The Avengers Review

With 'The Avengers' Marvel Studios has completed one of the most admirable attempts at universe building in modern film. We've been introduced to most of this film's heroes over the last few years. I wasn't too fond of most of them but Marvel should be commended for taking on such a daunting project. Before I start my review I'd like give you a rundown of the all of this film's heroes.

First off there's Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, who got not one but two fairly dull films. Chris Hemsworth is a demigod with a ridiculous accent from 'Thor'. Mark Ruffalo replaces Edward Norton as The Hulk. And Chris Evans' character originates from the best film of the bunch 'Captain America: The First Avenger'. A selection of those film's supporting actors return for 'The Avengers'. The most prominent of them being Samuel L. Jackon. I never really got Jackon's badass image, which by now feels forced to the point of being hilarious. 

The story seems like something a ten-year-old would concoct while playing with his collection of Avengers action figures. The basic ingredients and plot devices have been spoon-fed to us in the previous films. There are, for instance, other worlds that exist beside our own but can be reached by portals. Tom Hiddleston's Loki, the villain of the piece who previously appeared in 'Thor', emerges from one of these portals with the goal of subjugating earth. To do so he has allied himself with an alien force and before long an army of these nasty creatures spills forth from a massive interdimensional portal. The only thing standing between the people of earth and Loki's horde is a collection of superheroes called The Avengers. 

In short, it's a load of nonsense on top of another load of nonsense. But somehow it works. Besides, this movie isn't really about anything but watching these superheroes fight among themselves and finally side by side. Director Joss Whedon, the creative force behind TV shows like 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and 'Firefly', manages to make the film an enjoyable, if somewhat silly, action-adventure romp. He knows the characters and offers them some depth. Giving them moments that outshine the ones seen in their own seperate movies. 

In itself the film is okay. There's some nice action scenes here and there, and some fun bits of comedy. Luckily, 'The Avengers' doesn't feature the kind of offensively immature humor that plagued the 'Transformers' movies. More dissapointing is the fact the movie plays it safe on pretty much all fronts. 

There's a lack of urgency and danger; a weakness of many films these days. A good example is a moment in which one of the major characters decides to sacrifice his life. What should have been a poignant scene is robbed of any drama because of the nature of these characters.   

These are supermen, they can not die, at least we're never given any hint of their mortality. They're all pretty much indestructable, which makes it hard for us to care for them. We know they're going to be alright in the end because we see them take so many beatings without sustaining any injury at all. Any sense of danger is effectively nipped in the bud. 

Aside from that major downside the film is fun, and if you like big spectacular movies you'll enjoy 'The Avengers'. Whedon makes good use of his sympathetic cast, which is this film's major attraction. Still, I'm quite sure this year's ultimate superhero movie is still waiting in the wings.  

The Woman in Black Review

Hammer Horror has risen from the grave, let's just hope it's here to stay. 'The Woman in Black' is an entertaining gothic ghost story, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time. The film contains enough of that spooky atmosphere that made the old school British horrors so much fun. 

The film stars 'Harry Potter' survivor Daniel Radcliffe, he plays a young solicitor assigned to handle the estate of a mysterious family. Word in town is that the family's property is haunted. As is tradition in these films, the townspeople are wary of visitors and look upon the new arrival with blatant distrust.

''Amazingly'', the Eel Marsh House actually turns out to be inhabited by a ghostly presence. Of course, there's a creepy back-story involved, which I won't spoil. What I can say is that this so-called Woman in Black can be quite persuasive, driving the local children to violently kill themselves.

The primary reason why I took interest in this film was my fondness for Hammer Horror. I'm going to delve into some film history here, so bear with me. Hammer Films is a British company founded in 1934; it specialized in producing quick and cheap pictures without any particular appeal. This changed when the company acquired the rights to film a new version of 'Frankenstein'. It ended up as the horror classic 'The Curse of Frankenstein', which was quickly followed by 'The Horror of Dracula' and 'The Mummy'. 

Those three movies paved the way for a slew of horror pictures. With these Hammer redefined the genre by adding colour, blood, violence and lots and lots of cleavage. By today's standards the films could be regarded as quaint, but back in the day Hammer's brand of horror was found to be quite disturbing. The company made stars out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. It was also home to the often overlooked director Terence Fisher. 

There isn't as much cleavage in 'The Woman in Black', but there's enough of the classic ingredients to make the film feel instantly familiar. I’d love for Hammer to return to its roots and deliver more of these small-scale genre films. With Daniel Radcliffe they might even have found their new Peter Cushing. The supporting cast is also very strong. Especially Ciarán Hinds who, until recently, was a severely underused actor.

That’s not to say ‘The Woman in Black’ is without flaw. In fact, the film doesn’t really pack a punch. The mood is suitably creepy and the whole affair is enlivened by some well-executed jump scares but the film fails to become truly frightening. It’s more of an atmospheric piece with a rather dull story. It’s unfortunate, had the film been more intriguing and disturbing we would’ve had a superb haunted house movie on our hands.

In conclusion this film makes for a fine viewing. If you’re sick and tired of ‘modern’ ghost movies like ‘Paranormal Activity’, ‘The Woman In Black’ might be exactly what you’re looking for. It’s rather mild and could have done with some more excitement. But all in all, it is a fun but flawed haunted house flick.

P.S. From what I understand they are already hard at work on a sequel called ‘The Woman in Black: Angels of Death’. It won’t feature Radcliffe and will take place a few decennia after the original. I’m curious as to what the filmmakers wish to add, the ending to this film appeared to be quite conclusive.