Tag: Josh Brolin

Dune: Part Two

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★1/2Dune: Part Two

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Based on the Novel by: Frank Herbert

Screenplay Written by: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts

Produced by: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Denis Villeneuve, Tanya Lapointe and Patrick McCormick

Executive Producers: Joshua Grode, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Richard P. Rubinstein and John Harrison.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård and Javier Bardem.

‘Power over spice is power over all.’

This is the mantra of the Harkonnens and the basis of the political intrigue in the Dune series.

It’s now the year 10,091.

Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), the daughter of The Emperor (Christopher Walken) creates a voice memo, introducing Dune: Part Two, where the entire House of Atreides have been wiped out over-night. No warning, no survivors.  Except a few.

The Harkonnens now control the harvesting of spice with the ever-present influence of the Bene Gesserit.

The extent of the Bene Gesserits’ power becoming more apparent as the prophecy of the son, known by the Fremens as Lisan al Gaib, gains momentum.

It’s Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) they believe to be the Bene Gesserit’s son, the Mahdi of the Fremen whom they believe will lead them to paradise.

An ideal originally conjured by the Bene Gesserit and encouraged by Paul Atreides’ mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as her pregnancy continues and her daughter grows in her belly.

Paul doesn’t fail in his fulfillment as he adapts to the desert and Fremen way of life with the help of Chani (Zendaya).

Even though he’s an outsider, Chani grows to love him – he’s different to the other outsiders.  He’s sincere.

My initial thought at the end of Dune: Part One of, I hope it doesn’t get cheesy, was unwarranted because despite the glimmers of light between Paul and Chani, this is a dark journey filled with moments like the sucking of water out of the dead and… Almost dead.

The Harkonnens’ are particularly brutal, the young nephew of The Baron (Stellan Skarsgård), Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), is known by the Bene Gesserit as psychotic but manageable.

It’s a fight for survival as the Fremans sabotage the spice harvesters with the help of Paul, each success building his reputation as the Lisan al Gaib, confirming Stilgar’s (Javier Bardem) faith.  Stilagar gives him his Freman name, Paul Muad’Dib.

The build of belief catches fire, fierce stories spread about Lisan al Gaib, ‘Our resources are limited.’  Paul explains.  ‘Fear is all we have.’

Nothing can live down south without faith.  And now, instead of friends, Paul has followers.

There’s A LOT to unpack here, but at its foundation, Dune: Part Two has a heavy layer of religion and how religion is used to gain power – the ultimate power: to control the harvest of spice.

Parts of the story were glossed over, like the return of Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin).  And it’s easy to get lost in the intricacies of the story and characters, but there is absolutely never a dull moment in this film (editor: Joe Walker).

This is a vastly entertaining journey, ‘you will see the beauty and the horror,’ all in the dance of shadows over rock, the disappearance of a mother’s face into shadow after seeing her son forever changed – there’s black and white film used to portray the stark and evil of the Harkonnens alongside the red desert and solar eclipse (director of photography: Greig Fraser), flying black suits and pit fighters with black horns like insidious devils (costume designer: Jacqueline West).

All to the beat of a thumper that blends the desert and call of the worms with the beat of intrigue and violence in the capital (composer: Hans Zimmer).

This is a brutally entertaining film that lives up to the hype and is absolutely worth seeing on the big screen.

Better than Part One which is a big call because Part One was brilliant (winning six Academy Awards) and I’m guessing everyone will walk out of the cinema asking, when’s the release of Part Three?

 

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.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Rated: MA15+Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Directed by: Stefano Sollima

Written by / Based on Characters Created by: Taylor Sheridan

Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Edward L. Mcdonnell, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill

Music by: Hildur Guđnadóttir

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Catherine Keener.

The word Sicario comes from the zealots of Jerusalem.  Killers who hunted the Romans who invaded their homeland.  In Mexico, Sicario means hitman (Sicario, 2015).

Sicario: Day of the Soldado brings the same grit as the previous instalment with Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) returning to take revenge on the cartel who killed his wife and daughter; this time CIA operative Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) needs the assassin’s special set of skills to kidnap the daughter of a cartel kingpin to start a war.  Because now the American Government has declared the cartels as terrorists.

Returning from the Middle East it’s a tactic Matt Graver has used before: take down a king, you solve problems; you make peace.  Take down a prince (or here, princess), you create chaos.

Writer, Taylor Sheridan has brought back many familiar faces, developing the characters further with the exception of FBI Critical Incident Response Group Agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt).

Emily Blunt in the original was such a significant piece, the entire film circling her role as, the agent used by forces above her pay-grade, that I wondered how a sequel could have the same impact without her.

Yet, the shear gravitational pull of Benicio Del Toro as Alejandro and Josh Brolin as Matt Graver grab your attention, the undercurrent of force from these bad-guys, now shown to be the ones used by the government for supposed good, are further revealed as the story takes a dark road filled with soldiers from both sides of the boarder fighting their own battles – some newly recruited Coyotes where the money’s in the shepherding of migrants from Mexico to America, more money made from human trafficking than drugs; to the kidnapped daughter of a cartel kingpin, Isabela Reyes (Isabela Moner): sixteen-years-old, queen of her universe and willing to scratch and defend her own pride until the reality of her father’s business is revealed; her kidnappers the only ones she can trust.

It’s a story that keeps developing, like the previous Sicario.  And the tone is similar; yet there’s a more dramatic, emotional undertone as the innocence of the young girl Isabela reminds Alejandro of his daughter and reminds Matt of his humanity.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Italian director, Stefano Sollima (Gomorrah, Romanzo Criminale, A.C.A.B.: All Cops Are Bastards and Suburra) certainly had big shoes to fill after director, Denis Villeneuve absolutely nailed, Sicario (2015) (which I gave five stars, see review here).

I’m talking steal-caps not the open-toed numbers worn by Matt – here in Crocs (showing much more about this character than words just by his choice of footwear: brilliant).

And Sollima has succeeded in creating a film similar in tone but slightly different, exploring a more emotional landscape demonstrated so well in the soundtrack.

After the recent passing of composer, Jóhann Johannsson (composer of Sicario and the film here dedicated to his memory), his protégé and collaborative partner, Hildur Guđnadóttir was tasked with composing the soundtrack for Soldado.

Again, we have a similar sound with Guđnadóttir mirroring the same restraint; orchestral touches here and there and references to ‘The Beast’ – with downward bass glissandos and distorted drums.

The droning of that identifiable sound of foreboding doom would have been a temptation for over-use.  But there’s control, like the quiet power and force of Alejandro, the man instantly recognisable by the way he holds himself, by the quiet swagger of his walk.  And it’s the restraint that creates the edge-of-your-seat suspense.

There’s gun shots and blood and explosions but not gratuitous violence because that would take away from the detail of the story.

And devices like raids viewed through the night-vision goggles of soldiers soften the violence, the grainy green of blood splatter more like watching a computer game than people being shot and killed.

So thankfully for us, the audience, we get a sequel that keeps the brilliance of the first film continuing with a new and interesting story.

Some of the Villeneuve poetry is missing.  Even with those wide-len’s shots of a lonely desert still seem to miss the expanse of his eye.  And I didn’t relate to young Isabela Reyes like the force that was Emily Blunt as Kate Macer.

Yet with my expectations set to a such a high level, I was not disappointed.

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.

Sicario

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★★

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Written by: Taylor Sheridan

Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin.

I can’t fault this film.

This is a story of Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) an FBI Critical Incident Response Group Agent, thrown into the world of a Mexican drug cartel and the CIA’s fight to control the violence. And like Kate, we, the audience don’t know where it’s all going to lead.

This was a very well thought-out film: story, characters, soundtrack, cinematography and editing all combined to create tension and to keep the audience guessing.

Sicario is more about the tension then violence. If the violence didn’t add to the story, then it wasn’t included. Clever devices and the imagination of the audience was left to piece the action together.

The cinematography (Roger Deakins) was a stand out for me: skies of rain, grainy black and green, infra-red; the silhouette of figures in army fatigue against an apricot sunset. The change in the visual imagery was used to create different moods and to keep the eye interested. With the ominous (there really is no other word) soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson adding to the darkness and intensity.

There are some great characters here. Particularly Alejandro, played by Benicio del Toro (fans of The Usual Suspects will recognise) – likable yet terrifying. And I have to say I enjoyed the added texture of Spanish throughout the film. Matt, played by Josh Brolin (think, No Country for Old Men, also cinematography by Roger Deakins and another favourite of mine) was also a very interesting, well-rounded character who could make you laugh, but then turn you cold with a smile. I will be on the lookout for any upcoming films featuring Josh Brolin.

But it really comes down to the directing in the end. Denis Villeneuve has been around for a while: Incendies, (2010), Maelström (2000), Prisoners (2013). He is also set to direct the sequel to Blade Runner – very exciting stuff!

Denis Villeneuve is fast becoming a name to look out for.

If you haven’t watched Sicario yet, you’re in for a treat.

 

Subscribe to GoMovieReviews
Enter your email address for notification of new reviews - it's free!

 

Subscribe!