Film Review: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).

Hey, everyone. I'm back!

I decided to take a break these past couple of weeks because I was SO busy with my end of year uni assignments and I handed my last one EVER on Monday. So I'm done with uni forever now so I can get back to regular blogging. I have missed it! Let's go!

So, I finally saw X-Men: Apocalypse last night with my brother and it was pretty good. I'll tell you what it's about and what my full thoughts were on it.

The Background

The first and most powerful mutant, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) has been worshipped as a god since the beginning of humanity. After being awakened after thousands of years, disillusioned, he recruits a broken-hearted Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and Angel as his four horsemen. He and his gang of mutants are ready to create a new world and they want to destroy the current one which brings Professor X (James McAvoy) and Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) together to lead a team of young, teenage X-Men to stop their seemingly immortal nemesis from destroying the world. 

My Thoughts

Overall, I thought the film was pretty good and the special effects were spectacular as usual. However, the storyline was fairly standard and nothing new at all. It's the same-old thing of a guy trying to take over the world and it somehow involves Magneto as always. The storyline lacked a little bit of punch or originality and I felt like it was hastily and messily put together to be able to climax for the final fight. Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse was incredibly intimidating and he scared me a few times actually! His powers were epic and he was definitely someone to be wary of. 

Character-wise it was really great to see some new characters and some familiar ones but in their teenage years. The four horsemen were pretty cool but I felt like Angel did not have enough fight scenes and wasn't used to his full potential. Kodi Smith-McPhee was brilliant as Nightcrawler as was Tye Sheridan (Cyclops/Scott), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique/Raven) and James McAvoy (Professor X). 

Michael Fassbender as Magneto was heartbreakingly good. His acting skills always blow me away and you actually feel some sympathy for his character in this film (I won't give anything away!). But Sophie Turner as teenage Jean Grey and Evan Peters as Quicksilver stole the show for me. To the delight of fans, there is a another slow motion scene where Quicksilver is involved. I won't spoil anything but it was really funny and so, so cool! His one-liners and humour are nice touches to the film. Sophie Turner did really well as Jean Grey, especially in the final fight which was just awesome. To bring Jean Grey and her inner demons to life is probably hard to do but Turner did a brilliant job and I loved her in the final scenes.

There was a certain cameo too by a beloved X-Men character which was fabulous to watch, I won't spoil it unless you've seen the trailer and you know exactly who I'm talking about. The film itself was actually a bit more graphic and bloody than the previous X-Men films! There was times where I genuinely winced and squirmed at some of the scenes. But I pretty much liked it overall, X-Men films are something I'm always going to go and see I think.

The ending and after-credits scene led me to believe that we haven't seen the last of the X-Men clan yet. But I'm hoping they will do better storyline-wise but I know I can't get enough of mutants and their powers so I'll be sure to see more future X-Men films!

Check out the trailer:

Have you seen it? What did you think of it?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura. 

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Film Review: Ted 2 (2015).

Hello everyone. I have another film review for you today and it is Ted 2! I know I have done a few film reviews recently but I have a few other different posts coming up soon. But first, let's get into this review.

The Background

Ted 2 is the sequel to the 2012 first Ted. It is a comedy directed and written by Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad. He also reprises his role as Ted as does Mark Wahlberg as Ted's best friend John Bennett. This time life has changed for the thunder buddies as Ted gets married to Tammi-Lynn (Jessica Barth) and John Bennett is newly divorced. However, problems arise when Ted ends up fighting for his civil rights when he attempts to adopt a child as authorities rule that he is property rather than a person. Angry, he seeks the help of a young lawyer (Amanda Seyfried) and a civil-rights attorney (Morgan Freeman) to get justice. But because he is now deemed to be property, he is once again at risk from his stalker Donny (Giovanni Ribisi).

My Thoughts

I personally enjoyed the film a lot and found it really, really funny. I will admit some of the jokes were similar to those in the first one - drugs, sex, gay and racist jokes. In some parts, it is definitely ruder and funnier than the first one. If you're easily offended by dark comedy, I certainly wouldn't recommend this film because there are definitely moments where even I squirmed a bit in my seat watching. There have been some criticisms about how racist, homophobic and transphobic Seth MacFarlane is considering some of the jokes that run continuously throughout the film. I wouldn't consider this to be true as Seth is an advocate for gay rights in real life and it is just a comedy film at the end of the day.

I did find the film tended to drag on a bit sometimes, the storyline plodded along a little bit in some places. It also felt a little similar to the first film with Amanda Seyfried replacing Mila Kunis as John Bennett's love interest because I think this was the time Mila went off and had a child. Also Donny (Ribisi) was back as Ted's stalker which he was in the first film so a few things felt a bit stale. But other than that, it's worth a watch and very funny.

Here's the trailer

Have you seen it? What did you think of it?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: Antman (2015).

Hi, everyone. I have a film review for you today! I went to see Ant-man last night and I have to say it really blew me away with how brilliant it was. I'll have to be honest, even though I'm a big fan of anything Marvel, I wasn't that impressed or too bothered about seeing this at all. A lot of people claimed it wouldn't be good at all but I do believe they said that about Guardians of the Galaxy and look how that turned out. One of the, if not THE, biggest film of 2014. 

So here's my review for Ant-man:

The Background

Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) is forced out of his own company by his former protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) and in desperation, he seeks the help of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). Scott Lang is a master thief just released from prison and is trying to fight to see his daughter. He becomes Ant-Man after stumbling across the suit and gets trained up by Pym and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly) to get acquainted with the suit that allows him to shrink to the size of an insect, possess superhuman strength and control armies of ants. He needs to use these skills to prevent Cross from perfecting the same technology for another suit and using it as a weapon for evil.

My Thoughts

Now, I'll have to admit. The concept of Ant-man sounds ridiculous when you talk about it out loud but on screen it actually works! Of course there are some criticisms which we will get to later but let me get through the positives first. 

Ant-man was just.. enjoyable! The plot-line/science of the suits made sense all the way through and the CGI was absolutely fantastic. When Lang became Ant-man, it was truly thrilling. This was something new and never-seen-before. The action scenes weren't too long and didn't overpower the film's storyline or any characters and their developments. Marvel did a really good job in tying Ant-man into the Avengers for future films as well and there were a few great little cameos from some well-known superheros as well which you should look out for. ALSO there are two mid and post-credits scenes which are definitely worth sticking around for. 

Personally, I thought Paul Rudd was fantastic as Scott Lang. Sure, it was the same usual 'average white guy is the chosen for some reason and just happens to be down on his luck as well' but he was a great choice. I've always liked Rudd especially in Friends, This Is 40 and I Love You, Man. He is a naturally funny person and his type of comedy is what I like. He plays Lang very well and blends humour and drama perfectly in Ant-man. And might I add, that man has not aged a day and is looking fiiiiine.

But now we come to some criticism. Although I liked Evangeline's character, I felt like Hope was casually pushed out of being able to do the mission and became a B-list side character. As explained in the film, she is trained in martial arts and knows Darren Cross inside out but for some reason Scott Lang is more capable than her. Plus, she is reduced to becoming a love interest for Lang; the same, usual, BORING story for a woman. The chemistry between Rudd and Lilly just wasn't there and fell a bit flat for me. 

It annoyed me a bit more here as well because she was clearly a strong independent woman who could take on the bad guys just as easily as Lang could. Thankfully however, one of the end credits scenes show she's going to become something bigger and more important so Marvel kind of covered themselves in that regard.

So apart from that, it's an entertaining and visually stunning film that is suitable for anyone. It's a great laugh and easily proves everyone wrong who said it'd be really awful. It isn't as charming as Guardians of the Galaxy and I don't think it'll be as big but it is a brilliant film to add to your Marvel collection.

Here's the trailer

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: Jurassic World (2015).

Hey, everyone. So I finally got to see Jurassic World last night and I am here to review it for you today. I hope you enjoy reading it, let's get into it!

The Background

You must be living under a rock if you don't know what the Jurassic franchise is all about but if you don't, I'll tell you what this one is about. Jurassic World is a direct sequel to the first film Jurassic Park and it ignores The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3 completely which is a smart move really. 

Located on the original island, Jurassic World had been active for a number of years, following in the footsteps of John Hammond before becoming 'boring' for tourists who were tired of seeing uninteresting dinosaurs. To boost attendance again, a team of scientists design an array of genetically engineered dinosaurs including an enhanced hybrid called the Indominus Rex who inevitably escapes, causing chaos. Its escape sets off a chain reaction, resulting in other dinosaurs running amok and it is up to former military man and animal expert Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to use his skills to save two young children and the rest of the park from the slaughter.

My Thoughts

Jurassic World was great and as action-packed as I expected. The first moment of hearing the iconic soundtrack of the original Jurassic film gave me goosebumps and made me feel incredible nostalgic. It was more suspenseful and scarier than I expected, especially with the scenes of the towering Indominus Rex, prowling and stalking. What also surprised me was the fact Jurassic World was increasingly self-aware and thoughtful throughout the film but of course the film had its flaws.

But first, there were a few blasts from the past running throughout the film with quite a few recognisable dinosaurs as well as the new ones. Also, (a possible, minor spoiler), there is a part in the film where the two children (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) stumble across into the visitor's centre from the original film which has long become run-down and out of use. However, they come across some iconic items like Timmy's night vision goggles and the old Jurassic Tour Jeeps. The constant throwbacks to the 1993 film are beacons throughout film even getting one of the characters, Lowery (Jake Johnson), to wear a Jurassic Park t-shirt which he got from e-Bay. All of these meta moments just shows how much Jurassic World feeds off on our love for dinosaurs but also on our love for the film Jurassic Park. This constant nostalgia as well as the new, introduced themes/dinosaurs/people blended well together and was great to watch. 

The only properly fleshed out characters were the dinosaurs, I felt. The once terrifying Velociraptors became heroes of the story as they are trained by Chris Pratt's character to follow his orders and go against all rules of nature. Chris Pratt was actually pretty good as Owen, obviously. To be honest, that man could play a tramp and I'd still find him incredibly attractive! He's not necessarily the lead actor but he definitely steals every scene he's in either with action packed moments, one liners or his raptor training. Unfortunately, I felt like Bryce Dallas Howard struggled with her uptight, wooden character Claire who is constantly worried about profits, park attendance and investors. The initial hour or so of her made me feel frustrated and not at all connected to the character but at the very end, she truly became an empowered, incredible woman who literally saves the day.. IN HEELS. 

However, I do have a problem with Jurassic World as it often abandoned characters and subplots for more dinosaurs. For example, at one point the two kids' parents (who weren't there, they are Bryce Dallas Howard's character's nephews who were visiting her) were apparently getting divorced but this subplot is randomly dropped and never spoken of again even at the end of the film so it felt a little pointless because it was clearly only used to give these kids some kind of emotional arc. 

The messages about the dinosaurs being genuine animals in the film were great and could definitely apply to real life as to how we treat animals. Especially the part with the huge dinosaur in the water which eats a great, white shark in the trailer: it has a SeaWorld-esque feel to it and how this incredible animal is reduced to being a public attraction and only thought of in financial terms.  

Another few things that I loved about Jurassic World was that there was tons of racial representation rather than the usual white, male characters. Yes, Chris Pratt was technically still the white, male 'lead' BUT there were subtle differences that I really enjoyed. Claire was a woman of power, rather than a victim and she wasn't as sexualized as much as she could have been. Plus, the only 'villain' wasn't actually a dinosaur, it was a corporate, white man planning to take the dinosaurs off the island which really reinforced the message that the dinosaurs are animals and are trapped in captivity rather than seeing them as the terrifying monsters we had gotten used to from the first film.

Here's the trailer:

Have you seen it yet? What did you think of it?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: The Avengers - Age of Ultron (2015).

This is probably one of the film reviews I've been so excited to post all year since I am such a Marvel fan. Hopefully you enjoy reading this and love the film too!

So I saw this film the day it came out (23rd of April) and absolutely loved it. It was full of action, heart racing moments and good old superhero goodness.

The Background

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is the sequel to 2012's The Avengers and it was directed and written by Joss Whedon once again. It features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark/Ironman), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Hulk), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye) and two new characters, brother and sister; Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Also James Spader voiced Ultron and Paul Bettany who voices Stark's A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S also voiced The Vision. 

In this, they team up together to defeat Ultron who is technological enemy that Stark and Banner accidentally create after finding an artificial intelligence located within Loki's scepter from the first film. They use it to try and create Stark's 'Ultron' global defense program which inevitably goes wrong as Ultron gains self-control and is hell-bent on bringing "peace" to Earth by ridding it of all human life.

My Thoughts

This was indescribable! It literally kicks off and doesn't hold off introducing the avengers all at once as they battle in a forest against a terrorist group that is affiliated with Hydra who were discovered in Captain America 2. It is a spectacular introduction and you're instantly on the edge of your seat.

Whedon yet again indulges us in a good old fashioned superhero film and saturates it with subplots, cameos, character conflicts and the cramming of each character's own individual storyline. This goes swimmingly for Whedon as he writes and directs this so well that for two and half hours you're back and forth between characters while also centring on Ultron's plan of destruction but also getting to know two new characters. It doesn't fall apart at all and seems to be all glued together by the avengers' chemistry and tension with each other.

Speaking of the two new characters, we had a glimpse of the orphans Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in last year's X-Men: Days of Future Past but in this film they really shine - especially Olsen. They're brother and sister and become sidekicks for Ultron. Quicksilver uses super speed to quite literally pull the carpet from under the avengers' feet and Scarlet Witch uses her mind control abilities to mess with the avengers' heads which is how Stark comes to his plan of building Ultron as she shows him an illusion of a possible future where he betrays all of his friends and destroys them.

Of course I have a few criticisms but they're only small and easily surpassed by the thrilling action and subplots. There are few cheesy moments which drag out a few scenes unnecessarily especially between Black Widow and Bruce Banner as a surprising romance springs up between them which I am very unsure about. It did change my mind a little because I've never really been a fan of Scarlett's acting but she was better in this one and you see more into Black Widow's story. Also I didn't really like how quick they built and introduced Ultron because it didn't really stretch out enough tension, it just felt a little bit rushed. However Spader really induces fear as Ultron and plays him well. 

However the rest of the film surpasses all of this as it was action packed and absolutely fantastic. We even got to see more of Clint/Hawkeye's character development and we found out more of his background which blew us all away in the cinema. It was a nice touch as he was mind controlled for most of the first film although he proved important in the fight. Another character I've been impressed with is Captain America. His character development has been very significant, he is central to the team and really keeps up the morale despite all of the criticisms from his own solo films especially the first one.

It all seems a bit chaotic and mad but it systemically works well and the final confrontation seems a little familiar to the first one but Whedon writes it well and has you gasping and cheering right to the end.

Trailer

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: Cinderella (2015).

Hi everyone, I am so sorry for being absent on here for literally an entire month but I've had lot on due to my health and I had to have an operation which I'm still recovering from but I have a film review for you today!

I went along to see Cinderella because I love Disney so much and the 1950 cartoon version was lovely and beautifully animated. I'll give you the background like I usually do and then give you my thoughts about the film.

The Background

2015 Cinderella is a romantic fantasy film from a screeplay written by Chris Weitz. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the film stars Lily James as the beautiful Ella ('Cinderella'), Cate Blanchett as the Wicked Stepmother, Richard Madden as Prince Charming, Sophie McShera as Drisella, Holliday Grainger as Anastasia and Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother. The films follows and uses many of the same elements from Walt Disney's 1950 animated film of the same name but with a few differences.

Ella, as a young child, lives with her parents in a beautiful house in a quiet kingdom and from a young age she is taught by her mother to believe in magic, fairy godmothers and to be courageous and kind. Through this she is able to befriend animals on the estate, mainly the mice and become kind and caring. However the tranquillity is broken one day when her mother tragically dies and her father, years later, marries Lady Tremaine (Blanchett) who brings along her two daughters who are unpleasant to Ella despite her determination to remain polite and welcoming.

Tragedy strikes again and Ella's father dies while travelling and Ella is left to become a slave for her stepmother and her two daughters. One day, upon meeting Ella in the forest, Prince Charming sends out invitations to everyone to the kingdom to meet her again. When Lady Tremaine and her daughters force Ella to stay at home, she seeks the help from her Fairy Godmother who helps her go to the ball to meet her destiny.

My Thoughts

I absolutely loved the film although it was a little cheesy and twee at times but I quickly remembered it was pretty much a child's film. It left me nostalgic for my own childhood and it completely re-invented how I always saw Cinderella. Lily James was very beautiful and probably perfect to be Cinderella but her acting was a little airy and fairy sometimes however she completely changed my mind at the end when she stood up to the Wicked Stepmother and got her well-deserved happy ending. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see Cate Blanchett take on the role of the Wicked Stepmother as I had absolutely no idea who was going to be her. She absolutely shone in her role and really made you believe she was completely vile and wicked. Her costumes throughout the film were absolutely stunning and I really wanted to be wearing them myself! The stepsisters added a nice comedic element though-out the film also.

Helena Bonham Carter is one of my favourite actresses of all time and she was exquisite and dazzling as the Fairy Godmother like I knew she would be. She narrated the film throughout and made the transforming scene hilarious but magical and magnificent. 

The film's visual effects and costume design were definitely Oscar worthy because I could not take my eyes off Blanchett's dresses and Cinderella's dress was a dazzling blue that sparkled throughout Lily's scenes. Kenneth Branagh, as the director, completely transformed Cinderella and proved that Disney has not lost any of its magic.

Have you seen this film? What did you think of it?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: Fifty Shades of Grey (2015).

So yes I finally saw this after refusing to for ages because I hated the books so much. The sex scenes really didn't bother me apart from a few bits, it was genuinely the awful grammar and spelling mistakes that the author was making and the fact this trilogy made more money than the Harry Potter books which really annoyed me. Because we all know it didn't make money for its storyline.

What's it about?

I don't know anyone who doesn't know what this film is about but if you don't.. Fifty Shades of Grey is an erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. Based on British author E. L. James' best-selling trilogy of the same name, it is about a college graduate called Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) who meets Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) to interview him for her room mate and eventually begins a sadomasochistic relationship with him.

My thoughts

I'm not going to go on about the books but I have to say after the huge buzz from them and the film being hotly anticipated, this turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax. It definitely doesn't pass as a "romantic drama" and it lacks any psychological intensity that exists in the books. 

Dakota Johnson's Anastasia was a little bit one-dimensional and her acting was a little flat and almost laughable. However there was some scenes and one liners that made me laugh which surprised me so it was nice to have some comedic elements which broke away from the monotonous scenes. But there were definitely some cheesy lines that sounded bad enough in the book let alone in film form.

I really like Jamie Dornan as an actor and he is great eye candy but even he struggled with this role and I don't blame him for any of it. The Irishman had to put on an American accent which he struggled with as well sometimes. The acting was so flat and wooden sometimes that when it came to the emotional and deep-secret-revealing scenes, I didn't feel at all moved and it just failed to do anything for the storyline.

The sex scenes were quite erotic and graphic enough to push the 18 age certificate to its limit for sure but they also fell a little flat if you compare it to the book. When you've read the books, you do expect it to be a lot more than it was. Also I didn't appreciate how the woman is always the one being sexualised more than the man. We saw Dakota's private parts more so than Jamie's, we literally only saw two sneaky glimpses of his before the camera moved away to linger on Dakota's body again.

So I didn't like it like I knew I wouldn't but the comedic one liners and scenes did make me laugh so at least that's something. It was just odd to actually have the book in film form and hearing it sound even more worse than it does on paper. 

Have you seen it? What did you think of it?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: Gone Girl (2014).

So I finally got round to watching Gone Girl that came out towards the end of last year and oh my god, I am absolutely kicking myself for not getting to the cinema to see it. This genuinely has to be one of the best films I have ever watched. I will review it and give you as much background as I can without giving any of the film away.

Background

Gone Girl is a psychological thriller film adapted from Gillian Flynn's 2012 novel of the same name. The cast consists of Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Carrie Coon. Directed by David Fincher, it is about a man, Nick Dunne (Affleck), on the day of his fifth wedding anniversary who comes home from the bar that he owns to find that his wife Amy (Pike) is missing. The media becomes heavily involved as Amy's parents used Amy as inspiration for their popular Amazing Amy children's books. Suspicions soon arise that Nick killed his wife and his awkward behaviour further contributes to this as he is interpreted by the media and police as a sociopath.

My thoughts

That as much as I can tell you about it without spoiling any twists and the ending. For 149 minutes, this film was incredible and pulled no punches. The twists in the story came so unexpectedly and left me gasping and hooked at the end. The film goes between two time periods and David Fincher's amazing directing works in making neither of them ringing completely true. To do this, he uses the character Amy's diary writing for the past but for the present we are partially relying on Nick's account. I can't actually review some things because they will just give the entire film away but I cannot stress how much you need to watch this.

Ben Affleck was fantastic as Nick Dunne and it was nice to see him in something so gripping and psychologically thrilling. He is certainly starting to age now but my love for him hasn't diminished at all as he leads the audience to believe that Nick could actually be responsible for the murder of his wife through his emotionless awkwardness and violent temper. 

Rosamund Pike was actually something else in this film. She was absolutely phenomenal and being Amy is possibly the best thing she has ever done. Her performance is taut and gives off the vibe of a woman on the edge. Although her voice is sometimes overcome with emotion through her diary entries, her face gives you absolutely nothing which terrified me more than anything. Her bedroom scene with Neil Patrick Harris was especially horrifying and hard to watch but still somehow capitvating. She has been nominated for many awards like the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and SAGS for this film and rightly so.

This film's suspense and pace never slows and you never find yourself feeling bored at any point. It confuses, scares and amazes you all at once. It is definitely the one to watch when you need a good psychological thriller. Don't do what I did and hold off from watching it any longer, it is one of the best films I've ever seen.

Here's the trailer:

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Thanks for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: The Woman in Black 2 - Angel of Death

Hi everyone. So I finally took a break from revising and the overload of uni work and went to see The Woman in Black: Angel of Death with my brother. I have a little mixture of emotions for this sequel so let's get into it straight away.

The plot:

So The Woman in Black: Angel of Death is a sequel to the popular 2012 film The Woman in Black which starred Daniel Radcliffe. Directed by Tom Harper, this film takes place during the Blitz of World War II and caretakers Eve Parkins and Jean Hogg are taking a group of schoolchildren to the eerie Eel Marsh House which seems to be peculiar and run-down but safe. Of course it isn't long before Eve starts to sense that there is something very wrong about the house and the children begin to disappear. Eventually the house becomes a terrifying place to live in so Eve gets help from an attractive pilot to find out what is happening. Soon it becomes obvious that it isn't a coincidence that Eve has come to live in the house that is inhabited by the Woman in Black.

My review:

So obviously the first film was such a hit that they just couldn't resist making another one, running it dry of its money. I must credit The Angel of Death as it is actually little bit more original than I thought following the first one but it does pay homage to the first film a few times if you look carefully. From the beginning, to me the storyline was pretty predictable - I mean, two women taking a group of CHILDREN to the only apparently safe place in London. Of course it's an instant recipe for disaster as the Woman in Black is well known for being hell-bent on taking the lives of children to get revenge for her own loss of her son but obviously the film has to go somewhere for it to work.

I don't know if I'm just growing up or I'm just used to horror movies using the same old tricks over and over again but most scenes fell a little flat for me. The jump scares get repetitive after a while because as usual it's the same old 'noise ... silence ... SCARY MOMENT!' every 10 minutes and I could pretty much gauge what was going to happen almost every single time. It'd be a nice change if they didn't always use dolls, creaky doors or rusty pipes to do the scaring for them. I've seen it over a 100 times in many other scary films. 

Mind you, a few moments did get my heart racing so it is still creepy at times definitely. I have to admire the camera work as it slowly creeps around the house which really increases the tension of the scene and leaves you watching through your fingers at times. The ending was, again, too predictable for me and you can tell what is about to happen about five seconds before it even does.

I can't say that I'm too disappointed because I sort of went into the theatre expecting it to be rubbish, just another sequel to make more money and to try to follow the first film's success. But I will say it holds its own as a sequel but most of the time I wasn't really that scared but I'd also say it's worth a watch, especially if you liked the first one.

Trailer:

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.

Film Review: The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies.

 

So I finally got to see the third and final instalment of The Hobbit! I was so excited to see it and I have to say I did enjoy it but I was a little bit disappointed at times considering this was meant to be a huge ending to the trilogy. I will try and not give anything away however I think the things I will be criticising won't ruin the film too much for you anyway but I will put [SPOILER] in parts where I think things could be a bit risky to talk about.

But here's a bit of background first. As aforementioned, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the final film of the entire Hobbit trilogy following An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and it's directed by Peter Jackson, based on the novel itself The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. It picks up from the last film (The Desolation of Smaug) and it shows Smaug the dragon completely destroying Laketown by incinerating it while Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the Dwarves watch in despair from the Lonely Mountain. Smaug the dragon still scared me as much as he did in the last film and Benedict Cumberbatch does a fantastic job of voicing him so terrifyingly [SPOILER] but eventually Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) breaks out of imprisonment and pierces Smaug's heart with a special arrow. Eventually the remaining Dwarves in Laketown join the others in the Lonely Mountain and Thorin (Richard Armitage) becomes obsessed and inflicted with Smaug's 'dragon sickness' while he searches for the Arkenstone and defends his piles of gold. To protect themselves from the folk of Laketown, the elves (led by Thranduil played by Lee Pace) and the orcs, Thorin orders the Dwarves to build a blockade at the entrance of Erebor when all hell breaks loose outside.

That's as much description as I can give without giving too much away. But here's my review of the film and I'll be as detailed and honest as possible but here's where things get a little jumbled for me as both my enjoyment and irritation with this film get mixed up. The special effects are pretty fantastic when it comes to Smaug, sweeping scenes of the lands or shots of the fight itself. It was a visually beautiful film if we ignore the storyline accompanied with incredible music that really builds up the emotion and tension of the film.

The Hobbit wasn't really about the hobbit himself, Bilbo and instead became all about the fascinating figure that is Thorin Oakenshield. Maddened by his new sense of power, the gold, the jewels and the search for the Arkenstone and not knowing that Bilbo himself has it in his possession really brings the best out of Richard Armitage. The unlikely but sweet friendship between Bilbo and Thorin becomes stretched as Bilbo struggles with keeping the precious item to himself while Thorin becomes more and more insane. The acting from Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage was absolutely fantastic, especially in the scenes with just the two of them and these are by far the most engaging and tense ones without all the action. I'd say those scenes definitely overshadow the entire battle itself. 

Armitage as Thorin was one of the best things I've ever seen as he portrayed the madness taking over Thorin perfectly. [SPOILER] Even when Thorin tries to throw Bilbo to his death after finding he has the Arkenstone, it's horribly violent and brutal because you find yourself rooting for the pair of them. Not only that, when he finally shakes off the madness and joins the others in battle and [SPOILER] ultimately dies in Bilbo's arms, we feel so emotionally invested in this character that you can't help shedding a few tears; it truly becomes the story of Thorin Oakenshield as well as Bilbo's. [SPOILER] Also the deaths of Kili (played the beautiful Aidan Turner) and his brother Fili (Dean O'Gorman) were equally jarring and horrible, I certainly cried a lot.

Luke Evans didn't get enough screen time as far as I'm concerned but his scenes as Bard the Bowman were strong especially when he reluctantly took on the role of being a leader for his people. Ian McKellan (Gandalf the Grey), Orlando Bloom (Legolas) and Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) also strengthened the film in their own scenes but Peter Jackson gives them all very anti-climatic endings unfortunately. 

The only problem I had with one of the characters was Tauriel played by Evangeline Lilly. I enjoyed her performance as her character is a fantastic fighter but being one of the few women in this heavily male driven film, she was placed in a stupid love triangle between her, Kili and Legolas. I don't mind it too much because the scenes between her and Kili were beautiful and [SPOILER] the emotion and grief of losing Kili was heart-wrenching to watch but again, I do think it wasn't very necessary to place the only woman, more or less, in battle in a love triangle. It's been done time and time again in many films before and I'm sick of seeing it but thankfully she wasn't a damsel in distress at all. 

The ending was a little too anti-climatic for me because [SPOILER] once Thorin and the leader of the orcs died, everyone suddenly disappeared. Peter Jackson just randomly glosses over the fact there was fights going on everywhere but all of that suddenly doesn't matter when the two leaders died. I don't mind because I do love a good action film and the battle scenes were terrific as usual, there was stunning cinematography and the tragic ending did tie the Hobbit stories to the Lord of the Rings but it was just tied up a little too lazily for me. It was little underwhelming but I'd definitely it's still worth seeing to take that journey through Middle Earth one last time. 

Here's the trailer:

 

Have you seen it? What did you think of it?

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.

Film Review: The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Part 1.

So I finally got to see the new Hunger Games film and I'm so glad to say that it did not disappoint at all. First of all, I love the poster for this movie.. Jennifer Lawrence looks powerful yet somehow still vulnerable being the teenager she is and burdened with the pressure of being the symbol of freedom.

First a bit of background, this is the final instalment of Suzanne Collins's best-selling The Hunger Games, split into two parts. For 123 minutes, the film is after Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is rescued after destroying the Quarter Quell and is adapting to life in the complex beneath a ruined District 13. Her home, District 12, has been bombed and blown to bits while Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) has been brainwashed and taken into captivity by President Snow (Donald Sutherland). During all of this, Katniss also learns of a covert rebellion that is rioting throughout all of Panem and she finds herself at the centre of a plan to bring down Snow.

I've read the books and I think the movie did fantastic to follow the plot and told the story well. The film delves into propaganda and how the media uses images to relay certain messages which is vital for this day and age especially when this film is intended for a young audience. All of the actors did well to play their parts, small or large, and Jennifer Lawrence was always perfect to play Katniss. She portrays the emotions fantastically and in the way any teenager would be going through if they were put in this place. Josh Hutcherson shines in the scenes he has and creeps you out with his cold, dead-like eyes; amazing acting by him. It was sad to watch Philip Seymour Hoffman knowing that this amazing actor no longer walks among us but he was really the driving force of Mockingjay through his performance.

All in all, I absolutely loved this film. It leaves you wanting so much more and the frustration that you literally have to wait another year to see Part 2. Go and see it now!

Here's the trailer:

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.

Film Review: Lucy.

 

So I finally went to see Lucy sometime last week and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it alot. This review is fairly late because I've been super busy and unable to blog, so I'm sorry for that!

Direction, written and edited by Luc Besson Lucy is a French, sci-fi, action film about a young American woman (Scarlett Johansson) who is living and studying in Taipei, Taiwan. Her boyfriend tricks her into delivering a briefcase to his employer who is a Korean mob boss and drug mule called Mr Jang. The briefcase contains a very valuable bag of an artificial drug called CPH4. The bag is forcibly sewn into Lucy's abdomen and three other drug mules. She is taken into captivity and after a beating from one of her captors, the bag breaks causing the substance to flow into her system resulting in her new abilities like telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel and the power not to feel human emotions. Morgan Freeman also stars as Professor Norman who helps her.

I have to say Scarlett Johnasson is not a favourite actress of mine, infact she often annoys me in films for reasons I don't even know why. But I can still root for her and enjoy the characters she plays, like The Black Widow in Captain America or The Avengers. In this film however she blew me away with her acting and was totally badass as the hero. To ground Lucy in the beginning, she plays the scared, hysterical woman perfectly to the point where you believe in the character so much. As she begins unlocking the potential in her brain and the new abilities, she begins disassociating with humanity and their emotions. This transition is so smooth from Johansson that you are actually a bit fearful of her because of her fading facial expressions and monotone voice.

Lucy's special effects were both stunning and absurd. As she keeps gaining every ten percent of her new abilities, the effects of the films grow bigger and more spectacular as she restructures the world around her and takes out her enemies like they are nothing.

The only two criticisms I have of this film are that I don't think the directors gave much thought or effort to the supporting cast. I love Morgan Freeman but his scenes often left me bored and wanting more of Lucy. He is charming as Professor Norman but he is only used to explain the film's scientific theories along with clarifying what Lucy is actually doing in that moment. He doesn't really bring any weight to the film and you wouldn't really miss him if he wasn't in the film.

My second criticism is that I felt the ending was very anti-climatic. I won't spoil anything for anyone who wants to see it but the scene and music really build up the idea of an explosive ending but then just leaves you hanging completely. After the fast pacing of the film, it just abruptly stops and doesn't really give a clear explanation of what's just happened.

But other than that, I did enjoy the film and will probably most likely watch it again. As I say, I don't really like Scarlett Johansson as an actress but she did surprise me in this film.

Have you seen it? Did you like it?
Please leave any thoughts you have in the comments below.

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.

Film Review: Transformers - Age Of Extinction.

 

So I finally saw this film last night and I was very disappointed with a lot of things but also still a bit satisfied as I got my fill of robots fighting robots which always seems to be a hit for me. But there were so many things wrong with this film that I literally don't even know where to start.

Well first I'll give you a bit of background if you don't already know yet, Transformers: Age of Extinction is the sci-fi, action film based on the Transformers franchise directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. This fourth instalment had an all new cast unlike those prior and its leading man was surprisingly (or was that just me?) Mark Wahlberg. It takes place after the attack in Chicago five years earlier in Transformers: Dark of the Moon which leaves the humans picking up the pieces. A group of controlling, inventive scientists and businessmen attempt to rid the world of all Transformers, both Autobots and Decepticons, by using their new technology as well as pushing the boundaries on their new creations which are soon out of their control.

The film came out on the 27th of June this year and its reception wasn't the best it has had with its other films apparently. Of course there was the usual admiration for the stunning visual effects and the tremendous action scenes which involved huge robots fighting other huge robots which is pretty much everyone's cup of tea. But it was a very a plot heavy film which soon became tedious and far too long with its run time ending at 165 minutes - even longer than the previous films. 

Mark Wahlberg's character is a Texan inventor called Cade Yeager (yeah, I know.) who is always looking to find junk that he can mould into other things. He finds an old truck which soon seems to be more than a vehicle. To be honest, Cade is probably the only character you just about care for. He is instantly likeable, probably because it is Mark Wahlberg after all, I haven't seen a bad film from him yet. He's portrayed as this underdog who just wants what's best for his daughter who's unbelievably annoying, grating and whiny. As well as her, there was her patronizing and incredibly smug boyfriend played by Jack Reynor. Both of them are so pointless and unnecessary in this film because all the daughter, Tessa, does is whine, scream for help and defy her father and all the boyfriend does is act cocky and push the fact he's dating Tessa and that she's all grown up now in Cade's face while apparently being the only one who can drive really, really well (this will make more sense if you go and see it).

Both of them could have been easily cut out of the film and no one would have missed them. Speaking of characters being cut out, when one of the Autobot favourites Bumblebee comes flying into the screen there is literally no mention of his friend Sam Witwicky who he has been protecting so fiercely for the past three films. Now I don't know if this is because Shia Lebouf has gone all weird recently and you certainly don't miss him in this film but you find yourself wanting an explanation, as it's only been five years in the storyline between the two films, as to why it feels like they're just acting as if the last three films never happened.

While we're on the subject of story-lines, this film was simply stuffed with them. So stuffed that you become confused as to what is actually central to the film and who is being really targeted. They all desperately try to link up somehow and fail to do so, leaving things unclear and not easy to follow. It starts off with the story of Optimus Prime and his crew fighting against the human-hating Transformers seemingly at the centre of the film then it turns to Cade's constant unnecessary battle with his petulant, insufferable teenage daughter and her swaggering boyfriend which had so many pointless scenes, including an ACTUAL scene where they discussed statutory rape laws. Utterly ridiculous. Not only that they then switched to some plot of Transformer hunting for homeland security to then a more bigger, not-introduced-until-the-last-hour-or-so undeveloped plot of Optimus Prime's mysterious beginning and where he came from.

But there was one thing all the way through the film that really got on my nerves and it was Michael Bay's leering camera shots that trailed up and down Nicola Peltz's (Tessa) long legs in those bloody short shorts. Now I don't know if this is just the feminist within me but seriously, it is 2014 people! Why are women still being sexualized in these types of films? Literally ALL of the female characters in this movie were sexually objectified and wore tight, revealing clothes. No women in this, especially the daughter, were of any help and literally ran around screaming and making things worse.

I could rant about women being constantly sexualized but that's another post.. another problem I had was how they used Stanley Tucci's character. Seriously, I love this actor and he completely shines every time in any film but in this he was so annoying and massively unfunny. I don't believe this is his fault but it is of the screenwriter Ehren Kruger. There was just a constant flow of crap jokes and scenes that could've have been easily removed thus shortening the film's length of time!

Not only that, when the fight takes place in Hong Kong (I won't spoil the reasons why they're there) there seems to be a racial stereotype in place. It's suddenly implied that all Chinese people are magically amazing at martial arts. For example, a certain elevator scene with Stanley Tucci and a chinese woman, a bystander in the elevator has no significance but suddenly becomes involved when Tucci and the lady are attacked. Out of nowhere, he seems to be a sudden expert in martial arts and takes out a few of the attackers for no reason at all when it's nothing to do with him. It just seems like a lazy and clichéd plot device which served no purpose at all.

I could go on more about the mistakes in the film but in the end, I just sort of tuned out and just waited for the action scenes. In the end it just becomes a big blur of robots where you can't even make out who's fighting who, falling buildings/bridges and crushed cars. I heard there was supposedly a surprise ending but I certainly wasn't surprised, just disappointed and things were left unclear and it was just a shambles at the end really. Basically if you're a fan of loud, robot fighting action scenes full of effects and nothing else then this is for you.

To tell you the truth, I'm usually a big fan of big action movies and Transformers has always been right up my street and while the fighting scenes were great as always, it wasn't enough to overpower the jam-packed storyline, the annoying characters and the laughable dialogue ("my face is my warrant" "I knew you had a conscious  because you're an inventor like me!" seriously???). 

I'm sorry if this review seems long to you but I can only be honest and I just felt like I was cheated with this film as I was pretty excited to see it.

So yeah go and see it for the usual fantastic, effects-driven robot fighting but don't be expected to be blown away by anything else.

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.

Film Review: The Fault In Our Stars.

 

If you don't know already, this film was originally a novel by the incredible John Green. It is about a young sixteen year old cancer patient called Hazel Grace Lancaster who attends a support group and eventually meets and falls in love with a boy called Augustus Waters who has battled cancer himself, leaving him with one leg. This is their poignant, touching journey that won't leave one dry eye in the house.

This film adaptation was simply stunning and I don't think I can fault it at all. Shailene Woodley was amazing as Hazel with her taking-no-crap attitude over her terminal disease and I have pretty much fallen in love with the charming Ansel Elgort who portrayed the charismatic Augustus Waters. The film followed the book more or less perfectly with a few parts left out.. even though they weren't particular important scenes, you do feel a tad bit disappointed when scenes are left out as you want to see how they're played out just how you imagined them but I suppose they don't always have enough time to fit those types of parts in when they don't add anything to the storyline.

Having lost a relative to cancer myself, this film left me absolutely sobbing all of my makeup away for almost all of it. There were many moments where I had to literally hold my sobbing in because I didn't want to make a show of myself. It was beautifully acted and you felt the rawness, the emotion of not just Hazel and Augustus but their families and friends around them who all try to carry on in their daily lives while trying to come to terms with the fact their loved one will die of cancer. 

Apparently the director, Josh Boone, was quoted to have said "This story is Titanic.. and cancer is the iceberg we're going to hit eventually." And he was so right. 

I suggest taking alot of tissues with you to see this film! I hope you enjoyed my review and maybe leave a comment on what you thought of the film or what you thought of my review.

Thankyou for reading.
Laura.