Artistic Capers in Europe

The Monuments Men is a 2014 historical caper film starring and directed by George Clooney. The film follows a group of  art historians, architects and sculptors as they travel around Europe, disguised as soldiers, attempting to reclaim works of art stolen by the nazi's.The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Clooney, Bill Murray, Matt Damon,Bob Balaban, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin and Cate Blanchett. The film features a talented and diverse cast, and the performances are mostly good, Cate Blanchett's performance is standout as Claire, a troubled and conflicted double agent working both for the nazi's and with the resistance, and her grasp of the french accent is impressive. Also strong is John Goodman's performance as Garfield, and he plays this predominantly comic character with real heard and deep emotion.

This film is based on a true story, however that works to it's disadvantage, during the film the main group of characters split up, and thus the chemistry between the group is vastly diminished. The first part of the film sort of works because of the complex links between all the characters and because of the strong chemistry between the group of the whole. Splitting the group up into four groups leads to fast cuts between sets of characters, robbing the film of majesty and charisma. The other big story problem is that we are not given enough history on any of the characters, we don't know enough about their work or their pasts, and we don't fully understand the conflicts that arise between the characters, such as a running rivalry between Bob Balaban and Bill Murray's characters, that is simply never explained. Because of the lack of explanation, we never fully believe in them as art historians or architects, and thus the whole film comes off as a sort of farce.

The Monuments Men is undeniably gorgeous to look at, the cinematography is fantastic and the film looks great as a whole. The film just feels highly pedestrian and unexciting, the plot of the film has the opportunity to be exciting and thrilling, and whilst i was happy to see a fun war caper, i doubt i will much remember the film in a few months, for despite the good performances and beautiful cinematography, the only response i can really give to The Monuments Men, is a resounding 'Meh'. Rating: C-

Frank Stokes: You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they'll still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements and it's as if they never existed.

Now You See Me Review

Now You See Me is a 2013 caper film directed by french director Louis Leterrier, director of the aggressively awful Clash of the Titans. Now You See Me follows four magicians who are brought together by a mysterious benefactor, and transformed into a Las Vegas act The Four Horsemen, their act involves teleporting a man from Vegas to Paris to his bank in the eighth, convincing him to rob the bank, and showering the audience with money, their activities attract the suspicions of the FBI who attempt to discover the secrets to their trick. This leads to caper with the authorities chasing the horsemen to New Orleans, with a final showdown in New York, at 5 Pointz.

Now You See Me is an incredibly modern movie about magicians, it is about magicians with residencies in Las Vegas and who use modern technology to support their acts. The opening sequence of the film features the four magicians using various tricks in order to survive and make money. Each of the Four Horsemen present a various trait, Jesse Eisenberg plays J Daniel Atlas, an illusionist and leader of the group, Woody Harrelson plays Merrit McKinney, a mentalist, Isla Fisher plays Henley Reeves, an escapist, and the cute Dave Franco plays Jack Wilder, a slight of hand magician and the youngest of the group, during their run-in with the FBI, they encounter Dylan Rhodes, played by Mark Ruffalo and Alma Dray, an Interpol agent played by Mélanie Laurent, the cast is rounded out by Morgan Freeman, playing a former illusionist and Michael Caine as Arthur Tressler, the horsemens benefactor. Now You See Me succedes largely due to its talented, likeable and charismatic cast. 

 The film uses various plot twists in order to continually stay one step ahead of it's audience, however it manages to refrain from being too infuriating, by never taking it too far, the films plot is clever and engaging, and uses a variety of intriguing locations. The film manages to come to a successful conclusion, tying up enough ends to leave an audience feeling satisfied, yet providing enough leeway for a sequel. The films production design is slick and modern and the film makes imaginative use of it's different settings, with the groups opener being set on the Las Vegas strip, the second show taking place in the french quarter of New Orleans and a car chase taking place on the 59th street bridge, the shows finale takes place at 5 pointz and a parcour chase sequence features the back alleys of seedy manhattan.

Overall Now You See Me, despite being fantastic fun is far from perfect, the characters remain woefully underdeveloped and Dave Franco is painfully underused. I actually like the ending of the movie and like the fact that there are some ends left untied, leading seamlessly into a sequel. The story and cast are engaging and exciting and the film, to put it simply is just fantastic fun. Rating: A

J. Daniel Atlas: First rule of magic: always be the smartest person in the room.