Join The Community
Out on 21 September and 28 September
Keanu finds ennui in kicking ass. Lake Bell finds romance in a blind date. Samuel L. Jackson finds it hard to get home. Yes, heres this fortnights new DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Click on for our reviews of John Wick, Man Up, Catch Me Daddy, Big Game and Spooks: The Greater Good. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
JOHN WICK
Liam Neeson has much to answer for. Ever since he hit paydirt with Taken, the rules of the modern action movie have shifted considerably in favour of actors rather than action heroes. Veteran ass-kickers like JCVD and Steven Seagal, their vehicles marooned on the outskirts of cinema in a town called DTV, must look on aghast as Oscar winners Sean Penn and Kevin Costner invade their turf and secure mainstream distribution. Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves looks on with the Zen-like bemusement of somebody who knows that good opportunities come to those who wait. Sure, hes had his fair share of misfires in recent years (Man Of Tai Chi, 47 Ronin...), but Reeves career has always existed in the middle ground between brain and brawn; finally, with John Wick, he restores old-school pleasures without sacrificing the gains made by Neesons generation. One of the biggest ironies (and, if were honest, guilty pleasures) of the post-taken cycle has been the inverse ratio between the gravitas of the star and the plausibility of the story, as producers trust that the thespian credentials will paper over narrative cracks. John Wick is a case in point, highlighting the colonisation of the mainstream by the kind of Z-grade schlock that youd hitherto only watch after a drunken Friday night out. This is a film that embraces the familiarity of a no-brainer video rental, from its thumbnail premise (gangsters incur the wrath of a retired killer by slaughtering his dog) to the oft-parodied notion that a criminal kingpin, with the hero at his mercy, will walk away to let hapless minions attempt to finish him off. It even has a scene where the titular hero is told, No more guns, just you and me, John, as they gear up for fisticuffs. Yet Neeson and his imitators have given a certain pedigree to this type of story that suits Reeves. He remains a singular actor, prone to problems with dramatic heavy lifting but with enough charisma to stop you caring. As a ruthlessly efficient killer who has belatedly required the feels, Reeves is perfect, and he certainly looks the part as an ex-pro on a roaring rampage of revenge. Even so, Reeves past career from the pop-ironic exhilaration of Point Break to the intellectual trimmings of The Matrix has always traded in more unusual textures than the films of his 1980s muscle-men predecessors. Accordingly, the story world of John Wick ventures into funnier, more leftfield corners than the grimly determined, ever-so-serious Neeson has been permitted to discover. Aware that so much clich is on show, Derek Kolstads screenplay accessories beautifully, especially in the creation of an underworld which has a communal safe-house a hotel where business is prohibited and even its own currency, like Disneyland. Its an inspired touch that brings a welcome note of surrealism and self-awareness to proceedings, especially in Lance Reddicks scene-stealing performance as the hotels deadpan concierge. If lead villains Michael Nyquist and Alfie Allen are a little too dour, the film compensates by filling the margins with witty performances by gnarly stalwarts like Willem Dafoe and Ian McShane, who provide the welcome sense of a world that exists beyond the horizons of the main character. Its a film with such strength in depth that, by the time it ends, you might evenhave forgotten that John Leguizamo has been in it. The result is probably the finest comic-book movie of recent times that isnt actually based on a comic book. The aesthetic is Michael Mann does Sin City. The latter is represented by an authority-free, post-noir landscape of hard-faced foes and slinky femme fatales (the ace Adrianne Palicki); the former is implicit in the neon wash of Jonathan Selas cinematography and the no-nonsense action impact. And what action! Heres an actioner that belies the trend to have ageing thesps grunt through rapidly cut nonsense by allowing Reeves to move through relatively long takes with limber grace. Better still, theres an actual philosophy behind the violence. How many times have you wondered why characters dont just shoot their opponents in the head? Well, Wicks your man he uses martial arts solely to give him the proximity for a close-range head-shot and the film sets a record for the most exploding craniums in a 15 certificate. Itd be sadistic if the film wasnt so high on its own choreography, unable to linger on the gore because Keanu has already moved on to the next fight. In 2015, only Mad Max: Fury Road can rival it for efficiency and elegance, and with similar results: where George Millers masterpiece raises the bar for blockbusters, John Wick demands more from the Taken series and its many imitators. Bryan Mills could learn a trick or two from John Wicks particular set of skills. Blu extras comprise commentary from co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, and five featurettes, the best and best-titled of which is Dont Fuck With John Wick, a 15-minute ode to Reeves commitment to the cause. He carved out his entire summer to become John Wick, marvels stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott, who delivers another movie-defining gem: Theres a fine line between gun fu and gun porn. EXTRAS: > Commentary > Features Directors: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie AllenDVD, BD, Digital HD release: 21 September 2015 Simon Kinnear
CATCH ME DADDY
Somewhere on the Yorkshire moors, British-Asian teen Laila (Sameena Jabeen Ahmed) and her white Scottish boyfriend Aaron (Connor McCarron) are on the run. On their trail: some British Asians led by Lailas brother (Ali Ahmad), intent on expunging the shame to his family, and a pair of thuggish white professionals hired by Lailas dad (Wasim Zakir). With a grim mood of burgeoning violence and dark, almost mythic tones, the sense of misery can be relentless, but youll keep watching. An accomplished feature debut from brothers Daniel and Matthew Wolfe. EXTRAS: > Music video Director: Daniel Wolfe Starring: Sameena Jabeen Ahmed, Connor McCarron, Gary Lewis DVD, BD, VOD release: 28 September 2015 Philip Kemp
SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD
Four years after the BBC spy show ended comes this solid spin-off movie, which takes care of fans and newbies alike with a story that weaves familiar and fresh characters. Peter Firth returns as disgraced MI5 veteran Harry Pearce, here looking wearier than ever as he battles an imminent terrorist threat with the help of protg Kit Harington. OK, the budget isnt Bourne or Bond, but director Bharat Nalluri, a veteran of the show, ensures the set-pieces still crackle witness the early prison-van escape that sets the story in motion. It wont blow you away, but its still a rollicking good yarn. EXTRAS: > Making Of > Interviews > Deleted scenes Director: Bharat Nalluri Starring: Peter Firth, Kit Harington, Jennifer Ehle, Elyes Gabel DVD, BD release: 28 September 2015 James Mottram
MAN UP
Its not obvious right away, but Man Up is not your routine dollop of Brit-pap but a romcom full of snarl, wit and subversion. Set over the course of a day, it follows Nancy (Lake Bell), a lonely, single 30-something who ends up inadvertently stealing a blind date with recent divorcee Jack (Simon Pegg). So far, so Richard Curtis, but its when the lie breaks down, revealing the pairs anxiety and emotional baggage, that Tess Morris script comes alive as a brutally honest, and very funny, treatise on the bullshit of modern dating. Bell, also, is astounding; her face a shape-shifting, expressive wonder. EXTRAS: > Featurettes > Gag reel Director: Ben Palmer Starring: Lake Bell, Simon Pegg DVD, BD, VOD release: 28 September 2015 Stephen Kelly
BIG GAME
Rare Exports director Jalmari Helander follows up his Finnish breakout with something distinctly more American by nature. Samuel L. Jackson plays against badass type as a cowardly U.S. President hunted for sport by a rich psychopath with only a young teenage boy (Onni Tommila) hunting alone in the woods as part of a coming-of-age ritual to help him survive. Despite some nice character moments, the film is tonally all over the place, trying to be both action blockbuster and genre piss-take. As such, dialogue, one-dimensional background players and entire scenes all pollute the otherwise wonderfully shot great outdoors. EXTRAS: > Featurettes > Interviews Director: Jalmari Helander Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Onni Tommila, Felicity Huffman DVD, BD, VOD release: 21 September 2015 Matt Looker
