STACK #163 May 2018

CINEMA REVIEWS

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RAMPAGE

RELEASED: Apr 12 DIRECTOR: Brad Peyton CAST: Dwayne Johnson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Naomie Harris RATING: M If Kong: Skull Island , Jurassic World , San Andreas , Planet of the Apes and Pacific Rim were chucked in a blender, the resulting concoction would resemble Rampage . Let’s get the caveat out of the way first: Rampage is based on a 1986 video arcade game. With that in mind you’ll already know to keep expectations low. Kids, however, will love it – this is a movie where Dwayne Johnson bumps fists with a Kong-sized albino gorilla named George. When samples of a gene- editing technology plummet to Earth from a doomed space station, they mutate three terrestrial life forms, resulting in Johnson’s primate pal, a 30-foot wolf, and an oversized alligator converging on Chicago to do what it says in the title. The military are helpless in the face of this monstrous threat, so it’s up to Johnson and geneticist Naomie Harris to find an antidote to the mutagen, stop the rampage, and save what's left of the city. The aim of the video game was to trash city buildings in order to advance to the next level, and that’s exactly what happens in the film, with the oversized creatures scaling and toppling skyscrapers while Johnson dodges falling rubble. You can’t fault it for being unfaithful to the source. But with cities being levelled on an almost monthly basis in whatever superhero/disaster movie is currently playing, Rampage ‘s spectacular set pieces come off as generic and interchangeable rather than awe-inspiring. You might think you’ve walked into a cinema screening Pacific Rim: Uprising by mistake. Scott Hocking There would have been high fives all round in the Blumhouse production office when Truth or Dare was pitched. The prolific horror brand has a good strike rate with clever concepts – Get Out , Happy Death Day – and there’s huge potential to do something twisted with the party game designed to reveal deep dark secrets and inspire nudie runs. But the truth is, it hasn’t been realised in this tepid offering that pilfers from better genre films like It Follows and Final Destination . A trip to Mexico turns into a neverending nightmare for a group of spring breakers after they’re lured to a dilapidated church by a mysterious ring-in to play the titular game, which continues to exert its diabolical influence once they return to college. This demonic version manifests its challenge through smartphone texts, graffiti, or possessed strangers sporting a Joker-like rictus. The rules are simple: play by them, or die. Don’t play and you still die. What might have looked good on paper comes across as arbitrary and ridiculous on screen. The deadly truths and dares that dispatch the cast are as dull as the device-obsessed characters, who are so thinly sketched and stupid, they actually behave like they’re in a movie. Moreover, for a horror film, there’s very little in the way of scares or creative deaths, and an exposition-heavy third act only serves to make the plot more convoluted than it needs to be. If you’re looking for another fun, M-rated horror flick with an ’80s vibe like Happy Death Day , this isn’t it. Scott Hocking TRUTH OR DARE RELEASED: Apr 12 DIRECTOR: Jeff Wadlow CAST: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Landon Liboiron RATING: M

RELEASED: May 3 DIRECTOR: Simon Baker CAST: Simon Baker, Samson Coulter, Ben Spence, Richard Roxburgh RATING: M

BREATH

Life is swell in TimWinton's coming-of-age tale.

M ateship and coming-of-age are prevalent themes in Australian cinema, and eloquently realised in Simon Baker's assured adaptation of Tim Winton's 2008 Miles Franklin Award-winning novel, Breath . It's an impressive directorial debut for Baker, who also co-wrote the screenplay and plays the character that will have a profound impact on the story's teenaged protagonists. Set in a remote location on the Western Australian coast during the '70s, Breath (like Puberty Blues , to a degree) interweaves surfing, sexual awakening, and the propensity for risk that comes with adolescence. Best mates Bruce Pike (Samson Coulter) and Ivan Loon (Ben Spence) – AKA Pikelet and Loonie – tear around the forested coastline on their bikes, doing what reckless 14-year-old boys do. Stopping to watch a group of surfers, Pikelet has an epiphany – "Never had I seen something

voiceover (by Winton). Before long the boys are catching waves on cheap styrofoam boards before upgrading to fibreglass and encountering surfer dude Sando (Baker) in his Kombi ute, who suggests they leave their boards at his place. After discovering a box of surfing magazines revealing Sando to be a former world pro, they accept his mentorship and are pushed to take risks surfing dangerous breaks and possible shark-infested waters. The daredevil Loonie embraces the dangers, while the more introspective Pikelet faces a dilemma: surrender to the adrenaline rush with impunity, or make his own choices? Newcomers Coulter and Spence are both terrific and natural, with the ability to surf, act, and carry the film, while Baker plays the enigmatic Sando with the laid back air and twinkle in the eye of a man given the opportunity to relive his youth. Equally good is Elizabeth Debicki as Sando's aloof wife, Eva, whose pivotal role in the film's second half adds a risque element (tastefully handled) that's in sync with the film's title. Leisurely told in a minimalist style, Breath is every bit as lyrical as Winton's prose and evocatively captures a sense of place that's quintessentially Australian. It's also a sensory experience; you can almost smell the sea and taste the salt. And while there is the inevitable allusion to the spiritual nature of surfing, here it's analogous to the emotional waves that we ride as teenagers. Scott Hocking

RATING KEY: Wow! Good Not bad Meh Woof!

so beautiful, pointless and elegant, as if dancing on water was the best and bravest thing a man could do," his adult self recalls in

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