Films

Elvis – 4 Stars

The mile-a-minute, never let up pace of the fi lm (along with the myriad OTT Baz Luhrmann stylistic choices) may not be for everyone, but Austin Butler delivers an utterly convincing, enthralling take on the King that screams “a cinematic experience that can’t be missed”.

THE film charts Colonel Tom Parker’s (Tom Hanks) shepherding of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) through his life and career; from making him a star, to his eventual run on the Vegas Strip. It also focuses on the toxic relationship between the two characters, which ultimately led to Elvis’ demise.

Elvis, much like some of Baz Luhrmann’s other recent work, is incredibly stylised, with the fi rst one and a half hours of the fi lm feeling like a never-ending trailer. It’s a chaotic, messy, at times sloppy, introduction to the fi lm.

It’s also absolutely enthralling.

The absurdity of the edit also has the fantastic benefi t of making this seem like no other biopic you’ve ever seen. It’s story fi rst, performance second, and despite the fact that we get the full gamut of classic Elvis tunes, it never feels like the fi lm is slowing down to accommodate them.

Austin Butler is utterly convincing as the King. It’s tough to overemphasize how incredibly good his performance is. It’s a star-making turn for the young actor, and his work holds the movie together through its stumbles.

Elvis is not going to be a fi lm for everybody. But it’s sort of like being driven around a racetrack by a rally car driver; while you’re in it, you can’t do anything but grit your teeth and hold on for dear life. Once you’re out of it, it’s an experience that will stay with you forever.

Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com

Lightyear – 3 Stars

Lightyear tells the story of Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans), the fi lm that inspired the toy in the world of Toy Story.

The ‘real life’ Buzz is a space ranger, whose galactic travails hit a sticking point when he crashes the colony’s ship trying to escape a hostile planet. Now he, and his whole crew, are stuck on the planet, and the only way off requires him to work out interstellar travel.

The only issue is every time he tries, he slows down relative to time. His fi rst four minute mission has him off -world for four years by his crewmates timelines. By the time he solves the conundrum, with the help of his cute therapy cat, he is less than a year older than when he landed, but his captain has married, had grandkids and died.

When he does solve the problem, Buzz returns to fi nd the planet besieged by robots, led by a fi endish gigantic robot known as Zurg (James Brolin). To stop them, he has to team up with an eclectic crew, including clumsy Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi), ex-con Darby Steel (Dale Soules), and the granddaughter of his old captain, Izzy Hawthorne (Keke Palmer).

Lightyear is an intriguing proposition, eff ectively taking the toy character from a three movie iconic series and translating it into a movie about the same character, but also not about the same character. It’s a movie that tries really hard to justify the existence of the reboot, and takes a curious way of doing so.

At its base level, Lightyear succeeds at that. The fi lm is an interesting story, the action hits, and there is a general sense of not knowing where the fi lm could be going. That’s a great success for a reboot, and it truly crafts a piece that feels fresh, new and fun.

The issue is the whole concept of using Buzz Lightyear in this way. There is literally no reason why this movie has to use Buzz as a character in any way. The story is new, and interesting, without the forced callbacks to the toy version of the character, or his famous catchphrase. The endless nostalgia vibes, just feel fl at, cynical and ultimately diminish what otherwise is quite a fun, enjoyable animated fi lm.

Oh, and Chris Evans is no Tim Allen.