Silence (2017) Film Review

In the 1800s, Christianity was banned in Japan, but a group of Portuguese Jesuit priests had established an underground group that was being pursued by the Japanese inquisitor. Ferreira (Liam Neeson) was a mentor priest who went missing, and word returned was that he had given up his faith and now lived in the Japanese way with a wife and child. Disbelieving that this could be true, Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Garupe (Adam Driver) travel through the country, hidden by believers and secretly preaching and hearing confessions. However, they are constantly tormented by a cruel regime that torture indiscriminately.

It is an absolutely stunning film – very hard to watch in the torturing scenes, but the scenery is stunning, and the depictions of Japan so long ago was beautiful. However, unsurprisingly, I have some issues with the story. I have a real issue with evangelical missionaries who ignore the local culture and religion to preach their own religion. What’s more, what is shown in Silence is that the poor to continue to be oppressed and abused with the belief that the ultimate reward is after death. It is questionable that there is anything they could do about their oppressed position in those times, so perhaps having this belief is some kind of kindness. I don’t know – to me, it raises a lot of issues relating to colonialisation and destruction of culture and oppression. Who’d have thought discussing religion could be tricky?

Silence was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography.

After.Life (2009) Film Review

Anna (Christina Ricci) dies in a car crash, but at the funeral home, she awakens. There she is told that she is dead by undertaker Eliot(Liam Neeson) who has the gift of speaking to the deceased and helping usher them through to the other world. Or does he? She believes she is still alive. And so does her boyfriend, Paul (Justin Long). And he is trying to get to her before it is too late.

Ooh, boy, this is a stinker. A massive, massive huge stinker. Christina Ricci is at her gothic best, make-up wise. And her nudity for almost the entire film was logical, but still. Possibly seeing this close soon after Tusk made everything Justin Long did give me flashbacks.

 

A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) Film Review

Ex-cop, ex-alcoholic, private detective Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) is drawn into looking for couple of men who kidnapped and killed the girlfriend of a drug dealer. It doesn’t go smoothly, and there is a lot of violence and horribleness that happens.

It’s a terrible film, really horrible, but very, very good. Certainly not for the faint hearted; and if you have any issues with watching violence against women, this is not the film for you. Or if you dislike blood. Or fighting in general. Oh, so gross.

But if you don’t mind all of that, watch it. Though I don’t recommend it right before bed. I couldn’t sleep at all.

 

Batman Begins (2005) Film Review

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is travelling the world, attempting to find way to get past the murder of his parents that he witnessed as a small child. After training in some mountains with a mysterious group, he eschews their offer to join them and returns to Gotham, to his butler, Alfred (Michael Caine) in the hope of improving the lives of the residents. But there is a bad guy, the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) who is causing problems. Bruce meets Fox (Morgan Freeman) who is in research and development, and Batman Begins.

Having used The Dark Night as a teaching text, I tend to be overly focused on that film over either this or the final in the trilogy. Watching this again reminds me of just how good it is – characters are set up, a strong story is told and it is left on the edge of the next film. Wonderful.

Batman Begins was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography.

 

 

Clash of the Titans (2010) Film Review

People have rejected the gods, burning the temples and the like. Zeus (Liam Neeson) and Hades (Ralph Fiennes) want to do some stuff about it. Then there is Perseus (Sam Worthington), who does not realise he is a demi-god, being the son of Zeus with a human woman. They need to beat the Kraken, but to do so, much chop the head off Medusa.

Oh, it is so much fun. I saw Wrath of the Titans and was less than impressed, but because it me and I like to feel I have completed things, I decided to watch this, the prequel. It’s a lot better – better story, better performances, just better. Though I have recently had my attention drawn to Clash of the Titans from the early eighties, and I am going to need to track that one down. Apparently it is magnificent.

 

 

Wrath of the Titans (2012) Film Review

Wrath of the Titans is set in ancient times with the Gods and the Titans getting upset at each other, and that causes a few issues for mankind. Step in Perseus, half-God son of Zeus.

Did you know that Perseus was Aussie? When he’s played by Sam Worthington, he doesn’t get much more Aussie, but that’s not the most ridiculous thing in this film. Shooting lasers whilst riding a flying horse through a lava creature? That’s pretty ridiculous. And so much more.

Aside from Sam Worthington being extremely hot, there’s Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike and Bill Nighy to name but a few. It’s big and ridiculous and kind of not really worth watching, really.

Rob Roy (1995) Film Review

Rob Roy MacGregor (Liam Neeson) is the head of a clan in 1712, Scotland, living in idyllic happiness with his wife, Mary (Jessica Lange) and their sons. But he is at the whim of the powerful classes, most notably English Lord Montrose (John Hurt), his manservant Killearn (Brian Cox) and the evil Cunningham (Tim Roth). MacGregor needs to find a way to retain his honour in the face of adversity.

It came out in 1995, the same year as Braveheart, and there are clearly a lot of similarities. I love it, even though I question the lack of Scottish actors (especially with a few of the very dodgy accents), though certainly the main cast is extremely strong and drive the story. Revisiting this was extremely interesting, and what I noted the most was the extremely strong script – often, entire conversations, entire moods and conflicts were summed with one perfect line. Wonderful. I am unsure on the historical accuracy, but it is a fantastic film.

Rob Roy was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tim Roth).

 

Taken 2 (2012) Film Review

In revenge for the many people Byran Mills (Liam Neeson) killed when rescuing his daughter from sex traffickers in Taken, he and his wife are taken. Yet, somehow he manages to, in front of the bad guys, he instructs his daughters as to what to do, which involves setting off various grenades until eventually he fixes everything.

Perhaps it was because the main hero was kidnapped for part of it, but I felt like this film didn’t take off until close to the end. Still, Liam Neeson running and shooting things and punching people – that’s quite good. Can they pull off Taken 3 in 2015? I’ll wait and see.

 

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) Film Review

It’s the Wild West and things are pretty horrible. Albert (Seth MacFarlane) is a sheep farmer (although not very good at it) and a coward. After his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) dumps him, he wants to leave. He cannot be convinced to stay by his best mate, Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) or Edward’s girlfriend, Ruth (Sarah Silverman), but when a new lady arrives in town he is convinced to stay. Little does he know that Anna (Charlize Theron) is the wife of the evil Clinch (Liam Neeson) and he is in deep trouble. Plus, now Louise is dating the creepy mustachioed Foy (Neil Patrick Harris) can life get much worse?

I thought that I would get a few laughs out of this, but (like with Ted and Family Guy) be left with the bitter taste of casual misogyny and racism. I’m quite torn by Seth MacFarlane’s humour – he pushes things too far, but that often makes me laugh. Was the ‘I saw your boobs’ song at the Oscars misogynistic or just funny? I thought it was just funny. But there are plenty of other examples of humour that I find quite unpleasant.

Luckily, that nastiness seemed to be lacking in this film. Sure, there are not really great roles for women, but that seems to be fairly normal. In fact, my favourite moments on the screen were between Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi. Who could not love a couple that is waiting to have sex when one is an extremely popular prostitute? Oh, and every moment with Neil Patrick Harris – how marvelous to have a real, old school, over-the-top, magnificent, mustache-twirling villain?

I thoroughly enjoyed it and would watch it again with very little encouragement. It’s just plain funny, (mostly low-brow, with the odd very clever remark, but why would you expect much more?) with good writing that balances the line of living in the time but having a total awareness of the future. Apparently, everyone else hated this film. It’s only got one-and-a-half stars on Rotten Tomatoes. Huh.

The A-Team (2010) Film Review

If you don’t know what The A-Team is (and I’m talking old school – the TV show) then you are not from my generation. Here, watch this.

If you need to know, Hannibal is the brains. Face is the, well, face (handsome charmer). Murdoch is crazy, but good with planes and stuff, and BA Baracus is scary and good with mechanics. That’s the A-Team.It was awesome. Then, in 2010, a film version was made, starring Liam Neeson as Hannibal and Bradley Cooper as Face (the other guys aren’t that well-known yet). I was fearful, but when I discovered that I’d accidently recorded it off telly recently, I figured I may as well give it a shot.

The film is a modern take on the original. The A-Team are Rangers, and the film tells their origin story; working on real missions, until they are framed for a crime and locked up. They need to break free and prove their innocence. I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed it. Lots of running and explosions (my favs) plus comedy and a pretty darn good interpretation of both the characters and the concept. Nice one.