The Last Duel Film Review

 The Last Duel 

Written By: Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Starring: Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Ben Affleck
2 h 32 m

Based on the book THE LAST DUEL: A TRUE STORY OF TRIAL BY COMBAT in Medieval France by Eric Jager, THE LAST DUEL tells the historic story of the last officially recognized judicial duel fought in France. That sounds incredibly dull. It’s anything but that.

The backstory behind the duel is dramatic, intense, disgusting and 90% better than any episode of Game of Thrones - only the stakes are a lot higher than any iron throne.

Set in medieval France, the film stars Matt Damon as Jean de Carrouges, a knight who challenges his friend and squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) to a duel after Carrouges’s wife, Marguerite (Jodie Comer), accuses Le Gris of raping her.

Whoever loses the duel is considered the guilty party. Therefore, if Jean loses, Marguerite is also considered guilty and will be put to death for her indiscretions.

The movie utilizes the three-act Rashomon structure, retelling the same story from the three different standpoints of Jean, Jacques and Marguerite. For a two hour plus movie, it can seem a bit tedious but for the most part, the perspectives are set different enough, and engaging enough, that you don’t feel the movie drag.

As each act unveils new information, the tension continues to build for a nail-biting conclusion. (NOTE: If you’re like me and like to dive into historic facts behind a true story, do yourself a favor and go blind into this one for the most edge-of-your-seat experience. Then check out this article from the LA TIMES on the accuracy of the film)

The male characters are very dynamic and infuriating, with Affleck’s being the weakest link mainly due to a “comedic” demeanor. 

Marguerite can feel a bit flat next them. You want her to be more engaging, to be bolder, but I applaud Nicole Holofcener and Jodie Comer for holding back, and staying true to how women most likely acted/behaved during that era. 

The fact Marguerite even spoke out in 1386 is powerful in itself. 

Ridley Scott kept the film balanced with enough action between the drama to allow the audience a little relief and the duel itself was filmed with such intensity, you never forgot what was really at stake.

And that, in my opinion, was the most important aspect of telling this story. 

You want the audience to never forget what is really behind the fight. And with a story like this one, you also want the audience to leave imprinted by the horrific actions shown on screen. Make the audience want to engage in a better future.

Because even though this event took place in the late 1300’s, not much has changed. And it should.

Theresa's Rating
4.00 out of 5.00

Blade Runner 2049 Review

Blade Runner 2049

Dir: Denis Villaneuve

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Ana De Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto

In 1968 science fiction author, now legend, Phillip K. Dick released the novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. In 1982 Ridley Scott, just off the release of “Alien” in 1979, composed the adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s seminal work with the science fiction opus “Blade Runner”. The film was critically panned upon its release, however over time film fans have come to the consider Mr. Scott’s film a “masterpiece”.

Taking place in post-apocalyptic San Francisco, the film and novel focus on the perspective of a gumshoe named Rick Deckard; yet another memorable character of the early 1980’s portrayed by Harrison Ford. Deckard is known as a Blade Runner, a law enforcement officer tasked with tracking down bioengineered beings and “retiring” them. Ridley Scott’s film is a complex, visually stunning film that is influenced by the noir style of the 1940’s and 1950’s. It’s a film that movie enthusiasts should put on their “must watch” list.

 Director Denis Villaneuve, who is compiling quite an exquisite catalog of films, takes the task of continuing the Ridley Scott sci-fi saga with “Blade Runner 2049”. Mr. Villaneuve’s striking visual style and skillful narrative design is a perfect companion to the original film, taking the memorable aspects that play proper tribute to the 1982 film and adding exceptional elements to move out of the considerable shadow it casts. What Mr. Villaneuve and team have created with “Blade Runner 2049” is simply an exceptional sequel.

It’s 2049 and a young blade runner named K (Ryan Gosling) is working for the LAPD to “retire” bioengineered beings still operating in Los Angeles. During an investigation K uncovers a secret, long hidden, that has the potential to throw what’s left of the crumbling world into anarchy. Along K’s investigation, he is led on a journey to find retired blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who has been missing for 30 years. 

Director of Photography Roger Deakins has crafted a stunningly gorgeous film; it’s one of the best looking films of the entire year. The composition of this destroyed world, which looks like it’s approaching the final days, is a mix of green, blue, and red. The separation of colors offers a distinct marker for the different places within the narrative. But it also evokes the design of the original film and the way it might look 30 years later. Technology is still advancing, with interactive holograms and floating space cruisers all around, yet nature is a barren wasteland of dust and mud. Science fiction narratives have always utilized technology as a way of turning the mirror on humanity; Mr. Deakins’ camera does the same in regards to the connection of the advanced future and the problems that exist in the current environmental landscape today. 

Ryan Gosling’s character K is interesting, a calm and complex character that operates with subtlety even when the moment peaks with intensity. Harrison Ford’s return to the character of Deckard is also well implemented. Deckard always seemed the closest to the persona most fitting to the actor in reality. Watching Mr. Ford operate the character against Mr. Gosling’s creates some ingenious emotional and motivational dynamics.  However, to reveal much more about their relationship would be to do the film a disservice. Add other talented actors like Robin Wright playing K’s LAPD Commander, Jared Leto as a mannered and restrained tech visionary, and Sylvia Hoeks as the deceptive and dangerous “problem solver” allows the film to add more  layers to the narrative. 

Hampton Fancher and Michael Green wrote the screenplay, Denis Villaneuve organizes a puzzle and forms a slow unraveling mystery that works to emulate the pacing and mood of the original film. For much of “Blade Runner 2049” this aspect works surprisingly well. Though as the film begins to build towards its ultimate culmination, the commanding nature that the film constructs through the finely tuned elements begins to dissipate. While it still continues to render beautiful images, superb sound, and fascinating performances, the narrative puzzle tries to do too much in the end. 

At a running length of close to 3 hours the film never seems long, it instead attracts you into the realm through the beautiful composition. Director Denis Villaneuve is an innovative filmmaker, even when he is dealing with material that is over 30 years old. “Blade Runner 2049” is a polished film throughout that still proposes interesting ideas and questions concerning the nature of humanity and the course that history will pave into the future. At the core, that’s what these films have always been trying to do...make you question what you think you know.

Monte’s Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

Alien: Covenant Review

 

Alien: Covenant

Dir: Ridley Scott

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudrup, Danny McBride, Demian Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Amy Seimetz, and Nathaniel Dean

It's one of the most iconic surprises and images in genre film history, a gory scene of violence when an alien came bursting out of a human's body in director Ridley Scott's space horror film "Alien". If you are brave enough to watch that scene again, I know genre fans will be, watch the reactions of the cast standing in the room as actor John Hurt begins to writhe in pain. The moment the alien appears you'll notice that all the actors in the room have looks of utter terror on their faces. That's because Mr. Scott didn't tell the crew what was going to happen or how intense it was going to be.

"Alien: Covenant" takes the theme of terror found in the original film and works to recreate the experience, building a film that works to erase the mythology and world building of Mr. Scott's last outing with this material in "Prometheus". Unfortunately in the effort to create a film that seems to be aimed for pure fan service, the interesting bits that "Prometheus" introduced are overlooked to compose a new film that takes a little bit of everything the "Alien" saga has crafted over its near 40 years of existence and mashes it together.

A crew of colonists are en route to a remote planet, an expedition that seems to encompass both an aspect of discovery and desperation. While in deep hyper sleep an accident occurs that forces the crew to awaken earlier than expected, an accident that takes the life of their captain.  A choice is proposed to the team, continue on the path to the original planet or venture into unknown territory to explore another planet that shows positive signs of habitation. Of course things don't go as expected and the Covenant crew comes face to face with an alien force of nature.

"Alien: Covenant" honors the brand that has brought the franchise this far. Instead of moving in the direction of "Prometheus", which was to explain the origins of the aliens and discover the "architects" that played a predominant background role throughout much of the "Alien" mythos, this film simply provides the alien design fans are familiar with and adds a bigger dose of mayhem. 

Mr. Scott has crafted more of a horror film this time around, with aliens stalking victims who consistently make the worst decisions film characters in slasher horror films can make. It seems unnecessary to critique the lapses in logic and gaps in cohesiveness seen in "Covenant" mostly because it's clear that this film is operating as merely a loose link to connect "Prometheus" to something that can connect to the 1979 "Alien" film. Who cares that the Covenant crew has a military team that doesn't operate with any kind of military mindset? Who cares that you land on a new planet and just start stomping around without any care of danger or risk? Who cares when you've got aliens right?

If you can get past the glaring flaws in character motivation and storytelling, there is a really good performance from Michael Fassbender who keeps every scene that he is in completely intriguing. There is genuinely a good story brewing with his character, one that touches on the interesting  mythology, focuses on the critical flaws of humanity that have shaped the world in this film, and maybe even a little commentary about imperialism. It's all given to Mr. Fassbender through the use of two robot characters, one we've seen before named David and an upgraded model named Walter. His performance and character will repeatedly keep your interest in the film. 

Mr. Scott is a confident and skillful filmmaker who crafts beautiful worlds. Look no further than "Blade Runner" or "Gladiator" for examples. His undeniable touch is seen throughout "Covenant", the long corridors of the ship harken back to the horror atmosphere found in "Alien" and the action set pieces move with anticipation and intensity. In small pieces throughout the film there are some really good things. While these elements offer a few moments of fun while you are watching the film, you'll soon remember that many of things you like about this film have already been done, sometimes better, in other "Alien" films.

Monte's Rating

2.25 out of 5.00

Exodus: Gods and Kings Review

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Dir: Ridley Scott

Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul, John Turturro, and Sigourney Weaver

150 Min

PG-13

Two well known biblical stories have been adapted this year, starting with Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” and ending the year with Ridley Scott’s epic and overlong “Exodus: Gods and Kings”. Ridley Scott, who’s film catalog alone proves more than capable of handling the sizeable task of this subject undertaking, handles the action with measured paces that move effortlessly throughout. Taking point from films like “The Ten Commandments” and “Spartacus”, “Exodus”: Gods and Kings” has all the shine and effect of a summer blockbuster but lacks the historical coherency or emotional depth needed to transcend it above more than simple spectacle.

Moses (Christian Bale) has been raised his entire life in the royal Egyptian court, embraced into the reigning family as brother to Ramses (Joel Edgerton). However, Moses is unlike the others in the kingdom and soon finds out the secret of his Jewish heritage that has been kept from him. Moses and his protecting family have been exiled from the kingdom, a blessing of sorts offered by Ramses who was instructed by his council to kill Moses. Moses, wandering the desert, finds a small tribe and marries a young woman and they have a child. Time passes and during a feat of nature Moses encounters God in the form of young boy who directs Moses to return to Egypt and free his people from slavery.

Ridley Scott offers two stories that are both inherently about relationships. One story is of a group of people standing up to the authority that has enslaved them and finding an identity as a people, the other story is about the relationship with religion and the judgments of God. While the portrayal of the Israelites and Egyptians is mostly rendered to one-sided battles and torturous ultimatums levied at the hands of Ramses, Scott is able to pull some genuine intriguing questions from the relationship the people and Moses have with their God. The bold decision to render the image of God in the persona of a young, petulant boy may be offensive to some; however it serves the purpose of displaying God’s angered finality with the people of Egypt. The deadly judgment coming in the form of plagues is an extravagance to watch, it’s part science fiction part disaster film. In the best scene Moses talks with God, who is only seen to him, before the final plague of the death of the first-born child. Moses is tormented, pleading with God for compassion due to his kinship with Ramses who has a sole child. The ensuing scene is a simplistic slow consuming darkness that is then accompanied by moans and wails. It’s upsetting and affecting, it portrays the complications and doubt when trying to understand the judgment and reasoning of higher powers out of human control.

It’s unfortunate that most of the quality storytelling features are undercut by questionable casting of characters. Christian Bale attempts to hold the film together but is relinquished to shouting matches with the elements and Ramses. Joel Edgerton as Ramses feels the most out of place, aside from John Turturro, as the Egyptian Pharaoh. While this kind of casting was a familiar practice for American epics of the past, it would seem that time would have offered talent from some of the similar regions being depicted in the film. Alas, the actors do their best to keep the film moving from scene to scene.

The film leads to the final effect laden battle within a parted Red Sea, a final sentiment of the relationship between man’s ambitions versus God’s intentions. Unfortunately the film never expels on this theme. Instead “Exodus: Gods and Kings” resembles the final scene, a film that moves through the murky mud of a disjointed narrative trying to make it from one side to the other while trying to avoid the wave of flaws that will inevitably consume it.

Monte’s Rating

2.50 out of 5.00