The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Review

The Hobbit is about as pretty as a movie gets.  I didn't see it in the new 48 frames per second format, although it was in 3D, and it looked lush as hell.  (Hell is really lush.)  It wasn't the horribly jarring 3D of some titles, where the sudden shock of a sword in your face pulls you out of the movie, but rather the 3D of depth and detail that draws you in.  Lovely.  Unfortunately the slow, ponderous, fan serving first twenty minutes almost sent me to sleep.

I loved the Hobbit when I was eight.  It's a great little children's book full of vibrant characters and ridiculous monsters.  Tolkien actually rewrote some of the text once The Lord of the Rings was out in order to tie more of The Hobbit back to his more adult master piece.  Bilbo is brought to life superbly by Martin Freeman.  All the spikiness of the character is nailed perfectly and there's plenty of the humour that Tolkien injected into the quest to the Lonely Mountain.  The Hobbit is a relatively short book and this is the first of three movies that will take us to the aforementioned mountain and back.  It feels like too much and twenty minutes in it was starting to feel like one movie might be too much.  We all like the Shire, it's cute and quaint, but did we really need to see old Bilbo to set the movie up?  Nope.  Just crack on with it Jackson.  Sigh.

Skyfall - Review

Skyfall is the Bond film you never knew you'd always wanted.  Stripped back and laid bare, with an injection of humour (sadly lacking in Solace) and with a great self contained story.

Daniel Craig's Bond, despite the 21 century reboot, is still the same old sexist cliché he's always been.  There are times when it's a little uncomfortable, particularly around a couple of scenes with Bérénice Lim Marlohe.  But the movie is questioning 'the Spy who loves everyone with his penis' all the way through, all be it a little indirectly.  MI6 have lost data naming all of their embedded agents to the quite brilliant Javier Bardem (as Raoul Silva) and are accused of being an outdated, antiquated operation.  Bond, naturally embodies all of that to perfection.

The first two thirds of the movie are classic Bond.  Chase scenes, assassinations, fights on top of moving trains, a new Q and an ageing, slightly broken, 007.  The final third is a brilliant drop in pace and style, Mednes clearly enjoying the opportunity to shoot with a new palette as the traditional 'Bond in exotic location' cliché is dropped for something wonderfully different.  It's an interesting about turn, we see Bond reduced to using IMDs against his foes rather than the usual plethora of gadgets.

Looper - Review

It's 2042 and the world is a bit shit.  Thirty years further into the future things are still a bit shit (boo), time travel has just been invented (yay) and then swiftly outlawed (boo).  Criminal gangs however are using the technology to illegally send back any threat to their operation to the year 2042 where they are swiftly shot to death.  With a blunderbuss.  Apparently it's a bit hard to get rid of a body in 2072 without it being noticed.  The awaiting assassins are called Loopers.  The victims arrive with a bag over their heads and a stash of silver strapped to their backs which the Loopers then cash for payment.  Eventually they'll discover gold instead of silver, signifying that they've just killed their future selves thus completing the loop and they are then free to enjoy the money they've accumulated for the next thirty years until they're sent back, bag over their head etc etc.  It's a loop.  Clever.

Total Recall - Review

It's a remake that didn't need to be made.  Except it's not.  The 1990 original, very loosely based on a Philip K Dick story, is a classic.  This Total Recall is sort of loosely based on both and rather surprisingly, it works.

It's the end of the 21st century and it's all kinds of post chemical warfare horrible out there kids.  Two bits of planet Earth are habitable,  the United Federation of Britain  (UFB) and the Colony (Australia).  All the wealth is in Britain (yay!) and all the workers live in the Colony.  They travel to work in UFB factories on a sort of giant elevator that passes through the centre of the Earth.  Sorry, it's ridiculous, but cool as fuck.  The Colony is brought to life brilliantly, like Hong Kong on speed.  The UFB is all gleaming tower blocks, London buses and flying cars.  Aces.

Ted - Review

The trailers made Ted look like the best comedy of all time and whilst the actual film doesn't quite reach those heights Seth MacFarlane still delivers the best comedy of the year so far.

John Bennett is a kid desperate for a best friend.  On Christmas day he receives a teddy bear, names it Ted and makes a wish that they'll be best friends forever.  The following morning the teddy bear has sprung to life.  The CGI work is immediately impressive, the lack of twee, which could so easily have infected the movie, is thankfully absent and best of all the biting wit of MacFarlane is ever present.

The movie quickly skips to a thirty five year old John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted, still living together and still best friends.  John is in a four year relationship with Lori (Mila Kunis) who is desperate for her boyfriend to grow up and move on from his childhood pal.  Ted is a teddy bear though and has no intention of growing up, or moving on from getting high and drinking.  MacFarlane voices the bear and he is, without doubt, an extension of Peter from Family Guy.  If anything though this is MacFarlane cutting loose.

The Dark Knight Rises - Review

Let's get a few things out of the way first.  Rises is not perfect.  There are flaws.  Unlike Prometheus (ever wish you could go back and re-write your review?) they are forgiven here.  There's a temptation to try and compare this with Avengers, or even the more recent Amazing Spider-Man, but this is a different kind of film, asking big questions of its characters and a far worthier take on the genre.

The final instalment of Nolan's trilogy pushes the envelope in trying to get under the skin of its superhero.  For that to succeed and be taken in anyway seriously, the film needs a big performance from Christian Bale, fortunately he is truly outstanding.  If The Dark Knight was Heath Ledger's movie, then Rises belongs to Bale.   He's not alone though, the cast (and it's a big cast) are all excellent.

Nolan's take on Batman in Rises is a truly modern one.  This is a post 911/post economic meltdown Batman.  Almost Dickensian in its telling and brilliantly riffing on the father son conversations we see in Batman Begins it takes our hero to his limits and beyond.

The Amazing Spider-Man - Review

It could have all gone so badly.  'A re-boot too far,' we cried.  'From the beginning?  Again?!'  we asked.  But The Amazing Spider-Man manages to charm its way into the heart by bettering Sam Raimi's vision and getting close to The Avengers with its sharp script and lovely visuals.

Andrew Garfield is brilliant as Peter Parker.  Gone is Tobey Maguire's nervous take on the character, Garfield brings an edge to the role and better acting.  It feels closer to the comics, the early scenes after the inevitable spider bite, as Parker discovers what he's capable of, are a joy.

Prometheus - Review

Weight of expectation can be a huge burden.  If you're going to see Prometheus because you're expecting the answers to questions you formed in 1979 you're going to be crushed.  They're not there, or at least they're not here in any fully formed sort of way.  Prometheus delivers something else, a lot more questions for a start.  You can blame Damon Lindelof for that, it's the last episode of Lost all over again without the heaven bit.

Dark Shadows - Review

Dark Shadows is Tim Burton's horror comedy based on an American TV show from the early 70s.  Sadly what could have been a Beetlejuice like comedy riot of a movie fails to measure up.  Despite the wealth of talent in the cast it all feels a bit painted by numbers, gags are sign posted well in advance and Burton fails to make the audience truly love his lead.

Johnny Depp does his best to bring Barnabas Collins, a the two hundred year old vampire to life, but a poor script and not much of a story do little help his chances.  Barnabas has been cursed to be a vampire by a vengeful witch played by Eva Green.  He's promptly locked in a coffin and buried by the horrified town folk only to be awoken by workmen digging a road in the 1970s.  After slaughtering the workmen he sets about restoring the family fishing business and stealing fisherman, from the seemingly immortal witch, who has set up her business opposite his tinning factory.  Yep, vampires and fishing boats.  Quite the heady mix...

The Raid - Review

A tower block in Jakarta.  Home to a crime lord and his cronies.  An elite squad of police officers sent to capture him and clean out fifteen floors worth of evil.  What could go wrong?

Um, how bout everything?

The Raid is a little work of genius from Gareth Evans (I know, we hadn't heard of him either), it races by in a blur of beautifully choreographed gun play and fight scenes.  Claustrophobic and relentless, the violence is gritty and real, if you don't like the blood, this isn't for you.  The story is merely a device to get us up the tower block of doom, but hell, who cares?  When a movie leaves your jaw on the floor of the cinema without any CGI these days it's something to cherish.

The Avengers - Review

(Sorry, I still can't bring myself to say Assemble.)

Once in a while it's nice to go to the cinema and escape from the real world, get sucked into a fantasy so vibrant, so beautifully constructed you feel like you can touch it.  Sat three rows back at the IMAX last night I felt like I could touch, smell and taste The Avengers.  The 3D (post production) only added to the sense of immersion as the giant screen put Captain America and all so in my face I felt like my head might explode.  It would have been a joyous explosion though, my grin splattered around the cinema.

The Avengers could so easily have been a much cherished ball dropped.  There was much vocal concern over Joss Whedon as director, but many of us knew what the man was capable of with an ensemble cast.  The worry was more that the studio would take over, not realising, once again, that Joss gets cool.  Well, he gets geek cool and he gets that his heroes need to feel real.  To be fair the preceding movies, with the possible exception of The Hulk franchise, have helped to set that up, but the balance between the headline acts is brilliantly executed.  They all get one liners, they all get to kick the crap out of the bad guys and they also get room to breathe and grow.  That's some achievement when you have six Avengers and Samuel L Jackson to juggle.

Battleship - Review

Oh Battleship.  Poor poor Battleship.  So close.

For about an hour it's a all going swimmingly.  Aliens arrive, Hong Kong gets hit by one of their spacecraft, and one American navy ship gets trapped behind a forcefield with the rest of the critters.  Aces.  The aliens are cool.  They look a bit Halo(ish), i.e. men in suits with lizard eyes but they do the menacing thing quiet nicely and they have some kit that turns a couple of navy vessels into molten metal.  Cool.

Taylor Kitsch is the lead, reminiscent of Ray Liotta at his blandest, he sort of passes through the film, his character on some sort of yawn fest of a 'journey'.  But it doesn't really matter, the explosions are big and loud and y'know... the aliens and that.  Cool.

AND THEN.... BOOM!  IT ALL GOES AWFUL.

Wrath of the Titans - Review

Imagine a quiet Sunday afternoon in October.  It's raining and because of a midweek friendly fixture there's no football, but ITV have a film on called Wrath of the Titans.  At that point in time, and at no other, it would be ok to watch.

Once again we're left wondering whether directors understand 3D or get so caught up trying to make the 3D exciting they forget that films are supposed to have stories.  3D as a selling point for a film just doesn't cut it, it should be a part of the experience not something that jars you out of it.  Hugo is a great example of that, immersive, full of depth but an equally stunning experience in 2D.  Wrath of the Titans?  Yikes.

Forgetting the 3D for a moment it's hard to decide whether this is better or worse than 2010's Clash of the Titans.  At times, especially in the last twenty minutes it comes together for a great final battle with a mountainous Kronos but the dialogue is awkward and all over the place throughout.  Action sequences have more pace than the previous title but close up camera work makes things hard to follow.  At one point Perseus' son appears to have been burnt to a crispy mess only for him to pop up seconds later.

The Inbetweeners Movie - Review

I haven't shed a tear at the cinema for a long while.  (Well at least a year and a bit.)  But on Friday, during what could have been the biggest mistake of the year, the Inbetweeners made my face wet.

Will, Simon, Jay and Neil's jump to the big screen could have gone oh so wrong.  But it works, will have dragged a fair few people into a cinema over the last ten days who wouldn't usually go and delivers laugh after laugh after laugh.

The four leads continue where they left off, school is over and so they head to Crete on holiday.  Naturally things go wrong from the off but what makes the film work is the banter between the four.  It feels real.  The lads journey/coming of age holiday is a beautifully written piece with Simon Bird (Will) and James Buckley (Jay) shining as actors.  Buckley in particular does a fantastic job of conveying Jay, cocky but also fully aware of his own shortcomings.  His failure to kick a bench has me howling.  Wonderful.

The tears came near the end.  A boat, the sea, some swimming and the immortal line, 'I think I've shit myself.'

Don't go expecting high brow, do go expecting to want to go on holiday with your three best mates.
★★★★☆

Cowboys & Aliens - Review

It sounds ridiculous on paper,  it must be a comedy, right?  Well apart from a few well delivered lines Cowboys and Aliens is about as far away from the kooky title as you could get.  Indeed possibly the biggest shock of the whole thing is just how straight it's played.

That it works at all is down to director Jon Favreau and his excellent cast.  Daniel Craig is taking things very seriously as a man who wakes up somewhere in the Wild West with a strange bracelet on his wrist and no memory of who he is.  He wanders into a near by town, finding help for a wound in his side but eventually gets recognised as a wanted criminal after a spat with a spoilt local.

He winds up behind bars after nearly escaping, knocked out cold by a mysterious woman played by Olivia Wilde.  He's about to be taken away with the local boy he's bickered with but just as the boy's father (Harrison Ford) turns up demanding his son's release Alien spaceships arrive, start abducting people and blowing the crap out of the small town.  It sounds ridiculous but there's some nice human reaction to loved ones being taken, including Ford's son.  The town folk, once it turns out Craig's bracelet is a weapon, decide to track one of the Aliens that he's managed to shoot down.

In the moments when there aren't any Aliens present the film feels like a straight Western.  Lovingly shot and with Ford and Craig leading the show, it sits just right.  Ford in particular looks like he's loving every second and has most of the best lines.  Craig does a great job of conveying a man trying to figure out who the hell he is while hell bent on chasing down the Alien.  Wilde's character is not as strong but once the film has played through to the end you sort of get why and her performance is on a par with the two male leads.  Sam Rockwell adds weight to an excellent supporting cast.

Where the movie stumbles is with the Aliens.  Although the CGI is good and the design relatively creepy, they're a bit anonymous.  We simply don't see enough of them to get a sense of how dangerous they are and although we're told fairly early on what they're here for it's all pretty standard stuff.  Which seems like a shame in a movie that in so many other respects is a bit of a gem.  That said the last half hour races along and is well worth your time.

As a Western it works brilliantly.  As a Sci-Fi movie, it hits the beats, but doesn't shine.  Luckily it's more Western than Sci-Fi.
★★★☆☆

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Review

Reboot or sequel?  Does it really matter?  Arguably, no.  Especially if a film is good enough to stand on its own.

'Rise', having reminded myself of the plot of the original and Burton's remake, doesn't fit in with either of the story lines previously established, so it is a reboot, but what a way to start.

The movie lives and dies by the quality of the CGI.  All the apes are completely computer animated and for the most part it works brilliantly.  There are one or two moments where it falls short and you're reminded that what you're watching is not a real ape, but for the most part it's convincing.

The humans get a rough deal in the film, only James Franco as the scientist on the brink of curing Alzheimer's disease, is really likeable.  He raises the ultra intelligent Caesar, a chimpanzee, who's mother had been given the drug that Franco's scientist was testing.  The rest of the cast, with the exception of John Lithgow as Franco's father and a tacked on girlfriend, are there to make you route for the apes.  Evil boss, check.  Evil animal handler, check.  Evil man running ape sanctuary, check.  By the end you're routing for the apes without question.

Caesar is brilliantly realised as a character.  Facial expressions are readable, the intelligence behind the eyes is never in doubt.  We swatch him grow, watch him fall and watch him rise and at no point do we want him to fail.  Andy Serkis, who else, provided the motion capture for Caesar and the ape is never anything other than alive once fully grown.

There are nods to the other movies, but where they go next with this is anyone's guess.  There could be a direct sequel or a jump forward, with a retelling of the original 1968 movie.  Again.

There are stand out moments far to good to reveal here but it's been a long time since I've heard an audience gasp like I did last night.
★★★★☆

Super 8 - Review

I can remember a conversation I had with AT a year or so ago. It centred around the lack of big name directors, 'Where are the Scorseses, the Coppolas, the Spielbergs?' I'd asked.

Now we know.

Super 8 has a warmth to it, a throw back to something we used to see more of before CGI and 3D ate the heart out of many a movie.  There's no doubt that comes from Abrams, the director brings so much class to the film, every shot feels lovingly crafted, each shimmer of lens flair is a nod back to his mentor as he captures Spielberg's style.

JJ Abrams likes his monsters and Super 8 doesn't disappoint, just don't go expecting Cloverfield 2.  The movie centres around a group of kids, a blend of the family from ET and the children of the Goonies and we see the majority of the story from their view point as their town unravels following a nearby train crash.

Set in 1979, but never feeling like a nostalgia fest, Super 8 is a masterclass in delivering a movie set in the recent past without feeling like it was filmed in the here and now.

The kids are all excellent, the story beautifully crafted, the jumps make you jump and the few question marks it leaves are forgivable movie conceits, but it will face criticism.  And that, frankly, is a real pity.

Not everyone is going to like the overt Spielberg 'love in' that Super 8 is and the movie will be derided by some for that.  Whether it plagiarises (all be it with the masters consent) every one of Spielbergs sic-fi classics without making enough of a statement of its own is a question that hangs in the air.

However as we left the cinema last night my companion said something very telling, "Instant classic."  And for me she nailed it.  There aren't many movies I go and see and think, 'I'd quite like to own that on BluRay.'  There aren't many movies I go and see and think, 'I'd quite like to go again but at an IMAX.'  But that's how Super 8 left me feeling.

Abrams is a throwback as much as his film is.  Storytelling of the highest calibre with direction that's starting to show us that we have a craftsmen in our midst.  What he does next will be very telling.

Film of the year so far?

No question.
★★★★★

Captain America: The First Avenger - Review

Captain America could have gone oh so very wrong.  Poor Cap was never the coolest comic book character, always hamstrung by the flag on his shield and the lack of humour.  Joe Johnston's movie does a great job of side stepping most of that, making Steve Rogers human and humble, instead of earnest and annoying.

The film begins with Rogers as an ailing weakling determined to play his part in the war effort in the early 1940s.  The CGI that puts Chris Evans' head on the body of someone else, is, although admittedly very clever, flawed.  It's a neat trick but his head looks way too big for his body.

Steve is never going to get into the army with his tiny frame but he gets selected for a new program that's attempting to create super soldiers and is injected with a serum that turns him into the real Chris Evans.  It's during these early scenes that Captain America (despite the giant head issue) is at its most interesting.  There's real heart as Rogers is denied seeing immediate action and is instead used to inspire recruits and secure funds for the war.  It's a beautiful diversion from your average superhero movie and Evans does a great job of conveying the frustration and ultimate humiliation of being forced into his blue costume with a tiny wooden shield.

We're heading at speed towards the Avengers movie and Captain America has a wealth of material to nod back at and it doesn't fail to make the fanboys squeal.  There's Asgard here aplenty, a bucket load of Stark and the film is, although able to stand on its own, better for it.  These films are starting to feel like big budget episodes of a brilliant TV series.

Hugo Weaving is arch nemesis the Red Skull, and he adds some proper menace to the role, clearly relishing his part as the leader of Hydra and Hitlers henchman in charge of advanced weapons research.  The cast throughout is solid and watchable, Tommy Lee Jones is ace as a gruff Colonel and Hayley Atwell is more than watchable as Caps love interests.  

Thor, from earlier this year, was one of the most fun films we've seen from the Marvel cannon but Captain America picks up the baton and is, at the very least, its equal.  Steve Rogers journey from brave but flawed kid to all American hero feels just right and the last few scenes are actually pretty touching despite a some what lack lustre final battle.

When Captain America gets it right, it gets it really right.  It should reignite a truly iconic character, even, dare I say it, make him cool.  Of course the story is preposterous but it's a superhero movie, it's supposed to be that way and the giant head thing is hardly a reason to not like it.  Indeed for the most part the effects are stunning, the acting great and the period setting adds it a rare sense of gravitas.   

3D is destined to divide us all for a long time to come.  Here it's post production and at times (rather like Thor) barely noticeable.  I'd argue that when it's this subtle you may as well not have it.  There's no where near the sense of depth that Transformers 3 had: when the camera is up high on a snowy mountain looking down I like my 3D to make me feel a little vertigo but here that doesn't happen.  That's not to say there aren't times when it does shines: Cap throwing his shield will have you jumping as it careers out of the screen but it's at those moments you remember it's a 3D movie and you're torn out of just being 'in' the movie and reminded you're sat in a cinema wearing glasses.  Transformers 3 immersed me in 3D from start to finish.  Captain America fails to do that.  

The bottom line though is that The First Avenger does kick ass.  Way more than I thought he ever could.

★★★★☆

Horrible Bosses - Review

This one would probably be slipping completely under the radar if it wasn't for Jennifer Aniston's turn as nympho nutter. Despite the fact that she looks a bit odd, she's the best thing in it.  The shock of seeing Rachel from Friends being, well, a bit of a filthy sexual aggressor, never gets old.  Some how...

Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis play three friends each having their lives ruined by their respective bosses played by Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell and Aniston.  They decide, as you would, that their only option is to kill their bosses and after seeking advice from the excellent Jamie Foxx, set about putting their plan in place.

For the most part the dialogue is sharp and funny although the movies at its best when it drifts into farce.  Not every gag is killer and there are times when you feel like the gaps between laughing out loud are growing longer.

Spacey is great as Bateman's manipulative boss but Colin Farrell is criminally underused as a coke addled drug fiend.

The movie never really hits the heights, despite the excellent cast and although Anniston's character pushes the envelope at times the rest of the humour feels a bit like it's on the leash.  Like someone went, 'Whoa there, we've got Aniston being crazy ass sexy mental, we don't need to do THAT with the coke!'

Horrible Bosses has its moments: there was actual out loud laughing on more than one occasion, but I can't help but feel in a month we'll have forgotten all about it.
★★★☆☆

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Review

You know when you know that you shouldn't like something?  When every part of you knows that it won't be cool to like this but you do anyway?  That.

Except bits of this movie ARE cool.  The opening scenes set during the 1960s space race to the moon are brilliantly crafted.  The moon landing and subsequent re-imagining of events are done tastefully, almost believably.  The robots, naturally, are what the movie really hangs on (sorry it was never about Megan Fox) and they are, by definition, cool as fuck.  Sorry, they just are.

However the second movie had them too and was a bit of a mess.  There were a couple of great scenes with the afformentioned robots but the plot was all over the place and there were too many attempts at playing it for the kids.  This time around Michael Bay keeps things tighter, the plot is pretty simple really and the film is much much darker.  The final hour, as the Decepticons (bad guy robots) decide to teach the humans a lesson, is an unrelenting barrage on the senses.  Set piece follows set piece and for once the 3D completely justifies its inclusion.  It's not the silly 3D of the last Pirates movie, this has a surprising subtleness to it, adding depth and scale to events. And what events.  Believe me you'll be shocked at just how beaten down the good guys get here.

Megan Fox's absence is only felt in terms of her replacements acting abilities, at times Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's delivery is just painful, no matter how easy on the eye she might be.  The rest of the cast are more than adequate but the robots are the stars and more than ever before they just shine.  The CGI that brings them to life just sings at times.  They're so solid, so believable that the action sequences have an added vitality that was lacking in the previous movies.

The story is actually pretty good.  You can't help but care about the Autobots (good guy robots) as they battle for survival against a seemingly unbeatable foe.  Topping the explosive last hour will be tough, although who'd bet against a fourth instalment.

Michael Bay has his critics, but when it comes to making movies, you know, proper blockbuster summer movies, he knows how to nail them.  I get this won't be to everyones tastes, but sometimes you want to just sit in a cinema, with your jaw slack, having your senses pummelled wondering how they just did that.

Not cool.  But really fucking cool.
★★★★☆