Review #16 - The Lucky One

   The Lucky One is a sweet, feel good film. Logan (Zac Efron), a marine who after finding a picture of a beautiful woman while in Iraq, avoids several disasters while others weren't so lucky. Believing the photo to be a good luck charm on his return from the war he sets out to find the woman and thank her for the photo that provided his safety and return a treasured token that she had sent for a loved one. However when he meets Beth (Taylor Schilling) he is unable to find the words to explain and instead starts working for her and her Grandmother at their dog kennel. Inevitably the two begin to fall in love, healing each others scars and finally finding happiness with each other.
    The romantic dawn and dusk lighting used almost constantly throughout the film, envelopes it in a rosy haze. At times it seems a little over done but also quite accurately sets the tone for the film. All the characters, particularly Beth and Logan are extremely likeable and right from the beginning you find yourself rooting for them all to find happiness. I liked that the obstacle keeping them apart was not a deceased war hero husband or even a current love interest but a controlling ex. Keith Clayton (Jay R. Ferguson-the ex) is a well rounded character with enough flaws that the audience dislikes him but also occasionally showing a more compassionate side making him more interesting and three dimensional. There was also some good acting from Riley Thomas Stewart as Beth's son Ben, who at ten years old has already appeared in 11 titles!

    Joey, thought the romantic scenes dragged out a bit but was interested in the story; He described it as a film he might have on in the background while doing something else or one to watch with friends. I would describe it as a nice chill out film to watch on a weekend. It's a DVD I might pick up cheap in a sale. It's an enjoyable film to watch but I wouldn't insist you run out to the cinema straight away. The plot was engaging and it was a sweet storyline about fate, love and finding peace within yourself. Simple but lovely - a 3* Film.

Review #15 - The Grey (2011)

First of all a huge sorry for the delay in the review – other commitments and laziness took over.

 To jump right into the review The Grey is a film for any fan of Liam Neeson. The hype of Neeson kicking some wolf ass was too much to handle and the internet was flooded with Neeson related articles, posts and tweets.
 Neeson’s acting in The Grey left him to be this man who needed help and as an audience the power of his acting grabs you and throws you into feeling sorry for him and hoping he survives the horrendous situation.
 In particular the monologues through the film with Neeson worked really well showing that even the strongest of men, leaders, have the moments they need reassurance and support. As an example *spoiler* there is a scene towards the end of the film where he questions his beliefs and calls for God to help him but it is quickly turned around with Neeson realising this isn’t going to work and so ends the monologue with “fuck  it, I’ll do it myself”. *end spoiler* Even in the most action packed films humour can lighten up the mood and not one person would of ignored that bit of comedy.

 Another key part which stood out to both me and Jess was the transitions between Neeson and his dreams. When he would sleep and rest he had dreams – as people do – however the way he came out of these dream states were fantastic. As an example *spoiler* when the plane crashes Neeson was in a dream state and as the plane crashed so did the dream with his wife, who was laying by him, being pulled away at force which opens the next scene of disaster. *end spoiler*.

However where Neeson was the leading role in the film and the hype revolved around him many of the support roles and other actors did really well at building the tension and situations with Neeson. The actors all fell into their roles perfectly allowing them to really show the madness and questionability in the situation they were in. Credit to them for their roles – check imdb for who played the characters.

A note for the cinema experience that combined with the film itself is the fact that the sheer volume and feel to the room was perfect. During the plane crash scene the sound was LOUD it felt as it you were part of the crash and that would be a fraction of the sound they would hear. Really pulling you into the story right when the situation turns bad. As an added bonus the film is set in the snowy wastes of Canada the cineworld room was cold, which in a normal film would of been bad but this gave the film that frosted coating that it deserved.

Both myself and Jess could not come to any bad points about this film but if you managed to form a different opinion then comment below and tell us what you thought!

Over all I would rate this a 5* film and would recommended it to any Neeson fans.

Review #14 - Avenger's Assemble

  Take one eccentric billionaire, a God from another world, drop in a recently defrosted super soldier, mix with a volatile rage monster and drop in a couple of master spies and you’ve got the greatest super hero team the world has ever seen. You’ve got The Avengers.

    I had been looking forward to this film for a long time so, like many others, I had a lot of expectations riding on the Avengers Assemble, and I was not disappointed. Having Joss Whedon as the director and writer of this film, I believe, is key to its success. The classic Joss Whedon wit he injected into the script had the whole cinema in fits of laughter. He manages to bring this team together without making any of the hero’s the main focus, giving each character their chance in the spotlight.

     I thought the way that the characters were brought together, some being enlisted, others like Thor choosing to join forces was more interesting and engaging than if everyone had come together mutually. Their differences were an integral part of the plot and made the team stronger in the end. Yet from the beginning Whedon hints at how the heroes will come together later on, the fight on the plane pairs the hero’s up with those that are equally matched e.g. the hulk has the strength of a god and would crush any of the human opponents so takes on Thor. Iron man in his suit is equivalent to a super strong human – Captain America and the two assassins share a similar skill set. And what could be better from a superhero movie than watching the characters flex their muscles and give us a taste of their destructive powers even if it is on each other?  

        The audience is also given a taste of Loki’s power too when he taunts the Avengers out into the open. Now personally I don’t think Loki is a particularly terrifying villain. He is ruthless and his obsession with power and anarchy is typical of any villain but underneath he is simply a petulant child still snivelling about living his life in his brother’s shadow. He strikes me as the kind of weak character who craves power but wouldn’t know what to do with it if he did actually grasp it. However saying this he does look rather impressive when he strolls down the sweeping staircase and swiftly grabs his victim throwing him easily down on a plinth like a sacrificial lamb and mutilating him. All this is given a menacing tone with the accompanying music that builds and changes in tone as Loki enters the room, giving it an almost operatic theme. Loki may not always appear as the most formidable enemy but he is a good stepping stone for the Avenger’s to test themselves before moving on to bigger and better enemies as is hinted at the end of the film after the credits. A short scene, cleverly placed after the credits so that some of the audience will see but some won’t, reveals a new enemy and promises a sequel to the Avenger’s Assemble.

    The only other part of this film I questioned was the Hulk’s ability to control his temper. In the beginning it seems that he has better control over changing into his other half, although no one else seems convinced of his control. Then suddenly he loses it and seems completely unstoppable, even knocking Black Widow to one side like a bug. Yet when it comes to the climactic final fight Dr Banner seems to be able to choose when he changes and remain controlled only lashing out (mostly) at Loki’s evil army. My only speculation is that Dr Banner has more control when he chooses to change than when he changes without will. I thought it was interesting how Dr Banner bonds with Stark showing that the characters join up not just over similar physical and fighting abilities but also mental ones.

   Another interesting character development was watching Captain America; throughout the film he came off as being a little out of sorts. The mix of him being behind the times and mixing with characters who held much stronger powers than his own, some that Stark points out were genetic rather than manufactured as Captain America’s powers were, makes him a little underwhelming. However his chance to shine comes during the final battle when he reveals himself as a strong leader, taking charge and really living up to his name just when the Avenger’s (and police) need instruction the most. His development throughout the film made him an interesting character to follow.

    Other than the many comical scenes that I believe have a huge part in making this film such a success, there were a few others worth looking out for. For example when Black Widow is interrogating Loki whose reflection appears next to her looking warped and evil. It was a subtle but highly effective technique. Similarly when the Avenger’s and Dr Fury get into a massive argument, squabbling amongst each other and far from the awesome team they will become, the camera slowly turns to show how upside down the situation has gone from what Dr Fury hoped for from the Avenger’s initiative. All the while Loki’s sceptre is kept in the foreground, framing the scene and reminding the audience that this is all part of Loki’s plan. Joey picked up how the scenes linked together such as (SPOILER ALERT) after Phil’s death, even though he doesn’t know it, Thor stops himself from calling his hammer to him and instead reaches down to grasp it, a humbling and respectful gesture. I also particularly liked the seamless movement from character to character during the final battle, showing how the team has finally come together to work as one force against evil.

      Over all this film is amazing! Definitely worth seeing and both Joey and I agreed that it made us want to buy/re-watch all the connecting Marvel movies. It was funny, action packed and evolved; it definitely reached expectations, perhaps even surpassed them. I would rate the Avenger’s Assemble a 4.5 stars and eagerly await a sequel. If you haven’t seen it yet there’s still time! Get to your cinema quick! And if you have seen it, trust me it’s even better second time round! 

Review # 13 - Safe House

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. That is all.

Okay maybe not just the two of them but it certainly highlights that Ryan Reynolds can play more serious roles than the boyfriend in some chick flick or comedy and continues to show that Denzel Washington still has the ability to make great movies even at his age – who knew a hair cut half way through the movie can make him look so much younger!

Without going into to much detail about specific scenes throughout the film I can easily say anyone going to watch to see camera movements and actually study the film – for a piece of coursework? – will notice that during fight scenes the use of slight slow motion during some parts not only extend the scene make the fights seem believable, this and the use of the audio throughout too. With both of these and then a fair bit of attention to the camera angles during the scenes really create the real feel and keeps you gripped.

Another point that made the film good was that during several of the scenes when Frost (D.Washington) would be talking to his associates he would ask them to do several things and at the time of him saying what he wants done it will change to the associate actually doing it putting the voices over the scenes. This means you have seen every little detail and not missed anything.
 One part of the film which I picked up on but didn’t think much of till the end was in fact – SPOILER – that Frost (D.Washington) had been given wine from all the people he trusted at the beginning of each of their meetings and during his last scene his last words are the name of the wine and the taste when speaking to Matt Weston (R. Reynolds). A gesture of friendship and courtesy is to offer a drink – simple but meaningful. Clearly drinking wine is better than being shot at by people.

The tension built through the film with the slow conversation and the amount of time between each scene allowed you to feel on edge as you’re not sure what is going to happen next. Throughout a few scenes giving deaths that come out of nowhere makes you rethink what’s happening and who is to be trusted unlike some films that are too predictable to watch.
With this said the film was long and for those who get lost easily will find themselves going round in circles with what is happening therefore may feel it’s a long film with a lot of gun fire.

One of the last scenes was, what I thought supported the caption for the film, – “Nobody is Safe” – a screen of white with blurred people walking around hiding the identity of the people suggesting that anyone can be reached no matter what position in life. 

Director Daniel Espinosa  seems to have studied a few police films and put the best parts together to create a film with a great cast – for some this might not be their choice of a good film due to the fact they have seen too many similar films ie. Fight scenes, tension, fight scene, romance, twist, fight scene. End. It’s all there but I will have to say I enjoyed the film with a good cast, good camera work and few detailed parts not many people will pick up on. Overall I rate 4 Stars.

Review #12 - Haywire

For me, the opening scene of a film is like the first sentence of a novel, it’s first shot being the first word, and both have to grab you instantly with something inspiring or quirky or dramatic. Starting a novel with a word as bland as ‘the’ is not exactly going to peak your interest (the exception to this is if it is necessary for an awesome sentence to make sense) and the first shot of ‘Haywire’ was definitely a ‘the’. When neither this nor the following scene particularly thrilled me I immediately had a bad feeling about this film.

      Usually I have read a few snippets of articles or synopsis or at least watched the trailer several times before I go to see a movie but for once I walked into the cinema not really knowing very much. From my brief viewing of the trailer I guessed it was going to follow along the same lines as the film ‘Salt’, a gorgeous girl with kick ass fighting skills gets screwed over by the people she works for and generally shows all the men how to get things done. As it turns out that synopsis is pretty accurate; black ops super soldier Malory (Gina Carano) is set up by the very people she works for and attempts to both find the truth and exact payback. In concept it sounds as good as ‘Salt’ but in execution it was not.

      For starters the plot turned out to be a little weak, it mainly centred around the question “So what the hell did happen in Barcelona?!”, one that came to a conclusion fairly near the end and to be honest the answer was rather anti-climactic. Another part of the film that didn’t entirely make sense was the fact that she told her whole story to a stranger whose car she borrowed for a get away in the first scene so that he could pass it on to someone else but then this eventually trailed off to nothing and effectively just served the purpose of Malory telling the audience about Barcelona, something that could have been done by a simple flashback. It was also strange to see a film with barely any dialogue. Seriously, the script must have been twenty pages long at the most! Some of the lines were pretty awful as well, some of the worst being “You better run” and “Freeze punk!” Who says these things? EVER…seriously?

        The worst part however was the extended scenes of the running. Perhaps Steven Soderbergh was trying to give the film a ‘real time’ feel but personally I didn’t feel it worked. If I had been watching the movie at home my attention would have drifted and facebook would most certainly be on. It was like seeing all the boring parts of being a secret agent – the running, hiding, reversing to dodge the police, more running, climbing over rooftops, running again – these scenes just lasted too long.

        Now saying all this, I don’t want you to think that ‘Haywire’ is as bad as it’s title. It may have had a weak plot, only fifteen or so lines and seemed a little drawn out in areas but it has its good points too. The filters used (i.e. filming in black and white and sepia tones) gave the film an individual style and really impressed me. Also watch out for the scenes in the barn, they are very artistic and look more like a series of photographs that should be in an art gallery with the unusual props artistically arranged in the background combined with tilted and low camera angles.

          I was also impressed that despite having about three lines each, the actors made up a rather well known cast including Ewan McGregor (known from ‘Moulin Rouge’, ‘I Love You Phillip Morris’,‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’), Antonio Banderas (known from ‘Spy Kids’ and ‘The mask of Zorro’), and Micheal Fassbender (known from ‘300’, ‘X Men First Class’, ‘Inglorious Bastards’).  I’ve said that this wasn’t necessarily a bad film (just one I personally didn’t enjoy) but if the actors had been bad I believe this film would have been truly terrible, luckily though, as you can see from the names, this was not the case and the acting was one of the aspects that held the film afloat.

       ‘Haywire’ is basically a film about a vengeance-fuelled agent on the run (literally running, for about half the film) punctuated by fight scenes, a dying deer and four lines. If your like me and prefer a thrilling, fast paced story with a well written script and complex storyline then maybe this film isn’t for you. However if you’re interested in excellently choreographed fight scenes, a range of talented actors and a modest plot that won’t leave you in a muddle then this is the film for you. Taking an objective view I would rate this film at 3*.

But subjectively, it’s more like a 1.5*.

Review #11 - The Darkest Hour

The Darkest Hour Review

In the city of Moscow, a travelling spot for all ages, 5 unknowingly young people find themselves in the middle of an alien invasion via power supply.

 After being asked to see this film twice and my original thoughts of the trailers gave me the opinion of “this film will suck” simply by what bits of story they had shown. The trailer did not justice for the story yet did the best job at keeping the as much acting out as possible.
 With actors and actresses such as Max Minghella –  starred in “The Social Networking”, Rachael Taylor who starred in Transformers and the only other name mentioning Joel Kinnaman who recently was in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and series “The Killing”. One would think of acting that would be worth watching whereas in a cinema room of – about- 20 people and people laughing at bits that were not meant to be funny in any way obviously meant it simply wasn’t good enough.

Chris Gorak, director, known for various films including “Fight Club” has done a poor job with casting this film. As I watched the credits it came to no surprise – with the film being set in Moscow – that the cast were mainly Russian. I can’t help but have the feeling that if the film had a team of Americans behind the scenes it may have been better – opinion.

 After sitting through the hour and a bit film I can say that it was not the story that let it down – the idea was good but fell short on the acting therefore I feel the movie was not worth the money to see it in cinema. With this said the ending has left an opening for a sequel which with a bit of thought could be a lot better although it will unlikely get a sequel any time soon.
 There is not much I can write about this other than if your Cinema Unlimited go and see it when you get the chance and make your own opinion but if you’re paying the standard ticket price then it is not worth it.

I rate this 1.5* 

Review #10 - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I am told, though I have not read it myself, that the book (written by Stieg Larsson) is more graphic than the film so those who have read the novel, or even seen the Swedish version, will be expecting it’s difficult themes and dark content but those who haven’t, be warned.

   That aside, on with the review! Due to the structure of the plot, ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ falls into the genre of mystery, yet somehow doesn’t feel like a classic mystery film. Often in mystery films every character the audience meets is immediately made to seem suspicious but this isn’t so in TGWTDT. However with many of the characters being ex Nazis’ the suspicions are already there without the drawn out music and the drawn out close ups of shady eyes. In fact I thought the music was brilliant; it was a strange ‘plinky plunky’ kind of music that made it tense and unsettling, perfectly fitting for a film that’s main theme is rape. Near the end, when the murderer is detailing his crimes and his enjoyment in them, the music works to great effect incorporating echoed, painful screams that merge with the strange sounds of the music.

     There are two scenes I particularly would like to bring to your attention, firstly the scene in the elevator where the rapist becomes the victim (more so than in the scene where he is tortured) because we see how he is tormented by his “rapist” and left with the same fear and shame that his own victims had inflicted upon them. The look of utter terror, shame and fleeting relief that she had stepped out of the lift as the doors close was a particularly jarring moment.

    The second scene is the discussion with Harriet at the end. Completely different from the other scene, it is an almost tender moment between two victims. *SPOILER* Harriet (Moa Garendal) gently asks Mikael (Daniel Craig), “How did you escape” who quietly replies; “somebody saved me too”. They are swapping stories and Harriet is admitting for the first time events that she has never told anyone other than Anita before. She plays the part perfectly by showing her struggle with emotions but at the same time not completely losing it and regressing back to her 14 years old damaged self. I liked how the fact that she murdered her father was not dwelled upon as it was just accepted that it was necessary, that it was self-defence.

    Moa Garendal’s excellent portrayal of the character is truly revealed through a second viewing of the film. I actually ending up seeing this TGWTDT twice and noticed the very slight portrayals of emotion that reveal the ending if you know it but are too subtle to give it away on a first viewing. For example Harriet’s face betrays a brief flicker of shock and relief, when she hears of Martin’s death, that the audience may not notice until a second viewing. The flowers also make you think ‘could it not just be her, still alive, sending the flowers’ but it is a thought that is given no other evidence to fuel it and so it is quickly forgotten until at last the pieces begin to come together. It is a very clever, very subtle way of unfolding the mystery. Also the way Harriet/Anita speaks when Mikael first talks to him, although the character is very clever at talking about herself in the third person, analysing herself, she slips up when she says “Who? My father?” but luckily it goes unnoticed by Mikeal and most likely the audience too; All the pieces of the puzzle come together by seeing the film again

      The only bad point I could find about the film was its length. Lisbeth (Rooney Mara) and Mikael take a lot of screen time before they join forces, which makes the film more interesting and immersive but also has the effect of making it seem even longer. Then after the murderer’s death you kind of forget that there is more going on in the story that is unanswered. The modern audience has been conditioned to believe that the dramatic gunshots or explosions are followed by a dénouement, which will most likely involve estranged characters making peace, a romantic couples kissing, or the general summing up of events. However in TGWTDT the film continues past the point where the audience feels a natural ending in order to tie up the last loose end. When the film does actually end there is definitely a sense that something more is going to happen and because the audience know that this film is the adaptation of the first in a series of books we expect more to come.

   This film deals with difficult themes but is cleverly crafted; it will draw you in and genuinely keeps you guessing until the end. Parts of the film are not easy to watch but they didn’t degrade the film or put you off. Complex, dark and intriguing, ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ is definitely a 4 star film.