REVIEWS & GAMES
I was dreading this one when the box arrived on my desk. Vampire stories have been getting worse since Anne Rice turned them into a bunch of brooding fops and Stephenie Meyer drove in the final stake with Twilight to the point where there was no longer any hope for the concept. Or so I thought.
The Thompsons is a sequel to the 2006 vampire horror Hamiltons — but if you haven’t seen it, the film-noir-style narration fills you in on the backstory. A family is suffering from a disease that requires them to drink human blood to survive. They’re totally not vampires, though — as they’re quick to remind us — because they’re unharmed by sunlight and just as vulnerable to weapons as any human. See, totally not vampires. Anyway, this horror gets halfway towards being a competent drama focusing on the family’s difficulties with their condition while they search for a place to call home, then the overlycartoony violence and gore kicks in. But it’s a step in the right direction, at least, and it does keep you guessing until the end. — Matthew Vice
THE IMPOSSIBLE
I held my breath for the first hour of this story about a family caught up in the terror of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Three young boys and their parents, played by Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, are swept away when the wave strikes their Thailand resort.
To make the visuals as authentic as possible, awardwinning director Juan Antonio Bayona recreated the tsunami in a tank, using a mix of digital effects and real water surges and miniatures that were destroyed by a huge wave. Watts and Tom Holland, who played 13-year-old Lucas, spent five weeks filming physically and psychologically demanding scenes in a massive water tank. Holland described it as “tiring and brutal” — but it paid off for the film, which allows viewers a realistic vision of the destruction and chaos that unfolded in the region. Their performances are utterly harrowing, portraying what feels like real fear, real pain and real life. — Peta Scop save the day. It’s all testosterone and bluster, and should go well with your billies, brandy and coke. — Keith Tamkei
THE JUNGLE BOOK
It’s telling when the White House, symbol of power and hearth of the commander and chief of the “land of the free”, becomes the favoured bull’s eye of cinematic calamity. It usually means that all hell has broken loose and hope in the world is a dim flickering candle, ready to be snuffed out.
Whiskey Hotel, code name for the White House, got nuked by the Russians in Modern Warfare, zapped by aliens in Independence Day, and rolled over by a cruise liner in 2012. This time, Hollywood’s favourite rogue nation, North Korea, has a hand in busting the door down and going Pyongyangnam-style on the secret service. Their goal is to take the US president hostage. The film descends into predictability as a lone hero (Gerard Butler) rises from the rubble to It’s difficult for Disney classics to stand up to newer animated offerings such as Tangled or Ratatouille . Technological advantages render these animations with a vibrancy to capture and hold young eyes, while the storylines and characters have the depth to engage older audiences. Created in 1967, The Jungle Book retains a raw honesty inherent in cel animation. The sketchy line and colouring have character and the antics of Mowgli and his friends will have the kids in stitches. And who has never hummed the hit song Bear Necessities? Restored and revived, Rudyard Kipling’s story deserves a place in any animated collection. — Keith Tamkei