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Arrival (2016)
Clever, contemplative and dreamlike...
I was expecting a good movie as I enjoyed the recent Prisoners and Sicario by the same director. This turned out to be a GREAT movie! If you've seen the trailer you'd be forgiven for thinking this is a standard alien invasion film, and perhaps that you've seen all the best bits already. But Arrival is clever, contemplative and dreamlike, and not short of surprises. Amy Adams is wonderful and her character carries the entire film. In fact, for a film about aliens, the overwhelming theme is of humanity. The main message is one that is extremely important to me - we are all in this together and communication is the key.
The Accountant (2016)
"Batman the Accountant"
Oh dear! I can't say that I really enjoyed this one! Let's make a movie about an autistic super-accountant who uncooks the books for the world's biggest criminals... OK, that's not actually a terrible premise... now let's also make him a martial arts expert... OK ... and he's also a crack shot killing machine... right ... oh and he's also Ben Affleck... I mean, it just reached a point where there was no way it was going to be believable! (Sorry this is definitely a rant rather than a review!!!) This movie is basically Batman the Accountant. He even has a tragic backstory, and intense combat training somewhere in East Asia. I was willing to suspend my disbelief, but the narrative was farcical and filled with unnecessary flashback upon flashback and convenient coincidences. To quote one of the characters: "This makes no sense!". And of course there is a cheesy accounting montage! Real people do not write numbers or data or formulae on walls and windows, they use a computer! I know that's not cinematic but seriously, how many times do we need to see this trope? And whilst we're talking tropes - autism is not synonymous with superpowers. Yes some people on the spectrum have exceptional, enhanced abilities and it's OK to make a movie about this - but there is a point in this film where it suggests that all do, which isn't the case. OK, rant over! Not even the wonderful J.K. Simmons and Jeffrey Tambor could save this one...
Swiss Army Man (2016)
The soundtrack is the highlight of this awkward bromance movie...
Essentially a typical buddy comedy/bromance movie filled with awkward moments and fart jokes... except that one of the buddies is a talking corpse with magical powers. I don't think I laughed once but it did make me smile quite a few times. Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe both gave great performances (Radcliffe especially, playing a corpse is a LOT harder than it looks!) but overall the movie is nothing special. The concept is so bizarre that I really wanted to like it, but it failed to deliver a satisfying conclusion and thus felt like it was all for nothing. I was shocked to see that The Guardian gave this ONE star and Empire gave it FIVE! For me it was probably a 3 star movie... mostly enjoyed it but won't watch again. Though I can't stop listening to the awesome a-capella soundtrack which was definitely the highlight of the film!
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)
The score is unsettling and beautiful, but the plot falls flat...
The Girl with All the Gifts was OK. It got off to a great start and had a good ending, but it really fell flat in the middle, where the plot and tension seemed to fade. The premise is interesting - it actually manages to put a unique twist on the tired zombie apocalypse genre (which is certainly no easy feat these days!). The film was mostly let down by the sub par make-up, VFX and acting (though the young girl was fantastic). Considering the low budget, maybe I shouldn't be so critical. The best bit of the movie was definitely Cristobal Tapia de Veer's score, which was both unsettling and beautiful in equal measures.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Not so peculiar after all...
This was a bit of a let down unfortunately. I really enjoyed the first act and I was intrigued to see where it was heading, but then it felt as if the entire plot was crammed into the second half (and the plot wasn't actually that interesting, nor the villain particularly scary). Asa Butterfield and Eva Green were convincing, but the rest of the acting fell a little flat. For a Tim Burton film about peculiar children I really wanted MORE peculiarity. I feel it suffered from being set in the "real world". My favourite Tim Burton films are those that are heavily stylised. Avoid, unless you're Tim Burton's biggest fan.
Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Does what it says on the tin...
An action-thriller disaster movie based on true events - basically you go in already knowing what to expect and that's pretty much what you get. I certainly wasn't bored, but I also wasn't overly thrilled. The tension does build up to good effect, though unfortunately there were no standout moments or performances. (I've never been a Mark Wahlberg fan, though he is perfectly tolerable here, Kurt Russell is decent, as is John Malkovich, though I found his Cajun accent jarring).
Loss of human life is, of course, tragic and it's understandable that this was the focus, but I'm disappointed that they barely even mentioned the horrific ecological disaster that followed.
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
Magical, beautiful and emotional...
What can I say!? I really love Laika films - their stop-motion animation style is wonderful and they make movies that truly appeal to all ages. This film certainly didn't disappoint! Kubo was magical, beautiful, and emotional. The stop-motion animation was incredible, perhaps the best I've ever seen (and apparently this is the longest stop-motion picture ever made!) Though the plot feels very familiar, the world was so well realised and there are plenty of minor surprises along the way. The sentimental moments are handled with perfection - I genuinely had tears rolling down my cheeks at the end! Highly recommended!
I, Daniel Blake (2016)
A sympathetic criticism of Britain's benefits system
A sympathetic criticism of Britain's benefits system that proudly sticks two fingers up at the Tory government (and bureaucracy in general). I appreciated the sentiment but at times I felt as if I was watching a naive and preachy student film rather than the work of an experienced, award-winning (80 year old!) director. The stark contrast between the innocent protagonists and the malicious civil servants was often overplayed and unrealistic. The plot just sort of trudges through the painful everyday lives of its main characters in a poignant yet predictable manner, though with two stand-out scenes (a distressing moment inside a food bank and a cathartic scene outside the job centre). I did shed a few tears and it was definitely worth watching, but probably not a film I will remember in years to come.