This is an idea that's been brewing for some time now. I listen to soundtracks more than anything else, and I'd noticed how quite a few of the ones I really like are from films that aren't considered that great. I couldn't initially think of 10 movies, I think I only got as far as 8; but thanks to the wonders of social media I was helped by others. So, many thanks to +Steve Nixon+Jaina Mistry+Daniel Silva+Josh Murphy+Valerie J+Benjamin L. Harris and +Alain Kemp for their help, ideas and discussion.
So here is my final list. Maybe you agree with me, maybe you think I've missed some howlers, or (more likely) you think I'm being unduly harsh on Up! But, well, you know, that’s just, like, er, my opinion, man.
For those on Spotify, the playlist of all these scores is here.
So, in no particular order:
TRON: Legacy (2010) The Film:
Practically a re-run of the original 1982 movie, Legacy is surprisingly stale given the potential for excellent effects and Jeff Bridges; but Bridges is kinda cancelled out by Garrett Hedlund who is clearly trying to be as dynamic as Sam Worthington. Great fun perhaps, but an unnecessary remake/reboot.
The Score:
Daft Punk's thumping soundtrack is definitely the best part of the film: brilliantly complimentary to the digital world of The Grid and loud! My go to album of choice if I need to wake up.
The Wolfman (2010) The Film:
Style over substance is the order of the day in Joe Johnston's version of a classic story where the effects are great but the characters are generally bored.
The Score:
Though I'm not generally a fan of Danny Elfman, his score here is very atmospheric and combines with the great Gothic design of the the film to give a lasting impression; shame the rest of the film doesn't.
Pearl Harbour (2001) The Film:
A typical Michael Bay overblown stodgy mess of a film full of characters no-one cares about. The film features a couple of dramatic set pieces strung together with lots of boring nothingness.
The Score:
Hans Zimmer has composed some of my favourite scores, Gladiator got me into orchestral soundtracks. Even for a turkey the size of Pearl Harbour, Hans manages to rise above it and create a sense of longing and loss that Michael Bay could only dream of.
Transformers (2007) The Film:
Another Michael Bay film on the list, but actually this is rather a guilty pleasure of mine. For all the appalling failings of the next two films, Transformers actually has (I think) moments of style, and a main character that we can get on with. I freely admit that this isn't a great film, I just think it's hugely enjoyable.
The Score:
For all I enjoy this film, I like the score even more and I listen to it a lot. Without a weak track Steve Jablonsky's score is rousing, full of excellent themes and generally fantastic.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) The Film
An over-bloated over-storied and overly-complicated entry into the POTC series, but at least Geoffrey Rush was back in it. There are a few nice moments in it, and it's kinda fun if you ignore all the ridiculous crosses and double crosses, but overall the film is just a big mess.
The Score
The second Hans Zimmer score on this list, and he again proves that sub-par movies are no obstacle to a composer of his talent. There are many tunes on this soundtrack that are great, but Up is Down is brilliant and is also rather a fun part of the film.
UP (2009) The Film
Now I know that lots of people really like this film, but it just did my head in. Other than the first 20 heartbreaking minutes, I just found the whole thing daft and unnecessary. So essentially from the point when Russell turns up, the film just becomes completely un-entertaining and downright annoying.
The Score
Michael Giacchino's score however is elegant, moving and perfectly uplifting. Indeed the piece that I've picked as representative, encapsulates the best part of the film.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace The Film
What can I say that hasn't already been said about The Phantom Menace? Jake Lloyd, Jar Jar Binks and Ewan McGregor's plummy accent. Rather than Death Stars, asteroid chases and AT-ATs we are treated to politics, trade negotiations and Darth Vader shouting Yippee! It's a good Sci-fi film (with an amazing light sabre fight), it's just not a good Star Wars film.
The Score
John Williams rarely disappoints, and the score to The Phantom Menace is no different. Perhaps not as amazing as his Empire Strikes Back score, but ranging from the military themes of the Droid army and some great fanfares to the dramatic Duel of Fates this score is nonetheless very good.
Clash of the Titans (2010) The Film
Rushed out with post-production 3D in the wake of Avatar's successes, this is a real train wreck of a film. Confusing, headache - inducing 3D (at one point I took my comedy glasses off to massage my sore head and realised that the glasses were making no difference to the image) and featuring personality vacuum himself; Sam Worthington. A truly bad film.
The Score
From the man who gave us the brilliant score for Game of Thrones, Ramin Djawadi has composed another top notch soundtrack to this abomination. There are plenty of dramatic themes as well as a few surprisingly thumping tunes too. Listening to it, I almost want to see the film again, but not quite.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) The Film
Starts out promisingly, but by the time Logan escapes following his adamantium treatment, the film degenerates into inconsistent contrivance and farce.
The Score
Harry Gregson-Williams score is a fairly dramatic affair (unlike the movie) with some great themes and a real cinematic feel to it.
Man of Steel (2013) The Film
Possibly the biggest disappointment of 2013, I was looking forward to seeing Snyder's interpretation, but instead of a Superman we got a morally questionable weapon of mass destruction. A completely preventable Jonathan Kent death and a pointless Lois Lane completed a completely mediocre unnecessary film.
The Score
The third and final Hans Zimmer entry on this list, and another cracker. Clearly the usual Superman themes were given a wide berth, and the score is all the better for it. Where John Willams originally went for a score as iconic as the character himself, Zimmer went for real power and the result is quite tremendous.
Many people have a favourite actor/actress that they will follow religiously; sometimes for a good reason, sometimes the reason is rather more spurious; perhaps they look good in tight trousers (I'm looking at you Kate Beckinsale!). I honestly don't think there is any actor that I would particularly try to see all their films. There probably are some whose films I see a lot of, simply because I like the genre they tend to stick with. I am far more likely to follow a director's career and actively seek out the movies they make. This article is testament to that. These are guys (yes I'm afraid that they're all men) who I think make amazing films, and I'll always want to see their creations no matter the genre.
In no particular order then.
Matthew Vaughan
Having cut his teeth as a producer for Guy Ritchie, Matthew Vaughn has made an amazing transition to the Director's chair. His first film was the excellent Layer Cake; very much a crime caper in a similar vein to Lock Stock or Snatch, which oozes cool and has a hell of a cast. From there he hasn't looked back, taking him all the way to the great X-Men reboot and even rumours linking him to the new Star Wars films.
There is no doubting Zack's visual flair, he has made the slow-quick-slow camera work a very distinctive trademark; and I for one love it. He created a very enjoyable remake of Dawn of the Dead, but it was when he brought Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300 to our screens that we took notice. It strikes me that Zack is at his best when interpreting other works, because when he wrote and directed Sucker Punch it looked phenomenal but the story was woeful. So having said that, I'm really looking forward to Zack's Man of Steel which is written by David S Goyer and Chris Nolan.
There is nothing that this man has directed that isn’t superb. From the simple but very very clever Memento through to The Dark Knight Rises, he hasn’t missed a trick; and I haven’t missed a film (apart from Following). Not afraid of making people think, he doesn’t pander to the lowest common denominator. Memento didn't let you lose concentration for a second, The Prestige kept you guessing, Inception is a total mind-bender, and the Batman films have no right to be as clever as they are. He has done a truly remarkable thing, he has actually made intelligent blockbusters, proving that you don't have to leave your brain at the door to enjoy spectacular films.
Films to see: All of them! But especially Memento, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises.
Duncan Jones
Born Zowie Bowie, Duncan obviously wanted to distance himself from his famous father. This guy is definitely the new kid on the block in this list having only directed two feature film; the superb Moon, and Source code. He has also made a short film called Whistle which is also well worth a look. Of course he doesn’t have a very long CV, but it's pretty good, and I'm excited as to what he'll do in the future.
Del Toro is probably the one director on this list that I am least familiar with, however I love the films I have seen and there is no doubting that he has a very distinctive style. Usually a lot of eyes are involved! Whether it's the beast at the end of Hellboy, or The Angel of Death in Hellboy 2, or the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth, eyes are important to him. I'd love to have seen his Flies and Spiders if he had directed The Hobbit! Similar to Chris Nolan, the Hellboy films are much cleverer than you would expect, and Blade 2 (though I haven't seen it for a long time) equally so. Hellboy is a great fantasy film, the second one in particular is fantastic and has Del Toro's wonderful style all over it; Pan's Labyrinth even more so. As I say, I'm less familiar with much of Del Toro's work, but I now have Blade 2 to watch again, Cronos is on my LoveFilm list, and I am hoping that he brings his quality to Pacific Rim, because it looks spectacular, but could so easily be rubbish in someone else's hands.
Films to see: Hellboy 2, Pan's Labyrinth, Blade II
Ridley Scott
Often referred to as a very visual director, Ridley Scott has made some tremendous films. I only really understood what was meant by being a visual director when I watched some of the extras on the Body of Lies DVD. To explain on set how he wanted a scene to look, he would grab a pencil and paper and very quickly draw the storyboard so that the crew instantly knew what he was thinking. Often it seems like he is the only one on set who is calm and knows exactly what he wants. Amid the carnage of filming Black Hawk Down, he was the one unfazed by all the explosions; an oasis of serenity. All this allows him to concentrate on how best to tell his story, and he is excellent at that; and usually his films are visually stunning.
Kubrick was a real artist, everything he did was deliberate and had a reason. He was also a perfectionist, often leading him to do many takes of any particular scene. Of course this sometimes led to clashes of personalities on set, but there is no doubting that the finished product was always tremendous. As an artist he produced works of art, and nowhere is this more evident than 2001:A Space Odyssey. Not a film for everyone, but I think it is a joy to watch; utterly captivating and a sublime piece of film-making. Even the "Ultra - violent" Clockwork Orange has moments of beauty. Widely regarded as one of the best directors of all time, having watched eight of his most celebrated works I can certainly see why.
Generally known for making violent films with a lot of bad language, Tarantino nevertheless has demonstrated over and over that he can write and tell a great story. Perhaps he should be better remembered for his great characters, their development and the irreverent script he usually writes for them. Who can deny we really understand Vincent and Jules when they are discussing "Le Big Mac". Equally, we get a real sense of Kiddo's desire for revenge as we learn about the characters that wronged her. And of course witnessing the superb Christoph Waltz's "Jew Hunter" in Inglorious Basterds, we understand why Shosanna goes to such desperate measures at the end of the film. A brilliant writer and certainly also a great director.
Many thanks to both Claire over at Cinematic Delights and Maynard at his Horror Blog for passing this award on to me. I should also apologise to Claire because she sent it to me about 3 weeks ago and I'm only just getting round to writing! From my point of view it was silly to wait this long, one of the stipulations of this award is to pass it on to 7 other bloggers, and now of course most of the cool people I know have already received it. Bugger. The rules are as follows:
Rule #1:
Tell everyone something that no-one else knows about you.
One of my first film-related memories was being terrified by the wicked witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! This would be early 80s so one of the Disney re-releases, and I would have been 6 or 7.
Rule #2:
Link to one of the posts that you personally think best fits the following categories:
Most Surprisingly Successful Piece:
When I watched 4 films during 2 long-haul flights I quickly wrote a paragraph about each one, more for completeness sake rather than anything else (you can't really appreciate a film on a plane), but it generated a lot of interest. http://filmsrruss.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/in-flight-movies.html
Most Pride-Worthy Piece:
This was difficult, I couldn't think of anything that I was particularly proud of, but it occurred to me that it's always fun to really rip into a film that you didn't enjoy. Because of this I chose my Dark of the Moon piece, a really sucky film!
The Lord of the Rings is certainly one of my favourite series of films. One of the reasons is because the sets, the characters and the world that is created is so rich and detailed. Of all this detail the LOTR geek in me loves those that are not that obvious, and those that are references to the books and the wider history of Middle Earth. As I say, the films are rich in detail, but here are my five favourite subtle details that help make The Lord of the Rings such a wonderful series.
5. Thror's Map
As Gandalf visits Bilbo prior to the Birthday party he noses around Bag End. One of the things he sees are the maps that Bilbo has drawn of his travels. One of these maps is Thror's map from The Hobbit, showing the Lonely Mountain. Down the side are some Dwarvish runes, which translate as: “Five feet high the door and three may walk abreast”. Thror is father of Thrain father of Thorin Oakenshield. All should become clear in December.
4. Legolas walking on top of the snow over Caradhras
I still can’t believe that I didn’t notice this the first time I saw the film. As the fellowship are crossing over the Caradhras mountain pass, they are making hard work of ploughing through the deep snow. All of course except for Legloas; as a fleet-footed Elf he is able to walk across the surface of the snow with no effort.
3. The Púkel-men
As Elrond rides up to Dunharrow to present Aragorn with Anduril, we see him ride past a curious statue. This is one of the so called Púkel-men, a crude and ugly representation of a race known as the Drúedain. In the book the Drúedain are crucial as their leader Ghân-Buri-Ghân helps Théoden and the Rohirrim bypass an outpost of Orcs when they are on their way to Minas Tirith. If Ghân-buri-Ghân had not helped them, then the Rohirrim would not have come in time to the fields of the Pelennor. This statue in the film is a nice nod to the Drúedain.
2. The Ring of Barahir
Aragorn has a long history, and his ancestry is very illustrious. The Ring of Barahir is an heirloom that he wears, as a reminder of his connection to the Elder Days. In the first age of Middle Earth the Elf-lord Finrod gave a ring to Barahir, a man who had saved his life. Though Barahir lost the ring when he was killed by Orcs, his son Beren recovered it and the ring became an heirloom of his family. Initially passing to his son Dior, the ring was taken to Númenor by Elros son of Elwing daughter of Dior, but was saved from the destruction of Númenor by Amandil. The ring passed down the line of Kings to Isildur and finally to Aragorn son of Arathorn. A long history indeed.
Following the Rohirrim’s encounter with Aragorn, Legloas and Gimli, Éomer lends them two horses to help them on their way. However, rather than getting someone to bring the horses across, Éomer whistles and calls out the names of the horses “Hasufeld! Arod!” and the horses dutifully trot over. Blink and you'll miss it.
Bonus detail: PJ’s cameos
One of the other things that makes LOTR so cool is the daft cameo appearances that Peter Jackson makes. This is a bit of a trademark for him. In Fellowship he is just standing on the street in Bree eating a carrot!
In The Two Towers he is involved in the defence of Helm’s Deep, throwing a spear down upon the Orcs with the battering ram.
Finally in Return of the King he has a fabulous death scene as he plays a Corsair who is shot by Legolas.
Those are my choices, what about everyone else? Is there any that I've forgotten about?
Contrary to all expectations, I have now been blogging for an entire year. 12 months of insightful reviews filmic wittering, 12 months of watching all sorts of films, and 12 months of writing reviews too late and forgetting what the movie was all about!
So I thought, what better way to celebrate this mini-milestone than choosing my favourite films from the last 12 months. I thought that simply choosing my favourite films would be too easy, so I chose my favourite from each month. This was harder than expected, especially since I watched Aliens, Raiders, and The Godfather in April, and February saw The Big Lebowski competing with Watchmen, From Russia with Love and The Damned United.
Here we are then, my favourite films of the last 12 months. I think I'm happy with my final choice; though I still can't decide: Raiders or Aliens, or Raiders, or Aliens...
This is one of those films I think is really great because everyone speaks the language they should (similar to Zwartboek). The Germans speak German, the British and Americans speak English and the French speak French. Brilliant! There is some cross-over but it's all done well.
I guess I generally like World War 2 films anyway, as long as they're done a bit differently (Zwartboek, Downfall, Enemy at the Gates, erm Where Eagles Dare?); and this is unmistakably Quentin Tarantino. From the irreverent casual chat between characters (which Christoph Waltz does so well) to the particularly gruesome, bloody violence. There is even some very similar camera tracking movements to Kill Bill, the main lobby of the cinema with it's staircases particularly reminded me of The House of Blue Leaves restaurant.
I remember as a kid (probably age 10 or something like that) watching The Thing. I was probably trying to appear cool to my older friend from next door who watched a lot of horror. I remember saying something like "This could be my first horror film". Needless to say, it scared the bejesus out of me! Of course now I'm a lot older (not necessarily wiser), I can see it for what it is: a great film.
I've seen The Thing several times since, and I felt an urge to watch a film to restore my faith in movies, having watch Eragon the night before! The film starts with some Norwegians trying to shoot a dog. Doesn't sound like much, but the desperation of the Norwegians is brilliantly enhanced by Ennio Morricone's simple yet effective music.
Well now...this is absolutely bonkers! That really is the best way to describe this film. Just look at the trailer!
For those who live in the UK, there's a good chance that you will be familiar with the Cravendale milk adverts. For those who don't know: a pirate, a cyclist, a cow and occasionally a chicken I think (all toy, stop motion animated) run around being generally crazy shouting "MILK! MILK!" Thus:
The creators of these adverts are Belgian duo Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar. This creative genius has now given us A Town Called Panic.
In a nutshell: A cowboy called Cowboy, an Indian called Indian live together with a horse called, yup, Horse. It all starts because of Horse's birthday. (Spoilers!) Cowboy and Indian decide to build him a barbecue, and go online to order bricks (from Briquenet)! While ordering 500 bricks one of them comes back from the kitchen with a mug of coffee and puts one mug down next to the computer; of course the handle knocks the zero key and they end up ordering, well 50,000,000 is the figure quoted (I think), but there were more zeros than that! So, all these bricks are delivered, and having built a barbecue (which horse loves) Cowboy and Indian hide all the other bricks on top of the house in a giant cube.
Now, I'm imagining that most people reading this will have read the book (otherwise why are you searching for blogs on Harry Potter), so my synopsis of the plot can be mercifully brief.
Harry has now come of age, and will no longer be protected from Voldemort at his muggle home. He flees this home with the help of Order of the Phoenix members, and arrives at Ron's house: The Burrow. While at The Burrow, one of the elder Weasley brothers, Bill, marries Fleur Delacour, but the wedding is plunged into chaos as a Patronus arrives from the Ministry announcing that the Death Eaters have taken over. Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately disapparate to escape.
Essentially the rest of the story involves the threesome moving around the country, camping in out of the way places to stay away from the Death Eaters, while trying to figure out a way of destroying the Horcruxes, which Dumbledore had informed them would destroy Voldemort. That doesn't sound especially interesting, but the story doesn't drag. Amidst this escaping around a damp countryside (though there are some lovely location shots) are the main exciting set pieces, ie The visit to Godric's Hollow, Breaking into the Minsitry, and being captured by "Snatchers" and the escape from Malfoy Mansion.
On the face of it, a film about a guy with a stammer and his struggle to overcome said speech defect so that he can speak in public, doesn't sound like it would particularly get bums on seats. But make the guy Prince Albert of York (soon to be King George VI), get Colin Firth to play him, and fill the role of the elocution teacher with the excellent Geoffrey Rush; then play the film against the backdrop of George V's death, the abdication of Edward VIII and imminent war with Germany in 1939 and the result is a great film full of many dramatic and funny moments.
Essentially; Prince Albert has suffered from a stammer from a young age, but now that he is expected to make public appearances and speeches, his difficulty in speaking is quite a hindrance. Having seen many speech therapists his wife Elizabeth (played by Helena Bonham Carter, who is also excellent) finds a therapist with some unorthodox methods. This therapist Lionel Logue (Rush), finds it hard to get to know "Bertie", but following the death of his father George V, he starts to open up to Lionel.
With the Death of George V, Bertie's brother Edward (Guy Pearce) becomes King, but his desire to marry a twice-divorced woman (not favourable in the eyes of The Establishment) results in his abdication of the throne. Bertie is therefore crowned King, not as Albert (considered to Germanic to be appropriate in 1936) but as George VI.
How to start a review of one of my favourite films? The Big Lebowski is almost genre-less. It's mostly comedy, but being the Coen Brothers it's not straightforward comedy; but then it's not the black comedy of True Blood or Fargo. Above all it's a story about an ordinary Dude, who likes bowling, driving around and the occasional acid flash-back, who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or rather with the wrong name.
Jeff Bridges is Jeffrey Lebowski aka: The Dude, a lazy man, who becomes confused with The Big Lebowski (David Huddleston). The Big Lebowski is a successful businessman, but who's young wife Bunny (Tara Reid) disappears. Unfortunately Bunny owes money to a Porn film producer, and when his heavies come to collect, they go to the wrong Lebowski. So The Dude gets caught up in a tale of kidnap, ransom, Nihilists, sex, and of course bowling.
Jeff Bridges is always great in my opinion, but rumour has it that the Coen's had Bridges in mind when they were writing the character of The Dude; and he is just perfect. But not just Jeff, most of the cast is superb. John Goodman gives the best performance of his career as The Dude's best friend: Walter Sobchack. This 'Nam veteran is a great character, has arguably some of the best lines in the film, and on occasion drives the story forward as he influences what The Dude thinks.
"Smokey, this isn't Nam, this is bowling. There are rules!"
Mesrine: Killer Instinct is the story of Jacques Mesrine (pronounced Mayreen) one of the most notorious gangsters in French recent history. Having been raised by a relatively loving family, he rebels and becomes a small time crook. With the help of mob-boss Guido, he becomes more confident. Eventually, though, he is captured by police, repeatedly, and repeatedly escapes from prison; even a maximum security prison. By this time we see that Mesrine is very influential, able to manipulate people on the outside to help him escape (even his lawyer), as well as bribing/manipulating guards to make his stay in prison more comfortable. Finally the police officer who is primarily trying to bring Mesrine to justice, is able to trap the gangster in traffic in Paris, and Jacques is shot dead.
The film is told in two parts, each beginning at the end, with the death of Mesrine. I left it quite a long time between viewing the first and second films, so I can't specifically remember if there was a clear theme to each. Thinking about it, I think the first film was really charting the rise of Mesrine, his influences, and ideas; whereas the second film rather concentrates on his influence and how powerful he has become on his way to being public enemy number 1.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is the kind of film that is absolutely ludicrous, but is absolutely brilliant. On paper, the idea of trying to locate the Ark of the Covenant and rescue it from Nazis really shouldn’t work; but if you get Steven Spielberg to direct it, George Lucas to produce it (and to help with the writing), get a great cast, and it all works perfectly! So perfectly that “Raiders” is one of the most entertaining films ever made; even George Lucas admitted that it was the most fun he had making a film! Just to convince you of its greatness, here’s 5 things you probably already knew.
Harrison Ford
In 1981 Harrison Ford had made his mark as Han Solo and worn some excellent glasses in Apocalypse Now; but he was yet to solidify his position in film history. Between Indy and Decker he was assured of it. Indy is very similar to Han, only this time he is the main character. Some of the sex appeal that Han had is written into the character, and some of the cockiness removed, throw into the mix some archaeo-sleuthing skills and we have cinematic gold.
Hanna is a young girl raised by her father, Erik, in a wooden hut in the middle of nowhere somewhere in Finland, within the arctic circle. Erik has taught her to kill, fight, and generally to take care of herself. It becomes apparent after a while that she has been trained as an assassin to take out one particular target, when she finally finds herself out in the real world.
Hanna is played very capably by Saoirse Ronan; she is able to swing between action sequences and her quieter scenes of self-discovery. Obviously Joe Wright sees something good in her, as she also plays the young Bryony in Atonement. Speaking of Atonement; remembering a tremendous one-take steady-cam shot, I was on the look out for one in Hanna, and wasn’t disappointed. Eric Bana (Erik - Hanna’s father) arrives in Berlin and is shadowed by CIA guys. As we follow him through a bus station, down into the U-bahn, he is confronted by 3 or 4 CIA guys, Erik manages to take care of them all, before leaving calmly. Very slick, very cool.
After a successful and enjoyable X-Men Trilogy, started off by the inspired Bryan Singer, and an alright but fairly forgettable X-Men Origins: Wolverine; Matthew Vaughn has gone back to the origins of all the mutants. Back in the 60s, bad guy mutant Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon, who can absorb energy; Shaw, not Bacon) is playing the Americans off against the Russians so that they start nuclear war. At the same time Charles Xavier is completing his PhD in genetics at Oxford; whereas Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) is trying to track down Shaw to make him pay for killing his mother at a concentration camp during the second world war. Charles and Erik are recruited by the CIA and are then able to locate and recruit other mutants (brilliant cameo F-bomb during this montage); and ultimately confront Shaw narrowly preventing the escalation of the Cuban Missile Crisis to nuclear war.
I thoroughly enjoyed First Class. Despite Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart being so iconic in the first three films, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender completely make Xavier and Magneto their own, and are every bit as good. As well as the main good vs evil story, there is the other story regarding Charles and Erik and their different views about whether or not humans will accept the mutants into society. McAvoy and Fassbender work really well together, and the fact that we see them become really good friends makes their separation at the end of the film all the more emotional.
From the opening understated scene of Snape looking out from a Hogwarts window (in a Galadriel/Elrond kind of way) HPATDHP2 is a very fitting finale to the HP series. The most financially-successful franchise in cinema has seen stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson grow from cute, bewildered (yet perfectly cast) 12 year-olds into proper actors.
The story takes off immediately from Part 1, which was nice; there was no “Previously on Harry Potter”. Though I am glad that I had recently watched part 1. The action is then fairly constant throughout the film; but not so much that the cast don’t get the opportunity to shine. It was great that Ralph Fiennes finally got to act! He has mostly been in the background in the previous films, but here he is really able to get his Voldemort on! He manages to be angry, intimidating, yet scared and uncertain. Alan Rickman is of course superb as always; though I did feel that the reveal of Snape’s history was slightly rushed, which lessened the impact that it should have had. Jason Isaccs is brilliant once again as the terrified, sycophantic Lucius Malfoy, and I have already mentioned that Daniel, Rupert and Emma are now all great actors.
Ewan McGregor is Oliver, a guy whos world had recently been torn apart. First his Mum dies, then his 70-something year old Dad, Hal (Christopher Plummer), tells Oliver that he is gay, and has always known that he was gay, even all through his marriage. Not long afterwards, Hal is diagnosed with cancer, to which he eventually falls victim. Soon after, Oliver meets Anna (Mélanie Laurent), and after a stuttering start, their relationship blossoms, until they move in together.
This synopsis sounds kinda run-of-the-mill, but that is to underestimate the film completely. For a start, the story isn’t in the chronological order I describe above. Oliver meets Anna towards the start of the film and Hal’s death is towards the end, with everything in between jumbled up. Ewan is fantastic, Mélanie is fantastic (and also gorgeous), and the chemistry between the two is brilliant. From the first time they meet, when Anna can’t speak due to laryngitis, to the end of the film, their relationship is wonderful and captivating. Plummer is a delight as Oliver’s Dad who now wants to explore all facets of being gay. His new boyfriend Andy is played by Goran Visnjic (Luca Kovac from ER), who is very affectionate and always slightly awkward around Oliver. Add to this mix a Jack Russell who has a vocabulary of over 150 words but can’t talk, and you have a rather fabulous film!
