djvale Reviews

The Dark Knight (2008)

Curtain Closes On The Joker - One We Will Never Forget

[9/10 · 26 July 2008]

You know the score. This film was destined to be #1 on IMDb. This film is destined to be one of the highest grossing films in years. This film is destined to be one of the "best films" ever.

Why? Well - you know why. *wink wink nudge nudge*. The Dark Knight is without a doubt the best film I've seen this year, and in fact, a long time. Giving this work of art 10 stars would leave a bitter taste in my mouth, because I know it does have some flaws, but its a solid solid solid film. What I can say is this, is that its without a doubt, the best Batman movie that has ever been made. And thats pretty damn good in my books. Batman Begins was pretty awesome - but this film, it takes Batman Begins by the neck, pulls and tugs at it and dangles it like childs play. Simply put, The Dark Knight will go down as one of the best comic book conversions this millennium. The balance between humour, action and drama is spot on - and that makes such a pleasant change.

Christopher Nolan has gone down the route of his trustworthy Bale & Caine team that he has used in his last 2 films (Batman Begins & The Prestige - both by the way, awesome films) and they still do not disappoint. Bale is the perfect Bruce Wayne, funny, diplomatic and arrogant, it was if he was born to play that role - whilst Caine, plays the intelligent yet lovable butler and close friend of Bruce, Alfred. Morgan Freeman also turns in a delightful performance as Fox, partner of Bruce in "Wayne Enterprises" - whilst also providing Bruce with equipment and suits for Batman.

Harvey Dent aka Two-Face - is probably the weakness of this film, almost Spiderman 3 in many respects, bringing in new characters towards the end segments spoils the party, but it was a decent performance from Aaron Eckhart - don't get me wrong! I felt as if his character didn't have enough depth to it - and wasn't given enough time to develop his anger and mental image that Two-Face develops in the comics.

Gary Oldman as James Gordon is also a sure fire hit. He completely knocks his Batman Begins appearance for 10, and gives us vintage Oldman.

The star of the show - as you may have guessed it, was The Joker. Heath Ledger in his best role to date - and unfortunately, his last. Heath's portrayal of The Joker is dark, clever, disturbing and mischievous. The Joker appears within the first 5 minutes of the film, and you already begin to sense how it will pan out. Twists & turns all the way through. The more of The Joker you witness, you begin to realise what an interesting character he is, and how he makes Batman realise that he is just the same as him. A renagade, a vigilante, a nobody. The body language and charisma from Heath Ledger is spot on. Jack Nicholson is well within his rights to tip his hat off to Ledger, as he has done a fantastic job. Every scene with The Joker shows different sides of how fascinating an actor Ledger really was; from the delightful intro, to the "magic trick", the prison sequence, right through to the lorry chasing and the climax. Oscar worthy? Why not, there hasn't been a villain THIS beautifully crafted since Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal.

All in all - this isn't a one trick pony - its a fantastic film in its own right. Plot twists, surprises, fantastic pace, perfect balance of drama and action. Why 9 stars? I felt it could of been darker and aimed more towards the adult fans. I felt it could have been bloodier and I felt that the Two-Face character was somewhat premature and the final Joker scene felt unfinished in some respects. I honestly think giving this #1 on our list is somewhat tedious, but it does hold its own spot in cinema history as being one of THE best comic book adaptations I've seen in a very long time. So when you put that into context, thats damn good. Heath Ledger has stamped his mark on the genre, and raised the bar so high now, you just hope that if there is a next installment, that the next villain will be able to step up to the palette. R.I.P Heath.

Wanted (2008)

Boring & Cheesy Action Flick...

[2/10 · 13 July 2008]

...with one or two decent scenes of action, until it tips the action maybe a few steps over the edge of acceptable. Thats what you get in this movie.

I went to see this on a free ticket thingy with one of my best mates on a wet and windy day, thing was, I honestly had no idea what to expect. Thats really my own fault, but hey, free tickets, can't complain right? OK, the story is this, and try not to laugh as you read on: James McAvoy plays big time loser, Wesley Gibson. An office worker with a "heart condition", stressed, being cheated on by his best mate sleeping with his girlfriend and generally, just being a nobody. Enter anorexic Angelina Jolie (Fox) with awful tattoo's up and down her body. She tells Wesley that his father was assassinated on a roof top, and that he was apart of a secret fraternity of assassins that had been around for 1000 years, called....wait for it: "The Fraternity" ! How original. Wesley is taken to this "fraternity", where he discovers his true identity and his destiny to be a big time assassin.

Now this is the best part. Morgan Freeman plays Sloan, aka: Morpheus MK II, and takes Wesley under his guidance, where he is beaten black and blue, stabbed to hell with butchers knives and undertaken on many more obscene torture sessions, to become the best assassin on the planet. He obtains his "targets" by a pile of granny's knitting (aka, a gigantic loom thread) where there are binary codes hidden in the stitching. Binary code in stitching...yes...binary hidden in string.

Okay - so thats all laughable - it gets worse though.

From the offset of this films opening scene, it just reminded me of "The Matrix". Straight out, nothing else. Not "Wanted", but a poor man's Matrix. That is all this film is. Poor mans Matrix. You'll be kidding yourself if you actually enjoy any segment of this film, as its mostly loaded with "yet-more-slow-mo-scene" moments, which look poorly made, and god damn cheesy. I won't spoil the party piece though...actually I will. Its when Morgan Freeman says "mother f**ker" right at the end of this 2 hour nonsense. Thats really the only reason why I was generous giving this 4 stars out of 10. I have to give the film some credit though, it DOES have one or two good scenes, but lets be honest, curving bullets, binary codes hidden in loom threads, a predictable plot, and ridiculous long shots where bullets seem to deny the barriers of gravity going through donut hoops, windows, energy drinks and finally hitting someone through the head on a 10 storey building - isn't my idea of a "great" action movie. I can't honestly remember a great action film I have seen in the last year, apart from Die Hard 4.

Save time by avoiding this film at all costs, just beware that the 7.5 out of 10 is really misleading. Actually read some of the comments before you go venturing off into the wilderness!

The Happening (2008)

Worst. Movie. Of. The. Millennium...

[1/10 · 16 June 2008]

This may contain a spoiler, but in all honesty, you don't even want to bother with this film.

After the last dismal outing from Shyamalan, "Lady In The Water", I honestly thought that he would pull out the stops for "The Happening", return to what he's good at, rather than be a jack of all trades. I wanted to love this film so much, its just such a cruel twist of fate why I even left the house to watch this film.

The build up to this was incredible, so much lying on this film and on Shyamalan's shoulders. In an interview somewhere on youtube.com - he exclusively said that "The Happening" was going to be his darkest, scariest and most paranoid film he has ever made. He wanted to take disturbing images and influences from what he thought was the scariest film of his generation, "The Exorcist", and utilise similar themes into "The Happening". What a crock of BS.

What Shyamalan gives us, is a half arsed, lazy script, with awful dialogue, and some of the worst acting I have EVER seen. Even the films story is crap. Deadly "suicidal" toxins released from plant life because they have had enough of human life polluting their atmosphere?? Give me a break Shya, even you couldn't come up with god awful plot like this, oh wait, you DID! Mark Wahlberg gives the worst performance in cinema history since Nicolas Cage decided to play dumb in "The Wicker Man" (and I actually think that the "Wicker Man" was better - thats how bad this film is). The supporting cast are just as bad, and there are so many moments of cheese. The worst is probably the scene where Wahlberg and the gang stumble across a desolate looking house, and he starts singing to the inhabitants inside. Then a slow mo coincides with a young lad getting his head blown to bits with a shotgun: "Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

How god damn lame. The one thing in this film that makes it have at least ONE star out of 10, is the fact that Betty Buckley, who plays the creepy Mrs. Jones, actually makes you feel abit uncomfortable for the duration of the film she is in. So thats 15 minutes or so. In fact - if she had been the problem of this film - IE: the source of the "happening", then I would have actually liked this movies outcome. But she just becomes another victim.

My mate sitting next to me kept saying "I wonder what the twist will be?" To which my response was something like, "The twist is that the cinema screen will break down because this is so bad." Or words to that extent anyway. My other best mate kept looking at his watch before the halfway mark as he had lost interest completely.

Shyamalan - I've lost hope in you now. Maybe you were a one hit wonder after all. People giving this film generous votes (IE: anything above 2 stars) - really need to watch this film again - because I want to see your facial expression as you walk out of the cinema, knowing that you really have witnessed, possibly, one of the worst films of the new millennium.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Do you like cheese with your crackers?

[4/10 · 29 January 2008]

One could honestly say, that Tim Burton is a legend in film making. His dark approach to films, that gets you under your skin and doesn't hold back. Quite often he's attempted to try his hand at other things, such as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The Corpse Bride", which do the trick, if your a goth. Unfortunately, even the best have their off days, and this shows why you should stick to what you know, rather than be a jack of all trades.

With Johnny Depp playing really vital roles in the majority of Burton's films such as "Sleepy Hollow" and "Edward Scissorhands", Burton continue's his tradition of plonking the main role for Depp as Benjamin Barker. Judge Turpin (played by Mr. Bad himself, Alan Rickman) deports Benjamin Barker for a crime he did not commit, leaving Turpin to Barkers wife and daughter for the taking! With his wife dead, Barker returns to London to find salvation and seek revenge on the Judge.

With this, the story itself is brilliantly portrayed, Burton sprinkles his dark, moody, bloody self all over it. And thats brilliant.

What kills the whole film for me, and I didn't realise this upon entering the cinema screen, was the fact it was originally based on a Broadway musical. Way to go Burton! You've just made me pay £7.50 for what can only be described as your brilliant dark and dirty mind (which is what I love about Burton) ruined with the Broadway cheese wiped all over a pretty decent excuse for a film! From start to finish, you get cheese, cheese and more cheese. Actors who wouldn't really sing, trying to sing with dodgy cockney accents. Its been tried and tested before, and it didn't work. Oh, and abit of over the top blood for the sake of blood.

The only salvation in this film, is the fact that the supporting cast do really well to pull the film back on track. Sacha Boren Cohen shows how much of a multi talent he is as the mischeivous Pirelli, Timothy Spall also, shows how much of a talented actor he is, by being the dogs body for Judge Turpin, but it just doesn't hide the fact, that these actors should not be in a god damn musical. Even Depp, who I do hold high in esteem for his acting, can't face the music for this poor excuse of a role. At points, he even seems like he doesn't care. Like a bad Jack Sparrow.

To be honest, people who are voting this film extremely high 8, 9 or 10's, should be ashamed of themselves. This isn't Pirates folks, its Tim Burton picking at genre's he shouldn't be touching.

If you do like musicals, you will love this, and you will love it even more because Johnny Depp is in it, and you obviously like Andrew Lloyd-Webber. If you don;t like musicals, simply avoid this movie, you won't like it going in, and you won't like it coming out. Even if you TRY and cover up the fact its a musical, it still won't work. Even with Tim Burton and Depp behind the wheel.

Slither (2006)

A damn good splat fest! "The Thing meets Dawn of the Dead"!

[7/10 · 7 January 2008]

I'm not really one for horror movies, in fact, it takes a really good horror movie for me to actually give it the thumbs up. And for a horror film to keep me laughing, chuckling, giggling and squirming all at once, is a pretty damn good effort to me! Its like horror fans have made this film for horror fans, and they have certainly delivered the goods here.

This isn't your normal teen slasher, psycho axe wielding horror flick, its about your average Texas town, with small cops, friendly neighbours and a collective community spirit. This is where the film unclothes its big bad secret weapon. It goes completely over the top on the body count, cringe worthy scenes, black humour and vileness which is what I love! Its so unpredicatble and insane that it actually works.

Here we have a story of one man, who people are quite jealous of. Old Grant (Michael Rooker). He is married to a beautiful young lady called Starla (played by Elizabeth Banks) who works in the local school, a popular girl who everybody loves. Grant however, after one night of missed out passion with Starla, turns his back on her and heads out to the local. After a few beers, he meets a girl who had a high school crush on him for years. With this in mind, and just before an unlawful move on his part, he decides its best not to have a one night fling with this woman. On his curiosity, Grant stumbles upon what looks like an alien slug, that bizarrely injects a spine into his chest. With all of this happening within the first 10 minutes of the film, you can bet your bottom dollar what the ending is going to be like! From here on, we get some of the most under-rated scenes of vileness in cinema history as we see Grant turn from the humble man he is, into one of the ugliest and most powerful beast I've seen in years. Its not only the transformation that is frightening, its the plight of mind power that Grant uses on his victims with the use of large red slugs that turn its prey into flesh eating zombie like creatures. Its through these zombies, that Grant puts a piece of his once old self, into. Its quite interesting to see the transformation, but yet, still frightening that Grant still has a small piece of his heart left. And that heart is reserved for Starla.

With a storyline like this, it has to be over the top. Which is why it works so well. The unique twist of gore, comedy, gore, comedy - works so well. Obviously the film is flawed with its acting in parts, which is why my rating drags it down a bit from being an A-Class horror to a B-Class horror. The supporting cast do well, but slowly deteriate as the film reaches its finale. Which is a shame, as it does end slightly clichéd - but I still had a smile on my face! Its still definitely worth the viewing. If you like your horrors over the top, then prepare to be taken away into a skin crawling horror flick, full of laughs, one liners, gags, blood, guts and lots of slugs. If your more into the serious type of horror, then you will not like this film.

I Am Legend (2007)

I Am Disappointing

[6/10 · 6 January 2008]

Being one of the final block buster films of 2007, "I Am Legend" has still managed to gross a whopping buck in the final week of the UK box office than the majority of films have done in a month. Still, with this in mind, the film was set to be huge, and give 2007 a good seeing off. Quite frankly, the best film I've seen this year, still has to be "Hot Fuzz", I couldn't compare Legend to Fuzz in any respect.

Legend tries to deliver what the Omega Man back in the 70's tried to deliver, isolation, paranoia and one mans fight for survival. In its best attempt, Legend does touch the top of tip of the ice berg on all of these attributes, it just doesn't really succeed in making you believe, even if Will Smith does give a pretty decent performance.

The film is basically about one person creating a cure for cancer, in which they reverse the string of the cancer disease, and thus, reversing the patients cancer string to cure them. We then get thrown into the mix 3 years down the line, to a desolate New York city, with no one but Smith and his Dog. Throughout the film, we get flashbacks of what happens to New York in its final hours before everything falls to pieces, and the supposed cure for cancer, fluctuates and reverses into a viral outbreak (Resident Evil anyone?) that turns everyone into zombie nocturnal like creatures that cannot get into direct contact with sunlight. This is pretty much what the flashbacks deliver, and do not really give us an insight of a deeper storyline and background to the film.

The film just doesn't seem to flow at all. Its story is limited and flawed in every way. You don't find out how the virus spread, why only a small minority of the population don't get infected, and how the virus originated. Its then just plot hole bonanza in that aspect, but we are left to figure out the story by ourselves, and thats annoying.

Albeit there isn't a lot of talking in the movie, Smith does do a fairly decent job of being the "only survivor" in NYC, but he does seem to drift off and give us some pretty bad acting in other scenes. But compare it to Tom Hanks in Castaway, and how he builds a relationship with the football "Wilson", I felt so much more upset when that ball got swept out to sea, than when Smith loses the things closest to him in this movie. You'll see what I mean.

Above all else, this film is short. And that sucks. This film truly is a disappointment. Its decent at best don't get me wrong, but I just felt it was rushed, the ending was shockingly presented and it just didn't leave me pleased when it finished.

Some of the scenes were quite groovy, almost Doom like - but with less cheese factor. But then after the red mist has settled, its just another disappointment for a supposed blockbuster of a movie. I just hope we can actually get a decent survival-horror-apocolyptical movie in the coming years.

Saw IV (2007)

Rinsed to the core...(may contain a spoiler)

[3/10 · 29 October 2007]

Another year, another Halloween approaching, and thus, another Saw film. Why, oh why. The Saw franchise should of stopped producing sequels after the first one. Pehaps even after the second. It was blatantly a cash in. The first Saw epitomised the sheer genius of torture horror of the new millennium - which has sparked off sub-genre type films like Hostel and Vacancy.

Saw I was the king of psychological grim violence fest that had you hooked to the edge of your seat, and with a finale to die for. It was sheer brilliance. The second movie saw the new apprentice from the survivor of Saw I, taking over Jigsaw's work. Pretty much giving us flashbacks of the processes involved etc etc, and giving a pretty cool twist at the end. It wasn't as good as Saw I, but it was a decent sequel. In my opinion. It should of stopped here. But this wasn't enough. Instead they went the extra mile, and made Saw III even gorier and even more grim for kicks. It was shoddy, poor, pathetically acted, and a let-down.

Saw IV however, takes the biscuit. Not only was it bad all the way through, and completely ridiculously over the top, it was without a doubt, one of the worst films I've seen this year. A few familiar faces couldn't even help it nurse its way upwards from Saw III, in fact, Saw III was just completely irrelevant. The whole point of Saw III was for Saw IV to pick up where it left off. Not kill off the poor bugger who had to do the rest of his tests to find his daughter. To be quite honest, by the end of Saw IV, I just didn't even care who was in it, so many name checks, so many people and the story and flashbacks just went all over the place. It was more confusing than a Rubik's cube.

What really annoyed me was the cheese factor about the whole line at the end of the movie "Game Over". As soon as this line flopped out of (insert random character that really has no reference to the movie franchise what so ever, here)'s mouth, it just summed up what I really hope will happen. Saw. Game Over.

It's been rinsed far too much now, and its getting boring. No longer do I even care about people getting tortured and killed in the most interesting of ways. The spark has now disappeared from Saw. Its no longer a cult thing, thanks to its sheer poor sequels/prequels.

If you do like the Saw franchise, you'll probably fall head-over heels in love with this instalment and get sucker-punched, ready for (what can only be called) a diabolical 5th and 6th movie. I personally want to get rid of the memory of watching this movie and the 3rd movie, possibly even the second movie. The fact remains, if you haven't seen any of the Saw movies, stick with the first. It will at least, give the franchise some sort of credibility for being one of the best films this genre has to offer.

Superbad (2007)

Superbad: McLovin?! That's bad-ass!!

[9/10 · 9 September 2007]

When you take into account the amount of bad comedies that have been released lately, and near enough the same sort of style, IE: "40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up", when Superbad was advertised, I didn't really think to give it a chance. Another brick in the wall...boy how wrong was I! I got a private screening, and decided to give it a chance. Besides, from what I had heard, it was basically a teen-movie that had been recognised to be better than American Pie. I did enjoy American Pie, its more of a cult thing though with teenagers, and it was released around my age-gap.

"Superbad" is far more crass and "in-your-face" than any other teen-movie. In fact, it simply grabs them by the face, and wipes its vileness all over them. Its absolutely genius.

The film is basically about 3 teenagers; Seth (Hill), a crude large lad who talks more pussy, Evan (Cera), a quiet yet philosophical and intelligent lad who gets his point across and Fogell (Mintz-Plasse), the nerdy, yet really open geek, who dons a fake ID with a name "McLovin" and thinks he's the mutts nuts when things go his way. This trio are quite the unpopular kids at their high-school. They share all the trauma's, laughs and gags together, which involve talking about sex, girls, watching porn, getting drunk and partying hard (in their own way). It's their last day as high-schoolers, and these guys want to go out with a bang. The story looks at each character individually throughout the film, as they get invited to one of the hottest parties in town. Their mission: is to supply the booze.

The casting is simple. Two main characters, with a good supporting cast, and the best supporting geek since sliced bread. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, take a bow. He portrays the "high-school" geek to absolute perfection. The guy that everybody love to hate - yet, you'll love the blighter so very much! His presence in the movie makes this film what it is. The way he talks, looks and actions he does throughout the film are golden. Jonah Hill takes the lead and gives a broad and crude performance, whilst Cera also dons a great performance taking and talking the more mature approach of the three. The relationship between these guys is magic. At times they hate each other, but you all know their still best friends. Its polite insults for them. The amount of swearing is probably a bit OTT, but hey, it is teenagers - name me teens that don't swear these days. Behind closed doors, this is what happens! I can honestly say with my hand held up, that this movie will probably be the funniest and biggest comedy this year, and the best teen movie since the original American Pie. Give it a chance.

It's all about McLovin!

Knocked Up (2007)

Is it me, or was this simply over-rated?

[6/10 · 9 September 2007]

A "fairly unattractive" man. Who smokes weed. Has no life. Living off a compensation benefit. Meets a "pretty" woman. At a club. They both get drunk. Have sex. Woman becomes pregnant...

You get the drift, I could actually write this review in the same context all the way through. This is probably as close as to how the film has been constructed.

I can't say that I enjoyed the "40 Year Old Virgin" in fact, I thought it was boring, crap storyline, segments were funny, with random scenes and locations which had no relevance to the film to fill in extra minutes for your money, and so on, so forth. This is EXACTLY what happens in "Knocked Up".

What annoys me, is the fact that this film could of been so good. I wanted it to make that extra yard to make me fall out of my seat, so, so, so much. It just reminded me of crap sex, an ongoing ordeal that you think will come to something, and just when you think things are going your way, it all flops down.

I can't completely slag this film though, as Seth Rogan shows what a talented actor he can be in funny situations. I think he will be one to watch out for in the future for sure. He has some brilliant one liners it has to be said! Katherine Heigl also done a blinding performance, its such a shame, because the storyline and little plot-holes completely screwed them both over. They are big actors for the big comic bound occasion, its a shame they were blindfolded and given shocking scenario's to work with.

Of course it has its moments, but nothing that makes you go to pub with your mates and chat about it. I was very whole-heartedly disappointed with this film. So much speculation ruins a good thing ya' know? Possibly the most over-rated comedy of 2007. Yes. Down to the shoddy direction of the film. Absolutely. Possibly showcasing the new coming talent of comedies for the future. Maybe. With the right ingredients.

Rush Hour 3 (2007)

The "Rush" isn't that fast anymore...

[5/10 · 9 September 2007]

My friend, who happens to work for a cinema company over here in jolly ol' England, got myself and a few friends some cinema tickets for this film (since he couldn't actually get tickets for other films!), for free, I thought why the hell not.

The only thing I remember about the previous Rush Hour movies - was the quick wit of Chris Tucker combined with Jackie Chan's blinding stunts, skills and funny dialogue. Rush Hour proved that you can have a good laugh with a dodgy storyline, cheesy dialect and in your face humour, the sequel just about got away with it - but the third in the trilogy proved to be a lot more jaded. The humour had sizzled out, the live action from Jackie just seemed to much for him now - and the storyline was pretty damn ghastly, in all sense of the word. However, there were moments of compassion, indulged with some pretty good laughs wrapped around the movie, which in fairness, kept the film rolling.

Tucker's wit is still there, albeit tried and tested formula, it still works in its simplicity. The random French taxi driver's character was just a waste of space, which just left the plot crying out "I'm going to make this guy involved in the finale somehow". Chan, well, he's seen better days. Age has caught up with him, his stunts actually were fine, if he didn't take so god damn long to do them. It actually took him about 15 seconds to scale a simple wall, whilst looking like he was trying to make it harder than it actually was.

This film isn't going to be remembered forever in the trilogy, but its just like a really good computer game, you buy the add-on package for having it sakes.

Rush Hour 3 is one of those films where you know before hand your going to have an average night's viewing, but you goto it anyway, and afterwards, you think to yourself, "Meh, maybe I was right, I was better off playing that add-on for Half-Life".

Its not a bad movie, but its not great either. If you actually took away the crap storyline and dodgy acting, the humour would of given the movie at least 6-7 stars out of 10.

Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

Simply put, one of the best action prequel flicks yet!

[8/10 · 15 July 2007]

Having seen this film later than the majority of people on here, I can honestly say that Die Hard 4.0 really did live up to the hype. It was such a cool, action packed film from the start, till the finish.

Bruce Willis, although not up-to-par McClane, gave a pretty decent performance of middle aged cop John McClane. The storyline was something to be questioned, and was very far-fetched in terms of depth and linguistic jargon that was used throughout. This was however, completely cast aside, by some of the best action sequences I have seen in such a long time. At last, stunts and explosions that used limited CGI to great effect.

Right from the word go, its typical Die Hard. McClane gets caught up in crossfire from an Internet terrorist group exterminating hackers, whilst trying to escort a "top" hacker to the FBI for questioning. Its literally from the first 10 minutes, that you get your first shell-shocking apartment blast up. Quality stuff.

Like all the Die Hard movies, the villains are cool (and pretty bad!) and the action is slick, gritty, tense and brilliantly executed. I have to say though, Thomas Gabriel (played by Timothy Olyphant) was pretty poor in comparison to some of the other bad guys, but gave a decent (but in some cases, damn cheesy) performance. Justin Long played the nerdy hacker to perfection, with one or two minor blips in performance, but he was passable and gave the film a funny edge with his quirky one liners and gags.

One thing I will say though, Willis wasn't "classic" McClane, he wasn't as blasphemic as usual. But he made up for it in the action sequences. You did get the Yippy-Kay-Ay, but not right until the end. For a 15 certificate, you actually didn't get a lot of bad language or violence for your buck. This didn't matter though, because this films pace kept you focused and ready for the next action packed sequence.

At times you felt as though it would let you down, but then it would throw down a gauntlet right in front of you.

I honestly recommend though, you go in with an open-mind and enjoy it. Its an action flick. But a damn good one!

The Prestige (2006)

Great film! Very under-rated!

[8/10 · 6 May 2007]

You can't even begin to write a comment for this film without trying to give the plot away. Christopher Nolan has really shown his depth and imagination with this film. Its fantastically edited and directed. It's cleverly narrated through two magicians diaries, one reading the others of past events, with several scenes deployed in the middle which show current events.

The film is about two magicians, Borden (Bale) & Angier (Jackman) who become rivals after an accident at a show (that they have been performing before), where the magician on stage picks two members from the audience (ie: Bale and Jackman), they tie up Angier's partner by the hands and feet. She goes into the glass cage filled with water...from here on - the rivalry starts. Throughout the film, Bale & Angier are determined to get the better of each other by coming up with better tricks, but the film takes such a dark twist into something more sinister, which is what the makes the film's conclusion so great and simple. It's not until Borden perfoms the most greatest trick that Angier has ever seen, that he is determined to better Borden's. This leads onto a great exploration of one person's desperation to seek his true goal in life, to become the greatest magician over Borden.

A lot of people here say "Oh it was predictable" - maybe it was, but then, you still don't expect even when you know the truth.

It's a film that didn't really give the impact that it probably should of done on the public, it wasn't a huge film publicity wise, but its a great film with a magnificent story, and the acting is second to-none. Cane, Johansson and Bowie do fanatastic jobs as sub characters - although Johansson's English accent is one to be questioned.

Overall its a really enjoyable film, a tiny bit long, but the story drags you in to make you watch it to the end. Top purchase on DVD! Go buy!

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

So-so prequel - don't expect a masterpiece!

[6/10 · 5 May 2007]

Upon seeing the film being released world-wide last night, I was quite excited to believe that this was going to be the best Spider-Man film yet. The hype, trailers and build-up had this destined to be the #1 film of the summer (and it probably will be to be honest). A sign of Toby Maguire putting on a few pounds probably means he's had enough of the Spider-Man series, and there probably won't be anymore.

However...

The film starts with Peter Parker loving his "claim-to-fame" as Spidey - he swallows his pride and forgets that Mary Jane is also part of his life. A fantastic battle scene within the opening shows the quality of the special effects put into this 3rd film. They really have outdone themselves in this Spidey, but the lack of story and depth to characters showed.

It seemed as though they decided to fill in comic moments to tie up loose ends in the film, which weren't really that funny anyway. I guess this was to make-up for the ridiculous sub-plots and storyline. There are three baddies in this one, and in my opinion, it just slaughtered the films structure, and weighing in at 2 and a half hours, it seemed to drag on abit. I do have a soft spot for Jameson though, his attitude and timing are perfect. Really great moments with him! Venom should of been the baddest, coolest, evilest S.O.B. that Spidey had to face, but the feeble attempt from Topher Grace as Venom (and I mean feeble in the highest degree), just made me cringe. His acting was absolutely shocking, and he just did not suit the Venom role what-so-ever. This brings me on to the "cheese" factor of the film. You could actually of had crackers with this film. The cheesy dialogue, acting and stupid Jazz Bar scene was ludicrously stupid and had no meaning what so ever. (Watch it and see what I mean).

Sandman (played by Thomas Haden Church), did a poor job of portraying a man-on-the-run - his dull tone put me off and made me want to fall asleep. Only when he became the actual Sandman (which the effects were amazing I have to say - they really did capture the villain as Sandman perfectly!) he felt comfortable and gave a good performance.

The effects really did save this film, and for the money they spent on it, really does show. The story isn't anything to be desired, and the crap acting from most of the cast sparked off some of the cheesiest moments in cinema history.

I walked away from this movie thinking how much I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't. It was a big let down. Spider-Man 2 completely washed this film away. Save it for a DVD watching, or if you have to see it, go watch this with an open-mind. Its not as good as the second Spidey, but the action sequences are stunning. Period. Don't get your hopes up.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

"The Fuzz" Keeps Black Comedies Alive!

[10/10 · 18 February 2007]

"Shaun of the Dead" was probably one of the funniest (if not the best) British black comedy that had been released in 2004. With gritty violence that made you squirm, innocent humour (Nick Frost) with blaspheming insults that just made you laugh out loud, and the quick wit of Simon Pegg with some great fun and horror mixed together, "Hot Fuzz" had a huge task of competing with the sheer greatness, of which was "Shaun of the Dead".

After much keen excitement upon seeing the teaser trailers of Hot Fuzz last year, my stomach churned as if to say "At god damn last, a film I can look forward to in the new year!" I felt as though it was best however, to go in with an open-neutral-mind, as I didn't want to spoil the film with high expectations.

I actually was starting to get worried into the first segments of the film, the humour wasn't as sharp as SOTD's first 20 minutes, and there were so many characters to remember, most of whom didn't make sense for a while. It wasn't till Nick Frost was introduced - that the film started picking up its pace and then decided to grab me by the throat. The film from then, was so funny, action packed, gruesome and dark! You just do not expect anything which was what made SOTD so great. The spontaneous actions and humour just kept the film's pace fantastically back on track.

The great thing about Hot Fuzz was just how original it was, and the ending (no spoilers here) just gave itself the stamp of "Most Exciting & Fun Ending In British Comedy".

The mystery and murder factor was well done as well, leaving me guessing "who did it" all the way through the film, but as with SOTD, the dark and grotesque violence kept its mature rating of 15, very enjoyable, yet very squirming to watch.

I highly recommend this film for anyone who just wants a good laugh and likes simple great black comedies. If you loved Shaun of the Dead, you will love this film. Just go in with an open-mind and have fun. Definitely worth the £6.50 (and the £15 when it comes out on DVD)!