Reviews

Don't we all just love a dictator? Of course, if choice be had, most of us would rather not spend much of our time living under one, but it's rare to find someone who isn't just the slightest bit interested in what makes them tick; what sets them apart from the hum-drum, somewhat more benevolent, leaders of this world.

As dictators go, it's pretty much universally agreed that Uganda's General Idi Amin was up there with the very worst of them. As many as four-hundred-thousand people were killed during his time in power in the 1970s. Thousands of others were forced into exile abroad. But despite Amin's less than laudable human rights record, his life remains a fascinating subject. He was a truly eccentric, if terrifyingly brutal, figure and it's difficult to avoid being intrigued by his character.

Kevin MacDonald's adaptation of Giles Foden's novel takes us deep into Amin's world, although if you're expecting a completely faithful re-telling of the book, it's not. There is much that is different between the book and the film. It's a much more condensed treatment of the years of Amin's rule and there are a number of characters who don't make it from the pages onto the screen. But none of that's to the film's detriment. The core of the story remains the turbulent relationship between Amin and a fictional Scottish physician hired after treating the General when he's involved in a car prang involving an ill-placed cow. Together, the book and film compliment each other to provide a compelling exploration of humanity and, perhaps more significantly, inhumanity.

The doctor, Nicholas Garrigan, is played by the rightly ascendant James MacAvoy who's fast developing into one of Britain's finest young products. His character's an arrogant, self- serving type who finds himself plummeting deeper and deeper into the fetid pit of Idi Amin's rule. His very existence is a metaphor for the corrupting force that is absolute power and its amoral trappings. There is also strong support from the likes of Gillian Anderson and David Oyelowo and special mention must be made of Simon McBurney who plays Foreign Office official Nigel Stone with creepy, menacing brilliance.

While most of the supporting performances are strong, this film is almost nothing without its lead. Forest Whitaker has long deserved promotion from critically-acclaimed character actor to universally-acclaimed star of screen. With this role, that's exactly what he's achieved. He plays Idi Amin with such brilliance that it's nigh on impossible not to be both moved and frightened by his presence. He manages to bring to the screen what was so dangerously captivating about the man. It's all too easy to demonise a figure such as Amin. It's easier for us to understand how dictators succeed if we think of them as monsters. But Forest Whitaker's acting ability, coupled with intelligent writing, shows the very human side of him, and that makes him all the more terrifying. An Oscar was always likely to be his reward and couldn't be more deserved.

Take London's top cop, whose arrest rate is embarrassing his bosses, and send him to a soporific, apparently crime free, Gloucestershire village where he can embarrass no more. Okay, it's maybe not the most inspiring, or indeed plausible basis for a film but it should be remembered whose hands Hot Fuzz is in. Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost are fast becoming something akin to the Holy trinity of contemporary British comedy. With two series of the Channel Four sitcom Spaced and the rib-splinteringly funny Shaun of the Dead under their collective belt they appear to have their chosen vocation pretty much nailed.

Hot Fuzz is to the police movie what Shaun of the Dead was to horror - an unrelenting parody, littered with references to the best and worst of crime-fighting on screen. It brings together the cream of Britain's current comedy pantheon. There are outings for Oscar-winning Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Steve Coogan, Bill Bailey and the actor Kevin Eldon. There are also welcome appearances from Edward Woodward and the joyfully over-acting former 007, Timothy Dalton. For his part, Pegg plays the exiled London bobby Sergeant Nicholas Angel, ordered to what seems to be the sleepiest of sleepy backwaters. There he's partnered with Nick Frost's asinine PC Danny Butterman. As he battles for acceptance from his newly acquired (and somewhat less than welcoming) peers, including the brutishly brilliant Paddy Considine, we learn that all is not as it seems in this provincial idyll. A series of gruesome "accidents" point to something altogether quite, quite sinister. All of Nick Angel's skills are surely going to be put to the test. Oh the irony...

What develops is one of the most farcical, preposterous films around. But for all its utter ridiculousness, it's very, very entertaining and very, very amusing. Rapid-fire, superbly written humour and some very rapid editing ensure there's little opportunity to let the mind dwell on any potential flaws. It's perhaps not as consistently funny, and so maybe not quite as consistently good as Shaun of the Dead but it remains incredibly enjoyable. There are moments which will surely be laughed at over and over again. And that's perhaps what Hot Fuzz calls for most - to be watched more than once. It's well worth it.

So in the Bible the story goes that after the Flood, once they'd all dried off, the remainder of mankind tried to build a shortcut to heaven - Babel's Tower. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time but God, although generally seen as stand-up kind of guy, does have something of a temper on him and was less than impressed by the lack of Heavenly planning permission. As punishment for the attempted intrusion he scattered Man around the world and made everyone speak different languages. That way, it would be that much harder for anyone to come together and attempt such a feat of architecture again. And so, a couple of millennia later, we're where we are today, living in a world of disparate tongues and cultures.

In Babel, director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu takes a long hard look at the differences between our cultures, how they've shaped the world we live in and, perhaps more importantly, how they've been exploited by mankind, and especially our politicians. The question is, are the differences destroying us, or can our common humanity overcome the barriers that apparently divide us? The film, without ever being clichéd or patronising has a fair crack at offering up an answer. It weaves together a series of tales bound by a solitary gesture. A chain of events is triggered affecting the lives of families spread as far a field as Morocco, the US, Mexico and Japan. Now, there are those who argue that the link between the story lines is a little too coincidental but it's difficult to agree with that criticism. Babel is a great example (albeit to the extreme) of cause and effect, of how the decisions each of us make can have an impact on the world at large.

While it boasts a cast including Hollywood luminaries such as Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, it's the lesser known supporting actors who help to make Babel so good. Rinko Kikuchi is utterly captivating as an emotionally troubled deaf mute battling to emerge from adolescence and find acceptance in a noisy, fast-talking Japan, while Adriana Barraza excels as a Mexican nanny having to deal with the pitfalls of US immigration policy. Difficult subjects are tackled throughout making it often uncomfortable and sometimes disturbing viewing. But because of that, not despite of it, it deserves to be seen. It's superbly shot, the soundtrack is tremendously effective, and the acting, across the board, is superb.

Okay, if you want a film to relax in front of on a lazy Sunday afternoon, then Babel probably isn't it. But if you're after a thoughtful, intelligently provocative piece of film-making that makes you question the world we live in then you can't go far wrong, whatever language you speak.

Every now and then it's nice to be reminded of the power of the imagination; of what it was like as children to escape to other worlds and embark on remarkable adventures. Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles does just that and does it brilliantly with a mix of stunningly shot live action and wonderfully crafted, sometimes breath-taking CGI animation. It's a story which echoes, and affectionately pays homage to, many of the very best Children's stories. Stories such as The Sword in the Stone, Alice in Wonderland and The Borrowers.

The tale's young hero, Arthur, is battling to save his grandparents' home from the clutches of real estate developers. His grandfather is missing, but handily he's left the boy a series of clues to a hidden treasure trove which, if it's found, could be used to pay off the money- grubbing developers. But this is no straight-forward, stroll in the park search. In trying to find the haul Arthur must unlock the passageway to an underground world populated by curious, minute creatures. The home of these "invisibles" is also in peril: in their case, because of a malevolent wizard. So, joining forces with an almost improbably beautiful princess, Arthur sets off on his perilous mission.

The cast list reads like a Hollywood Who's Who. Robert de Niro, Harvey Keitel, Madonna and Mia Farrow all feature. But it's the young lead who really takes centre stage. Freddie Highmore was Charlie in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was a role he played well but I fully expected him, as with a plethora of child actors, to then disappear into fresh air. But Highmore comes alive in this movie; both when we see him in the flesh, and when he's voicing his animated incarnation. Besides Highmore, Mia Farrow, as Arthur's scatty grandmother, is utterly charming and David Bowie makes for a very creepy, yet nicely understated, evil wizard Maltazard. The look of Maltazard's henchmen exemplify the darker side of Luc Besson's previous work but their idiocy prevents them being too terrifying for smaller children.

The film isn't flawless. Jimmy Fallon's Betameche, while surely popular with the film's younger viewers, at times borders on the unbearably annoying; while the casting of forty- eight year old Madonna as Princess Selenia seems a little odd. Her performance is perfectly adequate, but in effect she spends most of the time flirting with a schoolchild. Strange.

But the gems in Arthur and the Invisibles far outshine any minor negatives. Mixing live action with CGI could quite easily look messy and unconvincing but, quite simply, it works and while there's always a danger of such a tale descending into saccharine sludge, thankfully that doesn't happen. Arthur's quest is a joy to follow; it deserves to be anything but invisible.