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Movie reviews Vol.III
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Law Abiding Citizen 
Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) has his wife and daughter brutally murdered at home and yet his lawyer does a deal to let the murderer get off, which doesn’t sit too well with him and 10 years later he extracts his revenge. Then a complicated game of cat and mouse ensues with his lawyer Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) as Clyde seems to be taking out the members of the law community who were part of the miscarriage of justice despite being behind bars.
Edward and Bella are back in the second part of the Twilight Saga. This time after an accident at the Cullens during Bella’s birthday celebrations, Edward decides it’s too dangerous to be around Bella anymore and he and his family leave Forks with Bella left on her own. She soon rekindles her friendship with Jacob, who has a secret of his own. Before Bella can be reunited with Edward however there is a desperate chase to Italy to stop Edward from making a mistake and then they face the mysterious vampire family the Volturi.| Overall Rating: |  |
Charles Dicken’s Christmas classic is once again given an overhaul and re released on the big screen. This time Robert Zemeckis brings his newly favoured Motion Capture (The Polar Express & Beowulf) to bring Scrooge to life in Digital 3-D.| Overall Rating: |  |
Diablo Cody returns with her latest about a school/college girl (Megan Fox) who after a night out with her friend at a local tavern to see the latest up and coming band Low Shoulder, get’s possessed by a demon who feeds on human flesh and is after the male population of her local college. Her best friend Needy (Amanda Siegfried) releases somethings not quite right about Jennifer and sets out to stop her.| Overall Rating: |  |
George Clooney returns in short order after the very recently released Fantastic Mr Fox in this military black comedy about the US Government setting up a pyshcic combat force and the journalist who seeks them out to find out if there’s any truth in the outlandish claims that some of the se troops can simply kill a goat by staring at them (Hence the title). Ewan McGregor is the journalist who after a little digging around finds out about a cetain trooper from the unit called **** (George Clooney) and tags along with him as he jopurney’s across I= the Iraq desert on a supposed secret mission. As Ewan starts to hear more of this fantastical history he starts to belive that they actually existed… With the flashbacks featuring Jeff Bridges as the commander of the Psyche unit and Kevin Spacey as another of the psychic recruits who wouyld sell his own mother to get on in the army, the films winds up to a fun a great conclusion.| Overall Rating: |  |
Michael Jackson had all the rehershal footage recorded for hi personal collection before what would have been a record breaking This Is It tour started. However as we now know this tour would never happen and what we have here is a collection of the edited together rehershal footage into what would have been the concert in the two months preceeding his untimely death.| Overall Rating: |  |
Roald Dahls childrens classic comes to the big screen, with a even bigger collection of voice talent that includes George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Wes Anderson (Who also directed the movie) among others.| Overall Rating: |  |
Pixar’s first foray into the land of 3-D (Toy Story was done after this had been completed.) follows the adventures of the 78 year old Carl Fredrickson and his journey to South America the adventure he and his wife had always planned to do. After his wife dies he sits at home wishing for the life that could have been when after an unfortunate incident the local construction firm try to get him evicted so they can begin work on a new set of properties, however on the morning they plan to do just that, the ex balloon salesman reveals he has attached thousands of balloons to his house and it launches off into the atmosphere for the adventure he always wanted. However, he soon discovers he has a stowaway on board in the shape of 8 year old wilderness explorer Russell who is on the front porch when the house lifts off, thus beginning the journey of a lifetime not only for Carl but also for Russell who is only trying to attain his last wilderness explorer badge…
Pixar are back with a story which is very risky as having a 78 year old central character is not one that might capture the imagination of the younger crowd. However that doesn’t matter because as per usual, Pixar have created a wonderful story that transcends generations to make a beautiful heart-warming tale that is full of action, adventure thrill, spills and plenty of laugh out loud humour.
The cast once again play a huge part in this with such luminaries as Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer and Delroy Lindo. Jordan Nagai as Russell is extraordinary and Bob Peterson as Dug the brilliant Golden Retriever round out proceedings. The vocals put to the characters simply are brilliant with some very clever techniques used to deliver some of the laughs (The first words spoken by Dug and when the lead Rottweiler turns up lets just say he won’t be what you are expecting).
While this is just short of the instant classic tag that WALL*E hit, this is just shy of that brilliance, it is by all accounts an amazing movie. With this and the recent Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs we now 2 very high level, brilliant family movies out. This is before we mention the 3-D. The 3-D used in Up is also a marvel as the various layers of things like for example the clouds which look so real you want to reach out and touch them, will simply leave you in awe. Pixar have taken the 3-D bar and as they did when they unleahed Toy Story on a unsuspecting world they have taken and raised by several notches leaving the animation world scratching their heads with the same ‘How did they do that?’ that they had after Toy Story.
Up is not an easy sell as mentioned at the top, but it will surprise you, it’s likely to make you cry too as one of the more touching sequences is Carls montage near the beginning of the film. If it had carried on with that promise throughout you would be looking at another 5 stars for the Pixar team. Up is brilliant but it’s not without its flaws.. Still it is fantastic so make sure you see it!
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Toy Story in 3-D
Ahead of next years eagerly awaited Toy Story 3, Disney/Pixar have decided to re-release the first two movies (Toy Story October, Toy Story 2 Jan 10 and then Toy Story 3 in July 10), but this time in glorious 3-D.
For those of you who haven’t seen it the story follows the toys that live in Andy’s room led by Woody a sheriff doll (Voiced by Tom Hanks) and everything is fine and dandy until Andy’s birthday party where he receives the latest toy, a space ranger doll called Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). A contest of wills ensues between Buzz and Woody. After a plan to get Buzz to fall behind a desk goes wrong, Woody and Buzz end up in the big scary real world and they will have to work together if they are to return back to Andy before Andy and his family move to a new house and they end up lost toys forever…
This film is already a 5 star classic however with the addition of the 3-D element if at all possible it has become that much better. It even looks like the film was originally conceived for 3-D despite absolutely nothing being changed from the original release. Various scenes look absolutely majestic on the big screen including the brilliant finale with the chase to the back of the removal truck.
This is a real chance for a generation of children who have grown up watching this film only on a TV screen to get a real taste of how this film is meant to be viewed and with the addition of the wonderful 3-D it’s like you are seeing a brand new film, so why not let Toy Story captivate you all over again?
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Fame
Way back in the 80’s Alan Parker made a little film about a group of up and coming students who attended the High School of the Performing arts and their struggles within as they progressed through their school life there. It had some amazing songs (For the 80’s) and started something of a trend back in the 80’s (Leg Warmers at the ready people), it then went on to spawn a highly popular TV Show imaginatively titled ‘The Kids From Fame' which became as popular as High School Musical is today. So someone in one of the big studios somewhere decided this was the next movie to befall the very hit and miss remake process. On the back of popularity of things like the aforementioned High School Musical, Hannah Montanna and the Jonas Brothers, it was deemed that it was time to want to live forever again.
The Story itself follows a familiar path here retreading a lot of the themes of the original with a few deviances and character shifts. Bruno and Coco are now embodied in one female character. The unpopular names of Montgomery and Doris are dropped and so on. This is what causes the film its problem, it either is or it isn’t a straight remake, some of the songs from the original have made it (Obviously ‘Fame’ although this has now been souped up and relegated to the soundtrack over the titles) and others haven’t. The film also lacks the warmth of the original and to a certain extent it’s soul. Improvements have been made the dance sequences, fortunately the leg warmers having gone (Nobody wants to see them making a comeback…). The director is a renowned choreographer and it shows, the song and dance sequences are simply brilliant however the more storyline driven moments and drama is watered down, clumsy and non convincing. Overall this one may not achieve the lofty heights of it’s predecessor and most likely will not catch a nations imagination as the Kids from fame did 20 odd years ago, but it gives it, it’s best shot.
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Surrogates
Set into the near future, humans have created the Surrogates clones to go out and take our place in our daily lives. We control by mind control devices so we can see and understand what they are seeing. This in turn has reduced crime, accidental death and illnesses worldwide. However someone has discovered a way to not only kill a surrogate but also through the mind link the controller as well. So when the local law enforcement discover this and the investigation starts detective Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) is called in to investigate. The deeper he goes into the investigation the more he discovers the dark side to the surrogates and the complete disconnect people are having with reality and the dependency of the surrogates to live out their fantasies. With a growing movement of humans who don’t use the Surrogates but opt for a real life ‘The Dreads’ led by their messiah type leader The Prophet (Ving Rhames) who are coming closer to rising up the time for the investigation is running out.
Surrogates is a complex thriller with a few too many twists and turns at times for people to keep up with. It also suffers from the problem is this a popcorn actioner of a sci fi drama with a message, and because of that the film blurs on far too many occasions for to be good in either or genre, the trowelling in odf the films main message couldn't be any clearer either (We should get out more and communicate face to face not by computers...)yet the filmmakers insist at every turn letting us know this in case we missed it... There are flashes of decent action set pieces, but by the time the protracted denouement comes you will have long switched off and moved on to the next thing. The acting is as good as can be expected from this type of movie. Bruce Willis once again puts on his aging John McClane hat (Fortunately no dirty vests in sight) and carries on regardless. This could have been a contender had it had a little more thought put into how this was going to be delivered on the screen. Worth a look, but nothing to write home about.
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Gamer
Gamer is yet another one of these futuristic movies in the mould of the Running man and (Dare we say it) The Condemend. Unfortunately for Gamer is more like the latter than the former. Set in a world where people leave their real lives to take part in a worldwide virtual reality world ala the PC Game The Sims, everyone is engrossed, then a new game is created where convicts and felons are made to compete in a First Person Shooter type game and if they survive 20 games, they get their freedom.. Sound familiar? Well, that’s because it isn’t exactly the most original concept on the planet. However this time it has been made by the guys who gave us Crank, so there’s far more zip to the proceedings and while the film doesn’t stay in game for too long, there are some rather exciting set pieces.
The film though falls apart roughly around the time they move past getting out of the game, rescuing his wife and then off to confront the creator for a final showdown. With some very wishy washy plot lines and a very strange song and dance number in the middle this all adds up to a very below average move from some very above average film makers. Gerard Butler plays it like Russell Crowe in Gladiator, but with no soul, seemingly going through the motions this film ends up being patchy and messy and devoid of any real fun fun. Put in the if you have too box.
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The Firm
Nick Love is back with a remake of Alan Clarke’s revered The Firm that starred Gary Oldman as the eponomous Bex, the leader of the West Ham Firm (A group of football hooligans). Love has not made a like for like remake though, he has taken one of the originals minor characters in the shape of Dom and followed his take on the events of the original.
The events of this film take place a few years earlier than the original avoiding the political edge that ran through Alan Clarke’s version. The story though is pretty much similar, Bex the leader of the West Ham Firm is a estate agent by day and revered Football Thug at the weekends as he takes on his nemesis ‘The Yeti’ who runs the Millwall firm. He takes a wide eyed Dom under his wing and introduces him to the glamorous world of the casuals and Football Hoolanganism. But as Dom quickly realises as much as he loves the glamorous side of the life he can’t deal with the violence. As the war between Bex and the Yeti escalates, there is only one way it is going to end.
The original made for TV film The Firm starring Gary Oldman was a minor masterpiece of it’s time. This new updated version while nowhere near as good is far from bad also. The new cast are excellent for the most part, however this being a Nick Love film, you can’t help but wonder where Danny Dyer is.. The cast especially the two leads in Paul Anderson as a intense Bex and Callum as the kid in the candy store styled Dom hold the entire movie together. Camile Cowdry and Eddie Webber as Dom’s parents are a joy to behold too as the sympathetic, but concerned parents with more than an element of dark ‘parent’ humour to them. However as much as Nick Love may protest that this is his most grown up film to date and that the glorification of violence has been toned right down, it’s still of a bit of a stretch to believe him. At times you feel you are watching a re-modelling of the Football Factory, in fact if Love hadn’t have made that film you would probably be looking at a 4 star movie. It almost attains that rating anywhere because it is still a very strong movie. At times it could almost be classed as a horror film with the attention to detail for the 80’s (I say horror film, it is for any of you out there who also lived through those fashion stylings in the 80’s).
So overall a good film from Nick Love, although it doesn’t cover up all the previous glorification of violence strings that attach themselves to Love, this is still his best film to date. Make sure you get and see this you melt!
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The Final Destination 3-D
When a group of four friends attend the local raceway and one of them has a premonition that all is not well and that if they don’t leave they may all wind up dead, you know you are back on Final Destination territory. Of course the premonition proves to be true but despite escaping, all of the survivors cards are marked as Death tracks them to grisly ends.
Final Destinations 1 & 2 were passable, 3 was a stretch but this the ‘Final’ Destination is quite close to being an abomination. The 3-D elements don’t actually help as the frequent need to break the ‘glass window’ of the screen and poke things at you (Although the piece of tyre shrapnel really makes you leap) detracts from the entire affair disengaging you from the story as a whole.
The cast as with these types of movies are very pretty but very, very disposable. The prediction element of the film followed here actually ruins the inventiveness of the endings for each of the characters. Where the previous films had some very clever deaths and in places surprising, this one probably because of the 3-D lacks the inventiveness because of the insistency to have body parts pushed or thrown out at you through the screen, via the 3-D elements and it simply becomes risible. There are no surprises because you know what to expect and what is likely to happen. Even the end has been tried and tested so you can walk before the end because yes your right that does happen…
One for the Final Destination hard core fans only and lets hope that Death strikes to the making of anymore of the Destination films..
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District 9
Set in the near future aliens have landed in our lifetime in South Africa and because of the boiling tensions between us earth folk and the aliens or ‘prawns’ as they referred to (It’s a derogatory term), a firm is set up (CRU) to police the Prawns and as we join the film after a quick history of the crash landing, the at first welcoming crowds which soon turn nasty, we get to the shanty towns where the aliens now live and CRU is trying to relocate them several hundred miles south into District 10. At this point we join the film in an almost documentary style, watching one of the CRU employees and recently promoted son in law of the boss Wikus van de Merwe take his crew out to go door to door to get the evictions underway. Unfortunately for him a freak accident sees him slowly and in true The Fly style become one of the Prawns, he then finds himself on the run from the very people he used to be in charge of. He makes a begrudging truce with one of the prawns who has a escape plan on his mind for him and his son. As the film races towards the climax, things will never be the same again.
After several years of boring run of the mill Sci Fi movies in one summer we get three great and very different Sci Fi movies (Star Trek – for the popcorn crowd, Moon – One of the films of the year and now District 9), while not your usual Hollywood movie in fact it has been made by Neill Blomkamp who was lined up by Peter Jackson (Who produces) to make Halo until the project fell apart makes a sublime movie. It’s has a bit of everything in it, action, humour horror and human drama (As well as Alien drama)which makes for a very engrossing film.
The cast do a stella job in particular the lead Sharlto Copley as the sometimes bumbling and jobsworthy Wikus, he creates a character with real depth who despite at the start of the film being not particularly likeable, you will root for until the final surprising frame of the movie.
Another almost instant classic it may not be what everyone is expecting, but what it is, is a great pot boiler. If you want something a little different then District 9 should be your destination for a couple of hours.
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Sony Animation join the 3-D Family movies with a literal feast for the eyes with the gloriously genius Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which is adapted from the children’s book of the same name. The original concept of the book is expanded on and brought to life on the screen.| Overall Rating: |  |
Sorority Row
In the latest in a (very) long line of teen slasher movies in the mold of Scream comes Sorority Row which boasts the acting debut of Rumer Willis (The daughter of Demi and Bruce), set in a Sorority house (Its an American college thing0 after prank goes very wrong and one of the girls end up dead, they dumping the body in a well and hope that it will all go away, unfortunatley for them 8 months later just as they are about to graduate they all start to get txt messages from their dead friends phone warning of their impending doom…
Featuring a rent a role slew of characters (The bright but shy one, the one who resists but who follows the bitchy leader just to keep in her good graces, the bitchy leader who has high hopes of marrying a successful politician to be, the preppy one, the siter and the conscientious objector who has been blackmailed into go along with the plan) and so they start to get knocked in non too surprising manner, until the final reveal happens and the final showdown begins.
While the film tries to let us know it knows it’s not that great and plays along, it simply doesn’t measure up. The killings take way too long to happen with the ‘suspense’ drawn out to backside numbing length you have long given up caring buy the time the latest victim is knocked off. The villain of the piece is so far telegraphed, that if you don’t realise who it is you are either, too young to be watching this film or just not paying enough attention.
The only good that comes out of this film is Brianna Evigan (Of Step Up 2 the Streets) who puts in her best effort despite what she has been saddled with here. Rumer Willis does absolutely nothing for an hour and 10 minutes before finally deciding to completely go against her characters type in the finale. The film ends up being what it is… Instantly forgettable.
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Zooey Dechanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt bring back memories of mis spent youth and those unrequited crushes you had and some that maybe were requited in the (anti) Rom Com (500) Days of Summer.| Overall Rating: |  |
David Twohy the director probably best known for Pitch Black, now brings us his latest thriller which defies the usual conventions with a killer twist that will turn your world upside down. Cliff & Cydney (Steve Zahn & Milla Jovovich), newly weds on their idyllic honeymoon in the dream like destination of Hawaii, they encounter two very different couples along their travels, either of which could turn out to be a pair of stone cold killers that just so happen to have a penchant for newly weds…| Overall Feature: | |
In the tradition of films like Small Soldiers, Gremlins, Critters comes the latest kids flick for the end of the summer, Aliens in the Attic. When a group of Grandchildren are taken by their parents to their Grandmothers house for a holiday, they find themselves fighting to save the earth from Alien Invasion by the group of little Aliens that just so happen to have crash landed in the eponymous Attic of the title. With the adults not believing them and no other way of dealing with it, they take matters into their own hands and try and stop them themselves.
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GI JOE is a rather popular, toy/Cartoon/comic book in the states, less so over here, although anyone who was young during the 80’s may just remember it being on our screens back then. The UK version would be action man, but that didn’t have the verve that GI JOE did. Well, following on from Transformers, Hasbro have finally had GI JOE make the transition to the big screen. While not as much fun as the original Transformers, it is leagues ahead of the very disappointing Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.| Overall Rating: |  |
Tony Scott directs this remake of the original Taking of Pelham 123 that starred Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau. This time with Denzel Washington and John Travolta in the lead roles. The film follows Garber (Washington) a Subway controller who is under investigation for taking a bribe and has been busted down from manager into controlling the trains on a daily basis. Ryder (Travolta) is an ex Wall Street stockbroker who got caught embezzling funds and has just been released from Prison. He proceeds to hijack the Pelham 123 train of the title and threatens to kill a passenger every minute until he receives the $10 million he demands. Garber just happens to be the person who answers the radio at the wrong time…| Overall Rating: | |
The release of the 6th Harry Potter movie after a long delay finally arrives on the big screen (With the 3-D IMAX version to follow on the 29th). Harry and co. have reached a crossroads in their time at Hogwarts. The wizarding and indeed muggle world is now a much more dangerous place as Lord Voldermort has final come back and his band of Death Eaters now led by Beatrix Lestrange as Lucious Malfoy is stuck in Azkaban reek their own brand of revenge on the world. In one of the expended sections from the book the film opens (In what should be some rather cool 3D), with the destruction of one of London’s Bridges (Hopefully tey weren’t filming The Apprentice at the time). Our heroes also have to deal with the onset of more growing pains and dealing with full on relationships while Draco Malfoy has more important matters to contend with, which could literally be life and death for someone…| Overall Rating: | |
Sam Rockwell is Sam coming to the end of his 3 years working a mining job of ore for a fuel cell that helps power thins in the future in this retro styled sci fi drama from David Bowies son. After an accident nearly kills him on the barren planet Sam wakes up back in the base unaware of how he got there with a slightly more aggressive version of himself wandering around looking after him.| Overall Rating: | |
Bruno is a follow up of sorts to Sacha Baron Cohens wildly successful Borat. This time the American public are tormented by Cohens gay Austrian fashionista For around 100 minutes you are subjected to some of the funniest and most vulgar levels of entertainment. When it’s good it’s hilarious, but when it’s vulgar, it’s vile. There are something’s without being a prude or homophobic that you just don’t want to see on the big screen, because actually Sacha, it’s not that funny.. | Overall Rating: |  |
In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)—the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public. No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone—from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.
But while the adventures of Dillinger’s gang, thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw’s capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America’s first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing “Clark Gable of the FBI.’
However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptised as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals—from the infamous “Lady in Red’’ to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti—were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosuars
The sub-zero heroes from the worldwide blockbusters "Ice Age" and "Ice Age: The Meltdown" are back on an incredible adventure for the ages. Scrat is still trying to nab the ever-elusive nut (while, maybe, finding true love); Manny and Ellie await the birth of their mini-mammoth, Sid the sloth creates his own makeshift family by hijacking some dinosaur eggs; and Diego the saber-toothed tiger wonders if he's growing too "soft" hanging with his pals. On a mission to rescue the hapless Sid, the gang ventures into a mysterious underground world, where they have some close encounters with dinosaurs, battle flora fauna run amuck--and meet a relentless, one-eyed, dino-hunting weasel named Buck.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 
Optimus Prime and the rest of the Transformers return to our big screens to thrill us once again with their exploits which take us on a journey across the world as the Autobots try to stop the Decepticons and the mysterious Fallen from taking over our world and destroying it. Unfortunately however Micheal Bay manges to take a bungled second step by overblowing the whole film and ending up with a mismatch of results.
The story follows the ongoing progress of Sam Witwicky as he is about to leave for college and has to leave his girl (Megan Fox) and protector (Bumblebee) behind. Meanwhile Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots have formed an alliance with the US Goverment and the special forces to cretae a covert group called NEST, which is designed to route aoput all Decepticons hidden around the world and destroy them.
When Sam happens across a piece of the Allspark, it sets in motion a whole new bout of problems with the Decepticons led by the mysterious Fallen a Decepticon from the distant past who has been biding his time in a bid to take over th earth in his search for Energon. After a string of events megatron is brough back to life from the depths of the Ocean and the real story kicks in as both Autobots and Decpeticons seek out the device that can harness the Earth's sun to create Energon, although the Fallen cannot win unless all of the 'Prime's' are dead.
The film then becomesa a glorified treasure hunt as they search not only for the site of the devic but also the resting place of all the Primes, Optimuses decendants. This brings a familiar face to those who follow the Transformers story's from old into the breach. Culminating in the mother of all battles at the Pyramids of Egypt, niether the Autobots or Decepticons will ever be the same again.
This sequel to the very sucessful Transformers is a real mixed bag, it's run time is way too long at 2 and half hours, for a kids film it features, a lot of unecessary bad language for a kids film. However they do drop some of the superflous characters from the first movie (The tech geeks) and add a few new Transformers who are great fun. But on the flip side to that point, there are a whole heap of additions, so many at times you don't know whether they are Autobots or Decepticons. The first 45 minutes to an hour is a bit lifeless and adds nothing to the overall plot. However the second half which features the largest explosion put on a movie screen with all the added effects and the Constructicon! Is simply awesome. Shia Lebeouf once again shows sign of being something special for the future and Megan Fox, well just is.
Trasnsformers Revenge of the Fallen is by no means a disaster, but it's not what we were expecting fromt he sequel either. Much like the Transformer adage (But slightly paraphrased) It's a decent movie in disguise.
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From the director of OLD SCHOOL comes a new comedy about a bachelor party gone horribly wrong. Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and his three buddies (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis) drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out night they'll never forget. But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with pounding headaches, they can't remember a thing. Their posh hotel suite is beyond trashed and the groom is nowhere to be found. With no clue of what happened and little time to spare, the trio must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to Los Angeles in time for his wedding. However, the more they begin to uncover, the more they realize just how much trouble they’re really in.
Terminator becomes the latest franchise to get itself a 'Re-Boot' not that it entirely needed it as jonathan Mostow's Rise of the Machines wasn't that bad and didn't kill the franchise off in the first place, anyway McG (Director of Charlies Angels) has taken on the mantle of kick starting a new triology off with the film set in 2018, 12 years after the events of Judgement Day when Skynet became aware and started the purge of humans everywhere. John Connor (Christian Bale in full Dark Knight voice mode) is back and is yet to become the leader of the resistance and is currently leading a pocket of the Resistance in minor skermishes against the machine hoping to take them out / gather more useful information (Of which he already is aware of anyway) about what Skynet plans next. We are also introduced to Marcus Wright, a stranger who we only know was on death row before Judgement Day and signed over his body to medical science. He is also wandering the barren wastelands that have been left after the years of wars with the machines with no real idea who he is or when he is... A young Kyle Reese also comes into play and very quickly becomes the machines latest target for elimination (No they haven't given up on our John... He's number 2 on the list), who saves Marcus and then goes on a quest to join up with the resistance at their first opportunity. This all leads to a culminative attack on Skynet, led by John Connor in attempt to slow down the machines from releasing the T-800's into the world and rescue Kyle, so that later on he can be sent back in time (Time travel has not yet been invented) meet his mother and set John's future in motion. But when they get there, things don't go as smoothly as planned and John bumps into an all too familiar face along the way....
Terminator Salvation becomes the fourth Terminator movie in the franchise and weirdly enough shares a lot of similarities with another behomth of a franchise... Aliens. You look at them and you realise that there an awful lot of similarites between the two, James Cameron's involvement. THe single killer in the first movie expanding to a wider world in the following sequels. The fourth movies having christian connitations in the title (Alien Ressurection, Terminator Salvation), hybrids that may or may not be a part of the solution. A lot of running around factory type settings, we could go on for a while. But needless to say that the early fears for this movie when McG was announced as the director (He made good on the promise too, surrounding the internet rumours for the end of the movie... They were most definetly wrong) are alayed early on as this assault on your retinas and ears in huge hollywood blockbuster style.
The story works surprisingly well although if this is set for a trilogy, they have left themselves with a lot to do storywise as a lot of plot threads are tied up by the end of this movie. The cast doa superb job considering that they are running around with explosions for most of the film as more than just John Connors charater are expanded on. Anton Yelchin makes for a very good young Kyle Reese and matches a lot of mannerisms and ticks of Micheal Biehn in the first movie. Sam Worthington, who is set to be the next big thing with James Cameron's Avatar later this year and GI Joe also this summer is a revelation, he carries himself amazingly well and conveys emotion, drama and raw agression to put himself on more than a par with the always dependable Bale. The female characters could have done with a bit more screentime as Bryce Howard as Kate Connor (John's pregnant wife) simply wanders around in the background with nothing to do despite being one of the worlds only medics, rubbing her bump.
If war is indeed hell then it really shouldn't be this exciting. Terminator Salvation takes on the Terminator pantheon and sprints off into the distance like Usain Bolt at the Olympics. It's a rollercoaster ride that is an all out assault on your senses. Much like the new Star Trek movie there's more than enough bow's to the previous films (I'll be back, come with me if you want to live, some of the locales used look more than vaguely familiar etc.) to keep the die hards happy as well. Theve managed to keep the run time fairly tight, which by the time the end credits roll and that all too familiar Terminator theme hit, you'll be leaving happy but wanting more.
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Drag Me To Hell
Christine Brown is an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend, Professor Clay Dalton. Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan. Should Christine follow her instincts and give the old woman a break? Or should she deny the extension to impress her boss, Mr. Jacks, and get a leg-up on a promotion? Christine fatefully chooses the latter, shaming Mrs. Ganush and dispossessing her of her home. In retaliation, the old woman places the powerful curse of the Lamia on Christine, transforming her life into a living hell. Haunted by an evil spirit and misunderstood by a skeptical boyfriend, she seeks the aid of seer Rham Jas to save her soul from eternal damnation. To help the shattered Christine return her life to normal, the psychic sets her on a frantic course to reverse the spell. As evil forces close in, Christine must face the unthinkable: how far will she go to break free of the curse?
12 Rounds 
When New Orleans Police Detective Danny Baxter John Cena stops a brilliant thief from getting away with a multi-million-dollar heist, the thief’s girlfriend is accidentally killed. After escaping from prison, the criminal mastermind enacts his revenge, taunting the cop with a series of near-impossible puzzles and tasks …12 rounds…that Baxter must somehow complete to save the life of his fiancée. 12 Rounds is a directed by Renny Harlin Die Hard 2 and produced by WWE Studios. The cast is led by professional wrestler John Cena, who is currently the WWE Heavyweight Champion, alongside Steve Harris, Gonzalo Menendez, Aidan Gillen, Brian J. White, Ashley Scott, and Taylor Cole.
Night At The Museum 2 
Ben Stiller returns as Larry in the sequel to the very sucessful Night At The Museum and the story picks up a couple of years after the events of the first one with Larry now a sucessful businessman who sells gadgets which have obviously had some inspiration from his time as a night watchman. Aftre the opening informercial we get down to the brass tacks that New Yorks Museum of Natural History is being modernised and that all the museums artefacts are being shipped off to the Smithsonian musuem in Washington DC for storage.
After the monkey steals the magiacal Egyptian artefact, the cats of characters in the Smithsonian come to life and Larry has work cut out for him if he is to rescue his friends, save his new ones and stop an army from the Netherworld escaping and taking over the world! All in a nights work for Larry, who quickly gets himself to Washington and in a very amusing sequence with a cameo from Jonah Hill gets an entry pass and leads teh charge to stop things from getting out of control.
With a whole new set of exhibits to choose from (Darth Vader, Oscar the Grouch, Ivan the Terrible, Al Capone and a rather angry Octopuss for starters) the director Shaun Levy has made a clever choice to stop Night at the Museum from dropping into the sequel cash in and has managed to produce a witty, charming and and at times a downright hilarious affair. The casting is spot on, with all the favorite charcters from the first film returning and additions of new ones such as Hank Azaria as Kahmunrah, the brother of Ahkmenrah from the first one, Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible, Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart and Bill Hader as General Custer.
Hank Azaria especially is wonderful in a scene stealing turn as the films central villian and man with all the best scenes. Amy Adams shows off what a great actress she is with more than a pssing resembelance to Katherine Hepburn. Even the usually annoying Owen Wilson manages to underplay his role to fine effect. It is the cast that really brings this to life and aldo we musn't forget to mention Steve Coogan and Robin Williams who reprise their roles... There is just so many great actors in this that it's a wonder theat they managed to get them altogtether for another film at the same time.
Ben Stiller also comes back to the proceedings with a ban as much wiser and more savvy Larry. The film packs in an awful lot in it's slim 1hr 40 minute run time and you can't help but feel that ther could be a lot more if they wanted, but it's better to go away wanting more than making the whole thing a tired affair. But this is the former and ends up being a fantastical family adventure, that will appeal to children of all ages and manages to be even better than the first movie! Ben Stiller is like an Erroyl Flynn updated for todays audience as he tussles with the creatures, characters and villians as he tries to save the day and not be late for his meeting with Wall Mart. fortunately they even manage to play down the first films biggest weakness in Ricky Gervais and although he too returns, he's not on screen for more than 5 minutes.
So for a feast of fun, thrills and high adventure this summer and you don't fancy watching a boy wizard or a returning crew in outer space then night at the Museum is the perfect place to visit!
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Fighting
Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for streetfighting. When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, the two form an uneasy partnership. As Shawn's manager, Harvey introduces him to the corrupt bare-knuckle circuit, where rich men bet on disposable pawns. Almost overnight, he becomes a star brawler, taking down professional boxers, mixed martial arts champs and ultimate fighters in a series of staggeringly intense bouts. But if Shawn ever hopes to escape the dark world in which he's found himself, he must now face the toughest fight of his life.
Dan Brown's Roberrt Langdon returns in the book that came first but in the movie world of Langdon comes second?! Langdon this time has to take on the might of the suposed Illuminati in a race against time to stop the Vatican losing it's latest candidates for the position of the Pope after the death of the current one. The four Preferiti are kidnapped and are threatened to be killed one by one, hour by hour until a antimatter bomb also stolen by the group will go off destroying the Vatican City and part of Rome. Langdon uses his skills as a symbologist to work out the 'Path of the Illumanti' by tracking the clues and leading himself to the lair of the Illumnati. The film rumbles along as nothing more than a glorified chase movie until the twist ending and ends are tied up in a neat little package.
However Ron Howard has done some tinkering with Dan brown's original source novel, presumably to make things run a bit quicker, but these divergences gut the film of it's plot and making the film into sub-National Treasure fare. For instance one of the key elemnts of the book is a wheelchair bound character and director of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) Maximillian Kholler, who is completely removed from the film thus removing a whole section of the book. Likewise with CERN itself, it figures as a major venue in the book yet we have just a 10 minute glimpse at the beginning of the film. There are many more of instances like this where they change elkements from the book which actually make this a weaker film. However this is only likel;y to upset those who have read the book and for the unintiated they won't know what is missing anyway. However they will have to deal with the films other weak point... The relentless signposting of the obvious that is going on. Much like Dan Brown's writing it is full of 'There is the pyramid. We know this because it is pyramid shaped.' I kid you not. This becomes incresingly irritating as the film wears on to its overlong 2 hours plus run time.
Still the cast are terrific with Tom Hanks leading the charge and doing the best he can do with th material he is served up. The setting is also glorious and despite being rufused permission to film in the Vatican Ron Howard has recreated a very authentic look for the key scenes in the film. Some of the action gets a bit gory for those of you who are a bit squeamish so watch out for that.
Overall this a better film than the awful Da Vinci Code, but that is not sayiong too much as it is only just better than that. How Ron Howard can produce a near masterpiece in Frost/Nixon and then push out bile like this is beyond the greatest of mysteries. Some will inevitably enjoy it, but overall this is a very poor effort.
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Star Trek
It's Star Trek Jim, but not as we know it... And so Star Trek becomes the latest franchise to get itself a 'Re-boot' or Re-imgining' with Cloverfield & Losts J.J.Abrams in the directors chair. With a great new cast, effects and story it's ready to boldly go etc. etc. But how does it match up to it's predecessors? Well let's take a look...
Star Trek XI takes us back to the very begining and charts the first 25 years of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and crew as they take to the stars on their first mission for Starfleet to take on the might of the Romulans. We see the birth of Kirk, move 25 years on to his time at Starfleet including his famous cheating of the Kobayashi Maru, before meeting Spock and then onto their first mission aboard the Enterprise where they came face to face with a world destroying Romulan craft led by Nero (Eric Bana).
The cast who take over in the now legendary roles are all fantastic, none more so than Chris Pine as Kirk and Karl Urban as 'Bones' McCoy who strike an excellent chemistry on screen and the two characters are even better than the age old partnership of Kirk and Spock. The other cast members more than acquit themselves well in the various roles including the UK's very own Simon Pegg as Scotty who in particular looks like he is having a blast. Unfortunately though Eric Bana does suffer a bit from not having much to do other than snarl a lot to screen and invite various ships captains over for 'negotiations', while all the other characters pretty much get back story, he much like the Romulan crew is left out to space to just turn up when some intergalatic fighting and special effects are required.
As for the plot, it actually becomes the films downfall at times and stops this from becoming a five star classic. Basically the first half plays like Top Gun in space with Kirk's Maverick locking horns with Spocks Iceman. From there the film follows a traditional buddy movie root , but at times the plot becomes so convooluted and borderlinbe confusing thateven the most ardent of Star Trek followers will be scracting thier heads. However it does come across that the sole purpose for this is a cheap way for the makers of the film to alter timelines and Trek history to fit into however they want. Also the film tends to sway too much toward the loving homage and this takes you away from the re-boot and places you back in old territory. But that last point will surely delight the vast legions of Trekkies/Trekkers who will be sitting watching a glorified wet dream as all the tick boxes are duely checked... Enterprise money shot, check... Expendable member of away team ina red vest killed, check... Famous lines uttered by each of the characters, check.. check... check.
But when all is said and done this still all adds up to a very sucessful Star Trek movie and it manages to break one of the other old Trek addages that all the good sequels are the even numbered ones (This is Star Trek XI). This is the best Star Trek outside of The Wrath of Khan and with plenty of spaceship battles, hand to hand combat, romance and humour to go around it will also manage to keep the most casual of viewer entertained throughout. It does lull at times (Mainly with the scenes between Spock and his mother on planet Vulcan), butr it doesn't linger long enough for you to worry about that as it's soon back on track with more lasers and explosions. This Trek will most definetly live long and prosper.
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine starts a new chapter in the Marvel pantheon with origins stories for some of their best loved characters and who better to start with than Wolverine. Argueably the film that turned Hugh Jackman into a star, Wolverine starts with Logan as a young boy and then through the credits charts his history of Logan as he travels through 2 world wars and the American war of Independance. We then cut to Vietnam where Wolverine and his brother Victor Creed get them selves brough up against a firing squad and then their recruitment into the Weapon X team.
The film charts Wolverine's fallout with the team and then as he is tracked down and then through tragic circumstances how he accepts the curse of the Adimantum infused Wolverine. At this point the action cranks up to 10 as we watch as Wolverine defends his corner as Stryker and his team attempt to recapture him to help finish their Project XI.
The film features many of the real fan favorites from the X-Men series including Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds at his scene stealing best) Gambit, The Blob, Sabretooth and a young Scott Summers otherwise known as Cyclops. The film ends up being more of a origins for all the other spin offs that can now be created (Deadpool please), rather than focusing wholly on Wolverine. Of these other characters Ryan Reynolds in the 15 minutes of screentime that he gets steals the entire movie for himself. Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth is a great piece of casting too, looking like he has always been in the role he commits a great performance to the screen and looks in an uncanny way more than a bit like Jackman...
The action sequences are well handled and the movie runs along a spirited pace. It still sits within the X-Men timeline/framework so well that much like episodes I-III of Star Wars adds to the whole grander picture so does Wolverine.
If there is any downpoints to be had then it would be the characters suchas Gambit, Blob, Deadpool etc. really don't get anywhere enough screentime and the main bad guy in Stryker really doesn't come across as nearly as menacing and evil as he does in X-Men 2, when he should be in his prime.
The film doesn't worry too much about the wider picture and just gets down to big guys beating eeach other up and using their powers to get ahead, which at the end of the day is waht you are paying to see. This is one of those movies that fits into the addage of 'It does what it says on the tin'
A nice addition to the X-Men series and enjoyable romp too, this is another quality movie from the Marvel boys.
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Hannah Montanna The Movie
Miley Cyrus brings her alter ego to the big screen for the second time after the 3-D concert The Best of Both Worlds with Hannah Montana the Movie, which follows her having to go back to her roots to rediscover the things that are most important in life after her father (Real life dad Billy 'Achy Breaky' Ray Cyrus) tricks her into going back home.
Looks like it's time to cash in on the Hannah Montana story before Miley Cyrus herself moves on and they bring a story which while is great fun (If youre a 12 year old female) is nothing more than a stretched out episode of the TV series. That's not say that this a poor film, because fans of the series are bound to really enjoy this as it's light and fluffy enough, with enough songs and silly moments for them to not worry. however you do come out of the movie with a sense of this is the beginning of the end for Miss Montana.
Miley Cyrus is clearly comfortable in the role of Montana and that comes across in the film, Billy Ray Cyrus as her dad also works due to the natural chemistry between them, plus for those of us who will be slightly older in the audience the addition of Billy Ray brings back those exciting images of the mullet which are sure to bring a wry smile to many faces.
Hannah Montana is a global phenomenon and this film will certainly do no damge to that, the new tunes are fairly catchy (Hip Hop Hoe Down has been described as 09's answer to the Macarana by Miss Cyrus herself, although if it is the tunes needs to be far more excruciating that this...) with the stand out father and daughter duet Butterfly (Fly Away) will surely melt even the hardest of Daddies hearts. The movies message is fairly harmless but encouraging enough for young people. Much in the same as High School Musical 3 was, it's refreshing to see a light fluffy film that causes no harm i.e. no death, drug addiction, teenage preganancy etc.
So this summer be prepared to be Montanarized!
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