STACK #162 April 2018

CINEMA REVIEWS

visit stack.com.au

TOMB RAIDER

RELEASED: Mar 15 DIRECTOR: Roar Uthaug CAST: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Kristin Scott Thomas RATING: M Where Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider flicks were based on the earlier video games, this reboot – starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft – is based on the new Square Enix series. Lara is a simple girl. She boxes at the local ring to keep fit, and earns her small keep by running food deliveries. She’s barely getting by, and could really do with the money left behind by her father. However, accepting that allowance would also mean accepting her dad is never coming back. He left years ago on a ‘work trip’ and hasn’t been seen since. Lara decides to prove once and for all that he is still alive, and sets off on an adventure. It’s apparent from the get-go that director Roar Uthaug has probably played many video games – except perhaps Tomb Raider . This movie Lara is very different from her game counterpart, and many of the action scenes and puzzles appear to have been raided from other IPs. Moments intended to be humorous consistently fall flat, and there really isn’t much raiding of tombs. The characters are all relatively likeable, though the good guys never really seem to be in any immediate danger, and the baddie (Walton Goggins) isn’t at all threatening (unless you count his haircut). This is strictly a by-the-numbers action movie. Sure, there are easter eggs for fans to enjoy, but as an introduction to Lara Croft, there’s very little character development; a little more origin always helps an origin story. As an action movie, Tomb Raider is adequate, but if you’re looking for Lara Croft, you might want to try a gaming console. Alesha Kolbe THE DEATH OF STALIN RELEASED: Mar 29 DIRECTOR: Armando Iannucci CAST: Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Palin, Olga Kurylenko RATING: MA15+ Politics and farce are often indistinguishable. Armando Iannucci, creator of hit TV series Veep and its British counterpart The Thick of It , is a specialist in skewering governmental dysfunction, and his take on the last days and demise of Soviet despot Joseph Stalin in 1953 is certainly bold, and often brilliant. Finding humour in such dark subject matter might sound as unlikely as making a comedy about Hitler, but with a French graphic novel as the source, Iannucci constructs a wonderfully deadpan insight into the panic and power struggle that ensues following Stalin’s sudden death from a brain haemorrhage. The Death of Stalin never makes light of this brutal regime and its atrocities, instead finding absurdity in situations it indirectly creates,like the inability to find a good doctor because they’ve all been shipped off to a Siberian gulag.Focusing on the sycophantic Central Committee, which is thrown into chaos with a funeral to arrange, a successor to appoint, and lists of enemies to be substituted, the film becomes a showcase for a fantastic ensemble cast, whose wonderfully incongruous accents accentuate the dry wit. Demonstrating that with great power also comes great incompetence, The Death of Stalin succeeds in turning a tricky premise into a biting political and historical satire that will stick with you long after the closing credits. Scott Hocking

RELEASED: Mar 29 DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg CAST: Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Cooke RATING: M

READY PLAYER ONE

A cinematic theme park ride through '80s nostalgia.

S teven Spielberg's last big sci-fi film was War of the Worlds in 2005. Since then, his forays into genre films – The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and The BFG (2016) – have been underwhelming. The same can't be said of his latest: Ready Player One is overwhelming. Spielberg directing an adaptation of Ernest Cline's homage to 1980s pop culture is a match made in geek heaven, given the director created much of what is lovingly referenced in the novel. However, fans of the book should be forewarned that there have been some major changes to the narrative structure and quests, not to mention less investment in the character ensemble. The former often works to the film's advantage, while the latter proves detrimental. Set in a dystopian future of 2045, society has forsaken the real world for the limitless possibilities of a virtual one: the OASIS. Created by eighties-obsessed tech guru James Halliday (Mark Rylance, nerding up in a

The race is on, led by teenager Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), AKA Parzival, and his OASIS avatar pals Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and Aech, who must navigate what is essentially a massive multi-player online game. Also determined to get the egg is corporate evil IOI (Innovative Online Industries), led by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), who sees the quest as a war for control of the future. You'll know exactly the ride you're in for following a dizzying freeway race; the players dodging wrecking balls, Jurassic Park 's T-rex and a loping King Kong. It's an exhilarating sequence that sets the tone for a dazzling celebration of geek culture, where the Iron Giant vs. Mechagodzilla, Excalibur 's Charm of Making is invoked, Back to the Future 's DeLorean is the vehicle of choice, and the soundtrack pumps with Van Halen, New Order and Twisted Sister. This cinematic theme park ride through eighties nostalgia is the perfect playground for Spielberg, who appears to have embraced mo-cap technology and wields it in new and inventive ways. The effect is sometimes akin to being sat in front of a video game without the controller, but alternating between the real and virtual worlds prevents the movie from becoming a big CG-eyesore. Ready Player One 's greatest strength is its appeal to both young and old, delivering a massive nostalgia rush for adults and hitting all the right buttons for the PlayStation generation. Just don't expect the book. Scott Hocking

RATING KEY: Wow! Good Not bad Meh Woof!

blonde wig and Space Invaders t-shirt), this online utopia is a melting pot of the movies, games and music of the era. When Halliday dies, he leaves behind an irresistible challenge: whoever finds an Easter Egg he's hidden deep inside the OASIS will inherit his fortune and control this virtual world.

APRIL 2018

070

jbhifi.com.au