This is only my second film review and yet I’m still so super excited to share this one! This film is... well, I’ll let you read on to figure that out.
But wait... this film isn’t out yet, how do you know about it? (or it was not out when I wrote this, but it may be in some theaters when this is posted. oops) To answer that question I want to explain some stuff.
 |
| photo courtesy of IMDb |
Lets back up a bit and get some bearings. From June 20th through the 22nd I attended Campus Movie Fest 2013. Campus Movie Fest is a large student film festival that takes the top short films from each campus across the nation and brings them together to celebrate the art and the passion of the movie business. My short film LiFE was selected as Best Drama at my university and therefore I was invited to celebrate my film along with those of other students at colleges from all over the United States. I had never been to any film event like this before.
On the first day I met the amazing Mia (as she will be formally known). She was probably my best friend on this trip. We ended up hanging out a lot. The Amazing Mia asked me if I was going to the advanced screening of Despicable Me 2 or Rush. I sadly had to tell her that I had not signed up for the screenings in time and was placed on the wait-list for both movies, meaning that if someone could no longer make the movie, then well, there were 100 other people that would get that seat before me.
Mia seemed shocked that I was not on the list for the advanced screenings and, like an angel sent from heaven, she told me she had an extra ticket. For a second I thought she was just disclaiming the facts, but then she proceeded to say, “You can come with me!” I was so excited! And of course, being a movie lover, I said yes! So the next night I went with Mia to go see Director Ron Howard’s Rush. (The Amazing Mia also ended up not using her Despicable Me 2 advanced screening tickets so she gave them to me and my family. If you are reading this, Thank you once again Mia!)
Rush was filmed on the RED camera and let me tell you, that made a HUGE difference. RED is the chocolate of the film industry. It’s THAT good. haha. Anyways, I was lucky enough to get to visit the RED studios in LA and work on some RED cameras on the set where the movie Hitchcock was filmed. The beast of the camera world was rather intimidating at first glance, but ended up being just as polished and wonderful as expected. All of the revolutionary features and footage that my team shot on set that day was just a small preview of the amazing images I would see in the film Rush.
Rush... where to start? When looking back on this film all I can see is this one image of wheels spinning so effortlessly in slow motion as rain falls on the pavement. This shot will forever be in my mind because that was the moment I realized film is magic. Every second of this film works to keep the audience enthralled and by the sound of the applause at the end of the film, I knew it was a hit. A theater full of film buffs and movie enthusiasts, I was right at home and so was Rush.
I have seen this movie already for free but there is nothing stopping me from seeing it 10 more times so I may have to do that. Most of the time people who analyze films review the film at least two times, so keep in mind that I have only seen this film once, but it was engraved into my brain as a masterpiece. Maybe once I see it again, which I will, I will find more negatives, but for now this film is almost perfect, almost.
Overall I would give this film a rating of 9 out of 10.
The only way it could have been better was if, well actually, this film was just about perfect, but I’m leaving that 1 point out because I feel like there has yet to be a film that is perfect, but I’m waiting for the day.
Keep in mind, IMDB rated this film an 8.4 (one of the highest ratings I have EVER seen) and Rotten Tomatoes rated it an 85% (another high for Rotten Tomatoes). Please enjoy this film before reading any of the below. There are major spoilers and will ruin the magic of the film if you have yet to see it. If you have seen it, then please do read on.
* * * WARNING - THE FOLLOWING DOES INCLUDE MAJOR SPOILERS * * *
Rush is all about the people we hate to love.
James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) is an egocentric Formula One driver with the secret to wooing the ladies. He is the pinnacle of all that is racing. Soon his track is welcoming a new driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) with whom Hunt despises. Lauda and Hunt are in a vigorous battle to beat out the other causing their judgement to be skewed by their urge to win.
Through the years both men find love, Hunt finds Suzy Miller (Olivia Wilde) and Lauda, with whom I find myself smitten for (sorry Hemsworth), finds himself marrying the lovely Marlene of which once did not even believe he was a Formula One driver. He proved her wrong. Anyways, with both men driven(pun intended) to win the prize, they lose sight of their wives. Lauda refuses to listen to his wife when she asks him not to race during the rain because of the dangers and Hunt convinces the racers to vote otherwise. The race goes on and Lauda pays for his decision to race in the rain over listening to his wife. Lauda crashes and ends up struggling back into racing.
Warning, if you don’t like to see people in pain this part can come as hard to watch for you. Niki Lauda forces his helmet back on before his face is done healing and that part of the movie had me cringing. The slow process was near to impossible to watch. Well I’m starting to tell you the whole movie rather then my opinion so lets just skip to the end and sum this baby up.
In the end Hunt and Lauda find themselves at the pinnacle of all races and once again the rain pours down like the day of Lauda’s crash. The always arrogant James Hunt decides once again that he will race and Lauda, unwilling to lose to Hunt passes up judgement one more time, however; as the race plays out Lauda realizes that loosing his wife and himself is not worth it to win against his rival. Lauda pulls himself from the race resulting in Hunt winning the title. Even thought there was no crash on the track, Lauda’s move made me so happy. I expected to be upset that he let the a**hole Hunt win, but I was more proud of Lauda.
As most movies based on a true story there is text at the end that explains what happened to the real life people after this part of their life, and well, it saddens me to say that there was only bad news for James Hunt.
Sorry that this turned into a big plot summary with major spoilers, but if you have not seen the film and you still decided to read this far then what the heck are you doing silly? Get you bum to a theater and spend your money wisely by seeing this masterpiece! It is totally worth every cent. I am even going to go see it a second time when it comes out.
Always,
Kirsten Nicole
No comments:
Post a Comment