Film Review - Kick Ass (2010)

Kick Ass is based off a graphic novel and concerns a young teenager who wonders why no one has decided to dress up as a superhero and fight crime, well he decides to do just that and creates not only an internet sensation but heroes and villains of their own.

This is a highly entertaining and extremely enjoyable film, it is very very funny especially in regards to some of the film's action scenes and Chole Moretz who plays Hit Girl steals the show from everyone, even Nicolas Cage and Mark Strong, who is redeemed completely after his misfires in Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes, if I have a complaint though it's that the film runs a little long and at times it risks overstaying its welcome, but hey it's only a minor flaw in what is a great film.

In closing, this is everything Iron Man 2 should have been and that is a lot of fun, but it's risk of overexposure delivers the film a 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - The Lovely Bones (2010)

The Lovely Bones is the latest film directed by Peter Jackson and stars Saoirse Ronan as a 14 year old girl who is murdered while walking home from school one day, this devastates her family and her father played by Mark Wahlberg wants to know why.

To be honest here folks, I was anticipating a disaster following the unkind reviews the film has gotten and when it started and played on for the first half hour-35 minutes I thought 'okay, maybe this isn't this bad', how wrong I was, once we see the young girl go into the afterlife, the film completely loses its marbles and begins to throw in special effects sequences up the wazoo and a boozy grandmother played by Susan Sarandon who totally hams it up plus Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz looking completely lost and miscast.

If however there is a silver lining, it is the central performance by Ronan, which runs across the spectrum of emotion and effects work and she handles it like a professional, a pity that it ends up being wasted by the end of the film, hopefully Ronan goes onto better things in the future as she's too good to be wasted like this.

But getting back to the central question, is this the disaster I was waiting for, yes it was, the script and performances are totally unfocused and the effects scenes are unnecessarily put in, I'm going to sound harsh here but this movie is only getting a 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Robin Hood (2010)

Robin Hood is the latest collaboration between director Ridley Scott and star Russell Crowe and this time they focus on the legendary outlaw Robin Hood and the exploits that made him the legend he is today.

Well, I wish it did as this film severely dropped the ball on almost all fronts, Crowe's accent flips between his normal voice, an Irish accent and even a Scottish one, Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian has almost no joy in it and Mark Strong, an excellent actor is once again wasted as the film gives him little to do and this time he can't rise above it like he did in Sherlock Holmes.

But those are only the tip of the iceberg compared to the film's biggest problem and that is while the name of the film is Robin Hood, the film isn't interested in him or his story, only giving us a glimpse of it at the tail end, in its place is nonstop battle scenes with archers firing from high walls, a battalion of horses charging down the plains to do battle and endless swordfights that I grew tired of after the Lord of the Rings series came to an end in 2003.

So all in all what could have been a great film becomes bogged down in nonstop battle scenes, an unfocused script, joyless acting and messy editing, how did Ridley Scott sink this low, needless to say this one goes down as one of the worst of 2010 and it earns only a 1 out of 5.

Editorial - 30 Years Ago, The Empire Struck Back

As I write this, today the 21st May 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the Empire Strikes Back, the 1980 sequel to Star Wars.

Empire set the pace for the rest of the series, it was here that Star Wars became the legendary saga that would touch an entire generation of moviegoers as well as proving that sequels can be better than their predecessors.

But for my money, Empire is the only sequel that I've seen that was better than the original, sure there have been others I've liked; Mad Max 2, Terminator 2 and even Superman 2 but in the case of Superman 2 that was a case where I felt the original wasn't that good, sure it was entertaining but it had some big flaws, S2 improved on that but it's production wrecked it and both MM2 and T2 had strong originals to begin with.

But I can't mention Empire and mention some of the iconic scenes that film produced, the first use of the Imperial March, the battle on the ice world of Hoth with the AT-AT Walkers, the flight through the asteroid field, the introduction of Yoda and of course, the lightsaber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, which gave us the four immortal words that forever cemented the legacy of the Star Wars movies: "I am your father."

Sorry if I sound somewhat geeky but the original Star Wars movies are my favourite movies and when it came to writing my own tribute to Empire well I'll let this line from the film speak for it: "It is useless to resist."

Film Review - District 9 (2009)

District 9 deals with an alien spaceship which hovers over Johannesburg in South Africa which prompts an immediate visit by the authorities, instead of finding nothing they find a malnourished and tired alien population and round them up into slums on the surface, but that is only the beginning.

District 9 is a very well made film and also a very strange film with it being a mixture of Alien, Robocop and the Fugitive but the movie is not the flawless masterpiece critics and audiences would have you believe as the film loses it way a little in the second half with the obligatory shootouts between the aliens, the state and the Nigerian gangs who believe that by eating the aliens they will inherit their abilities that personally I am starting to get tired of.

But apart from that, do I believe that this movie is worth a look, yes I do and on that basis I will give it a 2 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sherlock Holmes is based on the iconic literature character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and stars Robert Downey Jr. as the super sleuth and Jude Law as his famous sidekick Dr. Watson, this time they must solve the case of Lord Blackwood who has somehow risen from the dead.

Sherlock is a film that for me, doesn't work at all, the plot makes no sense, the villains are laughable as Blackwood resembles Voldemort from Harry Potter and the other feeling like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, Downey and Law do what they can but they eventually end up lost at sea in terms of what to do with this mess of a script, Rachel McAdams can be enchanting on screen but is given very little to do and Mark Strong is simply wasted. all he does is cackle like a madman and I'm sorry but I am really tired of all the action movie clichés such as the close up shaky cam editing in the action scenes, the 2 dimensional heroines, heroes and villains and the wall to wall action climax that always gets solved at 1 second to noon or midnight, come on guys its 2010 for god's sake, let's just grow up a little bit okay.

As by my attitude in the review, I didn't care for this film, if you must see it rent it but otherwise Avatar is still playing in Screen 1, go to that instead, as for my rating of Sherlock well it's getting a 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron Man 2 is the continuation of the surprise hit of 2008: Iron Man 1, the story this time concerns the US Government pressuring Stark to hand over the Iron Man weapon, but little does he know that his decision of revealing his identity at the end of Iron Man 1 is starting to have dire consequences.

Now, to get this all out of the way I was sceptical about seeing this film, as the first trailer was released after seeing James Cameron's Avatar, and while I felt that it had the tone of Iron Man 1, I wasn't sure that the film as a whole would be good, especially since I had enjoyed the first so much, this was confirmed somewhat by the casting of Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson, both of whom I haven't been all that enthusiastic for in recent years, but eventually I put it aside and decided that I really did want to see this film.

But was that enough, well it comes in a good news/bad news kind of way, the good news is that Downey is back on form after failing to impress me in Tropic Thunder and Sherlock Holmes, his opening speech made me think "please let him host the Oscars" and laughing like a hyena at the same time, on top of that the chemistry between Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow is back, Johansson is a nice surprise after being hit and miss since Lost in Translation, I loved hearing Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC in the cinema and the film's flying scenes and action are very nicely handled.

Now comes the bad news, and that is the movie as a whole doesn't come together in the same satisfying way that the first film did, the film juggles a lot of characters old and new and doesn't succeed mainly because I think the film's script was rushed to meet the 2 year deadline, the character played by Rourke wasn't a good villain as all he did was mumble his lines in a cheesy Russian accent, the character of the rival businessman played by Sam Rockwell was literally channeling Michael Biehn and Don Cheadle was not a good replacement, as I couldn't help but think of what Terrence Howard would have done had he stayed on to reprise his role from the first film.

Overall, this film to me comes across as a rushed production, and it's a shame as I loved the first Iron Man film, now I know that some of you will see this regardless of what is said in this review but I cannot say that this film delivered as the small positives are outweighed by the large negatives listed above, so I have to give this a 2 and a half out of 5.