Tag: Michael Keaton

The Flash

GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★1/2The Flash

Rated: M

Directed by: Andy Muschietti

Screenplay by: Christina Hodson

Story by: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Joby Harold

Based on Characters from: DC

Produced by: Barbara Muschietti, Michael Disco

Starring: Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue and Michael Keaton.

The Flash (Ezra Miller) naming himself, ‘The janitor of the Justice League’ feels like he’s always cleaning up after Batman.

But Batman’s his besty.

So when the latest disaster hits Gotham City and the Justice League are busy elsewhere, it’s up to The Flash AKA Barry Allen, who’s in the middle of trying to buy a sandwich from a server who isn’t his usual server and he’s going to be late AND he’s hungry and trying to feed himself because if he doesn’t his body will literally run out of fuel…  Well, Barry steps up, or rather, steps forward with arms bent at the ready.

It’s a silly beginning – think falling babies from a collapsing skyscraper while The Flash breaks into a falling vending machine to eat.

The film takes a moment to get traction (ha, ha).

Then the film shifts gear, cue the strings of the soundtrack, pan to dad in jail for the murder of his wife and mother of Barry:

‘I loved you first’.

It’s an unsubtle shift but leads to a poignant moment with Batman (Ben Affleck) – he’s a character who can relate.

Then flash again (ha, ha, sorry, can’t seem to help myself with this one), the film flashes back to a time when Barry’s mother was alive.  Back to a time when he can save her, because if he can run faster than the speed of light, the theory runs, he can turn back time.

Enter, The Chrono Ball.

This is where most of the effects come into play: the surrounding faces of the past nightmarish as The Flash runs in the Ball’s centre, making time warp backwards.

But of course, changing the course of the past will always lead to changes to the future and added to the risk of changing the world forever, General Zod (Michael Shannon) returns to the past.  To a past that no longer has metahumans.

Until Supergirl (Sasha Calle) is rescued.

They need all the hero’s they can muster to beat the Kryptonian general from destroying the Earth completely this time.  In the past.

The film gets entertaining once Barry meets his past self so that verging on the silly overacting tones down to an overly enthusiastic Barry who meets older and wiser future Barry.

The effects also help off-set some of the silliness – The Flash quoting himself as a Barbie Girl in a Barbie world, well, that was one of the OK funny bits, but you get where I’m going.  The humour just did not hit until The Flash meets his younger self – the chemistry better and more balanced.

And then there’s the return of Michael Keaton as the hermit Batman of the past (who is somehow older and yet explained so well with a bowl of spaghetti by said hermit Batman).

Really, I can’t believe how good it was to see Michael Keaton as Batman again.

Once the balance got going with the characters, there were some genuinely funny moments – seeing The Flash run around without being able to flash around did tickle.

And there’s some themes running (ha, ha) through the storyline so it’s not all superficial flashy trash – ‘not every problem has a solution,’ etc.

The future self, teaching the past self, worked better than expected.

And the film felt full, with every second of every frame brimming with as much dialogue and effects as possible.

Didn’t always hit the mark, but there’s enough of a foundation here to enjoy the entertainment.

 

American Assassin

MA 15+American Assassin

Directed by: Michael Cuesta

Produced by: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Nick Wechsler

Screenplay by: Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz

Based on: ‘American Assassin’

Written by: Vince Flynn

Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar, Taylor Kitsch, David Suchet, Navid Negahban, Scott Adkins and Charlotte Vega.

In the same vein as previous characters adapted for on-screen action-thrillers, Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne, American Assassin is based on a series of action-thriller novels written by Vince Flynn, featuring Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien): a tortured soul out for revenge.

Training and fighting to kill the terrorists responsible for the death of his fiancé, Rapp is eventually recruited into the CIA by Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to become part of an elite black ops outfit under the guiding, unwavering, cold hand of legend, Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton).American Assassin

Although a later book in the series, production decided on, ‘American Assassin’ as this shows the origins of Rapp and how he became such an angry, one-man terrorist killer.

There’s a familiar feel to the classic formula of the CIA super-recruit. And I’m a big fan of action-thrillers.  But the character Mitch Rapp didn’t have the same humanising warmth as Jason Bourne (Matt Damon).  Rapp is such a hard, angry, focussed young buck, that the film became twee at times with borderline over-acting from O’Brien.

Michael Keaton has the military bearing and intensity needed for the role of trainer, Hurley.  And the fight scenes and bloody bits (spraying into the camera at times) are all believable, giving the film the action-thriller title it deserves.

Yet, there’s just so much macho going on here.American Assassin

The villain, Ronnie, AKA, Ghost (Taylor Kitsch) was the softer of the assassins, to the extent I was tempted to root for him!

Director, Michael Cuesta previously directing, Kill The Messenger (2014) and TV episodes from the likes of Homeland and Dexter, gives American Assassin that dry, flat, violent feel without humour.  This is a serious movie.

And without the colourful Michael Keaton (although kept on a short leash), the film would have been relentless.  As is, I still felt myself drifting with the overdose of action so I lost interest as the film progressed.

Add some of that cheesy attitude of blind-sighted need for domination with exclamation from the soundtrack, I got put off, the suspension of belief wavering, so when Deputy Director Irene Kennedy kept calling Mitch Rapp, ‘Rapp’, I started to cringe.

So, better than Jack Reacher (particularly the first!) but not as good as Bourne.

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The Founder

Rated: MThe Founder

Directed by: John Lee Hancock

Based on the original screenplay by: Robert Siegel

Produced by: Aaron Ryder and Don Handfield

Starring: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Laura Dern, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson, B. J. Novak.

Business is war.  It’s not even dog eat dog, it’s rat eat rat.

A true story based on the uprising of McDonald’s, The Founder is a remarkable story of Corporate America.  Of how persistence and will power can create an empire for a man with a mouth and a keen eye for a successful business.

The film begins in 1954, showing Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) on the road trying to sell five-spindle Multimixers used to make milkshakes to the owners of Drive-In Diners.

After sitting in his car waiting for over 30 minutes for his meal, Ray checks in with the office to get an order for six Multimixes.  He decides to drive out west to San Bernardino, California, to see what sort of restaurant would require so many milkshakes.  And that’s when the real story begins, when Ray pulls up to the original McDonald’s, to see the lines of people waiting for their meal served not in 30 minutes, but in 30 seconds.

McDonald’s was a vision set in motion by the two McDonald brothers, Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick (Nick Offerman).  It was the McDonald brothers creation of the Speedee System, an assembly-line style of food preparation, that made the delivery of food to customers, fast.

The golden arches, the iconic symbol of fast food that’s now dotted across the globe in 35,000 locations was created by Dick McDonald.

The brothers are the true Founders.  But without the business acumen of Ray Kroc, McDonald’s would have remained just one restaurant.

The Founder is a character driven story with the crazed look of Keaton matching the perverse determination of Ray Kroc perfectly.

And the story is certainly an interesting one.

What fascinated me was Ray’s fortunate meeting of Harry Sonneborn (B. J. Novak), the financial whiz who came up with the idea to buy the land and then lease to the McDonald’s franchisee.

The idea that McDonald’s is one of the biggest realestate company’s in the world is mind boggling.

But that’s where the fascination ended.

Even with the gumption of Ray, a character to admire from afar as any closer you’d wonder if you’d be left with your wallet, the story just followed from one event to the other.

The monologue of Ray speaking to the camera at the beginning (and the end) added a bit of spice, but I was left wanting more.

The film evoked memories of childhood, of those gherkins flying through the air because no one liked the gherkin.  Seeing the 1950s version of the meat patties made me wish McD’s hadn’t changed from the original – thanks Ray!

But isn’t it interesting that McD’s is providing more quality burgers these days, at more expense to the diner?  The post-war 1950s pushed for more and faster, and the Speedee System was born.  Is it a reflection of today’s society?  Quality even if it costs more?

The Founder is thought-provoking but a greater insight into how Ray’s mind worked, like seeing the Speedee System work, would have given the story more flavour.

And I question the calm camera work here, as there’s a vibrant chaos to the McDonald’s restaurants, that brings out the fun of childhood – just think of those clowns! Showing a bit of craziness would have heightened the movie experience.

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