Into the Wild (2007)

Based on the Jon Krakauer book of the same name, Into the Wild is the true story of Chris McCandless and his desire to disconnect from society and live on his own for a while in the Alaskan wilderness.  Directed by Sean Penn and lensed by Eric Gautier, this is a truly beautiful film; there are many lingering landscape shots and they all look spectacular.  I have read the book but I can’t remember how the narrative flows, however the decision to make the film non-linear mixing Chris’ childhood with his journey, his time in Alaska and his parents’ reaction to his disappearance, works very well and prevents the story from being boring or drawn out.

Emile Hirsch is very good as Chris McCandless, injecting some humanity into a character who came across as an arrogant and pretentious twat when I read the book.  I could see where he was coming from wanting to leave society behind for a while, but I got the impression that he believed that everyone else was less of a person just because they led a normal life.  This does bubble to the surface in the film occasionally when he misses opportunities right in front of him because he is so intent on being above societal conventions.  At least he finally realises when he is alone in Alaska that happiness is only real when shared.  Emile makes the journey of discovery very easy to relate to which I think is important for the film, if he came across as an arrogant twat all of the time, we wouldn't care what happened to him, no matter how beautiful the film was.

Accompanied by a great soundtrack from Eddie Vedder (here for those with Spotify) which is suitably filled with wanderlust as well as a feeling of isolation and loneliness, Into the Wild is a very watchable film due to a fine performance from Emile Hirsch and some wonderful cinematography.  Even the supporting cast are good, most notably William Hurt, and an impressive serious role for Vince Vaughn! Of course, Kristen Stewart is as bland as always.  It’s a film that inspires you to get out there and see more of this beautiful world, and that can’t be a bad thing.  But, well, you know, that’s just, like, er, my opinion, man.

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

For his directorial début Rupert Sanders delivers a very dark take on the classic Snow White story. Though there is little in common with most Snow White stories, it does hit specific plot points; wicked witch (Ravenna, Charlize Theron), poisoned apple, and dwarves. Initially imprisoned by Ravenna, Snow White (Kristen Stewart) escapes, then with the help of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) makes her way to her Uncle's castle, whereupon she returns with an army to overthrow Ravenna's cruel rule.

First of all I must say that the film looks fantastic. The costumes are all fantastic, down to the little details on Ravenna's dresses; there are many beautiful exterior locations giving the film a real epic feel; and some of the visual effects were amazing. In particular the dark army at the beginning of the movie is brilliantly realised, the way Ravenna exploded into Ravens is great, a cool troll, and the dwarves were amazing.

Where the film falls flat is in some of the cast, namely Kristen Stewart; she just doesn't have the charisma to pull off a main role like this. She is wooden and just looks uncomfortable for most of the film, not least when she gives her morale-rousing speech for the army - Theoden this is not! Actually half way through the film I found myself thinking "Has she actually really said very much?" Charlize Theron is a good actress, and her Ravenna is good; though having seen Eva Green's performance as Morgan in Camelot, I thought that she would have been a much better Ravenna. The other main character is Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, and thank goodness for him; he is the one character we really care about. His Huntsman is gritty, initially of questionable loyalty, and has great wilderness survival skills; so Aragorn basically. To continue the LOTR theme, I noticed that Snow White seemed to have the Tree of Gondor on her shield! The supporting cast are fine, including Sam Spruell as Ravenna's brother Finn and Vincent Regan as Snow White's Uncle, Duke Hammond. The Dwarves are also good, the likes of Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone and Nick Frost having their faces digitally imposed onto small actors.

An entertaining romp that looks amazing, and far enough removed from the classic fairy tale for miserable uncultured people like me to enjoy it. Going for it are some sumptuous visuals, a tremendous scale of production and a rousing score by James Newton Howard; against it are a few below par performances, especially from Kristen Stewart who just isn't right for this kind of role.

Twilight (2008)

The other day I referred to Twilight as Twi-shite, I can’t remember why; but my wife quickly pointed out that I couldn’t really comment because I’d never seen any of the films. Quite correct. I have never had the slightest inclination to read or see the series at all; so when it was on Film4 I decided, in the interests of science, that I should watch it.

Now, I am far more of a Kate Beckinsale in tight black trousers, Badass Bill Nighty Vampire vs Michael Sheen Werewolf kind of a guy, or perhaps Dog Soldiers; so it hardly broke my heart that my impression of Twilight was “Meh”. Actually I enjoyed it more than I expected (I expected to fall asleep), but after the first half of teeny high school crap I found that I actually wanted to know what happened at the end! Don’t get me wrong, I only found it interesting in the same way as a snail crawling up your window, but interesting none the less!

Like I say, I have no interest in ever reading any of the books, but I do feel that the story might work better as a book. Clearly the main focus is the developing relationship between Bella and Edward, but the way it was done was not nearly interesting enough to be a film. At high school I kept expecting Christian Slater and Winona Ryder to be sat in the corner of the canteen, and when we finally got to the vampire stuff (Bella was extremely calm and accepting of this), it was quite comical to see Edward scampering up trees and leaping between them like a lumberjack on speed.

Speaking of Bella and Edward, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were both OK, but both were trying too hard to be moody and intense to be realistic teenagers or interesting; Pattinson in particular, he clearly had really heavy eyebrows leading him to permanently scowl. Some of the wide landscape shots were really nice though, but otherwise I think Catherine Hardwicke's direction was fairly aimless and uninspiring. I think that’s all I have to say on the subject; other than I probably wont see any of the other films.