SPEAK NO EVIL : Tuesday 17th September 2024

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'SPEAK NO EVIL' earlier this week at my local multiplex, and this American psychological thriller film is Written for the screen and Directed by James Watkins whose previous film making efforts take in his debut in 2008 with 'Eden Lake', and which he would follow up with 'The Woman in Black' in 2012 and 'Bastille Day' in 2016. This film is a remake of the Danish film from 2022 Co-Written and Directed by Christian Tafdrup. Released in the US and here in Australia last week the film has garnered generally positive critical reviews and has so far grossed US$24M from a production budget of US$15M.

The film opens up in the Italian countryside where we are introduced to an American holidaying family Louise and Ben Dalton (Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy respectively) and their eleven year old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). While there, they meet and become fast friends with British couple Paddy and Ciara (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi respectively) and their eight year old son Ant (Dan Hough). We learn that the Dalton family recently relocated to London for Ben to open an office for his Chicago based company, but at the last minute the job was shelved and he was made redundant and is now unemployed. Sometime later a postcard arrives from Paddy and Ciara inviting the Daltons to their remote farmhouse in the Devon countryside. The family decides to go, hoping the change of scenery will be good for them and for Agnes who suffers bouts of anxiety and is attached, despite her age, to a stuffed rabbit toy. 

After a long drive from London down to the West Country they finally arrive at the farmhouse after dark. The Dalton's are warmly welcomed but as they spend more time at the house, they begin to grow increasingly ill at ease by strange incidents and the passive-aggressive behaviour from their hosts that cross boundaries of what would be considered acceptable. Louise is also troubled by Paddy and Ciara's aggressive treatment of Ant whom they learn was born with a condition that left him with a smaller tongue and without the ability to speak. One evening, the adults go out for dinner, leaving Agnes and Ant in the care of a babysitter named Muhjid (Motaz Mulhees) which unnerves the Daltons. While playing hide and seek in the farmhouse with Muhjid, Ant shows Agnes a collection of watches Paddy has and a message written in a foreign language, but Agnes doesn't understand him. 

At dinner, Paddy questions Louise's vegetarianism and jokingly performs a sex act with Ciara, shocking their guests. Upon returning, Louise later that night discovers Agnes has been moved to share a bed with a drunken Paddy, Ciara and Ant. Horrified, the Dalton's steal themselves away very early the next morning, but are forced to return by Agnes who left behind her stuffed rabbit, and is having an anxiety attack in the back of the car.

Upon retrieving the toy, Paddy and Ciara who are awake by the time they return apologise for their behaviour and indirectly accuse the Daltons of judging them. The Daltons decide to stay in order to maintain the peace but the strange behaviour continues, unsettling the family. After an incident where Paddy throws a mug at Ant for repeatedly failing to keep time with a dance routine that he and Agnes had practiced, he steals a set of keys from a passed out Paddy and leads Agnes to a locked shed, with an underground bunker. Inside is a collection of luggage and the personal belongings of numerous families. Using a photo book, Ant reveals to Agnes that Paddy and Ciara are not his real parents but are serial killers who lure families to their farmhouse, rob and kill them before cutting out their children's tongue and using them to assist in luring their next victims. 

Ant shows Agnes a photo of his family depicting Ant with his tongue poking out and then motioning with his fingers a scissors action across his mouth, implying that this has happened to him and his family and that Paddy and Ciara intend to make the Daltons their next victims. Agnes fakes having her first period and manages to get Louise and Ben alone to explain the situation. Horrified, the family decides to leave, calmly so as not to arouse any suspicions and contact the Police to save Ant. 

Paddy and Ciara, realise that they have been figured out, and so puncture a tyre on the Daltons car, and hide Agnes's bunny high up in the guttering of the farmhouse to delay them, subtly mocking them as they do so. When the Daltons do finally drive off after Paddy repaired the tyre, Paddy throws Ant, who can't swim, into a pond. Ben sees this from his rear view mirror and jumps to the rescue of Ant before a gun-wielding Paddy and Ciara capture them. 

Paddy forces Louise to transfer their savings to their account, while Ciara holds Ben and Agnes at gunpoint before preparing to kill them and cut out Agnes's tongue. A struggle ensues, as Louise slashes at Paddy's face with a box cutter she found in the farmhouse. Paddy is injured and the family and Ant flee into the house. Paddy, Ciara, and their accomplice Mike (Kris Hitchen), hunt for the family. Mike locates Ben and is able to overpower him, but Louise manages to kill Mike by planting a claw hammer firmly into his skull and save Ben before the family flees to the roof. Ciara makes her way to the roof, attacks but falls to her death. 

As the family tries to escape, Paddy emerges, holding Agnes at gunpoint. Agnes manages to inject Paddy with a syringe of ketamine which was intended for her but dropped by Paddy when Louise slashed at his face, incapacitating him. As the family go to leave, Ant approaches Paddy who acknowledges his fate by saying to Ant 'That's my boy'. An enraged Ant sits on top of Paddy's chest and repeatedly beats him to death with a brick out of revenge, while screaming for all his lungs will allow, with the Daltons looking on in horror. The Daltons and Ant leave the farmhouse. While they drive, Agnes gives her stuffed bunny to Ant, who sobs quietly.

About half way in you'll come to realise that there is something dramatically unhinged, disturbing and twisted about James McAvoy's character Paddy. Here, like in 2016's 'Split' from Writer and Director M. Night Shyamalan McAvoy gives a compelling performance that goes from affable Mr. Nice Guy to downright gonzo batshit crazy much like Jack Nicholson's character of Jack Torrance did in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 classic 'The Shining'. Having not seen the original Danish film I cannot draw comparisons, but suffice to say James Watkins has here crafted a suspenseful thriller that slowly ramps up the tension and the danger factor to a more than satisfactory conclusion that ultimately sees those fish outta water city types win the day over those morally corrupt country bumpkin serial killers. Certainly worth the price of your movie ticket.

'Speak No Evil' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

IRRESISTIBLE : Tuesday 20th October 2020

'IRRESISTIBLE' which I saw at my local multiplex earlier this week is an M Rated American political comedy film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jon Stewart. The film was released in selected theatres and through Premium Video on Demand in the US at the back end of June, has so far taken US$253K and has generated mixed or average Reviews. Stewart's only other previous film making gig was with 'Rosewater' in 2014, although he has written numerous television series and specials, has forty-eight Producer credits and thirty-four Actor credits to his name too and has hosted his own long running television show, the Academy Awards (twice) and the Grammy Awards (twice) too amongst other things. 

After the opening credits sequence in which we see still photographs of a number of ex-US Presidents all from within living memory in various states of relaxed playfulness, we cut to a scene in which the successful Democratic Party campaign consultant Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell) is in a state of despair following the results of the 2016 presidential election. Zimmer is a few days later shown a video that has gone viral of Marine Colonel Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper) turned local respected farmer standing up for the immigrant population of his hometown of Deerlaken, Wisconsin at a local town hall meeting chaired by Mayor Braun (Brent Sexton). At his Washington D.C. office surrounded by a number of his staffers, Zimmer makes the decision that if he can run Hastings as the Democratic mayoral candidate in the next town election, then he stands a good chance of convincing the people in the American heartland to vote Democrat in the next presidential election. 

Zimmer travels to Deerlaken in order to convince Hastings to run for mayor. Upon arriving, it would be fair to say that Zimmer is somewhat surprised and shocked by the cultural divide that exists between the ordinary rural dwelling townsfolk of Deerlaken compared to the cut & thrust, take no prisoners cashed up privileged existence of life in Washington D.C. After spending a day helping out on Hastings' farm, Zimmer meets with Diana Hastings (Mackenzie Davis), the 28 year old daughter of the Colonel, and he then pitches this idea to them both. Initially the Colonel is not struck on the idea, but Zimmer can be very convincing when he wants to be. After some reluctance, the Colonel agrees but upon condition that Zimmer personally runs the campaign from Deerlaken himself, because after all, the Colonel considers himself conservative with no real leanings towards politics, or experience in this field. 

Following his first introduction to a small gathered group of townsfolk at his farm in front of assembled cameras, the Colonel recruits his friends and neighbours as campaign volunteers to aid his efforts. A number of setbacks soon come to the fore including the fact that most of the town appears conservative and that the incumbent Mayor Braun is being funded directly by the Republican National Committee. The RNC sends Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne) Zimmer's arch nemesis to Deerlaken, to counteract him.

Zimmer decides he needs to take Hastings to New York to meet the powerbrokers there - especially the ones with the deep pockets prepared to donate to his campaign. Arriving at the private lavish townhouse residence of a Mr. Peeler (Bruce Altman), Hastings gives an impassioned speech to the gathered group of potential donors and how he needs their collective help to save his small town in country Wisconsin. On the flight back Zimmer is overcome with emotion recounting Hastings speech, and over the ensuing days the donations come flooding in, so allowing Zimmer to upgrade their approach and enlist the technology and the human resources to make a difference and thwart the incumbent mayor, Braun. 

As a result Hastings who was lagging behind in the polls to Braun, soon catches him up and they are fairly evenly matched. However, just as things appear to be going in Hastings favour, the campaign takes a nose dive when one of Zimmer's team members Tina De Tessant (Natasha Lyonne) advertises a pro-contraceptive platform to a group of single women who turn out to be nuns. Needless to see the media, and Faith Brewster, have a field day.

When Zimmer starts going off at his campaign mates, which he often does in public and in private but often being overheard, Diana convinces him to apologise and that if he is going to run her father's campaign, he needs to be more civil. When it begins to look like Braun is going to win the election, Zimmer tries to convince Hastings and Diana to play dirty and start exploiting the skeletons in Braun's cupboards. Diana is mortified that Zimmer would even consider playing dirty tricks and goes to Braun for advice. Braun and Diana decide to secretly reveal a bigger scandal about Braun so Zimmer will not go after Braun's brother, which was his original plan. The scandal it is later revealed is fake.

On the day of the election, only two votes are cast - one for each candidate, which confuses both Zimmer and Brewster. In the town hall where the candidates and their campaign staffers are all gathered to hear the final results it is revealed that the election was in fact an elaborate ruse orchestrated by Diana. She shot the video of her father's immigration speech so that Zimmer and Brewster would watch it and ultimately campaign to pour thousands of dollars into the election, which would help the town through its financial trouble due to the earlier closure of the military base there. Diana conceded that they were only looking to raise US$750K to keep Deerlaken's High School open, but they actually raised US$45M. Zimmer is shocked that Diana would play him in such a way and Diana then explains the town set this up because the D.C. politicians play small towns like theirs all the time. When Zimmer reveals that he was hoping that there was a spark between them, Diana rejects him. Fast forward six months and Diana and her Dad are seen laying out plans for several new buildings and businesses in Deerlaken and extensions to the High School with the US$45M in donations received. Diana becomes the mayor of Deerlaken after a special election, and in closing we are shown three possible love interests involving Zimmer with Diana, Zimmer with Faith Brewster, and Zimmer with Ann (Blair Sims - the owner of the local Cafe, who plies him everyday with coffee and blueberry streusel). 

As political satires go, this film isn't great, but it isn't bad either. There are no laugh out loud moments here, but it did raise a few smirks and chuckles along the way mostly thanks to the comedic expressions, one liners and deadpan delivery of Steve Carell playing the Democratic campaign activist with a sadistic streak but his heart is still in the right place. Rose Byrne also puts in a good turn, as the campaign activist on the other side of the fence but tarred with the same brush as Carell's character, while Chris Cooper and Mackenzie Davis's characters were left somewhat undercooked. As for the Writer and Director Jon Stewart who has crafted a career out of political satire I would have expected a story with a little more cutting edge sharpness and relevance to todays American political landscape - instead he opts for a middle of road, non-committal crowd pleaser that doesn't always land, but the twist in the tale at the end and the chemistry between Carell and Byrne are redeeming payoffs. Also starring Topher Grace and Debra Messing.

'Irresistible' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

TERMINATOR : DARK FATE - Tuesday 5th November 2019.

'TERMINATOR : DARK FATE' which I saw at my local multiplex earlier this week is an MA15+ Rated American Sci-Fi actioner Directed by Tim Miller in only his second feature film Directing gig after 2016's critical and commercial success that was 'Deadpool'.  This highly anticipated, much hyped and eagerly awaited film is Co-Produced and adapted from a story by James Cameron amongst others. It will be the sixth instalment in the 'Terminator' franchise and the first since 1991's 'Terminator 2 : Judgement Day' to have franchise creator James Cameron involved. The first five films in the franchise have earned a collective Box Office gross of US$1.85B off the back of combined Production Budgets of US$463M. Cameron considers the film a direct sequel to his 1984 film 'The Terminator' and 1991's 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day', while 2003's 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines', 2009's 'Terminator Salvation', 2015's 'Terminator Genisys' and the television series 'Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles' are described as occurring in alternate timelines. This instalment cost in the vicinity of US$180M to bring to the big screen, has so far grossed US$131M, was released in the US last week too, and has received generally mixed Reviews and has failed to make the Box Office expectations initially thought.

Back in 1998, three years after halting the threat of Skynet, Sarah (Linda Hamilton) and John Connor (Edward Furlong) are living a free and easy life of peace somewhere near a beach in Guatemala.  Blissfully unaware that Skynet sent multiple Terminators back through time prior to eradicating the Skynet threat, they are attacked by a T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) which kills John before disappearing. Needless to say Sarah is distraught by what she has just witnessed and cradles the lifeless body of her young son in her arms.

Fast forward some twenty-two years, and a new, modified liquid metal prototype Terminator known as the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) is sent from the future to Mexico City in order to terminate Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), with a hybrid augmented human cyborg known as Grace (Mackenzie Davis) also sent from the future to protect Dani and ensure she survives at all costs. The two future time travellers arrive within a few hours of each other. The Rev-9 only needs to touch someone momentarily to be able to assume their whole identity and physical appearance, and so it is with Dani's father (Enrique Arce), who is replicated and naturally killed in the process. And so the Rev-9 as Mr. Ramos goes to Dani's and her brother Diego's (Diego Boneta) car manufacturing plant where they are both employed with the sole aim of killing Dani. Grace however, is one step ahead and is able to thwart the Rev-9 and escape with the brother and sister in a pick up truck.

The Rev-9 gives chase in a much larger truck trashing multiple cars on the freeway in its pursuit. En route, is also reveals its ability to divide itself into its cybernetic endoskeleton and a shapeshifting liquid metal exterior. It tears after them, killing Diego in the process and cornering Grace and Dani on a raised section of the freeway.

Sarah arrives just in the nick of time and temporarily disables the Rev-9 with a series of explosives. Dani, Grace, and Sarah retreat to a motel where Grace recovers from dehydration and is in desperate need of some vital medication, for fear of shutting down, which she steals from a local pharmacy en route, aided by Dani. 

Following her recovery, and back on the road, Sarah reveals that she was able to locate Grace because in the years since John's death, she has received encrypted messages detailing the locations of arriving Terminators, each ending with the phrase 'For John'. Grace responds that she had not heard of Skynet or John and that they do not exist in her time. Instead, humanity is threatened by an Artificial Intelligence called 'Legion', originally designed for cyberwarfare. Legion took control of all servers worldwide in the late 2040's and, out of desperation and the will to survive, humanity tried to neutralise it with nuclear devices, resulting in a nuclear holocaust and the AI building a global network of machines to eradicate all human survivors.

Grace is able to track Sarah's messages to Laredo, Texas as they continue to evade the Rev-9 and the local authorities. Arriving at an isolated house in the woods via a commandeered helicopter, they discover the T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) that murdered John all those years ago. Sarah, sighting the Terminator wants to kill it on the spot, but is prevented from doing so by Grace, who was led to his location from coordinates tattooed on her stomach before her arrival, with the message to seek him out if necessary. The Terminator states that he was left stranded in an altered timeline and left without any purpose after completing its objective, with no further instructions being forthcoming. As a consequence, the T-800 began to learn from humanity and eventually developed a conscience, taking the name 'Carl', starting a drapery business (can you imagine?) and adopting a human family. Learning of how its own actions had affected Sarah, it decided to send her messages to give her some purpose. 

Carl says his farewells to his family and tells them to escape, anticipating that the Rev-9 will arrive soon. Sarah reluctantly agrees to work together for Dani's sake. The group then makes a plan to ambush and destroy the Rev-9 by luring it into a kill box. Dani receives tactical weapons training utilising the huge stash of heavy artillery maintained by Carl in a locked shed on the property, anticipating that this day would eventually come. 

In order to lure the Rev-9 into their trap, they seek out a military grade Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) device from a serving military acquaintance of Sarah. The Rev-9 soon enough catches up with them, forcing them to steal a C-5 Galaxy military transport aircraft to escape. During the flight, Grace reveals that Dani is the future commander of the Resistance, as well as Grace's rescuer when she was orphaned at a young age after Legion seized control of the world. Sarah and Carl come to the realisation that they are fated to meet Grace and Dani, and Sarah concludes that her own history is repeating itself here in Dani. 

The Rev-9 boards their aeroplane by using a KC-10 Extender aerial refuelling tanker aircraft by smashing into the C-5 Galaxy mid-flight. The EMP is destroyed in the subsequent shootout, and Sarah, Dani and Grace are forced to jump from the plane while clinging onto a plummeting Humvee which parachutes and lands precariously on the lip of a dam before falling into a fast flowing river near a hydro-power plant.  

Shortly afterwards the Rev-9 and Carl are battling it out underwater, and gaining the upper hand the Rev-9 approaches the now submerged Humvee containing Dani and Sarah with the water rapidly rising inside the cabin. Sarah releases a parachute at the crucial moment enveloping the Rev-9 and sending him spiralling though the rivers fierce current. Having been washed downstream, the three are reunited, and begin the ascent up to the hydro-power plant, where they are joined by Carl, who by now is looking the worse for wear but still functioning. 

Down but not out, the group makes a stand inside the power plant with the relentless Rev-9 in hot pursuit. In the ensuing battle, Carl and Grace force the Rev-9 into a rapidly spinning turbine and destroy its liquid exterior, so causing an explosion which incapacitates most of the group and mortally wounds Grace. Before dying, Grace tells Dani to use her power source to destroy the Rev-9's surviving yet badly damaged endoskeleton which remains on its mission. Dani reluctantly retrieves Grace's power source from her stomach cavity, and as the Rev-9 gains the upper hand, Carl is able to restrain it, so giving Dani the chance to stab it in the eye socket with the power source. Carl drags itself and the Rev-9 over a ledge falling onto exposed rebar's many metres below. Both now pinned down, and the power source taking effect on the Rev-9, Carl calls out to Sarah 'For John', right before the power core explodes, destroying them both.

'Terminator : Dark Fate' is a good watch, but it's not great. With a marketed disregard for the third, fourth and fifth films in this franchise, this sixth film is intended to be a direct sequel to 'T2 : Judgement Day', which ably puts 'Dark Fate' in third place out of the six instalments seen to date. It's certainly a welcome return to have James Cameron's influence over the Production, and to see Schwarzenegger's and Hamilton's presence together on screen for the first time since 'T2' is also a welcome return to form for the franchise. And Tim Miller's deft Direction with the action sequences especially here proves his worthiness with the skills he clearly honed on 2016's 'Deadpool'. The story is relatable and kinda adds up and makes sense, although it is almost a carbon copy of 'T2' where Robert Patrick's liquid metal shapeshifting T-1000 was sent back from the future to kill John Connor, only to have the day and John saved by the pairing of Schwarzenegger and Hamilton. Are you getting a sense of deja vu here? That said, it's a respectable entry in the 'Terminator' canon that combines well executed action spectacle, a few moments of suspense and emotion, and some much needed levity by way of Carl's justification for becoming more human like, and Sarah's stance on saving the planet from complete oblivion. Worth the price of entry and worth seeing on the big screen for sure, but judging by the Box Office take, any further instalments now seem less likely.

'Terminator : Dark Fate' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-