Boxing Day is one of the biggest days in the Australian film calendar, setting up the Summer holiday season. Notoriously there are diverse array of films released - blockbusters, family films, foreign-language and indies. For three years in a row (2001-03) Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings were the poster films of the Boxing Day slot. This year, Jackson's first installment in his Hobbit trilogy, is joined by Tom Hooper's screen adaptation of the world famous musical, Les Miserables. That should be cause for some anticipation, but do they live up to their potential?
Check out the other releases below, and take note Parental Guidance is the only release not reviewed.
Les Miserables - Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France,
Les Misérables tells the enthralling tale of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman),
a man who survives nineteen years of imprisonment and becomes a town
mayor. Pursued by a relentless police inspector after breaking his
parole, Valjean involves himself in the lives of those that need his
help. Tom Hooper’s (
The King’s Speech) garishly epic
screen adaptation of the timeless tale of redemption features a large
ensemble cast and though his bombastic ambition doesn’t amount to a
wholly successful work, but there are some remarkable sequences. One can’t
deny its sweeping spectacle and the fantastic work from most of the
cast. While there is every chance of the unacquainted musical novice
falling under Hooper’s spell, this wearying tale is better catered for
connoisseurs of the genre. But, when
Les Misérables peaks its reaches
incredible heights. The rousing songs – sung and recorded live on set –
are the result of a daring approach. Whether sung
by individual performers or the ensemble as a whole, they are always
endowed with energy and sung with passion, and as a result, stir the
emotions. The buzz surrounding Anne Hathaway’s
performance is justified too. She is pretty much perfect in a role
that’s over within the film’s opening hour. Her rendition of ‘I Dreamed A
Dream’ is one of the highlights – so good one could argue the film
never tops it again. Also impressive is Eddie Redmayne. In a film where
everything is sung, I couldn’t fault his work. Though let down by a fatiguing length and inconsistent technical decisions,
Les Miserables is an operatic and epic tale of social injustice,
redemption, uprising and love, boasting some toe-tapping numbers and cinematic
grandeur.
★★★1/2
The Hobbit - I have decided not to write a feature review of
The Hobbit as I wasn't particularly keen on it - and contemplating on it has provoked a less than enthusiastic desire to write - though I did enjoy a good deal of the exciting and much-improved second half. The 3D 48fps, after initially being distracting, became tolerable, though I feel like it is an unnecessary tech
addition that resulted in an image that was so sharp (video game-esque) that it removed this adventure from the realm of reality. The great thing about accompanying the characters in
The Lord of the Rings was the fact that Tolkein's world felt realistically brought to the screen, and in
The Hobbit everything feels manufactured and enhanced by CGI. My biggest gripe is lack of narrative drive and the episodic, exposition-heavy story that is evidently padded to
account for the three films. This is a children's novel that moves briskly and is an engaging read, yet only about six chapters from the novel are covered. There are extra sequences to tie this world into the one already built in
Lord of the Rings. The troll episode is awful, and a stopover in Rivendell was frankly unnecessary. Freeman (perfectly cast, despite channeling Tim from
The Office) is such an affable and endearing presence, while Serkis is terrific as Gollum, who provoked one of the few emotional responses, gave the film a lift & finally allowed Bilbo to
shine independently (something that is disappointingly absent for the most part). I will check it out again in 24fps 2D in the hope of greater appreciation, but for now:
★★★
