tim-935 Reviews

Dark (2017–2020)

A Good Way to Pass the Time

[8/10 · 8 January 2023]

There is a 26-episode, three-series drama on Netflix called Dark. It is a German-made who, why, and when done it, dubbed into English, featuring an ensemble of characters who become shifted and tangled between layers of time and space.

Central to the story is horologist, H. G. Tannhaus, (English = Leather Works) who, in H. G. Wells fashion, wants to turn back the clocks to a time before his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild died in a car accident.

Along the way, we explore the paradox of predestination and free will, the inevitability of love and its ability to transcend normal rules of life, the duality inherent in existence - dark/light, good/bad, man/woman - and even the notion of God with questions about the origin, purpose and destination of life. However, this is an agnostic tale, devoid of morality tales.

This series will take you out of your comfort zone into worlds where conflicts and dangers are not resolved by the swift wave of a wizardly wand or a whirling police box. We don't just go back to the future, nor do we face the grandfather paradox until the very last twist in the tale.

There have to be some attractive people in the cast, caressed by schmaltzy lighting and clever camera work. Here it is in the two leads playing young but lifetime lovers Jonas and Martha, ably assisted by others in the cast who seem to be committed to the project. The score, sometimes abrasive and intrusive - with good reason - constantly reminds us of the name of one of the entangled character families, Doppler.

Every indoor scene contains some sort of timepiece, and when we visit one alternate world the scenes are left-right inverted. A further colliding world is denoted by a change to the aspect ratio of the scenes. Visual transitions and clock ticks signal changes in times and worlds. The writers laid out the whole story from the start. The first episode foreshadows the final denouement; there was no free-thinking "let's see where this takes us" method, what I call the laxative approach to screen writing.

Infinity has no end or beginning. Mankind has grappled with that concept for millennia. The closest we have reached to an understanding is the circle, the serpent eating itself, the infinity symbol in mathematics, and the reflections in opposing mirrors. Dark tries a sideways look by combining time as circular at the same time as being linear. Catch it if you can.

The Boys (1962)

Don't buy fags for your dying mother

[9/10 · 4 September 2022]

This 1962 tale of four lads on a night out, told Rashamon style, from alternate flashback points of view in a courtroom setting, raises questions of prejudice and brutality in justice.

The court is portrayed as a claustrophobic cube, hidebound in tradition, and limited by the law at the time. The boys standing accused of robbery and murder are at once symbols of freedom and of rebellious youth.

Between the two, we are shown the course of events of that fateful Thursday night on 15th January 1962 (In real life that was a Monday). We see events from differing points of view, those views leading to conclusions so different as to sow much doubt in our minds as to where the truth lies.

In the court, the prosecution, led by Victor Webster QC (Richard Todd), relies on character assassination and supposition. The defence barrister, Montgomery (Robert Morley), would seem to have a walk in the park to dismantle such a weak, circumstantial case. The wise old judge, played by Felix Aylmer, is fair but stern.

There is no evidence to place any of the defendants at the scene of the crime, much less committing it. The mere fact that some people who came into contact with the lads during that evening describe them as Teddy Boys, by then an outdated term for scary teenagers, is enough to condemn them without further ado.

Montgomery has difficulty in piercing the sullen, sulking boys' exterior, but makes a valiant defence by allowing them to describe their chaotic yet innocent actions.

It seems that even the prosecution barrister has his doubts. When allowed further cross-examination after resting his case, a most unusual but allowable course, he tries to guide one defendant towards an innocent explanation for the magical appearance of a half-crown (12½p). Then he tries to have the older defendant pass the blame to a younger accomplice, knowing that the death penalty could not apply to those under eighteen.

The defence barrister makes an impassioned plea, not for mercy, as that cannot be allowed under the law at the time, but for the Law itself to be tried. This was a law that said those who commit murder for anger, revenge, or pleasure could only face imprisonment. However, murder in the furtherance of theft was a capital offence. This injustice is the take away from this tale.

Four boys, condemned by economic background, by others for their manner and dress, stand accused of theft and homicide. Was it just high jinks, or was it murder most foul?

Blind Revenge (2009)

Eyeless in Gaza

[7/10 · 7 July 2022]

There's a lot that blind people can't see, but motivations and misplaced items are not among them.

Veteran actor, Tom Conti, delivers an almost static performance, using his sonorous voice to good effect as the now blind art critic occupant of a rambling old mansion, played by Knebworth House.

He employs an attractive amanuensis, Daryl Hannah, to transcribe the ageing, irascible, misanthrope's final opus, "A Closed Book".

From the start we know that there is more beneath the surface, and the critic slowly becomes aware that his scribe is misleading him. She recounts the preposterous Madonna murder, the improbable O. J. Simpson suicide, and the laugh out loud conversion of Donald Trump to Islam.

She further gaslights the old man by moving familiar objects in his house, some of which he cannot be aware. But this is no narcissistic programme of dominance: it is a campaign of revenge.

What past trauma brought these two together? What profound loss has turned this otherwise pleasant woman into a relentless avenger?

This is a two hander, with three supports. The housekeeper played by the excellent Miriam Margolyes, a Conservative Party canvasser from Elaine Paige, and the literary agent, in a swansong performance from Simon MacCorkindale, have barely a scene each.

Raúl Ruiz's direction keeps the tension building, with some masterful camera work from Ricardo Aronovich. Adrian Murray's music is understated, being cliché horror on only a few occasions.

Don't be swayed by the negativity of some of the reviews; this is a worthy effort that will reward the hour and twenty minutes you invest in this dark, claustrophobic world.

Collision (2022)

Sout African Film Noir

[7/10 · 19 June 2022]

Johannesburg, a city where the drugs are cheap, and life is cheaper.

Bright, posh girl, Niki, defies her loser father and snobby mother to date sexy singer, Larry. Meanwhile the middle level aspiring gangster, Bra Sol, is trying to set up trafficking deals.

The father daughter dynamic is further propelled by shopkeeper, Cecil, and his beautiful daughter, Palesa.

The three strands play out in intercut shots and sequences with mounting tension and violence leading to a tragic denouement.

The lights go out for the final scene in more ways that one.

This film describes the inter-tribal tensions of South Africa, with more than a whiff of corruption in big business. Whether this is true to life I am not equipped to say, but the exposition is well laid out. The story moves on with increasing pace as we see the tragic inevitability unfold before our eyes.

The photography and direction is good with the claustrophobia closing in as we reach the final moments of this hour and forty minute feature. It is no blockbuster with grand over paid Hollywood mummers, but is gritty, real, and emotional.

Worth a watch.

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story (2022)

Now Then, Now Then, Now Then ...

[7/10 · 8 April 2022]

Any retelling of the Jimmy Savile story will seem at once gratuitous, sensationalist, and old hat. I'm sure many will dismiss this new two part Netflix feature as unneeded. After all, everyone knows the creepy and downright awful nature of this man's behaviour, just beneath the surface, thinly disguised, from 1954 until his death in 2011.

Yet, here it is, told with contemporary clips and present day interviews. We are led from the innocent admiration of a popular entertainer, through the paper thin disguise that no one seemed able to penetrate, to the thought that this Catholic infused man weighed good works against horrific sexual abuse in the scales of heavenly justice.

Over 400 lives were affected by his groping, abuse and rape. We should never forget that. The BBC, far from innocent in this affair, even after his death denied any knowledge of his litany of perversion. Royalty, dignitaries, and politicians basked in his fame; soaked up some of the charisma surrounding this supreme charlatan. That speaks volumes for who they are under the surface.

Watch it if you want, it's mediocre, there are no new revelations, but it is a record of depravity in our lifetime.

Confession (II) (2022)

Dismal Three Hander

[3/10 · 5 April 2022]

I watched this because it starred Colm Meaney, but I was betrayed.

This dreary one hour and twenty minutes piece concerns a hoodlum, or is he an undercover cop, a cop or is she an undercover hoodlum, and a priest, or is he an undercover soldier.

There are no redeeming features, attractive personalities, in fact, no one to identify with at all.

Not even the father - son and father - daughter dynamic is explored beyond a bland statement.

There is tension in the "will the telephone work, and who will speak with whom when it does?" The conundrum of who holds the power is defeated by the equal possession of equal looking guns.

This is an arty stage play, filmed in a single location, with no expense spent on elevating a chess endgame to the screen. Was it worth it? I think not.

The Weekend Away (2022)

Miss Marple on steroids in the Adriatic

[6/10 · 19 March 2022]

Leighton Meester and Christiana Woolfe play best friends Beth and Kate, meeting up for a dreamy catchup weekend away in Split, Croatia.

We assume their lifelong friendship, but they are at different stages in their lives. Beth is the settled down with new baby yummy mummy whilst Kate is the just divorced spoilt rich girl out on the lash.

The film opens with a taxi ride from the airport, where Beth meets driver Zain, a Syrian refugee, played by Zaid Bakri. Bakri steals all the scenes he is in. He teams up with Beth in the ensuing mystery, and I can't help seeing that Meester's acting goes up a notch or two when they are together.

Anyway, back to the plot. After a hedonistic night on the town, Kate vanishes. Beth has only the haziest recollection of the night before, and no-one seems to be any help.

As this is a female led mystery, we aren't treated to chaotic car chases, brawling brutes with flying furniture, or even gun toting machismo. Instead we have the emotions of bewilderment, anger, frustration, and fear. There are quite a few scream, although none of them Wilhelm.

As per mystery stories there are twists and turns, red herrings a plenty, plodding police making silly assumptions, and invitations to suspect everyone. Some of the characters are downright creepy so that's not hard to do.

Stick with it, because there is a sting in the tail, although telegraphed earlier on. I'll make no spoilers, watch this attractive film with a beautiful backdrop. Remember, trust no-one, and believe your heart; you never know who's listening.

The Duke (2020)

Not really a heist, more a host

[8/10 · 12 February 2022]

In 1961 the nation bought Goya's painting of the Duke of Wellington for £140,000, that's just over three million in today's money. Benwell (Newcastle upon Tyne) retired and disabled bus driver, Kempton Bunton, a crotchety anti-telly tax campaigner, had plenty to say on the subject.

In the fullness of time, the painting found its way into a false compartment in the spare bedroom wardrobe. The master plan was to raise money to pay for telly licences for pensioners and war veterans.

This well natured romp, replete with 1960's tropes, is well acted by Jim Broadbent in the main role, with nagging wife, Dorothy, played by Helen Mirren. Their canny son, Jackie, portrayed by Fionn Whitehead, propels the narrative with his cheeky chappy persona.

The film culminates in a court case where Bunton is brought up on charges of theft, and depriving the public of the painting for the four years he hid it in the bedroom. Facing an almost certain ten year prison sentence the outlook is gloomy. Even his clever barrister doesn't have many legal legs to stand on.

Bunton argues that he was merely borrowing the painting for the good of others.

The outcome is a surprise, with a clever twist right at the end. This is a jolly film with humour and a layer of pathos.

None of the exteriors were shot in Newcastle, and as a resident of that city, the Leeds and Bradford locations look out of place, even with the special effects department inserting the Tyne Bridge, Grey's Monument, Stella Power Station, and Scotswood Bridge in the backgrounds. Look out for a gable end advert for Beechams Pills with a spelling mistake!

Stowaway (I) (2021)

Never Ending Space Tale

[3/10 · 22 April 2021]

A four actor small set, claustrophobic tale set in a future space exploration.

Star Trek, Star Wars, Deep Space 9 it is not.

The improbable plot, replete with holes, revolves around an extra passenger, from who knows where, injected into a crippled trip to Mars. Not enough air, not enough time, not enough tension, in fact no action at all.

In keeping with many recent Netflix original offerings it has no resolution. Oh, it ends all right, and aren't we glad when it does, but the characters are still in as much limbo as are our brains. The scriptwriters, low on dynamism to start with, ran out of steam.

The cinematography was competent, the dialogue predictable and mundane, the actors did well with what they had. The director had an easy time thanks to the tiny set, and the wardrobe department must have had a ball with four spacesuits and tee-shirts. Snazzy space boots and matching gloves!

Things to look out for are a poster of a ultra muscled Schwarzenegger during an early exercise session (he went to Mars once, as I recall), the revolving space ship to make so-called gravity, but the outside universe spins in the wrong plane as seen through the windows, the biochemist's boil in the bag algae vats thrown away when they go bad, yet reappear untouched a couple of shots later, and the inevitable bumps, bangs and clangs heard in the vacuum of deep space.

I watched this so you don't have to. Catch up with The Simpsons or Tom and Jerry for better entertainment.

The Hater (2020)

Tomasz rises to the occasion

[7/10 · 2 August 2020]

There are people who control things - I don't just mean leaders, politicians, financiers - I mean those whom you meet only to become swept into their agenda without realising it.

The majority of us ride the waves of life in a state of perpetual discovery, but the controllers know what buttons to press, what emotional strings to pull, what manipulations will work. They ply their orchestrations without conscience, regret, or even a fleeting care for those they touch, even if their charm seems to say otherwise.

These devious people destroy to gain their objectives, often without fear. They lie and cheat without a moment's hesitation, but you have no idea until it's too late.

To say they lack empathy is only to scratch the surface. Beneath that glib charisma seethes a monster, hell bent on promotion, wealth, prestige, domination, who will use all their dark arts to achieve it.

In this well crafted piece, Tomasz is quick to learn that small deceptions are spotted straight away, but the big lies, the sweeping gestures, the devious plays in plain sight go undetected. In a world where information is power, the rising star gathers much currency for use now and in the future.

Watch and learn. Try hard to not be one of those who are swept along by such people. Don't let them direct your actions, be the one who says no; the one who maintains their own integrity.

Spinning Man (2018)

Rose Tinted Spex Required

[6/10 · 24 May 2018]

This psychodrama, set in a sleepy suburb, deep in the dream that America should be, concerns a college philosophy professor, a murder detective, and a long suffering wife. However, the main cast member, hiding in plain sight, is Language. "What is truth?" asks one student of the professor; we knew that one would come up at some point.

Is a paradox a linguistic bear trap, or is it a description of our everyday experience? How can we know, if our recollection is flawed by partiality, bias, and the bandwaggoning fallacy?

Ultimately, if we stay the turgid course of this slow-motion meandering, we are no nearer a solution, either for ourselves or the characters in the story.

The cinematography is engaging, the editing adequate, but the grading is rather too extreme in the teal and orange direction. Was this to flag the lacklustre nature of this film as a whole? The dialogue was clearly presented, rather wordy at times, but not heavy on exposition as one might expect from a college based script.

The three principals, Guy Pearce, Pierce Brosnan, and Minnie Driver keep us entertained, despite the slow, sometimes nihilistic pace.

Although there is a death in the film, I'm glad to report that the English language was not a casualty.

Darkest Hour (2017)

The Darkest Lighting

[8/10 · 4 February 2018]

If the cast list had not mentioned Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, I would never have known. Only on a few glimpses did the prosthetics and makeup fail to convince, on only two or three turns did the phrasing of those famous speeches not match the recordings of the day.

The Darkest Hour does not deal with swashbuckling Spitfire dogfights or heroic Berlin or bust land actions, but the inner turmoil of one of this country's foremost wartime leaders.

Winston was not without faults; was not always sure and resolute. He was parachuted into a job, a poisoned chalice, following the abject failure of Neville Chamberlain and the appeasers. The same backseat drivers who sought to undermine Churchill once they had put him into Number 10. Halifax is shown as a viper in the bosom, whose blackmail and emotional coercion almost caused the great man to falter.

You need to watch the film to see what it was that, in the vision of Director Joe Wright and the scriptwriter, Anthony McCarten, turned Churchill's darkest hour to the bright uplands of optimism and victory.

The camera caresses every scene, with no unnecessary motion, no shaking - the drama shines throughout. The properties are given an attention to detail that convinces, except in a couple of instances. The red light from the BBC to denote the open microphone during a broadcast, was in real life small and green, not the volcanic glow bathing the whole room in scarlet. I'm sure that the Ford Popular car, whose bonnet we saw briefly, to denote an ordinary street, was a post war model. Others might spot more anachronisms, but I was far too swept away with the story to notice.

From the first to the last, the lighting is low, the colour grading desaturated and bathed in brown, so that it takes a short while to become accustomed to the gloom.

The sound is clear, the dialogue comprehensible, even to this viewer's increasing deafness. The music is apt, yet understated. The voices do not fight for your ears over the trumpets and timpani.

A cogent, moving account of a few days in May, 1940 when the future of our country hung on the wits of a few men.

What Happened to Monday (2017)

Seven into one does go.

[8/10 · 2 January 2018]

What Happened To Monday is a tour de force of action and character definition, given that seven of the principles are the same actor.

Noomi Rapace plays seven sisters born into the hellish world of single child politics future. Mad Max meets Soylent Green. Glenn Close is the baddie, reminding one of Jayneway from Star Trek Voyager. This incarnation, however, is political intrigue at its finest.

The seven sisters avoid the dubious fate of cryogenic stasis by granddad Willem Defoe's intrigue of not only naming them after the days of the week, but also allowing them out only on their named day. The sisters are supposed to form a cohesive personality so as to go undetected in the scanning, high tech world outside their top floor flat.

Of course, seven women just can't do it. Squabbles and differences arise. Most of the film is set when the women are in their early thirties, and Noomi Rapace portrays the various sisters' differing characteristics with flair and imagination.

We are used to computer generated effects by now, so accept the multiple characters interacting. Bleak dystopian backdrops are taken as read, as are the flashes of technical wizardry that will seem quaint in a few year's time.

Whilst we are drawn into the action, identifying with the lead character, multi-faceted as she is, and her only friend, the film does not draw upon emotion. The first five minutes, setting the scene will resonate with some, and the last few moments will appeal to the mother impulse in us all. However, the torturous trail blazed in between is a mix of action machismo and Gaia loveliness. Neither mode hits the mark.

What Happened to Monday is an appealing, well crafted watch, but fails to reach the heights that the concept deserves.

Cold Light of Day (1990)

Turn down the sound, lipread the dialogue.

[3/10 · 26 April 2017]

If you are reading this you will have come here with a purpose. The sadistic trail of murderous narcissism left behind by Dennis Nilsen from 1978 until being caught in 1983 will be familiar.

This low budget retelling, in the style of a reject Channel 4 documentary, disappoints on several levels. The production could have been much more effective as a Film Noir. Narrative should drive the action which takes place in the shadows. Much more should have been made of conceptual imagery. The long, wandering take of Nilsen's room that concludes the film hints at what is possible.

One of the first ideas drummed into fledgling film editors is that sound is king. People will forgive the occasional wobble or slip in focus, even a dreadful edit, but will only endure a few moments of poor sound. From the opening whirl and deafening whoosh of whistling wind underpinned with rhythmic thumps, through the oh so too long tolling funeral bell complete with Darth Vader breathing, to the invasive wild-takes in street scenes, the soundtrack is jarring.

The action of the film, concerning the enticement of the victims, their strangulation and drowning, followed by their dismemberment and disposal, is interspersed with sections of the police interview after arrest. My reading of the notes taken at the time, this was before PACE and the routine tape recording of interviews, along with the subsequent evidence at trial, portrays a civil interrogation of a compliant, emotionless Nilsen, calmly admitting to his crimes. In Fhiona Louise's version here we have the lead detective, Chief Inspector Simmons (Geoffrey Greenhill), in real life DCI Peter Jay, railing and shouting with his suspect, trying to obtain admissions of perversion and worse.

The Nilsen character is played by Bob Flag, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the murderer. For the film he is renamed Jorden March, possibly a nod to Whitemoor prison where, for a while, he was held.

If you know nothing about this case then pass this one by. If you are knowledgeable then you will find nothing new here except interpretation. If you are looking for a low budget, amateurish, short to deconstruct then you have hit the jackpot.

Sleepless (III) (2017)

Where are my drugs? Please?

[4/10 · 22 April 2017]

Las Vegas drugs gangs chase each other; who's good, who's bad? There is private humanity under the hard violence. There is turmoil. It's the age old battle between male nature and female nurture.

Undercover cops vie to find the vipers in the nest.

Vincent Downes (Jamie Foxx) is a tough, no nonsense cop who bleeds throughout the film. Jennifer Bryant (Michelle Monaghhan) is a female firebrand, determined to prove she's as macho as the men. Rubino (Dermot Mulroney) is an oleaginous casino boss out of his depth. Rob Novak (Scot McNairy) tries to be scary as the drugs boss, whose muscle and authority come from elsewhere.

Scruffy cops with no ties, some carrying bulging bags, go unchallenged in a classy casino. A drugs baron, with an angry dad just off stage whom you don't want to meet, engages in a dance of death with a slippery but dim casino owner over an elusive cocaine MacGuffin.

The plot cycles faster than a crack house centrifuge. Clever lighting, fast editing, dramatic camera angles serve as action. Choreographed fights punctuate the pace. Indestructible bodies bounce back and defy drowning.

I hope you can remain sleepless through this sequence of clichés. Follow the drugs. Remember, corruption never ends.

The Hatton Garden Job (2017)

Safe, No Grit, No reality

[6/10 · 19 April 2017]

This is the heist scenario. You know, the big idea, the round up of talented villains, the trials and tribulations of the heist, followed by the spend, spend, spend.

The man who invented it didn't want it. The man who bought it didn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it? The answer to the riddle posed by Brian Reader (Larry Lamb) in the tense pub stand off with a group of youngsters I will leave to you.

In this based on fact robbery story, a mystery shopper (Matthew Goode) recruits four ageing criminals to break into the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company premises over Easter 2015. They not only steal multi million pounds in cash and jewels but also a much sought after box implicating a certain ex-CID policeman.

The heist is organised by an Eastern European crime family which obtains the required multi million pound jewel swag then melts into the background.

The Mystery Shopper escapes, but the older criminals allow themselves to be caught.

This is a slow retelling of the now famous robbery, with some anachronisms regarding the cars used in the film. Also, the shape of the hole changes, and never matches the real one as shown in the news footage of the day. There are obvious mistakes in the use of the break-in equipment.

I now know why my wheelie bins were stolen a few months back. They make convenient carriers for tools and loot on such escapades.

A pleasant tale told for the armchair criminologists. It lacks detail for the keen observer.

The Discovery (I) (2017)

Nothing to discover, move on.

[5/10 · 16 April 2017]

As an antidote to gruesome zombie apocalypse explosions, this low key drama centres on that same ancient human obsession, that death cannot be the end. Esteemed, now ageing, Dr Thomas Harber (Robert Redford) has told the word he has proof of consciousness after death. The result is that those gullible enough to believe with little proof, combined with either abject failure in this life or overwhelming desire for rapture in the next, bump themselves off with abandon.

Little wall clocks record the suicides as the film progresses as a reminder of the impersonal fallout of Harber's hypothesis.

The great Doctor's son, Will Harber (Jason Segal), travels to visit his estranged father by means of a deserted ferry. Deserted except for a strange yet beguiling fellow traveller, Isla (Rooney Mara), who not only provides the love interest but also the Watson foil to Will's Sherlock search for the truth.

I'll leave it for you to divine the truth of Life After Death: The Great Debate; be sure, this film provides no answers.

There are some cute touches, fired off scattergun style to evoke childhood memories in the viewer: there are some excruciating more than moments when reason is as dead as some of the cadavers in this sci-fi not so shocker. Don't expect bolts of lightning breathing life into the moribund. It would take more than a Tesla coil to enliven the mud from which the script is crafted.

It is a small ensemble piece showing little action in a claustrophobic set. Even the sea views emphasise the limited vision.

So much more could have been developed from this idea. It is Frankenstein by the sea on Vallium.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

I enjoyed this rip roaring tale

[8/10 · 10 April 2017]

American and Japanese fighter pilots bale out, only to land on an unmapped Pacific Island. It's 1944. They continue the fight into the jungle, only to have their squabble interrupted by a huge gorilla hand.

The world moves on, and we are now in 1973, the Vietnam war has just ended, turning the tide for adventurer Bill Randa, played by Fred Flintstone John Goodman, who wants to explore Skull Island, reputedly the home of mysterious beings.

Jurassic Park meets the Island of Doctor Moreau: this film follows the well worn clichés of the monster genre. The action in this improbable outing takes place on the island, the monster Kong is not whisked away, but fights battles on his own territory.

An almost demobilised unit of airborne soldiers, lead by Preston Packard (Samuel L Jackson) is seconded as escort for the expedition.

A slightly mysterious tracker, James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), and a gritty yet alluring female photojournalist, Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), Join the band.

Now, abandon hope all you who expect a 1973 period piece. The uniforms, some of the armament, as well as some technology are anachronistic. There are some 60s techno touches and soundtrack items to set the scene, but you didn't come here for a history lesson. Sit back, go with the CGI and green screen flow, to enjoy the action.

The Apocalypse Now heli-troopers survive the perpetual storm surrounding the island, only to be plucked from the air by our resident 12 storey gorilla, Kong. The survivors, now split into two groups, try for a rendezvous, only to encounter more scary monsters on the way.

It's not long before Tracker and Photojournalist meet up with the original American airman from 1944. He has lived with the unsmiling, silent, indigenous humans for 28 years. Salvaging parts from the WWII planes and an abandoned freighter, they fashion a motorboat to escape the island.

On their journey, Kong witnesses Photojournalist rescuing a stricken animal, then later they have a Faye Wray moment of tenderness. Meanwhile, in the other party, Colonel Cataclysm plans more explosive, jungle torching mayhem to set the world straight. His flames usher in the final denouement.

It is not humans versus monsters, the humans are bystanders to the Titanic struggle between Kong, scarred and singed from earlier conflict, and a giant legless lizard.

The real nobility belongs to the beast, although beauty lives on to tell the tale.

Aftermath (IV) (2017)

Don't expect a coherent story

[3/10 · 8 April 2017]

Two aircraft collide mid-air. People on the ground suffer. Arnold Schwarzenegger is old and fat, he should have stayed away for this one.

The residual mumbling, groaning, so called music is oppressive and loud, the dialogue is sparse, uninformative, inconsequential.

The screenplay lost so much potential. From the unfolding of events in the control tower, it seems that the crash was caused by the pilot of one of the planes descending without authorisation into another's flight path. The controller was operating two desks at once, so was unaware of the developing disaster. When he did realise the situation he tried to call one of the planes from the wrong desk, so couldn't be heard by the innocent pilot of the correctly controlled plane he was calling. We were led to believe that the controller took the blame. Most unrealistic.

Our hero, Schwarzenegger, walks away from the derisory compensation offered by the airline for the loss of his family. the Airline executives display corporate hand washing, with the lawyer being a monstrous weasel. There is no further mention of the matter.

Oh, and by the way, during the airport scene, where Schwarzenegger receives medical care after the shock of discovery, no one should expect to gain a blood pressure reading with the cuff applied over the clothing on his arm.

So much of the aftermath was swept under the carpet. The dreary, overstated music was enough to make anyone suicidal or fuelled for murderous revenge.

This may well be the most unrealistic and depressing 94 minutes you could experience this year.

Project X (1987)

Charming - only the humans are exploited

[7/10 · 18 August 2007]

This is a happy tale about the nasty Government trying to cancel research and the animals that helped in the project. Matthew Broderick is a young Air Force pilot seconded to the project who does his best to understand the animals and bonds with the chimpanzees.

The chimps are being taught to fly planes, and the project seems to be about using "expendable" chimps instead of flesh and blood humans on dangerous missions. It's not surprising that the project leaders can't see the injustice of cancelling the animals with the project as there were always intended to be disposable. Shame on them. And there is the set up for the build of tension and the eventual chase sequence.

Please will everyone note that chimps are NOT monkeys, they are apes. Monkeys have tails, apes do not.

The humans are slaves to the system, and there is too much smoking. Naughty.