YOU'LL LOVE SIMON

MOVIE

Love, Simon
Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford
Director Greg Berlanti

Review Ray Chan

Simon (Nick Robertson), a closeted high-school senior, has engaged in regular texting sessions with an anonymous class friend, who is also gay. Simon’s parents and little sister are unaware of his orientation, and he’s kept it from lifelong pal Leah (Perth's own Katherine Langford, who produces a respectable US accent).

    But Simon’s geeky classmate (Logan Miller) discovers the secret messaging, and threatens to out Simon unless he helps him date a mutual friend, Abby (Alexandra Shipp, who just about steals the show). 

    Greg Berlanti, a veteran of youth-oriented TV shows like Dawson’s Creek but these days better known for his range of super-hero offerings, directs with aplomb as he uncorks the revelations and setbacks that Simon goes through as he struggles with the burden of living a lie, unable to confide in even his closest friends. 

    Indeed, he sweetly handles the moment Simon finally blurts out that he's gay — to someone we don’t expect — while the audience is kept wondering  about the mystery texter, whose identity is revealed towards the end of the film.

    Interestingly, early in the movie, our protagonist jokes about getting together with friends and watching bad ’90s teen movies … yet all the while,  Love, Simon essentially is a ’90s teen movie, albeit with a few modern tweaks. 

    Having a gay lead is a twist from that formula, while the other is mobile phone culture, around which  the movie revolves. And in another modification, the typical scene where a guy professes his love for a girl in front of the entire school is given not to the hero, but to the villain. 

    Robertson  plays it mostly straight, as it were. This may be partly because Simon wants to keep his secret, but the storyline also suggests that different hues exist along the rainbow, with a more florid tint provided by flamboyant classmate Ethan (Clark Moore). 

    In one daydream, Simon ponders whether he’ll somehow turn out even gayer, cueing a fantasy sequence of fraternity brothers dancing to Whitney Houston  … with  Simon waking up and muttering, “Maybe not that gay”. 

    Screenwriters Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker should also be praised for emphasising respect for diversity throughout, whether it's from friends and family, or teachers at Simon's school.

    Love, Simon is a gentle comedy that deals with sensitive issues with respect and humour. While it's bereft of strong action-themed flavours, it's more than just plain vanilla: it's a film that will inspire empathy for gay teens, and help to embolden them in opening up to cohorts and community.

#lovesimonmovie

RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE

This review was published in The West Australian dated Dec 26, 2017.

MOVIE
Jumanji
Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black
Review Ray Chan

The original Jumanji, which starred Robin Williams as a man trapped inside a jungle-themed board game, was mildly successful when it was released in 1995. Back then, it wasn't such a smash hit that it guaranteed a sequel, but now, more than 20 years later, it seems the concept has been deemed too good not to revisit.
    Strictly speaking, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is not a follow-up adventure, but a sort of remake, substituting a 1990s-era video game for the board version.
    Geeky teenager Spencer Gilpin (Alex Woolf) is dispatched to detention by his high school principal for ghosting assignments for classmate and football star Anthony 'Fridge' Johnson (Ser'Darius Blain), who also gets benched.
    Joining them are Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner), an introvert who hates gym, and Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman), the prettiest girl in school who's obsessed with social media.
    The fun begins when Spencer finds and plugs in an old computer console containing a game called Jumanji, and the kids decide to play it.
    However, soon after they all pick their characters, they're sucked into a terrifying real jungle populated by dangerous animals and a maniacal villain.
    Spencer's avatar is Dr Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a heroic, muscular, square-jawed archaeologist; the Fridge is Mouse Finbar (Kevin Hart), a smaller-framed zoologist; Martha is Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), a sexy commando; and Bethany is Professor Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black), a tubby middle-aged man.
    Ultimately, the story is a nice twist on the original Jumanji plot, where the game comes to the real world. In this movie, the protagonists take the opposite route.
    And it is within the game setting that the virtual reality idiosyncracies show up. After some of the players get killed and are resurrected almost immediately, they discover they each have three lives. They also need to find a legendary gem called the Jaguar's Eye, if they want to get out of the game at all.
    They meet up with a character named Alex, who has a nice tie-in with Williams' character from the original movie.
    While the premise is ludicrous, the chemistry between the characters, the wit and humour and the non-stop action scenes more than make up for it.
    Johnson shows he is equally at home with gags as he is with his usual action roles, while Gillan demonstrates impressive athleticism.
    Black always excels at comedy, and his role is no exception, but then he gets most of the best lines. The act of relieving herself as a man is a source of wonder for the former vain blonde princess, who can't believe she isn't Instagramming the procedure. She then concedes her senses have heightened without the use of any gadgetry.
    With rampaging rhinos, slithering snakes and gaping-jawed jaguars, it all makes for an amiable, jocular treasure hunt that is much better than might be expected.

#jumanji #jackblack 

ASGARDIAN ABSURDITY

MOVIE
Thor: Ragnarok
Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett
Director Taika Waititi
Review Ray Chan

The third instalment of the Thor franchise shows clearly that THIS is how it should have been handled from the start: as an action comedy.
    When you think of it, the premise of a drop-dead gorgeous surfer-blond extraterrestrial, who also happens to be a Norse god with a magic hammer, is just too outrageous to be anything but.
    The first film had the mildly Shakespearian vibe that one might have expected from its director, Kenneth Branagh, while the second proved that the lead hero (Hemsworth) was less compelling than his nemesis and mischievous brother Loki (Hiddleston).
   But it wasn’t until 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy that Marvel came upon a true model for Thor to move forward.
    Guardians offered up a sentient house plant and a talking raccoon, and leaned hard into the absurdity of both. As a result, we now have Thor: Ragnarok, which offers all the gritty elements of an action fest, but is equally inspired as a comic drama.
    The cliffhanger from Thor: Dark World is handled swiftly and summarily right from the start, as if to indicate that the directors wanted to move on in the new direction quick-smart.
    You may recall that Loki had assumed the identity of his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and with it, the throne of Asgard.
    But this situation is abandoned within minutes, and amusingly so, in scenes involving a couple of unexpected guest stars.
    The plot changes tack in a headspin, as Asgard is conquered by Hela (Blanchett), Odin’s firstborn and the Goddess of Death, long exiled and until now forgotten.
    Thor and Loki, meanwhile, end up teaming up with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), in a sub-plot involving a planet obsessed with gladiatorial contests, overseen by a character named the Grandmaster, hammed up hilariously by Jeff Goldblum.
    Along the way, Tessa Thompson shows up as a disillusioned Valkyrie, and Karl Urban appears as a half-hearted Hela stooge. But the character which steals the show is the film’s director, Taika Waititi, late of What We Do In The Shadows, who maintains his softly-spoken Kiwi accent while playing a tough-looking pile of walking rocks named Korg.
    Kudos also to whoever chose to use Led Zeppelin’s stirring “Immigrant Song,” which was originally written as on ode to the viking gods, in the climactic battle scene.
    Put it all together, and you have just over two hours of entertaining and abjectly silly super-heroism, which proves you don’t need to be grim and gritty to succeed as a film in this genre.

#thorragnarok

GIRLS BEHAVING BADLY

MOVIE
Girls' Trip
Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish
Director Malcolm D Lee
Review Ray Chan


There were two previews on simultaneously: one was the Ryan Reynolds action flick The Hitman’s Bodyguard, the other a film about a group of four girls having the time of their lives.

    This male reviewer opted for the latter, and was left in no doubt that the right choice was made. No matter that the cinema viewing audience was almost entirely made up of females, the movie appeals to all genders and is surely one of the funniest releases this year.
    While this girlfriends-just-want-to-have-fun romp was made on the names of Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Regina Hall, it’s the lesser known light of Tiffany Haddish that shines brightest, with her antics inducing a riot of laughs.
    Taking scenes to the limits of good taste and physical comedy, Haddish generates the lioness’ share of guffaws from the audience, while Hall plays it straight as a best-selling relationship expert who’s being courted for a talk show, and more, with a big payday in the offing.
    As a result, she gets the star-treatment in a trip to New Orleans, in which she takes her three college besties along for company, all of whom are as raucous and rowdy as Hall is classy and quiet.
    They're just in time for the Essence Music Festival, an annual mega-event celebrating black culture and music and featuring the biggest names in entertainment.
    The venue is the scene of a wild night out as the girls settle in firstly to a ramshackle motel room frequented previously by a lady of the night, and then in more luxurious surroundings where they play around with produce in ways that will ensure you never see grapefruit in the same light again.
    There’s no overstating just how good Haddish is. Viewers may not approve of her character’s lifestyle (alcohol, drugs and the next available well-endowed man), but you won’t be able to stop laughing at her zany, in-your-face tomfoolery.
    Even the weaker comic set-pieces, such as one embarrassing incident involving Smith while suspended from a Bourbon Street zip-line, come from a good-natured intent.
    Blessed with great chemistry among the four protagonists, this feel-good film’s virtue is its eagerness to please.
    If you can get over the vulgarity and perhaps shock at seeing how comfortable the sassy quartet are with it all, you’ll want to love the movie as much as it loves you.

#girlstrip

VIEWERS SNARED IN THE WEB

This review was published in The West Australian dated Jul 4, 2017.

MOVIE
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Tom Holland, Michael Keaton
Director Jon Watts

Review Ray Chan

It’s hard to believe that this is the sixth instalment in the Spider-Man franchise .. not counting the disco era versions featuring Nicholas Hammond. And within those half dozen, we’ve already seen two other actors play the arachnoid super-hero: Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

    So you’d be forgiven for thinking that Homecoming is yet another stale reboot. But don’t pass this up for that reason, because it rocks with an originality and charm that snares you in its web, fittingly enough, right from the start with its jazzed-up rendition of the theme from the animated TV show.

    Tom Holland is perfectly cast as the squeaky-voiced young Peter Parker, plucky, naïve, lithe and supple, and newly minted as a reserve member of the Avengers. The production feels fresh and captures our hero the way the comic books originally intended him to be: a teenage hero, not ludicrously ripped nor absurdly handsome, with a sound moral compass battling the insecurities that come with puberty.

    It’s a refreshing change from the sort of arrogant geekiness portrayed by Maguire and Garfield, which made them less likeable characters.

    Peter’s origin story is wisely left out of the movie; who doesn’t know by now how he got his powers from a radioactive spider? Rather than insult the audience’s intelligence by showing yet another recap of that event, the storyline follows on in the wake of the civil war (Captain America) saga, when Spider-Man helped Iron Man and his band of heroes in resolving the conflict.

    He’s now chomping at the bit to be involved once again, but the call to action is long in coming, so he is restricted to battling crime as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, an affectionate nod to the term used oft in the comics.

    It’s not the only reference to the original series as envisioned by Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko … director Jo Watts takes great pains to ensure that Spider-Man’s various physical peculiarities – whether it’s dangling upside down, climbing up walls, crouching on knees, or shooting webs from stretched arms - are faithful copies of the postures as drawn in four-colour form.

    The main villain in the movie is played by Michael Keaton, who as city contractor Adrian Toomes, loses his gig cleaning up after one of the Avengers’ battles in New York. Seething over lost money and jobs for his team, he helps himself to some leftover extra-terrestrial technology in the debris and builds a winged suit to help him pull heists on various companies.

    The antagonist is based on Spidey’s comic book nemesis The Vulture, although Toomes is not named as such until the end of the film, where he is only referred to as a “vulture-like” person. For this reviewer, the exoskeleton is somewhat disappointing and resembles that of the Falcon’s. A more natural feathered ensemble, as depicted by Ditko, would have looked far more impressive.

    Spidey and Toomes are first involved when the latter splits the Staten Island Ferry in half, forcing Peter to try and save the passengers. He fails and requires the assistance of an Iron Man robot to render assistance, leading Stark to declare that Spidey is not yet fit to join the Avengers, and in turn encouraging the webslinger to continue his solo crimefighting.

    (Incidentally, most of the movie was shot in NSW and Victoria. One can only wonder if the ferry scene was filmed around Sydney harbour.)

    Dedicated fans will also enjoy the unexpected appearances of two other enemies, the Shocker and the Scorpion, and indeed they’re just among the many cameos that show up in the movie. Minor characters galore abound, from Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, to Jon Favreau as Stark’s neurotic chauffeur Happy, to Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, to Chris Evans in a very amusing series of Captain America public service announcements.

    There’s one great moment of glory in this movie that long-time comic readers will savour. In the final showdown between the two, Toomes buries Spider-Man under piles of rubble. How he escapes from that predicament has long been hailed as the most iconic scene in the hero’s comic book history.

    Homecoming bears the signature light-comedic tone prevalent in offerings such as Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy, a treatment that meshes well with the overall much darker Marvel Cinematic Universe. It travels at a comfortable pace, not getting bogged down in endless scenes of devastation and destruction, while engaging the audience with moments of angst, wit and humour.

    Homecoming is truly the movie where Spider-Man finally comes home, raising hopes high for the inevitable sequel.

JIMMY FINDS HIS DAPPLED DREAM

This review appeared in The West Australian dated Jul 3, 2017.

CONCERT
Jimmy Webb
Perth Theatre Trust
Review Ray Chan

Make no mistake: Jimmy Webb is the USA’s greatest living songwriter.

    Wait, you say. Surely it’s Burt Bacharach? Not quite … while the prolific composer is rightly respected for his prodigious output and mellifluent melodies, he was not a lyricist.

    Webb, on the other hand, is the total package, giving us tantalising tunes with imaginative chord progressions, and words that have formed the soundtrack to many people’s lives.

    In one dizzying three-year spell in the 60s, he won a Grammy for his music while his hits for the likes of Glen Campbell, 5th Dimension and Richard Harris garnered the artists similar recognition. By the end of the flower power era, Webb was America’s hottest songsmith, with his works recorded by some of the greatest voices in the industry, including Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett and Elvis Presley.

    A full house greeted Webb’s concert in Perth last week, where he took the appreciative audience on a magical tour without the mystery, dishing out a master class of songs and stories and winning them over with his style, smoothness and skills on the Steinway.

    Looking sprightly for someone who’s just turned 70, and with a voice that holds up remarkably well, Webb kicked off the set with Highwayman, the US country chart-topper he wrote for the supergroup which took its name from the song. In case you needed reminding, that outfit consisted of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings: plenary pedigree by any measure.

    Amusing anecdotes of encounters with Nelson and Jennings soon drifted to his adventures with Campbell, who transformed many of Webb’s pieces into major worldwide successes. Indeed, it was a connection that was almost as serendipitous as the thought was preposterous during young Webb’s life on a tractor, daydreaming on the family farm in Oklahoma.

    Campbell’s Turn Around, Look At Me had impressed Webb so much when he first heard it on the radio that he prayed of one day being able to have one of his compositions recorded by an artist with a similar silky five-octave range. Several years later, the fantasy was realised when Campbell chose to record Webb’s Galveston, perhaps the most classic of all anti-Vietnam songs.

    After the pair finally met, the chart smashes flowed : the iconic By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Wichita Lineman, Honey Come Back, Where’s The Playground, Susie. Campbell was proving to be Webb’s interpreter extraordinaire, as much as Dionne Warwick was for Bacharach.

    Campbell’s sad fall into Alzheimer’s has been well-documented, and poignantly, he released his final album just last month, featuring four of Webb’s songs including the lovely title track, Adios … a collaboration that is testament to the strong link that the singer and writer have forged over the decades.

    Listening to Webb vocalise and play his own works is refreshing. The 5th Dimension’s recording of Up, Up and Away had been rewarded with Grammys for best song and best group, and is a masterwork of pure pop, with its soaring top line providing the perfect imagery for the piece, balanced by a lovely counter melody that was brought into full effect on Webb’s keyboards.

    Interestingly, while the song charted highly in the US, it went all the way to No. 1 in Australia. Crafted as an innocent song about hot air ballooning, it had actually been the subject of a possible ban because censors had thought it referred to drug use. “It was the only song in the charts then which was NOT about drugs,” Webb recounted.

    In the 70s, Webb played a part in Art Garfunkel’s emergence as a solo artist, after his split from Paul Simon. The angelic All I Know became a major hit around the world, after Garfunkel, having exhausted Webb’s repertoire, asked for “something more yellow”.

    For this reviewer, the highlight of the show was Webb’s performance of Do What You Gotta Do, an album track so lilting that it had been covered by a veritable army of legends: the afore-mentioned Simone, Johnny Rivers, Al Wilson, Tom Jones, BJ Thomas and Bobby Vee, to name a few. In Malaysia, a version by local group The Strollers peaked on its charts.

    More recently, whole extracts from the song had been sampled for Kanye’s Famous, a Grammy-nominated release described by Time magazine as one of the best for 2016. Much to Webb’s chagrin, it was initially used without his knowledge; and even after gaining a 35 per cent publisher’s right in the song, his name was left out of a list of 12 others named as the songwriters at the Grammy awards.

    Webb’s magnum opus, of course, is MacArthur Park, which charted twice; firstly for Richard Harris in the 60s, then for Donna Summer a decade later. Summer’s disco rendition, strangely enough, was Webb’s first No 1 hit in the US.

    But it’s the Harris version, with its classical structure consisting of several movements, that has come to be regarded as definitive. It was a pleasure to watch Webb tickle the ivories as he performed the piece originally composed as an ode to the love of his life. Those at the show may not have been around to watch Gershwin play Rhapsody In Blue, but they can tell of the day they saw Webb play MacArthur Park.

    Didn’t We and a nice story involving Sinatra provided a fitting encore to the evening, Webb’s appearance being the last on the current Australian tour. He’d been here before in the 90s and told the audience of his desire to return once more. To use a phrase from Do What You Gotta Do, Webb continues to live out his dappled dream, and hopefully we’ll see him again in the future.

GHOSTBUSTERS IN SCARY MOVIE

This review was published in The West Australian dated Jun 15, 2017.

MOVIE
The Conjuring 2
Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga
Director James Wan

Review Ray Chan

In this day and age, seasoned critics and even not-so-jaded moviegoers will find it hard to be genuinely terrified by horror offerings. With many of the current generation having grown up with zombies, vampires, scary monsters and other super creeps on the TV screen and in video games, the use of rubber masks and prosthetics, no matter how gory or demonic they may appear, just doesn’t cut it anymore.

    And so it falls on directors to resort to familiar old-school scares and suspense-laden scenes to impart any sort of effective shock treatment, and in this regard, Australian director James Wan certainly excels, with his latest effort providing genuine moments of fright so that the audience keeps investing in the storyline.

    The Conjuring 2 brings back the paranormal team of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), who have been in semi-retirement after investigating several high-profile cases, including the Rhode Island haunting upon which the first movie was based.

    Such is their fame that a new suspected disturbance in England brings forth a call for their services, much to the dismay of Lorraine, who has had recent visions of her husband’s death while hunting demons.

    They travel to the small town of Enfield, where Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor), struggling to maintain a home as a single mother of four children, finds further discomfiture when the ghost of an old man begins to terrorise the residence. The demonic presence specifically targets her youngest daughter Janet (Madison Wolfe), who is subject to a wide variety of terrors – ranging from waking up in the living room instead of her bed, to being physically attacked and bitten.

    Wan, already renowned for his various horror movie franchises, certainly reminds us why the genre has been his home for so many years, with the camera rarely kept stagnant, and the audience constantly fearing what may be lurking just beyond the range of the lens.

    And there is muted light to complement the darkness of the storyline, something missing from the initial movie. Whether it’s Janet’s teacher bumming a smoke, Peggy’s put-downs of her ex-husband, or Ed entertaining the kids with an Elvis tune on the guitar, these little passages provide welcome relief and, in effect, almost work to lull the audience into false comfort before being subjected to the next big surprise.

    Wan also brings a new dimension of emotion to this movie, by exploring the romantic bond between the Warrens, and also the familial bonding of the Hodgsons. In the end, the audience can’t help but root for these protagonists as they strive to exorcise the spirits, while hoping that Lorraine’s premonition doesn’t come true.

    The Conjuring 2 demonstrates incredible potential for a possible emerging franchise – particularly when you consider that the Warrens have claimed that their career together as investigators spanned more than 10,000 cases.

    If this sequel is anything to go by, that is a mouth-watering notion. This tense and yes, scary, movie surpasses its flaws with excellent performances, a solid story, and great technique.

WONDER WOMAN IS A MARVEL

MOVIE
Wonder Woman
Gal Gadot, Chris Pine
Director Patti Jenkins
Review Ray Chan

WONDER Woman just might be the hero(ine) who saves the faltering DC Extended Universe from self-imposed destruction.
    In the first live-action take on the character since Lynda Carter in the 1970s, Gal Gadot shimmers lustrously as she takes on the title role - a pleasant surprise indeed, given the poor reception to the three preceding big hero productions: Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Suicide Squad.
    After initially appearing during Batman v Superman, the Amazonian now gets her own origin movie, which takes us back to the start of the 20th century, when a young Diana is still living on her secret island home with a civilisation of female warriors who spend their days training for battle in the event of an invasion or the return of their sworn enemy, the Olympian deity Ares.
    Events take a turn as World War I dawns, when US spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), pursued by a detachment of German sailors, crashes his plane just off the island’s coast.
    The Amazonians suspect the influence of Ares driving the world into turmoil, so Diana travels to the Western front with Trevor to try to end the fighting: him by destroying a poison gas factory, her by slaying the god of war. 
    Ultimately, what makes the difference between this movie and others of a similar ilk - but where the lead characters are grim and bereft of emotions - is Gadot's performance.
    The exotic starlet is a treat both in appearance and accent, exemplifying her stature as a 'foreigner'; and her intensive martial arts training and previous experience as a soldier in the Israeli military combine to make her look every inch the formidable warrior on screen, a presence embellished by her outstanding acting.
    Exuding wide-eyed compassion and empathy, she is passionate about peace and loathes conflict, but she can still kick arse if she has to.
    The action sequences are grandiose, especially one in which Wonder Woman ploughs fearlessly into a meat-grinder that has killed many mortals.
    Fans will be happy that director Patty Jenkins (a director of some pedigree, having guided Charlize Theron to an Oscar win) has retained the obligatory bullets and bracelets scenes, but they’re so much more enjoyable to watch thanks to the artful use of slow-motion and impressive camerawork and fight choreography.
    The only significant flaw is one that is common to the vast majority of these comic book yarns.
    After about two hours of smooth action and exposition, the end buckles under the weight of CGI overkill, with yet another battle royale that wears out its welcome.
    But overall, Wonder Woman is an exciting and empowering film that proves it’s not only DC’s competition which can produce ‘Marvel’ous superhero fare.

#wonderwoman

RETRO HITS FOR CURRENT HIT

This review was published in The West Australian dated May 3, 2017.

MOVIE
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Guardians: Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper)
Director James Gunn

Review Ray Chan

With the enormous success of the first Guardians of the Galaxy (GOTG) movie, you can’t blame the moviemakers for sticking to the same formula of irascible humour and frenzied action in the much-anticipated sequel.

    The film boasts a prodigious chunk of both eye and ear candy, with returning director and co-writer James Gunn once again delving into his box of musical mementos from the 60s, 70s and 80s to serve as the soundtrack.

    This combination of well-crafted sequences and retro hits is demonstrated none more spectacularly than in the opening scene, when the team of five quarrelsome heroes take on an octopoid creature intent on attacking the world run by a race called The Sovereign, whom the guardians have been hired to protect, all to the background of ELO’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’.

    Despite defeating the alien, the group incurs the wrath of The Sovereign when the opportunist Rocket Raccoon decides to steal the very batteries the alien had aimed to acquire.

    Thus on the run again, the Guardians end up on a distant planet, deliberately lured there by celestial being Ego (Kurt Russell), who eventually reveals himself to be the father of Peter ‘Star-Lord’ Quill.

    Meanwhile, the harangued and hapless leader of The Sovereign, Ayesha, played wonderfully by Elizabeth Debicki, employs old Guardians adversary Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his band of mercenaries to capture our heroes. The dart-wielding buccaneer, who manages to capture Rocket and the sapling-sized baby Groot, is in turn betrayed by one of his lieutenants .

    Somewhat predictably, Ego is not the altruistic totem he claims to be, and it takes his pet empath, Mantis, to warn Peter and the team just as Rocket, Yondu, and Groot arrive, having teamed up to escape their prison, resulting in an all-out battle with both Ego and drones from the persistent Sovereign troops.

    In between the major confrontations are several episodes which help flesh out the movie further, such as Mantis’ readings of Peter’s affection for Gamora, Drax’s increasing acceptance of the team as a surrogate family to replace the one he lost to the villain Thanos, and Gamora’s conflict in dealing with her estranged sister Nebula.

    Indeed, family is a key theme of the storyline, with Peter coming to grips with finally finding his father, only to discover a more patriarchial link with another. The climax results in the sacrifice of one character in a moment sure to bring a tear to even the most jaded eye.

    Yet while the new film is clearly more expansive, more beautiful, and conveys a deeper insight into the characters, the level of intentional humour it employs can be jarring for some.

    The portrayal of Ayesha, in particular, is so over-the-top that moviegoers could be forgiven for thinking that GOTG2 is more of a comedy than a serious action offering.

    The credits are replete with teasers for the next instalment of GOTG, so make sure you stay till the very end. Comic book fans who are well-versed in the history of the Guardians will no doubt be thrilled at the possible inclusion of the original incarnation and the introduction of cosmic entity Adam Warlock.

    The obligatory Stan Lee cameo is perhaps the most significant of all his appearances in the various Marvel movies. Cast among a group of beings called The Watchers – whose sole purpose is to watch and record events throughout the universe – Stan references his previous characters, inferring that, perhaps, he has been portraying a Watcher in disguise all this time.

SCARY AS ALL GET-OUT

MOVIE
Get Out
Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams
Director Jordan Peele
Review Ray Chan

In Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a 26-year-old black man ill at ease about travelling to meet the parents of his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage(Allison Williams). She assures him that he has nothing to worry about because “they are not racist”. 
    But from the moment Rose’s dad (Bradley Whitford) greets him, Chris feels uncomfortable in the remote house, where the behaviour of the help doesn't make him feel any better. When not busy with chores, the groundskeeper (Marcus Henderson) runs at top speed around the estate, while the eerily obedient black maid (Betty Gabriel)  wastes long hours gazing at her own reflection — zombie-like behaviors whose significance will eventually be revealed, but strike Chris as more than a little unsettling.
    Equally unnerving are Chris’ hyper-polite interactions with Mr and Mrs Armitage, who pretend not to notice their guest’s skin colour, while secretly congratulating themselves on how accepting they are, as when Rose’s father shares how proud he is that his dad ran alongside Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics — clearly not an opinion he would feel compelled to share if Chris were white. Despite his misgivings, Chris is obliged to smile and nod.
    Each ensuing interaction escalates his discomfiture, culminating in an awkward party with the family’s all-white group of friends and a lone black man who is acting strangely. Chris second guesses himself, not sure if he's paranoid or whether there's danger lurking for him on the grounds of the isolated, seemingly perfect residence.
    It’s not until Chris awakens to find himself officially held captive that the movie finally starts to really feel like a horror production. By this point, audiences have come to realise whom Chris must overcome to “get out”, and that struggle is pitched at such a degree that audiences will cheer as he gorily eliminates the white people who stand in his way. A payback for the minority?
    Make no mistake, Get Out is a fright movie but with nicely-executed layers. It's not above an effective jump scare, but those are scattered amidst a mood of growing unease abetted by the cinematography and direction. 
    The actual terror lies in the echoes of the real world presented on screen. The culture that created them is far too prevalent and feels more evident than ever even in this present age of supposed enlightenment. 
    For all its heavy themes and moments of discomfort, Get Out has a surprisingly light touch, thanks to first-time director Jordan Peele's work as both director and screenwriter, all the more impressive considering his origins as a comedian.
    Movies with this serious a message about race are rarely fun to watch, but Peele has a perfect handle on tone, knowing just when to lean toward menace or mirth and when to tip things in another direction. 
    The movie is replete with metaphors and visual cues, and is thus satisfying to watch over and again just to see if we can spot them all. To reveal them here would spoil the movie for those yet to watch it, but suffice to say that these include the eating of Froot Loops and separating them from the milk (a clear reference to race segregation), the picking of cotton to symbolise slavery, the use of a silver spoon to depict wealth and privilege, and the use of colours to represent the American flag.
    Ultimately, by revealing how the ruling majority gives freedoms which can just as easily be taken away, Peele seizes upon more than just a scary horror movie premise; he exposes a reality in which African-Americans can never breathe easy. 

#getoutmovie

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

This review was published in The West Australian dated April 15, 2017.

CONCERT
Cyndi Lauper and Blondie
Kings Park Day On The Green
Review Ray Chan

The crowds turned up early for this spectacle at Kings Park, but with all due respect to the opening acts of Alex Lahey and long-running Sydney band The Clouds, it was simply to snag a parking space and find the best seats possible on the picturesque grounds.

    Most were prepared to wait three hours before experiencing what they really came to see: the American dynamic duo of iconic band Blondie and wacky wild child Cyndi Lauper.

    Such was their influence on popular music that many of the 6000-strong audience flew in or drove up from regional areas to party with the city slickers, and they were not disappointed.

    The 71-year-old Deborah Harry got the main presentation under way with two early Blondie trademarks, One Way or Another and Hanging On The Telephone. Harry certainly doesn’t look her age, and did well to bop around and hold a tune, despite the occasional stumble.

    Interestingly, apart from Harry, two of the original band members were also present on stage: founding guitarist Chris Stein (who wrote many of Blondie’s hits) and the talented Clem Burke on drums.

    Blondie have never forgotten how they owe their fame to Australia, having been discovered while debuting In The Flesh on Countdown. The song was played against the backdrop of that TV performance, which portrayed a young Harry, Stein and Burke during their new wave era.

    The golden oldies flowed on, Harry not missing a beat on the lyrics to Rapture, one of the earliest rap tunes to make the charts, which then seamed into a surprise rendition of the Beastie Boys’ Fight For Your Right To Party.

    Interspersed with the familiar songs were six new ones from their soon-to-be-released album Pollinator, dedicated to the preservation of honey bees. Playing fresh songs can be a risky decision for any band, but the gamble paid off as the crowds showed appreciation and no signs of restlessness; indeed, a couple of the new offerings would make worthy additions to the Blondie catalogue of hits.

    The finale of Heart of Glass was a true highlight, prompting a racuous singalong, capped off by their rendition of Dreaming in the encore, and getting the fans well and truly buzzed up for the appearance of Lauper.

    It’s strange to think of the eccentric Queens-accented singer as anything more than the fresh-faced pop star with frizzy coloured hair who gave us the She’s So Unusual album, yet here she was in her 60s, belting out the songs in the characteristic high-pitched timbre that seemed unaffected by the years.

    It’s fair to say that while Blondie secured more chart hits overall but played only a smattering in their set, Lauper produced just about her entire repertoire of chart successes on the night, delighting one and all.

    From I Drove All Night and She Bop to Time After Time and True Colours, Lauper gave her all on each song, oft times messing with the arrangements to create a fresher sound, exemplified best on a showstopping version of Money Changes Everything. There was even the inclusion of the theme song from cult movie favourite The Goonies, which Lauper co-wrote.

    The artist also showcased her skills at tackling different genres by performing several numbers from her recent album of country covers, including Patsy Cline’s Walking After Midnight and Skeeter Davies’ End Of The World. But it’s the pop sound Lauper is most renowned for, and the song they all came to hear, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, was performed with suitable gusto, with thousands of happy little feet stamping their appreciation on the green.

    In short, while Blondie had the crowd in raptures, Lauper just wanted to have fun, both acts ensuring everyone went home on a high.