In The Heart of the Sea

Coming along on the crest of a wave following their successful collaboration on Rush, Ron Howard directs Chris Hemsworth again in a big seafaring action-adventure In The Heart of the Sea, an adaptation of Nathaniel Pilcrick's novel itself based on Herman Melville's classic Moby Dick.

Told in flashback by the last living survivor of the Essex disaster, Thomas Nicholson (Brendan Gleeson) to a determined Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) who is eager to hear about the truth of the Essex following the whitewash of an inquiry.

Nicholson tells the story and how the two conflicting attitudes and backgrounds of Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) and First Mate Owen Chase (Hemsworth) spelt trouble for the cursed voyage from the departure.

With a demand to get 200 barrels of whale oil within a year paramount to the voyage, the men are at loggerheads with each other before they encounter the great big whale in the waters of the western coast of South America.  The ship is destroyed by the whale, and the men abandon ship yet 2000 miles from land.

Then begins the story of survival in the vein of Tom Hanks in Castaway or 1992's Alive, where men must bear witness to deplorable things and abominable acts to survive in the harsh waters more akin to a desert than an open expanse of water.

Ron Howard has done men marooned miles from home before in Apollo 13 but this larger crew allows a greater vantage of human experience on this palette of man versus nature. The cast are excellent throughout led by the ever improving Hemsworth who displays a stoic heroism befitting the  role, slowly becoming a key leading man in Hollywood and shows he does not need a cape to be heroic.

Cillian Murphy does good things in his support role as mediator between the two leaders on the boat, yet the key scenes between Gleeson and Whishaw are the quiet most impressive scenes of note holding great swathes of gravitas and dramatic tension in the still of the night; the two actors grip in the short moments they have on screen.

The scenes at sea are wonderfully shot by Anthony Dod Mantle and the sweeping score by Joque Rosta adds to the epic feel. While the scenes with the whale may not match the glory of battle in Master and Commander by Peter Weir, you cannot fault the ambition or determination of Howards's intention in doing justice to the tragic event or the influence it had on Melville's epic tome.

Impressive and expertly produced, while the film has mind bogglingly been ignored by Americans in terms of box office the film deserves to be seen and especially on the big screen.

In The Heart of the Sea is released on Digital HD on 18th April and on 3D, Blu-Ray and DVD on 2nd May from Warner Bros.

2015: The Year of Chris Hemsworth

2015 promises a lot in the world of film with undoubtedly the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in December having half the world frothing at the mouth and the other half wiping up the froth and wondering what the fuss is about.

Yet for one actor it may be the year he goes truly global and creates a market for himself, with three known films coming out in the calendar year that may well guarantee box office returns for him and the films themselves.

A few years ago there was a game where you could do a fantasy box office team like pick five actors or actresses that would star in the films that make the most money for example you pick stars like Gary Oldman or Samuel L. Jackson who appear frequently but in films that garner large returns.  For the first six months of the year you should put your money on Chris Hemsworth.

The Australian actor is following a career path not too dissimilar to his fellow Antipodeans, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, like him actors of immense presence, whereas he has not had the great role like Crowe in Gladiator his casting decisions are nonetheless impressive.

Released this week in America is Blackhat, where he plays Nicholas Hathaway, a crack hacker who is the government's only hope of beating an even better hacker.  So far, so Swordfish a la Jackman; but the film is directed by Michael Mann who again films in that digital camera where it feels like the camera is merely floating about the action and yet is very much kinetic when it comes to the balletic gunplay as eschewed in the trailer. And there is no blowjob under the table going on as far as the trailer tells us.

This is one of those roles where Hemsworth appears in a degree of normalcy, of this world and not of his alter ego Thor whom re-appears in the other must see blockbuster forthcoming in May Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Whilst Thor has already had two stand alone films of his own with another Ragnarok scheduled for 2017 from Marvel, Thor is nevertheless critical to the film. In the first film Avengers Assemble, it was his character who had some of the best lines - 'You humans are so petty. And tiny' and the classic 'He's adopted', when having to explain Loki's homocidal tendencies.

That film is guaranteed to be gold at the box office if Joss Whedon can work the magic again, however, the third film of his first half of 2015 may be his most impressive decision and grant him his best role of his career in In the Heart of the Sea.

Like Crowe in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, it will show a seafaring Hemsworth who will don the apparel of late 18th century sailors as Owen Chase aboard the Essex the infamous vessel that was attacked by a giant whale becoming the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick

Directed by Ron Howard with whom Hemsworth worked with on Rush, it appears Hemsworth has grasped a mixture of intelligence and charisma to work with such luminaries as Howard and Mann in quick succession.

Hemsworth has hit his purple patch it seems and whilst he will always have the character of Thor to fall back on and it appears he works best in an ensemble. Blackhat gives him the platform to carry a film on his own without a known face amongst the supporting cast, even the love interest is not known to American audiences, leaving Hemsworth to make sure the film can be elevated above a mere hacker thriller but to something more than that.

Blackhat is out in the UK on February 20th from Universal Pictures
In the Heart of the Sea is released on March 13th from Warner Bros.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is released on April 24th from Marvel

In the Heart of the Sea - new trailer

Following on from my November preview of In the Heart of the Sea I am pleased to share with you today the brand new trailer for the film set for a worldwide release on March 13th in cinemas and IMAX.

Directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth who worked together on Rush, the film based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s best-selling book about the dramatic true journey of the Essex.
In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.  The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.  But that told only half the story.  

 

In the Heart of the Sea reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive.  Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.

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In the Heart of the Sea

 

Directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson, In the Heart of the Sea tells the epic true story of men who survived upon the vessel Essex which would serve as the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick in the winter of 1820.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=E0b2bYO519s
 
In the Heart of the Sea reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive.  Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.

 

In the Heart of the Sea stars Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers, Rush) as the vessel’s veteran first mate Owen Chase; Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) as its inexperienced Captain, George Pollard; Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight Rises) as second mate Matthew Joy; and Ben Whishaw (Skyfall) as novelist Herman Melville, whose inquiries into the event 30 years later helped bring the story to light.  Tom Holland (The Impossible) also stars as young seaman Tom Nickerson, and Brendan Gleeson (Edge of Tomorrow) as the same man, 30 years later.  Spanish actor Jordi Mollà (Riddick) is the captain of another ship, the Archimedes, who tries to warn the Essex of what may lie ahead.

The trailer is a gripping two and a half minute teaser which has the customary voice over from the experienced old dog, some lilting music from the soundtrack and some amazing photography of the action at the sea, borrowing a trick from Spielberg's Jaws in that we do not see all of the beast. 

 

The film promises to be the best nautical movie seen since Master and Commander, which was directed by Hemsworth compatriot Peter Weir and starred Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany.  That film, pardon the pun, sank from public consciousness but hopefully will be remembered now, and if the film does half of what the trailer envisages we land lovers are in for a treat.

Opening worldwide beginning March 13, 2015 in theatres and IMAX, the film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

In the Heart of the Sea will be released in UK cinemas on 13th March 2015

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