Mubi Monday: The End (2024)

The first narrative feature directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, who has been praised and celebrated for two confrontational documentaries that he helmed over a decade ago (The Act Of Killing and The Look Of Silence), The End is a strange and unsatisfying experience that has made me sure of only one thing: I will finally watch those aforementioned documentaries before I will rush to watch any other standard feature films from Oppenheimer.

A family live alone in a shelter that has allowed them to stay safe in a post-apocalyptic world. They are simply identified as Mother (Tilda Swinton), Father (Michael Shannon), and Son (George MacKay). A few others are staying with them. They are Friend (Bronagh Gallagher), Doctor (Lennie James), and Butler (Tim McInnerny). Things seem to be going okay, but the situation is complicated by the sudden addition of a stranger from the outside world, Girl (Moses Ingram). Boy takes a liking to Girl, of course, which puts Mother and Father on very shaky ground.

I might have enjoyed this more if it wasn't so pre-occupied with being some kind of artistic (anti-)musical. Having said that, if the music and lyrics had been better then that would have helped immensely. In fact, the biggest problem here, despite the distracting choices made in the production side of things, is a lack of any real insight. Oppenheimer, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Rasmus Heisterberg, doesn't seem to have much of a point, aside from the standard growing pains that we've seen many times before. Although I didn't love it, even Annette (a film I believe has a number of artistic touchstones connecting to this) felt as if everything in it had a point. This does not. Oppenheimer has nothing interesting to say, and he fails to compensate for that by at least leaning in to something that could have made the 148-minute runtime worth investing in. Be bolder in the designs and vision, lean into some comedy or horror, or just make more of the musical element, instead of having every character simply stop occasionally to deliver one of many tuneless dirges.

The cast can't be faulted. MacKay is particularly good in his role, while both Swinton and Shannon feel as if they've decided to be a part of this project because it's just the kind of sandbox they like to play around in every couple of years. Gallagher gets at least one great moment, as does McInnerny, although James is disappointingly sidelined for most of the film. As for Ingram, her character certainly changes the dynamic of the film, but she's not really responsible for much more than just being a reminder of an outside world, a difficult past, and harsh decisions made that allowed these survivors to be in the position that we first found them in.

I have no doubt that quite a few people will have loved this when they saw it. It certainly has enough names on both sides of the camera to give it an in-built cachet for those seeking their next arthouse hit. I had hoped to enjoy it. If that wasn't to be then I had hoped to appreciate it, at the very least. I could do neither. There's some nice shot composition, but that's really not enough to make me feel that this was worth my time. All of my generous rating is down to the consistent quality of a cast unable to break out of the restraints put upon them by the material.

4/10

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Netflix And Chill: Johnny English Reborn (2011)

I have no idea what movie I saw, and so disliked, some years ago but it seems that it wasn't this one. Or, if it was, I was in some kind of terrible mood that completely clouded my judgement. Because Johnny English Reborn made me laugh a lot. It's silly, it's predictable (seriously, if you cannot spot the main villain as soon as they appear then I'll be amazed), and it's superior to the first outing in a few key ways.

Atkinson returns to play the main character, a man we last saw basking in the glow of success. That glow has long faded, after an incident in Mozambique that was so bad that he even had his knighthood removed, and he has spent a long time training with Tibetan monks. But an opportunity for redemption awaits when he is requested back by MI7. There's a plot brewing to kill the Chinese Premier and the main lead will only talk to English. Partnered up with a young man named Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya) and armed with the latest gadgets, English is determined to foil the plot. And he's a lot more skilled than he used to be.

There's a level of polish and ambition here that was missing from the first film, although I think it may have been possible here as a direct result of that film's success. And it also does a great job of delivering what audiences want more of while not simply rehashing all of the previous highlights.

Director Oliver Parker oversees everything with a sense of confidence and style, working with a great script from Hamish McCool that, sensibly, makes the main character a much better agent than he used to be, although he still lacks essential knowledge and social skills while remaining oblivious to his own failings. Rather than just derive laughs from the ineptitude and clumsiness of English, McCool gives the character a different flavour. He's an agent who now compensates for his failings with new techniques and tricks.

Atkinson has just as much fun in his role, perhaps even more so with the moments that allow him to look a lot cooler than he ever has before (a chase sequence in which he relentlessly, but sedately, strides along after a daredevil practitioner of parkour is a highlight in the first half that best rings the changes), and the supporting cast is even stronger than it was for his last spy adventure. Kaluuya is as likeable as ever in his role, Gillian Anderson is the weary boss, Dominic West is the standard British agent in the mould that we're all more familiar with, and Rosamund Pike is a behavioural psychologist who obviously finds herself fascinated by English, and you also get small roles for Stephen Campbell Moore, Richard Schiff, Tim McInnerny, and Pik Sen Lim (as a deadly assassin).

If you enjoyed the first film then you're likely to enjoy this. There's even a chance that, like me, you enjoy this one even more. And I'm looking forward to checking out the next instalment.

7/10

Here's a triple-pack for you.
Americans can buy the same set here.