reboot the system, which requires the kill codes so Max asks Dana to help him retrieve them.
At a convention in Orlando, Max finds out that the city is the next to be hit by a storm. He tells this to Dekkom, who we haven't seen in a while and also the suspicions about the President. Once Dekkom hears about the plans, he turns on Max and tries to kill him. Showing his true colours, that he is actually the one behind all of this. If the shit hits the fan, the President can be over thrown and Dekkom in charge of the new world. Max escapes and instantly tells Sarah, they both kidnap the President for his own safety and steal and self-driving taxi. They escape the centre of the city before the main lightning strike hits. Dekkom sends his men to chase them and after a small car chase. Max and Sarah head out onto the highway, where Dekkom is waiting with a few missiles, which blows up the taxi. Only a stupid person would forget that the taxi was self-driving so the main three are safe. They attack Dekkom and question him about his plans. Max explains that he'll react, the only way his brother would, by punching him square in the face.
Back up in space, the space station control is completely lost and a self-destruct is set in motion. All cities around the world are now experiencing natural disasters. Jae realises that the only person left, who could be causing this on board, is the cocky English guy. Trust the British. In the fight that ensues, Duncan, the Brit, shoots the window of the station and is soon sucked out into space. Jake is on the escape and wants to make sure that everyone gets to shuttles. Someone needs to stay to put in the reboot completion, as Max and Sarah take the President to the Space Centre, while it reveals that although the Geostorm can be stopped, it cannot stop the self-destruct. Jake knows that he has to stay and says goodbye to his brother, gets gratification from the President and waits for the inevitable. There is the usual show of brotherly love, before the communication is stopped. Everything seems to be predictable now and I'm instantly thinking that the female Commander has somehow stayed behind to help Jake because we never actually seen her leave. As Jake is flying though the space station, after it loses gravity, he tried to unlock a door with a code but with his time away from the station, he has forgotten each one. Earlier in the movie, Ute has helped him unlock a door before ad shown in which rooms had moved about. This time a hand comes from nowhere and it's Ute again. I was right and she's stayed behind in order to get Jake off the station. They work together to gain control of the satellites once more, transfer the main control to NASA and stopped the storm overall. She has the idea of clambering into a replacement satellite and launching into space. There is the usual obstacle scene of the two trying to get to the safety of the satellite, as the station explodes around them. Debris flies everywhere and they nearly loose each other but end up aboard and send flashes to attract attention. Back in NASA, Max has just seemingly watched his brother die. That's until someone notices a rouge satellite transmitting a signal in hopes of rescue. The ship to pick them up is one of the team that Jake used to investigate everything, the Mexican guy, who picks them up and brings them home. Six months later and Jake is once again on the program, as head engineer of a new system and back doing what he does best.
Walking out of this movie and I wasn't as disappointed as I thought I would be. It wasn't the best by any means. The storyline was an interesting idea, which then soon became very predictable but if you didn't expect too much, then it was easily enjoyable for what it was. The casting was alright but I do not know what was going on with Gerard Butler's face. He was constantly talking out of the side of his mouth, maybe to get the accent right, but it was really distracting. It was covered up well, who was behind the attacks and as it unravelled, quickly escalated into murder attempts galore. There was obviously an under-laying message regarding the fact of global warming and what it can do to the Earth, which gave one of two options. Either people would remember the movie or carry on as normal, or think about their actions and forget about this movie. It has been a while since the Earth faced extinction from a natural cause on a blockbuster stage and even with some decent special effects, this wasn't really a massive hit but nowhere near a disaster of a movie in my opinion. One thing is for sure, no-one can sacrifice themselves for their daughter quite like Bruce Willis in Armageddon.



Garmadon! (The Lego Ninjago Movie 2017)

 

 

 

151.

The Lego Ninjago Movie

 

 

 

 

6.5/10

 

 

A third main picture from the people who brought us The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie. I'm not looking forward to this one as much as I was for The Batman instalment but with a decent cast, this one can still have a lot of potential. Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Michael Pena and Jackie Chan gave their voices to this movie and comedy techniques along with them. The story revolves around a boy, who is shunned by everyone because his dad is an evil warlord, looking to take over the city. The son becomes a ninja and along with his friend, look to stop his father. Is this Lego movie going to be a masterpiece or a demolition job for the franchise?

The film begins with live action, as a small boy walks into an old relic shop and meets the owner, Mr Lui, played by Chan. He shows the man his Lego toy, one that is battered and scratched, missing an arm, until the old man takes it from him and adds some Ninja clothes, making him look brand new. The man has cat scratches all up his arm, from his pet cat, which he calls a monster and clearly isn't fond of. He then proceeds to open a small wooden box, which contains a wooden Lego man, dressed like and old Ninja Master. He starts to tell the story of Ninjago and we are transported into animation of the Lego world and instantly into an attack by the warlord, Garmadon. The city despises Lloyd for being the son of Garmadon, which puts the boys until massive emotional stress, with the unwillingness to go to college. His mother, Koko, clearly resents Garmadon for being the person that he is. The zoomed-out area of the city is seen to be a real, toy set, with stop motion action scenes for certain parts, until we are back to animation. Again, the group of warriors come to the aid of the city and Garmadon is sent back to his volcano to hatch up his next plan, which will be to make a giant mech that is immune to weapons. Throughout the fight scene, we could see some hidden jokes regarding a father and son's relationship as Lloyd couldn't catch things properly and his throwing was even worse. When Garmadon gets back to the volcano, the background noise is a tannoy declaring to cancel the celebration cake. The construction of the Mech is very much as you would expect from Lego. Popping out the parts and adding the stickers from a sheet, very much taking the piss out of itself.

Back in the city, the group of Ninjas find out that Master Wu is back, voiced by Chan. He tells them that they all have their own special abilities, which they must use, instead of their own giant mechs, if they intend to be true warriors. These include the control of water, earth, fire, electricity, wind etc but Lloyd is confused when he gets told that his element is green. Wu mention something called the ultimate weapon, giving him the hope of defeating his father, despite being forbidden from using it. Garmadon attacks again and this time Lloyd wants to use this forbidden weapon, which turns out to be a laser pen. The size of a human one, compared to the Lego figures. Although Lloyd is defeated at first, he finally uses the weapon, which attracts a real-life cat. Why not? Cats are attracted to laser pens and Chan's character called the cat at the beginning a monster. Meowthra starts destroying the city while trying to get the laser. Garmadon notices this and turns the laser onto the other mechs in order to take them down one by one. Once Garmadon states victory, Lloyd reveals that he is the Green Ninja and tells the warlord that he wishes he wasn't his father. This leaves the guy confused, mainly because he was never around to be his father anyway. This guy has no chill. Lloyd heads to see if Master Wu has survived and is cornered by his team, who are angry that he used the weapon. The team must travel over the vast beyond in order to find an ultimate, ultimate weapon, in order to stop the cat. The group travel far and are tailed by Garmadon, before Master Wu and the warlord have a fight, ending with Garmadon in a cage and Master Wu falling off a bridge, before being washed away by a river. That was too poor of an exit for him, I'm sure he'll be back.

The team decide to carry on and to Lloyd's disappointment, they are being led by Garmadon. They come across an army of fired staff from Garmadon's former army. The warlord and his son are the only two captured, until the rest of the Ninjas save them from certain death. We finally see a bit of building as they make a make-shift helicopter and the father and son bond as a result. Back in the city and there is a news report from a TV show called Good Morning Ninjago, which is a parody of the British show, Good Morning Britain, which has the same presenters. As the group of Ninjas escape, Lloyd has lost his arm, could this be the moment it links to the little boy's toy from the beginning of the movie, which had lost its arm too? One thing that I noticed from the movie is the good use of music. They have real songs, to link in with the certain scenes. As they first entered the jungle, it was 'Welcome to the Jungle' being played on Master Wu's flute. Then this changed to, 'I've got the power', as they were training. Another, would be the scene of the father and son bonding, which used the song containing lyrics, 'Like my father did'. These are very clever moments. The story continues as Lloyd's arm is put back into place and the gang fly off in a helicopter, before accidentally clipping a mountain top and crashing down just outside the Temple of Fragile Foundations. Garmadon reveals and show old pictures to his son, showing that his mother also used to be a warrior herself. This was their family home. He shows some humility regarding his mistakes, which include leaving his family to conquer the city. They find a chest containing the ultimate, ultimate weapon, before Garmadon steals it and offers his son the position of General. He obviously rebuffed in his advances and in a state of anger, he locks the gang in the Temple. From what I seen about the ultimate weapon, they are representative of each of the Ninja's powers. A Lego piece that looks like a flame, lightning bolt and so on, but Lloyd's green one is very plain and he doesn't know how to use it. It looks like of like a tree, but is clearly a base piece, one that has holes in its ends. My guess is that this is something that all of the other Ninja's pieces stick into, symbolising that the green one is needed as the main connection between them all, in order for them to work, which would be the same as Lloyd in the Ninja Warriors. We'll see. Lloyd remembers what Master Wu had told him, regarding inner peace. Each one of the tries to find their inner power and successfully escape the temple, but Lloyd didn't have a hand in the escape, apart from the idea of it. The cliff collapses, but they are saved by Master Wu, who was never really going to be dead. Garmadon has flown back to the city, in the helicopter which I though was broken. The Warlord is trying to control Meowthra, who ends up eating him instead and as the Ninja's return, Lloyd walks up to the cat, talking to it, but really talking to his father inside the beast, he mentions of forgiveness. Stating that the green means life, he reveals himself to the public to be Lloyd, the hated boy of the city. Listening inside, Garmadon cries tears of lava, which makes the cat spit him out and the movie draws to a close. The family have moved back in together and the Warlord meets his match in his ex-wife. The cat has become the city's mascot and Lloyd is finally accepted, being called a hero. As the story fully concludes, we are back to live action and the boy and Chan's character. He gives the toy back to the boy, but this time, it has its arm back. Mr Lui tells the young lad that he shall train him as a ninja. The boy has explained that he doesn't really have any friends, so was this Lego story about this boy all along?

This is definitely the weakest of the three Lego movies that I have watched but that isn't really a bad thing. It had its funny moments and some clever ones too, which made this an attractive feature, but that's kind of where it stops. It seemed to become a movie that the other two were poking fun at. Lego did make fun of itself but the storyline was very cliché. An outcast in school being the hero, fighting his Dad and if you've ever seen any movie ever, you'll guess the rest. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which are the parts that we have come to love in the first two Lego movies, but this just didn't seem to go that extra mile. Yet again the animation as great and along with the fast-paced action scenes, there was plenty to enjoy. Kids can be laughing at this humour for days, but for the more adult viewer, this movie seemed to limit its jokes to maybe one or two. Apparently, there is a TV series of Ninjago, but this movie was completely separate from that. Overall, this would be a brilliant film for a family sit down, but if you expect it to be as strong as the first and second, unfortunately, that's not really the case. 

I think it's the falling snow that sets the killer off (The Snowman 2017)

150.
The Snowman

7/10

Yet another film based on a novel, but for some reason, not the first in the series. Instead, this will be the 7th instalment in the story of a detective called Harry Hole. The trailer is very promising, with a serial killer on the loose, replacing their victim's heads with the head of a snowman. Michael Fassbender is playing Harry Hole, in this crime thriller, which is also being classified as a horror too. I haven't read the source material, but the book is being hailed as the best in the series. With a very, very decent looking cast, this movie could have quite a few things going for it. I may have spoiled something for myself with the trailer. When I looked at the cast listings, I seen Val Kilmer's name, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen within the trailer itself. Could this mean that he is our prime suspect? So, onto the watch. Will this movie leave us with a terrible cold or will be barely be a crisp wind?

The movie begins, with a child and his mother living in a remote house in the snow and a cop pulls up. The three sit around the table and he begins questioning the young boy about the history of Norway. With each answer that is wrong, his mother gets a slap across the head. You can tell that this is the origin story of the murderer. So many cases are put down to a bad upbringing and some sort of trauma in their childhood. This is carried on through his mother going to bed with this man and after the deed, telling him that he is going to tell his son who his father is. The boy over hears this and runs out into the snow, as the policeman flees and the mother puts her son in the car and drives onto a frozen lake, seemingly expressionless. There were some weird camera angles used to follow the car to its destination, one's that made the scene look very fake. The boy gets out of the car and watches as his mother sinks, to end her suffering and leave her son to defend for himself. We fast forward to present day and find Harry Hole passed out in a kid's park, walking to work and sitting in the canteen. One thing we notice about him is that he is a solitary man, moving any other chairs away from his table, so that no one else could sit with him. His boss walks in to tell him that he cannot keep defending him and covering for him when he has one of these nights of drinking. A new female detective has joined the force and has been studying Hole's case files from years back. She is kind of an admirer for his work and when she goes to work on a disappearance case, Harry too, goes along. We have already seen the happenings as a woman is making her way home from work, been pelted with a snowball in a car park and she is followed by a car and as she pulls over to let it pass, it too pulls over and then speeds off. When she gets home, she notices her daughter through the window, who is clearly waiting for her mother isn't home yet. The mother walks through the garden and sees a snowman so texts her daughter about it, to which the daughter has no clue about, so the mother takes a picture. The camera pans out a little to show the car that was first following this woman, is now parked across the road. We know that this is going to be out first main case. Slowly, the camera turns to a point of view shot and footsteps coming up the stairs. Instantly, we think that this is going to be our murderer, but it's the father/husband. He isn't best pleased, as his wife walks through the door, making him late for his appointment elsewhere. The child is put to bed and the woman reads in her own, until a snowball hits her window as the scenario moves on as the child wakes up the next morning to a cold house, one that she cannot find her mother in but sees a snowman outside with her mother's scarf around its neck.

Once the two arrive at the house, with Harry staying in the car and Katrine leading the questions with the Husband. Harry takes it on himself to have a look around and question the young girl. She lets on that there were problems in the marriage, before the conversation is spoilt by Katrine's phone going off in the doorway, as she eavesdrops. The story flips back 9 years, to another city where a murderer is being chased in a case. The main detective in this is Val Kilmer, the guy that I thought would be the murderer anyways after the trailer. He's a drunk, who finds a body cut up in the ice. In the end, the case gets the best of him and he goes to a wooden hut and kills himself. As soon as it's mentioned that he has a daughter, I can guess that the girl is Katrine. Harry's house is being done for damp and as he gets out and about, a call comes in about as missing woman. They head off to investigate and they both come across a woman working in her shed, who is actually the woman who is meant to be missing. As they drive away, they know something is up and turn back around but by the time they get back, we have already been treated to the murderer making easy work of his latest victim. On a second arrival, they find her body and later her head, put onto the top of a snowman's body. In the meantime, some side stories arise, with the city looking at a bid for the winter Olympics and we meet Harry's ex-girlfriend and her son. She now has a new boyfriend and seems a stand-up gentleman, just trying to be a father figure for her son and trying to get on with Harry. The son though, prefers Harry and even after being let down several times, he still agrees to go to a concert with him for his birthday.
We can see that Harry is thinking about Katrine's hidden agenda of proving that her father didn't kill himself. In an earlier scene, she had followed him into an auditorium, where he in introduced to a female, who has her top taken off her and then she is lead away by a well know doctor. The doctor is then questioned by the two, the next day, on arrival, they see a woman looking through a small window, although the doctor says that he is home alone. He gets agitated when questioned and soon demands a warrant, until they leave. They come to the conclusion that the doctor is the snowman but just as they head to arrest him, he is found dead, in his garage, in a staged killing that makes him look like it was suicide, in exactly the same way that Katrine's father's body was found. Soon the attention moves to Arve, Simmons' character once more. He enjoys sleeping with many woman and is determined to be the father of a few kids already, including the woman who was beheaded already. The two get invited to a party around the time of the announcement for the Olympics, which the city win. All the time, J.K Simmons' character, who is leading the way for the city's bid, is being introduced to young women, who he randomly takes close up pictures off before ushering the off. One of them being an undercover Katrine, who later gets him room key on invite for the after party. Inside the room, she waits to confront him, but instead is attacked by the killer anyway.

Harry is on his way to the cabin where Katrine's father had killed himself, to prove that it was staged, which he does. On the train there, he bumps into his ex's new boyfriend, who reminds him that Harry is supposed to be on a trip with the boy. Harry is angry that he forgotten but this guy, Mathias, rings his girlfriend and says that it was his fault and he missed the message. Good guy. As the story moves on, Katrine is now out of the picture from her injuries so Harry leads the investigation himself now and the only link they can find between it all is that the women all went to the same doctor. That doctor being Mathias. A few people are in uproar with this reveal. They explain how it is nothing like the suspense created within the book. By the time Harry gets to his Ex's apartment to save her, they have already been taken, and a phone call confirms that he has taken them. A car chase ensues and with each turn, the cars flip from being Mathias' to Harry's. In Mathias' apartment, the drawing and pictures were exactly the same as his childhood home from the beginning of the movie and this is where we are taken next. As Harry walks down the stairs into the kitchen to see the young boy tied up in the same seat as Mathias from the beginning, he walks around the room and Mathias has his back to him. Walking around the table, it reveals the mother, that Mathias has been standing behind and now it’s time to some personal questions for Harry. Each one he has wrong means that the rope around the woman's neck gets tighter. There are flashbacks to the beginning of the movie, but this time it is going to be someone else's mother who will be hurt. A scuffle commences as Harry grabs this wired rope with his little finger, which gets cuts off and Matias makes it to the door with Harry's gun. He doesn't follow straight away, but makes sure the two are ok before heading after the murderer. Finally, he decided to run, unarmed, after and armed man, into the woods. Finding himself on a frozen lake and maybe the one from the beginning, Harry gets shot. On the floor, bleeding, Mathias walks towards him, with Harry hoping he takes a few more steps, which he does, cracking through some thin ice and into the depths. As he sinks, we see the face of his childhood self, going down into the depths.

I quite enjoyed this movie, but nowhere near as much as I thought I would. I was glad that I hadn't spoilt who the murderer was, by looking into the trailer a little too much and because I had focused on Kilmer too much, I totally missed any signs of who the main suspect actually was. I haven't read any of the books, let alone this one, so I have no idea if it was close to the source material or not. It wastes no time in character development and gets straight to the point with a lot of the case points too. But at the same time, with quite a few strong characters, there seems to be no substance other than simply to add to the main plot. The main thing that totally baffled me was the use of Val Kilmer. When I was watching it, I knew something was up with the acting and it turns out that his voice had been dubbed! I would have enjoyed a bit more suspense at times and there is no real explanation of why certain things are happening. On the reverse side, this movie can be enjoyable for many people because it is easy to follow and so informative for its viewers. There is never a point where is beats around the bush. The scenery and location are beautiful and adds to the coldness of the murderer and cases files. The first half of the movie showed a lot of promise but as the suspects and story carried through, it did get a little messy. It has plenty of room for improvements but I'm not too sure if we will ever see any more in the series.

We might die together and I don't even know you (The Mountain Between Us 2017)

 

 

 

149.

The Mountain Between Us

 

 

 

 

6.5/10

 

Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are going to be stuck up a mountain together after a plane crash. The film is based on a book, by the same name, written by Chris Martin, so the story should have some decent cliff hangers, mind the pun. The trailer has already shown us that. What it didn't show us was if there is going to be more than two main cast members and if they actually made it down. Let's hope this isn't one that should have died on impact!

The film begins inside an airport, as many flights are being cancelled and everyone is left stranded due to an incoming storm. Ben Bass, played by Elba and Alex Martin, played by Winslet are in the same queue and Alex overhears Ben talk about the fact that he needs to get home. He is a surgeon and there is a patient waiting for him to have an operation. She has a wedding the next day so is equally desperate. She has a contact, a local pilot and agree a fee to fly with him and his dog, over the mountains before the storm truly hits. During the flight, a little turbulence is noticed but nothing serious, until Walter has a stroke and the plane comes crashing down into the snowy caps. Walter doesn't survive, but the two strangers and the dog thankfully too. I'm happier about the dog to be fair. Waking up, Ben, thankfully knowing a little about first aid, tends to an unconscious Alex's wounds and sets off to evaluate their situation. He knows they must make it down with any chance of making it out alive. Alex wakes up and gives the usual, 'leave me behind', even though everyone knows she doesn't want to be and won't be left. He walks to a mountain peak and has a look, finding nothing of note and heads back to the plane. Inside the plane, Alex finds Ben's recorder and listens to something from his wife, which talks about her leaving him. Then she notices a cougar outside, which to my anguish, the dog leaves to attack and all we hear is the big cat coming out on top. The cat enters the plane, where Alex fires a flare into its face and it runs away. Ben is on his way back down and nearly falls off a cliff edge, before making it back to see the blood. With a jog on, he finds Alex and the dog alive, with injuries and follows the blood trail to find the dead cougar, which they use to have a meal. I'm really routing for this dog.

Being stranded alone for days, they find their strength in each other, to push each other along, until Alex decides that help is no longer coming and wants to make her way down the mountain. Ben doesn't agree and she leaves, with the dog, whilst he is asleep. After their heated argument, Ben wakes and follows, knowing they need each other and she too is grateful for him following her down. In the distance, she sees something flashing between the trees in a valley. They know that cannot make it down before darkness, so lay in a cave for shelter and body warmth. They make their descent the next morning and finally walk towards the flashing. Alex rests her injured leg as Ben and the dog chase a rabbit, until he comes across a cabin. In the meantime, we and Alex hear some cracking, as she is sitting upon a frozen river. She heads on in, freezing and unconscious, Ben pulls her out and takes her to the cabin, pumping her with any meds he can find and warming her up, eventually reviving her. This place has been abandoned for years, but it will do. Once Ben is out collecting more wood, Alex again listens to that recorder and the full message from his wife. This time though, she is caught in the act and Ben seems angry. She simply explains that she knows nothing about him and he never talks about his wife. This leads to a conversation about it all and the fact that his wife died two years ago from a brain tumour. Wow, that was a little bit emotional. A day later, they are still in the cabin and the time has come that they both give in to each other. A quick sex scene ends with Ben sleeping and Alex taking photos of him, being the journalist, she figures she isn't making it out alive, so takes any pictures she can. The next morning and Ben has decided that Alex's proposal of leaving her behind is their only chance. As he walks away though, he quickly runs back, knowing he can't truly leave her there and the two, again, press on for survival.

The walk takes it out of them and both are tiring fast, Alex falls asleep against a tree, maybe never able to wake again and in the distance, Ben seems a timber yard. Survival! As they make one final push, Ben gets caught on the final hurdle, as a bear trap wraps around his leg and he's stranded. Alex now knows that it is up to her. She makes it to the yard and collapses in front of a lorry, as the driver exits and runs to her aid. The scene switches to Ben's eyes and him waking in a hospital bed, finally saved, but I can see that his hands are bandaged. This guy isn't going to be a surgeon now but at least he has his life. He walks the corridor, finding Alex's room, where he husband is present, thanking Ben for all that he has done, but we can see that there is an awkwardness about all of this. Ben replies that she saved him and seemingly leaves the room heartbroken. This guy fell for her. The film gets carried through the personal side now, as Alex has a party for her arrival and there is talk with her and her husband, Mark, about the wedding they never had. He can see that something is up and knows that he may have lost her heart. In the night, Alex tries calling Ben, who is back working in the hospital, but he keeps declining her phone calls. In the end, she sends over the pictures that she took whilst they were trying to survive, with the little message that only he would understand them, after her refusal to get the published. When he finally calls her, they agree to meet up where he explains that he never spoke to her in the fear that she would have been married by now. She admits that she isn't and that she was in love with him up the mountain, but he cannot find it in himself to take her back after she left went back to her fiancé after being rescued. As they depart with a hug, the camera flicks back and fore to show their faces as they both walk away from each other. We know that one will at least turn around, it's too predictable for nothing to happen. Both turn around and give a jog towards each other, embracing with a hug, the movie ends.

This film felt like two different ones to me. The first was about survival and extreme scenarios and as soon as they got back it was a pure love story, which had built up as the whole film had progressed. If I had to compare it to one movie, it was very much like 'Castaway'. The same story of survival turning to romance once rescued. The casting was pretty decent and I'm a big fan of Elba. With Winslet, I think anyone could have played her part and she got on my tits a little bit. I couldn't imagine what that scenario would be like but if I was with a doctor, staying that way would be my best chance of survival, not walking off. I was chuffed to see that the dog survived! Always a plus point for me and Ben gave him a home too. The setting for the movie was beautiful, with panoramic shots and at times, an eerie silence, created the mood and aspects of how alone these two and the dog were. As for the bad points, there wasn't much suspense and what was there to be seen, was easily hurdled when the time came. It seemed all to convenient, almost as if they would rather move onto the romance side of the story. I could have done without the ending to the movie to be fair, thinking that the last 25 minutes could have been spent elsewhere.