REVIEW: CRIMSON PEAK

I am a big fan of Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro. His work in the film industry has been critically acclaimed and even achieving some form of cult status. Some of his best directorial efforts include Hellboy, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, and Pacific Rim. My favourite film of his is Pan’s Labyrinth (2007) which some critics have proclaimed it one of the finest Spanish films ever made. A must-watch if you have not seen it. Therefore, I am quite excited to watch his latest directorial effort which I will be reviewing.

Del Toro latest film is called Crimson Peak. He shares screenwriting credits with regular collaborator Matthew Robbins. The film stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Charlie Hunnam. The film is produced by Legendary Pictures, the production company responsible for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, Godzilla, and many others.

Will one of my favourite directors strike a chord with the fan in me? Do read on…

The mansion nicknamed Crimsom Peak.

SYNOPSIS:
In the late 1800s, a young Edith Cushing is visited by her deceased mothers and warns her about a place called Crimson Peak. Baffled by this event, she shrugs it off over the years but still keeps that warning in mind. Now an adult, Edith (Mia Wasikowska) helps her entrepreneurial father in his business but longs to be a writer. One day, a charming aristocratic English gentleman Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) approaches Edith’s father for a business prospect but was rejected. During this time, the ghost of Edith’s mother appears again with the same warning Both Thomas and Edith develops a romantic relationship much to the dismay of Thomas’s sister Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain). After the death of Edith’s father, she marries Thomas and moves to England. Together with Lucille, both of them live in a mansion called Crimson Peak.

Mia Wasikowska as Edith Cushing

SCRIPT:
Original and scary. From the start, the film establishes itself that it will be a horror film with ghost and ghouls but it slowly became a period drama. The script was trying to combine a balance of horror, gore, romance, drama, and mystery but I feel this was not done well. Although the story can be easily understood, the script opened up to several plot holes which begs some questioning. I’ll explain more of this in the filming section later on. The four main characters were well established and can be relatable to the audience. The dialogue is a little over-the-top and fancy as the film is set in a certain time period.

Tom Hiddleston as Sir Thomas Sharpe

ACTING:
Very well acted by Wasikowska, Hiddleston, Chastain, and Hunnam. I was impressed at how they brought life to their roles. Mia Wasikowska burst onto the Hollywood scene as Alice in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010) and she is definitely a star to look out for in the future. I have always liked Jessica Chastain as an actress and she too performed well with Tom Hiddleston.

 

Jessica Chastain as Lucille Sharpe

FILMING:

As with all Guillermo Del Toro films, he will transport you into a world that is believable on screen. He pays close attention to art direction, production design, set decoration, visual effects, and many other things which forms the core essence of his film. Everything in the film looks beautiful and pleasant even though it is a horror film. The cinematography and choice of colours were really good. As I mentioned earlier, the script had several plot holes. However, Del Toro manages to make the audience overlook them and interjects practical effects and visual effects to raise the level of excitement. Speaking of effects, they too were really good.

Above: Director Guillermo Del Toro
Below: Del Toro on -set with Mia Wasikowska

PACING:
Started off good but became a little draggy as it progressed. Good climactic ending but I felt it could have been slightly better.

Charlie Hunnam as Dr. Alan McMichael

DOWNSIDE:
There are lots of dialogue and it is advised to be attentive. If you one doesn’t like a film with lots of dialogue talk, this movie may not be fun.

UPSIDE:
A beautiful film to look at. A beautiful film to appreciate. A beautiful film to admire its technical achievements.

Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) and Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain)

OVERALL: 
It may have been marketed as a horror drama but the film is more a heavy drama. It is not one of Guillermo Del Toro’s best work but he does it in his own trademark style. Del Toro fans should not miss this film.

 

RATING:

7.5 out of 10.0

 

 

 

REVIEW: GOOSEBUMPS

In popular culture and entertainment, horror stories are generally not associated with children as its target audience. However, there is a series of children’s horror fiction novellas titled Goosebumps which is hugely popular worldwide which I was unware of. The books are written by American author R.L. Stine which has been published in many languages and also has an animated TV series. The books depicts children encountering scary situations involving popular folklore monsters and supernatural beings. It would be a little extensive for me to explain its background, so you can click here to read more about it.

 
This would be the first film adaptation of the Goosebumps book series. On the director’s seat is Rob Letterman who directed animated feature films Shark Tale (2004) and Monsters vs Aliens (2009). Letterman’s first live-action film was Gulliver’s Travels starring Jack Black. Both director and actor are reunited in this film in which Black plays the male lead. He is supported by Dylan Minette, Odeya Rush, Ryan Lee, Jillian Bell, and Amy Ryan. The screenwriters are Darren Lemke, Scott Alexander, and Larry Karaszewski. Veteran Neal H. Moritz serves as one of the producers.

Will a subject material meant for children appeal to mass audiences of all ages? Do read on…

 

Jack Black as R.L. Stine

SYNOPSIS:
A teenage boy named Zach and his mom are new residents at a small town after having moved from the big city due to mom’s occupation transfer. Upon arriving at their new home, he is greeted by a teenage girl named Hannah who stays next door to him. Her dad fiercely forbids any interaction of her daughter with anyone and keeps her locked in their house. Fearing that something may be amiss, Zach breaks in to his neighbour’s house to investigate. When Zach encounters Hannah, he learns that her father is famed author R.L. Stine (Jack Black) who writes horror fiction novels for children. While trying to clean up his mess during the break-in, he accidentally opens one of her dad’s many book collections and to his amazement, a creature crawls out from the book. Once Stine finds out, he and his teenage companions must catch the creature before things get more chaotic. Unbeknownst to them, that is not the only creature they have to deal with.

Dylan Minnette as Zach

SCRIPT:
Inventive but a little kiddy. As I mentioned earlier, the film’s target audience are young kids and teenagers so I expected the story to be not too serious. However, I was surprised that the storyline and plot could even appeal to an adult audience. The premise is pretty straightforward and predictable like most kids films. However, there is a good mix of dark humour and intense moments which adults might like. Characterization is focused more on Jack Black while the supporting roles were minimal. I like the fact that the story was a heightened reality of author R.L. Stine’s work.

Actors Ryan Lee, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, and Jack Black confronting one of his creations

ACTING:
Jack Black did well as he is an established actor. Nothing much can be said for the supporting cast as there were mostly newcomers. I would like to have seen more of Amy Ryan, once a nominee for Oscar’s Best Supporting Actress in the past. Look out for Ryan Lee who may just be a scene stealer for the film.

Director Rob Letterman on set with Jack Black

FILMING:
Rob Letterman has background in animated feature films and he brought the same style of excitement to this film. He did well in balancing a story aimed for kids but at the same time not making the film to kiddie. Most of the scenes takes place during night time so nothing much can be said for the cinematography. Visual effects was just okay but it was effective in making the film interesting.

A visual effects shot from the film

PACING:
Good start and good build-up. A little anti-climactic towards the end but it is meant to be a fun film so it is okay.

DOWNSIDE:
Can be too kiddie for some. Visual effects didn’t ‘wow’ me.

UPSIDE:
Kids will love it especially those between the ages of 10 to 15 years old. Not bad of adventure film.

(L-R): Jack Black as R.L. Stine, Dylan Minnette as Zach,

 

OVERALL: 

I like it simply because of the freshness of the story material despite it being an adaptation. The multitude of  scary monsters was fun to watch.

 

RATING:

7.5 out of 10.0

REVIEW: THE MARTIAN

As the autumn / fall season begins, Hollywood movie studios would usually showcase quality films as the year end approaches. This will allow the films to be fresh in the minds of multiple voters when the movie awards season happens in spring the following year. Most movie studios will invest in big budget productions with established actors and crew members. I managed to watch such a film.

The film is titled The Martian. The filmed is helmed by, in my opinion, one of the greatest directors in show business Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Blade Runner). The film boasts a star-studded cast with Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, The Bourne film series) leading an ensemble which consists of Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, Aksel Hennie, Donald Glover, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Martian is written by Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, World War Z) which he adapted from a novel of the same name by Andy Weir. Veteran Simon Kinberg and Scott serves as producers.

Will Ridley Scott’s latest film be just as great as his previous works? Do read on…

 

The crew of Ares III played by actors (L-R): Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Kate Mara, and Aksel Hannie

 

SYNOPSIS:
During a manned mission to the planet Mars, six NASA astronauts encounter a severe storm which puts their mission in jeopardy. Led by mission commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), she decides to evacuate the planet due to the intensity of the storm being life threatening. During the evacuation, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) was struck by the storm and separated from the crew. The remaining five astronauts reluctantly leave the planet while presuming Watney is lost and dead. Watney miraculously is still alive but all communication equipment have been damaged. Anticipating that he will have to stay for a few more years till the next mission to Mars, he devises a plan to survive while trying to find ways to establish communication with NASA on planet Earth.

Matt Damon as astronaut Mark Watney

SCRIPT:
Brilliant and well-structured. For a science-fiction film which utilizes real and actual facts, the challenge of writing a good script depends on how interesting the story can appeal to all walks of life in the general public. Most science-fiction films rarely accomplish in crafting interesting stories but this film managed to be appealing AND interesting. Personally, I am a fan of space exploration and NASA as whole so the subject material was familiar to me. From time to time during the movie, I placed myself as a non-fan of space and found the script just as interesting. One would expect that this film would indulge in heavy use of scientific jargon and dialogue but the script does not impose too much of it on the audience. When it seems that too much scientific explanations were about to be conveyed, the script switches back to subjects more understandable. I find this writing style to be brilliant when it comes to making such subject material appealing to the mass audience. Another brilliance of the film’s writing is how it interjects a little bit of good quality humour here and there to lighten the mood. I love how the script started strongly and I was engaged 10 minutes into the film. I instantly felt how it would be if I was stranded on Mars just like the Watney character. Each role in the film has good characterization outline and were well-defined. Although one would expect some form of backstory for each character, it was just touched upon lightly and was just enough for the audience to relate to the characters. There were so many positive underlying themes which can be educational for the mass audience. I will touch on these themes later in the review.

The beautiful Jessica Chastain as Ares III Mission Commander Melissa Lewis

ACTING:
Great performances from all the actors. Most films with an ensemble cast of well-known established actors can be difficult when it comes to finding a good balance. From the lead roles to the supporting ones, each actor gave good performances in establishing their characters as their own. Matt Damon did very well in playing the lead. High praises should also be given to Jessica Chastain and Jeff Daniels. No matter how big or small the role is, each actor gave importance to their role making strong contributions to the film.

Mark Watney (Matt Damon) doing some thinking.

FILMING:
Director Ridley Scott is well-known from making big-budget epic films. He is more famous for doing science-fiction films but for the past few decades, he has ventured to other genres. Movie fans have longed for Scott to return to making science-fiction film as many feel that this is his strength. I feel this film has indeed strengthened Scott’s repertoire in the science-fiction genre. Scott’s directing style is quite unique and can usually be distinguished from other directors. However for this film, he took a more laid back approach as he focuses more on making scientific factual believable for the audience. The film is obviously dependent of visual effects to wow the audience but Scott managed to make the movie less dependent of it and instead more dependent of human elements of the film. When it comes to the visual effects on screen, there were stunning and top notch. Together with the production design and set decoration, the visual effects complemented the film by making it believable for the present time or the not too distant future. The cinematography is beautiful to admire. The editing was also quite good. There was enough balance between action and drama.

Director Ridley Scott on the set with Matt Damon.

PACING:
Started very strong. Progressed a little slow but picked up pace towards the middle of the film. The pace gets gradually exciting towards the end. The third act of the film is intense and has a good climactic end.

Setting up a close-up of Matt Damon.

DOWNSIDE:
Can be a little too scientific for some and might bore the audience with some heavy dialogue.

UPSIDE:
As I mentioned earlier in the review, there are many positive underlying themes within the movie which I liked. There are themes focusing on survival, teamwork, courage, ingenuity, and many more. There are thousands of films out there with such themes but for this film, I could actually feel it.

Exterior shots were filmed in Wadi Rum, Jordan

I wanna go home.

OVERALL: 
The Martian is one of Ridley Scott’s best film in the science-fiction genre and maybe in all the genres he has directed. The film will please the scientific and space exploration geeks alike. The film will also please those who are not so much into science and space exploration. This is the strength of the film. Recommended to watch.

 

RATING:
9.0 out of 10.0