list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
MARTIAL ARTS THE RAID 2 (18) 150min ●●●●●
ACTION POMPEII (12A) 105min ●●●●● DRAMA LOCKE (15) 85min ●●●●●
The first film in writer / director Gareth Evans’ proposed martial arts trilogy was a kick-in-the- pants to the genre. His simple, fluid action movie showcased the martial art of pencak silat via the story of Jakarta policemen fighting their way out of an underworld tower block. This 150-minute sequel will please the first film’s adherents while exhausting the patience of casual viewers.
Moments after his escape, Rama (Iko Uwais) is told that his actions have only scorched the snake of underworld activity, so he has to go up against the big boys. Going undercover in a brutal jail, Rama gains the confidence of cartel bosses and, once out, cuts his way through the criminal ranks in a swathe of violent action.
While the overall storyline is simple, The Raid 2
suffers badly from the density of information about its various yakuza factions. But the last hour delivers several astonishing set-pieces, one involving a hammer-whirling girl on a packed commuter train, the other a series of fights in and around busy city streets. These rousing scenes deliver far more punch that anything in the original, but their impact is muted by The Raid 2’s over-complicated narrative. (Eddie Harrison) ■ On general release now.
After his 2012 version of The Three Musketeers, critically reviled director Paul WS Anderson turns his attention to volcanic action with Pompeii. The results are as disastrous as expected, but essential viewing for bad-movie fans, with ill-judged performances and lashings of CGI. Game of Thrones star Kit Harington is Milo,
traumatised through seeing his family decimated by the ruthless Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland) circa 62AD. Seventeen years later, Milo finds himself in Pompeii and soon to be dead meat in the gladiatorial arena. Milo’s skill with horses wins him the affections of Cassia (Emily Browning), but her upwardly mobile parents have unwisely betrothed her to Corvus. The brewing lava, however, is only biding its time before interrupting proceedings. Titanic is the template for Anderson’s endearingly
silly film, with thwarted lovers defying authority, logic and physics to be together. Pompeii is wildly inaccurate on every level, with dialogue including Anchorman-style exclamations like ‘by Juno’s tit!’ The explosions and tidal waves may be unconvincing, but they’re certainly spectacular. The overall effect is strangely pleasing in its daft, anything-goes showmanship. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 2 May.
Who’d have thought that concrete would make such compelling subject matter? In Locke, we spend 85 minutes behind the wheel of a BMW driven by Welsh construction manager Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy). Down the motorway he hares, putting out fires both personally and professionally via his hands-free device. Best known as the screenwriter behind Dirty Pretty Things, Locke is Steven Knight’s second film as writer and director. It begins with foreman Ivan heading to London to attend an undisclosed emergency having foregone a night-in with his family and leaving his employers in the lurch on a major job. Matters soon escalate and he spends the entire journey on the phone in heated conversation with his wife Katrina (Ruth Wilson), and cider-swigging right-hand man Donal (Andrew Scott).
The film takes a while to bed-in, yet Locke is a grower and Knight keeps things visually interesting. For a change, Hardy plays a man of calm, whose ability to manage his way out of a crisis is severely put to the test. High-concept but low- key, Locke may not be a wild ride but you won’t be able to take your eyes off the road. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Limited release from Fri 18 Apr.
SUPERHERO THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (12A) 142min ●●●●●
Marc Webb’s sequel to the 2012 reboot finds Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) juggling his daily superhero duties while agonising over a promise. When his girlfriend’s father (Denis Leary) was dying, Peter vowed to stop dating Gwen (Emma Stone) in order to keep her out of danger. That peril duly arrives in the form of two newly created
supervillains: first, lowly Oscorp employee Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), who’s transformed into electricity-manipulating Electro after a workplace accident with a live wire and a tank of electric eels (it could happen to anyone). And secondly, Peter’s childhood pal Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), who inherits his dead father’s (Chris Cooper) degenerative disease and becomes convinced that Spider-Man’s blood is the only thing that can save him. Once again, Garfield proves a perfect Peter, particularly when
paired with Stone’s feisty Gwen, their off-the-scale chemistry frequently threatening to out-spark Electro. Similarly, Foxx brings genuine pathos to Max, while the ever-excellent DeHaan is terrific as Harry, injecting a morally complex edge that ensures he’s much more than a cackling pantomime villain.
The special effects are extremely impressive, especially the web-slinging and wall-crawling sequences, which are exhilarating. Similarly, the fight scenes are imaginatively staged and the script delivers genuine thrills alongside laugh-out-loud gags and moments of heartfelt emotion. The film really captures the zippy, wise-cracking energy of
Peter-as-Spider-Man, something that was notably absent from Sam Raimi’s trilogy. In short, this is an energetic and thoroughly enjoyable sequel that continues to justify Sony’s decision to reboot the franchise in the first place. (Matthew Turner) ■ On general release now.
17 Apr–15 May 2014 THE LIST 57