Review: Looper

Looper is set in the future, about the future, and works. This smart film written and directed by Rian Johnson offers an interesting perspective on the classic time travel, and mob movie. In my experience a lot of time travel films have a troubled character whose life is made even more troubled through the introduction of said time travel. Sure, it does create a lot of problems for Joe (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the older version by Bruce Willis) but he seems utterly accepting of the fact that there is indeed time travel. Using it as a body disposal tool as well seems almost obvious once you watch the movie yet I haven’t come across it in film before.

I couldn’t help but fall in love with the idiot Kid Blue, portrayed by Noah Segan. He’s an absolute dumbass, which Johnson doesn’t want you to forget, but you can help but admire his absolute determination to get the job done (even if he’s usually the reason it hasn’t been done yet).

This movie has even delivered me a new favourite line: “I’m from the future – you should go to China”. This one was delivered by future-boss-man Abe (Jeff Daniels). Not only does it deliver on lines, but the fate of Paul Dano’s character Seth. It’s a brutal yet fascinating montage, which earns a job well done by the special effects team. However, it appears they spent the budget on what happens to Seth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s face and ‘TK’ scenes with Sara (Emily Blunt) and the little (troubled) cutie, Cid (Pierce Gagnon), because watching those hover bike things riding along was painful!

I really wish there was more material on the Rainmaker, and that the scenes with the hover bikes weren’t so fake looking, but overall the movie is definitely worth 4/5.  

Review: Prometheus

I may be a product of the nineties, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never seen Alien. Straight away I was hooked by the not so typical sci-fi movie that felt more like a thriller than a kill-all-the-aliens fest. Alien quickly became one of my favourite movies, so when I had read rumours that a sequel was being made, I eagerly anticipated it.

Prometheus, directed by the original Alien director Ridley Scott, is an origin story for both humans and the infamous alien. My initial worry for the movie was that it would be just a copy of Alien, but writers Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof created an intense and exciting world within the original. Another female heroin is gained through the character of Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), but unlike Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, we get to see the spiritual and romantic side of Elizabeth Shaw. Introducing the spiritual elements of Shaw’s life was a really interesting commentary on the way we today perceive the relationship between religion and science. Shaw is also in a relationship with Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) which is strained by a very personal issue.

The character which I found most intriguing was David, played by Michael Fassbender. *Spoiler alert if you haven’t watched Alien and would like to* It is known that David is a robot (I would recommend watching this little viral video released before Prometheus), but I found him much more complex than Ian Holm’s Ash in Alien. We see that David has a strange fascination with the movie Lawrence of Arabia, and I wish I had seen that movie to understand why this is *end of spoiler alert*

I did absolutely love this movie, but there were some parts that I did feel needed to be worked on more, or just left out altogether. I’m not exactly sure why Guy Pearce needed to dress up as the incredibly old Peter Weylend, as I don’t think it added anything to the story or any characters development. Charlize Theron is one of my favourite actresses and she did do a great job of playing Meredith Vickers, but she wasn’t one of the more engaging characters.

There are so many wonderful actors in this movie too! I’ve only managed to mention a few because I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone by talking about why I love their characters.

Critically and box office wise Prometheus hasn’t been doing as well as it deserves. It is true that there are certain elements that weren’t worked through well enough, but this cannot change the fact that I really enjoyed this movie. If you are a fan of Alien, or just sci-fi in general, I cannot see why you would not enjoy this movie, which is why my first ever 5/5 is going to Prometheus. 

Review: Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows, originally based on a television series is a wonderfully dark and detailed film. The Tim Burton regular, Johnny Depp, plays Barnabas Collins, a man cursed to be a vampire by the jilted witch, Angelique, fantastically played by Eva Green. There is no doubt that this film was tremendously well cast. The Collins family is Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, mother to Carolyn, played by Chloë Grace Moretz in a wonderful hippie fashion. There is also brother to Elizabeth, Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), father to the supposedly troubled David (Gulliver McGrath) who is counselled by Dr. Julia Hoffman, who is none other than Helena Bonham Carter. Barabas’ love interest is played by rising Aussie talent, Bella Heathcote.

 I really liked how many different stories each character had. Burton could have easily spent another hour explaining their backstories, and franchising would be so easy with an immense amount of stories to base future instalments on. The details in this movie are fantastic. Without trying to spoil too much, my particular favourite detail was Angelique’s tear in one particular scene. You are immersed both within the gothic and the hippie vibe of this film.

Though the attention to detail is stunning, Dark Shadows was unable to impress in other areas. My main point of disappointment was the comedic aspects. This movie is obviously not a serious one, but it was sad to see some of the most humorous moments used up in the trailer. I also felt like I might not be totally grasping some of the jokes since I hadn’t seen the original series, or maybe it was a simple generational gap; the older couple sitting close to me in the theatre were happily cackling away, while all the under 30’s had the occasional laugh. The sex scene, however, was crazy and incredible (sadly a lot of this was shown in the trailer too).

Dark Shadows is definitely enjoyable, but there definitely felt like something was missing. The melodramatic acting was great and probably wouldn’t be so wonderful if done by other actors, but other comedic aspects failed to impress. I am giving Dark Shadows 3/5. 

I think this movie will be great for gif makers. If you see any that are good or you’ve recently made, send them my way!

Review: The Avengers

It came to my attention that America will be able to view The Avengers from today.

It also came to my attention that I am Australian, therefore was fortunate enough to be able to go view The Avengers, so why not write a review?

I have to admit, I was incredibly sceptical about how all these incredibly strong characters - that we have already seen stand well on their own - would manage to fit in on the one screen and actually make a worthwhile movie (not to mention all those broad shoulders, and, well, the hulk).  I’m pleased to say that I did not regret seeing this movie.

At about two hours and forty minutes long, you’ll have to make sure you don’t drink too much while watching, because you won’t want to be making the mid-film dash to the loo. Yes, it is a fairly long movie, but you don’t really feel it. They take the time to establish the characters, and I think they did a good job of bringing a character without his own movie (I’m not counting Eric Banner and Edward Norton’s takes), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), into the team. They really establish him as this loner type character, hiding from what he is, which explains why he doesn’t have his own movie, but the whole angsty act did get a little tiring.

Some things I didn’t find were explained well enough, such as how exactly did Thor get back? But The Avengers doesn’t really lose you; Joss Whedon wants you to let go of reality and just go with it.

Chris Evans is really the moral backbone of the team as Captain America, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) brings the LOL’s, Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) awesome as usual, The Hulk has the most wonderful interaction with Loki towards the end of the movie (trust me; you will know it when you see it. Loki is played by Tom Hiddleston), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye’s (Jeremy Renner) back story is explained, and Samuel L. Jackson had a little Snakes on a Plane déjà vu line-wise as Nick Fury (it was awesome déjà vu by the way. Don’t be worried). Those cruel scriptwriters also tugged at more than a few heart strings.

Overall, the movie was absolutely entertaining, but I think they can do better. To me, Thor stands as the superior movie, but I really feel like The Avengers is a film that will have more success as the franchise grows, now that they’ve gotten all of the explaining out of the way.

The Avengers is a 3.5/5 for me. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry. I doubt you will regret going to this movie, as most people I’ve talked to seem to have enjoyed it more than me, and I still think it’s terrific. Make sure you sit through those credits for a bit though. As usual, you will be treated to a surprise.

Did you enjoy The Avengers? Please, feel free to tell me what you thought, and I might even post your opinion :D ask/submit

Review: Project X

You may have read some reviews from some forty-something year olds, talking about how Project X’s protagonists don’t suffer any consequences for the havoc they have brought upon their neighbourhood. But who cares, right? They’re old.

As someone on the eve of the age that defines her as an adult, has attended more than a few parties in her lifetime and has seen some pretty embarrassing things go down at these parties, I can tell you those ancient relics are right.

Project X definitely doesn’t add anything new to the found footage genre, unless you count a fresh handful of discrimination to multiple groups (including people with dwarfism, females and even teenage boys). Unfortunately for the actors playing our protagonists, Thomas (Thomas Mann), Costa (Oliver Cooper) and J.B. (Jonathan Daniel Brown), the characters lack a uniqueness that made Superbad’s actors what they are today.  Only Dax (Dax Flame), the one actually filming the unfolding events offers anything relatively new to the audience, yet you barely see him in front of the camera.

The female side is particularly let down. Only one female character really gets a voice (Alexis, played by Alexis Knapp), and I was definitely left wishing she had gotten Martin Klebba’s character to return and do another performance of the antics he had done at the party, but this time to Thomas.

With a cast of basically unknowns, it wasn’t the acting that let this film down, it was the script. It lacked originality, and the few bits that did surprise really weren’t enough to turn this into the next Superbad.

If you’re looking for a laugh, then this - I do have to admit - has it. That being said, it really wouldn’t have if it weren’t for Martin Klebba and T-Rick’s (played by Rick Shapiro) performances, also that weird security kid.  

So Project X gets a 2/5 from me, as well as my sympathies for the neighbour, who definitely was a character I felt more for than the protagonists (though I don’t condone doing what he did, even if it was because of a certain electrical device).

(I should also add that I hail from the land where real life weirdos like this guy come from, so that might add a little context as to why I think the film doesn’t offer much. Project X pays a nice little homage to the events of 2008 though. Skip to about 1.13 if you don’t want to watch all of the video)

(AND another thing: I really enjoyed the trailer. The colouring, the music, even the tension with Thomas’ trailer opening lines; whoever made it did a wonderful job. Just wish more of that came through in the film)