I was surfing my local cable company’s on-demand service searching for a film to watch when I stumbled upon today’s film. Whether you love him or hate him, you cannot deny that Sacha Baron Cohen (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street) has been an important figure in the comedy world which is why I chose to watch his latest film The Brothers Grimsby. Nobby (Cohen) is an imbecile English soccer hooligan who lives with his girlfriend and his nine kids. He has been in search for the last 28 years for his brother Sebastian (Mark Strong) who were separated after their parents died. One day he finds out that his brother is a MI-6 agent so he goes to see him. Sebastian uncovers a sinister plot, but is falsely accused of something after running into Nobby, but he’ll realize that he needs him more than he thinks he does. The film also stars Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) as Dawn Grobham, Ilsa Fisher (Now You See Me) as Jodie Figgis, Lex Shrapnel (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Steven Marber, Rory Keenan (Reign Of Fire) as James Thurbeck, Scott Adkins (Doctor Strange) as Pavel Lukashenko, Penélope Cruz (Zoolander 2) as Rhonda George, Barkhad Abdi (Eye In The Sky) as Tabansi Nyagura, Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) as Banu The Cleaner, and the film was directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk).
Listen I am going to tell you that you know exactly what to expect from a film that was written and stars Sacha Baron Cohen. You have to completely let go of any inhibitions and just enjoy a stupid comedy. I knew what to expect from it and I completely enjoyed the film because I wasn’t trying to see how smart it was. I mean come on now, there is a scene where Sebastian and Nobby are completely up an elephants you know what and they get boned by a whole village of elephants. So you tell me what kind of film are you expecting from that? Now that you’ve let go, the film is has some real hilarious moments in it from the opening scene of Sasha boning Rebel Wilson in a mattress store to Nobby pretending to be a spy when his brother accidentally takes heroine. Mark Strong does a terrific job balancing the fact that he is supposed to be a bad ass and deal with an imbecile like Nobby which forces him to let go. The cinematography in the film is actually very appealing and the story is actually pretty decent even though a lot of it is pretty far fetched. It’s a comedic take on the spy genre that has populated Hollywood and as I said you know what you are getting. That is why I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.
I am about to go on a Oscar Isaac binge and for good reason I might add. He is an incredible actor who is slowly becoming one of my favs after roles as Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Nathan in Ex Machina, Blue in Sucker Punch, and he is about to be Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse. In today’s film, Robin Hood, he plays King John in this origin story about Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe). King Richard (Danny Huston) was killed in battle and it’s up to his most trusted friend to return the crown. The only problem is that he is killed in an ambush and Robin agrees to bring his sword back to his father. Once Robin returns the sword to Sir Walter Loxley (Max Von Sydow), he is asked to pretend to be his son while England boils away in turmoil due to a traitor to the crown. The film also stars stars Mark Strong (Kingsman: The Secret Service) as Godfrey, Cate Blanchett (The Monuments Men) as Marion Loxley, William Hurt (The Incredible Hulk) as William Marshal, Mark Addy (The Full Monty) as Friar Tuck, Matthew Macfadyen (Frost/Nixon) as Sheriff Of Nottingham, Kevin Durand (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as Little John, Scott Grimes (American Dad!) as Will Scarlet, Alan Doyle (State Of Play) as Allan A’Dayle, and the film was directed by Ridley Scott (Gladiator).
You should know going into a film like this that you can guarantee that it’s going to be well made when it’s Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe. A team that looked to repeat the success of Gladiator some ten years or so before it. As I said above, this is the origin story so it’s pre-steal from the rich and give to the poor Robin Hood. It explains how he became who he would eventually become in the story we loved as children. One of my favorite things about period pieces like this (because it is after all) are the sets, costumes, and the cinematography. You know that the costumes are going be done very well leading you to believe that you are in the 14th century or whenever this takes place. The sets are going to be showing you a time you were like where are the streets, Chipotle, and the shopping malls? Oh yeah because this takes place in the medieval times so those didn’t exist yet and not for a heck of a long time. The cinematography was absolutely amazing showing you the lush green of England and some of the shots of the ocean when the French are coming. Oh yeah, then there’s that thing called acting and it’s pretty phenomenal in this film especially Oscar Isaac as the mad and immature King John. The film may not be as amazing as Gladiator, but it’s hard to repeat the exact magic of a film and so there is no point in fretting over it and just watch the film. I am going to give Robin Hood, an A for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 