Film Review: The Death of Stalin

"Have A Long Sleep, Old Man. I'll Take It From Here..."

Before taking the reigns of the Tardis in Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi was best known for his unforgettable role as infamous spin doctor, Malcolm Tucker, in the critically acclaimed political satire The Thick of It, and whilst Capaldi undeniably made such an iconic character very much his own in the years on-screen, the orchestrator of chaos in the form of Armando Iannucci easily deserved as much credit for handling a show which went from strength to strength in attempting to depict a modern political system awash with daily chaos. Returning to the spectrum of cinematic political satire for the first time since 2009's The Thick of It spin-off, In The Loop, Iannucci's latest, The Death of Stalin, tackles the titular passing of the infamous leader of the Soviet Union in early 1953 and the subsequent days leading to up to his funeral, albeit with a hilariously played, blackly comic edge of which Mr. Iannucci is arguably the leading figure of in the current entertainment climate. Whilst The Death of Stalin is undeniably hilarious, with a number of well orchestrated set pieces resulting in leaving me in a fit of giggle inflicted tears, Iannucci's latest also includes a darkened hole at its' narrative epicentre, and whilst the mix of the bizarre and the bleak is interestingly played, The Death of Stalin doesn't hold together as smoothly as I would have liked, but its' undeniable comic streak makes it a worthy inclusion into the Scottish comic's impressive repertoire of political satire.  

Beginning with a scene which not only sets the tone for basis of the movie but outlines the terrifying balance between historical reality and outright fiction, The Death of Stalin uses the narrative essence of Aaron Sorkin-esque political dramas such as The West Wing alongside a mix between intelligent, quip-laden dialogue of Iannucci's own famous satirical shows and the slapstick, almost ludicrous comedy of which Monty Python made so famous in their lengthy run on and off screen, and whilst the plot does waver in places, with the script simmering up and down in terms of engagement level, the inclusion of a perfectly formed cast, each utilising either their own accents, or in the case of Jason Isaacs, one of Yorkshire descent, who are all at the top of their game in comically portraying leaders of a nation which in Iannucci's eyes is filled with utter chaos and political incompetence following the passing of a terrifyingly powerful leader. Whilst the comedy does undeniably work, the switch from light to darkness within the movie always doesn't, with the juxtaposition between humour and plot threads which feature murder, child abuse and rape seeming more than jarring at times, even when their inclusion was downright inevitable when effectively examining the workings of a Stalin-led Soviet Union, but with enough cracking one liners to put most contemporary comedies to shame, The Death of Stalin is highly enjoyable, just not in the same pedigree as previous Iannucci-led satires.

Overall Score: 7/10

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