Over the course of October, I shall be watching one horror movie a day and reviewing it right here for your reading pleasure. I haven't seen any of the films I'll be watching before and you can find the full list here.
And now for something completely different.
Yesterday's film, The Babadook, was an evocative film that relied on its subtly. Deep Rising? Well, Deep Rising is anything but. You can pretty much tell this straight away from the hilarious "Full scream ahead" tagline.
Treat Williams' Finnegan and his crew have been hired by a bunch of mercenaries to take over and rob one of the most expensive cruise liners in the world. However, when they get there, there are no passengers to be found except a smattering of crew and captured jewel thief, Trillian (Famke Janssen). The characters begin to disappear in that traditional one-by-one way of most horror creature features and it's soon revealed to our surviving band of anti-heroes that they're being consumed by giant, spiky tentacles. They have to find a way off the ship before they're served up next on the menu.
No matter the creature, the feature or the characters lining up to be consumed, there's something quite comforting in a B-movie effort such as this. Everything has a slightly naff quality to it, which just makes it all the more adorable in its goofy way. The now-ropey effects are a big part of that, every tentacle carrying the kind of CGI sheen that all late 90s special effects now seem to have. The make-up effects and practical work is better; the half-digested body is displayed gleefully by the camera, lingering on an acid-consumed face in what amounts to a staring competition with the audience. The feeding area is a gory delight as we pan across liquified viscera and skeletal remains.
The energetic cast, all fully aware of the kind of feature they're in, approach their various roles with gusto. The ever-reliable Wes Studi goes overboard on his cutthroat mercenary captain, snarling his way through even when all seems lost and he's ably supported by a bunch of "oh, it's that guy!" actors as his crew. Treat Williams gets to do the roguish scavenger and does it well, almost begrudgingly taking up the sort-of hero mantle. I particularly enjoyed that the tentacles were kind enough to give him time for a one-liner before every attack.
Refreshingly, none of the characters are outright heroes so the film doesn't really waste any time on getting us to like people who'll be killed off pretty quickly as the film goes along. The most development we get for any of them is a quick sketch of an archetype so that any comeuppance needed feels like a suitable pay-off. It also means that, apart from sort-of hero Treat Williams and wet vest-wearing Famke Janssen, you're never quite sure who's actually going to survive. Arguably, there's only really one character who signs his death warrant early on by going full snivelling weasel. The rest are fair game.
In keeping with its general adorable naffness, the dialogue is decidedly on the silly side, relying on repetition to ensure we, the audience, understand the kind of peril they're in (a cry of "they won't be looking for us for 24 hours" is met with "you mean we won't even be rescued for a day or two?"). There's a character who spouts of marine biology at great length to explain what these creatures are, despite the film making it quite clear he's a ship builder. It's never quite as quotable as say Lake Placid or Deep Blue Sea, but the dialogue is knowing enough that it remains consistently entertaining.
Deep Rising is the kind of B-movie fare that sometimes you just need in your life. It's ridiculous, silly and entirely predictable but it scratches that creature feature itch. Stephen Sommers may have produced some rubbish in his time, but it always errs on the side of entertaining, though he'd find more success with The Mummy after this.
- Becky
You can find my other Shocktober '15 reviews here.
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To say I'm a fan of men who swash their buckles (matron) is something of an understatement. I was raised watching The Princess Bride, Errol Flynn films were standard weekend film affairs and 'fencing' with my brother was occurring so often it became a liability to both ourselves and my mother's ornament collection. Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers remains, to this day, one of my favourite Sunday afternoon films and I'm unashamed about my enduring love for the Brat Pack Three Musketeers with Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and Oliver Platt. So when it was announced that dear old BBC were planning their own adaptation of The Three Musketeers, I was practically giddy.
And then Atlantis happened. It was terrible from the word go and didn't get much better. I gave up on it and I so very rarely give up on anything. It had little respect for the myths it was gleefully mashing together in its weird melting pot, spitting them back out again in random references and flourishes that made no sense. As the air date for The Musketeers drew closer, my enthusiasm waned despite being encouraged by the casting announcements, particularly Peter Capaldi, Mr Isaac from Heroes and Tom Burke (one of those actors who seems to crop up and be fantastic in anything - check out Third Star with Benedict Cumberbatch for example). When I sat down to the first episode, I am afraid to say I turned on the television fully expecting to not like what was about to unfold.
Thankfully, I was wrong.
Described as an interpretation rather than an adaptation, The Musketeers quickly covers its back in terms of fidelity to its source material, opting for something that is very much in the spirit of Dumas' work rather than following it to the letter. Certain familiar narrative beats are there; D'Artagnan's early meeting with Milady, the Cardinal's dastardly plotting to remain influential to the king and the three introductory duels with the titular musketeers, here brilliantly re-imagined to see D'Artagnan take them all on at once. Largely though, the plot featuring a case of purposeful mistaken identity is Hodges' own and though it doesn't ensure that we're swept up in the peril of the story (it would be a brave adaptation to kill off Athos so early), it serves as an excellent re-introduction to these characters.
Cleverly, the first episode doesn't waste its time in getting everyone acquainted and grants each character an early scene that typifies their character; D'Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) goes charging off to avenge his father, Athos (Tom Burke) is hungover yet still manages to swagger around the Parisian streets looking like a 17th century rock star, Porthos (Howard Charles) is gambling and Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) is in bed with a woman. Naturally. However, any adaptation of Dumas' characters are nothing without their adversaries. Peter Capaldi makes a suitably imperious Cardinal Richlieu, treading the fine line between cold villainy and pantomime nefariousness (a cross then between Charlton Heston's portrayal and the scenery-chewing Tim Curry version). Milady (Maimie McCoy) is also suitably enigmatic, though not enough that it is an insult to the audience watching; her relationship with Athos is quickly established if not stated outright and I'm sure will build nicely into the remainder of the series.
The decision to hit the ground running and barely pause for breath an intelligent move for an audience that has been saturated with adaptations in the past few years. The plot progresses with an easy confidence, akin to the swaggering of its characters. One liners are dropped freely, dastardly plotting occurs in candlelit corridors and everyone seems to have that 'yes, we know we're sexy' glint in their eyes. Most of all though, it had such a sense of fun that it was difficult not to get swept up in. The chemistry between the central four is pitched perfectly, particularly the comedy duo of Porthos and Aramis (both Cabrera and Charles look set to steal this series).
The momentum was maintained for the second episode too and has me cautiously optimistic about the remaining instalments. Beginning with an amusing play on the Musketeers' oft repeated motto, Sleight of Hand followed D'Artagnan on his first mission for the Musketeers, infiltrating a prison to get close to Vadim (a wonderful Jason Flemyng) in order to discover what he plans to do with a tonne of gunpowder he's just swiped. So far, so Guy Fawkes, but Vadim unfolds into an interesting antagonist, one who isn't governed by a code of honour that his companions of the Musketeers recognise; he's simply a thief which makes him easily misinterpreted.
The sense of humour was once again in place and reminded me of the Lester Musketeers with some of the scenes throughout the second episode. The scene with Athos, Aramis and Suzette was nicely witty whilst Pasqualino got to demonstrate some slapstick skill as D'Artagnan comically ran around trying to put out all of the fuses instead of just running away. It shows a keen understanding of character, this sequence; D'Artagnan isn't one to run away from a fight he thinks he can, even if the rest of us know otherwise. The final moments of the episode demonstrated this as he ran off after Vadim and confronted him in a brilliantly realised candlelit fight.
There are, of course, a few significant departures from the material to be expected. The biggest so far appears to be a hinted relationship between Aramis and the Queen. Though neither character is famous for their fidelity in relationships, they've never been linked before. It does make a little sense to keep the stakes high for our central characters and with several more episodes to go, it's perhaps too early to introduce a figure like Buckingham into the mix just yet. It might upset some of the purists, but I remain cautiously optimistic that the show will know how to handle it.
A promising start then for the King's men and despite myself, I actually can't wait for the next episode. All for one and all that.
- Becky
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