STACK #159 Jan 2018

CINEMA REVIEWS

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DOWNSIZING

RELEASED: Dec 26 DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne CAST: Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau RATING: M Miniaturising humans has been a sci-fi staple since Raquel Welch went on a Fantastic Voyage in the sixties. It's also the plot device of Alexander Payne's ambitious new film, in which Matt Damon is shrunk to five inches to begin a new life in a tiny community established to reduce environmental waste and combat overpopulation. Shrinkage to save the planet is a fantastic premise full of intriguing possibilities, and for much of its first half Downsizing espouses the benefits of a small world – financial problems are reduced, with affordable dollhouse mansions and the cost of living a mere fraction of that in the big wide world. The miniaturisation process itself also provides some terrific visual gags, as well as the unsettling sight of Damon sans hair and eyebrows. However, once he settles into smallville, his problems get bigger – and so do the film's. Slotting into the grey area genre of magic-realist drama (see also Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich ), the rich potential of this high concept is diminished by Payne's signature preoccupation with the Joe Average who experiences a mid-life crisis and flounders aimlessly in the search for some kind of purpose. Downsizing would be a clever social satire if it didn’t share its protagonist’s frustrating lack of direction. Scott Hocking Gary Oldman is Winston Churchill. It’s the kind of role-inhabiting performance that Daniel Day Lewis and Charlize Theron gave in Lincoln and Monster , respectively, and the centrepiece of director Joe Wright’s gripping account of the inspirational British PM’s early days in office. Needless to say, it won’t be overlooked by the Academy come awards season. Like the recent Brian Cox film, Churchill , Darkest Hour finds Winston at a crucial juncture – having just been appointed PM after parliament loses confidence in Neville Chamberlain. Despite facing distrust from his own party and King George (Ben Mendelsohn) after his tactical failure at Gallipoli, Churchill’s implementation of Operation Dynamo – the rescue of 300,000 men at Dunkirk – helps to restore faith. And his obstinate refusal to negotiate a peace with Hitler proves instrumental in rallying the nation to “never surrender.” Darkest Hour is obviously a performance piece, but Oldman never succumbs to the sort of grandstanding that can overwhelm the drama. Buried under pounds of jowly makeup, he might lack the physical similarity to Churchill that distinguished Cox’s portrayal, but he nails the mien. Wright, too, gives his best with this talky but always compelling drama. Back in the period milieu of Atonement , Darkest Hour could be considered the director’s own atonement for the debacle that was Pan . Together with Churchill and Dunkirk , Darkest Hour completes a triptych of films on the events and politics that shaped Britain’s victory in World War II. Scott Hocking DARKEST HOUR RELEASED: Jan 11 DIRECTOR: Joe Wright CAST: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn RATING: PG

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI RELEASED: Dec 14 DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson CAST: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Carrie Fisher RATING: M

I s The Last Jedi the new trilogy’s answer to The Empire Strikes Back ? It is in terms of following a similar structure – the Resistance on the run with the First Order in hot pursuit; Luke (Mark Hamill) as the Yoda to Rey (Daisy Ridley); and a skirmish on a salt flat that’s like the battle on Hoth with pod racing. But it’s less a repeat of a previous episode than The Force Awakens was. The Last Jedi dives straight into the action with the kind of epic space battle you’d expect to be saved for the climax. But director Rian Johnson is just warming up, cross-cutting between Rey and Luke on Ahch-To; Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and The First Order’s onslaught, and an away mission for Finn (John Boyega). Johnson lets the players – both old and new – grow and evolve. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) has a problem with authority figures; Kylo Ren wears his internal conflict like a second mask; General Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) remains dignified yet weary; and Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) is even more sinister in the mo-cap flesh than as a giant hologram. As for Luke, he’s become a The First Order strikes back.

remember) in stopping the First Order’s reign by bringing order to chaos through the Force, of which we learn some interesting revelations. Of the new characters, mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) gets the most screen time, while Benicio del Toro’s roguish codebreaker and Laura Dern’s violet- haired Resistance admiral seem kind of superfluous. And the Porgs won’t annoy you as much as they do Chewie. A subplot involving Finn and Rose’s trip to a galactic casino and the liberation of some alien horses feels like it belongs in a Harry Potter film, and also suspiciously like a Disney directive. It’s the kind of padding associated with middle film syndrome. Fortunately, Johnson maintains the breakneck pace, juggling the multiple story arcs without too much slack, raising the emotional stakes, and shooting the numerous dogfights with fluid dynamism. The Last Jedi doesn’t answer all the questions raised by The Force Awakens , but the ones it does are guaranteed to surprise. As Luke notes, “This is not going to go the way you think,” and for the

RATING KEY: Wow! Good Not bad Meh Woof!

most part that’s true, although a scene lifted wholesale from Return of the Jedi goes exactly the way you think. This is thrilling and grand space opera, just as Star Wars should be. Scott Hocking

reflection of Obi-Wan after losing Ben Solo to the Dark Side, and has decided it’s time for the Jedi to end. He’s also, once again, a new hope (and rebellions are built on hope,

JANUARY 2018

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