The Visit (Review) - Worth an RSVP

Families can be a nightmare, can't they? I'm sure everybody has certain relatives who refuse to speak to eachother, so the premise for The Visit is instantly relatable. Once her kids find out that she hasn't spoken to her parents in years, a single mother (Kathryn Hahn) decides to let them go and spend a week at their grandparent's house. Because of the huge rift between her and her parents however, the mother doesn't go with her kids, as she instead goes on a cruise with her partner. In order to document their trip, the eldest of the two children, Becca (Olivia DeJonge), brings a couple of video cameras. After a few days at their isolated home, however, the kids soon realise that something isn't quite right. 

I went into The Visit knowing literally nothing about the movie: I hadn't seen any trailers, nor even seen a poster for the film. In fact, the only reason I decided to go and watch it was because I had nothing better to do, and I'd heard that it was a horror. Because of this sight unseen approach, I had literally zero expectations for the film - a huge benefit for any modern movie. This lack of expectations meant that the sky was the limit for how much I would enjoy The Visit, and I'm happy to say that it's well worth the price of admission. The plot isn't the freshest I've seen in recent memory, and it clearly borrows elements from icons of the horror genre (the day of the week appearing on-screen regularly, a la The Shining, for example), but it's still interesting and keeps you guessing up to the inevitable reveal. 

Something that surprised me slightly about The Visit was that it was a found-footage movie, although it managed to sway slightly from the mundane stereotypes found within these films. Sure, there were moments such as hiding a camera downstairs to capture footage in the night, but otherwise things felt relatively fresh in this respect. Perhaps this is because while the movie wants to be found-footage, there's times when the camera is operated in a manner that would be completely unnatural if held by a normal teenager. For example, while on a Skype call with their Mum, the camera is positioned behind the two kids. Now, this could obviously be set-up by them with a simple tripod, but it just doesn't feel like something that you would film. For the most part, though, the documentary-esque way in which the story is presented and filmed keeps the pace and tension high, and really adds to the overall feel of the film. 

Something that doesn't entirely add to the movie is the relationship between the two kids, and their characterisation as individuals. First of all, Becca begins the movie spouting academic jargon that would confuse even an adult, and it just feels awkward to say the least. Also, though he's eventually redeemed slightly by other events of the movie, Becca's brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) is downright irritating. Sure, I might have a slight bias as I've never been a fan of children in movies (or at all, to be honest), but his pseudo-rapper persona that he adopts is just cringe-worthy. As I said, this is amended a little later by his strengthening relationship with Becca, but there's times that his arrogance draws a little from the events playing out. 

Nana (Deanna Dunagan)

This slight diminishing of tension is an issue throughout the film, as while The Visit is primarily a horror/ thriller, there are segments that are very humourous in a tongue-in-cheek style. While this isn't a problem, there's certain scares that are lessened by a moment of comedy, and vice versa. Personally, I would have preferred if the film had gone all-out horror, but maybe this is just a point of personal preference, rather than a fault of the movie itself. 




Verdict
It won't stick with you as the best film of the year, but if you have a spare afternoon then there'd be far worse things to do than see The Visit. It has moments of genuine tension, and the occasional scene that will make you laugh out loud. While the film runs for about 10 minutes too long, it still manages to tell an interesting story with a twist that, while not revolutionary, it's unlikely you'll see coming. And considering M. Night Shyamalan's last few movies have been panned both critically and commercially, this turned out to be a very nice surprise. 

"Would you mind getting inside the oven...

to clean it?"

Until Dawn: Games Becoming More

This past week, a few friends and I played through the thoroughly enjoyable Until Dawn for PS4. Taking heavy inspiration from the slasher teen flicks of the 80s, the game focuses on a group of teenagers as they return to a remote, isolated cabin following a tragedy that they brought on exactly one year prior - sounds familiar, right? Well, like games such as Heavy Rain, Until Dawn attempts to create more than just a traditional game. In fact, the experience is crafted in such a way that for those not necessarily playing, it almost feels as if you're watching a lengthy horror movie. 

Now, games have emulated movies to a certain extent for years. The Metal Gear Solid series, for example, contains insanely long cut-scenes that rival some of Hollywood's own efforts at engaging storytelling. But if you asked somebody unfamiliar with games to sit down and enjoy an instalment from this series, they wouldn't have the faintest clue where to begin. And this is understandable; between these moments of nothing but viewing are lengthy, complicated gameplay segments that are immediately foreign to anybody not involved in videogame culture. So why is Until Dawn any different? Well, it simplifies the actual 'playing' sections to their most base level, while also maintaining a strong sense of player engagement. 

What this does is create an experience that is just as enjoyable for viewers as it is for players, and it shows: a quick search on YouTube reveals videos of the game with view-counts passing the millions. The interesting point to this, however, is that while the game is selling well, it isn't doing so at the rate of popular franchises such as GTA or Call of Duty. NPD sales figures show that for August, the game is at 7th place in the charts. Now, the whole culture of watching people play games on the internet is an ever-growing one, but it's interesting to see a game that is arguably being viewed far more than actually played. Is this a bad thing, though? Of course not. 

If anything, this shows that the medium of videogames is expanding into popular culture more so than ever before. What we have here is a game that has captivated the attention spans of people who may not necessarily consider themselves a player of videogames. A game that, for better or worse, is being enjoyed passively just as much as it is actively. Can the same be said for music, or TV, or even films? Here is an experience that is entirely unique to the videogame industry, and just goes to show just how diverse of an industry it is. If you want to sit down with some friends and play through Until Dawn, you can, but you can also find just as much enjoyment watching somebody else do so. 

Hopefully, the success (both sales-wise and through sheer popularity) of Until Dawn will lead to more experiences such as this. Games that engage both the players and audience, and go out of their way to truly make you feel a part of the experience. Even if you'd consider yourself as far from a player of games as black from white, you should at the very least see what the fuss is all about, and might see that this is a medium far beyond what others can achieve. 

Oh, and this was originally going to be a flat-out review of the game, but I felt this would be a little more interesting. If you're interested in a review: You should buy this game. Not only is it a hugely enjoyable, interesting and engaging story wrapped up with some tight controls and believable characters, but purchasing it also shows that a variety of content is favoured in mainstream videogame culture. 

Legend (Review) - Two Much of a Good Thing

Tom Hardy is a pretty incredible actor - there's no real question there. So when I heard that he'd be playing not one, but both of the notorious Kray twins, I was excited to say the least. As with most movies, trailers began spilling out and the film seemed to be getting better and better. So where did it all go wrong? 

Well, that's not entirely fair. There's not necessarily anything wrong with Legend, as it's a reasonably competent crime biopic detailing the retention and decay of the Kray twins' power in the East End of London. Rather than beginning with an introduction to how they grew their empire, the film instead opens with Reggie Kray already at the top of his game: police officers fear him, rivals fear him, and he's generally adored by locals who see him as a beacon of protection - or instiller of fear. Once his mentally unstable brother comes onto the scene, however, thing begin to go awry. Not only physically formidable, Reggie's brother Ronnie is also a paranoid schizophrenic who will use his brute strength to intimidate and nullify those who stand in his way. Sound pretty cool, right? Well, I thought so too, until Reggie's love interest Frances (Emily Browning) comes onto the scene. 

And this is where things began to feel a little off. I was expecting an out-and-out crime drama with enough violence to justify its 18-rating, but instead we got half of that, and half of a fairly mundane romance Reggie and Frances. Don't get me wrong: I don't mind romantic sub-plots in movies. In fact, in the case of critically acclaimed films like Forrest Gump, a romantic partnership can add numerous layers to the plot. But in the case of Legend, it's just a bit boring and predictable. I won't spoil anything, but the story hits all the beats you'd expect, and even the ending isn't a huge shock. Also, the film features a constant narration by Frances that accompanies the key events of her relationship with the twins, but it's weak to say the least. I'm a huge fan of interesting narration in movies, and it can often add an entirely new layer of depth to an already interesting story (such as A Clockwork Orange). But in Legend, it's just boring, and Emily Browning comes off as bored when delivering her lines.

When the film's on-point though, it's really on. The moments shared between Tom Hardy and...well, Tom Hardy, are especially memorable. One fight scene involving Ronnie and Reggie in particular is both funny and hard-hitting, and there's plenty of scenes that manage to create that engaging atmosphere that keeps you interested - even between the slower-pace of Reggie's relationship. The way in which both brothers appear on-screen together is also admirable, as there's never a moment at which you feel like one of the brothers has been digitally added to appear with the other. 

A relatively minor issue I had with the two lead characters, however, was that they were often characterised by a single feature that was stretched to its absolute maximum. This isn't a huge issue with Reggie, as his relationship with Frances made him layered enough to empathise with. Ronnie, on the other hand, seemed to be identified a lot of the time solely by the fact he's gay. Sure, it was surprising to hear that such an iconic gangster was openly homosexual, but the number of scenes that played with this idea became a little stale. The conversation in the trailer ("I like boys") was entertaining, but then we're shown homosexual parties galore, and Ronnie's numerous boyfriends pop up like caricature cartoons. 

Verdict
It might sound like I hated Legend - I didn't. I just felt so underwhelmed after the months of expectation and intrigue. Tom Hardy is understandably brilliant with what he's been given to work with, but the plot of the film feels like it treads so much common ground. Honestly, if Hardy hadn't played both of the brothers so competently, then this wouldn't be worth watching, even on DVD. However, if you can excuse the consistently average side-plot with Frances, then there's a movie here worth checking out. 

"Reggie was a gangster prince of the East End, Ronnie Kray

was a one-man mob."