“The Imitation Game” Review

Biopics have got to be among the hardest films to make. Sure, they can turn out great, but more often than not they can turn into shameless promotion pieces for their subjects. You’ll also be raked over the coals by angry historians if you don’t get the most minute details exactly right. Fortunately, The Imitation Game has always shown a lot of potential. The story of Alan Turing’s breaking of the Enigma code is nothing short of fascinating, as are his personal struggles. The film has also garnered a solid cast led by the very talented Benedict Cumberbatch. When word got out that The Imitation Game could be an Oscar contender, my anticipation increased ever more. After seeing the film for myself, I can confidently say that it deserves all the praise it gets.

Premise: When World War II breaks out, Britain’s code-breakers are assembled to break Nazi intelligence codes. When new arrival Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) sees his coworkers’ lack of progress, he goes to work building a machine that could break the codes faster than any human ever could.

Pros: The Imitation Game wouldn’t have worked without a good leading performance, but Benedict Cumberbatch takes it even further and makes Alan Turing one of the most compelling characters of the year. The real-life Turing was a fascinating guy, and Cumberbatch (with the help of great direction) brings his personality and all of his subtle nuances to life. Even though he’s initially a cold and arrogant man, everything from his line delivery to his facial expressions to his body language is also very entertaining and endears you to him. It was an excellent performance that almost single-handedly made the movie work, and I’ll be shocked if Cumberbatch doesn’t get nominated for Best Actor come Oscar season.

This is clearly Cumberbatch’s show, but he’s not the only one who gets a chance to shine. Keira Knightley is great as Joan Clarke, the only woman on the team and the one who makes Turing come out of his shell. Charles Dance and Mark Strong don’t have a lot of screentime, but nonetheless give solid performances as the military higher-ups that Turing and his fellow code-breakers answer to. Even Matthew Goode, who I’ve never been particularly impressed with, gives what might be his best performance to date as cryptanalyst Hugh Alexander. All in all, everybody did nice work.

When you’ve got a true story this good, you’d better not screw it up. Well, director Morten Tyldum and writer Graham Moore have taken the life of Alan Turing and told a very interesting story. The main draw is probably going to be Turing’s work building his code-breaking machine, and that makes for great drama. But at its heart The Imitation Game is the story of a deeply complicated man and his personal life. He may be a hardass, but he also desperately wants to have friends. On another note, Turing must also conceal his SPOILER ALERT homosexuality, which was illegal in Britain until the 60s. All of this makes for a story that is both inspiring and heartbreaking.

Cons: There’s not a lot to dislike about The Imitation Game, but it does have a few minor issues. The film uses a framing device that allows it to jump back and forth between time periods, and it doesn’t always work. Certain scenes have awkward transitions to events that happened decades before or after, and sometimes the non-linearity of the story causes it to drag. I’m not going to say that going the non-linear route was the wrong choice, but the way the story was framed didn’t always work and there were times when the pacing suffered.

Verdict: Even though I had high expectations for The Imitation Game, I’m surprised at just how much I loved it. Folks, make sure not to miss this one. Even if you don’t know anything about Alan Turing (I didn’t before trailer inspired me to look into him), this is a fantastic movie with a lot of great performances and plenty of heart.

Score: 9/10 (going back to numerical scores)

Dracula Untold Review

Starring Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, and Charles Dance. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of warfare, vampire attacks (specific much?), disturbing images, and some sensuality. 92 minutes.

I haven’t really been looking forward to Dracula Untold. Ever since I heard that Dracula was being reimagined as a tragic hero, the project completely lost me. To me, Dracula is a vicious, cold-blooded killing machine, not a romanticized piece of crap. When someone mentions Dracula, I think of this…

…and not this.

On top of that, the trailers looked extremely bland. The only thing that gave me hope was the casting of Luke Evans. So how was Dracula Untold? Well, not terrible, but not really worth seeing either.

Premise: When the Turks invade Hungary, Vlad the Impaler becomes a vampire in order to save his kingdom from destruction.

Pros: I’ve been a Luke Evans fan for several years now. He might not always choose the best movies, but I think he’s a talented guy who has carved out a good niche. While I was not sold on the notion of Dracula as a romantic hero, Evans made it a bit more palatable. He does such a good job as a charming, cunning, vengeful, funny conquerer that I almost forgot that I was watching a character who was nowhere near the badass he should’ve been.

There’s some very good action. Some might be disappointed by the lack of blood, but I was pretty impressed by how visceral the action was. Not just when Vlad’s in vampire mode, but also the more ground Medieval warfare. Props to rookie director Gary Shore for making everything look good, and to Luke Evans for being a good action hero.

Cons: In many ways, Dracula Untold falls completely flat. The story is, just as I feared, about as bland as they come, with little in the way of plot development and a flat character arc for its protagonist. Another thing that stood out was the dialogue. It was often terrible. No less than five times did I literally cringe in disgust at the inane drivel spewing forth from the character’s mouths. For all the times the movie was on, there were three times when it wasn’t.

I hate when vampires are portrayed as misunderstood heroes. Almost every time this happens, they’re praised to high Heaven by the story while still being ruthless, unsympathetic killers (looking at you, True Blood). While this movie isn’t the worst example of this phenomenon, there’s still the fact that the “hero” is, you know, Dracula. If he was written as a villain protagonist or particularly hard-edged anti-hero, it might’ve been easier to swallow. But the point remains that Dracula does not work when he’s whitewashed.

I was not a fan of the final scene. It was a far too obvious attempt at a sequel hook that was extremely out of place.

Verdict: Despite a good performance by the lead actor and some solid action, Dracula Untold fails by virtue of being a bland whitewashing of a character who should be a lot cooler and more evil. Not a complete waste of time, but I can’t find a lot to recommend.

Score: 4/10