Film Review: King of Thieves

"It's So Disappointing When People Stoop To Backstabbing..."

Based upon the extraordinary Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary which occurred over the Easter Bank Holiday of 2015, a contemporary infamous act of criminality which has been labelled as the "largest burglary in English legal history", King of Thieves, the latest feature by The Theory of Everything and The Mercy director, James Marsh, is the third adaptation of the events onto film after a couple of low-budget attempts including The Hatton Garden Job featuring the likes of Larry Lamb and Matthew Goode, but the first to hit the big screen, aided undoubtedly by a joyously star-studded cast which features the likes of Michael Caine (The Dark Knight), Ray Winstone (The Departed) and Jim Broadbent (Paddington 2) as the aged crooks who are determined to seal off their careers with one last job. With cocky attitudes, an abundance of cockney accents and enough chemistry between the cast to keep the enjoyment levels flowing, King of Thieves is a flawed but enjoyable, overly cliched heist movie which primarily suffers due to a inability to harness the film's wildly inconsistent tones as it sways between comedy, drama and an overbearing sense that maybe at times, we're having too much fun with what are essentially murderers and thieves. 

With Caine's Brian Reader acting as the central focus of the opening act of the movie in which we see an early loss act as a catalyst for his return to crime, the film's opening forty five minutes is wildly entertaining as we are introduced to an eclectic herd of aged bad boys as they banter themselves to death whilst the central heist is planned, perfected and then carried out with eye-watering rewards. With the cast clearly enjoying themselves with seemingly ad-libbed sweary dialogue and particular members not exactly trying hard to be anything other than themselves, Mr. Winstone, I'm looking at you, it's a particular shame that the second half of the movie completely bombs as Marsh attempts to juggle the seriousness of the effect the central crime has on those around it with a crow-barred notion of how our leading characters are actually violent murderers who are happy to off Police officers without an echo of remorse, and whilst the movie ultimately overstays its' welcome by at least twenty minutes, King of Thieves is an odd little movie, but enjoyable nonetheless. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: Point Break

"The Only Law That Matters Is Gravity..."

The first real remake of 2016 is upon us and what a shame it is to witness one of my favourite action cult classics of the 1990's being the latest to be swiftly put through the Hollywood meat-churner for the sake of a quick buck. When remembering the original Point Break, the classic crime caper directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring the one-two of a younger and fresher Keanu Reeves as FBI Agent Johnny Utah alongside Patrick Swayze as Bodhi in arguably his most iconic role aside from Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing and Jim Cunningham in the truly masterful Donnie Darko, it is hard to deny its' fundamental likability with the two leads both weighing heavily in enough personality and swagger to distract from its' rather ludicrous plot, all of which is played out strangely perfectly in the grungy, surfer-dude era of the early 1990's where Hendrix and L.A. Guns made up the soundtrack and Gary Busey chews up the scenery in his role as Agent Pappas, Utah's partner. Now in 2016 however, we have a completely unnecessary remake, helmed by second time director Ericson Core and featuring Luke Bracey in the role of Utah and Edgar Ramirez as Bodhi, an actor who recently impressed in David O. Russell's Joy. In rather inevitable fashion however, the remake of Point Break is a film that includes none of the charm, the character or in fact the enjoyment factor of the original and instead takes a cherished cult classic and erodes its' once untouchable reputation as a certain guilty pleasure.

Where the original flourished under the charisma of both Reeves and Swayze as Utah and Bodhi respectively, the relationship between the two was not only one that was entirely believable, so much so it verged on the edge of bromance, it was also a friendship that was incredibly delicate with the deception of Utah's real purpose always in danger of seeping out and causing chaos between the two and the rest of the Ex-Presidents, the merciless gang of thieves hell bent on destroying the system that was "killing the human spirit" whilst chasing the rush of adrenaline fueled pastimes such as surfing and skydiving. Where these pastimes were demonstrably the second-hand plot strand of the original, the remake has taken upon itself to disregard any possible hope of characterisation, whether it be between the two leads, between Utah and Ray Winstone's laughable interpretation of Agent Pappas, or even the unbelievably paper thin relationship between Utah and love interest Samsara, a partnership embarrassingly shallow in comparison to the one between Reeves and Lori Petty in the original, and instead has decided to play out in favour of completely focusing on the sport end of the original, with most of the film portraying endless scenes of skydiving, snowboarding, surfing, all of which are as shallow and empty as the films' attempts at characterisation, resulting in scenes that are strangely low in tension and thrills when the sport itself is one of fundamental adrenaline-fueled power. 

With two-dimensional characters and a shallow core relationship as the main basis of the film, Point Break is not saved by the terrible, ear-scraping dialogue, resulting in Ray Winstone taking the plaudits for producing one of the worst supporting acting roles I have seen in a long time due in part to his seemingly called-in cameo as Agent Pappas, a portrayal far away from the charismatic and highly enjoyable one by Gary Busey in the 1991 original. Add into the equation a soundtrack combining stoner rock and Jimi Hendrix being replaced by boring house music and a strange cameo from renowned DJ Steve Aoki, Point Break is the sequel I feared it was going to be; undeniably pointless, pointless in a similar vein to last years' Poltergeist, and like Poltergeist, Point Break has a strong chance of being left behind in cinematic history and simply forgotten. Want my advice? Do so, forget it and watch the superior 1991 original instead. 

Overall Score: 3/10