David R. Walker

Posts Tagged ‘Rachel Brosnahan’

Superman

Director: James Gunn

Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Alan Tudyk, Nicholas Hoult, Bradley Cooper, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Rooker, Wendell Pierce, Nathan Fillion, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Frank Grillo, Skyler Gisondo, Edi Gathegi, William Reeve, Milly Alcock

Running Time: 2 hours and 9 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

If it wasn’t for clever casting of the two main leads for Superman this film would have collapsed. In actual fact at some point the narrative caved in on itself in a horrific pastiche of social media, aliens, technology and monkeys on keyboards that for a moment I thought I wasn’t watching a superhero film.

Director James Gunn went from Guardians of the Galaxy to bringing his bizarre off beat style to Superman which in some parts of this film were just terrible and in other scenes just like a CGI car crash overtaken by malevolent artificial intelligence.

Fortunately James Gunn had two superb lead actors to take on the iconic role of Superman and Lois Lane in the form of the highly talented duo David Corenswet (Twisters) and Rachel Brosnhan (The Amateur). The towering and smouldering David Corenswet was brilliant as Superman and his journalist alter ego Clark Kent as he tries to save Metropolis from the evil grip of the megalomaniac and lethal Lex Luthor this time underplayed by Nicholas Hoult whose villain was just not villainous enough. In the scenes between Superman and Lex Luthor, it just comes off as two grown men fighting over a dog.

That’s the other good thing about the film which kids will absolutely adore. Krypto the dog steals the show as Superman’s canine companion. Who doesn’t love a hunk in a cape with a misbehaving dog?

Superman as a storyline was all over the charts, with strange allegorical conflicts happening elsewhere along with additional superheroes arriving as a back up army to assist the Man of Steel. The action at some point just reveal a vortex of chaos, saved only by some really beautiful scenes between Lois and Superman.

The onscreen chemistry between David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan is exact and endearing however the rest of the storyline is a chaotic mess. If they do a sequel to this film, please employ a decent scriptwriter.

The backstory of Superman as Clark Kent growing up in rural Kansas is only briefly touched upon in one sparkling pastoral scene between Clark and his adopted father Pa Kent played by Pruitt Taylor Vince (Constantine, Monster).  

Nicholas Hoult who was so brilliant in such art house films as Yorgos Lanthimos’s Oscar winning The Favourite is slightly lacklustre as a frustrated tech billionaire who will stop at nothing to destroy Metropolis and take over the world. Hoult must have got his villain inspiration from a younger version of Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill, except that Walken made audiences believe he was a psychopath. It’s all in the eyes.

Superman is going to make lots of money at the box office and while it is not a bad film, it is not brilliant either and with expectations so high, unfortunately the chaotic scenes outweigh the shining moments.

See Superman for David Corenswet and his dog. The cinema experience rests shakily on a shambolic screenplay which will appeal to some but not many. Audiences should look out for former Superman star Christopher Reeve’s son William Reeve as a TV reporter.

Superman gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and has its moments and it’s definitely not as good as Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. The best part about this cloaked drama is the ending.

The Amateur

Director: James Hawes

Cast: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Bernthal, Rachel Brosnahan, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Caitriona Balfe, Danny Sapani, Marc Rissmann, Joseph Millson

Running Time: 2 hours and 3 minutes 

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Oscar winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) made a convincing Bond villain in the 2021 smash hit No Time to Die but as a leading action hero his status is dubious at best.

However, One Life director James Hawes took a chance on Rami Malek as a leading man in the new spy thriller The Amateur which is like a nerd’s guide to the Jason Bourne franchise without the guns, fistfights and car chases.

Malek plays the extremely clever CIA data analyst Charlie Heller whose beautiful wife Sarah played by The Marvellous Mrs Maisel and House of Cards TV star Rachel Brosnahan who gets murdered in a terrorist attack in London while in the British capital on a business trip.

Charlie senses a CIA cover up and ignores orders not to go after the Belarussian terrorists responsible and decides to go rogue with enough hacking skills to break through any firewall.

First Charlie seeks the assistance of tough guy Henderson played with a welcome return to the big screen by Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do With it) who attempts to train him to become a killer. While Charlie doesn’t take to firing guns at bad guys he discovers a penchant for explosives and detonators which can so easily be digitally triggered.

As Charlie seeks creative revenge on the terrorists and their leader Schiller played by Michael Stuhlbarg (The Shape of Water, Call Me by Your Name), he globe trots from London to Paris to Marseilles and eventually to Istanbul where he catches up with a CIA asset the mysterious Inquiline, briefly played by Irish actress Caitriona Balfe (Ford v Ferrari, Belfast, Money Monster).

The Amateur is an enjoyably different spy thriller as Rami Malek makes for a usual spy while all the CIA hotshots played by Holt Callany and Julianne Nicholson are one step behind him.

The cinematography by Martin Ruhe was not good, many scenes appeared extremely dark and badly lit and the scriptwriters Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli battled to get some character dimension into a rather bland screenplay adapted from the novel by Robert Litell.

Despite these drawbacks, The Amateur is an entertaining if slightly overlong film which is heavy on tech gadgets and light on action. Although there is one brilliant scene when Charlie kills a man in a rooftop swimming pool in a plush Spanish hotel. His creative revenge pays off.

If you enjoy a unique spy revenge thriller then catch The Amateur in cinemas now. The Amateur gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is no Jason Bourne but it just proves that never underestimate the tech guys in the basement level. Recommended viewing.

Rami Malek is excellent in the main role, especially being cast against type.