True Grit (2010)

Joel and Ethan Coen, professionally known as the Coen brothers, are well known for their film-making abilities. Films such as The Big Lebowski and A Serious Man have the trademark stamp of the Coen brothers through dark comedy, whilst a film such as No Country for Old Men shows that they can make serious, hard-hitting films, yet still inject some comedy without it seeming misplaced.

So when the news came out that they were adapting the Charles Portis book True Grit, previously adapted to film in 1969 with John Wayne as the star, we knew that it would hold true to the Coen brothers style: a very dramatic film with instances of humour. And this is just what we got.

True Grit tells the story of fourteen year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) whose father has been shot by a Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and therefore hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to find Chaney. At the same time, Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who has been looking for Chaney, comes along so that he may also bring the criminal to justice. What ensues is a tale that shows what someone can do with a strong enough will and shows a modern representation of the Old West.

The character of Rooster Cogburn is almost key to this, as he is the classic ornery washed-up US Marshall. Jeff Bridges plays this character well, giving him unique quirks that make him an interesting character to watch and listen to. Sadly, I have to say that his character is a little bit hard to understand at times, slurring his words. This, of course, because he is a massive drunkard, but it still doesn’t excuse for the fact he cannot be heard too well.

Hailee Steinfeld is, surprisingly, an amazing actress. True Grit is the first theatrical film she has appeared in, and with such a great performance she will hopefully appear in further films. She definitely shows what a teenage girl at her time would have been like, with a cross between her great knowledge and thirst for vengeance, as well as slightly more immature and childish lines. It is a wonder that she has often been nominated for Supporting Actress, as she is the main character in the film, and such a strong role at that. She plays off the other actors very well, especially Jeff Bridges.

Matt Damon also interacts with the other two main actors very well. I find that, out of the three main characters, LaBoeuf is the least well-developed. Not to say that he doesn’t get developed. His character is still very likeable and interesting, especially with his views conflicting Cogburn’s and his wish to take Chaney back to Texas, rather than let Mattie deal with him. Though not in the movie quite enough, he still shines in the scenes he is in.

Throughout all of this we can taste the Coen brothers style of directing, which consists of drama and humour. The scenes with great amounts of drama are, indeed, greatly dramatic. The intensity of gunfights and quiet scenes is so high that the audience will be sitting on the edge of their seats. In contrast, the humour sometimes seems out of place, but not so much so that you are confused as to why it is there. It more so complements the scene and is truly hilarious.

With the Coen brothers touch, True Grit deserves any awards it gets, being a great way to re-introduce the Western into the world of cinema.

Final Verdict: 8/10

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Tron was a revolutionary film. It featured both live-action and computer animation within the same scene utilising some very interesting and seemingly complex filming techniques. Though at times criticised for its fairly slow and dull storyline, it was nevertheless a marvel of film-making. Its success and cult following even led to a world in the game Kingdom Hearts II. Now a successor has been released: Tron: Legacy.

Tron: Legacy opens to Kevin Flynn, reprised by Jeff Bridges, talking to his son about the world of The Grid, where Tron and Clu, two programmes, are helping him build a stable and perfect system.  He mentions a ‘miracle’ but tells his son that it is a story for another time. True to Hollywood tradition Flynn goes missing, so we have no idea what this miracle is. 

The film cuts to 20 years later, where Kevin’s son, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), is now acting exactly like Chris O’Donnell in Batman Forever: riding his motorcycle really fast, being cheeky, and wearing a t-shirt to show off his muscles. However, where Dick Grayson was purely annoying, Sam is actually somewhat likeable. He’s not trying to live up to another; he’s just trying to do what he feels right and to make a mockery of a sham of a company. 

In fact, the behaviour of Sam in this is similar to Kevin’s in Tron in a way. That is to say, he is breaking into a large company in order to enact justice. However, unlike Kevin, these seem to be for less selfish reasons as we are shown straight away that ENCOM, Kevin’s old company, is extorting people for the software that it produces.

Suffice to say, Sam achieves what he sets out to do and is later contacted by a friend of his father’s: Alan Bradley, reprised by Bruce Boxleitner, the man who created the programme Tron. He says he’s been contacted by Kevin, so Sam goes to the arcade seen in the first film and whilst there is sucked into The Grid. 

Note that some of this plot has been used before in Tron: big corporation doing naughty stuff, person feels the company has done wrong, they go to stop them and then through a series of events get sucked into The Grid. However, this is all very brief.  It is from here that we get an all new story and my word is it amazing!

We are taken through the games, which have been upgraded since 1982, and we are introduced to the main villain. From here there is a story detailing betrayal, discovery and destruction. Through a multitude of twists and turns we see both sides of the conflict between an authoritarian regime and just three who are fighting back, all in the aims of getting back to the real world and stopping the villain from the outside. This leads to a spectacular climax that leaves you wanting more, and hopefully you will get more as the ending is open for a sequel!

The effects of this film are perfect. The world, though computer generated, felt like it had weight, as if it actually existed. This is more than I could ever say for Avatar, where the world looked far too fake to be real. In The Grid we see the building, the technology in that world, the landscape, and it all looks so real, as if the creators of the film had actually built this world out of data, gone into the system and filmed on location. Also, surprisingly for me, I found the 3-D effects to be very good. In fact, the 3-D is used artistically, as the real world is shown in 2-D, whilst The Grid is 3-D, showing a difference between the two worlds, not only aesthetically but in the way we actually perceive it.

The effects don’t just stick to the landscape, however. There are many vehicles in the film that were computer generated that, yet again, looked realistic. The effects even went so far as to be an actor, as a younger version of Kevin as well as Clu, the computer programme created by him, are both computer generated. However, for the majority of the film I was fooled into believing this was actually Jeff Bridges.

The acting within this film was spot on. The actors delivered every line perfectly, which furthered the connections we had with the characters. However, this was accompanied by an absolutely superb script. One scene of note is the dinner scene, where the conversation flows perfectly and shows an awkward connection between the father and son who have not seen each other for 20 years. (Whilst on the subject of the dinner scene, I would like to bring up the fact that we have no idea where any of the food comes from. We see a lot of drinks, but they seem to fit in with the world. The food eaten here is pork as well as vegetables, which do not look even slightly like they fit in with the world nor do they seem to make sense.) We see throughout the film the growing connection between the father and son, which is quite endearing and builds up very well, unlike the clunky father-son connection in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Music-wise we have nothing to complain about as Daft Punk has delivered with a pretty atmospheric soundtrack. Daft Punk even had a cameo in the film as two MP3 programmes. Though initially confusing as to why they might be there (cameos in The Grid would seem strange) they seem to fit in with their robotic look.

Though Tron: Legacy can seem somewhat derivative of Tron within the opening I advise you stick it out and keep an open mind as the story is pretty good and the effects are amazing. You don’t need to be a fan of the original to enjoy this film, as any exposition needed is delivered early on, so newcomers can also enjoy the film. It’s received fairly mixed reviews, some saying it’s not ‘intellectual’ enough, but I have to disagree. Both serious and fun, Tron: Legacy is a film that can be enjoyed by most people. I suggest you go see it soon!

Final Verdict: 9/10