Tag Archives: Aaron Eckhart

Olympus Has Fallen | Film Review

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olympushasfallenAs the tattered flag of the USA is flung aside by the North Koreans during their attack of the White House, the President of the USA is taken hostage, his son goes missing and America’s prized nukes become their very own weapons of mass destruction. 

 

Olympus Has Fallen (the code word for the White House) is the scene of a merciless shoot-out between the Secret Service and North Koreans and only Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), can save the day.

 

A disgraced former presidential guard, Butler’s on a one-man mission to save the President (Aaron Eckhart), his son, and to stop the terrorists from obtaining the three passwords to detonate America’s web of nuclear subheads.  

 

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, in the 13 minutes it takes the North Koreans to take over the White House (and a whole two minutes before the Army intervenes) the unwavering attack echoes the tragic scenes of 911 as a bomber plane whistles past high-rise offices and clips the Washington Monument before it comes crashing to the ground.

 

The film’s release is also at a somewhat ironic time as the hostilities between the two nations in our current world are also surfacing.

 

Intelligent and co-ordinated, the attack is played out with militant efficiency as innocents and secret agents’ bodies pile up on the lawn of the Presidential building and inside one of the safest places in the USA.

 

The light and sound effects on the big screen will leave you feeling shocked and impressed at the same time.

 

With its twists, split-second timing and traitors, Olympus Has Fallen has all the ingredients of a Hollywood action movie and at times, picked up on the comedic lines of Bruce Willis in the Die Hard sagas.

 

When the Defence Secretary Ruth McMillan (brilliantly played by Melissa Leo) is kicked and punched to the floor – a tad uncomfortable to view– she asks the president how her hair looks and when Banning calls his nurse wife to ‘check-in’, they both skirt around the truth and say they’ve had busy days.

 

At times the plot was a little contrived and the continuity was lacking. Banning, who no longer worked by the President’s side, was still able to gain access to the White House security systems and files, just as well really.

 

And as the guns blaze and Banning’s driving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, his smooth face cuts to a stubbly square-jaw line in the next scene.

 

Overall, Olympus Has Fallen is an impressive action movie despite its recurrent plot line favoured by Hollywood directors.

 

And the inclusion of Morgan Freeman, the Speaker of the House who by default becomes the unlikely Acting President, is a sure fan-pleaser.

 

Butler provides the eye-candy, the North Koreans are the baddies and America is hailed as an undefeatable nation.

 

The Dark Knight Rises Review

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I don’t mind saying that I struggled putting this film review together; there are so many people who have already seen The Dark Knight Rises – a film which is now being called the ‘motion picture epic of the summer’ that almost very little remains to be said. As such I was left with a dilemma; do I re-trod old ground of other reviewers, do I try to fill the gaps left by the countless other reviews without giving the plot away or do I try to find a fresh perspective to describe this incredible movie?

The Dark Knight Rises is the final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy; a set of films disparate to any other superhero movies previously seen. Looking at the Avengers and Iron Man films of recent generation it is easy to forget that comic book films formerly prided themselves on suiting their primary audience (which were children) opting for jokey style film making and humour. Caped Crusader (and Bond) films especially were synonymous for focussing on the gadgets rather than on the characterisation. However thank heavens for Mr Nolan, (himself a fan of the Batman comics) because fortunately for us he hadn’t gone through the whole Peter Pan thing – he actually grew up, and as such brought the film bang up to date in a massive, grimy and brutally honest way. Over the past two movies (and equally in this movie) you have villains that actually scare you (The Joker portrayed  by Heath Ledger was actually psychotic) and when we talk about crime syndicates we actually see about the dark and dismal pits of crime corruption where you can trust no one. Written by David S. Goyer, Jonathan Nolan and Bob Kane what we have here in The Dark Knight Rises an incredible master class in film making, fantastic acting from all performers and an astonishing end to perhaps the best film of the summer.

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Taking the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the Dark Knight became a fugitive sacrificing everything so that a law which Dent wanted to pass would go through. For a time the lie worked; officers fought with vigour and criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the anti-crime Dent Act. However the arrival of Bane, a masked terrorist with incredible strength and will power and who threatens to crush Gotham city brings Batman out of retirement for one last battle. Oh yes and the arrival of a sexy cat burglar too. The stage is set.

Watching this film I was trying to remember the last time I saw so much emotion in a superhero film. Christian Bale easily carries his part as both billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne and as the Dark Knight. Gosh that man has got so much talent. You can tell he gave the role everything, from the visceral fight scenes to the moment to moment realities with his butler Alfred (played impeccably well by Michael Caine) you just can’t help but believe him and in his cause. When Batman does show up – it is incredibly exciting. Equally well played is Tom Hardy as the super-villain, aptly called Bane; a slab of muscle and brutal killing power, every appearance on screen just makes you think something bad is going to happen. Anne Hathaway plays the part of slinky, sexy cat burglar Cat woman. She carries her role well and for the most part is easy on the eye and provides some much needed breaks between the bloody and dark tone of the rest of the film.

And what a dark tone it is – a vision of near apocalyptic catastrophe that quickly swishes through the near 3 hour running time with action, explosions, suspense and twists and turns in spades.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a terrific performance as the young, idealistic police officer, Detective Blake, and there are some excellent role reprisals from Morgan Freeman and even Liam Neeson.

It is sad to think that this is the ‘reportedly’ last Batman movie under Christopher Nolan’s direction. I don’t believe his movies will be forgotten for quite some time. Bearing in mind the amount of money this film has already made at the box office – it is doubtful that we have seen the last of the Caped Crusader one can only hope that the future iterations will be as good as this.

If you havent seen the final instalment in the Batman Trilogy make it your aim to do so – it is a fantastic film.

Verdict

9.5/10

The Rum Diary {Film Review}

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The film has had a long developing process and delays that caused some concern whether this film will see the light of day (just like Thompson wrote the book in 1961 but never got published till 1998).

The first time Johnny Depp delved into the mind of Hunter S. Thompson was back in 1998 which he starred in a film called, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The film was directed by Terry Gilliam, known for his bizarre and surrealist work with Time Bandits, Twelve Monkeys and Brazil. It centered on two characters; Raoul Duke (Depp, impersonating the embodiment of Thompson) and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro). They travel to Las Vegas to pursue the American dream but with some drug inducing results. It was a box-office failure, but slowly got a cult following. Thompson’s other autobiographical book, The Rum Diary, had been pursued by Hollywood since 2000. Going through different distributors, filmmakers and film stars (Thompson calling the whole long process a “waterhead fuckaround”). Eventually Thompson committed suicide in 2005 and Depp got financial backing along with Graham King (Oscar winning British producer of The Departed). Bruce Robinson joined in to adapt and direct the film. The film’s production lasted a year in Puerto Rico, Mexico and post-production took two years to complete. So the result is actually much better than one may expect but it isn’t entirely without faults.

Depp plays Paul Kemp, an American journalist who moves to Puerto Rico to work at The San Juan Star (comes in a day late for his interview). He then meets various interesting individuals; Bob Sala (Michael Rispoli), the news photographer. Moberg (Giovanni Ribisi), a political correspondent who likes to listen to Hitler’s speech and brings over 400% proof alcohol. Then there’s Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a shady business man and his girlfriend, Chenault (Amber Heard). Depp gets involved on being part of Sanderson’s scheme on writing about his future development in Puerto Rico but also gets entangled with Chenault and things start to get bizarre.

The screenplay by Robinson is very witty and quite funny, the actors play their parts very well. Although Depp seems a bit miscast, as the character should be played by a younger actor (Thompson was 22 during the time he worked in Puerto Rico). though the story is where it falters. It starts off really well, introducing our character straight in from waking up an event that we only see the aftermath and then seeing the political stress of 1960s Mexico. Kemp then arriving for his interview, learning afterward he was the only applicant. Then the story at the second act goes a bit inconsistent, having a sub-plot between Kemp and Sanderson and a romance sub-plot that doesn’t feel developed. It all seems tacked on and out of place, though some argue that’s probably the point and all to do with Thompson’s unstructured psyche. Especially when he hangs out mostly with Bob, getting chased by locals and Kemp using Moberg’s alcohol as a flamethrower to defend themselves.

The cinematography is very nicely shot, seeing the different scenery of the setting and using high vibrant colours. The score is quite subtle, using jazz and orchestral music with the different tones and emotions going through the story.

Overall; not a complete waste of time but was unfortunately not up the league of comedy genius compared to Withnail & I. Thompson’s memory should’ve been blazing, but sadly only with a flicker.

3 out of 5