Film Review: Dunkirk

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk is a World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. Told from various perspectives, we see how the war effected those in the ground – Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), Alex (Harry Styles), and Gibson (Aneurin Barnard) – those in the air – Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden) – and those at sea – Soldier (Cillian Murphy), many of whom were rescued by civilian sailors – Mr Dawson (Mark Rylance), George (Barry Keoghan) and Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney).

Film Review: In The Heart of The Sea

Directed by Ron Howard, In The Heart Of The Sea is based on Nathaniel Philbrick‘s 2000 novel of the same name, which tells the true of the sinking of the Essex, an 1820s New England whaling ship, which inspired the classic novel, Moby-Dick. The story of the crew – Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), First Mate Owen (Chris Hemsworth), Second Mate Matthew (Cillian Murphy), and cabin boy Thomas (Tom Holland) – their whaling voyage and the disaster that followed, is well-known. But that’s only half the story.

Beginning in 1850, the film opens with novelist Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) visiting an innkeeper, an older Thomas (Brendan Gleeson), seeking the true story of the Essex and the mythical monster that took it down. Telling the story for the first time, Thomas reveals his encounter of a mammoth-sized monster with a human sense of vengeance, and the harrowing aftermath that followed as the crew is pushed to their limits braving storms, starvation, and despair.

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Film Review: Transcendence

Directed by Wally Pfister, Transcendence is a sci-fi thriller that follows Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp), the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence. As he works toward his goal of creating an omniscient, sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions, his highly controversial experiments make him the prime target of anti-technology extremists, who will do whatever it takes to stop him. But with few options left, Will wants to become a participant in his own transcendence, to establish a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), the question is not if they can help Will., but if they should.

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Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises

(Published in Issue 12 of my publication In Retrospect)

The final instalment to Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises picks up eight years after the attacks of The Joker and Two-Face from 2008’s The Dark Knight when a new terrorist leader, Bane (Tom Hardy), overwhelms Gotham’s finest, including Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Detective Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). When jewel thief Selina aka Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) threatens that a storm is coming, Bruce Wayne a.k.a the caped crusader that is Batman (Christian Bale) must resurface from his years of solitude to protect a city that has branded him an enemy. With Bane intending to destroy everything that Bruce has his name to, he must enlist the help of his butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and his business manager Fox (Morgan Freeman), and put his trust in a new colleague Miranda (Marion Cotillard) to rise again.

Christian Bale talks ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)

Christian Bale has been talking about where the final chapter of Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy will take his character of Bruce Wayne this week, as confirmation is given that the sequel will take place eight years after the events depicted in The Dark Knight.

From the sounds of it, Bale will be going to some very dark places, posing the question to his fictional alter-ego, “How long will you let the pain and loss define your life?” when talking to Aceshowbiz.

Film Review: In Time

(Published on The National Student and in Issue 4 of my publication In Retrospect)

Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, In Time is set in the year 2161, a future where time has taken over as the world’s currency. At the age of 25, a person stops ageing, but the fluorescent green clock fitted into their arm starts ticking giving them only one more year to live. From then on they must work for more time if they wish to carry on living, but it’s not as easy for those outside of New Greenwich who live off hours rather than years.

Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) lives in the ghetto, in a time zone where people live day-to-day, working their hardest to make it through the night. But when a stranger gives Will over a century of life, he becomes determined to change his way of living and heads to the richest timezone, in a Robin Hood fashion to steal from the rich and give to poor. However, timekeeper Raymond (Cillian Murphy) is on his trail accusing him of murder, forcing Will to kidnap millionaire and time-loaning businessman Phillipe Weis’ (Vincent Kartheiser) daughter, Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), and take her hostage to protect his own life.

Film Review: Retreat

(Published on Lost In The Multiplex and BritScene, and read in In Retrospect – Issue 3)

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This month sees the release of two very different takes on the widespread of a killer virus. The first with Retreat, a psychological, British thriller directed by Carl Tibbetts, and the second with an American thriller, Contagion, which you can read here.

Retreat was released in the UK earlier this month, following couple Martin (Cillian Murphy) and Kate (Thandie Newton) who take a break to an isolated island in an attempt to fix the troubles of their marriage. When they rescue a washed-up man, Jack (Jamie Bell), and bring him into their home, the last thing they expected to hear about was the threat of a killer virus heading towards the island. Unable to leave their house and with nobody on the island to help them, they begin to think this violent stranger has been lying. When their situation reaches ultimate intensity, they have a decision to make: to believe the only company they have, even if he has a gun to their heads, or to make a run for it. But nothing could have prepared them for them for the ultimate and shocking truth.

First Clip for ‘Retreat’ Shows There’s No Escaping

(Written for BritScene)

The first clip for Retreat has been released this week, emphasising the sheer psychological intensity of Carl Tibbetts‘ directorial debut.

The clip places Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight) and Thandie Newton (2012) in the middle of a highly tense situation with Jamie Bell (Jumper), a washed up stranger, pointing a gun at the couple’s heads, threatening that they have lost any chance of escaping.