The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - review.

The Lord of the Hobbits... The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Following on from his 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, Peter Jackson has ventured on a new journey (pun intended) to explore J. R. R. Tolkien's prequel to the grand trio of films. He has decided to do the stupid thing rich filmmakers tend to do and is splitting the 310 page children's novel into three films. This personally is a ludicrously self-indulgent piece of nonsense and it makes you think, surely you'd gain viewers by tightening it all up. Boasting a whopping great 170 minute running length, it wouldn't get me dashing there but good reviews convinced me and I sat down to watch The Hobbit. Martin Freeman takes the role of Bilbo Baggins, previously owned by Ian Holm who has a nice cameo, and makes it his own, empathising the creature comforts Bilbo so loves and making him a foolish and incapable nincompoop. However as many great heroes do, he softens into a courageous man but seeing as this expedition is to last three full films, he is still full of cowardice and hasn't properly asserted himself into the prime role. Ian McKellen fits nicely back into the pointy hat, flowing robe and wispy beard whilst newcomer to the series Richard Armitage is the dwarf leader Thorin. This really is so like The Lord of the Rings it practically is The Lord of the Rings with reused locations, reused character elements and reused escape methods. The formula is the same, a group of Muddle Earth dwellers decide to journey to a mountain, in one case to destroy it and in the second case to reclaim it from a fiery dragon. Whilst it isn't refreshingly new and Jackson has had just under ten years to develop something original, it is enjoyable and the characters are entertaining in their own ways. The length prolongs the film greatly but none the less you find yourself lapping it all up.

4/5

Great Expectations - review.

MAY CONTAIN SOME MILD SPOILERS.

Anticlimax.. Jeremy Irvine and Holliday Grainger as Pip and Estella.

Not twelve months ago, did I see a terrific BBC adaptation of Dicken's famous novel. Gillian Anderson took the role as ghostly spinster Miss Havisham whilst Douglas Booth portrayed the older Pip. This was undoubtedly the best version that's ever been churned out of the lengthy book, the best since the David Lean edition last century. This interpretation from Mike Newell and David Nicholls is an odd affair that really stretches between likeness and anger, anger at the fact that such a modern form of the book with an all-star cast has failed in its challenge. I'm slap bang in the middle, unsure whether to love it or hate it. The real problem is Helena Bonham Carter's foul portrayal of the mysterious and old (Bonham Carter's age is 46 whilst Dickens intended a more late fifties, early sixties look) Miss Havisham. Her death scene is disgusting, crude, poorly executed and nightmarish, I was physically distraught in the cinema thanks to this ridiculous chapter. Carter also acts the pantomime baddie, remaining in the shadows giving no effort to do anything. Known for her weird gothic mad-haired gimmick, Helena Bonham Carter tones this down completely and her casting as Miss Havisham was a long-awaited waste.
War Horse's Jeremy Irvine ups his game a little as gentlemanly Pip, sent to London to live the life of a dandy after a mysterious benefactor, communicated to him by Robbie Coltrane's cold-hearted Jaggers. Ralph Fiennes appeared as the likeable Gareth Mallory in the recent James Bond movie, Skyfall and now gives an easy performance as Magwitch. Holliday Grainger forces all of Estella's hostility to men, after being raised by Miss Havisham, perfectly into herself meaning her performance is perfect for the role. David Walliams however is excellant as the pride-hungry Uncle Pumblechook, a role he quite rightly deserves.
I went into Great Expectations with.. great expectations and I was sorely disappointed, its good-looking, well-acted in most cases but still lacks some adventurism or energy that leaves a gaping hole. 

3/5

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 - review.

Mixed bag of nuts... The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.

The word 'saga' is defined as "a long story of heroic achievement", this fifth and thankfully final instalment of the teenage-aimed franchise fails to deliver any sort of heroic deed or achievement. All it does is disappoint fans of the series who were hoping for a 'Deathly Hallows' like showdown and some form of decent resolution. 
Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), the glittery vampire who has swooned the innocent and ever stoic Bella Swan (played with the usual stone face, Kristen Stewart) is now a father as Bella is a mother to their CGI-enhanced child of death. After the disgusting climax of Part 1, Swan has given birth to her human-cum-vampire daughter, Renesmee (played with a creepy pallor by Mackenzie Foy). Obviously something is afoot and the sinister Volturi (led by lank-haired Michael Sheen) close in on the whole Cullen family, leaving them torn between a sophisticated debate and a monumental battle, ironically they choose the former. Meanwhile, Jacob Black (you know, the wolfie one), played strangely well by Taylor Lautner has formed a unexplained link with Bella and Edward's child. This is basically just an excuse to keep him in on the action 24/7. So the stage is set for what the audience anticipate to be a bloodshedding battle to the death. 
Breaking Dawn fails to appeal to the people out for a gripping battle, yes there is a battle with many casualties but you'll find out why that isn't substantial. As the trailer advertises, there is a dramatic battle on a frozen lake, this conflict isn't more of a conflict but a civilised discussion that sorts itself out nicely. 
I have never seen a more self-satisfied film in all of my life. The denouement is so smug that it lasts for about fifteen minutes. The credits don't just list Breaking Dawn cast members but everyone from the bloody postman in the first film to the last wolf in Part Two. Smugly complacent is the ideal words for the tagline.

3/5

Rust and Bone - review.

Sophisticated and smartly passionate at its core... Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone.

It hasn't been since The Five Year Engagement debacle have I seen a smart romantic movie. That film was letdown but the odd couple pairing of Emily Blunt and Jason Segel worked well and the film was reasonably intelligent if a little long and occasionally bland. Rust and Bone is far better than that and its two main players, Marion Cotillard at her best and relatively newcomer Matthias Schoenaerts are as much of an odd couple, maybe even more than the Blunt/Segel partnership. This film is as thoughtful as love story features go. The extraordinary circumstances of Stéphanie (Cotillard) and Ali's (Schoenaerts) meeting are so unbelievable that the passionate love they exude cancels this out and they suddenly become convincing.
After a freak orca-related accident cripples Stéphanie she lapses into a heavy depression that she doesn't resurface from until she meets the emotionally dumb Ali. He is a straggler, just out from a failed relationship with his young son, Sam (Armand Verdure) he finds himself on the doorstep of his caring sister Anna (Corinne Masiero). Landing himself numerous jobs around the small French seaside town he becomes closer and closer to Stéphanie. Soon you are unsure where their relationship is going.
Its touching and sad with a canny ability to make you love it through all its flaws. Rust and Bone succeeds in many levels and when it has the odd mishap, it picks itself up off the ground and amazes the audience.

4/5

Skyfall - review.

Sharp, clever and fast... Daniel Craig takes the lead role in Skyfall.

On the official Skyfall Wikipedia entry, Dame Judi Dench takes the third position in the cast list. In the similar list for Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Eva Green and Olga Kurylenko are second behind Daniel Craig. Dench is the Bond girl of this film. She may be getting into her late seventies (thus the 'girl' title should be withdrawn) but Judi Dench takes the most action out of all females in the movie. Whether its physically, emotionally or mentally, 'M' does it all. Naomie Harris plays the other Bond girl, Eve, a contemporary spy who does part fieldwork. She and Bond have an interesting badinage, usually through earpieces, but this banter doesn't rise above its raillery. Another interesting newcomer is Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, a former lieutenant colonel in the British Army. Fiennes plays him as a stiff bureaucratic civil servant that we soon grow to like. Bérénice Marlohe is yet another Bond girl, Sévérine, a sexy and seductive, yet frail and vulnerable woman. The character is given nothing substantial and comes out flimsy and boring. 
The main villain of the piece, Javier Bardem gives us the ridiculous Silva. Ridiculous in a way that we like, his character is a bit flamboyant but still sinister in his own way. He is a disgruntled former agent turned cyberterrorist in an attempt to bring 'M' down. His chilling methods in attempting her demise are cunning and dangerous. Silva himself reminds me of the late Heath Ledger's The Joker, a twisted psycho who tries to take the Batman down in public ways. Silva does the exact same to 'M'. He has no time for James Bond, he is just somebody who gets in the road and must be exterminated. 
Skyfall exceeded expectations, purely because of something vital: drama. It slimmed down on the meaty chase scenes and violence, losing some of the mindless chaos and grinding down to the real core. To conclude, Skyfall featured so, so, so many hits and few insubstantial cons. It may not be the best Bond ever but it is certainly the best of the past twenty years.


4/5

Frankenweenie - review.

Martin Short, Charlie Tahan and Catherine O'Hara as Edward Frankenstein, Victor and Susan Frankenstein.

Think of every schlock horror or B movie ever, add in all the cheesy monster ideas, silly special effects, then update it to 2012. The final result, hopefully, should be Frankenweenie. Tim Burton returns back into his proper comfort zone after the shocking Alice In Wonderland and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Dark Shadows was brilliant but Frankenweenie has topped that. 
After poor Victor's (Charlie Tahan) dog, Sparky, is hit by a car, Victor goes all "Victor Frankenstein" and brings the deceased pooch back to life. The dog suffers minor scars but is essentially the same beast. Victor's "secret" is hidden from his unsuspecting parents, (Martin Short and Catherine O'Hara) but is accidently revealed to a deformed, igor-like schoolmate (Atticus Shaffer) of Victor's, Edgar. The drama is set in the small town of New Holland, a white picket-fenced group of cul-de-sacs reminiscent of Burton's fictional neighbourhood in Edward Scissorhands. The mayor is Mr Bergermeister, a fat and grumpy man who spends more time attending his precious flowers and plastic flamingos than to his teenage niece, Elsa (Winona Ryder). Once the secret is out to Edgar he can't possibly keep it and soon many of New Holland's youngsters know of the Frankenstein-like revival.
Its absolutely brilliant, giving you ever cliche known to any horror movie fan, giant creatures, resurrected hounds.. the key ingredients to a brilliant movie.

4/5

Untouchable - review.

Suave drama...Omar Sy and François Cluzet in Untouchable.

Its been hyped to the max and sugarcoated(wolfgang) to almost every level, Untouchable is a charming buddy movie about an ex-con and his quadriplegic employer. I first saw it advertised a few weeks ago and it came emblazoned with four or five star ratings from critics. An American voiceover tells us "critics rave about it" and I merely assumed it would be pretty awful as it looked pretty cheesy and unattractive to a movie-goer like me. I ended up going and now I've come out of it literally raving. Omar Sy is the ex-crook, (a rather undeveloped plot strand) Driss, who has just done time for robbery. To gain benefits he enters an interview to become carer to wealthy quadriplegic Philippe (Cluzet). A trial month ensues and Driss quickly becomes a full-time carer and friend to the millionaire. For once I actually enjoy the embarrassing sequences that are supposed to be 'heart-warming'. I wasn't cringing, shamed to be in the audience, I was just grinning like an idiot. The relationship between the two doesn't rise above sentimentality but keeps the pace going. When Driss discovers Philippe has lost his love, he sets out to match his employer up with his pen-pal Eleonore, a woman he's been enticing with romantic poems. The jokes are fresh and witty, bouncing off Philippe's condition and others around the pair. Now lined up for a foreign language Oscar, it will surely win. Untouchable is one of those films, you'll remember the next morning.

4/5