Shudder Saturday: Wild Country (2005)

The feature movie directorial debut from writer-director Craig Strachan, who hasn't done anything else since this (thankfully), Wild Country is a film that starts off well enough, presenting a very familiar premise with a decent young cast onscreen, before falling apart quicker than the flimsiest house of cards.

Samantha Shields is Kelly Ann, a young woman we first see giving birth to a baby. That baby is then given to someone else, a decision made based on the fact that Kelly Ann is deemed too young and ill-equipped to be a mother. Some weeks later, Kelly Ann and a few other teenagers are driven up to the Highlands by Father Steve (Peter Capaldi), where they are supposed to hike their way to a designated meeting point. Kelly Ann's ex-boyfriend, Lee (Martin Compston), turns up, making things a little bit tense. And then some creature starts menacing them. 

The tension within the main group, the idea of these teens being left all alone in the middle of nowhere, and even the plot detail of finding a baby (because, yes, Kelly Ann finds a baby, which means she spends a lot of the movie protecting it), these are all decent elements to mix together for what could be a potentially enjoyable, low-budget, horror movie. Adding a strange creature isn't a terrible idea either, in theory. Where Strachan goes spectacularly wrong is in the execution of the material, particularly in scenes that show off a creature that never once looks as scary as it could be. It's a shame that nobody advised Strachan to turn his limitations to his advantage, because some better sound design and just an occasional glimpse here and there would have been a much better way to show the presence of something that endangers the main characters.

Strachan doesn't help himself with the script either, reducing the serious side of the film to little more than a few soap opera moments before making viewers watch a bunch of people it's very hard to care for fight for their survival. And when I say fight for their survival, I mean . . . run around in a dark field and shout at one another. And the strangely comedic diversion showing Father Steve having a surprise tryst with a Highland innkeeper may not crop up too often, but it belongs in another movie entirely.

Sadly, I can't even praise the cast. Shields tries hard, and I think she does well with what she's given, but it's not enough to improve the movie. The same can be said of Compston, an actor who I rate very highly. Capaldi is welcome, simply because he's Capaldi, but mis-used, and Jamie Quinn is at least one extra familiar face (playing one of two brothers, the other one being played by his real brother, Kevin Quinn), especially to fans of Still Game.

Despite everything, I quite liked the ending of this, but it was once again something that worked better in theory than the execution (which is, sorry to say, a bit laughable). I think others may be even less charitable, and this isn't something to recommend to anyone, because the rest of the film is a mess of murky night-time action, characters wandering around while they fear their impending doom, and creature design so woefully inept that it would have been better to just thrown a bathmat over a dog.

3/10

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The Suicide Squad (2021)

There's an extra factor at play here, something that makes The Suicide Squad feel like it deserves to be relished more than perhaps any previous superhero movie within the recent selection of DC adventures. Because writer-director James Gunn got this gig after some idiot attempted to lose him work with Marvel/Disney, which temporarily worked, allowing him to deliver this film . . . before returning to Marvel/Disney for the third Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. So thanks to that idiot, with a name I have already forgotten, for allowing us to receive even more fun from Gunn.

The plot is relatively simple. A squad is assembled for a mission that doesn't seem to have much chance for survival. That squad includes Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher (Daniela Melchior), King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), and one or two others. They wade into the hostile territory of Corto Maltese, where they end up plotting to apprehend an important figure named Thinker (Peter Capaldi).

If there's one word you could use to describe The Suicide Squad it's gleeful. Gunn gleefully throws around bucket-loads of blood and gore, mixing laughs in with the action to provide the most twisted and anarchic superhero film since, well, Super. Strangely enough, that sense of anarchy still manages to feel very calculated and formulaic. The film is wild fun when compared to other movies within this subgenre, but it's not all that surprising when you know the kind of film it is aiming to be, and Gunn makes that pretty clear from the opening sequence (with great use of the song "People Who Died", by the Jim Carroll Band). Thankfully, the set-pieces are entertaining enough to keep your spirits high, and there are also one or two moments that allow viewers to remember that Gunn is good at giving his high-budget fare a good bit of heart and soul.

Robbie remains arguably the most valuable jewel in the crown of this movie universe, and is once again excellent, while Elba makes effortless cool again look . . . effortlessly cool. Cena is a lot of fun in his role, Melchior and Dastmalchian are both wonderful, and Stallone's vocal work is a lot of fun. But it would be very easy to criticise these characters for obvious parallels, considering the direction from Gunn. King Shark may have more words in his vocabulary, but feels quite Groot-ish, and Cena is as humourless as Drax. Consider Harley Quinn as an equal to Rocket, and that just leaves you wondering whether Elba would be Peter Quill or Gamora. It might seem unfair to think of those comparisons while the film is on, but Gunn practically invites them by the fact that he seems to be drawn to the same kind of ragtag bunch of lovable rogues. 

Each main act here has enough inventiveness and energy to blow away that feeling of over-saturation that many film fans have been experiencing lately. Superhero movies aren't going away any time soon, but that's not a problem when we get some more variety from the films being released. And if that variety sometimes comes from focusing on "the villains" then all the better, because I enjoyed this more than I enjoyed Suicide Squad. And I liked Suicide Squad well enough.

8/10

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Paddington (2014)

I've never read any of the original Paddington Bear stories, but I did grow up watching some of the delightful stop-motion TV episodes, narrated by Michael Hordern. I liked the little bear, initially because he was an identifiable figure (he is, after all, a small, curious child with an addiction to a certain type of sandwich), but later on I viewed him with enduring affection because he was a quintessentially charming British creation. Despite hailing from deepest, darkest Peru, Paddington is as synonymous with the UK as red telephone boxes, a good cup of tea, and people who will do anything to avoid social embarrassment.

And it is this quaint, and largely bygone, view of Britain that makes Paddington such a great success on the big screen. It celebrates many of our idiosyncracies, while also viewing them with the look of puzzlement that they probably deserve.

The basic plot sees Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) arriving here on our shores and hoping to find a new family. He is eventually approached by the Browns, ending up being allowed to share their home until he finds somewhere else to settle. While making many strange new discoveries, Paddington causes numerous accidents (some minor, some pretty big). He soon starts to outstay his welcome. Meanwhile, a taxidermist named Millicent (Nicole Kidman) finds out about this rare beast arriving in the UK and wants to add him to her collection.

Directed by Paul King, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Hamish McColl, this is the very definition of fun for all the family. Kids will love the central character and many of the jokes. Adults will also enjoy many of the jokes, while also being able to spot a myriad of subtler gags and references strewn throughout the film (a personal favourite of mine involves the Brown family in a reversed "Evolution Of Man" tableau). The pacing is perfect, the rendering of Paddington feels very real, and a number of set-pieces ensure that you'll be hoping to see more antics in a sequel even as the end credits are still rolling.

Whishaw is a perfect vocal fit for the main character, helping Paddington to remain very much the furry child that still has so much to learn. The Browns are nicely portrayed by Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville (as the mother and father), and Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin (the daughter and son). Bonneville gets to have the most fun with his role, but Hawkins also has some great little moments, while Harris and Joslin both react very differently to the presence of the little bear in their home. Julie Walters is the housekeeper who seems unfazed by anything, and even thinks that the Browns may benefit from Paddington's presence, and Peter Capaldi is a nosey neighbour, providing some more laughs in the second half of the film. This may not be the kind of film that you'd expect Kidman to do well in, but she does. Her villain is perfectly balanced, she's a genuine threat to Paddington without ever being TOO terrifying for younger viewings. And the motivation for her character is surprisingly brilliant.

With cameo appearances from many other fine British performers (Jim Broadbent, Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton in voice form, Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Matt Lucas, Geoffrey Palmer and Simon Farnaby being the main ones), a lively score by Nick Urata, plenty of iconic imagery and clever use of pesky pigeons, this is a film that easily proves more than just bear-able.

Oh come on, I got all this way without one groan-inducing pun. There had to be one.

9/10

The movie won't be out on shiny disc for a while, so treat yourself to some nostalgia here - http://www.amazon.com/Paddington-Bear-Complete-Classic-Various/dp/B004HI79LY/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1419689429&sr=1-1&keywords=paddington+dvd

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