03 Friday May 2013
Director: Alan Taylor
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins
Plot: When Jane Foster is targeted by the denizens of the dark world of Svartalfheim, Thor sets out on a quest to protect her at all costs.
Release Dates: 30th October (UK), 8th November (USA)
29 Monday Apr 2013
Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Stars: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Annette Bening
Plot: A successful but lonely novelist who suddenly suffers from writer’s block finds the answer by creating a female character to love him…but who then astonishingly materialises.
It’s surely the ultimate fantasy for any novelist; to create a character who actually comes to life, not only on the page but in real life. Such an idea pushes the boundaries of imagination and is one step up from getting your words adapted for the screen. Will Ferrell’s Harold Crick suddenly found his days were numbered by a mysterious narrator who he sought out in Stranger Than Fiction, but in Ruby Sparks our protagonist writer directly conjures up in front of his eyes, what he imagines to be the perfect woman.
A young novelist, Calvin Weir-Fields (Dano) has enjoyed widespread success with his first effort, but is now struggling to find inspiration for the follow-up. His therapist Dr. Rosenthal (Elliott Gould) assigns him a task to write a page about someone who likes his dog, Scotty. Calvin then has a dream about a woman who draws a picture of Scotty and says she likes him. Calvin admits to Rosenthal that he has been inspired to write about this woman who he names Ruby Sparks (Kazan) and that he is falling in love with her. Calvin’s brother Harry (Chris Messina) and his sister-in-law Susie (Toni Trucks) both come to visit and find articles of women’s clothing around the house. To Calvin’s shock and disbelief, the next day he finds Ruby in his kitchen.
Thinking he is going mad, Calvin calls Harry who doesn’t believe him and tells his brother to go out and take his mind off everything. Ruby can’t seem to understand why Calvin is trying to avoid her and goes shopping while he meets with Mabel (Alia Shawkat), a fan of his book at a cafe. Ruby shows up and Calvin is amazed to find that other people can see her; she is not after all a figment of his imagination. Ruby and Calvin have an argument, but they make up when he explains that he finds everything rather stressful. Calvin introduces Ruby to Harry, who tries to find an explanation. Calvin and Harry soon discover that Ruby can be manipulated by whatever Calvin types on his typewriter – this revelation leads to the situation to quickly spiral out of hand when Calvin tries to control his new creation.
Ruby Sparks is not your (well below) average romantic comedy. Too often have we seen rom-coms with chemistry-less romance and no laughs whatsoever (Made of Honour and The Ugly Truth are guilty as charged) and the genre as a whole has suffered from some extremely lazy scriptwriting and sloth-like casting (you know who you are, Gerard Butler). So, if you’re expecting the same old ‘hilarious’ scenarios and cringeworthy dialogue, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Zoe Kazan, who also stars as the title character, has written a screenplay from the heart as opposed to a team of writers bashing their heads together in search of a one-joke film. The characters feel genuine, even though Ruby herself is clearly a figment of Calvin’s imagination; the storyline is amusing, heartfelt but above all very original, even though you could say it does lend itself in the broadest sense to Stranger Than Fiction. While Will Ferrell’s comedy played everything purely for dry laughs, Ruby has at its centre a plot which, though is pure fantasy, feels very real – and that is a great testament to both Kazan and everyone involved. To dismiss the film as a ‘chick-flick’ would be easy, but when you have a winning idea and interesting characters for a change, this appeals to a much wider audience.
The worst romantic comedies tend to fall at the first hurdle due to horrific casting choices. Shoehorning in whichever Hollywood stars seem to be doing the rounds at the time tends to be the norm. However, real-life couple Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan have real chemistry (as opposed to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in Gigli) and, as a result, we can get onboard with the story very easily. Dano is terrific as Calvin – he is our eyes and ears throughout the film, as we follow the remarkable chain of events unfolding from his perspective. His lead character is neither a sappy drip trying to get the girl nor a hunky guy trying to be sensitive, but instead sits between the two as a happy medium. Kazan’s turn as Ruby shows her to be one to watch for the future; she conveys her character’s rollercoaster of emotions from one extreme to the other in both an affecting and humorous way. Kazan’s scenes in which she becomes incredibly clingy are the highlight of the film and are sure to raise the most laughs. As for the supporting cast, Chris Messina excels as Harry, being his younger brother’s voice of reason, Elliott Gould has a nice turn as Calvin’s therapist, with Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas appearing briefly in arguably the weakest part of the film in scenes reminiscent of Meet The Fockers.
Ruby Sparks breaks the mould of thoroughly insipid rom-coms and gives us something to actually enjoy, not endure. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ dreamy style of direction matches the subject matter perfectly, which turns out to be a real thought-provoker. Hopefully this is the first of many writing/acting projects in which we will see Zoe Kazan feature.
Rating: 
01 Monday Apr 2013
Director: James Mangold
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Tao Okamoto
Plot: Wolverine makes a voyage to modern-day Japan, where he encounters an enemy from his past that will impact on his future.
Release Dates: 26th July (USA, UK)
30 Saturday Mar 2013
Director: Sam Raimi
Stars: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz
Plot: A smooth-talking magician is forced to prove his worth when he is whisked away by a tornado to a magical land, into the middle of a power struggle between three witches.
Frank L. Baum’s series of Oz books have had the cinematic treatment most famously on two occasions. The Wizard of Oz, which is considered one of the greatest films ever made, created a star in Judy Garland – she went on to become a huge Hollywood icon despite her tragically short life. Fairuza Balk took on the role of Dorothy Gale in the 1985 film Return to Oz, although her career was never projected into anything like the same stratosphere. With a total of fourteen books in all, the saga is ready-made for further adaptations, so it is no surprise that the back story of how the ‘Wizard’ came to be in Oz has finally been told.
In 1905, Oscar Diggs (Franco) is a small-time magician who travels around Kansas as part of a travelling circus, alongside his assistant Frank (Zach Braff). As a storm approaches one of the fairs, the circus Strongman (Tim Holmes) learns that Oscar has been flirting with his wife and tries to attack him. Oscar manages to climb into a hot air balloon just in time and floats away, but is sucked into the approaching tornado and whisked high into the sky; after staring death in the face (and a few random spinning objects), the balloon lands in a mysterious land. A woman named Theodora (Mila Kunis) discovers him and reveals that he is now in the Land of Oz. She believes that he is a wizard prophesied to defeat the Wicked Witch who killed the King of Oz.
En route to the Emerald City, Theodora falls in love with Oscar due to his charming nature and they encounter flying monkey Finley (Braff), who Oscar saves from a lion and consequently devotes the rest of his life to Oscar’s service. Upon reaching the dazzling green citadel, they meet with Theodora’s sister Evanora (Weisz), who is unconvinced that Oscar is the aforementioned wizard. She tells him that the Wicked Witch lives in the Dark Forest and can be killed if her wand, the source of her power, is destroyed. On the way to the forest, Oscar and Finley meet China Girl (Joey King), a living, talking china doll whose home and family were destroyed by the Wicked Witch. However, when the intrepid trio find the witch in question, Glinda (Williams), they learn that there is more to the quest than they could ever have imagined.
Oz the Great and Powerful has a lot to live up to. The fact that this isn’t a musical and the filmmakers were not allowed to replicate anything from The Wizard of Oz (the intellectual property belongs to Warner Bros. so no ruby slippers, a slightly different Emerald City and the Wicked Witch isn’t quite the same shade of green), gave Sam Raimi a headache from the off. You could raise the point that a visit to Oz isn’t worth the trouble without totally immersing yourself within it, but that argument is by the by. Instead we’re treated to the same black and white start and then a magical transformation into colour once Oscar crash lands via the obligatory tornado. Alongside Neverland and Middle Earth as one of the most iconic fictional worlds, Oz looks and feels a little unconvincing. Ironically, without the painted backgrounds and 1930s production values, the film loses some of its charm and the overwhelming CGI though inevitable, makes you wonder if the green screens could have been dialled down more than a notch or two. However, when the camera whizzes around the higher echelons of the Emerald City, the experience is rather thrilling. The prequel’s storyline, taking us all the way back to the origins of Baum’s tales is fairly interesting, but there are few surprises, especially when a rather large hint of what’s to come appears in the form of a witch with a short temper and a tendency to lash out with a colourful ball of fire or two.
Acting-wise, no-one is stretched at all, but this is to be expected. The main characters are leading us into a world which is both fun and scary, so Oscar bait (no pun intended) this will not be. The trouble with James Franco is that he tends to play various versions of himself and here is no exception. His suave womaniser is a persona he has developed during the course of his career, but in 1905 it looks rather out of step with the times and he could very easily have travelled back from 2013, hiding his time machine underneath the nearest windmill whilst moonlighting as a magician. At least two of the witches have fun in their respective roles, however. Mila Kunis’ Theodora gets a great deal of screen time as the most significant of the trio – with a dramatic character arc, she clearly has fun playing against type, although Kunis spends the first half of the film just looking pretty. Rachel Weisz is underused, perhaps due to her character’s insignificance in relation to the Oz stories as a whole, but does nothing more than scowl with glee. Michelle Williams’ Glinda doesn’t exude anything like the same kind of motherly assurance that Billie Burke showed in the original and arguably makes the least impact – proof if any were needed, that a nice witch is just a contradiction in terms. Sam Raimi’s direction is assured and he clearly knows that the emphasis should be on fun, aiming everything mostly at younger audiences rather than pack in a load of knowing references for the adults.
Oz the Great and Powerful isn’t a patch on the 1939 classic, but it’s a fun experience. With Disney rumoured to be working a sequel, expect more of the same, considering how well this outing did at the box office. If a little more thought is given to the plot, tying as much of Frank L. Baum’s world in as possible, then there is no reason why some of the magic can finally return during our next visit to the merry old land of Oz.
Rating: 
28 Thursday Feb 2013
Director: Leos Carax
Stars: Denis Lavant, Édith Scob, Eva Mendes
Plot: From dawn until dusk, Monsieur Oscar travels around Paris in a limousine to attend “appointments” to perform in front of cameras that may or may not be there.
Leos Carax is the French answer to Terrence Malick. An enigmatic director, who has made only ten films in 32 years, Carax’s first major work was Boy Meets Girl in 1984, which hailed his arrival and was followed by a few less successful features. Carax returned in 1991 with Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf starring Juliette Binoche and received critical acclaim. In 2008, he co-directed Tokyo! with a segment named ‘Merde’, in which a feral man from the sewer wreaks havoc on the streets of the Japanese capital. Denis Lavant played that character and reprises him here among a pastiche of other roles connected by the mysterious Monsieur Oscar in a very unusual set of circumstances.
A man only known as “Le Dormeur”, wakes up in his bedroom, walks over to the wall (which features the mural of a forest) and discovers a button which opens a door to a passageway, leading to a theatre where an audience is watching King Vidor’s classic film The Crowd. We then join Monsieur Oscar, who is being driven around Paris during the daytime in a limousine by his chauffeur Céline (Scob), to attend various ‘appointments’ around the city. for each one, Oscar must don various disguises and play completely different characters for the benefit of viewers who may not actually exist. In the car, there is a dressing room where he can change into suitable attire and use prosthetics to completely transform his appearance.
The appointments themselves usually involve other people joining in with the ‘act’, whereas there maybe one or two occasions where Oscar finds himself performing for no-one in particular. The long list of scenarios begin with Oscar becoming a beggar on the streets of Paris. He then returns to the limo and is dropped off to perform an action sequence using motion capture, followed by stimulated sex with an actress on a soundstage, whilst being monitored and directed. Monsieur Merde, who first appeared in Tokyo! gets an outing, causing mayhem in a cemetery where a photo shoot is taking place. He kidnaps the model and takes her underground to his habitat in the sewer below. Other scenarios include a poignant deathbed scene, a musical and a gangster film.
Some people say that genius and madness are pretty much the same thing, if not then they are only divided by a very thin, invisible line. Holy Motors is a classic example of how many leading film critics have mistaken genius for the downright inexplicable. At the heart of every good film, there must be two things: a story that makes sense at least on some level and a protagonist who goes on a mental or physical journey, with a motive we are able to see clearly, though it may not be something that the audience can identify with. Motors has a central character who doesn’t appear to have any concrete motive for turning up to these appointments – the plot is just a jumbled mess of sketches that make no sense on their own and even less sense together. Visually, there are one or two scenes that are memorable and interesting, such as the second stop at the motion capture studio, but these are few and far between – instead there are many meetings along the way that have seemingly been plonked in between the more visually arresting appointments. There is a great idea in here somewhere, but it has been lost in the frankly appalling execution.
Leos Carax’s inspiration for Motors came from wandering around the streets of Paris and noticing the vast number of limousines in the city – he wondered about the moving worlds that are encapsulated within. This in itself is a fascinating thought and we have also recently seen this addressed in the dreadfully dour Cosmopolis - it seems that here is another duff attempt to get us excited about long white cars. Carax’s direction is probably the only positive aspect of the entire film. We get to see not only unexplored areas of Paris, but also strange camera angles that reflect the random nature of the characters and scenarios that we are witnessing. But this is not nearly enough. Technical brilliance is all very fine, but you must back this up with substance in the script. Unfortunately there is barely a conversation or a line of dialogue that feels like a genuine movement in a worthy direction of note. Denis Lavant’s vast array of weird characters may elicit a chuckle or two, but this is usually accompanied by the shake of the head in disbelief. Even the appearance of Kylie Minogue looking far from recognisable in very dreary clothes whilst singing in a warehouse, fails to get the pulse racing, even slightly.
Holy Motors is the cinematic equivalent of a piece of modern art. Beloved by those apparently in ‘the know’ and given short shrift by people who can see past the pretentious idea behind it as just a load of old junk. This kind of film was doing the rounds in French cinema from the 1960s to the 1980s – let’s hope that the recent revival of good old-fashioned storytelling such as in Untouchable, is not a passing blip.
Rating: 
26 Tuesday Feb 2013
Director: Bryan Singer
Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor
Plot: The ancient war between humans and a race of giants is reignited when Jack, a young farmhand fighting for a kingdom and the love of a princess, opens a gateway between the two worlds.
Release Dates: 1st March (USA), 22nd March (UK)
22 Friday Feb 2013
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Stars: Alice Englert, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson
Plot: High-school student Ethan encounters the mysterious Lena, who struggles to distance herself from him because of a potentially terrible secret.
With the Twilight saga well and truly done and dusted, brace yourself as the clamour to fill the void left behind, begins. The original creator of the literary series herself, Stephenie Meyer, has already moved onto another franchise and written The Host, which is due for a cinema release at the end of March. Beautiful Creatures continues the theme of a mysterious character at a high-school, but can the story of a teenage witch manage to even garner a fraction of its oft compared with cinematic, supernatural ancestor?
Teenager Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), from small-town Carolina, keeps dreaming about a girl he’s never met. Having arrived at school for his first year in junior year, he meets the newly arrived Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), who resembles the girl from his dreams. While his other classmates mock Lena openly and accuse her family of being devil worshippers, Ethan ignores them and attempts to get to know Lena, despite the fact the windows in the classroom shatter at the moment she overhears them whispering about her. Whilst driving home on a rainy afternoon, Ethan comes across Lena stood in the road, as her car has broken down. He takes her home and the two of them bond while talking about their love of poetry and the fact that they have lost their respective mothers.
Ethan meets Lena’s uncle Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons) at the house, who invites him inside. Whilst having a conversation with Macon, Ethan suddenly falls into a trance and starts reciting a possible path his life might lead, which ends in his suicide in middle age. When Ethan leaves, Lena accuses her uncle of putting him under a spell – we learn that the family are in fact a group of “casters”, capable of casting spells and performing magic. Macon disapproves of the developing relationship between Ethan and Lena, conspiring with Ethan’s family friend Amma (Davis) to keep them apart. Despite this, they continue to see eachother – Lena reveals that on her sixteenth birthday her true nature will reveal itself and steer her towards the light or the dark. Matters are further complicated by the arrival of two dark casters – Lena’s tempestuous cousin Ridley (Emmy Rossum) and her mother who has possessed the body of a local woman, with devious intentions.
Considering that there is a huge post-Twilight vacuum that is just waiting to be filled, you would think that Beautiful Creatures would easily step up and satisfy both ‘teams’ Edward and Jacob. While the acting from the two leads is actually not bad at all, the plot is unable to sustain much interest for more than five minutes at a time, only broken by the appearance of either Jeremy Irons or Emma Thompson who must have been short of a Ferrari or two at the time of signing up. The reason why Creatures turns out to be Twilight-lite, is the fact that, even though we’ve moved on from vampires and werewolves to witches, the feeling of Stephenie Meyer’s saga looming large in the background prevents any sense of originality developing. The basic premise of two high-school kids getting together while one of them has a supernatural secret, now just feels like very old (pointy black) hat which needs a massive twist to inject fresh impetus – but this never materialises. One the plus side, there are a few neat set-pieces when the CGI is let a little loose, such as a revolving dinner table in the centre of a magic fight and also a creepy True Blood atmosphere is created at times (even though we’re in South Carolina rather than Louisiana), but it’s never really capitalised on.
Casting unknowns is always a leap into the dark, but while Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert are certainly no tips for future Academy Award winners, they inhibit their characters well, even they are rather dull (magic aside). There is decent chemistry between the two and this is one of the few positives as far as the acting is concerned, especially Ethan’s trance which is an amusing highlight. While Irons and Thompson have fun in supporting roles – the latter clearly enjoys cackling at every opportunity – the rest of the cast are forced to play second fiddle to these four characters who dominate the film throughout. Writer and director Richard LaGravenese concentrates on the primary protagonists, shaping both the dialogue and visuals towards them, but leaves the remainder of the cast to spout soap opera dialogue and revel in clichéd nonsense. The worst offender is Zoey Deutch’s Emily Asher, who is the token queen bitch of the school, a pale imitation of Regina George in Mean Girls. She is one of those characters who has been plonked in just to emphasise the alienation of Lena from the ‘mainstream’ and supposedly result in more empathy for her. Instead, the result is a vapid dramatic device, which actually reminds us that while the magical aspect gives us one or two interesting visuals, when you look underneath it is much like the reveal at the end of a Jonathan Creek episode – devastatingly simple (but here, not in a good way).
Beautiful Creatures never manages to raise itself above the average fodder, although the idea of a hormonal teenage witch could have worked well as a comedy, instead of a mostly serious affair with the clouds of doom hanging over it. There is a suspicion that even the intended market of teenage girls will find Creatures on the whole disappointing, so isn’t it time they got something a little more intellectually challenging than the dross of late?
Rating: 
18 Tuesday Dec 2012
Tags
2012, Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Director: Peter Jackson
Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage
Plot: A reluctant hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is recruited by Gandalf and a group of dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.
Peter Jackson, the director who has made himself synonymous with J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings, set his own bar extremely high when he made the now-famous trilogy of books into the series of imperious films. Such is Jackson’s reputation as the doyen of the Rings world, that he was overwhelmingly the popular choice to lead us back into Middle Earth and direct Tolkien’s ‘prequel’ to the legend, that of The Hobbit. Despite a number of setbacks in pre-production, Jackson finally managed to get the project off the ground, but he also decided to take two major risks in filming the entire story over three long films and in 48 frames per second as opposed to the industry standard of 24fps, incurring the wrath of many a traditionalist film critic.
Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) lives a very comfortable, quiet life in his hole at Bag End, near the village of Hobbiton in The Shire. Gandalf the Grey (McKellen) arrives and tricks Bilbo into hosting a party for thirteen dwarves who turn up unannounced and help themselves to the entire contents of Bilbo’s larder. His ‘guests’ have been driven out of the Lonely Mountain where they resided, by the fearsome dragon Smaug and had their treasure stolen. Gandalf reveals a secret door into the mountain through which he suggests that Bilbo could sneak through as the group’s ‘burglar’. However, Bilbo is mortified by the thought of leaving his peaceful existence behind and refuses to leave. The following day, realising that his life is perhaps a little too comfortable and that maybe he is being rather selfish, Bilbo catches up with Gandalf to join the company and reclaim the mountain, despite the fact that he is warned by Gandalf that ‘he might not return and, if he does, he might not be the same’.
Soon after embarking on their epic quest, the group are all captured by three trolls, except for Gandalf, who tricks them into staying out until the sun comes up, at which point they are turned into stone. The dwarves and their lord Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) get hold of a cache of weapons horded by the trolls, for which they are able to gather for the perilous journey ahead. Bilbo is given a special sword by Gandalf – one that glows blue whenever trolls or orcs are nearby. After resting for a while in the elfish stronghold of Rivendell and receiving advice from Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving), the intrepid fellowship head out across the Misty Mountains, where they encounter a fierce storm (which turns out to be two mountains having a spectacular fight) and are forced to shelter in a cave, where they are taken hostage once again, this time by goblins. Meanwhile, Bilbo is separated from the rest of the group and encounters the mysterious Gollum and the one Ring, which, unbeknownst to him, harnesses immense power and will have far-reaching consequences for Middle Earth and especially for whoever owns it.
The Hobbit has raised a surprising amount of fury about two aspects of Peter Jackson’s interpretation of this very famous novel. The encroachment of 3D films in our cinemas, most of which have no other purpose than to make us part with even more of our hard-earned cash, has never been more appropriate for a film such as this. The last time we journeyed into Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings, the look and feel of the trilogy was shot in the standard way but on this occasion, many film critics have been up in arms at how Jackson has dared to drag Tolkien apparently kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. There might be a few indoor scenes that look a little on the wooden side and the faces of the dwarves look unnaturally ethereal at times, but in general it is easy to get used to, especially when the action moves on from Bag End. The plodding introduction has also raised a few eyebrows. However, Jackson’s eagerness to stay faithful to the book has to be applauded – instead of going for the easy option of a quick preamble before the epic ramble, there is time to relax back into Tolkien’s world once more and get used to (almost) a whole host of new characters.
Martin Freeman, perhaps better known to UK viewers as Tim Canterbury from The Office, wears Bilbo Baggins’ hairy feet as if Ian Holm had never laid claim to them – he also does this without even hinting at his most famous incarnation. Freeman portrays Bilbo as a charming, bumbling (though without channelling Hugh Grant) little hero who we can get straight behind and root for and makes a very convincing hobbit. You couldn’t possibly imagine anyone else playing Gandalf aside from Ian McKellen – he shows exactly why even he thought himself that no-one would be able to emulate his terrific performance from Rings. Aside from these two fantastic actors, we don’t really get to know anyone else besides Richard Armitage’s Thorin, for whom we get a back story in the obligatory preface which fills in the blanks concerning the fractious history between the dwarves, elves and of course, Smaug. As for the rest of the characters, there is a distinct lack of investment in giving us empathy for the remaining dwarves, who are seemingly just there to make up the numbers and crack one-liners at the right moments. We do fleetingly get to see Weaving’s Elrond, the luminous Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and a-before-he-turned-nasty Christopher Lee’s Saruman.
The Hobbit takes a while to get going, in no small part due to the decision to stretch the story out over three long films. However, every second in Middle Earth is a delight – especially the set-pieces (a wonderful mountain fight) and the more nuanced, tense scenes between Bilbo and Gollum as they engage in a battle of riddles over a certain piece of jewellery. Hopefully, the cynics will learn to embrace Peter Jackson’s 3D vision, which is far from distracting and will no doubt develop with the next two films in the trilogy.
Rating: 
14 Friday Dec 2012
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Amy Adams
Plot: An alien infant is raised on Earth, and grows up with superhuman abilities. He sets out to use these abilities to guard his adopted world.
Release Dates: 14th June (USA, UK)
18 Sunday Nov 2012
Tags
2012, Bill Condon, Breaking Dawn Part 2, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Twilight
Director: Bill Condon
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Plot: Following the birth of Renesmee, the Cullens join forces with other vampires to defend her from the Volturi, who believe she is an outlawed immortal child.
We left the Twilight series at the end of Breaking Dawn Part 1, awash with blood, screaming, a birth and an apparent death followed by a vampiric resurrection for our main protagonist, Bella Swan. Now that the transformation is complete, the second part of this instalment and the final film concentrates not only on Bella’s new-found strength and speed as part of the undead, but also her half-immortal daughter Renesmee’s status as the subject of a life-or-death showdown with the Volturi.
Having been brought back from the brink by Edward (Pattinson), who turned her into a vampire, Bella (Stewart) is now a fully fledged member of the Cullen clan and is getting to know her daughter Renesmee, who already appears to be fully aware of her surroundings and growing at an alarming rate. Bella explores the surrounding forest with Edward, learning how to hunt and practice her speed and agility, at one point having to subdue her insatiable taste for human blood when she spots a lone climber. Jacob (Lautner) appears at the Cullen’s house and tells Bella that he has ‘imprinted’ (inadvertently sworn to protect) Renesmee, something that Bella is not amused by. However, despite the smiles and seemingly idyllic situation they find themselves in, trouble is brewing on the horizon in the shape of the Volturi.
Whilst out on a walk in the woods with Renesmee, Bella sees Irina (Maggie Grace), a member of the neighbouring Denali coven, in the distance, who believes she has seen a vampire child – they had been wiped out and banned by the Volturi for their lack of obedience and their tendency to run riot. Irina visits Aro (Michael Sheen) in Italy to tell him that the Cullens have created a child vampire, which is seen as an offence punishable by death. Alice (Ashley Greene) has a premonition that danger is fast approaching and that the Cullens must summon help from their allies in the vampire world – she leaves without notice. Meanwhile, Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) gathers together foreign vampire clans from Brazil, Romania, Ireland and Egypt along with a few werewolves in an attempt to convince Aro that Renesmee is a half-immortal and avoid a devastating duel that would destroy the Cullen clan forever.
Breaking Dawn Part 2 offers much the same as Part 1 – lots of standing around, waiting for something to happen, with very little acting required. There are however, three major plot strands that should keep us interested. Bella’s transformation from human to vampire is arguably the most crucial – but sadly we only get a few token scenes of her and Edward running at high-speed through the forest with the obligatory over-the-top CGI we’ve come to expect. The startling development of Renesmee is next – a rather disturbing computer generated face is superimposed to give the impression the newborn is aware of her surroundings. Instead of feeling a sense of wonder, the overriding emotion conjures memories of the fantastically named Wilhelm von Homburg’s Vigo in Ghostbusters II, in which said ghost-in-painting tries to inhibit the body of a baby during a hilarious end-of-the-world plot, in which the 23-year-old special effects are more convincing. Finally, we have the obligatory battle between the Cullens (with friends) and the Volturi – if Harry Potter had a showdown with the nasally-challenged Lord Voldemort, then this is the Twilight version. True, the big finale is quite entertaining, but after much ripping-off of heads, any initial shock gives way to noticing the gaping flaws in the clunky CGI.
But enough of criticising a film series which is not really meant for anyone who isn’t a teenage girl – even though this demographic is far from exclusive. The filmmakers are in a difficult position – they have to satisfy the so-called Twi-hards and are not aiming their proverbial fangs at the necks of us mere mortals; and it has to be said they have succeeded in spades. Perhaps, based on plot, we should level criticism at Stephanie Meyer, whose four novels could easily have been condensed into three – but wouldn’t you want to maximise your income as a writer, even though quality maybe substituted somewhat for quantity? Having said that, the acting leaves much to be desired and the script is mostly composed of padding, but this is exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Twilight series. After a good start with the first film, which featured a great deal of mystery and intrigue – there has been a downward slide since then, although a slight recovery with this final instalment. It is however, difficult to appraise Breaking Dawn Part 2 on its merits as a film to be taken seriously, because it is completely without pretension – much better to advertise itself as a dreamy teenage vampire fantasy than go for broke and try too hard to be Oscar bait. The ending might be predictable and slightly nauseating, but it wraps everything up as you would expect.
Breaking Dawn Part 2 has a whole host of flaws as a film, including certain aspects that aren’t explained very well such as Jacob’s ‘imprinting’ on Renesmee, but you can’t deny that it does a particular job, even though it may not be the one you’d prefer. In many ways, BD Pt.2 is a microcosm of the series – brief flashes of entertainment, but ultimately unsatisfying unless you’ve assigned yourself a ‘team’. It’s not awful, although with more forethought the film adaptations could have been so, so much better.
Rating: 
