TL;DR – A solid film but it makes you wish for more
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
The Bridge of Spies is the third historical film we have had in a row now and unlike Legend (see review) and Black Mass (see review) it is not a mob flick, instead, it is all about spies. As well as this, unlike the other two, it actually is really quite good. The Bridge of Spies is a film about the Cold War, a time of bipolar world powers bent on outmanoeuvring each other and the fear of nuclear obliteration was very real one. Within this context, both the US and the USSR mobilised extensive resources to spy on each other and inevitably people got caught.
TL;DR – Interesting but I doubt it will be remembered a month from now
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Review –
Well, it seems like this is the time for a gritty retelling of true stories of the criminal underground and while last week’s Black Mass (see review) was a boring mess this week’s Legend is a little bit more interesting. While one should endeavour to review films on their own merits, it’s a bit hard not to compare the two films due to their similar content, the manner of presentation and proximity of release.
TL;DR – “This is … This is … This is…. ‘What?’ .. This is borrrrring” Scott Pilgrim
Score – 2 out of 5 stars
Review –
Black Mass is a ‘true’ story about how the FBI ended up being entangled with an Irish-American mobster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger from Boston in an attempt to take down the local Italian Mafia, leading to the FBI ‘unexpectedly’ backing Whitey into becoming the crime lord of Boston. So during Black Mass, we get to see the rise and fall of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger and his Winter-Hill Gang, and that’s not a spoiler because they tell you that in the first couple of minutes of the film. Before we go on I cannot tell you how true the ‘based on True Events’ tag is, I mean I could research it, but the film honestly does not feel like it is worth the effort.
TL;DR – A movie with tension, humour and humanity, go watch it
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Review –
The Martian is a film about adversity and challenge in an environment that will kill you, which would make a very interesting film, now take that environment and put it on another planet and then leave your protagonist alone as everything crumbles around them.
TL;DR – I feel like I have seen this movie, this is the same story over and over again, but it has its moments
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Pan is a story of how Peter Pan became the boy that never grew up, how Hook becomes Captain Hook and how Hugh Jackman decided that we was just going to have fun and ham it up for an hour and a half.
TL,DR – Is this the train wreck everyone said it would be, yes, this is an abomination of cinema, Do Not Waste Your Money On It.
Score – 0.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
There was a time a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away when I quite enjoyed Adam Sandler films. Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, 50 First Dates and The Wedding Singer are all classic films worthy of a re-watch. As time when on I just stopped liking them, but hey people grow up, tastes change, and you know Adam Sandler goes out of his way to keep his friends employed every year, so kudos to that. But as time goes on and it is just one terrible film after another, it has me wondering, is there ever going to be an Adam Sandler film that I like again?, is Pixels going to be that film?, No, no it’s not.
TL;DR – This is a film that does not know what it wants to be, and ends up just being a mess
Score – 2 out of 5 stars
Review –
When I walked into this film I knew nothing other than the title and the two leads, so I was interested to see something completely without any pre-held notions. Unfortunately, honestly, I think if I had found out more before I went, I probably would have given this a miss.
TL;DR – A really good action flick and an example of world building done right.
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Review –
John Wick has been out on DVD/Digital Download for some time and with a sequel now on the cards, I thought I would have a look back at one of the better action films in recent times.
The basic plot of John Wick is that the titular character John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a man who was once in deep in the Russian mob, and through an impossible act he freed himself and settled down with his new love, only for her to pass away. The last thing his wife did was buy John a puppy so he could move on from his grief. The son of the Russian Mob boss Iosef (Alfie Allen) mistakes him for an easy mark, this is an error, a grave error.
TL;DR – While not the best movie I have seen this
year, it’s full of charm and a lot of fun, well worth a look
Review –
Before I
start I should mention I have not seen the source TV show, unlike Get Smart, MASH or Hogan’s Heroes etc. it just
did not get a lot of reruns on TV where I live, so I no idea if this is a
faithful adaption or not, on a side note can you imagine how bad a remake of
MASH would be, so I am just judging on what I saw in the movies.
TL;DR – This movie is a train wreck that will make you look back fondly on the camp amusement that was 2005’s Fantastic Four.
Score – 2 out of 5 stars
Review –
Fantastic Four has not had the easiest life in development, it is a film that only exists to fulfil a contract and avoid movie rights reverting back to Marvel. Now interestingly, this is not the first time this has happened with the Fantastic Four, also this is not necessarily a bad thing. X-Men First Class was in the exact same situation, but while that was an exercise in innovative storytelling, this is an overly protracted and ultimately boring film.
“We gave you six years, and millions of dollars, and you gave us nothing” strangely prophetic words given how the film turned out. Image Credit: Fox
As with most reboots, Fantastic Four is an origin film, we see how all the main players get their powers and how it changes their lives. One should point out, no one asked for these powers, like Spider-man this is caused by an accident. This is a really interesting set up because you didn’t get to choose, the powers get thrust upon you and you have to decide how to react. But here we come across the first stumbling block of the film, lazy writing. This film is full of clichés, (Spoilers Ahead: Jump To The Next Paragraph If You Wish To Avoid), like how one character constantly argues with their father only to regret it later, seriously, if you have to declare “I’m an adult now” during a middle of a temper tantrum, you’re not an adult. Then we also we have the two characters are presented to be best friends, then enemies, then best friends again … because of the story. Also, good writers can foreshadow future events or give little winks to the audience who know what’s coming (see King Joffery’s Crossbow), bad writers literally go in the first 5 minutes of a character’s introduction “wow you’re like Dr Doom”. Also, while I am always ok with an adaption changing something from its source material to make it work, if it improves the adaption, or makes it work in a new medium, some of the changes (which come down to the core of the relationship between the FF and the world) feel forced and unnecessary, bar for the need to add tension for no suitable reason.
What is this mess. Image Credit: Fox
The casting also is a bit of a problem, they cast the film way too young, Julian McMahon may have been overly theatrical with his performance of Dr Doom in the 2005 film, but at least he had some gravitas behind his performance rather than whiny angst. Now, in this case, I don’t blame the actors because you can see some of them are really trying, but whether through the script, or the directing or the editing it just falls flat. Out of all the cast Miles Teller (Reed Richards/ Mr Fantastic) and Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm/ The Thing) work the best, however, the way they frame Kate Mara’s (Sue Storm/ The Invisible Women) performance makes it almost feels like an afterthought that they added in, and Michael B. Jordan has all the bluster of the Human Torch, but with none of his charm.
This film is so bad that the trailers for the film are edited in a way that gives the impression that the film is going to be a much more action focused global film when nothing could be further than the truth. At best it is misleading and worst it is simply lying to a potential audience. There is a simple reason for that, the films pacing is really slow at the start and never really ramps up until it hits a sudden unsatisfactory climax, and then just kind of ends with this sort of staging for the sequel, which I doubt is a done deal atm and also reinforces how uneventful the rest of the film has been.
What a waste of a good cast. Image Credit: Fox
Now it is not all bad, some of the effect are really amazing and given you have Weta Digital on the payroll that should come to no surprise, it is just a pity that you don’t see more of it.
There is much more I could say but I think at this point you can get the general feeling I have for this film, in the end, Fantastic Four, I’m not really upset with you, I’m just disappointed.
(warning: the trailer is edited in such a way to give an impression that this is a action film, nothing could be further from the truth)
Directed by – Josh Trank Screenplay by – Jeremy Slater, Simon Kinberg & Josh Trank Based on – ‘Fantastic Four’ by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby Starring – Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey & Tim Blake Nelson Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Ireland: 12A; NZ: M; UK: 12A; USA: PG-13
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 