Bond laying ghosts to rest: Film reviews

Spectre might be the last Bond movie with Daniel Craig as the 007

SKYFALL was always going to be a tough act to follow. It was the most successful James Bond film and an Oscar-winner to boot. Sam Mendes and the team have responded to the challenge in spectacular fashion.

 

SPECTRE (Cert 12A; 148mins) 

Spectre combines all the thrills and spills of a Bond epic with a clever web of a plot that draws together a lot of elements from previous 007 outings to deliver more revelations about his dark mysterious past. Without giving too much away this Bond is all about family, from his loyal comrades at MI6 to distant claims of his formative years. 

Death has been Bond’s one constant companion throughout his life. Everyone he cares about winds up dead, from his parents to M and his one true love Vesper Lynd. What does that do to a man’s soul? What kind of person does that make him? 

Those are the big questions that bubble under the surface of Spectre. It is still crammed with jaw-dropping stunts, globe-trotting skulduggery, invincible baddies, sleek cars and glamorous women but there is a meaty plot to chew on as well. It is a film on an epic scale in which all the ghosts of Bond’s past return to haunt him. 

 



007 HEAVEN: Daniel Craig as James Bond

It is old adversary Mr White (Jesper Christensen) who tells Bond that he is “just a kite, dancing in a hurricane”. He could be right because Bond spends most of the film at the mercy of other people’s schemes, criss-crossing the planet from Tangier to Austria in search of a shadowy organisation that has built an unstoppable criminal empire.

He is very much out on a limb this time as slimy politician Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott) has decided that MI6 is old-fashioned and expendable leaving M (Ralph Fiennes), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) with divided loyalties. 

Do they save Bond or serve their political masters? Spectre is very much plot-driven as Bond tangles with Italian widow Lucia Sciarra and White’s daughter Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) on the road to discovering the man who has been the “author of all his pain”, velvety villain Franz Oberhauser, played with relish by double Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz. 

 



Craig in the stunning opening scene of Spectre

The joy of Bond is the way Mendes and the team keep everything fresh while honouring the traditions of the past. A bruising tussle on a train with henchman Hinx (Dave Bautista) has clear echoes of From Russia With Love and some of the film’s ultimate revelations tie in ingeniously with memories of classic Bond tales from the 1960s and 1970s. 

This is a very classy Bond that is beautifully filmed by Interstellar’s Hoyte Van Hoytema and grips from a staggeringly executed opening sequence on the streets of Mexico City to a nail-biting race against the clock finale in the very heart of London.

There are places when it feels just a little rushed and the title tune is no match for Adele’s Skyfall belter but those are minor quibbles in a film that treats the spying game with all the emotional sweep and intensity of grand opera. 

 



GAMBLERS: Mendelsohn and Reynolds

MISSISSIPPI GRIND (Cert 15; 109mins)

Mississippi Grind is consciously modelled on films that made the 1970s seem like a golden decade for American cinema. It is a slow-burning, character-driven road movie that burrows deep inside lives that other films would shunt to the sidelines.

It has a rambling, old-fashioned quality that is almost refreshing although it does require a good deal of patience on behalf of the viewer. Ben Mendelsohn’s middle-aged Gerry seems to have been born to lose. His gambling addiction has robbed him of a normal life and now he is heavily in debt and drifting towards disaster. Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) is an entirely different prospect.

Brash, confident and eternally affable, he knows how to play the odds and stay a winner. His presence becomes a good luck charm for Gerry and the two men take to the road, heading from Iowa to a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans. The film follows their misadventures as we learn a little more about each man’s vulnerabilities in a plaintive, well-acted tale.

VERDICT: 3/5

 

LISTEN TO ME MARLON (Cert 15; 100mins)

FOLLOWING in the footsteps of Amy, this fi lm allows the late Marlon Brando to have the lead voice in telling the story of his life (the actor made hundreds of hours of audio recordings that have never been heard in public). Director Stevan Riley combines those recordings with extensive clips from key fi lms and some charming home movies to capture a sense of the actor we never knew in his lifetime.

Brando reflects on acting, his family background and the struggle to preserve any sense of reality once fame hit him with the force of a tidal wave. He is quite hard on himself, even expressing disappointment with his Oscar-winning performance in On The Waterfront. Covering his part in the civil rights movement, his activism on behalf of Native Americans and the tragedies that broke his spirit in his final years, Listen To Me Marlon offers a unique, enthralling insight into one of the 20th century’s most charismatic actors. 

VERDICT: 4/5

 

THE LAST WITCH HUNTER (Cert 12A; 106mins)

VIN DIESEL takes arms against a sea of witches in The Last Witch Hunter, half-baked tosh that is hard to take seriously. Cobbled together from odd bits of Blade, Highlander and Van Helsing, this gung-ho action movie has Diesel as noble 14th century warrior Kaulder.

He may have slain the Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht) responsible for unleashing the Black Death on humankind but her final act was to curse him with immortality. Centuries later he is alive and well and living in Manhattan, keeping the planet safe one witch at a time with a little help from his loyal advisor Dolan, played by Michael Caine in Alfred the butler mode.

It soon becomes evident that a new threat is brewing that will require the acquisition of a feisty sidekick, Chloe (Rose Leslie) and a fight to the death involving an excess of murky, overblown special effects. Animal Kingdom:

VERDICT: 2/5

LET'S GO APE (Cert PG; 90mins)

If you’ve seen The Lion King or The Croods then you’ll know where Animal Kingdom: Let’s Go Ape got most of its bright ideas. This frantic French animated feature often looks appealing but hares all over the place, desperately trying to please. Flippant one-liners and slapstick comedy are combined with simian sibling rivalry, an evil witch and some lessons in evolution.

The version dubbed by an English cast seems even weirder as everyone talks as if they should be in an episode of EastEnders. Edward may be the first-born son but he is rejected by the primate king in favour of Edward’s more robust, manly brother Vania. Left to his own devices, Edward proves immensely resourceful as he discovers fire, friendship, the wonder of walking upright and the joy of first love. Amiable and entertaining enough in places but not exactly animal magic. 

VERDICT: 2/5

 

MAYA THE BEE  (Cert U; 88mins)

Maya The Bee is primarily aimed at young children who should have a lot of fun with this fast-paced animated adventure and might even learn something along the way. Maya (voiced by Coco Jack Gillies) grows into a plucky, curious toddler who stumbles upon a cunning plan by evil Buzzlina (Jacki Weaver) to steal all the royal jelly and usurp the elderly queen (Miriam Margolyes).

Naturally brave little Maya steps in to save the day with a little help from a music-loving grasshopper and a baby hornet. Endearing characters, brief musical numbers and positive messages give this an old-fashioned glow. 

VERDICT: 3/5

PAPER PLANES (Cert U; 97mins)

If you are looking for some wholesome, upbeat family entertainment then Australian drama Paper Planes fits the bill. Ed Oxenbould proves to be an engaging child actor as Dylan, a 12-year-old struggling to cope with the death of his mother and with a father, Jack (Sam Worthington), who remains lost in grief.

Dylan’s ability to make paper planes that soar through the air is the key to a fresh start as he becomes a competitor in the Australian Junior Championships. There is nothing surprising in this film but it is a sunny, sentimental little heart-warmer.

VERDICT: 3/5