Suicide Squad

Direction: David Ayer; Cast: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney;  Story: Based on DC Comics Characters; Screenplay: David Ayer; Producer Charles Roven, Richard Suckle; Cinematogrpahy:  Roman Vasyanov; Music: Steven Price;  Editing:  John Gilroy; Genre: Action-Fantasy; Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures;  Location: USA  Running Time: 123 minutes  ;  

Technical assessment: 2.5

Moral assessment: 2

CINEMA rating: V18 

Intelligence Operative Amanda Waller (Davis) puts together Task Force X from hardened and dangerous criminals to protect mankind from future attacks after the death of Superman (as depicted in the movie Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice). The team is composed of Deadshot (Smith), Harley Quinn (Robbie), El Diablo (Hernandez), Killer Croc (Agbaje) with Army Special Forces Col. Rick Flag (Kinnaman) as their leader. Unknown to the team, Waller chose them because she believes they are expendable and that she can control them by controlling the heart of the Enchantress (Delevigne), a powerful sorceress possessing Flag’s girlfriend Dr. June Moone. Unknown to Waller, the Enchantress frees her brother and plots to seek revenge against the world for imprisoning their souls and ceasing to worship them as gods. Consequently, each of Task Force X’s members have their own issues and pains which lead them to choose to do good or remain bad. 

The film’s title might be an indication of the audience’s feelings after sitting through two whole hours of Suicide Squad in the theaters. Visually, it just goes through so many confusing darkly lit scenes put together in a very rushed manner. The musical introductions per character lose their cuteness after the second song. And even with all the fight scenes and explosions, you get edgy and bored. But the greater failure of the film is in its narrative.  The plot is muddled, the characters fail to develop into something comprehensible and the direction is very rough. The backstories feel rushed and the actual storyline is a jumble of clichés and disconnection. Delevinge should stick to modelling because she is just pathetic as June and embarrassing as the Enchantress. Leto’s Joker tries too hard to surpass Ledger’s unsettling version and Nicholson’s freakish take and ends up simply irritating. While Harley Quinn and Deadshot make good chemistry, and the script has better humor, they are not enough to salvage the production.   

Suicide Squad could have delivered a powerful message: especially in the light of the current fight of the incumbent Philippine president against illegal drugs. Criminals are not dispensable. Regardless of their actions, they deserve compassion, they deserve respect and more importantly they deserve a chance to reform their lives. No matter how bad a person may seem, there is still an ounce of goodness somewhere as long as they have discovered love—true love. Deadshot’s love for his daughter, El Diablo’s love for his family and even Harley Quinn’s dysfunctional love for Joker—all brought them to realize there is a greater good in the world which they are called to be part of.  Unfortunately, the viewers will instead remember the number of deaths and kills and violence. 

Ben Hur

DIRECTOR:  Timur Bekmambetov  LEAD CAST:  Jack Huston, Tobby Kebbel, Morgan Freeman, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi  SCREENWRITER: Keith Clarke; John Ridley  PRODUCER: Mark Burnett; Sean Daniel  EDITOR: Dody Dorn, Richard Francis-Bruce  Bob Murawski  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Marco Beltrami  GENRE: Drama, Action CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Pliver Wood  DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pics, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  FILMING LOCATIONS: USA, Italy  RUNNING TIME: 150 minutes  

Technical assessment:  4

Moral assessment:  4

CINEMA rating:  PG 13

MTRCB rating: PG

Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother, Messala Severus (Tobby Kebbel) who had since leaving home been appointed by Pontius Pilate as an officer in the Roman army.  Stripped of his rank and dignity, and separated from wife Esther (Nazanin Boniadi)  and his family, Judah is forced to hard labor at sea in a Roman warship. After five years of enslavement, he is washed ashore and rescued by Sheikh Ilderim (Morgan Freeman). Pleading with Ilderim to take him with him to Jerusalem, Ben Hur wins the favor of the wealthy sheikh by proving himself as an expert at the treatment of horses. Ben Hur soon agrees to Ilderim’s scheme to have him race chariots in the circus against the reigning champion, Messala.  Offering a hefty wager in exchange for Ben Hur’s freedom, Ilderim persuades Pilate to accept Ben Hur in the races. Seeking revenge, Ben Hur instead finds redemption.

Ben Hur is one proof that a compelling story can be the foundation of a marvelous film. A re-imagining of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ”, the 2016 film is helmed by Timur Bekmambetov who found in the script an “incredibly meaningful story, impressing with not just sensational action but with line-up of amazing life-like characters and deep thinking, with emotions and actions that are relatable and have a modern, universal resonance.”  The smartly chosen cast and their superb performances provide the spine for the realism of the film, enhanced by spot-on cinematography an dialogue, fabulous production sets, costumes (clothes of biblical times with a 21^st century twist), sound effects, music, and CGI that portrays history without the histrionic outbursts of computer driven action movies.

Ben Hur teaches without preaching, and respects the intelligence of the viewer.  Noteworthy is the subtle interweaving of Ben Hur’s journey and the mission of Jesus—two parallel threads that pull the pieces together towards a logical and satisfying resolution of a fraternal conflict.  Ben Hur is more than just a story of chariot racing.  Families can relate to the characters, for it is a story about brothers, about family, about love and hate in equal parts and the unique conflict the mixture spawns.  It reminds families of how our loved ones disappoint us, how badly we treat the ones we love, how often the call for forgiveness falls on our deaf ears, and how freedom may be won through forgiveness and compassion.  A must-see.

Nerve

DIRECTOR:  Henry Joost, Ariel Schuman  LEAD CAST: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer, Kimiko Glenn, Marc John Jefferies, Colson Baker, Brian Marc, Ed Squires  PRODUCER: Allison Shearmur SCREENWRITER: Jessica Sharzer, based on a novel by Jeanne Ryan  CINEMATOGRAPHER: Micheal Simmonds  EDITOR: Madeleine Gavin, Jeff McEvoy  DISTRIBUTOR:  Lionsgate  GENRE: Techno-thriller, drama  LOCATION: United States  RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes

Technical assessment:  4

Moral assessment:  3

CINEMA rating:  V14

Extrovert high schooler Sydney (Emily Meade) eggs on her sidekick Vee (Emma Roberts) to join “Nerve”, an app where joiners may be either “watcher” or “player”.  Watchers pay a subscription fee while players complete dares to get paid out of the watchers’ pot.  Watchers vote on the dares players are assigned to do.  If players reject or bail on a dare, they’re out, but if they complete a dare, their cash prize goes directly into their bank account.  They’re also provided an option to go on to the next round.  Tired of being a wallflower, Vee joins as a player.  Her first dare is to kiss a stranger at a diner.  The charming guy he kisses, Ian, has actually been planted there to complete his own dare, dancing on the tabletops.  Their chemistry is cheered by the watchers; from then on Vee and Ian team up for more dares, each one more deadly than then last.

In keeping with its theme, the directors used every trick possible to keep the movie’s energy level zooming high, its visuals distinctive, and its soundtrack pulsating.  This is most apparent in (spoiler coming) the dare that has the motorcycle driver whizzing

blindfolded through New York’s crazy traffic.  It would be next to pointless to nitpick on the technical aspects of Nerve.  Its compelling story told in breakneck speed more than redeems the minor technical flaws.  The fact that Nerve can get the viewers to be emotionally involved, to care for the characters as though they themselves were Nerve watchers, means that whatever technical skills the film needed to deliver its message, Nerve supplied.

Nerve resounds with a loud voice of social commentary.  It takes us into the darker realms of cyberspace while keeping track of what’s happening in the real world.  Its Philippine debut coincides with the introduction in the country of the location-based, augmented reality game Pokemon Go, giving us a foresight into the perils of such games.  While involvement in the Nerve app initially offers players and watchers fun (like Pokemon Go), a deeper look into the motivation of Nerve players reveals serious issues concerning self-image.  Why would young people venture into death-defying dares at all cost? Young people in Nerve tend to yield to peer pressure, and would not think twice about endangering their life—defying authority and common sense—for easy money and internet fame.  CINEMA will not reveal Nerve’s ending; suffice it to say that it is clear enough for the film to be given an Acceptable moral assessment.