FILM | Reviews
DOCUMENTARY THE GATEKEEPERS (15) 95min ●●●●●
Shin Bet is Israel’s internal anti-terrorist intelligence agency, and the identities of its personnel are all top-secret, with the exception of the man in charge. In this remarkable, vital documentary, Israeli director Dror Moreh interviews the six still-living men who have previously been heads of Shin Bet, with a focus on analysing particular decisions they made in the years since the Six-Day War in 1967. Moreh establishes his tone of thoughtful inquiry in the film’s first moments, as the most recent Shin Bet head matter-of-factly describes the process of assassinating a specific individual, pauses, then comments on the ‘unnatural’ power one must hold to be able to do such a thing. The film takes a roughly chronological approach in the subjects covered by the interviews, allowing the Shin Bet heads from different time periods effectively to comment on each other’s approaches by inter-cutting interview segments. The reflections Moreh elicits are often stunning in their openness. Particularly compelling is the presence of internal conflict: as one shows a surprising ability to see the perspective of his Palestinian neighbours and enemies, another reflects on successful ‘operations’ with an uncomfortable easy pride. This seemingly insurmountable conflict so unflinchingly described will be almost too much to bear for some viewers; this is a film that leaves a knot in the stomach, and no easy solutions as to how to get rid of it. (Paul Gallagher) ■ Limited release from Fri 12 Apr.
SCI-FI DARK SKIES (15) 97mins ●●●●●
Having previously bombarded us with (post-)apocalyptic scenarios in Doomsday, Legion and Priest, writer-director Scott Stewart now takes on the alien visitation genre with marginally more satisfying results. While Dark Skies exercises more restraint and employs a little more intelligence than his previous efforts, it also abducts one too many ideas from better genre entries and struggles to impress on its own merits. Kerri Russell and Josh Hamilton take centre-stage as a
mother and father who discover strange things going on in their house. Stewart’s film has a certain amount of fun making audiences jump with a series of rapidly staged and well executed set pieces, while also dipping its toe into social commentary and coming-of-age elements. But the film’s overall effectiveness is somewhat negated by just how derivative the whole thing is with the likes of Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Signs and Paranormal Activity all being borrowed from at some point.
Taken on its own limited terms, Dark Skies engages while it lasts but misses the opportunity to really bring something worthwhile and different to the genre. (Rob Carnevale) ■ General release from Wed 3 Apr.
FANTASY/ADVENTURE JACK THE GIANT SLAYER (12A) 114min ●●●●●
Judging by the early word from the US, where this blockbuster fairytale has performed poorly at the box office, you’d think it was a flop of gigantic proportions. It may not be on a par with director Bryan Singer’s X-Men films, but Jack the Giant Slayer is an old-fashioned family romp – a tale of Davids vs Goliaths if you will – that stumbles rather than tumbles.
Nicholas Hoult is Jack, a farmhand who encounters some magic beans, one of which explodes into an enormous beanstalk, spiriting the kingdom’s rebellious Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) into the clouds. Smitten, Jack joins the rescue party – led by the dashing knight Elmont (Ewan McGregor, on good form) – which takes them to Gantua, a land of giants who have designs on conquering Earth.
Hoult proves a competent lead, and while Tomlinson lacks sparkle as his female
counterpart, the largely British support (Ian McShane, Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner) give the story texture. The CG giants are rendered well, all drool and bad teeth, though are rarely terrifying. What the film really lacks, compared to something like The Princess Bride, is a wry humour; co-written by Singer’s long-time collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, the script is arrow-straight and overly-earnest. And what laughs there are (a giant picking his nose, for example) are strictly primary school.
That aside, Jack the Giant Slayer is more palatable than recent post-modern fairy-tale riffs, like Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, with Singer bringing a storybook feel to the action. And if nothing else, you get to see McGregor as a human-sized sausage roll – and it’s not often you can say that. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 22 Mar.
DRAMA SPRING BREAKERS (18) 94min ●●●●● Incoherent, brash and self-consciously ‘arthouse’ in execution, Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is an intriguing cinematic spectacle: an awful film that seems aware – nay, aggressively boastful – of its own awfulness. It follows a quartet of interchangeable starlets – including ex-Bieber crush Selena Gomez and High School Musical graduate Vanessa Hudgens – who embark on a hedonistic spring break adventure. Along the way they meet Alien (James Franco), whose obsession with booze, guns and drugs lead them on increasingly darker adventures.
Korine, who made his name writing Larry Clark’s Kids and directing 2009 freakshow Trash Humpers, is clearly of the go-hard-or-go-home mould, and his dedication to pursuing his own singular artistic vision is awe-inspiring. But Spring Breakers disappointingly pulls its punches: Gomez is safely removed from the narrative just when her character’s corruption would have provided a more compelling fulcrum. The pacing is mishandled as well: by choosing to repeatedly wallow in his own excess for minutes at a time, Korine is most likely confounding the 140-character attention spans of his target audience. (Niki Boyle) ■ General release from Fri 5 Apr.
64 THE LIST 21 Mar–18 Apr 2013