Movies that should have been Trilogies

This year saw sequels to John Wick and Kingsman.  Writer, director Matthew Vaughn has already suggested that he intends Kingsman to be a trilogy.  Director David Leitch has explained that he always intended Atomic Blonde to have a sequel, something that is clear from the ending of the first film. Below are five films that were either intended to be part of a series, a sequel was muted but never made, or like Atomic Blonde, finished in a way that teased a follow-up.  As yet the all stand alone without a sequel or franchise. 

Sahara (2005)

We have seen Dirk Pitt before, that was a commercial disaster too.  The Clive Cussler character was played by Richard Jordan in Raise the Titanic (1980).  Unlike Raise the Titanic, which is terrible, Sahara is brilliant.  An underrated and fun action adventure, the closest anyone has ever come to emulating Indiana Jones. The right blend of hero and comedian Matthew McConaughey was perfectly cast and had great chemistry with co-stars Penélope Cruz and Steve Zahn. Sadly the film “underperformed” at the box-office and was beset with legal issues mainly involving author Clive Cussler making a sequel unlikely, the character is sure to be resurrected in future.

Why does it deserve a franchise?

The character is a great, the film is fun and Matthew McConaughey was perfectly cast.  Too much time has passed to make a sequel likely but I have no doubt the charater will make it to the big screen again.  Chris Pratt is the obvious choice of current actors to play the part.  Sahara was based on the eleventh of twenty-four novels to date, so there is plenty of material to go at.

Miami Vice (2006)

The idea for a film version of Miami Vice came from Jamie Foxx whist filming Ali. The story he tells is of him pitching the idea of a really slick and cool undercover team, he did so describing scenes.  Although Michael Mann has confirmed the idea of making a film based on the 80’s TV show (produced by Mann) came from Foxx his ideas didn’t make it into the final film.  Foxx however did get to play Ricardo Tubbs one of the lead roles.  The other Sonny Crockett is played by Colin Farrell on the recommendation of original Crockett, Don Johnson.  The role of Castillo went to Barry Shabaka Henley after Edward James Olmos who played the part on TV turned it down.  The film really delivers on the ultra slick, ultra stylish film just like the main characters.  A truly underrated gem that didn’t find an audience when released, but is starting to develop a loyal following.

Why does it deserve a franchise?

Firstly because it is brilliant.  Foxx and Farrell are great together and the plots their characters could be placed in are endless. 

Mr. Brooks (2007)

Kevin Costner plays the eponymous Mr. Brooks, a successful businessman who also happens to be a serial killer. Brooks wants to give up killing but is encouraged by his alter ego, portrayed on screen by William Hurt. His life becomes more complicated when he has to deal with family issues involving his daughter (Danielle Panabaker) and when a careless action forces him to take on a protégé (Dane Cook). A the time trying to stay one step ahead of an unusually driven detctive (Demi Moore)

Why does it deserve a franchise?

First and foremost, it was intended as a the first of a trilogy. It performed well enough at the box-office. There is also mileage in the premise: Despite the somewhat macabre nature of the film the scenes between Costner and Hurt are a blast. There are also interesting places the farther daughter relationship could go.

Doomsday (2008)

Nobody makes high quality genre B movies like Neil Marshall, Doomsday is a perfect example of this type of film.   Rhona Mitra plays Eden Sinclair, a cynical and wisecracking, hardcore but emotionally detached soldier. Essentially she is a female Snake Plissken.  The plot owes a debt to  Snake Plissken as it sees Sinclair enter a walled off Scotland to find a cure for a plague threatening to wipe out the population of England.  The film is bonkers but total fun.

Why does it deserve a franchise?

The film ended in a interesting place that could be further explored.  The character could also be used in many different scenarios.  Had a follow-up been made within a year or two, a prequel would have been a good idea. 

Wanted (2008)

Loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, Wanted is the story of Wesley (James McAvoy), an ordinary guy in a dead end job until Fox (Angelina Jolie) tells him that his farther was a professional assassin and the people who killed him are after Wesley.  Directed with great visual flair by Timur Bekmambetov (The man responsible for Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006)), in a time before John Wick, it was a groundbreaking action film, made all the better by the unlikely casting of McAvoy.

Why does it deserve a franchise?

The idea of a sequel keeps cropping up but never happens. It has been suggested that McAvoy and Bekmambetov have been interested in a returning.  Other actors are less likely to return and would need new characters to drive the plot.  It could work. 

Between 9 and 12 years old, it is unlikely any of these films will ever have a sequel.  Some of them by be remade or rebooted.  Some may even have the same fate as The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013).  Part of a hugely successful YA book series, it underperformed on the big screen but found a new home on TV as Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments (2016) that will be going into its third season next spring. 

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Film Stars Die in a Lonely Place

This weekend I will be visiting my local cinema to see Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.  The true story of Oscar winning actress (Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Bad and the Beautiful,1952) Gloria Grahame and her relationship with young actor Peter Turner.  Based on a book by Turner, he is played by BAFTA winning actor (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Billy Elliot 2000) Jamie Bell; Grahame is played by four time Oscar nominee (how has she never won?) Annette Bening. 

Gloria Grahame was about thirty years older than Peter Turner and working in English theatre, her movie star days behind her.  If you have seen the trailer, you will understand the films title.  Listening to the press for the film a few things came out.  Neither the age difference or the different worlds they were from was never an issue between Grahame and Turner.  There was also a suggestion that Grahame, who had been married four times, had not been treated well by the men in her life before meeting turner. This made me think of my favourite of Gloria Grahame’s movies; In a Lonely Place. 

Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is the prime suspect in the murder of a young girl who had visited his apartment shortly before being killed.  His only alibi comes from his neighbour, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) who saw the girl leaving.  Bogart gives an amazing performance as the volatile but vulnerable writer; Grahame is perfect playing opposite him.  The pair have amazing onscreen chemistry resulting in a totally believable relationship. 

The film is all about timing, not always good timing; timing is the reason Dixon Steele becomes a suspect, the reason Laurel Gray becomes his alibi but most importantly in the films conclusion Gray spells it out “Yesterday, this would’ve meant so much to us. Now it doesn’t matter… it doesn’t matter at all.” Even the making of the film was a matter of timing; Grahame was married to director Nicholas Ray, a tumultuous relationship filled with separations and reconciliations, they didn’t last long after the film, divorcing within two years.  Perfectly constructed the film gives purpose, direction and a glint of happiness to its characters but never lets you forget it can all be pulled away at any moment.  This in itself is far from unique, but it manages to do it in such a subtle way that it is more disturbing than any bombast could have achieved. 

Firmly pigeonholed as a film noir, it is very different to, but strangely darker than any detective thriller.  It is for this reason that I wasn’t that impressed when I first saw the film as an 18 year old.  It is also the reason I loved it so much when I watched it again twenty years later.  Director Nicholas Ray went on to make Born to Be Bad, Johnny Guitar and Rebel Without a Cause but never committed anything to film as devastating, as heartbreaking as In a Lonely Place.  Grahame and Bogart both went on to win Oscars but if either gave a better performance during their careers, I didn’t see it.

I am unsure of what to expect from Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, I have avoided reviews, but with Annette Bening involved it is sure to be worth seeing. 

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Women of DC, MCU and X-Men

I drove past a billboard displaying a massive Justice League poster the other day.  The notable thing about, only one woman.  But given the fact the one woman was Gal Gadot, who with Wonder Woman is the only person on the poster to have a decent movie in DC’s current run of super heroes.  Not to say all the recent DC movies were disaster: The various Batman and Superman movies have made good money.  The Suicide Squad was a mess but it had some good elements (Margot Robbie and Will Smith).  My first thought was the big topic this year, not only have DC given a female character her own story, but it’s the best film they have made so far in the series that appears to be trying emulate the recent success of the MCU.  Marvel are seventeen movies in and still haven’t given a woman her own movie.  As it stands that will come in 2019 with Captain Marvel.  That will appear somewhere between the two Infinity war movies, the second of which will mark the end of Phase Three.  What will Phase Four bring us?  many have speculated that it will be a re-boot; others believe it will be a continuation of the franchise, but without the main characters from the earlier phases (Iron Man, Thor, Hulk).  This suggest suggests an end to fan hopes of a Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow standalone movie.

 

However there is one film series that has had something approaching equality in its characters, the X-Men.  Despite being called Men, the movies and the comics feature a healthy mix of both genders as well as a subtext of equality.  As with the comic books on which they are based, Logan/Wolverine became an instant fans favourite, thanks in no small part to the brilliant casting of Hugh Jackman. Rogue (Anna Paquin), was introduced to the X-Men at the same time as Logan and in many ways was the main character of the first film in 2000.  Of the existing team, outside of Patrick Stewart’s Professor Charles Xavier, the most memorable characters were Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Ororo Munroe / Storm (Halle Berry).  In fairness depending on your point of view Halle Berry was either miscast or misunderstood.  I’m not convinced director Bryan Singer knew what to do with the character.  Of Magneto’s (Ian McKellen) villains, Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) was by far the most interesting and became a mainstay of the series.  When Matthew Vaughn rebooted the franchise in 2011 with X-Men: First Class he cast Jennifer Lawrence just as she was about to become one of the biggest stars in the world, ensuring the already interesting character a higher profile.  She continues to be one of the most interesting characters in the franchise.

 

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) was a disaster and made a mess of another fan favourite character Psylocke, I couldn’t tell you how good or bad Olivia Munn was in the part, as she wasn’t given much of a chance to do anything.  The film did however introduce Alexandra Shipp and Sophie Turner (best known for Game of Thrones) as Jean Grey and Ororo Munroe / Storm respectively.  They were far better handled, and have led to the next film X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2018).  Dark Phoenix, is one of the big story arcs in the comic books and a theme that was touched upon on the second and third installments of the movie franchise.

Finally we have the best comic book movie of the year, Logan.  Including an uncredited cameo in X-Men: First Class, Hugh Jackman has appeared in every X-Men movie to date.  His tenth and final appearance came earlier this year, in the brilliant Logan.   His co-star was eleven year old Dafne Keen as Laura / X-23 a child cloned from Logan.  The character was as much the star of the film as Jackman’s Logan, and seminal to the plot.  There have been suggestions of bringing the character into the X-Men movie (who gave up on continuity long ago).  There have also been a far more interesting suggestion of her own stand alone movie following on from Logan.  It isn’t clear if this would be involve recasting to portray a grown up version of the character or continue with Keen who would be a young teenager by that time.  Either option has merit, the inclusion of Logan director James Mangold would be a welcome addition.

So while we are bemoaning the lack of a female lead in Marvel movies or celebrating the success of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman (and its announced sequel), just remember that X-Men have been around on the big screen since the turn of the millennium and aren’t doing a bad job, some of the films even pass the (flawed) The Bechdel test!

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Movie of the Month October 2017

Ten movies, most good, a couple are great, here are the contenders:

Home Again – Enjoyable but lightweight rom-com.  Pairing a forty year old woman with a twentysomething man is a welcome reversal of the cinematic norm.  Reese Witherspoon is always a likeable screen presence. 

Goodbye Christopher Robin – The story of author A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories is a deeper and darker one than you would expect.  Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie are both excellent, Kelly Macdonald is better. 

Blade Runner 2049 – My love of the original Blade Runner is no secret, it is therefore no surprise that I was apprehensive about a sequel.  If anyone was going to make it work, it is Denis Villeneuve, and he really does make it work.  Truly a sequel picking up the story of the original film and taking it in an interesting direction. 

The Snowman – A first rate cast does a great job in a stunning looking adaptation of Jo Nesbø’s novel.  Unfortunately the Tomas Alfredson directed movie is a mess with disjointed plot.  Not even three time Oscar wining editor Thelma Schoonmaker could save it. 

Double Date – A young man desperate to lose his virginity is pushed into approaching two women by his cocky friend.  Unfortunately for them, the two sisters are serial killers looking for a virgin.  Comedy horror is so hard to get right, but this low budget British offering really gets it right. 

The Death of Stalin – Armando Iannucci made an interesting choice with his cast using a mix of British and American accents in this story of the power struggle in the days that followed the titular death of Starlin.  Farce and satire in equal parts, with a really dark undercurrent, the risk pays off, it is brilliant and hilarious. 

The Party – One location, a 71 minute running time, and a small cast (Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall), The Party is essentially a filmed play. The cast are all excellent mainly playing unlikeable people.  Sure to divide opinion, I was unsure to begin with, but loved it by the end.  

Happy Death Day – You can imagine the pitch “its Groundhog Day, meets Scream”.  That is essentially what it is, a college student is murdered but has to re-live the day over and over until she solves the crime and survives the day.  Disposable but surprisingly enjoyable. 

Thor: Ragnarok – Taika Waititi movies are bonkers, given a major franchise movie you would expect him to tow the line and make a generic sequel or find himself out of a job (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller!!!), fortunately that isn’t the case.  Ragnarok is as barmy and as funny as you would expect.  In Hela, played brilliantly by Cate Blanchett Marvel have found their best villain since Loki.

Breathe – Andy Serkis’ first movie as a director.  Remarkable true story of a couple’s life together after one contracts polio and isn’t expected to survive for long.  A little jolly and lightweight but well shot with great performances and likeable characters. 

The two funniest films of the year; The Death of Stalin and Thor: Ragnarok came close, but the movie of the month is the monumental Blade Runner 2049

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