Mary Queen Of Scots - Review

Mary Queen of Scots got her head chopped off. *Spoiler* Only it isn't really. It is historical fact and it's the exact name of a play by Liz Lochhead so the new film by Josie Rourke is spoiling nothing by beginning the film with Mary Stuart's walk down the Green Mile to her death before jumping back in time 25 years to see the events that would lead her cousin Queen Elizabeth I to sign her death warrant.
Let's quickly address the elephant in the room shall we? No, not the fact that the Scot Mary Stuart is played by an Irishwoman and the English Queen is played by an Aussie in the greatest piece of Scottish cultural misappropriation since Highlander had a Frenchman play a Scot and the world's most famous Scot playing a Spanish-Egyptian! We're talking about the fact that despite introductory text saying that Mary moved to France as an infant, she returns to Scotland at the age of 18 with a perfect Scottish accent (well done Saiorse Ronan who puts Christopher Lambert, Mel Gibson and even Chris Pine admirable efforts to shame).
Historical inaccuracies aside, this account of Mary's rise and fall is well handled by Josie Rourke, who until this point is best known for her stage work directing for the National Theatre and the Donmar Warehouse but on this evidence will seamlessly transfer to further outings on the big screen.
In spite of what the trailers may have implied, with shots of Mary upon a noble steed riding with soldiers and talking about how "swords are not just for show", this is certainly no Braveheart or Outlaw King. The battles hear mainly take place within the walls of castles and parliament chambers as the two Queens become pawns and are maneuvered into opposition by the very knights, bishops, etc who they are meant to govern e.g David Tennant's John Knox and Guy Pearce's William Cecil.
Whilst some will claim that films like this seek to widen any discourse between England and Scotland, similar to the re-release of Braveheart just before the Indy Referendum, in fact what this film sadly highlights is the fact that even 450 years on, some men are still very uncomfortable being ruled and governed by a woman!
One need look not further than the scene where Elizabeth tells William Cecil that she has almost become a man whilst ruling as Queen, unwilling to take a husband as she believes all they will do is scheme and plot to usurp her and take her crown. The exact thing that happens to Mary with her husband Henry Darnley (played by louche, debonair swagger by the Scottish star of the moment Jack Lowden) and her court of supposedly loyal subjects.
As one would expect from a theatre director, Rourke really brings out the best from her actors allowing them to drive the drama forward and the cast is uniformly excellent but the male cast are outshone by the central pairing of Robbie and Ronan (which when written like that makes it look like the film is about a secret meeting between members of Take That and Boyzone during the Nineties).
Their (albeit perhaps fictional) face-to-face meeting is a masterclass that proves that the pen is mightier than the sword and a battle of words can make for just as thrilling a contest as an epic battle of swords and shields.
So while Mary Queen of Scots may have had her head chopped off, Mary Queen of Scots proves that Saiorse Ronan and Margot Robbie stand head and shoulders above the rest of the field proving themselves to be two of the finest actresses of their generation.

4 stars

Flammable Children (Swinging Safari) - EIFF review

If there was one word that would perfectly encapsulate Flammable Children (Swinging Safari), it would be "romp".
(Partly) based on Priscilla Queen Of The Desert writer-director Stephen Elliot's childhood growing up in Australia in the Seventies, the film feels like Richard Linklater directing a nostalgic, X-Rated version of Neighbours.
It is easy to draw those comparisons when the film takes place over the course of a summer focusing on three families that live on the same street, including a married couple played by Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue.
The film is narrated by the adult version of Jeff Marsh, looking back at his fourteen year old self during the famous summer that his small town became famous when a giant blue whale beached itself in the middle of their popular tourist town.
Jeff spends his days obsessively making home movies on his Super 8 featuring his group of friends doing outrageous stunts. However he develops more than movies that year as the sparks of romance flicker with neighbour Minnie.
It isn't just the children coming-of-age as the summer of love has an affect on the adults as well, leading to a "Swinging Safari" night that will have lasting repercussions for the neighbourhood that devolves into a hilarious game of petty name-calling and practical jokes.
The top notch cast gamely commit to the material and all look ridiculous in their fake tan and outrageous outfits. Their over-the-top characteristics in keeping with how the children's perspective and how they would have viewed their parents at the time.
The period detail is spot on and enhanced by an eclectic range of super sounds of the Seventies (complete with obligatory Kylie Minogue cover on the end credits).
While the film has a sweetness and melancholic wistfulness for a time-gone-by, it is the humour that will stay with audiences.
Easily the funniest film to play the Festival, this has more laugh-out-loud moments than shrimps on a barbie! Plus some of the most non-PC laughs this side of a Ricky Gervais stand up e.g. a girl reading a magazine article about Karen Carpenter's brand new diet!
Just like the eponymous Flammable Children of the title, this is a red hot Summer hit that you must go and see. If not you're a flaming galah!

4 stars

Flammable Children (Swinging Safari) has its International premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Wednesday 27th June, 6.00 and Friday 29th June, 8.30. To book tickets, click here.

Road to Infinity War - Phase 2 - Iron Man 3

The Avengers had opened to $200 million in its first weekend. It would go on to make over $1.5 billion worldwide.
It would be safe to say that Marvel Studios were feeling pretty pleased with themselves at this point. Yet instead of resting on their laurels and sticking to a tried and tested formula, they very riskily and daringly threw out the rule book with Iron Man 3 and hired Shane Black to write and direct.
Shane Black was best known for being a screenwriter in the Eighties, cranking out the screenplays for such hits as Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight, but it was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that landed him the job with Marvel.
His hilarious neo-noir directorial debut in 2005 based on his own script was the film that offered Robert Downey Jr a way back into the Hollywood elite and it was his performance in this film that persuaded Feige et all to give him a chance as Tony Stark. One he has seized with both hands and never looked back.
For any fans of Shane Black, it is clear that this has his fingerprints all over it; flashbacks, voiceover narration, whipsmart dialogue and it is set at Christmas!
It felt fresh, daring and dangerous compared to everything that Marvel had produced before. This took Tony Stark out of the Iron Man suit and forced him to show that he could be a hero in his own right.
Of course, the most controversial, and divisive, moment comes at the start of the third act when it is revealed that the villainous terrorist The Mandarin is actually a drunken, out of work British actor called Trevor Slattery, portraying a character created to take the blame for Guy Pearce's experiments gone wrong.
The twist works because The Mandarin is a racist stereotype from the Sixties and it would have been met with controversy if they had gone down that route, and it works because of Ben Kingsley, sorry Sir Ben Kingsley's performance. He is suitably menacing as the face of the Ten Rings and also hilarious as Trevor Slattery.
It sets the bar high for Phase 2 in that anything can happen. Well except the death of Iron Man that is. I mean, you have him making this potentially huge sacrifice play at the end of The Avengers but it lacked the emotional weight due to the fact that Iron Man 3 had already been announced.
Looking back at the Marvel Cinematic Universe now during Phase 2, there is so much happening within a tight time frame that this leads to some odd story choices which impact repeat viewings of some of the films. Iron Man 3 in particular.
At the end of this film, Tony Stark essentially retires as Iron Man, even going so far as to remove the arc reactor from his chest. Yet, a couple of years later, there he is back as Iron Man in Age of Ultron where Whedon seems to have ignored most of what happened to him thematically.
Still, it is difficult to be that negative about a film being narrated by Tony that you discover in the post-credit sting that is actually being told to Bruce Banner who has fallen asleep, because he is not that kind of doctor.

Infinity Stone Counter = 2

The Rover - review

David Michod's follow up to the excellent Animal Kingdom is set in the barren, dusty and dangerous Australian outback, ten years after "The Collapse".

It is not specified what the collapse was and what caused it but I would hazard a guess that it timed up with the moment The Inbetweeners set foot on Australian soil.

The Rover has a plot as simple as Robert Pattinson's character.

A group of hoodlums steal loner Guy Pearce's car and he does everything he can to get it back, including capturing R-Patz's character Rey who is brother to one of them and forces him to take them to their hideout.

Substituting car chases and action scenes for long, drawn out scenes of sparse dialogue, empty landscapes and moments of brutal violence, The Rover plays out like an art house Mad Max.

Pearce is excellent as the mysterious loner who slowly reveals his past but keeps us guessing to the Macguffin of why he needs his car back so badly.

Pattinson really does impress with another role following the likes of Cosmopolis that will put the death nail in the coffin of Twilight fans seeking out his post-franchise choices. If I was not aware of him as an actor, I genuinely would have believed him to be an actor on the spectrum or mentally disadvantaged.

The film, like the characters, slowly move towards a bloody showdown that is bound to split opinions.

Will I rewatch Michod's Rover? No never, no more.

3 stars