Category: Action

Avengers: Endgame

Rated: MAvengers: Endgame

Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Screenplay by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Based on: ‘The Avengers’ by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Produced by: Kevin Feige

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Bradley Cooper and Josh Brolin.

Running time: 181 minutes.

Now we can talk about the ending of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), we’re left with half of all living creatures still here, and the other half disintegrated into ash and gone… With the snap of Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) fingers.

Thanos believed the ones left would thrive.  The ones left did not.  They could remember.  They could grieve.

Endgame (Anthony and Joe Russo returning to direct this final instalment) is a last stand.  Again.

Like the fans walking out of the cinema after watching Infinity War, the Avengers left refuse to accept that the ones they love have gone.

It’s an emotive adaptation.

And one that cuts close with the recent loss of creator, Stan Lee.

So the final instalment and conclusion has an added echo, almost from the man himself (cameo included – peace to you too, Stan).

There are so many characters here, that without a bit of background, the final instalment wouldn’t pack the same punch without some prior knowledge.  Particularly the previous film (part-one), Infinity War.

I admit I haven’t gotten around to seeing Captain Marvel (2019), but I was able to take this new character, Carol Danvers (Lee Pace) along with the rest of the Avengers story.

But yeah, it’s emotional with Natalie AKA Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) telling Captain America (Chris Evans), ‘This’ll work Steve.’

The Cap replying, ‘I know it will because I don’t know what I’ll do if it doesn’t.’

Even though I’m not a huge fan it’s hard not to get attached to at least some of the characters – hey, there’s enough of them.

Yet the number of characters is handled well – like all the Avenger films.

It’s a long journey (181 minutes), but it’s worthwhile with the action ramping up later in the film to match the emotion of the drama.

I was more impressed with the risk and shock of part-one, Infinity War – the franchise needing a good shake-up.

Here, it’s more about tying off the threads of lines that were left to unravel, to come full circle giving the audience a life-affirming conclusion, a softer landing, I guess: a little like landing on Thors’ new, well-padded belly.

Hellboy

Rated: R18+Hellboy

Directed by: Neil Marshall

Screenplay by: Andrew Cosby

Based on: the Dark Horse Comic Book, “Hellboy” Created by Mike Mignola

Produced by: Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Mike Richardson, Philip Westgren, Carl Hampe, Matt O’Toole, Les Weldon, Yariv Lerner

Starring: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane and Daniel Dae Kim.

This is the third instalment of Hellboy, a franchise based on the comics created by Mike Mignola.

Here, we have a new Hellboy and before the screening, I wondered how David Harbour (known for his starring role as Police Chief Jim Hopper on the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things”) was going to fill the iconic role previously played by Ron Perlman.

Without issue, we get that same dry delivery of one-liners like, ‘Hellboy?  No, it’s Josh.  People mix us up all the time.’  He says, drool rolling out his drunken mouth.

What I’ve always enjoyed about the Hellboy films are the incredible effects.  This re-boot is all what the previous films delivered, and more.

Opening on a scene of black and white, we’re introduced to the appropriately named Nimue, The Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich), her red cape the only colour to be seen in the foreground of an ancient tree.

This splash of red is a good indicator of what’s to come – when I say bloody, I mean that visceral, bloody flying through the air with bits of brain and bone, the marrow of people sucked out by giants, limbs torn off monks by a pigman and children eaten by witches.

Hellboy number three is rated R for a reason.

So yes, it’s gory.  But jez, it really is a LOT of fun.

This is a story of Hellboy’s true nature, and why he was brought into this world.

He’s never fit in, looking like the devil himself.  Breaking off his horns doesn’t hide his demonic appearance.  Hellboy admits his, ‘Therapist says I rely on jokes to normalise.’

This is his weakness.  He’s a monster living in a world of people who hate and kill monsters.  And have hunted monsters for centuries.

You can only have people try to kill you so many times before it gets personal.

The Blood Queen understands this.  She’s a monster too.

Bringing Hellboy to her side, to become King would mean the end of the world: the apocalypse.

Starting again, to re-build Eve together; to bring the monsters out of the shadows, doesn’t sound so bad.

So does Hellboy give in to his true nature?  Or does he side with the ones he loves, his adopted father, Professor Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) and friend Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane), whose life he saved when she was a baby?

The script is a collaboration between the creator Mignola and Andrew Cosby.

“It was important for us, and for the fans as well, to really stick to the roots and origins of Hellboy,” says producer Les Weldon. “No one wants somebody else’s Hellboy — they want Mike’s…”

And it’s one hell of a ride with non-stop action as giants and demons and witches and humans are fought with constant asides from Hellboy to break the, at times, intense tension and scary bits.

There’re monsters that reminded me of the demons from Hellraiser.

Talking of monster’s, we also get the character B.P.R.D. Team commander Major Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim) adding another dimension to the film.  He’s a conflicted ex-soldier-turned-agent also from the Mignolaverse but has never been on the same page as Hellboy.

So bloody and scary, yes.  But then we’ll get Hellboy asking how a terrifying, one-eyed, wooden-legged witch can have hair on her tongue.

And a moth escaping from a cave, deep underground, rising, into the air, high above, only to be eaten by a raven.

We smoothly segue from one entertaining scene to the next that’s both visually stunning and brutally absorbing.

A worthy re-boot that blurs the line between horror and action.

Shazam!

Rated: MShazam!

Directed by: David F. Sandberg

Screenplay by: Henry Gayden

Story by: Gayden and Darren Lemke

Created by: Bill Parker and C. C. Beck

Produced by: Peter Safran

Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans and Djimon Hounsou.

From the DC Universe, writers Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke adapted Shazam! from the comics, creating a movie about a superhero, yes; but also about the superhero being a kid.

Gayden recalls, “I enjoyed writing it from the perspective of a kid, channelling the logic of a 14-year-old who suddenly has all these powers and who’s not thinking, ‘How can I save the world,’ but, ‘What cool stuff can I do?’”

We get the backstory of Billy Batson (Asher Angel)getting lost and separated from his mother at a Fair (what is it with carnivals, eh?!) and having to grow up in foster care while doing everything he can, whatever it takes, to find his mother.

We also get the backstory of super villain, Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) – never being good enough for his father, always looking to his Magic 8-Ball for answers; where the ‘Outlook, not so good.’

Young Billy meets an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) who’s looking for the pure of heart to relieve him of his burden, to take his power; to become the keeper of the Seven Deadly Sins: soulless depravities held captive in stone.

This is where reality meets fantasy.

One minute Billy’s on the subway; the next, he’s in the Rock of Eternity.

By speaking the name of the wizard, he inherits the power of the wizard, Shazam:

Solomon: wisdom

Hercules: strength

Atlantis: endurance

Zeus: power

Achilles: fighting

Mercury: speed.

And what fun Billy has as the adult-sized superhero, Shazam (Zachary Levi).  Until he meets his nemesis, Dr Thaddeus Sivana.

Well known horror director, David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation) has shown his humorous and cheeky side with this film.  He even included the Annabelle doll lying dormant in a pawn shop at the beginning of the film – that’s cheeky.

Sandberg has kept some of that horror flavour here, with the Seven Deadly Sins coming to life as man-eating demons that not only tempt and turn human against human with their evil glowing red eyes, but physically bite their heads off.

The soundtrack adds to the ominous atmosphere, as does the disintegration of flesh into sparks to embers to ash and smoke.

What makes Shazam! so funny is the juxtaposition of this darkness with the total normality of kids being kids.

Along with the antics of Billy and Billy being Shazam, we get a household full of sidekicks: foster parents, Rosa (Marta Milans) and Victor Vasquez (Cooper Andrews) and foster kids, Darla (Faithe Herman), Mary (Grace Fulton), Eugene (Ian Chen), Pedro (Jovan Armand), and my favourite, Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer).

Freddy knows all the superhero moves and becomes Shazam’s manager, teaching him, or rather testing him, to see what super powers he has.

‘His name is, Thunder Crack!’

And added titbits like, ‘Did you know the Roman’s brushed their teeth with their urine?  It works, apparently.’

Freddy made the film for me.

As did the writing, the scary-at-times fantasy and those perfectly timed lines that lifted the film, that tickled to bursts of laughter; that kept me grinning until the very end.

Cold Pursuit

Rated: MA15+Cold Pursuit

Directed by: Hans Petter Moland

Screenplay by: Frank Baldwin

Based on the Movie, ‘Kraftidioten’ Written by: Kim Fupz Aakeson

Produced by: Michael Shamberg p.g.a, Ameet Shukla p.g.a

Starring: Liam Neeson, Tom Bateman, Tom Jackson, Emmy Rossum, Laura Dern, John Doman, Domenick Lombardozzi, Julia Jones, Gus Halper, Micheál Richardson, Michael Eklund, Bradley Stryker, Wesley Macinnes, Nicholas Holmes, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Michael Adamthwaite, William Forsythe, Elizabeth Thai, David O’Hara, Raoul Trujillo, Nathaniel Arcand, Glen Gould, Mitchell Saddleback, Christopher Logan, Arnold Pinnock and Ben Cotton.

An English remake of the Norwegian film, In Order of Disappearance (Kraftidioten) (2014), we certainly see a lot of people get, disappeared.

Set in the snowy mountains of Kehoe, Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) has just won the Citizen of the Year award.

He’s a simple, family man.  He plows snow so others can get to where they need to be. In his speech he says he was lucky, he picked a good road early and stayed on it.

Until his son is killed by drug dealers.

Cold Pursuit is a bloody revenge film filled with gangsters with names like: The Eskimo, Speedo and Wingman…  Because, well, it’s a gangster thing.

There’s this quirky dark humour where small-town cop Gip (John Doman) thinks drugs should be legalised – to give the people what they want, tax the shit out of it, so the government can double the cops’ pay.

But more than that, the sheer number of people who get killed (see the number of actors cast above) and how they get killed, is… funny.

There are so many funny moments that mostly hit the mark and sometimes don’t.  Pink phones and rubber ducks didn’t quite make it for me.

But added details like the plush hotel with the white fake fur reception desk getting a buff and brush, tickled.

What I realised as the film progressed was the presence of Liam Neeson as the main character, and the clever way director, Hans Petter Moland, uses Neeson’s gravitas for comic effect.

I really like Neeson in this film: still the hero, still the family man – like we’ve seen so many times before – but all that history he owns in that hero-family-man role is used to add another layer to the film.

A revenge, shoot-em-up movie with elements of gangster turned on its head with a super-food conscious villain (AKA Viking), a Thai ball-breaker wife making a tropical paradise in the middle of snowy mountains, a profile-in-pink drug dealer who also sells wedding dresses and drug dealing Native Americans who adore wearing mustard yellow gloves.

Sure the humour is laid on a bit thick and tried too hard at times, but the balance of action, drama, violence and those gallows-humour, ticklish moments made for a (mostly) great entertainer.

Got to say, Liam Neeson’s still got it.

Aquaman

Rated: MAquaman

Directed by: James Wan

Story by: James Wan, Will Beall, Geoff Johns

Screenplay by: Will Beall, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

Based on characters created by: Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger for DC

Produced by: Rob Cowan, Peter Safran

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Ludi Lin and Temuera Morrison.

Aquaman was always going to be a difficult adaptation – the film about ‘fish boy[‘s].  No, it’s fish men!’; the setting underwater.

But with James Wan as director and one of the writers, I went into the film somewhat reassured.

Then the film opened with Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), Atlantean royalty meeting a surface dweller, and I was thrown because I just couldn’t believe I was seeing an Atlantis queen falling in love, the contrast a little too much.

Perhaps it was seeing Nicole Kidman as an action figure?!

And there were times when I really couldn’t decide whether to laugh with the film or at it – the guitar riff to highlight a joke not helping.

Yet, as the film progressed and Jason Momoa as Aquaman opened up to give us a down-to-earth (well, half-surface dweller, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry) hero, I became more absorbed.

Forbidden love between a queen of the sea and a man from the surface bears a forbidden son, a half-breed.  Aquaman.

Yet even as a half-breed, Aquaman has the right to claim the throne of Atlantis instead of his younger brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) who plots to become the Ocean Master; to bring together all seven kingdoms of the underwater world: Atlantis, Brine, Fisherman, Xebel, Trench, Deserter and the Lost.  Together they can destroy those on the surface.

Afterall, aren’t the surface-dwellers creating pollution and trashing the sea into poison for those who inhabit its waters?

Those who want peace with the surface dwellers not war, rise to the surface to seek Aquaman to fight for the throne to then save those above and below, with love-interest Mera (Amber Heard) abandoning Atlantis, just like his mother.  All leading to the meeting of the two brothers on opposing sides of an inevitable battle.

The writers have created enough twists and turns to keep the film interesting and it has to be noted the film has a different tone to the other DC, Justice League films.

Aquaman is more a technologically based world with an 80s-esq tone including synth soundtrack and fluorescent lit underwater worlds that become more spectacular as the film progresses.

Let me state again, it gets better!

There’s the expected cheese, because, yeah, this is Aquaman: Son of the land, king of the sea.

But Wan has offset this with humour and his own unique style.

Jason Momoa’s performance as Aquaman certainly helped.

So after an ordinary beginning, Aquaman ramps up to a deliver a visually stunning entertainer that was able to take a laugh at itself with a story that comes full circle.

Peppermint

Rated: MA 15+Peppermint

Directed by: Pierre Morel

Written by: Chad St. John

Produced by: Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Eric Reid

Starring: Jennifer Garner, John Ortiz, John Gallagher, Jr., Juan Pablo Raba, Annie Ilonzeh, Jeff Hephner and Pell James.

Who is Riley North?

She’s a female vigilante who wants justice.

A classic revenge film, Riley North (Jennifer Garner) loses her husband Chris (Jeff Hephner) and her daughter Carly (Cailey Fleming) when Chris even contemplates robbing a drug cartel.

After Riley wakes in hospital from a coma, something has changed. When the guys who killed her family are let off, something breaks.

It’s a rampage of revenge with Riley North becoming an assassin; social media arguing whether she’s a criminal or a hero.

I wasn’t sure what to expect walking into Peppermint, hoping I wasn’t going to see a melodrama of family crisis.  And thankfully, the film is more action than drama with Garner holding her own in the believable character of Riley North.

I did however, get struck wondering how this wife and mother, taking her kid out to sell baked goods for the equivalent of the Brownies (for all those Aussies out there who partook in Pow Wows during their Primary School years…) suddenly becomes a killing machine.  But the story gets there, sort of.  I would have liked more backstory, making the most of filling some of the character with interesting mother-becomes-assassin interest.  But in the end, this is an action movie not a drama.

What I found difficult was the timing that felt off at moments, like tough cop talk lines delivered flat: ‘Pro tip’, states Detective Moises Beltran (John Ortiz) to fellow detective Carmichael (John Gallagher Jr.) who likes a shot of booze added to his morning coffee, ‘Wait until you’re dead before you embalm yourself.’

So there were jolts in the narrative.

And it felt like a film I’d seen before with nothing really new; techniques like flash backs as exciting as it gets.

But hey, it works!

And the story evolves with some good action.

What can I say, I like a good crime thriller.

So although not the best I’ve seen, Peppermint served with ‘a double scoop’ is worth a watch.

Bumblebee

Rated: MBumblebee

Directed by: Travis Knight

Screenplay by: Christina Hodson

Story by: Christina Hodson

Produced by: Michael Bay, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy, Mark Vahradian

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Justin Theroux, Dylan O’Brian, Angela Bassett, Peter Cullen, Pamela Adlon, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr, Jason Drucker, Stephen Schneider.

A spin-off from the Transformers series (1-5 directed by Michael Bay, here as producer), Bumblebee introduces new director Travis Knight and writer Christina Hodson.  And the franchise just keeps getting better.

Bumblebee opens on the war raging on Cybertron.

With the Decepticons on the brink of annihilating the Autobot resistance, Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) sends B-127 (Dylan O’Brian) to Earth in the hope to rebuild and fight again.

On Earth, circa 1987 (this is a prequel to the original Transformers (2007)), Charlie’s (Hailee Steinfeld) about to turn eighteen.  She spends her days listening to music (The Smiths, of course) and fixing an old Corvette in memory of her deceased Dad.  It’s zits (Hailee Steinfeld has that teen-angst down to an art), her annoying martial-arts yellow-belt younger brother, Otis (Jason Drucker) and humiliation while working at the fair in what looks like a clown costume while serving divas who have number plates that read: UWish.

It’s painful to the extent new stepdad, Ron (Stephen Schneider) decides it’s a good idea to give Charlie a book about the magic of smiling… For her birthday.

Charlie doesn’t notice Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr) trying to get her attention.  What Charlie does notice is a yellow VW Bug, just asking for some love, AKA Bumblebee.

With the army chasing an alien they don’t understand and the Decepticons fighting to extinguish the last of the resistance, human and transformer fight together while forming an unlikely friendship.

Even in the previous instalments of Transformers Bumblebee was a favourite.  And writer Christina Hodson has built on a winning character, explaining quirks like his lost voice and how Charlie gives it back to him.

And the expression given to this Autobot, with pupils that dilate to show emotion, the kicking of legs while being examined like a kid who trusts a carer, all add to that adorable, bull-in-a-china-shop appeal.

We get funny and adorable from all the characters, really.  Even the annoying younger brother gets his time to shine, all mixed with explosive action and sudden flash forwards of focus to keep up the pace.

The writing here is really entertaining; the timing of jokes just right so even a cheesy moment is backed-up with a laugh.

And director Travis Knight adds detail after detail to get the most out of the action and drama of the story, adding layers like a reflection of lights a shadow of the Decepticons onto the army men with evil intentions – a transference instead of a transformance.

So, there’s more to the film if you’re looking for it.

Mostly, I was entertained by the antics of Bumblebee.

A lot of fun, Bumblebee was better than expected with good humour, explosive action and heart-warming moments that manages to humanise a mass of moving metal parts: like us, playing music makes a car feel better.  Loved it.

Mortal Engines

Rated: MMoral Engines

Directed by: Christian Rivers

Written by: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson

Based on the Book by: Philip Reeve

Produced by: Zane Wiener, Amanda Walker, Deborah Forte, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson

Starring: Hugo Weaving, Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide and Stephen Lang.

Set in the far distant future, all the cities of the world have been destroyed by an event known as the Sixty Minute War.  Now, cities move around as roving machines, cities on wheels that ‘ingest’ other smaller cities (Municipal Darwinism) to keep feeding the beast that transports its citizens around the Great Hunting Ground.

The enemy to these future-humans is old tech, now viewed as the downfall of the Ancients; Tom (Robert Sheehan) who works in the museum of London (yep, that’s the biggest and baddest rolling machine around) collects artefacts in an attempt to understand the history of their predecessors.

We see the attempt at humour with rusted Minions displayed as gods and the cracked screens of mobiles and monitors that asks the question of whether the Ancients ceased reading and writing completely.

Didn’t tickle my funny-bone, but there was an attempt, I guess.

Then we have Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) break on board London in the assassination attempt of much admired lead archaeologist, Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving).  A two-faced man who killed her mother.

After seeing what Thaddeus is made of and finding themselves grounded, Hester and Tom have to fight to survive while under attack from the Southies (machines driven by people who hunt humans for sausage meat) and having to drink water from puddles… the unlikely pair of urbanised Tom and would-be assassin Hester, now working together to stop Thaddeus from his evil plan to take control and change the very ideals of this future world.

But wow, there are so many other side-stories and characters in this sprawling saga that the momentum of the film gets lost.  The investment in what’s happening gets thrown away because the emotion just isn’t there.  Instead, we get this overdramatic soundtrack that’s supposed to make us feel what the dialogue and build of relationships should.

The whole film felt like stolen bits from other films, thrown together and glossed over with an explosion of many moving parts I frankly didn’t care about.

Ironically, the character I liked the most was the part-human, part-automata (yep, it’s a terminator rip-off), Shrike (Stephen Lang).  He’s the last known Stalker – a dead man resurrected by technology – that’s a killer yet haunted by his human memories.

Shrike is the character used to give Hester a backstory, the only real showing of character we get.  The rest of the characters explain themselves with a forced monologue that made me grit my teeth.

Yes, the intricate design of the machines and future world are amazing and detailed.

And Hugo Weaving as Thaddeus Valentine kept the believability of the story up to a certain level.

But there were so many holes it made me wonder how much was left out from the book the film was based on.

It’s a young-adult novel, which may explain the bad humour… But trying to condense so much into the film made the sentiment feel forced.

Creed II

Rated: MCreed II

Directed by: Steven Caple Jr

Story by: Sascha Penn, Cheo Hodari Coker

Screenplay by: Juel Taylor, Sylvester Stallone

Produced by: Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Kevin King-Templeton, Sylvester Stallone

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Sylvester Stallone, Florian ‘Big Nasty’ Munteanu, Dolph Lundgren, Phylicia Rashad.

‘Don’t do this.’

‘I ain’t gotta choice.’

‘That’s the same thing your father said and he died right here in my hands.’

Two sons: each unbeatable on their home soil, each bearing the scars of a mortal wound, each with a score to settle.

Toe to toe, the two couldn’t be more different.

The challenger, Viktor Drago (Florian ‘Big Nasty’ Munteanu), is a man with absolutely nothing but his towering physique and the will to ‘break’ his opponents.

Thirty years earlier, Viktor’s family was left fractured and demoralised following a grudge match between his father, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), and Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone).

Growing up in the Ukraine, Viktor has spent his whole life preparing to avenge his family’s honour. Looming over his American rival Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), Drago presents a brooding mountain of raw-boned muscle with nothing to lose.

Significantly shorter with a much lighter frame, Creed has everything to lose, as his trainer and mentor Rocky Balboa points out. Despite a loving mother (Phylicia Rashad), his adoring partner Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and a comfortable existence, Creed grew up without his father and he risks exposing his baby daughter to the same fate if he agrees to meet Viktor Drago in the ring.

While dedicated buffs may find some of the action slightly implausible—even on the movie poster Creed has dropped his guard on the left and is telegraphing his right, leaving himself open (if that makes perfect sense, you might need to suspend your disbelief)—for the rest of us the movie delivers an immersive experience.

Even on set, a sense of danger was present, with director (Steven Caple Jr) describing the choreography of the action as ‘a hardcore musical’. A single misstep and a real punch would have impacted on real flesh, and all of the blows in the slow motion sequences between Drago and Creed were real: ‘Florian said it was only fifty per cent, but it felt like ah a car crash.’ Even the camera operator, Mike Heathcote took a few hits as Florian was stepping up to the lens to simulate the fight from Creed’s point of view.

More than any other, even Clint Eastwood’s harrowing 2004 Million Dollar Baby, this movie brought home to me how primal that space inside the ring actually is. Even with all of the rules, the referees, the high pants and the gloves, in those three minutes between the bells, two men are locked in a struggle not only for the integrity of their vital organs but, ultimately, for their own consciousness.

With so much at stake, the question Balboa poses to Creed before he steps into the ring is: Why are you doing it?

At once he is asking Creed to seek out that nub of grit in his core, at the same time as he asks him whether he should even be stepping into the ring at all.

Haunted by Apollo Creed’s death, the ambivalence in Balboa’s question lends depth to the drama and the feeling is echoed by Bianca when she asks Creed as he lurches around the ring after winning the World Heavyweight Championship, ‘Do you know what’s happening?’

Robin Hood

Rated: MRobin Hood

Directed by: Otto Bathurst

Screenplay by: Ben Chandler and David James Kelly

Story by: Ben Chandler

Produced by: Jennifer Davisson, Leonardo DiCaprio

Starring: Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Jamie Dornan, Tim Minchin, F. Murray Abraham.

The name ‘Robin Hood’ usually conjures up images of medieval villages awash in mud, a lushly green forest, oppressed and poorly dressed peasants, an evilly sneering villain (Sheriff of Nottingham), an heroic yet elusive outlaw (former lord of the manor) and his motley band of merry men, often wearing green hose to blend into the forest where they hide out between raiding the rich to give to the poor.

My favourite version is The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), with a rousing score provided by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and everyone wearing gorgeous costumes in rich jewel colours. I also have a soft spot for Prince of Thieves (1991), but only because of Alan Rickman as the ruthless, Christmas-cancelling Sheriff of Nottingham.

The latest iteration of the famous legend combines medieval grittiness with contemporary adventure, aiming to drag the famous tale firmly into the 21st century, whether the legend sits here comfortably or not. It’s an enjoyable, rollicking adventure that has beautiful production values, impressive sets, nail-biting chase scenes, convincing acting and a pleasing mixture of drama and some comedy (mainly provided by Tim Minchin’s Friar Tuck who carefully balances his allegiances to both Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham).

Director Otto Bathurst said of his approach to this film that ‘it is not about being remotely historically accurate or being faithful to previous versions.’ This much is true.

Taron Egerton (Kingsman, Rocket Man), who plays a disillusioned Robin of Locksley returning from the holy wars overseas, concurs, saying that, ‘there is nothing period or traditional about this movie, because it’s not the Robin Hood we’ve all seen before.’ Definitely not. I kept waiting for the assembling of the merry band who follow Robin, but instead there is a smaller group comprising a dewy-eyed Marian (Eve Hewson), Friar Tuck and Will Scarlet (Jamie Dornan sporting his natural Irish accent), with Little John being played as a vengeful Moor. (Jamie Foxx relishes almost every line with a manic grin.)

Things have changed since Robin went off to fight in the Crusades, with Marian having moved on, and the Sheriff of Nottingham oppressing the poor with steely-eyed determination as they slave in his dire mines. I’m not a big fan of Ben Mendelsohn as a villain (see Ready Player One or Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) but here he is more subdued, and is given a grim backstory that makes his current course of villainy understandable if not acceptable.

For the most part the film focusses on the bromance between Robin and John, the latter of whom mentors Robin in the fine art of archery and thievery, interspersed with technically exhilarating horse and wagon chases (I hope no horses were at risk during all this) and lots of close-up fights featuring a staggering variety of bows and arrows.

For the most part I was able to put aside my expectations of this film not following more closely in the established world and time of the legend, and just view it as another adventure movie.

There were some jarring moments (notably the lavish party in the Sheriff’s stronghold which seemed to have escaped from a Great Gatsby film) so that the director’s desire to create a look that is ‘modern Medieval… yet still grounded in its own gritty reality’ was not entirely successful.

But it was a lot better than I was expecting, so if you like adventure films with heroes, villains and a (mostly) believable world, you could do worse than watch this one.

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