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: 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)

Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Before the opening credits of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy even appear, you might find yourself thinking that it’s slow. This is an indication: if you want to enjoy the movie, pay attention.

The cinematography captured the atmosphere of the film perfectly. The dreary English weather reflected the mood within the Secret Intelligence Service and the film was packed with some of Britain’s finest stars who all delivered wonderful performances. One character that came across as underexplored is Roy Bland (portrayed by Ciarán Hinds). The lack of talk about him, and lack of screen time indicate that he was not considered a vital character by the film’s director, Tomas Alfredson, which only narrows down the list of potential the potential mole for the viewers.

That being said, the film also seems like it’s trying to compensate for not being able to cover all of the material written by John le Carré which just overly complicates things.

Gary Oldman as George Smiley was great but the characters that I felt the most connection to were Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) and Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy). They ultimately came across as the most human of characters and were willing to do what was expected of them, not what could gain the most advantage from, even if it meant breaking some rules.

The word “gripping” has been thrown about to describe this film, but is not a word I would use to describe it. I will admit that there were slow bits; parts where you will get lost in your own thoughts and miss a vital piece of information. It’s almost as if people are ashamed to say that they didn’t quite understand a part because they believe it will reflect on their intelligence. The thing to remember is that even if they are fictional, many of the characters themselves didn’t understand what it was that they had done. Also, as someone who has not read the original novel, there is an air to the film that suggests the book has many details that are needed for a complete understanding of the story.

What I admire about this film is its attempts to explore human vices, and I believe it is a very realistic portrayal of this, no matter how unique the story line may be to the majority of us.

Wonderful cinematography, a subtle, elegant score and great performances from some of Britain’s most well-known stars, but the plot seemed to be missing its spark. So it’s a 4/5 for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from me.

What did you think of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy?

P.S. There was serious contemplation of a 3/5 but the atmosphere created by everything but the script was truly great. It’s just a shame that some more clarity wasn’t incorporated into the film. I just sat through it thinking I must have missed a whole load of clues. Some googling brought me up to speed on some of the finer details (particularly with that chess piece with just ‘Karla’ written on it. Apparently I missed every other reference to Karla, so watch out for mention of the name; it’s fairly important to being able to follow the story).

Review: Immortals

Immortals, with all the shining abs and promises of copious amounts of blood will appeal to anyone who has ever uttered the catchphrase, “This is Sparta!”

Directed by Tarsem Singh, Immortals does share many stylistic choices with 300, as well as some producers, and their key audience. That being said, they do at least have different plots. Henry Cavill plays our leading man, Theseus, and he does it well; a good sign of things to come in 2013’s Man of Steel. The same can’t really be said for Micky Rourke’s Hyperion. Rourke plays Hyperion as a wonderfully evil character, but there are times where his dialogue drags, in an almost obvious attempt to cram in some plot to the film.

Why the writers bothered with a plot, we will never know. Immortals feels like it could still impress with just the violence, the wonderfully ridiculous outfits (one of my favourites is Poseidon’s headdress, played by Kellan Lutz) and the many attractive male and females, peasant or god.

The very ending of the film was a stylistic highlight, and many of the promotional posters for the film, as well as 39 seconds into the above trailer show a glimpse of this.

Immortals isn’t something you go to in order to ponder the deeper meanings of the universe; it’s a bit of fun. I’m giving it 2.5/5. Don’t let the rating scare you though; if you are looking for a bit of entertainment than Immortals is definitely worth seeing. The trailers for the film will have you knowing what to expect from it and it would be a surprise if you came out disappointed.

Though if there is anything that Immortals has taught me, it is that all films should have John Hurt cameos. 

So what do you think? Have your say on this film or another you’ve seen recently by clicking here.