Film Review - Starship Troopers (1997)

Starship Troopers is based off the famous Sci-Fi novel by Robert A. Heinlein but takes its own path from the book, in this film version written by Robocop Co-Writer Ed Neumeier and directed by that film's director Paul Verhoeven it is the near future and bugs are the great threat to humankind from the planet of Klendathu but service in the military guarantees citizenship in the Federation and its these brave men and women of tomorrow that will take to the stars and defeat this evil menace, would you like to know more?

"Would you like to know more?" is a key line in this film and its used very well to keep the audience interested in the films plot rather than just its good special effects work in terms of the bugs itself which are rather good and you do get a sense of satisfaction of not only seeing them blow up real good (though you do wish the humans would use better guns to blow them all sky high before they tear them all limb from limb) but also seeing them tear the humans apart during the battle scenes.

But apart from that, the film is also so much fun to watch and its anchored by a great cast combining young and old actors from Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards in possibly her only good part, Neil Patrick Harris (yes that one) and Jake (son of Gary) Busey to the older crew such as Clancy Brown, Michael Ironside, Rue McClanahan in a small role, Brenda Strong all of these people and more do a great job plus there's a great script by Neumeier, great direction by Verhoeven and a terrific score by the late Basil Poledouris which combines the WW2 and Patriotic aspects beautifully.

But the main reason this film is so much fun is that it knows exactly what it wants to do, which is be an old fashioned 1950s B-Movie with an A-Movie budget, okay the central romance sucks the diddly but hey the rest of the films pretty good.

All in all, this is a very fun film that is easily worth a rent, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Superman 4: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Superman 4: The Quest for Peace sees the Man of Steel confronting the real world threat of Nuclear War after a 12 year old boy named Jeremy writes to him hoping that he can put an end to the atomic crisis, but while Superman sees this as his chance to help the people of the world, the dastardly arch villain Lex Luthor has other ideas.

To be honest, I really don't know where to start with this movie as the whole thing comes across as a complete mess, but in the mean time, let me count the ways:

1. The Effects: Oh my God, this thing is laughable to look at as there is just no effort put into the special effects work at all as the exact same shot of Superman flying towards the camera is used again and again, the only difference being the background plate be it outer space, somewhere else, the Moon or Metropolis, but then again this film looks as though it had little to no money spent on it and boy does it show on screen.

2. The Story: Dear god is this story so noble and self serving, it just hits you over the head again and again with its moralising about how "there will be peace in our time and when people scream so hard for peace, their governments will have no choice but to give it to them" give me a break.

And to make matters worse on this front, almost all of the main points are borrowed from the earlier films, the battle on the Moon and the chief super villain feel right out of Superman II, Clark on the Farm and the scene of Superman and Lois flying feel right out of the first film, but then again you didn't need another reminder of those two great films now did you.

3. The Cast: Oh god what the hell is Gene Hackman doing in this movie I mean Hackman did a great job in the first two Superman movies and here he just becomes a cartoon character going "I am going to profit from all of this and destroy Superman for good, nehahahahahaha" plus there's also Margot Kidder looking like she's aged 10 years since the first Superman movie where she looked really bright and vibrant, here again everyone seems to be phoning it in.

And yet there is one small positive in this movie, what's that you're saying a positive for this mess well yes there is but as I said it's a small one and that is Chris Reeve himself, proving why he is the one true Superman and that anyone that fills the role will most likely never be as good, Reeve is just great as the Man of Steel but again its just this one very small ray of hope against this plodding mess that stinks all the way to the Moon in its own right.

But what is the worst thing of all is this, that it all could have been avoided if Richard Donner hadn't been fired from Superman II before he had a chance to finish it in 1979 as I fully believe that if he did get the chance to do that, he would've made possibly the best comic book movie of all and been able to continue with future films but alas things change and different creative people come in and think that if we focus on the real world stuff and less on the fantasy and wonder that Donner focused on then people might relate more to this Superman, well sorry to say this but it doesn't quite work that way, sometimes it might but most times it does not.

All in all, unless you're an absolute die hard Superman fan please do not watch this movie, trust me you will feel so much happier that you didn't, .5 out of 5.

Film Review - The Shadow (1994)

The Shadow is based on the pulp novel and stars Alec Baldwin as the Shadow, a man living in the East who is taught to use his dark powers to defeat evil, and he'll need every inch of his mystical training to defeat his greatest enemy.

I actually quite enjoyed this film, it was directed by Russell Mulcahy and he does a good job with the material as well as his cast, almost all of which are effective, the highlights being Baldwin, Penelope Ann Miller (who reminded me a lot of Rachel McAdams), Ian McKellen, Tim Curry and the late Peter Boyle, they're all great.

I was also struck by the effects in the film which complemented Mulcahy's style very well as well as Jerry Goldsmith's score and the dynamic between Baldwin and John Lone, which reminded me of the conflict between Connor MacLeod and the Kurgan in the first Highlander, no surprise as the same man directed both of those films.

All in all, a well done comic book movie that in some scenes lay the seeds for Batman Begins in 2005, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - The Way Back (2010)

The Way Back is the first film by veteran Australian director Peter Weir since his 2003 movie Master and Commander which starred Russell Crowe, the story here concerns a group of prisoners in a Siberian gulag who during a storm one night make a break for it, but the journey from there has only just begun.

I was very much looking forward to this film, mainly due to the fact that Weir was the director, having greatly admired some of his earlier films such as 1981's Gallipoli and 1989's Dead Poets Society which is also one of my all time favourite films, but did Weir manage to deliver the goods in light of his long absence.

Gladly, he most certainly did, the film is beautifully shot by Weir regular Russell Boyd with the various regions of ice and mountains, sand and forests plus a beach or two feeling like a central character in it's own right, but apart from that the film is a wonderful journey with some fine acting by Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan and Mark Strong among the highlights.

You know, as I watched this I was reminded of the fact that directors like Peter Weir and James Cameron knew fundamentally how to make a great big screen adventure whereas a lot of modern directors really do stuff that feels more like a big budget TV show, but still I enjoyed this film thoroughly and it was well worth the wait to see it, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Captain America (2011)

Captain America is the last of the Marvel movies to help set up the upcoming Avengers film which will be released next year, the story here is that in the 1940's the Nazi's have declared war and Steve Rogers played by Chris Evans is keen to enlist and serve his country but because of his skinny body and asthmatic health he is rejected, until a doctor played by Stanley Tucci offers him the chance of a lifetime.

In all honesty I wasn't really sure what to expect with this film, while the trailer looked pretty neat I kept thinking to myself "maybe I should skip this one" but thinking about the trailer made me change my mind, so was I right to be skeptical or was I right to trust my instincts in the hope that this one would deliver the goods?

As it turns out, I actually had a lot of fun with this movie, more so than some this year and the credit has to go to the director Joe Johnston, Johnston started at Lucasfilm in the 1970's and cut his teeth on the Star Wars Trilogy and Raiders of the Lost Ark and that background is on full show here with a car chase in the beginning of the film feeling a lot like the truck chase from Raiders and a bike chase in a forest towards the end of the film feeling a little bit like the Speeder Bike Chase from Return of the Jedi, now I'm not saying that's a bad thing necessarily but it's something that I noticed as I was watching the film.

As for the performances well generally they were quite good, Evans made for a strong and heroic Captain and Hugo Weaving made for a good bad guy, even though I still hate him as Megatron this and the Wolfman reminded me that he's a good actor though at times I did think to myself "When did he turn into Sam Neill" as he sounded a lot like Sam Neill when he played Visili in The Hunt for Red October and Hayley Atwell was pretty good too as the main love interest though again I was reminded of Claire Danes as she looked a lot like her, though it's a pity Danes didn't play Emma Frost in X-Men First Class as January Jones looked like her in that movie too.

Plus there's the fact that Tucci looked like Dr. Malikov from the Resistance video game series on the PS3 and I mean that literally, it was a dead ringer for Malikov.

Now comes my main bone of contention with this movie and it regards the 3D, frankly it wasn't needed as it felt more like 2.5D and low and behold, when I took the glasses off it looked great, it was brighter, more colourful and I got to appreciate the cinematography a lot more too, but then again it's not as if you needed further proof that 3D isn't needed and everything looks better in good old fashioned 2D now did you.

All in all, a good year for blockbusters notches up another win for its ranks but PLEASE see it in 2D instead, you'll feel so much happier you did, 4 out of 5.