d-beckwith Reviews

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek, Just safe enough.

[7/10 · 26 May 2013]

Looked forward to this with reservations about the whole Dark Knight style they were pushing in the adverts. I have to say that it strayed away from what I expected and pleasantly surprised me in most ways.

There are however a few pitfalls, the first being the whole light bad guy twist. Oh you think this guy is the bad guy, think again it's this guy, no wait you were right he is actually worse than the other bad guy, bad guy. It's a technique overly used in cinema and literature these days in a vague attempt to give you a shock or even just make the story slightly more interesting but I think it's time to put it bed.

The second part follows on from this original plot point. Khan is pretty much the most remembered baddie from Star Trek, he's hyper intelligent, strong and more than a match for any member of star fleet, especially Kirk and co. Why didn't they just run with this? Instead you have Robocop playing the minor/major baddie which ever way you look at it and Khan has a back seat ride from just after the beginning right up 'til towards the end. They had to change the story obviously because it's a different universe, but come on.

New Spock did the Khan? Couldn't they have left this out? I cringed when it happened, perhaps they could have left it for another movie with Khan in as they are obviously going to re-use him at some point. Yawn.

I liked the movie don't get me wrong. Would I pay to see it knowing what I do now? Probably, there isn't much else out at the moment. For the general audience I feel this is a safe movie, nothing majorly shocking happens, minor shocks, yes but nothing Earth shattering, I never felt like the Earth or any major characters were in danger like the first reboot when they blew up the Vulcan home world and annihilated a host of star ships in the first thirty minutes. Now that was a spectacle, hard to replicate yes, yet I feel that we deserved something more from this movie.

A safe play with recognisable characters, I think they should have taken a risk like the first movie. Alternate universe, let's get messy!

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Scott Pilgrim vs. My Patience

[1/10 · 22 July 2011]

Honestly, when I saw the trailer for this movie in the cinema a long time ago, I really wanted to go see it, but its release coincided with a family holiday, so I had to wait and eventually forgot about the movie. Some months later(obviously) it came out on DVD and I decided to watch it with my girlfriend who was also quite excited.

All I can say is that we were so disappointed that after around 20-30 minutes we switched it off and watched something else.

For starters I'm a nerd, I love video games and Nintendo but the constant references were just dull and repetitive. It was far too over the top. The characters were also dull and their one liners were as punchy as a pacifist. The story was linear I felt that it should have lasted literally the 20-30minutes of my viewing.

The main reason I didn't like the movie was that Scott Pilgrim was a jerk. I mean how can you empathise with a character who cheats on his girlfriend? And thinks it's OK? And then carries on like nothing happened?

One more thing, how can a weedy nerd with no training beat up anyone especially 'evil' people who seem fairly tough? He's a weedy loser.

My advice, if you're between the ages of 12 and 17, you might (not definitely will) enjoy this movie because it has a lot of references to retro stuff that means nothing to you, 'cool' indie music and random untied extra garbage. If you're 18+ and genuinely like this movie, I literally have no idea why.

Battle Los Angeles (2011)

Action burger with cheese please.

[10/10 · 13 July 2011]

Action, aliens, guns, explosions, cheese and some 'kick ass' special effects, sounds like the perfect movie evening in to me.

It starts you off in the action and keeps it coming right to end, which is unlike many action movies that have been coming out lately.

The character interaction and register is about the level you would expect along with the onslaught of one liners and cheese.

This movie's current IMDb rating of 5.9 is to be honest some what of a joke and should not put you off watching it at all. I would however suggest you go and watch something else if you feel like being intellectually stimulated.

I believe that people are turning their noses up to this movie on grounds that should not be brought up when reviewing this genre.

I also believe that people aren't generally stupid and if you watch Battle Los Angeles you'll know what kind of movie to expect and you won't be disappointed

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

Meh

[3/10 · 26 November 2009]

This evening I went along with my girlfriend to watch New Moon without reading any comments on IMDb or anywhere else. I've seen the first movie, haven't read any of the books, but obviously my girlfriend has. She ensured me that it would be good, as some of her friends have seen it and were delighted with how good it was.

They either watched a different movie for two hours or have some insane blind loyalty towards the books and films.

The acting was non existent and awful, there were about six expressions shared amongst everyone on screen. The story was full of holes, also extremely slow in places and in other places felt extremely rushed, as though the people making the movie couldn't be bothered. Very disappointed.

I wish I could get back the two hours I wasted watching it and the money I spent on it.