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.

Film Review - Brave (2012)

Brave is the latest film from Pixar studios and this time has a female lead, Princess Merida of the Scottish Highlands (Kelly McDonald) who wants to fire her arrows and ride through the highlands on her horse, but her and her mother (Emma Thompson) butt heads over her fate so Merida rides out to change her fate.

I went into Brave with moderate hopes, setting the film in the Scottish Highlands immediately made me think of one of my all time favourite movies Highlander with Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery plus with Pixar doing another original storyline had me hoping that this would be rebound after last year's Cars 2, so does this film feel the Quickening?

Well in the first half of the film I would definitely say yes it does, the film is very funny and I smiled at the visuals which looked fantastic plus I really liked Merida as a character, she was strong, independent and seem to be someone who took charge, McDonald plays the part beautifully and its hard not to get on her side almost right away.

However there are two halves to this film and the 2nd half loses its head and stumbles about as if it were the Headless Break man from Springfield's Sprousse Kaboose, the mother/daughter story becomes less interesting and you begin to sit there in your seat and become bored with the whole film.

But the biggest problem with Brave is this: the film lacks a villain like the Kurgan from Highlander to both unify the story and make it come together into a cohesive whole plus give Merida a worthy adversary to face off against as the one she does face off against feels really lame and I couldn't help but groan somewhat when I watched it, plus it would've made the beginning feel stronger as well knowing that a great threat was out there waiting to devour the four kingdoms.

In addition to Brave there was a Pixar short called La Luna before the main feature, this short was quite cute and well worth the time if you arrive early off for your session of the main film that follows it.

So all in all, Brave feels the Quickening at first but then has its head chopped off story wise at the midway point and just left me feeling somewhat disappointed on the whole despite the strong lead and beautiful visuals, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Men in Black 3 (2012)

Men in Black 3 is the third MIB film and this time Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) face off against Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) who seeks revenge on K and escapes from the Luna-Max prison built on the moon, he then erases K from history and J has to go back in time to 1969 to save him.

I went into MIB3 with very low expectations, the trailer made me laugh but I also thought to myself that this probably won't be much good as a full length film, was I wrong?

Well sadly not, don't get me wrong the film is okay and has some bright spots but the film is also rather forgettable with Smith and Jones looking somewhat bored throughout the whole thing and the film's beginning and end really not being all that much different from what we saw in the previous films.

But there are some bright spots, there's some nice special effects and creatures but the real star of the film is Josh Brolin who plays the young agent K and he is very good indeed, nailing Jones's manner of speaking and his constant stern look that makes for some good laughs.

But overall, rent the first MIB film instead for as good as this film is, all it does in the long run is remind you of the fun, freshness and energy of the first film, don't get me wrong this film isn't bad but it's also just okay, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Prometheus (2012)

Prometheus marks the return of Ridley Scott to the Sci-Fi genre, a genre he helped to define with his towering classics of the genre Alien and Blade Runner, Prometheus however concerns Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) who finds some old cave paintings in the Isle of Skye in Scotland that could well mark the origins of the human race on a planet out there in the galaxy, origins that they may not wish to know.

I went into Prometheus with some degree of hope and also a degree of skepticism, I was very keen to see what Scott had in his bag of tricks given his long absence from the genre but at the same time I wanted to avoid the films marketing campaign like the plague as it hinted at the film maybe being a prequel to Scott's own Alien film, as time progressed however one question went through my mind.

That question was this: "Is this new Sci-Fi film by Ridley Scott any good?"

Well surprisingly I thought it was, the film has a nice sense of visual detail, it has some good performances from Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green and Guy Pearce, all four earn their stripes quite nicely but Fassbender is the show stealer, his David is simply a fantastic character brilliantly performed and its him that will stick in your mind long after the film's finished.

Which leads me now to my next point, I can't say with any confidence that this is a great film or even all that memorable a film, mainly for two key reasons which will outline below:

the story goes into directions that leave you thinking "this is going to go there", "that will happen to that character" and "this thing will turn into that down the track"

2. The characters pretty much end up becoming stereotypes of themselves as the film goes on, I also found Rapace to be somewhat annoying after a while with her constant screaming and screeching, something Sigourney Weaver never did with her character Ellen Ripley in Alien and Aliens.

Which leads me to the second part of my unmemorable feelings, both Alien and Aliens are memorable in their own way, Alien for having a sense of mystery, terror and grit and Aliens (my personal favourite of the series) for James Cameron's relentless action direction, his exhilarating pace, his witty one liners and his characterization like Hudson, Hicks, Newt, Apone etc, Prometheus has very little of those ingredients that make those films stand tall since their original release years and as a result you pretty well forget about it almost immediately after its over and your making your way out of the cinema while the end credits roll on the screen.

And lastly I must talk about the 3D which to my surprise isn't terrible but just ends up being distracting and pointless, if you were to see this film in 2D properly projected and on a nice big screen with a good sound system you will have every inch the immersive experience and you'll probably appreciate the visuals a lot more as the 3D won't be there to put you at a distance from it all.

So all in all, I think Prometheus is a good film, it was enjoyable for me, I found it entertaining but I don't think it will stand up like Alien and Aliens did, still I do recommend people see it as I thought it was worth the money and I hope others feel the same way, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Shattered (1991)

Shattered is written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (he also directed the Neverending Story, Das Boot, Air Force One and Enemy Mine) and concerns Dan Merrick (Tom Berenger) and his wife Judith (Great Scacchi) who are driving late at night and have a horrible car accident, Judith survives but Dan wakes up with memory loss, memory loss that leads him on a twisted tale to put together the pieces.

I became interested in Shattered after seeing the trailer for it, which left me thinking "This looks Interesting" so I got a copy of the film to watch as soon as I could, with that was it worth it?

Well as a certain detective would say "Precisely" but then his counterpart would say "To be Precise it was worth it" this is simply a terrific thriller, the kind of thriller that is really well written and feels like a novel that you would want to read regardless of the fact it was a movie, its also well directed by Petersen with a real sense of pace and precision, no doubt a tribute to the late great Alfred Hitchcock.

But my praise doesn't end there, it continues with the actors, Berenger, Scacchi, Bob Hoskins, Joanne Whalley and Corbin Bensen are all really good on screen and play their parts nicely, Lazlo Kovacs creates some really nice cinematography with the driving shots near and around the Golden Gate Bridge plus the night time shots that look dark and mysterious but last and certainly not least Alan Silvestri who recently composed the music for the Avengers creates a terrific score here as well that nicely complements the on screen action.

All in all, a great thriller that has sadly gone by the wayside as the years have rolled on, a pity as I really liked it and would thoroughly recommend it, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Dream House (2012)

Dream House stars Daniel Craig as Will, an editor at GPH Publishing who quits his job to spend more time with his wife Libby (Rachel Weisz) and their two daughters in their new country home, but there is more to the house than meets the eye.

I went into Dream House with low expectations, having not heard good reviews for it but I saw that Craig was in it and that was pretty much the reason I decided to check it out, was it worth it?

Frankly, no this was a terrible movie and not just that it has a confusing storyline which goes all over the place and frequently has you thinking "None of this makes any Sense" but it's also really really dull to watch I mean there are numerous times where I checked the time as it's just so boring.

But what's worst of all is that you get the overall sense that you've been here before, with movies like the Shinning (Sorry that should be the Shining) and the Amityville Horror doing similar types of stories to this one, I give Craig a lot of credit of trying with all the will in the world to save the ship from sinking with all hands lost but it just looks more like him racing for the lifeboat before it sinks, Weisz and Watts are just wasted and you can see it written all over their faces as you watch the film.

So all in all, rent Amityville or the Shinning (Shining) instead, heck do a double bill of both of you want, just rent those instead of this movie, .5 out of 5.