VENOM (Dir: Ruben Fleischer, 2018).

VENOM (Dir: Ruben Fleischer, 2018).

It is rare for a superhero villain to have the lead in a superhero movie. The disastrous Catwoman (Pitof, 2014) is one example, the upcoming Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019) is another. Then we have Venom.

You may recall Venom as Spider-Man’s nemesis, portrayed on screen by Topher Grace in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. In this latest adaptation Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock, the investigative journalist who, while attempting to take down corrupt scientist Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), is infected by an alien symbiote transforming him into super-strong, super-hungry super-villain Venom.

However, Venom isn’t really the bad guy here. Perhaps sensing that audiences would have trouble identifying with a baddie, the character is more ambiguous here, an anti-hero rather than an all out no-good. Gone is the white Spidey logo emblazoned across his chest and indeed any obvious connection to the world of the friendly neighbourhood arachnid. Although a future onscreen hook-up is said to be in the works.

As a Marvel character to which Disney does not hold the movie rights, Venom is not destined to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in spite of the fact that Spider-Man is now part of the MCU. What this means for future films in the series is uncertain. What is certain is that Venom as a stand-alone movie is a lot of fun. Granted it is not particularly original or groundbreaking. This may account for its lukewarm critical reception. It is certainly no Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018). However, the effects are top notch, the action set pieces are thrilling and the movie is genuinely funny, reminiscent of a somewhat moodier The Mask (Charles Russell, 1994). Tom Hardy is also great in the title role.

While the movie does not rank among the greatest superhero titles neither is it one of the worst. Its relatively short runtime (90 odd minutes if you discount the title sequences) means Venom is a fun, exciting action movie which never gets too dark and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

With a positive audience response and a worldwide box office exceeding $850 million a sequel is guaranteed. Venom 2 is set for release in Autumn 2020.

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MISSING LINK (Dir: Chris Butler, 2019).

2019 is the year of the animated sequel, with follow-ups to How to Train Your Dragon and The Lego Movie recently leaving cinemas and further instalments of Toy Story, Secret Life of Pets, Shaun the Sheep, The Angry Birds Movie and the mighty Frozen to come. In a market oversaturated with sequels this, the fifth feature from Oregon based animation studio Laika, is a rare treat.

The second Laika production written and directed by Chris Butler, following 2012’s Paranorman, Missing Link is a departure from the dark fantasy of Paranorman and Coraline (Henry Selik, 2009) and finds the studio in decidedly lighthearted mode.

The adventure comedy concerns discredited explorer Sir Nigel Frost (Hugh Jackman) who teams up with a Sasquatch-like creature Mr Link (Zach Galifianakis) on a quest to the Himalayas to unite Link with his Yeti cousins.

As is to be expected from Laika, Missing Link is a beautiful realised stop-motion spectacle. It is easily the funniest Laika movie and the exquisitely detailed, hand-crafted animation is a joy. Galifianakis is a sweet natured, lovable Mr Link and is is supported by a first rate vocal cast which also includes Zoe Saldana, Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry.

Despite its disappointing box office Missing Link continues the run of excellent animations from Laika, proving them to be the most consistent of all animation studios. The movie is a sweet and humorous adventure, as entertaining for grownups as for children and is almost certainly the most original animation you will catch in cinemas this year.

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PET SEMATARY (Dir: Mary Lambert, 1989).

Probably to my detriment I have never read a Stephen King novel, although I have enjoyed many movies based upon his works notably Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, 1986), Misery (Rob Reiner, 1990), Shawskank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) and the recent It (Andy Muschietti, 2017). So I sat down to this, my first viewing of Pet Sematary, with reasonably high expectations.

King’s novel was first published in 1983 to critical and commercial success so a movie adaptation was inevitable. The plot, which concerns the resurrection of dead pets and - whoops!- one or two humans, should have made for a creepy, maybe even darkly humorous horror. Instead we have a movie that feels cheaply made, is both schlocky and hokey and is occasionally unintentionally funny. Herman Munster himself Mr Fred Gwynne is a welcome familiar face and offers easily the best performance from an otherwise no star cast. He and the decent end-title song by a past their prime Ramones are the undoubted highlights of this sorry affair.

To be honest, I am not particularly a fan of the horror genre; gore does nothing for me but I do enjoy a creepy atmosphere. Pet Sematary has its share of gore but unfortunately little atmosphere, unless the atmosphere is that of a made for TV movie. Although critically reviled upon release the movie did spawn a sequel: the largely forgotten Pet Sematary Two (Mary Lambert, 1992). A remake was released in April 2019 and for once, perhaps, a remake is justified as it will almost certainly be an improvement on the original.

Perhaps I am being a little too harsh on a film belonging to a genre of which I am admittedly not fond. I realise this movie has its fans and if you can see something in it that I cannot then fair play to you. Ultimately I just expected more than Pet Sematary was able to deliver.

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KING OF JAZZ (Dir: John Murray Anderson, 1930).

Conceived as a star vehicle for bandleader Paul Whiteman, and featuring Bing Crosby in his first screen appearance, King of Jazz is a spectacular musical revue, innovative in both its use of sound and early two-colour Technicolor; a process in which blues and yellows do not photograph but the reds and greens look lovely. Such was the care taken with the colour photography that every frame of the movie looks beautiful.

As a revue there is no plot in King of Jazz, rather a series of musical numbers punctuated with short comedy skits. While the comedic segments may not have aged too well, the musical sequences are as wonderful as they are weird. Highlights include the rubber legged dancing of Al Norman in ‘Happy Feet’ and some incredible loose limbed contouring from Marion Stattler in ‘Ragamuffin Romeo’. Best of all is a magnificent performance of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, rendered ‘rhapsody in teal’ by the two-colour process. Here the entire orchestra is seated in the largest grand piano you have ever seen!

Although an expensive failure for Universal Studios on release, the film has since been reappraised. Thankfully so, as there is little else like it in Hollywood history.

Is King of Jazz a masterpiece? Not quite. But nearly 90 years after release it still makes for fascinating, not to mention highly entertaining, viewing. Anyone with an interest in 20s/30s band music and especially aficionados of early Hollywood will find much to enjoy.

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BARNACLE BILL aka ALL AT SEA (Dir: Charles Frend, 1957).

The last true Ealing comedy; 1958’s Davy, often regarded as the last, is a comedy/drama quite different in tone. Barnacle Bill, retitled All at Sea for US audiences, adheres to the ‘little guy against the system’ aesthetics of the classic Ealing comedy, although less subversively and with a little less bite than earlier films.

The marvellous Alec Guinness is on good form as Captain William Horacio Ambrose, the last in a succession of seafarers. Afflicted with seasickness, Capt Ambrose purchases a dilapidated seaside pier which he runs as a stationary luxury liner to the chagrin of the town council who wish to bulldoze the site to make way for a marina. A scene in which Guinness portrays his ancestors recalls Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer, 1949) where he plays all 8 members of the D’Ascoyne family.

To be honest, Barnacle Bill is not as good as earlier Ealing comedies, despite its screenplay by TEB Clarke, scenarist of previous winners Passport to Pimlico (Henry Cornelius, 1949) and The Lavender Hill Mob (Charles Crichton, 1951). Perhaps director Charles Frend, an Ealing stalwart notable for Scott of the Antarctic (1948) and The Cruel Sea (1953) was better suited to drama than comedy. That said, it is not at all bad and as an example of a brand of comedy that cinema no longer produces it should be considered a minor treasure.

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RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (Dir: Rich Moore & Phil Johnston, 2018).

A sequel to a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature is a rare beast. While the 1990s and early 2000s were plagued with cheaply made straight-to-video sequels (a few of which did gain cinema release) produced by the television arm DisneyToon Studios, no feature since the 2008 release The Little Mermaid 3: Ariel’s Beginning (Peggy Holmes) has bared this indignity.

Other animation studios such as Pixar, DreamWorks and Blue Sky have regularly released sequels to their biggest hits with varying quality, but I was glad that Disney had abandoned exploiting their product in this way, especially as their last decade has seen a run of exceptional original movies, arguably their best since the Walt-era features. So it was with some trepidation that I viewed Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel to the excellent 2012 original Wreck It Ralph and I am happy to report that I was not too disappointed.

Ralph Breaks the Internet sees video game buddies Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz leave their respective games in Litwak’s Family Fun Center and Arcade and travel to the internet, initially eBay, in order to retrieve a spare part to repair Vanellope’s Sugar Rush game. On the way they visit the noirish Dark Net and unwittingly unleash a devastating virus but not before a sojourn in hyper-real racing game Slaughter Race and an encounter with the Disney Princesses in a neat cameo via the Oh My Disney website.

Yeah, the plot is slightly convoluted! This is where Ralph 2 suffers most in comparison to the original movie; the simple story of bad guy who wants to be good is simply more appealing, not to mention more streamlined, than what is on offer here. It also has a mildly unsatisfying conclusion and a slightly muddled message, a little at odds with that of the first film.

Still, Ralph Breaks the Internet is a lot of fun and is visually spectacular. While this movie doesn’t quite live up to the original it is certainly well worth 2 hours of anybody’s time and I guess bodes well for the next Disney Animation sequel, due for release in November 2019; a little movie named Frozen 2...

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