The Imitation Game

"Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."

Third and final film to complete our three-film marathon saw us sitting down to watch 'The Imitation Game'. Being a real sucker for films based on true stories, I was quite intrigued to see what this movie had to offer.

'The Imitation Game' is a British/American thriller based on the life of mathematician Allen Turing portrayed here by Benedict Cumberbatch. Turing has been hired by the government to find a way to crack Nazi German messages encrypted by 'Enigma'. This being an almost impossible task, the main problem is that the code changes daily and there are millions of different combinations. Turing, along with a group of other scholars, must race against the clock each day to find a way to understand these messages. Turing believes he can create a machine which will crack the daily code and help allies to understand German moves to end WW2. With insight into Turing's past, it becomes evident as to why he is so determined to create this code-cracking machine.

After all the hype and recommendations I was expecting this movie to be outstanding. To a degree, this was the case. The acting is almost flawless with another fab performance from Cumberbatch and a near perfect performance from Knightley. The rest of the cast were solid and the young actors were as great as you would hope from a Hollywood Blockbuster. I was expecting the film to concentrate on the task at hand of cracking the Nazi code but so often we almost get there and we are given scenes of Turing's life at the time along with flashbacks from his school days. The scenes were dramatic and moving with a particularly powerful final scene which did bring a tear to my eye. My problem with this film, as is the case with a lot of films these days, is that it was too drawn out. I just wanted to get back to the main plot without all these deviations. Also the main point of the film is actually not about this group of scholars trying to break 'Enigma' but more focussed on Turing's life. Maybe I have had enough of these 'it was awful to be gay back then' films. This for me is where 'The Imitation Game' loses points, otherwise an amazing film with moving scenes and Oscar-worthy performances.

7/10 for 'The Imitation Game'. Some may think that's harsh but I just feel it was 20 minutes too long.

Black Sea

"What happens when one of them figures out that their share gets bigger when there are less people to share it with?"

Three film Saturday was on the cards. We were in desperate need of some movie time so we decided to see 'Black Sea' to start our movie marathon!

'Black Sea' is a 2014 British Thriller directed by Kevin Macdonald starring Jude Law as the main character Captain Robinson. Having been made redundant, Robinson, along with some of his former co-workers decide to investigate a missing submarine filled with millions of pounds worth of Nazi gold. With the backing of an investor the hunt gets underway. Joining Robinson and his former colleagues are a team of Russians and a young homeless guy brought on board by Robinson in a bid to help him out. As the submarine goes further and further into darkness as does the cabin-fevered crew who don't quite agree that everyone deserves a fair share of the potential gold. 

I found this movie quite thrilling actually. The production team did a marvellous job by making you feel as if you were actually in deep water yourself. I found at times feeling like I couldn't breathe, which is the sign of any good film that it controls you so much you lose your senses. One down side is that I feel the budget was tight as there weren't so many great shots of the actual submarine. Still, the film was scored perfectly, something I cannot fault. The plot was well thought out with minor side stories but main focus on the task at hand which is always a winner for me. I did feel the film lagging at points which meant it probably could have been shortened a tad. The acting was almost spot on. It was strange to see Jude Law but hear a Scottish accent coming out of him but I got used it after a while. Great film, shame about the pace and production value.

A solid 7/10 for 'Black Sea' placing it at number 32 of 67 films so far in my almost complete 2014 League Table.
 

Nightcrawler

Off we went to Milton Keynes on Saturday to catch up on some much needed movie time. To start our two film Saturday afternoon we decided to see what 'Nightcrawler' had to offer.

'Nightcrawler' is an American action thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko, The Good Girl - we all know who I'm on about right!?) who plays the dark and devious Lou Bloom. Lou is a young determined criminal trying his best to land a legitimate job however he can. Following a night of thieving, Lou accidently stumbles across a car crash being filmed by a local amateur film crew. After hearing how much cash can be made in this line of work, he trades a recently stolen bicycle for a camcorder and police radio and decides to go on the hunt for a crime scene worthy of filming. A few botched attempts later, Lou captures some fairly graphic scenes and heads to the local TV station to see what his footage is worth. Here he meets Nina, the hard faced, quick talking news director played by Rene Russo (Lethal Weapon 3+4, Thor) who sees potential in him and encourages him to pursue a filming career. As Lou continues trying to find more and more shocking, graphically upsetting scenes in this intrusive line of work, things get darker and more dangerous leading to an explosive final scene.

Wow, what a film! Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic in the role of Lou. It took me a while to get used to the extreme quirkiness of the character but once I got it, it was a thrill to watch. You won't finish this movie liking Lou but there is a touch of admiration for his hard working, never quitting, determined character. The rest of the cast are almost as interesting to watch especially Rene Russo as Nina. Such believable characters in this film are part of what holds it all together. The other part is the story itself. The tension is held for almost the entire film with the final scene grabbing 100% of my attention during the whole affair. Dazzling filming, brilliant acting and explosive scenes make it hard to fault this film. However, it did start off slow and the character of Lou was hard to get into and ultimately unlikable so there are points lost there. That being said, I highly recommend seeing this film.

8/10 for 'Nightcrawler' placing it at number 17 just below the equally awesome 'Lego Movie'.

The Equalizer

Wednesday night and what better way to spend it than with a packed lunch and an action type thriller film. This evening we went to see what 'The Equalizer' was all about...

'The Equalizer' ('The Equaliser' if you want it the British way) is an American Thriller film based on the TV series of the same name. Denzel Washington takes on the role of Robert McCall, a retired government agent currently working in a homeware/hardware store. Since working in the store McCall has befriended and is rather popular amongst his fellow colleagues. He is helping one particular colleague, Ralphie, as he tries to train himself up to become a security guard at the store. Robert seems to be a perfectly normal old guy working in a hardware store but behind the scenes he is a meticulous planner capable of serving justice to wronged innocent people. Robert spends his evenings reading in a café close to where he lives. He is on a mission to complete the '100 books to read before you die' as homage to his late wife who was recently trying the feat. Over time Robert has grown to know some of the customers, in particular a young Russian prostitute named Alina. She is being mistreated by her pimp and after one near fatal incident Robert decides to ditch the vow he had made to his wife and seek vengeance on behalf of Alina. As Robert gets deeper and deeper into the web of criminals how far will he go to 'Equalize' the score?

 

Again I'm not a huge fan of action thriller, they either grab my attention and hold it, or I end up sleeping through the second half. This film had me hooked from the first action scene. Washington was sensational as Robert. He held my attention as he gave me genuine belief in this Robin Hood type guy. The film was well paced with just enough content and no long drawn out fight scenes. Speaking of fight scenes, good god the scenes in this were incredible, something I'm not usually a fan of. My only criticism with this film would be the lack of back story. It is briefly brushed over here and there but it is so few and far between. I would have liked a scene, possibly a flashback, looking into what Robert was like in the past. Shout out to Chloë Grace Moretz who played Alina so well. It's hard to make you root for a prostitute usually but I felt for this girl and found her character very likeable. Again though it's a shame we didn't see much of her back story. Having said all of this negative about back stories, I did love this film and will definitely watch it again in the future.

 

7.5/10 for 'The Equalizer' which places it at number 22 currently on the 2014 League Table placing it just below '22 Jump Street'. It could easily have earned a higher spot on the league, if only the main character's back story had been explored in more depth. Possibly in the potential sequel? Go see this if you liked Taken, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit or The Sweeney.