Sam Mercer

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The BFG Review

Very Good

For his adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, Steven Spielberg reunited with screenwriter Melissa Mathison, with whom he made E.T. nearly 35 years ago. Another story of an unlikely friendship, this film is even more wondrous and earnest, and also much more reliant on effects. But it's also hugely involving, with a terrific cast and of course a delightful story with a wry sense of humour.

 

It's set in a timeless London, where Sophie (newcomer Ruby Barnhill) lives in an orphanage. One night she spots a stealthy giant (Mark Rylance) prowling the city streets, so he grabs her and takes her back to Giant Country so she can't reveal his secret existence. As she gets to know him, Sophie discovers that he's an outcast in his own community, half the size of the nine giants (including Jemane Clement and Bill Hader) who live around him and bully him mercilessly because he doesn't eat human beans. This has earned him the nickname Big Friendly Giant, which Sophie shortens to BFG as she accompanies him into a colourful parallel world in his job collecting dreams and nightmares. Then when the bullies' threats grow stronger, Sophie comes up with a plan to get help from the Queen (Penelope Wilton) and her staff (Rebecca Hall and Rafe Spall).

Continue reading: The BFG Review

Snow White And The Huntsman Review


Weak
There's an oddly over-serious tone to this fairy tale, as if the filmmakers thought they were making a massive action epic on par with The Lord of the Rings. But the plot has all the complexity of, well, a bedtime story. And a little more camp attitude would have helped.

After the gorgeous Ravenna (Theron) marries and then murders a benevolent widower king, she locks his beautiful daughter Snow White (Stewart) in a tower.

All the better to continue draining the youth from the entire kingdom. But just as she prepares to take the now of-age Snow's heart, Snow escapes into the woods, and Ravenna hires huntsman Eric (Hemsworth) to find her. Of course, Eric switches sides when he finds her, joining with Snow's childhood sweetheart William (Claflin) and a gang of dwarves to end the evil queen's reign.

Continue reading: Snow White And The Huntsman Review

Unbreakable Review


Good
With the long-awaited release of M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable, the moviegoing world has one question on its mind: will it be unexpectedly great like his last film The Sixth Sense, or will it unexpectedly suck eggs like his first film Wide Awake?

Sadly, the answer is neither, though an overexcited populace spoon-fed on a year's worth of hype is likely to lean toward the latter owing to severe disappointment. It's hard to blame them.

Continue reading: Unbreakable Review

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Sam Mercer Movies

The BFG Movie Review

The BFG Movie Review

For his adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, Steven Spielberg reunited with screenwriter Melissa Mathison,...

Snow White and the Huntsman Movie Review

Snow White and the Huntsman Movie Review

There's an oddly over-serious tone to this fairy tale, as if the filmmakers thought they...

Unbreakable Movie Review

Unbreakable Movie Review

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