Inferno Review

Inferno

Dir: Ron Howard

Starring: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Sidse Babett Knudsen, and Ben Foster

The third film in the Robert Langdon story, the primary character from Dan Brown's best selling novels that started with "The Da Vinci Code", finds the professor in the middle of another conspiracy involving ancient artifacts and famous works of art. At the helm again is director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks, a duo that have worked well together ever since "Splash" in 1984. "Inferno" tries its very best to drop the viewer into a thrilling and complex adventure but unfortunately fails to build any sort intrigue and ultimately develops into a clueless mystery.

A billionaire (Ben Foster) with extreme viewpoints about the world warns that humanity is leading to the destruction of the Earth. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is attacked and rendered unconscious, he awakens in a hospital with signs of amnesia. A young doctor named Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) is treating Robert however he can't remember how he was hurt, he is also having horrific memories of disfigured and infected people, rivers of blood, and fire destroying everything. Robert teams up with the young doctor to find out why people are trying to kill him and why he has been made a pawn in a plan to release a deadly virus.

By the third film in any franchise, the viewer knows how everything in the film operates. Robert Langdon is like Indiana Jones without the charisma or the bull whip, they both have a love for history and the world is always on the brink of destruction. "Inferno" paints this destruction very clear, even showing the world through Robert's visions as a sort of environment only a horror movie could create. Instead of wasting time reintroducing Langdon the film instead jumps this step and plunges the protagonist right into the primary plot of the story. Going against the typical narrative structure established by the two previous films was a nice change, the Langdon character works best when he is figuring out puzzles on the move anyway.

All the films based on Dan Brown's novels have simplified the material, to the point of taking out most of the mystery that is constructed within the pages of the novel. This is painfully obvious with "Inferno". It's hard to even call it a mystery at times because everything that is meant to be figured out by the viewer is highlighted with a light change or by zooming the camera in on the clue, it may have been easier to have blinking arrows and flashing text that says "look here". This continues unfortunately as characters will often repeat the clues right after showing them or discuss plot transitions; the many filmmaking techniques that are available to tell this kind of story are rarely utilized. While the film stays fairly faithful to the book (to go into detail about what was changed poses too much a spoiler), there is obviously something that was lost in the film interpretation.

"Inferno" is filled with a great cast that is disappointingly utilized. Tom Hanks has done well with this character in the past but there is unfortunately not much for him to do with the character here except react and run. The same goes for the talented Felicity Jones whose character plays partner to Langdon. Ben Foster's character has a fantastic Bond villain name, Bertrand Zobrist, but is only given a few moments of screen time to be the bad guy though he is given one good monologue. Irrfan Kahn, from "Life of Pi", seems to be having the best time as a mysterious character directly connected to the devious plot.

"Inferno" doesn't end the Robert Langdon trilogy on a high note, which is unfortunate because the novel had great potential. Although it should be noted that each film in the franchise never fully reached the potential of the novels, sometimes the experience created in a book just can't be matched even with a talented director and a great cast.

Monte's Rating

2.00 out of 5.00

In the Heart of the Sea Review

In the Heart of the Sea

Dir: Ron Howard

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, and Tom Holland

Ambition has lead many people into foolhardy battles with nature, and it’s no surprise that nature has a pretty good winning percentage. Ron Howard’s film “In the Heart of the Sea”, a film that mixes factual history with some fiction, displays the encounter author Herman Melville had with an aged seafarer who was on a boat attacked by the alabaster whale that influenced “Moby-Dick”. Ron Howard is an accomplished storyteller; look no further than “A Beautiful Mind” and “Frost/Nixon” for examples. “In the Heart of the Sea” seems tailored for Mr. Howard’s style of filmmaking with its historical era design and strong willed, flawed characters. Unfortunately the film misses the mark with many of the epic and emotional qualities it desperately tries to craft, making “In the Heart of the Sea” feel like a ship on verge of sinking.

 Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) enters the home of Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson), a man who has a story of a giant whale that attacked a ship he was working on as a young boy. The ship, called the Essex, was based out of Nantucket and set sail under the guidance of two men forced to work with one another, Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) and first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth). The Essex, having difficulty locating the prized whales, extends its voyage far into the Pacific Ocean for many years. Catastrophe comes with a splash from the ocean’s depths, as a giant whale begins hunting the Essex.

Who doesn’t like a good “man versus nature” film? Whether a group of climbers trudging up the deadly ledges of Mount Everest, a woman making her way across the Pacific Crest Trail, or three men hunting down a great white shark, the best of these films that pit ambitious humans against the strengths of nature have a way of revealing both the good and bad of human nature. While most of the trailers for “In the Heart of the Sea” portray an action adventure film, there is also a human aspect that plays a pivotal role in the latter half of the film, one that attempts to shows how desperation can lead to depravity. The two leaders of the Essex, both of them persuaded by greed and pushed by pride to display their dominance over nature, drive the crew further into the nothingness of the ocean. The follies of human nature are clearly displayed throughout the film, from the misguided leadership on board the Essex to the greediness of the whaling company in Nantucket, the journey seems doomed from the beginning. Mr. Howard heavy-handedly pulls no punches with the development of the characters; the only care for character is taken with Herman Melville and Tom Nickerson when they are cut back into the film at the most dramatic of moments during their night of storytelling. Where Mr. Howard restrains himself is with the most important narrative aspect of the film, when the men become desperate and make unimaginable choices for survival. Instead of pushing the film into complicated moments the film instead sails by, barely taking time to examine the emotions of the characters during this time.

The issue with the film primarily lies in Mr. Howard’s decision to paint this film, the characters, the story, and the style, with the broadest of strokes.  The characters are large embodiments of hard working men with limited emotions, the story follows a straightforward structure even when it takes a turn to display the men desperate and forced to make unthinkable choices, and the style is so obviously overdone that when water splashes, or whales breach, or storms swirl, everything looks artificial and it pulls the viewer out of the film.

Ron Howard is a great director and, even with the many negative issues, the film crafts a quality somewhat similar to a summer blockbuster film, though that probably wasn’t what was meant from the tragic source material this film is based off. “In the Heart of the Sea” tries to reach beyond the most basic story of men at war with nature but comes up short on most points, fortunately your local library will have the story that does display the intriguing journey that was attempted for here.

Monte’s Rating

2.75 out of 5.00