“Operation Finale”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a screening of the new historical drama, “Operation Finale”, starring Oscar Isaac and Ben Kingsley.

Synopsis

When Israeli agents are alerted to the whereabouts of a Nazi war criminal, can they bring him to trial or will he elude them?

Story

Upon the conclusion of World War II, many of the surviving Nazis were brought to trial at Nuremberg.  However, there were some key officers who somehow managed to escape that trial – one of them was Lieutenant Adolf Eichmann (Kingsley).  Eichmann was called “The Architect Of The Final Solution” and was considered one of the most brutal and dangerous of Hitler’s top officers.  In 1960, the Tel Aviv office of The Mossad is obtained reliable intelligence that many escaped Nazis fled to Argentina – and Eichmann is among them.  One of their top agents is then sent to verify the authenticity.

Once Eichmann’s existence is confirmed, The Mossad form an elite team that includes Peter Malkin (Isaac) – a man for whom this job is personal since he lost a family member to The Nazis.  For Malkin, this will be a different type of mission: instead of “Catch & Kill”, this one is “Catch & Extract”. The plan is this: the team will travel to Buenos Aires and locate Eichmann; after captured, they’ll spirit him out of Argentina and return him to Israel where The Knesset will put him on trial for his war crimes.  On its surface the plan sounds simple, but unanticipated obstacles occur which prevent their flawless execution.

First, getting access to Argentina won’t be easy because El Al doesn’t fly there, so the government concocts a justification to schedule flights.  Also, a nabbed Eichmann is tricky; an effort to sedate him goes awry and when reported missing, his Nazi colleagues delay the planned return flight. With Eichmann hidden in a safe-house until he is exfiltrated, Malkin convinces him to sign a document admitting his war crimes – a requirement by the airline in order to board the plane.  But when The Nazis are tipped off to Eichmann’s location, can the secret agents get him to Israel before he can be rescued?

Review

As stated in previous reviews of historically-based dramas, the problem with these movies generally tends to be that there is little suspense since it’s typically about a well-known event that many (if not most) people know how the story ends.  Refreshingly, this is not the case quite so much when it comes to “Operation Finale”. Although we know how the real-life story concluded, the way in which the filmmakers lay out how it got to that point is extremely gripping, almost making you wonder if you forgot history because you question whether or not the mission will be successful.

End of summer is an unusual time to release a film such as this; normally, you would expect a movie like “Operation Finale” to come out in early autumn.  In large part, this is due to the fact that it is a rather heavy drama rather than light-hearted fare. Also, it’s not exactly the type of motion picture that will motivate the teenagers (the main movie-goers these days) to the theaters; make no mistake about it, this is a picture for grown-ups, especially when you consider (unfortunately) that the youth of today are not getting a sufficient historical education when it comes to the events surrounding World War II. 

Although “Operation Finale” is recommended, it is with a small caveat.  About 95% of it is quite well done – but that last 5% is what almost ruins an otherwise good film.  Without giving away too much, the third act has a “false ending” – i.e., the audience thinks the story has concluded, but it continues for another 10-15 minutes.  This is a huge mistake because it plays with the psychology of the viewers, who are prepared to see the closing credits. Perhaps a better way to have handled this is to merely have provided a brief epilog summarizing subsequent incidents.  Ironically, “Operation Finale” does include an epilog prior to the credits – it’s just unfortunate the last 10 minutes was not included.

Metacritic Score

“Lords Of Chaos”– Movie Review

This week at The Film Society Of Lincoln Center, I attended The New York Premiere of the horror film “Lords Of Chaos” starring Rory Culkin.

Synopsis

When a heavy metal band begins experiencing success, will internal squabbles result in  fatalities?

Story

In Oslo, Norway during the late 1980’s, Mayhem was formed.  Its organizer  was one of its guitar players, Euronymous (Culkin).  Mayhem was a heavy metal band – although Euronymous liked to refer to it as a “Norwegian Black Metal Band” because its music was thematically dark.  Slowly, the band started to gain a small but loyal following by playing in local clubs. Just as it looked like Mayhem was going to hit it big, tragedy struck when Mayhem’s lead singer committed suicide and the group subsequently disbanded.  Euronymous borrowed money from his father and opened a record store specializing in heavy metal music.

One day in the record store, Varg (Emory Cohen) enters; as a fan of Mayhem, he soon reveals he has ulterior motives.  Varg offers Euronymous an audition tape and after listening, he finds Varg is talented. Borrowing money from his mother, Varg records some tracks in a studio with Euronymous and some of the former members of Mayhem; they sell the record in the store and it gets some recognition.  Euronymous invites Varg to become a member of Mayhem; he accepts and when the band reunites, it quickly picks up where it left off, to some extent thanks to Varg, who gave it a new sound.

Not long after, Euronymous learns of Varg’s arsonous inclinations.  Being anti-religion, Varg feels it necessary to burn down churches so the “oppression” (as he sees it) of the Norwegian church will end once they no longer have a safe place in which to worship.   Euronymous fears Varg’s urges go a little too far, so he abandons any association with him, seeking a more normal life. Varg, however, believes Euronymous is doing this out of jealousy; thinking Euronymous hates him because he’s gained notoriety, Varg decides he must rid himself of Euronymous once and for all.  But can Varg be dissuaded before it’s too late?

Review

“Lords Of Chaos” would hardly be considered the typical horror flick; in fact, it is a biopic with characters made even scarier because they actually existed.  The story of this band is truly horrifying and one which is spelled out in excruciating detail. If you are the type who likes their movies with plenty of blood, guts and gore, then “Lords Of Chaos” is definitely for you.  The film is not without its controversies, however – many people knowledgeable of the band maintain that this is not a true portrayal of its story or that a number of crucial details have been omitted (either intentionally or accidentally). 

What is most notable about “Lords Of Chaos” is the rather intense performances – this is especially true of Rory Culkin and Emory Cohen, but really it’s true of the entire cast.  It is this intensity that truly holds the entire story together. Also, the directing choices by Jonas Åkerlund enhance the tale, although they may sometimes leave the viewer a bit puzzled as to a given shot’s reference or meaning.  His screenplay (based on a book about the band) also sets up a great sense of foreboding from the very first scene that perfectly sets up the tone for the remainder of the movie.

Following the screening, there was an interview with its star Rory Culkin and writer/director Jonas Åkerlund.  Åkerlund maintains that he tried to keep “Lords Of Chaos” as close to reality as possible, but admits to some embellishment.  In this shoot – which lasted 18 days, most of it in Budapest – he tried to tone down the murder scenes, compared to how they actually played out in real life.  Culkin said he based his characterization mostly on photographs since films and videos of the real Euronymous were incredibly difficult to come by.    

“The Meg”– Movie Review

This week, I attended an advanced screening of the new action-adventure, “The Meg”, starring Jason Statham. 

Synopsis

When scientists discover an immense prehistoric shark, can it be stopped before it endangers a vast number of people?

Story

Five years after a traumatic event that saw a loss of human life,  Jonas (Statham) has effectively checked-out.  Spending his days drinking beer in Thailand, he is resistant to the beseeching of oceanographers who beg him to come out of retirement as an expert rescue diver in order to save members of their team who have been trapped underwater.  Jonas turns them down flatly until he learns that one of those people happens to be his ex-wife.  With that in mind, Jonas reluctantly agrees to take the assignment – but what he doesn’t yet know is that all of this is related to his last mission.  

This time around, Jonas is somewhat more successful:  he is able to save two of the people – including his ex-wife – but one of them perishes.  As tragic as that may be, the group soon come to realize that there is something of much greater concern – the reason why these people were left stranded in their vessel is because it was damaged when it was attacked by the same sea creature that killed the men on Jonas’ previous dive. After further research, they come to realize that this creature was officially called a Megalodon – basically, a prehistoric shark approximately 70-90 feet in length which scientists assumed was extinct long ago. 

Jonas is then determined to join the others in taking out “The Meg”, as they now call the beast.  He now sets out with Suyin (Li Bingbing), the daughter of the oceanographer who is heading the team; as a scientist herself, she is an expert on the biology of this particular type of shark and her expertise would prove helpful.  Together, they successfully track the shark and entice it into a confrontation.  After killing the shark, their celebration comes to an abrupt end once they find out that there is a second Meg and it is now headed to a populous resort community.  Can Jonas and Suyin find and destroy the other Meg before it attacks the tourists?  

Review

Is “The Meg” a perfect movie?  Absolutely not. Is “The Meg” a great movie?  No. But that said, for all of its flaws, “The Meg” may be the right movie at the right time.  What does that mean? Well, we are currently in what is known as the mid-summer doldrums; all of the major releases have already been in theaters (and some may even still be there).  Anything left over is often held until August and the next set of major releases usually occur post-Labor Day (often, late September). Therefore, August releases can frequently be considered second-rate fare.  While there may be some validity in that theory, there are occasional exceptions and arguably, “The Meg” may be one.

Although “The Meg” will certainly not go down as this generation’s version of “Jaws” or even an underwater version of “Jurassic Park” (despite that’s probably how it was positioned during the pitch meeting), it’s a decent popcorn movie seen in a big-screen theater with plenty of air conditioning and comfy seats.  This is especially true if you’ve already seen the major blockbuster releases (or if you’ve missed them and they’re already out of the theaters). Despite its shortcomings, “The Meg” is not without its own appeal, albeit limited. For Jason Statham fans, that’s enough justification to buy a ticket.  

The film is trite and formulaic – which can be a good thing if you’re looking for mere entertainment rather than something a bit more challenging.  There is the edge-of-society action hero, the romance, the feminist aspect, the sense of family and the anti-corporate hatred (Rainn Wilson plays a nefarious venture capitalist who gets his comeuppance in the third act).  Is “The Meg” worth spending the extra bucks for 3-D or IMAX if it’s available in your area? Probably not. But if you’re in the mood for pure escapism that’s not terribly demanding, you could probably make worse choices than “The Meg”.