12A - 118mins - Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller - 17th August 2011
Finally my prayers to the Hollywood top dogs for a bit of originality have been answered in the form of Cowboys & Aliens, a sci-fi thriller (which puts me in even more of an optimistic mood due to it being one of my preferred genres of choice). Yes it is based on a graphic novel and yes technology in the wild west has been implemented before but this isn't a sequel/prequel and as a concept is very fresh.
Daniel Craig plays Jake, a cowboy who wakes up in the middle of nowhere with no recollection of who he is, where he has been or how he got there. In fact the only clue given to him is a strange metallic bracelet that he is unable to remove from his arm. After making his way to the nearest town he soon makes himself known to the locals and is identified as a dangerous and wanted man guilty of several crimes including stealing gold from local rancher Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). After being arrested and readied for transport, alien spaceships appear out of nowhere and start snatching people away and blowing up the surrounding countryside. Jake's bracelet transforms itself into a weapon and he is able to drive the aliens away.
12A - 105mins - Action/Drama/Sci-Fi - 11th August 2011
It's been 10 years since the last Planet of the Apes film and looking back, it is fair to say that the years have not treated it too well- the ape costumes are verging on amusing rather than scary. This latest reboot brings us an origins story painting a picture of the beginning of the end for the human race and the start of dominance for the apes on Earth. They have brought back this franchise again with a movie that isn't really part of said franchise. All other Planet of the Apes movies are set on a mystical planet whereas this is set on present day Earth and as such, although I understand why they did it (money money money), would have been better to disassociate with the Planet of the Apes brand.
Will Rodman (James Franco) is a researcher for a pharmaceutical company working on a cure for Alzheimer's- a disease close to his heart due to his father's (John Lithgow) battle with the disease. When his leading test subject breaks free and 'goes ape' she is put down along with the rest of the project. However Will discovers she was only protecting her newborn child who he takes home and raises as part of his family. It soon becomes apparent that the drugs subjected to the baby chimp's mother have been genetically passed on to him gifting the ape with extremely high levels of intelligence.
12A - 125mins - Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 29th July 2011
With the summer season now in full blast we get our latest and final all action comic book hero for the year in the guise of Captain America- yet another character that I am unfamiliar with. Have I missed out on a childhood filled with comic books? It would seem so.
Set during World War II, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) a poorly yet determined man has only one goal- to join the army so that he can serve and protect his country. Due to his illnesses and diminished stature though he is rejected and turned away by every recruitment station he visits. A chance encounter with Dr. Erksine (Stanley Tucci) changes his fortunes and leads him to be accepted onto a secret project codename Project Rebirth where his honour and integrity gain him the chance to become a super soldier. He undergoes the transformation and becomes capable of near superhuman acts.
15 - 157mins - Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 29th June 2011
Our summer of sequels continues with the Transformers returning to the big screen with their third outing. After the rather disappointing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen I have to say that my hopes were not particularly high for this one.
Dark of the Moon is set several years after the second movie where Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is struggling to get a job and return his life to normal and yet this still hasn't stopped him from bagging the most attractive girl in the city- Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). At the same time, the Autobots discover that a Cybertronian spacecraft crash landed on the Moon during the 1960's and race against the Decepticons to reach it first and protect the secrets that it holds. The two storylines overlap and voilà the plot is born.
As always the visuals impress and are the best in the franchise so far but I ended up asking myself how is this different from the previous two and it led me to this answer- there isn't that much of a difference at all. Bay has upped the ante somewhat in regards to the amount of CGI he has crammed into the movie so expect more fighting, more action and a whole lot more slowmo. While many will think great more action, I see it as part of the problem though. There is only so many times that I can be impressed with a vehicle transforming into something else, in slow motion, before it becomes repetitive and I felt like I reached my limit in this film.
Aside from the first 10 minutes which dealt with the space race of the 1960's, it took a while for the film to get going. For the last hour or so though, I was enjoying what the film had to offer where it took on a Black Hawk Down kind of persona during battle scenes in the city.
Several issues I had: at 157 minutes the film tended to drag in several places and led to a rather rushed final scene that should not have been; the comedy element was greatly reduced despite a cameo from Ken Jeong aka Mr Chow from The Hangover; the new love interest did not impress with her acting skills at all and was more than likely brought in merely as token eye candy for the viewers, which she did succeed in; and most importantly, the plot had more holes in it than a Swiss cheese being used as target practice on a shooting range. And that is an understatement. Also there has been zero continuity between the trilogy of films so far which does not go down well with me.
I was more impressed than I thought I was going to be but as I said expectation had been lowered due to the extremely poor second film. I have to be careful here because I think the impressive graphics have partly blinded me to the rest of the cracks that appear throughout. All I can say is if you enjoyed the first movie or like good visuals then you will enjoy this one and if you didn't or want an involved and interesting plot that develops itself and the characters as the movie progresses then you won't get that here.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon just scrapes into the higher rating purely down to the CGI.
15 - 141mins - Action/Adventure/Drama - 6th May 2011
Being the film buff that I like to pretend I am, I am still yet to see Akira Kurosawa'sSeven Samurai- a work that has supposedly spawned many films since and is widely regarded as one of the first films to introduce plot structures such as recruiting a group of characters to to accomplish a specific goal and having a main hero undertake a task unrelated to the main plot. 13 Assassins leans on this movie which it has clearly been influenced by.
The story follows the efforts of a group of samurai as they aim to assassinate the evil Lord Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki) whose malevolence and monstrosities against his people know no bounds. Unable to touch Naritsugu due to his links with the former and current shogun , a senior politician realises that he has to be stopped before he obtains a higher rank and becomes an even more dangerous threat. He secretly enlists the help of a trusted samurai Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho) to gather a group of samurai together with the task of eliminating Naritsugu.
Despite me not being the best judge of the way of the samurai, I was not born in the 1840's in Japan, I felt that 13 Assassins portrayed what it could well have been like during that time. Setting the film in a time of relative peace was a good choice as it meant many of the samurai had no real life combat experience or know-how which gave them more depth- they are trained killing machines and yet for some of them, they have never even killed.
The main draw of this movie is the combat sequences and action shots which are impressive to say the least. The whole movie is basically enacting out one long battle scene with the first half setting up the characters and the last hour being dedicated to the massive battle scene. There is quite a bit of gore to keep an eye out for in both the fighting scenes and others with many limbs being severed and plenty of guts on show. The fighting scenes are well done although if I had to find fault, I would say at points it did feel as it the samurai were fighting wave after wave of enemies leading to it feeling a bit 'samey' and instead of heading straight for Naritsugu the samurai felt compelled to slash their way through the footmen first when they could have gone for him straight away. But that's just me nitpicking.
The number of unfamiliar Japanese names being mentioned along with the fact that the samurai are all wearing similar attire and have the same haircut whilst having to spend time reading subtitles rather than watching can lead to some confusion. This does fall away though while the movie progresses as the characters take on more individual personalities especially within the samurai group.
Credit must go to director Takashi Miike who not only has created a beautiful movie in terms of cinematography and direction but also has brought the honour, tradition and way of life of the samurai and Japanese culture to the viewer in emphatic fashion. Awesome fight scene, solid acting and the ability to not shy away from the gore lead me to give this a...
O and prepare to be befuddled for a bit at the end as well!
You may have noticed that another month has flown by so get ready for my preview of July's releases [my article] where there are many films that will be hitting the screens and by and large, most of them look quite good! Until then...
Farm
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12A - 105mins - Action/Crime/Sci-Fi - 17th June 2011
First off, I have to say my knowledge of the Green Lantern extends as far as knowing that somewhere along the line a ring, a lantern, lots of green and a rhyme are involved and that's about it. Before the film I didn't even know our hero's name so in that respect I know not if this did the comic justice and stuck closely to the ideas and themes or it varied wildly. Feel free to leave feedback/comments below if you do know. On the plus side this means I get to learn about a whole new character from scratch and that's what I love about the movies.
The story follows Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) a jet fighter test pilot following in the footsteps of his father. However his life is turned upside down when he finds himself face to face with an alien who gives him a ring which bestows unto him magical powers that enable him not only the ability to fly but allow anything he imagines to materialise. He is not the only one with a ring though and but part of a larger collective known as the Green Lanterns who are tasked with looking after the universe and protecting it from evil.
Unfortunately I found the action somewhat disappointing not only in its quantity (there wasn't much) but also in respect to its quality. The options available to our green lanterns are endless, whatever you can think can become real, it's a scriptwriters dream as anything is feasible as long as they could think of it and yet we are treated to an array of shields and various guns where just a bit more thought could have given us so much more. CGI was a massive factor in this movie as well and for the first time in while I noticed it with the effects feeling slightly incomplete on occasion.
In the supporting cast there was one impressive performance with Mark Strong as Sinestro who should have had more screen time and no poor ones as the cast went about their parts with a minimum of fuss. Reynolds does not quite suit the superhero role but that could just be because I cannot see past him as any character other than a comedic Van Wilder type.
My main gripe with the film though was the characters who were mostly underdeveloped- Hal's friend picks up Hal in his car and says wow when he sees him showing off his suit. That was it, no other point to him at all. Even stranger, Hal's sibling's and nephew were in the start of the movie and then completely cut from the script never to be seen or even heard of again. Also Hal's love interest Carol (Blake Lively) added looks but no real emotional connection with Hal questioning the inclusion of her at all.
As enemies go Parallax never had me worried and I never felt Hal was in real trouble. The Green Lantern has no weaknesses- Superman has kryptonite, Spiderman has limited powers but the Green Lantern can create anything and go anywhere which led me to never be concerned and so for a rather average viewing experience. I'm assuming in the lifetime of the comics, there were better villains that could have been used for the big screen than Hector Hammond (the giant head) (Peter Sarsgaard) and Parallax (the giant smoky head)?
I think that if this had been released before Thor [my review] or X-Men: First Class [my review] then it might have faired slightly better but it never captivated me in the same way those movies did. It seems set slightly more towards the younger generation with a few too many plot holes for my liking and I just hope that if a sequel does come about from this, who am I kidding, WHEN a sequel is made, more effort is put into developing the characters. It seems a bit like I hate this movie but it's not a bad film (remember Catwoman and Daredevil?), it's just I'd rather save my cash and go with something else instead.
Next movie up is Troll 2. For those of you unaware of this movie, it's known as the best worst movie ever made. Will it live up to expectations? If the trailer is anything to go by then yes, yes it will!
Farm
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PG - 90mins - Animation/Action/Adventure - 10th June 2011
Po (Jack Black) returns in another kung fu animation adventure which sees our ever hungry panda face up to a new and devastating threat in the form of angry albino peacock (Gary Oldman) Lord Shen. Having been cast out by his parents years before for his atrocities, Shen has been biding his time returning with a new technology that threatens to enable him to conquer China.
Po is joined once again with the Furious Five as well as a few new characters to try and save not only the local people but also the very fabric of kung fu and all that it stands for. Aside all of this, we also learn about the childhood of Po and how he came to be at the doorstep of Mr. Ping (James Hong) and his noodle restaurant.
This film definitely takes on a darker feel when compared to the first and will surely give the younger kids in the audience something to keep them awake at night. It also has more packed into its story with extra depth and variety than the first did not necessarily have ie. lineage and upbringing and the effect that has on us as adults.
The animation is fantastic and despite not hitting the heights of a Pixar movie is up there with some of the best that I have seen to date. My favourite scenes are the fighting scenes in particular one where they are assaulting Shen's stronghold. The combination of action with the impressive visuals drags you right into the fight alongside the characters.
Po can get a bit annoying/repetitive at some points as the Jack Black from within is released and a torrent of 'awesome' and similar such catchphrases are rattled off one after the other but this did seem to be toned down slightly from his usual self so I began to think of Po as Po rather than Black in a panda costume.
I think this is a case of the sequel running the original very close and I would be hard pushed to say which one I preferred. Whereas the first was original and purely a kids flick this builds strongly on the first opening it to a wider audience with more of a slapstick feel to it which has me just siding with this one as the better of the two. Why don't you make up your own minds as it's definitely worth a watch on the big screen.
Next I take a look at documentary Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father. [my review] Trailer below (This is one of those movies where the less you know the better so if you are ever going to watch it then ignore the trailer and hunt down a copy instead).
Farm
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12A - 132mins - Action/Adventure/Drama - 1st June 2011
One problem that every prequel has to overcome it the ability to keep interest despite us knowing the eventual outcome of the movie. If you have seen any of the previous four films then it's quite probable you can piece together how this movie is going to end and how the characters are going to turn out. This therefore needs to be compensated for and is done so successfully by the introduction of plenty of new characters to keep our interest and the actual discovery of how two men who used to be friends come to be enemies.
X-Men: First Class follows the exploits of the first mutants to be discovered, primarily that of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender). It begins with a 12 year old Charles meeting Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and their friendship as they grow up and a young Erik undergoing the hardship of Nazi Germany and the anger that this instils in him. Moving forward, Charles graduates from Oxford with his PhD in genetic mutation and is brought into the US government to help with a mission to locate someone whereas Erik is hunting down the man responsible for separating him from his mother during the regime twenty years earlier.
Both of their paths then cross when we discover they are after the same man, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and the mutant henchmen that he has surrounded himself with. Erik and Charles team up to recruit new mutants to teach them to use their mutations in order to prevent the Cuban missile crisis from unleashing the next World War and bring Shaw to justice.
The two main plots of this movie are based on finding out about the relationship between Charles and Erik and the actual storyline tied into the Cuban missile crisis and an impending world war. The trailers emphasised that this was the film where we could witness the beginning of the X-men and it doesn't fail to deliver with a good script not only providing the answers but achieving them with a well crafted dialogue.
As with most of the action movies nowadays, the action sequences are both impressive and well shot using a multitude of CGI effects especially during the final scene which was a particular highlight. The acting was also first class (poor pun intended) with McAvoy and Fassbender leading the way, their characters playing off each other perfectly but by no means outshining the rest of the cast.
Placing the whole film during that of the Cold War was a great choice by director Matthew Vaughn and co as it provided not only an impressive backdrop but used these historical events to enforce its points. In fact Vaughn impresses once more leading to a film that makes you invest in the characters before building to a action packed end.
In comparison to it's Summer sequel/prequel compatriots it has certainly taken the lead as the best so far and in terms of where it sits with the other 4 X-Men movies, well I'd put it in the top 2. Worth a trip to the cinema? Definitely, especially if you were already a fan of the franchise.
12A - 103mins - Action/Drama/Romance - 10th December 2010
Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, star in this action romance as Frank and Elise. Whilst on a vacation to Italy to recover from a broken heart, Frank a maths teacher, is minding his own business on a train when Elsie sits opposite him. They strike up a bond and Frank thinks its his lucky day when he runs into her later. Unfortunately for him, this is not a chance encounter but rather a scheme by Elise to use him as a decoy as protection for her lover Alexander Pearce who is a wanted man.
As no-one knows what Alexander looks like Frank finds himself in the middle of an intentional misunderstanding that puts him in the firing line of mobsters, from whom a large sum of money has been stolen and the British government for tax evasion led by Chief Inspector Jones (Timothy Dalton) and Scotland Yard's John Acheson (Paul Bettany)
The main flaw is that this movie contains the top A-list celebrities of Hollywood, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and is all set in the lovely city of Venice implying that it will be a feast to behold. The standards have been set high. Yet not only did I find the movie to be obvious in its direction- I was never sitting on the edge of my seat waiting or even wanting to see what was going to happen next but there was no chemistry between Depp and Jolie at all.
It was good to see Depp as a 'normal' character and by that I mean he wasn't draped in make-up and he did not see to have any extreme character flaws or quirks that usually accompany his other roles. He was the one who kept the movie interesting for me. However, I didn't fully understand Bettany's character. Granted he has some sort of vendetta against Pearce but he just didn't seem believable and was overly obsessed to the point he would have been issued with some gross misconduct charges.
The action scenes are well done and the settings impressive but you get the sense that the film hasn't worked out if it's a comedy, action or a romance. Yes a movie can be all three but The Tourist fails to seam them altogether leading to the viewer becoming somewhat detached from the storyline. And why they found it necessary to put Jolie in a stunning dress for every scene with people gawping at her is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of eye candy but it turned the movie into something more akin to a perfume commercial or catwalk show instead of a film.
At the end, although I was reasonably entertained whilst watching it, I now feel no real desire to see it ever again. Venice and its buildings add a nice visual appeal to the film but I needed more than that to keep me interested. Wait for it's appearance on the TV if you have any desire to see it.
Next I review another one of the Summer sequels- X-Men: First Class [my review] and see if it shows more promise than Pirates of the Caribbean or The Hangover Part II. Until then, I leave you with the trailer and a link to the MTV Movie Awards which take place this evening (5th June) for those who are interested. USA link/UK link
Farm
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12A - 137mins - Action/Adventure/Fantasy - 18th May 2011
The swashbuckling pirates return in their latest adventure as Disney tries to cash in on older once successful ideas rather than conjure up some new material for our viewing pleasure. On Stranger Tides sees us return to a time after that of the first three films. No longer is the focus on Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan who aren't included in the cast (neither is the prison dog!!) and whose story is considered to be finished in the third instalment, At World's End. Instead the story follows Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in his race to find the Fountain of Youth along with several other interested parties.
Jack is joined in this race by Barbossa- (Geoffrey Rush) now a profiteer working for the British Crown, Blackbeard- (Ian McShane) the most feared pirate on the seas along with his first mate Angelica (Penélope Cruz) and the Spanish armada who all want the power of the fountain for themselves. Throughout the quest they overcome challenges, encounter each other, run into mermaids and generally do as pirates do.
The movie gives out a bit of a 'same old same old' vibe with Jack elaborately escaping from captivity once again and fighting whilst balancing on wooden beams (distinctly familiar). It may have impressed in the first few films and despite being well executed is becoming decidedly stale as a concept in this one. I also felt that the inclusion of some sub-plots didn't add anything to the story (the priest/mermaid plot?) but rather detracted from it instead.
Despite this, those who are fans of Captain Jack Sparrow will not be disappointed as it certainly is better than the second and third instalments. Despite this one running it closer, it's a shame that they've never lived up to the original all the while being impervious to becoming box office flops.
The acting was mostly very good with Depp obviously returning to steal the show with his eccentric Sparrow creation but Rush, McShane and even Cruz put in their fair share to make the story believable. Both the set and clothing design departments show off their talents with impressive visuals to lap up and Zimmer's score does just enough to keep the movie flowing forward.
Overall this will keep you entertained with some good action scenes, comedy and a couple of strong performances but I'm still waiting for the series to return back to the heights of the first film which I don't think it ever will. There is guaranteed to be a fifth film (with or without Depp) but I feel that this should finally be laid to Davy Jones' locker while it can still escape with some credibility. Savvy?
15 - 93mins - Action/Crime/Thriller - 28th January 2011
The Mechanic sees Jason Statham in a role that he rarely leaves these days as a vigilante, in this case called Arthur who fights against many enemies. The plot takes it's slight twist by the addition of a sidekick of sorts in the form of Steve (Ben Foster).
Arthur is a lone hitman who is very good at what he does by eliminating targets whilst making them look like accidents. But when his mentor Harry (Donald Sutherland) is killed leaving behind his son Steve, Arthur takes him under his wing and trains him up, teaching him the ways of becoming a successful hitman. Together they carry out contracts while all the time trying to unravel who killed Harry and why.
The movie is enjoyable with the action and methods in which the contracts are executed making it a decent watch but it never really takes off as a film tending just to jump from one death to another without giving enough plot to keep me overly interested.
I'm actually finding it quite hard to talk about anything else in this movie because there just isn't that much to talk about. The acting was OK, not bad or amazing and the same can be said of the rest of it as well. It delivers on the action scenes but a film cannot be totally reliant on just action to see it through.
I think this can be summed up as a typical Statham movie with lots of action, a story that is never going to blow you away and a girl or two thrown in for good measure. Probably not as good as Crank but gives you a similar way to spend an hour and a half if your looking for a reasonable action/thriller. If that's not what your after then this won't be one for you. Wait for it to come out as a cheap DVD or on the TV.
Next up is the latest summer blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [my review] which welcomes back some familiar faces while adding a few new ones to the mixer to freshen up the series that was only worsening by the end of the last film. As always the trailer is below so check it out.
Farm
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18 - 96mins - Action/Comedy/Drama - 10th June 2011
Right from the off the premise of this movie appeals to me. I was happy with Kick-Ass and the slightly more realistic approach that they made their 'super' hero take and with Super this promise of an even more ordinary man coming off the streets to fight crime made me want to watch it as soon as possible.
Frank (Rainn Wilson) is just your ordinary bloke living an altogether uneventful life with few happy memories- 2 to be precise. He lives with his beautiful wife Sarah (Liv Tyler), a recovering drug addict, and works as a burger flipper in a diner. When Sarah relapses and leaves him for Jacques (Kevin Bacon), the local drug dealer, Frank is devastated and believes she was stolen from him.
A chance viewing of a religious hero The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion) on TV implants the 'Good Vs. Evil' concept into his mind and before long Frank has an epiphany deciding that justice must be delivered, not only to Jacques but to all wrongdoers who happen to cross his path.Seeking inspiration for his new identity he travels to the local comic book store where he meets Libby (Ellen Page) who inadvertently helps him on his way. Whereas Batman had the gadgets, Spider-man had the web and Superman could do most anything, Frank's creation- The Crimson Bolt takes the best weapon award of all time with, that's right, a monkey wrench!!
The reality of the characters, much like the wrench, hits home on more than one occasion and for the people, me included, who initially compared it to Kick-Ass well you could not be much further from the mark. This film stands on its own and is a lot grittier giving the viewer an insight into the potential of the warped human psyche whilst toying with depression and other emotions too. This is the 'deHollywoodized' version and it would only take a small step for you to imagine this on your local news channel in the real world.
Although Wilson gives a very solid performance it is Page that I was more surprised and fascinated by. Having mostly featured as her 'Juno' type character in other works it was refreshing to see her in a slightly different role you will not have seen her do before bringing out an anxious and psychotic personality which becomes even more extreme after she dons her Boltie sidekick attire. (See the clip below for proof)
No super movie would be complete without a scene with POW and WHAM making an appearance on the screen at some point but where this is usually reserved for punches, The Crimson Bolt gets use out of them when wielding a shotgun. A nice touch if I do say so! Expect the humour to follow a similar vein right through until the end.
This is a superhero comedy but it delivers so much more on top. James Gunn really delivers (especially after Slither) and I will be keeping an interested eye on his next project. This will definitely be getting a second viewing from me and I'm already looking forward to it.
The only interesting thing with vampire films these days is trying to work out what kind of vampire your going to get and what rules have been thought up to govern them in the world. The vampires of Priest are actual gruesome monsters with sharp claws and fangs which makes a change from the usual humans with slightly bigger incisors. That being said, they do exist as the human-turned-vampire slaves to their true vampire masters.
Based on Hyung Min-Woo Korean graphic novel, Priest is set in a world where humans and vampires were at war. Realising that they were losing, the humans invested in training up an elite group of warriors who could combat the vampires and turn the battle in their favour. Interesting really since the original comic did not involve vampires but rather fallen angels and daemons hence why the name of this film doesn't completely fit the content.
The church decides that after the war is won they no longer need their crack team of assassins and so fearing what they could do, they are disbanded and sent away to live normal lives with the authorities and society shunning them. (I got the impression this was at least in part attempting to parallel modern day war veterans but it was a theme that was only briefly passed over.) When Priest (Paul Bettany) finds out his family have been attacked by vampires and his niece (Lily Collins) taken, he goes against the word of the church and teams up with his nieces boyfriend Hicks (Cam Gigandet), the local sheriff to get her back.
Then follows some fighting, more CGI and special effects (which as a whole are good) and an attempt to fashion a story out of the situation. I just felt that this movie didn't have much going for it with the acting rather disappointing, the 'scary' parts failing to let my heart racing let alone make me jump from my seat and I began to lose interest half way through- never a good sign. Watch the trailer below and save yourself a trip to the cinema and a few quid.
The film also didn't know what direction it was heading in. By this I mean that it amalgamated a western theme with horror and action and a slight attempt at romance and threw it into a Mad Max post-apocalyptic type world. Maybe this might have worked in the graphic novel where you can imagine a cowboy western world to be more god fearing but it just didn't adapt to the big screen.
Although a didn't see the 3D version the general consensus is that I made the correct choice in opting for the 2D. This is probably down to the fact it was post-converted into 3D rather than shot in 3D and with large parts of the film set in the dark (one guess why), the addition of 3D glasses isn't going to help your viewing experience.
Finally, you like me may be surprised to find that it's only a 12A rating. If I ever saw some of the stuff in this film when I was younger than 12 I wouldn't have slept for weeks but then maybe the kids today are made of harder stuff!
So I was not the biggest fan of this movie and I have a feeling that I will not be the only one. If it wasn't for the cross shaped tattoo across his forehead, I would have had trouble distinguishing Bettany from his role in this and the equally disappointing Legion. One word sums this up and that word is rubbish.
12A - 114mins - Action/Adventure/Drama - 27th April 2011
Been a while since my last review. I blame work and other such inconveniences for what it's worth but anyway on with the reviews, this time in the form of another Marvel comic book hero.
The Marvel comic book creation is unleashed into the movie world which is growing desperately thin on new and original pieces of work. In recent years Marvel (Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man) has given us from average to good but never great with the best of them tending to arrive from the first movie of the series with the new superhero (Hulk is emphatically excluded from this sweeping generalisation). Thor, as the first of many summer superhero movies (including the next Marvel adaptation- Captain America: The First Avenger) could have headed either way.
Thor is about, if you haven't already gathered from the title, Thor (Chris Hemsworth)- the god of thunder. After an ancient war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), king of the Aesir forges a truce between the two races which last until the day Thor is due to be crowned King. During the coronation ceremony, several Frost Giants break into Asgard. In retribution Thor goes against his father's will and leads an assault on them bringing about a war in the process. Odin banishes Thor to Earth stripping him of his powers opening the door for his brother Leki to take control.
Arriving on Earth, Thor soon runs into astrophysicist Jane (Natalie Portman) and her colleagues who are unbeknownst to them studying the effects that Thor has caused in the sky. Without his super powers and trusty hammer Thor must learn to adapt to his new surroundings and try to discover a way to return home.
As in most of the Marvel movies, comedy is woven into the plot to keep the movie going and Thor achieves this well. Most of this is derived from Thor as he copes with his new surroundings a makes for some funny moments. Portman, the love interest, is smitten from the first time she sees Thor which she creates excellently right from the off.
In keeping with the swords and hammers over guns, I liked when the modern day sniper was called into the action and instead of picking up his trusty rifle opted of a compound bow. For those less aware of the Marvel world, that character is Hawkeye and a subtle nudge in the direction of The Avengers film due for release next spring. Along with a Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D reference the movie keeps in line with other Marvel productions by intertwining them together but in a subtle and refined way. Hopefully The Avengers can live up to the expectations they are building!
I found Thor to be better than I though it was going to be with good acting performances especially from newcomer Hemsworth and a good balance between action, comedy and drama to keep me entertained for the whole 2 hours. If you do go and see this at the cinema, which I would recommend, then make sure to stay until after the credits have finished rolling for some bonus footage.
Next up I will review Grizzly Rage. [my review] I'll let the trailer do the talking but suffice to say it's gonna be a good... bonus marks to those who can keep a straight face!
Farm
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12A - 111mins - Action/Adventure/Mystery - 6th May 2011
Hanna is not only the story of a girl who you would definitely not like to meet down a dark alley but also one of discovery as she learns to live in the real world away from the restrictions and rigorous regime that her father has bestowed upon her.
The story begins in the forests near the Arctic Circle where Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) lives with her ex-agent father Erik (Eric Bana) in solitude, hunting the animals and being trained by her father for a greater purpose that is kept from us. After they activate a homing beacon, US marines flock to their house where they can locate only Hanna. They take her in for questioning to a top secret base in order to discover the whereabouts of her father but find that Hanna will only speak to Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett) the head of the operations (with her own agenda), who she knows by name.
This is where we discover first hand the true potential of Hanna as she executes Marissa's double and the guards around her before attempting her escape from the compound. The movie follows her story as she then flees the scene in order to reunite with her father. All the while she is being tracked down by the warped and slightly crazed Isaacs (Tom Hollander).
As the movie develops you can't help but feel somewhat sorry for her as all she has ever known is the confines of her father's house and the encyclopedic knowledge that she has been taught as a bedtime story rather than the fairytales that other children are given. In some ways this is a coming of age story just from a slightly different angle than the norm as she adapts to a world that she finds alien and confusing.
Cinematography is hectic with the picture cutting, chopping and changing during fight scenes and supported by dramatic music (given to us by The Chemical Brothers) that adds to the action splendidly. This is then contrasted by long scenes that are shot with no cutting whatsoever which really allows for the tempo of the movie to help dictate the franticness of the action when it arrives. Locations, like the camera work, varies greatly as one moment you are in the wild in the Arctic or a desert before being transported to the urban landscape as a metropolitan city or a city from the developing world.
Things that did not quite work for me were the occasional plot holes and slightly unrealistic/unbelievable scenarios that kept popping up- can you grab the underside of a truck moving at 50 mph and still hold on because I know I can't, the poor Texan accent put on by Blanchett who I would have expected better from and I also would have enjoyed just a bit more action during the movie.
All in all Hanna is an enjoyable little action adventure that will please on most fronts. In essence it is replicating one of the Bourne trilogy with a 16 year old girl and is not as explosive and action packed as some might expect but Ronan's performance along with a mysterious undertone that parallels the story make it worth the watch.
Next I'm giving you a documentary to look at that most will not have heard of. The King Of Kong- A Fistful Of Quarters [my review] follows a man and his attempt to break the arcade game Donkey Kong world record. Have a gander below.
Farm
Are you fanatical about film? Then follow this site on Twitter @ FAbFilms
12A - 130mins - Action/Crime/Drama - 21st April 2011
The latest in the Fast and Furious franchise has recently hit the screens and what with the others being a good way to spend a few hours I was hoping for a similar type of movie from this one with plenty of great cars and car chases to boot.
Set after Fast & Furious (No. 4) but before The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (No. 3), this time the action is played out in Rio, Brazil after Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) has escaped from police custody in the US with help from his old pal Brian (Paul Walker) and sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and gone into hiding. With them needing money to disappear forever, Dom hatches a plan to steal all the money from Rio's most reputable underworld kingpin Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida).
At the same time they are being hunted down by the elite federal agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his team who are trying to capture and take him back to prison. Although it is quite possible to watch this movie without seeing the previous 4 there will be some parts that may slip you by as the writers have assumed that, if your coming to see this movie then there is a very strong possibility you have seen at least a couple of the prequels/sequel.
One thing that I was quite surprised about was the lack of actual cars in the storyline. Sure they were involved slightly more than a normal action movie but I was expecting a lot more. There were probably only 2/3 scenes involving racing or car stunts and when the whole movie is supposed to be based around cars I was expecting just that little bit more. If fact in one scene just when you are expecting a good old fashioned drag race, they cut away to reveal the car back in the garage and already won!
The action does make up for this though and is fast flowing throughout as they jump from one explosion/fight scene to the next. The casting of Johnson as the bad-ass agent was a stroke of genius with him bringing his former WWE smack talk to the character. He really makes you want to hate him and I especially enjoyed the Johnson Vs. Diesel fight scene as the 2 heavyweights traded blows.
At over 2 hours this is by far the longest in the franchise and although in general the time will pass quickly, they could have easily chopped off a few minutes here and there to stop the risk of it dragging for some people. The acting and script is nothing special and you will have to sit through a fair bit of 'we're doing this for family' talk but that is not what people will come to watch this movie for.
With Neal H. Moritz announcing in March the development of a sixth and seventh movie for the series it is doubtful that this surprisingly long lasting franchise will go away quietly. Despite having lots of good action and successfully filling a void in my day, lets just hope that they return to the core basics for the next one rather than forgetting the main reason for these movies was supposed to be the cars.
Next time readers I look ahead to the wonders of May to see what will be whetting my appetite and what will have me running to the hills as I preview May's releases. [my article]
Farm
Are you fanatical about film? Then follow this site on Twitter @ FAbFilms
18 - 85mins - Action/Adventure/Crime - 22nd July 2011
So you may have a while to wait if your living in the UK for this one to hit your screens with it not due to be released until the middle of the summer but will it be worth the wait? The movie title kind of hints at what is in store if you go and watch this and in that regard it does not disappoint at all. Although you will have to wait a little bit before hobo and shotgun are united in a cacophony of blood and guts.
This movie is about a nameless hobo (Rutger Hauer) who rides the rail and arrives in a new town where the movies intentions are immediately made obvious. As he wanders the streets with robberies, prostitution, child abduction and hobo fighting occurring all around him, we are introduced to Drake (Brian Downey) the twister ruler of the town and his two sons, Slick (Gregory Smith) and Ivan (Nick Bateman). When father and sons decapitate their brother/uncle with a car, manhole cover and barbed wire rope we are left with the distinct impression that they rule the roost and are not to be messed with. After observing more obscenities Rutger comes to the aid of a prostitute in trouble, Abby (Molly Dunsworth) and they strike up an unlikely friendship as the movie progresses.
Now our hobo's dream is but a simple one, he is intent on starting a honest gardening business and gathers his pennies to buy an old lawnmower. However fate conspires against him and he ends up with a pump action shotgun instead and sets about ridding the streets of crime (definitely makes for a better story!) With one liners as classic as:
Abby: "You can't solve all the world's problems with a shotgun!"
Hobo: "It's all I know."
it's not hard to see the standard that this movie has set for itself! It doesn't take itself seriously but then neither should you.
This movie is literally bubbling over with blood and gore left, right and centre and leaves little to the imagination. In fact I don't think it leaves anything to the imagination whatsoever. Jason Eisener, in his first proper movie as a director, knows how to make a bloody scene even more gory than you could imagine. At times the gore looks quite convincing and at others less so but it comes so thick and fast that you won't have time to worry yourself with small matters such as that.
If you don't have a strong stomach them I definitely recommend that you give this one a miss and that also goes for people who think that this movie won't involve children in the mayhem, because it does and on several occasions as well. I also liked the way in which the movie was done with old school technicolor style credits and titles making the movie feel it was made several decades ago rather than in 2011.
All in all this was what I was expecting but in some places it went further than I thought it would. If you are looking for a gore and guts fest with a couple of very cheesy one liners strewn about the place then this does it well and is for you. If your not then I'd give it a wide berth.
12A - 109mins - Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller - 23rd February 2011
Part teen drama, part sci-fi and part coming of age is how I would best describe this one and I don't think that amalgamation came together as well as it could have, which if I'm being honest would not have been very good anyway.
I Am Number Four is about a boy called John (Alex Pettyfer). He is no ordinary boy but an alien that has found himself on planet Earth with his guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant) who helps to protect him. Protect him from what you ask? John is being tracked down my the mysterious enemy of his race known as the Mogadorians who are intent on destroying every last one of his kind. In the opening scene of the movie we are shown the demise of one of his kind, the aptly named Number 3. Therefore for some reason that is never expanded upon, John is next as he is Number 4! Quite why the Mogadorians have an OCD killing problem is also beyond the scriptwriters knowledge- all we know is that in total there are 9, 3 are dead and poor John is next.
In order to stay safe, both John and Henri have to keep moving towns so that they are harder to find. They end up in Paradise, Ohio where John settles into a high school and our teen drama begins where he gets bullied by the jocks, hangs out with the geeks and falls for a girl (Dianna Agron) as in every other high school movie. We must now add to this the need for John to harness his powers which he is only just becoming aware of and to keep his real identity a secret. Remind anyone of some TV series called Smallville? This movie tends to mish-mash other ideas and tries to turn it into something new rather than be original which is ironic considering this is one of the few new movies out that is not based on anything (book aside) or a sequel/prequel to something else- it's an unoriginal original!
The Mogadorians are convincing as an enemy but not what I would call that scary with shaved tattooed heads, sharper teeth and a enhanced ability to smell the only thing distinguishing them from anyone else. The CGI for some of the monsters was a bit basic as well leading to an altogether average experience.
Other things that made this not quite my cup of tea (which is strange because in general I am a fan of sci-fi) were simple things such as the baddies guns all fired red light and the goodies all fired blue- could you get any more stereotypical! Or the fact that the movie didn't really have a conclusion in the normal sense of the word i.e. they have definitely left it open for there to be a sequel. In fact thinking about it, this concept would probably have worked better as a series rather than a movie.
Summing up then, I Am Number Four didn't do it for me. There was the potential for a decent storyline but the background detail was glossed over and it felt very 'samey' when comparing it to other ideas already out there. Saying that though I never felt it drag and the movie passed the hours without me demanding my time back at the end of it. One to watch if you want a sci-fi action but don't want to think too hard.
12A - 110mins - Action/Adventure/Fantasy - 1st April 2011
Sucker Punch intrigued me before its release due to the seemingly random storyline and what looked like impressive graphics. So I sat down to watch it wondering whether I was going to enjoy the story it has to tell or be confused by it. Unfortunately it was the latter. Now I try and find both positives and negatives in everything I review but graphics aside (which were very enjoyable to watch and engaging) I struggled to for Sucker Punch.
Sucker Punch revolves around Baby Doll (Emily Browning) who is imprisoned in a mental asylum by her wicked and abusive stepfather so that he can lay claim to an inheritance meant for her and her sister. Whilst in the asylum she retreats to a fantasy world of a brother and then further again (Inception-esque) through the medium of dance while her attractive and scantily clad new found friends assist her in her quest to break out of the asylum/brothel and gain freedom. Still with me? Good.
It is quite obvious that this movie comes from the same director (Zach Snyder) that brought us 300 as the return of the super slo-mo fight scenes have arrived in abundance as they did in 300. I have to say they work well in the action scenes in the fantasy world but are also used when no action is taking place... the film could cut 10 minutes from its 110 by just running those parts at normal speed with no real loss.
Now I'm not sure whether I just completely missed the point of this movie or not but I don't want to have to watch it for a second time to find out. Usually I would warn of spoilers but there can't really be any when there is no plot in the first place and the scenes are so random and disjointed that nothing really makes sense. I got the logic behind the desperation of Baby Doll needing to escape her reality as a way of coping but come on she can only do this through dance? And when she is dancing this puts every man in the real world into some sort of a trance?
So on the positive side then the graphics do drag this movie upwards in the ratings with the overall CGI action being very impressive covering a plethora of locations and situations. Even so the graphics did not really add much to the story. Don't get me wrong they were great and I enjoyed the scenes but I got the feeling that Snyder just put them in because he could when he should have perhaps been concentrating slightly more on developing the characters and making us care about them.
Finally my last gripe with this movie is that you never think that the girls are in any danger during the fight scenes and so even if you did end up caring whether they die of not, they don't look like they are ever going to making the slo-mo bullets and swords kind of pointless.
Bonus marks for people who can work out it this is going to get a good rating or not. Despite impressing with graphics, the plot and acting are poor, you never invest in the characters well-being and the graphics seem to be surplus to the movie anyway. If the graphics were the punch then the rest of the movie was definitely the suck.
Next time to make up for Sucker Punch I shall bring something completely different to the table in the form of Rubber [my review]. The story of a tyre with telekinetic powers that goes on a rampage through the desert. Check out the trailer below before you write it off!
Farm
Are you fanatical about film? Then follow this site on Twitter @ FAbFilms
