Welcome To The Punch Review
The Plot:
A legendary retired criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London when his son is shot and ends up in police custody. This gives his former nemesis, a broken young detective called Max Lewinsky, one final chance to catch him and regain his pride.
The Good:
Dirctor Eran Creevy graduates with ease from his impressive ultra-low budget debut Shifty to deliver one of the most competently composed and stylish British action films in recent years. He emulates the slick noirish visuals of the Hong Kong and American action genres, whilst managing to avoid the pitfalls of misguided imitation. It’s painfully easy for British action films to feel like cheap impersonations and you only have to look at the recent re-imagining of The Sweeny for a frankly ridiculous example of this. This film thankfully succeeds where so many others have failed.
The film delivers a view of London that is authentically dangerous, sexy and devoid of all the usual clichés. You won’t spot the London Eye or cheerfully red double decker buses, that kind of things that instantly rob so many British crime dramas of their gritty credibility. Creevy inventively captures London as a world of glittering skyscrapers and dark alleyways.
Creevy also makes clever and economical choices with his action sequences. The film’s opening chase scene is an excellent example, creating a sense of scale and tension without relying on the expensive mayhem of explosions and countless unnecessary car crashes. Well-chosen camera angles and taunt scripting achieve the same effect.
Versatile British actor Mark Strong is very well experienced in playing memorable villains in big budget blockbusters. He’s successfully tackled that challenge many times before in Sherlock Holmes, Stardust, John Carter, Robin Hood and Kick-Ass. Strong has a captivating and commanding presence on screen that allows him to malevolently dominate scenes. In this role he combines that ruthless power with just enough efficient charisma to make his character oddly admirable.
Handsome leading man James McAvoy has his own growing army of fans, which offers the film an obvious selling point. In truth though he actually deliver an unselfish performance, playing a far more flawed and scruffy hero than the perfect super-cop you might expect.
Fellow Brit Johnny Harris is also superb as the real villain of the piece; a former soldier turned menacing mercenary. Easily the film’s most memorable moment sees the three finally squaring off against each other in an old ladies living room. It’s an indisputable flash of genius in an already strong script.
The rest of the cast is full of familiar faces like Peter Mullan, David Morrissey, Ruth Sheen, Daniel Mays and Andrea Riseborough. They all deliver competent performances with the varied screen time they’re given. Rising star Riseborough in particular adds a touch of class to proceedings as she spars with both McAvoy and Johnny Harris.
The Bad:
Obviously a modest budget does deny audiences the type of spectacular spectacle they may have grown accustomed to. The film’s reserved action style is far more inspired by Michael Mann than Michael Bay. Those misguidedly waiting to see London devastated by the collateral damage of countless explosions will be left disappointed.
Although the film has more style and substance than any typical British gangster movie it can’t entirely avoid predictability. By about half way through it is fairly easy to map out where the story is ultimately heading. Although it still remains satisfying to watch things play out in a climatic hail of gunfire.
The Ugly Truth:
Welcome To The Punch firmly announces the arrival of Eran Creevy as a promising directing talent and defies the conventional limitations of the typically atrocious British action genre. The criminally underrated Mark Strong and Johnny Harris largely steal the show in memorably villainous performances.
Red Carpet Interviews form the London premiere below, including Mark Strong, Johnny Harris and Director Eran Creevy:
Disney Already Planning Oz Sequel
Oz The Great and Powerful is projected to take an opening weekend box office haul of a $90million. Director Sam Raimi has thus clearly proved that he still has some of the Spider-Man magic that saw that franchise consistently break box office records. The news has also reportedly convinced Disney that a sequel, remaking the classic 1939 The Wizard of Oz might not be such a bad idea after all.
The studio has acted quickly, responding to the prospect of making more Munchkin dollars by hiring Mitchell Kapner to produce a new script. He’s one of the writer’s responsible for the new Sam Raimi prequel.
It’s assumed this new sequel will essential amount to a straightforward remake of The Wizard of Oz, although there could be so slight issues as certain iconic elements of the 1939 version like Dorothy’s ruby slippers were an invention of MGM not L. Frank Baum’s original books.
Full press conference interviews with Sam Raimi, James Franco, Mila Kunis and the rest of the new cast below:
The Hangover Part 3 First Teaser Trailer
Here’s the much anticipated first official look at The Hangover Part III the self-proclaimed epic conclusion to the trilogy of mayhem and bad decisions. The Wolf Pack is back and apparently reluctantly returning to the scene of their first crimes against sobriety Las Vegas.
The trailer proudly showcases many of the franchises most familiar trademarks; including Heather Graham, Ken Jeong’s psychotically camp Mr Chow and accidental animal cruelty. Although if you want to get technical about it, it doesn’t look like anyone is actually hung-over this time around…
Other than that looks like more of the same from Director Todd Phillips and the eclectic comedic charms of Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis.
Lucas Confirms Original Cast In New Star Wars
Not content to gracefully head off into the Tatooine triple sunset with his billions of Disney dollars George Lucas is still insisting on contributing to the constant media speculation about the new Star Wars saga.
He’s now apparently confirmed in a just published interview that in fact final negotiations had begun with the main stars of the original trilogy to reprise their roles in Episode VII, even before he agreed to sell the franchise to Disney:
“We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison–or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ ” He pauses. “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them…. I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.”
Let’s just hope those negotiations went better than the ones between the Trade Federation and Queen Amidala of Naboo. Anyone who doesn’t understand that last reference is lucky. It means you’ve either never seen Star Wars Episode I: The Phatom Menace or that you’ve actually managed to entirely suppress your memories of Jar Jar Binks. Well played you.
Oz The Great And Powerful Review
The Plot:
A selfish circus magician called Oscar Diggs finds himself carried away from the dreary troubles of Kansas and hurled into the vibrant Land of Oz by a violent storm. He’s quickly drawn into an epic struggle between the forces of good and wickedness by the promise of fame and fortune. Battling witches and flying monkeys with only his con-man cunning, he must prove to both the inhabitants of Oz and himself that he truly is a great man, perhaps even a good one.
The Good:
Director Sam Raimi does a commendable job of commanding modern technology to fabricate an impressively lurid fantasy world in three dimensions. Beginning the film in Black & White with a narrowed screen and only switching to colourful widescreen as we escape Kansas and arrive in Oz is a nice nod to The Wizard of Oz and remains an effective cinematic metaphor almost 75 years later.
From the glistening green emerald city to the cheery yellow brick road, the new film borrows much from the iconic visual charms of the 1939 classic. However, it also combines that familiar camp imagery with a healthy injection of intricate CGI wizardry and whimsical weirdness. Given the film’s look and Danny Elfman soundtrack you’d be easily forgiven for mistaking it for one of Tim Burton’s better efforts. Of course, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Leading man James Franco is a natural fit for the questionably heroic magician Oscar. He convincingly treads a fine line between being charming and suspiciously sleazy and despicably selfish. Franco has an undeniable charisma, but it flirts with arrogance in precisely the way it should for a self-important illusionist.
The film also boasts an impressive trio of powerful witches in beautiful leading ladies Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. Their combined aesthetic charms ensure the film is always very easy to look at. Williams in particular deserves great credit for being enchanting enough to keep the saccharine sweet Glinda the Good from ever being too unbearably earnest, instead giving her an almost serene grace.
Zach Braff provides a steady stream of light relief as Oscar’s devoted flying monkey sidekick. Hi bumbling antics are more genuinely amusing as an adorable animal. Though arguably the film’s most magical performance comes from young starlet Joey King, who voices a heartbreakingly sweet orphaned China Girl.
The Bad:
Past adaptations of L. Frank Baum’s fantastical world of Oz have varied wildly from the Technicolor musical kitsch of The Wizard of Oz to the surprisingly dark and wonderfully disturbing sequel Return to Oz. Both have their own merits but naturally appeal to wildly different tastes. In many respects this film lies somewhere between those two extremes. It might not be quite dark enough for those who prefer their fairy tales to be more genuinely Grimm, but it also veers well away from child-friendly cheerfulness at times.
The world of Oz is pretty but sometimes obviously a CGI fabrication. It probably won’t distract most people but it might disappoint those who prefer the rough textures and convincing shadows that only the real world can truly deliver. While characters like the Flying Monkeys and China Girl are flawlessly executed special effects creations, ‘blue screen acting’ does sometimes leave the real actors a little disconnected from the garish landscapes around them.
In terms of storytelling, after a strong opening that promises original adventure with flashes of genuine danger, the film gradually evolves into a more obvious prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Evil armies and wicked witches are inevitably conquered by magic bubbles and musical munchkins, partly taming the film’s climax.
The Ugly Truth:
Older fans of the original Judy Garland classic and younger audiences uninitiated in journeys down the yellow brick road should both be left equally satisfied by this vividly colourful fantasy. A well deployed arsenal of special effects and acting talent makes this film a thoroughly enjoyable 3D adventure.
Check out full Press Conference Interviews below with the entire cast and director Sam Raimi: