THE HULK
Thursday 24 July 2003
Stratford Picture House, London E15 VISIT

‘The Hulk’ is as much a part of my childhood as the Dukes of Hazzard and Starsky & Hutch and anyone familiar with the wonderfully trashy 1970s show will know the basic setup. Dr. Bruce Banner, accidentally exposed to a dose of radiation, is transformed into a big green monster when he gets angry or is threatened. He sets out alone in search of a cure, always one step ahead of the military. And of course he has a catch phrase: “you’re making me angry. You won’t like me when I’m angry.” Brilliant stuff.

It is therefore somewhat of a disappointment that, even with a director of the quality of Ang Lee at the helm, ‘The Hulk’ joins Daredevil and Spiderman as another less than successful attempt to bring a Marvel comic book character to the big screen. It’s not that any of these films is utterly dull, it’s just that they all rather fail to live up to expectations. So Spiderman, with the best plot, was sadly let down by the supposedly ‘’climatic’ ending. Daredevil was fun but forgettable (and we all wanted Bullseye to kick Ben Affleck’s arse anyway).

The biggest problem for the director was always going to be that the Hulk isn’t really a ‘superhero’ at all. Sadly, an essentially simple idea has had a lorry load of psycho babble from a dozen self-help books and a dash of Freud ladled in to try and explain why the Hulk is what he is. So we are told that the incredible transformation into the Hulk is a result of an experiment by the doctor’s father, passed on in his son’s genes, who has returned to cause more mischief. There is also a hidden memory about Bruce Banner’s childhood that girlfriend Betty (Jennifer Connelly) must try and help him discover. All of which slows the plot down to a crawl at times. For all this effort, what is not resolved is whether the Hulk should be seen as a terrible creation of a deranged scientist, rather like Frankenstein’s monster, or perhaps more like King Kong, the wild beast whose nature is soothed by the attractive female lead.

The other problems are more fundamental. Nick Nolte, who plays David Banner’s father, is just rubbish, completely lacking in menace, whilst both Connelly and Eric Bana in the lead roles are pretty lifeless and have no personal chemistry. The aforementioned lack of pace is also not helped by the action sequences and the fact that the Hulk is… well, a joke really. When Banner transforms into the Hulk, the effect is like watching a big green action toy on screen, one that completely fails to blend in and isn’t in the slightest bit intimidating (after all, no-one is injured by the creature’s rage). But at least the clever use of split screens and overlays to give the impression of watching a comic strip are fun.

I can’t see the Hulk developing into a franchise because it does not have the immediacy of, say, the first Batman film, the benchmark for how this sort of thing should be done. But then there has been so many sequels this summer that's there's every likelihood of a second film, just because the movie moguls know they can make loads of money on the cereal package tie-ins.

On second thoughts, don't see this film under any circumstances - you'll only encourage them...

BUFFALO SOLDIERS
Saturday 19 July 2003
Greenwich Filmworks, London SE11 VISIT

Overwhelmed by wandering around the Greenwich white elephant, sorry the Dome, for the Respect anti-racist festival, I popped along to one of my favourite cinemas just down the road, UCI’s Filmworks, for what may prove one of the best films of the year. Made in 2001, ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ has taken ages to be released because of distributor’s nerves about its brutal satirising the US army. You can definitely see why they would be worried about a backlash.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Ray Elwood, member of a supply regiment stationed in West Germany just before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Rather like an unprincipled modern version of Sgt Bilko, Elwood is happily making money on the black market and running rings around his hapless commanding officer, Colonel Berman (Ed Harris). Then one day Elwood acquires a consignment of arms, following their accidental and hilarious separation from their guards by a drug addled tank crew. From that moment, things start to disintegrate, including his car – literally, shot to pieces on the orders of new Top Sergeant Lee (a brilliant Scott Glenn), a Vietnam veteran who hates everything that Elwood stands for and whose daughter Robyn (Anna Paquin) Elwood has seduced.

This is a wonderfully subversive film, with bored soldiers so wasted that they don’t care when one of their number dies or even know whether they are in East or West Germany. It also has a vicious kick, with the battle between Elwood and his ‘Top’ Sergeant, who confesses to loving the ‘turkey shoot’ of Vietnam, descending into increasing levels of violence. Phoenix gives a great performance, both charming, amoral and, as Elwood falls for Robyn, even vulnerable. The visual imagery too is excellent, including an exhilarating opening scene where Elwood dreams he is dropped like a bomb from an aircraft and falls to earth. Best of all, it is a often painful antidote to the gung-ho representation of the US Army that is fed to us in crap films like Black Hawk Down.

Definitely see this film. It so unlike a Hollywood film that it has to be seen to be believed.

WHALE RIDER
Thursday 17 July 2003
Stratford Picture House, London E15 VISIT

Whale Rider is essentially a feel-good eco-drama for the spiritually confused, with the sort of mystical story that skates over the reality of Maori life to appeal to people who become breathless when talking about crystals, ley-lines and homeopathy. But that’s not to say that its hugely romanticised version of New Zealand’s Maori people is not entertaining, even if ancient traditions are receding into memory for reasons unexplained by director Niki Caro.

The main strength of the film is undoubtedly the wonderful performance by Keisha Castle-Hughes, who plays Pai, twin to a brother who dies at birth and therefore cannot take his place as first born male heir to the Maori chief. Most disappointed is Pai’s grandfather, a proud man who has seen his eldest son leave New Zealand after the deaths not only of his son but also his wife, who died in childbirth. Pai’s grandparents have raised her and her stern grandfather clearly loves her, but his strict adherence to custom means he will not allow her to be part of a school to find as suitable replacement as heir. When Pai defies him to train as a Maori warrior, her grandfather withdraws from Pai – until whales start washing up on the beach.

And that’s basically it. You know fairly early on that there will be a happy ending, it’s that sort of film. New Zealand remains as spectacular as it was in Lord of the Rings and the sympathetic characterisation of Pai, her grandfather and pretty much everyone else (no gritty realism in the Once Were Warriors vein here) makes the film enjoyable but somewhat insubstantial. But children will probably enjoy the rare instance of an adolescent who is both courageous and rebellious, whilst those who think they see hidden meaning in ancient traditions will love the whale rider story.

An enjoyable, if not exactly challenging evening’s entertainment.

RIPLEY’S GAME
Saturday 12 July 2003
Odeon Panton Street, London SW1 VISIT

Writer Patricia Highsmith’s psychopathic character Tom Ripley, played by the youthful Matt Damon in The Talented Mr Ripley, returns in the form of the wonderfully malevolent John Malkovich. Ripley is now older and living on his ill-gotten gains in a quiet village in Italy with a beautiful wife and a spectacular house. This perfect life is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a former criminal colleague Reeves (Ray Winstone). Reeves wants Ripley’s assistance to carry out a murder on a clubland rival in Berlin. However, when at a party an English picture-framer Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott), who suffers from leukaemia, insults his lack of taste, Ripley plans to take his revenge and satisfy his unwelcome former partner. Ripley’s ‘game’ involves tempting Trevanny to carry out the Berlin hit for a enough money to provide for his family after his death.
.
Both Winstone and Scott are good actors but Malkovich’s role is the only one of any real interest and he is by turns terrifying, occasionally very camp and has all the best lines. From the connoisseur one moment to the murderous killer on the Dusseldorf train the next, Malkovich plays Ripley as cool, detached and in control – which makes the decision of an utterly amoral man to help Trevanny when the game grows bigger than his original intention all the more intriguing.

Still, the plot is daft really but Malkovich’s Ripley comes close to his portrayal of Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons in its lack of morality and that has to be worth a look.

ANIMAL FACTORY
Tuesday 8 July 2003
UGC West India Quay, London E14 VISIT

OK, so the recent run of hot weather means I’m behind on the reviews. What should I do, stay in when the summer could be over soon? Anyway, here’s the first of four reviews to bring me back up to date.

Prison dramas are now judged by the unassailable master of the genre - The Shawshank Redemption. ‘Animal Factory’ is no Shawshank, but it is still an enjoyable view of the harsh reality of US prisons that gets a bit weird towards the end by introducing an unlikely escape sub-plot.

Willem Dafoe, looking more cadaverous than ever with a bullet-shaved head, plays Earl, the old lag that befriends and protects Edward Furlong’s young new inmate Ron. The ‘new fish’ faces not only ten years in a maximum-security penitentiary for dealing weed, but also the unwelcome attention of other inmates because of his youthful good looks. Earl’s decision to ‘adopt’ him seems largely to be a means of making himself feel better, although Ron is initially suspicious and the prison authorities warn that it may be a prelude to something else, in a environment where homosexual power relationships abound. The relationship between the two men is undoubtedly ambiguous, with Earl willing to risk his settled life in the prison to help his new friend.

All this is fascinating and with an actor of the quality of Defoe, quite absorbing and believable. The plot’s sudden switch to a planned jailbreak, however, seems like a odd choice and a contrived method of winding up the story, to make screenwriter Edward Bunker’s point that Earl is better off being a big fish in a small pond. Still, this is an interesting and watchable addition to the ranks of the prison drama and a reminder that Willen Defoe remains a charismatic figure on screen – with or without hair!

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY
Sunday 29 June 2003
Stratford Picture House, London E15 VISIT

‘Nicholas Nickleby’ tells the story of a boy whose father dies, forcing the family to turn to wealthy Uncle Ralph for help with maintaining Nicholas’ mother and sister. To pay his way, Nicholas is sent off to teach at Dotheboys Hall, a crumbling boarding school run by the brutal Wackford Squeers and his equally unpleasant wife. There, Nicholas meets and befriends the orphaned Smike, (a strong performance by Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell) who has been treated ruthlessly by the Squeers. Together they escape to seek out fame and fortune in the wider world, first joining a theatrical troupe and then returning to London. All the time, however, the malevolent hand of Uncle Ralph reaches out to undo their plans.

The problem with Dicken’s classic novel about the life of Nicholas Nickleby is that it is very long, a series of episodes in one story, so it is hardly surprising that this latest attempt to adapt it has had to sacrifice depth for pace. At times, it also has the feel of a stage production. However, to make up for this drawback, rich comedy and pathos is provided by a fantastic ensemble cast that includes Jim Broadbent as Squeers, Juliet Stevenson as his vicious wife, Timothy Spall as one of the Cherryble brothers and even Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everidge) in customary drag as Mrs Crummbles.

Despite the large cast of great character actors, however, this is principally Nicholas' story and the film’s success or failure is very much dependent on the actor in the title role. That it is not a resounding success is down to Charlie Hunnam, who played the innocent gay teenager in the television series Queer as Folk. Unfortunately, although Hunnam gives a reasonably good if unconvincing performance, he seems embarrassed by expressions of emotion and is acted off the screen by many of the other actors. He also a little too much like someone more comfortable with a surfboard than a top hat, which is a somewhat unfortunate! It is not helped that the intriguingly named Anne Hathaway portrays the woman Nicholas falls for, Madeleine, in an equally unconvincing performance. The actors that do stand out the most are Nathan Lane, as the very funny Mr Crummbles, and Christopher Plummer, whose Ralph Nickleby seethes with malice.

As Dicken’s adaptations go, this is enjoyable and worth checking out, if not a future winner of awards.