Set almost entirely within a theatre in Broadway, Birdman stars Michael Keaton as an actor who starred as Birdman in a superhero movie 20 years ago, who now is struggling to remain in the public eye and make a living and resorts to putting on a play on Broadway. There is a certain reality in the casting of Keaton, who obviously is most famous for playing Batman in 1989 and whilst having some smaller parts in big movies, has not had much of a staring role just lately.
I really enjoyed this film and the performance from Keaton, especially the single handed scenes where he is wrestling with the voice of Birdman in his head. I also enjoyed the cinematography, with very long takes and one scene flowing into the next without an edit point, which adds to the overall feel of the movie. 9/10
Saturday, 3 January 2015
The Theory of Everything
The Theory of Everything is a biopic of Prof. Stephen Hawking, played by Eddie Redmayne. It is based on the book by his first wife Jane, and as such is a less about Professor Hawking's academic achievements and much more about his personal life and relationship with his family.
As someone who knew very little about Stephen Hawking, this is a very interesting movie, and I learnt a lot about a remarkable man. Given the subject it would be very easy for this film to be quite depressing, but it is laced with quite light and sometimes funny moments which make this a joy to watch.
It is undoubtedly a superb performance from Redmayne, playing Stephen from his PhD through his diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease and his subsequent degeneration as his muscles give up, leaving him as the Man we know today, in a wheelchair with a computerised voice, as awards season approaches I'm sure he will be nominated. 9/10
As someone who knew very little about Stephen Hawking, this is a very interesting movie, and I learnt a lot about a remarkable man. Given the subject it would be very easy for this film to be quite depressing, but it is laced with quite light and sometimes funny moments which make this a joy to watch.
It is undoubtedly a superb performance from Redmayne, playing Stephen from his PhD through his diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease and his subsequent degeneration as his muscles give up, leaving him as the Man we know today, in a wheelchair with a computerised voice, as awards season approaches I'm sure he will be nominated. 9/10
Friday, 2 January 2015
2015 - Oscars and Beyond
Many of the best films seem to be released in January Ready for Oscar Season, obviously there are still several contenders to see, and I am really looking forward to seeing The Theory of Everything and Foxcatcher in the coming days. Obviously I have not seen these films yet, but at the Moment my Front Runners for Oscar Glory are Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game, and Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl.
Other notable releases in the coming weeks include Disney's Big Hero 6, from the same people who brought us Frozen, Taken 3, which won't have to try hard to be better than Taken 2 and Whiplash, which looks quite interesting.
There are also two very different "Spy" films coming out in January, Mortdecai, Which based on what I have seen of the trailer is likely to be extremely Sexist, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, which stars Colin Firth and looks like it might be worth a watch.
Looking Further into the year, I am looking forward to Insurgent, the second part of the Divergent trilogy, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Definitely The Minions Movie will be the highlight of the summer.
Towards the End 2015 we Have Spectre, the latest James Bond film, Star wars 7, which I really hope isn't going to disappoint and of course the climax of the Hunger Games.
As always, I'm sure there will be many surprises along the way, and probably my Favourite Film of 2015 isn't even on my Radar Yet, that's the beauty of movies.
Other notable releases in the coming weeks include Disney's Big Hero 6, from the same people who brought us Frozen, Taken 3, which won't have to try hard to be better than Taken 2 and Whiplash, which looks quite interesting.
There are also two very different "Spy" films coming out in January, Mortdecai, Which based on what I have seen of the trailer is likely to be extremely Sexist, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, which stars Colin Firth and looks like it might be worth a watch.
Looking Further into the year, I am looking forward to Insurgent, the second part of the Divergent trilogy, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Definitely The Minions Movie will be the highlight of the summer.
Towards the End 2015 we Have Spectre, the latest James Bond film, Star wars 7, which I really hope isn't going to disappoint and of course the climax of the Hunger Games.
As always, I'm sure there will be many surprises along the way, and probably my Favourite Film of 2015 isn't even on my Radar Yet, that's the beauty of movies.
2014 in Review
At the start of the 2014, I had hoped to see 120 Films (10 a month) and work out a saving of £1000 with my cineworld unlimited card (120 films at £10 = £1200 less £200 cost of the card) as It turned out I didn't quite hit these targets managing 97 movies and a saving of around £750
Many of my highlights of the Year were the January round of Oscar releases, which technically are 2013 films, The Outstanding 12 Years a slave, The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club were some of the best movies I saw in 2014.
The most surprising film of the year for me was the March Release of Divergent, the latest Young Adult dystopian Fiction to be dramatized for the big screen. I enjoyed Divergent so much, not only did I borrow the Books from the Library I also bought it on DVD, which for me is a rare thing.
The Best film of the summer was definitely Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a whole lot of fun and made a light hearted change from the usual run of superhero movies.
My Film of the year though was Pride, as I said on this blog at the time, it is a very rare film tat can take you from the edge of tears one minute to tears of Laughter the next. This was by far and away the best film of 2014.
At the other end of the spectrum my worst films of the year are ones that others seemed enjoyed. I thought The Muppets Most Wanted went to far in its characterisations of Russians/French/Irish and was actually offensive, I also thought that Spike Jonze's Her, whilst a brilliant idea, took its central relationship one step to far and then became just utterly ridiculous.
Worst Film of the year though for me, was definitely Dumb and Dumber To, As a fan of the original it seems like all they have done is recycled the same jokes, but 20 years out of date. It is the one film I walked out of, because I couldn't take any more.
Many of my highlights of the Year were the January round of Oscar releases, which technically are 2013 films, The Outstanding 12 Years a slave, The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club were some of the best movies I saw in 2014.
The most surprising film of the year for me was the March Release of Divergent, the latest Young Adult dystopian Fiction to be dramatized for the big screen. I enjoyed Divergent so much, not only did I borrow the Books from the Library I also bought it on DVD, which for me is a rare thing.
The Best film of the summer was definitely Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a whole lot of fun and made a light hearted change from the usual run of superhero movies.
My Film of the year though was Pride, as I said on this blog at the time, it is a very rare film tat can take you from the edge of tears one minute to tears of Laughter the next. This was by far and away the best film of 2014.
At the other end of the spectrum my worst films of the year are ones that others seemed enjoyed. I thought The Muppets Most Wanted went to far in its characterisations of Russians/French/Irish and was actually offensive, I also thought that Spike Jonze's Her, whilst a brilliant idea, took its central relationship one step to far and then became just utterly ridiculous.
Worst Film of the year though for me, was definitely Dumb and Dumber To, As a fan of the original it seems like all they have done is recycled the same jokes, but 20 years out of date. It is the one film I walked out of, because I couldn't take any more.
Happy New Year
Happy New Year Everyone
I realise I have not posted a review since the Hunger Games back in November, so my new Years Resolution is to update this blog regularly. I'm of to see the Theory of Everything this evening so expect to see a review posted tonight or tomorrow.
In the meantime I will post a couple of year end posts looking back at 2014 and looking forward to 2015
I realise I have not posted a review since the Hunger Games back in November, so my new Years Resolution is to update this blog regularly. I'm of to see the Theory of Everything this evening so expect to see a review posted tonight or tomorrow.
In the meantime I will post a couple of year end posts looking back at 2014 and looking forward to 2015
Thursday, 20 November 2014
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Having read the book I was a little concerned that Mockingjay Part 1 would struggle to meet the standard of the first 2 movies. It covers the period between the 75th Hunger Games quarter quell of Catching Fire, and the assault on the Capitol in Part 2, as such there is very little in the way of action and fighting.
I needn't have worried, despite the lack of action, Mockingjay Part 1 is an intense psychological thriller, full of propaganda from both the capitol and the rebels, and a fight for power. The District 8 scene in particular was deeply emotional.
Jennifer Lawrence puts in a decent performance, but for me Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket steals every scene she is in.
All in all this is far better than I had feared going in, yes it lacks the action of the games from the other movies, but more than holds its own compared to Hunger Games and Catching fire 9.5/10
I needn't have worried, despite the lack of action, Mockingjay Part 1 is an intense psychological thriller, full of propaganda from both the capitol and the rebels, and a fight for power. The District 8 scene in particular was deeply emotional.
Jennifer Lawrence puts in a decent performance, but for me Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket steals every scene she is in.
All in all this is far better than I had feared going in, yes it lacks the action of the games from the other movies, but more than holds its own compared to Hunger Games and Catching fire 9.5/10
Saturday, 15 November 2014
The Imitation Game
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing in this biopic of the man who broke Enigma and shortened the second world war.
Turing is a very complex character, and Cumberbatch puts in a masterful performance, doing justice to a man who to modern eyes is a genius and war hero, but who at the time was seen as something of an eccentric. Whilst parts of Turing's story are widely known, there is much in this film that I did not know, and I left the cinema with a much better understanding of the man and what happened to him.
The film jumps between 3 time periods, his school days, his work at Bletchley Park and his arrest for Indecency, but it works this very well and it doesn't feel unnatural in its chronology.
This is a superb biopic with a very intriguing subject, and I highly recommend it 9.5/10
Turing is a very complex character, and Cumberbatch puts in a masterful performance, doing justice to a man who to modern eyes is a genius and war hero, but who at the time was seen as something of an eccentric. Whilst parts of Turing's story are widely known, there is much in this film that I did not know, and I left the cinema with a much better understanding of the man and what happened to him.
The film jumps between 3 time periods, his school days, his work at Bletchley Park and his arrest for Indecency, but it works this very well and it doesn't feel unnatural in its chronology.
This is a superb biopic with a very intriguing subject, and I highly recommend it 9.5/10
Mr Turner
Timothy Spall won the best actor award at this years Canne film festival for his portrayal of the artist J M W Turner in this period biopic, it is undoubtedly a fine acting performance by Spall however his portrayal of Mr Turner is not a man with whom I would choose to spend time, and especially not 2 and a half hours.
The film lacks a cohesive narrative arc, with little sense of the passage of time, and many of the scenes could almost be put in any order as they do not bear any relevance to the scene they precede. By the two hour mark, with Turner now ill, I found myself wishing he would die quickly so that the film would be over.
This film is far to long (refer to previous post regarding length of films, that is code for boring) many of the scenes could be removed and the film would probably make more narrative sense. Whilst Spalls acting may be worthy of an award, the screenwriting is most certainly not 4/10
The film lacks a cohesive narrative arc, with little sense of the passage of time, and many of the scenes could almost be put in any order as they do not bear any relevance to the scene they precede. By the two hour mark, with Turner now ill, I found myself wishing he would die quickly so that the film would be over.
This film is far to long (refer to previous post regarding length of films, that is code for boring) many of the scenes could be removed and the film would probably make more narrative sense. Whilst Spalls acting may be worthy of an award, the screenwriting is most certainly not 4/10
Monday, 10 November 2014
Interstellar
Ever since I first heard about Interstellar I was excited, this was one of my most anticipated films of 2014, arguably one of the best directors of our time, Christopher Nolan, directs last years best actor Oscar winner, what's not to like?
Interstellar is a very good film, but given my level of anticipation I was a little disappointed, it lacks that extra something that turns a very good film, into an outstanding one.
Interstellar also proves he point I made I a recent blog post about films being to long, It is nearly 3 hours in length, but I was so engrossed in the storyline that not once did I check my watch, and upon leaving the cinema I was extremely surprised by just how late it was, this is not a "long" film.
For all it's scale and size, this film lacks something, the plotline is ridiculous, especially in the 3rd act, early on in the film, much of the story is believable, however without posting plot spoilers, the final resolution of the movie and explanation of certain key elements leaves behind the realms of believable science, and strays very much toward the Fiction in Science Fiction.
On the whole though this is a very good film, with some great acting performances, and beautiful cinematography, however it's final resolution left me a little underwhelmed 8/10
Interstellar is a very good film, but given my level of anticipation I was a little disappointed, it lacks that extra something that turns a very good film, into an outstanding one.
Interstellar also proves he point I made I a recent blog post about films being to long, It is nearly 3 hours in length, but I was so engrossed in the storyline that not once did I check my watch, and upon leaving the cinema I was extremely surprised by just how late it was, this is not a "long" film.
For all it's scale and size, this film lacks something, the plotline is ridiculous, especially in the 3rd act, early on in the film, much of the story is believable, however without posting plot spoilers, the final resolution of the movie and explanation of certain key elements leaves behind the realms of believable science, and strays very much toward the Fiction in Science Fiction.
On the whole though this is a very good film, with some great acting performances, and beautiful cinematography, however it's final resolution left me a little underwhelmed 8/10
Thursday, 23 October 2014
Fury
Brad Pitt stars as a tank commander in this World War II drama set in 1945 as the allies push into Germany and towards the end of the war. It features some superb acting performances, particularly from Shia Labeouf and Logan Lerman, who I am a huge fan of since seeing him in the Perks of being a wallflower, my favourite film of 2012.
Lerman plays a young fresh recruit, with no experience of war, who desperately struggles to take in the enormity of what is happening, and initially is reluctant to kill the enemy, his journey through the film and realisation of the realities of war make this a superb performance.
That said, Fury is not perfect, it suffers a little from a weak plotline in places, particularly in the first half of the film. But as world war II dramas go, this is a particularly good example, especially the final half an hour 8/10
Lerman plays a young fresh recruit, with no experience of war, who desperately struggles to take in the enormity of what is happening, and initially is reluctant to kill the enemy, his journey through the film and realisation of the realities of war make this a superb performance.
That said, Fury is not perfect, it suffers a little from a weak plotline in places, particularly in the first half of the film. But as world war II dramas go, this is a particularly good example, especially the final half an hour 8/10
Saturday, 11 October 2014
The Maze Runner
The Maze Runner is the latest young adult fiction to be adapted for the big screen. Ever since the box office success of Harry Potter and Twilight, we now seem to have an endless supply of YA novels being turned into movies, and this is a fairly average example.
It follows Thomas a young man who wakes up with no memory of his past in an elevator, at the top is the glade, an area in the middle of a vast maze with seemingly no way out.
As the film progresses towards it's conclusion, and set-up for the second film, it begins to make a bit of sense, but for the first hour it is very confused. It may help to have had some more information at the outset, and I think that now we know some of what is going on, this will only aid the second movie.
The stand out performance for me is that of Will Poulter who steals the show, but his performance alone does not make up for the wooden acting of others.
I get the feeling the 2nd film will work a bit better 5/10
It follows Thomas a young man who wakes up with no memory of his past in an elevator, at the top is the glade, an area in the middle of a vast maze with seemingly no way out.
As the film progresses towards it's conclusion, and set-up for the second film, it begins to make a bit of sense, but for the first hour it is very confused. It may help to have had some more information at the outset, and I think that now we know some of what is going on, this will only aid the second movie.
The stand out performance for me is that of Will Poulter who steals the show, but his performance alone does not make up for the wooden acting of others.
I get the feeling the 2nd film will work a bit better 5/10
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Gone Girl
Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as a married couple, on their 5th Wedding Anniversary he comes home to discover her missing and signs of a struggle in the house, his wife is missing, and he is accused of her Murder.
This is a terrific thriller, featuring a gritty storyline. I think it often helps films adapted from novels when the original novelist also writes the screenplay for the movie. It is surely easier and better for someone to adapt their own work for the screen then to hatchet someone elses novel.
Rosamund Pike is fantastic and steals the show with a mesmerising performance as Amy and I'd surely an early contender in the race for the Best Actress Oscar, Much like Caté Blanchett won last year with an October release.
This is up there with the best films this year 10/10
This is a terrific thriller, featuring a gritty storyline. I think it often helps films adapted from novels when the original novelist also writes the screenplay for the movie. It is surely easier and better for someone to adapt their own work for the screen then to hatchet someone elses novel.
Rosamund Pike is fantastic and steals the show with a mesmerising performance as Amy and I'd surely an early contender in the race for the Best Actress Oscar, Much like Caté Blanchett won last year with an October release.
This is up there with the best films this year 10/10
Friday, 3 October 2014
Length of Films - When is a Film to Long?
I watched Boyhood Yesterday, I shall post up a review a bit later, but at nearly 3 hours long, It got me thinking about film Length. All to often on this blog I find myself using the phrase "It is a bit to long" or "It felt a bit to long" What do I actually mean by this? Is 3 hours always to long? Is it just my attention span?
Well, Generally when I use this phrase, what I actually mean is "I was bored" where the film goes off and does something superfluous that really dosen't need to be there. Perhaps it is supposed to be an action film, such as the Recent Liam Neeson film A walk Among The Tombstones, where he spends half the movie in an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting proving that he is definitely an alcoholic, We got the point the first time!
There are examples of quite lengthy films that did not "feel" too long, The Wolf of Wall Street is a prime example of a 3 hour film that, in my opinion, needs to be that long in order to fit everything in, so my comment regarding length is not a criticque of the running time of a movie, but more about how it uses that running time, and whether I think a movie could be improved by cutting certain sequences in order to a) reduce its length, but more importantly b) keep the movie flowing and reduce my boredom.
Well, Generally when I use this phrase, what I actually mean is "I was bored" where the film goes off and does something superfluous that really dosen't need to be there. Perhaps it is supposed to be an action film, such as the Recent Liam Neeson film A walk Among The Tombstones, where he spends half the movie in an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting proving that he is definitely an alcoholic, We got the point the first time!
There are examples of quite lengthy films that did not "feel" too long, The Wolf of Wall Street is a prime example of a 3 hour film that, in my opinion, needs to be that long in order to fit everything in, so my comment regarding length is not a criticque of the running time of a movie, but more about how it uses that running time, and whether I think a movie could be improved by cutting certain sequences in order to a) reduce its length, but more importantly b) keep the movie flowing and reduce my boredom.
Saturday, 27 September 2014
The Equaliser
The Equaliser stars Denzel Washington on a movie based on the 70's TV series starting Edward Woodward, in which he finds himself going up against the Russian Mafia.
This is perhaps a little to violent for my taste, with some of the killing going seemingly to far in its brutality, the film I think would lose little if it was a little less bloody.
At a little over 2 hours, it also feels a little long, especially early on, some of the set-up and character development could be shortened to bring this under 2 hours, as quite a chunk of the film is before the real action starts.
That said, It is a very good story and a fine performance from Denzel Washington, I much preferred this to Liam Neeson's latest offering last week 7/10
This is perhaps a little to violent for my taste, with some of the killing going seemingly to far in its brutality, the film I think would lose little if it was a little less bloody.
At a little over 2 hours, it also feels a little long, especially early on, some of the set-up and character development could be shortened to bring this under 2 hours, as quite a chunk of the film is before the real action starts.
That said, It is a very good story and a fine performance from Denzel Washington, I much preferred this to Liam Neeson's latest offering last week 7/10
Tuesday, 23 September 2014
What We Did On Our Holiday
Out on Friday, What we did on our holiday is a comedy about bring up kids when Parents are divorcing.
The Parents played by David Tennant and Rosamund Pike, travel to Scotland for his Fathers birthday party whilst trying to keep up the pretence that their marriage is still intact.
Anyone with young kids I'm sure will find this brilliantly funny, particularly the kids are fantastic, and with Billy Connelly playing the Grandfather with lots of wisdom this works on just about every level.
As well as being hilarious throughout, it is also a fantastic advert for the highlands, with beautiful scenery 9/10
The Parents played by David Tennant and Rosamund Pike, travel to Scotland for his Fathers birthday party whilst trying to keep up the pretence that their marriage is still intact.
Anyone with young kids I'm sure will find this brilliantly funny, particularly the kids are fantastic, and with Billy Connelly playing the Grandfather with lots of wisdom this works on just about every level.
As well as being hilarious throughout, it is also a fantastic advert for the highlands, with beautiful scenery 9/10
Monday, 22 September 2014
A Walk Among The Tombstones
Liam Neeson plays an Ex-Cop turned private Detective in a Thriller reminiscent of Taken. With Taken being such a success, and Taken 3 currently in production, Neeson is in danger of being typecast as the Ex Cop/FBI/Air Marshall.
This film suffers for all the comparison to Taken and Non Stop, mainly because it is not as good as either. The pace is very slow initially, only picking up towards the end, concentrating far to much on Character development to the detriment of plot development. How many AA meetings does he need to go to for us to understand he is an alcoholic?
If you really want to see Liam Neeson chasing and killing gangsters, watch Taken 5/10
This film suffers for all the comparison to Taken and Non Stop, mainly because it is not as good as either. The pace is very slow initially, only picking up towards the end, concentrating far to much on Character development to the detriment of plot development. How many AA meetings does he need to go to for us to understand he is an alcoholic?
If you really want to see Liam Neeson chasing and killing gangsters, watch Taken 5/10
Friday, 19 September 2014
Magic in the Moonlight
Set in 1928, Woody Allen's latest movie sees Colin Firth as a Magician who is asked to help prove that a spiritual medium is a fake, however the more he watches her the more he begins to question whether she could be real.
For fans of the 20's period, this might be a good watch, with lots of period detail, clothing etc, however I am not a huge fan of period films, and this was not enough to keep my interest. Despite only being a little over the 90 minute mark this seemed to plod along at quite a pedestrian pace, until it's final act. The conclusion of the movie is very good, unfortunately the final 10/15 minutes does not make up for the previous 75.
Both Woody Allen and Colin Firth have done much better movies than this fairly recently, so this is a little underwhelming 6/10
For fans of the 20's period, this might be a good watch, with lots of period detail, clothing etc, however I am not a huge fan of period films, and this was not enough to keep my interest. Despite only being a little over the 90 minute mark this seemed to plod along at quite a pedestrian pace, until it's final act. The conclusion of the movie is very good, unfortunately the final 10/15 minutes does not make up for the previous 75.
Both Woody Allen and Colin Firth have done much better movies than this fairly recently, so this is a little underwhelming 6/10
The Giver
Quite often 2 very similar films are released close together, for example Deep Impact and Armageddon, or last years Olympus has Fallen and White House Down.
The latest teen fiction novel to be turned into a movie, The Giver is a story of a fenced in society where emotions are removed, and everyone is told how to live and what their jobs will be. Sound Familiar? There are so many similarities to Divergent, one of favorite films of this year, even down to the choosing ceremony. The problem this film has is that it is nowhere near as good as it's predecessor and with the much anticipated Hunger Games third film out soon, this is just not in the same league.
The story and concept are interesting, and the acting is passable, had this not had such movies to judge it against I might have enjoyed it more, but the standard is high, and this fails to live up to it 6/10
The latest teen fiction novel to be turned into a movie, The Giver is a story of a fenced in society where emotions are removed, and everyone is told how to live and what their jobs will be. Sound Familiar? There are so many similarities to Divergent, one of favorite films of this year, even down to the choosing ceremony. The problem this film has is that it is nowhere near as good as it's predecessor and with the much anticipated Hunger Games third film out soon, this is just not in the same league.
The story and concept are interesting, and the acting is passable, had this not had such movies to judge it against I might have enjoyed it more, but the standard is high, and this fails to live up to it 6/10
Chef
Chef was originally released back in June, however due to my local Cineworld not showing it, I missed it first time around. I have now to catch up with it on a Take Two Thursday screening.
It stars Jon Favreau as Carl Casper a former high flying Chef who is stuck in a rut cooking someone else's food. When he loses his job, he is forced to take on a food truck on a road trip across America.
In my review of the hundred foot journey I said not to go in on an empty stomach, and this is very similar, showcasing some really great American street food that left me hungry.
While the storyline is, perhaps, a little cliché, with the family man getting to spend time with his kid. This is a very pleasant feel good film, with a fantastic soundtrack of Jazz Music that had me foot tapping most of the way through, and a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours. 9/10
It stars Jon Favreau as Carl Casper a former high flying Chef who is stuck in a rut cooking someone else's food. When he loses his job, he is forced to take on a food truck on a road trip across America.
In my review of the hundred foot journey I said not to go in on an empty stomach, and this is very similar, showcasing some really great American street food that left me hungry.
While the storyline is, perhaps, a little cliché, with the family man getting to spend time with his kid. This is a very pleasant feel good film, with a fantastic soundtrack of Jazz Music that had me foot tapping most of the way through, and a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours. 9/10
Friday, 12 September 2014
A Most Wanted Man
Based on a John Le Carre novel, A Most Wanted Man is one of the final films made by Phillip Seymour Hoffman before his death. Unfortunately it is not one of his most memorable.
It is in essence a spy film (I would have used the word thriller except it lacks any real thrills) It opens up with a couple of sentences about how Hamburg was where 9/11 was plotted, but then lacks any real sense that what they are doing is preventing terrorism. It has a very distinct lack of terrorist threat. I'm not saying it needs to be a cliché last minute save the world, but there is absolutely no sense that anyone they are spying on is actually plotting anything.
The storyline line is weak and lacks any sense of momentum, Seymour Hoffman's half attempt at a German Accent is pretty poor, and on the whole this is 2 hours that I would like back 3/10
It is in essence a spy film (I would have used the word thriller except it lacks any real thrills) It opens up with a couple of sentences about how Hamburg was where 9/11 was plotted, but then lacks any real sense that what they are doing is preventing terrorism. It has a very distinct lack of terrorist threat. I'm not saying it needs to be a cliché last minute save the world, but there is absolutely no sense that anyone they are spying on is actually plotting anything.
The storyline line is weak and lacks any sense of momentum, Seymour Hoffman's half attempt at a German Accent is pretty poor, and on the whole this is 2 hours that I would like back 3/10
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