Monday 29 November 2010

A Tribute To Leslie Nielsen



February 11, 1926 – November 28, 2010

This just a small tribute to the great comedic actor Leslie Nielsen who passed away yesterday
Nielsen's roles in films such as Forbidden Planet, Airplane!, Dracula: Dead and Loving It and The Naked Gun Trilogy films that could always cheer me up when I was feeling down.
He brought laughs to millions including myself  (also he was the best thing in Scary Movie 3 and 4), the world of film will be a darker place without you. 
You will forever be one of my heroes.
Nielson you comedy genius, rest in peace.

Frank (Nielsen): Jane, since I've met you, I've noticed things that I never knew were there before... birds singing, dew glistening on a newly formed leaf, stoplights.




Monday 8 November 2010

Paranormal Activity 2


Sometimes, shit happens, somebody's gotta deal with it, and who're you gonna call?!”
- Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters 2)


(I cant promise that that will be the only Ghostbusters reference in this review but I will try my best)
I can’t help but find something slightly off-putting about handheld movies; I mean I enjoyed “Cloverfield” and “Quarantine” but I find handheld movies to be far more taxing to watch, this may due to the way in which handheld films require a greater level of realism than other shooting types. 
But since Paranormal Activity is considered as one of the scariest films of last year and all in all a pretty good movie I figured I would check out the sequel when it was released and considering how Paranormal Activity had such huge success that it caused the "Saw” franchise to throw its toys out of its pram and have “Saw 3D” released this year as the final installment a sequel to Paranormal Activity was pretty much inevitable, but it is hard to fully class this film as a sequel due to it being set before, during and after the original.

Directed by Tod Williams the film see's Kristi Rey (Sprague Grayden -Sister to Katie from the original movie) and her husband Daniel (Brian Boland) returning home after the birth of their son Hunter and after an appeared break-in they set up cameras throughout the house but soon the cameras start capturing footage of strange occurrences.

It must be said that the concept of centering the story around the original film helping and allowing the audience to gain a greater insight into the tale from the original was a brilliant idea, helping to develop the characters due to the gentle input of the characters from the previous installment through the use of already constructed relationships between the characters.

Instead of the use of a single camera there are several home security camera set up throughout the house allowing multiple perspectives of the strange occurrences all over the house, this adds a greater outlook on whats going on throughout the house but also detracts from the great atmosphere and tension that was present in the first installment do to the loss of the confined nature that is gained from the outlook being limited to a sole camera.
Unfortunately this film fully explains just why the family is being haunted and it is possibly the weakest explanation I could possibly imagine, its a shame that the film attempts to explain the cause of the hunting's at all since a common staple of horror stories is the less that is explained the more the audiences imagination can run wild but the explanation given to what is causing the family to be haunted is laughable.

The characters are as well developed as possible in a handheld film seeming like real people rather than fictional characters with the sole exception being the Martina the spiritual house keeper and nanny who screams so many cliches it's ridiculous, but there is one point in the movie in which the character commit an act that causes them to become completely unsympathetic and unlikable for the rest of the movie burning any connection that the audiences felt towards them.

The film focuses on building up tension slowly giving the audience plenty of time to scan the rooms for any sign of approaching danger before it suddenly springs up from no where, this is especially effective in one scene in particular where the scare seemingly sneaks up on you. But besides this one scene the rest of the jumps are largely limited to sudden loud noises and many of the moments that the creates hope to show as being scary come off as being cartoonish and unbelievable further damaging the sense of realism that makes the original so great.

The films ending comes abruptly and the plot seems to disappear mid-way through the movie, but this film does has a gift for creating a great atmosphere even if the jumps are less than you would image them to be.
So is this film worth seeing sure, but I advise to watch it at home when it comes out on DVD instead of at the cinema due to the way in which the home environment will play on your mental state but this film is far less scary than people claim it to be and despite several jump moments this film is nothing compared to the original.

Tuesday 26 October 2010

Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn. (The Horrors of Halloween Part III)



And FINALLY we're onto the good stuff, Its finally time to move away from poorly conceived cross-overs and so-so sequels and onto a perfect example of Halloween Horror entertainment, Yes ladies and gentlemen the time has come to review "Evil Dead 2"

Directed by Sam Raimi and Staring B-Movie King Bruce Campbell "The Evil Dead" was a labor of love that resulted from nothing but hard work and dedication, It was created on a next to nothing budget by inexperienced actors and director who had found success with a short prototype (Within The Woods) and decided to up their game.
The film would have undoubtedly not done as well as it did if it weren't for horror legend Steven King who claimed that it was  "The most ferociously original horror film of the year" helping the film reach a wider audience.
So as the film did better that anyone (including the creators) could have anticipated a sequel was given the go ahead with a much larger budget (Once again largely thanks to Steven King - such a nice man) allowing a young Sam Raimi to retell a simpler version of the original story while expanding upon the universe.


Ash J. Williams (Bruce Campbell) takes his girlfriend Linda up to a cabin in the mountains as part of a romantic getaway, unfortunately an ancient evil is released that
possesses Linda and traps Ash in the cabin, With no way to escape Ash has to attempt to survive as long as he can, but it soon becomes clear that it is not just the horrors outside the cabin that he has to contend with as he slowly begins losing his grip on his sanity.

So the story is pretty basic with the premise of "Man trapped in cabin by evil forces" but as far as horror films go often an overly complicated story simply doesn't fit the genre and distracts from the scares, this film serves to make the best use out of its premise with the cabin seeming as dark inside as out creating a great background environment with a menacing atmosphere and sees Ash dismembering himself long before "Saw" made it cool.


As briefly mentioned in my "Event Horizon" review great horror is not always required to come from external threats and enemies, great tension and horror can often be drawn from the mental state of the protagonist and can be a far more effective tool at creating fear. This film is another perfect example of this since in my opinion the few sequences in which Ash's imagination runs amok causing surreal hallucinations such as his own reflection literally jumping out of the mirror to question his sanity and a room full of inanimate object such as lamps, clocks and a very creepy deer head coming to life and madly laughing at him are the best moments of the film as well as serving to create a rift between the audience and the character as it becomes harder to imagine just what Ash is going through, as well as causing the audience to question whether or not what they are seeing in later scenes is actually happening or if it is simply losing it.

The film switches between horror and slapstick with many of the more horrific moments being countered by comic violence that strangely balances the action and prevents the film from becoming far to dark, this is expanded upon in the sequel "Army of Darkness" but doesn't feel as well balanced as in this installment.

We Need You! For Our Undead Horde. 
The possession cam (in which characters are chased by an unseen force from the pursuers perspective) is brilliant with the presence seeming menacing and evil simply through a first person shot and some creepy sound effects, resulting in a great sequence in which the unseen force pursues Ash as he attempts to out run it in the Oldsmobile (The car that appears in almost all of Sam Raimi's films) which is almost nail bitingly tense.

The acting is strong throughout with a great performance coming from Bruce Campbell (as always) who is brilliant at portraying Ash as he struggles with the strain of the situation and his slow descent toward madness.
The rest of the cast are strong in there specific roles but there roles rarely evolve beyond solely being bodies to be possessed,  but this does create interesting reactions from characters who find those they care about the most suddenly possessed.
Also this film features the greatest over the top blood spatter scenes ever, with blood exploding from corpses and even walls drenching characters from head to toe in red.


Got to 'Hand' It To Him.
The final act shows a real increase in passing and a step up in the action that seems to brilliantly portray the worsening situation and even though I wont spoil the ending I will simply it is the greatest inconclusive twist ending since "Back to the Future: part 2".
So all in this is a brilliant movie and deserving sits pretty in my top ten list. So I strongly advise checking this out instead of any of the trash being released this Halloween because I promise that it will not disappoint.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Alien Resurrection (The Horrors of Halloween Part II)



Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) and written by Joss Whedon (Serenity) this is the fourth installment of the Alien franchise following on from Alien3 and though decision is split on whether or not this can be classed as a horror film, I see it as a Science Fiction Action film with Horror tendencies and as a direct decedent of a truly brilliant, genre shaping Sci-Fi Horror that is reason enough for me to review it as part of my “Month of Horror” segment.

Set 200 years after Alien3, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) has been resurrected on a military space ship through the miracle of cloning by The United Systems Army who wants the Alien Queen that was gestating inside her at the time of her death (Would cloning Ripley really clone the Alien Queen inside her? I’m pretty sure cloning doesn't work that way). A small team of mercenaries abduct and deliver the hosts required for the aliens development but then would you believe it something goes wrong and the aliens manage to escape and begin slaughtering everyone on the ship, leaving a rag tag group of survivors including the cloned Ripley to attempt to escape.

Its interesting to look at the sift in balance in the later Aliens movies as the studios attempts combined what was best about the first two highly successful movies for instance Alien3 combines the single Alien on a rampage idea of the first film with the gore and death-count of the second, while Alien Resurrection instead combines the multiple threat of a large number of Xenos(Aliens) from the second film with the claustrophobic environment of a confined spaceship from the original, gently tipping the balance as they attempt to draw out what was best of the earlier movies , this is in no way a bad thing but does leave a lot of room for error.

Now in my Aliens review I mentioned the symbolism used to subtly suggest the theme of motherhood throughout the film.
Now Alien Resurrection is as subtle as a sledge hammer about the way in which it portrays the theme of motherhood, With the character of Ripley forming some weird parental bond with the aliens, openly referring to herself as being the Aliens mother and being shown as genuinely happy when they manage escape confinement even though a matter of minutes later they are attempting to bash their way through a door to kill her.
And as a final nail in this symbolic coffin you have the Alien Newborn which (despite being a interesting idea) is simply several different kinds of wrong and boast one of the most bizarre creature designs I have ever seen.

Ripley is far less enjoyable to watch than in previous installments due to the already mentioned ‘mother of the enemy’ story-line that leaves the audience unsure of her goals or motivations due to the cross species cloning, its also interesting to see a version of Ripley that doesn't feel the need to try and save everyone, often simply sitting back and watching as other characters are killed off.

Annoyingly the seemingly most interesting of the pirate/Merc characters is killed off first which leaves Winona Ryder’s Call in the limelight for most of the movie in the most unbelievable acting and out of place casting in the series to date also it doesn't help that her character is completely unlike-able and even the major plot twist about the character fail to make the character interesting.
The character of Christie played by Gary Dourdan Is enjoyable to watch as one of the main decision makers for the group, even though his screen time is bitterly short compared to less entertaining characters.
The main issue I have with many if not all of the other characters is that they seem far to removed from realism and being highly cartoony, contrasting against the more believable and relatable characters of earlier on in the series, which are now replaced by characters that can deflect bullets of heating pipes resulting in a real lack of atmosphere and tension throughout the entire movie with the film sacrificing tension for mild laughs.

Many moments in the film seem overly goofy such as the character of General Perez (Dan Hedaya) pausing to pull out a piece of his own brain and Call trying to drink while wearing boxing gloves
But there are many great sequences such Ripley stumbling upon all the previous failed clones some of which are truly horrifying to look at and the emotional impact this has on the character is one of best moments of the film, a gut turning sequence involving unarmed soldiers trapped with an alien inside and escape pod and a great death involving a Chestburster are all personal favorites.
But the best scene in the film is without question the underwater sequence which shows the aliens in a environment unconsidered in any of the previous installments and which makes them appear more  dangerous than ever making this not only the best scene of the film but one of the best in the series.

The effects in my opinion are the best in the series and a true testament to how far cinema has come in terms of creating realism with the aliens looking brilliant and slimier than ever. My only problem with the effect in this film is that of the death of the Newborn Alien which frankly I’m pretty sure defies physics.

I understand that this review is going to be largely unfair as I am that worst of creatures ‘a fan’ and as such it is incredibly difficult to please me and looking back now I can fully understand why critics opinions are so largely split by this film as it fluctuates wildly between moments of idiotic-ness and brilliance.

So in summary is this an enjoyable film? - Yes (well enjoyable enough)

But does it live up to its name and other truly brilliant Sci-Fi Horrors?
Not by a long shot,  but there is still some great moments throughout this film that makes it deserve a watching.

Thursday 26 August 2010

Salt


I was hoping to be able to review Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World this week but life is cruel and the seats sold out so instead here is my review of the movie Salt.
In previous reviews I have never really given full credit to Paul Greengrass and Doug Liman for creating The Bourne Trilogy as it was prominently responsible for the evolutions of spy films resulting in them becoming far more realistic and better films this began with Bourne and greatly influenced the James Bond series namely Casino Royal which ditched the gadgets and ridiculous villains to make the film more realistic this was very well received by audiences and resulted in the birth of countless more spy films that come from the Casino Royal school of thinking such as Salt.


Salt is a 2010 action thriller directed by Phillip Noyce (The Bone Collector) and Staring Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt who is forced to go on the run after being accused of being a KGB sleeper agent who is planning on assassinating the President of Russia.


Lets jump straight into the main problem I have with this film in that it is unable to find the right balance between the two idea's its putting forth early on Salt swears that she is being set up but never gives the audience any reason to believe her as she brutally takes down officers and even civilians, she never actually kills any of them but the term excessive force springs to mind. The plots then proceeds to throw up the interesting twist in that Salt may in fact be a Russian spy after all but at this point this original idea is hampered by Salt's earlier statements of being innocent and just wanting to find out what has happened to her husband meaning the audience is constantly awaiting a big reveal to explain what is going on that sadly is not ever going to meet the audiences expectations. And despite the one interesting twist that I have already mentioned any other twist in this film is predictable or incredibly cliched, also the spy vs spy thing becomes harder to follow than you may expect it to be and when the film suggests that there is more than one sleeper agent you know that it is only going to be one of two characters.


Angelina is a strong lead as Evelyn Salt but the constant shifts in plot make it absolutely impossible to know or even like her character, the "looking for my husband sub-plot" is neglected and resolved so quickly you barely remember that she had a husband at all by the end of the movie.
As usual the ever reliable Liev Schreiber is brilliant as Ted Winter one of the few characters that believe of Salt's innocence trying to bring his friend in peacefully as well as trying to understand her motives for running. He is also one of the only characters of this movie with an emotional ark which is eventually undercut and ultimately ruined by the end of the film.
And Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity) is also enjoyable if less focused upon as Agent Peabody a ONCIX agent who takes the opposite role to Winters never believing Salts story and who is determined to bring her in dead or alive.

This is not a bad film by any mean, its enjoyable enougth if you can follow the spy vs spy thing that the film suddenly throws up from almost no where. The action sequences are enjoyable but nothing the audience hasn't seen before.
The film keeps bringing out concepts and ideas we have seen countless times before and acts as if it's a brand new idea, even the face mask from Mission Impossible 2 makes an appearance.
The highlights of the film include a sequence involving Salt leaping from truck to truck to escape capture and another scene where she attempts to break into the White House Bunker that are brilliantly shot and incredibly tense.
So in summation the film is an enjoyable watch but not exactly original, it is worth a look in if you're looking for something other than Scott Pilgrim or The Expendables at the cinema, but don't expect it to be exactly memorable.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Inception



Very rarely in this day and age you will come across a film that deals with an interesting concept and a gripping and complex plot but that is not so overwhelmed by these things that casual audiences cant have fun watching it , Inception is such a movie.
Directed by Christopher Nolan who has worked on films such as "Batman Begins" its sequel "The Dark Knight" and "The Prestige" all brilliant and unique films so I was looking forward to his upcoming work on Inception and it doesn't disappoint.

Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dominic Cobb a man who is trained in the art of stealing secrets from peoples dreams, but is struggling to prevent himself from jeopardizing the dream by bringing his own personal baggage into the dream world with him.
On the run from the law and unable to ever visit his children Cobb is propositioned by a wealthy businessman who tells Cobb he will make it possible for him to be able to return to his children if he completes one final mission for him but instead of entering the victims mind and extracting secrets instead he will need to plant an idea.

The premise of this film is brilliant and original but at the same brutal in its complexity and depth so you need to follow the plot closely or risk being swept up and lost in the wave of ideas.
But even if you fail to follow the plot, the effects, action scenes and depth of the film alone make it worth a look in, with a fight scene in a topsy turvy world and a great view of a neglected and collapsing L.A. that is slowly being reclaimed by the sea being truly stunning highlights from the film but every aspect and shot of this film is highly stylized and incredibly beautiful surreal leaving the audience constantly questioning their sense of reality throughout the entire film.

The visuals are incredible and backed up by a truly great story line that raises many questions about reality far better than films such as "The Matrix" ever have. But at the end of the day a film falls back on how well the cast is able to drive the story and emotionally attach an audience so lets take a look at the cast of Inception.

Headed by Leonardo DiCaprio who is absolutely brilliant as Dominic Cobb, driving the plot forward and bringing a well rounded performance to his character who is driven by the sole desire to return to America to see his children again but is constantly haunted by the memory of his dead wife. The character is well developed and given a significant character ark that add strength to the both his character and the film as a whole.

Ellen Page co-stars as Ariadne (Ah I see what you did there) a young student who is recruited as the squads architect responsible for constructing the dream world that acts primarily as a maze where the heist will take place, but also serves to develop and allow the audience to better understand both the character of Cobb as well as giving the audience a view into the concept of dream espionage. Page is able to portray her character extremely well giving a sense of realism that is some what lacking in the other characters and helping to balance the cast.

Cillian Murphy plays Robert Michael Fisher the intended victim who the group need to implant the idea of disbanding his father's company, its interesting to note the character isn't portrayed as a villain in any shape or form but instead as normal businessman who has issues with his farther that the team must exploit if they wish to succeed in their goal.
Also Dileep Rao who is one of my favorite actors and who should be a far bigger star, makes a surprise appearance as Yusuf a chemist who is recruited into the team to create a drug that will allow the team to remain in their dream state long enough to achieve their goal and despite only holding a small role in the movie is as enjoyable as ever.
Finally a mention for Tom Hardy and Joesph Gordon-Levitt who are enjoyable as Eames and Arthur who takes on the role of other personality within the dream and the point man who is responsible for researching the target, with these two constantly bickering and teasing one another the film never becomes overly dark or depressing but never loses sight of where the film needs to go or becomes bogged down with attempts at comic relief.

Its interesting that the biggest threat to the mind hacking squad mission isn't the victim's subconscious protection but the emotional baggage that Cobb himself drags with him namely his deceased wife who due to the guilt Cobb feels over her death and desire to preserve her memory through his dreams results in a far darker version of her pursuing him through the dream world and attempting to sabotage the mission, being part of Cobb's subconscious she knows everything he knows making her even more of a threat to the group.

This is where things get complicated as we take a moment to discuss the concept of dreams within dreams.
The idea of impossible objects such as looping stair cases or sharing the same dream may be hard to follow but if anything is going to cause you to lose track of the plot its the dreams within dream idea, although it isn't half as difficult to comprehend as people made it out to be as long as you can wrap you head around the idea of time amplification and how in each dream the time is amplified so that time is drastically slower. If you can grasp this concept then the plot flows naturally and easily.

The implications over implanting an idea into someone else's mind and how that may grow to change the person is handled brilliantly and not under played as I feared it may have been, since the concept that a single idea may grow to irritably change a person forever is dealt with in the perfect manner but perhaps not the manner you might have expect it to be dealt with.

So I was surprised just how much I enjoyed Inception, And I more than recommend it to the rest of you out there since my half mad rambling review can in no way do it the justice it deserves. The acting is brilliant the effects are phenomenal the action spectacular, the plot is one of the most original ones I have seen in years and like all of Christopher Nolan's films each shot is incredibly stylised so go and see it while it is still showing, hell go right now I say turn off the computer and go to you nearest cinema where it is showing!

Wednesday 21 July 2010

The Crazies (2010)



This film is a remake of George A. Romero's 1973 film of the same name, Directed by Breck Eisner The Crazies was a film I was highly excited about through its use of a gripping premise and clever advertising and I was very interested in going to see at the cinema when it was released, but unfortunately I was unable to and so greatly anticipated the DVD release. So was my excitement justified or does this film fall into the same categories as The Wolfman remake and Daybreakers as films I was greatly disappointed with?

The film stars Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4) as David Dutton the sheriff of Ogden Marsh a small town in Iowa, but all is not well in this small community on account of all the CITIZENS GOING CRAZY! and soon the military descends upon the town in order to enforce a quarantine and take control of the situation. But things begin to grow particularly hazardous for those left uninfected as the the military clashes with the crazed citizens and the civilians struggle to escape from their home that has turned into war zone.

As you may expect this film throws up a lot of cliches such as the Army posing an equal if not greater threat than the Infected themselves and characters being introduced solely to be killed off a few scenes later.
But there are also many features that are highly underplayed. I couldn't help but feel that the theme of family and friends suddenly turning on one another is not really given its deserved attention in order to gain the full emotional impact of having to fend off someone you have known for years who is suddenly curious about what your insides look like.
Also as strange as it sounds the Crazies themselves don't have as much screen time as they require in order for the audience to constantly fear them throughout the film but when they do appear they often hold a truly terrifying presence on screen with a scene at a car wash and another at a funeral home being highlights of the film and great settings for gritty and brutal battles that leaves you on edge of your seat.

Timothy Olyphant is an enjoyable lead as the towns sheriff David Dutton who's major motivation is purely to get his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell) out of the town and to safety, this simple drive makes him a highly relatable and realistic character as he and his wife bicker amongst themselves as the danger grows much like any couple would in such a tense situation making their relationship believable.
Also a pleasant surprise comes from Joe Anderson who is able to portray his character Deputy Russell Clank incredibly well, making him a likable and sympathetic character who is shown to have a close bond constantly backing up and rescuing Dutton from danger but all the while is shown to be fighting a losing with the virus, and his sanity begins to suffer.
The army is shown to be lead by the same dumb-asses the were in "28 Weeks Later" with military decisions bungled or made too late causing more harm to the situation than good. But one of my favorite actors makes a surprise appearance Glenn Morshower from "24" and "Black Hawk Down" appears due his continued ability to play an commanding officer far better than anyone else, even those who have actually been in the army.

The effects are amazing as the town suddenly falls into chaos with the burning streets looking both incredible and dramatic and also highlight the descent of the town creating a wonderful hellish appearance.
As we've come to expect in today's films the explosions are powerful and stunning but in this film are never over done for the sake of spectacle.
Finally a special mention goes out to the effects on the crazies themselves with a horrific and shocking rabies infected appearance given to those who have been exposed to the virus the longest, this brilliant effect created by the make up artists gives the crazies a edge and makes them look far more menacing than they did in the original and yet they also appear highly realistic but once again the effects never go over the top which makes the film all the more believable.

The "Trixie" virus itself is an interesting aspect of the film as with most bio-horror films the fictional virus being a key element to the films sucsess. Its interesting to watch the way that the virus after an incubation period slowly degrades its victims into ruthless blood-thirsty killers before ultimately killing them.
The plot runs forward at a comfortable pace spending plenty of time to establish the location and characters before completely tearing them down as the situation decays. Much of the exposition is given by the army on account of the fact that they are the only people who know what the hell is going on, with the rest being discovered by Dutton himself.

To be honest this is really the kind of film I was hoping it would be with the battles are brutal the atmosphere tense, the film is not as scary as I hoped but there are some moments that will make you leap out of your seat if you don't expect them. So all in all a very enjoyable movie and I happily recommend that you see this film as it is a great watch and possibly one of my favorite films of the year so far..

Monday 12 July 2010

Transformers : Revenge Of The Fallen



Oh how the mighty have Fallen (OK that's the only pun I promise)
For my tenth review I decided that I would write about a film very close to my heart, a film with worldwide praise but then my friend Alan suggested that I review Transformers 2 instead. 
A film with more plot holes than shots, and tries to distract us from these flaws with big ass explosions and Megan Fox. One of those films that grossed far more than it deserved through clever advertising. 
So lets dig in to find out just why this film just doesn't work.

For starters let me just say I was never exactly a huge fan of the original series, I knew it existed but never really cared for it which is why I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed the 2007 film when i was finally forced to watch it. Sure it was stupid and over the top but that's what we expected and the film was a surprisingly enjoyable film and like most people I was highly anticipating the sequel.
The result was at best disappointing with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen looking nice but the plot features more wholes than a piece of Swiss cheese, the characters are undeveloped and the film is overwhelmed with far to many Transformers resulting in none of them or the human characters holding the screen time they need for any kind of reasonable character development.

First lets take a look at the plot which follows shortly after the first film with the Autobots from having joined forces with the soldiers to form a special task force (damn the phrase "Special Task Force" is starting to appear in a lot of my reviews) to hunt down the remaining Decepticons across the globe. At the same time Sam Witwicky(Shia LaBeouf) is attempt to leave his robot fighting days behind as he heads for college, but all is not well in where the hell this is vill as Sam stumbles across a shard of the Allspark (the cube thing from the first film) which seems to scrabble his mind and begins to experience hallucination of strange symbols and the Decepticons attempt to capture Sam to learn what he knows.

Its time to play list the plot holes. Lets begin.
  1. If the Decepticons can revive Megaton with the Allspark shard then why cant the Autobots do the same for Optimus since they have had the piece the entire time?
  2. Why is Optimus the only one can defeat The Fallen?
  3. In the first Transformers movie there was a huge robot battle in the middle of a crowded city witnessed by millions of people and now in the sequel no one knows about the Transformers at all?
  4. If Optimus is the last decedent of the Primes do Transformers have kids?
  5. If Transformers can look like people why do they keep changing into Veichles?
  6. Sam dies and goes to Transformer heaven to meet the deceased primes? - Please explain.
  7. Wasn't Bumblebee's voice fixed at the end of the first movie?
There are plenty more but I'm going to stop there in order to retain my faith in the film industry, but that's at least seven major plot holes that are left completely unexplained and where I may have been able to forgive one or two of them the sheer number of them is staggering. So what little faith that I had in the plot is gone so lets move onto the characters.
The majority of the original cast return as the characters that they portrayed in the previous installment with the only notable character that deserve mention is John Turturro as former Sector 7 Agent Simmons who seems to be acting in a different league from the rest of the cast playing his role with a apparent sense of humor that makes him far more likable than the rest of the cast. Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox fit back into their old roles nicely with a sub-plot of being unable to admit their lover to one another and trying to work a long distance relationship that is overwhelmed by the action sequences. Bay seems to go out of his way to whore out Fox as best he, can most apparent in a pointless shot with her mounting a motor bike.

The voice acting for the Transformers is good but their screen time is bitterly short with the only Transformers that get a look in are the two racially incentive robot twins that don't contribute anything to the film, are just annoying and yet seem to get more lines than any other Transformer. If you can get Hugo Weaving and Peter Cullen as voice actors you given them all the lines you can and don't replace their screen time with this films version of Jar Jar Binks. Oh an the introduction of the character Sam roommate Leo Spitz is completely irrelevant as he plays no part on the plot bar some cheap laughs and bad one liners.

The film is set across some beautiful locations spanning from China to Egypt that gives a nice backdrop to all the explosions.The graphics and effects are incredible with the Transformers looking beautiful and realistic and the fight sequence looking loud large and awesome with a fight between Optimus and three Decepticons without question being the highlight of the entire film.

So in summary Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen is like a Jaguar that looks nice on the outside but then you open the bonnet and find that its full of rust. With great effects but a damaged plot and undeveloped characters.

Sunday 11 July 2010

Predators



There is no hunting like the hunting of man, those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else.

As you may have guessed from my Predator review earlier this month I absolutely love the Predator films but we fans have had to put up with more than our fair share of crap since the original release, Predator 2 was enjoyable but was simply a case of the same premise in a different location and despite the predator being upgraded with a spear, a shrinking net and some other cool gadgets the sequel was no where near a good as the original, but enjoyable none the less. Then along comes Alien Vs Predator the film that made me want to make a predator style trophy out of Paul W.S. Anderson and its sequel Aliens Vs Predator Requiem helmed by the Brothers Strause was no better resulting in the Predator becoming a bloated cartoonish character. But our prayers seemed to have been answered when Robert Rodriguez claimed to have a script for the third film in the series called Predators (in reference to the Alien sequel being called Aliens) that would distance the series from the AVP films and take the series back to its jungle hunter roots, So does this film succeed in restoring our beloved franchise's former glory?

Directed by Nimrod Antal (Armored) and Staring Adrien Brody (The Pianist) Predators tells the story of a group of the most deadly killers from across our planet awakening as they crash downward towards a world that is not our own. But all is not well on this strange new planet as the group realise that they have been brought here for a purpose, to be prey for a new breed of Predators.

First things first, i didn't go into the cinema with the highest expectations in the world, having been let down so many times in the past but as soon as the film began i couldn't help but gain a sense that the film was created by people with a real love for the series.

The decision to return to the jungle environment of the first film really benefits the film recreating the tension that worked so well in the original. I mentioned in my Aliens review that a successful sequel is one that expands upon the universe of the original without damaging the mythos created by earlier releases and this film is another perfect example of that. Creating the idea of two different Predator clans the Ugly Motherfuckers we know and love from Predator and Predator 2 and a new race of Super Predator that doesn't follow the code of honour that their brothers do and are determined to further the enhancement of their species in becoming better killers through rigorous battles with the strongest killers abducted from other planets.
This powerful concept of a more aggressive Super-Predator tribe that is in the middle of a bloodfued with their honorable brothers creates a strong atmosphere and a sense of uncertainty about these new larger predators that are hunting the humans.

The cast is impressive and fit nicely into their roles of war hardened soldiers and murderers.
Despite the concern caused by casting Adrien Brody as lead mercenary Royce he actually portray a more believable soldier than many other actors I have seen and nicely breaks away from older stereotypes about having to have Arnold Schwarzenegger like actors in a lead action role. He is an unconventional protagonist in that he often seems to be only interested in his own survival, caring little for others and the way in which he tries to shrug off the responsibility of leading the group with a very directed "I'm going this, way if you want to come along fine" policy.
The only minor issue that i have with the character of Royce is that his single minded determination to escape the planet at any cost is never expanded on so the audience is left unsure of what he is so desperate to get back to.

Laurence Fishburne is enjoyable as Noland as U.S. Air Cavalry Soldier who has survived many year on the planet by hiding from the Predators and scavenging what he can, when he can but as a result has become deranged from his loneliness creating an imaginary friend to keep him company, Fishburne's unbalanced Noland works well giving the audience crucial back story about the world and the Predators themselves and also able to give his character a sense of realism beyond being a crazy survivor, but his role is unbelievably short and i was surprised he wasn't in the film longer.
I was also surprised to find myself routing for Oleg Tatarov's Russian Spetsnaz Nikolai who's almost selfless character you cant help but like do to the fact that Tatarov is able to add more personality to the character than first appears.
As well as these the other characters are given time to develop and mature as the film progress making them a far more likable group of individuals and leaves the audience actually caring whether or not they will survive.

Predators raises the powerful question that is simply surviving at the cost of our humanity really better than death? this theme is driven forward most strongly by the characters of Royce and Noland who are driven solely by the notion to survive at any cost and puts their own welfare before others this is opposed by the character of Nikolai who continually puts himself in harms way for the sake of helping others.

A good point about this film is that each time the humans succeed in killing a Predator it seems to have come at a high cost to the group this means that the Predators still retain the threatening nature they held in originals and don't appear any weaker through their loss.

The effects for the new Super-Predators are brilliant distinguishing them from the other tribe but similar enougth to still showing a connection between their origins,
also each Super-Predator has a customised helmet making them distinguishable from one another and giving each one a unique character trait.
The only issue i have with the effects on the new Predators is with their masks removed their new faces seem far to similar to the the face of another of Stan Winston's creations the monster from "The Relic" but this is purely coincidental and the new face is designed to show the evolution of the Predator species.

The feel of the film has returned to that of its 1987 origin with the film focusing on building up tension and character development before descending into the explosive violence we know and love but when the action arrives its fast and loud with some of the most enjoyable action scenes since Die Hard 4, especially the final confrontation with the last Super Predator which is both brutal and clever at the same time.

As mentioned earlier the film is littered with references to the original movie such as the return of the minigun, the end credits song brilliantly being "Long Tall Sally" and even the scene in which Hanzos hangs back from the main group in order to fend off the approaching Predator with a samurai sword scene based on Billy's last stand from the original, but unlike the recent Terminator reboot the film never gets cheesy by trying to force old lines on new characters.

The final problem i have have with this film is that the ending is far too open ended I'm unsure if they are leaving it open for a sequel or simply were unsure of how to conclude the story. And what was with only learning Royce name at the end of the movie when it was released in all the promotional material? it wasn't exactly a big secret. but those are my only issues with this film.

So in summation Predators is all that I hoped it would be, a fully enjoyable return to form for the franchise and even for those of you who didn't watch the original series Predators is a enjoyable action film, sure it is a little over the top at points but its as entertaining as hell and I highly recommend checking this movie out as you wont be disappointed. Now I just hope we can keep up the good work with the upcoming Alien prequel and any Predator films to come.

Thursday 8 July 2010

Day Of The Dead (2008 Remake)


Recently I have been thinking about the evolution of Zombie films and how the slow shuffling undead no longer hold the same impact as they once did, having been replaced by faster running zombies the present a far greater threat. Even the video game series Resident Evil that helped the zombies rise to fame has dropped the undead to allow crazed parasite infected villagers to take their place.
So I decided that I would review one of these new age zombie films and then in a few weeks I would follow up by reviewing one of the older variations. The obvious choice to review was Zack Snyder's brilliant 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead with gritty action, interesting characters and an amazing use of tension

But instead here is a review of the crappy Day of the Dead remake.

Directed by Steve Miner this film (unlike the original version that told the story of a group of soldiers trying to survive together in he aftermath of a Zombie Apocalypse) tells the story of a small town in Colorado that has is under quarantine my the military with many of the local suffering from flue, but all is not well in this small town as it turns out the suspected flue may not be what it seems at all.

Before you ask this film is in no way related to the Dawn of the Dead remake i mentioned earlier
(apart from the fact that Ving Rhames appears in both film as different characters). In fact this film doesn't really relate to any of The Living Dead series at all, it is best to view this film as a B-movie masquerading under the name of successful series, as this film has almost no relation to the film that it is supposed to be based except the fact they both have zombies and a character called Bud in them. if it were up to me this film would not be called Day of the Dead but instead be called The Bad Case of Sniffles.

The plot is week and can at best be summed up as a series of encounters with zombies and various locations moving from a hospital to a radio station to a road blockade and then finally "the hive" from Resident Evil


A early point worth mentioning is that Miner obvious needs some teaching on the basis of zombie do's and don'ts for instance Zombies DO charge in head first and rip their victims guts out; they DON'T dodge bullets like Neo from The Matrix, drag off their victims into the night or run along ceilings like the kid from the Exorcist (I'm not even joking).

Now granted this was a straight to DVD release but i remember the time when it looked like it was set t be released in cinema's and the film would have simply made cash by leaching off the name of a far better movie.


There is a few things about this film I like and that is the seemingly original idea of having all the town sick but suddenly changing into zombies at the same time like a viral time bomb, this is a cool concept but unfortunately many zombies appear before this time which undermines this idea the point that it just seems out of place. I like the way the zombies throw themselves out of the hospital's windows when they realise there is someone outside showing their one tack mind for flesh and finally the location creates some beautiful scenery. those are all the things that are good about this movie now back to the bad.

The casting choices are poor with notable mention going to Ving Rhames as jackass Captain Rhodes but you cant help but wonder why Rhames accepted a role in this movie when he has already stared in a far better and more successful zombie remake as a far more interesting character also why isn't he in this film longer?. The rest of the cast don't really warrant a mention. Mena Suvari is unbelievable as Corporal Sarah Cross and the rest of the cast are simply your typical B-movie line up introduced to get killed off in unoriginal fashions and are plain annoying. I spent the majority of the movie hoping all the characters would hurry up and get eaten(which isn't exactly a good sign)


As far as zombie kills go there as some decapitations but nothing special (even Zombieland had beating zombies to death banjos and dropping pianos on their heads). The zombie appearance are fairly standard (but good god the zombies fall apart quickly! and fire does not cause exploding heads!) and the speed of the zombies when running is sped up so fast it looks ridiculous (new age zombies are fast but they ain't the Flash for gods sake!)


All in all The Bad Case of Sniffles is a bad movie, No! A terrible movie unworthy of the name it clings to. This film has made me long for the shambling zombies of old that could tear a man in half as if he were play doe! So instead watch the Dawn of the Dead remake or at least the original series which have more drama, horror, tension and more satire than this.

Wednesday 7 July 2010

X-Men Origins: Wolverine


In today's review I have decided to focus's on X-Men Origins: Wolverine (ironic name since in research for this review I learned the first comic the character of Wolverine actually appeared in was the Incredible Hulk and not The X-Men, but go figure) which stars Hugh Jackman as the only X-Man with an interesting back story Wolverine.
Having Wolverine as the central character doesn't break that far away from the original X-Men series since Wolverine was the main character in those films anyway, with the other X-Men only featuring in small roles, but this is largely due to the large market the character creates.

The plot follows mutant James Logan 'Wolverine' from a young age as he discovers that he is able to heal his injuries and sprout bone claws from his hands, with his half brother and fellow mutant Victor Creed (Who is brilliantly portrayed by Liev Schreiber) he proceed to fight in practically every major war that the United States is involved in, due to their inability to die they are recruited by Colonel William Stryker (Danny Huston) as part of a special mutant task force.
Logan eventually grows tired of the violence and leaves this life in order to settle down peacefully, But all is not well for former members of Team X as some one appears to be hunting down and killing off former members and as Wolverine loses someone close to him he sets out for revenge.

First important point of this review is that the opening credit sequence for this film is absolutely amazing. It flows between Wolverine's fights in various wars such as the American Civil War, both World Wars and Vietnam; The transition between the wars sits incredibly well making this one of my favorite opening credit sequence ever.

Onto the characters, Jackman is ever enjoyable as the walking gruff machine that is Wolverine and its nice to see the character given more motivation than just "Who Am I?" for a change, I was concerned that the major plot twist would ultimately undermine the characters motives but this seems to not have been the case and the character is simply still a lot of fun to watch with Jackman able to portray a more well rounded emotional character compared to other entries in the franchise.

Minor roles that demand praise go to Ryan Reynolds as the over talkative Wade Wilson/Deadpool who's lighthearted constant talking is a pleasant change in pace and adds a light touch to the film compared to the more serious characters.
As mentioned Liev Schreiber is brilliant as the menacing Victor Creed also know as Sabertooth (Which left me a tad disappointed with the Sabertooth we got in the first X-Men film). Schreiber is able to create a real sense of unpredictability and animal ferociousness to surround his character that makes him and enjoyable villain.

Dominic Monaghan is terribly underplayed as tragic tech expert Chris Bradley who falls into depression regarding his ability with Monaghan easily out shining many of the other cast members but his screen time is so limited it can barely be considered a cameo.

And a final mention to musician turned actor Will.i.am who performs well as telephoning mutant John Wraith. Many musicians simply don't make good actors but Will.i.am is convincing as Wolverine's light hearted friend who is tortured by his past deeds working for Team X.

Now this film is highly enjoyable but there are a few problems with it mainly the fact that the film feels that it needs to murder off all the characters it introduces, granted this is to leave little knowledge of Wolverines origin for the main trilogy but the film turns homicidal on charterers who barely know him and it simply becomes a little depressing watching every character that is introduced die.

The other minor problem with this film is Taylor Kitsch's Gambit. Make no mistake gambit was always my favorite X-Men and I was happy to hear he was going to be included in Wolverine but his appearance simply doesn't sit right,

one of my favorite aspects about the character was his Cajun accent and where he does have an accent in X-Men Origins he seems to flick psychopathicaly between the Cajun accent i know and love and a thick American accent that leaves you unsure who is actually talking or if he suffers from multiple personalities.

A few final issue are that there are a few plot holes left unexplained such as why did Wolverine stop ageing at a specific age, is there a limit to his healing abilities or can he simply not die (with it being a tad difficult to fear for a protagonist that is invincible) another issues is that the plot is fairly predictable unfolding much like you expect it to but these issues aside the film is very enjoyable and is the kind of typical action film that is ridiculously fun to watch with the climax in particular (a two on one fight atop a power station) being simply shameless action that you cant help but enjoy.

Saturday 3 July 2010

Predator


I was inspired to write this weeks review is honor of both the second anniversary of the passing of the great Stan Winston who was responsible for the Predators original design, as well as the upcoming release of the series reboot "Predators" staring Adrien Brody, so lets take a look at why "Predator" had such a strong impact on audiences worldwide.

Directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard) Predator stars the king of action (The man has WAR in his Name) Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) as special operative Major Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer" who along with a team of highly trained killers are sent into the jungle of Central America in order to extract a high ranking cabinet minister who has been taken prisoner, But all is not well in the Central America jungle (and i don't just mean the rebels) as a hunter from another planet has come looking for sport and found its prey in the special task force and soon begins picking them off one by one.

The casting works well with the task force appearing as you would image it would full of various bad-asses and yet each character is well established before the time that there killed off each given a personal trait that makes them distinctive in their own way be it Mac's running a razor down his face to calm him or Blain's chewing and spitting tobacco or the way Billy strokes his pendent when he is nervous, it is thought these very small individual traits the film is able to establish the characters and give them a sense of realism you might not find otherwise.

Another interesting aspect of the characters is effective mourning over the death of one of there own I wont go into it to much so not to spoil the movie for anyone but one characters reaction to the death of the comrade in particular is very well portrayed as he suffers over the loss of the teammate he was closest to and leaves the audience questioning his mental state as he begins to break away from the main group.

Now for the Predator itself in it's first appearance before it was watered down to cartoonish behavior by the AVP monstrosity, the creature looks impressive thanks to the design by Stan Winston appearing advanced and futuristic while at the same time ragged and brutal which gives a strong sense of believably to the futuristic hunter, unlike the AVP movies the predator is kept in the dark for most of the movie despite several point of view scenes from the predators perspective the audience is kept in the dark about the creatures motives and overall appearance until the third act, this works well as it leaves the audience unsure of just what it is that is hunting the squad or why it is doing it adding mystery to the character of the Predator and making it far more terrifying than his later appearances in other media when you know exactly what it is and what it does.
The Predator's tech is impressive with some really original ideas in the way of weaponry that has clearly had a massive impact on the Sci Fi genre and something has to be said about how awesome it looks when it takes off its helmet, it just screams highlight of Stan Winston's career.

The plot plods forward like you would expect with the Predator dispatching the commandos one by one until only one remains, the plot isn't this films strongest points but this is a rare type of film in which the original premise (Alien hunter picking off a squad of elite soldiers) is more powerful than any plot and is strong enougth to drive the film forward, another example of a premise that is more powerful than the plot is the film Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

The third act is the most powerful in the entire film as it shows a role reversal between the Predator and Schwarzenegger's character Dutch as Dutch begins to hunt the Predator and the film slides into a game of cat and mouse as he struggles to stay ahead of the Predator and it is in this scene you cant help but feel the Dutch has fully developed as a character, going from prey to predator.

Overall Predator is a highly enjoyable film; its not perfect with minor draw backs but it is probably one of the most original and enjoyable Sci Fi Horror films of all time and lets not forget it gave us the ever enjoyable "Get To Da Chopper!" and I have got to say this is one of the films that has stayed with me over the years, a film that I have never gotten tired of. But in recent years the series has suffered at the hands of terrible crossovers but its staring to looks like that might finally be over and the series is back to form so bring on Predators!