SNOWDEN : Wednesday 28th September 2016.

'SNOWDEN', which I saw earlier in the week, is a biographical political drama Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Oliver Stone and based on the books 'The Snowden Files' by The Guardian's foreign correspondent Luke Harding, and 'The Time of the Octopus' by Russian lawyer and Doctor of Law Anatoly Kucherena. The former is an in depth biography of Edward Snowden's story, and the latter is a story of a fictional American whistleblower seeking asylum in Russia. The film rights for both books were acquired by Oliver Stone and form the foundation of this account of Edward Joseph Snowden, who hit the international headlines in mid-2013 for leaking classified information from the National Security Agency to The Guardian in the June of that year. With an all star cast, Stone was so worried about filming in the US and reprisals from the NSA, that he shot the film mostly outside of the US in Munich and Hong Kong with some footage filmed in Washington D.C. and Hawaii. A controversial man and a controversial story with Snowden being hailed a whistleblower, a dissident, a hero, a freedom fighter, a patriot and a traitor - you'll just have to decide for yourself based on this 'dramatisation of true events' as the films opening titles tell us! The film was made for US$40M and has so far grossed US$19M since its release.

Featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden and Shailene Woodley as his girlfriend Lindsay Mills, the film tells the story of this American computer professional, former Central Intelligence Agency employee and former contractor for the United States government who copied and leaked classified information from the NSA without any authorisation. The film charts Snowden's career from when he was first serving in the army, and was medically discharged to him applying for entry into the CIA and going through numerous rigorous tests to gain entry and prove himself worthy. It also explains how he first met his girlfriend Lindsay Mills, a tech-smart photographer, and how their relationship coped with the peaks and troughs of the stresses and strains of the highly secretive world in which he worked, and what he was exposed to.

Once accepted into the CIA he is introduced to Corbin O'Brian (Rhys Ifans) as a major high ranking CIA official who takes the new recruit under his wing recognising the inner geek and computer programming genius that is now in his midst. He also meets with Hank Forrester (Nicolas Cage) on his first day on the job at 'The Hill' (a closely guarded CIA Training Facility) who will be one of Snowden's instructors, and they share common interests in historical computers and code-cracking hardware before Forrester lets out a barrage of stories about highly secretive projects and the modern spying game. Forrester is somewhat jaded having developed an intricate computer programme to target known enemies of the state, that was dismissed before completion and handed over to a third party contractor for US$4B - more money than sense!

As Snowden becomes more entrenched with the CIA and in turn the NSA and gets ever closer to O'Brian having proven his capabilities and his worth repeatedly, so his responsibilities and his authorities increase. He is quickly introduced to the world of surveillance and how the NSA is keeping tabs on every mobile phone, every social media site, Internet activity, messaging service  and computer use across the world with the ability to peer into all and any users private lives with astonishing speed and accuracy and completely unhindered. He's uncomfortable with this revelation and so seeks to get on to field operations and sample the world of the international spy, and so teams up with CIA Agent Geneva (Timothy Olyphant) and is exposed to some dirty dealings that sits uneasily with him too. Increasingly we see Snowden questioning himself to the point when he resigns his job because the burden of responsibility and accountability is all getting too much. However, he comes back as a contractor hired by blue chip consulting firms to work with the CIA and NSA again - same shit, different bucket!

Throughout the film we are taken back & forth in time over the course of nine years culminating in a Hong Kong hotel room. We see his relationship with Lindsay ebb & flow as she struggles with the secrecy he is sworn to, and not being able to discuss his working life with him openly to help relieve the stresses and strains he is feeling as a result of his work.

After postings in some far away places that culminated in a secret NSA underground facility in Hawaii, Snowden downloads several hundred thousand files onto a USB drive while his superior, NSA Agent Trevor James (Scott Eastwood) is pre-occupied with an emergency crisis. Casually, Snowden walks out of the heavily guarded facility with the USB hidden inside a Rubik's Cube which he is rarely seen without, and out into the sunshine having taken his leave from his desk because he wasn't feeling so good.

After leaving his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii, Snowden flew to Hong Kong and is holed up in a Hotel Room with Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) an American documentary film Producer and Director who was in attendance by invitation from Snowden to record his testimony. In the room too was Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) - an American journalist and author also invited by Snowden to document his testimony for the world press, and most notably The Guardian. And, Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) - a Scottish journalist working for The Guardian as defence and intelligence correspondent. So, is came to be that over the course of four days in June 2013 holed up inside that hotel room, Snowden spilled the beans and revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to the three journalists and confidants, which then appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post, other newspapers including Der Spiegel and The New York Times and across global television networks. Watching these events unfold on national news are Lindsay at home with her parents, Corbin O'Brian, Hank Forrester, and assorted world leaders.

Snowden's disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and Governments across Europe. After being charged by the US Government on two counts of espionage and theft of classified information he flew to Moscow seeking asylum which he was granted for twelve months, subsequently extended to three years. He remains in Russia as of this date, and was subsequently joined there by Lindsay.

In a closing scene we see Snowden being interviewed live via an Internet link-up in front of a live studio audience. He is asked probing questions, and why he did what he did. As the camera pans around the monitor on which Snowden is speaking from his apartment somewhere in Russia, the image cuts from Edward Snowden as portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the real Edward Snowden who continues the discussion about peoples freedom, privacy and security and the violation of those basic human rights by President Obama. Edward Snowden co-operated in the making of this film.

I have to say I was fascinated about this film, and even if only 50% of what is depicted on the screen by Oliver Stone is true and correct, then that is a very scary prospect too - for all of us! Gordon-Levitt carries his character along with nuance and grace that makes him grounded, real and believable. There are no arousing speeches, chest beating, table thumping or over the top antics to be seen here, but rather a considered somewhat introverted but nonetheless highly intelligent man just doing what he believes in, and who has the courage of his convictions to speak out about what he believes in, and what he knows to be true. There was no personal gain here, no bag of gold at the end of this rainbow - for Snowden it was all down side - living in exile, the possibility of prison, labelled a traitor, alone and turning his back on his country, his family, his loved ones and the life he had thus far made for himself. One man against the world and prepared to blow open the lid. A riveting film based on fact that we cannot ignore, well delivered, very watchable and it will cause you to debate and discuss the subject at hand long after the credits have rolled.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

STAR TREK : BEYOND - Tuesday 26th July 2016.

I saw 'STAR TREK : BEYOND' in 3D this week because it was the only option at a time that suited me, but, it does add value! 'Star Trek' as we know it had its humble beginnings as an NBC television series back in 1966, which ran for just three seasons - having been cancelled in 1969 because of declining ratings. Series creator Gene Roddenberry always wanted to continue the series in film first pitching the idea in 1969, but it would be another ten years before the small screen series made it to the big screen - largely off the back of syndicated series re-runs during the 70's which proved to be a whole lot more popular second time around. Released in time for Christmas 1979, the first film 'Star Trek : The Motion Picture' reunited the television cast for US$35M, returning a worldwide gross of US$139M. Throughout the 80's there were a further five films up until 1991with 'The Next Generation' taking over in 1994 and running though until 2002, culminating with 'Nemesis' - the worst performing film of the franchise to date making just US$67M from its US$60M outlay. Then in 2009 Director J.J.Abrams got hold of the franchise for an overdue and much needed reboot with 'Star Trek' and followed this up in 2013 with 'Star Trek : Into Darkness' - the latter proving the most successful of the franchise so far yielding a return of US$467M from its US$185M budget. The first twelve films were made for a combined US$540M and returned a collective US$1,931B, with this film, the thirteenth, made for US$185M and released in the 50th anniversary year of that original television series going to air. So far the film has grossed US$161M.

And so to this next instalment. Co-Written by Simon Pegg - a self confessed Trekkie and Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, Scottie, and Directed by Justin Lin who Directed the 'Fast & Furious films 3, 4, 5 and 6' to huge Box Office success, with J.J.Abrams taking a Producer credit on this one. Here the rebooted crew are reunited once again as we find them mid-way through their five year journey to go boldly where no man has gone before, en route to dock with the only recently completed, shining, bright and new deep-space starbase 'Yorktown'. As the film opens after an engaging scene where Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is on some distant planet with a goodwill gift offering to some 'Gremlin' like inhabitants that doesn't go quite according to plan, he is transported back to the USS Enterprise where through an introductory narrative we learn that life out in deep deep space for so long has become very hum drum, routine and mundane with Kirk beginning to question the purpose of their five year long mission to probe the outer reaches of the universe. 

Docking with the star base 'Yorktown' laid out in all its deep space steel, glass and technological glory is a visual spectacle especially in 3D, and here we learn that Kirk has applied for a Vice Admiral promotion based on the Yorktown which would essentially mean life on the ground and no more flying for Captain Kirk. He recommends Spock (Zachary Quinto) as the new Captain of the Enterprise, who has just learned that Ambassador Spock has recently passed away (Leonard Nimoy died during pre-production of the film). 

In a Yorktown command centre, an advancing escape pod is intercepted drifting from a nearby nebula containing a survivor named Kalara who claims that her ship and her people are stranded on Altamid, a planet in the nebula. The Enterprise is the most technically advanced ship in the fleet and so Kirk agrees to a rescue mission, and musters his crew. However, once inside the nebula and navigating through a sea of giant rocks their rescue mission turns into an ambush as the Enterprise is overcome by a huge swarm of small attack ships that quickly dismantle the ship leaving it venerable to the as yet unknown enemy. 

The enemy quickly manifests itself in the form of alien being Krall (Idris Elba), who boards the ship and begins to overthrow all those in their path as they search for an alien artifact called the 'Abronath' - that Kirk and Spock have in their possession, and which Kirk has attempted to give to the 'Gremlins' at the introduction. Kirk is able to stow the Abronath away as the Enterprise is systematically torn apart by the swarm, and for as long as possible Krall and his army search the ship unsuccessfully. With all hope for salvaging the now heavily disabled Enterprise, Kirk gives the order to abandon ship, as the saucer section is all that remains and begins its decent into the planet below. The crew do so in a multitude of escape pods, which are quickly picked up by the returning attack ships.

As those escape pods not captured by the returning swarm come to land on the planet they are spread far and wide over mountainous terrain. Sulu (John Choo) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) are rounded up by Krall's foot soldiers. Kirk and Pavell (Anton Yelchin) round up with Kalara to find the wreckage of the Enterprise saucer in the hope that they can establish communication with other survivors. Spock and Bones (Karl Urban) come down close to each other and meet up although Spock is wounded to his stomach by a large piece of shrapnel. Scottie (Simon Pegg) is alone in the forest wondering what to do next when he is set up on by some alien no good types and is promptly rescued by Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) an alien scavenger with a particular set of skills who has previously escaped from Krall's prison camp, and we learn that Krall's second-in-command was responsible for the death of her father. So she has a axe to grind with Krall and his types.

At this point in the film we focus on the three separated groups as they attempt to regroup, while Krall plots an attack on the Yorktown initially and then the wider Federation. Jaylah takes Scottie under her wing and leads him to her 'house' which it turns out is the USS Franklin - the wrecked Starfleet ship that disappeared mysteriously over one hundred years ago. Jaylah has used her cunning engineering skills to reboot the fallen vessel, and with Scottie's help is able to get the ship almost operational again - it could just be their ticket outta Dodge! 

Whilst working on they ship which has been invisibly cloaked from view, an alarm is triggered by a trap laid by Jaylah that has ensnared both Kirk and Pavell, reuniting these characters. They make the Franklin their base of operations and together plot their move on Krall to free the survivors of the Enterprise. With the Franklin's old but still serviceable technology Kirk, Pavell, Scottie and Jaylah are able to locate Spock and Bones and beam them up, so reuniting the team to devise their plan to free their colleagues in Krall's captivity.

Meanwhile, Krall eventually gets his hands on the Abronath, that has been secretly concealed by one of the captive Enterprise crew. It transpires that this is one half of a sophisticated age old bioweapon created by the original inhabitants of Altamid, that can destroy humanoid lifeforms in a matter of seconds. Now armed with this missing half, Krall can complete the weapon and set his mission in train, beginning with his wholesale attack on Yorktown. With the rescue mission of those crew members held captive successful and them all beamed up to the Franklin, Kirk gives the order for the now fired up ship to hot foot it to Yorktown to intercept the swarm and Krall.

The question is now how to foil the swarm that so rapidly and so efficiently all but destroyed the Enterprise, in a ship that is one hundred years her senior and with less sophisticated technology. Spock hits upon an idea to treat the bioweapon like a swarm of bees and so you confuse one you confuse them all that leads to their collective downfall. Send a VHF jamming signal to halt their communication with each other, confuse the hell out of them and the swarm will self destruct . . . and it does - leaving just Krall and a few remaining officers heading full bore into Yorktown pursued by Kirk and the Franklin.

By now Krall's true identity has been revealed and as it turns out he has a lot in common with the Federation, has a reason to be pissed and wanting to take out bitter revenge on those that he believes did him wrong in the past. Krall escapes on foot having survived the wreckage of being pursued and downed by the Franklin. He heads up a ventilation shaft with the aim of activating the bioweapon on the one million or so citizens of Yorktown, and is chased by Kirk. This all leads to some pretty fancy footwork and close quarter fist fighting in zero gravity that is rendered well in 3D high above the city below. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Krall who is ejected into the vacuum of deep space where he is engulfed and quickly consumed by his own unleashed bioweapon.

Alls well that ends well, as the crew are reunited on a safe and secured Yorktown, except for some minor collateral damage. They gather to celebrate Kirk's birthday, as Kirk turns down the offer for promotion in favour of remaining in command of a newly constructed USS Enterprise-A rather than being a desk bound grounded Vice Admiral. Spock opens a box from Ambassador Spock and within its contents is a photograph of the Enterprise crew - their future selves (as depicted by Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, Takei et al).

I enjoyed 'Star Trek : Beyond' and in having Simon Pegg co-script has added a tone of originality and a throw back to the Star Trek of old that combines adventure, escapism, spectacle, fun and humour to the storyline. The 3D is worth the added cost especially for the scenes of the Yorktown and the early demise of the Enterprise under attack from an all powerful, ruthless and relentless enemy. The cast have by now settled into their roles with a familiarity and comfort factor that makes them watchable and relatable, and Director Justin Lin knows how to deliver on the action set pieces on an epic scale and with confidence. Worth seeing on the big screen and worth the price of your ticket for sure.  'Star Trek 4' has just been announced, with expectations the crew will return together with Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk's father, George Kirk. This film is dedicated to the memories of Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-