Centurion (2010)

Unfortunately, even if I wished having another topic this week, I didn't have the time to see something else, and I also have some other stuff to solve on my head to be able to do a memory search for an older better movie ... Anyway, I should have on my blog from time to time something for the "better avoid it" category too, don't I ? :) ...

"Centurion" wants to be something between epic, history and action. In what's concerning the middle part, we have the context set in the year 117 somewhere in Britain in what seems to have been something like a Bermuda Triangle of that time for the Roman IX-th Legion. Not until today is known what really happened with that troops, besides not being able to pose too much of a fight against the local tribes resistance. The most common theory is the one given by the movie as far as I know = the IX-th Legion disappearance was more exactly a massacre that happened somewhere in the Britain's woods and swamps. That's actually pretty much about the historic value of the movie (not 100% certain though). The rest it's about a chase where the chased are a small group of roman legionaries escaped from the slaughter, but still hunted by another small group due to the imprudence of killing the tribe's chief son. In theory, about taking sides, the movie probably wants you to care for the hunted ones. But.. if you try to consider a bit more objectively the whole situation (or mess ... it's more appropriate), you probably won't be so sure anymore who's the good guy and who's the bad one, if there is good and bad here ... thing that I don't know if it's ok or not, but for sure it can get a bit confusing.

One part that bothers is the gratuitous violence you get. And I'm not against the violence part in this kind of movie, I'm against the gratuitous one. Maybe it is about presenting a war as it is, but for me it's a bit exaggerated in the number of beheadings, eyes removed, etc. Especially considering that the whole "realistic feeling" is completely messed up by the stupidity of quite many situations that probably don't have any chance to happen as presented in the movie. It ranges from the well known and met verbal cliches up to really senseless actions. Too many to enumerate here ... I can tell only about the intelligent plans of running in the opposite direction of your own side, and figure out an U turn after, just to fool the enemy, with you being on foot, without food and with injured people, and the enemy on horses + you stick to the plan even when it's clear it doesn't work ... and you leave also a big helmet behind you, just to be sure that the best tracker in the country who's able to smell the wind to get your direction gets 100% percent chance to follow you. For the verbal cliche ... I'll better leave it without saying anything. It's enough to mention that the pict tribes speak something that's probably old Gaelic, and the roman Latin is pure English. And even more sometimes .. with Scottish accent (the area where the picts lived) - the movie is made in UK ... now ... I wasn't expecting to hear Latin, but you have to admit it's a bit ironical considering the whole context.

The only good parts from the movie are probably the score by Ilan Eshkeri (although not extraordinary) and Imogen Poots' warm blue eyes (but this is a very subjective appreciation :-p). There is also the cinematography, but this takes a dive at some points from beautiful (supported by the landscapes) to an abysmal kitsch (for the credits part, that wants to be something like a 3D stuff in a 2D movie, I'll better not comment at all). What I can say more, is that recently another movie was released, "The Eagle", based on a book, and also placed in the IX-th Legion context. I was planning to see that, but considering that IMDb ranks it even a bit lower than "Centurion" I'll probably have second thoughts on the probability to lose some time again for too less to worth it ...

Rating: 2 out of 5

Red Hill (2010)

How to start ... it's the most "shocky" movie I've seen lately. I'm probably repeating myself when saying that I'm not really a fan of the Australian cinema. Something doesn't work ... don't know ... The only exception up to this moment was "Balibo", but that one has the historical basis that matters the most. Well, the second exception for me seems to be "Red Hill".

As starting point we have our main character, Shane Cooper, young officer in the Australian police, who just arrived in the middle of nowhere = town of Red Hill, due to a transfer request. Why ? Because his pregnant wife needed a more peacefully and less stressful environment considering her husband's job (well, it's probably already obvious that it won't be like this ...). So ... the movie is focused on the first work day of the newest local legal enforcement employee. And the day begins with him late at work and without his gun, lost between his luggage. This pays with a harsh observation from the sheriff, not a very friendly guy, who afterward assigns the first work duty for the new recruit. To investigate what scarred the cattle of an old farmer who has the ranch on the other side of the hill ... and of course, our young officer must reach the other side of the hill to do that .. and the only mean of transportation available for him due to his colleagues kindness seems to be a nobody's horse wandering constantly in front of the police station. Well, the "vehicle" seems to be useful after all, getting him at destination where he finds out that the old farmer is suspecting ... a panther for the damages (reminder: the action takes place in Australia). Meanwhile, not very far from town an explosion happens at a maximum security prison. Among the fugitives seems to be a dangerous criminal caught for killing his wife some years in the past by the Red Hill sheriff. The escape seems for some reason to put fire on the daily plain program of the local forces who start preparing for a real assault being convinced that the (only one ..) guy will try to prove his aborigine descent by hunting them with a boomerang one by one (or of course with a shotgun when it's a more comfortable option).

Don't worry. I didn't touch the essence of the movie's subject in what's above. Although the way the action goes on becomes quite clear after the intro (but, believe me, it has a pretty important twist from what you might think). What's above may sound slightly comic, and I can say that the movie has its moments of humor (especially dark humor). But from the first gunshot it's quite clear that's a bit more serious as a genre. As a warning I can say that it's R rated (not the horror level like "Saw" for instance, but with enough bloody moments). What's interesting is that despite being an indie movie (something like 3 million $ budget was written somewhere) it gives you the impression of a normal production except maybe some moments when pretty bad CGI is used. For the rest you have a very nice cinematography which fully benefits from the outdoor setting. Add to this the soundtrack that's brilliantly composed and mixed to fit the scenes in front of your eyes. Actually this, the incredible of the moments and actually all the script which actually has some hidden reference to "Pulp Fiction" at some point, can make you think a bit about Tarantino and probably there are some influences in the directing style.

What else to say ... It's pretty difficult to put this movie in a well defined category because I pretty much disagree as main genre with everything that IMDb says, alphabetically as usual: Crime | Thriller | Western. Crime ... I always thought that the definition for that is something implying some criminal investigation, let's say as in "Poirot" after Agatha Christie or at most "Seven" by Fincher .. and the category doesn't have very much in common with "Red Hill". Thriller ... the movie has a bit too much action and lacks some depth to be called a thriller = you can see the end quite fast (although this doesn't spoil anything). Western ... it's placed in Australia, present days ... and this seems to get a bit far from the classic western definition ... but, from the three of them it's probably the most close to the truth = simple revenge story, lots of action. The interesting part is how this story is carried to the end by the movie, and less the story itself. And even if it has some obvious hard too believe exaggerations even in a context with pretty large boundaries, it deserves a look for the originality at least ( let me remind you : panthers in Australia :-p ).

Rating: 4 out of 5

Edge of Darkness (2010)

I was almost about to skip posting this considering the time restrictions I have, but I decided to do it (it will probably the record delay from my Romanian blog version that I managed to write somewhere between Saturday and Sunday). So .. for the last's week blog entry :), I'm probably also not having the best sync considering that Mel Gibson isn't probably the most appreciated character these days, but it's the only movie that's fresh in my mind at this moment, and it's actually quite good. So ...

Somewhere, on a lake, under the moonlight, three corpses are floating. In a train station in Boston, Thomas Craven, detective in the local PD, welcomes his daughter, an intern of a shady nuclear energy research company (or something like this). She seems to be back home after a pretty long absence but her visit doesn't last too long. She seems to have a cold and she starts feeling more sick, finally deciding to go to a hospital, but ... the way stops at the front porch of her father's house ... That's how the movie starts ( :) and I didn't say more than you can see in the trailer ).

"Edge of Darkness" is a remake after a BBC mini-series from '85 that I didn't get to see but probably deserves credit for the original story, and it's interesting that it has the same director. Anyway, going back to the movie, it's a thriller that for me was something like a mix between "The Pelican Brief" for the political touch, "Michael Clayton" for the evil corporation theme, and add to these a scent from "Man on Fire". Despite all these references it has enough originality in it and pretty solid story to tell. The script is excellent, even considering some parts that are slightly exaggerated and some other that maybe don't make much sense up to a certain point. You can say that you have a complex story not only the action part you're able to see in the trailer (considering the usual stuff on big screens these days). Actually, I think the trailer is not so good in presenting the movie, but maybe it's better because you will get more than a simple revenge story as probably suggested. Besides this, "Edge of Darkness" has something that you can't see in the trailer apart from some letters - the title. It's indeed dark .. and cold, but not in a way to make you wonder if it's safe to leave home considering what kind of people you might meet outside as in "Brooklyn's Finest", "Winter's Bone" or "Training Day". This time the feeling gets to an upper level from the common everyday life = reaches the political area (= you can leave home, inside is as unsafe as it's outside :) ). The harsh part of the movie is helped a lot by the editing. There are two scenes to mention (of course I won't disclose them :) ), that aren't at all as violent as you can see in the usual horror movies, but much much more effective when they take place. But the movie compensates from time to time, doesn't get to any extremes, you have some places where exactly the fact that overall is quite dark and cold helps for a short while to get quite warm as a feeling (I'm tired and I'm probably rambling nonsense :) but I think you really get to feel something for the character, so from the empathy point of view the way the film is quite well done).

I'll wrap up as I started, saying a few words about the cast. It was supposed to have also De Niro in a supporting role as a government "problem solver", but he's not there. Which actually turned to be quite ok, considering Ray Winstone as replacement, and I really doubt that De Niro could have done a better role. About Gibson I won't say more than that I hope he didn't completely bury his career with the current scandals because strictly judging him for the movie business deserves all the appreciation, and you can see that also here. And now the trailer ... which as I said ... doesn't give too much of what you can actually see ;) just check out the movie

Rating: 4 out of 5

Enigma (2001)

Considering its lately peak of success I said myself to stay on british movie territory this week with a title that's a bit older. "Enigma" is something close to a spy story during World War 2, but to be more exact as a general feeling it's like a mix between drama, thriller and romance in a rhythm that resembles a bit "The English Patient" = it might seem to have some overlengths when you watch it, but the final compensates this.

The subject is placed at Bletchley Park, the british centre in charge with the german transmission decrypting during WW2, having as point of start the broken affair between a cryptanalist and an operator working in different sectors. Well, this becomes the intrigue for a complicated story with mysterious person dissapearings and leaks of information to the enemy. The movie is a bit overdramatized at some points, especially considering that all the action, that takes place exclusively around the mentioned base, is relatively calm. There is some documentary value also in the movie = you get to see a real Enigma encrypting machine, and at some points there are actual explanations about how all this stuff worked, but I doubt that these are clear enough for a normal viewer who doesn't know much about the topic. One of the worst parts of the movie is the cinematography, the idea of using filters with a pale tone for the flashbacks being horrible, considering the movie already has pretty warm chromatic and pretty much lacks the contrast, and to put the cherry on top it is slow paced ... so the visual feeling = go to sleep. As good parts, as usual in an UK made movie you have the casting, but the best I think it's the score, this being the last John Barry movie. From my point of view, John Barry was probably among the top three british composers in the last century, and one of the few that made a difference during the '60s and the '70s from the classic discreet to almost anemic typical Hollywood composing style in that period.

One last thing to say is that the movie is based on a novel by Robert Harris, probably more known after the recent Polanski's "Ghost Writer" also based on one of his novels. The idea is that if you liked the above title or "Archangel" another historical/politic/spy thriller with the same book author (although quite weak as a movie) you'll probably enjoy "Enigma" too. It's the same type of mix between events and even characters inspired from reality but placed in a fictive context that tends to seem like an alternative history for what really happened. Maybe in "Enigma"'s case is not that obvious, considering the less popular/known context :) but I don't have time for details on this now.. just enjoy the movie, to quote it "a rose is just plaintext" ;)

Rating: 3 out of 5