Film Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

In this, the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry. Ron and Hermione are continuing their quests to destroy the Horcruxes which will in turn help to defeat the evil Lord Voldemort, but Voldemort and his followers are now descending on Hogwarts but the magical school won't go down without a fight and in the end, there can be only one.

If the Highlander reference is somewhat confusing I'll say it refers to the final battle between Harry and Voldemort which is the final showdown that ends this series and it does so very well indeed, the battle in Hogwarts which also helps to dominate much of the film is also beautifully staged with some very surprising moments.

But the reason it works so well is this: We actually care about the characters in it and that feeling permeated throughout the movie, in an age where we have movies like Transformers 3 where you have these big effects scenes full of elaborate camera shots and state of the art computer graphics and dialogue like "You didn't betray me, you betrayed yourself" but behind that is a hollow heart, one with no real love or genuine thought attached and as a result audiences don't have any reason to care about the action on screen, here that isn't a problem, we've invested so much into the main characters here that we want to see them succeed, to stand united as one and defeat evil once and for all and it's all brought together so wonderfully well and emotionally it's just as satisfying.

But in the end there can be only one and that is given due credence but I won't say too much more than that other than "One shall Stand, One shall Fall."

All in all, a very satisfying conclusion to a series that has come to mean so much to so many, strongly recommended, 4 out of 5.

PS: Hello to Jason Issacs!

Film Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)

Part 1 of the final Harry Potter book the Deathly Hallows, darkness has descended upon the world, the evil lord Voldemort has captured the Ministry of Magic and ultimate power is within his grasp but somewhere out there, Harry, Ron and Hermione are racing to destroy the sacred Horcruxes and end his reign of evil.

After the plodding dullness that was the last HP film the Half Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows 7A captures a tone of darkness and despair rarely seen in a blockbuster, you truly get the sense that no one, nowhere is safe from the evil that plagues the world, in a way it reminds you of the Two Towers which had a similar feeling of darkness and dread, of a world where evil has real power and good men can do nothing.

But as for our valiant heroes, all three actors have really grown in confidence of their roles, Emma Watson in particular who shows real strength in the face of near overwhelming odds, but they all go on in their quest knowing that they must do all they can to defeat evil once and for all.

All in all, part of a tale that is worth your time but the battle is not yet over, one more remains, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - The Green Hornet (2011)

Based off the comic strip, The Green Hornet stars Seth Rogen as Britt Reid, son of a famous newspaper tycoon played by Tom Wilkinson who dies after a bee sting and is left in charge of his empire, but one night he gets the idea to become a superhero with his aide Kato played by Jay Chou and run the story in his paper, but a local mob boss played by Christoph Waltz may have other ideas.

Okay, onto the good parts of the movie and they are some of the individual gags and chase scenes, for the most part these work on their own and the chase scenes are well directed but unfortunately they only work as individual scenes.

However the glue that holds this movie together; the script simply doesn't work at all, going from boorish to action to emotion as it goes on without any rhyme or reason to tie it all together and make the audience give two shits about anything happening on screen, as for the performances Rogen comes across as really annoying for most of the movie and just does nothing more than the stereotypical "overgrown man child who must learn to grow up well after he should've" routine that is REALLY annoying me to no end and Waltz really just does nothing more than the cartoon villain with his "I finally have Gadget exactly where I want him, hehehehahahaha" dialogue that is again very very annoying while Chou is given the impossible task of carrying the whole movie on his shoulders which he does rather well I must say, one can't help but think that if it wasn't for him the whole film would've been a total disaster.

All in all, as I said it has some good points but the script just doesn't work, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Footrot Flats (1987)

Footrot Flats is based from the famous New Zealand cartoon strip that also featured in Australian newspapers and the story here is that Wal voiced by John Clarke is desperate to both impress his girl and the inspector for the NZ All Blacks rugby team, but those plans are derailed when a new Dog is delivered to him by his Aunt.

And speaking of that Dog, it is the star of this wonderful film, with it's internal monologues very funny including one where he impersonates Don Adams from Get Smart, the film also contains some dark elements too but if I have one complaint it is the lack of use of the great song "Slice of Heaven" by Dave Dobbyn, it only appears at the very end of the film when I wished that it would have appeared in the actual film itself as it would've been a shame to waste such a great song on a part of the movie where people wouldn't hear it in a cinema, they would've got up and left for home.

Oh well, you can't win em all and it's only a minor complaint of what is a very enjoyable film, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Dead Again (1991)

Dead Again stars Kenneth Branagh as Mike Church, a man who is asked to pick up a woman played by Emma Thompson as she has had a terrible nightmare about a crime regarding Roman and Margaret Strauss, a couple also played in the film by Branagh and Thompson in which Margaret is murdered and Roman tried and executed for the crime, but things are not quite what they seem.

If that plot synopsis sounded a little complicated, then rest assured the film is anything but, it is simply a terrific achievement by Branagh who keeps a tight rein on the ship and makes sure nothing gets too out of hand, Branagh, Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Robin Williams, Wayne Knight and Andy Garcia are all really good in their roles and the score by Patrick Doyle really helps to form the identity of the film, being both quite and tense in all the right places.

One thing I also must mention is Matthew Leonetti's cinematography, it really helps to delinate the two timelines in a way that it clears up for the viewer where they are, the 1940's material is in Black and White and the 1990's material is in Colour, a great move and one that is most appreciated as the B&W material looks terrific.

Sadly though, if the film were to be released today it would immediately be seized upon as a rip off of last year's Inception due to the familiarity of the subject matter and that is a real shame as Dead Again deserves to stand on its two feet as a great film in its own right.

All in all, a really good movie that deserves to be seen, it's a real shame that Branagh's Thor movie wasn't as clear cut and enjoyable as this movie, 4 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Fortress (1992)

Fortress stars Christopher Lambert as John Brennick, a former Black Beret Captain who quit in disgrace and tries with his wife to cross the border who is carrying their second child after their first one died, but is caught and sent to the Fortress, a private security prison, but they won't be able to hold him for long.

Fortress is somewhat like the recently released Thor, in that it has a lot of talent attached to it in director Stuart Gordon, actors Lambert, Kurtwood Smith, Jeffrey Combs, Delroy Lindo and Vernon Wells but wastes every single one of them.

The reason why is that the plot itself is deadly dull and doesn't really inspire anything apart from a Die Hard meets Great Escape style plot and also Lambert himself, now I'm a huge fan of Highlander and thought he was great in that film but here seems unsure of where to go or what to do, it's been said that the project was originally going to star Arnold Schwarzenegger but Lambert replaced him, I wonder if Arnold would have been better in this film as he might have brought some energy to the film.

All in all, a lacklustre sci-fi film best left on the shelf, 1 out of 5.