Tag: Chris Evans

Knives Out

Rated: MKnives Out

Written and Directed by: Rian Johnson

Produced by: Ram Bergman, p.g.a., Rian Johnson, p.g.a.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Noah Segan, Edi Patterson, Riki Lindhome, and Christopher Plummer.

Knives Out is a classic who-done-it that begins with the drama of violins playing as chasing dogs run from the rising gothic structure that houses the Thrombey family.

I love a movie that begins with dogs, this one with a wry hint of humour that continues as private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigates the mysterious suicide of famous multi-millionaire author, Harlan Thrombey after celebrating his 85th birthday.

Made like a familiar murder mystery, think, Murder She Wrote (a nod given as the mother of nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) watches transfixed in Spanish) or an adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s novels, there’re the usual suspects, here a family, eldest daughter and self-made, Linda Drysdale, married to Richard Drysdale bearing trust-fund brat who refuses to grow up, Ransom (Chris Evans), along with Walt (Michael Shannon), the son who looks after the publishing business with no real work of his own…  Then there’s widower and daughter-in-law, Joni (Toni Collette) and college-kid, Meg (Katherine Langford), living off hand-outs while hiding their dirty deeds. And let’s not forget grandson Jacob, the politically ambitious kid who spends too much time in the bathroom, probably masturbating to Nazi propaganda.

Then there’s nurse Martha.  She’s the one who always beats Harlan at playing Go.

It’s a different genre from director and writer, Rian Johnson, his previous work, Looper (2012) (if you haven’t watched this action / sci-fi yet, you’re in for a treat) and more recently, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) (one of the best to date, in my opinion) epic journeys that start in one place and finish somewhere completely different.

Instead of a journey, Knives Out is one of those stop situations where the characters are held in one place.  So it’s all about the details of the setting, the entrance of house-keeper, Fran (Edi Patterson – also fantastic in the series, Righteous Gemstones) captured in the angle of a mirror, the trick window, the books and figurines and paintings that catch the eye while looking for clues.  And the dialogue takes the mind in different directions, away from the central investigation as the family discusses racism or not being racist while handing nurse Martha a dirty dish to be put away.

So yes, it’s a murder mystery with clues dropped for the sharp observer as private investigator, Blanc pieces together the real story of the patriarch’s death, but it’s the wry humour and the distraction I enjoyed:

Martha answers her mobile, ‘Hi Walt.’

‘Hi Martha.  It’s Walt.’

‘Hm.’

There’s a stellar cast here, although, I’ve got to say Daniel Craig’s southern drawl as Blanc dragged for me – brat Ransom even highlighting the annoying accent.

I wonder if it’s because I’m so used to Craig as Bond these days, with that British accent?

Evans was the highlight for me.  And Jamie Lee Curtis as the dry eldest, self-important daughter.  And Toni Collette perfected the quiet desperation of the self-help guru relying on hand-outs, hence the quiet desperation.

So, there’s quality here and attention to detail.

Some of the humour missed the mark, see above: the southern drawl.

But overall, Knives Out is good fun.

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.

Avengers: Infinity War

Rated: MAvengers: Infinity War

Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Based on the Marvel comics by: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jim Starlin, George Perez, Ron Lim, Steve Ditko, Joe Simon

Screenplay by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (with input from James Gunn)

Produced by: Kevin Feige, Mitchell Bell, Ari Costa

Executive Producers: Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito, Jon Favreau, James Gunn, Stan Lee, Trinh Tran

Starring: Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Zoe Saldana, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Mark Ruffalo, Karen Gillan, Tom Holland, Josh Brolin, Scarlett Johansson.

Emerging a shaky shadow of my former self after watching the last tantalising scene following the credits for Avengers: Infinity War, I was reminded of some dialogue in one of my favourite films, The Princess Bride. The grandfather has been reading a book to his sick grandson who asks, “Who kills Prince Humperdinck? At the end. Somebody’s got to do it.” The grandfather replies, “Nobody. Nobody kills him. He lives.” The grandson replies, “You mean he wins? What did you read me this thing for?”

And that is exactly how I felt after seeing Avengers: Infinity War. Obviously I don’t want to spoil this film for other fans who have invested the last ten years of their lives building a sense of rapport and family around these Marvel characters across an 18-film arc, but to say I left the cinema feeling the opposite of uplifted isn’t giving too much away (hopefully). At least I wasn’t sobbing into my popcorn like some others in the packed audience.

The film opens fairly much straight after the last scene of Thor: Ragnarok, and from there the action and unfolding plot never let up. It’s safe to reveal that the main focus of the film is centred on the galactic overlord Thanos, who is after all six Infinity stones, whose combined power would allow him to unleash his insane plan across the known universe. Of course some of these stones are currently in the possession of a few of the Avengers, whose lives are imperilled as a result.

The Avengers try to prevent Thanos’ audacious plan from being realised, as we jump across continents on Earth and around far-flung locations scattered throughout the cosmos, re-meeting those heroes we have come to identify as our friends, the people in whom we have invested so much of our emotional energy. I’ve seen all 18 movies in this Marvel cinematic universe at one time or another but don’t consider myself an expert, but I found the plot reasonably easy to follow, and from the bits of exposition anyone not overly familiar with Marvel’s films should still be able to follow the main story line.

The film is awesome in the sense of being a major cinematic event, full of light, action, a majestic score, and breathtaking, incredible special effects, as well as a clever screenplay that ensures the characters get to interact with others, have a moment to shine, and plan their line of defence. The pace seldom lets up while the rare quiet moments between characters are welcome and genuinely heartfelt, their willingness to possibly sacrifice themselves for others is nobly heroic, while the snippets of humorous dialogue lighten the sense of impending gloom.

Even the CGI Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) is convincingly lifelike, unlike that Steppenwolf guy from the Justice League movie, so he’s not your typical 2D evil villain dude. The fact that I could even understand if not condone the rationale for Thanos’ actions speaks volumes for how well his character was developed and portrayed.

One critic thought the film was “funny”, but perhaps they were referring to some of the much-needed humorous exchanges, especially involving the Guardians of the Galaxy crew (whose dialogue was provided by GOTG director James Gunn), since this film overall was not funny in tone, but rather increasingly WTF? and emotionally devastating. If ever a film needed a part 2, this is it, so I hope Infinity War Part 2 is being made right now, otherwise “I will be seriously put out”, to quote Prince Humperdinck.

Gifted

Rated: MGifted

Directed by: Marc Webb

Written by: Tom Flynn

Produced by: Karen Lunder, Andy Cohen

Starring: Chris Evans, McKenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate and Octavia Spencer.

Not usually one for tear-jerkers, I came into Gifted expecting a family drama.  What I didn’t expect was to become so absorbed into the story of this caring uncle, Frank Adler (Chris Evans) and his brilliant young niece, Mary (McKenna Grace) who’s a mathematics genius.

Written by Tom Flynn, who was inspired by his own brilliant sister, the script explores family relationships where mothers can’t see the needs of her child, only the gifts to be given to humanity, where uncles are forced into a position to look after a young child without really knowing how to go about it, yet taking the responsibility of creating a family.  Not a usual family, but one of a young brilliant girl, an uncle who probably drinks too much but is all heart, the ever-loving landlady, Roberta (Octavia Spencer) who’s really young Mary’s best friend and Fred, the one-eyed ginger cat.

Movies where a child is the centre and focus can create a gravitational pull towards the precocious.  And there was play around this with young Mary.  However, it was quickly made clear that Frank was going to have none of it.  And seeing the interaction between the two, at how comfortable the young girl was, lying all over this uncle of hers, quickly melted away any pretension.Gifted

This was a beautiful and sweet film.

The addition of high-level mathematics such as The Navier Stokes Equations added to the story without being the true weight.  Gifted is more about the burden that being a genius has on Mary and those around her; of how to let a girl just be a little girl while also nurturing brilliance.

Dr Jordan Ellenberg was brought on board as a Technical Advisor to make sure the mathematics was correct and he states, ‘Genius is a thing that happens, not a kind of person’.  And the film shows Mary as an ordinary little girl who just happens to be brilliant at maths.Gifted

All the cast were believable from the overbearing mother, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) to the sweet and love interest, Bonnie (Jenny Slate) as Mary’s teacher.  But certainly, the stand-out was Chris Evans as Frank the uncle.  There is a beauty and depth in the man.  And it was such a pleasure to see him in a role, not as a superhero (think, Captain America), but as an ordinary man.  Well, still behaving like a hero.

I hate letting tears fall with a big lump in my throat in the cinema, but this one was worth it.

There’s so much more to life than money and achievement – there’s also the love between a young girl and a one-eyed ginger cat.

As director, Marc Webb (The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014), (500) Days of Summer (2009)) described the script, the film’s simple, warm and uncynical.

Captain America: Civil War

Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe RussoCaptain America Civil War

Screenplay by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Based on: Captain America by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby

Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Chadwick Boseman, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt; Daniel Brühl.

With no expectation going in, I was pleasantly surprised by gutsy action and a well-thought out storyline.  And yes, I’m just going to say it, Captain America: Civil War was heart-warming.

To be honest, the Captain America character has never appealed to me.  As Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) says, ‘Sometimes, I just want to punch you in your perfect teeth’.

However, the film celebrates difference of opinion and differing values and cultures and that’s a definite positive of this film.

Civil War is about friendship and the difficulty in accepting differences between friends.  Who’s to say they’re right and who is wrong?  People have their reasons whether it be loyalty, the idea of doing the right thing, of looking after the little guy; and then there’s the bad manipulating the good.

The huge number of strong characters could have led to confusion, but the well-paced storyline gave every character their point and time in the spotlight.

I liked the addition of the cat-man, Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman).  And the threat of cheesiness was nicely averted with humour; the characters able to make fun of themselves and each other, particularly Iron Man and Ant-Man (Scott Lang) – just hilarious!

I admit I was a little confused at times regarding the history of the characters and how they came to fight together, which means I need to go back and re-watch some of the previous films.  And that’s a lot of watching.  Civil War is the third in the series of Captain America.  And then you have Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).  Plus there’s all the Iron Man series and of course the films casting all the other characters…  So there wasn’t really anything new here, either.

But when I find I’m entertained at the beginning, the middle and the end, I say that’s a good movie.

 

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