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Film Reviews
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Your guide to what's hot and what's not on the silver screen
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Run For The Hills
King Arthur: epic waste of time
Dir. Antoine Fuqua
King Arthur—Arturius—is a Briton-born Roman who defends Hadrian’s Wall. The film is set in Roman, not medieval times. As we left, my companion commented that she had been hoping for wizards and knights in shining armor, instead of the roots-of-the-legend approach that this “King Arthur” employs. Imperial cultures justify themselves in relation to past empires. Telling the story of the (debatably) “historical” King Arthur allows Fuqua and Bruckheimer to tie British imperialism’s favorite forbears directly together. Rome, meet King Arthur. This film implies that America too now wears the mantles of King Arthur and Rome, as Arthur’s expressed value system is essentially, “All men are created equal.” Score!
The wordless yowl is overused to express climactic emotional energy. The film also relies on large-scale action sequences, all of which were competently handled. Alas, I find this slightly less boring than memorizing the sequence of Roman Caesars and British kings. I concluded that the film’s soundtrack should have employed classic British heavy metal throughout. Some Iron Maiden here, some Motörhead there, maybe some Saxon thrown in. The film’s characters use Arthurian names, yet are largely unrelated to the familiar characters we already know. Situations and tales from that mythos are acknowledged in near-asides. An example of this is the love triangle of Lancelot, Arthur, and Guinevere. A ten-second sequence in the midst of the closing battle seemingly refers to it. Lancelot must choose which person to aid, Arthur or Guinevere. It’s this sort of thing that began to grate as I watched the film. Franzoni, who wrote “Gladiator,” (and is currently working on another Roman-period film, “Hannibal”) obviously knows his source material. As you watch, it’s crushed into tiny flinders. They go zipping by your head as armored men collide with the bone-jarring crunch of an ad for the NFL. These fragments of wit flash by and dwindle into the dark recesses of the film’s grey-hued, humorless hulk. After all, the dark ages are just beginning. —Mike Whybark
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Maria Full of Grace
Dir. Joshua Marston
“Maria Full of Grace” brings us up-close with the lives of South American women who choose to become drug “mules.” This very intense film traces Maria and her friend Lucy as they agree to travel to New York in order to deliver pellets of cocaine or heroin that they must swallow. Here they can earn an unheard of amount of money—five grand for one trip. That’s more than double of what they would make in Colombia in one year. The risks they take are insane. The feds and airline employees are onto this scam, so being stopped and sent to prison is always a risk. Or, as in Lucy’s case, a pellet can break inside, causing a painful death. Director Joshua Marston has obviously done his research. The film is fearlessly realistic, and brings up polemical issues about the war on drugs. He also sympathetically shows how these foreign smugglers are essentially risking their lives in search of a better one. —Karla Esquivel
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Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Dir: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
Metal fans packed the SIFF screenings of this film, but make no mistake, you don’t have to be a metal head to enjoy it. The film chronicles the group’s recording of “St. Anger,” which took five years to complete, due to innumerable complications (a stint in rehab, personality conflicts, a band member’s departure). The boys cope by hiring a therapist—at 40 grand a month! This results in positively delightful, if surreal, scenes of “therapy-speak” amongst everyone. Other highlights include drummer Lars Ulrich confronting original guitarist Dave Mustaine with “I feel your pain” terminology, and enduring musical critiques from his father. A must for all pop culture music fans. —Gillian G. Gaar
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Open Water
Dir. Chris Kentis
Based on a true story of a couple who were left behind in the middle of shark-infested waters after a scuba diving expedition, “Open Water” tries to recreate the human experience of what it would actually feel like to be trapped in that chilling situation. Director Chris Kenits purposely chose unknown actors for this very reason, hoping to attain a distinct sense of realism. To his credit, he does this. The doomed couple delves into various states of panic, hope and even denial. They even begin to blame one another and, on a lighter note, play “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” to pass time. And while the whole concept is scary, I decline to call this a “Jaws-like” horror flick. It does however bring up issues and ideas of what one would do in a similar situation. —Karla Esquivel
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A Home at the End of the World
Dir. Michael Mayer
Probably the most damning critique of this movie is that, shortly after seeing it, I had almost completely forgotten everything about it, including the title. That’s when one consults one’s notes. Based on the eponymous novel by Michael Cunningham, the film concerns two boys who form an early childhood bond and drift apart only to reunite later in life and develop an ”unconventional” love triangle with a quirky woman in NYC circa 1980s. They have a child and all move to a house in the rural county-side. In between, emotions rise and fall, but the film doesn’t linger enough for the viewer to care. Though praised for his writing prowess, Cunningham’s script is incredibly flat. The acting of the two leads (Colin Farrell and Dallas Roberts) is convincing, but otherwise—despite a wealth of drugs and homosexuality—the film fails to connect on almost every level. Utterly forgettable. —Kristopher Monroe |
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Hero
Dir. Zhang Yimou
“Hero,” the new movie by Zhang Yimou (of “Raise the Red Lantern” fame), is set in the China of 2000 years ago. Three assassins are determined to kill the emperor; one man (the “hero”) is determined to stop them. While the premise provides lots of opportunities for kung fu action (as expected of a movie starring Jet Li), it also sets up a very twisted tale in which none of the characters’ motives can be trusted.
Although it’s being sold as a romantic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hero”’s jaw-dropping battle scenes will easily win over “Lord of the Rings” fans who were hoping the Pelennor battle scenes would feature real elephants in armor. Even though there is some CGI used in this movie, the generous use of extras leaves the film feeling much meatier than its artificial counterparts. Meanwhile, art movie fans will have their jaws dropping at Zhang’s incredible use of color, such as during a fight set in an autumnal oak wood.
“Hero” is the epic flick to shame all other so-called epic flicks and a big-screen must-see, with great acting, direction and cinematography all tied together with a great story. If you missed it at SIFF, don’t let it pass you by this time. I promise it’ll take the disappointment of “The Matrix Reloaded” away permanently. —Tonnvane Wiswell
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