A Haunting in Venice
This is a very traditional whodunnit, with the usual suspects of affluent family members, their acquaintances and the help all trapped in a building while the great detective slowly grills each person until the reveal of the murderer(s?) is done in a grandstanding fashion.
★★★★
Mild Spoilers
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Written by Michael Green
Based on the novel Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
Just in case you didn’t know, this isn’t exactly a horror movie, but the third film based on Agatha Christie’s mystery novels that was directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Christie’s world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot. The other two were Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. There is no continuity except for the recurring detective character, so no prior viewing of those two films are necessary at all. Murder mysteries are by design standalone stories.
I really liked these series of films because there’s just something really appealing about mid 20th century European backdrops, and I absolutely enjoyed Branagh’s take on the eccentric Belgian sleuth. His third outing did not disappoint, although it isn’t without some flaws. These movies often include a cast of established and up-and-coming actors, and Branagh managed to get Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly, the Fifty Shades guy and the baddie from John Wick 2 for this one.
This is a very traditional whodunnit, with the usual suspects of affluent family members, their acquaintances and the help all trapped in a building while the great detective slowly grills each person until the reveal of the murderer(s?) is done in a grandstanding fashion. What’s new this time is the element of the supernatural complicating things for the detective who purely relies on logical deductions. Some of you may find these too old fashioned, but if you’re anything like me you’re going to enjoy it as much as I did.
There is also something a bit off about the way lines are delivered here, which were done so hurriedly that I found it difficult to hear what each character was saying, especially when there are so many different accents at play. There’s also this over-abundant use of wide angle lenses that makes almost every shot looked warped, like you were constantly looking through the point-of-view of a first person shooter video game. It can be annoyingly disorienting at times, even if it was intentional.
Otherwise, this is still a solid but traditional whodunnit held up by lush visuals, a strong central performance and a reliable cast of familiar faces.
Heat
Overall, Heat is a thrilling cinematic experience from start to finish, with an alignment of talents that made it more than just another cops-and-robbers flick, but a must-watch film even if you’re not a movie aficionado who’d appreciate the rare pairing of two acting giants.
★★★★★
No spoilers
This is one of those unanimously regarded greatest-of-all-time films that a film lover couldn’t possibly dislike. If you didn’t like Heat, we can’t be friends anymore. I’m kidding, I’d still love you, but I’d be highly suspicious about your taste in movies. It’s not snobbery, but it’s like if you took your friend to an award winning restaurant you liked that has really good food, and he said that it was worse than McDonald’s. Everyone’s entitled to his or her opinion, but it doesn’t mean we have to forgo our standards.
Heat has a great story: It’s about a highly-professional group of criminals led by Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) who rob armoured trucks and banks with precision and zero casualties, until something went wrong in their recent heist, and attracted the attention of Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), a sharp hothead who runs the LAPD armed robbery division. But it’s really a human tragedy about karma and making bad choices. It’s fascinating to see these relatable criminal characters presented with opportunities for a way out, yet be undone by mere moments of poor judgment. But the film doesn’t gloss over the fact that these people will kill cops and innocent bystanders if they get in their way. I was surprised to learn that Heat was a remake of director Michael Mann’s earlier TV movie “L.A. Takedown” and was based on a real-life case of police officer-turned-TV-producer Chuck Adamson, who did pursue a criminal named Neil McCauley. Adamson also created the highly-acclaimed television series, Crime Story that starred Dennis Farina and was produced by Mann.
Heat has an awesome cast that includes Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Ashley Judd, Danny Trejo, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria, Tom Noonan, Xander Berkeley, Jeremy Piven, Henry Rollins and Tone Loc (gasping for air!) Kilmer, Voight and Judd were the standouts, but I thought Trejo really impressed with his very small role here. This may even be his best performance. But we’re really here for the legendary team-up of acting legends Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. I remember the stupid younger version of me feeling disappointed that they were only briefly onscreen together when I first saw the movie in 1995, but now I can’t think of a better way to utilize these actors in the film. They were together a lot more in Scorsese’s The Irishman, but Heat still remains as their best screen pairing. It is such a treat to watch these two perform with each other, arguably in their prime.
Superbly and stylishly directed by Michael Mann (who also wrote the script) and shot by cinematographer Dante Spinotti who also handled the cinematography on the Last of the Mohicans and L.A. Confidential. Together they created a Los Angeles of grey skies and metallic blue cityscapes. Even the actors seem to be constantly dressed in monotones. It’s stylish to look at and yet doesn’t feel artificial, or interfere with the realism and grittiness of the story. Great music by Oscar-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal, and the sound design is legendary for that well-known shootout scene. It’s mind-boggling to think that Heat did not even get a single Oscar nomination in any category.
Overall, Heat is a thrilling cinematic experience from start to finish, with an alignment of talents that made it more than just another cops-and-robbers flick, but a must-watch film even if you’re not a movie aficionado who’d appreciate the rare pairing of two acting giants. It is also a film that gets better throughout time, as age and maturity makes you appreciate the nuances in the story and performances a lot more.
Once you’ve watched the film, check out the trivia section on IMDb or watch it again with Mann’s commentary. There are many, many cool trivia to discover, like did you know Ted Levine was supposed to play Waingro, or that Val Kilmer took over his role from Keanu Reeves?
Hardcore Henry
Unlike the movie adaptation of “Doom” starring Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban, Hardcore Henry fully commits to the game’s first-person-perspective from start till finish, and I find it fascinating that they were able to roll with that for 96 minutes and still manages to keep the story compelling.
★★★★
Presented entirely from the literal point-of-view of an amnesiac man named Henry, the movie begins with Henry waking up to find his wife Estelle (Haley Bennett) attaching a robotic leg onto his stump. They are in a high-tech lab, and a bad guy named Akan and his mercenaries are on their way to kill them both. Action ensues, Henry and his wife gets separated, and a mysterious person named Jimmy (Sharlto Copley, the star of District 9) appears out of nowhere to help Henry rescue his wife.
I know Hardcore Henry resembles very much like a first-person-shooter computer game (think Doom, Half-Life, Call of Duty, etc.) but I’ve got a feeling this was pitched to the studios with the popularity of found footage horror films in mind, but now it’s for the action genre. Unlike the movie adaptation of “Doom” starring Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban, Hardcore Henry fully commits to the game’s first-person-perspective from start till finish, and I find it fascinating that they were able to roll with that for 96 minutes and still manages to keep the story compelling. They were smart not to make the entire film one continuous take like Sam Mendes’ 1917, so there are cuts to make scenes move quicker, although I don’t remember there were any significant time jumps in any of the cuts. Hardcore Henry’s story is still, at its core, moving in real-time. Even though Copley’s Jimmy is Henry’s sidekick of sorts, Copley is actually the true lead actor of the film and has the most screen time. We never really see Henry’s face or even hear him speak. Copley also got to play multiple characters with a variety of accents, which adds a lot of fun and humour to the proceedings.
The POV approach helped make the generic action sequences looked fresh and exhilarating. We’ve seen action heroes jump off buildings, but when was the last time you saw it happening through their eyes pre-, mid- and post-jump in one single take? There are many sequences like this throughout the movie, but the best one for me was the one with Henry climbing the side of a building, and continuing to an incredible rooftop chase later.
The downside to the POV gimmick is that some of the action got repetitive really quick, especially in the finale. There are only so many imaginative kills you can create for a horde of henchmen, so there will be some repeated deaths for each henchman, but because you can’t cut away from Henry’s point of view, you will have to sit through every one of them. Also, if you get motion sickness easily, you’re going to have problems with this one as you would with movies that use handheld cameras extensively. There have been reports of audiences almost falling over balconies or throwing up during a show. Lastly, the main villain is also rather generic and uninteresting, save for an out-of-nowhere but cool power set that is never explained. And because Henry is without a face, or a voice, or even any character traits, the only compelling character(s) left are Copley’s.
Overall, this is still a fun and unique twist to the action genre, if you have the stomach for it. I’d also say that this is easily one of the best video game adaptations that is not based on any actual game. And I’d recommend this over the Doom adaptation any day.
Originally published on my Facebook page, here.