Film Review: Silence

"The Moment You Set Foot In That Country, You Step Into High Danger..."

Is there really a better way to start off the year than in the presence of the master of cinema himself, Martin Scorsese? Well, it does depend on what mood he is in I suppose. Whilst I can enjoy the silliness of films such as Cape Fear and Shutter Island, particularly the latter with its' brilliantly honky soundtrack, every true cinephile wishes for the chance to witness for the first time the next Taxi Driver or Goodfellas, particularly when those respective films are the ones which will go down as the true classics of the Scorsese back catalogue. What we have with the latest Scorsese flick therefore is a highly publicised pet project of the legendary director, one which has been squirming within development hell since the 1990's, and one which acts as the end point for the unofficial trilogy of religion-based dramas which began with The Last Temptation of Christ, succeeded with Kundun and now concludes with Silence, based upon the 1966 novel of the same name by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō and featuring a screenplay by Gangs of New York writer Jay Cocks as well as Scorsese himself, adding writing credits to a film for the first time since Casino. Whilst Silence is undoubtedly an impressive piece of cinema, boasting some fine performances and stunning cinematography, Silence is a Scorsese movie which can only be described as an incredibly laboured experience, one which falters in its' rather plodded screenplay and a runtime which sits on the edge of utter misjudgement. 

With a eye-boggling length of 160 minutes, 15 minutes longer than Goodfellas and pretty much nearly an hour over Taxi Driver, Silence is not only a movie which portrays the element of faith being tested on-screen, it is also a movie which tests its' audience's patience, relying on the overkill of numerous torture scenes to get its' point across, acting as the cornerstone of each chapter, amongst endless acts of faith-ridden sacrifices and the questioning of a faith which has completely been lost in the "swamp" of 17th Century Japan. Whilst the movie plods along in a sub-par Apocalypse Now-esque fashion, Silence is saved by some top-end performances throughout, particularly from the leading trio of Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson, whilst Issey Ogata's eerie portrayal of High Inquisitor Inoue Masashige adds the villainous element to alarming effect. Whilst the release of a Scorsese movie is undoubtedly a cause for celebration, Silence feels like exactly what it is; a glorified pet project for a man whose best seems to be behind him. Whilst Silence is no means a terrible film, it is one of those rare cases of a movie which is undoubtedly an impressive example of film-making, but instead of blessing us with a masterclass, only succeeds in testing our patience. Lose a good forty minutes, use fewer examples of torture and we might have had a real winner to start the year. Sorry Martin, A Monster Calls is a better film.

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: Bleed For This

"I Know Exactly How To Give Up. You Know What Scares Me Kev? Is That It's Easy..."

As soon as you walk into the cosmos of a boxing movie, there is always the risk of cliche from the get-go. Ever since Rocky became the Oscar-winning blueprint for sporting films, many have trembled in its' wake and fallen ever so heavily under the weight of its' importance in cinematic history. Although earlier this year Creed began a successful new branch of Rocky lore, we now have Bleed For This, a cinematic adaptation of the remarkable true story of world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza, directed by Ben Younger and featuring a strong cast including Mile Teller, Aaron Eckhart, Ciaran Hinds and Katey Sagal, and a film which although does suffer inherently from the issues of similarities from previous and better films which adapt a similar theme, succeeds in being an enjoyable foray into the extravagant life of one of boxing's most infamous figures and the extraordinary tale of one of sports' most fantastical comebacks. 

In terms of dissecting the film of which Bleed For This seems to be of similar ilk, you can't sway away David O. Russel's The Fighter, a film which not only examined the life of a similarly ambitious boxer but a film which also took into account the awkward angle of the dysfunctional family, with mother, brother and the love interest all having their own opinions regarding the best thing for Mark Wahlberg's titular fighter. In the case of Bleed For This, not only is the dysfunctional family an angle the movie looks at, but the added notion of Pazienza's horrific injury adds another level for which the film takes in its' stride. Think Million Dollar Baby, yet less effective in terms of a work of drama and there you have Bleed For This, a solid sporting movie which although is slightly too long and drags out the amount of time our on-screen hero wades in his self-pity, is bolstered by a sublime performance from Miles Teller, who goes full on in his attempt to look the part, and features more comedic quips than the majority of mainstream so-called comedies, making Bleed For This not exactly on the level of Creed, but enjoyable nonetheless. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: Hitman: Agent 47

Bald Stone Killer

When it comes to big-screen adaptations of world-famous video games it is well established that such films tend not to do so well both in the critical and commercial sense with the biggest examples being the terrible Silent Hill series, the shockingly dour Max Payne, and the Resident Evil series, which although stands out as being one of the better transformations from console to cinema, has slowly been hung, drawn and quartered resulting in its' most recent entries seemingly being squeezed so far from its' original format, they are only a shadow of the much more superior games in which they first were presented upon. Adding to the spectacular face-palm-esque bundle of video game movies this week is Hitman: Agent 47, a film which follows in the footsteps of its' brothers' in arms by being not only shockingly terrible, but single-handedly tainting the excellence of the video games in which it is based upon (I mean Hitman: Blood Money was rather brill right?). Remember the first Hitman movie adaptation released a few years ago? Well that is Citizen Kane in comparison to this dull, lacklustre excuse of a movie in which its' only real purpose in life is to pursue the bucks of those who desire the original games so dearly.

So in terms of plot, Rupert Friend plays Agent 47, a joyless, lifeless, emotionless, hairless killer raised under the wing of geneticist Dr. Peter Litvenko (Hinds) who after years of hiding is located by Syndicate leader Antoine LeClerq who sends T-1000 rip-off John Smith (Quinto) to track him down in order to use his vast knowledge of the Agent programme and create his own personal army of silent assassins. Boring, boring, boring. Also in there somewhere is a plot thread about Litvenko's daughter but to be honest, I care as much about the plot of this film as the team obviously did behind making it with Agent 47 being a constant cycle of cliche after cliche, cringe-worthy speech after cringe-worthy speech and acting so wooden, I was surprised none of the actors came out petrified at the end of it. Add into the mix awful CGI, a overload of pointless violence, and quotes (The "what you do that defines you" speech from Batman Begins), scenes (The metal detector/gun scene from The Matrix) and characters (T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day) just stolen from other, and subsequently better movies, Hitman: Agent 47 is nothing more than overlong Audi commercial which just happened to find the rights to one of the biggest video games since the birth of gaming. Incredibly awful.

Overall Score: 2/10