Senna ****

A documentary about Ayrton Senna, the legendary Brazilian F1 Motor Racing driver with no new material, instead relying on archived interviews, clips and personal home video does not sound like a riveting watch.

Director Asif Kapadia has however managed to produce an  interesting, gripping and ultimately poignant tribute to the much loved driver, which will be enjoyed by anyone with even a passing interest in the sport.

Senna burst onto the scene at Monaco in the mid 80's, following a highly successful Karting career. Passionate, quiet in private, patriotic yet monumentally talented he effectively rocked the boat in the stable and stage manged F1 world at the time, the administration of which was held in a vice like grip by Jean-Marie Belstere - "The best decision is my decision!"

The film focuses on the white hot and ultimately acrimonious rivalry between the established champion, Alain Proust and the upstart pretender. On occasion it appears that races and decisions were formulated to preserve the status quo and despite his evident talent, Senna is blocked at every turn.

The sport is dangerous, drivers are considered to be highly paid "monkeys" with few rights, decisions on safety are apparently made arbitrarily without any real thought or implications for those travelling at 300kmh, round slippery wet tracks.

Despite the lack of new material, the film is carefully balanced and constructed, each piece carefully laid, ultimately leading to the crash that would claim Senna's life in front of 300 million television viewers. Treated as a god in Brazil and almost a saint since his death, the film neatly adds the rider that Alain Proust remains an executor for the trust created in Senna's name to help underprivileged children in Brazil.

Senna when asked what the best race he ever took part in, refers back to his Karting days when the racing was pure, man against man in the identical machines with no politics or electronic controls. As many will know, Williams dominated the sport when electronic aids were initially  introduced, effectively making drivers mere passengers in their own cars whilst computers controlled many functions during cornering. This ushered in a new era in which no one could match Williams until the rules were changed.

F1 has always been about politics and money, Bernie Ecclestone merely taking the premise to the next level. Senna is shown as very much the outsider, clearly held back until his talent and fan base became too big for the sport to ignore.

The irony being that it took the death of perhaps the sports most enigmatic, enduring and crowd pleasing star to bring about much needed safety improvements and driver participation in decisions affecting them.

As the film notes, to date no F1 driver has died since the incident.

Summary

Intriguing, poignant and quite gripping, this is well worth a watch for anyone even vaguely interested in motor sport.

Recommended

Horrible Bosses **1/2

Some of us have bosses we don't get on with, it goes with the territory, sometimes it's hard to like the people who tell you what to do.

Nick (Jason Bateman) hates his boss Dave Harken (Spacey), who criticizes him for being two minutes late and accuses him of a drink problem, after he has plied him with Scotch at 8:00am.

Newly engaged Dale (Day) hates his hot boss Dr Harris (Aniston), as her dental assistant he sits close to her all day providing Harris every opportunity for constant unwanted sexual harassment.

Finally, we have Kurt (Buck) who loved his job until his benevolent employer (Sutherland) drops dead leaving his coke addled loser son in charge, an unrecognizable Colin Farrell.

Instead of sucking it up, the trio decide over beers at a bar, that enough is enough, the bosses life expectancy needs to be de-emphasized. Not possessing the necessary homicidal skills they employ a "murder consultant" (Jamie Foxx), to complete their dirty work for them and get their bosses "whacked".

The premise is good and we have some significant talent on display, so does this comedy have what it takes to kill you?

A comedy needs laughs and we do get some chuckles but the tone is very uneven and none of the characters are believable or acts in the manner you might expect. The "A" list cameos add some spice but largely the opportunities for real belly laughs due to the farcical situations in which the trio find themselves, are criminally wasted.

Dale is designated as a "Child sex offender", albeit somewhat falsely accused, this sloppy plot device ensures he cannot leave his employment. Why not just place him in a job where he cannot use his skills elsewhere, rather than this bizarre trait, which will instantly turn audiences off.

There are some funny lines, including why drag racing in a Prius is a bad idea and why it is difficult to put cocaine back in a box. The trio do their best with a weak script and improbable situations but on occasion their commitment is lacking and there is a feeling of "phoning it in".

With a box office take of over $200 million this is yet another example of a very weak "comedy" performing well at the box office. Expect more movies with modest budgets, great trailers and yet disappointing films at a multiplex near you soon.

Summary

Despite an interesting set up and major talent available, this is disappointing and lacks real laughs to pull the story through.

A middling comedy with a lackluster script, you can certainly do better for your comedy dollar.

Sherlock Holmes 2 - Game of Shadows ***

The first recent Sherlock Holmes film rather cleverly updated the characters into a setting suitable for modern audiences, weaned on action, flash edits and extreme slo-mo.

It was inevitable following the success of the first film, that director Guy Ritchie would be encouraged to produce a sequel therefore allowing for a three film arc.

Most audiences would agree that more of the same with Robert Downey Junior essaying Sherlock with his trusty Dr Watson (Jude Law) would be no bad idea. Here, more or less on schedule and complete with the now obligatory extended titling, we have the second outing.

After a lengthy prologue we establish that seemingly random assassinations in Europe are perhaps connected to Professor Moriaty (Jared Harris), aided in this endeavor by his accomplice Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), who is now somewhat compromised by her relationship with Holmes. Meanwhile Holmes is as usual on the very edge of madness as he pursues his nemesis, leaving practical items like arranging Watson's stag party very much on the back burner.

The story is set in 1895 against the pretext of war in Europe, an event that Moriaty positions himself to exploit rather than avoid, all that is needed is a strategic death here and there to push countries over the brink.

Holmes and Watson then pursue their quarry with the assistance of Mycroft (Stephen Fry), alarmingly naked for parts of the film and gypsy fortune teller (Naoomi Rapace), albeit with little to do.

Whereas the tone of the previous film was struck about right, mainly sleuthing with a dash of action. This film moves the balance to full on action with only the odd splash of sleuthing as a nod to Holmes real origins. The first hour, appears to verge on parody and is decidedly camp in nature, with almost pantomine performances as the bromance blossoms between Holmes and Watson.

A significant sequence on a train is well done but largely irrelevant to the plot and by the time we have Watson machine gunning foes in the style of Terminator 2, it is obvious Ritchie has deviated far from the sacred text. There is no question a reinvention was required but this was completed in the opening film and like Bond's "Quantum of Solace" following "Casino Royale", the sequel seems to have lost it's way.

Overall the film fells bloated and whilst it retains many of the elements that made the first film fun, they are cranked up to 11 and tend to obscure the basic "rebooted" characters carefully constructed first time around.

Holmes looking like an ass on an ass will remain a trilogy low point whatever is served up in number three. Holmes is not Indiana Jones in the Victorian era and yet the action continues to push the character in that direction.

The sets, costumes and action sequences are up to a high standard with the Victorian setting a welcome change to modern action films. Ritchie's direction is sometimes inventive, albeit literally in shadows on occasions. Harris makes a more than adequate villain, Law and Downey appear to be enjoying themselves but must have questioned the direction the script has taken them.

The final reel does show what the film could have been with some satisfying plot twists and mental games between the main protagonists. A frustrating glimpse at what the film as a whole could have achieved, with more thoughtful plotting and a more intelligent screenplay.

Summary

Not without merit but overall a disappointing film, which has overplayed much of what made the earlier film fun.

In this case not so elementary Watson, sometimes more of everything is just that, more.

Tintin (3D) ****

Avatar's motion capture techniques showed what was technically possible with the new computer toybox at film directors disposal. Spielberg and Peter Jackson clearly wanted to play in the digital sandbox but needed a film to demonstrate what they could do.

Tintin is perhaps a suitable choice, realistically he would not work with real actors and creating the action inside the computer, allows literally anything to be shown on the big screen.

Crash landing airplanes in the desert, intricate chases set in a bazaar with impossible stunts, fifty gun galleon's firing broadsides in monstrous seas, Spielberg directs like a kid let loose in a chocolate factory.

Jamie Bell fleshes out the eponymous Tintin with bad guy duties falling to Daniel Craig as Sakharine. Captain Haddock, who spends the entire film in pursuit of his next whisky bottle is provided via Andy Serkis, no stranger to these new acting techniques.

It is interesting to see echos of the actors through their motion capture work, not just in their voices but in their facial actions, the way they move, walk and act.

For the uninitiated, Tintin is a "cub" reporter providing newspaper articles on fantastic adventures and scrapes that he often finds himself embroiled in, all set within a largely recognisable 20th century backdrop. The film is based on three of the many books written by Herge`, this is classic boys own adventure stuff, lots of derring do in a wholesome family kind of way.

The plot revolves around sunken hidden treasure and a model ship, "The Unicorn", which is a good excuse to bring pirates, generational revenge and other dastardly plans into the mix. The story wends it's way through a Junior "Indiana Jones" sequence of events and is accompanied by a rousing John Williams score to suit the action on screen.

Tintin is aided by the "Thompson Twins" (Frost and Pegg) who are part of Interpol but are inherently inept and stereotypically British, including obligatory bowler hats and umbrellas. Whilst they are designed as the comic relief, here they do not add to the story and tend to drag the action down whenever they are on the screen, notably the wallet scene which appears childish and out of place.

The "animation" is beautifully done, clearly pushing the envelope of just what is possible even further ahead. With almost infinite camera angles at his disposal with the new technique, Spielberg has fun mixing up how the audience views the action. Tintin appears real, the audience complaint of "dead eyes" and the simulation of realistic sea and water issues, obviously now fixed. The technique pioneer, "The Polar Express" is already beginning to look quaintly old fashioned and creaky in comparison.

Star of the show must be "Snowy", Tintin's ever present canine friend. Animated to perfection, with all the best action, looks and comic touches. Pet shops will need to stock up on Wire Fox Terriers, to keep up with demand.

The film is fun and obviously orientated towards a family audience, the Thompson twins do mar the action but the film recovers with some excellent sequences, notably a post plane crash propeller incident, dueling port cranes and an exciting motor-cycle sidecar chase.

Interestingly released in the UK and Europe before the US, as the character is perhaps better known on the European side of the Atlantic.

Looks good in 3D with some decent depth gags but probably not compulsory to enjoy the film.

Summary

Provided the film is not taken to seriously, there is much to enjoy. Superb action with fantastic state of the art motion capture and CGI animation techniques.

Kids will love the film and there is sufficient depth to keep most parents interested and the send off certainly indicates there is more of Tintin to come.

Recommended, especially for big "Snowy" fans

Mission Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol ****1/2

The Mission Impossible (MI) series has had a chequered history, from an impressive opening salvo, the series had meandered it's way through two further films with mixed results.

Think of this film as similar to the "Casino Royale" or "Goldeneye" of the Bond Franchise, a real re-invention.

Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, more focused, committed and believable than before. He has along for the ride a different accidental crew in the form of the unlikely Simon Pegg as "Benji", computer technician, brand new field operative and comic relief. Pegg must wonder each morning when he will wake up from the sudden dizzy heights he now occupies, now starring in two mega franchises including the new Star Trek.

Jane (Paula Patto) adds some glamour to the proceedings but can beat up bad guys with the best of them and Brandt (Jeremy Renner) provides an increasing amount of support as the film progresses. Tom Wilkinson adds yet another high profile film credit to his resume as the IMF director.

We start in Russia with an invigorating and well filmed jailbreak, progressing to a very neat attempted extraction from the Kremlin, albeit book-ended with some slightly dodgy FX.

Nuclear launch codes are missing and the usual rogue Russian elements, in the form Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), are behind an insane plot to launch a nuclear missile, thus cleansing the world of it's sins and allowing it to be reborn.

Following the Kremlin event, which the US naturally gets blamed for, the whole IMF corp are disavowed, leaving Hunt and his team to go it alone and save the world. Luckily they still have plenty of cool gadgets and toys to play with.

In Bondesque fashion, we then globe-trot through Budapest, Dubai and Mumbai as the hunt for the codes and the means of delivery through a spare satellite, hots up.

The action sequences are fast and furious, notable set pieces in Dubai are exciting and with plenty of real stunt work, albeit undoubtedly enhanced with FX work. Is that really Cruise hanging 120+ floors up on the Burj Khalifa, tallest building the world. We are told it most certainly is and contributes to one of the best and most intense action sequences of recent years. The car chases are expertly done within a simulated sandstorm, clearly with BMW's exclusive assistance, many cars are destroyed but all in spectacular fashion. Another scene in an automated car park in Mumbai is expertly choreographed and leads to an exciting and unexpected climax.

Pegg actually works really well here, providing some reality and grounding to all the high tech, displaying a suitably audience friendly look of awe, to all that goes on around him, possibly with little acting required. The film is smart enough to make fun of the whole premise without erring into supposed parody error, see Cruise's own weak "Knight and Day" effort for details. We particularly liked the "message will destruct in five seconds" failure and the obvious impracticality of a retinal scan on a moving goods train.

Like any modern futuristic movie, what is shown as high tech becomes common place within five years or even exists now. If so, security guards will need to be more aware of their surroundings and study that CCTV real hard in the future.

Director Brad Bird of Pixar "The Incredibles" fame, makes a highly successful leap into live action and this provides a late entry as the undoubted best action movie of the year. The story is a bit dodgy and fanciful, the ending taking the peril too far beyond what would make any difference as to the intended result.  No matter, the MI series has always been about the action, that theme music and the visuals, none of which disappoint here.

Summary

A globe trotting thriller that truly thrills, mixing the best elements of Bond, Bourne and MI in barnstorming fashion.

Cruise is back on form and reinvigorates the franchise, providing excellent movie escapist fun.

Highly recommended

The Green Lantern ***

 
DC Comics The Green Lantern "Darkest night, darkest hour..." was always going to be a tough sell to non comic book audiences. The hero derives his power from a ring and he needs to charge it from his nifty green lantern, really?

Hal Jordon (Ryan Reynolds) is the ultra cocky, handsome and improbable fighter jock, dog fighting sophisticated drone jet fighters as part of an advanced weapons program. Haunted by his test pilot fathers death, Jordan battles his own demons as to whether he feels fear, embraces it or continues to run through a series of empty but very beautiful liaisons.

Meanwhile in a galaxy far far away, on the planet "Oa" a corp of "Green Lantern's" stand guard over the Universe, dividing it into sectors which they are entrusted to defend. Under the overall control of the guardians, think Yoda on very high poles, the Green Lantern corp stand watch. Protecting their charges from evil using the "will" of the people as a source for their power, defined by a very bright Green light. Evil in the form of Parallax, who was cast away into oblivion after dabbling in the even more powerful "fear" power source, is now awakened and is firmly in the yellow corner.

The unfortunate Hal is chosen by the ring following the crash landing of Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison) after he is injured in a battle with Parallax. The ring never fails and always chooses correctly, which is seriously questioned when part of the underlying creed for the corps is responsibility, a character trait Hal does not readily demonstrate.

Aided by his friend Tom (Waititi) Hal shows off his new power, a nifty green suit and powers that appear only restrained by his own imagination, including flying and morphing any objects he wishes to realise. Beating up the local roughnecks at the local bar shows what he is capable of and then flys to "Oa" to receive more formal training at the hands of the local drill instructor, "Tomar Re" (Geoffrey Rush) a colossal green giant apparently made of rocks.

Sparking the interest of Green Lantern corps leader Sinestro (Mark Strong), he disappoints the group and returns to earth in a funk.

Meanwhile, senator Robert Hammond (Tim Robbins) and his son Peter (Peter Saarsgard) are doing some dabbling themselves into the power provided by fear following the postmortem of "Sur". Modern movies always have politicians as bad guys, there clearly is a message there somewhere.

Hal is called upon to defend the earth from the ever more powerful Parallax, drawn to the power that the Hammond's have unearthed. Whether Hal triumphs over evil and peace is restored is not the point, this is a comic book adaptation after all but is it fun?

Following the critical mauling the film received, the end result is not so bad. Director Campbell has kept the whole enterprise moving along at speed, is it silly and preposterous, of course. There are moments to enjoy, the reveal to the beautiful Ferris (Lively) is unexpected and welcome. The decision to provide the suit via CGI does detract from the reality, which in a film of this type is desperately needed due to the fanciful nature of the story.

There are too many effects and on occasion the story is in danger of imploding into it's own pretentiousness but it all just about skates by on the charm of the lead and his ability to mock himself. "By the power of Grey Skull" or "To Infinity and Beyond" are two of the oath's attempted to get the ring to work.

The film is light and breezy, making no claims for a darker vision or Batman inner turmoil and torment. This harks back more to the original Superman's where comic book characters were just that, unreal. The effects are good but there are too many of them, the supporting characters are adequate, there is no real identifiable villain to shout at but the leads acquit themselves well enough in what must have been an orgy of green screen work.

A decision was clearly made that this would be gossamer light, candyfloss fare for a family audience and on that level it just about hits the mark. If you are looking for deeper meanings or complex characters, there are better ways to spend your movie dollars.

Summary

Not as bad as feared, certainly not in the same league as other comic book adventures but perhaps not the train wreck some have suggested.

Mild, competent, implausible comic book fun with too much CGI and little requirement for a sequel, therefore expect number 2 to arrive at your local multiplex soon.

The Hangover 2 **1/2

The second in what is sure to become a trilogy, breaks a cardinal rule for a comedy, it forgets to be funny.

The cast get to say "I can't believe it's happening again" and the audience feels the same way, the movie is a carbon copy of the first fun and mostly inventive film.

The "Wolf Pack" are back but this time they are somewhere way more dangerous than Vegas, Thailand and more specifically Bangkok. As is mentioned in the tagline "Bangkok has them now", although most audiences will realise that Bangkok has merely replaced Las Vegas, as little else is new.

Still with over $500 million at the the box office director Tod Phillips must have got something right?

Meek dentist, Stu (Ed Helms) is marrying an Asian beauty complete with stereotypical overbearing father, meek mother and idolized talented younger brother Teddy (Lee), a nod to the younger demographic.

Of course his buddies are invited to the bash at an upmarket resort in Thailand, Phil (Cooper) and Doug (Bartha), although man child Alan's (Galifanakis) invite is not forthcoming. Unsurprisingly left on the sidelines due to his errant behaviour in the first film, will he be left behind this time, need we even ask that question.

Everything is going swimmingly apart from the usual inappropriate behaviour by Alan, until the "one beer" before the big day, turns into another mammoth hangover wake up scene.

Substitute missing teeth for tattoo's, tigers for a monkey, add in a severed finger, several cocaine "bumps" to clear the head, Mike Tyson and stir fry quickly. We are then treated to the stereotypical underside of Bangkok which will do nothing for the Thailand tourist industry. Seedy rooms, criminals in the form of Paul Giamatti and the predictably unpredictable Mr Chow (Cheong), not quite as out of place as some recent films he has appeared in, perhaps the milieu suits his weird character or acting traits better.

Will the "Wolf Pack" be able to re-assemble the night before in time for the nuptials to occur on time with everyone happy, if you think not, then maybe you are watching the wrong film.

The journey is the thing and this is where the film loses it's way, with a scattershot, throw everything at the screen to see what sticks approach. Less funny, same "F & C" bomb heavy dialogue, more raunchy situations and reversing the movie trend from mostly female nudity, to a combination of both in the same body. Certainly Ed's new bride seems more understanding than one might expect a new bride to be in that circumstance.

Galifanakis again reprises his role carried across the original "Hangover", "Due Date" and now the sequel, seemingly popping up in every movie playing a similar part. Cooper of course has gone all "A" List since the first film and Helms is also now gainfully employed in the American version of "The Office".

Cooper is clearly now too good to be in this tosh and his star quality does show through despite the obvious flaws of the film, Bartha is largely sidelined again and Giamatti obviously fancied a free holiday, with almost a cameo part. Tyson apparently taking singing lessons for his big scene, if this is the result post training then clearly the boxing ring was the right career choice.

Do we need another sequel, do the actors need another film to bolster their careers, of course not. With box office receipts north of half a billion dollars, this however will be a foregone conclusion.

Inversely proportional critical & enjoyment value against monetary returns, we are clearly heading in the wrong direction and this trend is unlikely to be reversed in the final installment. Clearly poor reviews nor bad word of mouth will stop the "Wolf Pack" juggernaut, big business has them now.

Curiously the closing credits on the Blu-Ray version, retains the controversial fake recreation still of a real life execution, which is odd bearing in mind the offence the picture has caused. This perhaps emphasizes the apparent contempt director Phillips has for his audience.

Summary

A lazy remake of the original and a poor facsimile. Might raise the occasional titter but largely can be avoided unless the "Wolf Pack", the Asian version, really appeals.

Disappointing