127 Hours

The man himself Aron Ralston.

Director Danny Boyle isnt one to shy away from presenting viewers with some uncomfortable viewing. Transpotting wasn't exactly easy watching and despite being billed as a 'feel good movie', Slumdog Dog Millionaire presented audiences with some pretty grim viewing. So its not surprise then that his latest film, an adaptation of Aron Ralston's biographical 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place', has had some poor audience members fainting in the aisles. Get by the gore though and the movie ultimately feels like an incredibly positive upbeat movie... skipping out, it seems, would be a far more appropriate means of exiting the cinema. A simple tale of one gruesome act of survival this is not.

It's difficult to imagine that many people, if any, will go to see 127 Hours not knowing exactly what is about to play out before them. The excruciating climax to the film is and has for a long time been well known. Ralston's story quickly trancended into legend back in 2003 as word spread about 'the man who HAD to cut his own arm off'. But far from focusing on this incident itself though, the film is about much more than these few moments. Far removed from the long, overally dramaticised tourture porn audiences are now so used to thanks to the likes of the Saw franchise, 127 Hours becomes a sort of retrospective look back at Ralstons life and an exploration of just how far humans can push themselves in the name of self preservation... inspirational stuff.

James Franco in '127 Hours'.

127 Hours opens on Aron Ralston (James Franco) 'preparring' for his latest trip into the Utah desert. Preparing being a loose term here as Ralston was obviously never one to take much care when setting off on his adventures. A couple of cereal bars, a blunt camping knife tool (that'll be handy) and small bottle of water chucked in a back back just about sum up the pre-departure planning and, key to the films story, Ralston tells, no one, not one single person where he is planning on going. Its enough to make your inner boy scout cringe. The film's opening is all portrayed across a three way split screen, 24 styley. The image of Ralston, the lone wolf come thrill seeker, contrasts with bustling shots of crowds, bright colours and a nifty thumping soundtrack....it's the same track heard in the films trailer, 'Never Hear Surf Music Again by Free Blood'. It all adds to the idea that very shortly he will be more alone than ever. After a quick scout around the desert wastes of Utah and following a bit of frolicking in subterrain pools with a couple of passers by, Ralston goes solo and so comes the moment where it all goes wrong. The fall is, to the films credit, almost anticlimactic, one or two people are due to find themselves saying... 'is that it?'. Theres nothing extraordinary here, its just one fairly stupid guy making one hugely stupid mistake. Theres no long dramatic slow motion fall into the depths of the crevasse, its more a case of slip, oh crap, BAM, pinned to a wall. Its over in a flash and from then on we as an audience are watching the slow decline of a desperate man into almost complete madness.

If you're going to make a film the focuses almost exclusivley on one character I am guessing getting the casting just right is pretty key. James Franco's portrayol of Ralstons decline from cocky laid back dude to an almost completely broken man is cracking even if it is, at times, a little uncomfortable to watch. You don't half feel every moment of his living nightmare! Somehow Franco even looks to have physically aged over the course of the film and to say your going to be watching one man fight through every human emotion over the course of the film would be an understatement. Ralston's video diaries take us through his highs (eccentric quiz show parody) and lows (drinking his own piss) as he evolves into a character you can ultimately root for. Audiences should find themselves willing on every one one of his escape to set himself free... even though you know there's only one away out of this pickle.

Boyle draws audiences into Ralston's inner psyche as his thoughts turn to that of the family and friends he may never see again. Memeories of one dream sequence where Ralston escapes with the help of a flash flood might catch audiences on the hop but ultimately the visions add poignancy to a horrific situation. Throughout Franco's performance is delivered with delicacy and skill as the full reality of the situation dawns on Ralston. Its a testament to Franco that he rarely resorts to screaming and shouting as a way of conveying his desperation.

127 Hours - not always easy viewing

A lot has been written about the climax of Ralston's gory struggle but there is no two ways about it, its incredibly uncomfortable viewing. It looks gruesome, it sounds gruesome, it is gruesome. Tendons and arteries snap, skin breaks and bones are broken all in excruciatingly loud digital surround sound. Here your usually get out of jail free cards, 'this would never happen' or 'this is so unrealistic', do not exist. As if its been branded into your consciousness, you'll not for a second forgot that this actually took place! Dodge that stretcher and push through the remainder of the film though and what you're left with ultimately is a feel good story. You can't help but feel upbeat when images of the real life Ralston, wife and child in tow, flash up on screen. Its a pleasant relief to end what can be at times an intense viewing experience.

It'd be easy to remember 127 hours as the film about a guy who chopped his arm off but there is much more beneath the surface. Danny Boyle's latest plays as a true testimony to depths of human endurance and while some moments require a strong stomach its definitely not one to be missed.

Tron: Legacy

Back in July 2009 producer Sean Bailey billed Disney's Tron Legacy (or Tron 2.0 as it was then known) as stand alone sequel to the 1982 original. Bailey stated that "You don't have to know the '82 movie to come in and appreciate and enjoy this one", a theory that, after having seen Disney's latest 3D glow fest, doesn't exactly hold true.


Its not that Legacy's plot is particularly demanding of the old grey matter, the problem really lies in the fact that as you sit adorned with your 3D specs, you start to think, what really is the point in all this? Sure the premise is simple enough, boy enters computer program world, boy seeks dad trapped in said world, boy finds dad, boy must try to leave with dad..... but can they both make it out.... the plot thickens (except it doesn't really). Its just that without a grounding in the universe and ideologies of Tron you start to wonder.... do I even care? Picture yourself sitting down to watch Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with little or no understanding of what the hell Middle Earth is, its not exactly conducive to perfect movie enjoyment... "who is this Frodo character, and what's the deal with that ring?" Its just difficult to be overly bothered about the on goings of Tron: Legacy without having any real context to place it in.

Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund in Tron:Legacy

Now the fact that many people will, like me, fly blind into the cinemas to see the latest movie is not exactly a fault of the film itself, but its hard to find much else that is achieved with the films narrative to pad out what rapidly begins to feel like a fairly hollow experience. Jeff Bridges steps back into his 1982 role of Kevin Flynn, CEO of ENCOM and creator of the The Grid. Bridges does a pretty decent job of portraying Flynn who after years of being trapped in the program has resigned himself to his incarceration and, presumably due to all the spare time he has on his hands, has taken up yoga and meditation. As the film opens we see Flynn explaining to his young son that he has discovered 'a miracle' that will change the world, shortly before his disappearance, and so the premice for the picture is set.

Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) grows up and, fatherless as he is, goes off the rails. One night following a mysterious pager message he returns to Flynn's aracade where he is blasted into the world of the grid. Then ensuses Flynn Jr's quest to save his father and bring him back to the real world. Along the way we are thrown tidbits about the miraclous discovery of self created digital life forms, the ISO's, and the evil digital avatar CLU. CLU, a glassy eyed digital copy of Kevin Flynn circa 1982, has committed a genocide of the ISO's and has now set his sights firmly on leaving The Grid and taking over the world..... an explanation of how he is plans to do this exactly doesn't seem to have been of any great importance to the Legacy writers.

All this aside, its fair to say that the reason most if not all of us go to see a film like Tron Legacy is not for its oscar worth story lines. We go to be blown away by what the trailers show us to be a spectacular 3D blitzkrieg and on this basis Tron Legacy scores one massive tick.

Light Cycle sequences are pretty damn impressive.

From the opening dictatorial message on the screen that warns us not to remove our glasses even for the 2D sections of the film (do people actually do that?), as they were intentionally shot that way, you know these guys aren't messing around when it comes to the visuals. This isn't going to be some slap dash Clash of the Titans 3D offering. From the moment Sam sets foot onto The Grid you'll be amazed at the visuals and 3D effects. The crowning achievements of the film all arrive fairly early on as Flynn takes on the Grid's gladiatorial games. The disc fighting, picture deadly glowing frisbee dodgeball, and the light cycle death matches provide eye wateringly perfect 3D visuals that pop against the pitch black back ground of The Grid. Bodies crumble and explode in a digitally perfect neon bloodbath providing enough 3D goodness to even get a smile of approval from James Cameron. The intensity of the films visual style is boosted by its sound track with Daft Punk stepping up to provide the digital beats needed to get the films heart beating. Annoyingly though once the games are over so too is much of the excitement that gave the flick any sort of any edge. Not even the fantastic Michael Sheen's turn as Castor, a sort of creepy, dancing, light-saber cane wielding character can do much to improve the situation. Visions of an all in white, star wars, child snatcher were difficult to shake. That said, the cast as a whole do a fairly good job with Garrett Hedlund (Sam) and Olivia Wilde (Quorra) providing the youthful hollywood eye candy needed to keep you watching when the 3D visuals take a rest.

All in all it is easy to be hard on Tron Legacy's plot and its almost wishy washy sidelines about genocide, religion, dictatorship and evil inexplicably taking over the world. Maybe its not the sort of film thats meant to be dissected and torn apart at the seams and when you consider the screenplays writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz both have previous credits on television's LOST... maybe thats for the best. If you fancy going to sit back and let a little 3D magic wash over you then you probably wont be too disappointed.