Review No.130: Cleanskin

In my last review I bemoaned the lack of quality in the horror genre however an equally shoddy type of film so far this year is the British crime/gangster film with recent examples including the mediocre Payback Season and the plain awful Hard Boiled Sweets. Though Cleanskin isn't exactly a gangster film of sorts it is still set in the UK and the level of violence in it suggests to me that at least aspires to be a great entry into the British crime genre. The film stars perrenial British crime favourite and recent Hand of the King Sean Bean as Ewan a secret service agent who is tasked with tracking down a terrorist cell by Charlotte Rampling's imaginatively named 'M' figure Charlotte. Cleanskin obviously tries to capitalise on the 7/7 bombings by showing us several shocking suicide bomb attacks including one in which a cameoing Michelle Ryan is blown-up at a restaurant. Thankfully writer/director Hadi Hajaig doesn't make this a completely one-sided affair showing us how central extremist Ash went from bright law student to suicide bomber. As we see in flashbacks six years ago he was thriving at university however after being recruited by a radical Muslim cleric he joins a terrorist group intent on inflicting harm primarily on ex-soldiers. In a rather bloody scene he is paired with a psychotic man who thrives on killing women and children as well as the soldiers who he believes have done wrong. Of course eventually a showdown occurs between Ewan and Ash, with a rather long-winded suicide video message from Ash recited over the top of the confrontation, however I was slightly surprised to learn that this wasn't the end of the film and there was some more devious tactics afoot on both sides of the law.

When I first started watching Cleanskin I thought I was getting just another crime film however at least this one cared enough about its characters to add a little insight to their motives. Top of the class for me was Abhin Galeya as Ash who really tried his hardest to put across why his character was doing what he was doing and why he believed this was the right thing. I also felt it was a good idea to have Ash in a relationship with a non-Muslim girl, Tuppence Middleton's Kate, as it added another dimension to his character and saw that he was tempted to give up on the mission to which he had been assigned. While Galeya's performance wasn't as convincing as that of Riz Ahmed in Four Lions or Majinder Virk in the excellent Channel 4 drama Britz it was still good to see a little bit of depth in a film of this nature. I also feel that a big screen presence like Sean Bean is always a good bet in a film like this and in the quieter scenes of reflection he does thrive however his role as Ewan is essentially to kill as many people as possible. Apart from the possible exception of Charlotte Rampling the supporting cast, including Ryan and James Fox, are completely wasted as this is all about the ultimate showdown between Ash and Ewan. Cleanskin is definitely at its best when looking at Ash's motives however as Bean is the star of the show he has to have an equal amount of time devoted to his story which in my opinion is no way near as involving as that of his nemesis. So although Hajaig does have some good ideas in his film by the end of the film I hadn't really seen anything that wouldn't appear in an average episode of Spooks however it is still one of the better British crime films of the year so far.

Verdict: Though at times Cleanskin does have some interesting things to say about the motives behind suicide bombers at the end of the day this boils down to just another violent British film however just for not being a one-sided affair I will award it 5/10

Review No.104: Mirror Mirror

I remember in 1998 when two studios were releasing 'asteroid' movies at the same time one was Armageddon and did tremendously well while the other was Deep Impact which hasn't really stood the test of time. Two movies coming out around the same time with similar subject matter isn't a rare occurrence most recently I remember the live action Peter Pan and Finding Neverland being released fairly close to each other while this year the big theme is Snow White with two films focusing on the fairy tale heroine the first being Mirror Mirror. The film fancies itself as an irreverent comedy on the story casting Julia Robert's Queen as the star attraction while Lily (daughter of Phil) Collins makes little impression. The film starts very similar to the story with The Queen banishing Snow White to her room before eventually ordering her death but this time at the hands of her effeminate dogsbody Brighton, played brilliantly by Nathan Lane, who lets her go due to his close bond with her late father. The Queen is then after another husband in the form of Arnie Hammer's Prince Charming who is portrayed as a charming if slightly dim-witted sort and she tries to ensnare him through magic she gains from the mirror. However mirror Julia Roberts warns evil Julia Roberts about the excessive use of magic but she ignores this in favour of getting hitched in order to bring more money into her kingdom. Snow White is captured by the dwarves, who in this version of the story are robbers, who later take her in after she charms them and teaches them to be more civilised. Obviously at the end of the story there is a happier ever after but before that director Tarsem Singh has to get in a few fights, some obvious jokes and that all important kiss to satisfy the tween girl audience.

As a fan of Singh's first major feature The Fall I looked forward to his re-telling of this fairy tale as that film was a fantasy film that still had its route in traditional story-telling. From watching Mirror Mirror you can certainly see similar visuals from the palace scenes to the snow covered forest everything looks fantastic which goes double for Eiko Ishioka's luxurious costume design. The problem I had with the film is that it seems to aspire to be a comedic spoof on the fairy tales you can tell that in the way the opening monologue resembles the start of Shrek or how the joust between Snow White and Prince Alcott bares similarities to the relationship of Buttercup and Westley in The Princess Bride. For me it fell short of emulating either of those films instead it felt more like I was watching an average British pantomime as the jokes were of that standard as was the very bland performance from Lily Collins who has seemingly been cast for her looks and nothing more. Roberts, Hammer and Lane are all great in their own way but don't seem to gel together to the extent where I felt that they'd taped their scenes separately with the results blended together to give the effect that they were in the same room together even though they weren't. I felt it should've been darker and there were moments where Singh drifted things in the right direction, most of which were located in the film's final fifteen minutes, however I felt that he'd be influenced too much by the studio who were obviously looking to appeal to a younger crowd. Overall I have to say this film left me cold despite occasional flourishes the finished product wasn't impressive at all.

Verdict: While there is some visual flair and some game performances Mirror Mirror generally left me feeling fairly flat so for that reason I'm going to give it 5/10