Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Moon
Sam Rockwell gives the performance of his career in Moon, which is essentially a one-man show. Director Duncan Jones and writer Nathan Parker have crafted a really interesting sci-fi world in this movie, and the solitude of being the only man on the moon is really driven home by the clever script, awesome practical effects (the lunar base and its rovers look terrific) and Rockwell’s top-notch acting. What’s more, the filmmakers made the smart choice to (SPOILER ALERT) not make the computer GERTY, Sam’s only companion on the lunar base, turn out to be evil. All in all, I found Moon to be a piece of refreshing, intelligent science fiction and a perfect example of the amazing results that can be achieved on a minimal budget with a small cast.
4 out of 5
Attack the Block
What can I say about Attack the Block beyond “It kicks so much ass”? Here’s a movie that hits every note that I wanted it to, and as a result, I had an absolute blast watching it. The inner-city ruffians who find themselves at the core of a small-scale alien invasion are all played perfectly by the unknown cast (I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that many of them are London hooligans in reality), and the fact that we’ve never seen these actors before somehow makes it easier to get invested in their characters, as their performances are influenced by their own celebrity. The action is top-notch, with many tension-ratcheting scenes, and the aliens are pretty awesome too. On top of it all, the score by Steven Price is a perfect melding of hiphop beats and orchestral alien movie music, and sets the tone in a way few scores do. If you want some badass action, some good comedy, and some neat extraterrestrials, then you need to see Attack the Block.
4 out of 5
Captain America: The First Avenger
At no point in my life have I ever been a Captain America fan…until now! Joe Johnston, defying the odds, managed to recapture the magic of The Rocketeer when he tackled the timeline-starting prequel to the series of movies leading towards the Avengers crossover film, and there’s a lot to enjoy about Captain America: The First Avenger. Chris Evans gives a good performance that adds depth to a character who has always seemed pretty flat to me. As well, the CGI’d scrawny version of Evans is some of the most convincing computer-generated special effects work I’ve seen in a very long time, and after the first scene or two of him when he’s puny, you’ll find that you completely forget about what Evans “should” look like. There isn’t a ton of plot in the mid-section of the movie, but that complaint is easily overlooked when the supporting cast are all memorable and fun, including Hugo Weaving playing the wicked Red Skull, Toby Jones as his nebbish henchman, Stanley Tucci as a witty German doctor, and Tommy Lee Jones as, well, Tommy Lee Jones when he’s feeling humourous. Of all the Avengers buildup movies, I like Captain America second only to Iron Man, and I think that it actually manages to be the movie that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wanted to be.
3.75 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!