Tuesday, 29 March 2011 Battle: Los Angeles (Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pêna) Posted by joeldfisher at 08:55

War is hell, shaky cams are confusing and disorientating and clichés are everywhere, just some of the things learnt by Battle: Los Angeles. Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart; The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking) is days from retirement when Los Angeles' latest crisis puts him on 'just one more mission' (cliché number 1) .

On top of that a corporal (who will no doubt end up in Sergeant Nantz's team) is seen at the grave of his brother who died in a previous mission (cliché number 2). As soon as the aliens attack all hell breaks lose (cliché, but my cliché) and the team are sent out to battle whatever it is that's destroying Los Angeles.

The advertising for this movie was pitched as Black Hawk Down meets Independence Day, unfortunately it isn't as good as either. If it was meant to be a serious army movie about the US's best line of defence then there really shouldn't have been so many clichés. However on the other hand if they wanted to go to the cheesy alien invasion movie that hits every button as expected then there should have been more fun with it, like Independence Day. Unfortunately, Battle: Los Angeles' mixture of the two doesn't do either genre any favours.

The movie purely focuses on the team with the occasional inclusion of people they meet along the way (civilians, including a couple of traumatised kids and another platoon of soldiers, including 'gasp in amazement' a woman!). From then on the clichés ramp up thick and fast. There are many things I could say in this review that could illustrate the kinds of clichés that appear in this film (and probably spoil the movie for you) but if you think about any war/alien invasion movies and what's involved then you're probably half right.

The 'battle' never ceases during the movie, it's as if the writer and director wanted to involve as many different storylines as possible but couldn't be bothered to shoot different scenes in different locations.

Aaron Eckhart is convincing as the hard bitten Sergeant who is still grieving for the team he lost before and feels guilty for being the only survivor (yet another cliché). But it feels that Eckhart is the one that's the most convinced about the character as in the real world this kind of occurrence (alien involvement or not) seems implausible.

As the story progresses there are many surprises, or at least that's what the director and writer hoped. As they are joined by the civilians (including Michael Pêna) the clichés just get worse and with all the problems the Marine team encounter you're just left wondering why they didn't leave the civilians behind (least of all the whiny kids).

Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar, Fast and Furious) is the token 'woman in a man's world' (cliché number...I lost count) and any more glamorised movie would have taken this as an opportunity to add some sex appeal or love interest (however implausible). However this movie thinks it's Black Hawk Down so in the best shaky cam battle sequences, with all the army gear on, the audience can't tell the difference between Michelle Rodriguez or Aaron Eckhart.

Add to that the overly simplified plot coupled with the easily solved ending and the occasional, implausible near death experience and Battle: Los Angeles is nothing new or surprising and for such a hyped up movie a little originality would have gone a long way.

Saturday, 26 March 2011 The Lincoln Lawyer (Matthew Mconaughey, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy) Posted by joeldfisher at 10:19

Mick Haller (Matthew Mconaughey; Tropic Thunder, Failure To Launch) is a big shot prosecution lawyer with a heart of gold who bends the rules to meet his needs.  His ex wife, Maggie (Marisa Tomei; Cyrus, The Wrestler) is a defence lawyer with whom he still has a flirtatious relationship with and his crack team of associates led by Frank (William H. Macy; Wild Hogs, Thank You For Smoking) help him on some of Beverly Hills' highest profile cases.

Guest star of the week (sorry I mean the accused) Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillipe; MacGruber, Franklyn) is a rich heir to a real estate firm who has been brought up on charges of physical and sexual abuse against a known prostitute. Roulet turns to Haller to help him get off and Haller can't help but get stuck in.

The Lincoln Lawyer, based on a book by Michael Connelly is a very good story, engaging and complicated, but not too much that you get lost or lose interest altogether and is probably more engaging than most movies being released this year. It would make a great television series if the right stories kept coming (apparently Michael Connelly has written several books about Mick Haller) and with the success of tv series' based on books such as Dexter and True Blood then it seem like a likeable and manageable formula for television. However on the big screen it feels like just that, and that's the problem.

Matthew Mconaughey is very likeable as Mick Haller, hard to do as the role of a prosecution lawyer may not be the most likeable choice for a movie's protagonist, but he pulls it off well by being charming, funny as well as gritty and a determined leading man.

Marisa Tomei is good and believable as the now single mother, put upon by her ass of an ex husband, but who she obviously still loves and the chemistry between the two plays well. William H Macy is a good supporting man, sadly underused on screen time but in my opinion always a good presence.

Ryan Phillipe has the best role though, Haller's client is not all he seems and his performance is both cool, calm and sinister all at the same time. With a small supporting cast adding to the main characters and the story, it enriches the movie as much as the story and complements the rest of the cast. John Leguizamo (Gamer, Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs) plays a small but integral part (if you keep tuned in to the plot) and Michael Pena (Battle; Los Angeles, Observe and Report) makes a pivotal, albeit stereotypical cameo.

All in all The Lincoln Lawyer may not be anything new as far as the big screen is concerned and unfortunately it doesn't pay off as a cinematic effort, this may be due to script, direction or any number of reasons but it just doesn't sit well in the cinema. If however you are tired of special effects epics and want an intelligent storyline that appeals to adults with a likeable cast and characters then The Lincoln Lawyer may not be so bad. However it may be best to wait until it comes out on television because this is where I'd imagine it to do best. It would work very well as a series and judging by the direction that most of the cast are going with their careers, a steady job in television may just be the right move for them.  

Unknown (Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones) Posted by joeldfisher at 10:17

Liam Neesson is back as the butt-kicking ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills in the sequel...... oh hang on sorry, got that wrong. Liam Neeson hasn't done the Taken sequel just yet but he may as well have done.

Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson; The A-Team, Clash of The Titans)  is a biochemist attending a convention in Berlin with beautiful blonde wife (January Jones; Mad Men, the upcoming X-men First Class). On missing a piece of luggage he takes a taxi back to the airport and his life changes for ever. He's stepped into the taxi of the best or probably worse taxi driver in the whole of Germany as they soon take a dip into the Spree (Berlin's river). With great strength the diminutive taxi driver Gina (Diane Kruger; Inglorious Basterds, National Treasure: Book of Secrets) rescues Dr. Harris and quickly flees the scene as paramedics save his life.

When Dr. Harris wakes up his memory is fuzzy, not just about the incident but of his life in general. It just so happens that the biochemist convention is being talked about on the news (as they so often are) and Dr. Harris remembers where he needs to be, however when he gets there he realises just how much his life has changed. His beautiful wife is married to Dr. Martin Harris but not the doctor we know (Neeson).

Unknown could very well be mistaken for Taken (rhyme not intended), it's a story of a man on a mission, a driven man with a plan (rhyme slightly more intended). However Unknown keeps its audience guessing for a lot longer than Taken and therefore makes for a more interesting ride. Don't get me wrong this is not a more intellectual movie than Taken by any means, it's a high octane action thriller that may be in the same thread as Taken but keeps the audience interested for a lot longer (Neeson can only kill so many people without people getting bored).

Liam Neeson is good as always, he generally looks out of place for the role as would usually be expected as an audience may expect a much younger leading man but as last year's action thrillers The Tourist and Knight and Day shows, younger (even if not by that much) isn't necessarily better. Neeson is very good at looking determined and menacing (the man is 6'4, just that would intimidate most people alone) but he can go from family man to hard bitten, driven professional at the drop of a hat.

Diane Kruger is nice and a little quirky as Gina, an illegal immigrant in Berlin (despite Kruger being a native German herself) and plays off well against Neeson as a no nonsense taxi driver looking out for her family back home.

There's a nice cameo from Frank Langella (Wall Street 2, Frost/Nixon), but when I say nice I mean a nice sight to see another good actor play off against Neeson, albeit briefly, Langella isn't 'nice' in Unknown. From two older actors playing these kinds of roles it's good that they can still bring in a broad audience, even if Liam Neeson is the main attraction. After all the movie is pretty much a one man show.

In my opinion the only downfall of the movie is January Jones, she only has a small role (although it kind of plays two parts) and she doesn't really convey enough character in either role which for me personally doesn't bode well for which I think will be a major role in X-Men First Class.

However despite the occasionally misjudged performance, Unknown is a fun couple of hours. Not exactly as much of a chance to turn off your brain as Taken was but you can still enjoy the ride without it being too taxing, although don't expect the pay off to be anything you haven't seen before.