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Dan Owen reviews
2 0 0 7 R e t r o s p e c t i v eP a r t T h r e e
JULY
With the summer in full-swing, Bruce Willis “did a Stallone” by resurrecting hismost famous character, John McClane, for another Die Hard film. EntitledDie Hard 4.0 internationally (but the cumbersome Live Free Or Die Hardin the States), this was a serviceable actioner that didn’t tarnish the DieHard brand too badly, but it was unfortunately neutered by certificate restraints.Get the unrated DVD if you can. But even then, you’ll never beat the original.
He seems to alternate between the summer and winter box-office periods, butHarry Potter returned to cinemas with The Order Of The Phoenix in July. Thefifth film and (most say) worst book. While it improves on repeated viewing,Phoenix was certainly more talky and lacking in thrills compared to earlier instalments.All set-up for the much-improved sixth and seventh books.
It was quite a good year for musicals, and Hairspray was the under-the-radarhit nobody quite expected. John Travolta partially redeemed himself for WildHogs by dressing as a piggy woman and who doesn’t love seeing Christopher Walkendance around?
The best marketing campaign of the year was undoubtedly for The Simpsons Movie,with fake Kwiki-Marts, the ability to “Simpsonize” your photos online, and abig film competition for a real-life Springfield to get the world premiere. Evenfans helped spread the word in interesting ways, like some guys creating agiant Homer “chalk-man” on an English hillside. The film itself? Not too bad.The best episode in years, stretched to film-length, as we all expected. Yes,it could have been much worse but I’m sure a Simpsons film circa 1996 would haverivalled some comedy classics.
The goliath of Transformers blasted up UK cinemas in July, with MichaelBay’s loud spectacle causing twentysomething fanboys and kids to get allexcited. The reviews were mixed, with the film being ripped apart and hailedin equal measure. Of course, it was a load of overblown tosh, but the visualswere genuinely enthralling (if you can keep up with the hyperactive editing), ShiaLeBeouf proved he has star quality and Megan Fox was easy on the eye.
AUGUST
How apt that a film about a disaster would prove to be just that. Expensive Evan Almighty,a sequel to Jim Carrey’s Bruce Almighty, splashed and drowned at the box-officeeverywhere. The idea sounded fun (a comedy update of Noah’s Ark), Morgan Freemanwas back as God, and Steve Carrell has a good track record in comedies (Anchorman, 40Year Old Virgin, The Office). So what went wrong? Oh yeah. It wasn’t very funny.
The weakest threequel arrived in the listless shape of Rush Hour 3, whichsomehow did respectable business despite a critical thrashing. People are theirown worse enemies.
Surf’s Up was also the weakest of this year’s CGI animations; a tale ofsurfing penguins that seemed to be trying to surf Happy Feet’s wave. Butpenguins are so 2006, man.
Fortunately, the year’s best threequel arrives in the lithe shape of The BourneUltimatum, with Matt Damon back as amnesiac ass-kicker Jason Bourne. The poorsod is still looking for answers (even though everyone watching thinks it’spretty clear you’re a top assassin for the US government, dummy!) No matter.Paul Greengrass caught lightning twice in his depiction of all the slickfights, tense chases and nail-biting drama. A fast, furious, intelligent sliceof action.
Sleeper hit Knocked Up finally rocked up in the UK, having blitzed theUS a little earlier in the summer. It proved to be very successful here, too with audiences lapping up the well-judged mix of low-brow guffaws and high-browlaughs. The best rom-com in a long time, and nice to see a comedy actually tell a story for once.
John Cusack’s an interesting actor, but 1408 didn’t quite hit as big asI’d hoped. This adaptation of a Stephen King story has a great, simple premise (paranormaldebunker spends a night in a very haunted motel room). Unfortunately, the unsettlingscares later give way to OTT silliness but it can still be considered a good effort.
SEPTEMBER
Heading into Autumn, an early Oscar-contender for 2008 was released in the shapeof Atonement, the wartime adaptation of a popular novel, starring KeiraKnightley (out to prove she’s more than a pirating tough-nut) and James McAvoy(having a great year, following The Last King Of Scotland). The film seemed tobe a good antidote to the summer fare, spending weeks at the top of the UKchart.
Joining Atonement in almost parallel success was Simon Pegg comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run.This rom-com set in the world of amateur marathon running was a surprise hit fordirector David Schwimmer (Ross in Friends) and proved that, post-Fuzz, Pegg hasbeen taken to British hearts. The film itself? Mediocre.
The latter half of 2007 saw a resurgence in the Western genre; first with3:10 To Yuma, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, which peaked earlyin the UK and slipped considerably. But still, it did very well in the US andproved there’s still some fondness for heterosexual cowboys post-Brokeback Mountain.
A big disappointment, in terms of success anyway, was Clive Owen actioner Shoot ‘Em Up,which just wasn’t marketed very strongly following its failure in the US. Still, its a brainless, high-octane barrel of fun which should do well on DVD andbecome a cult hit.
Following up Knocked Up was Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow, both involved inSuperbad. This was cleverly sold on the back of Knocked Up’s success in theUS and UK, and months of hype online helped make it a hit — despite slightlyunderperforming because of such epic expectations.
On the opposite end of appraisal from most people was I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry,the new Adam Sandler comedy that received mostly negative reviews because of its offensivegay stereotypes. Audiences were more forgiving, and made it a modest hit.
The biggest casualty of 2007 was undoubtedly Grindhouse, a double-bill “filmexperience” from directing friends Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Two filmsfor the price of one, both inspired by the exploitative, violent, cheap n’nasty flicks of the 1970s. The project bombed in the US and forced the studioto cut their losses, re-edit both films, push Tarantino’s Death Proof intoCannes for some quick praise, before throwing it into UK cinemas and hopingfor the best. It failed. Death Proof, about a serial killer stuntman (Kurt Russell)tanked in the UK and capped Tarantino’s worst year in film.
Another gritty film was The Brave One, which wasn’t much of a hit,but was interesting enough for being a Jodie Foster female-version of Death Wish.
Having righted some wrongs with his Ocean’s franchise, George Clooney made abid for awards glory in 2008 with Michael Clayton. This law thriller generateda bit of buzz from critics, directed by scribe Tony Gilroy (the Bourne films), althoughits box-office success didn’t reflect the plaudits.
2007 Retrospective Part One –2007 Retrospective Part Two –2007 Retrospective Part FourPage Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2008.
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.