Wonder Woman, After the Storm and My Life as a Courgette The Film Review

Hello and welcome to The Film Review on BBC News.

To take us through this week's cinema releases is James King.

So, James, what do we have this week?

Well, it's a bit of a globetrotting week this week actually. From

America, via ancient Greece, we have the new blockbuster, Wonder Woman.

And from Japan, the quiet and pensive drama, After the Storm. And

from France and Switzerland, stop motion animation, My Life as a

Courgette. If nothing else, one of the best titles of the year, isn't

it? It certainly is! Intriguing. Let's start off with Wonder Woman,

which has had some pretty good reviews, actually? It is getting a

good buzz. Last year we had Batman versus Superman, fairly painful

experience but she was good in it. And she will be back next year with

various other superheroes, but this is her on her own, stand-alone movie

directed by Patty Jenkins, and it is an origin story. Where did she come

from? She is never referred to as Wonder Woman in the movie, by the

way, she is Diana. We learn about her upbringing on this island, from

these Amazon warrior women, her involvement in the First World War.

This is a clip. Gal Gadot plays Wonder Woman, and this is her with

Chris Pine, an American pilot and spy who crash lands on this magical

island on which she lives, and he was taken prisoner... My name is

Captain Steve Trevor, serial number 8141921, and that is all I am at

liberty to say... British intelligence. What the hell is this

thing? The lassoo compels you to reveal the truth. What is your

mission? You are in more danger than you think. What is your mission? I

am asked by! I am a spy. I supposed to be used to seeing all of the male

superheroes, but this is a female one. Yes, it is refreshing because

of that, and a female director with Patty Jenkins as well. But part of

the reason I enjoyed this is it feels quite old-fashioned and

traditional, and what I mean by that, it has this refreshing lack of

cynicism about it. I remember in the 80s and early 90s, blockbusters were

not something to be embarrassed about, but full of fun, enjoyment

and excitement. This is like that. Some other comic book movies have

been pretty cynical and pretty moody and fairly miserable. They have done

very well but have not exactly been full of fun. Wonder Woman is fun and

feels like a stand-alone movie that does not particularly connect to

anything else, to the rest of the DC world that has, shock horror, a

beginning, middle and end, and it makes sense! If you have never seen

another comic book movie you could watch this and still enjoy it and I

think that is why people love it so much. We also have a Japanese film,

After the Storm? Yes, written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. He is

a great film-maker of family dramas. Our Little Sister was one he did a

couple of years ago, well worth seeing. It is about a writer who is

a bit washed up, in middle age he is struggling to write again and is

actually gambling more than writing. He is estranged from his son, his

ex-wife, has a difficult relationship with his mother, but

they are brought together in his mother's flat one night whilst

sheltering from a storm, a tornado. It takes quite a while to get to

that point and certainly perhaps for the first half an hour you wonder

where it is going, but I actually think that meandering quality it has

is ultimately its real power, because it is a film that take

things slowly, allows characters to blossom slowly, allows us to get to

know them slowly, and it is the antithesis is really of the

hyperactive blockbuster. Very much a slow character piece, reminding me a

little bit, oddly perhaps, of some Mike Leigh films, that domestic

kitchen sink setting, humour and drama. But again the characters...

It is a character driven rather than plot driven film, modest definitely,

but moving. You mentioned the great title My Life as a Courgette. My

Life As A Zucchini, for the American viewers. About a boy said to an

orphanage with other orphans his age? Yes, and it did well at the

words. To get to that was amazing, because it is small film. French and

Swiss, co-production, 66 minutes, really small-scale stuff, so to get

Oscar nominated was amazing. Like you said, a boy goes into a foster

home. I saw it with subtitles but this is the clip from the dubbed

version... How old are you, son? I'm nine. Can you tell me a little bit

about your mother? She really liked to drink beer, and her mashed

potatoes were always good, and sometimes we had fun. OK... Not

always? So where is your father? Here. Mm. It has my dad's beerchic

leader chick on it, too. My mum said he always liked chicks. I will put

you in a home with people like you, kid to have no mum or dad. Does it

work? It does, actually. Heartbreaking, but uplifting. It is

not a film about how miserable it is to be in care. There is misery in

the film, of course, but ultimately it is about the friendships this

character makes. Courgette is his nickname. And why it was a great

place for him to go to, so actually it is uplifting. I always think

children's movies should have a bit of darkness and pain in there, and

it is there but ultimately it is a feel-good movie. And short, as you

say, 66 minutes. It packs a lot in. People often complain films are too

long, but I wonder if they might complain this is too short?

Possibility, because you're paying the same money, but if you are

economical with the screenplay, write a great story, you can pack a

lot into a short running time. I have seen three-hour films that have

a lot less inept than this movie. OK, let's talk about best out at the

moment, which I think is The Hippopotamus? Yes, Stephen Fry wrote

the book on which this was based and he did a Q that was beamed to a

lot of cinemas. The title character is played by Roger Allam, this

rotund, boozy, writer and poet, investigating some rather strange

goings-on at a stately home, and he is the reason to watch it. Roger

Allam is a fantastic actor and has some outrageous lines in this. He is

definitely un-PC, but definitely by the end of the movie rather heroic,

but some jaw-dropping dialogue, and he is having a whale of a time, this

doozy couldn't care less kind of guy, although the film itself, the

plot is hardly edge of your seat stuff. It is a movie to watch

because of that performance. Mixed reviews, for that, but you would

recommend it? Yes, because of that performance, and Stephen Fry, who

wrote the book in 904I think, or a gimmick then, he said I like this

character so much I want to revisit ten -- he wrote the book in 94 I

think. Your best DVD at the moment? Yes, The Founder. This is about the

man who turned McDonald's into the huge franchise, the multinational

franchise, it is now. It stars Michael Keaton. There was a bit of

an Oscar buzz about this one when it was first announced but then a

couple of things happened. The release date changed which didn't

help things, then people watched the movie and said, Michael Keaton is

brilliant, but actually this guy does not seem that likeable or that

nice. It got great reviews and I would give it a great review but the

problem with this film, do you want to watch two hours about someone who

does not seem that likeable person? It is very interesting

business-wise, how driven and determined he was to make this

restaurant into a huge success, but he is not someone who you will think

is a real hero. But people do love success stories and how people

create things, like Steve Jobs, that sort of thing? And in that film as

well he was not lovable the whole way through, what he? I recommend

it. A lot of people missed it in the cinema and I for the small screen.

Michael Keegan is back form, of course, after Spotlight and Birdman,

great successes, and he can do this, play people who are not clear-cut.

Thank you for being with us. That is it for this week. Thank you for

watching The Film Review. Goodbye for