Possibly some accidental spoilers in here but most are in the trailer so I am going to call this one as safe to read before watching.
Tomorrowland is a decent scifi-for-kids effort.
There are the usual Disney problems. A teen being played by a 25 year old. Too many crowd shots where people just stand around looking lost while someone lectures at them. Some fairly major holes in the story. Some blatant advertising, for Disney, Coke, Chevrolet, ... but obviously they couldn't get Wilkinson or Gillette onboard so Clooney looks like a homeless bum throughout.
There is a pointless segue to the eiffel tower which seems purely to spend the special effects budget on turning a recognisable landmark into a rocket, and yet 'Home' managed to do that same trick much better two months ago.
It is very preachy to the point that you almost forgive the bad guy when he explains how he has only really given up on mankind since we have given up on ourselves.
There are still plenty of good things though.
Top of the list is Raffey Cassidy as Athena. She steals scenes left, right and centre. Near the end you think this might be due to Clooney and Laurie having the skill to work in the spaces around her but actually she pretty much owns the film in the first half hour, long before either of them show up.
The androids with the fake smiles are extremely creepy but in a way that isn't going to terrify children.
A lot of the other futuristic gadgets and toys are well executed, if unrealistic. And in order to smooth them out the special effects throughout the whole film are pretty seamless. I especially liked the super-powered fire extinguisher which is given a lot less credit than it deserves.
It has been unfortunate to come out close to some better targeted fayre. The special effects and storyline aren't going to drag any men away from the awesome Mad Max reboot. Clooney's scruffy old man look and his recent marriage will be costing them any of the female viewers that would have gone primarily to drool over him so they are all off to watch Pitch Perfect. And you could take kids to any film at the minute and the highlight of their day is going to be the Minions trailer instead of the main movie.
Overall 6 out of 10.
Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Saturday, 16 May 2015
Film Review - Mad Max: Fury Road
I wanted to love Pitch Perfect 2 but not as much as I wanted to love the new Mad Max movie. Third movie of the week, Unlimited card paying for itself this month.
This is loaded with spoilers, if you haven't seen it yet, don't read any further.
I am going to start with the bad, because there is some.
The story is a bit sketchy. It only makes sense on the most superficial level. There are much bigger holes than the previous versions around bullets and fuel and food and generally how to survive the nuclear apocalypse.
Tom Hardy maybe says 20 lines in the film, but manages to go through about 10 different accents. South African, Australian, 'Bane', Welsh,....
Next level down, the flashbacks that Max has through the film aren't explained. The internet has tried to claim that they are of his daughter, but this doesn't match with the canon of the movies where his child is killed as a baby. So I prefer the explanation that we are missing a story somewhere and that we might cover this in a future movie.
The superhot 'wives' are all made up like they just walked off a fashion shoot. And this is further exaggerated beyond any sense of realism when you consider the Zoe Kravitz is the 'ugly' one of the 5 of them. Even after they start running around the dessert dodging flamethrowers and jumping between vehicles there is never a hair out of place.
And from there we are onto the good bits.
The cinematography is amazing. The colours in the night scenes especially show off the directors skills. And some of the visions, which owe an awful lot to Terry Gilliam, are fantastically portrayed. The travelling rockband giving an excuse for ebb and flow of the thumping soundtrack during the chase scenes is borderline genius.
The stunts are absolutely incredible. The film is 2 hours long and maybe 1hr 45 of that is basically a massively long car chase / battle. The CGI is minimal and that is pretty obvious. I really hope the sic-fi directors of the future watch this and are reminded how much better the effects look if you actually do them.
Charlize Theron is brilliant. The one-armed thing is a bit weird but it works well enough in the context of the story. She is the real lead here. She steals every scene from Tom Hardy, even when she is dying.
The language is very clever. There are a lot of jargon terms used but they are mostly self-explanatory and easy enough to keep up with.
The iconic car! The last of the V8 Interceptors is back, and it comes and goes throughout the movie. But you are always given a couple of quick shots to spot it before Max points out that it is his car.
And all of the other cars and trucks are fantastic. The effort that the mechanical team have gone to in making this film is clear from the start and continues through the whole movie. Every vehicle has a huge amount of personalisation to reflect the driver.
What isn't shown! There is a section in the night where Max wanders off in the darkness and returns later with someone else blood on him. And we simply don't see what he did. But that in itself makes it even more clear about how vicious max is willing to be in pursuit of his redemption. He is willing to do things so far beyond acceptable that we can't be shown them in a film where someone else has their face ripped off!
To be frank I loved it. Can't wait for the next one.
Overall I am going to give it 9 out of 10.
This is loaded with spoilers, if you haven't seen it yet, don't read any further.
I am going to start with the bad, because there is some.
The story is a bit sketchy. It only makes sense on the most superficial level. There are much bigger holes than the previous versions around bullets and fuel and food and generally how to survive the nuclear apocalypse.
Tom Hardy maybe says 20 lines in the film, but manages to go through about 10 different accents. South African, Australian, 'Bane', Welsh,....
Next level down, the flashbacks that Max has through the film aren't explained. The internet has tried to claim that they are of his daughter, but this doesn't match with the canon of the movies where his child is killed as a baby. So I prefer the explanation that we are missing a story somewhere and that we might cover this in a future movie.
The superhot 'wives' are all made up like they just walked off a fashion shoot. And this is further exaggerated beyond any sense of realism when you consider the Zoe Kravitz is the 'ugly' one of the 5 of them. Even after they start running around the dessert dodging flamethrowers and jumping between vehicles there is never a hair out of place.
And from there we are onto the good bits.
The cinematography is amazing. The colours in the night scenes especially show off the directors skills. And some of the visions, which owe an awful lot to Terry Gilliam, are fantastically portrayed. The travelling rockband giving an excuse for ebb and flow of the thumping soundtrack during the chase scenes is borderline genius.
The stunts are absolutely incredible. The film is 2 hours long and maybe 1hr 45 of that is basically a massively long car chase / battle. The CGI is minimal and that is pretty obvious. I really hope the sic-fi directors of the future watch this and are reminded how much better the effects look if you actually do them.
Charlize Theron is brilliant. The one-armed thing is a bit weird but it works well enough in the context of the story. She is the real lead here. She steals every scene from Tom Hardy, even when she is dying.
The language is very clever. There are a lot of jargon terms used but they are mostly self-explanatory and easy enough to keep up with.
The iconic car! The last of the V8 Interceptors is back, and it comes and goes throughout the movie. But you are always given a couple of quick shots to spot it before Max points out that it is his car.
And all of the other cars and trucks are fantastic. The effort that the mechanical team have gone to in making this film is clear from the start and continues through the whole movie. Every vehicle has a huge amount of personalisation to reflect the driver.
What isn't shown! There is a section in the night where Max wanders off in the darkness and returns later with someone else blood on him. And we simply don't see what he did. But that in itself makes it even more clear about how vicious max is willing to be in pursuit of his redemption. He is willing to do things so far beyond acceptable that we can't be shown them in a film where someone else has their face ripped off!
To be frank I loved it. Can't wait for the next one.
Overall I am going to give it 9 out of 10.
Film Review - Pitch Perfect 2
Second film of the week. But not the last.
I loved Pitch Perfect. I even reviewed it on imdb at the time. Here is a link to that review but not sure if it will work properly if you aren't signed in as me.
The follow-up was never going to be as good. I can list on one hand the film sequels that are even competitive with their originals and none of them are musical comedy. I am also going to give the film itself a little leeway as I was sat next to two women who talked all the way through the film and it was all I could do not to
I love Anna Kendrick. She is good in parts of this film, normally when she is being left to act more serious sections between the gags but inkeeping with her grown-up character seems disconnected from most of the slapstick and disapproving of some of the other jokes. The lead in this version seems to fall more on Rebel Wilson's 'Fat Amy'. I suspect that if this makes money that the next version is more likely to be a Fat Amy spin off with a possible Kendrick cameo than a pure sequel. Hailee Stanfield is surely in the movie for her name (or as a transition character for future films) rather than for her actual contribution.
And most of the rest of the characters you just don't see enough of to even take note.
How you cast Katey Sagal in your movie and then give her half of a short scene and a 5 second back of the stage cameo near the end of the movie really confuses me.
John Michael Higgins I loved in the first movie, but in this one he is turned into a serious misogynist, and his lines are more cringeworthy than funny. Elizabeth Banks sitting next to him with a fake smile on and failing to counter his comments doesn't sit well either.
Das Sound Machine, are the real stand out performers this time round. Not only do their actual performances steal the screen every time but their off-stage performances are hilarious. Their smack talk is really well written but the delivery is exceptional.
So I realise that I am not saying a lot of positive things about the movie. I did quite enjoy some parts of it. The hipster intern and his relationship with the producer were funny. Clay Matthews and the Green Bay Packers were a novel cameo (but that joke isn't going to travel outside the US apart from a few sports fans). The 'new' song is much too close to the tune for Titanium which is used heavily in the first film.
Overall 7 out of 10.
I loved Pitch Perfect. I even reviewed it on imdb at the time. Here is a link to that review but not sure if it will work properly if you aren't signed in as me.
The follow-up was never going to be as good. I can list on one hand the film sequels that are even competitive with their originals and none of them are musical comedy. I am also going to give the film itself a little leeway as I was sat next to two women who talked all the way through the film and it was all I could do not to
I love Anna Kendrick. She is good in parts of this film, normally when she is being left to act more serious sections between the gags but inkeeping with her grown-up character seems disconnected from most of the slapstick and disapproving of some of the other jokes. The lead in this version seems to fall more on Rebel Wilson's 'Fat Amy'. I suspect that if this makes money that the next version is more likely to be a Fat Amy spin off with a possible Kendrick cameo than a pure sequel. Hailee Stanfield is surely in the movie for her name (or as a transition character for future films) rather than for her actual contribution.
And most of the rest of the characters you just don't see enough of to even take note.
How you cast Katey Sagal in your movie and then give her half of a short scene and a 5 second back of the stage cameo near the end of the movie really confuses me.
John Michael Higgins I loved in the first movie, but in this one he is turned into a serious misogynist, and his lines are more cringeworthy than funny. Elizabeth Banks sitting next to him with a fake smile on and failing to counter his comments doesn't sit well either.
Das Sound Machine, are the real stand out performers this time round. Not only do their actual performances steal the screen every time but their off-stage performances are hilarious. Their smack talk is really well written but the delivery is exceptional.
So I realise that I am not saying a lot of positive things about the movie. I did quite enjoy some parts of it. The hipster intern and his relationship with the producer were funny. Clay Matthews and the Green Bay Packers were a novel cameo (but that joke isn't going to travel outside the US apart from a few sports fans). The 'new' song is much too close to the tune for Titanium which is used heavily in the first film.
Overall 7 out of 10.
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Film Review - Spooks: The Greater Good
Since this film is based on a TV series it is no huge surprise that it feels like a made-for-TV movie. They rope in Kit Harrington from Game of Thrones to be the star, and then he is undermined a little by Peter Firth as not only the carryover from the TV show but also the gravitas and suspense of the whole piece. And then the rest of the cast are entirely forgettable TV actors, including a couple of girls who are TV-series-hot, but not movie-hot, increasing the TV-movie feel.
They do a decent job of glossing over the series by giving minimal details when they are required without going to any extensive backstory. At the same time though they do occasionally rely on some little bits of series knowledge. In particular one character shows up, is never introduced, and does a job which you only understand if you have seen him in the TV series.
The actual film is solid enough. The story has some holes but it keeps moving along quickly enough and the characters just accept the gaps in the same way they accept some of the exposition pieces so the viewer is encouraged to just dismiss them as well.
Overall rating 5 out of 10.
They do a decent job of glossing over the series by giving minimal details when they are required without going to any extensive backstory. At the same time though they do occasionally rely on some little bits of series knowledge. In particular one character shows up, is never introduced, and does a job which you only understand if you have seen him in the TV series.
The actual film is solid enough. The story has some holes but it keeps moving along quickly enough and the characters just accept the gaps in the same way they accept some of the exposition pieces so the viewer is encouraged to just dismiss them as well.
Overall rating 5 out of 10.
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