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Written by Sunil Dhokia We take a trip down memory lane, as we look at some of the iconic performances that made Al Pacino a household name in Hollywood. What can be said about this actor, that hasn't been said already? He's an Academy Award winner (that was long overdue by the way), has multiple Tony Awards and an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award to throw into the mix. However, what makes Al Pacino one of the greatest actors, not only of his generation but of all-time, is his ability to inhabit the characters he plays in each of his movies, always serving his character arcs in the most satisfying ways. This article will look at my top 5 greatest Al Pacino performances (in reverse order), as there were no easy decisions made in narrowing down over 5 decades worth of movies from the actor to just a handful. 5. Sonny Wortzik - Dog Day Afternoon (1975) By this point in Al Pacino's short career, where many actors of his generation were trying to find their feet in the movie industry, Pacino was fast becoming a name to be known in Hollywood. And this performance in one of the all-time great movies taking place on one location (for the most part) is a tour-de-force show from Pacino. Except for some other prominent characters in the movie such as Pacino's criminal partner, Sal (John Cazale) and Police Sergeant Moretti (Charles Durning), it's the unhinged, ever-constant tension in Pacino's performance as Sonny Wortzik, where he struggles to keep a lid on his hostages, whilst trying to get as many demands out of the police sergeant as part of his negotiation tactics, that keeps audiences invested a story that might otherwise be bland in the hands of a less capable actor. 4. Carlito Brigante - Carlito's Way (1993) In his second collaboration with Brian De Palma, Pacino's performance here is a step back from the flamboyance and extrovert nature of his Tony Montana character in Scarface (1983). By De Palma avoiding to retread the same territory, however, is precisely why I prefer this performance over their first collaboration. What makes this performance unique is Pacino's ability to infuse Carlito with a sense of loss and regret in his former life as a criminal. Even when Carlito is a freeman as he states at the beginning of the movie, Pacino conveys the sense of temptation in his character to go back to his old criminal ways. His back and forth with Sean Penn, playing the drug fiend lawyer of Kleinfeld, and Penelope Ann Miller as Carlito's girlfriend, Gail, provide the emotional backbone to Carlito's character arc, as we are all aware of the inevitable demise that is to come to a criminal we've somehow grown to be attached with. 3. Vincent Hanna - Heat (1995) At last, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are in a movie together. Wait a minute; they only share one scene (two if you count the final scene). That doesn't matter though, as Michael Mann's crime-opus defined a generation of filmmakers (such as Christopher Nolan) to hone their craft on creating authentic, on-location, suspenseful action set-pieces. More to the point, Pacino in the role of Lieutenant Vincent Hanna gives the full range of Pacinoisms here. This ranges from the loud and bravado (one of my favourite lines being "Don't waste my motherfucking time") to the quiet, more introspective moments in his character. The latter being beautifully explored in the iconic diner scene between Vincent and De Niro's criminal character, Neil McCauley. This scene and the movie as a whole allows Pacino to simultaneously convey his love and hatred of being a cop, as he's able to unpack the psychology of his character with aplomb. 2. Michael Corleone - The Godfather (1972) The movie that became the blueprint for every gangster movie that followed. Widely regarded by critics and audiences as one of the greatest movies of all time (no small feat by the way), a large part of that reason is due to the powerhouse acting on-display. Whilst many people would be compelled to put Marlon Brando's role as Vito Corleone as the star attraction of the movie, it's Al Pacino's performance as his son, Michael Corleone, is the reason why the story works as well as it does. The masterful direction from Francis Ford Coppola along with a compelling story, allows Pacino to showcase the full range of emotions that actors can only dream of having in a role. From the innocence at the beginning of the movie, where Michael avoids being apart of his family's mafia business, to the ruthlessness of his character, when he kills police captain McCluskey and rival crime boss Sollozzo, Pacino hits all the right emotional beats at just the right moments to craft one of the greatest characters in movie history. 1. Frank Serpico - Serpico (1973) You're probably wondering how on earth does one leave the first couple of Godfather movies (I try to ignore the existence of the third movie in the franchise) out of their number one choice of Al Pacino's greatest performances. However, if you stay with me, there is a method to the madness. My deciding factor in choosing Serpico as Al Pacino's best career performance is that the story and its execution rest solely on its lead actor. Even if you take Pacino's character out of the first two Godfather movies (an unthinkable action I know), you're still left with incredible performances from actors such as Marlon Brando, James Caan and Robert De Niro. However, take Frank Serpico out of his title movie (as daft as that sounds), and you're left with a hollow story, where corrupt cops freely roam the streets of New York City, and heroes like Serpico do not exist as characters in this world suffer in silence at the corruption from its lawmen. Pacino is fantastic at being able to show Frank Serpico's desire and frustration in trying to expose his corrupt police colleagues to the authorities. These emotions are thrown in with Serpico being unable to live a normal life outside of his work, such as struggling to maintain a healthy relationship with his girlfriend, and we see that good, honest men can suffer in more ways than one from corrupt individuals with the worst of intentions. Pacino perfectly portrays 'the whole world against me' persona of his character, as this one-man show type of a performance is one that few actors have achieved in the years and decades since this movie. Parting Musical Gift In keeping with the tradition of my blog articles, I leave you with one of my favourite pieces of music from my favourite Al Pacino performance in Serpico. This piece being the Theme from 'Serpico'. I hope you enjoy this wonderful theme from the composer, Mikis Theodorakis, which beautifully captures the themes of truth and justice that Frank Serpico seeks in the police force. Your Thoughts What are your thoughts on my top 5 Al Pacino performances? Do you agree with this list or are there other movies from Pacino that you would put on your list of his best performances? Comment below, as I would love to hear your thoughts. All images above and its copyright belong to The New Yorker, New York Times and Paramount Pictures respectively. All YouTube content below belongs to their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
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Written by Sunil Dhokia Purpose Of The Analysis In this analysis, I will be exploring two movies in the gangster genre, The Godfather and American Gangster. The purpose of my analysis will be to look at the themes and therefore explore some of the deeper meanings that appear in both movies. Thesis The Godfather and American Gangster, whilst exploring different ethnic mafia groups, both cover the themes of The American Dream, violence, ego-driven protagonists and family. Note: I will be covering the basic story elements on The Godfather and American Gangster, as part of my discussion on the various themes in both movies. However, if you have not seen either movie, I would advise that you watch them first and then come back to my analysis to avoid any narrative details on these movies. What Are The Movies About? Before we dive into the analysis of these respective movies, it's worth giving a summary on each movie. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather (1972) is a gangster crime-drama, which focuses on the Corleone family over 10 years and looks at the rise to power of one of its sons, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) as the mafia boss of his family. Directed by Ridley Scott, American Gangster (2007) is a biographical crime-drama. The movie looks at the true story of criminal, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and his rise to power in Harlem, New York City, in which he smuggled and sold heroin in the United States via American service warplanes from Vietnam. The story also focuses on Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), a police detective who leads a private task force to try and stop Frank Lucas's drug empire. How The American Dream Plays a Role in Both Movies? Kimberly Amadeo on The Balance website defines 'The American Dream' as the following: "The American Dream is the ideal that the government should protect each person's opportunity to pursue their own idea of happiness". The American Dream is manipulated and distorted in both movies to satisfy the personal wants and desires of Michael Corleone and Frank Lucas. Michael and Frank pursue lives that are directly involved in criminal activities, and therefore this already breaks away from the protection aspect of the definition that the government should provide in support of a person's career aspirations. Where the definition does apply to both characters is the "opportunity to pursue their idea of happiness". In the case of Frank, he is pursuing the idea of independence in his 'Blue Magic' drug product, particularly for how he deemed his former boss, Bumpy Johnson (Clarence Williams III) to have only managed and therefore not been an owner to his criminal activities, as Frank says "The white man owned it, so they owned him". Frank's pursuit of happiness, therefore, is to become the owner of his criminal organisation, in which the only person he reports to and is accountable for is himself. Michael's idea of happiness is to be there for his family at all costs. This is best exemplified upon his return to America from his exile in Sicily, Italy, particularly in the aftermath of his brother's death and to be there for his ageing father, who is in the twilight of his life. The difference between Frank and Michael's trajectory into the criminal world is that whilst Frank is the natural heir to Bumpy's enterprise, it's only at the moment that Vito Corleone is shot and a series of events that soon follow, that Michael's hand is forced to become the don of the Corleone family. The happiness for Michael, therefore, is for the safety and wellbeing of his family first and foremost, whilst simultaneously consolidating and growing the Corleone's family strength and muscle in the mafia underworld. For Frank and Michael, rather than the government per se, the police force in both stories is seeking to break down and destroy the happiness that these men have built up for themselves, despite the violent means in which these men have often gone about achieving this. However, during this era in New York's history, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, it has been well-documented that corruption did exist and operate within the city's police forces. This is best exemplified in 'The Knapp Commission' committee that was formed in the early 1970s, by then Mayor of New York City, John Lindsay. The purpose of this committee was "to investigate the now-widespread allegation of corruption within the police department" (Vicent Amoroso, Culture Trip - 2016). In The Godfather, corruption is represented in the character of Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), who is a dishonest policeman and on the payroll of crime boss Virgil Sollozo (Al Lettieri). In American Gangster, corruption comes in the shape of Detective Nick Trupo (Josh Brolin), who has an agenda of looking to get a cut of the money from Frank Lucas's 'Blue Magic' drug business. Both movies mix the fictional elements of their stories with real-world historical context, to break down the idea of what The American Dream is. That the government, who while have mostly good intentions for its citizens, aren't always able to spot and eradicate corruption within its various institutions such as their police forces. As a result, the very forces of law that should be protecting its citizens to freely pursue their dreams are the same individuals who manipulate those same laws in pursuit of their ideas of happiness. While hard-working honest folks like you and I, would never side with criminals such as Michael Corleone and Frank Lucas in their illegal pursuits of happiness, we can at the very least understand the historical context that informs the criminal direction that these characters take. This is for how they are unable to pursue the everyman persona i.e. a regular office job or get into positions of high power such as a Senator. This is due to corrupt police and law enforcement organisations and the racial prejudices that America held towards African-American and Italian-American people during this period in time. Therefore, one could argue the lack of respect shown by many Americans to immigrant families living in the country during this era, meant that immigrants were not always afforded the opportunities to progress through legal means of work. As a result, citizens like Michael and Frank often had no other choice but to resort to illegal means of work, to obtain high levels of power and wealth that were not afforded to them otherwise. Violence Something prevalent in the gangster genre since its early days is the depiction of violence. The severity of the violence shown on-screen, however, is all dependent on the type of story being told. Take for example the scene in The Godfather, when Vito Corleone sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) to meet with Bruno Tattaglia (Tony Giorgio) and Virgil Sollozo is among the many acts of violence carried out in the movie. Both Coppola and his cinematographer, Gordon Willis, decided to use a combination of high and low-key lighting techniques and shadows. This decision from a filming standpoint allows us to infer that Coppola and Willis wanted the audience to differentiate between the good and evil aspects in each character. Particularly the moment when Luca Brasi is being strangled to death, the camera chooses to linger on Brasi, as the high-key lighting on Brasi's face allows the audience to experience Luca Brasi's pain at this moment. Coppola decides to use only a few cutaways in this scene to focus on Sollozo and Tattaglia, with William Reynolds and Peter Zinner's sharp editing and the use of low-key lighting on the actors' faces to show the cold, steely nature of these characters and the lack of emotion derived from killing a rival gang member. The shows the audience that these gangsters bear no guilt on their souls or conscious for the evil acts of violence that they commit to rival gang members, as they are the same qualities that allow them to consolidate and grow their mafia enterprises. In American Gangster, Ridley Scott and cinematographer, Harris Savides, know when to show the audience horrific acts of violence and when to infer such acts. Case in point, the scene in which Jimmy Zee (Malcolm Goodwin), Huey Lucas (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and an unnamed policeman are in Frank's luxurious apartment, as the various characters are consuming Lucas's 'Blue Magic' drug on a piano table. After Jimmy sees the policeman groping his partner, this leads to him shooting the cop in the leg. What follows is a hideous act of violence, as Scott and Savides focus on the emotional reactions of Huey and Jimmy's partner, complemented with bone-crunching sound effects of Lucas slamming the piano tabletop on Jimmy's head. This technique from the filmmakers to not show this violence allows the audience to experience the horror unfolding, without seeing any of the grotesque details. Scott wisely understands the less-is-more technique, as pictured in one's mind a heavy object such as a piano hurting an individual can be much impactful to an audience in conveying a disturbing act of violence, than seeing a mangled beaten figure of a human being on-screen. What can we observe from these movies is that Coppola and Scott don't just throw on-screen, acts of violence for the sake of fulfilling a checklist of the various tropes found in the gangster genre. More often than not, characters in well-written gangster movies will carry out acts of violence with a specific purpose or motive, as opposed to reacting in a fit of anger (though this can also happen if it's internally consistent with a character's arc a.k.a Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas - 1990). The purpose or motive of violence could be to gain something from the situation. For example, Luca Brasi's murder is for the Tattaglia and Sollozo crime families to send a message of intent to break down the Corleone family's power structure and therefore grow their respective empires in the process. The purpose or motive of a violent act could also be to stop a situation from escalating further. For instance, when Frank Lucas beats Jimmy to a pulp with a piano tabletop as a result of Jimmy shooting a police officer, Frank is looking to defuse the situation to avoid drawing attention to himself from the law. Both Scott and Coppola also cut to reactions of certain characters in key moments during scenes of violence. They both understand that capturing the emotional reaction from characters, to either convey the satisfaction in killing an individual or capturing the fear on a character's face as they witness such an act, allows for maximum emotional impact on the audience, so that the violence carries weight and significance within the context of the stories. Ego-Driven Protagonists Jason Hellerman at No Film School gives a great breakdown of the archetypal gangster for how they are portrayed in these genre movies as stated below: "They usually are materialistic, street-smart, megalomaniacal, and can be self-destructive". Both Michael Corleone and Frank Lucas share many of the archetypal, ego-driven qualities outlined by Hellerman, as there's quite a bit to unpack here. Frank's determination to go the source of the drugs, rather than selling a product that in his eyes is not pure, is his unrelenting desire to sell "a product that's better than the competition at a price that's lower than the competition. If we breakdown this line of dialogue, we can see the street-smart and megalomaniacal qualities in Frank's character. The street-smart quality of Frank comes from the first part of the line of the product being better than the competition. The movie explores this concept by choosing to show Frank travelling to the source of the drugs in Thailand, as he discusses with the Thai vendor the possibility of importing large quantities of heroin into America. Particularly, when the vendor tells Frank that he somehow expects to transport a 100 kilos of heroin into the U.S without being questioned by the authorities, Frank simply replies "that's right". At this point, Frank is not afraid of the dangers involved and is willing to do whatever it takes to the ship the drugs into the States, which convinces the audience that he is indeed a street-smart character. Furthermore, Ridley Scott and Harris Savides, decide to use low-key lighting on Frank's face and to cut back and forth between Frank and the Thai vendor during their conversation. The use of such lighting indicates the dark, dangerous qualities prevalent in a street-smart character like Frank and therefore shows the audience the overwhelming conviction that he'll be able to move the drugs into the U.S, without raising any suspicions. The price set lower than the competition part of Frank's line of dialogue conveys the megalomaniacal quality of his character. Screenwriter, Steven Zaillian, makes a point in the screenplay to convey in Frank's dialogue scenes that at no point is he concerned with his competition and the ramifications of selling a drug that might wipe them out of business. This concept is explored in his conversation with one of his competitors, Domonic Cattano (Armand Assante). Dom expresses to Frank how he has a monopoly on the illegal drug market in New York and that drug rivals such as own are suffering in the process. The line where Dom says to Frank "What about your fellow dairy farmers out here, Frank? Are you thinkin' of us? You thinkin' of them?" to which Frank replies "I'm thinking of them, Domonic, as about as much as they've ever thought about me", Ridley Scott allows the camera to stay fixed on Frank's character at just the right moments during this scene. The steady camera work coupled with Denzel Washington' acting, who throws in an appropriate amount of sarcasm in his response to Dom, conveys the lack of respect that people have shown to Frank during his rise as a drug lord. As a result, the story gives Frank a clear, logical reason, for why he has no sympathy for his competitors in the illegal drug market. Michael's ego veers towards the megalomaniacal archetype of a gangster. This comes from his desire to further his family's power and muscle within the mafia business. The scene where Michael is sat down in his house, having taken an unfortunate beating from the police captain, McCluskey, the full-shot view of Michael delivering his intentions of how he will kill both the police captain and rival crime boss, Sollozo, is brilliant foreshadowing from Coppola, with a slow push-in of the camera, that sells the idea of Michael being the head of the Corleone family someday. Even when fellow family members Clemenza and Tessio, laugh and scoff at the idea of a police captain being gunned down, Michael is unrelenting in his belief that the crooked, dishonest qualities of McCluskey are justifiable reasons to kill a person in an authoritative position. As a result, Michael's character arc is one that is not fazed by external conflicts that stand his way, namely rival crime families, and that his pursuit for absolute control and power will not be stopped by anyone or anything. What we can take from the scenes discussed above is learning some recurring patterns in the characters arcs of Michael and Frank. This includes their stubborn persistence to overcome obstacles to achieve their goals of growing their criminal empires, their anticipation to be one step ahead of their competition and their desire towards feeding their ego in their quest for obtaining wealth, power and control. Family Family plays a prominent role in both the respective stories of Michael Corleone and Frank Lucas. Take, for instance, the scene where Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his son, Michael are in the back garden of their home. The over-the-shoulder shot that Coppola uses of Michael looking at his father allows the audience to see a passing of the torch if you will. As we look at Vito in the later stages of his life, the knowledge and wisdom that he imparts to his son is the foundations of Michael's cold, calculating demeanour, that he would use to his advantage in his peak years as head of the Corleone family. The nuanced acting from Marlon Brando shows his character's regret for not wanting his son to go into the mafia business, as Coppola's use of a two-shot between Vito and Michael informs the audience that the former's time as don of the family is all but up. Also, the scene in which Michael is at the hospital, following his father being shot multiple times, his love and affection for his father's well-being and protection is shown throughout the scene. This includes Michael and Enzo (The Baker) guarding the front of the hospital, as one of the rival crime families scope the hospital, and Michael's refusal to leave the hospital grounds, as the police captain, McCluskey, hits him in his jaw for not co-operating. At each moment in this scene, Michael's resolve is tested, with the threat of danger ever-present, but his unconditional love for his father is the consistent throughline in his character's strength to protect him, no matter what dangers lay ahead. Likewise, Ridley Scott also uses a similar technique, but in this case, Frank Lucas's wife, Eva, (Lymari Nadal) becomes the conduit for which the audience understands how Frank became the man he is today. The passing of the torch has already taken place at this point in the story, with Frank well underway to establishing himself as a major crime figure in both Harlem and New York. In the scene at Frank's house, when he is talking to Eva about Bumpy, Scott uses a low-medium shot, which effectively humanises this otherwise evil character to explain the importance of Bumpy on Frank as a person. The combination of this shot, combined with Denzel Washington's low tone of voice shows us the softer, emotional side of Frank whenever he talks about Bumby, as expressed in the line "He taught me how to take my time, taught me that if I was going to do something to do it with care, love". This allows us to understand how Frank justifies his decision-making process, not only in his criminal activities but in his family life as well. A common link between Michael and Frank is that whilst they always try to separate business and family, their actions in the criminal world always seem to come back to affect their loved ones in some shape or form. Take, for instance, the scene when Frank Lucas has Detective Trupo's Shelby Mustang blown to smithereens, has almost an immediate consequence as Trupo and his fellow corrupt group of cops break into Lucas's mansion to try and locate the getaway money that every gangster conceivable hides in the event of an emergency. At this moment, we feel for Frank's mother and his wife, Eva, who are perils to the damage done by Trupo and his men in trying to locate this money. Screenwriter, Steve Zaillian, also decides to have Eva stand up to Trupo when he asks her where the getaway money is located. As Trupo slaps her on the face, we quickly realise that standing up to these crooked individuals does not change their moral compass in the slightest, as Frank's mother is unable to help Eva in this terrible situation. During the third act of The Godfather, when Michael's wife, Kay (Diane Keaton) has suspicions of his potential involvement in the mafia business, Michael convinces Kay that the Corleone family will become fully legitimate within five years. As an audience, we know this not to be true at all, as any mafia business always involves an illegal element or elements to their operations. At this point in the story, Kay and her children are now sadly trapped in the ecosystem of the mafia underworld. At the end of the movie at Michael's home, when various individuals pay respect to Michael as the new don of the Corleone family, Kay views this moment from afar, just like the audience, as we are only given a glimpse into his mafia lifestyle. The powerful, yet simple shot of the door closing on Kay, signalling that she is to be left out of Michael's business affairs going forward and therefore informing us the beginning of a troubled, and turbulent relationship for both Michael and Kay. The dark paths that our protagonists take in these movies inform us that gangsters can never escape the consequences of their actions in the mafia business. As a result, it always inevitable ends in hurt or death for either the main protagonist or the ones they hold near and dear to them. Conclusion Based on the thesis provided at the beginning of this analysis, we can now decipher the following themes and therefore deeper ideas found in both The Godfather and American Gangster: The American Dream, while distorted and manipulated by the central protagonists of Michael Corleone and Frank Lucas, the historical context and ethnicity issues presented in both stories show that the very authorities that uphold The American Dream can also distort this national value for their gain. Violence is prevalent in many key scenes and moments across both movies. The violence is there to not glamorise the hideous acts on-display, but rather as a way for our characters to further their criminal exploits or to contain escalating situations that may draw attention to the characters illegal activities. Ego is a trait that our protagonists display in both movies, as these characters will often use these traits to their advantage to gain more power and control in their criminal ventures. Family plays a central role in our protagonists' respective character arcs. They begin their journeys by learning the behaviours and tendencies from their fathers and in turn learn to adopt the violent side of their role models in their path towards criminality. On the flip side, the protagonists will also learn and adopt the softer, warmer sides of their fathers' personas, particularly the protagonists' desire to do whatever's necessary for the safety and protection of their families. There are also consequences for women who marry into this way of life, as the material enjoyment of this lifestyle quickly dissipates into one that is filled with uncertainty and danger, that at any moment, it can all be taken away. Parting Musical Gift Whilst my analysis on the gangster genre has been a professional piece, it would seem ludicrous to not continue the trend that I have done in most of my articles thus far by including a piece of music, in this case from Nino Rota's classic score, The Godfather (1972). The song that I have chosen which best encompasses not only the romantic themes present in that movie but across the gangster genre as a whole is the 'Love Theme from The Godfather'. Your Thoughts What are your thoughts on The Godfather and American Gangster? Do you agree that the themes in this analysis cover both movies adequately or are there any others that you think are worthy of inclusion in your analysis of these movies? Comment below, as I would love to hear your thoughts. All images above belong to Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and any other respective owners. All YouTube content below belongs to their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Written by Sunil Dhokia An event 10 years in the making, Marvel Studios succeed in their biggest Avengers movie thus far (for the most part). Note: This is going to be a spoiler-filled review of the movie, so if you have not seen Avengers: Infinity War, please watch the movie first and then come back to my review. What's The Movie About? Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) is a superhero movie that follows the Avengers, who team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, as they try to stop Thanos from acquiring all six Infinity Stones, who seeks to fulfil his mission of wiping out half of all life in the universe. For anyone that is not well-versed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Marvel Studios have been building up to this Avengers movie, since their first entry, Iron Man (2008). This is by creating a series of movies that have storylines and characters which interconnect with one another, with the Infinity Stones being the constant through-line in many of these movies, as the Avengers and Guardians come together in this movie to try and stop Thanos's evil plan from coming together. Positives For a movie that has as much going on as this one, there are plenty of positives to discuss: Story and Writing Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do a pretty remarkable job of balancing all of the various storylines and characters into a cohesive whole. They achieve this by using the Infinity Stones as a McGuffin to tie all of the various characters together. For instance, Doctor Stange, Wong, Iron Man and Spider-Man are in New York protecting the Time Stone, where-as some of the Guardians are on the planet, Knowhere, to try and retrieve the Reality Stone before Thanos does. By tying groups of heroes to an Infinity Stone, ensures that there are never more than half a dozen characters on-screen at the same time and that each character (even the minor ones) is serving a purpose to the plot. This mostly involves our heroes beating up the bad guys, but it also ensures that the emotional parts of the story are not underserved. Just the thought of a villain wanting to wipe out half of all life in the universe is about as absurd as it's going to get. However, the screenwriters do a great job of fleshing out Thanos's motivations for why he wants to wipe out half of all life. The use of a flashback with Thanos interacting with a young Gamora on her home planet, along with the clever expository use of the Reality Stone, where Thanos explains why he decimated half of all life on his home planet, Titan, allows the audience to understand why he seeks to execute his plan. So while we may not sympathise with the character, we can least understand his point of view as to why he wants to use the stones in the first place. Direction The Russo Brothers come into this movie, having previously directed the last two Captain America movies. In this movie, they craft a much darker tone, when compared to the relatively lighter tones of Joss Whedon's previous two Avengers movies. Just the opening scene alone, where Thanos kills both Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Heimdall (Idris Elba) set down the marker for just how terrifying a villain he is. In turn, the Russos' ensure that the movie has real stakes, where characters are not immune to death from their villainous counterparts. Having said this, the Russos' also know when to inject the movie with humour in just the right places. The thought of a morbid two and a half hour experience is a scary thought indeed. Case in point, the scene when the faction members of the Avengers arrive in Wakanda, as James Rhodes / War Machine (Don Cheadle) informs Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to bow down to Wakanda's king, T'Challa / Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) before Rhodes tells Banner that there is no need for such pleasantries, is among the many moments of genuine levity that the movie contains. Acting Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark / Iron Man, as he slips back into the role with ease. His interactions with Benedict Cumberbatch, returning as Doctor Strange, are a delight to watch, with the clash of egos very much on display here. Furthermore, the emotional turmoil that Tony Stark has been living with since the Battle of New York in The Avengers (2012) brilliantly pays off in this movie. In the scene where Stark is trying to convince Dr Strange to take the fight to Thanos on Titan, Downey Jr. perfectly portrays the anxiety that his character's been living with all this time. Chris Hemsworth as Thor strikes a great balance between the comedic and dramatic moments that his character experiences in the movie. This is shown when Thor hilariously refers to Kevin Bacon as a possible member of the Avengers to the Guardians, with the drama coming from small conversations such as his talk with Rocket (Bradley Cooper) on the family and friends he has lost. His character arc, therefore, is one is filled with pain and suffering, as his need to forge a new weapon (Stormbreaker) to try and defeat Thanos, leaves us rooting for Thor to be our saviour in the story. Josh Brolin as Thanos is arguably the star of the show here, as he brings to the role an appropriate amount of pathos and depth to the character. Brolin's chemistry with Zoe Saldana, who plays his adopted daughter, Gamora, allows Thanos to become fully fleshed out. Particularly in the scene where Thanos sacrifices Gamora's life to obtain the Soul Stone, Brolin conveys this emotional toll on the character through excellent voice acting, and with the help of some brilliant CGI, to showcase the struggle taking place. Action The action set-pieces are some of the best you're likely to see in a superhero movie. Just the opening scene alone does a great job of showing the brute strength of Thanos. Particularly, the fight between Hulk and Thanos is brilliantly shot with a combination of restrained long-shots and oblique angles to show the size and strength of these characters. The stand-out set-piece of the movie is the battle on Titan, where our heroes take on Thanos. The Russos' and cinematographer, Trent Oplaoch, do a great job of establishing a clear sense of geography for where each hero is located concerning the fight with Thanos. The choreography and CGI shine through here, as we are allowed to appreciate each heroes strengths and powers. This is best shown in Dr Strange and Iron Man's duals against Thanos, as the first-rate special effects allow us to gain an appreciation for our respective heroes wizardry and technological powers. Also, the use of an orangey-brown colour palette for Titan means there's never a sense that you can't follow the action unfolding on screen. The climatic Wakanda set-piece is also brilliantly choreographed, with the camera doing a great job of tracking the action of our heroes fighting against the remaining Black Order and Outriders. A nit-pick in this set-piece is the use of a shaky-camera approach, particularly when the focus is on heroes such as Captain America and Black Panther. The camera here can feel frantic at times, as there is a slight disorientating effect to this approach of filming the action. Fortunately, this only occurs on a couple of occasions during the course of the battle. Soundtrack As someone who is a big fan of Alan Silvestri, my thoughts on the movie's soundtrack are somewhat satisfactory. The choice for Silvestri to often create mood and atmosphere across many scenes, best exemplifies this point. For instance, in the scene where Thanos is explaining to Gamora why he destroyed half of the population on her home planet, the instrumentation used here adds little to the emotions being conveyed by these characters. The emotional parts of the soundtrack do land by and large, particularly during the climactic scene where Wanda Maximoff / Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) has to kill Vision (Paul Bettany) in order to stop Thanos from obtaining the Mind Stone. The violin strings in this scene really add to the emotion that the audience is going through in the plight of our hero. The return of the Avengers title theme is also a delight to hear. Though the use of the theme is sparse, confined to key character moments such as Thor's arrival on Wakanda (see 'Forge' track at bottom of review), it's great to hear thematic continuity within the MCU, something that has plagued the franchise since its inception back in 2008. The introduction of a character theme for Thanos is also a joy, with its use being deployed straight out of the gate during the opening moments of the movie. Whilst this is a theme you won't be humming any time soon, the brooding sounds and instruments add to the menace of the character and the peril that our heroes will face. Overall, the soundtrack does just about enough to satisfy the tone of the movie, though the use of other MCU character themes, such as Silvestri's own for Captain America, would have been nice to hear. Negatives The sheer amount of moving parts means that the movie does have a couple of drawbacks: Character Development And Its Lack Of Character development is quite limited in the movie, with only Iron Man, Thor and Thanos having any substantial character arcs within the story. To exemplify this point further, Tony Stark is finally confronting the demon that is plagued his life for the past six years, Thor is on a revenge mission to kill Thanos, with the latter having murdered Loki and Heimdall and Thanos is looking to fulfil his mission of ending half of all life in the universe, due to him experiencing the overpopulation and therefore lack of resources on Titan. Knowing this the sort of information beforehand, will at the very least set an expectation for gauging what kind of story to expect within the movie. Some Required Research Before Viewing If you have not seen any of the previous 18 MCU movies by this point (or at least the key movies that directly tie into this one), then you may struggle to understand why certain events occur, or why characters spew certain dialogue about previous MCU entries. For example, the scene in Dr Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, where Bruce Banner is trying to convince Tony Stark to call Steve Rogers / Captain America (Chris Evans), will only carry any meaning if you have seen Captain America: Civil War (2016). Summary Despite the movie's overall lack of character development, it features some of the best action in the MCU, with excellent performances from Downey Jr., Hemsworth and Brolin, and an ending that will leave you in shock, Avengers: Infinity War is a movie that is among the best the genre has to offer. Verdict On The Movie 8.5 out of 10 Your Thoughts What are your thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War? Where would you rank this movie among the pantheon of other MCU movies? Comment below, as I would love to hear your thoughts. All images above and its copyright belong to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Marvel Studios and any other respective owners. All YouTube content below belongs to their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Written by Sunil Dhokia A movie that is still to date, the best combination of motion-capture technology and superb storytelling! Note: For more information on how my movie review rating system works, please go the 'Who We Are' page on the website. What's The Movie About? Directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson no less, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) is a motion-capture animation adventure movie based on the classic comic book series of the same name. The story follows our protagonist, Tintin (Jamie Bell) a reporter, who comes across the Unicorn model ship at a city market, in which he is immediately fascinated with. Despite some attention from other prospective buyers such as our lead antagonist, Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig), Tintin successfully purchases the model ship. Thereafter, Tintin and his lovable dog, Snowy, discover a parchment scroll located within the Unicorn, which thrusts the two on an adventure involving a sea captain named Captain Archibald Haddock (Andy Serkis), as the characters venture around the world to try and find the treasure of the Unicorn ship, before the evil Sakharine does. Positives Let's start with the positives of the movie, as there's a quite a few: Story Firstly, the story is a brilliantly told adventure with many scenes revealing key plot elements, without the use of exposition heavy dialogue for the most part. For instance, the scene where Tintin visits Marlinspike Hall, after suspecting that Sakharine may have stolen his Unicorn model ship, the story allows its audience to learn vital pieces of information about the Unicorn. Particularly, the inquisitive nature of Tintin never feels out of place in the story (due to his profession), such as when he's asking questions to Sakharine to discover more about the Unicorn ship. As a result, the audience learns more about the plot of the movie in an organic way, whilst never sacrificing the adventure element of the story. The story is also exciting and most definitely harkens back to Spielberg's Indiana Jones movies, with its serial adventure style of storytelling, whilst never taking itself too seriously. For example, the back and forth between Tintin and Captain Haddock during the scene where they are stranded on a boat in the middle of the sea, is both funny with laughs mainly coming from Captain Haddock's drunken behaviour, and efficient in propelling the story forward. Ultimately the story is intriguing, as we are always rooting for our hero Tintin and his pals to solve the mystery of the Unicorn ship. Acting The performances in this movie are excellent across the board, with all of the main actors bringing their A game to the table. Jamie Bell as Tintin brings a boyish and charismatic quality to the character, as his determination to get the bottom of the story, makes us as the audience just as determined to solve the mystery at hand. Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock is appropriately outlandish in his portrayal of the character. Serkis begins his character arc as a drunkard aboard the SS Karaboudjan ship, but as the story evolves, he begins to show other shades and qualities to his character, allowing Haddock to become a fully three dimensional character within the story. Finally, Daniel Craig as Sakharine brings a layer of wit and charm to the character, following the great tradition of Hollywood movies using British actors in villainous roles (which Daniel Craig himself said about the role, prior to the release of the movie). In this story, he is suitable maniacal and deceitful, though never veering towards mustache twirling, as Craig brilliantly showcases the selfish nature of the character in his attempts to thwart the heroes from solving the mystery. Action The action is suitable fast-paced, always serving the story at hand and brilliantly shot in a way that Spielberg could only achieve in this motion-capture medium. One of my favourite set-pieces in the movie is when Tintin and his dog Snowy are captured on board the Karaboudjan ship (see image above). In particular, when Tintin is being chased by Sakharine's crew, it's excellently shot, with Spielberg expressing himself through the use of low angles, close-ups and wide-shots all in a short amount of time (as a result of this technology), to brilliantly showcase the tension that Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock are experiencing on the ship. Soundtrack For the soundtrack, Spielberg turned to his regular collaborator, John Williams, to craft a score that perfectly captures the boisterous and adventurous nature of the story. Thematic material is aplenty in this movie, with 'The Adventures of Tintin' main title theme (see below at bottom of this article) kicking off proceedings during the cartoony opening credits of the picture. Here the theme perfectly captures the suspense and mystery of Tintin's adventures, in a manner that is very playful and fully encompassing of the story that is to come. Character themes are also featured in this movie, such as 'Snowy's Theme' and Captain Haddock's theme. Both of these themes brilliantly convey the unique personality traits and qualities of these respective characters. Snowy's theme conveys the brave nature of his character in aiding Tintin on his adventures, whilst Haddock's theme is appropriately bumbling to represent the drunken state of the character, when we first meet him. This is another soundtrack that avid fans of John Williams, if not already, will have in their collections. Negatives Despite the movie being well paced for the most part, there are a few moments where the story takes mini pit-stops. In particular, the scene where Tintin and his chums are found by soldiers in the middle of a desert, before being taken back to a military fort in Morocco. It's here, where the characters both figuratively and literally take a pit-stop from the non-stop adventure of the story, to establish more of Captain Haddock's backstory in relation to the wider plot at hand. Though there are small mishaps in the pacing of the story, they ultimately do not detract from the overall enjoyment of the adventure we go on with these characters. Is The Motion-Capture Animation Any Good? The movie is a definite improvement in the motion-capture animation medium over previous movies that have utilised this technology. A quick lesson on mo-cap technology for those unaware, it's the process where filmmakers record the movements and performances of its actors, either on a sound-stage or on location, through motion-sensing tracking suits and then translate this information onto digitally animated character models. In the case of this movie, every facial expression, detail and texture is fully realised within this animated world, but in a way that is unique to the world that Hergé (creator of the Tintin comic books) created way back in the 1920s. For instance, the close-ups of key characters such as Tintin and Captain Haddock, particularly when they first meet each other on board the Karaboudjan ship, beautifully blur the line between animation and live action. Summary With top-notch animation, an exciting and compelling adventure story and some brilliant performances from its lead actors, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is an adventure you won't want to miss. Verdict On The Movie 8 out of 10 Your Thoughts What are you thoughts on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn? Do you think the movie holds up well today in the adventure genre? Comment below, as I would love to hear your thoughts on the movie. All images above and its copyright belong to Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing and any other respective owners. All YouTube content below belongs to their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Written by Sunil Dhokia Setting The Scene Ah the unseen maestro working in the background. That last sprinkling of fairy dust that can take a movie from being good to a masterpiece. Yes, I am talking about movie composers, who are often the unsung heroes in movies and who through modern filmmaking techniques, which focus more on creating musical effects than developing thematic material, have struggled to find their voice in this cluttered marketplace of movies today. Purpose Of The Article In this article, I am going to focus on some of the composers in movie history, who through the brilliance of the filmmakers who made those movies, have allowed their musical themes to be another key character. These are none other than Elmer Bernstein, Alan Silvestri and John Williams. My short discussion on these composers will be based on my personal experiences of growing up and listening to the various movie themes that they have crafted. Elmer Bernstein Let's start with a composer who was working during the golden era of Hollywood, Elmer Bernstein. My first exposure to his work was on To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). The story about a lawyer, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) who is tasked with defending a black man, wrongly accused of rape in the early 1930s of Alabama, Maycome in the U.S. To Kill A Mockingbird's 'Main Title' Theme For all of the technical brilliance of the movies opening scene involving a young Scout (Mary Badham) using a crayon on a piece of paper, it's the simple piano notes played by Elmer Bernstein as the camera pans across the table of items, that brilliantly expresses the innocence of children before his title theme is showcased towards the end of this scene. This musical theme for me becomes the backbone of the themes expressed in the movie; for how children ultimately do not differentiate people by colour or race, but by the individual themselves. Ultimately, it's hard for me to not get emotional at the sheer power of the movies title theme. Alan Silvestri We move on now to Alan Silvestri. The composer who much like the individual that I will come to shortly, has a knack for developing beautiful musical themes and motifs across many of the movies that he has composed on (in particular his frequent collaborations with the great Robert Zemeckis). For my first entry point into this musical legend was none other than the sci-fi classic, Back to the Future (1985). For the uninitiated, it's the story of Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) in which he is sent back to 1955 in a DeLorean with a built-in time machine to try and convince his parents to fall in love (no pressure), so that he and his siblings can exist back in 1985, as well as trying to stop Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) from being killed. 'Back To The Future' Main Title Theme The first opportunity we get of hearing the movie's title theme is during the scene where Marty meets Doc Brown at the Twin Pines Mall in which the latter reveals to Marty the DeLorean time machine. As the scene develops, Marty jumps into the DeLorean, after Doc Brown is shot multiple times by Libyan terrorists. At this point, it's a great joy to hear what Silvestri has a great knack for in propulsive action musical beats as Marty is being chased by these terrorists, with small hints of the movies title theme. It's not until Marty says the infamous words "lets see if you bastards can do 90" to the chasing Libyans, that the title theme is fully and brilliantly expressed to the audience. For me, this theme perfectly represents the sci-fi adventure aspect of the picture and therefore conveys the crazy time-travel mechanics of the story at hand. John Williams With the utmost respect to the two previously mentioned composers, it's safe to say that I have left the best for last. The only and one John Williams, whose career has spanned decades and who has a unique ability to develop not only title themes for movies, but also develop themes for individual characters. My personal favourite character theme from John Williams's body of work is Yoda's Theme from the Star Wars franchise. This is because the theme is able to convey the wonder and mystery of this iconic character. His music will often have you humming in the most unexpected of places (public toilets for me - a bit too personal perhaps). Impact Of John Williams Towards My Passion For Movie Scores My childhood and by default adulthood from a musical standpoint in watching countless movies has most definitely been shaped by John Williams. From the awe- inspiring 'Welcome to Jurassic Park' main title theme, that perfectly captures the wonder of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (1993), the jazzy, Blues instrumentation of the title theme in Catch Me If You Can (2002), to the uniquely Eastern European quality of his haunting title theme for Schindler's List (1993), I have always found myself enjoying his music both within the confines of the movies and outside of them as well. And this is testament to how John Williams is able to transcend movie scores in a way unique to his musical voice. What Makes These Composers Great? The one key element that brings Elmer Bernstein, Alan Silvestri and John Williams together (apart from the fact that they are all musical geniuses), is their ability to develop thematic material that is both unique to the movies they are composing for, but in many cases, having a life of its own, long after the movies have been released. Conclusion In summary, I hope this article does not fall on deaf ears, as I long for the day that Hollywood movies have musical material that is not only thematic (appropriate to the story and characters of course), but also unique in expressing the musical voices of the both the current and next generation of movie composers. Please find the movie themes mentioned above at the bottom of this article, as I hope you gain great enjoyment out of listening to these great composers work as I do. Your Thoughts What do you think about the state of movie scores today and how it compares to the scores of yesteryear? Please feel free to comment below as I would love to hear your thoughts. Note on YouTube Content: All content in the YouTube videos below belong to their respective owners. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Written by Sunil Dhokia - 9th March 2020
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About MeMy name is Sunil Dhokia, I'm a movie fanatic and love all things Hollywood. Blog Archives
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