Author: Christopher William Kinsey

More Than Just Flesh

More Than Just Flesh

When I first read Michael Faber’s excellent novel Under the Skin, I made a beeline for what was then his newest release, The Crimson Petal and the White. The two couldn’t have been much more different but both had the hallmarks of a great writer. Whilst reading the former I often wondered what a great film it’d make. Fourteen years on that is a reality, thanks to a Scarlett Johansson flick. But is it another case of the novel being infinitely better than the big-screen attempt?

The book was a tense and teasing affair in which the female protagonist was slowly revealed page-by-page as her motives and emotions started to unravel. The big reveal took a fairly long time to come around, and by then Faber had you in his hands as he went toward the dark finale. I’m glad to report the movie manages to encapsulate the sense of tension equally well; however, it aims for a different path. From the start it’s obvious that Johansson’s character is alien to this world. Everything that unfolds does so with the feel of a cagey, dark sci-fi. The pace that it approaches the subject matter will divide opinion, much like the movie itself has.

One thing for sure is how good Scarlett Johansson portrays so much, using so little in the way of scripted dialogue. In the novel we had her character’s perspective fed to us along with a back-story that served as a way to offer empathy. Here we rely purely on the actress’s ability to convey all the unspoken, but highly important, character developments. Thankfully she is more than up to the task, displaying a master class that will sadly go unnoticed.

The story does take a different turn than the book, the fact it will is evident early on, but this only serves to enhance the mood and the lead’s performance. Before it has the chance to lag under its own tension we are served a chilling end, not the sort Faber gave us but by the final scenes this had become very much its own beast. So not a case of the book being better, just different. Quite fitting when both the novel and movie challenge us to explore differences and perceptions.

Four Horses, Final Furlong

Four Horses, Final Furlong

The Premier League has seen an open and exciting title race this season. Made all the better by the absence of Manchester United. That’s not just a dislike for the Red Devils speaking, but with them out of the picture it’s opened up another slot at the top. That gap has been filled emphatically by Liverpool, the rulers of old. This weekend sees the two North West teams involved in the hunt for the title face North London opposition, both of whom appear to have a salvage operation underway.

It has been refreshing to see Liverpool back on the prowl for league honours again. The neutral in me recalls a childhood watching them rule over England in dominant fashion. Back then my City were also rans. I didn’t love them any less but people weren’t queuing up to jump on that particular bandwagon. Elvis, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were my favourite bands but they weren’t on Top of the Pops so, with much regret in hindsight, I donned a Bros t-shirt and accepted popular culture. Children are fickle. That young side of me did admire the Liverpool teams of old. The football Top of the Pops – Match of the Day – would play goals from the Red Men like hits from the charts. They were hard not to notice. That same neutral head would find some comfort in Liverpool winning this year, if it’s not to be City, because it’d mean Steven Gerrard getting a Premier League medal. He’s been a world class player for England (about the only one of his generation) and loyal to his club.

This season Liverpool are being noticed once again. And with good reason. Manchester City started the season in explosive fashion. After a few shaky weeks when playing away they started to overturn teams at will. It seemed conceivable they’d score at least four every week, and if you scored four they might score six. But at the business end of the season it’s the red half of Merseyside that has come on strong. After an anxious finish to Sunderland they face a Spurs side spluttering through uncertainty. A win here will more than likely end Tottenham’s hope for a top four finish – Everton are looking a better bet right now – and could spell the end of Tim Sherwood’s reign. I’m not suggesting he’d be sacked now, but the war kitty won’t be his by the time pre-season comes around.

It’s amusing Brendan Rodgers mentioned the pressure on Spurs after spending heavily when in fact Liverpool have a higher net loss than Tottenham in regard to transfer fees, not just this season, but around £70M since 2010. It appears the Northern Irishman learnt how to play mind games – by talking tripe – from his former mentor Mourinho, who has spent the year doing a good impression of the village idiot. Make no mistake: There is an immense pressure on Liverpool now. History weighs heavy with expectation. So far they are coping. If they defeat Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester City at home they’ll stand an excellent chance of bringing the first Premier League title to Anfield.

Attempting to prevent a Merseyside title win are the two sides that meet Saturday tea time: Arsenal and Manchester City. The Gunners are now the outsiders for the crown. I admire the way Wenger has maintained top four finishes on a tight budget while they paid for the new stadium but they continue to fall short. All his trophies came during the first five hundred games of his tenure. How many more hundreds will he get before the fans demand a different approach? He claims the race is still on – and with his side only six points from Chelsea he has every right – but he’ll have one eye over his shoulder now. It’s almost inconceivable that in a season where they were title race pace setters they could finish in a Europa League spot.

They’d have good company there as the reigning champions, Manchester United, look to the high ground, baffled. The most exciting part of their weekend will be a plane flying over The Theatre of Dreams trailing a banner that will read: The Wrong One – Moyes Out, highlighting just how bad the nightmare has become.

Pellegrini’s men have maths on their side, as every rival manager is happy to point out, but the games in hand are a buffer for mistakes more than certainty for points. It’s likely all the teams in the chase will drop silly points in the remaining games, City just have a way to lessen the impact if they do. Taking the three points at Old Trafford in such an easy fashion will give them a welcome boost, a repeat at Arsenal will set them up nicely. You’d fancy them in home games to Southampton and Sunderland in the coming weeks but they mustn’t overlook anyone now. The early season dazzle has dimmed a little but a new steelier centre is evident. This City team has the backbone to grind out a title.

As for Chelsea: well, I won’t say too much because their manager does that for them. But don’t be fooled by his claims the extra games in Europe will play a factor. Winning becomes habit forming and boosts confidence. A good showing against a tricky PSG side will push them on, not drain them. They currently sit top of the pile and must wear a favourites tag without trying to pretend otherwise.

Wherever this year’s trophy goes it will be a season we can look back on with fond memories, a four horse race to the end. That’s four horses, no little dogs. I’m not sure where the dogs are, I’ll ask a United fan, they seem to have gone there.

Staying Out Of Trouble

Staying Out Of Trouble

Reboots, remakes, recycling old ideas for cash, however you want to put it, Hollywood loves bringing back movies from yesteryear and milking a familiar cash cow. The latest character to get the treatment is Robocop. There was collective sigh asking “why” when the remake was first announced, followed by constant interest. Leaked photos of the new look Robo followed, accompanied with details about plot and on-set action. Forums were alight. The reason: Robocop does deserve a successful franchise. We never complain when Batman gets reshaped, next time around the Dark Knight’s absence will amount to only several years, and Robocop is an identifiable legend too.

That reasoning aside, some people are opposed a new flick because of the old classic line: It won’t be as good as the original. More often than not that statement is true for all remakes/reboots/reimaginings. The new Total Recall made me want to dream it away, and that movie was the tip of the rehash iceberg. So going into the new Robocop one should make peace with the idea that it won’t be as good as Paul Verhoeven’s original (but can’t be any worse than Robocop 3). After this has been accepted then we can judge why this is so in a more positive light.

First off a look at the age rating shows the studio’s intentions, dropping the 18 cert for a wider audience was a financial choice. In itself this needn’t be to the movie’s detriment, intelligent films don’t need blood and guts. So while there’ll be nobody asking, “Does it hurt? Does it hurt?” the sad truth is it starts to hurt the movie in unseen ways. If after stripping away the graphic violence you reveal a product posing less IQ than the predecessor, problems arise. Of course these are hidden by modern polish but the transition from the original’s dystopia to the new franchise’s gloss makes you wonder where the soul is. Remaining positive, I’d say there is one there, but it’s less certain than the classic.

It’s simple to say what doesn’t work. Without giving any plot away it lacks the satire of the Verhoeven’s, yet somehow tries to address this with Samuel L. Jackson’s character. This amounts to a bad impersonation, like watching Elvis live one night then visiting a bad karaoke the next. By trying to pay homage to the original it losses the point on why it worked first time around. The ideas around capitalism, distraction, greed from the first were natural political observations of the time – still valid now. Padilha, director of the remake, has his own points to raise and should have stuck firmly to them. By trying to absorb the sense of the original his head is nodding everywhere but finding a message nowhere. Because of this the humanity of Murphy is lost, which is a sin considering this version has Joel Kinnaman more man than machine (psychologically) after his accident, whereas Peter Weller’s Robocop undertook a journey to regain his human side.

Where it lacks the grit and realism of the first it does come across as a complete and well-thought-out film. In many ways we’ve surpassed the fictional technology presented first time around and yet this movie still feels fresh, even incorporating new ideas to aid our hero. After a viewing nobody could claim it’s been cobbled together for a quick buck; they do care about this brand. They’ve just dumbed it down for the masses, even the fourth directive now comes as a visual aid.

If sequels appear they may find the comparisons to the 1984 movie cease and the groundwork laid here will start to pay off. The only welcoming leftover at that point would be the theme music, which I was happy to hear after all these years. With a production budget of $100M already surpassed by box office totals of $146M it’s possible we’ll get those sequels. With Gary Oldman attached they stand a good chance of success, both with his undeniable ability and his record of being the highest box-office earner in terms of franchises he’s connected to.

Overall you’ll come away from the 2014 Robocop thinking it’s actually okay, not as good as the original – but you already knew that. There’s no one asking Bobby if he can fly, no cool names like Clarence Boddicker, no acute observations on class warfare, media or consumerism, but it is a healthy new take that revives a franchise – something not many reboots can say.