Contagion (2011)

Film of 2012 #44

The Stephen Soderbergh ensemble piece starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishbourne, Kate Winslet, Jude law and a multitude of other characters. It takes a look at the impact of a deadly global pandemic and what would happen within society if such a thing was to happen in our world. It is very clever in a lot of ways as it mixes the small story following people such as the Matt Damon character who is just trying to survive with his daughter and cope with what is going on around him but just trying to survive without needing to know what is happening. You have the Laurence Fishbourne character as the lead American trying to find a cure and to also track what the disease is and where it came from. The Jude Law character is a blogger that is popular enough that he takes an on line lead in exposing what he sees is happening, his character goes on an interesting story.

This is a difficult story to tell as they are telling it from so many angles and there are a lot of details that need to be picked up to get all of the points they are trying to make. Paying attention is well worth it and I think that on a re-watch this film will be quite interesting to see if you can catch all of the references. I think the way it is sewn together you are not bothered by any story lines, there is none I was thinking, too much time on that person what is happening with such and such. So it shows that the pacing is excellent and they got the split across each of the stories really good.

I have heard lots of good things about this film and can only really add my recommendation to the pile, it is 4 stars and well worth seeing. If you get the chance to watch it or have seen it then let me know what you thought of it, do you agree with me or am I wrong.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

So I watched the Guy Ritchie adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, now this character has been done several times and I will be honest and say that I have not actually seen any of them and have very little knowledge of the characters other than the generic rules that everyone know as they are in pop culture. Such as Elementary my Dear Watson, magnifying glass and the pipe and the relationship between Holmes and Watson.

Now Rogbert Downey Jnr has had a resurgenice between this, Iron man and Due Date and he is really performing well. I have to say that I liked his portrayal of the character it showed his brilliance and the leaps of logic that Holmes is famous for. Jude Law was interesting as his partner with a sense of resignation that he would be tied to Holmes forever in some way and also the regret that he wanted his life to move forward. The story of teh film itself is interesting, there was a little bit of well there is the sequel getting set up and I have to say on review this is an origin film. You have the characters setting up, even though they are well established in most peoples mind this is them getting set up.

I enjoyed this film a whole lot, it will not be for everyone and I have to say that while I will go and see the sequel i am not in that much of a hurry to see it. A solid 3 stars for me.