Reviewed: Arthur [2011]

Arthur [2011]

12A - 110mins - Comedy - 22nd April 2011

Now for a guy who takes an immediate disliking to Russell Brand the prospect of watching him for nearly 2 hours did not fill my heart with joy especially when he was to be acting as a rich layabout. But I buckled on down and watched away hoping to be pleasantly surprised and I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be (still nothing special mind).

Arthur is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name and follows Arthur (Russell Brand) the a rick drunken playboy whose only worries in life seem to be how to top his last stunt or where his next lay is coming from. To help him through life Hobson (Helen Mirren) his nanny and Bitterman (Luis Guzmán) his chauffeur are there to look after him. Despite this help, he still gets into trouble at every turn which leads to the company in which he is the sole heir becoming nervous about the future.

So when his mother (Geraldine James) becomes sick of his attitude, she gives him an ultimatum that he can either marry Susan (Jennifer Garner) who would ease the shareholders concerns or be cut off from the family fortune and live out life in the real world. The only problem being he has finally met the girl of his dreams Naomi (Greta Gerwig) and so faces a dilemma.

I have only seen some of the original not all of it and in that respect, Brand seems to capture some of the charm and essence that Dudley Moore brought to the role but I still find it hard to relate or feel anything towards the main character. Are we supposed to feel sorry for the billionaire who finally has to make a decision and do something with his life? O boohoo!

First and foremost thought, it's a comedy so did it make me laugh? In general no but I have to say there were at least a few jokes that got me smirking but over the length of the film, which was too long in my opinion, were few and far between. Brand plays the drunk well (not that surprising) in a more toned down version of his usual characters which won me round- I'm still not a great fan but his performance was solid.

Arthur partly entertained and when not compared to the original gives the opportunity to zone out for a couple of hours and be mildly entertained. If there was another choice available then I would probably go for that but there are definitely worse comedies around than this one.

Rating: D+

Next I look at the return of Po in Kung Fu Panda 2. [my review] Check it out below.

Farm
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Reviewed: X-Men: First Class [2011]

X-Men: First Class [2011]

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.

Rating: B

Next up I take a look at Arthur. [my review]

Farm
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Reviewed: The Tourist [2010]

The Tourist [2010]

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.

Rating: C-

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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Reviewed: Tucker & Dale Vs Evil [2010]

Tucker & Dale Vs Evil [2010]

TBA - 89mins - Comedy/Horror - 9th December 2010

A bit of a breath of fresh air is this in a low budget and yet well produced comedy horror that gives Død Snø and the likes a run for their money. Tucker & Dale Vs Evil follows two redneck hillbillies- Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) who head into the woods in the Appellation Mountains so that they can drink some beers, do some fishing and fix up a worn down cabin to turn it into the holiday home of their dreams.

At the same time a group of preppy college kids are on a camping trip into the same woods also to have a good time. After a couple of run ins with the hillbillies, they assume that they must be your stereotypical inbred manic chainsaw wielding killers right out of Deliverance or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So when one of the kids Allison (Katrina Bowden) is rescued from drowning by the hillbillies, prejudice and paranoia reign supreme with the others mistaking it as her being hauled away in a kidnapping attempt. So they embark on a mission to rescue her from her saviours with hilarious consequences.

Despite the premise of the movie being based on one long running joke of a massive misunderstanding, the story remains fresh and the scenes extremely funny for the majority. I'm not aware of any other movie that has done this type of role reversal with hillbillies in this type of scenario and managed to blend in the right amount of comedy with horror and gore. In fact across all the genres, it is not often that you get to see the perspective of the 'bad guys' (far from it in this film).

The best moments come from the writing as we follow the bickering between Tucker and Dale as a bromance emerges on screen. Both Tudyk (aka Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball) and Labine impress making the characters extremely likeable and charming so that by the end you really do care what happens to them. Bowden plays her part solidly as well and definitely brings some eye candy to the film!

Most of these types of films tend to lose their drama element but this keeps the anticipation and as I said, you end up really caring about what is going to happen to the characters. However, the only major fault that I can pick out is that despite all this, it does begin to fade as a spectacle in the last 15 minutes as they focus a bit too much on the back story and tying up loose ends when what they were doing up to that point was more than enough in my books.

It's usually hard to combine the right amount of comedy and horror without creating a somewhat tacky result so credit must go to the new guy on the block- director and co-writer Eli Craig. If you are looking for a unique comedy horror that has a chance of hitting cult status/topping Shaun of the Dead then you need look no further than this.

Rating: B+

Next I look at Depp and Jolie in the action romance The Tourist. [my review]

Farm
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Reviewed: The Hangover Part II [2011]

The Hangover Part II [2011]

15 - 102mins - Comedy - 26th May 2011

Hot off the heels of The Hangover, a massive summer success in 2008, The Hangover Part II reunites the wolfpack and the adventure begins all over again in another country and city.

This time around the setting is Thailand and Stu (Ed Helms) is the lucky groom to be. With the wedding taking place in Thailand to help Stu get along with his new relatives, the rest of the gang- Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) head out planning for a more relaxing version of their Las Vegas debauchery. This time however there is another party goer in the form of the brides 16 year old brother Teddy (Mason Lee).

Suffice to say the unthinkable happens and they wake up in the middle of Bangkok and each sporting a very impressive hangover again. Mr Chow (Ken Jeong) also returns and is given a more prominent role in this one with his extreme character providing some of the films more amusing moments.

The writers and director seem to have stuck to the same winning principals of the last film almost identically which you might consider to be a good thing. Yes it is more vulgar and over the top than the last one and they have tweaked it slightly but there is no real variation whatsoever from the original. The tiger is now a monkey, the broken tooth is now a tattoo, a character goes missing etc. This results in a very disappointing movie as not only are you getting the same jokes in the same order with the same characters but you can work out exactly what is going to happen next.

The original won us over due to it's outrageous and original scenarios, this just increases the outrageousness/nudity and thinks that's all that's required to create another success. Completely wrong. In fact most of the best moments come from the characters reminiscing about what they got up to in the first movie. If it wasn't for the nostalgia and likeability of the characters that was build up from the first film, I would have struggled to laugh more than once or twice.

Although I wasn't expecting it to be as good as the first one, I was still hoping for an entertaining movie that could have at least tried to break slightly from the template of the first. Alas it fails to achieve this and the result is a distinctly average film that's just been rehashed. I'd rather have just watched the first one again to be honest.

Rating: C-

Next time I look at another comedy- Tucker & Dale Vs Evil [my review] which completely flips the hillbilly in the woods genre on its head. Check out the clip below to get you in the mood.

Farm
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