Film Review - The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The Amazing Spider-Man reboots the Spider-Man character with a new look, feel and cast, this time Andrew Garfield takes the mantle and this time Peter Parker is a loner who was abandoned by his parents at a young age but after being bitten by a radioactive spider well you know the rest.

I went into the new Spider-Man very keen on it being a fun film, I liked the look of the film and the more serious direction it was hinted at in the previews, so was the film worth the wait?

Happily it was, I really liked the film for the most part, I thought Garfield really nailed the part especially when he was Spider-Man which were the best parts of the movie overall, finally I got the sense that this was like the Spider-Man I grew up watching in the animated series in the mid-90's, confident, cracking quips and assured of himself in the night sky, a far cry from the endless whining of Maguire's Spider-Man in his movies, Emma Stone was also good in her role and its crystal clear that her and Garfield have fantastic chemistry when they're on screen together.

I also enjoyed seeing Campbell Scott in his very small role as well as Rhys Ifans and Dennis Leary in their key roles as well as Martin Sheen and Sally Field who are inspired choices for Uncle Ben and Aunt May, I also liked the more serious tone the film had to it as well which again was a refreshing change from the tone of Sam Raimi's movies which at times bordered being on "like strands of the Spider Web, these are the days of my life."

However the film has some faults to it, mainly around the film's editing structure regarding two key subplots, it feels like that the resolution of those were cut out of the movie to avoid a 150 minute running time and get you to the main fighting in the film quicker so that audiences don't sit there thinking "Get on with it" which is a shame as those scenes absence are felt throughout the film and the CG regarding the Lizard (the film's villain) is pretty bad and for the most part looks like early 90's CG.

So all in all, I was really pleased with this new Spider-Man movie and am so happy that it worth the wait I endured to get to see it, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Ted (2012)

Ted is the latest comedy from the creator of Family Guy Seth McFarlane and concerns a man named John (Mark Wahlberg) who as a boy wished for his teddy bear to come to life and be his best friend, but his girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) is beginning to lose patience with her man and his bear.

I went into Ted with some mild hopes for a fun comedy as I liked the look of it from the trailer and some of the jokes really made me laugh, so was the film as a whole as funny?

Well I did think it was an entertaining comedy, nothing special but not at all bad either and that's mainly due to Ted himself, when he's on screen the jokes come hard and fast at the screen and for the most part they're very funny, especially some of the cameo appearances, references and one gag in the hotel room and another that featured in the trailer.

However, the central story between Wahlberg and Kunis was less interesting and it really dragged the film down for me as its just nothing more than the tired old chestnut of the man child who must learn to grow up and boy does that REALLY get on my nerves.

That said however, I did laugh at Ted and do think its worth seeing, 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The Dark Knight Rises is the long awaited follow up to 2008's the Dark Knight and this time 8 years have passed since the events that film's events and the Batman (Christian Bale) has gone into exile but a new villain named Bale (Tom Hardy) threatens Gotham with destruction and the Batman will have to rise again to stop him.

Going into this movie I had moderate hopes, the Dark Knight for me was an impressive film as was the Avengers from earlier this year, both films would be hard to live up to so with that how was the film?

Well, I will say that the film is indeed a good film, it was entertaining and its mainly due to Nolan's direction, his action staging and editing is some of the best I've seen since James Cameron's work, you really get a sense of scope and scale in his action scenes and rarely do you get bored while watching them.

The film also has some good performances by Hardy, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the film really gives you the feeling that this is the third film in a trilogy as locations, story ideas and characters from the first two are very nicely revisited.

However, the film also has story problems with it, mainly around the motivations of Bane himself which are not explained very well unlike the Joker's motivations in the last film which were well explained, the story feels somewhat unfocused with characters at times feeling like they're just coming and going through the plot and only re-appearing when the script requires them to for a dramatic moment or a fight sequence and the film also rehashes moments from Batman Begins.

But the last problem is also the action, yes its impressive to watch and yes its handled with masterful skill but after a while of Gotham being blown to kingdom come (wherever that is) I just got bored watching it which in contrast to the last film had its action beats enhanced with a feeling of exhilaration and tension not seen since Cameron's Aliens.

That said, despite the faults, Nolan and his team do indeed deliver a good finale for the series that will please fans and movie-goers, I do think the Dark Knight is the best three for sure but this film pleased me in its main aims and as a result I liked it, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Dying Young (1991)

Dying Young stars Julia Roberts as Hilary O'Neill, a young woman who moves out of her apartment when she sees her boyfriend cheating on her, now looking for work she answers an ad for a nurse placed there by a young man named Victor (Campbell Scott) who is also dying of a terminal disease.

Dying Young wants to be a heartfelt love story about love conquering all and how two unexpected people can come together and feel love despite one of them dying of a disease but the film just doesn't have anything at all to really let itself soar like a great love story does.

For one, there's very little heart to the film Scott just plays the character for the most part like a complete jerk and either hides things from Hilary or just orders her about like one of his servants one of whom also gets the cold shoulder, unbelievable.

The next problem is that there is very little chemistry between Roberts and Scott and that alone can be enough to kill a romantic story there and then, I mean you do get the sense that these two would be friends, good friends even but I just didn't buy them as lovers, especially in the film's final act.

But the biggest problem of all in this film is that from the moment the two meet for the first time, you can almost immediately predict how the rest of the film will play out and for the most part you just sit there waiting for it to get to that point so you can either walk out of the cinema, watch the end previews on your video copy before rewinding the cassette so it can be returned to your video library or taking the DVD out of the machine to well take back to the shop.

There was one thing I liked about the film surprisingly and that was Vincent D'Onofrio as Gordon, a local handyman who catches Robert's eye and he's actually really good in the film, its the one time where I felt the film had a real heart and sincerity to it and you felt the absence of it when he wasn't on screen.

So all in all, Dying Young is the kind of film that you would most likely rent for your aunt or nana to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon when there's nothing on TV, they might enjoy it more than I did but I didn't think this romance was very romantic, more like a cold love affair in a white hospital room with the couple growing more distant and one of them slowly dying, 1 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - 50/50 (2012)

50/50 stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, a young man who works for a public radio station in Seattle who one day learns that he has a tumour with only a 50/50 chance of survival, something that his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) and his best friend (Seth Rogen) find hard at first to come to terms with, not to mention his mother (Anjelica Huston.)

50/50 was a film I had mixed hopes for, the cast looked promising with the 4 mentioned above plus Anna Kendrick in a supporting role but I was overall unsure whether I would enjoy the film, so with that how was it?

Surprisingly I thought it was pretty good, mainly due to the writing by real life Cancer survivor Will Reiser and the cast, Levitt has become a star on the rise and its not hard to see why, he's very good in the film in both the moments of comedy and the dramatic moments as well, Huston and Kendrick also provide some nice backup support in their roles, though Kendrick does flash her smile a little too much at times.

Unfortunately though the film is not without its faults and one of them is Rogen, don't get me wrong he's okay in the film but I did find him somewhat distracting at times with his boorish attitude that borders on being like some of Rogen's other manchild type characters he's played in the past.

But the biggest fault is with Dallas Howard, her character is setup at first to be one of the more interesting ones but then the film tosses her aside in a really terrible way and also has a similar attitude towards both her character and Kendrick's and I was really bothered by that after a while, especially as both are rather lovely actresses to watch on screen.

So all in all 50/50 is worth checking out despite the faults, Levitt holds his own nicely and the writing has some nice moments to it, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Chronicle (2012)

Chronicle is a found footage superhero movie and concerns three young teenage boys, Andrew (Dane DeHaan), his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and their friend Steve (Michael B. Jordan) who enter a cave one night and find a strange meteorite buried in the ground, the three boys are zapped by it and awaken to find that each of them have super powers, but with great power comes great responsibility.

Chronicle I thought was simply of this year's best films and that's really down to the film's script written by Max Landis, if the last name is familiar it's because of the fact that his father is John Landis, best known for such films as Animal House, Trading Places and an American Werewolf in London and he's clearly learnt a thing or two from his dad as he writes a great script that actually takes the time to develops its three leads and how their powers develop.

The best of the three for me was Andrew and to me watching his story felt like I was watching the origin story of Darth Vader we deserved but sadly never got, we see his background prior to getting his powers, we see him learn to use those powers and how he will eventually turn to the Dark Side through a mixture of his own anger and terrible events that make him snap and in a way that we buy which Revenge of the Sith never ever ever did with Anakin, in that film it was simply a case of "want to turn to the dark side" "okay" and that was it, three movies and over 20 years leading to that one moment and it was so incompetently handled you could scream whereas here in a found footage film we get the true origin of Lord Vader that Star Wars fans had every right to expect and deserve given the long gap between Return of the Jedi in 1983 and Revenge of the Sith in 2005.

So all in all, Chronicle was a film I really loved and I think it stands tall as one of the year's best, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Shame (2012)

Shame stars Michael Fassbender as Brandon, a man who lives in an apartment in New York and seems to have it all, a nice job, good looks, charisma with the ladies and an orderly existence but down deep he has a secret pain and that is he has an addiction, a very bad one.

I went into Shame with moderate expectations, I was looking forward to it mainly due to Fassbender as he has really become an actor worth watching despite the film he's in plus the fact that this was an adults only movie, something that sadly is in too short supply nowadays, so with that how was the film?

Happily this was worth the wait, the film handles its subject matter with a certain degree of taste and dignity and Fassbender is outstanding, playing Brandon in a way that the viewer finds fascinating to a degree but also keeps you thinking "this man needs some serious help", director Steve McQueen also shoots the film beautifully with long tracking shots, wide shots that have a real flow to them and don't have editing tricks every 2 seconds thrown into them and with some very nice lighting of NYC itself.

Oh and as for that part, my first thought was "That Part of David wasn't in the owner's manual, it must've been part of the DIY kit I got as the pre order bonus"

But if there is a flaw to the film its the character played by Carey Mulligan who was a character that I just found to be annoying and somewhat distracting from Fassbender's, I've very rarely liked Mulligan as an actress and she's okay here but I just wanted the film to focus solely on Fassbender because when Mulligan's character is in the movie, it feels like a diversion from the structure and tone of the film.

But still, I enjoyed the film and Fassbender and thought it was worth the wait, hope others feel the same way, 3 out of 5.