Film Reviews (05-12/03/2015) CHAPPiE, Hyena, Kill The Messenger, Still Alice, Unfinished Business

CHAPPiE – The latest offering from South African sci-fi auteur Neill Blomkamp stars regular cast member Sharlto Copley as CHAPPiE; a former police robot who has been fitted with artificial intelligence and, arguably, a soul. Whilst kind-hearted, CHAPPiE becomes involved in a world of crime with some local gangsters and is also being tracked down by religious man of action, Hugh Jackman. CHAPPiE has received a fair amount of criticism, and it’s fairly obvious that the film owes a massive debt to older science-fiction films (Robocop (1987) looms particularly large, as does Short Circuit (1986)) and whilst the casting of rappers Die Antwoord as fictionalised versions of themselves seems a little gimmicky, the film looks stupendous and Sharlto Copley makes for a great performance with a very endearing story. I may be sticking my neck out a bit, but I’ll go on record for thinking this is a great film. ****

Hyena – Gritty British crime thriller starring Peter Ferdinando as a policeman, walking the fine line between law and criminality in a corrupt system and trying to take down sex traffickers. Hyena has toughness, intensity and a great sense of atmosphere but is also wildly inconsistent. At times, strikingly unusual and at others markedly realistic, whilst the plot is hugely convoluted and overblown, making it very difficult to follow. There’s also a rather unsavoury element to the themes of the film that seem almost xenophobic at points. Nail-biting and full of potential, but potential not very well realised. ***

Kill The Messenger -  Jeremy Renner stars as investigative journalist, Gary Webb who became the centre of a media firestorm in mid-90’s America for his reports on the US government working in drug dealing in order to finance South American militias. The true story this is based on makes for some rich storytelling that is stylishly executed with an interesting cast (alongside Renner there’s also Rosemarie DeWitt, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Platt, Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta) but the plot really starts to lose momentum and cohesion in the final stretch. ***

Still Alice – Julianne Moore won both awards from BAFTA and The Academy for this performance as Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Moore’s recognition is somewhat deserved (despite the rather strong competition) as she provides a truly transformative performance. This does have the effect of putting co-stars like Kristen Stewart and Alec Baldwin (whose brilliant chemistry with Moore was also seen on TV series 30 Rock) but the film’s honesty helps build to a very strong final act. **** (this week's Hot Ticket)

Unfinished Business – Not long since wearing his business clothes for his role in The Internship (2013), Vince Vaughn once again puts on his monkey suit for his latest film, Unfinished Business. Here, he plays the head of a small company (staffed by himself, an elderly but still active Tom Wilkinson and sweet but…unusual youngster Dave Franco) looking to close a deal that will make or break his business. Set mostly in Germany, the film has a rather “Tee hee, aren’t Europeans weird/pretentious/kinky?” mind-set as well as some glaring hypocrisies (an anti-bullying sub-plot up against jokes made at a character who’s clearly mentally handicapped) and plot holes (said person’s handicap only becomes addressed after a year’s work, despite being pretty clear and alluded to for the rest of the picture). Still, the occasional joke is a winner and there’s a sweetness and speedy brevity to the situation that makes the film bearable if unremarkable. ***