Bridge of Spies (2015) film review

Year: 2015
Running Time: 142 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Matt Charman, Joel and Ethan Coen
Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Billy Magnussen, Austin Stowell, Will Rogers, Sebastian Koch

Bridge of Spies opens in Australian cinemas on October 22 and is distributed by 20th Century Fox. Opening in the United States on October 16 and the United Kingdom on November 26.

The intrigue and suspense provoked by Bridge of Spies reconfirms Steven Spielberg's status as one of the greatest cinematic storytellers of our time. The Academy Award winning filmmaker's ability to take on a screenplay based on a well known true story and conjure up a strong sense of suspense and intensity all while ensuring that the piece of work is visually fascinating is extraordinary and exhibited wonderfully in his latest film.

Spielberg works with the screenplay written by Matt Charman and Joel and Ethan Coen in a way that makes you overlook the small inconsistences and deem them forgivable. While the screenplay is not air tight and there may be forgivable reasons for this, it is still extremely intelligent, entertaining and contains the witty edge that one can expect from a Coen brothers creation.

Set during the Cold War in the 1950's, James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks), an insurance lawyer who is very much out of practise with criminal law, is assigned by the CIA to defend alleged Russian spy, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). Although Abel is tried and convicted of espionage, Jim is able to convince the judge that his client is worth more to America alive than dead and saves Abel from the electric chair. His intuition pays off as an American spy plane pilot, Francis Powers (Austin Stowell) is shot down in enemy territory and convicted, unable to return to America. Jim is once again called upon to travel to East Berlin to negotiate an exchange between Abel and Powers, but he also makes the decision to try and exchange Abel for both Powers and Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) an American Economics student who was captured being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This decision is not a popular one with anyone, but Jim stands strong behind his decision and risks it all.

Bridge of Spies is undeniably packed with intrigue and suspense that is so often lost in a cinematic retelling of a true story. The film is largely accurate despite some expected over-dramatization to move the pace of the story along quicker (such as the speeding up of time lapses between events) and to create a greater sense of suspense and tension. Spielberg's direction is absolutely superb in that he knows how to bring out the most in every situation through mise en scene. Everything and everyone in the film is perfectly placed so that Bridge of Spies resembles a work of art and is truly exquisite to behold. The entire film is so beautifully polished and neat that one is transfixed by the story and visuals, which is what gives one a true sense of captivation for the entire length of the film.

As previously touched upon, the screenplay is not completely air tight with certain subplots being left unfulfilled, such as the romance between Jim's daughter, Carol (Eve Hewson) and his assistant, Doug (Billy Magnussen). One can make the assumption that at 142 minutes, there may have had to have been some editing and scenes removed to stop the film becoming unnecessarily long. Yet, the screenplay contains incredibly entertaining and intelligent dialogue with a surprisingly witty edge to it in moments most unsuspected. Despite the film also being one about a man who became a hero because of his negotiation skills, there is very little hero worship and patriotism. There are moments where there could have been room for extreme sentimental value, but they are thankfully left as is. This is particularly true of the pivotal bridge scene, which has a beautiful moment without fanfare that could have so easily been ruined by it. Donovan is also played out in the film as an everyday hero. He does not possess super human qualities, not does he present himself in the film as someone who feels he is on the road to doing something grand and important. This works perfectly as that is the hero people prefer to see in a film as he doesn't make people believe he is definitely going to have everything work out the way he wants, hence the sense of suspense.

Another critique one may give regarding Bridge of Spies is that there is a lack of character depth and development. The lead character of Jim Donovan is without a doubt the most well rounded and established character and this is to be expected as much of what occurs in the film involves him. One comes to know him as the family man, the persistent lawyer and talented negotiator, but still the everyday man during the film. Hanks does well to portray the man many would consider a national hero and gives a solid and strong performance, but it is not a performance that is particularly challenging nor calls for any great emotional strain. However, it is perfect casting as Hanks is truly the ideal individual to be playing Jim Donovan.

It is true that no other receives as great attention as Jim Donovan does in regards to the building of character, but this is actually a positive for the complex character of Rudolf Abel. One believes they feel confidant in knowing the intentions of the convicted Russian spy, but as Abel never speaks of his crimes against the United States, he remains a mystery and this works exceptionally well for his character. The lack of knowledge regarding Rudolf Abel and who he really is adds to his charisma and makes him absolutely intriguing. Although he is labelled as an enemy of the United States, he has a likable quality in his introvert nature that is supported by his clever dialogue. Mark Rylance gives an absolutely superb performance as the stoic and mysterious Abel and works very well on screen with Hanks.

Bridge of Spies may not be completely without it's flaws, but they are all forgivable as a result of the wonderful things it achieves. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks once again prove they are an unbeatable force in film.

8/10

Lincoln (2012)

Year: 2012

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Before I begin my review….

                It’s getting close! Less than two weeks to go till the 85^th Academy Awards! The countdown is on and I am getting to the point where I feel as though I can start to make informed predictions about who I believe will take home the big awards.

So we have our sixth nominated film to be reviewed, Lincoln. I think everyone, including me, knows that this film has at least one guaranteed Oscar.

Lincoln is nominated for a massive 12 Academy Awards. I can tell you with complete certainty that it will not be walking away with all 12. It is nominated for Best Picture as well as Best Director for Steven Spielberg. I’m not completely convinced that this is the year’s Best Picture winner. Following all the other award nights, I have an idea which film may be having its name engraved in one of the pillars lining the Dolby Theatre (once the Kodak Theatre)stairs, and Lincoln will be a major surprise if it leapfrogs over that film to take the big one.

However, Spielberg wouldn’t be completely out of line if he let it be known that he is preparing his acceptance speech. We all know he is a brilliant director, he has exhibited this numerous times. Lincoln once again exhibits how brilliant a director he really is. I believe he is the front runner in this category.

Tommy Lee Jones took home the Screen Actor’s Guild award for Best Supporting Actor and he is very deserving. However, he does have tough competition from Christoph Waltz. My personal opinion is that Waltz has just that little bit more than Jones and should be taking home the award. The Best Supporting Actor category is a tough category this year, there have been some fantastic performances this year.

Poor Sally Field (if you can say that, she’s had a pretty damn good career thus far). Anyone who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year is pretty much ruled out of the equation with Anne Hathaway the front runner. If Hathaway didn’t give the performance she had in Les Miserables, I believe Field would have been the front runner instead.

And then…we have Daniel Day-Lewis. Yes he is brilliant and yes, he will win his third Academy Award. Now this is a big thing. There are only five people who have won three acting Oscars in history, including Katharine Hepburn who has actually won four. It looks like Day-Lewis will be the sixth to join this coveted group.

Review

There is no doubt the Steven Spielberg is a great director. There is no doubt that Daniel Day-Lewis is an amazing actor. So there was really no doubt about whether Lincoln was going to be a success.

Lincoln is a film which is very well made and acted, but the fact remains, it is a film which will mean more to you if you are American. It is a great history lesson for those who only know the basics about Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War, but there is a lack of emotion which you really want to feel for this great man.

Lincoln focuses primarily on Abraham Lincoln’s (Daniel Day-Lewis) final presidential years when he was instrumental in abolishing slavery. The passing of the amendment in the House of Representatives is covered in depth and shows what went on behind closed doors in order to make sure the outcome that Lincoln strived for was achieved. Away from politics, Lincoln also shows how strained his private life was during these years. His wife, Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) struggles with their middle son’s death years before and their oldest son, Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) struggles with trying to win his father’s affection and at the same time, become his own person.

Spielberg once again proves that he is an amazing story teller. He goes through the passing of the amendment in such detail that if you didn’t know much about Lincoln and the civil war before, you will feel as if you know everything when you leave the cinema. He does go through it in such detail that it can make the film a bit slow and also make it a tad boring in certain parts. You can understand why Spielberg has tried to include all this as he wants you to exactly know step by step how and why this amendment was passed. It is part of Spielberg’s job as a storyteller to entertain as well as inform, and he ensures he gives you the best history lesson he possibly can.

The main thing missing from Lincoln is the emotion in the film. You come out of the film thinking about how you have just seen a good film, but you are not over-whelmed in the way you are when you have seen a great film. There are so many great things about Lincoln, but it lacks the ‘wow’ factor and the ability to make the audience connect on an emotional level. It is not for lack of wanting or trying either. Lincoln is such a heroic historical figure that you want nothing more than to cry at his successes and failures. however, thi

However, Americans may have a greater emotional connection to this film as it is part of their history and it is a film which they will be able to relate to. For those who are not American may not have this emotional connection for this reason.

Don’t be alarmed, there is plenty to marvel at in this film. Visually it is a brilliant recreation of Civil War torn America. There is some beautiful cinematography, such as the depiction of Lincoln’s dream and Lincoln’s final speech.

Yet, it is the acting in Lincoln that truly makes the film. It is impossible to see anyone ever playing Abraham Lincoln again and being quite as convincing as Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis, who is known for becoming his characters on and off screen when making a movie, is the great man. Lincoln is surely looking down from Heaven and smiling on Day-Lewis. He does him so much justice and from what we know about Lincoln that has been carried down through the years, he is the absolute embodiment of him.

Sally Field is also incredible. Her performance is so heartfelt and shows a wife and mother who has given everything to her family.

Tommy Lee Jones is also brilliant as Thaddeus Stevens. It’s a strong performance and one with so much charisma.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not on screen for a tremendous amount of time, but for the time which he is, he is very good. He has one particular scene with Day-Lewis when he shows that he has it in him to become one of the greats in the years to come.

Lincoln is a wonderful history lesson, but misses that emotional chord that would make it a great.

7.5/10

The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin

Year: 2011

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Before I begin my review…

                Happy New Year to all Movie Critical readers and followers! Thank you for all your support in the past year. You all mean so much to us here. Here’s to another year of great movie viewing and a very exciting awards season in the next two months!

                I admit it, I really should have gone and read some Tintin comics before going to see The Adventures of Tintin.  I am actually surprised that I hadn’t, all my friends and my husband have. It was right in my generation’s youth.

                I have a sneaking suspicion I would have enjoyed The Adventures of Tintin more if I had read the comics.  I would have understood more of what Tintin is all about. He is all about the solving the mystery while having an adventure in the meantime. However, the mysteries and adventures aren’t meant to be complex. Tintin is really about the nice guy being the hero and appealing to the younger generation. What more should you expect than what Steven Spielberg gives us?

Review

                The Adventures of Tintin is a beautiful piece of animation, but will only completely satisfy those true Tintin fans and kids on their holidays.

                Steven Spielberg has really done a great job visually of bringing Tintin and his adventures alive in the present. However, those who are not fans of Tintin or above the age of 12 will find not quite get the way the film pans out and will find the film slightly tedious.

                Tintin (Jamie Bell) starts the film buying a model of the ship, The Unicorn and is immediately thrown into a world of mystery. Mr Sakharine (Daniel Craig) robs Tintin of his new model ship and when Tintin starts snooping further into why his new ship is of such great importance, he kidnaps him and boards him on the ship to Morocco. Tintin teams up with the drunken Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), the original captain of the ship who’s crew Sakharine has made turn against. Together, Tintin and Haddock, along with Tintin’s trusty dog, Snowy, find out the importance of The Unicorn and work against the evil Sakharine.

                The Adventures of Tintin is absolute heaven for those who are familiar with the comic. It has exactly what the comics have. There is action and adventure and Tintin is the good guy everyone remembers him as being. The important thing to remember is that Tintin was created for children, and this movie is very much for children. It is simple and the humour is clean and slapstick.

                However, if you are not familiar with the comic, you may find this movie a little too simple and almost tedious. There are periods where not much happens besides adventurous action and the scenes just seem useless in the grand scheme of the film. It is during these scenes that you wish Tintin would just hurry up and get to where he should be and figure it all out.

                One thing that people of all ages can agree on is that the animation is just brilliant. Tintin has come a long way from being a pencil sketch. The attention to detail is just incredible. The visuals are something to be marvelled at all throughout the film. The Adventures of Tintin is one of those animated films you are watching and then halfway through you forget you actually are watching an animated film and not a live action film.

                All the voice actors do a good job. Jamie Bell isn’t bad, but he is overshadowed by the ever versatile Andy Serkis. Serkis changes his persona once again and his voice is unrecognisable throughout the film. Daniel Craig is quite similar in that it is hard to pick his voice at times and he does the villainous voice well. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are perfectly fun as Thomson and Thompson.

                The Adventures of Tintin is one not to be missed by Tintin fans and a great film to take children to over the break, but people outside those two groups will probably think of better films to see at this point in time.

7/10

Super 8

 

Super 8

Year: 2011

Director: J. J. Abrams

Cast: Joel Chandler, Elle Fanning


In My Own Words

One of the things I really loved about Super 8, was that the children with their movie really reminded me of myself when I was around their age. My love of movies has gone back as long as I can remember and in primary school, I decided I wanted to make a movie. Needless to say, the boys in this film got a lot further in the film production stage than what I did. Being only 10, I wasn’t quite sure what to do after the pre-production stage of discussing the movies with my friends as much as I possibly could. Yet, I was completely serious about this film. I spent every lunchtime trying to get all my friends involved and telling them what was the difference between a producer and a director. My movie was to be called “The Taso” and was about a little furry monster who used to live in one of the girls house. He was a sneaky little thing and managed to play games with everyone without actually getting caught. “The Taso” became one of those classic films that was shelved and will never see the light of day.

Back to young people who have actually cracked it into the film industry, Super 8 seems to be the film which has absolutely catapulted Elle Fanning into super stardom. Elle Fanning is, of course, the younger sister of Dakota Fanning, as you may be able to tell not just from the last name but also from their striking resemblance. She has also played the younger version of her sister in I Am Sam and the TV mini-series, Taken.  Yet, Fanning has not ever seemed to be in the shadow of her sister. Before Super 8, she is most remembered for the role of young Daisy in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and as Cleo in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere. Super 8 proves what she is capable of and she really is a little firecracker. It may be a big call as the older Fanning is an outstanding actress herself, but the younger Fanning could actually in time to come be a bigger star in her own right than her sister. I know, big call.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review

The combination in Super 8 of writer and director, J. J. Abrams and producer, Steven Spielberg is an absolute dream. This combination excites not only sci-fi fans, but anybody from any walk of life who just loves great film.  So popular opinion should suggest that we have a great film on our hands, right? Well, maybe.

Super 8 does have exactly what is needed for a great action/ sci-fi film. There is suspense, intrigue and amazing special effects, but there are things which stop this film from making it over the threshold of a good and great film. The film is fairly predictable with an ending which is edging on anti-climatic and as a whole, the film really doesn’t strike you as being completely original. Yes it is intriguing and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the large majority of the film, but it cannot be claimed as being something which we haven’t seen before. However, there really isn’t anything new under the sun so we can’t be too critical.

Set in 1979 in the Ohio town of Lillian, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), the son of the town’s deputy, is focused only on helping Charles (Riley Griffiths) and his group of friends finish make their zombie film. While filming one night, they are witness to the horrific derailment of a cargo train running through town. After this accident, strange things start happening in Lillian and people start disappearing. The town is in panic and Joe and his friends may be the only ones outside the forces who know exactly what is going on.

At first sight, Super 8 seems resemble ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. Joe jumps on his bicycle and one can only have déjà vu to Elliot on his bicycle from Spielberg’s 1982 super hit. Yet then once he teams up with his friends and witnesses the train crash, it is déjà vu to Stand By Me. So what we are looking at is a mash up of ET and Stand By Me, with perhaps a splash of War Of The Worlds. However unoriginal this may make the film seem, there is still a huge sense of intrigue.

Super 8 is very well written and the script flows perfectly. There are also some very emotional scenes which pull at your heart strings. The script and accompanying cinematography methods make the film very suspenseful. In particular, the train crash segment is very intense. The special effects and sound effects employed for this film are brilliant. This is actually one film that proves that you do not need 3D in the cinema to make an action film extremely confronting to those in the audience. The fact that Super 8 wasn’t released in 3D is actually very reassuring and refreshing when 3D seems to be the be all and end all for action films.

Another great thing about this film is the way in which it doesn’t show you much until the right time. In the trailer for the film, nothing is given away as to what is actually in the train so you enter the film with complete intrigue to begin with. The questions are not answered at the beginning of the film, and nothing of the thing in question is really visually shown until later in the film. This is a great technique as it keeps the suspense, intrigue and audience’s attention.

The ending to this film is not as fulfilling as what some may expect it to be. Yet in saying that, it is not easy to think of another way which this film could have finished and it be the type of film which Abrams and Spielberg intended it to be. However, it may be exactly the type of ending that some people were after. It is a fitting ending, but it lacks real intensity in the closing scenes. There is some emotional intensity, but not for the prime focus of the situation.

One thing that also should be touched on is the unrealistic element of the film, in which there is quite a few throughout the film. For example, there is no way anybody could survive a head on collision with a cargo train going at full speed and survive. So kids, don’t try to stop a train at all, car or not. It’s all the magic of movies!

Joel Courtney plays the lead role of Joe Lamb, and in his very first acting performance on screen he does very well. He is very sweet and is the quiet hero. At several times throughout the film, you just want to give him a hug. However, it is Elle Fanning who steals the show in this film. She is brilliant from her very first line in the film and she is the one the audience wants to see more of. She is completely natural in every one of her scenes and like Courtney, you just want to give her a hug and tell her everything is okay. Kyle Chandler is fine as Joe’s father, but he doesn’t really show the traits of a grieving father or a deputy who is under a tremendous amount of stress. The relationship between him and his son doesn’t seem as strained as what it is made out to be.

Super 8 is one of those films which you have to see at the cinema to get the full scope of what it is. It is extremely entertaining and also very sweet in parts. This is one of those rare films which is for everyone.

7.5/10