Focus Movie Review

Deadshot and Harley Quinn are in a movie together, something to be excited about!

Focus is directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa and stars Will Smith and Margot Robbie. Smith's character Nicky is a con man, in fact he's the best in the business, and during the movie recruits Robbie's character Jess and takes her under his wing in an attempt to sharpen up and focus her skills in the art of deception. The 2 then become romantically involved and then we see a film which shows us that this field of work and love do not go together.

I wasn't looking for anything ground-breaking or spectacularly original with Focus, I just wanted a fun movie which didn't take itself too seriously and tried to have fun with its premise and the potential plot points which could have developed. The first half of Focus is a lot of fun. It embraces its world and its characters and provides some really interesting scenes. However, about halfway through the film we all of a sudden cut to 3 years in the future, and the uninteresting events start to ensue.

I thought Focus generally had a good sense of humour which was almost juvenile at times, but it worked for the film. I think Focus shines when it embraces the simplicity of itself, and crumbles when it tries to be more clever than it has any right to be. The second half of the film hardly compares to the enjoyability of the first half as Smith and Robbie's romance is brought to centre stage. Don't get me wrong, I bought into the romance, but it went against the film's overall theme. It is titled Focus for a reason, and the second half of the movie got bogged down in romance to the point where the narrative wavered.

I wasn't looking for complete plausibility and everything to line up perfectly, but the ending of the movie was so far fetched that when you look back at some of the dialogue characters shared with each other, it simply does not make sense. Obviously in a con movie you need a big twist at the end but it has to align with what happened previously. A perfect example was 2013's American Hustle, who's twist at the end surprised but also lined up with previous scenes. Focus' ending bites off more than it can chew, and even tries to make relevant a minor plot point that was mentioned only once or twice beforehand.

But the 2 lead performances are excellent and both have tremendous on-screen chemistry, which is a good omen for the Suicide Squad which both Smith and Robbie will star in. It's a sleek looking film with some well accomplished shots and precise editing. It's also flashy and stylistic in all the right ways, for example it uses over saturation of colours in a way which brought the con-artist world to life in a way which wasn't forced or unnecessary.

Focus has a lot of redeemable qualities, but I think its a film which you should wait to see when it comes out on home media or Netflix:


Rating - C+

Thanks for reading,
Matt

Blackhat Movie Review

This is honestly one of the most difficult films I have ever reviewed, I don't think I have ever been more divided on a film in my entire life!

Possessing a filmography with action favourites Heat and Collateral, Michael Mann is clearly a man with supreme understanding of the action/thriller genre. In my eyes, he is the king of "hand-held cam" and can construct beautifully executed action sequences which immerse you into his films. You feel as if you are involved within the shoot out, which is a very difficult thing for a director to achieve without being tempted by endless cuts and shaky cam. Mann transfers these qualities into his latest film Blackhat, but it is no Heat and it is no Collateral.

In fact, Blackhat is one of the most divisive films I think I have ever seen. There are times when I was completely transfixed on the screen mesmerised with what was unfolding in front of me. However, it wasn't in sheer amazement, rather confusion. I'm still not sure whether Blackhat is an unfathomably terrible disappointment or a masterful constructed "B" movie. There are a lot of things to enjoy with this movie; one of them being the shoot out sequences. The film also has some excellent cinematography, particularly at night time, and some visceral sound editing and a pumping musical score.

Blackhat really springs to life during these sequences yet is not a great movie at all. The script for this movie has some gaping wholes in it. Had the writing been more solid then I think I would have loved this movie, but the writing is piss poor at times and completely shoots the movie in the foot. The supporting characters are unforgettable and might as well be shop dummies. They have nothing special about them, they're wafer thin in terms of development. At times, characters die and you should grieve for them, but you don't; you simply do not care.

The dialogue for this movie ranges from "this is potentially genius" to "oh my god, how did they get away with writing that?". There are times when you think they're doing something really clever and to the writer's credit, at times they do. The film is about cyber crime for goodness sake, something interesting and relevant in contemporary society. But Blackhat's screenplay lures the film back into the same old trap; you can't decide whether this is so bad that it's good or so advanced that it's terrible.

I don't for one second buy Chris Hemsworth as a computer hacker. He's a great Thor, he was a perfect James Hunt, but not a computer hacker. In real life, a computer hacker would not have supermodel looks and the combat skills that Hemsworth's character possesses. While his character is somewhat underdeveloped, I still liked him due to Hemsworth's undeniable screen presence and the stardom he brought to the role.

While Blackhat is at times mesmerising, it often falls into the "so bad its good category" over the "this is genuinely brilliant". The finale of the film pretty much sums up what Blackhat is about. It's undeniably entertaining but it doesn't show any creative spark with it's execution. Instead, we get a cliché face off with cookie cutter villains. A Michael Mann action film about cyber terrorism should have been brilliant but was disappointing. However, I will never forget how indifferent I was during my viewing of this film. So in that sense, I have to say thank you Michael Mann, just try harder next time!


Rating - C+


Thanks for reading,
Matt