Coco (2018)

Miguel’s family have a very different view on a career as a musician compared to him. He dreams of becoming a star, and perusing his dream to be a musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. He disobeys his family, and enters a talent competition. Miguel end up finding himself in the Land of the Dead. After meeting Héctor, who agrees to help him do what he needs to, in order to get home. The two of them start their journey, and start to discover the true history of Miguel’s family.

This film is stunning. It is a beautiful new addition to the Disney Pixar universe. The characters are so different to previous Disney films, and it was so refreshing to watch. Of course, there are always going to be some similarities in an animated film, but this one managed to stand out from the crowd.

Visually, this film is beautiful. There is definitely serious attention paid to detail in this film, this was down to the little things like the strings of a guitar, the bridge of marigolds, the intricate details like the bones of a skeleton, to the widepan views of the land of the dead, or the village that Miguel lived in. They got the visuals spot on, and even if you thought the story was crap (which would be difficult), you’d be hooked because of the fact that it is so visually appealing.

Another thing about Coco that got me, was that it was even more appealing because Disney really embraced the darker side of the world. They tackled the topic of death, but still kept it light, and enjoyable – because after all this is a kids film. This film manages to pack in an interesting, and tense adventure, yet manages to keep the moving story with such an important message in it.

The characters were what got me the most. It was paced well enough that the audience is given a chance to connect with more characters that just the main characters. We had moments of being able to empathise with characters, who were all in different situations.

                                         

The original score for this film was of course, going to be great, its Disney, of course the score would be great. Don’t get me wrong ‘Remember Me’ is no ‘I Just Can’t Wait to be King’, but it’s catchy, and I imagine kids all over the world are singing together.

It feels like there isn’t enough to say about this film, considering how good it was, but it is definitely worth the watch.

Stunning, fun, film. It’s funny without being bad, it’s happy, and emotional but without making you cringe, or roll your eyes. It will probably make you cry, but I’m not sure if it’s a sad cry, or a happy cry.

7/10

CINEMATES - S

Darkest Hour (2018)

Great Britain are losing faith in their current leader, Neville Chamberlain. The Nazis are becoming unstoppable and something needs to change, Britain needs a new leader who is willing to stand up and fight, and protect. Some of the cabinet members are reluctant to take on this role, so it looks like Winston Churchill is the man for the job. Darkest Hours tells the story of Churchill’s early days in parliament, and gives the viewer a slight glimpse into the struggles and triumphs Churchill faced as the Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War 2.

Okay, first things first. I wasn’t there, I don’t know what happened, nor was Joe Wright. But this is the case for all productions based on true events, right? I didn’t know Winston Churchill, and embarrassingly, for a British Citizen, I can’t say I’m full of fun facts about him, I have a basic amount of knowledge, like anyone would when it comes to a leader of their country from decades ago. I’ve barely heard more than a handful of his speeches, and I’ve honestly never considered looking at his policies. So again, what is, or is not true I do not know. From what I do know about Churchill, praise deserved to go to Gary Oldman, as one thing that is widely recorded, are his characteristics. He was a fiery, serious man, but also unusually sarcastic, and had a particularly dry persona. If all of that is true, based on the accounts of those that knew him, then Oldman has smashed it. I mean, for starters we know how he spoke, so we know that Oldman got that right. 

The thing about his performance that deserves the most credit though, is the fact that you could believe, and use your imagination. He was a man struggling for approval. He was scared, but was fantastic at hiding it when he needed to, he was professional, unless he was in a situation in which he could let his guard down. He had strong opinions, and was a bold character, and was willing to do anything he could to find a solution to problems the country faced, but needed to be honest with himself and the nation about the reality of the situation. Oldman managed to take these characteristics and make that performance his own. 

He didn’t present Churchill as a good, or a bad character, but as a human being, and realistically that it what we would have seen if we could have been around at the time. In terms of the cast though, I honestly can’t say that anyone else stole my attention, which is of course credit to Oldman, but possible indicated a bad script in places? A lot of the characters were almost treated as fillers in some scenes, and none were given the opportunity to really shine, but then again, they didn’t need to and this wasn’t a bad thing. This film just wasn’t full of minor show-stopping performances.

I can’t say that this film was particularly stunning, visually or aurally. It was fine, and it suited the story that was being told. The score was what kept the mood for this film, it was tense, and depressing. The lighting complimented this well, and the theme was strong, and didn’t falter throughout. 

The editing, although nothing spectacular, was what really tied up all the loose ends in this film. The beginning and end of the film was captioned, which of course set the scene, and allowed us to jump straight in, and allowed the film to be wrapped up solidly, ensuring nothing was left hanging. The timing of this film was perfect, it was just enough that the viewer’s attention could be regained if they started to drift away. About every other scene, we were given an indication of how much time had passed, and this is something that an historical account needs.

Overall, this wasn’t phenomenal, and sure there are other actors, films, directors etc. that are worthy of an academy award, but I wouldn’t be mad if this won anything. I am aware that it is completely coincidental that Darkest Hour, and Dunkirk run alongside each other, but they work wonderfully together. Watching Dunkirk straight after this boosted my opinion of this film, both of them complement each other nicely, and really tie in nicely together. What a happy accident.

                                   

Better than expected, a nice, inoffensive account of Winston Churchill’s early days as Prime Minister. This film will – because of Gary Oldman, hold your attention. If anything, his performance is really why this film should be watched.

6/10

CINEMATES - S

Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

Goodbye Christopher Robin is the story of English writer A.A. Milne and his life post WW1, and how he stumbled upon the idea of his later success which was of course – Winnie the Pooh. There isn’t anything else to this story…

THAT ISN’T A FAULT THOUGH!

The film begins and we jump straight in to Milne’s life right after he comes back from the war and meet his wife, and begin to gain insight into the private life of him and his wife, and how his time away affected them both, and off we go on their journey. They move out of London, as the hustle and bustle is badly affecting Milne mentally, and productively, meaning he is unable to write. His wife falls pregnant and we then meet the inspiration behind his most famous work – their son, Christopher Robin.

The issue I have with films of this nature as always, is how true are some of these events, and how much are they exaggerated for dramatic effect? We won’t know, no one experienced this other than the characters that are being portrayed. So, I suppose the most important thing for this film is, how good were the cast? Could I connect with these characters? OH, GOD YES. 

I cannot fault the cast, I really believed there was a difficult father/son relationship there between Milne and his son, and I really felt for them both in many scenes. I could relate to the idea that a childhood had been stolen, and a Father didn’t understand or appreciate this at the time, and that a child couldn’t explain this when it was happening to them. Domhnall Gleeson was the absolute star of the show, without a doubt. His performance was incredible. I believed his struggle with quite obvious PTSD, I believed he struggled to look after a child, when he was suddenly asked to do this, I believed that the success he had brought him both joy, and sadness. It was a convincing performance and it did the ‘character’ justice, in simple terms. The performance of Margot Robbie in this, though also convincing and enjoyable, somewhat average. 

It was a truly enchanting story, it made me laugh, cry and generally entertained me. It made me realise why I enjoyed Winnie the Pooh so much as a child, yet also made me remember why I didn’t so much as I got older. It was heart-warming, and beautifully made. I just hope that it was somewhat a true representation of these non-fictional characters.

Daphne (Robbie) appeared to be was sickening, she infuriated me, which is good, if that is what you are trying to be, right? But something about it I didn’t enjoy. I feel like the intention was for her to be more powerful and more controlling, and I feel like Olive, Christopher Robin’s Nanny was more powerful. It’s like she was almost there… and then though nah that’ll do I’ll calm down. She was portrayed as a very selfish character, but there was nothing to explain this. Nothing that Milne did seemed to spur these actions on, so in a way it’s like her character should have made much more sense. Now, Will Tilston. Let’s talk about little Will. What a gem, I love it when a child is better at acting than an adult, and all I can really say is not only was he cute as a button, but he made me cry, and this kid is going to go far. There’s not much to say other than he was perfectly casted, I was really impressed by him.

The score in this film was as to be expected, it fitted beautifully, and if memory serves me correctly we obviously had original music made for Winnie the Pooh. The location helped a great deal with making this film look good, but I honestly don’t think that this would have made a difference to the story. I mean it made sense, it was nice to look at but there is nothing much more to say about that.

7/10 

CINEMATES - S