Gone Girl: Review

Abduction movies can go one of two ways. Either they're fairly mediocre throughout but manage to twist your perception by incorporating a shocking, jaw-dropping finale, or they have you gripped from the beginning but then fail to accumulate all their tension into a satisfying conclusion. David Fincher's latest thriller Gone Girl unfortunately falls into the second type, but that does not mean that it is a bad movie by any means.

The film opens by introducing us to Nick and Amy Dunne (Ben Affleck & Rosamund Pike, respectively). Nick and Amy appear to be a happily married couple who seem to have everything going for them. They own a local bar, a beautiful house, and love eachother infinitely. However, on the day of their fifth anniversary, Amy suddenly disappears. Nick comes home to find the living room wrecked and small traces of blood splattered in odd places. All signs point to a home invasion or kidnapping, but Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) thinks that maybe the 'perfect couple' aren't so perfect after all. 

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck)

I went into Gone Girl expecting a fairly generic sequence of events, which would eventually culminate into a shocking conclusion in which we discover that Amy is either alive or dead, and then have it explained exactly how this situation came to be. About halfway through the film however, things take a fairly dramatic turn and the movie becomes something else entirely. I can't explain precisely why - considering how important this is to the plot - but just know that you're unlikely to guess at how the movie will play-out. Needless to say, this made the film extremely more interesting than it perhaps could have been, and gripped me considerably more than other films from within a similar genre. 

However, as mentioned, the story builds and builds and then...well, to divulge anything else would be completely ruining the plot, but I wasn't quite as impressed as I could have been. The ending itself isn't bad, and in a way it may have been the most realistic ending that would have occurred, but I was hoping for far more. The film sets up an amazing premise which it fails to properly capitalise on, and although it doesn't completely squander it, much more could have been done. 

Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike)

Regardless of the story's slightly anti-climactic ending though, all of the performances in Gone Girl were nothing short of incredible. Obviously Ben Affleck as the main character Nick was captivating, but the smaller roles of certain characters were equally as engrossing. Neil Patrick Harris for example, plays one of Amy's former lovers, and although he doesn't properly come into the story until towards the end, he was still fairly amazing. In fact, I don't think that there was a single actor present who let the film down, and the same can be said for every scene within the film. Yes, the ending could have been improved upon, but up until that point I was never bored or disinterested. Even with the slow-burning introduction to the story, I was gripped from beginning to end. 

Verdict

Despite the questionable ending, Gone Girl is an incredibly interesting movie which will no doubt keep you hooked for its entirety. There's numerous bold twists and turns which keep the plot interesting and unique, and it's certainly not a by-the-books abduction movie. If you're a fan of Fincher, or even if you just like tense thrillers, then it's certainly well worth seeing. 

"Whoever took her is bound to bring her back."

The Babadook: Review

I don't like most horror movies. Now, that sounds fairly ridiculous coming from somebody who watches countless horror films for fun, but let me explain. I don't like films which solely rely on gore as a form of 'horror', which is unfortunately what most films claiming to be 'scary' now rely on as a form of entertainment. Of course, there's certainly a market for this, and last year's Evil Dead is a stellar example of a horror film which instantly let's you know what you're in for - that being copious amounts of gore - and doesn't try to be something else. It's inarguable then, that a psychological horror experience is far more effective at making you feel pure terror than any amount of blood and violence. That's why The Babadook is one of the best horror movies I have ever seen. 

Amelia (Essie Davis)

The film starts by introducing us to the main character of Amelia (Essie Davis). Amelia is the mother of a single child, and whose husband died in a car accident while she was headed to the hospital to give birth to said child. She loves her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) very much, but is gradually becoming more and more fatigued due to his obsession with fictional monsters. One night, Amelia decides to read Samuel a book titled 'Mister Babadook', and this sets into motion a dark and genuinely terrifying decline in their already depressive well-being. 

Like all the best scary movies, The Babadook rarely shows even a glimpse of the creature itself, and causes you to spend the entire film wondering if it even exists. From the offset, several events occur which make you incredibly empathetic to Amelia, as Samuel grows more and more antagonistic. However, your opinion soon shifts when she starts exhibiting increasingly violent mannerisms towards her son, and soon you're hoping that anything but the very worst will happen. This is cleverly foreshadowed by the 'Mister Babadook' book itself, which is eerily enticing. It looks like something from a gothic Tim Burton movie, although I'm not sure if I'd like to own a copy myself. 

The only aspect of the film which I didn't quite enjoy as much as the rest of it would be the ending. Throughout the entire movie, the idea of whether the monster exists is constantly brought into question, but a few scenes near the finale of the film makes it abundantly clear that this question has a definite answer. It doesn't completely ruin the experience, but a much more ambiguous ending would have been preferable.  

Verdict
The Babadook is an incredibly engrossing psychological horror film, and one which any fan of the genre should definitely check out. The subtlety of the scares is a breath of fresh air in a climate swamped by cheap jump-scares and screaming monsters, and the Babadook himself is equally as sinister. It's a film which I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did, and one which will definitely stick with me for a long time. 

"You can't get rid of the Babadook"

Nightcrawler: Review

As a part of Odeon's 'Screen Unseen' event, I was able to see the upcoming thriller Nightcrawler about a fortnight before its public release. The event works by the audience buying a ticket to the movie for a reduced price, but the catch being that the only information you are given is the start-time of the film, and the certificate it's been given. Luckily, I got to see a film I've been eagerly awaiting for quite some time, and I could not have been happier with the reward of my anticipation. 

Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal)

The film begins by introducing us to Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhall). Lou's lacking financially and socially, and is initially shown stealing copper wire so that he can sell it for an incredibly minimal profit. However, our protagonist soon learns of a fairly questionable job under the title of 'nightcrawling'. This basically consists of arriving at crime scenes mere moments after they are formed, and then filming the events unfolding so that the footage can then be distributed and sold to the highest bidder. Soon, Lou is nightcrawling for himself, but the constant praise for this dark, fringe job begins to encourage his frightening - and blatantly sociopathic - tendencies. 

As expected, Jake Gyllenhaal is incredible in the role of Lou Bloom. He perfectly conveys the complete lack of empathy Lou has for the victims he is recording, and establishes an unnerving tension which remains throughout the entirety of the film. Of course, each scene is loaded with a tense atmosphere, but the mere facial expressions and mannerisms of Lou lead you to believe that something genuinely terrifying is bubbling under his scarily natural façade. This continues throughout every moment of the movie, and is only escalated by Lou's hiring of an assistant in the form of a homeless man named Rick (Riz Ahmed). 

As the film progresses, Lou begins to become far more brave and risky with his nightcrawling, which leads to some fairly intense footage. The film never chooses to exploit this however. For example, one case which Lou arrives at is that of a home-invasion which resulted in a triple homicide. Now, the movie could have quite easily shown the gore in its all its brutal gory, but we instead catch glimpses of this through Lou's camera lens and screen. This subtle delivery is also attributed to the dark humour littered throughout Nightcrawler. It wasn't uncommon throughout the film for the entire audience to one moment be waiting on baited breath at what seemed to be unfolding, and the next laughing at a remark made by one of the characters. The comedy doesn't detract from the dark atmosphere the movie creates so successfully, but instead adds to it. It's never just there for the sake of it. Every time you laugh, it lets you see more into the twisted character of Lou himself, or become increasingly concerned for his 'sidekick' Rick. 

Verdict
I genuinely loved Nightcrawler. It was dark, brutal, and at times bordered on going slightly too far. But it only ever bordered on this. The director knew precisely when to cut a scene short just as it was becoming too graphic to the point of exploitative, or too humourous to maintain the menacing tone. It was an incredibly fun, exciting and occasionally frightening ride, and one which I imagine I'll be repeating as soon as possible. 

"If you want to win the lottery, you have 

to make the money to BUY A TICKET."

The Maze Runner: Review

Teen fiction being adapted for the big screen is rapidly becoming one of the biggest film genres around. It arguably took off with the release of Twilight back in 2008 (although I'd prefer to think The Hunger Games was the real success story), and has shown no signs of slowing down. Now with The Maze Runner, we're presented with yet another story revolving entirely around young adults set in a dystopian world. But is it any good? 

Thomas (Dylan O'Brien)

The film begins with a boy whom we eventually learn is called Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) rising up in an elevator. He has forgotten everything about his past, and is struck with overwhelming fear and uncertainty. Soon, Thomas appears in the middle of a large, square field, and is surrounded by other boys of his age. He has found himself in what is referred to as "The Glade", and must set about finding a way out. The first boy found himself trapped here three years prior, and since then more and more boys have arrived - all without their memories. The Glade is surrounded by colossal stone walls - which is where the 'Maze' part of the title comes in - and some of the boys are given the title of 'Runners', whose job is to map out the course of the maze in an attempt to find their way out. Some members of their small society are more than happy to remain where they are, but the arrival of Thomas sparks some rapid (and occasionally frightening) changes. 

The first thing The Maze Runner gets right is its absence of unnecessary introductions. As soon as the movie begins, the main protagonist is thrust into unfamiliar surroundings, which makes his predicament relatable in the sense that you as the viewer are also unaware of what's happening. The film keeps up this sense of mystery for quite a while, with only rare flashbacks giving hints at the context of what is happening. Eventually it shows a little too much which lets you piece things together - lessening the effect of the ending - but doesn't reveal completely everything. This keeps you interested to a certain extent for the entirety of the movie, which is lucky, as none of the performances are particularly memorable in the sense that they would be able to carry the film on their own shoulders. Nobody is particularly 'bad' as such, but most of the characters are either generic stereotypes or utterly forgettable. The main character of Thomas is interesting in that you want to discover what led him to find himself in The Glade, but that's all. 

As the maze is in the title, you'd expect it to play a key part in the movie, and although it's obviously an important story element, I would have liked to have seen more of it. Giving away every aspect would naturally ruin the mystery behind this gigantic structure, but I hope that the blatantly referenced sequel will expand more upon this. Also, the monsters within the maze are simply referred to as 'Grievers', which also carries a certain level of mystery to it, but they turn out to be mechanical scorpion monsters. There's nothing wrong with this, but a bit more variety would have kept things more engaging throughout the entirety of the film. 

Verdict

The Maze Runner is successful in keeping you interested for the majority of its length, but little more. The conclusion to the story is blatantly to set-up an inevitable sequel, which feels a little cheap, as it means that this first instalment can't properly stand on its own. In the end, it's a fun time and a good way to kill a few hours, but results in being pretty forgettable and lacking in much personality. 

"Every morning when those doors open,

the runners look for a way out."

Films Coming Soon: An Update

Unfortunately, there's been a bit of a dry-spell in films recently. That's not to say none have been coming out - because that certainly isn't the case - but there's been very little that caught my attention (hence why I haven't posted a review in just over a month). Within the next few months however, this is thankfully set to change! So here's three movies which I'm personally very excited for coming out soon, and ones which I will definitely be giving my opinion on when they're released: 

Interstellar (7th November, 2014)

Christopher Nolan has yet to disappoint. All of The Dark Knight trilogy of films were nothing but incredible, Inception was mind-blowing, and even his earlier movies such as Memento are easily amongst my very favourites. Naturally, Interstellar looks set to continue this trend. The plot revolves around the idea that the human race can only maintain life on Earth for a finite period of time, and so 'engineers' are sent through interstellar travel in order to find other sources of sustenance. With huge names such as Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine being a part of this, it certainly looks like it could be one of 2014's best films, and I for one am incredibly excited. 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 

(21st November, 2014)

If you'd have told me a few years ago that I would be eagerly anticipating the next instalment in a popular teen-fiction adaptation series, I would have probably laughed in your face. Imagine my surprise then, that I indeed am doing just this. The original Hunger Games film released back in 2012 instantly got me hooked, and had me excitedly awaiting its sequel. While Catching Fire wasn't a masterpiece of a movie, it was still hugely enjoyable, and yet again got me looking forwards to the next movie in the franchise. Sure, the fact the final book is being split in to two movies (like The Deathly Hallows) is slightly irritating, and will no doubt mean that the cliffhanger featured will be immensely irritating. But I honestly couldn't care, just as long as the conclusion to this dystopian drama is as satisfying as it can possibly be. 

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 

(12th December, 2014)

Yet another franchise I never anticipated I would have so much love for. In the build-up to the second film in The Hobbit series, I decided to watch every Lord of the Rings movie and the first Hobbit film back-to-back. This turned out to be a really enjoyable investment, as both series are hugely entertaining in their own right. With this conclusion of the prequels I've even decided to read the book that inspired them, which is an immense rarity for me. Based upon the tone set by the single trailer released, it certainly looks like The Battle of the Five Armies will continue the epic atmosphere of its predecessors, and if the title is any indication, will hopefully feature plenty of Middle Earth action. 

So there we have it: three movies I'm personally very excited for. These will all definitely receive reviews from me on here, and will hopefully exceed the already high expectations I have for them. They're by no means the only films I will watch before the year's end, so keep an eye out for other reviews and similar posts. 

Also, I occasionally write game reviews for a website called 'Brash Games', and if that's your thing, then feel free to read them here. Let me know what films you're looking forwards to this fall, and maybe I'll check them out some time too!