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Saw
IV
Cert: 18
Starring: Scott
Patterson, Tobin Bell, Betsy Russell, Costas Mandylor,
Lyriq Bent
Director: Darren
Lynn Bousman
Running Time: 108
minutes |
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Despite
the death of the serial killer ‘Jigsaw’ the game
is still not over yet!
As an autopsy is conducted on Jigsaw, a mini-cassette is found
in his stomach. After listening to the tape Detective Hoffman
(played by Carlos Mandylor), teams with Commander Riggs (Lyriq
Bent) in an effort to locate Riggs kidnapped wife and child.
But even with the help of two FBI profilers, much blood will
still flow as they uncover Jigsaw’s long term plans to
leave a legacy via his past, present and future victims.
The previous Saw movies can be classed as inventive, both with
the traps and the plotlines. However this time the inspiration
is fading and we are beginning to be faced with very little that
is new. While you are given some insight to Jigsaws character
the story telling is very jagged (especially with the constant
flashbacks), and you are never really given any time to connect
with the characters to care what happens to them.
In all if you’re a fan of these movies then go see it,
and you will probably enjoy as well as getting a bit more depth
to what’s been going on.
If you have not seen the others you are more liable to be confused. |
The
Brave One
Cert: 15
Starring: Peter
Dinklage, Ewan Bremner, Matthew MacFayden,
Alan Tudyk, Daisy Donovan
Director: Frank
Oz
Running
Time: 90
minutes
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 |
This
British comedy revolves around what happens when a divided
family has to come together for a funeral.
Daniel (played by Matthew McFayden) is the dutiful son who
now needs to administer his father’s funeral despite
all of his relatives’ faults and bad behaviour.
Apart from managing their problems and the mistakes that
happen, things get worse as a mysterious stranger threatens
to reveal a dark family secret. Daniel not only has to figure
out how to bury his father, but also the secret he has been
keeping.
This isn’t anything we have not seen before, but it
is well done. A good selection of British talent appears
here and they do all manage their characters well.
While directing, Frank Oz has resisted trying to add American
style comedy into the mixture, and maintains a very British
feel to the movie. In all it doesn’t try to be anything
else other than something to get a laugh rather than anything
too true to life.
It won’t have you rolling around laughing but it is
something different to the other movies around at the moment
and should at least put a smile on your face. |
30
Days of Night
Cert: 15
Starring: Josh
Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben
Foster
Director: David
Slade
Running
Time: 113
minutes
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As
the winter sun as about to set in the remote town of Barrow
in Alaska, its residents prepare for their routine yearly
30 days of total darkness, but they are unprepared for
what is about to happen.
When Sheriff Eben Olsen (played by Josh Hartnett) investigates
a series of vandalism, he realises all too late that it is
really an effort to isolate the small town. After all where
would be the best place for a group of vampires to feed other
than some where with no sun for days on end!
As carnage ensues Eben, his estranged wife Stella (played
by Melissa George), and a handful of other survivors now
have to do what ever they can to survive until the return
of the protective sunlight.
This is another film derived from a comic book and we are
removed from the old fashioned image of a vampire we saw
in the early Hammer type movies. Instead we have creatures
that are more savage and feral in behaviour, where their
only interest is to feed. It wastes no time in getting into
the action and the tension is kept high during the first
part of the film. But the movie’s problem is after
such a fast start the middle of the film seems to drag, and
the sudden jump between the different days starts to stretch
the imagination and make you pick at the story line and the
dialogue.
It’s not a bad movie and when the action picks up again
as it does get back on track, but as this is coming from
the director that gave us the thriller ‘Hard Candy’ it
is just a little disappointing.
It’s an interesting twist on a vampire movie, and if
you are looking for your fix of blood and gore during the
Halloween season then it is worth a look. |
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