The first trailer for the long delayed ‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ movie starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton is now online.
Set fifteen years after their traumatic gingerbread-house incident, siblings Hansel and Gretel have become a formidable team of bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world.
Will this go the same way as ‘Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter’ or will Renner’s star power lift it in to blockbuster territory?
“There was never just one…” says the tagline.
And they’d be right as Jeremy Renner fills the big hole left by Matt Damon in the latest addition to the mega popular franchise based on Robert Ludlum’s best selling books.
All but written off by those people afraid of change (and trust me, I know there’s a lot of them) ‘…Legacy’ picks up during the events of ‘The Bourne Ultimatum as covert CIA operations Treadstone and it’s successor Blackbriar are in danger of being exposed after Bourne’s actions.
Series newcomer Eric Byer (Edward Norton,) realising the danger of the situation, orders that sister project Operation Outcome also be shut down and that means the termination of all representative agents including Aaron Cross (Renner) who is surviving out in the Alaskan wilderness.
After foiling Byer’s assassination attempt, Cross returns to the US to find more of the pills needed for him to maintain his physical and mental performance. Outcome has altered two of his chromosomes to produce a better form of agent that can heal faster from physical injury and cut out any inconsistencies that previous Treadstone agents would suffer from.
He turns to his field doctor, Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), herself the only survivor of a mass killing spree at the lab she worked at, ordered by Byer to dispose of any evidence or witnesses from the Outcome program. The killing spree in the lab is quite shocking and easily the most violent part of the movie.
With Byer trying to track them down, Cross and Shearing team up and secretly travel to Manila where she hopes to “viral out” Cross so he no longer has to rely on pills to stay in peak condition.
Without doubt, this has all the elements of a Bourne film but lacks the uniqueness that invigorated the action thriller genre when ‘The Bourne Identity’ was released.
The shaky cam rooftop, motorbike and car chases that were spectacular in the original ‘Bourne’ are all here in abundance but now lack that little bit of sparkle as every one from James Bond to this year’s ‘Safe House’ have nicked the same ideas for their own benefit.
That being said, the action still looks great with the scenes in Alaska standing out as some of the best of the franchise. Anyone who saw ‘The Grey’ earlier this year will appreciate the fact that Renner manages to outsmart a wolf and give it a good kicking in the meantime before faking his own death.
In fact, if the Bourne series is to continue then Renner is the lynchpin to rely on. It’s been a break out year for the star who’s already had hits with ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’ and as Hawkeye in ‘The Avengers.’
Where as I always thought Damon’s Bourne was a little too cold and calculating, Aaron Cross doesn’t have that emotional detachment and is a more welcoming character. The downside of that is he may be not as compelling to the audience. That emotional core doesn’t mean he’s soft but his relationship with Shearing is essentially the heart of the movie and as much time is spent on their plight as there is on cracking skulls.
Despite some awkward over acting at times by Weisz, the two carry the “us against them” motto for most of the last half of the movie with ease.
Norton is callous but never too much of a threat when stuck behind a rack of computers and the tension only racks up towards the end when he sends another deadly agent from an undisclosed operation in Bangkok to find Cross and Shearing.
‘Bourne’ fans will forever argue whether another movie needed to be made and ‘Legacy’ may not entirely convince them. It has the familiar feel of the Bourne films but without an extensive plot, it feels a little lightweight compared to the three that have come before. Judged on its own merits though, it is an entertaining thriller and a solid extension of an existing quality set of movies.
The abrupt ending doesn’t really reveal whether we’ll be seeing more of Cross in the future but the prospect of a team up between him and Bourne somewhere down the line is one that may be too tantalising for film executives to turn down.
7.5/10
Official Trailer:
So, it’s all led to this.
Years of planning, starting with the phenomenal ‘Iron Man’ back in 2008 and the introduction of the First Avenger ‘Captain America’ last Summer, has brought us to 2012’s ‘The Avengers’. Marvel have clearly built anticipation for ‘The Avengers’ to the point where comic book nerds, movie lovers and the merely curious are frothing at the mouth to see this cinematic event. And it IS an event, one that doesn’t happen too often when you have six of the biggest superheroes teaming up to save the world from total annihilation.
At the helm is creative dynamo Joss Whedon (Firefly, Cabin In The Woods) Being given the task of bringing the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to screen and not fucking it up must have its fair share of pressure but we shouldn’t have worried though as Whedon hits the mark time and time again. ‘The Avengers’ explodes from the first dynamic scene to the last with more velocity than a blow from Mjolnir (Thor’s Hammer for the un-educated)
Returning to torment our heroes is Thor’s half-brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the God of Mischief who was last seen dispatched from the Bifrost in last year’s ‘Thor’. We learn that he has re-appeared in space and is the villain for hire to an alien race known as the Chitari who seek to invade Earth. First they need the cosmic cube, the Tesseract, to help them transport realms which is under the watchful eye of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. After a low key and petulant side role as the hard done by sibling in ‘Thor’, Hiddleston totally transforms Loki in ‘The Avengers’ to a dastardly, cunning and altogether way more dangerous foe and he revels in it. Loki’s the best Marvel villain outside of the Spider-Man movies so far.
As for our heroes, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr at his billionaire playboy best) is the most familiar so far with two feature lengths already under his belt. ‘Iron Man 2’ was a disappointment with too many half baked characters trying to outdo each other, Mickey Rourke’s funky Russian accent and some outlandish humour that missed the point. Here, Stark’s mix of show boating, arse kicking and techno genius blends with the rest of the team… eventually. I say eventually because like any new team, The Avengers take time to gel. At first, they fight each other more than the bad guys and everything is close to falling apart at any given time. As Banner says “we’re not a team, we’re a time bomb…”
The team dynamic was the one thing I was worried about with ‘The Avengers’. Were they going to focus more on Iron Man? It seemed that way from the first trailer we saw that may as well have been the trailer for ‘Iron Man 3’. Was Hawkeye going to be merely the Andrew Ridgeley of the Avengers? (Google that name if you’re unfamiliar kids) At one point, Whedon was contemplating the idea of telling the story through the eyes of Captain America. This viewpoint would have been interesting as the Cap is a World War II hero re-animated in a modern world where very little makes sense and everyone he knew is long gone. Whedon ultimately decided against this and the film is all the better for it as each character is given ample time to shine.
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow back story is still not explored too much but we do learn that she has a definite romantic interest in Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and looks great in leather while dishing out beatings left, right and centre. She’s not as ruthless or cold as the Black Widow I know from the comics but her moments of vulnerability lend some lightness to a movie that unashamedly pulverises the physical senses more than the emotional. Hawkeye himself is more integral to the plot at first as he becomes seduced by one of Loki’s spells. Again, he brings his own edge to proceedings – a mortal who is a dead shot archer. Not quite a giant green hulk of rage but still a vital cog to the team as carnage spills on to the streets of New York in the devastating final act.
Speaking of the Hulk, ‘The Avengers’ finally gives us one that is (in)credible. After the travesty that was Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk’ and the boisterous but dumb reboot starring Edward Norton, this Hulk is the one we’ve all been waiting for. Mark Ruffalo (cast after Norton turned down the offer of re-appearing as the gamma infused walking time bomb) steals the movie as both Doctor Banner and the Hulk. Striking up an instant rapport with fellow scientist and pioneer Tony Stark (who actually just wants the Hulk to detonate) the two trade thinly veiled compliments whilst squabbling with the straight laced but heroic Captain America (Chris Evans) who’s stoic attitude is their is no ‘I’ in team. Or something to that affect. Make no mistake though, this Hulk will have you cheering as he gleefully dismantles and mangles everything in sight.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth – breaking girls hearts) doesn’t make team morale much better with his holier than thou Nordic attitude and personal score to settle with Loki whilst in between the warring superheroes is head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury (Samuel L.Jackson) and his trusty agents Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). Gregg has become somewhat of an unsung hero of the Marvel Universe and he shares a couple of light hearted moments with Captain America which will tickle your funny bone.
Eventually though, It takes a truly shattering event for the six of them to finally pull together and start acting like the heroes they all should be.
By the time Cap yells “Hulk… Smash!” and Iron Man is taking on giant mechanical monsters from space, you will be so lost in the frenetic action unfolding on screen, you will forgot all the remarkable sequences that have occurred before. ‘The Avengers’ is a visual feast that you can’t take your eyes off for a split second and demands repeat viewing I very rarely walk out of a theatre wanting to see the movie I’d just seen again straight away but with ‘The Avengers’ I wanted to relive every second.
The action is relentless when the plot is a little thin. My only weak point was that the Chitari are never really explained and are basically a faceless alien race thrust on to Earth for the Avengers to dispose of. That’s not too much of a problem though when you skip forward to the end credits scene and realise that ‘The Avengers 2’ has even bigger and more evil plans should it happen. Which it quite clearly will because let’s get this straight, ‘The Avengers’ will be massive. It may not be grounded in reality like Chris Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Rises’ promises to be, but in terms of pure spectacle I can’t see any other movie trumping it this year and as a huge Batman fan, I never thought I’d say that. The gloves are off…
Avengers… Assemble!
9/10
Avengers Interviews:
Light the fuse and run.
The latest instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise sees a return to form for a series that had threatened to disappear after the disappointing box office results of the previous sequel. Part three wasn’t helped by a slew of embarrassing media appearances by Tom Cruise in the lead up to release which you could argue has also led to a succession of mediocre to downright bad movies from the former top gun.
With that in mind, it feels like Cruise along with director Brad Bird (with his “live” action debut) and producer J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek) have pulled out all the stops to ensure that ‘Ghost Protocol‘ ups the ante for any future action/spy movies.
Blazing from one dazzling set piece to another, ‘Ghost Protocol‘ sees Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his IMF team go rogue to try and stop a sadistic Russian terrorist from starting nuclear war and to clear their name after being accused of blowing up the Kremlin. Why is it always the Russians who are the bad boys with the evil tools of destruction?!
The IMF team chemistry is one of the most successful parts of the movie with each supporting character given adequate time to shine. Paula Patton looks absolutely fantastic as revenge fuelled agent Jane Carter while Brit funny man Simon Pegg naturally provides the necessary comic relief as gadgets expert Benji. The addition of Jeremy Renner as new agent Brandt also adds a layer of mystery to a sequel that feels fresh yet familiar. Renner is good but possibly slightly underused considering the buzz around him right now. After landing the lead in the Bourne film and as Hawkeye in next Summer’s ‘Avengers’, one can only hope he gets more screen time if the ‘Impossible’ series gets the expected green light for more sequels.
As for Cruise, he is effortlessly charming, charismatic and still packs a bone crunching punch as Ethan Hunt. I do feel like this should be the big hit he needs to get his career back on track and his invigorated performance smacks of an actor proving he can still cut it with a new slew of action movie stars. And yes, he runs in this movie. A LOT. (‘Family Guy’ viewers will know what I’m talking about)
Ultimately though, most people are going to walk away from ‘Ghost Protocol’ talking about the stunts and special effects. A lot had been made pre-release of the scene with Cruise hanging from the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – and the hype is well worth it. Anyone with a fear of heights will probably slip in to a vertigo induced coma after seeing Cruise hanging by the tips of his fingers thousands of feet up. The rest of us will just admire his stubborn ability to ignore the danger and make the role seem that more believable.
The Dubai scene is one of many spectacular throughout the movie as we’re treated to an epic sandstorm chase, a massive explosion at the Kremlin and a final headache inducing showdown in a high tech multi-storey car park.
If you get a chance to go see it in IMAX then do it. The scale and scope of ‘Ghost Protocol‘ is quite phenomenal as director Bird takes us on a world tour around Moscow, Dubai and Mumbai. Watching movies like this on a massive screen really do show up 3D for being the relatively cheap gimmick it is.
Yes, the movie has it’s cliches and some cheesy dialogue so if you’re looking for intricate performances and lots of dramatic tension then you should probably pick another movie this Holiday season. But in terms of providing explosive, non-stop and over the top action, ‘Ghost Protocol‘ ticks all the right boxes.
‘Impossible’ fans will be pleased that the series hasn’t quite chosen to self destruct yet. If anything, it’s heart is beating stronger than ever before. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to suspend disbelief for a couple of hours and treat yourself to a couple of hours of kick-ass action. And Tom Cruise running.
8/10
Official Trailer:
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