Dexter

Ok I know I am extremely late to the game on this one, but after several recommendations from people I sat down and started watching Dexter on Netflix. I can honestly say I have never been so on edge watching a TV show.  

I’m not a great fan of the horror genre (catching a few scenes from Hostel part 2 a few years ago was enough to put me off) but Dexter ‘cuts’ straight to the ‘meat’ (see what I did there?) of the story. Each episode focuses on Dexter while he works as a blood spatter analyst during the day who turns vengeful assassin at night targeting those that have committed the most heinous of crimes.  

Throughout we hear the thoughts of Dexter as he struggles with trying to appear ‘normal’ to the outside world while remaining conflicted within. It becomes clear that Dexter has had a troubled childhood and murders to give himself a sense of normality. This plays out on screen as Dexter binds victims to tables with cling film, reminds them of their crime and carefully kills them with deadly precision.   

It’s definitely not the show to watch if you are in any way squeamish, the 18 age rating has never been more appropriate.  But thankfully, unlike the so called ‘torture porn’ films such as Hostel, the camera pulls away leaving the audience to imagine the brutality taking place. 

Part of the shows charm is our need to emphasise with Dexter and memories of his childhood help explain how he has become the man he is today.  The first series concludes with an epic finale that has already excited me for what is to come in season 2.  

 I imagine the majority of people saw Dexter ages ago and will shout at me for not watching it sooner. All I can say to them is when I finally get through the next 6 seasons or so (I think the final season is being aired sometime in the summer) I might start watching something totally obscure like Lost. 

A Good Day to Die Hard – A bad night at the cinema *

Some films are subjective. While the brilliance of classic films such as Schindler’s List, A Clockwork Orange and more recently films by the Coen brothers cannot be denied, there are some that cause a divide in opinion. One of the most boring, tedious films I have ever seen for example (those who read my blog will know what I am referring to), is actually regarded by some as a brilliant piece of filmmaking.  So, on the basis of this I completely ignored the mass of negative reviews and went to see the latest Die Hard, A Good Day to Die Hard. In this case the critics were right.

I left the cinema speechless and in awe. And not the good type of awe. I was in awe at how such a brilliant action franchise has been destroyed by a sequel not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Die Hard. I honestly wasn’t sure what was worse, the ridiculously poor script, the completely deadpan acting, or action scenes so over the top they would have felt out of place in a cartoon.  In one scene for example, Mclane and his son outrun an apache helicopter as a machine gun obliterates everything in sight, something even Usian Bolt would struggle to do.  A chase sequence in the beginning goes on for what felt like 20 minutes, and the ending is one of the cheesiest, vomit inducing, finales I have seen in a long time.  

There was no ‘yippie ki yay’ catchphrase, Bruce Willis looked like he didn’t want to be there, and when the main bad guy falls to his death he pulls the most unrealistic comically surprised face even Tommy Wiseau would have had second thoughts about casting him.  

It was all over the place, felt like it was quickly scrambled together after the main action scenes were filmed, and was overall a miserable sequel to what up to now had been a thoroughly entertaining franchise.

Assembly ****

Having enjoyed the dazzling Chinese epics House of Flying Daggers and Hero, Assembly was my first foray into their take on the war genre.  Slow burning dramas such as Trishna, are good but sometimes there is nothing like a good action film to get the adrenaline pumping.

Assembly throws us straight into the action as Captain Gu Zidi leads his infantry unit against rebel forces. In what follows is a brutal battle where Zidi and his infantry must face a determined enemy using heavy shelling, machine guns and tanks to devastating effect. After Zidi manages to survive the attack by stealing an enemy uniform, he is shocked to discover his men were deemed missing in action or deserters, and sets on proving that they fought and died as heroes.

The film is pretty shocking in showing the brutality of war, with graphic scenes of men mutilated by shells or machine gun fire. In one disturbing scene a man sets himself on fire after trying to take down a tank with a molotov cocktail. It's definitely not a film for the fainthearted.

After the first hour or so of intense battle scenes, things take a slower sombre turn when Zidi meets the wife of a man that served with him, learns that the call to assembly (retreat) was never called, and tries in vain to dig up the dead bodies of his fallen comrades.

Although occasionally over sentimental, Assembly is still an essential watch for fans of the genre.