Movie Muser

All of us at some point in our lives have looked to the stars looking for answers. For our protagonist David (Gooch) this is literal as he has spent the last 30-odd years searching for his brother who disappeared at the age of 7, all because their father told him that Simon was abducted by aliens.

This is a film which I was curious to see: a low budget British sci-fi comedy drama featuring a wealth of actors from various iconic British TV shows such as Carol Cleveland (Monty Python), Simon Jones (Hitchhikers Guide) and Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who), some more underused than others. However curiosity isn’t always a good thing.

In places this film is very funny as we follow David’s globetrotting journey to seek out extra-terrestrial life, meet his geeky role-playing friends and get a hilarious insight into his thought process. He is obsessed and gullible, which creates an uncomfortable feeling for the viewer early on as this is a grown man who is seemingly being taken for a ride by various UFO experts who are just after his cash. As such you feel sorry for him.

Along his path he meets psychologist Eloise (Comiskey – who looks a bit like Rachel Stevens) whose ulterior motive is writing a book about troubled individuals. This encounter shifts the film from a quirky comedy into a study of obsession and we really start to question David, whose coping strategy as a child has developed into being a somewhat damaged grown man. However this side plotdoesn’t delve too deeply into serious territory and seems underwritten, like a lot of moments in this film.

My main problem is that this film is very uneven in tone throughout and the jokes are hit and miss, much like some of the scenes.

From the start we see that this is a low budget film with pretty bad cinematography and a soundtrack that is bad even for 70s sci-fi television. However this is perfectly acceptable by my standards, as it started as a fun sci-fi quest in the vein of a TV comedy.

David just won’t let Simon go, which is painful for the ones who love him. He lives at home with his mum (Cleveland) and these scenes are meant to give some dramatic and emotional weight to the search. Unfortunately they are misplaced, not within the tone of the rest of the film and just feel awkward. Although Cleveland can act there is no chemistry between them and the family drama is unconvincing, mostly due to the script.

To say this film is a mess is a bit harsh but some moments should have been left out altogether or been reshot.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a watchable film and has some great moments, characters and performances. Along the way David meets love interest Sally (Reeves) who is attracted to him as he’s someone who just doesn’t give up. He gets a job for a shady corporation who are investigating alien beings and there are some enjoyable revelations (although some predictable and poorly executed). Despite its many flaws The Search For Simon still manages to be funny.

This is mainly due to the character of David, who is harmless, relatable and ultimately free and rebellious as he lives his life and does what he wants regardless of the consequences. He confronts those around him who are sick of hearing about aliens and even his main provider of extra-terrestrial information when he suspects he is being conned. But without giving away the ending his search is ultimately rewarding.

I did enjoy the in-jokes and this is a quirky British comedy, although I thought it would be best if a lot of the unconvincing dramatic moments were removed, then this would be a tight 60 minute comedy. I’ve stated that this has a television feel to it and I believe it would be best suited / developed into a series.

Overall Verdict: Very funny in some places but it’s unconvincing dramatic moments and lack of consistent tone unfortunately damage what this film could have been. That being said it is entertaining and worth a watch, just don’t expect too much.

Reviewer: George Elcombe

The first Warrior King (2005) movie was a great and brutal follow up to Ong Bak (2003). Its finale featured an amazing five minute unbroken shot of its lead Tony Jaa rampaging through a never-ending stream of bad guys in order to reach his pet elephant. This was ruined in the final minutes when said elephant was grabbed and swung by a guy with serious roid rage through a window. Seriously, it ruined the film for me as it was so out of place and simply ridiculous.

I was initially hoping that the follow up wasn’t as ludicrous.

Before I get into my review I have to say that Tony Jaa is one of the best martial artists ever seen on film and I truly believe he could have taken Bruce Lee’s crown if he had got into Hollywood. Despite this he has only done a few films and has been away for quite a while, so I was expecting this return to be something in the vein of Ong Bak or Warrior King, but I was very wrong to assume so.

This is a tough review to do as there is no way I can do it without spoilers, so you have been warned. The basic story has modest farmer Kham (Jaa) trying to get his elephant Khon back when he refuses to sell it to a trader, which isn’t that fun when you think about it.

The trader plans to sell the elephant to gangster LC (RZA) for unknown reasons and when Khon goes missing Kham fights his way into the trader’s home to find him dead just as his ass kicking nieces Sue-sue and Ping-ping arrive, and assume that Kham killed him. While escaping. Kham runs into his old friend and comic relief Sargent Mark (Petchtai Wongkamlao) who informs him of an international terrorist plot to disrupt peace talks in Bangkok.

Still with me? We also have an underground army of fighters lead by LC, double crossings, mind control drugs, averting an international war, a deadly side quest and some ridiculous set pieces.

Whatever you say about this film it sure is imaginative.

The film starts fairly seriously in tone but by the time we get to a rooftop Jaa vs motorbike gang fight I realised that this film didn’t take itself seriously, and all for the better. It’s a funny action flick but not in the same vein as Jackie Chan films. I think its best described as ‘Thai crazy’. Anyone who’s been to Thailand will know exactly what I mean.

As I suspected while watching, this film was shot in 3D, which I wouldn’t mind seeing especially for the finale. I should state that this film uses a lot of CGI and green screen, which at first I though was sacrilege and distracting as I’m used to seeing stunts in this type of film being performed naturally, but this CGI just ads to the cartoon-esque nature of the film, its plot and the violence.

Thankfully, we have the trademark ‘action replays’ of some unbelievable moves, showing you how dangerous some of the stunts are and just how skilled the fighters are. We have slow motion impact shots and a great use of POV in one particular scene. Make no mistake that these are trained professionals who get hurt a lot for our entertainment.

With most martial arts films our protagonist has to fight his way to the big boss and backgrounds / arenas to these fights are as if their straight from computer games: a dockyard, a flaming warehouse which introduces us to flaming kicks to the face, and an underground train station where are fighters have wet feet on the tracks, hence electric kicks and punches which use the same sound effects as lightsabers)! As I’ve said, it’s ‘Thai crazy’.

The sound track is a mix of cheesy synths and typical hard and heavy fight music, but it fits perfectly within this crazy film. I know that the majority of the dialogue was translated but we get typical cheese such as: “If you want to help then don’t stand in my way” and my favourite shout; “KHONNNN!” ala Star Trek, or Jaa Trek if you will. The rest seems to be alright except for the accent of a certain Interpol agent which really sticks out.

This brings me to the cast. RZA’s acting skills have improved since The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), although he mainly plays a stereotypical gangster complete with gold toothpick. However some of his ‘mean’ faces are pure comedy gold. Petchtai Wongkamlao makes a welcome return as the bumbling Sargent Mark although I feel he is underused throughout, but thankfully saved for the end.

But the star of the show is Tony Jaa whose skills are amazing. Although not as astounding as when you first saw him in Ong Bak (2003), he is now a better actor and still has the moves to inflict some wince worthy damage to foes. If the rumours of him playing the bad guy in The Raid 3 are true then we’re in for a treat and I can’t wait, if not then can we have him in a future Expendables film?

Special features wise we have Cast and Crew Interviews where they talk about each other, the use of 3D, the twisty script and that astonishingly, the 20 minute motorbike scene took 8 months to shoot! All these are very jerkily edited as if they had to fit as much into it 30 min runtime as possible. The producer says that they done the best they could so the audience would enjoy it and have fun. I’d say they were successful.

We also get a 10 minute Behind the Scenes covering various action sequences which is fairly interesting but makes you realise that these guys had some long days.

Overall Verdict: If you’re expecting The Raid (2011) or Ong Bak (2003) then this isn’t it. It kicks ass and is thoroughly entertaining throughout and just gets sillier. It is however hard to score. Compared to a normal film it’s a 2. As a fun and carefree action romp it’s a 5. It’s unbelievably entertaining but not in a Michael Bay way. It’s playful, is stupid, knows it is, and just goes with it. I think this is a rare case in which a sequel is better than its predecessor. It’s the best bad film I’ve seen in a while. And that’s what makes it great.

Reviewer: George Elcombe

War