It's The Rozzers! Welcome to the Punch, Robocop and Gotham

I've managed to watch some DVD's recently from my Amazon subscription (what used to be LoveFilm). First up is cops-and-robbers drama, Welcome to the Punch.

After being shot by career robber Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong), detective Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) seizes the opportunity for revenge when the formers son is found severely wounded.

Although it has it's moments, it's a little too domestic and small scale to impress as a good crime thriller. Strong is good enough to carry the role, but McAvoy has never impressed me that much and he's not much better in this. The supporting cast is pretty good, with Johnny Harris as the main villain and Peter Mullan as Sternwood's old partner, but the plot is a little tedious and uninspired. As I've said before with The Sweeney, the Americans do it better: they've got more money.

They're not always inspired or inspiring, though, and that brings us to Robocop (the remake). After being assassinated and left for dead, detective Alex Murphy (Joel Kinneman) is transformed by a large multinational into a new kind of policeman:

I don't really have the heart to slag it off as much as others have done. True, it does lack the novelty of the original, but then that's inevitable, given our world of drone strikes and cybercrime. The production is good and the supporting cast is excellent (Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson), but Michael Keaton doesn't really impress as a villain. Perhaps that's the problem: Omnicorp isn't evil enough. Plus the original had a kind of grizzly humour, which is lacking in the remake. Clarence Bodikker (Kurtwood Smith), where are you when the film industry needs you?

Maybe it's in television? A new series has started in the 'States based on the DC Batman characters.

Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) joins the Gotham Police as a detective and is immediately struggling not only with his conscience, but survival itself:

It looks promising, with nods to the original characters such as The Penguin and The Riddler, but whether it gets too weird and/or camp remains to be seen. A good mark in it's favour is Donal Logue as Gordon's partner. His series, Terriers, was one of the best U.S. series ever made.

Apparently, it's available on Netflix.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Being (relatively) cheap Tuesday at Empire Cinemas on th' BasVegas Strip, I took advantage and went to see the latest in the Marvel Avengers franchise. Now an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, is confronted with a conspiracy when Nick Fury is attacked.

There's lots of bangs and crashes and a reasonably decent plot, but is a Superhero movie at heart despite higher ambitions. All the team turn up, so it ends up being an Avengers movie without the Avengers, but the acting is ok, if a little pedestrian (it seems a long time ago since Robert Redford was in All The President's Men) and there's a fair number of cameo's, but it's Samuel Jackson, as Nick Fury, and Chris Evans, as th' Cap', that drive the movie.

Robocop Reboot

The official trailer for the Robocop reboot is out and it looks pretty good:

It's got a strong supporting cast, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton and Sam Jackson, so it's promising!

Django Unchained

As part of my LoveFilm subscription, I watched the latest Tarantino foray into B Movie genre remakes. Django is freed from slavery by a bounty hunter who teaches him the tricks of the trade.

A bit of background for those who don't know. The Django films were mass-produced spaghetti westerns back in the 60's & 70's, usually starring Franco Nero. They were incredibly bloody, violent films and not particularly good: the first one was ok, but the following ones went downhill very quickly. You can see from the description that they're ripe for remake by young Quentin and his associates.

In order to be able to view the film dispassionately, you have to suspend your moral judgment as much as possible and concentrate on the quality of the work itself. The acting is very good, in particular DiCaprio, playing against type as the evil plantation owner, and Jackson as his scheming butler, but it's Christoph Waltz as the German bounty hunter who steals the show. Jamie Foxx does his best, but looks outclassed by the talent around him.

On the minus side, as I've said before, there's a reason they're B movies. As for the violence, Pekinpah did it with much more style: compare this to The Wild Bunch and you'll see what I mean.