This Film Ain't Bad, Not By a "Long Shot"; Review of Jonathan Levine's "Long Shot" (2019)

Liam Scanlan “Long Shot” Review 5/29/2019

Image Courtesy of newmovies.video

Seth Rogen has had quite an impact over Hollywood. In fact, one of his movies, “The Interview”, angered North Korea so much that, not only did the studio behind it, Sony Pictures, get hacked, but it also led to other studios freaking out over this controversy. Luckily, this review isn’t OF that movie, but rather his most recent comedy, “Long Shot”, which co-stars Charlize Theron, and unlike “The Interview”, is actually GOOD! 

The film centers around left-wing ex-journalist Fred Flarsky, played by Rogen, who becomes a secretary for would-be 2020 presidential candidate Charlotte Field, played by Theron, who was also Fred’s babysitter. As they travel the world to get 100 countries involved in a global environmental initiative, the two do all sorts of crazy things together, including taking mollies, and in the process, they fall in love.

The story, which I have mentioned just now, is very well-executed, as there are many strange twists and turns, and even scenes in this film that poke fun at politics both in America and overseas. The film can even use this style of comedy and political drama in the same breath as seen in the scene where Fred and Charlotte both witness the outbreak of a civil war in the Philippines; this scene while being action-packed is also riddled with humor throughout, not losing its dramatic touch.

Speaking of hilarious moments, the jokes are pretty funny, too. For example, there are a lot of silly drug jokes, which are Seth Rogen’s specialty, one of them involving Fred tricking a security guard that he smokes weed just for anxiety, and another being the aforementioned molly-consuming scene, both of which let the audience know what kind of frivolous shenanigans he and Theron get into.

Theron (left) and Rogen (right) create intriguing chemistry together, as unlikely as that may seem. 

Image Courtesy of indiewire.com 

The film’s acting is also hilariously superb. For example, both Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron work together as a believable couple, though they seem like an unlikely pair. Whether it be a scene where they fuss at each other, or when they act kindly towards one another, their chemistry works quite well. The son of Ice Cube, who is also in this, believe it or not, is very irreverent when it comes to comedy, too. He affects Rogen’s character, thanks to him not only being his friend, but also giving him advice throughout the film. The film’s antagonist, Charles Wembley, played by Andy Serkis, plays his part so well, that HIS acting, along with the prosthetics that he uses, makes him look absolutely UNRECOGNIZABLE!

The characters are pretty great, too. Fred is so anti-capitalist, that he serves as a clever spoof of left-wing people, while the film’s right-wing characters, such as the guy played by Ice Cube’s son, Charles Wembley, and even the film’s in-universe equivalent to Donald Trump, President Chambers, are so idiotic, that THEY serve as clever spoofs of right-wing people. Charlotte, on the other side, is very smart, and is depicted as being caught between those two parties, as if the film is meant to satirize both sides. If that’s not thought-provoking, then I don’t know what is!

The characters are caricatures of certain symbols and ideologies, but it works wonderfully in the context of the film.

Image Courtesy of flickeringmyth.com

Finally, the film’s environmental message is pretty sweet. In fact, it’s so sweet, it even makes fun of those lobbyists, represented by Mr. Wembley, who try to rob the Earth of its trees! Okay, that may seem harsh, but still, it’s pretty pro-environmentalist, if you think about it!

Overall, I enjoyed this film. If you like films that are political, but don’t rely too heavily on themes, like racial division, or anything else of that sort, then this if for you!

This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but I give this film a 9.5/10!

The End.

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A Film That Never Runs Out of "Steam": Review of Katsuhiro Otomo's "Steamboy" (2004) by Liam Scanlan

Liam Scanlan “Steamboy” Review 5/13/19

The anime film “Akira”, a cyberpunk epic about a boy named Kaneda trying to save both his best-friend-turned-cyborg Tetsuo and the Neo-Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is highly-regarded as one the greatest animated features of all time. Yet director Katsuhiro Otomo’s other works, including another anime film, “Steamboy”, always get swept under the rug, despite being very good.

“Steamboy”, which is set in London in 1866, centers around a boy prodigy named Ray Steam, who comes from a family of inventors, and who is gifted a so-called “steam ball”, which is an important invention design to help fuel steam-powered machines, from his grandfather Lloyd. He then gets kidnapped by an organization called the “O’Hara Foundation”, who is one of many groups of people who are said ball, and is planning to use it for a terrorist attack against the London Exhibition, and before too long, Ray gets caught in the middle of a lengthy battle between the O’Hara Foundation and the British Empire.

The film’s way of storytelling is very interesting. The film depicts both the O’Hara Foundation and the British Empire as antagonistic forces, which was surprising to me, but not to my twin brother Reilly, who says that Otomo likes to depict all adults as villains and only kids as the heroes. To make the story even more interesting, the film uses actual British historical figures from its 1860’s period setting as characters. For example, the London Exhibition, which I have mentioned in the above synopsis, was a real conference held in London to explore the world’s newest inventions, and Robert Stephenson, the Father of the Railway and a master inventor, himself, is in this as well.

The characters are very interesting as well. For example, the little girl Scarlett O’Hara-St. John’s is so spoiled and so stupid that it’s actually funny. It also combats Ray’s selflessness and intelligence, placing emphasis on his virtuous nature and massive intelligence, while making the latter look cruel and incompetent . Another example would be Lloyd Steam, who tells Ray that not to trust all adults due to their selfishness, and is determined to save Eddy from being oblivious to the O’Hara Foundation’s true intentions, which involve making war, rather than giving steam power, despite what the Foundation says. One final example would be Eddy, who I find to be funny, not only because he looks like a silly-looking cyborg, but also because he shares his name with a character from the funnies cartoon from my childhood, at least in my opinion, “Ed, Edd n Eddy”. I also find his aforementioned obliviousness to the O’Hara Foundation’s evil ways to be so exciting that it helps the film’s story very much.

I find the film’s not-so-subtle “Akira” references to be quite amusing, as well. For example, in the film’s climax, Ray dons an outfit similar to Kaneda’s, and Eddy resembles another one of the film’s characters, Colonel Shikishima.

The film’s animation is very good. In fact, some shots from the film, including a shot showing a parade, remind me not only of the work of Oscar-winning anime director Hayao Miyazaki, but also of a very well-animated, if not well-written, animated feature, “Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland”, which is technically anime considering a Japanese studio, TMS, which was also responsible for animating “Akira” both produced and financed it.

The only problem I have with this film is its climax, which takes so long that it’s practically hard to tell HOW long both it runs. I doubt a great director Otomo would make drag this kind of climax to ridiculously long length, so I think it may be the editor’s fault.

I would recommend this film, not just to fans of “Akira”, but also to those who want to watch a great-but-underrated anime, as well as to those who’d enjoy some great historical fiction.

In conclusion, I give this film a 9.5/10.

The End.

"Missing Link" Review by Liam Scanlan

Liam Scanlan Review of “Missing Link” 05/02/19

The films of stop-motion animation studio Laika are underappreciated masterpieces, in my opinion. I say this because, despite the fact that the only breadwinner out of their five films is “Coraline”, thanks to the film’s director, Henry Selick, having “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” of all things on his directorial resume, all of them are nonetheless pretty good, and have been able to win the hearts of both critics and film buffs like myself. “Missing Link” is no exception.

“Missing Link” centers on an explorer named Sir Lionel Frost, who is trying to get into an explorer’s club, but is constantly rejected, due to him trying to find the titular “Missing Link” between man and ape. He then receives an anonymous letter from someone who turns out to be a sasquatch, and who is trying to find more of his kind. They, along with an old lover, Adelina Fortnight, set out to find Shangri-La, which is populated by the closest thing to the sasquatch’s kind: yetis. Meanwhile, the leader of the explorer’s club, Lord Piggot-Dunceby, hates Frost so much for believing in Charles Darwin’s much-neglected theory of evolution that he sends an assassin named Stink to kill him, in order to prevent him from going to Shangri-La, and from proving that the theory is true.

The film features a pretty stellar cast of voice actors, and boy, do those actors nail their respective roles. Hugh Jackman, who voiced Frost, does a very authentic British accent, which I have not heard since he voiced that mouse of Dreamworks and Aardman’s “Flushed Away”. Zoe Saldana, who voices Adelina Fortnight, does a great Latin American accent, which makes sense, due to her character being a Latino. It also adds to the ferocity of the character, since Adelina can be quite a tomboy in this film. Zach Galifinakis (sic), who voices the sasquatch, and Stephen Fry, who voices Piggot-Dunceby, don’t use accents, unlike the other two big names in the film’s cast, but don’t need too, as Galifinakis acts as hilariously buffoonish as possible, and Fry, acts just as scary as the character he voices, is (He even has rotten teeth, which makes him look hideous, in my opinion).

“Missing Link”’s humor is not only very silly, but it also uses a lot of satirical subtext. For example, as I have mentioned before, the film takes many not-so-subtle jabs against those to don’t believe in evolution with Piggot-Dunceby. Although I find this, and the film’s use of guns, to be very controversial, I also find these two factors to be very funny, as both make said film very edgy. Plus, the two factors make sure that this film doesn’t just appeal to little kids, and I find that to be GREAT! After all, animation isn’t just for kids, you know!

The narrative is also very well-executed. For example, there are a lot of action scenes, including those with Stink, and there are a lot of crazy characters our heroes encounter on their journey, including an old Himalayan woman who has a chicken on our head, but doesn’t acknowledge it. This fits with the film’s quirky tone, as well as its use of stop-motion photography.

The mixture between stop-motion animation and CG imagery, despite being noticeable in some scenes, is very breathtaking. This is because it makes the film look a lot more mesmerizing than advertised. They affect both the film’s narrative and tone by giving them a theme of nature, since most of it is set in either California or the Himalayas. It also makes the film itself look both clear and magnificent.

Finally, the soundtrack fits in with the film’s quirky, buddy-comedy-like tone. Even the ending theme song for this film, “Do-Dilly-Do (A Friend Like You)”, fits with this tone, since it features kazoo music, and is also so catchy that it can easily can get stuck in one’s head. Heck, it got stuck in MY head from hearing it in the theatre up until dinnertime.

Given the above reason why I think “Missing Link” is yet another one of Laika’s masterpieces, I would definitely recommend it, not only to children, families, or even animation lovers, but also those who would love a good historical satire.

It has great voice actors, great acting, great humor, a great narrative, great mixture between stop-motion animation and CGI, and even a great soundtrack!

Overall, I give this film a 9.5 out of 10!

The End.