Surreal Serenity misses the boat
Serenity (R16, out now on DVD/Blu-Ray and various streaming services) is already being touted as the front-runner for next year’s Golden Raspberry Awards. Starring Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, it is written and directed by Steven Knight who made Tom Hardy in a car compelling cinema (2013’s Locke).
However, something went seriously awry with this tale of McConaughey on a boat. He plays Baker Dill, a man seemingly running on fumes.
While making ends meet by taking rich clients out fishing, Baker is obsessed with catching ‘‘the one that got away’’. But as he threatens to become ‘‘the hooker who can’t afford hooks’’, the woman he let go, Karen (Hathaway) walks back into his life. Karen needs his help. She’s persuaded her bully of a husband Frank (Jason Clarke) to take a fishing holiday with her and is hoping that Baker can use the opportunity to eliminate him.
The reward is $10 million cash and the chance for Baker to be reunited with his son.
A tale filled with broken dreams, damaged his penchant for tales of questionable quality (Fool’s Gold, Sahara), while everyone else will simply scratch their heads at how this got made.
Rocky VIII, aka Creed II, (M, Blu-Ray/DVD and various streaming services) offers a nostalgia hit. Essentially a sequel to 1985’s Rocky IV, in this, Adonis Creed (Michael B Jordan) takes on the son of the man who killed his dad in the ring.
Viktor (Florian Munteanu) and Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) have their own motivations for wanting to engage. After Ivan lost to Adonis’ mentor Rocky (Sylvester Stallone), he lost his country, his respect and his wife. Throw in Adonis’ fumbling attempts to commit to his girlfriend Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and Rocky seeking advice from his beloved dead wife and the whole thing feels rather Shakespearean.
More sequel fun comes in the form of Ralph Breaks the Internet (PG, DVD/Blu-Ray and various streaming services). Like the 2012 original, this is at its delightful and inventive best in its world-building interplay between the main characters.