Trailered: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance [2012]

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance [2012]

Release Dates:

- 17th February 2012 (USA) -

- 22nd February 2012 (UK) -

Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba

Johnny Blaze (Cage) returns to our screens as the stunt motorcyclist turned hell blazing vigilante who tackles the evils that no others dare. In the original he took on the son of the Devil, Blackheart and the sequel sees him raise the bar to take on the Devil himself who is trying to take a human form. Watching the original hardly blew me away and was poor for the most part so the thought of a sequel does not fill me with much hope at all.

The only thing going for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is that it will take a lot for it to be worse than the original.  At least from the trailer it looks like the CGI has been raised up a notch and the film is going to have its fair share of action and entertaining car chases to keep me interested. Also can anyone help me to distinguish between the Ghost Rider series and Drive Angry which are so similar in many ways? I can't see myself heading to the cinema for this so instead I'll wait at home for Cage's career to pull out from its nose dive.

Rating: D

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Reviewed: Cowboys & Aliens [2011]

Cowboys & Aliens [2011]

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.

Trailered: Machine Gun Preacher [2011]

Machine Gun Preacher [2011]

 Release Dates:

- 23rd September 2011 (USA) -

- 18th November 2011 (UK) -

Director: Marc Forster

Cast: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon

Based on the true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker who found God. Seeing the troubles in East Africa, he heads over to help repair homes destroyed by civil war where he encounters the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a renegade militia that forces youngsters to become soldiers. Determined to make a difference, Sam leads armed missions deep into enemy territory to retrieve kidnapped children and help restore peace to their lives.

The true life inspirational stories tend to do quite well in the box office but that's usually because the audience can in some way relate to the characters. This is less likely for Machine Gun Preacher which although has a story worth telling does not quite capture my imagination in the way it might others. Hence...

Rating: C

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Reviewed: Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011]

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.

Trailered: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas [2011]

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas [2011]

Release Dates:

- TBA (UK) -

- 4th November 2011 (USA) -

Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Cast: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris

Welcome one and all to the beginning of the Christmas season! For those that don't know me, I despise anything Christmas related before December at the very earliest so with a release date 52 days before Crimbo my blood is already beginning to boil.

Six years after their Guantanamo Bay incident, stoner buddies Harold Lee (Cho) and Kumar Patel (Penn) have grown apart and build themselves new lives. But when a mysterious package arrives at Kumar's door for Harold on Christmas Eve, his attempts to redirect it result in him burning down Harold's father-in-law's prize Christmas tree. Instead of admitting his guilt, the duo set off on another adventure through New York to search for the perfect replacement and cover their tracks.

The first one in the series was a solid popcorn movie, the second tried too hard and failed to be funny so I'm pretty sure the third with continue the plunge into shockingly bad. A different story but it looks like the same content as the last two which makes this hold no interest for me. Also their mocking of 3D is somewhat flawed as the majority of people will not be watching it in 3D (what's the point) and so bang goes the irony.

Rating: F

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