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

Sully Review

Sully

Dir: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Mike O’Malley, Laura Linney, and Chris Bauer

The summer saw its fair amount of superheroes. Viewers watched extraordinary mutants fighting an ancient enemy in “X-Men: Apocalypse”, they were introduced to a group bad guys with amazing skills fighting a threat to the world in “Suicide Squad”, and they even saw the return of super agent Jason Bourne again performing acts that would get any normal human serious injured. Arriving in theaters this weekend is another story about a hero, however this hero doesn’t have superhuman abilities or extraordinary powers though he can fly.

U.S. Airways Flight 1549 departed New York’s LaGuardia Airport on the afternoon of January 15, 2009 with 150 passengers. About 3 minutes after takeoff the plane struck a formation of birds. The plane lost thrust in both engines and was too far away from the departing airport to turn around. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and first officer Jeffrey B. Skiles were forced to land the plane in the Hudson River. Miraculously the crew accomplished this impossible feat without the loss of one human life.

“Sully” is a compelling real life story about people being forced into acts of heroism and then having to deal with the repercussions of their actions. Director Clint Eastwood has been directing films since 1971, many times also acting in his films. "Sully" is not particularly new territory for the 86 year old filmmaker who has tackled many of the same character themes in films like “American Sniper”, “Flags of the Father”, and “Unforgiven”. Mr. Eastwood is a talented director and “Sully” is accommodated because of his skill.

The narrative is working with an event that only lasted 208 seconds. Mr. Eastwood tells this story in a purposeful and disjointed fashion, emulating how the event was scrutinized and pieced together during the National Transportation Safety Board hearings that followed the incident. Mr. Eastwood does a fantastic job of composing the emotions of Mr. Sullenberger, displaying how the pilot recreated the events in his mind sometimes with a deadlier outcome. It is often a frightening and tense experience; the fear induced when the pilot of the plane says “brace for impact” over the intercom is just the beginning. Mr. Eastwood does more than just recreate the events of the “Miracle on the Hudson”, the director taps into the anxiety still lingering in the wake of September 11^th but also the solidarity of the people who came together during this time of need. 150 passengers and 5 flight crew members survived a plane crash, stood in freezing cold weather and water, and all of them lived to tell the story.

In the heroic roles are Tom Hanks as Mr. Sullenberger and Aaron Eckhart as Mr. Skiles. Mr. Hanks plays the role with quiet, calm, professional dignity. Mr. Hanks shines as this kind of earnest hero; no flash or flamboyance needed just a connection to a character that was simply doing his job. Mr. Eckhart is also good as the supportive, straight-shooting partner and friend of Sully, offering a performance that never waivers from the position of supportive friendship.

“Sully” has some difficulty maintaining the drama of the event as the film recounts the situation a few times over. It also introduces the perspectives of the passengers a little too late to truly generate the kind of connection to the fear and panic felt in the early scenes of the plane charging into the water. Still, in the capable hands of Clint Eastwood, “Sully” displays the miracle of ordinary people doing their jobs with the absolute highest possible efficiency. After a summer of watching superhuman comic book heroes save the world, it’s a nice reminder that superheroes do exist and they don’t need to shot lasers from their eyes or leap buildings but could simply do the diligent work they do on a daily basis.

Monte’s Rating

3.50 out of 5.00