City Of God

Every once in a while a movie comes along that challenges, redefines, even revolutionises the world of cinema. They push boundaries, introduce new techniques, creates timeless characters, unforgettable quotes, heart-wrenching scenes, and go down in history as a film that didn't simply follow conventional formula, and as a result, they rose above the mediocrity. Today, for my 50th review, I'm going to look at one such film, one that took critics and audiences by storm. The 2002 Brazilian crime drama City Of God.

Directed by Fernando Meirelles (who would go on to direct the Oscar-winning The Constant Gardener) and set in the Cidade De Deus suburb of Brazil, City Of God stars Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino De Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, and Sue Jorge among many others. Taking place in an overpopulated slum, it naturally features a plethora of characters. The movie follows the lives of numerous individuals as they go about their increasingly turbulent lives in the ruthless city of City Of God. It's such an incredible film I can't wait to get to it, so let's dive right in.

The movie opens with our main character Rocket (Rodrigues), a budding photographer, being confronted by a notorious gang in the streets of Brazil, when a flashback takes us abruptly back to his childhood. Here we see the children of the slum going about their daily lives. Life is tough, as the area is impoverished, but the children seem to live relatively carefree lives.

But things are not all fun and games as gang activity is rife, and 3 of children, including Rocket's brother Goose, are part of a group called the Tenderness Trio. They spend their time robbing business owners, and sharing their loot with the citizens of the slum, and are protected by them in exchange. But one particular robbery irrevocably chances them all. Lil' Dice, a child who idolises the trio, encourages them to hold up a motel and rob it's occupants, while he keeps an eye out for the authorities. But the plan goes awry when Dice kills the motels inhabitants and causes the death of 2 members of the Trio.

We then cut forward in time to where Rocket is a member of the 1970's hippie movement, and is pursuing his photographic aspirations. Dice on the other hand, now going by the name Lil' Zé (De Hora), has become an ultra-violent, sociopathic drug dealer and crime lord. With childhood friend Benny (Haagensen) by his side, he plans to eliminate all rival gangs and become the head honcho. Being fairly underground, the gang doesn't attract much police attention, and Zé tries to use this as his chance to take out the leader of an opposing group called 'The Runts', but Benny convinces him otherwise.

Benny plans to leave the city and start a new life with his girlfriend, but during his leaving party things get ugly and Benny is killed, leaving Zé free to take out whoever he desires, and rain fresh Hell down upon the locals.

                                                           Playtime in the City Of God

I was literally astounded by this movie when I first saw it. It was years ago but it left such an impact that I still remember it to this day. Its so gripping, so intense, so unrelenting in the way it draws you in and so merciless in the way it tells the story. The central characters are all engaging and none are superfluous, the action is gritty and authentic, the atmosphere is harsh and at times actually quite unnerving, and the director demonstrates his undeniable flair for film-making. It's like a documentary into a war zone, all seen through the eyes of a wide-eyed kid who grew up in a world of violence and loathing; not trying to escape it, but analyse and understand it.

On top of all this, Zé is by far one of cinemas greatest villains. He is horrible, absolutely despicable; aggressive, abrasive, uncaring, unsympathetic, and utterly indifferent to any form of suffering. All he cares about is being the top man, and he will challenge anyone, ANYONE, who gets in his way. But unlike many films where the villain is just nasty for no reason, we see him as a child, how he grew up, who he associated with. We know why he is the way he is, and the moulding of his personality is given so much weight and depth that we can actually understand his motivations.

If you haven't guessed yet, I adore this movie immensely. It creates it's own world, one that's barbaric and uncompromising, yet teems with life in all shapes and forms. It has unforgettable performances, unforgettable characters, unforgettable moments and an unforgettable storyline. That's City Of God in a nutshell: Completely unforgettable.

Mad Max II: The Road Warrior

Thanks to all of you who read my previous review of Mad Max, today I bring you the sequel, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

Know in some places as simply The Road Warrior, the movie, directed again by George Miller, was released in 1981, and features Mel Gibson reprising his titular role, and is joined by Bruce Spence, Emil Minty, Kjell Nilsson, and Vernon Wells. It has everything that made the first movie a success, and stands as one of the greatest follow-up movies of all time, one that could truly stand alone.

Following on from the events depicted in the last movie, mankind has moved further into decay, with an almost complete collapse in civilisation. The world is no longer ruled by governments and elected leaders, but by gangs and factions, who fight for ever-diminishing fuel supplies by means of violence and terrorism.

We rejoin our protagonist Max, who, still heartbroken over the loss of his family, now drives aimlessly through the desert in his car, accompanied by a dog that he has acquired from an unknown location. Like all the other people in the desert, he is on a constant search for fuel to keep himself on the move. After being attacked by a gang of bikers, led by a red-mowhawked psychopath named Wez (Vernon Wells), he comes across a gyro-copter, owned by the 'Gyro Captain' (Spence). After some 'friendly' coercion, the Captain takes Max to a small oil refinery, where there is a tanker full of fuel.

Just as they arrive, they witness the compound and its inhabitants being intimidated by a hostile group know as The Marauders, commanded by the disfigured Humungus (Nilsson), who's main henchman turns out to be Wez. He tells them that if they abandon the compound and leave behind their fuel, they will be granted safe passage away from the base. Reluctant to surrender their fuel, which they have fought so hard to keep, they do not agree to the idea. After some of the group try to escape, they are brutalised by the Marauders, and when Max brings the only survivor back to the compound in exchange for fuel, he gets far more than he bargained for.

Aided by a feral child (Emil Minty), who resembles a prepubescent caveman, and communicates only in grunts and growls, Max offers to retrieve a Semi that the group can use to haul the tanker of fuel out of the compound and towards the coast, where they can live in peace. They offer Max the opportunity to come with them if he drives the truck, but he declines, finding that aimlessly driving through the wasteland is his only way of life.

As far as sequels go, it's one of the most faithful I've ever seen. It continues the story from the original but also maintains its bleak atmosphere, it's dark characteristics, it's fast-paced action scenes and it's technique of letting the interactions and behaviour of the characters tell the story rather than the dialogue. The characters all leave an impression, even if it's difficult to remember their names. Gibson gives yet another terrific performance as the lonely outlaw, and the supporting cast hold up well too. But possibly the greatest part of the film is the car chase at the end, which I find to be one of the best action scenes in movie history. Its fast, it's tense, it's dramatic, has spectacular stunts, and a great build-up to an epic payoff. Is it better than the original? I can't really decide. At the very least, I'd say it's just as good.

NB. For those of you are wondering, no, I'm not reviewing Beyond Thunderdome next week, and this is for 2 reasons:

1. I've never actually seen it all the way through.
2. It's been so long since I watched it that I honestly don't remember much about it at all.

Mad Max

Believe it or not but there was actually a time when Mel Gibson wasn't one of the world's most loathed celebrities, but was among Hollywood's most prominent actors. With starring roles in Braveheart, The Year Of Living Dangerously and the Lethal Weapon series, Gibson was beloved by movie-goers everywhere. So to celebrate the man that (once) brought us so much joy, I'm going to take a look at the film that single-handedly propelled him to super-stardom, the Australian thriller Mad Max.

Directed by George Miller, previously a doctor from Victoria, Mad Max was released in 1979 and stars Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Steve Bisley, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Tim Burns and Roger Ward. Initially receiving very divided reactions from critics, it was a huge financial success, and is still considered by many to be one of the greatest and most influential movies in history. So let's see what this masterpiece of cinema is all about.

The film is set in a dystopian, quasi-post-apocalyptic Australia, where the Earth's oil supplies have nearly been exhausted, and law and order has broken down, and the streets are ruled by violent and sadistic motorcycle gangs. A member of one of these gangs, The Nightrider, is attempting to evade the police in a stolen Pursuit Special. The officers have no luck in apprehending him, so they call in their top pursuer, Max Rockatansky (Gibson), who out-drives The Nightrider, resulting in his crashing and burning to death in the car.

Max and his close friend and fellow officer Goose (Steve Bisley) are after the gang, and manage to arrest one of it's members, Johnny Boy (Tim Burns), a new member, who was found at the scene of a rape from which the gang had just fled from, but Johnny was too stoned to ride. Unfortunately, with no witnesses turning up at his trial, the courts are forced to dismiss the case. An enraged Goose attacks Johnny, and this leads the gang's leader, The Toecutter (Keay-Byrne), to convince Johnny to partake in a plot to kill the Goose, who dies in a similar manner to The Nightrider.

Mortified by the death of his friend, and disillusioned with the Police Force, Max announces to his boss Fifi (Ward) that he wants to leave the force. He takes his wife Jessie (Samuel) and their son away on a vacation and tries to forget about the biker gang. But this doesn't work out quite how Max had planned, as the gang attack both Jessie and the baby, forcing Max back into action, this time with a very personal vendetta.

                                      A replica of Max's Pursuit Special, a Ford XB Falcon 

Upon it's release over 30 years ago, the film was called 'ugly and incoherant', 'depressing' and 'a film for sadists'. But since then it has become known as a landmark for modern cinema. A movie that reinvented the revenge flick and subsequently epitomised it. Max's retribution is biblical. The build up is griping, the action intense and the pay off leaves you to draw your own conclusions about what could possibly follows such a brutal and unforgiving affair.

This movie has so much going for it, it's not hard to see why it is so beloved. Slick direction, dark and gritty themes, great action, authentic atmosphere, a terrific turn by Gibson and very realistic antagonists. All in all, it's a perfect story taking place in a perfect setting; truly one of Hollywood's finest achievements. And as an added bonus, next week, I'm going to be reviewing the sequel, The Road Warrior, so stayed tuned.

The 51st State

The inimitable Samuel L. Jackson makes his return to my blog with yet another of his many awesome cinematic exploits. You thought he was cool as ice in Jackie Brown, you ain't seen nothing yet! This time, he's bringing his bad-assness to the UK with a tale of drugs, deception, football and Kilts. This is The 51st State.

A Canadian-British co-production, The 51st State was released in 2001 under the direction of Ronny Yu (Snakes On A Plane, Fearless), and stars Mr Jackson alongside Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, Emily Mortimer, Sean Pertwee and Meat Loaf. It tells the story of a Master Chemist who travels to Great Britain with the hopes of selling a prototype drug. It's slick, racy, a barrel of laughs, and it has Samuel L. Jackson in it. What more could you possibly want?

The film opens in California, where recent college graduate and Isaac Hayes impersonator Elmo Mckelroy (Jackson) has just obtained a degree in Pharmacology. Unfortunately, he is pulled over by a police officer while on the road, and caught with a cache of drugs. As a result of the prosecution, he is unable to practise his desired profession.

Cut to 30 year later, and we find Elmo has resorted to working for renowned drug entrepreneur The Lizard (Loaf). Keen to show off McElroys latest invention, a new 'wonderdrug', Lizard rallies a group of equally unscrupulous characters for a demonstration. Unfortunately for Lizard, Elmo has tired of his employer, and rigs the place to blow, killing all except Lizard, who fell through the floor and avoided the blast.

Following this unconventional way to quit your job, Elmo heads for Liverpool, where he has a deal arranged with a crime lord named Leopold Durant (Ricky Tomlinson), who is interested in Elmo's creation. To help secure the deal and the drug, Durant sends one of his underlings, a local fixer named Felix DeSouza (Carlyle), a foul-mouthed, bad tempered, Americanophobe, to meet Elmo at the airport.

Back in California, The Lizard takes the whole 'attempted murder by former employee' thing very personally, and hires hit-woman Dakota (Mortimer) to fly to England and eliminate Elmo, in exchange for $250,000 in cash, and erasing her gambling debts. She agrees to this, but upon discovering that what Elmo has to offer is still of critical value to him, Lizard has second thoughts.

With several people now after Elmo and the formula to his revolutionary new party drug, DeSouza find himself stuck together in a class mismathced scenario, throwing up some side-splitting arguments, encounters and conflicts as Elmo attempts to sell his product to it's new prospective buyer Iki, (Ifans), an unhinged night club owner and narcotic enthusiast. Finding himself in the cross hairs of top-notch hired gun Dakota, and the target of much scorn from local Detective Virgil Cane (Pertwee), who see Elmo's plans as threat to his own agenda, what results is one of cinemas most deranged and chaotic bodies of work. The characters are crazy, the story, while non-sensical, is always surprising, the action scenes are wonderfully gratuitous, it's non-stop excitement and risibility from start to finish. While a critical and commercial flop, it remains, to me, one of Jackson's most underrated films. If you love mindless fun, be sure to add this to your collection.

Tomb Raider

What better movie to end Angelina Jolie month on than the one that made her a house-hold name. A film that was met with predominantly negative reviews but nevertheless put Miss J on the Hollywood A-list. To conclude AJ month, the 2001 video game adaptation of Tomb Raider.

Directed by Simon West (The Mechanic, The Expendables 2), Tomb Raider stars Noah Taylor, Iain Glen, Daniel Craig and Jon Voight. Based on the hugely popular video game series of the same name, the movie follows the feisty archaeologist Lara Croft as she searches for a, what else, a hidden artifact. Computer game adaptations, by and large, completely suck, primarily because they have nothing to do with the game. But this film, while silly and over the top, does maintain many elements from the Tomb Raider series. But is it a good movie? Well let's see what we're dealing with.

The movie opens with Lara Croft (Jolie) in an Egyptian Tomb, fighting off a killer robot while trying to find a hidden treasure. After a pretty cool action scene, we find that the battle, in fact, took place in her home, where her assistant Bryce (Taylor) had programmed the robot to face her.

The movie is set during an apparent solar alignment, where a secret society called the Illuminati, let by a man called Powell (Glen) are looking for the pieces of a 'Triangle Of Light', which must be joined before the alignment ceases.

While mourning the death of her father (Voight), Lara discovers a clock in her house that has only just begun to tick. Receiving a letter from her father, which was meant to arrive at the beginning of the alignment, she discovers that the clock she possess is critical to locating the 2 halves of the Triangle. Unfortunately armed commandos storm Lara's house and steal the clock.

Her fathers letter reveals that the Triangle is an ancient device that grants the user power over time and space. As such, he urges her to find and destroy the 2 halves before the Illuminati find it, because anyone who has seen Angels & Demons knows that the Illuminati are not to be trusted. But then again, when did you last see a movie that featured a shady society that COULD be trusted?

From there, Lara does pretty much what she does in the games. Goes to tombs and ancient ruins where she shoots and steals things. In a sense, this is one of the best video game adaptations I've ever seen. It has so many aspects from the game that it manages to stay true to the source material. She battles a power crazy megalomaniac, visits Venice, goes to a Buddhist Monastery, fights supernatural creatures, steals enigmatic antiquities, performs death-defying stunts, and shes does all this while sporting short shorts, a tank top and a pair of pistols. How much more perfect an adaptation can you get? Granted none of the game involved looking for a 'Triangle Of Light', but that's not such a big deal, considering how diverse her range of pilfered treasures was.

The main problems this movie has is a pretty nonsensical story, an abundance of unnecessary side characters, a hammy, cliched villain, and some pretty goofy moments. But on the plus side, a lot of the action scenes are a great deal of fun. There's a real spirit of adventure & discovery, and it has Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. That is, undoubtedly, one of the best casting choices in movie history. When Tomb Raider was first released, Croft became probably the computer world's most sought-after sex symbol, and she's portrayed in the movie by Angelina Jolie, one of the real world's most sought-after sex symbols. How can you argue with that? The film may be pretty absurd at times, but what do you expect from the guy whose directorial debut was Con Air? It's fast, fun, mysterious, and for those who love the game (myself included), it will give you just what you are looking for.

So that's it for Jolie Month; hope you enjoyed it. As before, normal service is resumed next week.

The Bone Collector

Slight change of tone from last weeks review, as we look at one of Jolie's darker films and, in my opinion, one of her best. It's not big or brash, or filled with special effects. Instead, it's calm, cool and clever. It's none other than the crime thriller The Bone Collector.

Released in 1999, the year Jolie would win her first, and so far only, Academy Award, The Bone Collector is directed by Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games), and starts Denzel Washington and Queen Latifah. Based on the Jeffrey Deaver novel of the same name, the film features a NYC Police Detective (who was the central character in a series of books by Deaver), who teams up with a hot-headed beat cop to catch a killer who is on the loose in New York. It's a pretty simple mismatched buddy cop movie, but their hunt for the killer is intense, intelligent and keeps you guessing all the way.

Lincoln Rhyme (Washington) is a quadriplegic forensics expert in New York City. An accident involving falling rocks has left him bed-ridden, where is he cared for constantly by his home nurse Thelma (Latifah), but remains an active member member of the police force, but suffers sporadic strokes, one of which will one day leave him in a completely vegetative state. Fearing this most of all, he has made arrangements to be terminated if this should happen.

Amelia Donaghy (Jolie) is a patrol cop who is having difficulties dealing with the loss of her father (also a policeman) and her current relationship. One day while on duty, she comes across a man buried beneath a railroad bed, with some clues left very conspicuously at the scene. Recovering these, she is brought to meet Rhyme, who, impressed with the way she handled the crime scene, says she has an instinct for forensics, and offers for her to join him and hunt for the killer together. Reluctantly, she agrees, and she becomes his eyes and ears, looking over the crimes scenes of the killer's future victims, describing what she finds, and following Rhymes instructions on how to process the crime scene and collect the necessary evidence.

What we get is 2 individuals, different in background, attitude and beliefs, uniting to stop a serial killer who always seems to be one step ahead of the game. It's a pretty old formula (see every mismatched cop movie ever made) but that doesn't stop it from being any less enjoyable. We see the natural antagonisms Amelia feels towards Rhyme, since she was close to taking a desk job to avoid the fate that befell her father. But as the movie goes on, and the bond between them develops from a mutual understanding to something more personal, they form a formidable duo. While the supporting cast aren't given very much screen time, they all play their parts well. One of the elements I hate most is Michael Rooker as the cliched douchebag Police Chief who meddles in EVERYTHING Rhyme and Amelia do to solve the case. Always have to despise the one who's right don't they.

A friend of mine has actually read the book, and says it's better than the movie, like most novels are. But if you take for what it is, a well-constructed, race-against-time crime thriller, you're sure to enjoy it.

Gone In 60 Seconds

Next up on the list of Miss Jolie's cinematic appearances was released, believe it or not, over 10 years ago now, making it older than most of Jolie's children. It's the millennium car-jacking extravaganza, Gone in 60 Seconds.

Appearing on the big screen in the year 2000, Gone in 60 Seconds was directed by Dominic Sena (Swordsfish), and stars Nicholas Cage, Robert Duval, Vinnie Jones, Giovanni Ribisi, Delroy Lindo and Christopher Eccleston. It concerns a retired car-thief being forced back into action, and pulling off the biggest boost of his life to save his little brother. Most people dislike this film, but I really enjoy it. Before I explain why, let's check out the plot in a little more detail.

The movie opens with Kip Raines (Ribisi) and his crew stealing a Porche from a showroom. Unfortunately, in the exuberant drive back to the warehouse where they are stashing the cars for a boost, they attract the attention of the police, who storm the warehouse.

W discover that Kip was stealing 50 cars for a British crime boss called Raymond Calitri (Eccleston), but since he failed, Calitiri ropes in Kips brother Memphis (Cage), a renowned car thief, and informs Memphis that he will kill Kip if he doesn't agree to boosting the 50 cars. With no choice but to come out of retirement, he assembles old team, including Donny, Otto (Duvall), Sphinx (Jones), former girlfriend Sway (Jolie), and, reluctantly, Kip and his crew, who have some highly desirable skills.

Unlike Kip's attempt at the boost, where the cars are stolen over a period of several days with 'shadow games', Memphis plans to use his old technique, whereby he discovers and scouts the location of the cars (or 'ladies' as they are referred to in the movie), and plans to have them all jacked in 1 night. The idea being that, while it may be dangerous and with little room for error, once the first car is reported stolen, all the cars have been acquired and are ready to be shipped.

But, much to Memphis' chagrin, he is being watched by detective Castlebeck (Lindo), who previously had the chance to arrest him during a prior boost, but never managed to apprehend him, and has held a grudge against him ever since. On top of this, one of the cars on the list, a 1967 Shelby GT-500, dubbed 'Eleanor', is one Memphis has never managed to successfully steal.

                                                                         Eleanor

So that's it for the synopsis, so why do I enjoy it? Well I think most of all, is it's so easy to watch. Very simple, very linear, but with a lot to offer along the way. I love the wit of many of the characters, particularly Donny. I love the build-up to the boost, the gathering of the characters, some of which leads to several unwanted conflicts, both verbal and physical. I think the bond between Kip and Memphis is pretty well developed, as we see the increasingly perilous risks Memphis takes in order to save his brother's life. Finally, we have the movie's climactic car chase. Many critics referred to it as boring, but personally, it features some of the coolest driving I've ever witnessed in a motion picture.

Rather worryingly, while doing some research for this review, I discovered that the man who directed this film also directed the God-awful 'Season Of The Witch', which starred none other than Nicolas Cage, in one of his most shameful roles to date. But 60 Seconds is one of the good films on his resume. It's well paced, has great action scenes, and never tries to insult your intelligence.