I've been watching a fair few films lately, far too many to be able to prepare a full-length review of each one. So here, instead, is another series of mini-reviews, this time highlighting no fewer than twelve very diverse movies that (for the most part) I've particularly enjoyed viewing during the past few months.
WHITE SNAKE
As a life-long Disney fan, I have always believed that when at the top of its game this studio cannot even be equalled, let alone bettered, in creating superlative animated features – but after my movie watch on 6 April 2022, I have been forced to change my opinion. For that was when I viewed White Snake. Directed by Amp Wong and Zhao Ji, and released in 2019 by Joy Pictures, White Snake is a Chinese-American computer-animated fantasy co-production movie with animation by China's Light Chaser Animation Studios, and is based upon the traditional Chinese story 'Legend of the White Snake' (which is all about a female white snake demon who can assume the guise of a beautiful young maiden and, while in that guise, falls in love with a mortal youth). And it is by a country mile or three quite simply the best, most spectacular, and most sensational animated movie that I have ever seen – and I have seen A LOT of animated movies down through the decades. The level of animation is so stupendous as to be indescribable, so I won't even attempt to. If, like me, you love animation, you must see this movie! And yet, as a further example (following on from numerous and varied comments by others of late) of just how irrelevant film awards and award ceremonies are nowadays, this truly incredible example of dazzling, awe-inspiring animation at its absolute zenith of achievement was never even nominated for an Oscar or Bafta award (let alone going on to win one). Never mind. To paraphrase what was once said of a world-famous, undeservedly-reviled, and tragically short-lived princess by her grieving brother in his eulogy to her, this movie needs no award for it to continue to generate its particular kind of magic. Click here to watch an official White Snake trailer on YouTube.
CONGO
My movie watch on 5 April 2022 was the 1996 sci fi movie Congo, based upon the eponymous Michael Crichton novel from 1980, which I had read many years previously. Directed by Frank Marshall and released by Paramount Pictures in 1996, Congo features as the crux of its plot a gorilla named Amy whose ability to communicate with humans via sign-language has been technologically augmented by a device that transforms her signs into actual vocal speech, Amy participates in an expedition to the Congo seeking rare blue diamonds to fuel a revolutionary new laser, but the team unexpectedly stumbles upon a fabled lost city, Zinj, not to mention its hidden diamond mine, said to be the source of fabulously wealthy King Solomon's diamonds. For me, however, the most fascinating part of this movie is the discovery of the mine's guardians – a scientifically-unknown species of grey gorilla, which had been trained by the city's long-bygone human occupants to be extremely aggressive, so much so that they eventually killed all of the humans living there. Now they aim to do the same to the expedition's members, but can Amy's unique input make a difference? And what about an ominously rumbling volcano close by – is the lost city of Zinj about to be lost again, but this time on a permanent, irrevocable basis, along with everyone currently in it, when the lava begins to flow? Congo stars Laura Linney as electronics specialist Karen Ross, sent to retrieve the blue diamonds, Dylan Walsh as Berkeley primatologist Peter Elliott, who has trained Amy to communicate and treats her as a friend rather than as a scientific subject, and Tim Curry as wily, fake philanthropist Herkermer Homolka, obsessed with confirming the reality and continuing existence of Zinj (not to mention its priceless hoard of gems!). Click here watch an official Congo trailer on YouTube.
FALLEN (2016)
During the afternoon of 19 March 2022, I chilled out (literally – it was very hot outside that day) watching the young-adult fantasy movie Fallen. Directed by Scott Hicks and released in 2o16 by Vertical Entertainment, Fallen is based upon the first in a six-book series of novels by Lauren Kate. She basically sanitizes and rehabilitates fallen angels in much the same way that Stephenie Meyer did with vampires in her Twilight series of novels, but gives them sparkly wings instead of sparkly skin. No major acting names are present other than Joely Richardson as Sophia Bliss, an enigmatic teacher of religious philosophy at the secure school where shadow-stalked heroine Luce (Addison Timlin) and other 'problem' teenagers – notably Daniel (Jeremy Irvine) and Cam (Harrison Gilbertson), who compete for Luce's attention – are sent and confined by the authorities. There is plenty of adolescent angst abounding, as you'd expect from a YA movie, and a plot incorporating reincarnation and a recurring curse that is reminiscent of the storyline in the 1990 vampire comedy movie Rockula (which I've reviewed here). However, it boasts good special effects once the teenagers finally transform into teen angels and become airborne. In short, Fallen is an undemanding, relaxing 90 minutes of viewing, though the movie's inconclusive ending demonstrates all too readily that this was originally planned to be the first in a movie franchise, but which – unlike its angels – never materialised. Click here to watch an official Fallen trailer on YouTube.
INCEPTION
On 4 March 2022 I watched the 2010 sci fi movie Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and I'm very glad that I followed a friend's advice and read up on the plot beforehand (something I don't normally do), because, exactly as he'd said, without having done so I'd have been totally swamped by the fiendishly complex storyline and presentation. (One of its stars, Tom Hardy, has allegedly confessed in an interview somewhere that even he didn't understand the full plot.) Basically, however, it's all about a process called inception, in which a team of skilled dream workers is able to infiltrate a target's dreams in order to discover secrets about him/her or, even more difficult, implant an idea not of the target's own conception in order to influence the target's future actions in whatever way the person or company covertly hiring the dream workers desires. In this instance, however, the plan goes awry, and the team finds itself locked inside several layers of dreams – dreams within dreams within dreams, etc – with no guarantee that they will ever wake up back in the real world. Its starry cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio (as team leader Tom Cobb), Marion Cotillard (Cobb's deceased wife Mai, who haunts his dreams, literally!), Tom Hardy (Eames, the team's master impersonator/identity thief/forger), Cillian Murphy (Robert Michael Fischer, the team's target/victim), Tom Berenger (Peter Browning, Fischer's godfather), Pete Postlethwaite (Maurice Fischer, Fischer's dying father), and Michael Caine (Prof. Stephen Miles, Cobb's mentor and also father-in-law). Overall, Inception is a very enjoyable film, though I felt that the culmination scene went on for so long that it lost its momentum, to the point that I finally started clockwatching, praying for the end to hurry up and come, which rather defeated the object of all of the extensive plotting leading up to it. Nevertheless, this movie presents a very intriguing, original concept ably supported by a dazzling on-screen execution. Click here to watch an official Inception trailer on YouTube.
ABOMINABLE
I didn't get around to viewing the DreamWorks/Pearl animated movie Abominable when it was shown on TV last Christmas here in the UK (though I did watch the new similar-themed animated featurette The Abominable Snow Baby), because I already owned it on DVD, so I could view it whenever I chose to, which I duly did on 13 January 2022. Directed by Jill Culton and released in 2019 by Universal Pictures, Abominable is a delightful movie, with three quirky but plucky Chinese youngsters (Yi, Peng, and Jin) determined to return to his parents in the Himalayas a young yeti, dubbed Everest, who has been kidnapped by eccentric animal collector Mr Burnish (voiced by Eddie Izzard). The scenic visuals are extraordinarily beautiful, and although diehard cryptozoologists will be uneasy about not only Everest's white fur and that of the other yetis (in reality, this Asian man-beast is reported by eyewitnesses to be brown or reddish-furred) but also his magical abilities (he can substantially enhance the growth rate of plants, conjure up whirlwinds and blizzards, etc), Abominable is meant to be a fun-filled fantasy movie (not a cryptozoological documentary), and it succeeds at this very comprehensively. My own (albeit only) quibble is that I wish the animators hadn't given poor Everest a pair of massively over-sized jaws that resemble a man-hole cover cut in half! He deserved a more photogenic face, surely, but his innocent playful demeanour is so enchanting that I can overlook this (just!). Abominable is a lovely movie, one of the nicest family-oriented animated features that I have seen in a long while. Click here to watch an official Abominable trailer on YouTube.
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
On 2 January 2022, I watched the Marvel animated movie Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, which was directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, and was released in 2018 by Sony Pictures. Whereas I love Marvel comic books and Marvel CGI-enhanced live-action movies, despite being a massive animation fan since my earliest days I personally find that their wholly animated movies often come across as an uncomfortable half-way house between the other two formats – but not this one! I thought that nothing could surprise me any more in the field of animation, but this incredible movie took me to an entirely new dimension of animation – several new dimensions, in fact. Which is only to be expected, bearing in mind that in this movie there is not just one Spider-Man but seven, including two female Spideys and even, I kid you not, a porcine equivalent named Spider-Ham! Voiced by the likes of Nicolas Cage, Chris Pine, and Shameik Moore – Moore taking on the role of our own universe's latest Spider-Man, Miles Morales, following Peter Parker's death – five of them have been drawn from their own respective parallel universes within the multiverse into ours. This is due to the cataclysmic effects of super-villain Kingpin's catastrophic attempts with a particle collider to draw from a parallel universe his late wife and son, killed in a vehicle smash that he unfairly blames upon Spider-Man. The animation is beyond spectacular, beyond colourful – how I'd have loved to see this movie on the big screen! But it was more than enjoyable and thrilling even on my TV's small(ish) screen. Another fantastic MCU feature film duly viewed, so click here to watch an official Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse trailer on YouTube.
BLACK PANTHER
On 28 December 2021, I watched another Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) super-hero movie. Directed by Ryan Cooglet, and released in 2018 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, this one was Black Panther, starring the late, greatly-missed Chadwick Boseman in the title role. Except that this was NOT just 'another Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) super-hero movie'. Ever since its release, and especially since the tragic passing of its lead star, I have read so much about how great a film this is. I disagree. Black Panther is not a great film – it is, quite simply, one of the most incredible films that I have ever been privileged to watch. And I'm not just talking about its CGI effects, even though they are so stupendous as to defy description. I am talking about everything – the exemplary performances of all of its stars (who include the likes of Forest Whitaker, Michael B. Jordan, and Andy Serkis), though none more so than Chadwick Boseman himself as T'Challa, king of the (fictional) African kingdom of Wakanda, whose alter-ego is super-hero Black Panther; its unexpected depth and emotional impact, which I do not generally expect from a super-hero movie – it was more like watching Hamlet or its Disney derivative The Lion King than any comic-book-inspired production; the stirring music and vibrant costumes; and above all else the emphasis upon culture and tradition. Black Panther won no fewer than three Oscars at the 2019 Academy Awards (for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design), but it so deserved to have won at least two more (Best Picture, and Best Actor). If you watch this fantastic movie, as everyone should, you will never again think of comic-book super-hero films as lightweight or juvenile, I can guarantee that. Click here to view an official Black Panther trailer on YouTube.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
On 5 December 2021, courtesy of the UK's Channel 4 TV station, I watched the movie version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Directed by Jeff Fowler, and released in 2020 by Paramount Pictures, it is inspired by the famous Sega video game franchise featuring the eponymous and exceedingly fleet-footed alien blue hedgehog and his megalomaniacal nemesis Dr Robotnik, aka Eggman. As someone who has never been into playing video games, I had no background knowledge regarding Sonic, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie nonetheless. Voiced by Ben Schwartz, Sonic is a CGI creation, whereas Jim Carrey in one of his typically restrained, understated performances (sarcastic, moi??) plays Robotnik, but in such a frenetic manner that it is sometimes difficult to determine which character is real and which is CGI! It also stars James Marsden as small-town (Green Hills, Montana) cop Tom Wachowski who befriends Sonic and helps him elude Robotnik's clutches. The importance of friendship is emphasised, albeit not unduly so, and the special effects are undeniably very special indeed, exactly as they'd need to be when bringing to the big screen such an animated character (in every sense!) as Sonic. Well worth a watch – so click here to view an official Sonic the Hedgehog trailer on YouTube.
MOUSE HUNT
My movie watch on 23 November 2021 was the slapstick fantasy/comedy Mouse Hunt. Directed by Gore Verbinski, and released in 1997 by DreamWorks Pictures. Mouse Hunt stars Nathan Lane and Lee Evans as a pair of brothers, Ernie and Lars Smuntz, who inherit a dilapidated but exceedingly valuable old house from their father, and decide to renovate it for selling at a huge profit. However, they are thwarted at every turn by its small furry squatter – an exceptionally clever, enterprising house mouse. This results in increasingly manic slapstick attempts by the brothers to evict or destroy said rodent, but the only thing that is ultimately destroyed is not the mouse but the house. In their respective roles, Evans and Lane have been compared to Laurel and Hardy, but in my view they are far more similar to the late great British comedy actor Norman Wisdom, and David Jason (in his Del Boy character from the popular UK TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses). This would be no bad thing, were it not for the sad fact that the slapstick goes on, and on, and on, unrelentingly, for far too long with ultimately far too little effect. Less is more, whereas here more is definitely less. For instance, the section featuring Christopher Walken as an eccentric vermin exterminator named Caesar, could, I feel, have been excised in its entirety with no loss at all to the movie's humour quotient. Overall, Mouse Hunt is a decent but overlong comedy film imho, though the special effects featuring the mouse's dastardly activity are first-rate and help to offset the eventual tediousness of the human characters' contributions. Click here to watch an official Mouse Hunt trailer on YouTube.
THE HAPPENING
My DVD movie-watch on 19 November 2021 was the very unusual sci fi film The Happening. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and released in 2008 by 20th Century Fox, The Happening stars Mark Wahlberg as New York-based science teacher Elliot Moore, who is caught up in an initially-inexplicable, terrifying wave of mass suicides occurring extremely rapidly (within the space of a single day) throughout the eastern coastal states of the USA. Wahlberg's co-stars include Zooey Deschanel as Elliot's wife Alma, John Leguizamo as their friend Julian, and Betty Buckley as sinister rural recluse Mrs Jones. In my DVD collection, I have categorised this one as a monster movie, but whereas the monsters in such movies frequently are unequivocally bloodthirsty elusive horrors of the fictitious mutant or prehistoric survivor kind, those in this film are all too real, only too visible to everyone everywhere, and ostensibly innocuous, thus making The Happening a surprisingly creepy film. If you haven't already seen it, I won't say any more about the monsters, for want of a better term (other than SPOILER ALERT!! they're predominantly green in colour and photosynthesise!). However, I found it to be an unusual, suspenseful movie, and in spite of its very high death count there is scarcely any of the nowadays-standard/obligatory blood'n'gore that you might have expected – and is all the better for its absence, thereby leaving far more to the imagination, which is unquestionably the greatest source of fear ever created. Hitchcock would surely have approved! Click here to watch an official The Happening trailer on YouTube.
CRACK IN THE WORLD
On 16 October 2021, I finally watched in colour on the UK TV channel Film On 4 a thrilling sci fi/disaster movie that I'd only ever previously seen in b/w, and a great many years ago – Crack in the World. Directed by Andrew Marton, and released in 1965 by Paramount Pictures, Crack in the World is all about how a scientific atomic explosion at the Earth's core, engineered by brilliant but impetuous scientist Dr Stephen Sorensen (Dana Andrews), which was meant to release magma and harness its geothermal energy, goes horrifically wrong. For it creates an immense thermonuclear blast instead that sends a devastating crack through the planet's crust via a pre-existing fault, threatening to split Earth in half and thereby destroy it. Much of the footage of volcanic eruptions and lava flows were stock footage, obviously, but incredibly vibrant, certainly needing Technicolor to do them full justice in a way that b/w could never do, and made even more compelling by the stark knowledge that this wasn't sfx, this was real – real eruptions and real lava – Nature at its most potent but visually glorious, an extravaganza of excess. And also a timely lesson that we meddle with Nature and the workings of our world at its (and our own) peril. Click here to watch an official Crack in the World trailer on YouTube.
ELEPHANT WALK
On 23 September 2021, I watched an engrossing movie very different from my more usual sci fi/fantasy-infused film fayre – Elephant Walk. Directed by William Dieterle, and released in 1954 by Paramount Pictures, Elephant Walk stars an exquisite Elizabeth Taylor (who replaced Vivien Leigh after she suffered a breakdown during its filming), plus Peter Finch and Dana Andrews. This movie's premise is wealthy tea plantation owner John Wiley (Finch) from what was then still called Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) marrying lovely bookshop owner Ruth (Taylor) during a whirlwind romance in England, then whisking her back to his opulent mansion in a remote location in Ceylon. Here, John's bull-headed late father Tom 'The Guv'nor' Wiley had deliberately built the mansion directly across a traditional path used for untold centuries by the area's wild elephants to access water, and which now caused regular confrontations with these great beasts. Once they arrived there, it didn't take long for Ruth to discover that despite being dead, The Guv'nor still held John, the mansion's native staff (especially their head man, Appuhamy), and even John's friends in thrall, with everything maintained just as he'd left it, and with a huge tomb containing his mortal remains built in the gardens. Any suggestions for change made by Ruth were brusquely rebuffed by John and Appuhamy, leading her to seek solace in the company, and eventually the arms, of John's business partner, Dick Carver (Andrews), the one person immune to Wiley Snr's baleful influence – and then there's the far from insignificant matter of the seriously disgruntled elephants taking matters into their own hands – or trunks and tusks, to be precise! Both the on-location sequences and the indoor studio sets are lavish and sumptuous, and Taylor is at her radiant best throughout. Click here to watch an official Elephant Walk trailer on YouTube.
To view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.
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