Escapada perfecta

Unfortunately I had seen a spoiler review, by accident, prior to watching this, which did diminish some of the suspense in this film for me. However, in retrospect, I don't understand many reviewer's comments about the two halves of the film (before the murderers are revealed) and them not acting in accordance with knowing they did it. I didn't see that at all, and they were clearly concerned about people knowing they did it. What did confuse me, however, was WHY they were doing what they did, and whilst there were clues, some aspects were not given and to me they were the ones that I was questioning! I was surprised at the film having seen the trailers as they seemed quite (cleverly) misleading. It is, all told, a suspenseful film in that you don't know how the nefarious pair will be caught and how many/who will survive. Though in saying that it is a little bit Hollywood and largely predictable and the twists were seen coming a mile away. Perhaps I can say that with hindsight given that I did know some plot points ahead of time but even so, to me it was obvious anyway. I guessed quite a few things and was glad how it ended up.

Hawaiian born, Timothy Olyphant was just superb, believable and constant, and convincingly teamed with Kiele Sanchez who was feisty and super-cool. I've liked everything I've seen Steve Zahn do and this was no exception, I think it showed him as a brilliant actor to be so varied, chameleon-like and in such an action role where he is usually associated with geeky characters (love him in Reality Bites). Mila Jovovich was also great - in fact all the actors were well formed, interesting and generally believable making for a good ensemble cast in a gripping action thriller. I'd have liked to have seen more of the Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton couple.

The SFX people did a good job with all the bloody wounds, mutilations and injuries, they were very impressive and I became quite squeamish at a few. I thought it was wonderful to see the calm, beauty and grandeur of Hawaii as a backdrop for quite an ugly story. Whilst I didn't quite get a motivation for all the misdeeds that went on, it was still a very good watch and the script was clever, witty (making fun of typical action film blunders, I just thought something like "he'd have run out of bullets" and the guy goes and says, "I should have been counting my bullets" etc) and intelligent. A film is always getting an extra point for referencing Cool Hand Luke!!

This is a good movie. However, it will probably not get a fair shot by most. The reason is the way the story is structured in which apparently nothing happens in the first 45 minutes. For today's average 18-34 audience this is almost intolerable as they are now conditioned to expect cheap CGI thrills and impossibly huge explosions in the first two minutes of the film (not necessarily a bad thing BTW). What underrated Director/Writer David Towhy is doing is actually putting your brain to work during the first two acts of the movie, all the while enjoying some incredible visuals of the Hawaiian tropical rain forest. Towhy concentrates on subtle character development. The acting is good. Mila Jovovich and Timothy Oliphant are the two that carry the film throughout. All in all I have to say that Towhy put out a fairly plausible story here with none of the CGI generated hyperbole that we see so much of nowadays.

A Perfect Getaway was nowhere near a perfect film, but it was certainly a good film. The trailers made it out to be a much more non-stop, action thriller than it really was, showing the last 20 minutes. The majority of the film centers around paranoia. It is true though that the plot twist can be seen coming from a mile away, but how it is delivered is where it succeeds. While I personally wasn't surprised, how the twist was presented was quite original and chill-inducing. I'll leave it at that. Where this film really succeeds is in the cinematography and acting, both of which are superb. The locale is beautiful, all the colors are vibrantly displayed and everything looks crisp. There are some scenes with intriguing camera work that works well to add intensity and be intuitive. All the actors really give it their best and create believable characters. Milla was good as usual, but Zahn really surprised me. I never really gave him credit for how good of an actor he is until about now. Overall, it's worth the watch and is ultimately very entertaining with wonderful characters.

Perfect Getaway, A (2009)

*** (out of 4)

The "old dark house" genre was made famous back in the silent days as we'd get a group of people in one house with the idea that one of them is a killer. That basic idea continues with this film, although instead of a house we're treated the beautiful locations of Hawaii. A newlywed couple (Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich) are on their honeymoon in Hawaii and decide to go on an eleven mile hike. Half way through the hike they learn that another newlywed couple were butchered. The film then has our couple meeting two other couples (Timothy Olyphant/Kiele Sanchez, Marley Shelton, Chris Hemsworth) with the possibility that one of them are the murderers. This 97-minute movie is pure buildup for the final ten minutes when the twist is revealed. I certainly won't reveal the twist but I must say I was somewhat letdown by it but not enough to really enjoy the film. This is the type of movie that gives you a rather simple idea and then works every little inch out of it and in the end we're left with a pretty tense little thriller that is sadly being marketed as a horror movie, which might keep some people away. The film benefits from the great locations, terrific acting and some nice direction. All six leads do a terrific job and it was great seeing someone like Zahn get the leading role. He's basically played supporting roles most of his career but he has no problem carrying the film here. He and Jovovich have great chemistry together and work well with the other cast members. Olyphant clearly steals the film as the ex-soldier who is hiding a few secrets of his own. Another very positive thing about this film is that the majority of it takes place during the daylight so there's nothing jumping out of the shadows at night. I think it's brave to try and build suspense during the day but the director pulls it off perfectly. The 2.35:1 aspect ratio picks up the entire beauty of the island, which really becomes a character all by itself. The film is up for a lot of debate over the twists and turns it takes, which is good. Discussion never hurts a movie and I'm sure people will be discussing what happens here. I personally found it to be a cheat but a lot of thrillers do this. No matter how one feels about the twists there's really no denying that there's still a lot of fun and tension building up to the final moments.

A PERFECT GETAWAY is a whodunit-style mystery set on some Hawaiian islands. There's been a brutal murder nearby, and the scriptwriter introduces three separate couples into the mix, inviting us to watch as they interact and mistrust one another. It's the viewer's job to work out who the killer is before the time runs out. I have to say that I worked out the twist early on, something I'm not normally able to do, so it's up to you in deciding whether it's over-obvious or not.

As such, it's a rather artificial exercise in filmmaking. There's a distinct tongue-in-cheek approach to the material, a slightly deliberate cheesiness at what's going on. Certainly, once the killers have been uncovered there's a huge misstep in the way in which the filmmakers pause their movie and take ten minutes out, in excruciating detail, to reveal how their twist came out. And from that point in, the predictable survival antics ring slightly hollow.

Until that point, your enjoyment of the movie depends on how caught up you are in the mystery and how much you like the actors. I found Steve Zahn to be out of his depth in a non-comedy, and Milla Jovovich to be as shrill and annoying as ever. But Timothy Olyphant more than makes up for that with a truly great turn as a charismatic ex-forces guy with a metal plate in his head. Olyphant's kooky performance bests sums up this movie's quirky atmosphere and his presence alone is worth an extra star.