Year: 2010
Director: Joe Carnahan
Screenplay: Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom, Skip Woods
Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Patrick Wilson
Synopsis is here
Like many recent features before it, an A Team movie doesn't really need to be good to be enjoyed as it's got that beautiful nostalgia factor that everyone loves. In the same way many bitched about The Karate Kid for being a remake, an A-team movie could get away with being a bog standard movie by nabbing motifs from the T.V series and those who shunned one, will embrace the other. The nostalgia factor revels the fact it can take away your subjectivity with a familiar face or theme tune, or like fans of the Transformers movies say to me: "It's got robots fighting innit! What more to you need!?"
Despite "watching" the series when I was young, I clearly wasn't watching hard enough as I really couldn't remember it that well. I consider this a great thing, as this means, the nostalgia factor cannot penetrate as deep and mind fuck me into believing that every aspect of Joe Carnham's (Narc) film is a piece of genius.
With this said The A Team while silly and cliched still manages to be quite fun. Don't ask me to try and remember any of it. Like an injection of pure sugar it's a brief rush to the head before crashing out into nothing. Choc-full of eye melting CGI, quick cuts and hollywood sheen, it has a "braindead" which many action fans who usually hate reading reviews will love. It's loud and full of action, but I keep feeling that perhaps Carnahan was missing a trick somewhat. I think it's down to the story which follows a similar (if not the same) suit as this years earlier entry: The Losers.
The A team lacks the tightness of The Losers, but I feel this is because the latter didn't really have anyone to answer to. The A Team appears to restricted by it's sly winks to remind you of yesteryear than anything else. Case in point the open 15 minutes. We all know that Hannibal Smith is the man with the plan, the screenplay here makes a drinking game out of it which would have you comatose before the second act. I'm not watching this film for narrative (not that you could hear what it was down to a dubious sound mix), but there's something about the film which feels more like three loosely connected T.V episodes than something of a conclusive whole. We have a bit of a giggle at a cheeky line, a bit of action breaks up the action and such but there's a glue that seems to be missing.
I'm being a tad negative here, and I shouldn't be. The A Team is not trying to be the next cinematic revolution and there's some some nice moments which makes it shine a bit brighter than some of the more duff b-movie features. The way Carnahan uses montage to visually create the teams plan while the narration plays over it is a nice touch. The film has three set pieces that will no doubt have the 15 year old boy in the viewer grinning with glee (the skyscraper sequence is surprisingly not ruined by the trailer) and the cast have the camaraderie that was sorely missing from that other nostalgia factor movie Predators.
The four leads all have a chance to shine and with the exception of Rampage Jackson (the dudes just not an actor) everyone hits a relatively strong mark. Liam Neeson in a sage-like leader role? Please! One eye closed and a hand tired behind his back. Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley are superb additions. Cooper has bags of charm, while Copley has the right balance of craziness to keep the humor going throughout, although his character seems to fade a little bit near the end. Unfortunately while the team take the plaudits the support are left to the wayside, Jessica Biel has less to do here than in Stealth (that's saying something) while Patrick Wilson lacks the edginess that made Jason Patric's character so interesting in The Losers.
The chemistry of the team combined with the out and out chaos comes thick and fast to keep you engaged and for the most part it does it job. But the fractured feeling of the proceeds as well as a serious lack of risk (or a good villain) really does hamper matters. Carnahan's breakout film Narc (2002) was an unoriginal but bold genre piece, which took many well treaded ideas and injected a gritty energy that come out just at the right time of the U.S cop drama explosion. Eight years on and while the budgets have got bigger the attention feels to have dropped a little. A little more focus and detail and The A Team could may have had it's cake and eaten it. Unfortunately it feels that it's eaten only part of the main course before sneaking off the snack on sweets. The sugar rush doesn't last long.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Review: The Karate Kid
Year: 2010
Director: Harald Zwart
Screenplay: Christopher Murphey
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson
It's a remake, made well and truly on commerce alone and suffers from one of the worst cases of nepotism since Francis Ford Coppola decided that his daughter could act. This updated version of the 1984 hit, plays the same notes as the original film, and will most likely entertain those who have never heard of being "the best around". There will be many however, who won't be able to get past the obvious issues the film has. It's understandable but it's doesn't make the film as terrible as many supporters of the original film will probably make it sound.
The idea that 11-12 year old kids are martial art gods, who fall in love like those teenagers do is a cute idea in theory I guess, but a difficult one to put in practice. Even in the fictional world of Hollywood flicks, there has to be an air of plausibility that rings slightly true. TKK 2010 struggles with this believability for the simple reason that while the world feels quite real, the characters don't. The original film had Ralph Macchio's Daniel at the perfect age for what he experiences. By taking away those extra years, the movie falters in not only it's fight scenes (Jackie Chan beating on pre-teens anyone?) but from an emotional aspect. The relationship which blossoms between the two lead pre-teens would have much stronger if they just a little older. This really hits home during an scene in an arcade where the love interest Meiying (Wenwen Han) performs a dance routine which tries to be cute but as a westernized sexuality about it that just feels a tad wrong.
The film also suffers from an uneven performance by it's lead. Jaden Smith is clearly his fathers son and there's clearly an air of charm about him that shines through at the best of times. unfortunately this is clouded by awkward pauses, odd glances and general inexperience. It's refreshing to see a child actor who isn't older than their years (see early Dakota Fanning) but it is frustrating to see someone who hasn't got the emotional range fight against the material. Once again...a couple of years in the future and who know.
This however is just two strands of a film which is stronger than I gave it credit for. The film doesn't stray too far from the original feature in terms of basic structure (a good thing for those who love an underdog story) and the idea of setting the film outside of the the U.S is a nice touch which helps enhance the feeling of alienation that the young Dre feels. It also provides an a refreshing look at race relations. The film doesn't feel the need to shoehorn Caucasian characters within the film to "reach an audience" nor does it feel like an "urban" movie (Pop locking and hip-hop soundtrack aside). The film is confident that it's story will win people over, rather than the colour of the actors skin. There's certain elements that definitely helped (Brand name, Jackie Chan, Fresh Prince producing) but to be honest these aspects really do melt away and the film does enough to stand on it's own two feet. Other strong points include the cast around Jaden Smith help a lot during weaker moments and that the film is not only colorful and bright but zips along at a nice pace. For a family film that is nearing two and a half hours long, I certainly didn't feel it.
The films real revelation for however, is Jackie Chan as maintenance man Mr Hun . An actor known more for his comedic displays gives his best western film performance to date. His best scene (also the films strongest), involves a tearful monologue involving an accident with his character family. Like a few of his films of the past decade, it seems to be clear to Chan he can now take that energy from his infamous fight scenes (which must be becoming increasingly difficult with age) and direct it elsewhere. If this is the result, then Chan may have a beautiful renaissance as a "serious" actor.
It has enough 80's charm (read cheese) who remain watchable, and more than enough of it's own moments to not cheapen any memories of the original film. Fun to watch, well put together fight choreography and a heart in the right place. It is clear that like I said, the film is clearly based on brand recognition* and commerce over everything. However in watching those small moments and taking in the little aspects of charm the film as, you can see at least this one is trying.
*Note: It is called The Karate Kid in America clearly because it's a remake and people know the name. However, throughout the film they preform Kung Fu. A part of me really does believe it could have been called the Kung Fu Kid and survived commercially.
Director: Harald Zwart
Screenplay: Christopher Murphey
Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson
It's a remake, made well and truly on commerce alone and suffers from one of the worst cases of nepotism since Francis Ford Coppola decided that his daughter could act. This updated version of the 1984 hit, plays the same notes as the original film, and will most likely entertain those who have never heard of being "the best around". There will be many however, who won't be able to get past the obvious issues the film has. It's understandable but it's doesn't make the film as terrible as many supporters of the original film will probably make it sound.
The idea that 11-12 year old kids are martial art gods, who fall in love like those teenagers do is a cute idea in theory I guess, but a difficult one to put in practice. Even in the fictional world of Hollywood flicks, there has to be an air of plausibility that rings slightly true. TKK 2010 struggles with this believability for the simple reason that while the world feels quite real, the characters don't. The original film had Ralph Macchio's Daniel at the perfect age for what he experiences. By taking away those extra years, the movie falters in not only it's fight scenes (Jackie Chan beating on pre-teens anyone?) but from an emotional aspect. The relationship which blossoms between the two lead pre-teens would have much stronger if they just a little older. This really hits home during an scene in an arcade where the love interest Meiying (Wenwen Han) performs a dance routine which tries to be cute but as a westernized sexuality about it that just feels a tad wrong.
The film also suffers from an uneven performance by it's lead. Jaden Smith is clearly his fathers son and there's clearly an air of charm about him that shines through at the best of times. unfortunately this is clouded by awkward pauses, odd glances and general inexperience. It's refreshing to see a child actor who isn't older than their years (see early Dakota Fanning) but it is frustrating to see someone who hasn't got the emotional range fight against the material. Once again...a couple of years in the future and who know.
This however is just two strands of a film which is stronger than I gave it credit for. The film doesn't stray too far from the original feature in terms of basic structure (a good thing for those who love an underdog story) and the idea of setting the film outside of the the U.S is a nice touch which helps enhance the feeling of alienation that the young Dre feels. It also provides an a refreshing look at race relations. The film doesn't feel the need to shoehorn Caucasian characters within the film to "reach an audience" nor does it feel like an "urban" movie (Pop locking and hip-hop soundtrack aside). The film is confident that it's story will win people over, rather than the colour of the actors skin. There's certain elements that definitely helped (Brand name, Jackie Chan, Fresh Prince producing) but to be honest these aspects really do melt away and the film does enough to stand on it's own two feet. Other strong points include the cast around Jaden Smith help a lot during weaker moments and that the film is not only colorful and bright but zips along at a nice pace. For a family film that is nearing two and a half hours long, I certainly didn't feel it.
The films real revelation for however, is Jackie Chan as maintenance man Mr Hun . An actor known more for his comedic displays gives his best western film performance to date. His best scene (also the films strongest), involves a tearful monologue involving an accident with his character family. Like a few of his films of the past decade, it seems to be clear to Chan he can now take that energy from his infamous fight scenes (which must be becoming increasingly difficult with age) and direct it elsewhere. If this is the result, then Chan may have a beautiful renaissance as a "serious" actor.
It has enough 80's charm (read cheese) who remain watchable, and more than enough of it's own moments to not cheapen any memories of the original film. Fun to watch, well put together fight choreography and a heart in the right place. It is clear that like I said, the film is clearly based on brand recognition* and commerce over everything. However in watching those small moments and taking in the little aspects of charm the film as, you can see at least this one is trying.
*Note: It is called The Karate Kid in America clearly because it's a remake and people know the name. However, throughout the film they preform Kung Fu. A part of me really does believe it could have been called the Kung Fu Kid and survived commercially.
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