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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 September 2012

As strange as it may seem, The University of Queensland offers a course on time travel.  It’s taught annually by Professor Dowe and “examines the implications of time travel for our understanding of time, causation, agency and free will.”

There’s a part of me that wishes I’d taken the course because it’s such a fascinating subject matter.  We’ve all thought about it at some point.  What if an individual did work out how to travel back and forth through time?  Would this be good or bad for our world?  It’s a topic that could be debated for hours.  Time travel could make us a more advanced, a more knowledgeable species.  On the flip side, it could completely destroy us.

It’s an idea that has been explored in countless films.  The key to these movies is whether the filmmakers can convince you to put aside your disbelief.  Can they make you believe that time travel is possible and would function in a way that logically makes sense?  For a realist (such as myself), that’s very difficult to achieve.

Writer-director Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom) has given it his best shot with Looper.  It would rank highly on my list of “believable” time travel movies (if such a thing is possible).  Strap yourself in and let me do my best to explain…

The film is set wholly within the year 2042 and centres on a 25-year-old assassin named Joe Simmons (Gordon-Levitt).  While time travel isn’t possible in 2042… it will be thirty years after that.  A powerful gang from the future has accessed this banned technology and have created a clean, secretive way of eliminating their adversaries.  Instead of killing them in their own time, they transport them back to 2042 and get assassins like Joe, known as “loopers”, to do the dirty work.

Think about it.  You’d normally expect an element of risk in a profession that requires you to kill for a living but that’s not the case here.  For those in the year 2072, there’s nothing the authorities can do.  There’s no body, no blood and no murder weapon.  For the highly-paid assassins in the year 2042, there’s no pressure of being caught.  The people they are killing don’t even exist yet!  No one is going to be looking for them.

In effect, it’s a perfect crime… but with one important caveat.  The gang is worried that when these loopers reach the year 2072 (through natural aging), they’ll be able to alert the authorities about their illegal activities.  This can be prevented by “closing the loop”.  In other words, once the looper reaches 2072, he is captured by the gang and sent back to 2042 to be killed by, none other than, himself.

Have I lost you yet?  I hope not.  The crux of the story sees the 55-year-old version of Joe (played by Bruce Willis) sent back to 2042 to be assassinated by his 25-year-old self.  He manages to escape though and has an important plan.

55-year-old Joe is trying to find and assassinate the person who will ultimately become the leader of the gang.  It’s the only chance he has of changing the future and stopping the hell that has been created.  25-year-old Joe doesn’t care though about what’s happening in the year 2072.  He just wants to kill his older version, retire with a wad of cash and enjoy the next 30 years of his life.

For a film that’s just 118 minutes, it is amazing how much material Looper manages to cover.  It’s energizing to watch a fast-paced action film that challenges the audience.  The intricate, intelligent storyline demands that you pay attention at all times.  Its bold vision and clever premise reminded me of Inception, my favourite film of 2010.  There’s so much more to the plot that I haven’t outlined but that’s partly because I don’t have time and partly because I don’t want to spoil.

Looper is another merit badge for Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50, The Dark Knight Rises) who carries the film with a passionate, invigorating performance.  It required him to mimic the voice and mannerisms of a younger Bruce Willis.  Levitt also spent three hours each day in the hands of make up artists who have given his character a Willis-esque nose.

It’s Rian Johnson who deserves the strongest praise however for creating this plausible premise within a cool, futuristic world.  To cover one of the essential elements of any time travel movie, Johnson has written a great scene in a roadside diner where Bruce Willis explains the “cloudy mind” that occurs when events from the past are altered.

All of that said, there are a few nagging elements that hold the film back from achieving full “awesome” status.  The year 2042 seems to be a time of social anarchy and whilst it’s touched on (e.g. a scene in which a guy is shot dead in the street), it isn’t fully explained.  I’m also not sold on the finale and the choices made by certain characters.  Does it all add up?

Selected as the opening night film of the 2012 Toronto Film Festival, Looper is a film to be seen at least once… but more likely… twice.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 September 2012

We’ve got Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippopotamus.  These four characters have been made famous thanks to the voices of ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith.  Combined, the first two films reeled in more than $1 billion at the international box-office.  It’s therefore no surprise to see the release of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.

I should begin with a quick refresher course.  The first film saw our four friendly animals removed from their home at Central Park Zoo and shipped off to a Kenyan wildlife preserve.  They never made it through and became stranded on the island of Madagascar.  They didn’t fare much better in the second film when they became stuck in continental Africa while en route back home.

This time around, they’re ticking off a new continent – Europe.  Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria are still trying to get back home to New York but they’re going via an unorthodox route.  We begin in Monte Carlo where they’ve stopped off to collect a few of their friends.  The penguins and chimpanzees have been “holidaying” in the area and having fun at the casinos.

Unfortunately, they are spotted by the head of Monaco’s Animal Control – Captain Chantel DuBois (complete with a villainous voice from Frances McDormand).  She’s determined to capture these wild animals.  In fact, determined would be an understatement.  DuBois is an unstoppable cyborg with a sinister, unflinching facial expression.  She’s easily the best character in the movie.

The animals manage to escape but only thanks to a circus troupe that is passing through.  They sneak aboard their train and are introduced to a new group of animals that form part of the circus – Vitaly the tiger, Gia the jaguar and Stefano the sea lion.  The circus has been struggling of late but the owners are hoping to impress an important promoter who will pay for them to travel to the United States.

If you put two and two together, you should be able to see where the story is going next.  Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria decide to become part of the circus with the hope they can “wow” audiences with some fresh acts and subsequently earn their ticket back home to New York City.

I’m generally a fan of animation but I haven’t been a big supporter of the Madagascar series.  It’s not offering much more than easy, repetitive laughs.  It lacks the drama and emotion that I remember fondly from unforgettable films like Toy Story, Spirited Away, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E.  I prefer more from my family-orientated movies.

To put it simply, I’d say Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is no better or worse than the earlier films.  It’s been forged from the same mould and features the same brand of humour.  It’s nice to see a few new characters but it’s not enough to make the film worth recommending as a whole… unless of course you have young kids and a couple of hours to spare.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 September 2012

It’s not easy being a monster.  It can be a tiring, exhausting profession with little chance of respite.  Thankfully, there’s now a place they can go to relax and unwind – the 5-star Hotel Transylvania.  It is run by the entrepreneurial Count Dracula (Sandler) and is located in a secluded forest that is inaccessible to humans.  The monsters can hang out with their “own kind” and not have to worry about the nasty humans.

It’s a busy time at the Hotel with many guests arriving for an important birthday party – Dracula’s only daughter, Mavis (Gomez), will finally be an adult.  She’s about to turn 118.  The guest list includes Frankenstein and his wife, a family of werewolves, an overweight mummy and an invisible man with red hair.  You’ll have fun trying to pick their voices with many recognisable names amongst the cast.

Mavis isn’t interested in the party though.  She’s spent her entire life cooped up in the hotel under the protection of her control freak father.  She’s keen to “leave the nest” and explore the rest of the world.  Count Dracula isn’t prepared to let go through.  His wife was killed by the humans many years ago and he’s intent on making sure that Mavis doesn’t meet the same fate.

The arrival of an unexpected party guest sharpens their conflicting views.  A dopey, 21-year-old backpacker named Jonathan (Samberg) has somehow navigated his way through the forest and arrived at Hotel Transylvania.  He’s the first human to have ever set foot inside its walls.  It sends Dracula into a panic and he’s worried that if the monsters find out, it will threaten the future of his exclusive hotel.

In a ham-fisted attempt to fool everyone, Dracula puts Jonathan in a monster costume and tells everyone that he’s been employed as a “party planner”.  Once all the festivities are done, he’ll be able to sneak him out the hotel and make sure he never returns.  It sounds like a workable plan but there’s a major loophole that threatens to bring everything undone – a quickly developing attraction between Jonathan and Mavis.

With a nice message and an easy to follow storyline, Hotel Transylvania is one of the year's better animated releases.  It's probably the pick of the family films over the September school holidays.  Adam Sandler’s Dracula persona gets a little repetitive but he shares some fun banter with fellow Saturday Night Live graduate Andy Samberg (Hot Rod) and Selena Gomez (Monte Carlo).

It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of the “supporting monsters” but I can understand the need for condensing this story into 90 minutes given the film is being pitched at a young audience.  Steve Buscemi is great as a forlorn werewolf who has been driven to the brink of exhaustion by his many kids.  David Spade also steals a few scenes in his role as the Invisible Man.

It’s not a game changer but given the weak crop of animated films so far in 2012 (in which Brave has been the stand out), Hotel Transylvania could earn itself an Oscar nomination for best animated feature.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 September 2012

First impressions are important.  They are critical to one’s success in life.  When we go to a job interview, we go to great lengths to look good and speak well.  This may involve buying a new suit or doing some detailed reading on the prospective employer.  The same applies to a first date and may require an extra few minutes grooming in the bathroom before leaving the house.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild is the debut feature from 29-year-old Benh Zeitlin and in the eyes of most, he has made a very, very good first impression.  The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January where it won the Grand Jury Prize.  It then travelled to the ritzy Cannes Film Festival and picked up the Camera D’or – the award for the best first feature film.  It’s now being touted as a best picture nominee at next year’s Academy Awards.  Not a bad start to one’s career, huh?

Beasts is a terrific film for two reasons.  Firstly, the setting is unforgettable.  It takes place on a small ridge of land off the coast of Louisiana known as the “Bathtub”.  It was once a thriving, self-sustaining, tribal community that was home to many families.  Now, it has been all but obliterated due to the effects of hurricanes and rising sea levels.  The construction of levees, designed to protect the city of New Orleans, has also contributed to its demise.

It’s a fascinating part of the world and we get a strong sense of the location and its poverty-stricken people in the opening scenes.  The residents know their fate is sealed and that it’s only a matter of time before the island is engulfed by the ocean that surrounds them.  Are they moving to the mainland?  No way!  This is their land.  This is where they were born and raised.  They want to hang onto it until the very end.

The second reason you need to see this film is because of the performance of 6-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis.  I still can’t get my head around the fact that someone that age can have such an astoundingly strong screen presence.  She wasn’t easy to find though.  It took 9 months and 4,000 auditions before Zeitlin finally found his leading lady.

Wallis’s character is simply known as Hushpuppy – an adventurous young girl who has spent her entire life in the Bathtub.  She lives in a small shack that has been raised off the ground with slits to help keep it protected from storms and flooding.  With no mother and a cranky, intolerable father (Dwight Henry), Hushpuppy has been forced to develop a fierce independence.  She cooks her own meals and cares for a small group of animals.

The winds of change are afoot however.  Two significant events threaten to change Hushpuppy’s life in a dramatic way.  A massive storm leaves the entirety of the island underwater.  With their food source washed away, those that remain travel from place to place using makeshift rafts and hope that the water will eventually recede.  Further, Hushpuppy’s father becomes gravely ill.  It acts as a catalyst to bring these two together – with the father teaching his daughter valuable lessons to help her survive on her own.

Given the unusual setting, it took me a little while to get my bearings.  I’m a level-headed 34-year-old trying to follow a story being told through the eyes of a curious, naïve 6-year-old.  We see things differently… and that’s part of the film’s beauty.  Zeitlin has found of way of showing us Hushpuppy’s limited view of the world where reality and fantasy aren’t always easy to distinguish.  Think back to when you were that age.  Could you fully comprehend the thought of losing your home and your father?

There’s a lot going on in Beasts Of The Southern Wild but at its core is a genuine exploration of the bond between a young girl and her troubled father.  You’ll admire the powerful music and the stunning cinematography but it’s the emotion of the film’s final scenes that will make the biggest impact.

You can check out my interview with director Benh Zeitlin by clicking here.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 September 2012

We could start a debate about the best shark movie ever made… but it’s only go to lead to one answer – Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, released back in 1975.  It didn’t have the luxury of flashy, computer-generated special effects but it left most audiences on the edge of their seat.  The film took home three Academy Awards an earned a nomination for best picture (losing to One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest).

With the benchmark set, this niche genre has taken two divergent paths in recent years.  Films like Deep Blue Sea (1999), Open Water (2003) and The Reef (2010) are thrillers that have tried to replicate the “scare factor” of Jaws (with moderate success).  On the flip side, we have movies that can be best described as comedic entertainment.  That list would include Shark Night 3D (2010), Dinoshark (2010) and… wait for it… Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus (2009).

The problem with Bait is that it doesn’t know what side of the fence it wants to sit on.  Given the absurd premise, I was expecting a comedy.  It’s set in a supermarket by the beach that becomes flooded due to the effects of a massive tidal wave.  This happened at the exactly the same time that an armed robbery was in progress.

Anyway, water has inundated the building and the front entrance has been blocked by debris to prevent an easy escape (an obvious plot device).  We’re now left with a small group who have perched themselves atop of the supermarket shelves and are trying to find a way out.  They could stay and wait to be rescued but lo and behold, the water level is rising (yep, another obvious plot device) and time is running out.  I should also mention that there’s another group of people trapped in the underground car park.

The time has come to introduce… sharks!  I’ve seen folk on Twitter refer to this film as the shark equivalent of Snakes On A Plane.  Perhaps a more appropriate title would be Sharks In A Supermarket.  These sharks aren’t interested in the Corn Flakes, Tim Tams and two-minute noodles that can be found in aisle 7.  They’d prefer some fresh meat, straight off the human bone.

With this ridiculous situation now established, the script stumbles.  Instead of being a fun, silly comedy, it tries to be a heart-pounding thriller.  It doesn’t work.  Bait takes itself way too seriously and there are only a handful of witty one-liners.  It leaves us with a flat thriller starring a bunch of characters we couldn’t care less about.  The unconvincing special effects will also leave you confused – are the sharks supposed to be scary?

Xavier Samuel and Julian McMahon headline the cast along with rising stars Alex Russell and Lincoln Lewis.  I don’t expect this film will be featuring too prominently on their resumes.