Right well I thought I would finish off the month with another one of them reviews and so this time I've opted to do another video game and the game will be Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, which features the professional human cloned killer, agent 47. So let's give this one a look....
So a bit about the plot which starts with Agent 47 (voiced by David Bateson) who has faked his own death after the events of the first game and unofficially resigned from his contract agency. 47 since then has retreated to a church in Sicily to try and find peace with himself and works as gardener for his best friend and mentor, Father Vittorio. However one day, the father is kidnapped and a ransom note is left for 47, who decides to go back to his old just as an assassin in an effort to try and track down the father. 47 then goes back to his old agency handler, Diana Burnwood and says in return for becoming assassin again he wants Diana's help in trying to locate Father Vittorio to which Diana agrees. 47 also tells Diana that Father Vittorio was kidnapped by the Mafia boss Guiseppe Guiliano. And from here agent 47 heads back to his life of contract killings and as the game progresses 47 follows leads in hope to find his good friend and confidant, father Vittorio. (well that was quick!)
Hitman 2 for me remains one of the strongest entries in the series and it for its time its presentation was very impressive and it was reportedly a big improvement over the limitations of the first game in the series. The gameplay itself is also very good and largely straightforward and 47's mission objectives are given at the start of the level which are followed by cut scenes. The missions themselves are actually very varied and there is no set way for 47 to kill his targets as he can either kill them directly (shoot or stab them) or find other more stealthy ways to bump off his targets. And this has always been part of the appeal of the Hitman games in that it allows for the player to make their own choices in how to reach the objective of the mission (i.e. how they decide to kill the guys!). 47 can also of course change disguises in the missions as he takes the clothes of people whom he has either killed or incapcitated and use them to get into places, e.g. police stations, heavily guarded areas, etc.
Weapons wise, 47 has a variety of weapons to choose from and he always has his trusty dual ballers (silenced pistols) as well as his fibre wire, which at times can prove to be the most effective weapon in the game when 47 wants to try and make a clean kill without attracting too much attention. 47 has access to a variety of other weapons such as assault rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns and sniper rifles, as there are some missions where 47 will be required to take out subjects from a distance using a sniper rifle. In the game however 47 has to use his weapons carefully as the emphasis of the action is mainly stealth based if he goes in all guns blazing he is sure more times than not to be killed outright (although he is suprisingly quite strong and can take a fair amount of bullet damage before he finally goes down!). 47 also has the option to incapacitate his enemies without killing as he can use chloroform to knock out them out, which agains for 47 to pinch their clothes and move on.
Graphics wise Hitman 2 also looks great for its time especially considering the fact the game is now 12 years old, the visuals are very impressive and the character models are also even good and it also helps that the game got a visual upgrade when it was released for the Xbox 360 as a remastered version in HD. The game's environments are naturally very varied as well as 47 travels to different locations throughout the world such as Russia (to St Petersburg where 47 kills a Russian general), Afghanistan (where 47 travels to kill some soldiers involved in the Afghan war) and Japan (where 47 goes to kill a Yakuza crime boss). The game also makes good use of its heads up display (HUD) where we 47's health bar and also the suspicion system, which is a bar that rises when 47 attracts too much attention from nearby strangers and will ultimately result in going red if 47 blow his cover.
And another very strong aspect of the game is its music score by Jesper Kyd, which is superb and it is a very dramatic and atmospheric score as well, which is well worth checking out on its own and it suits the tone of the game perfectly. Kyd makes strong use of both orchestral and electronic arrangements in his music and both are carried off superbly as Kyd utilises the national orchestra of Budapest in the orchestral moments and his own synthesized tracks. The voice acting is also very good and David Bateson once again excels as 47 in providing his intense and low voice providing 47 with the right amount of icy coolness and menace.
As for flaws..... well Hitman 2 does have one or two niggles, for starters I feel that 47's movement is still a bit sluggish here, as he walks quite slowly although he can run a fair bit faster, but worst of all when 47 is in a crouched position he creeps forward at a painfully slow pace! And this proves to be quite problematic when he tries to sneak up on enemies to kill them with his fibre wire as it can take an age for him to get into place and by then the enemy may already have moved off! This also applies to when 47 tries to move dead or unconscious bodies as he drags them rather slowly and messily across the floor, which takes too long and is bound to end up with 47 being rumbled and again highlight the sluggishness of 47's movement. Another issue probably also lies in the fact that 47 can't really conceal his weapons very well, i.e. larger weapons such as sniper rifles as he has to try and discreetly holster it in his arm, which isn't very inconspicuous. The game's difficulty level is also quite tough at times and may leave players a bit frustrated when trying to complete a level and also given the large area of some of the levels it is all too easy for 47 to get lost and out of place for when he is trying to locate a target. The difficulty level naturally rises toward the end of the game with the last mission where 47 tries to save Father Vittorio particularly being a pain in the ass when 47 has so many baddies to kill.
I also thought the inclusion of the chloroform in the game whilst it is a good idea to let 47 use non-lethal methods to dispatch his enemies, the chloroform effects don't last for the rest of the level, so before you know it the person 47 has knocked out is soon back up and walking around again, which will no doubt cause them to alert others of 47's presence! Then there is the game's save system which is also a pest as it won't allow you to save your progess during a level and exit the game, it will only save your progress while you play the game. This continued to be the case in Hitman blood money, which was a great game as well but it also marred the gameplay experience as well as it would be alot better if they allowed you to permenantly save your progress when you exit the game so you can go back into it, but no someone at IO interactive just wasn't having it! (the game's publisher of course).
But that all put aside, Hitman 2 is an excellent entry in the game's series and is well worth revisiting and still holds up well after 12 years.
And I shall leave yee there and see you all in October!
Tuesday 30 September 2014
Sunday 28 September 2014
Doctor Who The Ark in Space "The Earth shall be ours!"
Right so here we go its that time where I get back on the computer and do some frantic key clacking to do another review. And this one will cover a classic Doctor Who story, The Ark in Space, a very early Tom Baker story, which saw the beginning of the Philip Hinchcliffe era, which is largely regarded as a golden era in the show. But anyway let's have a look at this story.....
So the story begins with the TARDIS materialising onboard a space station, which appears to be in an inert state. And as the Doctor (Baker) and his two companions, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) look around they quickly find that there is no air supply, which leaves Sarah almost unconscious. The Doctor then manages to restore power and the air supply just in time however Sarah in the meantime is transported and placed into cryogenic suspension, leaving the Doctor and Harry to explore the station further. As they look around the Doctor and Harry find a large cryogenic chamber, which holds a large number of humans in cryogenic suspension and they soon also find Sarah in one of the pallets. The Doctor suggests they try and find a resuscitation unit which Harry finds in a cupboard along with a large insectoid alien lifeform. Then one of the humans, Vira (Wendy Williams) in cryogenic suspension is awoken and revives herself using the equipment Harry found. Vira, who is a medical technician, then manages to start the revivication process for Sarah and also her leader, Lazar who is nicknamed as Noah (Kenton Moore). The Doctor then tells Vira that they have overslept for thousands of years as the alien insect must have sabotaged their control systems, which the Doctor had earlier repaired.
Once Vira has revived Noah, Noah is immediately suspicous of the Doctor and Harry and as the Doctor investigates the ship's power room, he discovers that an alien larvae and traps it inside the ship's solar stack. Noah soon encounters the Doctor in the control room of the Ark and stuns him with a laser weapon and heads down to the power room where is infected by the alien creature. The Doctor soon recovers and encounters Noah again who hides his hand from him, which has been infected and is starting to change into a green scaly skin. As Vira revives another shipmate, Libri (Christopher Masters) the young shipmate sees Noah and backs away in fear as he thought he saw something horrible in Noah. Noah however while talking to Vira, insisting the reviving process must be halted, starts to exhibit strange behaviour as he feels his mind struggling against the influence of the alien creature and he leaves quickly. The Doctor then convinces Libri to go after him, which Libri does with a gun, but Noah overpowers him and shoots Libri dead and reveals that he is starting metamorphose into the alien creature. Noah then sends out a message to Vira that they are all in great danger and that the alien creatures, named the Wirrn, will overtake and absorb the humans. The Doctor and Vira then decide to pay Noah a visit, who has started to mutate even more into one of the Wirrn and he tells him they don't have much time. The Doctor then decides the best solution now is to find out how to kill the Wirrn by finding their weakness and the Doctor dissects a part of the Wirrn's brain tissue and joins with it through a mental link using the control system and he discovers that electricity killed the dead creature. From here, Noah now advancing into Wirrn form shuts off the system's power and as the Doctor goes to the power room to turn it on again he is attacked by Noah, who fully transforms into a Wirrn and warns Vira, who arrives with Sarah and Harry and the others to leave the ark or die. And from this point on, the Doctor and his companions must find a way to defeat the Wirrn and save the future of the human race.
As the debut story of the golden era in the show of the Hinchcliffe and Holmes years, The Ark in Space is undeniably effective and it shows the series go in a new direction. And with Hinchcliffe and Holmes, the show became a bit more dark and gothic in terms of its approach but at the same time it still retained the show's humour as well but it was a stark contrast to the light hearted jaunty tone of the Jon Pertwee years. And in their debut The Ark in Space is a great example of the approach that Hinchcliffe and Holmes would use so well and here they dared to explore themes, which they would also later look at again in body horror, and transformation (which they do again in The Seeds of Doom) and the story has some strong and fairly shocking moments for its time. The story also even featured a scene that was cut where the mutated Noah begs Vira to kill him, which was cut out by Hinchcliffe as he deemed it as being too frightening and the story would also signal the beginning of Hinchcliffe's battle with Mary Whitehouse, who was strongly opposed to several of the stories of that period due to the horror content of the some of the stories. The story also features another disturbing image where we see Noah finally complete his transformation at the end of the third episode as his human eyes are the last thing to change before he becomes a complete Wirrn. And its moments like this that with Ark in Space it sure signalled that the show was changing and also for the better as Hinchcliffe believed the show should also appealto adults as well as children hence the change in tone.
Performance wise the story is very good and Tom Baker really started to lay the grounds for his potrayal of the Doctor after trying to find his feet in his debut story, Robot, as he plays the Doctor with a good level of seriousness, eccentricity, humour as well as a strong moral sense. Baker has some great moments in the story and the first that comes to mind is the scene in the first episode where he is impressed by Harry's calculations of the Ark and he says "You're improving, Harry! Yes your mind is beginning to work. Entirely my influence of course, you shouldn't take any credit!". There is also the funny moment at the start where he berates the forever clumsy Harry, who had mucked about with the TARDIS controls and he calls him "a clumsy ham-fisted idiot!". Another good moment is where the Doctor tells Sarah and Harry how Vira didn't stop them from going after Noah and the Doctor says "By the 30th century human society had become highly compartmentalised. Vira is only a medtech and I expect we are an executive problem!" before being confronted by Noah. Then there is scene where the Doctor teases Sarah in the last episode, where she pushes herself from a very narrow conduit panel, carrying a power cable behind her and she get's all upset as she get's stuck. And the Doctor says to her "Stop whining girl! You're useless, I knew we couldn't rely on you! Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!". And then there is the moment where the Doctor just before he joins his mind with the Wirrn, Vira warns her that if he links up the equipment to his mind it could "burn out a human brain" and the Doctor says "an ordinary brain, yes, but mine is exceptional!". And then there is the hilarious and most likely unintentionally double entendre line where the Doctor explains his medical status and Harry's to Vira by saying "well my doctorate is purely honorary and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors!" (or maybe it was intentional!). Another good scene is where the Doctor discovers that the missing crewmember, Dune, was used by the Wirrn, who planted eggs inside his body and Vira says "You mean Dune's knowledge??" and the Doctor says "Has been thoroughly digested I'm afraid!". And Sarah frightened by the prospect says "don't make jokes like that, Doctor" and the Doctor says to her "When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes".
Elisabeth Sladen is also as good as ever in her part as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some moments in the story such as when she volunteers to take the power cables through the conduits so they rig up the power to electrocute the Wirrn and she says "why can't I take that cable through?" and they look at her and Sarah says "Well I'm about that wide!" as she indicates the width of the conduits. And the story also begins to show the natural chemistry that Tom and Liz had with one another on screen in the scene where the Doctor teases her to get her to move on. And Sarah starts sobbing but the Doctor's teasing remarks get her riled up and she says "You wait until I get out of here!" and as Sarah emerges from the conduit the Doctor takes her hand and she protests "I don't need your help, I can manage thank you!" and as the Doctor tells her he is proud of her she gasps and says "Conned again! You're a brute!". Then there is the scene where Sarah near the start, is starved of oxygen due to the Ark's air supply turned off, but as the Doctor makes his repairs and turns it on again, Harry reassures her calling her "old girl" and Sarah groggily stirs and says "Harry, call me old girl again and I'll spit in your eye!".
Ian Marter also makes a good impression in the story as the bumbling but well meaning Harry Sullivan and also provides some comic relief as well as he is given some possibly unintentionally funny lines to deliver. Marter actually get's some of the best lines in the story such as the scene where Harry says to the Doctor "I always hated sliding doors even since I got my nose caught in one at Pompei barracks!". Another is the scene where the Doctor and the others listened to an automated message of the future prime minister of the Earth (a female voice) and Harry says to Sarah "Well I bet that did your female chauvanist heart a power of good" and Sarah says why and Harry says "Well imagine a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole!". And then there is the priceless line where the Doctor comments on the Wirrn Queen to Vira and Harry says "We found the queen in the cupboard!". And when Vira says there is a technical fault on the ship, Harry says to her "gremlins can get into anything, old girl, first law of the sea!".
As for the guest cast, Wendy Williams does well enough in her role as Vira, the senior medical technician who revives her crewmates and loyalities are torn between the Doctor and Noah. Wendy has some moments in the story such as the scene where she tries to revive Sarah and the Doctor says that she has changed Sarah's body into a battlefield, and Vira says "Battlefield?! I hypoid in classics by you dawn timers have a language all of your own!". Also there is the moment where the Doctor and Vira confront the rapidly mutating Noah in the corridors of the ark and after the meeting, Vira turns away sadly saying "Noah and I were pair-bonded for the new life". Kenton Moore is also quite effective in his role as Noah, who starts off as a rather arrogant crew leader but is soon consumed by the Wirrn and he starts to become slightly pitiful. Moore also some good moments such as the scene where he reveals his mutated green skinned hand and he pleads with Vira to evacuate the ark and he fights to tell them "You are all in great danger!" and then Wirrn that briefly takes control of him and his voice changes to a lower tone saying "We shall absorb the humans. The Earth shall be ours!".
And lastly Morgan Richardson is great in his role as the Ark crewmember, Rogin, who is somewhat grumpy and he too get's some of the story's best lines. An example is the scene where he has been revived and he says to Vira "I told there has been a snitch up! We should have taken our chances on Earth and went into the thermic shelters! We'd be happily dead by now!". And later he says to other revived friend, Lycett, "We should have stayed on the Earth. I liked the Earth. I like heat!". And lastly there is the line where Rogin and Harry use the transmats to transport between areas in the Ark and Harry after he is arrives says "I say! What a marvelous way to travel!" and Rogin rubs his teeth saying "It always sets my teeth on edge!".
As for the direction, Rodney Bennett does a fine job with the story and along with The Sontaran Experiment, it was the only other story that Bennett would direct for the show as he provides a good deal of tension of suspense throughout the story. The sets are also very noteworthy in the story as future academy award winner, Roger Murray Leach produces some brilliant and imagnitive sets for the Ark space station. And laslty a nod deserves to go out to the show's regular composer at the time, Dudley Simpson who provides another fine dramatic score for the story, which is very well suited and features many atmospheric and dramatic cues.
As for the flaws............... well yeah OK The Ark in Space isn't quite perfect and its main flaw probably lies in the fact that while Noah's transformation into the Wirrn throughout the story is quite effective, the Wirrn themselves are less so and in the end we are subjected to more men in rubber suits shifting about! And after the effectiveness of the story for the first three episodes, when you see the plastic rubber suited Wirrn shift around the studio, it takes away any convincing impact the creatures should make. But I guess given the show's limited budget back then and the limited effects technology of the time they always in the end has to resort to using men in rubber suits for any insectoid alien lifeforms! I also felt the story features one or two superflous characters specifically Libri and Lycett who in the end are just used as fodder for the Wirrn (well Lycett literally as he is consumed by the Wirrn larvae) and actually aren't given enough time to be developed as characters or to contribute to the story itself. Perhaps also the story is a bit slow paced at the start and its not until about halfway into the second episode when things start to pick up, but overall the pacing isn't too much of a problem, but if I'm being picky it does feel a bit sluggish at the start. The lack of budget obviously was clearly a bit of an issue where we see in the scene the Doctor, Sarah and Harry walk down the corridors of the Ark that in fact there is only really one corridor area, which they keep reusing at different angles! But to be fair these were just the time and budget constraints the production staff had to work with at the time.
But those niggles aside The Ark in Space is still one of the early classics from the Baker era and its well worth checking out and it remains for the most part an effective, creepy and entertaining story which if you haven't seen it, I'd recommend giving it a go, if you are a fan of the original series (like me!).
So with that I shall bid yee goodnight.
So the story begins with the TARDIS materialising onboard a space station, which appears to be in an inert state. And as the Doctor (Baker) and his two companions, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) look around they quickly find that there is no air supply, which leaves Sarah almost unconscious. The Doctor then manages to restore power and the air supply just in time however Sarah in the meantime is transported and placed into cryogenic suspension, leaving the Doctor and Harry to explore the station further. As they look around the Doctor and Harry find a large cryogenic chamber, which holds a large number of humans in cryogenic suspension and they soon also find Sarah in one of the pallets. The Doctor suggests they try and find a resuscitation unit which Harry finds in a cupboard along with a large insectoid alien lifeform. Then one of the humans, Vira (Wendy Williams) in cryogenic suspension is awoken and revives herself using the equipment Harry found. Vira, who is a medical technician, then manages to start the revivication process for Sarah and also her leader, Lazar who is nicknamed as Noah (Kenton Moore). The Doctor then tells Vira that they have overslept for thousands of years as the alien insect must have sabotaged their control systems, which the Doctor had earlier repaired.
Once Vira has revived Noah, Noah is immediately suspicous of the Doctor and Harry and as the Doctor investigates the ship's power room, he discovers that an alien larvae and traps it inside the ship's solar stack. Noah soon encounters the Doctor in the control room of the Ark and stuns him with a laser weapon and heads down to the power room where is infected by the alien creature. The Doctor soon recovers and encounters Noah again who hides his hand from him, which has been infected and is starting to change into a green scaly skin. As Vira revives another shipmate, Libri (Christopher Masters) the young shipmate sees Noah and backs away in fear as he thought he saw something horrible in Noah. Noah however while talking to Vira, insisting the reviving process must be halted, starts to exhibit strange behaviour as he feels his mind struggling against the influence of the alien creature and he leaves quickly. The Doctor then convinces Libri to go after him, which Libri does with a gun, but Noah overpowers him and shoots Libri dead and reveals that he is starting metamorphose into the alien creature. Noah then sends out a message to Vira that they are all in great danger and that the alien creatures, named the Wirrn, will overtake and absorb the humans. The Doctor and Vira then decide to pay Noah a visit, who has started to mutate even more into one of the Wirrn and he tells him they don't have much time. The Doctor then decides the best solution now is to find out how to kill the Wirrn by finding their weakness and the Doctor dissects a part of the Wirrn's brain tissue and joins with it through a mental link using the control system and he discovers that electricity killed the dead creature. From here, Noah now advancing into Wirrn form shuts off the system's power and as the Doctor goes to the power room to turn it on again he is attacked by Noah, who fully transforms into a Wirrn and warns Vira, who arrives with Sarah and Harry and the others to leave the ark or die. And from this point on, the Doctor and his companions must find a way to defeat the Wirrn and save the future of the human race.
As the debut story of the golden era in the show of the Hinchcliffe and Holmes years, The Ark in Space is undeniably effective and it shows the series go in a new direction. And with Hinchcliffe and Holmes, the show became a bit more dark and gothic in terms of its approach but at the same time it still retained the show's humour as well but it was a stark contrast to the light hearted jaunty tone of the Jon Pertwee years. And in their debut The Ark in Space is a great example of the approach that Hinchcliffe and Holmes would use so well and here they dared to explore themes, which they would also later look at again in body horror, and transformation (which they do again in The Seeds of Doom) and the story has some strong and fairly shocking moments for its time. The story also even featured a scene that was cut where the mutated Noah begs Vira to kill him, which was cut out by Hinchcliffe as he deemed it as being too frightening and the story would also signal the beginning of Hinchcliffe's battle with Mary Whitehouse, who was strongly opposed to several of the stories of that period due to the horror content of the some of the stories. The story also features another disturbing image where we see Noah finally complete his transformation at the end of the third episode as his human eyes are the last thing to change before he becomes a complete Wirrn. And its moments like this that with Ark in Space it sure signalled that the show was changing and also for the better as Hinchcliffe believed the show should also appealto adults as well as children hence the change in tone.
Performance wise the story is very good and Tom Baker really started to lay the grounds for his potrayal of the Doctor after trying to find his feet in his debut story, Robot, as he plays the Doctor with a good level of seriousness, eccentricity, humour as well as a strong moral sense. Baker has some great moments in the story and the first that comes to mind is the scene in the first episode where he is impressed by Harry's calculations of the Ark and he says "You're improving, Harry! Yes your mind is beginning to work. Entirely my influence of course, you shouldn't take any credit!". There is also the funny moment at the start where he berates the forever clumsy Harry, who had mucked about with the TARDIS controls and he calls him "a clumsy ham-fisted idiot!". Another good moment is where the Doctor tells Sarah and Harry how Vira didn't stop them from going after Noah and the Doctor says "By the 30th century human society had become highly compartmentalised. Vira is only a medtech and I expect we are an executive problem!" before being confronted by Noah. Then there is scene where the Doctor teases Sarah in the last episode, where she pushes herself from a very narrow conduit panel, carrying a power cable behind her and she get's all upset as she get's stuck. And the Doctor says to her "Stop whining girl! You're useless, I knew we couldn't rely on you! Hundreds of lives are at stake and you just sit there blubbing!". And then there is the moment where the Doctor just before he joins his mind with the Wirrn, Vira warns her that if he links up the equipment to his mind it could "burn out a human brain" and the Doctor says "an ordinary brain, yes, but mine is exceptional!". And then there is the hilarious and most likely unintentionally double entendre line where the Doctor explains his medical status and Harry's to Vira by saying "well my doctorate is purely honorary and Harry here is only qualified to work on sailors!" (or maybe it was intentional!). Another good scene is where the Doctor discovers that the missing crewmember, Dune, was used by the Wirrn, who planted eggs inside his body and Vira says "You mean Dune's knowledge??" and the Doctor says "Has been thoroughly digested I'm afraid!". And Sarah frightened by the prospect says "don't make jokes like that, Doctor" and the Doctor says to her "When I say I'm afraid, Sarah, I'm not making jokes".
Elisabeth Sladen is also as good as ever in her part as Sarah Jane Smith and she has some moments in the story such as when she volunteers to take the power cables through the conduits so they rig up the power to electrocute the Wirrn and she says "why can't I take that cable through?" and they look at her and Sarah says "Well I'm about that wide!" as she indicates the width of the conduits. And the story also begins to show the natural chemistry that Tom and Liz had with one another on screen in the scene where the Doctor teases her to get her to move on. And Sarah starts sobbing but the Doctor's teasing remarks get her riled up and she says "You wait until I get out of here!" and as Sarah emerges from the conduit the Doctor takes her hand and she protests "I don't need your help, I can manage thank you!" and as the Doctor tells her he is proud of her she gasps and says "Conned again! You're a brute!". Then there is the scene where Sarah near the start, is starved of oxygen due to the Ark's air supply turned off, but as the Doctor makes his repairs and turns it on again, Harry reassures her calling her "old girl" and Sarah groggily stirs and says "Harry, call me old girl again and I'll spit in your eye!".
Ian Marter also makes a good impression in the story as the bumbling but well meaning Harry Sullivan and also provides some comic relief as well as he is given some possibly unintentionally funny lines to deliver. Marter actually get's some of the best lines in the story such as the scene where Harry says to the Doctor "I always hated sliding doors even since I got my nose caught in one at Pompei barracks!". Another is the scene where the Doctor and the others listened to an automated message of the future prime minister of the Earth (a female voice) and Harry says to Sarah "Well I bet that did your female chauvanist heart a power of good" and Sarah says why and Harry says "Well imagine a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole!". And then there is the priceless line where the Doctor comments on the Wirrn Queen to Vira and Harry says "We found the queen in the cupboard!". And when Vira says there is a technical fault on the ship, Harry says to her "gremlins can get into anything, old girl, first law of the sea!".
As for the guest cast, Wendy Williams does well enough in her role as Vira, the senior medical technician who revives her crewmates and loyalities are torn between the Doctor and Noah. Wendy has some moments in the story such as the scene where she tries to revive Sarah and the Doctor says that she has changed Sarah's body into a battlefield, and Vira says "Battlefield?! I hypoid in classics by you dawn timers have a language all of your own!". Also there is the moment where the Doctor and Vira confront the rapidly mutating Noah in the corridors of the ark and after the meeting, Vira turns away sadly saying "Noah and I were pair-bonded for the new life". Kenton Moore is also quite effective in his role as Noah, who starts off as a rather arrogant crew leader but is soon consumed by the Wirrn and he starts to become slightly pitiful. Moore also some good moments such as the scene where he reveals his mutated green skinned hand and he pleads with Vira to evacuate the ark and he fights to tell them "You are all in great danger!" and then Wirrn that briefly takes control of him and his voice changes to a lower tone saying "We shall absorb the humans. The Earth shall be ours!".
And lastly Morgan Richardson is great in his role as the Ark crewmember, Rogin, who is somewhat grumpy and he too get's some of the story's best lines. An example is the scene where he has been revived and he says to Vira "I told there has been a snitch up! We should have taken our chances on Earth and went into the thermic shelters! We'd be happily dead by now!". And later he says to other revived friend, Lycett, "We should have stayed on the Earth. I liked the Earth. I like heat!". And lastly there is the line where Rogin and Harry use the transmats to transport between areas in the Ark and Harry after he is arrives says "I say! What a marvelous way to travel!" and Rogin rubs his teeth saying "It always sets my teeth on edge!".
As for the direction, Rodney Bennett does a fine job with the story and along with The Sontaran Experiment, it was the only other story that Bennett would direct for the show as he provides a good deal of tension of suspense throughout the story. The sets are also very noteworthy in the story as future academy award winner, Roger Murray Leach produces some brilliant and imagnitive sets for the Ark space station. And laslty a nod deserves to go out to the show's regular composer at the time, Dudley Simpson who provides another fine dramatic score for the story, which is very well suited and features many atmospheric and dramatic cues.
As for the flaws............... well yeah OK The Ark in Space isn't quite perfect and its main flaw probably lies in the fact that while Noah's transformation into the Wirrn throughout the story is quite effective, the Wirrn themselves are less so and in the end we are subjected to more men in rubber suits shifting about! And after the effectiveness of the story for the first three episodes, when you see the plastic rubber suited Wirrn shift around the studio, it takes away any convincing impact the creatures should make. But I guess given the show's limited budget back then and the limited effects technology of the time they always in the end has to resort to using men in rubber suits for any insectoid alien lifeforms! I also felt the story features one or two superflous characters specifically Libri and Lycett who in the end are just used as fodder for the Wirrn (well Lycett literally as he is consumed by the Wirrn larvae) and actually aren't given enough time to be developed as characters or to contribute to the story itself. Perhaps also the story is a bit slow paced at the start and its not until about halfway into the second episode when things start to pick up, but overall the pacing isn't too much of a problem, but if I'm being picky it does feel a bit sluggish at the start. The lack of budget obviously was clearly a bit of an issue where we see in the scene the Doctor, Sarah and Harry walk down the corridors of the Ark that in fact there is only really one corridor area, which they keep reusing at different angles! But to be fair these were just the time and budget constraints the production staff had to work with at the time.
But those niggles aside The Ark in Space is still one of the early classics from the Baker era and its well worth checking out and it remains for the most part an effective, creepy and entertaining story which if you haven't seen it, I'd recommend giving it a go, if you are a fan of the original series (like me!).
So with that I shall bid yee goodnight.
Monday 22 September 2014
JFK revisted "Back and to the left!"
OK so this is an updated version of my post for the Oliver Stone drama film JFK, which covers the events that surrounded John F. Kennedy's
assassination that took place on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas and
the aftermath of its investigation. So I thought I would add in more to this post to extend it as its been festering about and thought it could do with a tweak here and there. So let's give it a look and just to warn you this post is a BIG one!
On the day of the assassination, in New Orleans, District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is informed by one of his staff Lou Barnes (Jay Sanders). After Kennedy's death is announced officially on television, the suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) is arrested and taken to the station for questioning. Garrison then plans to investigate any suspects and associates of Lee Harvey Oswald's that might be under his jurisdiction in New Orleans, however before he can do that, Oswald is assassinated live on TV by Dallas mob man Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray). Regardless of Oswald's shock assassination, Garrison brings in one of Oswald's alleged known associates, David Ferrie (Joe Pesci) who naturally denies he ever knew Oswald. However Ferrie gives a very shaky account of his activities on the day of the assassination which Garrison quickly disbelieves and has Ferrie detained for more questioning by the FBI, regardless of this though Ferrie is let go, after which Garrison decides not to continue investigating any further.
Three years later in 1966, after sharing a conversation with a senator, Russell Long (played by the late great Walter Matthau) on an airplane, Garrison starts to have serious doubts and suspicions about the events of the assassination and that Oswald was the lone gunman. After more digging around, and reading over the 26 volumes of the official assassination investigation, published by Warren Commission and conducted by chief judge Earl Warren (played by Garrison himself), Garrison decides to re-open the investigation of the crime. With his small team of staff, Garrison questions many different witnesses to the shooting, and potential suspects that may have been connected to the assassination. As Garrison and his team investigate further, a name that keeps popping up is Clay Bertrand, who is later revealed to be Clay Shaw (played by Tommy Lee Jones) a well respected businessman and entrepeneur. However on bringing Shaw in for questioning, Shaw categorically denies any knowledge of Oswald, Ferrie or any one else potentially involved in the conspiracy, as well as denying his Clay Bertrand alias. But soon after their meeting, Garrison's investigation is made public and soon the press and media come down hard on him. Now forced to operate out in the open, Garrison faces tough choices ahead of him in carrying out his investigation, after receiving various death threats, crank calls, and narrowly escaping frame ups to discredit him. Eventually after rigorous investigations, including a discussion with an ex-military figure who simply calls himself "X" (Donald Sutherland) who provides him with important background knowledge to the events surrounding the assassination, Garrison decides to arrest Shaw and prosecute him for his possible involvement in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. What follows after this is a lenghty trial sequence where Garrison presents his case for the prosecution of Clay Shaw as well as his speculation on the events on the day of the assassination in Dallas.
JFK is without a doubt a great achievement in its own, as Oliver Stone took a controversial subject and turned into a film that is fascinating, intelligent and gripping. If you look at the events and evidence that are presented in the film, it certainly does a great job at convincing you that there was a possible conspiracy involved. Jim Garrison himself showed tremendous moral courage and character in bringing such a trial to the public eye, as he himself faced great danger in pissing off the government and endangering his own life in the process. But Garrison is never potrayed as anything else other than a very decent man who in reality at first was never really keen on Kennedy at the time, but during his investigation came to admire him for what he stood for during his time as the president before his untimely tragic death.
But whether or not a conspiracy took place in Dallas that day or not, no one really knows, but the film certainly does its best to convince the viewer that there was one. One of key aspects of the assassination as highlighted in the film was that it seemed highly unlikely that Oswald could have fired 3 shots that from the book depository window, in such a short space of time (5-7 seconds), and do it with such precision from the distance he was at from the motorcade. And that is where the other riflemen come into the equation and the scenario of a team that would be able to place themselves in fixed positions to ensure the assassination would be carried out precisely. Another crucial crux of the film and the case was, there had to be more than just 3 shots, as if for no better reason, there were four known wounds, three to Kennedy (in the throat, back and head) and one to Governor Conally (one in the back). This is where the Warren Commission presented the ridiculous "magic bullet" theory that one bullet accounted for the wounds between Connally and Kennedy. Also based from the facts given from the film, it seems unlikely that if after Oswald committed the crime, that he would be able race down the stairs in about 90 seconds, only to face a police officer who was checking out the building, to ask whom he was, and appear not to be out of breath, which the policeman testified later that Oswald was absolutely not out of breath.
Another theory however that has been stated over the years was the final headshot that killed Kennedy was in fact fired by one of the secret service agents, Clinton Hill in one of the car's behind Kennedy's parade car in which Hill accidentally fired off a round from his M16 gun in the confusion which caused the fatal head shot that killed Kennedy. Then there is the film footage, taken by an onlooker Abraham Zapruder, which shows the assassination itself, and gives possible clues of the direction of where the bullets came from. The footage itself is terrible to watch, and it was followed by some more public assassinations (Oswald himself, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy followed), and Garrison himself later subpoenaed the Zapruder film for his trial (the footage itself was later televised for the first time in 1975 on American television). Another key point was surely, if Oswald was even the lone gunman, he would not have acted alone, as he must been acting on behalf of powerful people behind the scenes, in this regard Oswald himself could well have been a sleeper cell, who was set in motion at the key moment, but again this is just a bit of speculation, but I personally have never bought into the possibility that Oswald was just as Garrison says in the film "an angry lone nut" who carried out the assassination purely by himself. However in recent years the theory involving Hill is considered to be more accurate given that the type of shot fired from his M16 machine gun was far more powerful and destructive than the first two shots fired at Kennedy.
But back to the actual film, JFK is without a doubt fascinating to watch, and features so many great performances and cameos from its big cast. Kevin Costner, while he not be the best actor in the world, does give a fine performance as the DA Jim Garrison, who takes on the daunting task of bringing the JFK assassination to trial, he also shows Garrison as being a very moral man, as well as being very strong and stubborn in the face of adversity. Costner has many highlights in the film which include his lengthy 30 minute court case sequence where he delivers a very lengthy monologue to the jury going over the arguments of his prosecution. Costner also has some other good moments such as the scene where he argues with one of his staff, Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker) who argues that the mob could have been behind the assassination and Garrison refutes the idea. And Garrison says "Could the mob change the parade route, Bill? Could the mob influence the national media to go to sleep? I mean could the mob get Oswald into and Russia and get him back??? And when have the mob used anything but 38.s for hits up close??? The mob wouldn't have the guts or power for something of this magnetude! Assassins need paryolls, schedules, times, orders! This was a military style ambush! This was a coupe de'tat with Lyndon Johnson waiting in the wings!". Another highlight of Costner's is when Garrison and his wife argue and as she yells at him "I want my life back!" he shouts back "So do I, goddamnit! I have a life too you know! But you can't just bury your head in the sand like some ostrich, Liz! Its not about our house, our two cars, and our kitchen! Its about our kids growing up in a shithole of lies and I'm angry about it! And my life is fucked because of it, and if you can see it that way then you're life is fucked too!".
And Costner as Garrison in the film now and then quotes pieces of William Shakespeare and the most notable one is after he has his meeting with Clay Shaw and he quotes from Hamlet and says "One may smile and smile and be a villain!". Also there are some great lines that Costner get's during his epic monologue to the jury and the most notable bit probably is the end where Garrison becomes emotional and says to them "Do not forget your dying king. Show this world that this is still a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Nothing as long as you live will ever be more important. Its up to you". And during the case Costner has another great moment where Garrison discusses the ridiculous nature of the magic bullet theory which he describes as "one of the grossest lies ever forced on the American people!". And after he explains the supposed wounds created by the bullet he says to the jury "That's some bullet! But the government says they can prove it with some fancy physics in a nuclear laboratory. Of course they can. Pheoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy! But use your eyes and your common sense!". Then there is the scene where Garrison shows the footage of the murder and he says at the moment of the fatal head shot to Kennedy we see Kennedy fall violently back and to the left which is inconsistent with the direction of the book depository "back and to the left, back and to the left, back and to the left! What haeppened next? Pandemonium!".
Joe Pesci also probably gives the film's best performance as Dave Ferrie, the crazed suspect (replete with a ridiculous wig and eyebrows!) who later admits to his involvement with Oswald, as he shows a mixture of malice and remorse. Pesci also has some great moments as the paranoid Ferrie and his first scene is great when Ferrie is taken into Garrison's office for questioning over his whereabouts of the weekend of the assassination, but Ferrie's story is filled with holes, so Garrison detains him for further questioning. And Ferrie asks why and Garrison replies "Dave I find your story simply not believable!" and Ferrie appears surprised and says "Really?! What part?". And then there is Pesci's best scene in the film where Ferrie in a state of panic and paranoia nervously paces a hotel room where Garrison and his men keep him after a newspaper article is released impliacting Ferrie. And in the scene Ferrie babbles saying "But who the fuck pulls who's chain?! Who the fuck knows? "Oh what a deadly web we weave and we practice to decieve!". And Garrison asks him who killed the president which sets off Ferrie into a demented rant "Oh why don't you fuckin stop it?! This is too fuckin big for you, you know that?! Who killed Kennedy... fuck man! Its a mystery, its a riddle wrapped inside an enigma! The fuckin shooters don't even know it, don't you get it?! Fuck, man! I can't go on talking like this, they'll fuckin kill me! I'm gonna fuckin die!". And Ferrie goes on to lament about how he wanted to become a catholic priest but was defrocked because of his homosexuality and he sits back saying "I'm so fucking exhausted I can't see straight!".
Tommy Lee Jones gives an excellent performance also as Clay Shaw, and he depicts as a very sly businessman, who is clearly also very manipulative and Jones appears to revel in playing up the transparent villainous qualities of the character. And in his best and main scene Jones refutes every accusation that Garrison makes at him as he keeps asking if he met with David Ferrie or Oswald and Shaw is aghast and says "You really have me assorting with a sordid cast of characters!". And then he says "I am a businessman and like all businessmen I am accussed of all things!" and later when Garrison accusses him of considering an act of patriotism to kill the president Shaw says "Now just wait a minute, sir, you are way out of line!" before wrapping up the meeting and mysteriously the next day, the cover is blown on Garrison's investigation. Another good moment Jones has is during the scene when Willy O'Keefe recalls to Garrison a meeting Willy had with Shaw, Oswald and Ferrie, where Ferrie conspires to kill Kennedy and suggests how they could do it. And Shaw says to Ferrie "What don't we drop this subject. Its one thing to engage in banter with these youngsters, but this sort of thing can get so easily misunderstood!" before crushing Ferrie's testicles for his disobedience!
The other smaller character roles are equally impressive, with fine stuff from Michael Rooker as Bill (one of Garrison's staff). Rooker also has some good moments, the main one being when he tries to reason with Garrison that he is taking the wrong route and suggests the mob was behind the assassination, which Garrison dismisses. And Bill get's fed up and says before leaving the office "This is Louisiana, chief! I mean how the hell do you know who your daddy is??! Because your momma told you so! You are way out there taking a crap in the wind, boss! And I am for one not goin along on this one!". Of course in the director's cut of the film, Bill ends up betraying Garrison and also steals some of his files and we also see him be coerced by a government agent earlier aswell.
Laurie Metcalf as Susie, another staff member, is also very good and she has some good moments in the film, the main one being where Garrison's team meet for lunch and she goes over the file history of Oswald's character and background. And of course Jay Sanders is also excellent as Lou Barnes, who was in reality one of Garrison's key members of staff (although the film depicts Barnes as quitting the investigation, in reality he didn't). Sanders also has some good moments such as the scene where Lou and Garrison are at the book despository building with the rifle that Oswald used and he does a demo of firing and reload the empty rifle and he goes over the specifics of the improbabilities of Oswald being able to pull off three precise shots. And Lou says "I mean this is the whole essence of the case to me. The guy couldn't do the shooting!". And later on when Lou demands to Garrison that he can no longer work with Bill because he doesn't trust he says "I cannot work with Bill Broussard anymore" and when Garrison asks if he is giving him an ultimatum, Lou says "Well if that's what you wanna cal it?! Hell I never thought it would come to this. I guess I am". And Garrison says "I won't have any damn ultimatum put to me, Lou. I'll accept your resignation" and Lou says "Well you sure got it! You are one stubborn son of a bitch! And you are making one hell of a mistake".
Also Kevin Bacon, is excellent as Willie O'Keefe (who in reality was based on one of Garrison's key witnesses, Perry Russo) the gay prostitute who claimed to have known and had sexual relations with Shaw. And Bacon's main scene is quite impressive where Willie recalls meeting Oswald and his involvement with Shaw and Ferrie. And as Garrison asks Willie if he will testify and if he does what he says will be attacked by different people and Willie dismisses it and says "Oh bring all those motherfuckers on in here with their college degrees! I've got nothing to hide! You know this about the truth coming out! You goddamn liberal, Mr Garrison, you don't know shit because you never been fucked in the ass! This is about order! Who rules!". Sissy Spacek is also very good in her role as Garrison's with Liz, who has to suffer her husband's obssessions with the JFK case throughout the film. And Sissy's best scene comes when Liz argues with Garrison and she says to him "I just want to raise our children in a normal world and I want my life back!".
Donald Sutherland is similarly great as the mysterious "X" who delivers a very lengthy 17 minute dialogue giving Garrison the background info surrounding the events leading up to the assassination. And Sutherland's monologue is so long is hard to pick some examples, but I think his last few lines are great where he encourages Garrison to carry on with his case. And as Garrison says he hasn't much of a case, X says "You don't have a choice anymore. You've become a significant threat to the national security structure! They would have killed you already but you've got alot of light on you. Instead they are trying to destroy your credibility. Be honest, your only chance is to come up with a case. Something, anything! Make arrests, stir the shit storm, hope to reach a point of critical mass that will start a chain reaction of people coming forward then the government will crack. Remember, fundamentall people are suckers for the truth, and the truth is on your side, Bubba. I just hope you get a break".
Also there is the superb Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin, an assistant to a private eye detective, Guy Banister, who is great in his role as the down and out drunk, who Garrison approaches earlier on in the film. And Jack tells Garrison what happened in Guy's office during the summer of 63, but he becomes instantly panicked when Garrison mentions the assassination and starts to leave. And Garrison asks what is the problem and Jack says "Do I have to spell it out for you, Mr Garrison?!" and Garrisons no one knows what they are talking about and Jack stares at him in disbelief saying "You are so niave!". And Ed Asner is also good in his brief role as Guy Banister (played by Ed Asner) the private eye, who was a former FBI man and was said to be closely linked to behind the scenes of the assassination, but Banister died shortly after in 1964. Asner has a couple of good scenes, particularly his first scene where he cheers Kennedy's death and he says "All this blubbing over that no count son of a bitch! They're balling like they knew the man!". John Candy is also great in his role as the sleazy lawyer, Dean Andrews who apparently met with Oswald and spoke with Shaw but he refutes any claims that he knows the identity of Shaw who used the alias of Clay Bertrand. And at the end of the scene Dean says "You're crazy as your mama! Goes to show its in the genes! You any idea what you're getting yourself into, Daddio?! The government is gonna jump all over your head, Jimbo, and go cocka-doodle-doo! Good day to your, sir!".
And last but by no means least, there is Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. Oldman is great as Oswald, and potrays him as a complex and private man, who remained a mystery even after his death. Gary Oldman also facially resembles Oswald a fair bit, and does an excellent job at reproducing his unusual American accent, which had a tinge of Russian to it. And during the film Oldman quotes alot of the dialogue taken from Oswald's public arrest on TV as he says to the press that "I didn't shoot anyone, no sir. They have taken me in just because I defected to the Soviet union. I am just a patsy!".
So FINALLY getting onto the director paragraph, Oliver Stone does a terrific job here and he keeps the viewer engrossed throughout as he presents the film's arguments in a very convincing fashion and he also makes great use of some frantic camera work as he combines a mixture of black and white footage and colour mixed in with the film itself. Stone's screenplay is also a great achievement in itself as it is very intelligent and well researched for the most part although it does create some composite characters based on real life witnesses so there might be the odd bit of licence taken here and there. And lastly I can't forget to mention John William's terrific film score, which is both suspenseful and atmopsheric throughout and features many excellent tracks, particularly the main theme.
As for the flaws??? Well JFK does have the odd niggle, for starters I feel the film verges on bombarding you with too much information at times, so it definitely takes a few viewings to get the gist of all the details. And another thing I would say about the film that probably lets it down slightly is the melodrama of Garrison's home life, as he argues with his wife Elizabeth (Sissy Spacek) who is frustrated by the amount of time he devotes to the case. It is however key to the film as well I guess, as it is important to show how the events of the investigation impacted on Garrison's personal life, and later in reality, his first wife Elizabeth did divorce him. Another slight problem with the film, and probably the case in general is there is not much evidence that cold links Shaw to knowing Oswald, as it ultimately is just the word of people who have witnessed seeing Shaw and Oswald together in the past with not much if any in the way of photographic evidence or otherwise. But it was later revealed in 1978, four years after Shaw's death, by the at the time CIA director, Richard Helms, that Shaw did actually work for the CIA as a contractor (this is added in as insert at the end of the film). And based on the Richard Helms testimony, it proved that Shaw was guilty of perjury. But people of power and persuasion like Shaw, can as it seems get away with murder (or assassination in this case). You could also say its hard to guage how accurate the film actually is in terms of the depiction of the events behind the assassination and if indeed it was conspiracy or not, but personally I think there had to be one as I could not see Oswald acting alone and it seems a bit too coincidental that Oswald could get off two shoots before the third shot kills Kennedy (if in fact it was the secret service agent Hill that accidentally discharged that shot), and as I mentioned before how are Governor Connolly's wounds explained, as it would suggest there had to be at least four bullets fired for four separate wounds. But you could drive yourself mad thinking about it so I will leave it there for now! :-)
Sooo that's it for my extended and VERY exhuastive post on JFK, which remains one of my favourite films and one of the best films of the 1990s, which to this day still remains as pertinent as it did on its release, and whether it be accurate or not, its still compelling viewing with a top cast and a great screenplay backing it.
And on that exhaustive note I shall say goodnight!
On the day of the assassination, in New Orleans, District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is informed by one of his staff Lou Barnes (Jay Sanders). After Kennedy's death is announced officially on television, the suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) is arrested and taken to the station for questioning. Garrison then plans to investigate any suspects and associates of Lee Harvey Oswald's that might be under his jurisdiction in New Orleans, however before he can do that, Oswald is assassinated live on TV by Dallas mob man Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle Murray). Regardless of Oswald's shock assassination, Garrison brings in one of Oswald's alleged known associates, David Ferrie (Joe Pesci) who naturally denies he ever knew Oswald. However Ferrie gives a very shaky account of his activities on the day of the assassination which Garrison quickly disbelieves and has Ferrie detained for more questioning by the FBI, regardless of this though Ferrie is let go, after which Garrison decides not to continue investigating any further.
Three years later in 1966, after sharing a conversation with a senator, Russell Long (played by the late great Walter Matthau) on an airplane, Garrison starts to have serious doubts and suspicions about the events of the assassination and that Oswald was the lone gunman. After more digging around, and reading over the 26 volumes of the official assassination investigation, published by Warren Commission and conducted by chief judge Earl Warren (played by Garrison himself), Garrison decides to re-open the investigation of the crime. With his small team of staff, Garrison questions many different witnesses to the shooting, and potential suspects that may have been connected to the assassination. As Garrison and his team investigate further, a name that keeps popping up is Clay Bertrand, who is later revealed to be Clay Shaw (played by Tommy Lee Jones) a well respected businessman and entrepeneur. However on bringing Shaw in for questioning, Shaw categorically denies any knowledge of Oswald, Ferrie or any one else potentially involved in the conspiracy, as well as denying his Clay Bertrand alias. But soon after their meeting, Garrison's investigation is made public and soon the press and media come down hard on him. Now forced to operate out in the open, Garrison faces tough choices ahead of him in carrying out his investigation, after receiving various death threats, crank calls, and narrowly escaping frame ups to discredit him. Eventually after rigorous investigations, including a discussion with an ex-military figure who simply calls himself "X" (Donald Sutherland) who provides him with important background knowledge to the events surrounding the assassination, Garrison decides to arrest Shaw and prosecute him for his possible involvement in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. What follows after this is a lenghty trial sequence where Garrison presents his case for the prosecution of Clay Shaw as well as his speculation on the events on the day of the assassination in Dallas.
JFK is without a doubt a great achievement in its own, as Oliver Stone took a controversial subject and turned into a film that is fascinating, intelligent and gripping. If you look at the events and evidence that are presented in the film, it certainly does a great job at convincing you that there was a possible conspiracy involved. Jim Garrison himself showed tremendous moral courage and character in bringing such a trial to the public eye, as he himself faced great danger in pissing off the government and endangering his own life in the process. But Garrison is never potrayed as anything else other than a very decent man who in reality at first was never really keen on Kennedy at the time, but during his investigation came to admire him for what he stood for during his time as the president before his untimely tragic death.
But whether or not a conspiracy took place in Dallas that day or not, no one really knows, but the film certainly does its best to convince the viewer that there was one. One of key aspects of the assassination as highlighted in the film was that it seemed highly unlikely that Oswald could have fired 3 shots that from the book depository window, in such a short space of time (5-7 seconds), and do it with such precision from the distance he was at from the motorcade. And that is where the other riflemen come into the equation and the scenario of a team that would be able to place themselves in fixed positions to ensure the assassination would be carried out precisely. Another crucial crux of the film and the case was, there had to be more than just 3 shots, as if for no better reason, there were four known wounds, three to Kennedy (in the throat, back and head) and one to Governor Conally (one in the back). This is where the Warren Commission presented the ridiculous "magic bullet" theory that one bullet accounted for the wounds between Connally and Kennedy. Also based from the facts given from the film, it seems unlikely that if after Oswald committed the crime, that he would be able race down the stairs in about 90 seconds, only to face a police officer who was checking out the building, to ask whom he was, and appear not to be out of breath, which the policeman testified later that Oswald was absolutely not out of breath.
Another theory however that has been stated over the years was the final headshot that killed Kennedy was in fact fired by one of the secret service agents, Clinton Hill in one of the car's behind Kennedy's parade car in which Hill accidentally fired off a round from his M16 gun in the confusion which caused the fatal head shot that killed Kennedy. Then there is the film footage, taken by an onlooker Abraham Zapruder, which shows the assassination itself, and gives possible clues of the direction of where the bullets came from. The footage itself is terrible to watch, and it was followed by some more public assassinations (Oswald himself, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy followed), and Garrison himself later subpoenaed the Zapruder film for his trial (the footage itself was later televised for the first time in 1975 on American television). Another key point was surely, if Oswald was even the lone gunman, he would not have acted alone, as he must been acting on behalf of powerful people behind the scenes, in this regard Oswald himself could well have been a sleeper cell, who was set in motion at the key moment, but again this is just a bit of speculation, but I personally have never bought into the possibility that Oswald was just as Garrison says in the film "an angry lone nut" who carried out the assassination purely by himself. However in recent years the theory involving Hill is considered to be more accurate given that the type of shot fired from his M16 machine gun was far more powerful and destructive than the first two shots fired at Kennedy.
But back to the actual film, JFK is without a doubt fascinating to watch, and features so many great performances and cameos from its big cast. Kevin Costner, while he not be the best actor in the world, does give a fine performance as the DA Jim Garrison, who takes on the daunting task of bringing the JFK assassination to trial, he also shows Garrison as being a very moral man, as well as being very strong and stubborn in the face of adversity. Costner has many highlights in the film which include his lengthy 30 minute court case sequence where he delivers a very lengthy monologue to the jury going over the arguments of his prosecution. Costner also has some other good moments such as the scene where he argues with one of his staff, Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker) who argues that the mob could have been behind the assassination and Garrison refutes the idea. And Garrison says "Could the mob change the parade route, Bill? Could the mob influence the national media to go to sleep? I mean could the mob get Oswald into and Russia and get him back??? And when have the mob used anything but 38.s for hits up close??? The mob wouldn't have the guts or power for something of this magnetude! Assassins need paryolls, schedules, times, orders! This was a military style ambush! This was a coupe de'tat with Lyndon Johnson waiting in the wings!". Another highlight of Costner's is when Garrison and his wife argue and as she yells at him "I want my life back!" he shouts back "So do I, goddamnit! I have a life too you know! But you can't just bury your head in the sand like some ostrich, Liz! Its not about our house, our two cars, and our kitchen! Its about our kids growing up in a shithole of lies and I'm angry about it! And my life is fucked because of it, and if you can see it that way then you're life is fucked too!".
And Costner as Garrison in the film now and then quotes pieces of William Shakespeare and the most notable one is after he has his meeting with Clay Shaw and he quotes from Hamlet and says "One may smile and smile and be a villain!". Also there are some great lines that Costner get's during his epic monologue to the jury and the most notable bit probably is the end where Garrison becomes emotional and says to them "Do not forget your dying king. Show this world that this is still a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Nothing as long as you live will ever be more important. Its up to you". And during the case Costner has another great moment where Garrison discusses the ridiculous nature of the magic bullet theory which he describes as "one of the grossest lies ever forced on the American people!". And after he explains the supposed wounds created by the bullet he says to the jury "That's some bullet! But the government says they can prove it with some fancy physics in a nuclear laboratory. Of course they can. Pheoretical physics can prove an elephant can hang from a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy! But use your eyes and your common sense!". Then there is the scene where Garrison shows the footage of the murder and he says at the moment of the fatal head shot to Kennedy we see Kennedy fall violently back and to the left which is inconsistent with the direction of the book depository "back and to the left, back and to the left, back and to the left! What haeppened next? Pandemonium!".
Joe Pesci also probably gives the film's best performance as Dave Ferrie, the crazed suspect (replete with a ridiculous wig and eyebrows!) who later admits to his involvement with Oswald, as he shows a mixture of malice and remorse. Pesci also has some great moments as the paranoid Ferrie and his first scene is great when Ferrie is taken into Garrison's office for questioning over his whereabouts of the weekend of the assassination, but Ferrie's story is filled with holes, so Garrison detains him for further questioning. And Ferrie asks why and Garrison replies "Dave I find your story simply not believable!" and Ferrie appears surprised and says "Really?! What part?". And then there is Pesci's best scene in the film where Ferrie in a state of panic and paranoia nervously paces a hotel room where Garrison and his men keep him after a newspaper article is released impliacting Ferrie. And in the scene Ferrie babbles saying "But who the fuck pulls who's chain?! Who the fuck knows? "Oh what a deadly web we weave and we practice to decieve!". And Garrison asks him who killed the president which sets off Ferrie into a demented rant "Oh why don't you fuckin stop it?! This is too fuckin big for you, you know that?! Who killed Kennedy... fuck man! Its a mystery, its a riddle wrapped inside an enigma! The fuckin shooters don't even know it, don't you get it?! Fuck, man! I can't go on talking like this, they'll fuckin kill me! I'm gonna fuckin die!". And Ferrie goes on to lament about how he wanted to become a catholic priest but was defrocked because of his homosexuality and he sits back saying "I'm so fucking exhausted I can't see straight!".
Tommy Lee Jones gives an excellent performance also as Clay Shaw, and he depicts as a very sly businessman, who is clearly also very manipulative and Jones appears to revel in playing up the transparent villainous qualities of the character. And in his best and main scene Jones refutes every accusation that Garrison makes at him as he keeps asking if he met with David Ferrie or Oswald and Shaw is aghast and says "You really have me assorting with a sordid cast of characters!". And then he says "I am a businessman and like all businessmen I am accussed of all things!" and later when Garrison accusses him of considering an act of patriotism to kill the president Shaw says "Now just wait a minute, sir, you are way out of line!" before wrapping up the meeting and mysteriously the next day, the cover is blown on Garrison's investigation. Another good moment Jones has is during the scene when Willy O'Keefe recalls to Garrison a meeting Willy had with Shaw, Oswald and Ferrie, where Ferrie conspires to kill Kennedy and suggests how they could do it. And Shaw says to Ferrie "What don't we drop this subject. Its one thing to engage in banter with these youngsters, but this sort of thing can get so easily misunderstood!" before crushing Ferrie's testicles for his disobedience!
The other smaller character roles are equally impressive, with fine stuff from Michael Rooker as Bill (one of Garrison's staff). Rooker also has some good moments, the main one being when he tries to reason with Garrison that he is taking the wrong route and suggests the mob was behind the assassination, which Garrison dismisses. And Bill get's fed up and says before leaving the office "This is Louisiana, chief! I mean how the hell do you know who your daddy is??! Because your momma told you so! You are way out there taking a crap in the wind, boss! And I am for one not goin along on this one!". Of course in the director's cut of the film, Bill ends up betraying Garrison and also steals some of his files and we also see him be coerced by a government agent earlier aswell.
Laurie Metcalf as Susie, another staff member, is also very good and she has some good moments in the film, the main one being where Garrison's team meet for lunch and she goes over the file history of Oswald's character and background. And of course Jay Sanders is also excellent as Lou Barnes, who was in reality one of Garrison's key members of staff (although the film depicts Barnes as quitting the investigation, in reality he didn't). Sanders also has some good moments such as the scene where Lou and Garrison are at the book despository building with the rifle that Oswald used and he does a demo of firing and reload the empty rifle and he goes over the specifics of the improbabilities of Oswald being able to pull off three precise shots. And Lou says "I mean this is the whole essence of the case to me. The guy couldn't do the shooting!". And later on when Lou demands to Garrison that he can no longer work with Bill because he doesn't trust he says "I cannot work with Bill Broussard anymore" and when Garrison asks if he is giving him an ultimatum, Lou says "Well if that's what you wanna cal it?! Hell I never thought it would come to this. I guess I am". And Garrison says "I won't have any damn ultimatum put to me, Lou. I'll accept your resignation" and Lou says "Well you sure got it! You are one stubborn son of a bitch! And you are making one hell of a mistake".
Also Kevin Bacon, is excellent as Willie O'Keefe (who in reality was based on one of Garrison's key witnesses, Perry Russo) the gay prostitute who claimed to have known and had sexual relations with Shaw. And Bacon's main scene is quite impressive where Willie recalls meeting Oswald and his involvement with Shaw and Ferrie. And as Garrison asks Willie if he will testify and if he does what he says will be attacked by different people and Willie dismisses it and says "Oh bring all those motherfuckers on in here with their college degrees! I've got nothing to hide! You know this about the truth coming out! You goddamn liberal, Mr Garrison, you don't know shit because you never been fucked in the ass! This is about order! Who rules!". Sissy Spacek is also very good in her role as Garrison's with Liz, who has to suffer her husband's obssessions with the JFK case throughout the film. And Sissy's best scene comes when Liz argues with Garrison and she says to him "I just want to raise our children in a normal world and I want my life back!".
Donald Sutherland is similarly great as the mysterious "X" who delivers a very lengthy 17 minute dialogue giving Garrison the background info surrounding the events leading up to the assassination. And Sutherland's monologue is so long is hard to pick some examples, but I think his last few lines are great where he encourages Garrison to carry on with his case. And as Garrison says he hasn't much of a case, X says "You don't have a choice anymore. You've become a significant threat to the national security structure! They would have killed you already but you've got alot of light on you. Instead they are trying to destroy your credibility. Be honest, your only chance is to come up with a case. Something, anything! Make arrests, stir the shit storm, hope to reach a point of critical mass that will start a chain reaction of people coming forward then the government will crack. Remember, fundamentall people are suckers for the truth, and the truth is on your side, Bubba. I just hope you get a break".
Also there is the superb Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin, an assistant to a private eye detective, Guy Banister, who is great in his role as the down and out drunk, who Garrison approaches earlier on in the film. And Jack tells Garrison what happened in Guy's office during the summer of 63, but he becomes instantly panicked when Garrison mentions the assassination and starts to leave. And Garrison asks what is the problem and Jack says "Do I have to spell it out for you, Mr Garrison?!" and Garrisons no one knows what they are talking about and Jack stares at him in disbelief saying "You are so niave!". And Ed Asner is also good in his brief role as Guy Banister (played by Ed Asner) the private eye, who was a former FBI man and was said to be closely linked to behind the scenes of the assassination, but Banister died shortly after in 1964. Asner has a couple of good scenes, particularly his first scene where he cheers Kennedy's death and he says "All this blubbing over that no count son of a bitch! They're balling like they knew the man!". John Candy is also great in his role as the sleazy lawyer, Dean Andrews who apparently met with Oswald and spoke with Shaw but he refutes any claims that he knows the identity of Shaw who used the alias of Clay Bertrand. And at the end of the scene Dean says "You're crazy as your mama! Goes to show its in the genes! You any idea what you're getting yourself into, Daddio?! The government is gonna jump all over your head, Jimbo, and go cocka-doodle-doo! Good day to your, sir!".
And last but by no means least, there is Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald. Oldman is great as Oswald, and potrays him as a complex and private man, who remained a mystery even after his death. Gary Oldman also facially resembles Oswald a fair bit, and does an excellent job at reproducing his unusual American accent, which had a tinge of Russian to it. And during the film Oldman quotes alot of the dialogue taken from Oswald's public arrest on TV as he says to the press that "I didn't shoot anyone, no sir. They have taken me in just because I defected to the Soviet union. I am just a patsy!".
So FINALLY getting onto the director paragraph, Oliver Stone does a terrific job here and he keeps the viewer engrossed throughout as he presents the film's arguments in a very convincing fashion and he also makes great use of some frantic camera work as he combines a mixture of black and white footage and colour mixed in with the film itself. Stone's screenplay is also a great achievement in itself as it is very intelligent and well researched for the most part although it does create some composite characters based on real life witnesses so there might be the odd bit of licence taken here and there. And lastly I can't forget to mention John William's terrific film score, which is both suspenseful and atmopsheric throughout and features many excellent tracks, particularly the main theme.
As for the flaws??? Well JFK does have the odd niggle, for starters I feel the film verges on bombarding you with too much information at times, so it definitely takes a few viewings to get the gist of all the details. And another thing I would say about the film that probably lets it down slightly is the melodrama of Garrison's home life, as he argues with his wife Elizabeth (Sissy Spacek) who is frustrated by the amount of time he devotes to the case. It is however key to the film as well I guess, as it is important to show how the events of the investigation impacted on Garrison's personal life, and later in reality, his first wife Elizabeth did divorce him. Another slight problem with the film, and probably the case in general is there is not much evidence that cold links Shaw to knowing Oswald, as it ultimately is just the word of people who have witnessed seeing Shaw and Oswald together in the past with not much if any in the way of photographic evidence or otherwise. But it was later revealed in 1978, four years after Shaw's death, by the at the time CIA director, Richard Helms, that Shaw did actually work for the CIA as a contractor (this is added in as insert at the end of the film). And based on the Richard Helms testimony, it proved that Shaw was guilty of perjury. But people of power and persuasion like Shaw, can as it seems get away with murder (or assassination in this case). You could also say its hard to guage how accurate the film actually is in terms of the depiction of the events behind the assassination and if indeed it was conspiracy or not, but personally I think there had to be one as I could not see Oswald acting alone and it seems a bit too coincidental that Oswald could get off two shoots before the third shot kills Kennedy (if in fact it was the secret service agent Hill that accidentally discharged that shot), and as I mentioned before how are Governor Connolly's wounds explained, as it would suggest there had to be at least four bullets fired for four separate wounds. But you could drive yourself mad thinking about it so I will leave it there for now! :-)
Sooo that's it for my extended and VERY exhuastive post on JFK, which remains one of my favourite films and one of the best films of the 1990s, which to this day still remains as pertinent as it did on its release, and whether it be accurate or not, its still compelling viewing with a top cast and a great screenplay backing it.
And on that exhaustive note I shall say goodnight!
Sunday 21 September 2014
Still Game and yes or no
Well I thought I would do a post on something a little different as I went to see the live Still Game show last night up at the SSE Hydro, which started its 21 show run on Friday night there and I will always also mention something about the Scottish referendum since it has now passed. So let's gie it a look and I will mention a bit about the plot but I will try not give it all away.
So as for the story well there isn't really much to it as the main plot line is Jack Jarvis (Ford Kiernan) longs to see his daughter, Fiona, renew her wedding vows as she lives in Canada he regrets not being able to fly over and visit. So the rest of the story follows a bit of an every day life in Craiglang, and Jack and his good friend, Victor McDade (Greg Hemphill) interacting with the rest of the characters. The characters include Winston (Paul Riley) who has lost his aritifical leg after he tried to boot a dog in the balls (or baws!) who went at him and Jack and Victor set about trying to get him a replacement. Bobby the barman (Gavin Mitchell) who runs the town's local, the Clansman, shows off his brand new iPad (or fudge as Jack calls it!) and Tam Mullen (Mark Cox) the tightest of tightwads, carries on trying to get freebies off the town including a pint from Bobby. Then there is the town's biggest gossip, Isa Drennan (Jane McCarry) who can't keep her mouth shut, who works for Navid Harrid (Sanjeev Kohli) who is essentially good natured and filled with witty one-liners, who is nagged incecessantly by his wife, Meena, who's face is never revealed to the audience. And as the show goes on Jack and Victor break the fourth wall and start interacting with the crowd as does the rest of the cast and plenty of hilarity ensues.
Still Game was and has always been the real gem of Scottish comedy in the last 10 years or so and it was great to see it brought back for the live stage. And they used the expansive size of the Hydro very well for the show and built a great set for the setting of Craiglang with Jack's flat on the far left of the stage, the Clansman pub in the middle, and Navid's store on the right. The show was naturally also filled with some hilarious one liners and it featured some moments of comedic genius as well, such as the scene where Winston replaces his artificial leg with a ukulele and it starts playing some notes as he walks! The show is also interspersed during scene changes with tips on how to speak the Craiglang lingo such as "Open the door I'm a bogus gas man!". And while I won't give away the specifics the show also features a hilarious Bollywood number where Navid sings to Isa such lines as "Yoor oot yer bastard box!" and "Oot yer bastard dome!". Also given the current climate of the referendum the show also pokes a bit of fun at that as well where at one moment Meena during the Bollywood number gives the audience a chance to vote yes or no to see her face and the audience mostly voted yes although her face is not quite what you'd expect!
So is the Still Game show worth seeing??? Aye it sure is! Its a great laugh and the cast came together really well to provide some real moments of hilarity so if you manage to get a ticket or have already got a ticket to get along to see it, I'd thoroughly recommend you give it a go.
Right well that was pretty short (short than I expected!) and now onto something about Scotland's 2014 referendum for independence. But as well all know the referendum was about Scotland deciding over they should remain as part of the UK or become an independent country, and the Yes campaign was lead by the SNP leader and First Minister, Alex Salmond, whereas the campaign against it, the Better together campaign was lead by the former chancellor of the exchequor, Alistair Darling. And in the end the result saw Scotland reject independence with the no campaign winning the majority of the vote, 55% and at just over two million voters and the Yes campaign losing, but still gaining 45% of the country's vote with 1.6 million people voting for independence. And with that Scotland remains part of the UK.
Well I for one voted yes for independence but I don't have any real ill feelings towards those who voted no as each person is entitled to their own vote, but I must admit I am still shocked that a nation would reject its own independence and in doing so I think this country has lost something as well as a sense of its own individuality. And watching scenes of celebration from the No voters when the verdict was announced were for me frankly quite disturbing in watching them dance and cheer in delight. It also stuns me how out of 32 electorates that only 4 voted for independence with only Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire voting Yes.
And as a result the Prime Minister, David Cameron has issued a statement saying he will grant more powers to Scotland to control its own affairs as well as spend more on the NHS, as the government before this was set to implement a UK-wide privitisation of the NHS. But it remains to be seen whether or not that Cameron will keep to his promise to devolve these powers and already his fellow Tory MPs are pushing for him to renege on his promise and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader has reneged already. And with 55% of the country having voted no it remains to be seen what potential impacts that will have on us as a result as the Tory government could easily go ahead and renege on all promises and carry on with its original intent.
There is also the concern that even if Cameron will honour his promises to devolve more powers that once his term as PM is up after that we will have Boris Johnson, the current mayor of London, take over as the future PM, which frankly doesn't bear thinking about! And Johnson has already made some bungled comments in the press about how Scotland doesn't need these powers, which basically means if he get's into power then he will take them away with a blink of an eye. And this again reinforces that the No campaign even though its intentions were for Scotland to remain part of the UK, it was also based on fear and the fear of change, whereas the Yes campaign was based on hope and prosperity and looking to changing the future for the better. There were plenty ifs and buts surrounding the Yes campaign and if the projections given in the White paper would hold up if the nation did in fact vote that way, but I felt (and feel) it was worth taking a risk to see if Scotland could move ahead as its own independent nation, but now we may never know.
And I also think a fair part of this was also to do with the the manipulation of the media where the Yes campaign was ridiculed as being negative, poorly thought out as well as anti-British or English and violent towards the opposite side, which is entirely untrue. The BBC also throughout the campaign spun their own version of events and during the campaign, the political editor for the BBC, Nick Robinson also disgraced himself when he asked Alex Salmond a question during an international conference which Robinson in his report later stated that Salmond did not answer when in fact he did! The BBC also didn't even broadcast a protest in Trafalgar square a few weeks back where English protesters spoke out against privitising the NHS, which was again the result of the Government controlling the media.
But the Yes campaign itself was actually carried out peacefully with little actual trouble and I myself briefly attended a rally during the week and there was no trouble whatsoever or rioting as a result. But what transpired on Friday night 19 September with pro-unionists was utterly shameful and a disgrace where Unionists started to attack the Yes supporters in George square with the riot police forced to quell the disturbances which also saw Unionists burn the Saltire flag and wave the Union Jack. And I'm sure this sort of thing will not be tolerated by either the Yes or No side, its a disgrace to burn the nation's flag and its something that still leaves me aghast. But I was pleased to see that last night there were no more disturbances like this in George square, but it does remain troubling that scenes like this happened although in a way it was also inevitable.
So as it stands Scotland still remains as part of the UK, what will happen to us as a result who knows, the Yes campaign will naturally carry on campaigning for its independence. Will things change for the better?? Who knows? But one day we may yet have another referendum where Scotland will again have a chance to vote for its own independence.
And on that note I will leave yee there.
So as for the story well there isn't really much to it as the main plot line is Jack Jarvis (Ford Kiernan) longs to see his daughter, Fiona, renew her wedding vows as she lives in Canada he regrets not being able to fly over and visit. So the rest of the story follows a bit of an every day life in Craiglang, and Jack and his good friend, Victor McDade (Greg Hemphill) interacting with the rest of the characters. The characters include Winston (Paul Riley) who has lost his aritifical leg after he tried to boot a dog in the balls (or baws!) who went at him and Jack and Victor set about trying to get him a replacement. Bobby the barman (Gavin Mitchell) who runs the town's local, the Clansman, shows off his brand new iPad (or fudge as Jack calls it!) and Tam Mullen (Mark Cox) the tightest of tightwads, carries on trying to get freebies off the town including a pint from Bobby. Then there is the town's biggest gossip, Isa Drennan (Jane McCarry) who can't keep her mouth shut, who works for Navid Harrid (Sanjeev Kohli) who is essentially good natured and filled with witty one-liners, who is nagged incecessantly by his wife, Meena, who's face is never revealed to the audience. And as the show goes on Jack and Victor break the fourth wall and start interacting with the crowd as does the rest of the cast and plenty of hilarity ensues.
Still Game was and has always been the real gem of Scottish comedy in the last 10 years or so and it was great to see it brought back for the live stage. And they used the expansive size of the Hydro very well for the show and built a great set for the setting of Craiglang with Jack's flat on the far left of the stage, the Clansman pub in the middle, and Navid's store on the right. The show was naturally also filled with some hilarious one liners and it featured some moments of comedic genius as well, such as the scene where Winston replaces his artificial leg with a ukulele and it starts playing some notes as he walks! The show is also interspersed during scene changes with tips on how to speak the Craiglang lingo such as "Open the door I'm a bogus gas man!". And while I won't give away the specifics the show also features a hilarious Bollywood number where Navid sings to Isa such lines as "Yoor oot yer bastard box!" and "Oot yer bastard dome!". Also given the current climate of the referendum the show also pokes a bit of fun at that as well where at one moment Meena during the Bollywood number gives the audience a chance to vote yes or no to see her face and the audience mostly voted yes although her face is not quite what you'd expect!
So is the Still Game show worth seeing??? Aye it sure is! Its a great laugh and the cast came together really well to provide some real moments of hilarity so if you manage to get a ticket or have already got a ticket to get along to see it, I'd thoroughly recommend you give it a go.
Right well that was pretty short (short than I expected!) and now onto something about Scotland's 2014 referendum for independence. But as well all know the referendum was about Scotland deciding over they should remain as part of the UK or become an independent country, and the Yes campaign was lead by the SNP leader and First Minister, Alex Salmond, whereas the campaign against it, the Better together campaign was lead by the former chancellor of the exchequor, Alistair Darling. And in the end the result saw Scotland reject independence with the no campaign winning the majority of the vote, 55% and at just over two million voters and the Yes campaign losing, but still gaining 45% of the country's vote with 1.6 million people voting for independence. And with that Scotland remains part of the UK.
Well I for one voted yes for independence but I don't have any real ill feelings towards those who voted no as each person is entitled to their own vote, but I must admit I am still shocked that a nation would reject its own independence and in doing so I think this country has lost something as well as a sense of its own individuality. And watching scenes of celebration from the No voters when the verdict was announced were for me frankly quite disturbing in watching them dance and cheer in delight. It also stuns me how out of 32 electorates that only 4 voted for independence with only Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire voting Yes.
And as a result the Prime Minister, David Cameron has issued a statement saying he will grant more powers to Scotland to control its own affairs as well as spend more on the NHS, as the government before this was set to implement a UK-wide privitisation of the NHS. But it remains to be seen whether or not that Cameron will keep to his promise to devolve these powers and already his fellow Tory MPs are pushing for him to renege on his promise and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader has reneged already. And with 55% of the country having voted no it remains to be seen what potential impacts that will have on us as a result as the Tory government could easily go ahead and renege on all promises and carry on with its original intent.
There is also the concern that even if Cameron will honour his promises to devolve more powers that once his term as PM is up after that we will have Boris Johnson, the current mayor of London, take over as the future PM, which frankly doesn't bear thinking about! And Johnson has already made some bungled comments in the press about how Scotland doesn't need these powers, which basically means if he get's into power then he will take them away with a blink of an eye. And this again reinforces that the No campaign even though its intentions were for Scotland to remain part of the UK, it was also based on fear and the fear of change, whereas the Yes campaign was based on hope and prosperity and looking to changing the future for the better. There were plenty ifs and buts surrounding the Yes campaign and if the projections given in the White paper would hold up if the nation did in fact vote that way, but I felt (and feel) it was worth taking a risk to see if Scotland could move ahead as its own independent nation, but now we may never know.
And I also think a fair part of this was also to do with the the manipulation of the media where the Yes campaign was ridiculed as being negative, poorly thought out as well as anti-British or English and violent towards the opposite side, which is entirely untrue. The BBC also throughout the campaign spun their own version of events and during the campaign, the political editor for the BBC, Nick Robinson also disgraced himself when he asked Alex Salmond a question during an international conference which Robinson in his report later stated that Salmond did not answer when in fact he did! The BBC also didn't even broadcast a protest in Trafalgar square a few weeks back where English protesters spoke out against privitising the NHS, which was again the result of the Government controlling the media.
But the Yes campaign itself was actually carried out peacefully with little actual trouble and I myself briefly attended a rally during the week and there was no trouble whatsoever or rioting as a result. But what transpired on Friday night 19 September with pro-unionists was utterly shameful and a disgrace where Unionists started to attack the Yes supporters in George square with the riot police forced to quell the disturbances which also saw Unionists burn the Saltire flag and wave the Union Jack. And I'm sure this sort of thing will not be tolerated by either the Yes or No side, its a disgrace to burn the nation's flag and its something that still leaves me aghast. But I was pleased to see that last night there were no more disturbances like this in George square, but it does remain troubling that scenes like this happened although in a way it was also inevitable.
So as it stands Scotland still remains as part of the UK, what will happen to us as a result who knows, the Yes campaign will naturally carry on campaigning for its independence. Will things change for the better?? Who knows? But one day we may yet have another referendum where Scotland will again have a chance to vote for its own independence.
And on that note I will leave yee there.
Sunday 14 September 2014
Batman Begins "does it come in black?"
Right so time for another post so this one is on another Batman film, Batman Begins, which was the first Christopher Nolan directed film and also marked the first appearance of Christian Bale in the role of the dark knight. So let's cape up, brave the night and take down some badasses... or rather let's just have a look at this one...
So the film begins with Bruce Wayne as a child (played by Gus Lewis) who accidentally falls into a well where he is attacked by a swarm of bats and is later rescued by his father, Thomas (Linus Roache). As a result Bruce is left terrified by bats and has nightmares and later on when he attends an opera with his parents, Thomas and Margaret (Sara Stewart) which involves performers pretending to be bats, he becomes frightened and they leave. On leaving the opera house they are mugged by Joe Chill (Richard Brake) who kills Bruce's parents. Bruce is afterward then taken to the police station where his comforted by an officer, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and later is taken care of by the Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) who reassures Bruce that his parents deaths were not his fault.
The story then moves on to 14 years later when Bruce as a young man (Christian Bale) seeks revenge on Joe Chills, who is granted parole when testifying against crime boss, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). As Joe is escorted from the courthouse, Bruce close by conceals a gun, intent on killing Chills, but before he can one of Falcone's assassins shoots Chills. Bruce is then picked up by his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) who is now an assistant district attorney who berates him for trying to take the law into his own hands and she drops him off at Falcone's nightclub. Bruce meets with Falcone who tells him that fear is a power that cannot be bought and that he should be grateful that Chills was killed before his men throw Bruce out. Bruce then decides to travel the world and becomes a criminal himself as he is caught for stealing and placed in a prison in Bhutan. In the prison Bruce is approached by a man named Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who offers to train in the arts of stealth and fear as a member of League of shadows, lead by Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). On completing his training, where Bruce confronts his fear of bats, he learns that Ducat's real intentions are to destroy Gotham to rid it of the corruption that has infested it. Bruce who is then given the task of executing a villager, who commited a crime, refuses to kill the man and instead burns down the League of shadows temple, in which Ra's al Ghul is killed by falling debris and Bruce rescues Ducat and takes him to the local villagers.
Afterward Bruce then returns to Gotham where he takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne enterprises, which is run by the corrupt William Earle (Rutger Hauer). Bruce then sets about trying to find a way to bring Gotham to justice himself without killing and sets in motion how to prepare himself for combating the city's criminals. And in doing so Bruce pays a visit to Wayne enterprises top scientist, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) who shows Bruce some of the company's technological prototypes such as a bodysuit and also the tumbler (essentially a large reinforced vehicle) which Bruce takes. Bruce then uncovers the entrance to a cave under his well, where he faces his fear of bats, as they swarm around him and he later creates his workshop down in the cave and soon dawns the bodysuit and becomes "Batman". As Batman, Bruce intercepts a shipment of drugs and he captures Falcone and provides evidence to Rachel to indict Falcone. Batman then receives help from Jim Gordon, who remains one of the few honest cops left in Gotham who later arrests Falcone. Falcone and his men are deemed as mentally unfit to stand trial and Falcone is moved to Arkham asylum where his met by the corrupt Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) who has been using Falcone to import the drugs which can cause terrifying hallucinations. Crane then puts on a mask and exposes Falcone to the toxins, which drives Falcone insane with fear which will keep him in Arkham. While investigating Crane, Batman is also exposed to the drug and he barely escapes and survives as he is later given an antidote by Lucius. Rachel later on meets with Crane at Arkham where she finds the city's water supply has been laced with the hallucinigen compound and Crane exposes her to the drug as well. Batman however soon manages to rescue Rachel and takes her back to the batcave where he administers the antidote to her. Bruce then attends a party at his manor, where all of a sudden he comes to face with a familiar face, Ducard who reveals him to be the real Ra's al Ghul, who is intent on destroying Gotham and from here Bruce must find a way to stop him....
Batman begins remains an excellent reboot to the franchise of Batman and it saw the character get a much needed shot in the arm after the dreadful Batman & Robin, which ended the series previous reboot on a low. The film also get's back to the proper origins of the character and Christopher Nolan made the right decision to make Batman a more humane character, while retaining the brooding intensity of the dark knight, but Nolan concentrates on making him more a moral avenger and avoids going down the route of making Batman a killer. And for me that is when the film really kicks into action during the scene where Bruce makes his choice to reject the League of shadows vision to destroy Gotham city as he realises he must save the city despite the corruption that plagues it as prior to that it is a bit of a slow burner. And when Bruce arrives back in Gotham you know you are in for a bumpy ride as is the city itself as he prepares to take down the city's criminals before later on facing his biggest challenge in facing Ra's al Ghul once more.
Getting onto the performance section of the review they are all excellent, starting with Christian Bale who is great in his dual role as Bruce Wayne and Batman, although he fares best as Bruce more than as Batman, where he puts on a rather husky voice, but at this stage he doesn't overdo it like he does in the next two films! Bale himself apparently auditioned for the part wearing the Batman suit from Batman Forever, which starred Val Kilmer, he also had previously made the film, The Machinist, where he lost a significant amount of weight, and he put on a fair bit of muscle and beef to play the part of the dark knight. Bale has some good highlights in the film such as the scene near the beginning when Bruce is in the Buhatnese prison and he is getting beat up by a big inamte who says to him "I'm the devil!" and Bruce says "You're not the devil, you're practice!" and he proceeds to beat the big fella up! Another good scene is where Bruce pays a visit to Lucius Fox at Wayne enterprises and Lucius rides with Bruce in the tumbler and Bruce asks Lucius "does it come in black?". Then there is the scene where Batman makes his first entrance and as he beats up Falcone's men, he shortly after grabs Falcone and pulls out of the car as Falcone asks beforehand "what the hell are you?" Batman replies "I'm Batman!" and head butts Falcone, knocking him out, then he looks over at the tramp he saw earlier in the film, who Bruce gave his coat and Batman simply says "Nice coat!" before leaving. And prior to that as Bruce carves out the bat sign in his workshop, Alfred asks him "why bats?" and Bruce says "Bats frighten me. Its time my enemies shared my dread" and throws the bat symbol into a wall. Another good moment is where Batman meets Rachel at the subway station and she fires her taser gun at his body armour, which has no effect and he casually removes it from his suit. And Batman throws some evidence at Rachel's feet, who asks what it is and Batman says "Leverage, to get things moving" and Rachel asks who he is and Batman replies "Someone like you, someone who isn't afraid to rattle the cages!". And then there is the scene where Batman literally picks up the corrupt cop, Flass (Mark Boone Junior) by leg using his bat grapple and dangles him upside down. And Batman yells at Flass "Where were the other drugs going?!" and Flass tells him he doesn't know "I swear!" and Batman yells "SWEAR TO ME!!" and let's him drop and dangle but lifting him up again on the grapple. And Flass tells Batman of a location of a drop off point for the drugs "Cops can't go down to the narrows" and Batman says "Do I look like a cop????" before letting him go (or rather drop!).
Liam Neeson also provides a good performance as Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul who takes Bruce in to train him but ultimately can't convert him to the league of shadows of way thinking, and its not long before Ra's comes back to Gotham to finish off his business. Neeson plays the part in rather melodramatic fashion but he still has some good moments such as the scene where he tells Bruce where to go if he wants to be trained and Bruce climbs up a mountain and arrives at the temple of the league of shadows. On entering Bruce is exhausted and Ra's starts to whip his ass, lecturing him he says "death does not wait for you to be ready!" and as Bruce tries to defend himself Ra's effortlessly knocks him away saying "You are skilled but this isn't a dance!" and later "You are afraid, but not me of. Tell me, Mr Wayne. What do you fear?". And later as the two men practice combat on the ice, Neeson has a good moment where Ra's taunts Bruce by saying "You're parents death was not your fault. It was your father's!" and Bruce attacks him angrily and says "But I had training!" and Ra's says "The training is nothing, the will is everything!". And as Bruce knocks down Ra's on the ground, Bruce tells him to yield and Ra's says "You haven't beaten me. You've sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke!" and he proceeds to tap his sword on the ice which causes Bruce to fall under. And later on when Ra's arrives in Gotham and runs the monorail to spread the halluconagen, Batman glides onto the monorail using his cape and Ra's looks up and says "It appears you have taken my advice about theatrically a bit literally!".
Katie Holmes also does well in her role as Rachel Dawes, although she was only 26 or 27 at the time of filming, I don't quite buy that she is old enough to potray the part of an assistant DA. Holmes does have some good scenes though such as the one where Rachel picks up Bruce, not long after Chills has been murdered by Falcone's assassin and Bruce shows her his gun and she angrily slaps him in the face saying "You're father would have been ashamed!". Another good moment is where Rachel is accosted by two of Falcone's men on the subway, but one is subdued by Batman and the other looks on in panic and runs off, just when Rachel prodcues her taser, and she says "That's right you better run!" and she turns to see Batman and jumps, firing the taser, which has no effect on Batman's suit. Another good scene is where Rachel confronts Crane over Falcone's sudden breakdown in Arkham and she asks "Isn't it convient for a 52 year old man who has no history of mental illness to suddenly have a complete psychotic breakdown, just when's about to be indicted?!". And also there is the moment where Rachel bumps into Bruce at a party, where he is starting pose as a billionaire playboy, and she says to him "Bruce, you may still be that great kid you use to be, but its not who you are underneath, its what you do that defines you" which is a line Batman later quotes back to her giving a hint to the fact that its Bruce who is the dark knight.
As for the other performances Michael Caine is very good as Alfred, Bruce's trusty butler, who helps out Bruce in starting his crusade as Batman. Caine also has some highlights in the film, such as in the scene where he meets Bruce and they fly back to Gotham on a private jet and he says to Bruce "And you can borrow the Rolls, just bring it back with a full tank". Another good scene is when Alfred confronts Bruce about forgetting his family's legacy and Bruce say he doesn't care about his name and Alfred strongly says to him "Its not just your name, sir! Its your father's name! And its all that's left of him! Don't destroy it". And then there is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul arrives at Bruce's manor and his men set it on fire and leave Bruce for dead, and Alfred helps lift a large piece of wood that Bruce is trapped underneath and he exclaims "What is the point of all those push-ups if you can't even lift a bloody log?!".
Morgan Freeman is also excellent as Lucius Fox, who helps Bruce by using some of Wayne enterprise's prototype technology, such as the bodysuit for Batman and the tumbler, which Bruce uses for Batman's car. Freeman also provides his character with a dry sense of humour as he exhibits throughout and is noted in the scenes where Bruce first approaches Lucius and uses excuses that he wants to use the equipment for base-jumping and spelunking. And as Lucius shows Bruce the memory cloth used to create his cape, Lucius says "I don't think they tried to market it to the billionaire, spelunking, BASE-jumping crowd!". And then Lucius who is wary of Bruce's excuses says "Mister Wayne, if you don't want to tell me exactly what you're doing, when I'm asked, I don't have to lie. But don't think of me as an idiot". Rutger Hauer is also good in his brief role as Earle, who has been running Wayne enterprises in Bruce's absence and he has a good moment where he visits Lucius and says to him "I'm merging your department with archives, and I am firing you. Didn't you get the memo?". And later on rather amusingly, Bruce buys back control of his shares in the company and puts Fox in charge of operations and Lucius says smugly to Earle "Didn't you get the memo?".
Cillian Murphy proves to be quite effective and creepy in his role as Dr Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow and he has some good moments as well, which include the film's most frightening moment where Crane says to Falcone in Arkham "Would you like to see my mask?" and he takes out his fabric mask and his briefcase "I'm probably not so scary to a guy like you, but these crazies, they can't stand it!". And Crane proceeds to open his case and detonate a charge of the weaponised hallucanogen which freaks out Falcone and Crane's visage distort as the gas spreads and voice changes and he says "They scream and they cry. Much as you are doing now!". And just after Crane leaves the room and he says to one of the staff "No he's not faking, not that one!". And then there is the scene where Batman arrives at the narrows and hides as Crane and his men arrive, and as Batman attacks his men, Crane fires the toxin in Batman's face and he says as he throws alcohol in face "Here take a drink, you look like a man who takes himself too seriously! You want my opnion? You need to lighten up!" and he lights a match and sets fire to Batman's suit, who dives out the window. Tom Wilkington is also very good as the mob boss, Falcone and he has some good scenes also that include where Falcone meets with Bruce in his nightclub and he tells him "Look around you, kid, you'll see two councilmen, a union official, a couple off-duty cops and a judge. Now I wouldn't have a second's hesitation of blowing your head off right here and now in front of them. Now, that's power you can't buy! That's the power of fear". And later when Crane meets Falcone in Arkham and he puts on his mask, Falcone asks "When did the nuts take over the nuthouse???!".
And lastly Gary Oldman is excellent as Sgt Jim Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham, who ends up helping Batman. Oldman's highlights include his first scene where Gordon sits in his car along with the corrupt cop, Flass, and he says to Flass "I'm no rat. In a town that's bent, who is there is to rat to anyway??". Then there is the scene where Batman talks quietly with Gordon on his rooftop and Gordon tells him that the commissioner think that he is a menace and Batman asks "What do you think?" and Gordon says "I think you're trying to help" and turns back to see Batman has gone and he says "But I've been wrong before". And then at the end there is a funny moment where Gordon has setup a bat signal, which Batman taps and says "Nice!" and Gordon "You like it? I couldn't find any mob bosses!" (as Batman had strapped Falcone to a lampost, which created the reflection of the bat sign in the sky earlier in the film).
Now finally onto the director, Christopher Nolan who has done a great job here with the film and he keeps the atmosphere intense and broody throughout, but also allows for a few moments of levity as well in the film and provides the film with just enough hope and humanity from keeping it permanently in the dark and never forgets it is supposed to be a superhero film. Nolan also confidently handles the film's impressive action scenes and uses its different locations very well also as it was filmed mostly in Shepperton studios in England, but also there were some location filming in Iceland, during Bruce's trianing, as well as Chicago during the scenes where Batman is chased by the police. The film's music score is also excellent by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, which is very intense and atmospheric is well suited to the tone of the film.
As for the flaws.........well Batman Begins get's most things right except the odd niggle, such as the pacing of the film is a bit inconsistent and it has to be said that Bruce's journey in Bhutan and his training drags on a bit and it takes until Bruce sets the fire to the League of shadows temple for the film's tempo to kick into gear. I also felt that Bruce's father, Thomas, was unjustly branded a coward in the film, when during the scene where he is killed, he calmly tries to reason with Chills before being shot, which hardly shows the actions of a coward. And Ra's blames Bruce's parent's death on his father, when his father actually tried to do what he could and keep a cool head, but the film certainly doesn't seem to take that into consideration and even in Chills's mind, he felt that Bruce's dad begged for mercy, which going by the scene is bullshit, but then again its not like a criminal would lie is it??? Then there is Bale's potrayal of Batman, which is far from bad, but he does start to use that husky voice thing here, which can be grating, but it is nowhere near as bad here as it is the following two films. But I just think why is it necessary for Bruce to husk his voice to that extent, when all its liable to do is make him cough and splutter! And Michael Keaton managed to hush his voice well enough as Batman without making it sound ridiculous so its a bit crap that Bale wasn't able to do the same thing with his performance. You could also argue in a way that Nolan's attempts at humour in the film are at times also a tad lame, although there are some good lines and Caine and Freeman both provide the film with some dry moments of wit, but there are some naff ones as well such as the scene where Gordon first sees Batman's tumbler and he gasps "I've got to get me one of those!". I think its right though that Nolan does have some moments of levity in the film because it would be even more dreary without them, and I guess it is less guilty of cheesy humour than some of the superhero films out there. Although if you want to be really picky, Batman isn't really a superhero as such as he is morely a vigilante detective, as we all know he doesn't have any actual super powers that would make him one in the first place.
And lastly another flaw well worth mentioning is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul turns up at Bruce Wayne's mansion near the end and he has his men set fire to the place and Ra's struggles with Bruce and leaves him trapped under a falling roof beam. And in the scene Ra's says to Bruce "You burned down my house and left me for dead. Consider us even!" which when you think about it, it is not even remotely close in their case whereas Bruce did burn down Ra's house, he didn't leave him for dead and instead dragged him out the burning house and saved him from falling off a snowy cliff and then him took to a villager so he could recover! So obviously Ra's has a pretty warped sense of justice and let's face it the guy does anyway as how exactly is destroying one corrupt city which albeit has plenty of criminals in it but also plenty of innocent people, justice??? In short, Ra's Al Ghul is an ungrateful knob to put it mildly!
But all that aside Batman Begins is an excellent action flick that saw the Batman series get a proper reboot after the dismal Batman & Robin some eight years earlier.
And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!
So the film begins with Bruce Wayne as a child (played by Gus Lewis) who accidentally falls into a well where he is attacked by a swarm of bats and is later rescued by his father, Thomas (Linus Roache). As a result Bruce is left terrified by bats and has nightmares and later on when he attends an opera with his parents, Thomas and Margaret (Sara Stewart) which involves performers pretending to be bats, he becomes frightened and they leave. On leaving the opera house they are mugged by Joe Chill (Richard Brake) who kills Bruce's parents. Bruce is afterward then taken to the police station where his comforted by an officer, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and later is taken care of by the Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) who reassures Bruce that his parents deaths were not his fault.
The story then moves on to 14 years later when Bruce as a young man (Christian Bale) seeks revenge on Joe Chills, who is granted parole when testifying against crime boss, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). As Joe is escorted from the courthouse, Bruce close by conceals a gun, intent on killing Chills, but before he can one of Falcone's assassins shoots Chills. Bruce is then picked up by his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) who is now an assistant district attorney who berates him for trying to take the law into his own hands and she drops him off at Falcone's nightclub. Bruce meets with Falcone who tells him that fear is a power that cannot be bought and that he should be grateful that Chills was killed before his men throw Bruce out. Bruce then decides to travel the world and becomes a criminal himself as he is caught for stealing and placed in a prison in Bhutan. In the prison Bruce is approached by a man named Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who offers to train in the arts of stealth and fear as a member of League of shadows, lead by Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). On completing his training, where Bruce confronts his fear of bats, he learns that Ducat's real intentions are to destroy Gotham to rid it of the corruption that has infested it. Bruce who is then given the task of executing a villager, who commited a crime, refuses to kill the man and instead burns down the League of shadows temple, in which Ra's al Ghul is killed by falling debris and Bruce rescues Ducat and takes him to the local villagers.
Afterward Bruce then returns to Gotham where he takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne enterprises, which is run by the corrupt William Earle (Rutger Hauer). Bruce then sets about trying to find a way to bring Gotham to justice himself without killing and sets in motion how to prepare himself for combating the city's criminals. And in doing so Bruce pays a visit to Wayne enterprises top scientist, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) who shows Bruce some of the company's technological prototypes such as a bodysuit and also the tumbler (essentially a large reinforced vehicle) which Bruce takes. Bruce then uncovers the entrance to a cave under his well, where he faces his fear of bats, as they swarm around him and he later creates his workshop down in the cave and soon dawns the bodysuit and becomes "Batman". As Batman, Bruce intercepts a shipment of drugs and he captures Falcone and provides evidence to Rachel to indict Falcone. Batman then receives help from Jim Gordon, who remains one of the few honest cops left in Gotham who later arrests Falcone. Falcone and his men are deemed as mentally unfit to stand trial and Falcone is moved to Arkham asylum where his met by the corrupt Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) who has been using Falcone to import the drugs which can cause terrifying hallucinations. Crane then puts on a mask and exposes Falcone to the toxins, which drives Falcone insane with fear which will keep him in Arkham. While investigating Crane, Batman is also exposed to the drug and he barely escapes and survives as he is later given an antidote by Lucius. Rachel later on meets with Crane at Arkham where she finds the city's water supply has been laced with the hallucinigen compound and Crane exposes her to the drug as well. Batman however soon manages to rescue Rachel and takes her back to the batcave where he administers the antidote to her. Bruce then attends a party at his manor, where all of a sudden he comes to face with a familiar face, Ducard who reveals him to be the real Ra's al Ghul, who is intent on destroying Gotham and from here Bruce must find a way to stop him....
Batman begins remains an excellent reboot to the franchise of Batman and it saw the character get a much needed shot in the arm after the dreadful Batman & Robin, which ended the series previous reboot on a low. The film also get's back to the proper origins of the character and Christopher Nolan made the right decision to make Batman a more humane character, while retaining the brooding intensity of the dark knight, but Nolan concentrates on making him more a moral avenger and avoids going down the route of making Batman a killer. And for me that is when the film really kicks into action during the scene where Bruce makes his choice to reject the League of shadows vision to destroy Gotham city as he realises he must save the city despite the corruption that plagues it as prior to that it is a bit of a slow burner. And when Bruce arrives back in Gotham you know you are in for a bumpy ride as is the city itself as he prepares to take down the city's criminals before later on facing his biggest challenge in facing Ra's al Ghul once more.
Getting onto the performance section of the review they are all excellent, starting with Christian Bale who is great in his dual role as Bruce Wayne and Batman, although he fares best as Bruce more than as Batman, where he puts on a rather husky voice, but at this stage he doesn't overdo it like he does in the next two films! Bale himself apparently auditioned for the part wearing the Batman suit from Batman Forever, which starred Val Kilmer, he also had previously made the film, The Machinist, where he lost a significant amount of weight, and he put on a fair bit of muscle and beef to play the part of the dark knight. Bale has some good highlights in the film such as the scene near the beginning when Bruce is in the Buhatnese prison and he is getting beat up by a big inamte who says to him "I'm the devil!" and Bruce says "You're not the devil, you're practice!" and he proceeds to beat the big fella up! Another good scene is where Bruce pays a visit to Lucius Fox at Wayne enterprises and Lucius rides with Bruce in the tumbler and Bruce asks Lucius "does it come in black?". Then there is the scene where Batman makes his first entrance and as he beats up Falcone's men, he shortly after grabs Falcone and pulls out of the car as Falcone asks beforehand "what the hell are you?" Batman replies "I'm Batman!" and head butts Falcone, knocking him out, then he looks over at the tramp he saw earlier in the film, who Bruce gave his coat and Batman simply says "Nice coat!" before leaving. And prior to that as Bruce carves out the bat sign in his workshop, Alfred asks him "why bats?" and Bruce says "Bats frighten me. Its time my enemies shared my dread" and throws the bat symbol into a wall. Another good moment is where Batman meets Rachel at the subway station and she fires her taser gun at his body armour, which has no effect and he casually removes it from his suit. And Batman throws some evidence at Rachel's feet, who asks what it is and Batman says "Leverage, to get things moving" and Rachel asks who he is and Batman replies "Someone like you, someone who isn't afraid to rattle the cages!". And then there is the scene where Batman literally picks up the corrupt cop, Flass (Mark Boone Junior) by leg using his bat grapple and dangles him upside down. And Batman yells at Flass "Where were the other drugs going?!" and Flass tells him he doesn't know "I swear!" and Batman yells "SWEAR TO ME!!" and let's him drop and dangle but lifting him up again on the grapple. And Flass tells Batman of a location of a drop off point for the drugs "Cops can't go down to the narrows" and Batman says "Do I look like a cop????" before letting him go (or rather drop!).
Liam Neeson also provides a good performance as Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul who takes Bruce in to train him but ultimately can't convert him to the league of shadows of way thinking, and its not long before Ra's comes back to Gotham to finish off his business. Neeson plays the part in rather melodramatic fashion but he still has some good moments such as the scene where he tells Bruce where to go if he wants to be trained and Bruce climbs up a mountain and arrives at the temple of the league of shadows. On entering Bruce is exhausted and Ra's starts to whip his ass, lecturing him he says "death does not wait for you to be ready!" and as Bruce tries to defend himself Ra's effortlessly knocks him away saying "You are skilled but this isn't a dance!" and later "You are afraid, but not me of. Tell me, Mr Wayne. What do you fear?". And later as the two men practice combat on the ice, Neeson has a good moment where Ra's taunts Bruce by saying "You're parents death was not your fault. It was your father's!" and Bruce attacks him angrily and says "But I had training!" and Ra's says "The training is nothing, the will is everything!". And as Bruce knocks down Ra's on the ground, Bruce tells him to yield and Ra's says "You haven't beaten me. You've sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke!" and he proceeds to tap his sword on the ice which causes Bruce to fall under. And later on when Ra's arrives in Gotham and runs the monorail to spread the halluconagen, Batman glides onto the monorail using his cape and Ra's looks up and says "It appears you have taken my advice about theatrically a bit literally!".
Katie Holmes also does well in her role as Rachel Dawes, although she was only 26 or 27 at the time of filming, I don't quite buy that she is old enough to potray the part of an assistant DA. Holmes does have some good scenes though such as the one where Rachel picks up Bruce, not long after Chills has been murdered by Falcone's assassin and Bruce shows her his gun and she angrily slaps him in the face saying "You're father would have been ashamed!". Another good moment is where Rachel is accosted by two of Falcone's men on the subway, but one is subdued by Batman and the other looks on in panic and runs off, just when Rachel prodcues her taser, and she says "That's right you better run!" and she turns to see Batman and jumps, firing the taser, which has no effect on Batman's suit. Another good scene is where Rachel confronts Crane over Falcone's sudden breakdown in Arkham and she asks "Isn't it convient for a 52 year old man who has no history of mental illness to suddenly have a complete psychotic breakdown, just when's about to be indicted?!". And also there is the moment where Rachel bumps into Bruce at a party, where he is starting pose as a billionaire playboy, and she says to him "Bruce, you may still be that great kid you use to be, but its not who you are underneath, its what you do that defines you" which is a line Batman later quotes back to her giving a hint to the fact that its Bruce who is the dark knight.
As for the other performances Michael Caine is very good as Alfred, Bruce's trusty butler, who helps out Bruce in starting his crusade as Batman. Caine also has some highlights in the film, such as in the scene where he meets Bruce and they fly back to Gotham on a private jet and he says to Bruce "And you can borrow the Rolls, just bring it back with a full tank". Another good scene is when Alfred confronts Bruce about forgetting his family's legacy and Bruce say he doesn't care about his name and Alfred strongly says to him "Its not just your name, sir! Its your father's name! And its all that's left of him! Don't destroy it". And then there is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul arrives at Bruce's manor and his men set it on fire and leave Bruce for dead, and Alfred helps lift a large piece of wood that Bruce is trapped underneath and he exclaims "What is the point of all those push-ups if you can't even lift a bloody log?!".
Morgan Freeman is also excellent as Lucius Fox, who helps Bruce by using some of Wayne enterprise's prototype technology, such as the bodysuit for Batman and the tumbler, which Bruce uses for Batman's car. Freeman also provides his character with a dry sense of humour as he exhibits throughout and is noted in the scenes where Bruce first approaches Lucius and uses excuses that he wants to use the equipment for base-jumping and spelunking. And as Lucius shows Bruce the memory cloth used to create his cape, Lucius says "I don't think they tried to market it to the billionaire, spelunking, BASE-jumping crowd!". And then Lucius who is wary of Bruce's excuses says "Mister Wayne, if you don't want to tell me exactly what you're doing, when I'm asked, I don't have to lie. But don't think of me as an idiot". Rutger Hauer is also good in his brief role as Earle, who has been running Wayne enterprises in Bruce's absence and he has a good moment where he visits Lucius and says to him "I'm merging your department with archives, and I am firing you. Didn't you get the memo?". And later on rather amusingly, Bruce buys back control of his shares in the company and puts Fox in charge of operations and Lucius says smugly to Earle "Didn't you get the memo?".
Cillian Murphy proves to be quite effective and creepy in his role as Dr Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow and he has some good moments as well, which include the film's most frightening moment where Crane says to Falcone in Arkham "Would you like to see my mask?" and he takes out his fabric mask and his briefcase "I'm probably not so scary to a guy like you, but these crazies, they can't stand it!". And Crane proceeds to open his case and detonate a charge of the weaponised hallucanogen which freaks out Falcone and Crane's visage distort as the gas spreads and voice changes and he says "They scream and they cry. Much as you are doing now!". And just after Crane leaves the room and he says to one of the staff "No he's not faking, not that one!". And then there is the scene where Batman arrives at the narrows and hides as Crane and his men arrive, and as Batman attacks his men, Crane fires the toxin in Batman's face and he says as he throws alcohol in face "Here take a drink, you look like a man who takes himself too seriously! You want my opnion? You need to lighten up!" and he lights a match and sets fire to Batman's suit, who dives out the window. Tom Wilkington is also very good as the mob boss, Falcone and he has some good scenes also that include where Falcone meets with Bruce in his nightclub and he tells him "Look around you, kid, you'll see two councilmen, a union official, a couple off-duty cops and a judge. Now I wouldn't have a second's hesitation of blowing your head off right here and now in front of them. Now, that's power you can't buy! That's the power of fear". And later when Crane meets Falcone in Arkham and he puts on his mask, Falcone asks "When did the nuts take over the nuthouse???!".
And lastly Gary Oldman is excellent as Sgt Jim Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham, who ends up helping Batman. Oldman's highlights include his first scene where Gordon sits in his car along with the corrupt cop, Flass, and he says to Flass "I'm no rat. In a town that's bent, who is there is to rat to anyway??". Then there is the scene where Batman talks quietly with Gordon on his rooftop and Gordon tells him that the commissioner think that he is a menace and Batman asks "What do you think?" and Gordon says "I think you're trying to help" and turns back to see Batman has gone and he says "But I've been wrong before". And then at the end there is a funny moment where Gordon has setup a bat signal, which Batman taps and says "Nice!" and Gordon "You like it? I couldn't find any mob bosses!" (as Batman had strapped Falcone to a lampost, which created the reflection of the bat sign in the sky earlier in the film).
Now finally onto the director, Christopher Nolan who has done a great job here with the film and he keeps the atmosphere intense and broody throughout, but also allows for a few moments of levity as well in the film and provides the film with just enough hope and humanity from keeping it permanently in the dark and never forgets it is supposed to be a superhero film. Nolan also confidently handles the film's impressive action scenes and uses its different locations very well also as it was filmed mostly in Shepperton studios in England, but also there were some location filming in Iceland, during Bruce's trianing, as well as Chicago during the scenes where Batman is chased by the police. The film's music score is also excellent by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, which is very intense and atmospheric is well suited to the tone of the film.
As for the flaws.........well Batman Begins get's most things right except the odd niggle, such as the pacing of the film is a bit inconsistent and it has to be said that Bruce's journey in Bhutan and his training drags on a bit and it takes until Bruce sets the fire to the League of shadows temple for the film's tempo to kick into gear. I also felt that Bruce's father, Thomas, was unjustly branded a coward in the film, when during the scene where he is killed, he calmly tries to reason with Chills before being shot, which hardly shows the actions of a coward. And Ra's blames Bruce's parent's death on his father, when his father actually tried to do what he could and keep a cool head, but the film certainly doesn't seem to take that into consideration and even in Chills's mind, he felt that Bruce's dad begged for mercy, which going by the scene is bullshit, but then again its not like a criminal would lie is it??? Then there is Bale's potrayal of Batman, which is far from bad, but he does start to use that husky voice thing here, which can be grating, but it is nowhere near as bad here as it is the following two films. But I just think why is it necessary for Bruce to husk his voice to that extent, when all its liable to do is make him cough and splutter! And Michael Keaton managed to hush his voice well enough as Batman without making it sound ridiculous so its a bit crap that Bale wasn't able to do the same thing with his performance. You could also argue in a way that Nolan's attempts at humour in the film are at times also a tad lame, although there are some good lines and Caine and Freeman both provide the film with some dry moments of wit, but there are some naff ones as well such as the scene where Gordon first sees Batman's tumbler and he gasps "I've got to get me one of those!". I think its right though that Nolan does have some moments of levity in the film because it would be even more dreary without them, and I guess it is less guilty of cheesy humour than some of the superhero films out there. Although if you want to be really picky, Batman isn't really a superhero as such as he is morely a vigilante detective, as we all know he doesn't have any actual super powers that would make him one in the first place.
And lastly another flaw well worth mentioning is the scene where Ra's Al Ghul turns up at Bruce Wayne's mansion near the end and he has his men set fire to the place and Ra's struggles with Bruce and leaves him trapped under a falling roof beam. And in the scene Ra's says to Bruce "You burned down my house and left me for dead. Consider us even!" which when you think about it, it is not even remotely close in their case whereas Bruce did burn down Ra's house, he didn't leave him for dead and instead dragged him out the burning house and saved him from falling off a snowy cliff and then him took to a villager so he could recover! So obviously Ra's has a pretty warped sense of justice and let's face it the guy does anyway as how exactly is destroying one corrupt city which albeit has plenty of criminals in it but also plenty of innocent people, justice??? In short, Ra's Al Ghul is an ungrateful knob to put it mildly!
But all that aside Batman Begins is an excellent action flick that saw the Batman series get a proper reboot after the dismal Batman & Robin some eight years earlier.
And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!
Friday 12 September 2014
Batman "This town needs an enema!"
OK doke so here is another movie review and this one harks all the way back to 1989 and I have chosen to review Batman, the Tim Burton version, starring Michael Keaton in the titluar role and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. So let's get into the bat suit, mask up and dare the dark night.... (or knight!).
So here's a bit about the plot (and its hard for me to keep it short but I will do what I can) which is of course set in Gotham city, with a couple of street hoods carrying out a mugging. The hoods later count their takings only to be stopped by a tall dark caped figure, as the men both try to put him down by shooting the figure, it rises again and subdues both of them and grabs one of the muggers and tells him "I'm Batman!" before throwing him aside and diving off the rooftops. Meanwhile Gotham city's mayor insists that the district attorney, Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams) and police Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) increase the combat against crime in the city as Gotham reaches its bicentennial. And local reporter Alexander Knox (Robert Whul) along with photojournalist Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) investigate the sightings of the masked vigilante named Batman.
In the meantime mob boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) discovers that his mistress Alicia (Jerry Hall) has been having an affair with his second in command, Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) and decides to have him set up to be murdered with the assistance of a corrupt cop, Max Eckhardt (William Hootkins) during a raid at the Axis chemical plant. During the raid the police arrive and Jack kills Eckhardt but he is then surprised by the appearance of Batman and as the two of them struggle, Napier accidentally falls into a vat of chemicals and Batman flees before the police can apprehend him. It is then revealed that Batman is in fact Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) a wealthy billionaire who saw his parents murdered when he was a child. Bruce soon meets Vicki at a party held at his manor and they fall for one another and soon begin a relationship. In the the meantime, Napier has survived the fall and after some facial surgery is left disfigured as his skin is now chalk white, his hair emerald green and he now has a permanently fixed smile on his face. Napier then goes to confront Grissom and reveals his new persona as "the Joker" and kills Grissom, taking over the mob boss's criminal empire as a result.
The Joker soon announces his presence in the city as victims fall foul to a deadly chemical known as "smilex" which is mixed into certain hygiene products, which causes people to laugh themselves to death. The Joker then sets up a trap for Batman as he invites Vicki along to the Gotham museum of art where his gang deface some of the art there. Batman soon arrives and rescues Vicki and they are pursued by the Joker's men, who Batman manages to fight off and they escapes back to the batcave where Batman gives Vicki a list of information for the press to leak, providing information on Smilex. Bruce the next day meets Vicki at her apartment and he tries to tell her he is Batman but is interrupted by the Joker, as Bruce briefly moves out of sight, he enters again and confronts the Joker who takes out his gun and says "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" and shoots Bruce and leaves. Bruce however was wearing body armour and he escapes the apartment and later realises that the Joker was in fact the man who killed his parents as he recalled the Joker's words were said by the same man who shot his parents years ago. Back at the batcave, Bruce's bulter, Alfred (Michael Gough) let's Vicki in and she and Bruce talk, afterward Bruce guises as Batman and heads off to destroy the Axis chemical plant, now run by the Joker, which leads into the film's final confrontation.
There is no doubt that Batman is the best film out of the four films of the reboot of the franchise from 1989-1997 and Tim Burton's take on the Dark Knight was just right and it was a far cry from the camp 1960s Batman, with Adam West running around saying "sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb!". Burton certainly keeps more akin with the proper spirit of Bob Kane's original comic books here and get's back to the concept of the dark knight and he introduces Batman really well in the film as a dark shadowed figure, striking terror into Gotham's criminal element. The film also echoes the similarity between the two main characters of Batman and the Joker as they both have dual identities and Bruce also later learns that the Joker was responsible for the death of his parents, which ultimately lead him toward becoming Batman, a masked vigilante set on riding Gotham of its criminals.
Getting onto the performances they are pretty good and Michael Keaton is a somewhat unlikely but also very astute piece of casting for the dual role of Bruce Wayne and Batman, as he is excellent in both roles. Keaton's Bruce Wayne is a more subdued and thoughtful character and his Batman is appropriately moody and intense and unlike Christian Bake, thankfully, he doesn't resort to using a stupid husky voice! Keaton has plenty good moments in the film such as in his first scene as Batman where Batman grabs one of the muggers at the start and dangles him off the side of a rooftop and he says "I want you to do me a favour. I want you to tell all your friends about me" and the mugger asks who he is and Batman grabs him and says "I'm Batman!" before throwing him aside and leaping off the roof. Keaton has another good scene where as Bruce he invites Vicki around to his manor for dinner and they both sit at opposite ends of a ridiculously long dining room table as they eat soup, and Vicki asks him if he likes it in here and Bruce says "Yeah. To tell you the truth I don't think I've ever been in here before!". And afterward in the next scene there is a nice moment where Bruce, Vicki and Alfred all sit together and Afred tells them a story and leaves for the night and Bruce says "Alfred's a great one. I couldn't find my socks without him". And then there is the scene where Bruce confronts the Joker at Vicki's apartment and he tells him a story about an imaginary thug and he says "You know what happened to this guy, Jack? He made mistakes and then he (grabs a poker smashes a vase next ontop the mantle of the fireplace) HAD HIS LIGHTS OUT! NOW DO YOU WANNA GET NUTS??!! COME ON!! LET'S GET NUTS!". And as Batman there is the scene where he takes on the Joker's thugs in an alley and after he fights them off he goes to pick up Vicki and he says to her "you weigh a little more than 108!" (as he asked Vicki her weight when they used the bat belt hook to scale a building together). And there is Batman's final confrontational scene with the Joker where he casually asks him "excuse me, have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" and he proceeds to beat him up. And Batman then says "You killed my parents, I made you, you made me first!".
And Jack Nicholson it has to be said steals the show in his dual role as Jack Napier and the Joker, who starts off as a high up figure in a mob outfit but after his accident at the chemical factory, he becomes crazed and facially disfigured and sets out to terrorise Gotham and take control. Nicholson has many highlights in the film such as his first scene as the Joker when he confronts Grissom in his office and Grissom begs "Jack maybe we can cut a deal" and the Joker says "Jack? Jack is dead my friend. You can call me... Joker! And as you can see... I'm alot happier!" and he proceeds to peform a balletic dance while shooting Grissom. Then later there is the funny scene where the Joker get's tired of all the press attention Batman is getting and he smashes his TV with an extended jack in the box, boxing glove. And the Joker moans "Batman?! Batman?! Can somebody tell me what kind of a world we live in where a man dressed up as a BAT get's all my press????? This town needs an enema!". Then there is the scene where the Joker lures Vicki into a trap at the Gothan museum and Batman enters and saves her using his grapple gun they flee and the Joker looks on saying "Where does he get those wonderful toys???". And later on in their final confrontation, Batman beats up on the Joker and he says to him "I was a kid when I killed your parents. You said "I made you, you made me?" how childish can you get??" and he puts on some glasses and says "Hey you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, would you?" and Batman proceeds to punch him off the roof, and after a moment, as Batman and Vicki peer over, the Joker's hands suddenly appear and he grabs both of them over with him! Then there is the scene where the Joker rides on a big float which carries balloons, dancing away, he throws out money to the crowds. And he addresses the crowd on a mic and says "Who do you trust?? Me. I'm giving away free money. And where is the Batman??? He's at home washing his tights!!" before unleashing poisonous gas into the crowds. And as Batman turns up to save the day in his batplane and snatches away the Joker's balloons, the Joker looks on outraged and says to his second in command, Bob, "He stole my balloons! Why didn't someone tell me he had one of those things!" and then says to Bob "Bob? Gun." who hands the Joker his gun and the Joker proceeds to shoot him with it!
Kim Basinger on the other hand is the weak link in the cast here however as she is simply downright annoying in her role as Vicki Vale and she does no more than stand around and scream throughout the film and its a pity in a way she was thrown off the roof at the end of the film! And no offence to Kim but her performance is pretty mediocre here and her dialogue is naff as well and she get's one of the film's worst lines which comes at the very end when Alfred, who chauffers her says "I'm afraid Mr Wayne told me tell you he will be running a little late" and Vicki looks out and sees the Bat signal in the sky and says "I'm not a bit surprised!". Uggghhhh!!
As for the other cast members they fare better, such as Michael Gough who plays Bruce Wayne's trusty butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Gough has some good moments in the film as well such as his first scene during Wayne's party and he follows Bruce around as he keeps putting down his champagne glass in different spots and Alfred picks it up! And Gough also has a good line where Alfred says to Bruce in the batcave "I have no wish to fill my few remaining years grieving for the loss of old friends. Or their sons". Pat Hingle as commissioner Gordon who is in a way perfect in the role as the aged Jim Gordon. There was actually a scene written in the film as a flashback where Bruce as a young boy is comforted by a younger Gordon just after his parents are murdered, which was cut out and later reworked into Batman Begins. Hingle has one or two good scenes in the film and his best line comes when he tries to apprehend Batman at the chemical factory and one of the cops asks who he is and Gordon says "I don't know, but until we find out we better keep a lid on it".
Robert Whul also is good in his role as the reporter Knox, and Whul himself being a comedian (who also wrote for the comedy series, Police Squad!) uses the one liners he is given quite well. One such scene Whul has is when Vicki and Knox attend Wayne's party and they look at a large mirror, just after Bruce says hello and goodbye and Knox says "The rich? Why are they so weird? Cos they can afford to be! Look at this mirror, maybe he should be Bruce Vain!". Billy Dee Williams even though he is given a very brief part as Harvey Dent does well enough as the city's distric attorney, and his opening speech and he addresses the press "I'm a man of few words, but my words will count and so will my actions". And lastly William Hootkins is also given a brief but noteworthy role as the corrupt cop Eckhardt who mocks Knox's claims of the Batman and he says to him "Don't be writing this stuff in the newspaper, Knox. It will ruin its already worthless reputation" and as Knox says about the rumours of Batman "They say he drinks blood..." Eckhardt turns and says "I say you're full of shit, Knox! Oh, and you can quote me on that!".
As for Tim Burton, well he does a terrific job with the film and he handles the action confidently and visually the film looks stunning also, as it was shot at Pinewood studios over 18 soundstages and they used the full extent of the studio's backlot aswell to cater for the film's incredibly vast sets. Burton however said he felt shooting the film itself was a hellish process but then again that can often be the case for filmmakers when they make something special and he later said he felt the film was OK but found it be boring and more of a phenomenom than a great movie. The film is also noteworthy for its visual effects and costuming and big credit goes to Derek Meddings, as the visual effects advisor who created some impressive miniatures, most notably in the scene where Batman destroys the Axis chemicals plant and then there is Batman's costume (designed by Bob Ringwood) and the batmobile (constructued by Keith Short) both of which still look pretty cool to this day. And lastly there is the wonderful music score written by Danny Elfman, which couldn't be more appropriate for the film and it has a great title theme as well even though at times it is a bit loud and overbearing its still a fine score.
As for the flaws paragraph.... well Batman is a fine film indeed but its not without its niggles, for starters part of the problem lies with the fact that Batman is essentially a killer in the film, but I always preferred to see Batman morely as a moral avenger who prefers not to take human life. But here Batman is a killer as he kills off one of the Joker's thugs and also later on the Joker himself and in a way I always felt it didn't sit right with me whereas that's one area where the Christopher Nolan films gave Batman the right balance, rather than resort to killing, so morally Batman enters a bit of a grey area here in Burton's film and continues to in Batman Returns as he kills another thug, by attaching an explosive to him. Another issue is of course the casting of Kim Basinger in the role of Vicki Vale as she threatens to really bog the film down with what is essentially a tedious performance (sorry Kim!) and Vicki is literally no more than a screaming damsel in distress and is far from the tough minded Rachel Dawes of Batman Begins and naturally miles apart from Miranda in The Dark Knight Rises. Perhaps with better casting Vicki Vale's character could have been better but as it turned out Kim was a rushed piece of casting and it certainly shows as it remains the film's only real miscast role.
The film while is a far cry from the overt campness of the 1966 film, it still does have some silly cheesy moments, the worst one being when Batman flies his batplane high up into the sky and stops right in the centre of the moon and it takes the shape of the future bat signal, which is just naff as hell! And lastly I thought the songs in the film by Prince were very much out of place and it also remains one aspect of the film that is dated as Prince's music is very much in the 80s here whereas the film could so easily be taken out of that time and be set in any recent period. Combine that also with the fact that I'm not and never really have been a big Prince fan I just think his music never really lends anything to the film to improve it.
But all that aside, Batman is still an excellent action film which saw the franchise get a reboot although its just a shame the three films that followed Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, couldn't live up to its expectations (which is why I won't do any posts on them!).
And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!
So here's a bit about the plot (and its hard for me to keep it short but I will do what I can) which is of course set in Gotham city, with a couple of street hoods carrying out a mugging. The hoods later count their takings only to be stopped by a tall dark caped figure, as the men both try to put him down by shooting the figure, it rises again and subdues both of them and grabs one of the muggers and tells him "I'm Batman!" before throwing him aside and diving off the rooftops. Meanwhile Gotham city's mayor insists that the district attorney, Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams) and police Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) increase the combat against crime in the city as Gotham reaches its bicentennial. And local reporter Alexander Knox (Robert Whul) along with photojournalist Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) investigate the sightings of the masked vigilante named Batman.
In the meantime mob boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) discovers that his mistress Alicia (Jerry Hall) has been having an affair with his second in command, Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) and decides to have him set up to be murdered with the assistance of a corrupt cop, Max Eckhardt (William Hootkins) during a raid at the Axis chemical plant. During the raid the police arrive and Jack kills Eckhardt but he is then surprised by the appearance of Batman and as the two of them struggle, Napier accidentally falls into a vat of chemicals and Batman flees before the police can apprehend him. It is then revealed that Batman is in fact Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) a wealthy billionaire who saw his parents murdered when he was a child. Bruce soon meets Vicki at a party held at his manor and they fall for one another and soon begin a relationship. In the the meantime, Napier has survived the fall and after some facial surgery is left disfigured as his skin is now chalk white, his hair emerald green and he now has a permanently fixed smile on his face. Napier then goes to confront Grissom and reveals his new persona as "the Joker" and kills Grissom, taking over the mob boss's criminal empire as a result.
The Joker soon announces his presence in the city as victims fall foul to a deadly chemical known as "smilex" which is mixed into certain hygiene products, which causes people to laugh themselves to death. The Joker then sets up a trap for Batman as he invites Vicki along to the Gotham museum of art where his gang deface some of the art there. Batman soon arrives and rescues Vicki and they are pursued by the Joker's men, who Batman manages to fight off and they escapes back to the batcave where Batman gives Vicki a list of information for the press to leak, providing information on Smilex. Bruce the next day meets Vicki at her apartment and he tries to tell her he is Batman but is interrupted by the Joker, as Bruce briefly moves out of sight, he enters again and confronts the Joker who takes out his gun and says "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" and shoots Bruce and leaves. Bruce however was wearing body armour and he escapes the apartment and later realises that the Joker was in fact the man who killed his parents as he recalled the Joker's words were said by the same man who shot his parents years ago. Back at the batcave, Bruce's bulter, Alfred (Michael Gough) let's Vicki in and she and Bruce talk, afterward Bruce guises as Batman and heads off to destroy the Axis chemical plant, now run by the Joker, which leads into the film's final confrontation.
There is no doubt that Batman is the best film out of the four films of the reboot of the franchise from 1989-1997 and Tim Burton's take on the Dark Knight was just right and it was a far cry from the camp 1960s Batman, with Adam West running around saying "sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb!". Burton certainly keeps more akin with the proper spirit of Bob Kane's original comic books here and get's back to the concept of the dark knight and he introduces Batman really well in the film as a dark shadowed figure, striking terror into Gotham's criminal element. The film also echoes the similarity between the two main characters of Batman and the Joker as they both have dual identities and Bruce also later learns that the Joker was responsible for the death of his parents, which ultimately lead him toward becoming Batman, a masked vigilante set on riding Gotham of its criminals.
Getting onto the performances they are pretty good and Michael Keaton is a somewhat unlikely but also very astute piece of casting for the dual role of Bruce Wayne and Batman, as he is excellent in both roles. Keaton's Bruce Wayne is a more subdued and thoughtful character and his Batman is appropriately moody and intense and unlike Christian Bake, thankfully, he doesn't resort to using a stupid husky voice! Keaton has plenty good moments in the film such as in his first scene as Batman where Batman grabs one of the muggers at the start and dangles him off the side of a rooftop and he says "I want you to do me a favour. I want you to tell all your friends about me" and the mugger asks who he is and Batman grabs him and says "I'm Batman!" before throwing him aside and leaping off the roof. Keaton has another good scene where as Bruce he invites Vicki around to his manor for dinner and they both sit at opposite ends of a ridiculously long dining room table as they eat soup, and Vicki asks him if he likes it in here and Bruce says "Yeah. To tell you the truth I don't think I've ever been in here before!". And afterward in the next scene there is a nice moment where Bruce, Vicki and Alfred all sit together and Afred tells them a story and leaves for the night and Bruce says "Alfred's a great one. I couldn't find my socks without him". And then there is the scene where Bruce confronts the Joker at Vicki's apartment and he tells him a story about an imaginary thug and he says "You know what happened to this guy, Jack? He made mistakes and then he (grabs a poker smashes a vase next ontop the mantle of the fireplace) HAD HIS LIGHTS OUT! NOW DO YOU WANNA GET NUTS??!! COME ON!! LET'S GET NUTS!". And as Batman there is the scene where he takes on the Joker's thugs in an alley and after he fights them off he goes to pick up Vicki and he says to her "you weigh a little more than 108!" (as he asked Vicki her weight when they used the bat belt hook to scale a building together). And there is Batman's final confrontational scene with the Joker where he casually asks him "excuse me, have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" and he proceeds to beat him up. And Batman then says "You killed my parents, I made you, you made me first!".
And Jack Nicholson it has to be said steals the show in his dual role as Jack Napier and the Joker, who starts off as a high up figure in a mob outfit but after his accident at the chemical factory, he becomes crazed and facially disfigured and sets out to terrorise Gotham and take control. Nicholson has many highlights in the film such as his first scene as the Joker when he confronts Grissom in his office and Grissom begs "Jack maybe we can cut a deal" and the Joker says "Jack? Jack is dead my friend. You can call me... Joker! And as you can see... I'm alot happier!" and he proceeds to peform a balletic dance while shooting Grissom. Then later there is the funny scene where the Joker get's tired of all the press attention Batman is getting and he smashes his TV with an extended jack in the box, boxing glove. And the Joker moans "Batman?! Batman?! Can somebody tell me what kind of a world we live in where a man dressed up as a BAT get's all my press????? This town needs an enema!". Then there is the scene where the Joker lures Vicki into a trap at the Gothan museum and Batman enters and saves her using his grapple gun they flee and the Joker looks on saying "Where does he get those wonderful toys???". And later on in their final confrontation, Batman beats up on the Joker and he says to him "I was a kid when I killed your parents. You said "I made you, you made me?" how childish can you get??" and he puts on some glasses and says "Hey you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, would you?" and Batman proceeds to punch him off the roof, and after a moment, as Batman and Vicki peer over, the Joker's hands suddenly appear and he grabs both of them over with him! Then there is the scene where the Joker rides on a big float which carries balloons, dancing away, he throws out money to the crowds. And he addresses the crowd on a mic and says "Who do you trust?? Me. I'm giving away free money. And where is the Batman??? He's at home washing his tights!!" before unleashing poisonous gas into the crowds. And as Batman turns up to save the day in his batplane and snatches away the Joker's balloons, the Joker looks on outraged and says to his second in command, Bob, "He stole my balloons! Why didn't someone tell me he had one of those things!" and then says to Bob "Bob? Gun." who hands the Joker his gun and the Joker proceeds to shoot him with it!
Kim Basinger on the other hand is the weak link in the cast here however as she is simply downright annoying in her role as Vicki Vale and she does no more than stand around and scream throughout the film and its a pity in a way she was thrown off the roof at the end of the film! And no offence to Kim but her performance is pretty mediocre here and her dialogue is naff as well and she get's one of the film's worst lines which comes at the very end when Alfred, who chauffers her says "I'm afraid Mr Wayne told me tell you he will be running a little late" and Vicki looks out and sees the Bat signal in the sky and says "I'm not a bit surprised!". Uggghhhh!!
As for the other cast members they fare better, such as Michael Gough who plays Bruce Wayne's trusty butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Gough has some good moments in the film as well such as his first scene during Wayne's party and he follows Bruce around as he keeps putting down his champagne glass in different spots and Alfred picks it up! And Gough also has a good line where Alfred says to Bruce in the batcave "I have no wish to fill my few remaining years grieving for the loss of old friends. Or their sons". Pat Hingle as commissioner Gordon who is in a way perfect in the role as the aged Jim Gordon. There was actually a scene written in the film as a flashback where Bruce as a young boy is comforted by a younger Gordon just after his parents are murdered, which was cut out and later reworked into Batman Begins. Hingle has one or two good scenes in the film and his best line comes when he tries to apprehend Batman at the chemical factory and one of the cops asks who he is and Gordon says "I don't know, but until we find out we better keep a lid on it".
Robert Whul also is good in his role as the reporter Knox, and Whul himself being a comedian (who also wrote for the comedy series, Police Squad!) uses the one liners he is given quite well. One such scene Whul has is when Vicki and Knox attend Wayne's party and they look at a large mirror, just after Bruce says hello and goodbye and Knox says "The rich? Why are they so weird? Cos they can afford to be! Look at this mirror, maybe he should be Bruce Vain!". Billy Dee Williams even though he is given a very brief part as Harvey Dent does well enough as the city's distric attorney, and his opening speech and he addresses the press "I'm a man of few words, but my words will count and so will my actions". And lastly William Hootkins is also given a brief but noteworthy role as the corrupt cop Eckhardt who mocks Knox's claims of the Batman and he says to him "Don't be writing this stuff in the newspaper, Knox. It will ruin its already worthless reputation" and as Knox says about the rumours of Batman "They say he drinks blood..." Eckhardt turns and says "I say you're full of shit, Knox! Oh, and you can quote me on that!".
As for Tim Burton, well he does a terrific job with the film and he handles the action confidently and visually the film looks stunning also, as it was shot at Pinewood studios over 18 soundstages and they used the full extent of the studio's backlot aswell to cater for the film's incredibly vast sets. Burton however said he felt shooting the film itself was a hellish process but then again that can often be the case for filmmakers when they make something special and he later said he felt the film was OK but found it be boring and more of a phenomenom than a great movie. The film is also noteworthy for its visual effects and costuming and big credit goes to Derek Meddings, as the visual effects advisor who created some impressive miniatures, most notably in the scene where Batman destroys the Axis chemicals plant and then there is Batman's costume (designed by Bob Ringwood) and the batmobile (constructued by Keith Short) both of which still look pretty cool to this day. And lastly there is the wonderful music score written by Danny Elfman, which couldn't be more appropriate for the film and it has a great title theme as well even though at times it is a bit loud and overbearing its still a fine score.
As for the flaws paragraph.... well Batman is a fine film indeed but its not without its niggles, for starters part of the problem lies with the fact that Batman is essentially a killer in the film, but I always preferred to see Batman morely as a moral avenger who prefers not to take human life. But here Batman is a killer as he kills off one of the Joker's thugs and also later on the Joker himself and in a way I always felt it didn't sit right with me whereas that's one area where the Christopher Nolan films gave Batman the right balance, rather than resort to killing, so morally Batman enters a bit of a grey area here in Burton's film and continues to in Batman Returns as he kills another thug, by attaching an explosive to him. Another issue is of course the casting of Kim Basinger in the role of Vicki Vale as she threatens to really bog the film down with what is essentially a tedious performance (sorry Kim!) and Vicki is literally no more than a screaming damsel in distress and is far from the tough minded Rachel Dawes of Batman Begins and naturally miles apart from Miranda in The Dark Knight Rises. Perhaps with better casting Vicki Vale's character could have been better but as it turned out Kim was a rushed piece of casting and it certainly shows as it remains the film's only real miscast role.
The film while is a far cry from the overt campness of the 1966 film, it still does have some silly cheesy moments, the worst one being when Batman flies his batplane high up into the sky and stops right in the centre of the moon and it takes the shape of the future bat signal, which is just naff as hell! And lastly I thought the songs in the film by Prince were very much out of place and it also remains one aspect of the film that is dated as Prince's music is very much in the 80s here whereas the film could so easily be taken out of that time and be set in any recent period. Combine that also with the fact that I'm not and never really have been a big Prince fan I just think his music never really lends anything to the film to improve it.
But all that aside, Batman is still an excellent action film which saw the franchise get a reboot although its just a shame the three films that followed Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, couldn't live up to its expectations (which is why I won't do any posts on them!).
And with that I shall bid yee goodnight!
Monday 8 September 2014
Jackie Brown "AK-47! The very best there is!"
Right OK time for a review on this blog as its been a wee while since the last one as I have been busy with my tennis blog because of the US Open, which finishes tonight so I thought I might as well do a post on here in the meantime. So this one is on another Quentin Tarantino movie, Jackie Brown, which was his 3rd feature film made back in 1997. So let's give this mother a look...
So the film begins with its main character, Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) who works for a small Mexican airline as a flight attendant. Jackie as a sideline also smuggles in money for a black market gun runner, Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) who lives in L.A. and is under close observation from the ATF. Ordell also learns that one of his couriers, Beaumont Livingston (Chris Tucker) has been arrested and organises for his bail by paying a visit to a bail bondsman, Max Cherry (Robert Forster). On Beaumont's release, Ordell pays him a visist and persuades him to go along for a ride as part of a business transaction and asks him to get in the boot of his car, which Beaumont reluctantly does, however not longer after Ordell stops the car, takes a gun, get's out and opens the boot and kills Beaumont. Not long after Ordell meets up with an old friend of his, Louis Gara (Robert De Niro) who was his former cellmate and shows him Beaumont's body in the boot and tells him it was a clear cut case of "him or me" in that he had to ensure Beaumont wouldn't become an informant for the ATF.
Meanwhile Jackie is under surveillance by the ATF as a result of some information Beaumont had given to them as they spot her in an underground car park at an airport, where an ATF agent, Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and LAPD police officer Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) detain her and search her bag filled with Ordell's cash, only to find some cocaine as well. Jackie is then arrested on the charge of intent to selling cocaine after she refuses to cooperate and sent to jail. Ordell then visits Max again and arranges for her bail and when Max meets up with Jackie he becomes attracted to her when they go for a quick drink after her release. Jackie then goes back home only to find Ordell at her doorstep, who is intent on killing her in order that she doesn't talk, but Jackie having discreetly stolen Max's gun points it at Ordell's crotch and pushes him against the wall. After a heated exchange Jackie then decides to help Ordell smuggle the remainder of his money into the country, which is $550,000 worth so he can then retire afterward and she will in the meantime pretend to help the authorities. In order to carry out the plan, Ordell get's help from Melanie (Bridget Fonda) a surfer girl who lives with him and also from his friend Louis. However Jackie's real intentions are to steal $500,000 of the money herself and she offers Max a cut of the money as well if he agrees to help her. And from here this where the whole thing starts to get complicated as Jackie must try and find a way to outwit Ordell and at the same time no end up behind bars at the hands of the authorities.
It has to be said that in terms of Tarantino films, Jackie Brown is actually something of a breath of fresh air, as for starters it is a far more mature and restrained film than either Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction and it is also considerably less violent as well. The film was also an adaptation of Leonard Elmore's book, Rum Punch, in which the main character is actually white, but Tarantino decided to change her to black and her name from Jackie Burke to Brown. Elmore himself was said to have been delighted with Tarantino's adaptation of his book and it also remains a faithful adaptation as well although Tarantino still throws in some of his typical touches as well as keeping the profanity pretty high throughout (but hey that is to be expected with him!).
Moving onto the performances, well there is where the film really excels as the cast are all largely top notch and Pam Grier is terrific in the lead role as Jackie Brown. Grier was a popular Blaxploitation actress back in the 1970s and from the start Tarantino was keen to get her for the role which is easy to see why as it would be hard to imagine anyone else play the character so well. And it has to be said that Jackie Brown is easily the strongest female character in any of Tarantino's films, apart from the Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill, but here Jackie is a more realistic character and not some near superhuman killer, but a middle aged woman who is worried about her future and trying to hold down a low paid job as a flight attendant for a small airline, who sees Ordell's money as a way out for herself. Grier herself has some good highlights in the film such as the scene where she arrives back home after being bailed out of jail only to find Ordell show up who proceeds to quietly question her as he intends to kill her, she presses a gun against Ordell's crotch and she says "Now take your hands off from around my throat, nigga!". Grier also shares a nice onscreen chemistry with Robert Forster as Jackie and Max eventually scheme together to steal Ordell's money and share a good scene where they meet at the mall and Jackie asks Max twice if he would take the money, the first time he says he would be tempted, and she says "I'm not sure you answered my question. If you had a chance, unemployed now, to walk off with half a million dollars, would you take it?". Grier also has some good moments Jackson where they argue and also with Keaton in the scene where he confronts her over the money run going awry. And in the scene Keaton's character, Nicolete angrily asks Jackie if she has any idea where the money went and Jackie says "No I don't even have any idea where the motherfuckin money is!" and Nicolete says if she will take a polygraph and she says "Yeah if it will make you motherfuckin happy! Put it right there, I'll do it!". And then there is the scene where Jackie reflects over her life as she talks with Max the day after her release from jail and says to him "And now with this arrest over my head, I'm scared. If I lose my job I gotta start all over again, but I got nothing to start over with. I'll be stuck with whatever I can get. And that shit is more scary than Ordell".
Samuel L Jackson is also great in the film as Ordell, the main antagonist, and he get's most of the film's best dialogue to say and in fine tradition it is largely all profane. Jackson however also makes Ordell somewhat charming aswell even though Ordell is essentially just a street hood who thinks he is smarter than he actually is. Jackson has plenty of highlights in the film and the first one that springs to mind is the scene where he shows off his knowledge of guns to his former cellmate, Louis and he shows him the clip of the AK-47. And Ordelll says "AK-47! The very best there is. When you absolutely, positively gotta kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes!". Also another funny moment is where he walks into a bar and meets with Jackie who is nicely scrubbed up and he says to her "Shit, Jackie. You come in this place every Saturday night I bet you need nigga repellant to keep motherfuckers off your ass!". Also there is the scene where Ordell goes to Jackie's apartment after she is released from jail and he puts his hands gently around her throat and she cocks Max's gun and aims it at his crotch and he says "Is that what I think it is?" and Jackie asks "What do you think it is?" and he says "I think its a gun pressed up against my dick!". Another hilarious moment Jackson has is when he hides at one of the girl's places he has set up and he looks around her filthy room and says "Damn girl, how can you live like this?!" and she says "Like what?" and he says "This! This is some repugnant shit!". Another one of Jackson's best scenes is also where Louis picks up Ordell after the money exchange and he finds out that Jackie has double crossed her and it dawns on him she did it. And he says "It was Jackie Brown" and Louis says "why?" and Ordell says "I'll ask her before I blow that bitch's brains out!". And when Louis inadvertently reveals he saw Max Cherry in the clothes store, Ordell quickly puts two and two together and chastises Louis for doing nothing about it and says to him "You gonna tell me reason you lost every goddamn cent I have in the world?! Let me tell you the reason, motherfucker! The reason is, your ass ain't worth a shit no more!" and he proceeds to shoot Louis in the stomach and says "What the fuck happened to you, man? Her ass use to be beautiful!" and he shoots him again at point blank range in the chest before ditching the car and walking away. And lastly one of my favourite lines from Sam is when Ordell arrives back at Melanie's apartment having taken Louis out to get some new clothes and Ordell says to him "Well I couldn't have Louis looking like no bum" and Louis meekly protests and Ordell says "Come on, man, you had that Salvation army thing goin on!".
Robert Forster is also excellent in his role as Max Cherry, the bail bondsman, who get's involved in Jackie's scam to steal the money as he falls for her. Forster who had been out of the limelight for years revived his career with this role and also received an academy award nomination for his performance. Forster has some good scenes as well in the film such as the scene where he meets with Ordell for the second time as Ordell wants to bail out Jackie. And in the scene Max wearily tells Ordell "Ordell this isn't a bar, you don't have a tab!" and as Ordell tries to make Max sympathise with him over Jackie's situation, Max says "Is white guilt suppose to make me forget that I run a business?". Forster's best moments in the film are generally in his scenes with Grier and the two of them share some good scenes together on screen. One of the best moments is where Max meets with Jackie at the mall and he tells her how he wants to get out of the bail business and he tells her when he decided, which was the night they both met. And he says to Jackie "Yeah that I went to pick up a guy. So I sneak into his house and wait for him. So I went to my office and took another gun and a stun gun and went to this guy's house in El monte and waited for him to come home" and Jackie asks what he would do when the guy came home and Max says "Shoot him with the stun gun. While he's incapacitated, cuff him and take him to county. He never came home. But I'm sitting on the couch in the dark, and the whole house smells of cat pee. So after a couple of hours I think "what am I doing here? Nineteen years of this shit?!" So I made up my mind. That's it."
As for the other cast members, Robert De Niro is quite good in his role as Louis Gara, although his performance is largely subdued until nearer the end when Louis grows tired and impatient with Melanie during the money exchange scene. But De Niro still has some good moments such as in the scene where Louis and Melanie chat with one another after Ordell has left and Melanie casually asks him "You wanna fuck?" and Louis, who is a little taken aback at first, simply says "Yeah". And it cuts to three minutes later, and we hear the grunts and groans of them having sex and as they finish, Melanie says "that was good" and Louis gasping says "Yeah that hit the spot!". Also later in the scene where Melanie winds up Louis to breaking point in the car park at the mall after they have got the bag he suddenly spins round to her and says "Don't say anything else, okay? I'm telling you, keep your mouth shut!" and as Melanie is about to continue he warns again and says "I mean it. Don't say one fuckin word!" and as Melanie says sarcastically "OK Louis" he takes out his gun and shoots her twice! And later Louis picks up Ordell who asks him where Melanie is and he says "Well that's what I gotta tell you. She bugged me the whole time and she got pissy with me because I wouldn't let her carry the bag. And I couldn't remember where I parked the car and she got on me about that "Is it this aisle, Lou-is??? Is that aisle, Lou-is??" Totally fucking with my nerves, man!" and he tells Ordell he shot her which leads into their last moment together in the film.
In other performances Bridget Fonda is also really good in her role as Melanie, Ordell's blonde haired surfer girl, who spends most of her time smoking pot and watching TV and bitches and complains alot throughout the film, which eventually becomes her own undoing. And her best scenes include when Melanie chats with Louis at her apartment and she says to her that she met a guy over in Japan and she shows him a photo of them and she says "I met this guy his name was Hirosh...Hiro something. But we didn't have much to say to each other, as his English was terrible, but what I was going to say as his English was better than my Japanese. Anyway I keep that because of all the time I spent there it was the only picture I got of me in Japan" and she points to the background behind her in the photo and says "That's Japan!". And later on when Melanie winds up Louis after the money exchange and they walk through the car park as Louis struggles to remember where he parked the car, she teases him by saying "Jesus but if you two aren't the biggest fucks up I've seen in my life.... how did you ever rob a bank?! When you robbed banks did you have to go look for your car then too?! No wonder you went to jail!". And she carries winding up Louis by saying "Is it THIS aisle Lou-iss? Is it this aisle or the next one over??? Lou-isssss???" right before she get's shot!
And lastly Michael Keaton puts in a pretty good performance also as Ray Nicolete, the ATF agent who surveillances Ordell and cuts a deal with Jackie to help them get Ordell in the act. Keaton's best scene comes when Nicolete angrily confronts Jackie after the exchange goes awry and he tells her "I sure hope you didn't do anything stupid, Jackie". And lastly lastly Michael Bowen is also good as the LAPD officer, Dargus who works with Nicolete and he gives Jackie a hard time on their first meeting and he says to her about her poor income "$16,000 plus benefits? You didn't exactly set the world on fire, did you, Jackie?!".
As for the direction Tarantino does a great job here with the film although he paces the film a little more leisurely then I personally would have liked he still keeps the story ticking along nicely and makes good use of visual sense and makes the odd nod to other filmmakers such as Brian De Palma in the scene where we see the split scan shot of Max check the glove compartment of his car to find his gun missing and Jackie click it against Ordell. The film's opening scene is also a strong nod to the beginning of The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, as Jackie travels along a travelator. Tarantino's screenplay is also funny and even charming in places and is also very witty (not to mention foul mouthed as well) although he did come under fire from Spike Lee for the use of the word "nigga" in the film and accused him of providing the film with racist overtones and that as a white man he didn't have the right to write for black characters, which Tarantino strongly objected to as he said in the press "Spike Lee says I can't write black characters?? Fuck you, THAT'S racist!!".
The film's soundtrack is also excellent and Tarantino again expertly chooses some soul and R&B tracks which fit the film perfectly. The most notable tracks include Bobby Womack's "Across 110th street" which is used at the start and end of the film, The Brothers Johnson "Strawberry 23", The Delfonics "Didn't I (Blow you mind this time)" (although I'm not a big fan of that one!). Also there are some other good tracks such as "The lions and the cucumber" by The Vampires sound corporation, "Midnight confessions" by The Grass Roots and "Cissy Strut" by The Meters.
As for Jackie Brown's flaws...... well the film hasn't got too many to moan about apart from maybe as I hinted at the film at two and hours long is a bit on the long side and there are some scenes where are very drawn out. One such scene that springs to mind in that regard is when Ordell picks up Beaumont and spends forever getting him in the boot and driving him out in the middle of nowhere so he can shoot him or the money exchange scene itself which is told from the different perspectives of all those involved, which really drags things out. Another criticism that could be levelled at the film is there are still tinges of misogny in Tarantino's screenplay and this is evident with Melanie's character, who is an inccesant nag who get's killed as a result by Louis, purely because she didn't know when to shut up. And its Tarantino's inclusion of having Melanie killed that proves to be the one shocking violent moment in the film and the one bit of "Tarantino" action that we get in the film where he just has to have one surprise kill in there. And in the end you think why did Louis have to kill her and as Ordell says himself "couldn't you just hit her?" and he later himself laments that she was dead to Max "I told that fuckin Louis all he had to do was hit her in the mouth, but no he had to shoot her!". I guess Tarantino though likes to create nagging female characters such as Melanie in Jackie Brown or Jodie in Pulp Fiction to act as a direct contrast to the men to keep them in their place.
But that aside Jackie Brown is still one of Quentin Tarantino's most enjoyable films as well as his most mature one to date as he makes it all about the characters and less about the guns, blood and violence that usually is to be found in his movies and that in itself makes for a breath of fresh air.
And so I will leave it right there the now.
So the film begins with its main character, Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) who works for a small Mexican airline as a flight attendant. Jackie as a sideline also smuggles in money for a black market gun runner, Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) who lives in L.A. and is under close observation from the ATF. Ordell also learns that one of his couriers, Beaumont Livingston (Chris Tucker) has been arrested and organises for his bail by paying a visit to a bail bondsman, Max Cherry (Robert Forster). On Beaumont's release, Ordell pays him a visist and persuades him to go along for a ride as part of a business transaction and asks him to get in the boot of his car, which Beaumont reluctantly does, however not longer after Ordell stops the car, takes a gun, get's out and opens the boot and kills Beaumont. Not long after Ordell meets up with an old friend of his, Louis Gara (Robert De Niro) who was his former cellmate and shows him Beaumont's body in the boot and tells him it was a clear cut case of "him or me" in that he had to ensure Beaumont wouldn't become an informant for the ATF.
Meanwhile Jackie is under surveillance by the ATF as a result of some information Beaumont had given to them as they spot her in an underground car park at an airport, where an ATF agent, Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and LAPD police officer Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) detain her and search her bag filled with Ordell's cash, only to find some cocaine as well. Jackie is then arrested on the charge of intent to selling cocaine after she refuses to cooperate and sent to jail. Ordell then visits Max again and arranges for her bail and when Max meets up with Jackie he becomes attracted to her when they go for a quick drink after her release. Jackie then goes back home only to find Ordell at her doorstep, who is intent on killing her in order that she doesn't talk, but Jackie having discreetly stolen Max's gun points it at Ordell's crotch and pushes him against the wall. After a heated exchange Jackie then decides to help Ordell smuggle the remainder of his money into the country, which is $550,000 worth so he can then retire afterward and she will in the meantime pretend to help the authorities. In order to carry out the plan, Ordell get's help from Melanie (Bridget Fonda) a surfer girl who lives with him and also from his friend Louis. However Jackie's real intentions are to steal $500,000 of the money herself and she offers Max a cut of the money as well if he agrees to help her. And from here this where the whole thing starts to get complicated as Jackie must try and find a way to outwit Ordell and at the same time no end up behind bars at the hands of the authorities.
It has to be said that in terms of Tarantino films, Jackie Brown is actually something of a breath of fresh air, as for starters it is a far more mature and restrained film than either Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction and it is also considerably less violent as well. The film was also an adaptation of Leonard Elmore's book, Rum Punch, in which the main character is actually white, but Tarantino decided to change her to black and her name from Jackie Burke to Brown. Elmore himself was said to have been delighted with Tarantino's adaptation of his book and it also remains a faithful adaptation as well although Tarantino still throws in some of his typical touches as well as keeping the profanity pretty high throughout (but hey that is to be expected with him!).
Moving onto the performances, well there is where the film really excels as the cast are all largely top notch and Pam Grier is terrific in the lead role as Jackie Brown. Grier was a popular Blaxploitation actress back in the 1970s and from the start Tarantino was keen to get her for the role which is easy to see why as it would be hard to imagine anyone else play the character so well. And it has to be said that Jackie Brown is easily the strongest female character in any of Tarantino's films, apart from the Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill, but here Jackie is a more realistic character and not some near superhuman killer, but a middle aged woman who is worried about her future and trying to hold down a low paid job as a flight attendant for a small airline, who sees Ordell's money as a way out for herself. Grier herself has some good highlights in the film such as the scene where she arrives back home after being bailed out of jail only to find Ordell show up who proceeds to quietly question her as he intends to kill her, she presses a gun against Ordell's crotch and she says "Now take your hands off from around my throat, nigga!". Grier also shares a nice onscreen chemistry with Robert Forster as Jackie and Max eventually scheme together to steal Ordell's money and share a good scene where they meet at the mall and Jackie asks Max twice if he would take the money, the first time he says he would be tempted, and she says "I'm not sure you answered my question. If you had a chance, unemployed now, to walk off with half a million dollars, would you take it?". Grier also has some good moments Jackson where they argue and also with Keaton in the scene where he confronts her over the money run going awry. And in the scene Keaton's character, Nicolete angrily asks Jackie if she has any idea where the money went and Jackie says "No I don't even have any idea where the motherfuckin money is!" and Nicolete says if she will take a polygraph and she says "Yeah if it will make you motherfuckin happy! Put it right there, I'll do it!". And then there is the scene where Jackie reflects over her life as she talks with Max the day after her release from jail and says to him "And now with this arrest over my head, I'm scared. If I lose my job I gotta start all over again, but I got nothing to start over with. I'll be stuck with whatever I can get. And that shit is more scary than Ordell".
Samuel L Jackson is also great in the film as Ordell, the main antagonist, and he get's most of the film's best dialogue to say and in fine tradition it is largely all profane. Jackson however also makes Ordell somewhat charming aswell even though Ordell is essentially just a street hood who thinks he is smarter than he actually is. Jackson has plenty of highlights in the film and the first one that springs to mind is the scene where he shows off his knowledge of guns to his former cellmate, Louis and he shows him the clip of the AK-47. And Ordelll says "AK-47! The very best there is. When you absolutely, positively gotta kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes!". Also another funny moment is where he walks into a bar and meets with Jackie who is nicely scrubbed up and he says to her "Shit, Jackie. You come in this place every Saturday night I bet you need nigga repellant to keep motherfuckers off your ass!". Also there is the scene where Ordell goes to Jackie's apartment after she is released from jail and he puts his hands gently around her throat and she cocks Max's gun and aims it at his crotch and he says "Is that what I think it is?" and Jackie asks "What do you think it is?" and he says "I think its a gun pressed up against my dick!". Another hilarious moment Jackson has is when he hides at one of the girl's places he has set up and he looks around her filthy room and says "Damn girl, how can you live like this?!" and she says "Like what?" and he says "This! This is some repugnant shit!". Another one of Jackson's best scenes is also where Louis picks up Ordell after the money exchange and he finds out that Jackie has double crossed her and it dawns on him she did it. And he says "It was Jackie Brown" and Louis says "why?" and Ordell says "I'll ask her before I blow that bitch's brains out!". And when Louis inadvertently reveals he saw Max Cherry in the clothes store, Ordell quickly puts two and two together and chastises Louis for doing nothing about it and says to him "You gonna tell me reason you lost every goddamn cent I have in the world?! Let me tell you the reason, motherfucker! The reason is, your ass ain't worth a shit no more!" and he proceeds to shoot Louis in the stomach and says "What the fuck happened to you, man? Her ass use to be beautiful!" and he shoots him again at point blank range in the chest before ditching the car and walking away. And lastly one of my favourite lines from Sam is when Ordell arrives back at Melanie's apartment having taken Louis out to get some new clothes and Ordell says to him "Well I couldn't have Louis looking like no bum" and Louis meekly protests and Ordell says "Come on, man, you had that Salvation army thing goin on!".
Robert Forster is also excellent in his role as Max Cherry, the bail bondsman, who get's involved in Jackie's scam to steal the money as he falls for her. Forster who had been out of the limelight for years revived his career with this role and also received an academy award nomination for his performance. Forster has some good scenes as well in the film such as the scene where he meets with Ordell for the second time as Ordell wants to bail out Jackie. And in the scene Max wearily tells Ordell "Ordell this isn't a bar, you don't have a tab!" and as Ordell tries to make Max sympathise with him over Jackie's situation, Max says "Is white guilt suppose to make me forget that I run a business?". Forster's best moments in the film are generally in his scenes with Grier and the two of them share some good scenes together on screen. One of the best moments is where Max meets with Jackie at the mall and he tells her how he wants to get out of the bail business and he tells her when he decided, which was the night they both met. And he says to Jackie "Yeah that I went to pick up a guy. So I sneak into his house and wait for him. So I went to my office and took another gun and a stun gun and went to this guy's house in El monte and waited for him to come home" and Jackie asks what he would do when the guy came home and Max says "Shoot him with the stun gun. While he's incapacitated, cuff him and take him to county. He never came home. But I'm sitting on the couch in the dark, and the whole house smells of cat pee. So after a couple of hours I think "what am I doing here? Nineteen years of this shit?!" So I made up my mind. That's it."
As for the other cast members, Robert De Niro is quite good in his role as Louis Gara, although his performance is largely subdued until nearer the end when Louis grows tired and impatient with Melanie during the money exchange scene. But De Niro still has some good moments such as in the scene where Louis and Melanie chat with one another after Ordell has left and Melanie casually asks him "You wanna fuck?" and Louis, who is a little taken aback at first, simply says "Yeah". And it cuts to three minutes later, and we hear the grunts and groans of them having sex and as they finish, Melanie says "that was good" and Louis gasping says "Yeah that hit the spot!". Also later in the scene where Melanie winds up Louis to breaking point in the car park at the mall after they have got the bag he suddenly spins round to her and says "Don't say anything else, okay? I'm telling you, keep your mouth shut!" and as Melanie is about to continue he warns again and says "I mean it. Don't say one fuckin word!" and as Melanie says sarcastically "OK Louis" he takes out his gun and shoots her twice! And later Louis picks up Ordell who asks him where Melanie is and he says "Well that's what I gotta tell you. She bugged me the whole time and she got pissy with me because I wouldn't let her carry the bag. And I couldn't remember where I parked the car and she got on me about that "Is it this aisle, Lou-is??? Is that aisle, Lou-is??" Totally fucking with my nerves, man!" and he tells Ordell he shot her which leads into their last moment together in the film.
In other performances Bridget Fonda is also really good in her role as Melanie, Ordell's blonde haired surfer girl, who spends most of her time smoking pot and watching TV and bitches and complains alot throughout the film, which eventually becomes her own undoing. And her best scenes include when Melanie chats with Louis at her apartment and she says to her that she met a guy over in Japan and she shows him a photo of them and she says "I met this guy his name was Hirosh...Hiro something. But we didn't have much to say to each other, as his English was terrible, but what I was going to say as his English was better than my Japanese. Anyway I keep that because of all the time I spent there it was the only picture I got of me in Japan" and she points to the background behind her in the photo and says "That's Japan!". And later on when Melanie winds up Louis after the money exchange and they walk through the car park as Louis struggles to remember where he parked the car, she teases him by saying "Jesus but if you two aren't the biggest fucks up I've seen in my life.... how did you ever rob a bank?! When you robbed banks did you have to go look for your car then too?! No wonder you went to jail!". And she carries winding up Louis by saying "Is it THIS aisle Lou-iss? Is it this aisle or the next one over??? Lou-isssss???" right before she get's shot!
And lastly Michael Keaton puts in a pretty good performance also as Ray Nicolete, the ATF agent who surveillances Ordell and cuts a deal with Jackie to help them get Ordell in the act. Keaton's best scene comes when Nicolete angrily confronts Jackie after the exchange goes awry and he tells her "I sure hope you didn't do anything stupid, Jackie". And lastly lastly Michael Bowen is also good as the LAPD officer, Dargus who works with Nicolete and he gives Jackie a hard time on their first meeting and he says to her about her poor income "$16,000 plus benefits? You didn't exactly set the world on fire, did you, Jackie?!".
As for the direction Tarantino does a great job here with the film although he paces the film a little more leisurely then I personally would have liked he still keeps the story ticking along nicely and makes good use of visual sense and makes the odd nod to other filmmakers such as Brian De Palma in the scene where we see the split scan shot of Max check the glove compartment of his car to find his gun missing and Jackie click it against Ordell. The film's opening scene is also a strong nod to the beginning of The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman, as Jackie travels along a travelator. Tarantino's screenplay is also funny and even charming in places and is also very witty (not to mention foul mouthed as well) although he did come under fire from Spike Lee for the use of the word "nigga" in the film and accused him of providing the film with racist overtones and that as a white man he didn't have the right to write for black characters, which Tarantino strongly objected to as he said in the press "Spike Lee says I can't write black characters?? Fuck you, THAT'S racist!!".
The film's soundtrack is also excellent and Tarantino again expertly chooses some soul and R&B tracks which fit the film perfectly. The most notable tracks include Bobby Womack's "Across 110th street" which is used at the start and end of the film, The Brothers Johnson "Strawberry 23", The Delfonics "Didn't I (Blow you mind this time)" (although I'm not a big fan of that one!). Also there are some other good tracks such as "The lions and the cucumber" by The Vampires sound corporation, "Midnight confessions" by The Grass Roots and "Cissy Strut" by The Meters.
As for Jackie Brown's flaws...... well the film hasn't got too many to moan about apart from maybe as I hinted at the film at two and hours long is a bit on the long side and there are some scenes where are very drawn out. One such scene that springs to mind in that regard is when Ordell picks up Beaumont and spends forever getting him in the boot and driving him out in the middle of nowhere so he can shoot him or the money exchange scene itself which is told from the different perspectives of all those involved, which really drags things out. Another criticism that could be levelled at the film is there are still tinges of misogny in Tarantino's screenplay and this is evident with Melanie's character, who is an inccesant nag who get's killed as a result by Louis, purely because she didn't know when to shut up. And its Tarantino's inclusion of having Melanie killed that proves to be the one shocking violent moment in the film and the one bit of "Tarantino" action that we get in the film where he just has to have one surprise kill in there. And in the end you think why did Louis have to kill her and as Ordell says himself "couldn't you just hit her?" and he later himself laments that she was dead to Max "I told that fuckin Louis all he had to do was hit her in the mouth, but no he had to shoot her!". I guess Tarantino though likes to create nagging female characters such as Melanie in Jackie Brown or Jodie in Pulp Fiction to act as a direct contrast to the men to keep them in their place.
But that aside Jackie Brown is still one of Quentin Tarantino's most enjoyable films as well as his most mature one to date as he makes it all about the characters and less about the guns, blood and violence that usually is to be found in his movies and that in itself makes for a breath of fresh air.
And so I will leave it right there the now.
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