Tuesday 8 December 2015

The Peanuts Movie Review

The Peanuts Movie Review
My Rating: 8/10

Monday 5 October 2015

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart Review

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart
My Rating: 8/10

This will only be a short review. Mostly because I'd like to recommend you go and read my friends one which is... better. http://www.jjtng.com/2015/01/jack-and-cuckoo-clock-heart-review.html

Before I begin, I'd like to point out that all of my thoughts reflect the English Dub of the film and not the original French release. 

I thought it was wonderful! It reminded me of Mood Indigo in some ways, just the fact that the characters would be doing normal everyday situations but the world around them would be insane. Or their emotions would seem exagerated by animation, like floating into the sky when feeling love. Or growing thorny vines when feeling insecure. 

All of the characters were likable, even the quite two dimensional villain at times.

Plus I'm a sucker for romance. The story of Jack's journey to find the girl he fell in love with after one musical meeting was highly enjoyable. And even with the english dub, the dialogue between their developing relationship was believable.

Visually everything was beautiful and always creative. The accordian type train was excellent! And the interesting characters that filled the carnival always gave me something to look at. 

I have only three issues with the film. Why did the mother leave Jack with that woman so quickly? Was there any point to that? She did not even seem sad.
Also why did Miss Acacia (The female lead) go against Jack so fast after speaking with the villain towards the end? 
Her anger seemed to be fueled by selfishness. It felt kind of like she was angry because SHE would be upset if she'd caused him to die. 
Maybe it was just me that got that impression.  
Those, and the quite random Jack the Ripper moment (Mentioned in JJTNG's Review) are my only problems with it really. 

Animation wise.. hey, it's not Pixar. But unlike something like Monster in Paris, the bad animation is less noticable with such a style. It pulls it off.


Other than that, it's beautiful and sad and wonderful.
It also leaves you thinking.


Rotten Tomatoes Rating:70%
IMDB Rating:7.0/10


Sunday 4 October 2015

Pan Movie Review

Pan
Peter Pan Fan Rating: 8.5/10
Movie Critic Rating: 6.5/10

Wow, what a confusing introduction. I've given the film TWO ratings! 'Is
he a CRAZY PERSON?' you may be asking yourself. Well, yep. 
I'm a huge Peter Pan fan, as I am with a few other source materials. I'll most likely be giving the Peanuts Movie the same two rating treatment.

I want to seperate my fandom with the quality of the film. As a huge fan of the story of Peter Pan, for me, the film will either get it right or wrong. But as a general movie goer, it takes a lot more than a twinkle of fairy dust to impress.
The Fan Review will contain spoilers and the General Review will not. 


Fan Review (Contains Some Spoilers)

Let's get that fan rating out of the way shall we?

I'm not really the biggest fan of the Peter Pan prequels of the past. I could hardly sit through the Neverland TV series (2011). It felt very fake, broken, confusing and boring.... Of course I will give it another go later... But something that takes me 3 goes can't be that great.
The Peter and the Starcatchers Prequel books are not all that bad really. But I'd say not film worthy. So I was quite scared by the prospect of another picture to ruin the name of Peter Pan.
Why not just make a film based on the official sequel book, Peter Pan in Scarlet? That would make a wonderfully creepy film. 
But hey, let's give Pan a go. 
Marvellous! Best adaptation since Hook (1991). 
In this fan review, I have to say I enjoyed it quite a lot. There were so many brilliant ideas to make it stand up as it's own story and a loving tribute to Peter Pan. It just got more magical as it went on and although subtle, the characters stayed true to their original personalities.

The idea of the nun selling the kids to pirates is such an amazing idea and the visuals of the kidnapping scenes compliment that.  This followed by the pirate ship soaring through london in war time (A brilliant recreation of the introduction to Disney's Return to Neverland) and the travelling through space was just so exciting.

I wanted to sit back and enjoy the magic, but it kept bugging me... this feeling. In my mind, Neverland has always been that place in between being awake and asleep. It's where kids escape, it's a dream world. I think this is referenced in the original novel. 
But you don't need to think too much into it for this theory to work for Pan as well. Pan, abandoned by his mother to live in a horrible place like that? Of course he would dream of the most wonderful escapes at bed time. Or even when awake.
Whether the film was trying to portray this or not (Although BlackBeard does mention Neverland being a dream briefly) this ticked a box for me. 

Now here are my negative points as part of the Fan review. 

The very end of the film is uplifting as Peter is finally able to fly. This idea has been built up through the story so we're all expecting an astonishing moment of flight. It WAS!!! Kind of... Where were Pan's leafy green clothes? I know that was the excellent ending of Hook as well but come on! For a moment, when the fairies were surrounding Peter in flight, I thought they may have been making it for him... Which may have been odd but still. Certainly missed his famous look for the finale scenes.
But we did get Pan in a cool hat towards the very end of the film... so that is something. Just needed a Robin Williams moment though! (I did appreciate the scene where Pan is trying to fly but lands flat on his face reminiscent of Hook.).

Oh by the way, I've not mentioned the 2003 Peter Pan film. This might be because... I didn't really like it. Pan is way better, even with it's problems. I even preferred the live NBC play to the 2003 film. Hey, Allison Williams was a great Peter, really brought the Robin Williams spark to the show. 

Sorry, got distracted there. Why was Tigerlily old? (Rooney Mara) ....Well not old, but you know, she's a lot older than Peter. It's not the biggest thing, but I kind of like the idea that it would connect up to the other material where she is a child. I did really like Tigerlily though, but... maybe would have preferred her to have a different name. 
OR maybe Hook and her have a child they name Tigerlily........... that would make the original Peter Pan very interesting....
Also why was Hook american? You know, that bothered me when I first saw the trailer but no more! The actor (Garrett Hedlund) made it his own! I'd have it no other way. 

Oh completely forgot about SMEEE! What a brilliant casting choice (Adeel Akhtar) and I was overjoyed to see him working alongside Hook in the early days. 

Another big move in the Peter Pan story is the new idea that (BIG SPOILER ALERT) Pan's father was a fairy and mother a Neverland warrior. 
It's weird, considering all of the other versions run off the fact that his mother closed the window or lost him. But I really don't mind, to be honest it explains his power of flight better than he's just more special than everyone else in Neverland. I know he is meant to be able to fly because he thinks the happiest of thoughts but I did always think that was a bit unfair on the other characters. 

A complaint about this idea though, why didn't Peter care about his father? He learnt he has a father and yet he was only interested in meeting his mother. I understand, she is the one he has been thinking about all of this time. But you got a father as well! Mention him.
I didn't really like how the vision of his mother came to life at the end. I would have preferred her image remain a mystery to him. Making further stories plausible with his feeling of being lost. 
Lastly for the fan review... I hope there is a sequel planned because it's going to really annoy me not seeing why Hook goes the way he goes. But then again, can't make a sequel about a boy that never grows up with a boy that has grown up.


General Review (No Spoilers) 

Phew, now for me to step back and acknowledge the film as a film. Firstly, let's get this out of the way... Hugh Jackman was amazing. Every line performed by his character was fantastic. We already knew he was good with Wolverine and Les Miserables but this role definitely showed off a new side to him.
Also that musical moment Blackbeard uses earlier on in the picture calls for both a 'What the??' and a 'Whooooaaa'. Hey, it works! You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.

Unfortunately this film suffers from some big problems. Fast editing, a rushed ending and.. kind of bad direction. 
Now, when I say bad direction, that can't possibly be the whole film. Of course not! This film looks and feels beautiful, with very nice visuals throughout. But every now and then there would be a moment where I felt confused about where characters were in the location. Perhaps the visuals were not clear enough, back to the animatic!

This is not helped by the very fast editing that hits in certain scenes. Scenes of note are the trampoline scenes with the natives and the two ships side by side in the climax. I could hardly tell what was going on half of the time and it really took me out of the moment.
I have started to notice this with some newer films out there. I guess kids could just be better at processing information in shorter times than.. me? Probably.

The other issue is the ending is not really that strong. This is awkward because I said I would not put spoilers in this part... hmm. 
Oh whatever, I'll just say this... No one needed Peter for anything. He was... kind of there just to wake up some other characters so they could save the day.
What's even weirder about that is these other characters just witnessed their own kind get massacred so you'd think that would wake them up... nope... 
That's a bit silly. 

Another issue with the film is during an emotional scene with Peter and Blackbeard, the music feels unnecessary. Sticking in driving music like that just turns it into a video game cutscene or something.That could have hit a lot harder. Saying that, I did enjoy the rest of the music throughout.

Also.. I didn't like how the mermaids all had the same face. Bit of a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Oompa Loompa thing going on there. 

I didn't mean for my Fan review to be super positive and my Regular review to be just negative... That really should not be the case...

Because this film is a joy. Almost all of the ideas are so creative and wonderful for the world of Peter Pan. The characters dialogue is all very good and so are the performances. I really liked everyone! 
Also, referring to some complaining on the web that the natives were not real native american actors or did not feel like a proper tribe because of their various nationalities. Don't mind at all! Worked really well for me. If this were all a dream world then why not have a bunch of different aboriginal cultures as part of an islands tribe, these are the original owners after all. 

I'd really like to see a sequel, though I doubt that will happen with the aging of the kid actor and whatever other reasons.
I am really keen to see Hook develop more and Pan finally in green.

I will be getting Pan on DVD. 

"To die would be an awfully great adventure"
*Puff of smoke*


Rotten Tomatoes Rating:45%
IMDB Rating:6.1/10


Now some clips in tribute to Pan







Sunday 12 July 2015

Inside Out Movie Review

Inside Out
My Rating: 9.5/10

Thoughtful, inventive and fun. Inside Out is one of the best movies of the year and definitely up there with the Pixar greats. 

My own personal grudges include, some of the plot worked out a little too happy ending for me and some of the animation during the end scenes bugged me. I also thought the character of Disgust was not utilized quite enough as a lead character. I could never work out her importance to the level I did for the rest of the cast. Also I was not really a fan of Bing Bongs voice. 

Those points aside the script works for both children and adults. Children appreciating a realisation of emotions, humour and action scenes. The adults appreciating the re-visiting of their growth and how in-depth Riley's reactions are to the emotions themselves. 

If nothing else, the film deserves a writing award. 
Pete Docter <3

Anyway, it's great. 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:98%
IMDB Rating:8.7/10



Monday 18 May 2015

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Movie Review

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
My Rating: 8/10

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is just... well mad... It's a feature length action packed car chase weaved through a relatively basic, but powerful plot. Right from the start I was at the edge of my seat, straight away invested in where Max's journey would take him.

Before I begin bringing up any negative points, I must make it clear that these issues are relatively small among the grand scale of cinematic art that this feature is. The driving action, cinematography, stunts and interesting characters will make this an instant DVD purchase for me. 

Some people online are both negatively and positively saying that Charlize Theron's 'Furiosa' character is more of a main character than Tom Hardy's 'Max' (Unlike previous films). 
I would argue that both of these were equal main characters in both heroics and screen time. It's just that it was Furiosa's story that was being told. In fact, I would have preferred more of Furiosa's backstory revealed as it seemed to only scratch the surface. But for what it was, great performance from Charlize Theron. One of my favourite scenes is when Furiosa attempts to kill Max.

I absolutely love the way Max was written into this film. Beginning with him as an incidental part of a much bigger event. Working his way in, to be an integral part of the plot a little further into the script. It kept me anxious, watching how he was to become involved and how he would escape. Tom Hardy's physical performance is excellent. His subtle hand gestures and facial expressions speak perfectly for Max's character. Unfortunately, there were quite a few moments that Tom Hardy began talking a bit like BANE. Clearer speaking please Tom, I have no idea what you're saying. 

Nicholas Hoult's character 'Nux' was another brilliant highlight. The performance is both insane and thoughtful. His character ends up being the most human and relatable one on screen. It's the quality in writing of characters like Nux and Furiosa that I feel, separate the original trilogy from FURY ROAD.

Before I conclude I wanted to throw in some nitpicks. For one, the leads come across a tribe in the desert. They have obviously been there a while and had to leave a previously destroyed home. This tribe appear to be surviving in the desert, with their own security setup as well. But when they are asked where home is, they say there is none.
Then how can they be surviving in the desert? Where do they find water and shelter? Where do they keep their bikes? Do they just sit in the sand all day? 

Also the film does not give too much time to really flesh out these tribe characters either but they're still involved in some awesome action scenes.
Oh yeah, action scenes... you may need to press pause and go for a milkshake and a sleep (Or whatever you do to relax) before continuing when you get this on DVD. 
There was a flame thrower guitar player dude that seemed to me a bit Brutal Legend and it was awesome. 

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. You won't have seen a film quite like this one, and you probably won't for a while. The action is 10/10 and there is enough great plot in there for the viewer to be fully invested.

If you're looking for some more space to breath among the carnage... maybe just sit down and watch the previous films. But if you're looking for mega action packed screaming drums madness, see FURY ROAD. Also great soundtrack...

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:98%
IMDB Rating:8.8/10



Saturday 16 May 2015

Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge Out Of Water Movie Review

Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge Out Of Water
My Rating: 4/10

Watching something like Spongebob Squarepants, it is not out of place to expect some funny moments. I loved the original series as a kid and also enjoyed the first film adaptation (That a lot of people did not.) Personally, I thought the first film was both smart and funny. This one is neither.
Sponge Out of Water is, for the most part, kind of boring. There are definitely some good ideas thrown in there, like having Plankton and Spongebob team up! This is such a great idea and I could see something interesting TRYING to break free. But nothing. 

If one were to ask me if I found the film funny, I'd say.... "Well... there was this ONE scene." That's right! One scene made me laugh out loud. It involved a dolphin played by Brit actor, Matt Berry.  It is such an absurd idea with brilliant visuals and a great voice performance from Berry. I give that scene a 10/10. 

The scenes with Zorro himself, Antonio Banderas and a bunch of annoying CGI seagulls were boring and hardly helped push the plot at all. 
The lovable character of the past, Patrick, is now really selfish and deliberately mean to Spongebob. (Although I have since discovered this was actually a development made in the modern TV series between films.)

Sandy the Squirrel is interesting for a few minutes as she becomes somewhat of a conspiracy nut (lol) I would have loved to have seen more of this. 
Squidward is practically not in this film, and when he does appear at the end as a magical super hero he seems to be out of character.

Now I have to talk about the whole CGI aspect of the picture, as it seems to be the most advertised feature. Well, it's fun at first. The characters all get their crazy powers and start blowing stuff up. Once the jokes are done we are just watching the most boring fight scene with Antonio Banderas that just goes on way too long. Boring direction, boring boring boring.

The look of the CGI is fine, but does not really make sense when the characters have been able to travel to the real world without needing to change dimensions in past films/episodes. I admit that's a silly nitpick but it just bugged me. 

All that negativity aside, as a 2d film most of it looks pretty and is refreshing to see on a big screen in these desperate times. The travelling montages are very fun, experimental and have a great tune by Pharrell Williams that kind of speaks for the whole films style. 

But ultimately the film has bad pacing, it's not funny and the plot is only half interesting. But there is a hilarious scene involving a dolphin. 
Go watch the first film if you want to watch something with actual personality. 
"I'm ready, depression. I'm ready, depression."

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:78%
IMDB Rating:6.4/10





Saturday 11 April 2015

Shaun the Sheep Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep Movie
My Rating: 9/10

I think this might be the best feature length film Aardman have done and it is without any dialogue! Don't get me wrong, I have a soft spot for most of their feature length films. Chicken Run was until this day my favourite with it's great pacing and ideas. Not to mention it looked fantastic. But it was missing some beat humour previously seen in Aardman shorts. Also the ending was a bit too bugs life for me. 
Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit was enjoyable mainly because it was Wallace and Gromit but it's predictability was just urgh. Flushed Away had a great structure, a better story than previous and some great jokes. But visually, it's not going to beat that stop-motion charm Aardman are known for. Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists was sure enjoyable but did fall on a kind of weak story and not enough quick fire gags. 

The latest installment Shaun the Sheep Movie delivers on pretty much all you may have been hoping for. 
Best of all, it's pretty much a silent movie. None of the lead animal characters talk and the humans only speak in dramatic mumbles. This gives opportunity for the stop-motion animators to really concentrate on the subtle facial expressions of the models. I was watching a moment Shaun came to a realisation and noticed as his eye lids reacted in such a small but perfect way I knew exactly how he felt. 

The story is entertaining and there is literally a visual gag around every corner. It never feels like it's dragging on and the characters are as lovable as ever.

You don't need to see the series to enjoy this film, although it may help to get to know some of the sheep in the flock better. Unfortunately, the story does not really offer much space for the side characters to shine like they may have done on TV. But it's not that important as they are represented as side characters, and not underdeveloped main characters.  (Like in Big Hero 6). The main plot here revolves around a simple idea involving Shaun the Sheep and the Farmer.

The only complaint I would give this film is I'd like to have seen more of the developing friendship between Shaun and Bitzer (Thank goodness they went back to the original design) as it is sometimes implyed while they still seem quite distant. Again, this is something that is shown more in the series. But as I assume Shaun and Bitzer both feel the same way about the Farmer I'd expect they'd connect more during the adventure to find him.

Shaun the Sheep Movie reminded me of the original three Wallace and Gromit episodes as well as classic British humour of the past, like Mr. Bean! (Another mostly silent piece) 
This is kind of the Mr. Bean movie we never got. 
Plus the soundtrack was great accompanying the animation, including the two pop star guests, Eliza Doolittle and RizzleKicks. Both of which I am a fan of."

Wooo! Go see it and check out the detail in that Charity Shop.

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:100%
IMDB Rating:7.6/10




Friday 10 April 2015

Home Review

Home
My Rating: 7/10

"I was not sure what to expect going in. From the trailers I was not a fan of the alien designs. Plus I have a personal grudge against CGI 3D sometimes that I won't let distract this review. Also, it's Dreamworks (Hit and miss).
Thankfully 'Home' is a Hit. The story is charming, the friendship is wonderful between the two leads. Even the side characters are quite funny. The main human lead, Tip, is such an amazingly constructed 3D model. Definately one of the best designed female characters in CGI film so far. Plus, I was shocked to discover Rihanna did the voice! And she is excellent!

While the story is charming it does rely a lot on emotionally drawn out musical moments. Personally I believe there are way too many of these. On the other hand, it does give the animators a brilliant chance to flesh out that character animation, it looks so good.

I really liked the scenes where the two characters were wondering around the city. The idea of one human in this taken over world is very enjoyably apocalyptic. 

My biggest complaint about this otherwise wonderful film is it does the stupid Disney 'you think they're dead' ending. Blimey, have we not seen that enough? Alan Partridge and Spongebob have already made the best jokes with it. NO MORE. It's predictable, yes, even to the kids. It took me completely out of the moment. I'm sorry if you think this is a spoiler. I don't see it as one as it did not push the plot or character development in any way. 

Soundtrack is not too bad either with Red Balloon by Charlie XCX as well as a really good track by Rihanna, Towards the Sun. If you're going to the cinema and you can't find anything to watch, go see this great flick. If not, just wait for the DVD. You're not missing out on a masterpiece."

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:46%
IMDB Rating:6.8/10





Sunday 29 March 2015

Big Hero 6 Movie Review

Big Hero 6
My Rating: 5.5/10


"This movie did not need to try and be The Incredibles. It's at it's best when it is diving into the relationship between it's lead character Hiro, his brother Tadashi and Baymax, the robot friend. 
The other characters thrown into the story to try and make this action hero team of 6 is pointless. They are well designed characters with funny traits but their limited personalities are only enough to be side characters. But as the film goes on they appear to become present more often. Any kind of realistic personality they gather is only seen as a collection of them all. With none having their own individual opinions apart from quicky things.
Plus they continuously fail and slow down the plot and are hardly funny. It's a shame though because I quite enjoyed them for the first half.
The story was quite predictable, the bad guy was obvious very very early. Even more predictable than Frozen. 

All these negative comments aside, the film looks beautiful and Hiro, Tadashi and Baymax are a treat to watch on screen. Baymax especially, some laugh out loud animation going on there.
Also the music is not too bad as well."

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:89%
IMDB Rating:8/10






Tuesday 17 February 2015

Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service
My Rating: 8/10


"An overall cool movie.

Full of likable written characters and amazing performances. All of the main cast, especially the lead; Taron Egerton did a wonderful job.
The villain was memorable, the action scenes were fantastic and a bit of heart brought it home.
This is Stormbreaker but 100 times better and for adults. It's kind of a shame the film is not suitable for a young audience. The only reason I say that is because the Colin Firth Character was so cool with his gadgets and gentlemanly manner he'd have been quite a cool role model. Same for some of the other leads.

It was so REFRESHING to FINALLY see Mark Strong as a GOOD GUY role! OH MY GOSH. That guy has done his duty for the dark side and it was wearing a bit thin. Mark Strong is a wonderful good guy and it makes me so happy. Oh yeah and Luke Skywalker was in it and that was awesome. (Oddly enough in the comic book the film was loosely based on the same character he played was actually 'called', Mark Hamill.')

So my issues with the movie were these,
Something happens with Michael Caine's character towards the end and it kind of felt tacked on, a bit unconvincing. And afterwards the team felt a bit broken to me. 

I loved seeing Eggsy's mum and sister and every moment with them felt so real. But there was not enough of it, and not enough of time with Eggsy and his mum. What was there was good but it could have dived even further into their relationship. 

My last issue with the film is a lot of transitions bothered me, some were just really ugly and took me out of the moment.

An action film with charm and heart. I highly recommend. OH, and way better than Stormbreaker."

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:72%
IMDB Rating:8.3/10

Friday 13 February 2015

Like Crazy Review

Like Crazy
My Rating: 8.5/10


"This story was very close to home for me. So my experience will most likely differ from others. 
So this is a love story revolving around two people separated by the sea. One lives in the US and one in the UK. 
I think the girl, Anna is a well rounded character with personality both in the relationship and out. Plus she has some fun loving parent characters.
Where as although Jacob's character has ambition and interest, there is a lack of dialogue in his relationship. I'm assuming his character is meant to be a shy one, but even while the relationship is blossoming he seems to just kind of smile and mumble. Luckily though, his emotional performance pulls it through without lines.
Other than that, the themes portrayed and the pacing are all pretty perfect. Most of the conversation between the characters seemed natural and overall it was just an emotional experience. 
For me it portrays real love and real sadness. I recommend it for anyone not currently living a similar situation. "


Rotten Tomatoes Rating:72%
IMDB Rating:6.7/10

Friday 30 January 2015

The Book Thief Review

The Book Thief
My Rating: 6.5/10

"Heartwarming and unique look at lives in Nazi Germany. Character development is key and is written and performed well (Geoffrey Rush being the stand out). The originality of the narrator really makes this story into something different. My only issue is, I didn't care as much as I should have. I have no idea why, maybe I am just having a heartless day. The film is undeniably a journey for the viewer, but maybe some of the emotional notes were presented off-beat or narrative oddly structured. You may feel the same."

Rotten Tomatoes Rating:46%
IMDB Rating:7.6/10

Sunday 18 January 2015

Begin Again Review

Begin Again
My Rating: 6/10

"Begin Again has a basic plot and a lot of music. It revolves around two characters, both with difficult personal lives but one thing  in common, a love of music. 

Unfortunately there is little time given really to put some real emotion into their separate personal lives and so the ending is less impacting. The other thing is although I enjoyed the lead characters and their chemistry I had trouble relating to them at points. I also never learnt their character names and so in my head just called them, 'Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, James Corden, Cee Lo Green and Mos Def'. 


That aside the soundtrack is fantastic and they are constantly throwing new written material out for us. Both Keira and Ruffalo really show their passion for music and there are plenty of wonderful scenes to accompany that. For example the joint ear phones in New York scenes and how Mark first hears Keira's performance while drunk.

I kind of felt like the film was grasping for the musical fulfillment that maybe 'School of Rock' or 'Frank' gave but not quite getting there.

What brings Begin Again up from a 5.5 to a 6 is the ending. It's not quite what you'd expect, and as mentioned in my 'Paper Planes' review we all like a bit of the unexpected. Especially with this familiar formula.  
It's not bad. It's not going to blow your mind but I like it!"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 83%
IMDB Rating:7.5/10

Friday 16 January 2015

Paper Planes Review

Paper Planes
My Rating: 7/10

"This film has a lot of issues. Little nit picks here and there. Like shoddy, unrealistic dialogue, iffy side characters and a scene they pretty much stole from the Disney Short, Paperman. But... this film has enough heart to help me forget almost all of the problems.


Firstly, it was a basic kids/family film in that we all 'hope' it's a happy ending and it usually is. Occasionally, as film goers we like to see everyone randomly die or be depressed at the end because it is out of the norm. But we must all admit that we still like a good happy ending.

Paper Planes, at it's core is a story about a father and son and where it shines is the build up of that relationship. Surrounding this heartfelt center is a bunch of fun, likable characters to join the ride. Something else I loved about the film is the wonder of travel in the eyes of the lead character. Coming from a junk yard of a home to Sydney and Tokyo!

The nit picks are obvious when you watch it, there are plenty. But I say go and enjoy it anyway because the ending is lovely. Look out for the heartfelt scene where the lead talks to his competitors father while playing golf.

PS: It's kinda karate kid but with a paper championship"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: none
IMDB Rating:7.4/10

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Lucy Review

Lucy
My Rating: 3.5/10

"So I recently reviewed 'Under the Skin' starring Scarlett Johansson. I gave it a 9/10. The only reason I mention that is for one; the two films were released close to each other but also similar posters were designed. Both portraying the actress (Scarlett Johansson)'s face staring outwards. So in a subconscious way, I think i expected similar from both. These films could not be further apart. 
I originally wanted to see Lucy because it had a cool trailer. I still stand by that, the trailer is cool. Plus it's not too often you see a female lead in an action movie. (Go watch Hanna)

The beginning of the film is alright while the lead character (Johansson) has a personality. As soon as she gets the super brain power she loses all of that relatability. Throwing away both her emotion and sympathy. The very smart lady wants to shoot everyone. I'm not entirely sure how gaining more knowledge turns you into a nut case.
At this point the audience has completely no way of relating to her as she is basically a dead eyed killer. We needed more signs of humanity than we were given.

Lucy gains a sidekick who is this french detective with no reason to be there at all and again, no personality. He's just there to get a kiss at the end. Gosh, I found his presence so annoying. 

The bad guys have no personalities, popping up in the stupidest ways and they all talk nonsense. They were played out in such a way I was not sure whether I should laugh or not.

Morgan Freeman stands around and says stuff the whole movie. I did like his character, but probably just because it was Morgan Freeman. He had a believable passion for the studies and if the rest of the movie was not so moronic his research might have sounded a lot more impressive over the visuals. 

There is only one bit of the film I liked. To read spoiler drag over the invisible text. The time travel scene and the moment when Lucy disappears completely in the chair. I'm not sure why, but I quite liked that bit 
End of invisible text

Weird cuts of animal footage and a relatively cool soundtrack make it seem like they were going for something more interesting but falling short. 

The problem is, if you're looking for an easy bit of entertainment it does not even reach that. 
Here is a quote from a friend. "For a film about how smart we could be it was dumb as shit."

Sequel!"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 66%
IMDB Rating:6.4/10