War Games

We had a bit of a movie marathon at home this weekend, catching up on various horrors that slipped under our radar in the past year or so. I must be honest, I went into War games with no real expectations as this is hardly ground breaking in it's ideas, but I was really very surprised to find the film to be as good as it is. After a kind of a naff set up and introduction, the film really gets going and never lets up until the final image. The chase/hunt is relentless and it's quite a tense watch. It's got some quite clever visuals where the camera kind of drifts in and out of focus, and because it's shot hand held it really puts you into the movie. This is also helped because none of the cast are particularly well known, at least not to me, so everyone was expendable and it was clever how the film sets up certain characters as the lead only to bump them off unexpectedly. You never really know beyond the main girl who's gonna stick around til the end. To their credit the actors are all very good and should go on to be better known. I think that the film could have benefited from spending more time on the soldiers background because their motives are never really clear, but then again, that also makes it kind of scary too. Not the best film we saw over the weekend, but pretty bloody good all the same.

I thought that War Games was one of those really nice surprises. Its one of those films that you end up catching by chance that turns out to be a nasty, cool little movie. Its about some kids who end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and get messed with by the wrong people. It's kind of similar to pretty much every movie like that, that you have ever seen, except what I thought was cool is that the film creates this really cool atmosphere, and really shows the beauty of the nature of the wilderness that the kids have gone to. Its kinda strange that this nasty stuff is happening in such a beautiful setting. Most of the characters are pretty generic, cardboard cutouts, but the actors do a good job with them, and keep you interested in their fates. I think on the whole, War Games works best when it catches you unaware, one of those films that lets you drift into it, and suddenly it's got you, and I love finding films like this.

This movie fails at the most basic level of telling a story that makes any kind of sense.

The premise (the good guys start off in an air-soft game, but it becomes a real 'war') sounds like it might be vaguely interesting (if you haven't already seen the much better film Severance). But the air-soft element is completely forgotten as soon as the baddies show up - the characters who are supposed to be good at the game behave just as idiotically as the rest.

It's not even that they make the understandable mistakes panicking civilians might make in a deadly situation - they just do whatever random, stupid things they need to progress the 'story' to the next plot point. One character is happy to kill an injured enemy in cold blood, but then hesitates when confronted by an armed enemy coming for her two minutes later. One character who's armed with a real gun nonsensically *puts it down and forgets about it* just to let a particularly nasty and sadistic scene happen without her preventing it.

The cinematographer's main trick is to have the focus wander between foreground and background - which looks classy the first time, but loses its appeal when it happens in every other shot.

Not at all good.

Cosimo Alema has crafted a really gritty and dark thriller which pits it's excellent young cast against some pretty nasty euro villains and watches in delight as they fight to survive. The idea of city kids being hunted in the wilderness by crazed locals is nothing new and has been done better in Deliverance and Southern Comfort but the old saying rings true, if it ain't broke.... The film really benefits from it's stylish burnt out visuals, no doubt thanks to Alema's background as a music video director. It gives the film a strong identity and makes the most of the awesome back drop in which the film is set. The hunting ground itself is a awash with lakes, waterfalls and forests which all lend to some great set pieces. The cast all do a good job to flesh out their limited characters, and give us a reason to root for them, whilst the bad guys all look typically gruff and nasty. Low on scares the film does throw in one or two good shocks and whilst never lingering too long on the kills as the cast are inevitably whittled down, it does create a very tense and believable atmosphere. A scene involving the two sisters Lara (Stephanie Chapman Baker) and Monica (Valene Kane) is heartbreaking and truly memorable. Sam Cohan does well as the groups de facto leader Alex who may or may not know more than he is letting on, and Neil Linpow is definitely one to watch as the reluctant hero Riko. A really good example of what I'd call Friday night fluff. An enjoyable watch that wont set the world on fire, but will keep you entertained throughout.

I couldn't finish watching it, it was that bad. Obvious foreign movie. Couldn't tell whether the actors were actually speaking English or whether it was dubbed as it sounded stereo typically dubbed. A lot of these reviews state it was good viewing but sadly not for myself and I love action, thriller and horror who also writes reviews on such films.