The Great Gatsby - A Review

1 Star - Dreadful

I was never going to like this, so my opinion is probably not one to listen to all that much.

The film is dull, not very well written and not all that well performed. For starters Tobey Maguire is the main character and he was seriously bland and not very good, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan can do a lot better than this.

Baz Luhrman is a bad director, he focuses on style more than substance and the style doesn't work. The visuals aren't very interesting and the modern music in the twenties setting is just massively out of place.

The biggest word that hits me here is inauthentic. It just feels so inauthentic.

You could have been watching Inception or Blood Diamond instead...

In short, don't see it. Just don't.

Epic - A Review

2 Stars - Dull

So yeah, basically, insert your own Ferngully: The Last Rainforest joke here...

Epic is the most recent film from Blue Sky Studios, and... it isn't very good.

The characters aren't very deep or interesting, much as you could tell they were trying to be and the plot just isn't very interesting, it's predictable and feels like stuff I've already seen a whole bunch of times in other films which have handled it better.

The only point in favour of Epic is that the visuals are gorgeous, with some really detailed and textured environments, the downside to this is that there's rarely any time to appreciate them, there's always something loud or obnoxious happening in the foreground and there's virtually no breathing room to just see how nice the world they've created looks.

I feel like in the 90s this would have been a live action film with Rick Moranis...

In short, not really worth your time, give it a miss.

Star Trek: Into Darkness - A Review

5 Stars - Awesome

These are the ongoing adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise, they are awesome.

I'll start out by saying I'm not a Trekkie, only classic Trek I've seen is the wrath of Khan and I wasn't even paying full attention. But I loved J.J. Abrams first Trek film so was pumped for this one and it does not disappoint.

The action is exciting, the characters are wonderful and go through some real arcs, facing significant emotions and changing a bit as a result, the story is strong and clever and well, there is one significant element that is going to majorly divide the Trekkies, can't say what without going into spoilers, but I was able to overlook it and seriously enjoy the film.

If I had one criticism, it would be turn down the lens flare... it might even be worse than the last time... but that's a minor complaint.

Cumberbatch just owns this film

In short, go see this, right now if you can.

Superman: Unbound - A Review

3.5 Stars - Okay

The latest of DC's direct to DVD animated films Superman: Unbound is based on the miniseries Superman: Brainiac by Geoff Johns. Which I haven't read, so I can't comment on it as an adaptation. This tells a version of Superman's first meeting with Brainiac, along with Supergirl learning to be a hero and Lois whining to Clark about their relationship.

The action is good and Brainiac makes for a decent threat, but there's nothing especially interesting here. Brainiac is kind of over the top evil, Supergirl doesn't seem to get much development, Lois and Clark's relationship issues are just dull and there doesn't seem to be any loss for anyone.

The animation is good, once again going for a unique looking style, different to the other DC films, and they're really pushing the boat with what they can get away with in a 12a film. There's a fair amount of blood and Lois Lane gives Brainiac two middle fingers.

well kind of... she only has 3 fingers it seems...

In short, I'd say worth a watch, but not a patch on the excellent Superman Vs. The Elite

The Place Beyond The Pines - A Review

3.5 Stars

The Place Beyond The Pines tells three connected stories, each starring a different character, one to each of the film's acts. The first stars popular plank of wood Ryan Gosling and is the most advertised in the trailer; he robs some banks for his baby and is pretty boring. Then slightly less wooden than Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper then takes over as a cop dealing with corruption, it is slightly less boring. Then the kid from Chronicle is Ryan Gosling's son who meets Bradley Cooper's son and has something of an emotional outburst. It is kind of boring, but nicely ties up the emotional ends of the other stories.

The acting is decent, Bradley Cooper and Dane DeHaan do a good job. I'm not so keen on Ryan Gosling, he's someone whose great success I can't quite fathom, he's always just seemed dull and wooden to me. But oh well...

He has one face that he always uses. His quiet anguish face.

In short, a decent film. But probably one to wait for TV to watch.