The Marvels (2023)
Director: Nia DaCosta
Screenwriters: Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik
Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Samuel L. Jackson

Previously on the MCU…

In Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers became the most powerful woman alive when she absorbed the cosmic energy of an exploding alien reactor. In ‘Wandavision’, astronaut Monica Rambeau gained the power to manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum when she passed through a barrier of chaos magic. In ‘Ms Marvel’, teenage superhero fangirl Kamala Khan’s inert extra-dimensional mutant powers were unlocked by a magical bangle passed down through her family. Now…

When three superheroes with light-based powers mysteriously start switching places across the universe, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) must team up to find the root cause of their conundrum and stop fanatical Kree warlord Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) from doing untold damage to the universe.

The debate about whether it’s a good move for buzzworthy indie directors to make the leap to superhero blockbusters so early in their careers continues. Cop Car’s Jon Watts managed to keep some of his directorial voice intact when he swung into the MCU with Spider-Man: Homecoming, ditto Taika Waititi taking up Thor’s hammer straight after Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but other filmmakers like Cate Shortland (going from Berlin Syndrome to Black Widow) and Chloé Zhao (following Nomadland with Eternals) have struggled to make their superhero movies stand out. Nia DaCosta (previously behind the Candyman reboot) seems to find herself somewhere in the middle of that scale, bringing plenty of personality to her story but perhaps having to temper her darker impulses to fit the studio brief.

The sheer charm of the central trio’s dynamic makes you forgive the film a lot of sins. This is what you’re watching for, to see this unconventional surrogate family unit – an absentee aunt, a grieving daughter and an over-enthusiastic younger sister who just wants to be included – puzzle out their predicament and support each other through their trials. The problem is that exactly what Captain Marvel has been doing since her movie debut, referenced in brief flashbacks and confronted directly at this film’s close, sounds a lot more interesting than the film we are actually watching. Rather than grappling with the responsibility of what to do with your near-unlimited power, seeing her make what will prove to be disastrous decisions that impact the lives of billions of extra-terrestrials, more often than not we’re hurtling around the universe searching for space trinkets for undefined reasons. 

There are some admittedly eye-catching sci-fi vistas on display, with glittering futuristic cities and spectacularly collapsing planetary bodies aplenty. There is also, disappointingly, still the odd uninspiring brawl that amounts to repetitive punching with added fireworks, usually in pretty featureless added-in-post environs. 

The action highlight is unquestionably the bravura fight sequence in the first act that is given its lifeblood and rhythm by sterling work from editors Catrin Hedström and Evan Schiff, hilariously inopportunely zipping the three Marvels in and out of their brawl taking place at three different points in the galaxy every time they use their powers. This unexpectedly not only puts the Khan family and their Jersey City home in the firing line but also keeps the powered trio physically apart and unable to effectively coordinate a little while longer.

You can’t really accuse DaCosta and co for playing it safe, mostly because of how prominently they feature multiple Flerkens (chaotic alien cats that can consume just about anything with their disguised tendrilled maws). The film also finds room for not one but two musical, or at least musical-inspired sequences to break up its more generic action. The more self-aware of these scenes that references an infamous piece of bad pop culture is the better and most memorable of the two by far and will doubtless be doing the rounds on social media as soon as The Marvels is released digitally.

This is one of the funnier Marvel movies, but most of the humour comes from the performances (especially Vellani’s insatiable excitement levels) rather than what was written on the page. The script could have used another pass for sure, and it contains very little that might be considered quotable. The warm interplay of Kamala and her protective family, the undoubted heart and highlight of her solo show, is always welcome, plus it’s amusing that they gave her parents (Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur, both great value) more to do in this than Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury.

The Marvels has probably the most boring villain since we completely lost Christopher Eccleston behind his prosthetics to play Malekith. Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn is literally carrying around her Kree uber-bastard predecessor Ronan the Accuser’s hammer and making foreboding pronouncements, sneering through metal-capped teeth completely straight-faced without the luxury of a Star-Lord dancing to puncture her pomposity. We know she’s after a pair of magical MacGuffins and she wants to destroy a sizeable portion of the universe (which is bad) in order to save her own dying world (which is goodish), but she has no other personality or nuance to make her feel like anything more than a driver of plot.

You do wonder how much this movie was whittled down in the edit and whether DaCosta would have wanted to delve further into Carol’s costly mistakes and dwell on the dark implications of godlike power a little more in addition to delivering a fun space romp driven by sparky interplay between three gifted female performers. As it is, The Marvels is a decent enough time at the movies that doesn’t quite come together as a satisfying whole. Fans won’t need to be told to stick around during the credits for a couple of pleasant surprises. 

Score: 16/24

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Down Among the Big Boys (1993)
Director: Charles Gormley
Screenwriter: Peter McDougall
Starring: Billy Connolly, Douglas Henshall, Rab Affleck, Ewan Stewart, Ashley Jensen, Gary Lewis, Billy Boyd

Released in 1993, Down Among the Big Boys came at possibly the worst time in Scottish Cinema history. A few years removed from Bill Forsyth’s transition to making films in America, but also a few years away from a surge of successful Scottish releases like Trainspotting, My Name is Joe and Ratcatcher, and with no bankable stars such as Bill Paterson or Ewan McGregor, the industry was on its knees, turning to the comic but at the time by no means guaranteed acting talents of the likes of Billy Connolly to prop up lesser known releases. Nearly 30 years on it’s easy to see why this period of Scottish film has been so largely forgotten when any number of its most notable films, including this Peter McDougall and Charles Gormley feature, headed straight to the BBC on television, but with star Billy Connolly now reaching his self-confessed twilight in his battle with Parkinson’s and the resurgence of old BBC projects across their platforms, it seems that Down Among the Big Boys may be due a resurgence in popularity. Whether it’s deserving of that or not is another question entirely…

Down Among the Big Boy’s’ screenplay is perhaps this film’s most impressive and stand out feature. The film follows Louie (Douglas Henshall), a local detective who is set to marry the daughter of glaswegian crime boss JoJo (Billy Connolly) the same week that JoJo is planning a bank robbery. It makes for an incredibly interesting story similar to the likes of Michael Mann’s Heat, only with an added family dynamic between the protagonist and antagonist in order to make the relationship between the two characters that bit more intense.

Smart, witty and unique, the premise and its delivery is at times superb, but for every clever line of dialogue there is a cheesy one right around the corner and for every enthralling action sequence there is an equally as boring family dinner, the tale of this film being one of ups and downs and a limiting of its true potential.

The direction from Charles Gormley is perhaps the biggest culprit in this sense, adding very little flare in any way and generally creating a pretty stilted watching experience for the most part. His uninspired work is as safe and “block, record, repeat” as most television direction was at the time, and Down Among the Big Boys seemingly deserved more.

The film does host a cast of regular faces that improve the viewing experience however. Actors such as Rab Affleck, Ewan Stewart, Ashley Jensen, Gary Lewis and Billy Boyd support leads Connolly and Henshall, making for practically a who’s who of Scottish acting talent. The ensemble of character actors each put in competent performances but seem stalled by Gormley’s poor direction, again asserting the notion that there was something greater to be born out of this project than that which we eventually received.

All things considered, Down Among the Big Boys is a disappointing and considerably dull watch, the good aspects of the movie simply not being enough to raise the film to a higher standard, and the bad qualities of the film tearing apart the potential that it so very clearly once had.

Although the film itself will almost certainly remain a mere blip on the radar, it is worth its place on everyone’s watchlists even if only to see how far the Scottish Film industry has come in the near three decades since.

10/24

Billy Elliot (2000)
Director: Stephen Daldry
Screenwriter: Lee Hall
Starring: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis, Jean Heywood, Jamie Draven, Stuart Wells

It’s been twenty years since Billy Elliot burst onto cinema screens, and its portrait of the North East remains just as moving and inspiring today. It’s a region often depicted as being rather bleak and derelict, most notably in Ken Loach’s sombre portrayals of Newcastle in I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You. Loach’s films are undeniably powerful, unapologetically confronting the audience with the harsh reality of austerity, but perhaps the reason Billy Elliot has remained cherished for so long, not just by those from the North East but around the world, is due to its graceful balancing of warmth, humour, rage and hope.

Set in 1984, in a small Durham mining village, eleven year old Billy stumbles in on a ballet class after a humiliating match in the boxing ring. It soon becomes evident that dance is a cathartic release for Billy, serving as a secret refuge from the pain and anger tearing his family apart; his older brother and Dad being embroiled in the turmoil of the era’s miners’ strikes. The conflict has seemingly blended in with everyday life; from school friend Debbie absentmindedly dragging a stick along a row of riot shields to policemen casually taking a break and playing catch outside Billy’s house. Although these are comical moments, there is a somewhat ominous atmosphere that pervades them, as though the strike has melted into the fabric of the community, emphasising its impact on the region’s history and identity.

The ruptures of violence on the picket lines are made all the more jarring and invasive due to the fact that the film is predominantly from a child’s perspective. Riot police are shown pursuing and cornering strikers, Billy’s older brother Tony chief amongst them. Watching on, Billy screams after his brother to turn back, but he is blindly hurtling through a sea of white sheets that are soon bloodied after police horses catch up to him. The Clash’s “London Calling” underscores the whole sequence, a howling war cry of fury and injustice finally boiling over.

The rage and bitterness felt after the miners’ strikes is still imprinted on communities even now, evidenced by the dismay when Blyth, a used-to-be coal mining town voted for the Conservatives in the UK’s 2019 general election. The tension is still very raw, the pain of colleagues, friends and family turning on one another displayed in the scene when Tony begs his Dad, Jackie, not to go back to work. Reaching a desperate low, Jackie renounces his morality in order to give Billy a chance to realise his dreams. It’s despairingly awful to watch, and even more so when you come to realise how little has changed in the past thirty years.

The aggression and pain in this film is only matched by the passion of the ballet sequences. Compelled to dance, Billy buzzes with the excitement and energy of a windup toy set free, training with fierce dedication and focus. The editing is rhythmic and lively, raw and captivating, the soundtrack a fizzing mix of classical and rock n’roll, a bustling sense of Billy trying new things, daring to discover himself. The idea of acceptance is a major theme in the film, not only concerning Billy’s struggle, but also that of his best friend, Michael, who is forced to hide his sexuality. The friendship they share is almost unparalleled in its sweetness and mutual acceptance of one another, never questioning, merely bemused with mild curiosity. As well as this, a repeated line of dialogue uttered by Billy’s Nana is particularly striking, her claims that “they said I could have been a professional dancer if I’d had the training” forcing one to ponder on the unrealised aspirations of those who weren’t able to fulfil them due to mere circumstance, time and place, a path Billy very easily could have followed.

Although the North East seemingly represents somewhere to escape from, a place that can’t bolster Billy’s dreams, the film serves as an ode to finding inspiration in the most unlikely places. However, it’s also a touching tribute to the strength of a community, honouring the memory of one of the most infamous strikes in history and the resulting trauma that still lingers today. Nonetheless, Billy Elliot remains eternally uplifting, punchy and heart-warmingly funny; these lighter moments made even more joyous in contrast to the heavy backdrop that underlies Billy’s story.

“I love to boogie”… when in doubt, just dance.

20/24

Written by Angel Lloyd

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Joyeux Noël starts with original images and photos from the war period – the music is captivating from the beginning – and you already get the feeling that it’s going to be a magical and emotional film. The plot centres around the sometimes forgotten Christmas truce which took place during WWI between the allied troops of Europe and the soldiers of Germany. The film is very interesting and well directed, and it’s clear that Christian Carion (who also wrote the screenplay) clearly put all of his heart into it – it’s a passion piece. His direction of his own screenplay makes for an apparent bond of written and visual storytelling. Firstly, the close ups that were used on the soldiers, and especially the generals and the superiors, were really meaningful. Secondly, the start of the film where we see young children from France, England and Germany being indoctrinated with hate and superiority beliefs, was actually quite disturbing. It astonished me, even though I was aware of this kind of propaganda, as it was also very common during WW2, but hearing the words used by those children and how they mechanically repeated them, was really quite gut-wrenching. The dialogues between the young French Lieutenant Camille René Audebert (Guillaume Canet) and his father were always quite poignant. The scenes involving all of the characters are meaningful and important; you truly have to pay attention from start to finish to take as much from this movie as you can. I think the character of the bishop who scolds the priest, father Palmer (Gary Lewis), is particularly powerful, as he preaches hate to the newly arrived recruits. The way the director lets us see through father Palmer’s eyes what the bishop is saying is without doubt one of the highlights of the film as we are forced to feel his pain as he hears the Bishop preach.

The story focuses mainly on the lives of French Lieutenant Camille René Audebert (Guillaume Canet), the German lieutenant Horstmayer (Daniel Brühl) and Lieutenant Gordon a Scottish member of the British army. The figure of the Scottish priest, father Palmer (Gary Lewis), is also very important, as mentioned earlier. His role within the context of the battle is as a reluctant fighter who serves as a stretcher-barer to help the wounded.

All these men long to be back home as soon as possible and would be much happier to spend Christmas with their loved ones. Miss Anna Sørensen, a Danish Soprano, also wants her fiancé by her side – the German Tenor Nikolaus Sprink (Benno Fürmann). She manages to be with him for a night thanks to the permission of the Crown Prince, and she decides to go with Sprink and sing for the soldiers during Christmas. The relationship between French Lieutenant Camille Audebert and his loyal batman Ponchel (Danny Boon) is also important to the plot as the two share a real friendship and it is clear that Audebert doesn’t see Ponchel just as his servant but also as his dearest  friend. Ponchel acts as comic relief to an otherwise very dramatic movie and is therefore important in that he breaks up some of the tension to let you breathe at the right times. He’s also presented as a loyal and caring friend who helps the plot by questionning Audebert about his family and so on.

This film was almost perfect, except for maybe a few tweaks. The German side, for example, isn’t as explored as the French; we see the German trench mostly through the eyes of Sprink but not of his superior Lieutenant Horstmayer, or the other characters. Horstmayer is a remarkable character too – it’s hinted that his wife is French and his goodness and reluctance to fight are both very clear. He also shows care for Lieutenant Audebert and for Lieutenant Gordon and they all seem to develop a bond. The Scottish side is explored almost exclusively through the eyes of Father Palmer, who embodies the fraternity between different nations that pervades the trenches for the duration of the truce. Although the Scottish are shown to be the first to start the truce, this isn’t historically correct since there’s evidence that it was actually the Germans who started singing Christmas songs and were soon joined by the English and Scottish, and later the French – this is another issue I have.

It’s true that, as some critics have said, the film is very sentimental, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a negative, for Joyeux Noël was meant for an audience who knew what to expect given the legend of the event, in this case the Christmas truce. So, a viewer shouldn’t be surprised to see solidarity, love and friendship instead of blood and an onslaught of violence, because that’s what it is supposed to be about. I was personally touched by the strong meaning and message of the film I even cried at some of the more touching parts. Soldiers started to see that there wasn’t much difference between themselves and their opposition and that’s why their superiors punished them, because if all people (not only the soldiers) had realized that, then there would have been no reason to keep fighting that war. The ending of the film presents this clearly thanks to the array of meaningful frames presented by DOP Walther van den Ende.

The cast was carefully chosen, with stars from all over Europe: German Diane Krüger and Daniel Brühl, French comedian Danny Boon, and French actor Guillaume Canet. I found the casting to be very well fitted to their roles and clearly talented, which is certainly a plus. Another plus is the fact that all of the actors spoke in their native languages, apart from the scenes where the characters were together – they were speaking in English in those scenes and this was interesting because it ensured that the characters were presented as if the actual soldiers speaking as they probably did in the trenches. Usually when a cast of different nationalities is involved they all adopt English as the medium of communication – it’s pretty weird and not at all plausible to hear a French or a German speak in English 100% of the time – but this was not the case with this film, and I was really pleased about that.

On a brighter note, I’m very happy to know that the director Christian Carion is thinking of making a sequel on the lives of Lieutenants Horstmayer and Audebert.

I chose to review this film at Christmas because I think it’s not as well-known of a story as it should be and the movie deserves more praise. In many respects, Joyeux Noël is the typical Christmas movie that spreads feelings of kindness, love and peace that I think we all need at this time of the year. Because of its ever-lasting relevance and how much we all need to remember these positive similarities in a world divided by fear, Joyeux Noël gets a…

22/24

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