Another Movie Round-Up Post

Yes, despite my best intentions I am once again writing mini-reviews of recent films and forcing them together in one post even if they are wildly different, which they almost always are 🙂

So, here goes:

The Post

My love for All the President’s Men is well known I think, so I was very excited to see The Post. We sadly missed it in the cinema but were rescued by the DVD which the Book God received as a birthday present. This tells the story of the battle to publish the Pentagon Papers and the Nixon administrations attempts to shut it down. I really liked this; it’s an old-fashioned film in the very best sense – well-made, excellent cast, brilliant performances, looks great and most of all tells an important story, which resonates today int he current incumbents of the White House’s reaction to the press and reporting that doesn’t suit him. A couple of observations from other reviewers which I totally agree with, relating to Katherine Graham:

• it’s the story of someone finding their voice
• she is often surrounded by men and is the only woman in sight

There’s a lovely nod to Watergate at the end, and of course for me the benefit of the presence of Bradley Whitford whom I love unreservedly. Highly recommended.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

I actually dated whether to go and see this but in the end I couldn’t resist, especially with the promise of the presence of Jeff Goldblum (though his appearance is nothing more than a cameo, effective though as he always is). A mission to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from an erupting volcano is mounted, funded by the former partner of Richard Attenborough’s character, played by James Cromwell. So our gang (Owen and Claire and a couple of sidekicks) go off with the inevitable big game hunter, because of course, to rescue Blue and her compadres, but obviously things are not what they seem, and obviously there is double-crossing and a nefarious plot to be uncovered. I liked the film while I was watching it, but it was too long and didn’t really add anything to the franchise as far as I could see. It’s possibly suffering from Middle Film in a Trilogy syndrome, but certainly ups the ante in terms of the horrendousness of the new dinosaur, because there is always a new dinosaur. Ralph Spall and Toby Jones were excellent villains (this is not a spoiler, if you didn’t spot them as villains as soon as they appeared then you just weren’t paying attention) and the wee girl who played Maisie was really very good indeed. The bits where a dinosaur is stalking Maisie through the enormous mansion were very effective but the rest of it was very much the same as before, just bigger and louder. I described it to a friend as “meh with moments” and I stick by that view.

Incredibles 2

Long-awaited, the movie starts immediately at the end of the first film and deals with the stuff that used to be rarely seen in a superhero film – what happens when the dust settles and everybody sees the destruction created by dealing with the bad guys. So, Bob and Helen and the kids are back where they were, illegal and homeless and clueless to the fact that baby Jack-Jack has powers. Along come a wealthy brother and sister duo who want to rehabilitate supers, but want Elastigirl to be the face of their campaign, and so Mr Incredible has to stay at home with the kids. Once again things are not what they seem (otherwise there wouldn’t be a movie) but the baddies get their comeuppance and all is well at the end. This film looks fabulous, with a lovely retro feel, the Incredible family are just wonderful characters and the story has an internal logic which I love, even though i was only 50% correct in spotting who the villain was. Jack-Jack is hilarious, and the scenes with Edna Mode were amongst my favourite, though obviously I would have loved to see more of her, she is awesome. It was very, very funny and I enjoyed every second. Go watch.