Review of the Year – The Eleven Best Action Sequences of 2014

Today we celebrate our favourite chases, fights or all out battles of this year. There’s been plenty to choose from so we’ve tried to whittle the numbers down and include a few more out of the box suggestions. We must warn you of spoilers ranging from minor to major taking place in each film mentioned. Enjoy!

11) Zero kills Willem Dafoe – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Our real hero, Zero (newcomer Tony Revolori), comes to the rescue of Ralph Fiennes’ concierge in this mountain-top chase. With director Wes Anderson, screen legend Willem Dafoe plays Adrien Brody’s horrific henchman (who in fact bumps off Jeff Goldblum earlier) flees from the slopes of a monastic village and almost kills the extravagant M Gustave before Zero arrives with a shamefully gleeful kick off the mountain-side.

10) Attack on Cloud Cuckoo Land – The Lego Movie

The year’s undisputed surprise hit shines best in this glorious destruction of Uni-Kitty’s (Alison Brie) sugary-sweet homeland. When Emmett’s (Chris Pratt) attempt at a rousing and heroic speech gets a mixed response from the Master Builders (Morgan Freeman, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Cobie Smulders, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum), the forces of Lord Business (Will Ferrell), led by passive-aggresive secret agent Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), launch.

9) The final chase – The Two Faces of January

Hossein Amini’s directorial debut concludes in this gorgeously shot chase sequence through Istanbul. The brewing tensions of the potential criminals (Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac) culminate in a pursuit prompted by the secret service arriving on the scene. It wasn’t too surprising though that only one would survive.

8) Tidal waves – Interstellar

Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi passion project Interstellar isn’t strictly an action film and the it’s more overwhelming sequences are in the tremendous emotional gut punches of the later scenes but this phenomenally crafted landing on the first of three planets the crew of Endurance explore. The mountains of Miller’s world are soon revealed to be waves that makes us winder if we can put our lives in the hands of robots before things really get dark with the first of the astronaut’s lives claimed, Doyle (Wes Bentley). Then the science really comes into play when Cooper (Matthew MacConaughey), Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) and TARS (Bill Irwin) return to the Endurance to the realisation that Miller died just minutes ago and that Romilly (David Gyasi) has waited twenty years for them.

7) Kyln prison break – Guardians of the Galaxy

When Quill (Chris Pratt), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) foil Gamora’s (Zoe Saldana) attempts to backstab her master Ronan (Lee Pace), Corpsman Dey (John C Reilly) transports them all to the Kyln, a high security prison dominated by the fearsome warrior Drax (Dave Bautista). To save their own skins they recruit Drax to assist them in their breakout. Groot’s unintentionally adorable sabotage of their efforts seemingly sets them back at square one before a mad scavenger hunt for the Orb (one of the six most dangerous objects in the entire universe) and a prosthetic leg.

6) The second beach assault – Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow’s (besides making Emily Blunt as good an action star as co-star Tom Cruise) greatest achievement is sustaining the thrill of seeing the same battle take place over and over again but this Doug Liman helmed sci-fi hit takes flight in the second incarnation of the Private Ryan-style beach assault as we finally get the just of what’s going on in Cage’s blood. Bonus points for Liman’s excellently executed action.

5) A skirmish of multiple forces – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The barrel chase remains the series’ best moment but Peter Jackson turns the stereo to epic in The Defining Chapter’s finale. Thankfully Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf are no passengers when these five forces converge on Erebor: the Dwarves (Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Billy Connolly), Elves (Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace), Men (Luke Evans, Ryan Gage, Stephen Fry), Orcs (Manu Bennett) and Eagles.

4) Quicksilver VS the Pentagon – X-Men: Days of Future Past

You may have been wowed by Nightcrawler’s White House raid in the opening of X-Men 2 but new fan favourite Quicksilver (Evan Peters) blows that out of the water. Escapee mutant Erik (Michael Fassbender) and his rescuers Charles (James McAvoy) and Logan (Hugh Jackman) are seemingly doomed at the hands of Pentagon guards until we get a rare view at how Peter Maximoff perceives our slow world. The music, the brilliantly appropriate Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce, is what defines this sequence from Usual Suspects director Bryan Singer.

3) Koba HIJACKS A TANK

We presumed Apes on horses and Serkis’ note perfect Caesar would be the highlight but here Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves creates truly iconic cinema magic with a masterful swivelling shot as lead villain Koba (Toby Kebbell) hijacks a tank, loses control and veers it into the doors of the human fort.

2) “Let Them Fight” – Godzilla

Like all great horror films, Gareth Edwards’ new incarnation of Japan’s greatest legend, Godzilla, built up the tension with style and suspense before a genuinely breathtaking pay off. Descending into San Francisco in the stunning HALO jump set-piece, Ford (Aaron Taylor Johnson) witnesses Godzilla’s power with a mighty fire breath to finish off the MUTOs.

1) Elevating tensions – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

“Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?”

Our number one is Captain America’s finest hour yet. Idealist Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is unphased by the threats of Robert Redford’s new SHIELD head Alexander Pierce and enters a life, soon to the occupied by Brock Romlow (Frank Grillo) nine of his new agents. Eleven enter the elevator and only one leaves: pure action awesomeness.

The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.

The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.

In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.

Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:

International Box-office Top 10:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office: $710.8 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Top 10 Anticipated:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

The Two Faces of January review

Director: Hossein Amini

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Yigit Ozsener, Daisy Bevan, David Warshofsky

The writing of The Two Faces of January has come from two minds; firstly the American author Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr Ripley, Stranger on a Train) wrote the original novel back in 1964 while Oscar nominated Iranian writer Hossein Amini (Drive, 47 Ronin) makes this his film adaptation his directorial debut. Janus’ (or January) two faces spawn from a Roman myth of the god who sees with one face into the past and the other into the future. I’ve yet to draw a link between that legend and this film’s title (please comment any answers for that) but it’s fitting that this should be the collaboration of old and new, past and future.

In Greece, 1962, American tour guide Rydal (Isaac) finds himself drawn to Chester (Mortensen) and Colette MacFarland (Dunst), a wealthy yet secretive American couple touring Europe. He agrees to take them under his wing, secretly scamming them at each turn. When Chester’s past misdemeanours begin to pursue him, Rydal agrees to assist the pair out of the country but a paranoid mistrust grows between the trio.

The collaboration of old a new does result in some dashes of brilliance; the odd scene (chiefly the well constructed market sequences in Athens) oozes with smarts, class and elegance but there are many in which the dialogue becomes fairly sluggish.

Thankfully, Amini fully utilises the Greek setting in his feature debut. The cinematography is greatly stylish with each minute but the real excellence lies in the performances. Although the least established of the three leading stars, Oscar Isaac does a fantastic job of personifying Chester’s fears with an appropriate amount of charm. Mortensen’s portrayal has a similar initial allure but his character’s vicious secrecy and eventual anarchy make the role unlikeable. Although they begin as friends, the duo’s verbal sparring define the film.

Sadly, as they are both thoroughly repellent in the final act, it becomes increasingly challenging to care for characters as events unsurprisingly go south. Kirsten Dunst’s Colette provides a glimmer of hope but, despite a powerhouse performance, she’s far too often a bystander to the main events. Additionally, it’s often implied that she’s as thick in it as the others, only piling onto the sympathy issue.

However by employing implicitness, the film (and more particularly it’s winding plot) allows itself to work in the shadows. The growing sense of secrecy and unrevealed motives (is Rydal present because of money or infatuation?) puts the audience, and crucially Chester, into the unknown, conjuring plenty of suspicion and paranoia.

The story loosens and pays off in a big way in its masterfully suspenseful Istanbul finale, evidently throwing back to The Third Man. It’s frequently bogged down by a lack of sympathy but Two Faces is the most stylish, tense and smart thriller of the year.

8/10

“I’m sorry I disappointed you.”