Rodent's Reviews

Rodent's Reviews: Delivering The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly In Film

Rodent's Reviews: PART DEUX!

Rodent's 1950-Present Sci-Fi And Futuristic Fantasy Movies

Shaun Of The Dead


Red Strawberry

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All in all, Shaun sums up what it takes to make an almost perfect comedy horror.
It's highly gory when needed, full of great acting chemistry, real and surreal, has great dialogue and even manages to pull a few heartstrings with the character arcs that run through the running time too.
Brilliant.

My rating: 97%

Hot Fuzz

Blue Original

Nicholas Angel is an exceptional Policema... ... Police Officer.
He's so successful that his collegues in London are embarrassed by his success and his Superiors ship him off to a quiet little, crime free town called Sandford in the middle of nowhere, much to Nicholas' chagrin.

Within minutes of arriving in Sandford however, he arrests most of the youth population and near closes the local pub too.
Basically making a name for himself immediately.

When something ominous appears in the shadows of Sandford's alleyways, Nicholas, long with his new Police Officer Partner Danny Butterman, start making waves by accusing everyone on Sandford of wrong-doings.

Is Nicholas' inability to "turn off" causing him to go mad?
Or is Sandford, the crime free Model Town, really just a cover for something more sinister?


Another awesome, awesome awesome (yep, an extra awesome) turn of events from the team behind Shaun Of The Dead.
This time round, the overall aura of the film is a touch more serious but the humour and dialogue writing is just as good, just as real and surreal in places and, if not a little bit better than the predecessor.

It contains the same hints of small scale storytelling with a hint of larger things going on in the background as Shaun had, but in a sleepy town setting rather than inside a pub.
The main thing with Fuzz though is that there's a much better written character arcs on all levels. Pretty much all of the main cast are given room to grow with their respective roles, and Pegg and Frost are given much more fleshed out characters too, who then develope along the running time as well.
The dialogue has also been tweeked, along with some bad language anad some extremely funny one-liners mixed into the occasional talky and more quieter scene between new-cop-buddies Angel and Butterman.

With all that mixed with the acting chemistry that was seen in Shaun, this film is a definite must see.


Which brings me to the acting.
Pegg and Frost, well, where to begin. They seem to have had much more riegn with this one. A large chunk of their scenes were also ad libbed (albeit in-keeping with the script) along the running time to and it makes the whole thing much funnier.

Back up this time round comes from heavyweight Bill Nighy (again), Martin Freeman (again), Rafe Spall (again)... but with additions from Paddy Considine, Olivia Coleman, Bill Bailey, Bill Bailey again, and more heavyweights in the forms of Edward Woodward, Steve Coogan, Cate Blanchett, Joe Cornish, Jim Broadbent and Timothy Dalton.

Everyone on board also seems to be enjoying themselves immensly too. The overall atmosphere is tip top.


What's special about Fuzz compared to the first film, is that it's much more high octane in terms of action and effects.

There's the usual surrealsim in terms of some of the scenes like Shaun did, but the action overall is much more explosive, much faster, much more exciting and still has elements of blood and gore and bad language to it too.
With Pegg's character Angel being a Supercop, imagin Shaun Of The Dead but with, well, a Supercop in the thick of the action.

They're also managed to incorporate some homages to other movies amongst the chases and gunfights too. Top stuff!

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All in all, louder, prouder, funnier and much better written. The chemistry on screen is top notch and the action and effects improved 100%.
It's also much more likeable with the fact that there's more characters to get behind and laugh out loud with.
It's also a rare thing, although it's not a direct sequel, it still outweighs the first film.

My rating: 98%

Year Of Release
2013

Director/s
Edgar Wright

Producer/s
Nira Park, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner

Writer/s
Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg

Cast
Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, Reece Shearsmith, Bill Nighy and Pierce Brosnan

Synopsis:
Gary King, a self obsessed slacker, stuck in the past and hooked on holding onto his youth... decides one day to round up all his old school mates and try one last time to do "The Golden Mile", a pub crawl through their hometown of Newton Haven.


Reluctantly, the others agree, they've all moved on with their lives afterall but think it may be nice to catch up after all these years... but on arriving at Newton Haven the group discover something odd with the townspeople... and something odd about Gary King Of The Humans.

Review:

Erm... ok...


This film has been not so much slammed by fans of the first two Cornetto films... but it was met with a warm reception.


TWE, I found, was a warm and loving nod to nostalgia and the thoughts that go through the heads of most people pushing 40 years old... and throws that sentiment into a sci-fi mystery setting and laces the whole thing with the recognisable Pegg-Frost-Wright-Situational-Humour and visual gags.


What I liked about TWE is the way it ties into the first two movies as the spiritual sequel it was meant to be.
This film is like a culmination of what the trilogy stands for... the same/similar gags and running jokes... set into 3 disparate films:
1) Shaun's Horror 2) Fuzz's Action 3) End's Sci-Fi



The movie does lack that touch of originality though... Shaun and Fuzz were parody style movies and faithful loving nods to films of olde, and they upped the ante with some cracking writing... TWE lacks the cutting edge creativity and I think it's down to not being a parody of anything.

That said, with it being relatively original, it stands out from the other two even more so... and in a good way.



There is however, one thing that far outweighs the other two films. Character writing.
The characters seen throughout have been given a real decent treatment and backstory that unfolds throughout the film... and Gary King in particular has been given a history that is far more touching and tragic than any character seen in the Cornetto films so far.
Thumbs up for that!



As for the acting...
Pegg and Frost are at their usual... playing off each other for the kicks and coming to loggerheads as their differing characters disagree with each other.
Nick Frost in this one is much more the everyman than an oafish simple minded buffoon, and is almost more of a lead role than Pegg too.

Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan and Martin Freeman as the other friends in the group are also a joy to watch.
Totally different characters with what feels like genuine history between them meeting up for the first time in donkey's years and they all work so well together alongside Pegg and Frost.

Rosamund Pike backs the guys up in a kind of "revisited love triangle" and she's pretty funny too when she's given the right direction.



There's also more action, effects and, well, stuff going on in this one.
Fuzz was pretty action oriented, but TWE adds a pile of CGI and pyrotechnics on top of the car chases, fisticuffs and running around like lunatics.
The general aura of the film is top drawer too. The photography, choreography and general scene placement add huge mystery between the more highly charged scenes.

The effects budget also hasn't been spared. The odd hit of puppetry and CGI is top drawer.

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All in all, lacking that original touch... but also more original in that it wasn't heavily parodying other films.
Better character writing and a better story behind it, and definitely more personal in terms of plot devices that come from the character backgrounds.

Tons of fun too, if anything, more fun than the first two, if not quite as funny.

Just a shame the Cornetto gag was lacking

My Rating: 95%

Year Of Release
2002

Director/s
Ellory Elkayem

Producer/s
Bruce Berman, Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich

Writer/s
Ellory Elkayem, Jesse Alexander

Cast
David Arquette, Kari Wührer, Scott Terra, Scarlett Johansson, Doug E Doug, Leon Rippy and Tom Noonan


Notes
The movie itself is inspired by Elkayem's short film in 1997 called Larger Than Life and was originally going to be called Arac Attack.
The current title of the film came about when Arquette ad-libbed the line "Get back you eight legged freaks!" though Arac Attack is a used title among some European countries.

Synopsis:
The A-Typical accident in a small town sees a barrel of toxic waste dropped into a lake... of course, this radiated the nearby wildlife, including insects...

... and these insects are gathered by Joshua, a local man with an exotic Spider Farm, so he can feed his beloved Arachnids.

Unbeknown to Joshua, his business is about to grow into something bigger than he could ever expect.



Review:
Heh! Right, Freaks is a serious guilty pleasure of mine since I first saw it about 10 years ago.

It was slammed by a number of critics and movie goers but if you can get into the hammy and campy feel of the film, it is an absolute blast.

Many have called it an homage, or even a failed homage to the olde B-Movies but what the film really is, is an homage-parody.

The general writing and especially the dialogue, seem to have been made cheesy and campy on purpose, but delivered by the actors in a serious way, which makes the film much funnier in a subtle way than other parodies like the numerous X Movies (Scary Movie or Epic Movie etc).
It then backs up the subtle and knowing campiness with hits of slapstick and the occasional pulling-a-funny-face by the actors and has some pretty darned good action and effects that drive the plot along.

Think along the lines of the Tremors sequels... except this film has the benefit of being intentionally funny whereas Tremors 2-4 are unintentionally crap.
Eight Legged Freaks also has the added bonus of Scarlett Johansson in nothing but a towel getting squirted with buckets of white stuff.



The acting throughout is pretty decent too.
David Arquette seems to be having the most fun as our lead. He has a natural knack for capturing cheesiness in his roles, along with stuff like Scream for instance, and he fits perfectly in a movie like this.

Kari Wührer is also good to see as the main heroine and love interest for Dave. She plays off Arquette's camp side with a tendency to go serious and pouty and she can certainly hold herself in the action scenes too.

Doug E Doug is pretty cool too. He's like the nutjob the group. A radio broadcaster who believes in Aliens and Government conspiracies yet has trouble believing in Spiders. Doug brings a genuine element of zany comedy to the mix though, especially when he seems to have been given free reign with his lines.

Scott Terra and Scarlett Johansson as Wührer's kids play pivotal, if slightly background characters but both are good throughout.


Backup comes from Leon Rippy, Rick Overton, Tom Noonan (uncredited), and Frank Welker's voiceover as our villainous spiders.



The action and effects are top fun too.
Slapstick, blood, cartoonish elements (including a cat being chomped) a few deaths, some dead bodies and tons of slime and goo.
Mixed into some pretty decent chase scenes, including kids on dirt bikes and some car chases, some underground action in an old mine and various people getting chomped up like cannon fodder while our main heroes do their campiest best to stop the invasion.

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All in all, hammy fun and knowingly cheesy... and runs with it along with the actors getting into the fun.
Backed up by various takes on Incy Wincy Spider as the backing track.

Though technically not the best film of its type, films like Tremors, Zombieland and even Slither etc take that title, Freaks is still top fun.

Proper guilty pleasure of mine.

My rating: 84%

JayDee's Movie Musings (Reviews - Frailty / Total Recall / Lone Ranger / Nightcrawler / Whiplash / Imitation Game / Birdman / Avengers: Age of Ultron / Mad Max: Fury Road)

Year Of Release
2009

Director/s
Duncan Jones

Producer/s
Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler

Writer/s
Nathan Parker, Duncan Jones

Cast
Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey

Notes
Duncan Jones was originally a Commercial Director for French Connection Clothing, and had also worked as a cameraman at his Father's (David Bowie) Birthday Party... Moon was his first full length feature and won 9 of the 15 awards he was nominated for.

Synopsis:
Lunar Industries in the year 2035 are the leading supplier of clean and renewable energy... they scour the Moon's surface using automated machines, collecting Helium-3 which the Moon has a bountiful supply of, and then they ship it back to Earth.

Involved in the process is a one man workforce, Sam Bell, who keeps an eye on the machines, does some handiwork and repairs when needed and keeps the Moon Base in order. Alongside Sam, is GERTY, an A.I droid/computer that assists Sam, keeps him safe and sane (something to talk to).

When Sam has an accident though... an extremely disturbing secret is revealed about Sam's purpose, life and very existence.

Review:
One of the best films of 2009?... nope... one of the best films of the 2000s...


Moon is basically an acting lesson, a choreography lesson and a writing/screenplay lesson for all budding movie makers.

There's not a great deal happens in the first chunk of the film, we get to meet Sam and GERTY, learn their relationship, Sam's character and what he's there for and how some of the isolation has affected his character.
Then, the accident happens...

After that, things get spooky and mysterious and the viewer is never really sure what is happening around Sam... are we witnessing something through his isolation effected mind or are these things really happening?

After the explanation is given though, it throws the audience into almost a psychological panic alongside the main character we've come to not just know, or think we know, but have also fallen in love with.
The twist/explanation that happens in the middle of the film also gives a highly philosophical edge as the viewer now begins to question their feelings toward Sam(s).

Even GERTY is given a change in personality... the viewer gets thrown on the backfoot a number of times when GERTY seems to change his/its alliances.

The very atmosphere of the movie is built up of the mystery surrounding Sam(s)... his journey to find the truth and disturbing realisations are wonderfully simplistic yet brilliantly original, making the film easy to understand, especially when it could have been highly confusing.
You never forget the feeling of loneliness though which adds depth to the setting.



Sam Rockwell nails this role though. He has to play a number of different styles of character in the film... aggressive, thoughtful, hyperactive, injured, fit and well... and at times incredibly funny too, his conversations, arguments and insults with himself, are hilarious to watch.
Lacing all of the emotions with a disturbed and confused undertone and some madness (from the isolation) thrown in too.
Simply put, I don't think anyone could have done this better than Rockwell. Absolutely 1st Class.

Kevin Spacey backs him up as the voice of GERTY.
Spacey is also on top form. He does a kind of monotone voice for the droid... similar to his voice in Se7en and even has a strange sense of menace about him. That screenas well which shows his apparent emotion is also pretty spooky.



Action and effects... well, think of this film as a Sci-Fi-Drama... a Sci-Fi with a Human story to tell... with the CGI and practical effects around the base and out on the Moon's surface simply backing the story up.

It's all rendered nicely though, is highly realistic and the makeup jobs are top.
The choreography too for Sam Rockwell is absolutely brilliant though and is so well put together and natural, it's almost unnoticeable.

The music is also perfectly placed and adds a massive power to the emotions and frustrations that Sam is going through.

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All in all, a psychological and philosophical movie laced with some brilliantly funny humour, emotion, mystery and some very real tragedy and heartbreak.
Sam Rockwell makes this film believable though, by far some of the best acting I've ever seen.
I'm finding it almost impossible to find a fault with the film to be totally honest. Even some of the highest rated films in my reviews have a few faults...
Highly, highly recommended.


My Rating: 101% (gotta be)