Now You See Me (2013)



Year: 2013
Running Time: 115 minutes
Director: Louis Leterrier
Writers: Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt
Cast: Jess Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent

Now You See Me opens in Australian cinemas on the 8th of August 2013 and is distributed by Hopscotch Films.

Now You See Me is one incredibly creative, unpredictable and entertaining film with an amazing cast, but don't expect it to be particularly subtle or realistic at it's core.

Louis Leterrier's film promises an entertaining and fun time and is never for one moment slow or dull. It provides people with a completely unpredictable ending and constant guessing. However, it is a little over-extravagant at times and very farfetched, but the aim of the film is to entertain and it certainly does that. Now You See Me gives us an original film unlike any other we have seen this year or any other year and that is something to be appreciated.

The Four Horsemen magic/illusion group, featuring J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) become an overnight sensation when during one of their magic tricks, they pick an audience member to rob a bank and distribute the money to all their audience members. FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is called in to find out how this group managed to rob a French bank during their show and with Agent Alma Gray (Melanie Laurent) must decide whether it really was magic that enabled The Four Horsemen to commit this crime or is there a Fifth Horseman?

Now You See Me will draw you in and start you guessing straight away. It is the type of rare film that has you fooled, just like everyone in the film. You think you know all the answers, but there is one answer you will be a very, very clever moviegoer to guess. It is a very clever film with a very unique concept. Magic and illusion are mysterious and mystical and as a subject matter to a film it promises the same. `

Now You See Me, like it's subject matter, has no problems entertaining, but it does seem like it tries a little too hard to astonish. The whole film seems like a Las Vegas show (again, like in the film), it is just a bit too over the top and elaborate. At times it tries a little too hard to be an amazing film and gets a bit lost in itself. The majority of the time it isn't too much of a problem as it is just great fun, but it does get to a point where you can almost scoff at how far removed from reality it can get. However, as a whole the film is just a really great piece of entertainment, but it shouldn't be looked at as anything more than that.

Therefore, as one could expect, the film is really quite a visual treat with plenty of confetti and spotlighting. It has it's stars well placed in every scene and many movements resemble a dance routine. Although it is not an action film, the car chase scene is pretty impressive.

Before one even see's Now You See Me, it is extremely hard not to be drawn in by the astonishing cast which has been assembled. The majority of the cast have somewhat easy roles to play (as opposed to other characters they have played in past films), but they all play their roles to the very best of their ability. Mark Ruffalo is the stand out of the film as he is so convincing and natural in his role and a great lead for the film. He has great on screen chemistry with Melanie Laurent, who is also very convincing in her role even though the side story and ending of the film for the two doesn't really add anything to the film. Woody Harrelson is also a lot of fun and quite comical in his role and Dave Franco shows his versatility as an actor by adding Now You See Me to his resume. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman also work well together and by themselves.

As a whole, you may as well be watching a magic show when you are watching Now You See Me. It is overdone in many ways, but you enjoy the spectacle and the players and enjoy the thrill of the unknown.

7/10


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The Great Gatsby (2013)

Year: 2013
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher
Now showing in cinemas everywhere


There is one simple way to determine if you are a fan of The Great Gatsby. It's by whether you are a Baz Luhrmann fan or if you are not.

The Great Gatsby is Baz Luhrmann's most ambitious and extravagant film yet. Luhrmann has an unmistakable style to his films and if you are not a fan of his past films, in particular Moulin Rouge!, there is little chance that you will enjoy The Great Gatsby. On the other hand, if you are a Baz fan, then you will think that this film is one of the events of the year. That being said, for it to really have been one of the events of the year, The Great Gatsby would have to have broken down the barrier between the two and that's something it failed to do.

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby is told from the viewpoint of young bond worker, Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) who moves to New York and into a cottage on Long Island. He quickly becomes enchanted by the extravagant lifestyle of his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her husband, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). When Nick finally meets his enigmatic neighbour, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), he finds that below the surface nothing is as it seems.

Luhrmann's version of The Great Gatsby is extremely over the top. That has always been his style, but this film seeks to overemphasise parts of the story which don't need to be as they already create an impact naturally. The moment when Gatsby is introduced into the film is so over the top. DiCaprio doesn't need fireworks placed around him for his entrance into the film. That's enough to provoke a sea of eye rolls.

Even though it is extremely over the top and there is a lot of the film that visually seems unnecessary, you can't deny it is also visually stunning. The party scenes are incredible as are the recreations of 1920's New York City. All of the costumes for the players are also incredible, Carey Mulligan never looks less than a million dollars.

Luhrmann also is very good at employing the best choreography for the party and club scenes. It almost makes you want to learn the Charleston. It can be a little too neat at times when it is employed for butlers opening and closing doors in time with each other at the Buchanan's house, again unnecessary. The musical score is also very good. It is a risk to mix modern music with a historical picture, but it does The Great Gatsby justice.

One thing that everyone will agree on is that through the exaggeration and the extravagance, Luhrmann does make sure that the film stays true to Fitzgerald's novel the whole way. He may let the cinematography run away with itself, but the story stays on it's path.

There could not have been a better person to play Gatsby than Leonardo DiCaprio. He is everything Gatsby should be and is consistently good. His most wonderful scene is when his Gatsby catches sight of Daisy for the first time in years and you can see all his love and pain in his expression in such a pure way. Carey Mulligan is also a very good Daisy Buchanan. It is wonderful to finally see her smile in a movie again.

Tobey Maguire is good as Nick Carraway, but is overshadowed by his fellow players in many of his scenes. His best comes at the end of the film. Joel Edgerton is also brilliant as Tom Buchanan, and also quite intimidating.

The Great Gatsby is not going to be for everyone. It will be for those who crave visual extravagance and love experiencing how the other half live.

7/10


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Inception as Cobb
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Burke And Hare

Burke And Hare
Year: 2010
Director: John Landis
Cast: Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Isla Fisher, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry

In My Own Words
Well, what an intriguing yet disturbing story we have here! "Burke And Hare" gives us the story of two men who make a living out of providing corpses to the world famous medical school in Edinburgh in the early 1800's. The beginning of the movie states that it is in fact a true story...apart from the parts that are not true. So there is only one thing I can do, find out what part is true! Well, obviously the comedy part isn't true. At least I think so anyway. William Burke was actually married at this point in his life, but he arrived in Scotland alone after their seperation. He did fall in love with and live with a prostitute by the name of Helen McDougal. As far as I can tell, she did not appear in an all female version of "Macbeth".

There is a difference as to what happened at the end of the film compared to what actually happened in real life. I have to watch what I say here as it is a major spoiler if I say too much. There is truth in what happens to one of the pair, but not with the other. One of them we definately know what happened to them and the other is fiction. The ending in the film for this piece of fiction is rather glorified. You know, this is entertainment though. Fiction is far more exciting that what really happened. What really happened to this half of the pairing is actually unknown, so anything is more exciting than that! However, it may interest you to know that in Greyfriars Cemetary, there was a terrier who sat on the grave of his soldier master guarding it. Yet again, Bobby the terrier did his guarding in the 1850's onwards, while this movie is set in the 1820's. There is actually a statue of Bobby at Greyfriars!

Otherwise, as far as I can tell everything else is true! It is a rather disturbing story, but you have got to love a black comedy! Well, I do anyway. Give me a black comedy over a crude comedy any day!

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
When William Burke and William Hare took part in a business venture which involved murder for profit, it is very unlikely that it would have crossed anyone's mind that one day they may be able to laugh at this. However, time has allowed this to happen. "Burke And Hare" is the recreation of one of Scotland's most notorious crimes as a black comedy. It is a unique mix of fact and fiction with streaks of hilarity throughout the film.

William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis) are two Irishmen living in Scotland who are down and out on their luck and flat broke. When one of Hare's tenants who lives in one of the rooms he and his wife rents out dies, Burke and Hare profit from his death by selling his body to Dr Knox (Tom Wilkinson), who uses the bodies for autopsies at his medical school in Edinburgh. As fresh corpses are hard to come by Knox offers them a substantial amount of money if they bring him more bodies. Burke and Hare do all they can to find more bodies, which includes murder.

For the most part, "Burke And Hare" is a very good historical film. It is interesting the way the story is retold and very  cleverly written so as to make a serious situation funny. The biggest downfall of the film in that it does slow down considerably in the middle and get quite boring. This leaves you wondering whether the film is going anywhere at all, because it feels as though it is just stuck in a rut in the middle with nowhere to go.

However, there really are some very funny scenes and it has one of the funniest sex scenes you will ever see. One particularly strange thing about the script is the use of the narrator. The narrator is only around for the first five minutes of the film and again for the last five minutes. There really doesn't seem any point to having this narrator as he doesn't seem to be relevant to the story at all and his narration doesn't add anything to the movie.

The recreation of Edinburgh in the early 1800's is definitely commendable. There is a feeling of dread in the city and the dark feel adds to the mood of the film. There actually are some quite picturesque images of Edinburgh Castle. On the other hand, there are some vile images of corpses being cut open so one must try to leave there stomach outside.

The thing about the characters in this film is that you are made to feel a way about them which would have been completely ludicous in the time which the crimes were actually committed. The audience is actually made to feel sorry for Burke and Hare and see's them as the good guys rather than the bad guy's which history says they were seen as. Simon Pegg's Burke is the more likable of the two with the way he falls in love and feel's that he has to keep doing what he is doing to support his girlfriend. The audience feels sorry for him and has a real connection with him. Pegg is very good as Burke and the persona he creates and relationship his character forms with the audience is very good. Serkis is very funny in his role as Hare, but it is Pegg who steals the limelight from him. Isla Fisher is quite funny as Burke's love interest, Ginny. It is actually her funniest and most likable role in years.

John Landis has done well after his long hiatus from feature length films. "Burke And Hare" is well made and very interesting to watch. It is great to see such a creative stance taken where fact it taken and looked at from a different perspective to see things as they have never been seen before. It is not thrilling or consistantly riveting, but has the right foundations to support it through the dull times.
7/10