Home Opinion Friday Flix Fix – 11th April 2014
Friday Flix Fix – 11th April 2014

Friday Flix Fix – 11th April 2014

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Another week, another Friday Flix Fix. The big films are coming hard and fast now, all three this week are relatively big releases on the calendar. It’s interesting to see how different companies are staggering their releases to all get a big weekend at the box office; Disney had Captain America last weekend along with Paramount’s Noah and next weekend we have Columbia’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Only going to get closer and closer as 20th Century Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past and Warner Bros’ Godzilla battle towards the end of May, too. Captain America: The Winter Soldier has set a very high standard for these big budget flicks this Summer, but it’s pretty open as to who’ll see the big bucks over the coming weeks.

 

The Good: The Raid 2
Director: Gareth Evans, Rating: 18, Running Time: 150 minutes

So, we actually reviewed this a little while ago, which you can check out here. Long story short, see this film if you enjoy action. This is a gritty, hardcore action film for people who like it well choreographed, researched and bloody. The Raid came out in 2012 to rave reviews for it’s distinct style and sense of realism – two things made all the more impressive by the fact that it was director Gareth Evans’ first major film. Star Iko Uwais is a quintessential bad-ass and total Expendable in the making as he fights his way bloody tooth and bloody nail through the onslaught of crooks and gangsters in the embittered story of protection and justice.

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Plot-wise, things are fairly light on their feet. The Raid 2 takes place a mere 2 hours after the first one ends and follows Rama (Uwais) as he infiltrates a Jakarta crime gang and kicks all kinds of ass to protect his family and get what he wants. Even though it’s simple, the film affords you some good twists and some pretty unexpected character turns. The acting is actually surprisingly tight for a film of this nature, but ultimately, none of that REALLY matters, because the bodies that are broken over the course of this two and a half hours are so dam well shot and so dam well satisfying on screen that this is just essential viewing…. If bodies being beaten and broken is your sort of thing, of course.

The Bad: Noah
Director: Darren Aronofsky, Rating: 12A, Running Time: 138 minutes

Darren Aronofsky makes great films. Up until Noah, I’ve seen and thoroughly all his films and loved his character-driven narratives and ability to be both minimalistic in cinematography (The Wrestler and Black Swan) and over the top with visuals (The Fountain). Not to mention, the guy made Requiem for a Dream, probably the most harrowing addiction film ever made. So, why is Noah getting on my bad side? Well, I’m certain the film looks good and is very well acted – I mean, Russel Crowe, Emma Watson and Anthony Hopkins? Can’t argue. It’s just the fact that the film is a big budget adaptation of a religious allegory.

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The story is probably very good, with plenty of great moral diatribes to chew on, but I just find myself asking ‘Why should I see this?’ and never being able to give a good answer. In an age where we have all our favourite superheroes coming to life on the big screen and epic quests being played out with Dwarves and Nobbits and Elves and the kings amongst monsters ravaging the landscape, what reason do we have to watch an adaptation of an old fairy-tale? All the right people are involved; this film is going to look good and feel good. I just don’t see the point.

The Anto: The Quiet Ones
Director: John Pogue, Rating: 15A, Running Time: 98 minutes

It’s a Hammer horror film. Done. Alright, alright, I’ll explain a little bit. The Quiet Ones stars Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) as college professor who attempted to create poltergeist. I mean, what more could you want as a horror fan? It’s going to be dumb, and the acting is probably to be a bit sub-par, but that’s some of the fun of why I enjoy horror films. The Woman in Black didn’t impress me all that much back in 2012 but it didn’t altogether disappoint me either and considering how much I enjoyed The Conjuring, I think mainstream horror on the big screen might still have some legs if done right. The trailers for this look good, very atmospheric, and the idea of creating a poltergeist is just off-kilter enough to make me raise my eyebrows a little. I will happily spend some money to support Hammer horror and give their content a look. In this day and age where absolute tripe like Paranormal Activity is getting consistent numbers and franchises like Saw refuse to just accept their death like a good horror franchise should, we need companies like Hammer to keep decent horror represented in the mainstream. Old and a touch average it may be, but at least it’s old and average we can rely on.

Some great stuff in the cinema this weekend folks – no matter what you see, there’s very little ways you can lose. I hope whatever you see you enjoy it and I will see y’all next week. Same Arcade time, same Arcade channel.

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