Review of The Town (2010) by Matt W — 27 Jun 2012

Ben Affleck has done it again. I think it is safe to say now that he is better behind the cmaera instead of in front of it, and this is not to say that he was bad in this movie because he was really good, and it was jump right back into form for him, but I just don't think he works in big blockbusters etc, for example DareDevil. The action in this movie is handled so well, and there are some moving moments within in them, the moment of realisation of what they are doing, and also how this can affect the family relationships etc. It wasall weaved together so well, that it seemed a shame that the first 20 minutes or so, after the first robbery, did seem to take a while to get into gear, and it didn't really know where it wanted to go, and seemed to drag a bit.

The performances are really good in this movie, and at first I thought I was going to have a problem with the accents, as they almost felt exaggerated, but I think that was just because I wasn't used to it, but some of the scenes of just talking were so moving,. Renner was the standout for me in the movie, as he really had that wild card character, you could never be sure what he was going to do next, and that was so exciting to watch on screen. Added to this, Affleck did a great job as the straight man of the movie, and he had a really moving scene near the end, where he starts to see things falling apart, but is uplifted by one person- it is really great.

Going back to the point made about Renner, it relfects the film, I had no idea how this film was going to end, and I never knew if they would get away or not, and that is a great feeling, when watching a movie, as nowadays you are so used to expecting things to happen, and how it is going to end etc, but with this there are few things that happen that I didn't see coming. Also, I liked the way that the viallain of the movie was the good gu, I love it when films do this, as they made the FBI agent the villain, and he was actually a nasty piece of work in the movie, as he doesn't seem to care for anyone's life in the movie, he just cares about getting the job done, and that is when you know which side you are on.

The problem was for the 20 minutes that followed the great bank robbery scenes, it did seem to drag, as they had to introdue a lot of characters and give their backstories etc, and I do think they cuold've done it in a better way, as there seemed to be a lot of talking scenes which didn't add anything to the plot but only the length time, and it was a bit frustrating as you just wanted to see a little bit of a faster pace. Also, there are a few unoriginal story threads here, that you notice quite obviously, where he wants to get out but can't, and so there are a few moments in the film that just felt a bit unoriginal and that I had seen it before.

The action scenes in this movie are what make it, and they are crafted so well, and they keep you gripped the whole time, and I have never really seen them done like this before, and it actually reminded me a bit of the openging of The Dark knight, where everyhing was crafted so well, and how it all worked, it was just so interesting to watch. Is this movie better than Gone Baby Gone? In my opinion, No. But does that mean that it isn't worth seeing, no, this movie is a really good movie, and I really enjoyed Gone Baby Gone, a lot, and this movie really does have a lot going for it, and is much smarter and more intelligent, and exciting, than most movies out there.