The Trench (1999)

Dir: William Boyd

I rented THE TRENCH as it stars Daniel Craig and I expected a fair amount of action mixed in with the drama. THE TRENCH is not that film.

Daniel Craig

It is the eve of the Battle of the Somme, 1916. A battle that was to be one of the bloodiest of the war. The film depicts the few dreary trench bound days of a platoon led by Lt. Ellis Harte (Julian Rhind-Tutt) before it is their time to go over the top and give their lives for God, King and Country. Days that are filled with boredom, smoking, the constant artillery bombardment and the knowledge that any one of them can be killed at any time. Sgt. Telford Winter (Daniel Craig) is the battle hardened soldier that holds the unit together. Danny Dyer (DEVILS' PLAYGROUND) is the braggart who entertains himself with tall tales and antagonizing the others in the squad. Paul Nicholls (LAKE PLACID: THE FINAL CHAPTER) and Tam Williams play brothers looking out for one another. Look for James D'Arcy (AGENT CARTER), Cillian Murphy (28 DAYS LATER) and Ben Whishaw (Q in the last few Bond films) all playing privates.

Danny Dyer

This is a stage bound, or should I say trench bound again?, film. With the exception of a shot early in the film and the last few minutes, the viewer (and the platoon) see nothing but the earthen trench the men reluctantly call home. There's little in the way of action, the film is about the emotions of the soldiers and how they do or do not get by to see another day. We've met the characters before in other films, television series and books. But that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the actors' fine performances. Yes, I had a good idea of how each character's story was going to arc but the lead actors brought their characters to life and drew me in.

Paul Nicholls

See first time director, and acclaimed novelist, William Boyd's THE TRENCH because of the gripping drama and not for action scenes and it will not disappoint.

*** out of ****

Fists Of Legend (2013)

Dir: Kang Woo-Suk

Middle aged widower Lim Deok-Kyu (Hwang Jung-Min SHIRI) is down on his luck. The noodle shop he owns, named after his daughter Soo-Bin, is failing. His daughter gets into fights at school and acts like a brat at home. When Hong (Lee Yo-Won ATTACK THE GAS STATION), the producer of a mixed martial arts television programme called Legendary Fighter, gives him a call requesting that he appear on the show, Deok-Kyu jumps at the chance to earn 20 million Won and save his restaurant.

Deok-Kyu at his noodle shop

Legendary Fighter accepts only amateur fighters; retail workers, cooks, salarymen, the unemployed and the like and tests them by putting them in a ring with a middle weight mixed martial arts champion. If the contestants can survive two minutes they are entered into the tournament and have a shot at winning the prize money. Many of the applicants are fat, out of shape and their former glory of being an action man a figment of their imagination. Not Deok-Kyu. He's a one time Olympic boxing hopeful who's skills of yesterday return to him after a few punches to his face and kicks to his legs. Deok-Kyu wins his first tournament and becomes a popular television pop star. Celebrity that drives his noodle business through the roof.

Deok-Kyu's past comes back to haunt him starting with the first match. He's reunited with his group of friends from the class of '88. A time when Chow Yun-Fat and Ti Lung captured the young men's imaginations and one's fists were used to prove manliness. Two of the lost, former friends also agree to be contestants on the programme. As they interact outside the ring, we learn what set them on the paths that changed them all.

Class of '88

The Korean FISTS OF LEGEND packs a lot of emotion into its two and a half hour run time. There's comedy, even a goofball character who claims to be a former spy, 80's sentimentality and nostalgia, plenty of action in the ring, family melodrama and shocking confessions. I didn't connect with any of the characters, even the lead Deok-Kyu who comes across as more of a mope than anything else, so the scenes outside the ring came across as maudlin. The fight scenes are nicely done; a good combination of amateur fighting without looking clumsy and gripping choreography.

Deok-Kyu and former friend Jae-Seok square off

** 1/2 out of ****

He Never Died (2015)

Dir: Jason Krawczyk

Writer and director Jason Krawczyk's HE NEVER DIED tells the tale of world weary Jack (Henry Rollins (WRONG TURN 2). Jack likes to sleep, watch television, eat at a local diner, and play bingo. He generally avoids people and keeps to himself. Jack does have a few quirks. There's a trunk in his apartment filled with cash and antique coins. He buys something from the hospital intern Jeremy (Booboo Stewart TALES OF HALLOWEEN) on a weekly basis; something that requires refrigeration. Oh, and he can take a punch to the face, knife to the gut or a gunshot to the hand as if it were nothing. Like breaking a nail.

The film hints as to Jack's true nature early on using not only audio cues but also his deadpan attitude towards events (such as getting shot in the hand) that would be a bit more worrisome to someone fully human.

There is a lot going on lately in Jack's normally quiet life.

A couple of thugs with a beef with Jeremy turn their sights on Jack. Despite getting shot in the hand Jack dispatches the thugs as if he was performing a household chore like taking out the trash. Trouble is the thugs haven't learned a lesson so they bring along more thugs. And when they get a beat down instead of killing Jack they bring in even more thugs. Pretty soon our mystery man Jack is at war with the entire criminal gang.

Then there's something far worse to contend with than a gang war; a daughter. A daughter, Andrea (Jordan Todosey REIGN), who Jack didn't know he had until she shows up on his doorstep and now wants to crash at his place for a few days. A daughter who's pastime seems to be getting drunk and getting DUIs.

Yes, this is a darkly comedic tale.

Henry Rollins' hang dog portrayal of a man who is either oblivious to the world and all that happens in it, or has seen it all over and over to the point of tedium, or both, is spot on. Jack is both powerful and vulnerable as he dukes it out with a gang or fumbles awkwardly on a date with the waitress (Kate Greenhouse THE DARK HOURS) from the local diner he visits day after day. The supporting players all do a good job in service of a script that blends comedy, drama and horror.

*** out of ****

Guns At Batasi (1964)

Dir: John Guillermin

After watching ZULU for the umpteenth time I was in the mood for another tale of British soldiers under siege in a foreign land and stumbled across a recommendation for GUNS AT BATASI, a B&W film I had not previously heard of.

Pinewood studios fills in for an unnamed African nation recently granted independence by Britain. A British military presence remains at the base for the 2nd Battalion African Rifles at Batasi, commanded by Colonel Deal (Jack Hawkins ZULU). The Brits are to provide training and assistance to the new government. During an up swell of protests breaking out, military command of the base is transferred to the Africans, led by Captain Abraham (Earl Cameron REVELATION). However, many of the African soldiers, led by Lieut. Boniface (Errol John SHEENA), are sympathetic to the protesters and stage a coup at the military base in the name of the populist rebels. Abraham is taken captive.

Unaware of the events taking place outside the Sergeants' mess, Regimental Sergeant Major Lauderdale (Richard Attenborough) prepares the mess and readies the NCOs for a visit by the British MP Miss Barker-Wise (Flora Robson BLACK NARCISSUS). Lauderdale is a throw back to another era, one when the British empire was ascending rather than declining. He is a man of rules and regulations, with a neatly twirled mustache and spotless uniform who will regale anyone about the glory days of serving in India. His by the book routine and attitude are tested when a private Wilkes (John Leyton SCHIZO) and the pretty U.N. worker Karen Eriksson (Mia Farrow ROSEMARY'S BABY) arrive at the mess unable to leave the country due to the airport being closed down. Matters are greatly complicated when the coup leader Boniface orders his men to surround the mess. Lauderdale takes the action as a personal affront and mounts a defense to maintain what little is left of the Empire.

Based on the novel THE SIEGE OF BATTERSEA by Robert Holles, this John Guillermin (KING KONG) film is not an action adventure like ZULU as I was expecting. There is little in the way of fighting, it's a political drama and character study. The cast does an exceptional job with the NCOs played by a solid group of English and Australian actors including Bernard Horsfall (BRAVEHEART), David Lodge (EDGE OF SANITY), Percy Herbert (ISLAND OF THE BURNING DAMNED) and John Meillon (WALKABOUT). But it is Attenborough's performance as the too tight, not all what he seems at first Sergeant that makes this film. Not once did I see the actor, it was always the character. A brilliant performance by a man who will probably be best remembered from JURASSIC PARK instead of this film or his equally riveting performance in SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON and many other films.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Maggie (2015)

Dir: Henry Hobson

Parent / child relationships can be tricky. Especially when dear old Dad (Arnold Schwarzenegger) spends two weeks in K.C. looking for his runaway daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin ZOMBIELAND); who just happens to have been bitten by a zombie and is now in a quarantine facility.

A necrotic virus of unknown origin is sweeping the land. Affected humans slowly rot as the virus attacks their body and in a few weeks the infected find the smell of human flesh delicious and can't resist having a nibble or two. Reminiscent of Cornel Wilde's NO BLADE OF GRASS, the virus also attacks and destroys crops. Put upon farmer Dad at one point takes torch to his crops in what is probably a futile attempt at saving the farm.

In an effort so spend as much time as possible with Maggie, the child birthed by his deceased wife, he ships off the children from his current wife Caroline (Joely Richardson THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS mini series), talks a family friend doctor into releasing his daughter from quarantine and brings her home for a final few weeks of family life. Dad is the only one who doesn't seem to find the idea of keeping a zombie in the making at home. The local police stop by often to check on things. The step mother freaks out one day once she realises the true danger.

Title designer turned director Henry Hobson's first film is not a zombie film. Yes, there are a few zombies on hand and a very tiny bit of zombie mayhem but this is a drama, a family drama. The story here is about Dad and daughter with zombiesm filling in for whatever subtext the viewer wants to attribute (Growing up? Drugs?). I did not care about the subtext as I was struggling to make it through the glacially paced story. With just enough interesting  bits here and there I was able to see the 'was that really only 95 minutes?' journey through to the end. Characters staring off into the distance looking forlorn does not a film make.

Arnold puts in a nice performance and demonstrates he can play strong everyday characters which I suspect is the main reason he was attracted to this low budget film.

* 1/2 out of ****


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