ATOMIC BLONDE (2017)

As far as spy films go, until recently it's safe to say that the genre had gone stale; offering either rehashes and reboots of the always classy and perfect James Bond, or the always running away from explosions style of Mission Impossible's Ethan Hunt. The films stopped providing anything new and became stale, until such films as Spy Movie and the Kingsman franchise breathed a breath of fresh air, injecting humour into the genre. Atomic Blonde continues that trend of redefining the spy genre, with a more realistic take on being a spy.

Atomic Blonde strips away the glamorous cars, seductive models, private planes, expensive cocktails, tailored suits, sci-fi technology, and choreographed dancing (I mean fight scenes, where the protagonist receives minimal to no injuries). You get a realistic idea of what the life of a spy may be like; not knowing who to trust, the realisation that your mission must go on even if compromised, as your government will easily burn a liable asset, the knowledge that everybody you contact is either using you or at risk from people that want to use you. It's a brilliant piece of work that has you trying to determine each characters loyalties, but never providing enough downtime to be able to properly consider the facts; another more realistic aspect of time-sensitive matters. 

Visually, the environments are dark and gritty, and the characters are quite rightly standoffish and aloof. Attention to detail is evident, and the physical toll of constant combat can be seen on the face of the protagonist as the film progresses. 

Casting-wise, I've always enjoyed Charlize Theron. While she acted very well, aesthetically, she wasn't altogether convincing; she looked out of place right from the start, and that is something that doesn't seem to fit with "MI6's most lethal assassin" as it's hard to be an effective assassin when you stick out like a sore thumb. On the other hand, James McAvoy's portrayal of the MI6 Berlin station chief, who is heavily entrenched in the intelligence game, is superb. he almost blends into the surroundings in his own home and pulls off the "proper" spy look.

Atomic Blonde does come with its fair share of faults; mainly the constant laboured action throughout the film, but in the end, it is a very enjoyable film with a strong female protagonist that kicks ass. A refreshingly gritty; an almost modern European adaptation of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.

Originally posted on: http://djin.nz/Kr7811

JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017)

Justice League follows on with the typical pacing that we have become accustomed to with DC after Batman vs Superman; where they cram multiple movies worth of content into a single film, trying to sum up new characters in a quick 5-10 minute side story. Realistically, I would have loved to have had a Cyborg and Aquaman origin movie take place before Justice League, simply so that we get a better idea of the personality of each character beforehand, and so that we aren't wasting time in the culmination of the Justice League faffing about introducing new main characters, their backstories, and even introducing the movie equivalent of NPC's (read: here's a scene added purely to create a cool but unnecessary moment later in the film).

With so many big names, you expect a lot of character development and great acting, and the latter was certainly present. But when you include so many main characters in one film they don't actually end up getting a lot of screentime. And this leads to a disconnected feeling between the characters. In regards, to an authentic feeling of putting together a team for the first time, it's pretty much on point. But from an effectiveness standpoint (i.e. the ability to save everyone from a world-ending power) they certainly lack any proper cohesion.

Individually, the casting was brilliant. It wasn't until I was sitting in the theatre looking at a large picture of the Justice League, that I noticed how much more ethnically diverse they all looked, from their original comic book sources. The great thing is that I almost didn't notice; better casting, that is not only inclusive but better representative of the world we live in. Batman and Wonder Woman have the best onscreen chemistry by far, which is certainly helped by their history in the DCEU so far. 

I was apprehensive about how well Ezra Miller's Flash would work on the screen. The trailers made him out to be a wise-cracking awkward individual and having seen several years of a successful TV Flash, I was unsure of how well he would fit. Fears were ultimately unfounded, with the Flash (and to an equal extent, Alfred the Butler) becoming a light-hearted and positive influence (and some brilliant comedic flair) to contrast the broody Batman and Cyborg characters. Still not a huge fan of his costume, but really it isn't a big issue at all.

But I really don't know what they were thinking with the villain, Steppenwolf. DC faced some backlash from the use of CGI in the villain Doomsday from Batman vs Superman, and yet they have upped the ante and increased the quantity of CGI in the film. All bad guys are faceless creatures, that provide nothing more than unrealistic cannon fodder. One minute there are literally thousands on the screen, then there is only a handful; the inconsistencies in strength and number of enemies really messes with your ability to truly understand the level of threat posed to the world or our heroes. Steppenwolf himself seems to be a rather lacklustre and uninteresting enemy (He seems incredibly weak compared to Doomsday who managed to kill Superman. Whereas Steppenwolf can't even lay a hand on him. Not to mention the fact that he doesn't even attempt to attack the Justice League beforehand, he only weakly defends against their attacks.

The tone of the film overall fits between Batman vs Superman and Wonder Woman in both quality and tone; lacking a strong, coherent storyline, but still able to convey positivity and some good vibes in amongst the doom and gloom. There is also some nice colouring choices (obviously helped by the large level of CGI in the film, where each character has their own colour profiles in their environment; Batman having dark and desaturated tones, compared to the bright, clear, natural brown and beige colours, or Steppenwolf's high contrasting darks, with bright, iridescent purples and orange.

This has fallen into the trap of trying to overreach. Trying to catch up to Marvel's Cinematic Universe, where they can throw multiple characters together, into any situation and reap huge profits. But they need to spend time introducing the characters first. Nevertheless, the film was enjoyable and got more than a few grins out of my usual pessimistic self. It's certainly a step in the right direction, and I certainly hope the Justice League members all get their own standalone films out of this (even Alfred. I'd love to see where he got all that sarcasm and snark from).

Originally posted on: http://djin.nz/Kr7805

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL (2017)

Many of the younger generations are well aware of Matt Groening's animated TV series Futurama. Most of which would also remember the 'Parasites Lost', the episode where Fry eats a decaying egg salad sandwich from a vending machine at a truck stop, and ends up with microscopic worms that heal his body against injuries and illness, eventually improving his physique and giving him superior strength. Blade of the Immortal is effectively that storyline, reimagined in a style similar to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movie series, starring a copy of Marvel's Wolverine.

While reasonably entertaining to watch, there are several aspects of the film that let down the film; the skills of the main character Manji, the quantity and quality of the enemies, and the climax of the film. 

Manji is a "highly skilled samurai", and we see great examples of this in the opening scene. Unfortunately, from that point on, he shows few further examples of his great skills. He certainly does create a large body count, but it wouldn't necessarily be thought of as skillful especially considering every major villain that he encounters manages to beat him, dealing a death blow, and Manji is only ever saved by the fact that he is immortal. 

The villains were also an unfortunate addition to the film. While initially we were treated with new, original ideas on villains, who had interesting aesthetics and different fighting styles, the original lineup introduced at the start of the film appeared to have been a misdirection. There was no real set number of bad guys that needed to be defeated. Instead, the protagonists end up on the receiving end of an endless barrage of forgettable, expendable enemies. The first two or three battles had you on the edge of your seat, but soon you become aware of the extent of Manji's immortality, and the level of threat drops considerably. 

The climax I won't go into as it will spoil the ending, but needless to say, things don't go as planned, and while it created an ending that wasn't necessarily predictable, you lost a large chunk of the minimal character development that occurred during the film. 

The film itself has desaturated colours, that provide a more authentic eastern feel, juxtaposing the usual high saturation of Hollywood films. While not necessarily to the extent of a Tarantino film, there is no aversion to the use of blood and gore in this film, and it creates something that will likely appeal to the young adult demographic. An action-packed film, but not something that would really hold interest over multiple viewings.

Originally posted on: http://djin.nz/Kr7791