a5c7b9f00b Two self-aware characters in a "Call of Duty" style video game struggle with their screwy, frustrating existence.
Well, what do you expect? The film opens with Robert Baker gunning down generic bad guys COD style, with stylistic throwbacks to arcade games like Street Fighter. The title credits are set to a fun chiptune/Call of Duty/Capcom mash-up, and the rest of the score doesn't disappoint. Baker meets up with his trash-talking, tea-bagging partner (Brent Chase), who could put Leeroy Jenkins to shame, and they set out to kill guys in tan (who are, of course, tougher than the ones in black). It's not so much a parody of video gaming as an homage to gamers and the characters they control, and it's a fun one.<br/><br/>This isn't your average treatment of video games, where the actors are mashing buttons on controllers from different systems that aren't plugged into anything. It's clear the writers actually know their audience or did their homework. The attention to detail is surprisingly good, complete with some topical Easter eggs. That being said, it should be rewarding for non-gamers too; it's not your average shoot-em-up war movie.<br/><br/>It's interesting to see what happens when characters act on gaming logic as if it were normal. It's not just pulling an absurd number of guns from your bag - it's comments like "I think I can keep you safe if I lock you in a closet" that reflect the gaps in virtual realities back at us. And the actors handle these things well enough that you can suspend your disbelief for a while.<br/><br/>Some of the scenes are a bit awkward, as the cuts between stock footage and new material are quite obvious. This is only a problem for the action sequences though - otherwise, the editing is great.
The film is self-aware which is fine, but it's one of the more poorly blocked/shot films I've seen in awhile. Wherever the camera should not be to get the maximum impact of a shot, count on it being there. =(<br/><br/>Also, anytime the protagonists are sharing a scene together, count on dead air and a complete lack of energy on screen. The movie also uses stock footage for a lot of its action sequences, while still shooting its actors on today's more modern digital cameras. This creates a visual disparage in quality that reminds constantly takes you in and out of any kind of world the film was trying to build. It's an interesting concept, but the editing, shot design, and cinematography all feel like they were grasping at straws to make this production work.<br/><br/>Kudos to the team for getting it in the can, but I would definitely not recommend this to anyone who likes video games. It may insult them. =/
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a5c7b9f00b MI5 officer Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) and Margot Tyrell (Helena Bonham Carter) are on the run together across Europe, going from town to town in Germany. But Worricker knows his only chance of resolving his problems is to return home and confront his nemesis-the prime minister, Alec Beasley (Ralph Fiennes). To do this, he's going to have to bring to light some unsavory facts about the prime minister's financial and business arrangements. But Worricker is haunted by the suspicion that he's not the only person out to undermine the prime minister.
The Johnny Worricker Spy trilogy concludes with Salting the Battlefield, in which our hero with his ex girlfriend, Margot are criss-crossing Europe trying to stay one step ahead of the security services and a vengeful Prime Minister. Worricker is being watched - His family and friends are being watched - He is running out of cash and he needs to make a move to reach an endgame.
In the final installment of David Hare's Worricker trilogy, ex-MI5 analyst Johnny Worricker (Bill Nighy) pops up in Germany. He's still on the run from the British authorities, who are now aided by the German intelligence service in the cat-and-mouse game of tracking him down. The scandal involving the shady dealings of the British Prime Minister (Ralph Fiennes) is threatening to break in the open. A wind of change is palpable and one gets the feeling that events are finally heading to a showdown. It was always difficult to keep up the quality and suspense after the excellent first two films. For one, I found there was just a little too much explaining at the beginning rather than trusting in the intelligence of the viewer. So 'Salting' is probably the weakest of the trilogy, but weaker than excellent is still very good. I particularly liked the circular quality of the ending and the fact that, as in life, none of the main characters comes out as a real winner.<br/><br/>The acting and the production values, as in the other episodes, are consistently excellent. The sensitive camera work supports the intricate mood changes and turns in conversations. Paul Englishby's Jazz tracks are a perfect match for Worricker's character. In a recent interview with Zap2it, Bill Nighy said that he would love David Hare to write more 'Worricker' for him. It's going to be a tough call to come up with an original storyline and to keep up the quality, but I for one wouldn't mind if he tried.
Nothing is perfect but sometimes we have to be grateful for large mercies. In view of the generally mindless dreck that is offered on the screen (big or small) David Hare has at least given us intelligent dialogue written for adults and spoken clearly by a cast of actors who know what they're doing. No faux dramatic, over-amplified background music and no extraneous background noise ... we're here to hear people speak not how noisy the traffic is on a London street. It goes without saying that Bill Nighy is Worricker personified and it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role ... all that world-weary patience; it was good to see him finally lose his cool in the final episode and lash out as everything seemed to be falling apart. Highly recommended.
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