So I've ended my September hibernation to talk about David Fincher's latest and Universal's first feature in an attempt at creating a shared monster-movie universe.
Gone Girl
I think it'd be easier if I said it right off the bat that Gone Girl is absolutely tremendous and is a film that you should seek out, if you haven't already. David Fincher once again proves that he is one of Hollywood's best forces behind the camera and he successfully adapts the novel into a riveting and at times jaw-dropping screenplay. Ben Affleck was a perfect casting choice and he portrayed a very subdued and slightly messed up dude perfectly, but in my opinion Rosamund Pike completely stole the show and delivered the best performance of her career so far. The supporting work is also very good with Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris executing their characters well. Tyler Perry in particular was impressive.
The movie took twists and turns that I never could have predicted (I haven't read the book) and they had such great dramatic impact because they were all plausible and grounded in the reality of the situation. The 2 main leads are actually really well fleshed out characters; one minute you're sure of a character then a minute later you're sceptical. It never came off as showy as it felt necessary in order to tell a very thought-provoking story.
The acting is excellent, the story riveting, the characters are handled brilliantly, its paced fantastically and it utilised humour brilliantly. Its also a beautiful thing to behold. David Fincher as always combines every technical detail of filmmaking to create his classic style. He makes a film look gritty, damp and cold so the story can get under your skin and you as a viewer can get sucked into this immersive environment. The musical score was also excellent and always created a sense of mystery and dread.
I loved the places Gone Girl went not just with its screenplay but with the commentary it was trying to make on our expectations of marriage and, perhaps more prominently, the way the media can make you feel a certain way about someone or something in a way that they want you to think about them. Gone Girl explores how the media can really worsen the life of somebody who is already dealing with some traumatic stuff.
My one issue with the film is the last 20 minutes when characters start to do things which conflict a lot with the motivations they had earlier in the film. Other than that, Gone Girl is flawless.
I loved Gone Girl and it is comfortably one of the best of the year:
Rating - A
Dracula Untold
Unlike Gone Girl, Dracula Untold is nowhere near the best movies of the year list and is in fact right near the bottom. This film for me was a huge struggle to complete and I was bored shitless for 90 minutes.
When I say the film is 90 minutes you'd think that the time would fly by and you wouldn't suffer for long at all. That wasn't the case with Dracula Untold. I think the main reason why this film failed in my eyes was because I wanted to see a fun monster movie with Dracula kicking ass. We do get glimpses of that, but only during action sequences where the director thought it'd be a good idea to shake the camera around.
But I didn't get a fun-filled popcorn flick where the film didn't take itself too seriously, in fact I got the opposite. Untold took itself way to seriously and tried to throw in a load of dramatic scenes which had no emotional impact at all. If you give bland, generic and forgettable supporting characters that are there only because the script says they need to be, don't try and make us care about them. The acting also ranges from way over the top seriousness to people clearly not giving a shit. I don't really blame them because I stopped caring 10 minutes in.
Luke Evans is actually pretty good as Vlad the Impaler and actually enjoys a few moments where Dracula is just decimating armies of men. He also takes part in the movie's best scene when Tywin Lannister himself turns Vlad into Dracula.
Other than a few moments Untold offered nothing in terms of enjoyment. I went into the film wanting to like it but came out bored out of my mind and deflated. I wanted to enjoy this take on Dracula but instead got a bunch of shaky cam and sub-par CGI mixed with a screenplay which gave me wafer-thin characters and a film which was tonally confused and a slog to get through.
I can't recommend anyone seeing this, save your money:
Rating - D
Thanks for reading,
Matt
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