Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (IV)



Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol



So here we are again, Mission Impossible 4, yes! 4 is finally out. After the last 2 instalments I was a little hesitant to see this one, however my beloved young lady wanted to see it, so I decided to take her and see what it was like, well I can say that I was surprised to say the least. Mission Impossible 2 wasn’t that amazing and number 3 wasn’t all that great either, so my expectations were naturally low.

Tom Cruise returns as the ever elusive and charismatic “Ethan Hunt”, Simon Pegg plays the loveable idiot (as usual) ”Benji”, Jeremy Renner plays the secretive and deadly “Agent Brant” and finally the beautiful Paula Patton plays the sexy part of “Agent Carter”.

This time around, the group of agents are trying to stop an international terrorist before he starts world wide nuclear war. This is the crust of the story and I don’t really want to go into to much detail about the storyline because there are so many on the edge of your seat moments and brilliant pieces of acting that you wont want me to spoil them for you.

It literally is on the edge of your seat action. It is absolutely brilliant, and I am not going too far by saying that it is one of the best action films of the year, if not, the last 5 years. It completely and utterly eclipses the last 2 instalments of the series, if not, the first as well.

Tom, Simon, Jeremy and Paula’s chemistry is excellent, and as an audience member you want them to get to their target and complete the mission. They are an excellent cast and have even better balance between them, one being from a comedy background, one of them being a serious character, one of them being sassy and sexy and last but no means least, Tom Cruise, well he is just himself.

The soundtrack is excellent and really helps to give off the non stop vibe. Orchestrated by Michael Giacchino, whose previous works include the likes of “Lost” (one of my favourite soundtracks of all time) and previous instalments of the series, he certainly does a grand job of setting the pace.

BMW i8 is the feature car!

Unlike other films there are several things that this film gets to show off like, some new weaponry and a brand new BMW concept car, which could possibly be the most beautiful car in the history of all cars (Yep! I just said that). It also shows some environmental effects by being in places like Dubai. Brad Bird (the director) has done a wonderful job with putting in different elements. I.e. not just having to worry about the ability of your enemy but also the huge sand storm coming towards the tallest structure in the world (Currently).

So it is an un-missable film. Absolutely brilliant and definitely the best Mission Impossible (So Far!).

Would I pay £8.55 to go see it again ? Hell Yeah! (Thank You Ebony!)

Drive

Drive Poster

I cannot begin to explain how excited I was to see this film, the trailer was gripping, plus it had won awards at Cannes Film Festival. I was lucky to be able to view an American copy of the film as it has already been released in USA. The film stars Ryan Gosling as “Driver” and Carey Mulligan as “Irene”, and is basically about Ryan’s character who is a by day a stunt driver for Hollywood films and by night, a driver for people that want a getaway.

This film is literally all about the atmosphere, before you think you are going to see the new “Fast and the Furious”, make sure you think again, it’s about loving someone, it’s about sacrifice and it’s about the relationships between people.

Ryan Goslin probably says about 100 words throughout the whole film. He doesn’t have much dialogue; however he really makes the character stand out among characters of the same stereotype. Irene is the drivers love interest and you basically watch their relationship flourish until the story really kicks in, when the husband of Irene comes out of prison and moves back in with her and their child. Driver and Standard (Irene’s Husband) strike up a friendship as he realises that he has looked after Irene and his son.

The Finale of the film is all about Standard and Driver doing one final job to help Standard pay off a debt to someone important in jail which is connected to one of the characters that is close to the driver’s life. I won’t tell you who it is, because you should really watch the film and I don’t want to spoil it for you.

The one thing I will warn everyone about is that in the second half, when Driver decides to take revenge and clear up the mess that has been provided by certain characters in the story it gets extremely violent, the expression Ultra-Violent comes to mind. When I first saw people writing about it, I just thought that they must have been over reacting. They really weren’t over reacting. It makes the like of Human Centipede look like the teletubbies. Some people said it was over the top, I say its necessary because it’s about time that people start to realise you cannot hit someone over the head with a hammer and for them to continue on living. This shows the true portrayal of violence and I applaud the director for having the balls to do this, so well done!

The soundtrack is very good, with 80’s music blasted all over the presentation. It fits the film very well with the clothing, but with modern day cars you can tell that it is set in the present day. But it works completely, a very gutsy move that works.

Overall it is a good film, some will appreciate the artistic side of things concerning the film, others won’t fair to well with it (Like my fiancée). Definitely worth watching.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Im not a massive fan of the “Planet of the Apes” series, however I thought I would give this one a watch and see how it went. Many of my work colleagues and friends said to me that it was an excellent film and definitely worth watching, after the not so brilliant effort of Mark Wahlberg’s Version in 2001.

This film is the most serious about the subject and makes it plausible as you watch evolution with your own eyes. The key word in that last sentence is plausible, this is something that the film conveys very well, plausibility.

So what’s it about? Well, James Franco  plays a down on his luck scientist, Will Rodman,  who cant seem to get that final break to get him into the small group of world renowned scientists, however he thinks he has found the cure for the Alzheimer’s, however what he thinks and what he knows are 2 different things entirely. After finally getting the cure to the right people, Caesar’s mother breaks out of the cage she is held in and smashes her way through to the boardroom, this makes the right people think the wrong thing and thus the project is dropped and Caesar’s mother is killed.

Will, then takes Caesar home, but low and behold because Caesar’s mum had conceived him while being tested with the drug, it is now part of Caesar’s genetic make up, and Will doesn’t realise what is about to happen.

So the story starts from here, the revolt and the interaction phases of the film are excellent and it is thoroughly heart-warming and gut-wrenching at the same time. The 2 hours go so fast unfortunately because it is a very good film, there isn’t too much build up, and it’s just a very interesting film.

The CGI in parts is absolutely awful and in others, it’s unbelievable, some of the best I have seen in a film, which is unusual because most films they are either rubbish graphics or excellent, not a bit of both.

The level of acting is excellent and of a good standard. The soundtrack is tense and enjoyable at the same time.

Overall a good start to what could be a new franchise in the making. I hope so.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

So after the great success of the first film, Sherlock Holmes returns with “A Game of Shadows”. Robert Downey Jnr. And Jude Law return as their characters, Sherlock and Dr Watson respectively. However is it as good as the first one? No is the simple answer, but that is why I am here to review it.

Guy Ritchie recreated the Sherlock for a younger audience with an attractive cast, brilliant action and excellent wit. Well all of the above returns, but something is missing. I can’t quite put my finger on it. I have spoken to a few other people that I know love the Sherlock films, a couple said they thought it was better than the first and some thought it was much worse than the first. I however sit in the middle.

After watching this film, the phrase “If it isn’t broken, DON’T fix it”, comes to mind. All the mechanics of the film work, the action scenes with Sherlock narrating what he is going to do with his opponent are genius and I was so glad when watching, that they had returned. The chemistry between Law and Downey Jnr. is spot on.

Mulling over it, I believe that the story could have possibly the problem, but even that wasn’t bad. Maybe it was the mystery of magic that kept the first one from being like this one. In this sequel the infamous character of Professor Moriarty (played by Jared Harris)  is introduced, it shows that he has the same intelligence and forethought as Sherlock and this makes him his ultimate adversary.

It starts with some explosive scenes with Sherlock having to try to dispose of a bomb after he follows Irene Adler (His love interest and played by Rachel McAdams). Irene escapes and it is then shown to the audience that she is in actual fact working for Professor Moriarty. She fails with her mission of trying to kill her target, thus Professor Moriarty disposes of her. (Although the audience never really finds out what fate was handed to her). So Sherlock finds out and wants revenge. This takes Sherlock and Watson to places like Paris and Switzerland.

The soundtrack, like the last, is excellent and really adds to the time period in which it is set.

So all I can do now is, tell you to go and see it as it is worth watching but whether you will find it better than the last is another question. All I can say Is I hope you enjoy as I did.

Overall, a good film, but definitely not as good as the first.

Wrecked

Wrecked Poster

One of the first things you will notice about this film is its visceral front cover of the DVD packaging. It shows Adrien Brody’s brutally battered face on the front cover and the title, which is the first thing to grab me, I was quite impressed with the cover and I really like Adrien Brody’s style of acting (The Pianist being one of my favourite films.)

Like they always say “don’t judge a book by its cover”, well this time its “don’t judge a DVD by its cover” because this film ranks among one of the worst I have ever seen, in all honesty, Adrien Brody acted it excellently even though I believe that he could have only had about 10 lines in the whole film. You will emotionally feel sorry for him in the beginning how ever 80 minutes down the line and you still have 10 minutes left of the film you just want the guy to just jump off a cliff, and you really really really don’t feel sorry for him.

So what is it about then? Well it’s basically Adrien Brody in a car crash, in the middle of no where; he doesn’t know where he is? Who he is ? or even why there is a dead body in the back seat of the car. Got you hooked? Well it had me hook, line and sinker, until I sunk to the deepest darkest ocean there is on the planet.

It is the dullest film going and I am really surprised at Adrien Brody took this project on. It must have taken all of about 20 minutes to film. The Ending just adds the icing to the cake to be honest, its an absolutely awful ending, with absolutely no thought put into it.

I promise by the end, if you get the end that is, you will feel robbed, cheated, assaulted, beaten up by the end of it.

Absolutely awful, never ever see this film.

Four Lions

"Unorthodox" Four Lions Poster

After seeing this countless times in the local “Blockbusters”, with its bright green front cover, and a crow strapped with a bomb. Now this isn’t the most orthodox style of front cover but it certainly is eye catching, unfortunately for a person with no internet, there is no explanation of what its about on the back of the case so hopefully enough people with just grab this film, because it is a diamond in the rough and definitely a laugh out loud comedy with a serious edge to it.

So the basically storyline is about 4 British Muslim (and converted Muslim) terrorists embarking on their journey towards “Jihad”. However there is a huge twist, it’s a comedy. Each of them are stereotypes of our modern day society in Britain i.e. One of them is white and macho. It is a very clever film in the respect that it tries to explain or what I perceive it to try and explain is that the bombers go about their everyday lives, just like we do in western culture. Some of them aren’t even convinced they want to be part of it.

The actors portray the parts very well, although most of the film is laugh out loud, some parts of it have a serious morel weaving through it, so this is how the actors handle it well, because they manage to keep such a sensitive subject in modern society in a balance with comedic and serious values.

Although a longish film it manages to engage you in the lives of the individuals and make you feel like your morals are being challenged because you feel that there is some other way they could live their lives. I wouldn’t say its controversial in a bad way but in a good way, because the films allows you to feel like you should approach the situation in a different as it shows their families and friends.

Its definitely worth a rental just to see what you think. I hope you’ll enjoy it just as much as I did.

Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas Poster

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS!!!! Yep! I went and saw Arthur Christmas at the cinema with my Fiancée she lovingly dragged me along as these women do. I had no idea what I was in for; all I knew was that it was 1. About Christmas (YAY!) and 2. It’s a KIDS film (Double YAY!). So as you can tell in the demeanour of my writing I wasn’t…….overly excited about it.

Anyway, on to the movie, well lets just say this film is a breathe of fresh air in the CGI department, and the voice acting is excellent too with the likes of James McEvoy, Jim Broadbent and Hugh Laurie bringing their talent to the fray. Its an excellent tale of what goes on around Christmas and what Santa and the elves do.

Right from the first scene you know its going to be a good film, it turns in to a “Matrix” affair, with the elves delivering all  the presents in ridiculous fashion in all sorts of manners e.g. through the toilet. Santa directs the elves around where they should be and what they should do. It has some extremely entertaining set pieces through out. It certainly sets the standards high for future releases, and its ridiculously hard not to love this film, all the characters are loveable.

The film is about “Arthur”, who is always under the shadow of his older Brother “Steve” who is also in line to become the new Santa Claus after his father gives up the reins.(Hehe Get that joke, Reins!) so after Santa has given up all the presents, Arthur realises that one of the presents hasn’t been to delivered to a particular child. He then asks “Steve “ to help him deliver it, however he sees that they cant make it in time to deliver it. So Arthur, sets out to show everyone that we should never give up and always try our hardest. It is an extremely heart-warming tale of love and life and it will not disappoint the adults or the kids going to see it.

For once there isn’t an evil character in this film, even though Hugh Laurie’s character Steve is slightly egotistical, buts it not your average kids storyline e.g. Good Vs Evil. I don’t want to give too much of it away because it is an excellent film with an excellent cast.

Trust me, go and watch this film and you will not regret it what so ever, and definitely take the kids, they will love the bright colours and get them in the Christmas mood, not they will need much pushing in that direction.

The Human Centipede 2

The Human Centipede 2 Poster

So to the people that have seen the first [Sequence] then I suggest that you realise that you have just watched the teletubbies compared this second [Sequence], named the [The Final Sequence] I can tell you now, it really isn’t, [The Final Sequence] that is, yep! There is a number 3 to which, in time will be named [The End Sequence}. Anyway back to the sequel of the cult classic. This time around, the main character (Martin Lomax) of this [Sequence] is in the same universe as the audience; I.E He watches the first film on DVD.

One of the first thing that catches you in this sequel is that it is filmed or augmented into black & white, I cant stand black & white films, however I found this chilling and disturbing in black & white and gave it a certain edge that colour wouldn’t give you. Another thing that is quite hard to describe but I will give it a try is that, the peripheral sounds are louder  than the actual sound on purpose to add vulgarity to the film, things such as the Martin licking his lips, and his pet centipede crawling around in its tank are all things that you can expect to hear. This is a clever addition to the film and certainly creeps you out along with the disgusting actor that plays the abused Martin.

He finds the first  film sexually gratifying and unfortunately shows him masturbating with a piece of sand paper in one part of the film, and yes this is the sort of stuff you can expect in this film, along with a lot of gore and a lot of hitting over the heads with a crowbar. The main premise of this film is the idea that the first movie has fallen in the hands of someone that doesn’t have their brains all in their head, this is our protagonist if you will or can call it that.

Unfortunately for the main character, his mother his old, he has a boring job, and he has an abusive neighbour, along with the hundreds of other people that go through his car park each day, so he decides to remake the human centipede, with a factory that steals from the owner by killing him. So he slowly gathers people together, including his violent neighbour and a pregnant woman, all in all he has 11 people but Martin wants 12 and he see’s no other better option than getting the lady from the middle of the first human centipede, unfortunately for her this time, its for real.

So that’s what the films about, I weirdly enjoyed it more than the first, but I wouldn’t say it was a better film content wise. However it is an extremely unique take or side step on what seems to be becoming the new SAW franchise, hopefully the 3^rd will be a cinema release rather than a straight to DVD affair. We can live in hope.

Overall it’s a sadistic film, with no light hearted entertainment, and a lot of subliminal messages. Its not for the feint hearted and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to your grandparents, maybe your parents might enjoy it if they saw the first one like mine did.

Hatchet

Hatchet (Example of some of the Gore)

This film has been out quite some time now; I recently watched this to help a close friend of mine get over her break up (1. She loves horrors and 2. I think she was imagining cutting him up into small pieces and then eating him), and obviously with these 2 pieces of information it was destined for glory, that was until the film actually started. Somehow, whether it was the awfully cheesy front cover that gave it away or the lack of well known actors/actresses in the film, this is an awful horror film, it’s so awful that me and my friend were in stitches throughout.

So what’s it all about, I hear you ask? Well it’s basically about a man and his son (who eventually turns out to be a human-killing-disgustingly-looking-thing = Hatchet) and their tale of hiding away from society. However when their  house is  set on fire by some fireworks thrown by some kids trying to bully the disfigured child, the father then attempts  to break in subsequently killing his child by a single blow to the head with a hatchet, while trying to break the door down. Eventually the father dies (which is further elaborated on in Hatchet 2).

And so the Killing Spree begins!

The one remotely deeming factor about this film is that the gore is somewhat………good? If that’s the right word. It’s totally believable apart from when he decides to use someone’s intestines to strangle them (this could have happened in number 2, but there are kills like this that happen in No. 1). When I say believable, I mean that brains look like brains and hearts look like hearts and yep you will get to see plenty of these through out.

The one song they chose to put on the soundtrack was a surprisingly high profile acquisition, Marilyn Manson being the singer and the song, “This is the New S*it”. I absolutely love this track ever since it was The Matrix Reloaded’s soundtrack. (Disc 2 of the OST).

The acting is extremely “shoddy”, so don’t expect any Oscar performances, however there are some interesting cameos from, Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) and the legendary  Tony Todd (Night of the Living Dead, Candyman, The Crow, Final Destination series), Kane Hodder is also the villain (also known for his stunt work in other films)

Overall you can tell that this film is ridiculously over the top, a gore fest and most of all a soft excuse to see woman naked. Not so much a disappointment because you can never expect much from an independently released horror. I would recommend watching it if you love watching people get brutally killed in ridiculous fashion.

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