MOVIE REVIEW: "THE ROVER" (2014)

“THE ROVER” (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

At the outset, the stills from”THE ROVER” appear to be a mash-up of brooding expressions on the leads. What gives?

You can see latent anger, feel the angst and observe these two actors (totally with contrasting personalities) blazing  the dare-devil track of a dangerous road trip in the sprawling outback of Australia.

You have to hand  to GUY PEARCE for being such a stirring actor.

He is spot-on for his portrayal of ERIC the loner. He has vengeful  intents on his mind and will stop at nothing to retrieve his prized possession, a vehicle who has been unceremoniously snatched from him under his very nose in a “daylight robbery”.

You can scream foul that the scorching sun is driving everybody nuts . While ERIC is all roar, he is still very much vulnerable.

ROBERT PATTINSON is excellent as he tackles on the challenging role of REY.

He totally sheds his pretty boy image to play a dim-witted survivor who’s being dragged into this dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.

His screen character requires him to display a multi-layered personae of helplessness in this emotionally charged and gritty feature.

 It’s “two thumbs up” for ROBERT PATTINSON.

He excels as REY proving that there’s indeed, a future for him, after his post-Twilight days.

Let’s roll out the film synopsis:

We are led to a desolate world, a pitiful and a futile patch of the Australian Outback 10 years after a Western economic collapse.

We see survivors roaming like post-apocalyptic zombies, scrambling over a broken society’s scraps and will kill for a teeny bit of these. It’s that bad.

Yeah, life is cheap.

And it is amid all this furore that an embittered loner Eric (PEARCE) travels the desolate towns of the outback for no apparent reasons.

When a gang of thieves steals his car they leave behind a wounded Rey (PATTINSON) in their wake.

Forcing Rey to help track the gang, Eric will go to any lengths to take back his only prized possession. The single-minded purpose of retrieving forms the crux of this jagged movie.

DAVID MICHOD wrote the film based on a plot he crafted with JOEY EDGERTON, a gifted actor in his own right.

MICHOD’s name may not ring a bell, but his debut film, “Animal Kingdom,” was one of 2010′s great successes.

This second venture, though very different, affirms him as an impressive filmmaker with a talent for creating distinctive worlds.

The film director demonstrates to us his own bleak world of darkness. The imagery is stunningly awesome.

We pay homage to all that’s doom and gloom.

It’s one cheerless disposition that grips you in a forsaken world of demented surprises.

The plot is tirelessly twisted and disturbing, so much that it gets under your skin.

Despite an intentionally arty plot, strong performances from the leads pave the way from start to end.

Well worth a see.

RATING: 4 out of 5.

Local Distributor: GSC MOVIES.

“The TWILIGHT Saga: BREAKING DAWN PART 2: the Movie. When DAWN breaks, DUSK takes over.

“The TWILIGHT Saga: BREAKING DAWN Part 2″ PRESS PREVIEW

Finally, the LAST instalment of the TWILIGHT saga is here, all in good measure.

And it has arrived at a jolly good time too, to bid adieu as all good things must come to an end.

The series that has earned the three young leads (Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner) millions of bucks, will meander into a lack-luster vehicle should it continue, suffocating from a dearth of fresh ideas.

Saving the last for  best, this film offers a taut storyline, loads of vampire slaying action with heads rolling, peaking to one justifiable finish.

The sex scenes between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart sizzle. The acting is emotively better. And, for once, a “Twilight” delivers heart stomping action and stupendous special effects.

Many critics will hail that Breaking Dawn – Part 2 has been repackaged to ensure more entertainment value, and will go down on record as the best TWILIGHT film adaptation.

At curtain call you can be your own judge.

It was noted that there were more gals than guys in attendance at the press preview.

So you can witness that the core fan base comprises mostly of fluttering female hearts.

With two pretty boy hunks and one sweet damsel in tow, the “eye candy” formula works well here.

In this fifth and final Bella-and-Edward fantasy-romance,  our female lead’s persona adopts a dramatic transformation.

She is all at once, a ferocious member of the undead, participating in relentless vampire killing, vampire sex and screaming vampire battle cries.

Bella Swan Cullen (Kristen Stewart) is no longer the hapless lady who’s totally dependent on her one-expression partner Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the shirtless Jacob (Taylor Lautner).

She is now a vampire in her own right and the protective mother of Renesmee.

She has to reckon about the child’s fate, as she is seen as a threat to a bunch of vampires led by Aro (Michael Sheen).

Everything evolves around her and she’s the very reason the vampire war erupted.

The end result is a tense showdown, with vampires and wolves squaring off against the small army of Volturi.

A finale befitting for the fans with a focused story, extravagant production values and a broader audience appeal.

Right.

“WATER FOR ELEPHANTS” Movie Review. Where ELEPHANTS tread, the GRASS shall be TRAMPLED upon. SAVAGELY.

“WATER FOR ELEPHANTS” PRESS PREVIEW

When I was a gregarious kiddo in primary school, my English grammar teacher used to admonish us by saying, “Be warned where Elephants tread, the grass shall be trampled upon.”

What she was trying to impart was a lucid tongue-twisting advice like “don’t court trouble, unless you want trouble to seize you”.

My dutiful teacher was teaching us to be heavenly boys.

This is a stark lesson about life, a grim reminder for one to mind his own business and stay out of trouble.

And of course, to avoid being a screwball-in-between, such as messing around with somebody else’s beautiful wife.

But thy neighbor’s grass is often greener, temptation’s sweet, so what’s the heck.

With this in mind, this Reviewer shall now expound on the sorry tale of a listless country youth who cannot get his mind and hands off an alluring woman, she, incidentally, happens to be a pompous circus owner’s wife.

ROBERT PATTINSON is Jacob Jankowski, this restless young man, a horny rebel without a cause. He has a profound affection for elephants though.

He meets his match in Marlena (REESE WITHERSPOON), a bored-to-death housewife who’s tired of her dual-personality hubby and ever ready for a sexual fling to improve her libido.

CHRISTOPH WALTZ plays August, the demented jealous husband,who’s ready to declare murderous mayhem upon the entire illicit affair.

He is a ringmaster with a sadistic streak when it comes to animals and people who do not understand his term of “obedience”.

August exercises brutality on Rosie, the 9,000-pound elephant who is the show’s star attraction

There’s none so furious, as a man betrayed. Wouldn’t you be?

Rightly so, as most men would succumb to forbidden temptations.

Just remember there’s a price tag.

“WATER FOR ELEPHANTS” highlights an enchanting escapist fairy tale, sets alight in the Depression era.

Jacob, a college veterinary student, orphaned and penniless, discovers a brand new future opening up as he hitches a ride accidentally by hurling himself onto a moving rail car.

He has actually aboarded a traveling circus.

He is readily roped in as “family” and accepted as a new-found buddy of the ringmaster and his animal trainer wife, but our young hero instead, finds himself entangled in a complicated love triangle.

He has the hots for the beautiful Marlena, yet he is aware of the potential dangers of romancing another’s wife, what’s more,with a woman who has a psychotic husband.

It has been reported that the on screen chemistry between Miss Witherspoon and Mister Pattinson was far-from-nice.

The 35-year-old actress joked that her steamy sex scenes with the 24-year-old were anything but enjoyable.

“He had a very runny nose then,” she told MTV, adding: “So it wasn’t that appealing to kiss him.”

This could be fodder for gossip as adverse publicity is often, better than none.

The director-of-photography RODRIGO PRIETO brilliantly captures the strong moods, instilling wisps of nostalgia that are befitting of a forlorn era where poverty prevails, a world we can never get to see.

He sets a sombre pulse and tone throughout with an uplifting strain of sentimentality to instill a feel of authenticity.

We are treated to the insights of a Depression-era circus with visuals so vibrant that baby boomers can immediately experience a total recall.

Finally “WATER FOR ELEPHANTS” is in one part, a sawdust romance with the unbridled passion, the other part – a survival story with a heart.

It opens vividly with an old man’s trudge down memory lane, as the senior Jacob Jankowski (HAL HOLBROOK) recounts his vintage circus days to a modern day circus employee.

Stellar performances from an all-star cast but it is clearly Waltz, who was magnificent in “Inglourious Basterds” is at it again, as August the unscrupulous owner who will stop at nothing to keep his circus in business, even if it means serving the animals rotten food, or not paying his workers on time.

It may not be the greatest palpitating parable ever, but a love story is indeed, a love story.

It sears the heart and will leave an indelible imprint in the viewers’ emotive minds about bitter-sweet loves that were once conquered and almost lost.

Does this one sound familiar?

FRANCIS LAWRENCE, the film director sticks close to the essence of the popular novel by Sara Gruen.

Vivid descriptions and the pathetic grandeur of a lost era are “relived” once again through the lens.

You will be transported into the world of an “old school” circus – where ringmasters, acrobats, animals and elephants take center stage.

In everyone’s life there’s a youth and in his finality there is an old age.

Life moves in a circle.

“WATER FOR ELEPHANTS” is a glaring reminder that you can only be young once.

Youth has no repeat, no permanence.

And beauty will not last.