TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER TITAN
Apr. 6th, 2012 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogThe cinemas have my money. Now you get film reviews.
Wrath Of The Titans
It’s a sequel, it’s in 3D and it involves people fighting giant CGI monsters. In 3D.
Which is all you really need to know. If you liked the Clash Of The Titans remake, you may like this as well. Personally, I feel the same way about it as I did about the first one: CGI overload, shaky camera work, takes itself too seriously, clunky dialogue, etc.
On the plus side, you’ve got a Big F***ing Lava Monster and Bill Nighy acting loony (two things I can never get enough of). So I’m not saying it was an afternoon wasted. But essential? No.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I don’t read much John Le Carre, but I was willing to give this adaptation of one of his more famous spy novels a chance, mainly on the strength of Gary Oldman playing George Smiley.
The plot is a familiar one in the spy genre – there’s a mole in British intelligence, and Smiley is called out of his forced retirement to find out who it is. However, this being Le Carre rather than Fleming, there’s no gadgetry, major action scenes or busty women with double-entendre names, but plenty of intrigue and introspective brooding – particularly from Smiley, who seems weary, emotionally detached and even grimly amused by the situation.
Which is why Oldman really is the brilliantly understated centerpiece that holds the film together. That matters because the screenwriters tend to play their cards so close to the vest with what was already a long, convoluted story to start with that it’s hard to figure out what’s going on. That’s probably not an issue for people who have read the book, but for people like me, it’s something of a chore. The fact that Smiley’s investigative technique involves asking short questions and staring you down until he gets an answer doesn’t make it easier.
Still, it’s pretty compelling to watch – so much so that I’m tempted to go see it again before its run ends. There’s not many movies I can say that about.
A mole in one’s circus,
This is dF
Wrath Of The Titans
It’s a sequel, it’s in 3D and it involves people fighting giant CGI monsters. In 3D.
Which is all you really need to know. If you liked the Clash Of The Titans remake, you may like this as well. Personally, I feel the same way about it as I did about the first one: CGI overload, shaky camera work, takes itself too seriously, clunky dialogue, etc.
On the plus side, you’ve got a Big F***ing Lava Monster and Bill Nighy acting loony (two things I can never get enough of). So I’m not saying it was an afternoon wasted. But essential? No.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I don’t read much John Le Carre, but I was willing to give this adaptation of one of his more famous spy novels a chance, mainly on the strength of Gary Oldman playing George Smiley.
The plot is a familiar one in the spy genre – there’s a mole in British intelligence, and Smiley is called out of his forced retirement to find out who it is. However, this being Le Carre rather than Fleming, there’s no gadgetry, major action scenes or busty women with double-entendre names, but plenty of intrigue and introspective brooding – particularly from Smiley, who seems weary, emotionally detached and even grimly amused by the situation.
Which is why Oldman really is the brilliantly understated centerpiece that holds the film together. That matters because the screenwriters tend to play their cards so close to the vest with what was already a long, convoluted story to start with that it’s hard to figure out what’s going on. That’s probably not an issue for people who have read the book, but for people like me, it’s something of a chore. The fact that Smiley’s investigative technique involves asking short questions and staring you down until he gets an answer doesn’t make it easier.
Still, it’s pretty compelling to watch – so much so that I’m tempted to go see it again before its run ends. There’s not many movies I can say that about.
A mole in one’s circus,
This is dF
