Review: The Kings of Summer ★★★★

During The Kings of Summer, you could almost be forgiven for experiencing déjà vu. Jonathan Vogt-Roberts’ inaugural feature film feels a lot like Stand By Me, arguably the best of the ‘coming of age’ genre. This is far from negative and The Kings of Summer is a wonderfully well-intentioned film with a strong comedic script.

The film follows the efforts of two teenage boys, Joe (Nick Robinson) and Patrick (Gabriel Basso), who are desperate to escape their overbearing parents. Together with Biaggio (Moises Arias), they descend onto a wooded plain and construct a house so well crafted that you wonder whether the lads are qualified architects. Nevertheless, the film’s implausibility is forgiven as part of its endearing whimsy.

The acting performances from the three boys are fantastic: their comic timing is excellent, and they perfected the ‘Superbad dynamic’ of two nerdy friends and one complete nutcase. The exceptionally strange and offbeat performance of Arias as Biaggio, the boy whose background we know little about, is hopefully a sign of great things to come. It is the spectacularly brusque Nick Offerman (of Parks and Recreation fame) who is gifted the vast majority of the best lines, however, and no one can begrudge him that as he delivers them flawlessly, no thanks to his years of practice as Ron Swanson.  

As the film progresses and cracks begin to form in their utopia, the boys’ emancipation becomes less and less attractive. The comedy dries up a little in this final third and it begins to take itself quite seriously but it is so funny in the earlier parts of the film that it should be allowed a little self-indulgence.

The Kings of Summer is a well-made film with a great heart, and the tranquility that transcends the film is no doubt down to Vogt-Roberts wonderful direction. He uses some lovely wildlife montages to portray the utopia that the boys have found themselves in, and a great amount of slow-motion to keep the pace of the film to a meander; what some people argue as too much, I thoroughly enjoyed. The soundtrack also does the film a lot of favours with a summer vibe that lends itself perfectly to the story.

Vogt-Roberts’ film is a testament to all indie comedy and to coming of age films, of which it is one of the best since Stand By Me. This is a film to treasure for this generation.

Holy Hollywood, Batman!

Ben Affleck to don the cowl as The Dark Knight returns in Man of Steel sequel

Ben Affleck: Caped Crusader. A headline that sent the internet into a frenzy. Whilst the furor that followed was to be expected, the scale of animosity, however, possibly wasn’t.

Credit: The Guardian [online]

Respect was an alien concept to Affleck in his early 21^st century, ‘Gigli’ days. However, strong career moves in recent years have gifted him a newfound esteem. Hollywoodland, The Town and Argo all landed him reverence from the critics, and an Academy award, no less, for his spectacular directorial work on Argo.

Recent maturity on Affleck’s part, has led to his removal as the butt of every joke. Instead, directing seems to be his forte and he has got his career back on a path he can be happy with. Why is it, then, that Affleck is willing to jeapordise his revival by opening himself up to such a risk-laden project? Scott Mendelson’s insightful article for Forbes raises the interesting argument that perhaps Affleck’s decision is, in fact, a shrewd one that leaves Warner Bros. indebted to him. This debt could grant him a lifetime supply of money to continue making his gritty, artistic dramas. As Mendelson puts it, he is “arguably sacrificing Ben Affleck the actor to ensure the continued artistic legacy of Ben Affleck the director”.  

Perhaps the decision is less complicated, though; Affleck is quick to distance himself from the atrocity

Credit: digitalspy.co.uk

that was Daredevil so maybe he sees this as an opportunity to prove that he has the ability to successfully portray an emotionally damaged superhero?

Zack Snyder has promised us that Affleck’s Bruce Wayne will be “a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter”. This is ideal for Affleck, who has gotten to an age where the Expendables franchise might be the only place he could play ‘action hero’. His “I’ve seen things and lost people” character in Argo could be translatable for the image that Snyder clearly has for Wayne in Man of Steel’s sequel. 

In all honesty, the biggest problem with Man of Steel 2 is the fact that it involves Batman at all. DC Comics has, up to this point, made dark and emotionally gripping superhero movies; a far cry from Marvel’s glossy, action movies aimed at destroying the box office (as well as New York). However, Man of Steel’s incredible box office success of more than $649 million must have caused the Warner Bros. executives to have a greed-induced panic attack. Before we could take a breath after Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman was being announced at Comic Con.

Sadly, DC will become the pet project of Warner Bros. and we will lose the grit and guile that made the Dark Knight trilogy such a breath of fresh air. Christopher Nolan will surely distance himself from such money grabbers, and the quality (although perhaps not the fun) will dissipate. However, maybe Affleck’s gritty films, courtesy of Warner Bros.’ debt to him, will act as a replacement?

This decision has left the future of DC unclear but, maybe, Affleck’s appointment isn’t all that bad. If he can emulate his performances from The Town and Argo then we may have a decent film on our hands. The stellar cast from Man of Steel will all be featuring again and David S. Goyer can certainly pen a clever script. If you were to ask Twitter, it is the end of cinema as we know it; in reality, it isn’t nearly as neglectful a decision as one might think.