Mubi Monday: Shopping (1994)

The feature film debut from writer-director Paul W. S. Anderson, Shopping is an energetic slice of nihilism that places a number of pre-stardom UK names in a plot that often feels lifted from the Grand Theft Auto videogame series.

Jude Law plays Billy, a car thief who enjoys crashing into stores, looting some goods, and escaping with a number of keepsakes. He also enjoys picking a speedy car and teasing cops into a road chase he knows he will win. Sadie Frost is Jo, the woman who often feels like Mallory to Billy’s Mickey (albeit in a much less psychotic and murderous way). Having recently been released from a short stint in prison, you might think that Billy would be wanting to keep a low profile for a while, but that isn’t the case. Billy wants to continue on his many “shopping” trips, much to the chagrin of Tommy (Sean Pertwee), a man who finds his criminal business empire shaken up whenever Billy brings too much heat down on the local area.

There’s enough to enjoy here, despite the fact that the script isn’t strong enough to bring everything together in a truly satisfying way. Fair play to Anderson for refusing to make a British film that feels like a hundred other British films, and fair play to the person responsible for the casting, but there’s not much actual character development, and the dialogue is usually laughable and cheesy.

Law and Frost don’t work as well in the lead roles either, despite both being relatively good actors in other movies. Law feels okay when being cocky and confident, but doesn’t convince as much when having to mope around and convey the hurt and anger that helped to make him what he is. Frost tries too hard to be cool and tough, hindered by both the script and her attempt at what I think was supposed to be an Irish accent. Pertwee is excellent though, fitting well in his role. Jonathan Pryce is also very good as an authority figure keeping tabs on Law’s character, and there are small turns from Sean Bean, Eamonn Walker, and Ralph Ineson, among others. Marianne Faithful gets a notable position in the credits, but it’s nothing more than a brief cameo.

Whatever you may think of Anderson’s filmography, it’s easy to see why this worked well as a springboard to a career in the USA. He creates an intriguing, almost noir-like, version of modern Britain, tries to present some decent action, and has an impressive soundtrack to accompany the slick/grime visuals.

I wouldn’t recommend this as an essential watch, but there are worse things you could spend some time on. While Shopping may not hold up as any kind of modern classic, it feels like an important film for many of the people involved, both behind and in front of the camera. And it’s always nice to be reminded of film-makers who choose to make a bold statement, whether successful or not. This film is many things, but I think it certainly classifies as a bold statement.

6/10

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Monster Hunter (2020)

It's almost as if the way in which some people are easily pleased, and the way in which some people will tolerate any crap that is accessible enough, has created a monster in modern movie-making. And that monster is Paul W. S. Anderson. I'm exaggerating, of course, but not by much. Because Anderson has tended to make films that have allowed him to keep making films, and that has allowed him to assume that he's been doing something right. Which ensures that he has never attempted to correct any of his bad habits, with the two worst being his over-reliance on CGI and his inability to hold a shot for more than five seconds. I can overlook these things easier when I can still find enough to enjoy in his films, as is the case with the Resident Evil movies. It's a lot tougher in a movie like this.

Thankfully, or perhaps not (depending on your view), he keeps casting his wife, Milla Jovovich, in his movies, and that guarantees I will watch them. I like Jovovich. She's not the best actress ever, but she often does very well at being a strong and sexy heroine. Here she plays Artemis, a strong and sexy heroine. So the movie has that going for it.

Artemis is with a group of fellow soldiers when the group is transported to another world, one in which giant monsters can pop up out of the earth and pick off humans like scampering ants. There's also a character named Hunter (Tony Jaa) in this world, and it's not long until Artemis and Hunter start to work together in order to survive against the dangerous creatures around them.

That's really all there is to Monster Hunter, a film so light on plot that I am amazed it has a runtime of just over an hour and forty minutes. Although I am unfamiliar with the videogame source material, and others can judge for themselves if this is a good adaptation or not, Monster Hunter seems to have nothing else really going for it, cinematically. As usual, Anderson wants to provide some slo-mo action overstuffed with CGI (to be fair, the actual creature design here is very good) and wants to allow Jovovich to kick ass. He does that. He just does nothing else, and that includes creating a world that feels as if it expands beyond the perimeters of any screen edges.

Jovovich is sadly disappointing in the lead role, less convincing than usual and hindered by a weak script. Jaa fares slightly better, developing nicely as he and Jovovich learn from one another. There are some other people onscreen, but the only one of note is Ron Perlman, who is wasted in his small role.

A real waste of time, for both viewers and the people involved, this is infuriatingly horrible for almost every minute. Characters are thinner than rice paper, the plotting is lazy and careless (one of those scripts that you can easily imagine was written by an impatient child), and it fails to do what Anderson has sometimes managed with his other movies, which is to provide mindless and enjoyable entertainment that is best accompanied by popcorn and fizzy drinks. 

3/10

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Soldier (1998)

A sci-fi action  movie directed by Paul W. S. Anderson may be enough to make most sane cinema fans reach for the "Off" button, but this is one of his better films, improved no end by a superb central performance from Kurt Russell. I'll be honest, I tend to enjoy Anderson's movies. Okay, the second Resident Evil movie was really painful, but the rest of the franchise has provided me with a lot of mindless fun (in fact, here is my overview of the franchise with more recent releases available in the Flickfeast sidebar). However, those movies don't matter. Anderson used to make better films. I also enjoyed Mortal Kombat, sue me. Event Horizon remains his best film, but Soldier comes close.

It's a shame that this movie was released so unceremoniously here in the UK, being judged a bit of a flop. It was, at the time, the most expensive movie to be released direct to DVD over here, with some people criticising the fact that such a large chunk of the $75M budget had gone to Russell, given a big paycheck for a role that saw him uttering barely over 100 words. It's easy to put on rose-tinted glasses nowadays and bemoan the fact that audiences neglected to help out a great film, but that would be lying. Soldier is good, almost very good, and it deserved better than the treatment it received, but it's not great.

So, what's the actual plot? Well, Kurt Russell plays Todd 3465, a super-soldier. He's one of a group of tough, obedient, young men selected and birth and brought up to know nothing but the military life. He's so tough that he accepts orders from Gary Busey without batting an eyelid. Sadly, or maybe not so sadly, that regimented life is disrupted when Jason Isaacs comes along with new and improved super-soldiers. He asks to pit one of his men against a number of Busey's men and so Jason Scott Lee fights a group of people, including Todd. The older models put up a valiant attempt, but it's no good. New blood is taking over. The soldiers are no longer needed, which leads to Todd being dumped on a planet like an old washing machine that's broken down beyond repair. Thankfully, the planet isn't as uninhabited as everyone else thinks it is, and Todd soon meets a bunch of people (including Sean Pertwee and Connie Nielsen) who try to befriend him and allow him to become part of their community. It just remains to be seen whether or not he can stop being a trained killer, but maybe that's just what the people need in case anyone else ends up on the planet.

This kind of thing has been done many times before, the old guard facing off against the new, and it's a solid premise brought to life by a solid cast. Anderson does okay in the director's seat, thankfully resisting the temptation to chop the thing up into an unwatchable mess, and he's given a decent, though sparse, script by David Webb Peoples to work from. Peoples claims that the movie is a side-quel to Blade Runner, which he also wrote, and there is fun to be had in spotting the little nods and references to many other films (though you may need to keep pausing the film to find them all).

Russell is excellent as Todd, a man almost made into a machine, but all too vulnerable. He's able to gain sympathy, despite not really being a warm and winning personality because it's completely outwith his control. He is what he is, others did it to him, and perhaps others can restore his humanity. Sean Pertwee and Connie Nielsen are fine as a pair of decent folk who try to remain optimistic, even as Todd puts other people on edge. Gary Busey is, surprisingly, one of the good guys, in a way, but Jason Isaacs really goes to town with his role, and Jason Scott Lee is certainly intimidating enough as Todd's main foe (not actually a villain, really, Isaacs remains the villain). Mark Bringelson is also good fun as someone aligning himself with either Busey or Isaacs, depending on how he sees things developing.

While it may be a bit slow for some people, especially in the middle section, this is a very enjoyable sci-fi action flick that benefits from some decent design work and action sequences that really do pack a punch. Russell and Lee really convince on the physical front, easily selling themselves as the super-soldiers that the movie needs. If you swore a long time ago that you would never watch a Paul W. S. Anderson movie, maybe just give this one a chance and see what you think. When all is said and done, you can still avoid the Resident Evil movies for the rest of your life if you want to.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldier-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00004CYXW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365032563&sr=8-1

Check this screencap carefully to spot a few of the many little references in the film.