A Quiet Place Part II

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Craig M

Viewed – 23 June 2021 Cinema

A Quiet Place was certainly one of my favourite movies of the year it came out. A clever twist on the alien invasion movie, with a focus on a single family rather than mankind’s fight against an overwhelming threat. It gave the movie a lot of heart, with a stand out performance from Emily Blunt. This sequel again focus’s on Blunt, whilst also exploring how the invasion began.

The ticking time bomb concept of a pregnant Blunt and the prospect of a baby (that cries) was what helped build much of the nerve-shredding tension of the first movie. This unfortunately feels devoid of much of that tension other than the having to keep silent aspect. Thankfully this at least lead to some effective sequences (including one hell of a jump scare early on) and along with the movie’s excellent use of sound (and silence) I still found myself on edge. However, apart from a couple of plot developments, overall this failed to build on what was learnt in the first movie, leading to an ending that sets up a third entry where everything I hoped for in this instalment will likely be left for that movie. Frustrating.

Thankfully the cast is decent. Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy steals the show from main star Blunt (who bizarrely doesn’t get to do much), and along with Millicent Simmonds as the deaf daughter, prove to be the main draw of this sequel. Creature design is also freaky but lacks variety, and we don’t really learn much new about them. Direction throughout is tense and quite atmospheric, and overall I enjoyed this enough … but couldn’t shake the feeling it was simply more of the same, yet not as good.

Verdict: Good

Crawl

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Craig M

Viewed – 30 December 2019. Online rental

As a hurricane hits a small town, Haley, a professional swimmer seeks out her estranged father after she’s unable to contact him, However during her attempt at a rescue a ravenous group of alligators find their way into the gradually flooding town.

Director Alexandre Aja continues to be a reliable prospect and has delivered some solid genre movies namely brutal French slasher Switchblade Romance and the gore-tastic Piranha 3D. This latest effort lacks some depth between the principle leads with a hinted at troubled past only vaguely mentioned, and a bit more detail would have added to the emotion of the father & daughter bonding. With that said, lead actress Kaya Scodelario does bring a raw believability to her character throughout. Yet this remains all about the situation, and thankfully, Alexandre Aja cranks up the thrills and tension. The alligators are convincing, genuinely scary and brutally vicious resulting in several heart-in-mouth moments that kept me glued. Also the backdrop of the hurricane and its gradually building ferocity makes for plenty of edge of the seat moments.

Even if this can’t escape its creature flick / b-movie roots … with a decent budget and a skilled director, this still managed to work me up and wear me out.

Verdict: Good

The Revenant

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Craig M

Viewed – 28 January 2016 Cinema

(updated: 06/08/2016) Director Alejandro González Iñárritu is quickly becoming one of my favorite film makers, and I can’t say I’ve yet seen a movie that hasn’t impressed me in some way. After all his last effort, Birdman was my movie of the year for 2015. So him teaming up with one of my favorite actors, namely Leonardo DiCaprio seemed a marriage made in heaven.

the-revenant

DiCaprio plays frontiersman Hugh Glass who whilst out with a group of men to gather supplies and food for their village, is attacked by a Grizzly bear and almost killed. Despite his comrades choosing to help and carry him back home, the journey proves too tough so Tom Hardy’s conflicted frontiersman and Glass’s half Indian son along with another of the men choose to stay behind and find a less treacherous way around a mountain to get back home. Only problem is Hardy is only out for himself and double crosses Glass, abandoning him. Glass then has to survive against the odds to find a way back home in a harsh and unforgiving wilderness.

Superlatively filmed with no end of eye-catching skill, Iñárritu delivers a gritty and powerful experience that leaves little to the imagination. DiCaprio gives more a truly physical performance than a typical acting one and has only smatterings of dialogue throughout. Yet he is convincing as hell as he faces off against the elements; stampeding buffalo, hostile Indian tribes and nature itself whilst tending to wounds that would normally kill the average man. I was thoroughly gripped by Glass’s plight and even though his journey is long and ponders life, death, love and family among all the survival stuff, I wasn’t bored. However, the grueling tone felt hard going and it gets fairly gory in places, meaning some scenes were quite unsettling. It’s also rather vague with the details, who’s who, when the story is actually set etc. Yet as Glass faces one problem after the other, the drawn out sequences and almost dream-like feel seemed necessary to get the full effect. Hardy is also very good despite a difficult to understand accent, but his character was probably one of the more interesting he’s taken on for a while. However above all else I’d call this Iñárritu’s show – his eye for poetic imagery, stunning cinematography and amazing detail even made such things as running water look gorgeous – and boy can he film a battle sequence!

It’s not a movie to expect it’s point to be reached all that quickly. It’s also quite unconventional as far as it’s performances go. Yet it’s a story that needs to slowly unravel and linger on things, which granted won’t be for everyone. But if like me you can appreciate real film making with real meaning, then this is simply essential viewing.

Verdict: 5 /5