I went to the midnight launch of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and all though I'm not a die hard SW fan, I absolutely loved it. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a brilliant, fun, spectacular film. A definite must watch! I rate this film 9/10, 5 stars.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens starring Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Adam Driver (Hungry Hearts), Daisy Ridley (Scrawl), John Boyega (Attack the Block), and Mark Hamill (Kingsman: Secret Service) is an instant classic! A family friendly, action packed and filled with sci-fi wonder. Harrison Ford reprises his role as Han Solo the infamous smuggler with his best friend, and co-pilot Chewbacca and delivers an amazing and charasmatic performance once more. New to the franchise; Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver and John Boyega set their feet firmly into the ground with their characters; Poe Dameron, Rey, Kylo Renn and Finn as they set about making the start of their journey into the new trilogy.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an emotional roller coaster that will leave you craving for more, the film is packed with classy humour, wondrous special effects and glorious battle scenes that only JJ Abrams could produce. The film has a few plot twists that will surprise you and leave you seconding guessing, The pacing for the films is mostly brilliant, but a few scenes and reveals could have been handled better creating more suspense and tension, apart from this small detail the film was flawless, brilliantly setting up for the next to come. A brilliant film for those die hard fans and those not alike.
The force is strong with this one.
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Friday, 11 December 2015
Sicario *Spoiler Free* Review.
Sicario is a gritty, dark, brutal and brilliant film, quite possibly the a contender for the best film of the year, I award Sicario 5 Stars and 9/10.
Sicario starring Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Looper), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men, Everest), and Benicio del Toro (The Usual Suspects, Savages) is a crime, action, and drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners - director). Sicario beautifully captures the harsh reality for Mexico and the wars between the cartels and law enforcement agencies, Emily Blunt really delivers an outstanding and compassionate performance of Kate Macer, an FBI agent who specialises in escalated cartel activity who is enlisted by higher members of the US government to aid the efforts against the cartels. Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro deliver stunning performances, as the story unfolds and Kate delves deeper down the rabbit hole, dark secrets are revealed, who is really friend and who is really foe?
Sicaro holds some of the best cinematography of the year and a under-the skin feel of brutality, capturing suspense, thrills and drama all equally as much leaving the water captivated and eager for more. The film contains several plot twists and a brilliant script. I would highly recommend Sicario, a brilliant film.
Sicario starring Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Looper), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men, Everest), and Benicio del Toro (The Usual Suspects, Savages) is a crime, action, and drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners - director). Sicario beautifully captures the harsh reality for Mexico and the wars between the cartels and law enforcement agencies, Emily Blunt really delivers an outstanding and compassionate performance of Kate Macer, an FBI agent who specialises in escalated cartel activity who is enlisted by higher members of the US government to aid the efforts against the cartels. Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro deliver stunning performances, as the story unfolds and Kate delves deeper down the rabbit hole, dark secrets are revealed, who is really friend and who is really foe?
Sicaro holds some of the best cinematography of the year and a under-the skin feel of brutality, capturing suspense, thrills and drama all equally as much leaving the water captivated and eager for more. The film contains several plot twists and a brilliant script. I would highly recommend Sicario, a brilliant film.
Saturday, 10 October 2015
Legend Review. *Review Will Contain Spoilers*
LEGEND is an instant classic, a bold and brilliant British film. A definite must see! I rate LEGEND 8/10, 4 Stars.
LEGEND, starring Tom Hardy (Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road) and Tom Hardy (Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road) and co-starring Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) and Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World) is a British crime thriller film written and directed by Brian Helgeland, the film follows and is based on the true story of the Kray twins; Ronald and Reginald and charts their dominance over London during the 1950's and 1960's leading up to their imprisonment in 1969, it closely focuses on the life of Reginald as he tries to manage both the gangster firm and his deeply psychotic and extremely violent brother, Ronald. Tom Hardy plays delivers two outstanding performances as he plays both Ronald and Reginald, the two heads of a brutal, gangster firm.
The dynamic of the Kray twins is really captured in the film, I myself already knew a lot about them because I had learned of them and read prior to the film's release Our Story, written by Reginald Kray himself. The Kray twins were a true gangster firm of organised crime with class and money, but also extremely violent, gruesome and intimidating, over the 1950's and early 1960's they dominated the East End of London with crimes ranging from robberies, arson, assaults and protection rackets. The firm was mainly ran by Reginald who dealt with all the business inquiries whether that be paying off police or organising protection for clubs, casinos and other stores that operated within their reach, Ronald Kray however was a psychotic one-man army, extremely violent and temperamental, this was great for intimidation but not so great for running a business which operated behind the scenes and away from the law. Tom Hardy's double performance of these two very different and iconic characters is really spot on, with his portrayal of the characters we can really see the struggle that the twins created for each other, Ronald and Reginald loved each other dearly and because they were brothers, and twins, Reginald had an extremely hard time controlling and keeping Ronald safe at the same time for he knew that Ronald would be the firms downfall.
The film is narrated from the perspective of Frances Shea (Emily Browning), Reginald's wife. Emily Browning captured Frances Shea beautifully and her dynamic with Tom Hardy as both of the twins worked wonders, with Ronald not trusting anyone but Reginald he viewed Frances as neither good enough for his brother, nor valuable in anyway. It really helped fuel the war between right and wrong, and set the twins even more at each other's throats.
One thing I was a little let down by is that the film plunges straight into the setting of London which is already for the most part controlled by the Krays, I was really hoping and wanting to see more of how they climbed the ladder to become a firm to start with; the smaller crimes. If this had been included I think the film may have been a 5 star rating, but unfortunately, it was not. The footage and film we do see though is brilliant though. It really captures what life was like for those both in the firm and out, although Christopher Eccleston doesn't have a huge role in the film, he does provide us with the sense of desperation that the police felt during the 1950's and 1960's while under stress from the government with corrupt politicians and from the intimidation provided by the firms.
LEGEND is a truly great crime film, probably one of the best to date and definitely one of the best films this year, I also think that this is Tom Hardy's best performance yet!
LEGEND, starring Tom Hardy (Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road) and Tom Hardy (Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road) and co-starring Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) and Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World) is a British crime thriller film written and directed by Brian Helgeland, the film follows and is based on the true story of the Kray twins; Ronald and Reginald and charts their dominance over London during the 1950's and 1960's leading up to their imprisonment in 1969, it closely focuses on the life of Reginald as he tries to manage both the gangster firm and his deeply psychotic and extremely violent brother, Ronald. Tom Hardy plays delivers two outstanding performances as he plays both Ronald and Reginald, the two heads of a brutal, gangster firm.
The dynamic of the Kray twins is really captured in the film, I myself already knew a lot about them because I had learned of them and read prior to the film's release Our Story, written by Reginald Kray himself. The Kray twins were a true gangster firm of organised crime with class and money, but also extremely violent, gruesome and intimidating, over the 1950's and early 1960's they dominated the East End of London with crimes ranging from robberies, arson, assaults and protection rackets. The firm was mainly ran by Reginald who dealt with all the business inquiries whether that be paying off police or organising protection for clubs, casinos and other stores that operated within their reach, Ronald Kray however was a psychotic one-man army, extremely violent and temperamental, this was great for intimidation but not so great for running a business which operated behind the scenes and away from the law. Tom Hardy's double performance of these two very different and iconic characters is really spot on, with his portrayal of the characters we can really see the struggle that the twins created for each other, Ronald and Reginald loved each other dearly and because they were brothers, and twins, Reginald had an extremely hard time controlling and keeping Ronald safe at the same time for he knew that Ronald would be the firms downfall.
The film is narrated from the perspective of Frances Shea (Emily Browning), Reginald's wife. Emily Browning captured Frances Shea beautifully and her dynamic with Tom Hardy as both of the twins worked wonders, with Ronald not trusting anyone but Reginald he viewed Frances as neither good enough for his brother, nor valuable in anyway. It really helped fuel the war between right and wrong, and set the twins even more at each other's throats.
One thing I was a little let down by is that the film plunges straight into the setting of London which is already for the most part controlled by the Krays, I was really hoping and wanting to see more of how they climbed the ladder to become a firm to start with; the smaller crimes. If this had been included I think the film may have been a 5 star rating, but unfortunately, it was not. The footage and film we do see though is brilliant though. It really captures what life was like for those both in the firm and out, although Christopher Eccleston doesn't have a huge role in the film, he does provide us with the sense of desperation that the police felt during the 1950's and 1960's while under stress from the government with corrupt politicians and from the intimidation provided by the firms.
LEGEND is a truly great crime film, probably one of the best to date and definitely one of the best films this year, I also think that this is Tom Hardy's best performance yet!
Saturday, 15 August 2015
The Man from U.N.C.L.E *Spoiler Free* Review.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E is a refreshing, classy, stylish and elegant film. A definite must-watch! I rate it 8/10, 4 Stars.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E starring Henry Cavill (Immortals), Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) is an action-adventure, comedy spy film directed by Guy Ritchie and based on the 1964 MGM television series. Set in the height of the Cold War we see Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) the CIA's finest agent and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) the KGB's best soldier forced to work along side each other, in an undercover plot to stop a illusive criminal organisation from using nuclear weapons to insight global war once more.
Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer create a very interesting dynamic between the duo, ultimately America and Russia have to team up for this mission but neither agents are very comfortable with this idea, in-fact the night before they were at each other's throats. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer both deliver incredible performances and I believe that there couldn't have been a better choice for either character, they both fill the shoes brilliantly. Alicia Vikander also delivers an outstanding and very believable performance as Gaby Teller, a German car mechanic who also goes undercover with Solo and Kurakin. Throughout the film we see Solo and Kurakin both compete to assert who is the alpha and who is the beta of the two, they both have their own different, and preferred styles which are to reflect Russia's and American's ways, which are both just as effective. Over the duration of the film we naturally see the pair become closer but even before this we see moments of humour as they each have to abandon their own ways to get the job done, like children throwing a tantrum.
The film is based on the 1964 MGM television series and you can really see the imagery from this as well as that of the classic James Bond films with some stylish gadgets and sexy suits, Guy Ritchie has really created something special and memorable in this film, the cinematography is very bold but also elegant, we see a wonderful contrast of the stylish American agent with humour and class paired with the dramatic KGB soldier who brings, action and thrill, throughout the film this combination never disappoints. The story is filled with bold action and dramatic suspense but also an effective choice in humour, very tongue in cheek which accompanies the cinematography, acting and scene incredibly well. The script is very enjoyable and has a few twists, creating a not-so predictable spy film! With moments of romance, action, comedy, suspense and drama, fabulous visuals, stylish and slick camera work, classy antics and a very, very enjoyably plot; this film is a thoroughly enjoyable watch and fun for all the family!
The Man from U.N.C.L.E starring Henry Cavill (Immortals), Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) is an action-adventure, comedy spy film directed by Guy Ritchie and based on the 1964 MGM television series. Set in the height of the Cold War we see Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) the CIA's finest agent and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) the KGB's best soldier forced to work along side each other, in an undercover plot to stop a illusive criminal organisation from using nuclear weapons to insight global war once more.
Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer create a very interesting dynamic between the duo, ultimately America and Russia have to team up for this mission but neither agents are very comfortable with this idea, in-fact the night before they were at each other's throats. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer both deliver incredible performances and I believe that there couldn't have been a better choice for either character, they both fill the shoes brilliantly. Alicia Vikander also delivers an outstanding and very believable performance as Gaby Teller, a German car mechanic who also goes undercover with Solo and Kurakin. Throughout the film we see Solo and Kurakin both compete to assert who is the alpha and who is the beta of the two, they both have their own different, and preferred styles which are to reflect Russia's and American's ways, which are both just as effective. Over the duration of the film we naturally see the pair become closer but even before this we see moments of humour as they each have to abandon their own ways to get the job done, like children throwing a tantrum.
The film is based on the 1964 MGM television series and you can really see the imagery from this as well as that of the classic James Bond films with some stylish gadgets and sexy suits, Guy Ritchie has really created something special and memorable in this film, the cinematography is very bold but also elegant, we see a wonderful contrast of the stylish American agent with humour and class paired with the dramatic KGB soldier who brings, action and thrill, throughout the film this combination never disappoints. The story is filled with bold action and dramatic suspense but also an effective choice in humour, very tongue in cheek which accompanies the cinematography, acting and scene incredibly well. The script is very enjoyable and has a few twists, creating a not-so predictable spy film! With moments of romance, action, comedy, suspense and drama, fabulous visuals, stylish and slick camera work, classy antics and a very, very enjoyably plot; this film is a thoroughly enjoyable watch and fun for all the family!
Saturday, 8 August 2015
Fantastic 4 review. *Review Will Contain Spoilers*
The new Fantastic 4 reboot is anything but fantastic, I rate
it 2/10, 1 Star.
Maybe the 4 is how high they were hoping people would rate
it?
There is one thing in particular that I really can't get over
due to the comic-book geek inside me and the wrong done by it but I'll get to
that later. Fantastic 4 starring Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle), Miles Teller
(Whiplash), Kate Mara (House of Cards), Jamie Bell (King Kong) and Toby Kebbell
(Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) is the biggest let down of the year so far and
I honestly don't think anything will top it, firstly and this is a big thing
for any Marvel family but this one in particular; during this film there
was no 'team' feel the entire way through, there was no group dynamic at all;
the four aren’t even in the same place UNTIL after they get their powers,
and there’s no shared screen-time between the 4 of them until well into over
half way through Invisible Girl and Thing don’t even have a good interaction,
pretty sure they don't even talk until the last scene, it doesn't feel like
there's really any family bond between any of them, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm
are supposedly lifelong friends but in the film only have the bare minimum of
scenes together as adults and Sue Storm isn't even present when the team are 'created' but Victor Von Doom is, that's just completely wrong.
Now to that thing I really can't get over; Doom. Doom is one of Marvel's most powerful characters, and he should look the part. In the new Fantastic 4 he looked about as intimidating as the
Nintendo Wii's interface. Also, Doom's superpowers make absolutely 100% no sense. He can (to put it simply) do anything he chooses, from simple telekinesis to advanced telekinesis to making people’s heads explode and his plot to destroy Earth is completely random because there was very little build up or a sub-plot explaining it apart from right near the start when he mentions one line about "The people in charge of the world are also the ones driving it into the ground".
The story's events are poorly timed and executed, the film is nearly 2 hours long yet it felt really rushed, the entire first hour of the film builds up to... Wait for it... Nothing, nothing at all, about half way through the story jumps forward an entire year which would have been okay if they had explained what had been going on in this year, but there was no plot evolution or anything, it was just awful writing and the last battle scene is over in barely 10 minutes. The film also totally disregards the comics and replaces it with nothing good, the director actually told the cast not to read up on their comic-counterpart's backgrounds because he wasn't going to take anything from the series of Marvel Ultimate Comics apart from a slight, minor inspiration, the film is trying very, very hard to be a dark and gritty sci-fi adaptation but without using any of the reading material which in it's self completely strips the film of any passion or a personality. The CGI in this film is terrible, I am no expert when it comes to doing special effects so it's probably much better than anything I could make but if you're going to try and make a dark and gritty sci-fi superhero film then the one thing you really should do well is the CGI, it honestly looks like it was produced in a microwave oven; the rendering is extremely poor and there's little attempt to even cover up this terrible work, for example when Sue Storm/Invisible Girl uses her force-field powers there's a stretchy-plastic looking Kate instead of the real actress, the Thing actually looks good, although he doesn't wear anything which was a bit of a shock to see, maybe the studio was going for some rocky comic relief (sorry).
Ultimately, the film is a poorly organised mess of ideas with extremely bad execution, terrible CGI and pays absolutely no respect to the comics, so the studio may as well have not even made a Fantastic 4 and made their own film, it probably would have been better. A few scenes were mildly entertaining, Thing looked good, and Fox did manage to name the characters correctly so this is why I give the film 2/10 instead of 0.
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation review. *This review will contain spoilers*
I have decided to rate Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 7/10, 3 Stars. This review will contain spoilers so if you don't want to know, then don't read ahead.
I was very much looking forward to Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation starring Tom Cruise (Edge of Tomorrow, Minority Report), Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker, The Town), Simon Pegg (Paul, Star Trek into Darkness), Rebecca Ferguson (Hercules, The White Queen) and Alec Baldwin (The Red Hunt for October, The Departed) and for the most part it was a very enjoyable film with great acting and a nice level of humour and thrill. However, I was let down and disappointed by a few things and it didn't feel like a Mission: Impossible film; Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation more felt like a mash up of Hitman and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the story-line didn't flow well, events were rushed into or given no setting before hand at all in some cases, the actions scenes looked hastily thought out and it didn't contain many elements of the previous films. In all the previous Mission: Impossible films there are several heart pounding moments and scenes but in this one there was nothing particularly spectacular about it, there was no real wow factor. I know that the I.M.F is an independent espionage agency but in the films before it there was much less spying, sneaking around and deception, and more danger-driven action, suspense and action, maybe Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation was different from the last four on purpose to go down a new path but I didn't enjoy at as much. Also, in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol there was a team member called Jane Carter portrayed by Paula Patton (2 Guns, Deja Vu) and in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation she is nowhere to be seen with no explanation where she went or what happened, and finally after the reveal in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol that William Brandt portrayed by Jeremy Renner wasn't just an analyst and that he was in-fact a brilliant agent with a high-range of skills we were made to believe that he would be back in the field again and that we would see more of him but we did not, in fact we saw barely any of him which was very disappointing.
For the most part of the film I really enjoyed it, it of course had a brilliant level of humour provided mainly by Benji who really stole the show this film and there were a few scenes that I really, really loved such as the amazing car - bike chase in Morocco, specifically when Ethan changed from car to bike and there was a spectacular homage paid to the bike chase in Mission Impossible 2. While the story certainly was a hard task for the I.M.F what with the added pressure from the C.I.A it didn't feel quite as impossible as the story in Ghost Protocol, and I don't think much will ever seem more impossible than that. I would still recommend watching Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation but it wasn't the film I was hoping it would be, it was not of the same caliber of the previous stories.
I was very much looking forward to Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation starring Tom Cruise (Edge of Tomorrow, Minority Report), Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker, The Town), Simon Pegg (Paul, Star Trek into Darkness), Rebecca Ferguson (Hercules, The White Queen) and Alec Baldwin (The Red Hunt for October, The Departed) and for the most part it was a very enjoyable film with great acting and a nice level of humour and thrill. However, I was let down and disappointed by a few things and it didn't feel like a Mission: Impossible film; Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation more felt like a mash up of Hitman and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the story-line didn't flow well, events were rushed into or given no setting before hand at all in some cases, the actions scenes looked hastily thought out and it didn't contain many elements of the previous films. In all the previous Mission: Impossible films there are several heart pounding moments and scenes but in this one there was nothing particularly spectacular about it, there was no real wow factor. I know that the I.M.F is an independent espionage agency but in the films before it there was much less spying, sneaking around and deception, and more danger-driven action, suspense and action, maybe Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation was different from the last four on purpose to go down a new path but I didn't enjoy at as much. Also, in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol there was a team member called Jane Carter portrayed by Paula Patton (2 Guns, Deja Vu) and in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation she is nowhere to be seen with no explanation where she went or what happened, and finally after the reveal in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol that William Brandt portrayed by Jeremy Renner wasn't just an analyst and that he was in-fact a brilliant agent with a high-range of skills we were made to believe that he would be back in the field again and that we would see more of him but we did not, in fact we saw barely any of him which was very disappointing.
For the most part of the film I really enjoyed it, it of course had a brilliant level of humour provided mainly by Benji who really stole the show this film and there were a few scenes that I really, really loved such as the amazing car - bike chase in Morocco, specifically when Ethan changed from car to bike and there was a spectacular homage paid to the bike chase in Mission Impossible 2. While the story certainly was a hard task for the I.M.F what with the added pressure from the C.I.A it didn't feel quite as impossible as the story in Ghost Protocol, and I don't think much will ever seem more impossible than that. I would still recommend watching Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation but it wasn't the film I was hoping it would be, it was not of the same caliber of the previous stories.
Saturday, 1 August 2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron review. *Review will contain spoilers*
Although Avengers: Age of Ultron has been out for a few months now I never wrote up my actual review for it. I went to see Age of Ultron a few times at the cinema, 4 I do believe, the initial excitement after the first viewing made me think it was an amazing film, I do sometimes let the inner geek in me get over-excited but after seeing it again I have decided to rate it 7/10, 3 stars.
Avengers: Age of Ultron starring James Spader (The Blacklist), Chris Evans (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Snowpiercer), Robert Downey Jr (The Judge, Iron Man), Scarlet Johansson (Her, The Island), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Chris Hemsworth (Rush, The Cabin in the Woods), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher, Now You See Me) and Jeremy Renner (Mission Impossile 4, The Hurt Locker) is the sequel to the fantastic Captain America: Winter Soldier, it also was a sequel of sorts to Avengers Assemble (2012) so it had a lot to live up to and I don't feel that the film managed to take the title for best Marvel Studios film, most films have a few plot holes but there were some in Age of Ultron that I can't overlook, if you went to see it without being a comic-book fan, or because you're an action film fan you probably wouldn't have even noticed nor been bothered by some of these but I was and so I will include them.
The story was quite rushed and I'll start this review with the opening scene; the Avengers are attacking a Hydra base in which Baron Von Strucker is located with "The Twins" who later on we see to be Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, a lot is left unexplained or have been overlooked in the film, firstly to me most importantly is Iron Man, at the end of Iron Man 3 Tony Stark says that he doesn't need to and won't be back in the suit yet in Age of Ultron he appears right at the start and with no explanation, secondly is what lead them to that HYDRA base? We have no idea, it is never said. We all gather that the Avengers have been hunting down HYDRA bases after the collapse of SHIELD but we don't know how they found this base I guess we just have to assume that Tony Stark had intel. Next with the antagonist of the film, Ultron. James Spader's performance as Ultron was absolutely brilliant, his voice was perfect for the genocidal android but I was disappointed by how quickly the A.I found in the Hydra base manifested as Ultron. I was really hoping that we'd see more of Ultron's progression from activation in Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr) lab and then over a time Ultron would start to challenge the Avengers, building up it's hatred for humans and declaring itself a god-like sentient (which is what Ultron thinks him self as) but the A.I was stumbled upon, activated and almost instantly challenged the Avengers and then left, which I believe to be wasted potential. I was pleasantly surprised at Thor this film, I felt that Thor's own films haven't really provided the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with much and his character hadn't changed all that much but he was a huge character in Age of Ultron and had a high level of comic relief which was very nice. Age of Ultron introduced a few new characters to the MCU; Vision, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. It was fairly obvious from quite early on to me that Quicksilver was either going to be killed off or wouldn't be continuing into the next films, his character concept was very bland and his sister Scarlet Witch massively over shadowed him, however Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) was a brilliant addition to the film brought something to the table that none of the other Avengers have; a mix of mystery, passion and supreme power which is highlighted at the end when Quicksilver dies and she unleashes a blast of matter-altering power that erases the drones around her.
I did really love Ultron though, when we pass the issue that he became the sentient, human hating being too quick, the design of Ultron was amazing and as stated earlier, James Spader's performance of him was brilliant, classy and sharp. Ultron was very important in a sense other than the Avengers 2 antagonist, next year in 2016 Marvel are releasing Captain America: Civil War which will be the third installment of the Captain America series, in Civil War heroes will take sides with either Captain America or Iron Man over a registration act to monitor superheros, the creation of Ultron effected the team dynamic and set into motion the rivalry between Cap and Iron Man which we have seen teased and building up in other films, with Ultron being a creation of Tony's doing and thus in Cap's eyes betraying the rest of the team by not coming to them and talking about it, the damage that Ultron causes is on Tony's hands. This set up for Civil War was brilliantly done and we see sides start to take form briefly which is major foreshadowing. Vision is one of the new characters introduced to the film and MCU, Paul Bettany delievers an outstanding performance, he fits the character brilliantly and provides the perfect balance of serenity and power.
A few more things that need highlighting: a romance in Avengers: Age of Ultron between Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) that served no purpose what so ever, it didn't benefit the film at all, it made no sense and like some other unexplained features of the film, came out of nowhere, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) reveals that he has a wife and family that were hidden to the rest of the Avengers and we're supposed to believe that HYDRA, who knew everything about SHIELD had no idea about it. While we're on the subject of HYDRA their presence in the MCU has been pushed a lot and in the mid-credit scene of Captain America: Winter Soldier we are made to believe that Baron Von Strucker will make a big appearance and be a big deal in Avengers: Age of Ultron but he did not, he had barely 5 minutes of total screen time, there is also no explanation as to what exactly Bruce Banner has been doing all this time since Avengers, we gather he has been working with Tony Stark but nothing else has been said and finally at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron Thor explains about the importance of the Infinity Gems to the Captain America and Iron Man in which he mentions the Power Stone and as they aren't aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy, they shouldn't have had knowledge of its existence.
The comic book fans and followers of the MCU will have noticed several Easter Eggs and teasers towards the other Marvel film verse, there were various nods to Black Panther who is having his own film in 2018 and a huge shout to Thor: Ragnarok when Thor is put under a spell/illusion from Scarlet Witch in which he sees everyone in Asgard dead, Thor: Ragnarok is said to be the pivotal film of Phase 3 and then towards the Infinity Gauntlet story-line in the mid-credit scene which is after-all, what these slates of films are leading up to for the climax of Phase 3 in 2018 and 2019.
All in all I liked the film but there were several (as highlighted) features that could have been better addressed, it did how ever set up for the events of Phase 3 starting with Captain America: Civil War brilliantly and I loved in the ending scene we saw the 'New Avengers' team of Vision, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, War-Machine and Black Widow led by Captain America. This was the first Marvel Studios film to not have a post-credit scene but it did have a mid-credit scene, which is probably the best so far; Thanos reaching into a vault and putting on the Infinity Gauntlet. We know from the end of Thor: The Dark World that Loki is in control of Asgard now, posing as Odin so that was one thing in particular that set up nicely for Thanos to make an appearance, he takes the gauntlet and says "Fine, I'll have to do it myself" which I think is a reference to Phase 2 and 1 in which we see villains try to use the cosmic cube/Tesseract and Infinity Gems as weapons but all fail so Thanos is saying that he will do it himself now, I think we can safely assume that we will be seeing a lot more of Thanos over the next slate that leads up to Infinity War Parts 1 and 2.
Avengers: Age of Ultron starring James Spader (The Blacklist), Chris Evans (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Snowpiercer), Robert Downey Jr (The Judge, Iron Man), Scarlet Johansson (Her, The Island), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Chris Hemsworth (Rush, The Cabin in the Woods), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher, Now You See Me) and Jeremy Renner (Mission Impossile 4, The Hurt Locker) is the sequel to the fantastic Captain America: Winter Soldier, it also was a sequel of sorts to Avengers Assemble (2012) so it had a lot to live up to and I don't feel that the film managed to take the title for best Marvel Studios film, most films have a few plot holes but there were some in Age of Ultron that I can't overlook, if you went to see it without being a comic-book fan, or because you're an action film fan you probably wouldn't have even noticed nor been bothered by some of these but I was and so I will include them.
The story was quite rushed and I'll start this review with the opening scene; the Avengers are attacking a Hydra base in which Baron Von Strucker is located with "The Twins" who later on we see to be Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, a lot is left unexplained or have been overlooked in the film, firstly to me most importantly is Iron Man, at the end of Iron Man 3 Tony Stark says that he doesn't need to and won't be back in the suit yet in Age of Ultron he appears right at the start and with no explanation, secondly is what lead them to that HYDRA base? We have no idea, it is never said. We all gather that the Avengers have been hunting down HYDRA bases after the collapse of SHIELD but we don't know how they found this base I guess we just have to assume that Tony Stark had intel. Next with the antagonist of the film, Ultron. James Spader's performance as Ultron was absolutely brilliant, his voice was perfect for the genocidal android but I was disappointed by how quickly the A.I found in the Hydra base manifested as Ultron. I was really hoping that we'd see more of Ultron's progression from activation in Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr) lab and then over a time Ultron would start to challenge the Avengers, building up it's hatred for humans and declaring itself a god-like sentient (which is what Ultron thinks him self as) but the A.I was stumbled upon, activated and almost instantly challenged the Avengers and then left, which I believe to be wasted potential. I was pleasantly surprised at Thor this film, I felt that Thor's own films haven't really provided the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with much and his character hadn't changed all that much but he was a huge character in Age of Ultron and had a high level of comic relief which was very nice. Age of Ultron introduced a few new characters to the MCU; Vision, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. It was fairly obvious from quite early on to me that Quicksilver was either going to be killed off or wouldn't be continuing into the next films, his character concept was very bland and his sister Scarlet Witch massively over shadowed him, however Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) was a brilliant addition to the film brought something to the table that none of the other Avengers have; a mix of mystery, passion and supreme power which is highlighted at the end when Quicksilver dies and she unleashes a blast of matter-altering power that erases the drones around her.
I did really love Ultron though, when we pass the issue that he became the sentient, human hating being too quick, the design of Ultron was amazing and as stated earlier, James Spader's performance of him was brilliant, classy and sharp. Ultron was very important in a sense other than the Avengers 2 antagonist, next year in 2016 Marvel are releasing Captain America: Civil War which will be the third installment of the Captain America series, in Civil War heroes will take sides with either Captain America or Iron Man over a registration act to monitor superheros, the creation of Ultron effected the team dynamic and set into motion the rivalry between Cap and Iron Man which we have seen teased and building up in other films, with Ultron being a creation of Tony's doing and thus in Cap's eyes betraying the rest of the team by not coming to them and talking about it, the damage that Ultron causes is on Tony's hands. This set up for Civil War was brilliantly done and we see sides start to take form briefly which is major foreshadowing. Vision is one of the new characters introduced to the film and MCU, Paul Bettany delievers an outstanding performance, he fits the character brilliantly and provides the perfect balance of serenity and power.
A few more things that need highlighting: a romance in Avengers: Age of Ultron between Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) that served no purpose what so ever, it didn't benefit the film at all, it made no sense and like some other unexplained features of the film, came out of nowhere, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) reveals that he has a wife and family that were hidden to the rest of the Avengers and we're supposed to believe that HYDRA, who knew everything about SHIELD had no idea about it. While we're on the subject of HYDRA their presence in the MCU has been pushed a lot and in the mid-credit scene of Captain America: Winter Soldier we are made to believe that Baron Von Strucker will make a big appearance and be a big deal in Avengers: Age of Ultron but he did not, he had barely 5 minutes of total screen time, there is also no explanation as to what exactly Bruce Banner has been doing all this time since Avengers, we gather he has been working with Tony Stark but nothing else has been said and finally at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron Thor explains about the importance of the Infinity Gems to the Captain America and Iron Man in which he mentions the Power Stone and as they aren't aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy, they shouldn't have had knowledge of its existence.
The comic book fans and followers of the MCU will have noticed several Easter Eggs and teasers towards the other Marvel film verse, there were various nods to Black Panther who is having his own film in 2018 and a huge shout to Thor: Ragnarok when Thor is put under a spell/illusion from Scarlet Witch in which he sees everyone in Asgard dead, Thor: Ragnarok is said to be the pivotal film of Phase 3 and then towards the Infinity Gauntlet story-line in the mid-credit scene which is after-all, what these slates of films are leading up to for the climax of Phase 3 in 2018 and 2019.
All in all I liked the film but there were several (as highlighted) features that could have been better addressed, it did how ever set up for the events of Phase 3 starting with Captain America: Civil War brilliantly and I loved in the ending scene we saw the 'New Avengers' team of Vision, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, War-Machine and Black Widow led by Captain America. This was the first Marvel Studios film to not have a post-credit scene but it did have a mid-credit scene, which is probably the best so far; Thanos reaching into a vault and putting on the Infinity Gauntlet. We know from the end of Thor: The Dark World that Loki is in control of Asgard now, posing as Odin so that was one thing in particular that set up nicely for Thanos to make an appearance, he takes the gauntlet and says "Fine, I'll have to do it myself" which I think is a reference to Phase 2 and 1 in which we see villains try to use the cosmic cube/Tesseract and Infinity Gems as weapons but all fail so Thanos is saying that he will do it himself now, I think we can safely assume that we will be seeing a lot more of Thanos over the next slate that leads up to Infinity War Parts 1 and 2.
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Ant-Man *Spoiler Free* Review.
This is my *Spoiler free* review for the Marvel Studios - Ant-Man film.
I am a huge comic-book fan, I've been reading comics since I was 7 years old and I've been a massive fan of the cinematic universe too, when Marvel release a new film I often see it a few times and Ant-Man is no exception, I've seen it 6 times to-date.
I rate Ant-Man at 8/10, 4 Stars.
Disney Entertainment and Marvel Studios' Ant-Man, starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll and Michael Pena is one of the best Marvel Studios films with an incredibly entertaining script, I was surprised at how good it was and how impressed I was with it as Avengers: Age of Ultron was released earlier in the year which created a lot of pressure for Ant-Man to deliver a memorable and impressive film but, Ant-Man is the first film to establish the character which relieved a lot of that pressure.
Paul Rudd (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy) was born to play Scott Lang, it is clear that right from the start that he is the perfect choice to play the thief-turned hero, he is a very versatile actor who is very comfortable with comedy which was a strong theme in this film but also can rise to the serious tones. Supporting actors Michael Douglas and Michael Pena also proved they were amazing choices for their characters, Michael Douglas is exactly how I visioned Hank Pym being in an older state and Michael Pena has proved over and over that he is without a doubt one of the best supporting actors in the world. Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne was a role that initially I couldn't get behind but she grew on me as the film divulged into emotional concepts and finally; Corey Stoll, an actor previously known for very serious roles so I was surprised when I heard they had cast him as the antagonist and Ant-Man's enemy 'Yellow Jacket' for the film but his role in the film is one of the things that pleasantly surprised me the most, he was a very convincing Yellow Jacket and played the ambitious but slightly mad Darren Cross extremely well.
I mentioned earlier in the review that the script was "incredibly entertaining" and it really was, to me it was the best script Marvel have ever given to us, it set up and established Hank, Scott, Hope and Darren perfectly and provided the audience with an outstanding screenplay with plenty of humorous jokes but also a serious tone with some emotion to help us get behind the back story. As in nay Marvel film there are a tonne of teasers, Easter Eggs and shout-outs to real life and other events with in the MCU, I counted 31 potential nods to these and some are extremely well placed. This currently, to-date is my third favourite Marvel Studios film behind my second place - Guardians of the Galaxy and my first place - Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Ant-Man delivers a refreshing motion picture with incredible acting and a very nice tone to the film, especially after the rushing, bursting-at-the-seams Age of Ultron. The reason I give it 8/10 instead of higher is a few scenes were rushed and one or two things are left unexplained, that being said Ant-Man is an interesting, very entertaining, refreshing, sharp and clever film. One of Marvel's best. I highly recommend a watch, die-hard marvel fan or not.
Sunday, 26 July 2015
Southpaw *Spoiler Free* Review
Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams and Forest Whitaker is an instant classic and a truly 10/10, 5 Star film. The film is gripping from start to finish with sublime acting, and a refreshing, incredible soundtrack to accompany it.
Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners, Nightcrawler) delivers an outstanding performance as the leading star, I've never seen acting from him quite like that and he's proved time and time over that he is an incredible actor and versatile when it comes to roles, with his co-star Rachel McAdams (The Time Traveler's Wife, Sherlock Holmes) supporting him and the film brilliantly their combination in the opening setting made the emotional scenes both at the start to the end that much more grasping. Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, The Butler), another amazing actor also delivers a performance to rival some of his previous best roles, his role in the film brings the tone to an utmost highest degree of gritty, sharp viewing. Oona Laurence's performance as Billy Hope's (Jake Gyllenhaal) daughter really brings everything together, she's going places for sure
The film instantly grasps your attention and not for a single scene does it loose it, the script and screenplay are amazing; really bringing so much to life and giving dramatic twists into the courageous boxing film. Southpaw is gritty, interesting, sharp, moving, emotional, and close-to-perfect film.
Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners, Nightcrawler) delivers an outstanding performance as the leading star, I've never seen acting from him quite like that and he's proved time and time over that he is an incredible actor and versatile when it comes to roles, with his co-star Rachel McAdams (The Time Traveler's Wife, Sherlock Holmes) supporting him and the film brilliantly their combination in the opening setting made the emotional scenes both at the start to the end that much more grasping. Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, The Butler), another amazing actor also delivers a performance to rival some of his previous best roles, his role in the film brings the tone to an utmost highest degree of gritty, sharp viewing. Oona Laurence's performance as Billy Hope's (Jake Gyllenhaal) daughter really brings everything together, she's going places for sure
The film instantly grasps your attention and not for a single scene does it loose it, the script and screenplay are amazing; really bringing so much to life and giving dramatic twists into the courageous boxing film. Southpaw is gritty, interesting, sharp, moving, emotional, and close-to-perfect film.
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