In The Cinema This Week 25/8/13

Elysium

Elysium is brought to us by director Neill Blomkamp (the man responsible for 2009’s wonderful District 9) and, like his previous blockbuster, this movie’s subject matter is as blatant and obvious as possible. Whereas District 9 was clearly about apartheid, Blomkamp’s latest foray into dystopian science fiction deals with immigration, healthcare and the whole ‘us versus them’ 99% idea. Eschewing the traditional notion that sci-fi allegories should be cautionary tales rather than commentaries on current events, Elysium tackles a modern problem head-on. Exploding with spaceships and awesome robot fights, albeit with some impressively hammy B-movie acting from Damon and co., Elysium is an unsubtle, but undoubtedly entertaining sci-fi tale.

We’re The Millers

Jason Sudeikis is forced to travel across the US/Mexican border to smuggle in marijuana, and to make himself appear less drug-dealerish he enlists various law-breakers and hoodlums (including Jennifer Aniston) as his de facto family enjoying a nice holiday. From this plot synopsis and the outlandish tone of the trailer, one would be forgiven for expecting We’re The Millers to be a raunchy, debauchery-laden romp. But instead we’re given a bog-standard, extremely run-of-the-mill dozefest that’s about as inconsistent on the laugh frontier as it is with its tone. Aniston is a ‘troubled’ stripper yet works in THE cleanest burlesque ever committed to film, and come on; Sudeikis personifies white bread middle-America, the ruse is unnecessary. A bit of a mess.

What Maisie Knew

First-time actress Onata Aprile is joined by Steve Coogan, Julianne Moore and Alexander Skarsgård in What Maisie Knew, a contemporary reimaging of the Henry James novel of the same name. Delicate yet very powerful, the film chronicles the emotional turmoil of a dysfunctional family through the eyes of six year-old. While parts of it are a bit too coy and gooey for most tastes, these instances of cloying sentimentality are relatively few and far between. Great performances from all (most notably the impressive début by Aprile) combine with an immortal story results in a riveting experience that, even 115 years on, all too many of us can relate to.

The Mortal Instrument : City Of Bones

Much like the recent continuation of the Percy Jackson franchise, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is aimed squarely at fans of the series of young adult books on which the movie is based. But while Percy Jackson acknowledged that many of its viewers hadn’t read the novels and thus kept things simple, The Mortal Instruments is an inexplicably knotty affair whose logic and story is borderline impenetrable. Trying to summarise the plot would take an entire page, so I won’t bother. But the litany of weirdness, from the androgynous cat/human hybrids to the gay hotpants-wearing warlocks, inspires much more head-scratching than applause. Fans of the books will lap it up, but everyone else should stay away.

Lovelace

Did you know that in its humble early days, porn not only featured a detailed script and a high level of production, but also jokes? The notorious star of 1972’s hugely successful Deep Throat, Linda Lovelace was born into a devoutly religious family, though her marriage to infamous hustler Chuck Traynor paved the way for her career in the darker aspect of cinema. This movie scratches the surface of a doubtless fascinating character of an industry that's rarely explored in an artful way, rather than giving us any sort of in-depth exposé on the then-rising yet underground world of early pornography. Amanda Seyfried is charismatic, but overall the movie lacks the courage of its convictions to be truly memorable.

Don't forget to check out last week's reviews of Kick-Ass 2, Planes and more.