Films and thoughts

With a smidge of spare time recently, I have managed to catch up with a few of films that I didn't get to see whilst they had a cinema release (or didn't get a cinema release at all). Whilst they differ in genre and tone, they each highlight a different section of modern day film making that made me think.

The Mummy (2017)

First up, The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise and intending to launch the Universal Dark Universe franchise (Well, kinda, Dracula Untold in 2014 was supposed to launch the series but that was savaged upon release). Now, you'd expect the usual Tom Cruise affair here, toothy smile, charming wit, a relatable character. Well, no, you don't get any of those. As this is supposed to be a horror film, Cruise's character is a rough diamond, except he's not likeable at all. In fact, he's a bit of a dick. Even though there is an attempt to build a buddy comedy vibe at the beginning of the film, this falls incredibly flat, even with the final reveal at the end.
The rest of the cast is ok, if not forgettable with the exception of Russell Crowe. Oscar winner, all round good actor, this film gives him Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to play with and Jesus wept, it's bad. Not the Jekyll sections, he's passable, it's the Hyde appearance and the 'mockney' accent served with enough ham to start a deli counter that really stomp on any pretensions the film has.
Coupled with an overuse of CGI (which is a fault of many films these days) and a story/script that credits six individuals(!), The Mummy is a disappointing film that feels very much like a committee designed film with it's eyes focused on the Dark Universe series rather than telling a good tale on its own. That attitude seems to encompass a lot of films (and the series they are in/trying to start these days - the DC Universe suffers badly form this yet the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems so far to have avoided that trap, even after 17 ish films and counting.) which then leads to the next film I want to talk about.

Transformers: The Last Knight

Number five (5!) in the Transformers franchise, The Last Knight is a prime example of trying to keep a money making franchise going long after it should have been put down. However, when your series hits $1 billion is earnings each for films 3 and 4, the money men and the studio know that there be gold in them there hills. Or so you would think...
The Transformers series started off with a decent first film, successful enough to get a sequel. The following three earned more each time but were (to kindly put it) critically mauled. That didn't, however, hurt the box office takings and it was decided to have number 5 re-boot the series mythology. This would allow spin off films (Bumblebee is due next year) and also provide a foundation for several future films. All to enhance the bottom line of the studio and the toy company.
That didn't work with this film. In fact, The Last Knight seems to have proved that if you shovel enough crap at people, no matter how shiny it looks, they will get sick of it in the end.
Whilst I have seen films one to four, I had put off watching five as it just didn't interest me. But then one night, flicking through what to watch, there it was and I decided to give it a go. Hmmm...
Firstly, the negatives: the story is convoluted, boring and the film is far, fat too long, by atleast 40 minutes. Again, it's the mythology set up, because as they were trying to start it off again, they not only referenced the previous films, but then added new layers that didn't gel but had to be in there to set up the future entries (see the pattern?). Positives? There is more humour (and not the robot testicles of the 2nd film either) and the core of the film is decent enough. There is still too much confusing CGI and characters are paper thin (and that's the male characters, the women of the film are effectively place holders).
It tells you how much you are enjoying a film when the conversation whilst watching it centres on how well Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh and Newcastle are featured (the latter less so, possibly not at all, it's the blink and you'll miss it editing of a car chase). That and calling bullshit every time logic goes out of the window, which in a Transformers movie, is very common. If you liked the previous entries, this is a film you might enjoy (the box office for this entry was down over 40% from number 4, a big disappointment for all concerned). If you haven't seen any of the films, watch the first one and leave it there. If there is a 6th film, I doubt it very much I'll see it.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

From two franchise targeted films to a TV-originated big screen adaptation that ticks almost every box in the positive column and still wasn't successful. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an origin story that nails the period, style and charm of the TV show with two good choices as Solo and Kuryakin (Henry Cavill as Solo is superb). The cinematography has that early 60's colour saturation and the military geek in me went wild when they had a scene setting shot of what appeared to be HMS Hermes (but with the radar from Victorious) with Scimitars on deck. Yeah, I know it is only CGI but it was well done and not obvious - which is what CGI should be used for. The story is interesting and makes logical sense, the action is well staged and the comedy veers towards subtle rather than over the top.
Why wasn't is successful?
There seems to be two lines of thought, one where the film and its source material were too old fashioned, that no-one remembers the TV show so have no real desire to see a film. The other, that is was released too closely to another spy film, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (I should point out that that film was number 5 in that series and because they take their time and make these event films, the series is going strong, unlike the frequent, re-hashed releases of the Transformers series). I tend to fall in the latter camp. This is a good film and if you have the chance to watch it, please do. You can do far, far worse (see the above two entries). It didn't make enough at the box office so it will remain a lovely attempt at launching a franchise but one that remained focused on creating a good film first, a franchise second.

6 Days

Finally, a low budget re-telling of the Iranian Embassy Siege of 1981. This had a limited cinematic release and that's a shame as it's a rather decent film. Yes, it's quite slow and there are no flash/bang/wallop scenes as such, but that does not detract from the way the siege is portrayed. Filmed on location in London and having one of the SAS troopers as a technical adviser, the cast is uniformly great and the period is well presented. The final assault is well staged although lacks the pizzazz of a big-budget blockbuster, yet that makes it even better as to be honest, you could not make the early 1980's look glamourous if you tried. I remember it as being brown. Beige and brown.
Anyhoo, it you have access to a streaming service (I watched this on Netflix), give it a go. It has a tight 909 minute run time and deserves a viewing.