Finding Alice?.. Seems like Alice needs to find herself? So what really happened to her husband? Is it some type of split personality disorder, or maybe an angry/estranged son? I've been waiting for this show to come on, and the first episode although slow paced, shows a lot of promise introducing various characters that all seem to unnervingly have an invested interest in the deceased. This looks quite an intriguing drama/murder/mystery (given the detectives) and I definitely will be expecting some twists and turns as it develops!
Reviews
5 Reviews
The Dark Knight Rises
(2012)
The Dark Knight Jumps and Makes It...Just!
23 August 2012
I will judge this film purely on its own merits and not make any comic comparisons, because, for one, I haven't read the comics! Although I have seen some of the cartoons which I believe is a truer reflection of the comics. I've seen all the adaptations of the movie genre from the days of Michael Keaton till now, and would say he has evolved with the times and generally become more epic viewing as time has gone by. The latest trilogy has been a revelation, delving into the past influences of Batman, with various interesting subversive plots and good and bad acquaintances which have created a more engaging and invested experience in the outcome.
Christian Bale- no stranger to playing conflicted characters, has re-energised the role of the dark knight and given some very solid performances that have brought more credibility to this DC superhero.
Something however was missing from this film! It's as if the director- high of the success of the previous films and with the finishing line in sight had got a bit complacent and missed the balance of the plot slightly. (It might just have been because Batman only appears in character for a small portion of the movie and doesn't do anything particularly amazing!) In this movie, Batman became too mortal for me, which might not have been a bad thing, to then see him ultimately triumph over a lot of adversity, but the way in which he eventually did, and the development and scale of the surrounding chaos involved- had a lot of speculative plot holes that were naggingly visible without ever trying to find them.
The way the movie played out often just seemed to be convenient (to the story) quite unrealistic, rushed and ultimately left you feeling somewhat unfulfilled.
Don't misunderstand me, this is still a good film. There are generally decent performances all-round, but we have come to expect that, and with the investment and advertising of this last of the trilogy, most of us would expect it to go out with the bang that has been generating thus far.
As a trilogy it will no doubt stand as the best adaptation to date, but I can't help but feel that this final piece of the jigsaw lacks the quality in content of the previous two.
Christian Bale- no stranger to playing conflicted characters, has re-energised the role of the dark knight and given some very solid performances that have brought more credibility to this DC superhero.
Something however was missing from this film! It's as if the director- high of the success of the previous films and with the finishing line in sight had got a bit complacent and missed the balance of the plot slightly. (It might just have been because Batman only appears in character for a small portion of the movie and doesn't do anything particularly amazing!) In this movie, Batman became too mortal for me, which might not have been a bad thing, to then see him ultimately triumph over a lot of adversity, but the way in which he eventually did, and the development and scale of the surrounding chaos involved- had a lot of speculative plot holes that were naggingly visible without ever trying to find them.
The way the movie played out often just seemed to be convenient (to the story) quite unrealistic, rushed and ultimately left you feeling somewhat unfulfilled.
Don't misunderstand me, this is still a good film. There are generally decent performances all-round, but we have come to expect that, and with the investment and advertising of this last of the trilogy, most of us would expect it to go out with the bang that has been generating thus far.
As a trilogy it will no doubt stand as the best adaptation to date, but I can't help but feel that this final piece of the jigsaw lacks the quality in content of the previous two.
X: First Class
(2011)
Almost pitch-perfect!.... An X-tremely good job!
3 June 2011
What stands out in this movie (besides the look of some of the mutants), is the clever way in which all the pieces fall into place as a prequel which cements the backdrop and tone for the previous X-men offers. This one however, stands above them though for the consideration and tact that has gone into developing these understandably complex characters. Resulting in a more complete movie experience.
The leading cast do a brilliant job in giving you a sense of their conflict with ingredients such as prejudice, ignorance, a sense of belonging and bitter revenge giving the film a more humane feel than a lot of dramas allowing you to connect with the characters more easily.
The special effects- lets not forget, are top notch as expected, but surprisingly very in-keeping with the film and doesn't take away from the other elements of it. The violence is clean but present, pitched right between a young and adult audience. There's also a decent amount of ironic humour thrown in, which, considering the party tricks on offer (by that I mean the powers and peculiarities of the mutants), just comes and goes naturally without feeling forced as like a lot of comedy moments in films of late.
Bottom-line, this is a well-constructed, well acted Marvel film. I wasn't totally convinced beforehand, casting James McAvoy as the young Xavier, a full head of hair and northern accent doesn't seem the best fit after all. I can say that he fully realised that role and showed his range in playing a more commanding lead. Michael Fassbender has great screen presence and does a good shift as the Magneto to-be and Mr Bacon adds another interesting element to the story. All the supporting cast give a solid performance with everyone focused on the exciting job at hand and no weak links.
Easily worth the cinema admission and thank god they didn't make it in hit-and-miss 3d, there's just no need! The best of the X-men franchise.
The leading cast do a brilliant job in giving you a sense of their conflict with ingredients such as prejudice, ignorance, a sense of belonging and bitter revenge giving the film a more humane feel than a lot of dramas allowing you to connect with the characters more easily.
The special effects- lets not forget, are top notch as expected, but surprisingly very in-keeping with the film and doesn't take away from the other elements of it. The violence is clean but present, pitched right between a young and adult audience. There's also a decent amount of ironic humour thrown in, which, considering the party tricks on offer (by that I mean the powers and peculiarities of the mutants), just comes and goes naturally without feeling forced as like a lot of comedy moments in films of late.
Bottom-line, this is a well-constructed, well acted Marvel film. I wasn't totally convinced beforehand, casting James McAvoy as the young Xavier, a full head of hair and northern accent doesn't seem the best fit after all. I can say that he fully realised that role and showed his range in playing a more commanding lead. Michael Fassbender has great screen presence and does a good shift as the Magneto to-be and Mr Bacon adds another interesting element to the story. All the supporting cast give a solid performance with everyone focused on the exciting job at hand and no weak links.
Easily worth the cinema admission and thank god they didn't make it in hit-and-miss 3d, there's just no need! The best of the X-men franchise.
The Expendables
(2010)
A very entertaining cult action movie...
20 August 2010
Very entertaining cult action movie...
I really don't know what else people expect (besides action!) when going to see a movie that boasts the heaviest line-up of action movie stars spanning the last few decades...? Sure, you would expect there to be a plot that holds the movie together and characters (which this movie has a lot of!) that you can buy into and cheer all the way to the end. This movie has those things and while the plot isn't the most original, (which is a very difficult thing to do nowadays within the action genre as it's limited by concepts based on reality unlike science fiction) the film has ingredients that gives you an ensemble of action that feels quite quite original although it's not! It's rare that I go to an action movie and get so many "whoahh!" moments, either the action looks too cheesy (slickly choreographed) or it uses too much CGI and looks too.. cheesy!! Well, this movie as many of you already know doesn't use any CGI, as (props to the aging cast!) they do ALL of their own stunts, and a couple of them are quite spectacular! The fight scenes are technically, probably not very realistic, with unflinchingly accurateknife-throwing, displays of almost super-human strength with limbsbeing severed and a ratio of deaths even the "300" Spartans would beproud of! But it's not meant to be. It's not a war film like "Saving Private Ryan" that leaves you sentimental and sobering, it's meant to be a larger than life action movie that entertains and dazzles and gives you a bit of an adrenaline rush, which it does in abundance.
All the main cast obviously have action movie careers and statuses that they want to protect, so I thought it'd be a bit risky putting so many stars that are exclusive to this one genre alongside each other in a movie. Having said that, somehow each of the actors were given enough airtime to enhance their individual careers, showing a bit of what they could do for the ones not so familiar to the moviescreen and more of what they can do for the more established.
OK, I think I've said enough without saying that much. If you watch action movies like anything from "Rambo" to "Bourne" or even "Manga" films and don't have a personal dislike for any of the cast or a nagging desire to find plot holes in movies, especially the heavily anticipated ones, you WILL really enjoy this movie!!!
I really don't know what else people expect (besides action!) when going to see a movie that boasts the heaviest line-up of action movie stars spanning the last few decades...? Sure, you would expect there to be a plot that holds the movie together and characters (which this movie has a lot of!) that you can buy into and cheer all the way to the end. This movie has those things and while the plot isn't the most original, (which is a very difficult thing to do nowadays within the action genre as it's limited by concepts based on reality unlike science fiction) the film has ingredients that gives you an ensemble of action that feels quite quite original although it's not! It's rare that I go to an action movie and get so many "whoahh!" moments, either the action looks too cheesy (slickly choreographed) or it uses too much CGI and looks too.. cheesy!! Well, this movie as many of you already know doesn't use any CGI, as (props to the aging cast!) they do ALL of their own stunts, and a couple of them are quite spectacular! The fight scenes are technically, probably not very realistic, with unflinchingly accurateknife-throwing, displays of almost super-human strength with limbsbeing severed and a ratio of deaths even the "300" Spartans would beproud of! But it's not meant to be. It's not a war film like "Saving Private Ryan" that leaves you sentimental and sobering, it's meant to be a larger than life action movie that entertains and dazzles and gives you a bit of an adrenaline rush, which it does in abundance.
All the main cast obviously have action movie careers and statuses that they want to protect, so I thought it'd be a bit risky putting so many stars that are exclusive to this one genre alongside each other in a movie. Having said that, somehow each of the actors were given enough airtime to enhance their individual careers, showing a bit of what they could do for the ones not so familiar to the moviescreen and more of what they can do for the more established.
OK, I think I've said enough without saying that much. If you watch action movies like anything from "Rambo" to "Bourne" or even "Manga" films and don't have a personal dislike for any of the cast or a nagging desire to find plot holes in movies, especially the heavily anticipated ones, you WILL really enjoy this movie!!!
Fantasy flick- worth a pick!
5 June 2010
After watching The clash of The Titans a couple of months back, and being very disappointed with a film that was predictably high on cgi, but totally lacked the magical feeling that the first one had (and that should be felt when watching films of this genre), I was sceptical but remained optimistic when I heard this character from fantasy folklore was making his debut on the big screen. I'm not an avid follower of the computer game, only loosely knowing the story so went into the cinema with an open mind and can say that 'Prince of Persia' is quite a good movie.
It has elements of the old Indiana Jones films in the love/hate cheeky banter between the leading actor/actress (Jake Gylenhall/Gemma Arterton), the search for treasure, which becomes more complicated when the co-stars bump into dodgy characters along the way and find themselves in compromising situations and the middle eastern settings of the film.
Gylenhall has never struck me as the typical action man and is a long way away from the nerdy kid in Donnie Darko, but he has bulked up a bit and does a good job as the adopted young prince (Dastan). While a credible cast including Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) as the unassuming Kings brother (Nizam), Alfred Molina (Dr Octopus- Spiderman 2) as Sheikh Amar, a wheeling-dealing, eccentric entrepreneur and other familiar actors put in a decent performance to make their characters believable enough to enjoy the movie for the fantasy adventure flick that it is.
Don't expect mythical creatures such as in Lord of the Rings, Sinbad etc, because you won't get it. There are however, a good use of special effects, but not to the detriment of the storyline/flow as I've felt with a lot of other big budget films in recent times.
What more can I say without giving too much away? It's a good popcorn movie, definitely worth a watch- go see it!
It has elements of the old Indiana Jones films in the love/hate cheeky banter between the leading actor/actress (Jake Gylenhall/Gemma Arterton), the search for treasure, which becomes more complicated when the co-stars bump into dodgy characters along the way and find themselves in compromising situations and the middle eastern settings of the film.
Gylenhall has never struck me as the typical action man and is a long way away from the nerdy kid in Donnie Darko, but he has bulked up a bit and does a good job as the adopted young prince (Dastan). While a credible cast including Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) as the unassuming Kings brother (Nizam), Alfred Molina (Dr Octopus- Spiderman 2) as Sheikh Amar, a wheeling-dealing, eccentric entrepreneur and other familiar actors put in a decent performance to make their characters believable enough to enjoy the movie for the fantasy adventure flick that it is.
Don't expect mythical creatures such as in Lord of the Rings, Sinbad etc, because you won't get it. There are however, a good use of special effects, but not to the detriment of the storyline/flow as I've felt with a lot of other big budget films in recent times.
What more can I say without giving too much away? It's a good popcorn movie, definitely worth a watch- go see it!
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