The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takashi Shimura, Susumu Fujita
Certificate: PG
Genre: Samurai, Adventure
Awards: None

The Hidden Fortress is one of Kurosawa's most light hearted films, yet it still takes part in a cynical and horrific world. After a princess (Uehara) is stranded in a hostile neighbouring province in Japan, General Makabe (Mifune) has the job of escorting her back home without being found by the enemy. They disguise themselves and there gold inside sticks whilst bartering the help of two farmers who have no idea who the princess really is.

The film is famous for showing most of the film from the perspective of the peasants, played by Chiaki and Fujiwara, as they squabble and show themselves to be selfish and cruel characters. Both characters are endearing if not completely likeable and play a great contrast to the moralistic princess and pragmatic General. Like Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress is an ensemble piece that Kurosawa does so well.

The action of the film is a beauty to watch, especially the duel between General Makabe and a rival general using lances. This is the closest Kurosawa ever got to making a simple adventure/action film and thus it is a great film to use an introduction to the filmmaker.

Mifune has the gravitas that one always expects, yet the rest of the actors don't fall by the wayside. Uehara gives just as great a performance as a woman who has never been part of the public and is only now seeing it for the first time. It's rare to see such a focus on a female performance by Kurosawa and yet - like a few others such as No Regrets Of Youth - it is done wonderfully well by both director and actor.

The Hidden Fortress may not be the most respected of Kurosawa's films yet it is certainly incredibly enjoyable. The story, performances, characters and directions allow for a marvellous experience that is most definitely recommended.

*****Brilliant

Throne Of Blood (1957)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Minoru Chiaki, Akira Kubo, Takashi Shimura, Takamaru Sasaki, Yoichi Tachikawa, Chieko Naniwa
Certificate: PG
Genre: Samurai, Fantasy, Horror
Awards: None

Throne Of Blood is the first of Akira Kurosawa's adaptations of William Shakespeare. This time around he takes on the dark and heavy material of Macbeth. This time, however, it is told as a samurai story about the ruler of Cobweb Castle.

A Great Macbeth has to have a great, well... Macbeth and Toshiro Mifune delivers with every ounce of his being, proving he is definitely the Marlon Brando of Japanese cinema. His brooding and powerful performance is miles away from his character in Seven Samurai. Supporting characters are also worthy of note, especially Yamada's Lady Macbeth and the spirit - played by Chieko Naniwa - who replaces the three witches.

The story is dark and thus the visuals are shown to be just as gritty, terrifying and dismal. There is little action until the end so one should not expect the violence of Kurosawa's previous samurai film as this more ponderous on the atrocities committed by the single character of Washizu and the guilt that reaches into him and his wife, leading to a brilliant climax that has become one of the most memorable images of Kurosawa's career.

As a follow up to Seven Samurai (counting only Kurosawa's Jidai-geki films), Throne Of Blood is a very different beast and is perhaps less enjoyable (especially if one is tired of the Macbeth story) yet it is unique take on a famous play with a brilliant collection of performers and stark imagery that still makes this a great piece of cinema in its own right.

****Good

Seven Samurai (1954)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Seiji Miyaguchi, Ko Kimura, Daisuke Kato, Minoru Chiaki, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Keiko Tsushima, Kamatari Fujiwara
Certificate: PG
Genre: Samurai, Action, Drama
Awards: None

Since its release, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai has acquired quite a status, being his most famous film and the most well known samurai film in the history of cinema. It has also been the influence for many other films, from The Magnificent Seven to A Bugs Life.

The story revolves around a village in 17th century Japan, poor and in desperate need of help due to an oncoming attack by bandits which will rob the population of the means of survival. To defend the village, Seven Samurai are hired led by the wise and noble Kambei (Shimura).

Each of the samurai are given varied and enjoyable personalised that justifies their existence as each gives something different to the film. Kyuzo (Miyaguchi) stands out as the aloof master swordsman as does Katsushiro (Kimura) as the young rookie who goes through his first romance. It is Mifune, however, who once again shines the brightest as the hot headed Kikuchiyo,  stealing almost every scene he appears in.

The action is often applauded in Seven Samurai and one cannot disagree. It is fast paced and grim, with many of the battles in the village appearing a lot like an ant nest attacking invading ants thus giving it a very animalistic approach. The human drama is just as phenomenal with many characters being shades of grey rather then black and white. The farmers are found out to have killed weak and lost samurai when they have the chance whilst the samurai are not always shown to be the completely honourable characters they are normally portrayed as.

At three and a half hours long, Seven Samurai is still worth anybodies time as it is one of the finest pieces of cinema and storytelling you will find with stunning imagery, a brilliant score, wonderful characters and action scenes that put many modern films to shame. it is not as beautiful as Ran, Kurosawa's later period piece; it is more brutal and realistic. Yet that creates a beauty in itself.

*****Brilliant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong'o, Anthony Daniels, Andy Serkis, Max Von Sydow, Mark Hamill
Certificate: 12
Genre: Sci Fi
Awards: None

What other film could I do for the last review of the year if not Star Wars?

The seventh film in the series, The Force Awakens has taken the world by storm and, in a number of ways, it deserves to. Set thirty years after The Return Of The Jedi, Luke Skywalker has disappeared and the galaxy seems to be in a civil war between the first order, lead by a strange being named Snoke (Serkis) and the resistance, lead by general Leia (Fisher).

On a lonely sandy planet (sound familiar?), a young girl (Ridley) finds a droid being hunted by stormtroopers for information that it has from one of their prisoners. She meets a turncoat stormtrooper named Finn and the two escape the planet with an old veteran in order to find the resistance.

As somebody who quite enjoys the prequels (although I grant that they could never be called good films, they are admirable failures at trying something new), it was somewhat disappointing that The Force Awakens does not seem to have much ambition and instead seems just a newer version of A New Hope. Yet the film is still incredibly enjoyable and any fan of Star Wars is bound to have a good time.

The old faces returning are all great to see, although some seem to be there for no reason (cough, 3PO) other than for fan service but that is what this film was always going to be, a film for the fans. It is great to see how the world has gone on and the technology and the fact that it feels like a Star Wars film but The Force Awakens, to me, shows that the Star Wars film of the future aren't going to do anything new and exciting. Like Marvel, the films are likely to be entertaining and keep an audience hooked but the dream of something radically different is dead. This is not altogether a bad thing but it makes the Star Wars universe a smaller world.

****Good

The Purge (2013)

Director: James DeMonaco
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Rhys Wakefield, Max Buckholder, Adelaide Kane, Edwin Hodge
Certificate: 15
Genre: Horror
Awards: None

Set in the not-so-distant-future America, The Purge is a night that happens every year where all crimes are legal. The wealthy Sandin family become the focus of a siege after the son allows a homeless man being attacked take shelter in their house.

Whilst having a great amount of potential, The Purge seems incredibly lazily written with many of the plot points being incredibly unconvincing for the scenario. The main character works in security yet is completely helpless when being attacked on a day when one should have been prepared.

The Purge is one of those films that tries too little at creating tension and fear and instead does the predictable and the boring. None of the characters feel fleshed out and narratively, the third act simply does not pay off. In the hands of a greater talent, The Purge could be riveting but it just simply is not.

**Pretty Bad

The Heroes Of Telemark (1965)

Director: Anthony Mann
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson, Michael Redgrave
Certificate: U
Genre: Action, War
Awards: None

The Heroes Of Telemark is a WW2 film detailing the exploits of the Norwegian resistance as attempt to stop the construction of heavy water - needed for the atomic bomb - for Nazi Germany. Douglas plays the scientist, Rolf, who is persuaded to join Harris' resistance soldier to destroy a factory that creates the component.

Whilst educational (the film is based on a true story), The Heroes Of Telemark cannot stand up as one of the great World War Two films. It is overly melodramatic at points and often seems slow for no discernible reason. It is fun to see Douglas and Harris together however as two of cinemas greats and some sequences look very nice in the snow but the film is ultimately nothing special.

***Okay

Ted (2012)

Director: Seth McFarlane

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Seth McFarlane, Mila Kunis, Joel McHale, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Warbutton, Patrick Stewart

Certificate: 15
Genre: Comedy

Awards: None

Ted is Seth McFarlane's first feature film, yet it still contains many of the attributes of his TV programs (Family Guy, American Dad et al). McFarlane voices a teddy bear that comes to life when his owner John wishes it one christmas. Years on, Ted and John (now played by Wahlberg) are all grown up but now losers who won't get their lives together, infuriating John's girlfriend Lori (Kunis) who feels that Ted is holding John back.

Like McFarlane's other work, Ted is deliberately provocative which leads to some brilliantly shocking and surreal jokes. Yet, like many un-clever comedies, watching it for a second time feels a little flat. With the punches already thrown, what you're left with is a run-of-the-mill story about a guy who tries to get his life together.

The ending is somewhat predictable and the overall narrative leaves one wanting but Ted is first and foremost a comedy. Whilst the jokes may be cheap (fart jokes) and non PC, this is why people like McFarlane and nobody can deny that Ted is very funny.

****Good