Legend (2015) Review

The mythology of the Krays is built around their characteristically unorthodox actions to seek the limelight to cement themselves as notorious gangsters and heroes of London. Legend (2015) mirrors this mythology by presenting a brash, glamorised, artificial and cartoonish narrative which although may be far from the truth, is one which is extremely enjoyable, filled with deadpan humour and contains a seminal double performance from the brilliant Tom Hardy. 

Assuming the director's chair, Brian Helgeland (who co-wrote the screenplay for L.A. Confidential and directed Payback (1999)) produces a glitzy and colour-saturated representation of 1960's London which skips the Kray's childhood and dabbling in boxing to join them at the height of their London stardom finding them engaged in a turf war with the Richardson gang. This ultimately comes to a head in the infamous events that occurred in the Blind Beggar pub in 1966. Emily Browing's subtle performance as Frances Shea, Reggie Kray's love interest and wife, effectively displays the psychological degradation of the fragile youth throughout the twins glory years. However, the juxtaposition of this performance with the peculiar decision to have Frances as the narrator undermines the gravity of gangsters effect on the youth and partially detaches the audience from any real emotional attachment to her tragic story.

Legend (2015) boasts a strong supporting cast from the likes of Christopher Eccleston’s Leonard “Nipper” Read- the relentless London copper who obsesses over catching the  twins, Sam Spruell’s Jack “the Hat” McVities, Paul Bettany's psychotic Charlie Richardson and uprising star Taron Egerton as Teddy Smith. These characters often seem like caricatures of the real people, over-exaggerated for comic effect, producing a feel that Helgeland is attempting to simulate Goodfellas rather than The Long Good Friday. The inclusion of the talented singer, Duffy, as the long-forgotten singer Timi Yuro creates an absorbing ambiance in the nightclub scenes. However the rest of the movie is somewhat marred by a bizarre soundtrack which wouldn't sound out of place in a 1980's TV cop drama.

The ace of the draw is Tom Hardy's double performance of the seemingly calmer and collected Reggie Kray to the psychotic, violent, uncontrollable and proudly homosexual Ronnie Kray. When approached for the part, Helgeland sought Hardy for the role of Reggie but Hardy was more interested in the character of Ronnie, hence they settled on Hardy playing both roles. The danger of doppelganger and twin performances by one actor is the unbalanced emphasis on one character or the use of distracting shoddy visual effects. Hardy expertly encapsulates the differing physicality and emotionality of each twin to provide two memorable performances. Kudos should also go to the visual effects team who create one of the most aesthetically pleasing and expertly crafted scenes of the film where Ronnie fights Reggie. Kray on Kray: Hardy on Hardy.

 8/10

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) Review

The spy-spoof is a tired genre with  many recent movies failing to entertain with watered-down action and unfunny set pieces. Matthew Vaughn's lastest venture is not one of them. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) exudes charm, satire and spoof hitting all the rights notes with its blending of ultra-violent action, tongue-in-cheek humour and brash fantastical gadgetry.

Kingsman follows Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin (Taron Egerton), a snarky young Londoner and Marines drop-out who lacks any direction in life. This all changes when secret agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth), recognising his talent, takes on Eggsy as a protégé in an effort to train him to be part of Kingsman, a secret British spy organisation. As Eggsy trains, a real-world threat develops in the form of Richmond Valentine (Samuel L.Jackson) who aims to control the world via free SIM cards. Using fancy gadgets which would put Sean Connery's Bond to shame and high-cotane fight sequences which would not look out of place in the Matrix, Eggsy's journey from council estate to secret service is one that is constantly thrilling, unabashedly fantastical and plain fun.   

'"Manners maketh man"...Do you know what that means?'- Harry Hart (Colin Firth)        

Kingsman boasts a stellar cast of British actors including Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Mark Strong and newcomer Taron Egerton who is surely destined for a successful future career in film. Colin Firth moves outside his typecast into a suave, dangerous spy becoming the best Bond we never had. Michael Caine dons his received pronunciation accent, a la Zulu, embodying the finest example of what makes a Kingsman a gentleman whilst Mark Strong plays Merlin (no doubt a nod to M in the Bond movies), a gadget man and mentor  of Eggsy. Samuel L. Jackson's turn as Richmond Valentine, a tech billionaire with a lisp and fear of blood is both funny and ruthless.

Eggsy (top) and the candidates undergo a underwater training exercise at the Kingsman facility 

Matthew Vaughn once again teams up with Jane Goldman, who penned the script for Kick-Ass, to write a tongue-in-cheek and at times poignant script. In a similar context to Kick-Ass, the danger in translating Mark Millar's graphic novel to the big screen is in retaining substance with the aesthetic style. Vaughn deftly chooses to omit some elements from the graphic novel and expands on others meaning that violence (mostly!) never meets the level of gratuity and the character's class-struggle keeps viewers engaged. Kingsman's combination of different movie franchises including Bond, Bourne and even Harry Potter really does make for a fresh experience in contrast to the generic blockbusters which follow linear story-telling cliches.

9/10   

Smart Political Satire or Witless Debaucle? The Interview (2014) Review

Over the past few weeks, The Interview will have come to your attention for the predictable political response and subsequent media attention it has garnered. After sources pointed to North Korea being the perpetrators of a recent hacking of the Sony headquarters, the studio gave cinema chains the option to show the film or not. With most cinemas opting out of showing the controversial and offensive film, Americans became angered by the lack of adherence to right of free speech. The increased public attention has worked to The Interview's advantages as independent cinemas and online vendors have released the film.The Interview has since made $15 million from its online release but is it actually funny or has it relied on its political aggravations to promote a mediocre film?

The story follows the producer of a TV news entertainment show, Aaron Rapoport (played by Seth Rogen who co-directed with  Evan Goldberg) who is disenfranchised by the trivial interviews of his show which are dominated by celebrity personalities. In an attempt to get more politically relevant guests, Rapoport contacts long-time fan, Kim Jong-un and after a series of ominous meetings with North Korean associates Skylark and Rapoport are invited to hold an interview with the infamous leader. Naturally, this attracts the attention of the CIA who convince the duo to turn their trip to Pyongyang into an assassination mission.

Dave Skylark (Franco) and Aaron Rapoport (Rogen) prepare for a recon mission in Pyongyang.

The Interview's opening scene sets the tone for rest of the film depicting a ceremony in North Korea with a small girl singing about how she hopes all Americans will "die in their own blood and faeces" then cutting to eccentric celebrity interviewer Dave Skylark (James Franco) interviewing Eminem about coming out as gay where he has been leaving a "breadcrumb trail of gayness" in his songs. In other words, this is a typical Seth Rogen film, for fans of Pineapple Express and This Is The End, who will relish in the opportunity to see the Franco-Rogen banter in typical fashion. Franco's overacting and facial contortions perfectly embody a caricature of an American TV presenter and provides most of the laughs whereas Rogen suitably plays the awkward straight man. Just as entertaining is Randall Park's turn as the Kim Jong-un  who becomes best buds with Skylark. Surprisingly, The Interview not only targets the North Korean leader but provides a social commentary, albeit limited, on American privilege and  media manipulation.

Dave Skylark (Franco) and President Kim (Park) take the tank for a ride

Critics have remained divided over the classifying the film as 'satire' when most of the humour relies dick jokes and racial slurs. However, the characterisation of Kim as a man-child who likes nothing more than to listen to Katy Perry and drink margaritas is smart, funny and can be likened to Team America's representation of his father. There are occasional glints of intellectual political jokes with Kim Jong-un questioning a bumbling Skylark over the dominating illegitimate actions of the US but nothing compared to Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator or the ending monologue of Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator which aligned dictatorship and capitalism in a thoughtful and funny way. The film trivialises ongoing human rights concerns but arguably, and intentionally, the accomplishment of The Interview is not based on the strength of the content alone but on its wider reception: on its ability to mobilise people under a right to free speech to make fun of a totalitarian dictator of a closed state.

7/10