Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes
Year: 2009
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

In My Own Words
Everyone knows the basics of “Sherlock Holmes”. He is a British detective who has an offsider named Watson. That’s pretty much my extent of my knowledge of Sherlock Holmes. I love reading, but have never read a Sherlock Holmes book. Upon seeing this film, I was expecting a bit of a background about Holmes, or maybe even a beginning point where Holmes becomes a detective. This is not what the film is about. It throws you in the deep end of a Holmes story and expects you to understand everything and everyone in it. This is not always a bad thing, as a little mystery in a film is a good thing. However, too much mystery can be messy.

Upon researching a bit more once I got home, it turns out that Sherlock Holmes’ creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle actually does not disclose much about Holmes’ world outside his detective work. He does not write much about his family, his past education or his love life. So this film can be forgiven for its lack of character development. Yet, I still believe that a director such as Guy Ritchie could find a way of including some type of subtle character development, whether or not it be through words. Perhaps he was just trying to stay true to the books, as many directors who are adapting novels into movies do. One thing is certain, there must be a sequel to this film, as too many questions are unanswered here for there not to be. We can only hope so anyway, or it will be one of those films I will be thinking about for years to come, still trying to figure out why certain things were there in the movie. Such as, does Watson’s betrothed, Mary, really look a bit suspicious, or is it just me? Or was Irene Adler constructed so basically because she is to have an unravelling or character in the future? These are the things I am wondering about anyway.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
The highly anticipated “Sherlock Holmes” will delight many, but disappoint many others. The film ultimately does what it sets out to do, which is entertain the audience. It is nothing short of entertaining with its special effects and action sequences, but it does certainly lack substance in certain areas, in particular, that of character. “Sherlock Holmes” opens with the legendary Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his partner, Dr John Watson (Jude Law) stopping the evil Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) from taking the life of a sixth young woman by using his black magic. Lord Blackwood is sentenced to death and hung, but somehow comes back to life. Holmes is once again called upon to stop Blackwood, who also has a keen interest in Holmes.

First and foremost, this film is thoroughly entertaining. The special effects and the story will keep audiences entertained and capture their attention for the whole time. There are some stunning visuals of London in the 1800’s and the period is perfectly captured by director, Guy Ritchie. It is obvious that this film has been made by Ritchie, as it contains dark humour and has a rough edge to it. It also contains a few fighting scenes which are reminiscent of his earlier films. He does do a good job, but there are quite a few criticisms of this film. Firstly, there is not much character development and many things that do not seem to make sense. As a stand alone film, it does not work quite so well. Ritchie assumes that the audience knows who Holmes, Watson and Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) are, and does not attempt to give the audience a helping hand as to find out where these characters have come from and why they are the way they are, and why they have these relationships with each other. Apparently, the Sherlock Holmes creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was not a fan of the retelling of each of the characters and their personal stories in his novels, so Ritchie may be forgiven for making this choice in his film, as he stayed true to the novels. However, many audience members will be sure to feel lost, as they would not have heard much about these characters before seeing this movie. The film does also leave room for a sequel, as there are unanswered questions both during the film and at the end of the film.

Robert Downey Jr. does definitely shine as Sherlock Holmes. He is quirky and puts a new spin on the traditional Sherlock Holmes, making him more rugged and comical. He is also extremely likable. Jude Law is also perfectly cast as Watson. The two actors compliment each other on screen and play off each other. The characters are both witty and quick, making their relationship interesting and humorous. The screenwriters must be complimented for the way they have written the relationship between Holmes and Watson. However, Rachel McAdams does not shine. She does not seem suited to the role of Irene Adler. One would expect, as she is said to be a criminal, for her to be far more devious in nature and bordering on the femme fatale role, rather than just plain. There does not seem to be much depth to her character and can in fact be quite boring at times. There are moments throughout the film where it is unclear why she is even there. Adler and Holmes were supposedly madly in love with one another once up a time (or, we suspect this, but there is not spark or on screen chemistry between her and Holmes. There is suggestion towards the end of the film that if there is a follow up, she may have a bigger role then, but her role is almost useless in this film. It would seem that Kelly Reilly, who plays Watson’s fiancé Mary, would have been more suited to the role of Irene Adler than McAdams.

Overall, “Sherlock Holmes” does what it sets out to do, entertain. It is witty and clever, and people will be excited to learn of all of Holmes detective methods, but the connection to the characters may not be there as much as one would hope.
6.5/10

Bright Star

Bright Star
Year: 2009
Director: Jane Campion
Cast: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw

In My Own Words
Let me just start of by saying how much I love this time of the year when it comes to movies. Not that I don’t love this time of the year for other reasons, but Boxing Day and New Years are great for new movies. I spent most of December looking forward to the 26th of December and the onslaught of new films being released on that day. This was one of the films that I had been looking forward to seeing.

My trip to the cinemas today to see this movie did not go as much to plan as I thought it would. Being a public holiday and a rainy day in Sydney town, everybody wanted to go to the movies. My local cinema would have had at least 10 sold out sessions today. I turned up to watch the 1:10pm session of “Bright Star”, only to find out it was full and I had to buy a ticket for the 4pm session, which eventually became sold out too.

I enjoyed “Bright Star” as much as I thought I would, which is always a pleasant finding. Abbie Cornish was absolutely delightful, which I was very happy about. It was quite a different role for her, as I have never seen her in a period piece before, but she pulled it off beautifully. The film was visually stunning, one I would definitely buy on DVD so I would be able to watch the most breath taking scenes again. I am also not ashamed to say, this is the only film I have seen this year that has had me in tears at the cinema.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“Bright Star” is the highly anticipated period romance from celebrated director, Jane Campion. The film is extremely romantic and is nostalgic of the days of falling in love without the technology of mobile phones and the internet. It is the semi-biographical story of the romance between poet John Keats and Frances “Fanny” Brawne. Set in 1818, Fanny (Abbie Cornish) cares more about fashion than poetry, until poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his business partner, Charles Brown (Paul Schneider) move in next door. They fall for each other, but it is a love affair plagued with class prejudice and sickness.

“Bright Star” is truly amazing. It is beautifully filmed and cast. Campion is in her element with a film such as this and this film shows how well she works with a project such as this. Everything about the film is stunning. However, the main criticism people will have of this film is that it is quite slow. It takes awhile to get to the point of the film, but there is a reason behind this slow pace. “Bright Star” exhibits fantastic story and character development. The audience is able to completely identify with the characters and feels like they know the characters personally, and this makes the slow pace of the film quite acceptable.

Abbie Cornish is amazing in this film as the young Fanny, who is first and foremost concerned with fashion and sewing until she meets Mr Keats. Her performance is amazing as it is extremely heart-felt and at times, tear jerking. It could well be her best role yet, although she was superb in “Somersault” and “Candy”. There were rumours that she may have been up for a Golden Globe nomination, but due to heavy competition this year, she was left out. However, there is always hope for an Oscar nomination for her. Ben Whishaw is far from bad as John Keats, but Cornish is definitely the star of the film. Both Cornish and Whishaw are brilliantly cast, as they work so well together on screen. The chemistry between the two is extremely believable and they are visually suited to being on screen together. Paul Schneider is also noteworthy as the unlikeable Charles Brown. The audience feels real hatred for the sarcasm and immaturity of his character.

The cinematography of “Bright Star” is superb. The images and the way in which they are filmed are visually stunning. The choice of shots and editing is spot on to show the importance of certain scenes and highlight the emotions that the characters feel. As one would expect with such a romantic film, there are some amazing visuals involving flowering meadows and butterflies that one should definitely watch out for. The costumes are always noteworthy, especially those which Fanny wears.

“Bright Star” is an amazing film on so many levels. As may be expected from it though, it is not a film that everyone will enjoy for its subject content and its pace. However, it is definitely one that should be seen in order to admire some amazing acting, cinematography and beautiful visuals.
8.5/10

Avatar

Avatar
Year: 2009
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang

In My Own Words
I never expect much from blockbusters. The spectacle is normally bigger and better than the movie itself. This is exactly how I felt going into “Avatar”. I had heard so many good things about it that I was sceptical. Could a movie that is so highly anticipated really be everything that it is cracked up to be? I was starting to think that it really could be so when the Golden Globe nominations were released and “Avatar” was there among the Best Picture nominees. However, I refused to expect too much going into the cinema.

I’m glad I didn’t expect too much, as it made the thrill of it being such a great movie even better. My boyfriend and I came out of the cinema buzzing with excitement. Our only disappointment being that we didn’t see it in 3D. Of course we could always go and see it again though. I always respected James Cameron as a director, but I believe this is his finest work, even better than his Oscar winning “Titanic”, although the two are very different films. This movie shows how amazingly creative he is and it really is a ground breaking film. After seeing this, I am now thinking that it will be a fight between him and Quentin Tarantino for Best Director at the Golden Globes in January.

People are saying that “Avatar” will change the future of film making. I’m hoping it doesn’t, because I found this movie so original and creative, and it’s been so long since I feel like I have watched something completely new. I just hope there won’t be a series of copycats after this. I love to celebrate originality.
These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
The hype is true, “Avatar” is like nothing you have ever seen before. It is completely original and a tribute to James Cameron’s direction and imagination. It’s not only original, but extraordinarily stunning and shows how far CGI has come in film. Ex-marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is sent to the planet Pandora in place of his recently deceased twin brother in order to fulfil his duties. Pandora is inhabited by an indigenous race who the humans on Pandora are trying to get to abandon their territory. Jake is given an avatar who’s body he will enter in order to try and survive Pandora and it’s dangers. He ends up becoming part of the tribe and understanding them more than any other human ever has.

It is impossible to encompass the story behind “Avatar” in a paragraph, as there are so many underlying themes that contribute to the story. Pandora is a complex world, but an extremely beautiful and intriguing one. “Avatar” is 160 minutes long, but does not seem like it. It keeps the audience captivated from the very first scene to the last. Again, it is unlike anything else that has ever been made and is a breath of fresh air. James Cameron wrote and directed the film, therefore creating the world of Pandora and showing what an amazing imagination he has and an even more amazing talent for being able to bring this world to life on the screen.

“Avatar” is first and foremost visually stunning. Many images in the movie are completely breathtaking, and you will definitely hear people around you in the cinema exclaiming when they see Pandora at night in all its beauty. The combination of real life actors and CGI characters works extremely well, making you almost forget that you are seeing a computer generated world. The combination of the two is one of the reasons why “Avatar” is so successful, it is a fantasy film which is extremely life like and realistic.

Sam Worthington is the star of the film and does the best he can with the role. Sigourney Weaver is also a stand out as the tough-talking scientist. However, it is not the acting in the film that is the stand out. The main celebrations of the film are the graphics and Cameron’s direction. Cameron could well be on his way to another Oscar nomination for this film and his work on it come March.

“Avatar” is one of the best films of the year, and if you are only going to see one film at the cinemas this year, it should be this one.

9/10