The Bad Guys (2022)

If there is one problem I have with The Bad Guys it’s the fact that a film featuring Sam Rockwell as a smooth and conniving thief should also be available in live-action form. But here we are, and this animated comedy crime caper should do enough to entertain most viewers.

Rockwell is Wolf, the head honcho of a crew that also includes Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Shark (Craig Robinson), and Piranha (Anthony Ramos). Busted during a big robbery, this group of baddies is allowed to escape jail time if they opt to place themselves in the care of the benevolent Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade). The Professor wants to show that baddies can change their ways, but a lot of other people are very doubtful, including Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) and Police Chief Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein). There might also be someone looking to frame our main characters for one big job. Or maybe they will trip themselves up, especially as they took the Professor’s deal to simply avoid jail time while they planned their next big score.

Based on books by Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys has a lot going for it. First of all is that voice cast, but I will get back to them in a moment. The script, written by Etan Cohen, with additional material from Yoni Brenner and Hilary Winston, is a great mix of cool and funny. Wolf is very much a charming gentleman thief, in the vein of Cary Grant or George Clooney, and he enjoys the thrill of each job, especially when it can lead to a long car chase. Each main character has an identifying prime trait, and many have a secret or two to be revealed by the finale. And if you have kids who don’t enjoy the energy or wit of the film, don’t worry, they will be amused by the upset tummy of Piranha leading to a couple of amusing fart gags.

Director Pierre Perifel has a nice body of work already, working as an animator on films such as the Kung Fu Panda movies and The Illusionist (to name just a couple of highlights). He certainly knows what he is doing. Every main sequence has just the right energy running through it, including a very enjoyable dance number, and there are lots of gags that make the most of the medium.

Let’s get back to that cast though. Rockwell has been a magnificent star for some years now and his voice is a perfect fit for the charming and fast-thinking lead. Maron, Awkwafina, Robinson, and Ramos all fit well with their characters, and they each make their scenes funnier in different ways. Ayoade, likewise, has a voice that fits his role perfectly, and both Beetz and Borstein are excellent as two authority figures who view Wolf and his gang very differently, the former hoping they can change their ways while the latter just really wants to lock them up.

Some people have commented on the little nods to Tarantino here and there, which is worth pointing out to film fans who may otherwise overlook this, but The Bad Guys is more interested in being an animal-centric riff on the “Ocean’s [Insert Number Here]” movies. And it completely works in that regard, with the stealthy thievery, action sequences, and gags all accompanied by a fantastic score from Daniel Pemberton (who has slowly become an absolute standout musical talent over the length of his career, and I hope we get plenty more from him).

Entertaining for all ages, especially if you can stay in touch with your inner child as easily as I can, this is recommended. It isn’t top-tier animated fare, but it is well put together and . . . well, it’s just a good bit of fun from start to finish. 

7/10

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Mubi Monday: The Souvenir: Part II (2021)

If you look around for just a few seconds then you will find numerous glowing reviews of The Souvenir: Part II, the filmic continuation to the semi-autobiographical film from Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir. This is not one of those glowing reviews. Frankly, the number of critics hailing this as a modern classic is baffling to me. But maybe this just isn't my thing, which I suspected after also not enjoying the first part as much as many others did.

Honor Swinton Byrne once again plays Julie, a young woman now trying to move on with her life after the death of someone she was in a relationship with. Julie decides to try and process her feelings on this matter through the graduation film that she still has to make, asking people to play out certain key moments in ways that may allow her some sense of catharsis. Characters discuss the mingling of art and fiction, everything feels very precious and pretentious, and it's a real slog to get to the end.

I don't believe for one second that anyone will care about my opinion on this film. And I'm absolutely positive that both writer-director Hogg and her leading lady have moved on to other projects already, other artistic endeavours worthy of their time. So this review, as negative and contrary to so many others, is really just for my benefit. It allows me a bit of space to vent. I didn't expect to like this, but I was certainly willing to give it the benefit of the doubt (as I do with every film). The fact that it squandered a great opportunity, with most of the more interesting points hidden behind a veil of navel-gazing and vague pontification, makes it even more frustrating than the first instalment.

Not that Hogg isn't entitled to craft her movie however she likes, of course, and I assume that this is the way she wanted everything to turn out. It's just that what feels like a personal form of therapy through film doesn't, in my view, resonate with many people who will end up watching it. Whether or not it is true, everyone onscreen feels annoyingly privileged, as well as being in the very earliest stages of any career that they want to have in film. That combination makes so much of what we see happening here just tiresome, at best, and massively out of touch with many viewers. This isn't cinema as an escape, it's not cinema as a filter through which to view reality, it's cinema as a nicely-dressed window. This is the filmic equivalent of a humblebrag social media post, and there's rarely anything of real value in a humblebrag social media post.

I like seeing Richard Ayoade, and his scenes are the absolute highlight of this, but nobody else makes a very good impression here, not even the might Tilda Swinton, acting in a couple of scenes with her daughter. As for "Swinton Jr.", I think it's worth waiting to see how she works with stronger material. She's ultimately just too passive here, a blank avatar. Despite being a representation of Hogg herself, the writer-director seems much less interested in her than in showing the fragmented and meandering process to actually get a film made.

I doubt this review will put off anyone who is already set on seeing the film, but it's here anyway, for better or worse. Maybe one day someone will accidentally stumble upon this and agree with me. I won't be holding my breath though.

3/10

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Soul (2020)

Jamie Foxx plays Joe, a music teacher who regrets the fact that he never managed to pursue his love of jazz fully enough to make it a career. He lives and breathes jazz, and when playing his heart out we get to see him go into the zone. But everything might change when he's given the chance to play for the legendary Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). Which is when he dies. And that really puts a spanner in the works. Working his way through the afterlife, the soul of Joe teams up with the soul of someone just named 22 (Tina Fey) for a plan that may benefit both of them. 22 doesn't really want to go down to Earth and start life, Joe wants to get back. If they swap places then everything might work out. But it's not going to be that simple, of course.

Despite the love I have seen heaped upon this film, and despite the fact that this is the first Pixar movie with an African American protagonist, Soul is yet another Pixar movie that is simply okay. They seem to have plateaued for a while now, with both this and Onward being technically wonderful animated movies that lack something in the plotting department. This is better than Onward, it has something at the heart of it that feels a bit less cynical and more worthwhile as a life lesson, but it just doesn't quite come together fully. There are times when this feels very Fantasia-like, times when it will remind you of Inside Out, and times when it is overshadowed by the live-action movies it was so obviously inspired by (It's A Wonderful Life being a key touchstone). It's a shame that there are very few times when it is just able to entertain and wow viewers while being itself. The fact that the best moments accompany the times when Joe is playing his beloved jazz music is telling.

Pete Docter and Kemp Powers do a good job with the directing duties, having also worked on the script with Mike Jones, and there's an obvious feeling that every scene has been crafted with great care and affection. It's no great return to form for Pixar though, largely due to the fact that the third act fumbles things when it could have done so much better. It was interesting to me that 22 was initially supposed to be the main character, and then they created and developed Joe as the guide to life on Earth, because that indecision is clear when you get to the resolution (or lack of resolution) for the two leads.

Foxx and Fey both do well in their roles, with the former hitting a particular sweet spot as someone who has spent a lot of his life ineffectively trying to control his enthusiasm for jazz music. It's strange to hear Graham Norton pop up, but his role is a good one, and his voice does suit it, but the cast is also filled out by the likes of Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, and Phylicia Rashad. Although she may not say much, Bassett once again reigns supreme as the cool Dorothea, and she's a welcome addition to any film, even if it's just her voice.

Soul is a good film, and it's a real treat for Disney+ subscribers to have access to it immediately, without any extra charge to watch it. There are times when it is a very good film. I just wish we'd been able to go on more of a journey just with Joe. It's his story, he is a very likeable central character, and his viewpoint that shows all of the small pleasures in life that are too easily taken for granted, but there are too many times when it doesn't feel like it. That's the biggest mistake, big enough to stop this from being great, although it's still absolutely worth a watch.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: The Souvenir (2019)

Written and directed by Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir is an interesting and intelligent look at the blinkers some people can so easily put on while in a relationship with someone they are deeply in love with. It's also quite poorly handled, surprising considering the amount of praise it received when initially released.

Honor Swinton Byrne plays Julie, a film school student who ends up sliding into a relationship with Anthony (played by Tom Burke). Anthony works for the Home Office. It also turns out that he's a heroin addict, but the kind of heroin addict who can continue to charm and fool many people around him, even as his behaviour gets worse and worse. Those people do exist, and Hogg may have even known someone exactly like Anthony (considering the fact that the film feels pretty semi-autobiographical throughout), but it's an important stumbling block between the viewer and the events unfolding onscreen.

The performers all do well here, with Swinton Byrne especially arresting in a debut lead performance that is nigh-on impossible to discuss without considering how well she could follow in the footsteps of her mother (Tilda Swinton, who also appears here, playing . . . Swinton Byrne's mother). Burke tries his best, despite the script working against him, and there are decent little turns from Swinton and one or two others, including an all-too-brief turn from Richard Ayoade.

Hogg observes the ups and downs of the central relationship with her usual care. This is the clean, almost sterile, world of the upper classes, where even drug addiction doesn't automatically lead to squalor and grime. In fact, good grief, viewers are only ever shown the behaviour caused by the drug-taking, never the act itself. Is that because Hogg never saw it? Or is it because she wants to allow her viewership to believe they are seeing a peek into a whole other world without ever actually showing them anything that might make them genuinely uncomfortable? Sadly, it feels like the latter, which is a great shame, especially when she has onscreen characters discussing the way they view the world from a position of great privilege.

Perhaps I am being a bit too harsh here, you could argue that I am getting my hackles up as I spy some class warfare skirmish that is never present. You could also argue that those who have more money, or access to more money, can always function better while addicts than those who are poor. But that's kind of the point. Hogg may be writing what she knows, but this could have easily been given a bit more work to resonate with so many other people. Add some more troublesome incidents. Add a lot of interference and undisguised loathing from those looking on. Add texture to let viewers know that even the bubble of class doesn't protect people completely from the greatest damage that such self-harming vices can cause.

As I said, however, the performances here are very good. Swinton Byrne is a riveting presence, and I look forward to whatever she does next. The look and feel of the movie is also very good, for what it is. The biggest problem is the script, and it's a problem that none of the other elements can quite distract you from for more than a few minutes at a time.

5/10

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Ani-MAY-tion: The Boxtrolls (2014)

Another slice of fine stop-motion entertainment from Laika, The Boxtrolls may be their weakest film so far but that doesn't mean it's bad. It just means that I have enjoyed their other films a little bit more. Laika have yet to disappoint me, and the visual beauty and creativity of Kubo And The Two Strings will take some beating as the jewel in their crown.

You won't be surprised to find that The Boxtrolls is a film about creatures called boxtrolls, trolls that live underground and wear boxes as clothing. They are deemed a dangerous menace, ever since they kidnapped and killed a young child, and an exterminator named Archibald Snatcher strikes a deal that will reward him handsomely when they are all gone. Of course, unbeknownst to the locals, the boxtrolls aren't really dangerous. There's a different story behind how they ended up with the child in their midst, but will anyone learn of it before all of the boxtrolls are dealt with?

With the usual level of beautifully detailed animation, Laika once again show that they're up there with the very best studios working in this field today. The world depicted in the movie may be a grubby one, for the most part, but it's rendered in such an eye-pleasing and stylish way that every scene still manages to look gorgeous.

The screenplay by Irena Brignull and Adam Pava, based on the novel "Here Be Monsters!" by Alan Snow, is very good when it comes to the development of the central characters and the main themes that come to the fore. There aren't loads of fun one-liners or verbal gags, it's not that kind of film, but the script carries everything surprisingly effortlessly while the animation layers on the comedy and quirkiness. And praise must be given to those who decided that a large part of the plot should revolve around a love of cheese tastings and the desire that Snatcher has to be sitting in on such an event, despite the reaction he has to cheese.

Isaac Hempstead Wright is the boy raised by the boxtrolls, he does well enough in his role, and Elle Fanning is a young girl who discovers his real identity after initially fearing him, and his troll brethren. Ben Kingsley is superb as Snatcher, the scheming exterminator, whether in his standard guise or in the form of  . . . well, you'll have to wait and see. He is in charge of three characters who are wonderfully voiced by Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, and Tracy Morgan. Last, but not least, you have Jared Harris, the town official who thinks he is doing a good thing by hiring the services of Snatcher. The character played by Harris is also the father of the character played by Fanning, with the latter continually exasperated at the way she is ignored or dismissed by the former.

Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi do a great job at keeping things tonally perfect, helped by the script and the performances of their cast members. This is in line with every other Laika film in that it talks to children without ever talking down to children. Which is how the best animated movies are, and why every Laika movie is worthy of being considered among the best.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

The Watch (2012)

A comedy sci-fi movie, starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Richard Ayoade and Jonah Hill, and directed by Akiva Schaffer, The Watch just falls short in the comedy department. Of course, there will be many people reading this review who immediately switch off once they find out that Stiller and Vaughn are involved, but I'm a fan of those guys and they have some good moments in this movie. Just not enough of them.

The plot is simple enough. There's an alien invasion happening, but nobody is aware of it. The only people who stumble on to the horrible truth are four men (those actors named above) who have recently come together in a newly-formed neighbourhood watch group. Unfortunately, they may not be the best people to deal with the situation, even if they're more up to the task than the main local law enforcement (headed up by Will Forte).

The Watch should have been a lot better than it is. I know that there are people who dislike most of the main stars, but I'm a fan of their work and looked forward to seeing them all having fun together onscreen. Unfortunately, the mix of alien invasion and comedy just doesn't work here. I laughed at a number of scenes, and I enjoyed the last few scenes, but the two main elements of the movie never feel as if they belong beside one another.

Everyone gets to have at least one chance to steal a scene, with Ayoade getting more chances than anyone else, because he's Ayoade (I'm a big fan of his work, in case you couldn't tell). Forte is very funny in his supporting role, Rosemarie DeWitt, Erin Moriarty, Billy Crudup and Jared Stern all cause some stress, in very different ways, for a few of the main characters, and R. Lee Ermey stretches his acting ability by portraying a foul-mouthed old man quick to grab his gun.

The whole movie gets by more on goodwill than anything else, but the script by Jared Stern, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg manages to set up a solid enough foundation for the main performers to have fun on, which allows for the film to be liked or loathed in equal measure, depending on your taste.

Many will view the fact that I liked it as just another example of how bad my taste can be.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Watch-Blu-ray-UV-Copy/dp/B006DZY6Z6/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1389128488&sr=1-2&keywords=the+watch