Film Review - Unknown (2011)

Unknown stars Liam Neeson as Dr. Martin Harris who at the beginning of the film is arriving in Berlin with his wife Liz played by January Jones to give a talk at a Biotech conference, but he mistakenly leaves a briefcase at the airport he takes a taxi back to collect it but is in a mysterious accident not long after and wakes up in the hospital not remembering anything, but there is more to this than meets the eye.

Unknown is a serviceable action thriller that is thankfully not very long and it has some good performances from Neeson, Diane Kruger and Frank Langella all of whom I like quite a bit especially Neeson who would have to be one of my favourite actors.

However, the script for this movie borders on the ridiculous at times and it got to the point where I not only started laughing (especially at the German accents in this movie that made me think of the "Don't Mention the War" sketch from Fawlty Towers) but also thinking that some of the characters may as well have put name pins on them saying "I'm the Bad Guy", "I'm his accomplice" and "I'm the Dead Man".

But hey, if you want to see some good Liam Neeson action, my advice is to rent Taken instead and skip this one, its a serviceable thriller but one that I didn't find engaging or interesting, the whole thing just bordered on being downright silly, 1 out of 5.

FIlm Review - The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

The Adjustment Bureau is based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick and stars Matt Damon as David Morris, a Senate candidate for the state of New York who loses but one night meets a young ballerina played by Emily Blunt, they get to know each other but it may turn out to be that destiny has other ideas.

The Adjustment Bureau starts off pretty well with an interesting premise that being that the fate that we choose to make may not be what is planned for us in the grand scheme of things and that sometimes things happen because they are simply meant to and it also has some very nice location work in New York which helps give the feel of authenticity to the film and there is also a good performance by Terence Stamp as one of the senior adjusters, Stamp has always been a long time favourite and not only was it a pleasure to see him in this movie, I also had a bit of a geek out when he first came on screen.

However the film has a big weakness in the casting of Damon, quite frankly he has very little chemistry with Blunt and the character is meant to be this young hot shot when Damon himself is nearly 40 in real life, the film also flip flops around with the rules regarding the adjusters which like in Source Code is a little annoying but unlike Source Code didn't get on my nerves.

All in all, the film was okay, nothing great but nothing that terrible either, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Real Steel (2011)

Real Steel stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who is now retired as the world has moved to robot boxing, after losing a robot in a bull ring he learns that the mother of his son has died and young Max (Dakota Goyo) is now in his care, one night he goes to collect the kid and he falls down a cliff only to be saved by an old robot.

Real Steel is actually a pretty enjoyable film, thanks largely to Jackman's presence, Jackman has the ability to slip into the shoes of almost any character seamlessly and here he does a great job as well as a somewhat convincing American accent though it does at times slip back into his natural accent.

I also liked the robot effects, they looked pretty convincing and the fights were for the most part well filmed by director Shawn Levy though at times they did go a little too close, also the story for the most part borders on being a bit predictable but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the film too much though another small niggle I had was with the score by Danny Elfman, I was hoping it would found more of that Bill Conti feel from the Rocky series as I did find myself humming some of that music in parts of this film.

So overall, Real Steel is a great time at the movies with the kind of tone I really wished had been in the Transformers movies instead of the heartless piles of mashed up junk we got, 4 out of 5.

Film Review - Source Code (2011)

Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhall as what seems to be Jeff, a school teacher who is on a train heading into Chicago and sitting across from him is Christina Warren played by Michelle Monahan, but suddenly a bomb goes off killing all on board, but there is more to all of this than meets the eye.

To start things off I think that the movie is well directed by Duncan Jones, also known for the 2009 sleeper Moon, he paces the film well and doesn't let things run on too long though I also can't help but think that he was helped in this endeavour by the films editor Paul Hirsch who also helped edit Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back, there are also some good performances in this film particularly by Jeffrey Wright and Vera Farmiga.

However I have a BIG bone to pick with this film and that is with the script, quite frankly it is pathetic, plot hole ridden and at times illogical, now to be fair it opens very well with the initial train explosion but after that Gyllenhall asks all these stupid questions that make you think "JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO THE FUCKING LADY YOU DOPE".

I know I shouldn't have done that but it's because Farmiga's character (probably the only character in this movie with SOME intelligence and humanity) tells you exactly what you need to know before going into the train but Gyllenhall keeps asking all these stupid questions that are very off putting and to be frank made me angry, you're asking me to play fair dinkum with the movie and the logic within it but why should I do that when the movie itself keeps throwing up these endless and pointless questions about the who, what, where and why of all this when you only need to know that info at the time its required, all it did in the end is make me think that the movie itself is unsure of itself especially in light of what I said earlier when its wanting a confidence from its audience to follow it when it doesn't project that same confidence within the world the movie exists in or in its own rules.

But wait there's more, and it regards the ridiculous ending that I can't say too much about it but quite frankly I found insulting as it betrayed what the film was saying up to that point but I guess it had to be there so the pretty leads that are oh so beloved could end up together and we can wrap the film up in a nice neat little bow and have the happy ending with the clear blue sky and singing birds and "love is in the air, everywhere I look around", give me a fucking break.

If you haven't guessed by now, I didn't think that much of this movie at all and all it did in the end was make me appreciate Chris Nolan's Inception a lot more, a movie that not only asked its audience to stick with it but also have the courage of its convictions and not dumb itself down to try and get the conventional audience to go and see the film and be confident of not only itself but the world it exists in it and the rules that guide it, .5 out of 5.

Film Review - Rio (2011)

Rio is an animated film by Blue Sky studios, best known for making the Ice Age series, the story here is that a rare Blue Macaw bird is captured from his natural habitat and placed in captivity in a rural town in Minnesota, but he is found by a young girl who raises him as her pet and one day, a bird doctor comes to her book shop and says that he must go to Rio and meet a female from his species voiced by Anne Hathaway so that their race will survive.

Rio is a better than average animated film with some rather nice visuals that look great with their bright colours and starry nights, yet again proof as to why you don't need 3D as it would dark and dim and blurry like all 3D productions do these days, though there are some rare exceptions.

As for the voice acting, well it isn't too bad though the bright spot was Hathaway who gives a spirited performance and reminds you of how good an actress she can be when given the chance to prove herself and carry a film on her own two shoulders which she can do almost effortlessly which was also proved by the re do of Get Smart she did a few years ago.

But in all honesty, Hathaway's the only reason to check out the film as pretty visuals alone a good film does not make as outside of her the film borders on the boring, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - The Lion King 3D (1994/2011)

A re release of the classic 1994 Disney film, the Lion King tells the tale of young Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick) who is the son of King Mufasa voiced by James Earl Jones and is also destined to become king, but his evil brother Scar voiced by Jeremy Irons wants to take the throne for himself.

The film has held up wonderfully well, seeing it back on the big screen with the dynamic sound was an absolute treat especially the films songs by Tim Rice and Elton John and the orchestral score by Hans Zimmer and the famous Stampede sequence also sounded terrific, needless to say I had a big smile on my face the entire time I was in the cinema.

However, I must talk about the 3D effect and I'll say that it's not terrible like the kind that happens with a lot of recent films like Captain America and Thor which did not benefit in any way at all from the 3D treatment but getting back to this film as I said it isn't terrible and there is a nice use of the effect in some scenes in regards to the depth of field and showcasing some of the background details but again I took the glasses off and noticed it was brighter and more colourful, which leads me to say that if you saw it on a nice 2D screen with a properly projected print, you'd have every inch the same experience.

All in all, if your thinking about going to see this re release, do it despite the 3D, it's wonderful to see it back on the big screen and it deserves to be seen with a sold out crowd, nothing else would do it justice and if you haven't shown your kids or nieces/nephews the film and want to do so, now is the time and chance to do it, 5 out of 5.

Film Review - Spaceballs (1987)

Spaceballs is from the comedy icon Mel Brooks and this time he turns his attention to the Star Wars Trilogy with the Planet Spaceball and its inhabitants wanting the fresh air of the nearby planet Druidia, to do this they send their most fearsome agent Dark Helmet played by Rick Moranis, meanwhile on Druidia King Roland played by Dick van Patten wants to marry off his daughter Princess Vespa played by Daphne Zuniga. but she runs away and flees the planet, which gives Helmet an idea to kidnap her to get the air from her planet, but to succeed he'll have to deal with Lone Star played by Bill Pullman and his companion Barf played by John Candy.

Now, I remember first seeing this movie a few years back and loving it to death, the parody of Star Wars to me felt spot on and I laughed my head off for the most part, but recently I felt compelled to revisit it after having not seen it since then, has it held up?

Sadly no, mainly for two reasons, the first being that I just didn't laugh all that much, don't get me wrong I smiled and chuckled a little bit at some of the gags and riffs on characters from the Star Wars movies but the first time I really laughed was at the 40 minute mark which can be death in a comedy and even then there were only a few laughs after that.

Which leads me onto my next reason: It's Boring, yes folks I was bored throughout large chunks of this film and as if that wasn't enough, it's a slow comedy, why wasn't was some zing added to this movie, a sense of pace and movement, I mean a year after this movie came out the Naked Gun hit cinemas and that is an example of a great comedy that moves along, piles jokes onto each other and does its riffs very well, this in comparison just plods along to its tedious end.

But I do have to sound out the main positive and that is some of the cast, Moranis, Pullman and Zuniga give it their all and try to do their best but in the end like many actors before and since they just become lost in the material which doesn't do them justice and in the case of Moranis well quite frankly he is wasted in this film and that is a real shame as he is a talented actor.

So in closing, the Force just isn't with this comedy and yet Brooks would later make Robin Hood: Men in Tights which was funny, but as I said this isn't and its tedious and slow, I can't recommend this film, 1.5 out of 5.