The opening scenes of Tom Green’s debut feature film pointed
me in the direction of what I would judge to be a ‘Friday night’ lads movie.
You know what I mean, pubs are closed take-outs and takeaways are purchased,
the DVD is chosen and backsides are parked on comfy chairs. The DVD is started
and we find ourselves in what we used to call the Motor City, that’s Detroit
USA, four friends are spending there last day on American soil - booze, girls and
dog fights are the order of the day - before their first tour that is the danger
zone we call the Middle East. Along side the bog standard insurrection, that
has to be dealt with to save the civilised world controlled by the mighty US,
they have to fight monsters, which the movies pre-release publicity tells us
are the same monsters first seen in Gareth Edwards Monsters (2010) with an elapsing time
span of ten years. But I would beg to differ. Firstly I was mistaken as seeing
this movie as a lads film it turns out to be something far deeper and darker
than I had expected and I would dispute that it was a science fiction monster
movie at all?
You would also be wrong if you imagined this movie to be a
sequel to Edwards 2010 movie and I would have to agree with Kim Newman’s
comments that emphasised the fact that this was a ‘believable, pointed and
sober film about war in the 21st century’. In my opinion this is a
modern day war film showing the horrors of war where the monsters are there to
represent the fear experienced by the soldiers sent to fight on behalf of the
rich and powerful. Co-written by Green and Jay Basu there are two actors you
will recognise in the cast, London to
Brighton’s (2006) Johnny Harris who plays Frater a man who has served nine
tours and is estranged from his wife, family and reality then there’s Joe
Dempsie who you may have seen in 2011’s Blitz as the young solider Frankie. Don’t be put off by the indifferent critic reviews,
and there’s no need to leave it until Friday night!
Now listen son..... |
No comments:
Post a Comment