Film Review - Chain Reaction (1980)

Chain Reaction (this one) is not the 1996 movie starring Keanu Reeves but a 1980 Australian movie starring Steve Bisley as Larry Stillson, a mechanic who is going away for a weekend with his wife played by Arna Maria Winchester but somewhere, a nuclear spill has occurred which has the potential for widespread contamination if left unchecked.

Chain Reaction is clearly inspired by Mad Max, in fact it's director George Miller and several of the key actors including Bisley and cameos by Mel Gibson, Tim Burns, Roger Ward and Hugh Keays-Byrne in a central role but at the same time it has some level of intrigue in regards to the nuclear spill side of the story.

But do these two different factors come together into a cohesive film, well the answer is yes and no at the same time, on the one hand the chase scenes and the intrigue around the spill are very exciting and don't leave you feeling bored but the film feels somewhat anti climatic in its conclusion as the film enter its final chase with only 5 minutes left in the film and as a result, it's left slightly unclear as to how it all ended.

But hey, it's a good but not great Aussie action film that is some fun to watch, so a 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Dead End Drive In (1986)

Dead End Drive In concerns a future where the world's economy has collapsed sparking a crime wave and the government decide to deal with it by sticking them in a drive in where there's no way out, something that two youth's find out after they pay the unemployment price to get in, and one won't take it anymore.

Australian director Brian Trenchard-Smith is I think a stylish director and here he creates a very glossy and extremely entertaining film, the drive in is also well done, where you're always seeing something new in every shot, I also enjoyed the music, the design, the crazy Mad Max 2 type characters and the central relationships also, but I didn't care that much for the central character as his main shtick was "how do I get out" and after a while, it got a little repetitive.

In closing, a very entertaining Australian film, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Ricochet (1991)

Ricochet stars Denzel Washington as Nick Stiles, a rookie cop when he foils a crime committed by Earl Talbot Blake played by John Lithgow, seven years later though Stiles is now an Assistant District Attorney and his old foe is out of jail and out for revenge.

This is an absolutely brilliant film that had me on the edge of my seat and soaking up every minute it played out, and what I like about it is that every performance is rock solid especially Lithgow and Washington, Lithgow is scary and menacing at the same time as well as incredibly captivating, in fact I was reminded of Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek 2 a lot of the time in terms of how he means to avenge himself upon Stiles, by not killing him but hurting him and also how he tasks him, he tasks him and he shall have him.

As for Washington well, when has this man not turned in a bad performance or been nothing short of a deadset legend and wonderful actor, he'll be in a wheelchair someday and still be able to kick someone's ass, and boy does he get put through the ringer here which only serves to make his comeback all the more satisfying to watch.

But wait that's not all folks, there are two other people that deserve the high praise lavished upon Lithgow and Washington, and that's director Russell Mulcahy and composer Alan Silvestri, Silvestri's work on the opening credits really set the stage for the rest of his score which is again really taut and adds to the mood of the film, speaking of which is Mulcahy's camerawork which takes you around a corner and you think to yourself that anything could be beyond it, but not only that he directs the action scenes very well and handles the overall darkness in the film well and this isn't a nice movie, especially given some of the subject material.

All in all, watch this movie, it's well worth it and shows Mulcahy had a real talent for directing, it's just a shame Highlander II killed off any chance he might have had for a good directorial career, 4 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Town (2010)

The Town marks the directorial follow up for actor Ben Affleck following the success of his 2007 directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, the story here is that Affleck plays a Boston criminal who along with his friend played by The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner and two others, rob armoured cars and hold up banks, but on their last heist they take a young woman played by Rebecca Hall hostage, who Affleck also starts having affections for.

The Town is actually a pretty solid film all around, held together extremely well by Affleck's steady hand at the helm, most action pictures these days over edit their action scenes to the point where it's hard to know who everyone is, where they are or who their fighting against, that problem is not here, you always get a sense of who the cops are, who the robbers are and what they're actually robbing and boy is that a huge relief and contrast to see.

As for the rest of the film, well as I said it's pretty damn solid, with the other main performers (Renner, Jon Hamm and Rebecca Hall) up to the task but my favourite performance is by the late Pete Posthelthwaite as the Flower Shop Owner, speaking his lines in an Irish accent crossed with a wicked tongue, how sad that this should be his final role but at least he was rightly awarded with a posthumous nomination at this year's BAFTA awards.

But again I have to come back to Affleck's direction, as it is really something special, almost every shot has a sense of detail in it down to the city streets, the corner shops in the background, the beautiful aerial shots that are scattered throughout the film, it's almost like a principal character in and of itself, it is so refreshing to see direction like this and not the banging and clanging and general incoherence we see from most movies these days.

All in all, a most solid action picture that's easily worth your time and money, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Gone Baby Gone marked the directorial debut of Ben Affleck and concerns two private detectives played by Casey Affleck and Michelle Mongahan who are asked to investigate the disappearance of a 4 year old girl named Amanda, but what they will investigate is something far deeper than that.

Gone Baby Gone is not a nice movie and not for the faint of heart due to the film's subject material, which is actually fine with me given the near complete lack of dark movies in today's movie going climate, the performances here are rock solid with Affleck and Mongahan as well as Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and John Ashton who I couldn't help but smile at having enjoyed him in Beverly Hills Cop and so is Ben Affleck's direction, using the city of Boston and it's streets as almost a central character in the film itself but the film also does drag in spots and the subject matter may be a bit of a put off for some people.

But as I said, this isn't a nice movie but it is a well directed one with some good performances all around, overall I liked it, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Cross Country (1984)

Cross Country stars Michael Ironside as Det. Sgt Ed Roescher who is sent to investigate a brutal murder of a woman which was found in the apartment of an LA advertising director played by Richard Beymer but what he will discover is that the trail will turn into a complicated web.

I enjoyed this film but can’t say that I would rave about it, I enjoyed Ironside in his role and thought he did a good job but I don’t think that the film sustains itself for the length of its running time as there are long stretches of the film that don’t quite work, but on the other hand I did enjoy the beginning and end of the film and there were some good performances so I wouldn’t say it’s a total write off.

As for a rating, I’ll give it a 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Breathless (1983)

Breathless stars Richard Gere as Jesse Lujack, a small time crook who steals a car in Las Vegas in order to drive to Los Angeles so he can pick up another girl, a French student named Monica played by Valerie Kaprisky but along the way he accidentally shoots a police officer which doesn’t make his trip to Mexico any easier as soon the LAPD go hot on his trail.

I quite enjoyed this film, it’s hard not to get caught up in Gere’s enthusiasm as he carries this film on his own two shoulders, Kaprisky is absolutely lovely to look at but her English is rather poor at times, there’s also a great soundtrack and some real excitement but I do wish that the story had gotten out on the road a bit more and the ending pretty much becomes that classic cliché I like to call the “I’ll take you all on” climax.

Despite those though, I did enjoy this movie, it made me smile and rock out to some of the songs, so I’ll give it a 3 out of 5.