Jungle Cruise

Tags

2020’s, Adventure, Édgar Ramírez, Disney, Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Fantasy, Jack Whitehall, Jaume Collet-Serra, Jesse Plemons, Jungle Cruise, Paul Giamatti

Inspired by the Disney ride of the same name, Jungle Cruise is a true blast and the very definition of a summer adventure fantasy. If it’s escapist summer entertainment you want, Jungle Cruise is where it’s at .

It’s 1916 and forward thinking thrill seeker and scientist Dr. Lily Houghton( Emily Blunt)is coming up against the sexism of the era in London . Lily is determined to find the Tears of the Moon, which according to legend is a tree with petals that can cure any illness or lift any curse . She wants to do this to help the War Effort and for the good of mankind . After daringly acquiring an arrowhead which holds the key to what she seeks , she hightails to South America with her reluctant brother MacGregor(Jack Whitehall), who isn’t exactly cut out for rigorous travel but out of loyalty to his sister tags along. It’s here they encounter river cruise specialist Frank( Dwayne Johnson),  who makes money by taking visitors along the Amazon in his rickety but effective steamboat. Frank is an uncouth, wily skipper who is nonetheless not a bad man but rather a lovable rogue who knows his way along the river, can spew cheesy one liners/puns at rapid speed and how to give a good time to those visiting. After initial hesitation which is changed once he sees the arrowhead, Frank agrees to take Lily and MacGregor down the river. Relations don’t start out great between Lily and Frank owing to many factors. Over time, the initial hostility between Lily and Frank begins to thaw as they along with the foppish MacGregor brave the many dangers of the jungle. On their trail is the deranged German Prince Joachim(Jesse Plemons), who wants to find the tree for his own agenda and will do anything to get it. But Frank isn’t what he seems and Lily believes he might be hiding something just as it becomes apparent that the jungle has its own ways to defend and mystical at that, as evidenced by the cursed conquistadors who originally found the tree are now part of the jungle following a curse being put on them . It’s now a race against time to find before it falls into the wrong hands and is used as a weapon for evil

Jaume Collet-Serra, who I know from directing horror films and thrillers , gets the right tone of the piece as light and thrilling entertainment from the get go. He understands what the film is going for and helps deliver the necessary thrills of an fantasy/adventure flick. There are numerous callbacks to classic adventure movies tinged with fantasy like Raiders of the Lost Ark and adventure yarns from the 30’s and 40’s.  While it doesn’t quite reach those heights, Disney’s Jungle Cruise is a rollicking good time that’ll leave you with a smile on your face. There’s both adventure and slapstick action here, with many of the pursuit scenes blending the two things with wonderful panache. And I did appreciate how the movie wasn’t afraid to throw in a couple of curveballs at various points to surprise the audience My main gripes with the film are the running time and sometimes the CGI gets a bit overbearing. The film could have been a tad shorter and still been great, but it sadly does go on a bit longer than it needs to. I feel with a swift bit of editing it would have benefited Jungle Cruise. Visually , Jungle Cruise does impress in the setting and look. I just found that it went too far with the CGI when it could have toned it down as there are passages where it is too much for the eyes to handle. When it is brought back in however, it works very well at creating a magical ride and world to enjoy. James Newton Howard is on score duties with a rousing musical sense that percolates throughout Jungle Cruise  and envelops it in a jaunty air that’s hard to resist

Jungle Cruise boasts a fine cast, with the three principals of Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt and Jack Whitehall standing out. Dwayne Johnson, with his huge physique, tongue in cheek knowingness and action man persona, is ideal casting here. The part of Frank is someone who is quite mysterious and underhand but so disarming and hard not to be won over by. And all of this is played with panache by Dwayne Johnson. Also on amazing form is the always talented and watchable Emily Blunt as what can be described as an effective female take on Indiana Jones. Blunt exhibits a tough, scrappy aura but possesses a warmth , intelligence and dangerous curiosity that’s most winning as a woman who isn’t going to be restricted by society’s narrow view of women. Like Johnson, Blunt really plays to the humour and the physicality of the piece and it makes for fine, bristling chemistry . Now I’ve seen many describe the main relationship at the centre of Jungle Cruise a double act,  but I think many have missed that Jack Whitehall is just as important a part. Usually I’m not a fan of him as a comedian, but strangely enough I found him very agreeable here. Portraying Lily’s dandy of a brother who is nonetheless very loyal, he amusingly nails the snotty attitude that melts into something spirited and adventurous. Jesse Plemons hams it up spectacularly as the obsessed, deranged villain who has a lot of humour to him . A lot of this is down to the delivery of Plemons who is obviously having a completely, riotous ball with this part of main bad guy . Édgar Ramírez has the right mystique and imposing presence for the role of cursed who is desperately trying to free himself from the state of being undead And Paul Giamatti is a hoot in his small role as the gold toothed harbourmaster who has numerous run ins with Frank.

A rollicking good time that’s light and what I’d define as a crowd pleaser in the best sense of those words(apart from a few niggles), Jungle Cruise is a delight to be had at the movies and excellent viewing for the summer cinema time.

The Shallows

Tags

2010's, Blake Lively, Horror, Jaume Collet-Serra, The Shallows, Thriller

Director

Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring

• Blake Lively as Nancy Adams

An energetic, nail-biting horror thriller, The Shallows is entertaining in many ways. Originality is checked at the door and we are vibes a fun and at times terrifying fight for survival between woman and beast. This is the first entry into my Month of Horror.

Nancy Adams is a medical student who has traveled to Mexico in the wake of her mother’s death. She goes to a beach she knows her mum loved in order to honour her memory and avoid dealing with her father, who it seems is distant from her. She takes to the surf and is relaxing in the sun. After encountering a dying whale, a monstrous Great White Shark attacks her. Nancy’s leg is injured, but she manages to clamber up onto some rocks. Being a medical student, she treats her wound the best she can as terror sets in. Being miles from land and knowing that the tide will soon wash her away and her safety, she has to embrace an inner toughness and fight back in order to live in the face of the shark. The question is, just how long can Nancy survive as the tide turns and the shark comes looming?

Building on a simple prestige of the lone female being menaced by something horrible, Jaume Collet-Serra ratchets up the tension from the start. He drip feeds smidgeons of foreshadowing that something bad is going to happen among the glorious cinematography. The Shallows deserves kudos for its visual appeal, especially in the lighting and scenery. The lush surf is rendered gorgeously as a paradise before the predator comes calling for food. Plus, the technique of showing us the time and connecting Nancy with others, in this case a videophone, leads to some wonderfully nifty shots. Added to this are frequent close-ups on her face that display her resilience and terror in the face of horror. Now The Shallows isn’t a perfect movie, some areas lag, but it isn’t trying to be the best movie out there. What it wants to do is scare and excite, which it does with ruthless efficiency. It’s a B-movie with a little bit of that something extra. And it has touches of humour in the form of a Seagull that gravitates to Nancy and earns the nickname, ‘Steven Seagull’. The score is excellent at slowly carving out scares and the perilous journey that Nancy attempts to go on in order to survive the shark that is menacing her.

One of the best things in The Shallows is Blake Lively. Getting to grips with the physicality of the part, she also displays courage, heart and fierce steel as she does battle with the shark. Lively is a beauty and often her acting gets overlooked, but she shows here that she’s definitely more than a pretty face. In the hands of someone else, the part could have been just eye candy, but that’s not the case with Lively. It’s a commendable piece of work because the film largely rests on her athletic shoulders. Luckily, she is up to the task of it.

A tense and thrilling survival horror with a fine lead performance and terror at almost every corner, The Shallows is a movie that truly entertains and scares in equal measure.

House of Wax

Tags

2000's, Brian Van Holt, Chad Michael Murray, Elisha Cuthbert, Horror, House of Wax, Jared Padalecki, Jaume Collet-Serra, Jon Abrahams, Paris Hilton, Robert Ri'chard

Film Title

House of Wax

Director

Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring

• Elisha Cuthbert as Carly
• Chad Michael Murray as Nick
• Brian Van Holt as Bo/Vincent Sinclair
• Jared Padalecki as Wade
• Paris Hilton as Paige
• Jon Abrahams as Dalton
• Robert Ri’chard as Blake

Formulaic and clichéd to say the least, House of Wax still emerges as a slight cut above the rest of the slasher movies in the last few years, with its tongue in cheek yet highly inventive death scenes and gory visuals. If you’re expecting it to be an updated version of the 50’s version, you will be sorely disappointed. But for those not as well acquainted with that version, sit back and watch this blood-spilling horror.

The plot follows six teenagers heading to an exciting football game in Louisiana. The group comprises of Carly; her twin brother and ex con Nick; Carly’s boyfriend Wade, her best friend Paige; Paige’s beau Blake and his good pal Dalton. Whilst on the journey, they set up camp in a deserted part of the woods. That night, a truck pulls up and shines its headlights on the group, the driver is not seen but refuses to move until Nick smashes a bottle against one of the lights. The morning after, Wade finds the fan belts on his car have been damaged. The group then comes upon a rural man, who tells them that Ambrose, the nearest town is not far from here. Wade and Carly hitch a lift off him, whilst the others attempt to get to the game. The group soon finds the road blocked and head back to the camping site. When Wade and Carly arrive at Ambrose, they discover it is practically a ghost town, with the eponymous museum the attraction. After receiving no service at the gas station, they run into the mysterious Bo Sinclair, who offers to give them a fan belt which is situated in his old house. It is here where events take a dark turn and the teens realize that Bo, as well as a shadowy figure are guarding a horrifying, murderous secret and that it is only a matter of time before they end up in the House of Wax as more than just visitors. Prepare for gruesome methods of dispatch, eerie music and creepy atmosphere that bring a whole meaning to the phrase pay and display( or should that be slay and display!).

House of Wax as a film has its fair share of flaws. The most prominent one being that the character’s are split up too much and the story takes a little too long before it turns into terror-inducing viewing. On the positive side, the gradually chilling and imaginative stalking of the members of the group and many of the deaths are well executed. Jaume Collet-Serra has an excellent eye for visuals, displaying the eponymous house in all it’s depraved and disgusting glory. Sonically, the ever-growing terror is accentuated by haunting music and effective albeit clichéd jump scares.

The cast work well with the script, sometimes rising above the limitations of their characters. Elisha Cuthbert plays the main girl plunged into a survival battle, she is actually pretty good when she tries to outwit the stalking killers. The relationship between her and her twin brother Nick is interestingly explored as they eventually overcome animosity in a time of bloodshed. Chad Michael Murray may force the bad boy aspect of his character Nick, but is more than adequate at playing him. Brian Van Holt takes the honours as the villainous Bo, who has sinister and well-preserved plans for the unwitting group. Jared Padalecki has a few good moments as the doomed Wade, his eventual fate becoming a gruesome highlight of the picture. While she’s not going to be considered a great actress, Paris Hilton isn’t that bad as Paige. As with Padalecki, her fate provides a good tongue in cheek moment that is still chilling and highly gory. Jon Abrahams and Robert Ri’chard are not given much to do, but work their way through the script’s flaws.

So House of Wax is not going to go down as a great films in the annals of the horror genre, but it does deliver some effective scariness and brutal slaying to keep you interested.