With script changes, director changes and all manner of issues in the production of this film, and the fact that Clare had stated from the first trailer that she didn't like the lead actor, we went into Antman with trepidation.
From the moment the film started, all the worry and anxiety towards the final product disappeared.
Antman is an absolute delight to watch. It fits in with the Marvel Universe well (which is why director Edgar Wright left) referencing many moments and even with a very entertaining cameo of one of the New Avengers. The origin story flows well and has great characters throughout. One thing I was not expecting to do was laugh as much as I did. There are many moments that warranted a real good belly laugh, mainly down to Micheal Pena's character.
Antman has been hailed as a heist movie with the main plot around stealing a mcguffin that will help them break into an impenetrable fortress to steal another mcguffin, but it feels like a good, solid superhero MCU film as well.
Unfortunately, the bad guy falls into the usual MCU issues, the heroes are really entertaining and great to watch where as the bad guys are just run-of-the-mill, bad because i'm bad. Marvel has some really good bad guys, but they just don't seem to come across on screen as well.
The "big" battle towards the end of the film is an absolute riot, with the Thomas the Tank Engine cameo (from the trailer) playing a hilarious threat
There are a few easter eggs in the film for the MCU geeks, from Spiderman to Hulk and the Avengers. Also, make sure you stay through the credits till the end, there is a mid credit sequence and then a brief glimpse at a future MCU film at the very end.
The 3D worked well, as it was not a distraction for me, and actually added to the film. I forgot I had the glasses on at certain points (which based on my Jurassic World review is a big thing).
Micheal Douglas fits in really well with the story and seems to bring his usual acting chops, not just phoning in the performance just because he is a big name.
I can definitely recommend Antman as a film to watch at the cinema and even in 3D if you don't mind paying the extra £££'s
I had seen Magic Mike a few years ago at the request of my lovely wife Clare. Thinking it would be the female equivalent of Showgirls I was not expecting much. Believe me, the delight that we both watched that night surprised us both. Very funny, great characters, well acted and Channing Tatum! oh and lots of Abs and Pecks and Gluts!
Upon seeing the trailer for Magic Mike XXL I was a little concerned that the magic from the first film would not carry over. Did Channing still have it? With Dallas (McConaughey) and the Kid not returning for this one, could the rest of the cast support? And with there being such a great story line (I'm not joking) in the first one, would the second outing have enough interest?
Magic Mike XXL picks up a few years after the end of the first film with Mike as an owner of his own (very small) business away from male entertainment, when the old crew catch up with him and hint that they are all going to "Stripper-Con" for the weekend on a road trip. What is it with sequels and road trips? It felt like the Barden Bella's all over again, we need to do the same but bigger and louder, with more gyration and grinding...ok so that last bit is unique to Mike and the Gang.
Mike XXL had some great moments in it similar to the original, when the gang are just sat around talking, they are entertaining enough to listen to, the Queen Dance off raised a smile and the moves in Mrs Pinkett-Smith's house forced two old ladies in the cinema to leave in disgust.
It is still entertaining but nowhere near the original, and maybe a few years too late to capture on the hype of the original. I heard a few male chortles for further back in the cinema so there were other gentlemen enjoying the show as well as me, so don't be shy...although going on your own may raise an eyebrow or two.
One last little highlight for me was hearing John Williams' Duel of the Fates (The Darth Maul music from The Phantom Menace) being used as one of the stripping song, there is hope for us geeks!
Clare commented as we were leaving that is was quite raunchy and there were a few scenes to which she felt slightly embarrassed as leather clad hunks gyrate, grind and provocatively gesture to their adoring lady fans.
That being said, for us mere mortal men, I did feel the need to go to the gym right after this film as my six pack is still a work in progress....a long way off! and Mr Tatum can seriously move!
Listen and understand! That Terminator is out there! It's can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with, it doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear, and it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead........unless there is some serious bond villain-esque exposition and repeat dialogue it needs to get across, then it will just meander and chat away, and probably bore you to death!
I would say "Warning, Spoilers Ahead", but the trailers for this film have done that anyway!
I had heard a couple of reviews of Terminator Genisys before going to see the film, and none of them were overly positive. Yet, I began to question to critics view, I was really enjoying the film. It starts with atmosphere-sucking Jai Courtney repeating Sarah Connor's lines from the first film, and then mirrors yet changes the first 20 minutes from Terminator. It explains why the T-800 arrives in 1984 in a kneeing position whilst Kyle Reese lands with a bang, it plays well on the nostalgia of the original and then throws another few terminators into the mix, the twist on Sarah Connor is great, even though the explanation really needs some work, I was thinking maybe the critics were being a little harsh on Genisys. Then it all went wrong!
When our band of heroes move forward to 2017 and John Connor Terminator is introduced the film just lost all atmosphere, excitement and thrill and just became a run of the mill, exposition led, CGI filled, confused with it's own continuity, mess of a film.
Jai Courtney managed to suck the life out of every scene in a way only he can and Jason Clarke's new and improved Terminator was just not menacing at all. In the first two films Arnold and Robert Patrick have very few lines of dialogue, they are relentless, they walk into a room and shoot first and don't ask questions, even the terrible terminatrix from "Rise of the Machines" does not stop for a chat. The fact that the John Connor-bot continues to repeat the same lines over and over and gives the rebels his full backstory, plans for the future and how he is going to do everything just takes the impact and power out of the character.
There were many points during Genisys that I felt bored, and at some of these points there was a lot of action happening on screen. The CGI helicopter chase, the CGI Jurassic Park 2 bus scene, the CGI final big battle, just not interesting. When you have seen practical effects and CGI combined with such impact as in Mad Max Fury Road, then these efforts just really stand out. The main plot changer from the start of the film that a Terminator was sent back to when Sarah Connor was a 9 year old and "Pops" was also sent back to protect is never explained, who sent them? Also, going on Back to the Future's Doc Brown theory "I foresee two possibilities. One, coming face to face with yourself would put you into shock and you'd simply pass out, or two, the encounter could create a time paradox, the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space time continuum, and destroy the entire universe!"
I went in with low expectations for the film, hoping that they may be raised to just mediocre expectations. Unfortunately, Genisys had so much potential to start with, but it's battery just ran out too soon.
Arnold on the other hand was great!
and yes, there is a mid credit sequence to set up the next film!
But, don't just take my word for it!
Guest Review: The Film Lord
Terminator Genysis leaves me with a conundrum, how I feel about this film?
Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day are two of the greatest sci-fi (and in the case of the first Horror) films of all time. Now before seeing Genysis I’d already made up my mind that I didn’t like the casting of Sarah Conner or Kyle Reese. I also had no expectations that the film was going to hold up to the originals, I mean how could they. No all I needed was fun. Just give me 2 hours of Arnold being the Terminator and my nostalgia will do the rest.
And did it deliver? Well at this point I’ve had around 12 hours to think about it and I can whole-heartedly say HELL YESS it did.
What Terminator Genysis does so well is not only does it know how to play with your nostalgia but also how to layer its own story on top. It manages to do what many sequels forget to and that’s simply have fun…….. For about 30 minutes.
Then the second act begins and frankly what’s the point, if you’ve seen a film in the last ten years then you’ve seen everything Terminator has to offer. Also about this Terminator, remember in the original film when Kyle and Sarah were actually running for their life, trying desperately to stay ahead of this unstoppable killing machine. Well not in Genysis , no this Terminator willingly shows up every few minutes so our heroes can pump a few rounds of ammunition into him. No tension, no suspense and no sense of danger just “Hello did you really think, blah, blah blah” and yes with the amount of monologuing he insists on doing I was hoping at some point he’d kill them just so he’d shut up.
That being said the biggest issue this film has, apart from Jai Courtney, is for some reason they don’t explain the films central premise. To have to main crux of your movie be “someone sent a Terminator back before the events of the first film” only to then not actually tell you the identity of that “someone” is an insult to the viewer. That would be bad enough on it’s own but the film is littered with so many massive plot holes I can only assume the writer gave up trying to have it all make sense.
As for the casting well Arnold is the Terminator, plain and simple, yes his acting has gotten worse but when did you watch an Arnold film for acting. Emilia Clarke is no Linda Hamilton but she does fine with the little she has to do. Jai Courtney is well Jai Courtney if he’s not going to display an emotion then neither will I. As for Jason Clarke I don’t get him, he’s a serviceable actor but it say’s a lot when your main “bad guy” Terminator is upstaged by the one you throwaway in the first act (shout out to Lee Byung-hun)
Now it may sound like I hated the movie, I didn’t, I liked the premise, some of the action scenes were okay (some terrible granted) I laughed at the silly one liners, JK Simmons brief appearance was fun and it was great seeing Arnold being the Terminator again. It’s just such a shame because I do feel in places there’s been an actual attempt to make something more than your standard blockbuster only to then fall into the same modern movie tropes.
Also note to all screenwriters, directors and movies bosses, cleaners, caterers and so on…. big overblown CGI endings aren’t as impressive as you think they are.
So how do I feel about this film? I honestly don’t know....
It is a shame when your most famous actor, probably the one selling the film, is the worst actor by far!
When Evan's (Keanu Reeves) family leave for the weekend to go to the beach, he is able to focus on his current architectural project. Listening to music on full volume and thinking of partaking in a little recreational drug he is disturbed by a knock at the door. Stranded in the pouring rain, with mobile phone issues and a lost address, are two beautiful and flirtatious teens. Evan is convinced to let them in to dry off whilst he rings a taxi for them. Their intentions are a little more maniacal than there looks perceived.t
Eli Roth's name strike fear into me when I see him credited with a film. Hostel and Cabin Fever gave him a little push into the regular cinema going minds, but he doesn't seemed to have developed much since then in ways of variety. Knock Knock has some real uncomfortable parts, but the delivery is pretty samey.
The two lead seductresses are very well played and their deceitful nature had me questioning motives, but Keanu is just terrible, just absolutely terrible. He starts well enough, but then just gets worse are the film progresses. In one scene, he has earphone on whilst the sirens torture him with loud feedback noise. Keanu then shouts and screams in pain, it is one of the worst acted scenes I have had the displeasure of seeing. "Oh, I'm going deaf!", "My Ears!", yes, it is as bad as you just read!
There are some good little sections, and the two girls are completely bonkers, but there are far better films of a similar ilk out there, one I kept thinking of throughout was Hard Candy, which is an absolute gem and far better than this installment of torture porn from Mr Roth
Taking over from the success of the Despicable Me franchise, the little yellow babbling fellows get their own prequel. Based 63 years before Gru, the Minions are looking for the biggest and baddest master to serve. Through Tyrannosaur, Cavemen, Vampires and yeti, to Scarlett Overkill, the baddest female super villain ever, our titular heroes are pushed into committing the heinous crime of stealing the crown of our beloved queen so Scarlett can self proclaim regal status.
With the minions being the far funnier parts of the DM films, they only had small parts to play (although a little bigger in DM2), I was a little concerned how a 90 minute film of nonsensical babbling would fair. At certain points it did feel like I was watching a foreign film without subtitles, whilst heavily drunk....but it does work.
There are many, many laugh out loud moments in Minions and the three main characters have a great connection with each other. Scarlett is a standard bad guy with a huge climatic battle to end so nothing new or groundbreaking there, but I laughed from beginning to end, and sometimes, I really laughed.
There is a lull in the mid section, the jokes seemed to feel a little forced and as I mentioned the babbling got a little incoherent
Stuart, Bob and Kevin are definite staples in modern society now, with them appearing in more tv adverts, posters, supermarkets, McDonald's, in fact pretty much everywhere. I don't think asking for a banana will ever be the same again
Feeling a little lackluster towards the previous installments of Insidious, due to their overuse of the lazy jump scare, but wanting to take in a horror film, I decided to go and see the third film in the franchise. This time round the film is directed by the writer from the previous films, not the jump scare happy James Wann, but would it be any good?
Set a "little time" before the first film, Insidious Chapter 3 focuses on Elise, the physic, who has recently suffered the loss of her husband and subsequently found a dark place whilst hoping to say goodbye. Elise is approached by a young girl, Quinn, whose mother passed a few weeks ago and feels that her presence is still lingering and would like to make contact. Initially her request is denied due to Elise's fear of a dark entity, but after events force Quinn into double leg casts and a neck brace, Elise decides to help
Insidious Chapter 3 is full of the usual horror tropes, but this time it seems to do the jump scares right. Instead of the quiet, quiet, LOUD approach to everything (like a dad walking up behind, or a bird at the window), it uses the tension to scare at the right characters.
To explain better, please watch this video by Chris Stuckman,in which he details the problems with horror movies today, his explanation of the lazy jump scare against an actual scare is pretty much bang on, and may make you think about how modern horror is problematic if it sticks to the same formula.
Elise is a real likable character and the story being focused on her is an excellent choice. With the inclusion of the "Ghost Team" later in the film and the teaming up of our "heroes", it just seems more fluid that it's predecessors.
There are a few chilling moments, some good scares and some definitive jump moments.
Worth a watch if you are a fan of the series, but I would wait for DVD or Netflix
I am a huge Jurassic Park fan, I remember back in 1993 queuing numerous times to watch the film over and over again. The awe and spectacle of seeing the giant, towering Brachiosaurus and fearing the dreaded T-Rex and Raptors, all accompanied by the joyful music of the greatest composer of our time, Mr John Williams.
Then a few years later, despite some questionable scenes , Jurassic Park: The Lost World did it all over again, it all started with ooh's and aah's followed by screaming (in relation to ridiculous acrobatics). Jurassic Park III however, did not follow suit.
So, when the announcement of Jurassic World was first heard, and the first trailer seen, I was anxious. Wanting a return to form, willing the director to take me back to that childish nostalgia and boyish awe. I was excited every time the quintessential score was played, ever so slightly slower and eerier. Jurassic World could not follow in the footsteps of it's last adventure, could it?
During a 3D showing of Mad Max, the trailer was shown once again, however this time it was in the extra dimension, both Clare and I looked at each other after this teaser and said, "I think that is how we should watch it", and so we did
Donning the colour reducing, headache inducing, perspective increasing eyewear, we settled in to be amazed.
After 20 minutes, I kept wondering why everything looked so small. The Jurassic World Main Street looked like a toy town, the helicopter in which Simon Masrani (the new John Hammond) arrives in looked minute. In retrospect I put this down to the extreme perspectives given in 3D and feel that this extra depth reduced the awe of the film.
There are some very, very entertaining parts of Jurassic World, mainly down to the fan favourites, the Raptors. I was a little concerned from the trailer that they were merely Chris Pratt's puppets, but the film holds a little surprise back in that respect. There were some great little nods to the original film, and the new dino has some qualities that fill you with dread like the original T-Rex, but there is also a lot wrong with it. There are some real dull bits, the kids are annoying, the dialogue seems clunky in parts and the continuity is laughable. At one point, seen in the trailer, the kids jump off a waterfall into a muddy lake, yet moments later, their clothes are dry, hair and make up done. Also, why oh why is the most awe inspiring music, which in JP was used to bring in the wonder of the dinosaurs, why is it being played whilst we fly over and through gift shops, sweet shops, merchandising and the Jurassic World Main Street, you kind of missed the mark with that one.
Jurassic World was my second most anticipated film of the year, so Mr Abrams, you have more pressure on your shoulders now!
It was not a bad film, like Jurassic III, not an awesome film like Jurassic Park, but definitely on par with The Lost World. Some great moments amidst lots of filler.
I understand as well that the late, great Stan Winston could no longer be part of the special effects team due to his moving to another plane of existence, but why sully his work with excessive CGI when the practical effects worked so well?
To me a trip to the cinema is a bit of a mixed experience, I do enjoy the huge screen and the superior sound quality but the experience is usually marred by other people, I don’t really understand why people are happy to pay money to talk through a film or fidget in the seat or spend their time checking various social media sites.
There are, however, certain movies that you just have to experience on the big screen, certain films that are worth subjecting yourself to the uncomfortable seats and the proximity of people who can afford cinema tickets but are seemingly reluctant to spend 99p on a can of lynx.
As I have always been a fan of the Jurassic Park franchise then there was no way that I was going to let the latest Dinosaur epic pass by without seeing it in the way it was meant to be seen.
So we booked our Tickets and off we went to see Jurassic World. The plot of the film is nothing new, if you have seen any of the Jurassic Park movies then you will
know what to expect.
The Jurassic World theme park attendance has been in decline so a new attraction is needed. This is delivered in the form of a Brand new species of Dinosaur, The pedigree of which has been kept under wraps by the scientist who created the creature.
At this point 2 quotes from the previous Jurassic park movies were going around my head as they gazed on the new creation with wonder and delight.
John Hammond: Don't worry, I'm not making the same mistakes again.
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and um, screaming.
What follows is a roller coaster event where we see that this intelligent new breed of Dinosaur has a vast array of tricks up its sleeve to enable it to break free from the enclosure before the attraction has even been opened to the public.
The casting of Chris Pratt as the reluctant hero of the hour is pretty much a part he was born to play. His character is attempting to train Raptors and while this seems to be going well we are also given a glimpse into the wild side of the creature when he has to intervene in the rescue of an inexperienced employee. So we see early on that this is the man who will be there to save the day.
There are obvious comparisons to the original movies throughout Jurassic World and we even get a glimpse of the old, redundant park.
If you are a fan of the Jurassic park franchise then I would heartily recommend that you witness this film at the cinema. There are plenty of Jumpy moments and at certain points during the show my wife clamped her hand firmly in mine as if this was going to save her from the screen monsters.
