Thursday 30 April 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Review...Tommorow
Some of you may have already seen it in advance screenings, but on its technical opening day (Friday 1st May) aka tommorow, I will be watching X Men Origins: Wolverine, and posting a review (probably) of the 107 minute film. In case teenage fans are worried they're not going to get into the cinema due to a high rating, don't worry, it's a 12A rated film, so as long as you have an adult with you, you can be any age to see it. Just a warning, though, X-Men films based around Wolverine's past life have tended to be quite violent, and the fact that this already looks quite dangerous means don't expect a light and happy ride, toddlers. Enjoy the movie if you see in the next few days, and if you already have, why not post a mini-review or comment on what you thought? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE!)
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Haters Beware- It Returns In 2010...
If the image isn't a big enough clue for ya', then I'll just come out and say it: High School Musical will be back in 2010. The trilogy seemingly ended on the big screen with the third movie, dubbed Senior Year, as the main characters departed from East High to attend college. But, as some might say, the end is just the beginning of something new. A whole new bunch of characters will form the cast in what is only currently known as High School Musical 4, and auditions for the new characters will begin in late summer/early autumn. Once again, the story seems to revolve around elements of the Shakespeare play Romeo & Juliet, with Newsround quoting the plot from a Disney source as focusing on "the cross town rivalry between East High and West High" and "a new romance". Hopefully, the movie won't end in the same way as Shakespeare's play did, though! High School Musical 4 will premiere on the Disney Channel in Autumn 2010, instead of at the cinema, where the supposedly final instalment was shown. What do you think of the announcement of yet another High School Musical?
17 Again- 4/5
High School Musical star Zac Efron returns in this hilarious flick
It's the film every HSM-hating boyfriend has been dreading, and the film every teenage girl has been awaiting with a passion. 17 Again has arrived in cinemas, and I'm happy to say that it will go down fine with teenagers of either gender. Not so far from his role as a basketballer in the original High School Musical trilogy (see the next post to find out why I refer to the three films so far as this), Efron starts as a 17 year old college student who loses everything, including a basketball scholarship, to be with his babe. Not a bad move, by any standards, but his character, Mike 'O' Donnell, seems to think otherwise. As he starts to look back angrily at this event, an old, strange janitor approaches him, asking Mike (now 33) if he would like to go back and change how things played out. Agreeing, Mike soon finds himself in his 17 year old body, much to the amazement of his roommate Ned. Ah, Ned. What a character. Why am I going on about a side character like Ned, you may ask? Well, my dear reader, without Ned, this film, originally suspected to be a mere romance flick, would be dull. Ned Gold (played by Thomas Lennon) is Mike's dim-witted and nerdy roommate, and when Mike becomes young again, his friend tries to ask out the boy's headteacher, with hilarious results. Some of his lines and props, taken from classics like The Lord of The Rings and Star Wars, are amongst the best and funniest in the movie, and will surely go down in history.
But enough about Ned, is this film really any good, or just one for Efron diehards? Thankfully, I'm going to opt for the second thought, as all the elements used in the movie really work, and though the fact it relies so much on the comical parts sometimes proves its downfall, 17 Again is really worth seeing for any family who have nothing to do one weekend and are looking for a good laugh! 4/5
Monsters Vs. Aliens- 3/5
Or "Monsters Vs Big Robot & Squid Thing"Monsters vs. Aliens has been heralded for months now by DreamWorks as one of their best pieces of work yet, with supposedly groundbreaking 3D animation, a comedic yet emotional script, and, as per usual for the studio, a huge and magnificent cast. Of these three claims of brilliance, only one remains true when viewers actually sit down and watch the movie, and that’s by far the cast list. Reese Witherspoon (well known for her roles in films like Penelope and The Importance of Being Earnest), Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer in 24, here the human commander) and Hugh Laurie (best known for popular TV drama House), the big names of the flick, give their voices with an enthusiasm and eccentricity not usually seen in animated films, and even the lesser-known actors like Seth Rogen (who plays B.O.B, right) and Rainn Wilson (here portraying the antagonist Galaxhar) give excellent performances. Other than this, though, Monsters vs. Aliens is a fairly by-the-books romp, and one that certainly won’t have many cinema-goers coming back for more. It breaks no new territory, and what’s worse, at times will have watchers wishing that someone would just go ahead and crack a joke.
Trouble is, this isn’t the first time this has happened with a movie by any means. Only last summer, The Simpsons Movie was launched to colossal audiences in cinemas, after almost a year of promotional campaigns. As the film opened, all seemed well, with the traditional Simpsons jokes and fanfare clearly apparent, but, by the second half of the pic, the laughter was lost in favor of romantic and weird plot lines, thus ending one of the most anticipated films of all times with a mere sizzle, instead of the bang that everyone had expected. Sure, if there had been more gags and less dilly-dallying, the outcome might have been better, but in a way, it was the sheer amount of trailers that aired beforehand that became its downfalls. All the good jokes, like “Spider-Pig”, were shown repeatedly on television sets worldwide for weeks on end, so that, by the time fans rushed to see it, all the comedy vanished when the seemingly hilarious catch lines were said. This same problem plagues Monsters vs. Aliens, and hopefully it’ll now be clear to readers why this is so, and what to therefore expect when they watch the movie.
If this was the film’s only irritance, then perhaps it would be easier to forgive and enjoy MVA, but as it happens, there’s much more wrong with this than meets the eye. Another reason why viewers will love to hate the movie is through the terrible character evolution. The point of this genre of film is to see the main character (s) go through some emotional changes over the course of the running time, and even in The Simpsons Movie this happens to Homer, but not even one character gets a significant development in MVA. Ginormica (Reese Witherspoon), the centerpiece of the film, changes about as much as a rock left to stand on a table, and the Missing Link (Will Arnett), who early on complains about his lack of energy and how he was beaten by a girl, does nothing to make himself any stronger or more cunning, quite the opposite. Indeed, the only character any child will show any compassion for is the hugely cute and impressive (in more ways than one, see left) Insectosaurus. Forgive the spoiler, but during the middle part of MVA, the big guy is virtually killed off, leaving both the audience and characters disheartened. It’s a testament to how dull the film can get, in that viewers are becoming sadder over the death of a giant insect that cannot talk than they are over any pain the central characters receive. Surely it should be, say, when a giant girder hurtles towards the team of monsters that the audience should be most scared and worried (as hard as it is to believe it happening) for the fate of the animated world, and not when an insect who has barely done anything but walk around and growl dies suddenly? What is this world coming to?
The last niggle is in the storyline. It was not unexpected for DreamWorks to once again stick with their structure; it’s been set in stone for the studio’s line of films for years now. The story basically goes like this: main character lives a good life, wants to do something/go somewhere, trips up, then does something right, then loses all hope, then saves the day. It’s traditional DreamWorks stuff, and it’s never going to change. As Homer would say: “D’oh!”
As always, there are some saving graces, hence the not-so-terrible score below. The animation itself is brilliant, and while the 3D is still not at the heights of past efforts like Spy Kids 3: Game Over, it’s much improved over the recent 3D adaptation of Bolt (which was originally filmed in 2D, so didn’t work in the third dimension), as MVA was filmed in 3D right from the very beginning. Also, as already mentioned, the voice acting is all fine and good, and could easily be seen as the best part of the film.
The bottom line: should people go and see this? Well, if readers are amongst the few who have wisely waited for this review, then they should heed this warning: if they desperately want to see the film, then they can, but they should ensure they see the 2D version, simply because it’s cheaper and wastes less money. It’s times like these when it seems a good idea for DreamWorks to go back and re-watch the original, and by far the best in the series, Shrek, as, other than a few minor exceptions, none of their films after it have made even a chink on its armor!
3/5
Trouble is, this isn’t the first time this has happened with a movie by any means. Only last summer, The Simpsons Movie was launched to colossal audiences in cinemas, after almost a year of promotional campaigns. As the film opened, all seemed well, with the traditional Simpsons jokes and fanfare clearly apparent, but, by the second half of the pic, the laughter was lost in favor of romantic and weird plot lines, thus ending one of the most anticipated films of all times with a mere sizzle, instead of the bang that everyone had expected. Sure, if there had been more gags and less dilly-dallying, the outcome might have been better, but in a way, it was the sheer amount of trailers that aired beforehand that became its downfalls. All the good jokes, like “Spider-Pig”, were shown repeatedly on television sets worldwide for weeks on end, so that, by the time fans rushed to see it, all the comedy vanished when the seemingly hilarious catch lines were said. This same problem plagues Monsters vs. Aliens, and hopefully it’ll now be clear to readers why this is so, and what to therefore expect when they watch the movie.
If this was the film’s only irritance, then perhaps it would be easier to forgive and enjoy MVA, but as it happens, there’s much more wrong with this than meets the eye. Another reason why viewers will love to hate the movie is through the terrible character evolution. The point of this genre of film is to see the main character (s) go through some emotional changes over the course of the running time, and even in The Simpsons Movie this happens to Homer, but not even one character gets a significant development in MVA. Ginormica (Reese Witherspoon), the centerpiece of the film, changes about as much as a rock left to stand on a table, and the Missing Link (Will Arnett), who early on complains about his lack of energy and how he was beaten by a girl, does nothing to make himself any stronger or more cunning, quite the opposite. Indeed, the only character any child will show any compassion for is the hugely cute and impressive (in more ways than one, see left) Insectosaurus. Forgive the spoiler, but during the middle part of MVA, the big guy is virtually killed off, leaving both the audience and characters disheartened. It’s a testament to how dull the film can get, in that viewers are becoming sadder over the death of a giant insect that cannot talk than they are over any pain the central characters receive. Surely it should be, say, when a giant girder hurtles towards the team of monsters that the audience should be most scared and worried (as hard as it is to believe it happening) for the fate of the animated world, and not when an insect who has barely done anything but walk around and growl dies suddenly? What is this world coming to?
The last niggle is in the storyline. It was not unexpected for DreamWorks to once again stick with their structure; it’s been set in stone for the studio’s line of films for years now. The story basically goes like this: main character lives a good life, wants to do something/go somewhere, trips up, then does something right, then loses all hope, then saves the day. It’s traditional DreamWorks stuff, and it’s never going to change. As Homer would say: “D’oh!”
As always, there are some saving graces, hence the not-so-terrible score below. The animation itself is brilliant, and while the 3D is still not at the heights of past efforts like Spy Kids 3: Game Over, it’s much improved over the recent 3D adaptation of Bolt (which was originally filmed in 2D, so didn’t work in the third dimension), as MVA was filmed in 3D right from the very beginning. Also, as already mentioned, the voice acting is all fine and good, and could easily be seen as the best part of the film.
The bottom line: should people go and see this? Well, if readers are amongst the few who have wisely waited for this review, then they should heed this warning: if they desperately want to see the film, then they can, but they should ensure they see the 2D version, simply because it’s cheaper and wastes less money. It’s times like these when it seems a good idea for DreamWorks to go back and re-watch the original, and by far the best in the series, Shrek, as, other than a few minor exceptions, none of their films after it have made even a chink on its armor!
3/5
Welcome to Movies Unlimited!
So, I guess you're wondering just what is the point of coming here. Well, I can tell you if that you follow this blog, you'll get all the latest news on the world of Hollywood and movies on a daily basis! That means reviews of brand new films in the eyes of a regular movie-goer, previews and first looks at films coming out either in the next couple of weeks, month, season or even year, and best of all, every piece of news that you could want on what's happening in Movieland. In the next couple of posts, I'm going to be reviewing some of the big movies I saw and DVDs I bought over the Easter hols. If you want to comment on my ratings of films, feel free, and if your argument is convincing enough, I may just agree and change the score (please don't think my mind is easily changable, it ain't, however I was always one to listen to and be convinced by reason!). Right then, here we go, allons-y! Oh yeah, in case you're wondering, I'm also a big fan of Doctor Who, and if you want to see all the latest and greatest news and pics of what is, in my opinion, the best sci-fi in the whole of time and space (here's hoping a movie comes out so my blogs can eventually cross!), take a look at my other blog, TARDIS HQ, here on Blogger. Go on, do it. Now. Enjoy the blog(s)...
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