Film Review - Toy Story 3 (2010)

Toy Story 3 is the third installment in the Toy Story series and this time around Andy has grown up and is leaving for college, leaving the fate of Woody voiced by Tom Hanks, Buzz Lightyear voiced by Tim Allen and the other toys uncertain.

I'll leave the plot synopsis at that, as all I'm going to say is go see this movie when you get the chance, there are all sorts of nods to the first two films that feel comfortable within the story, a fantastic opening sequence involving the toys and some REALLY touching moments that left me in tears, which is funny to say as it's essentially a movie about a boy and his toys but it feels so much more than that, in the 11 years that have passed since Toy Story 2 hit cinemas, these characters have become iconic and mean a lot to some people and they're given their full due here.

But I can't end this review without mentioning some of the new characters who are really well thought out, my favourite being Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear voiced by Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton is also really good as Ken but sadly Timothy Dalton is given too little to do, which is my only complaint about this film and that's only because Dalton's a favourite of mine.

In closing, this a funny touching and extremely enjoyable film that ties with Shutter Island as my favourite of 2010 so far, so a 4 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Wolfman (2010)

The Wolfman is based on the original 1941 film of the same name and the story here concerns an actor named Lawrence Talbot played by Benicio Del Toro as he investigates the death of his brother, but he will find much more than that.

The Wolfman remake has some very nice cinematography, production design and music which is by Danny Elfman, it even has some good actors who ham it up well in the case of Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving and hey, the scenes with the Wolfman are tons of fun and even had me howling every time the film did the same but the overall story just wasn't as strong as it could have been, as all it did was degenerate into a "abusive father/vengeful son" story as well as a beauty and the beast type of story between Del Toro and the character played by Emily Blunt, who's too good of an actress to be in this type of film, but hey when you have bills to pay you got to take what you can I suppose, not that I'll hold that against her, she's a good actress overall and holds her own here fairly well.

As for my final thoughts, it's good fun despite some flaws and I won't argue you if you howl yourself, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Invictus (2009)

Invictus is the latest film from veteran director Clint Eastwood and the story here concerns the release of South African Nelson Mandela played here by Morgan Freeman and his ascension as South African president, but there is a lot of unrest in his country and he will need the help of a local Rugby Team captained by Matt Damon to help bring South Africa together.

Being a big Eastwood fan, I was eager to check it out but wasn't sure whether it would be any good or not, and sure enough my vote is somewhere down the middle, while Freeman and Damon inhabit their characters well and the rugby matches are directed well, the film is far too long and could have used about 10-15 minutes from the beginning of the film chopped out as once Mandela was out of jail, they should have moved through the uncertainty a little quicker so that Damon could be introduced a little earlier into the film.

A small complaint but a costly one for this film, as it tallies up to a 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Nine (2009)

Nine is based on the stage show of the same name which was based on the famous Fellini film 8 1/2, the story here is that famous Italian director Guido played by Daniel Day Lewis is trying to put together his latest film called Italia, the only difference being he hasn't got a script.

Alright folks, I'm going to make this crystal clear: This movie is an absolute mess, and the reasons are seven, but before we get to the film's most fundamental problem, I will address the 6 others:

1. The utter waste of good actresses like Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Judi Dench.

2. The film goes to great lengths to cast people like Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson and Sophia Loren only to give then very little to do, 2 scenes and a dance number is all they get at best.

3. The film's musical numbers are not threaded into the fabric of the script which is vital to the success of these types of films, and to cite some examples for you look at The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin and the hard work that Howard Ashman and Alan Menken did to make the songs and the story mesh together as one.

4. The Jewellery, I have said this before and I will say it again, please don't let people wear jewellery in movies, it's distracting from the job of the actors to make us believe in the character they're playing.

5. The singing and dancing by the actors, it's not very good for the most part and it's either one, the other or both that kills it.

6. As the film unfolded like a train wreck, part of me kept wishing for Rob Grant and Doug Naylor who wrote Red Dwarf to come in and vastly rewrite this script, although technically that isn't a problem it was still something that detracted from the film for me.

I could go on and on but those as I said are only the smallest problems this film has compared to the fundamental problem, and that is the central character played by Day-Lewis, it's hard to care about him, I mean he goes through the film groaning and moaning about how everything is all falling apart but it's hard to care about that because he goes around behaving like a spoilt child and on top of that, Daniel Day-Lewis may be one of the greatest actors of our time, but he can't sing to save his life.

But there is a small positive, what's this I hear someone saying "A positive about all of this, wow I'm shocked" well there is and that is the songs called "Be Italian" which is performed by Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie and "My Husband makes Movies" performed by Cotillard in a sad and haunting type of way.

To sum this all up, don't see this movie, I loathed it and judging by the fact that it bombed in cinemas, I'm not alone, if you want to see "Be Italian" look it up on YouTube and a critique of the film industry, go and rent the 1990 film White Hunter, Black Heart with Clint Eastwood, my final rating for this in .5 out of 5, yes only half a star and that's because I hated it that much.

As an addendum to this, here is the YouTube link to Be Italian: http://snipurl.com/xe9vx

Film Review - The Road (2010)

The Road is based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and stars Viggo Mortensen as a father who along with his son wander the wastelands in search of food, shelter and ammunition to ward off the marauding gangs who wander the wastelands to rape and pillage, but here in this blighted place, a young boy will learn to live again.

I was very much looking forward to seeing this film, being a fan of the post apocalyptic genre and I’m happy to say that the film doesn’t disappoint, the cinematography is beautiful to look at with nothing around for miles on end and Mortensen is outstanding, but there is one big problem I have with this film.

And that is it borrows heavily from Mad Max 2, as all throughout this movie the little boy in this made me think of the feral boy from that film as well as the narration that opens and closes that film in regards to the time of chaos, ruined dreams and the journey north to safety, to a place beyond that vermin on machines.

But despite that personal nitpick, this film didn’t disappoint and gets a 4 out of 5.