The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 - A Review

2.5 Stars - Not Great

It is strongly argued by many that The Dark Knight Returns is the greatest batman story ever told. I disagree with this opinion, I find the constant narration to be repetitive and dull, the satire of the newscasters to be irritating and taking up too much time and the writing on Batman and Superman to really lack understanding of the characters. However I will not deny the story's importance in returning Batman to the public conciousness as dark and brooding hero, unlike the campy Adam West view people had (for the record Adam West is the best live action Batman...)

This film somewhat improves upon the source material, doing away with the narration and cutting a fair amount of the news satire, however the mistakes within the story and the handling of the characters is still there, which makes it somewhat lacking as a Batman story.

However the animation is still top notch and the voice cast delivers some decent moments, though often Peter Weller sounds bored and seems to not put anything into his lines, the same with Michael Emerson at points towards the climax of the Joker section.

Even I can't deny this looks pretty badass

In short, not my cup of tea, but might well please fans of the source material

The Last Stand - A Review

4 Stars - Awesome

"who are you?" "I'm the Sheriff". Oh yeah, Arnie's back.

The last Stand is a quality action film, with fun characters, intense action and Arnold Schwarzenegger... what more do you need?

While the start of the film is a little slow in the build up it is definitely worth sticking around to see how it all comes out in a brilliant action filled finale, with Arnie doing what he does best. Heck I didn't even mind Johnny Knoxville being in it.

"I'm Back!"

In short, fans of proper action films, give it a watch.

Lincoln - A Review

4.5 Stars - Great

So Daniel Day Lewis will take his Oscar now...

Lincoln is a very good film about the passing of the thirteenth amendment to the United States constitution, freeing the slaves. In fact, Lincoln doesn't seem to be as important to this film as the supporting characters working towards securing votes and getting the amendment passed. That's not saying he isn't important and doesn't give a stellar performance, just that he's somewhat overshadowed by the supporting cast.

Noticeable supporting players include Tommy Lee Jones, who gives one of his more understated performances and garners some real sympathy; David Costabile, who really holds his own against such acting royalty, further cementing him as one of my favourite character actors; and a small, but noticeable performance from the always entertaining Michael Stuhlbarg.

To top it off this film has a John Williams score, and John Williams scores always add points to a film.

I must say I loved you in Breaking Bad...

In short, a splendid film, but were you really expecting anything less?

Zero Dark Thirty - A Review

4.5 Stars - Wonderful

So this isn't so much a film about catching Bin Laden as it is a film about the woman catching Bin Laden.

This is a very strong performance piece, the characters are brilliantly put together and performed spectacularly. Jessica Chastain deserves particular mention as the central character Maya, whose obsession and drive make up the main journey of the film.

This film is very clever in its handling of some dark subject matter including gruelling waterboard torture. The most clever thing is the way that during the climax, where we see the mission to get Bin Laden, you don't see the faces of the soldiers due to use of shadows and their night-vision goggles, showing how they were ultimately unimportant to the story of the film.

Symbolism!

In short, a really clever film, definitely worth all the praise it is being lavished with.

Wreck It Ralph - A Review

5 Stars - Great

So I went into a preview screening Wreck-It Ralph having seen mixed reviews, some people really liked it, and others were disappointed. I'm pleased to say that I loved it and found it highly entertaining throughout.

This is a film with great concepts, gorgeous visuals and very funny jokes. The worlds of the video games are wonderfully varied, and cleverly created, admittedly we don't see into many of them, but what we do get is very good and I would happily see more films exploring these worlds.

The jokes are killer, with some occasional slapstick ones thrown in for the little kids the majority of stuff here is clever references, funny visuals and some truly masterful puns...

Also there's a wonderful sweet little short called Paperman, that brings a smile to your face with very little effort.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the most expensive scene Disney ever made...

In short, a really good film, definitely one to watch when it comes out for real.

Gangster Squad - A Review

4 Stars - Entertaining

Gangster Squad is a wonderfully solid gangster and cop film with some strong performances and competent cinematography.

The action is well shot and exciting, always keeping your interest and getting you ready for more.

The performances are good, the characters are fun and you like them, but they don't go through much of an arc and just sort of stay the same throughout.

Hats make people way cooler

In short, a decent film, I'd recommend it.

Django Unchained - A Review

5 Stars - Awesome

Quentin Tarantino making a tribute to the classic spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone that takes a serious look at slavery? Sold.

This is a highly entertaining, well made film, that does not disappoint on any level, except maybe that it is a bit too long at two and three quarter hours.

there are great performances here, Christoph Waltz is clearly having a whale of a time and Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson are intimidating, yet entertaining villains and Jaimie Foxx does a decent job as Django, although it might have been better with the original choices of Michael K. Williams or Will Smith...

I'll take my Oscar now thank you...

In short, a very entertaining film, definitely one to watch.

Blazing Saddles - A Review

4.5 Stars - Great

Blazing Saddles, probably the most important comedy Mel Brooks ever made, due to it's wonderful and intelligent satire of racism.

The plot is simple, a really racist town in the old west get a black sheriff, Black Bart. Bart must now convince the town he's good for them and stop the evil Hedey Lamarr... sorry Hedley Lamarr... from building a railway through their town.

The jokes come thick and fast and it isn't afraid to pull any punches with more uses of the n-word than you'll hear in most zany comedy spoofs...

"You spare the women?" "No, we rape the shit out of them"

In short, a great film, definitely one to watch.

Marnie - A Review

4.5 Stars - Pretty Good

Confession time, this is my first Hitchcock film I've seen all the way through, but at least I picked a good place to start fixing that mistake.

This is a very clever film with good performances from Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren, intelligent writing and wonderful cinematography that in places is reminiscent of Hitchcock's roots in expressionist cinema.

All in all it is a very strong film, with good characters to keep you interested.

In short, a good film.

The Impossible - A Review

3 Stars - Okay

Emotional manipulation through a fairly recent natural disaster... but a competent bit of emotional manipulation through a fairly recent natural disaster.

The Impossible tells the true story of a family trying to reunite with one another following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Thailand. The characters are okay, but the child actors are fairly bland and they all seemed a little too nice for me to get invested in them. What really sells this film are the effects.

The practical effects of the flood and the injuries people sustained are spectacular, clearly a lot of work went into these and it pays off, I found myself wincing at the injuries a lot, and it isn't afraid to show them.

Pretty Impressive

In short, maybe worth a watch, but probably wait for TV

Les Miserables - A Review

4.5 Stars - Pretty Damn Good

I feel as though I should preface this review by saying that I knew nothing about Les Mis before I went in, other than people really like it. I was pleased to find myself agreeing with them.

This is a very good film, with wonderful performances and some great songs. The songs were performed live on set by the actors, which is a very interesting new technique, and it works well for the most part. Some chorus numbers are a bit hard to make out and Helena Bonham Carter can't sing... oddly enough I disagree with most people's criticism of Russel Crowe's singing, sure it's not as good as Hugh Jackman or Anne Hathaway, but it's a long way off being bad.

The films manages to play with your emotions pretty well and you get really quite invested with the story, except maybe the typical musical romance where people fall in love when they've seen each other for about five seconds and not spoken to each other...

What do you mean Javert is your favourite character?

In short, a very good film that makes me want to look into the original musical and see what people are talking about.

Machete - A Review

4 Stars - Badass

Machete is a man's man, a lady's man, a man men want to be and women want to be with. He is Danny Trejo being awesome.

The films is pretty good, although you can get somewhat bored when Danny Trejo isn't on screen, but fortunately these scenes are very few and far between.

Basically it is cheesy, over the top grindhouse action, what more do you need really?

Roll on Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again

In short, goofy, but fun.

Hobo With A Shotgun - A Review

4.5 Stars - Awesome

So within the first 8 minutes of this film a man had his head ripped off via being stuck in a manhole and run over by a car, then a woman writhed in the blood wearing nothing but white a bra and panties. You see the kind of film this is?

This is grindhouse at its finest, from it's crazy opening to its blood splattered finale every moment is either piss yourself laughing funny, or writhe uncomfortably disturbing.

Rutger Hauer gives a splendid performance as the titular Hobo, playing it deathly straight, which is probably the only way it could work against all the over the top performances around him.

Just makes you want to yell fuck yeah!

In short, a great film, well worth a watch if you like something a bit silly.