Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, how’s it going? Anyway today I am here to bring you my thoughts on Blade Runner 2049, however, unlike most of my reviews that are written on this blog, I decided to do an audio via my podcast, Film Focus on Soundcloud as it felt better and easier to do. Anyway check out the review below:
So that’s my review people, hopefully, you found it informative and interesting to listen, and I hope my voice wasn’t too grating on your ears haha. While I don’t think I will be phasing out the written reviews altogether, at the same time there are certain times when doing a recorded review allows me to creatively get my thoughts about a film across better than when I’m sat in front of my laptop trying to form sentences and paragraphs. But we’ll see, hopefully, you’ll be around to check out later reviews via my podcast.
Also, what did you think of Blade Runner 2049? Was it the sequel that you hoped for or was it a disappointment? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below, until next time peeps, laters! 😀
So the day of reckoning has arrived (at least for us in the UK), Star Wars The Force Awakens has finally been released and I saw it in IMAX yesterday, and excuse the profanity, but it was some good shit. The wait for this film has felt like an eternity but I’ve seen in this new Star Wars film, and while a spoiler-free review seems impossible. I’m going to attempt it anyway. 😀
The plot can be described as the following:
“30 years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat rises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of Heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance.”
First thing I can say about this story is that it was really good. At first I thought this film would be just a retread of A New Hope, and throughout the film there’s certainly some call backs to that particular film, however as the story progresses it quickly evolves into its own tale with new characters, mythology and set up for even grander adventures in the future. What I loved about this film was its ability to connect with The Original Trilogy, but also feel totally fresh, exciting and unexpected. This film is full of humour, drama, mystery and intrigue, but at the center of it all it has heart. And for all the spectacle and larger-than-life elements, this was a very intimate and personal adventure for several of the characters involved and you could feel the emotion for sure. There’s also a lot of great references to the previous Star Wars films, and while you don’t have to have seen the previous films to understand TFA, you really can’t appreciate all of the subtle references or the dramatic moments involving the older returning cast members.
I have to hand it to J.J. Abrams and his team of writers for being able to pull this film off. This film really felt like Star Wars from a nostalgic standpoint, but it didn’t rely to heavily on it and created a lot of new material especially when it came to some of the humour and dialogue. Some of this material felt odd to be a in a Star Wars film, but it also helped the film feel relatable to modern film audiences. Also this film gets a little dark, sure it’s not the first time in this series, but certain moments were definitely violent and aggressive. Now this film isn’t perfect (although its pretty close), certain characters aren’t utilized to their full potential and certain plot points and mysteries you may be able to predict if you’re hardcore fan who has read the Expanded Universe/Legacy material or have speculated a lot online. But make no mistake, this film feels like the Star Wars you remember and it felt like a satisfactory follow-up to Return of the Jedi.
Oh and the cast, they were great. A lot of these characters come from different backgrounds and this film did a good job of weaving them all together in coherent manner that felt natural. Firstly let me talk about Daisy Ridley and John Boyega as Rey and Finn, man I adore these two. Rey was this smart, cunning and interesting scavenger, while Finn was a defected stormtrooper from the First Order who was brave, extremely funny and emotionally scarred. Both of these characters have great chemistry together, but their separate adventures were also very personal and badass. Adam Driver as Kylo Ren was very badass, this character could have easily been a one-note villain, but there were layers to him, and discovering more about his personality and history as the film progressed was exciting and engaging. Oscar Isaac was great as Poe Dameron, just the definition of cool with a great deal of charisma, humour and confidence, and I have to give a shout out to BB-8 as he was one of the most adorable and humourous aspects of this film.
And then there’s Harrison Ford as Han Solo, I loved him SO much. Ford, while certainly older, he felt like he hadn’t lost a step as Solo. This character was still just as charming, daring and hilarious as ever, however, he’d also aged and his perspective on certain things has changed a great deal, and while he was certainly used as a means to guide the new characters into this franchise, at the same time he had a key role to play and it was handled nicely. Carrie Fisher’s return as General Leia Organa was very nice too, Leia, while similar to the woman were known from the previous films, she’s changed too, she has a lot more responsibilities and it was cool to see a different side to her. Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata was another great new addition as she had such wonderful moments with some of the heroes, and Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke was quite fascinating, he was imposing, powerful and yet strange and mysterious too. The rest of the cast was either not given enough screen time or weren’t developed enough especially when it came to Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Max von Sydow as Lor San Tekka and Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma.
When it comes to the presentation, dear god I could nearly explode from the feeling of happiness this film gave me. Visually the film was beyond awesome. Everything from the gorgeous, pulsating space battles to the dirty/aggressive lightsaber duels to the lovely practical effects for the aliens and robots was stunning. What was great about this film was that it looked and sounded just like the previous films, but now with a swifter pace, a different style of cinematography, better use of practical effects and the CGI was clean, sharp and flawlessly executed. Oh and the music by John Williams, it was pretty damn cool. Now I will admit there weren’t any new themes that stuck out to me (like “Duel of the Fates” in the prequels), however the music is a mixture of new and old, but it has the Williams touch, that sense of magic and wonder, fear, intensity and joy that comes from a Star Wars film and it was a joy to hear it.
In conclusion Star Wars: The Force Awakens, to put it simply, the film just made me feel good. There’s a sense of satisfaction that I got after this film ended that I haven’t felt since The Avengers, all I needed this film to be was good and it exceeded my expectations in ways I never thought would happen. With an engaging new story, brilliant performances from the main cast members and stunning production values, Star Wars in back for fans new and old. Now the film does have issues and some fans will not be entirely happy with everything that goes down, but hell I really enjoyed myself with this film and I will probably see it several more times into the new year.
Critic Rating: 8.5/10
Fan Rating: 9/10
So are you going to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens and if so are you hyped or worried? And if you’ve seen the film were you pleased or disappointed? Please be sure to comment below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀
Yo people of the internet, time for the trailer review I’ve been waiting an eternity to watch; the official trailer for Star Wars The Force Awakens. I waited all of yesterday for this trailer but didn’t know when it was specifically coming out, so when it did get released it was like 3am over here in the UK, but it was worth the wait because I loved the trailer and I’m gonna attempt to tell you why in this review.
Check out the trailer below:
I think this may be the best trailer I’ve seen to any film this year. I know that’s an incredibly biased statement but screw it, it’s frigging Star Wars and because of this final trailer I have no doubt in my mind that this film will be awesome. I liked the first teaser, really digged the second, but this trailer just blows the previous two out of the water.
I am honestly a little lost for words, this trailer blew me away. I had hopes and they were met and exceeded. Would I like to have seen more like possibly some footage of my man Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker? Of course I would! And am I still curious to know where Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong’o are also? Totally! But the brilliance of this trailer is in the fact that it gives you so much and yet holds back the finer details. You still don’t know what the story is and there’s still a lot of room for speculation.
There is so much awesomeness in this trailer that’s it’s hard to find a place to start. I’ve seen the trailer around 3 times and yet I feel like even after that talking about this trailer won’t be enough because there is so much to cover. Firstly I will say that the presentation is simply amazing. The dog fights have this new level of energy and intensity not yet seen in the series, X-Wings and Tie Fighters fly, shoot, crash and explode with clarity, beauty and speed, and the classic Millennium Falcon is the thick of it getting chased too. And seeing these different locations like space or that snowy planet or the jungle/water-based planet as the arenas for these crazy battles looks so good. Those visual effects people are really taking Star Wars into the modern era with the cinematography used for these battle sequences.
There are loads of little things to mention like:
Rey is special: This lady feels very similar to Luke Skywalker because of where she begins; she’s in a desert, looking out to the stars and because of a specific event it will trigger her adventure. She seems tenacious, strong and it looks she’ll be the central focus of this film.
Finn, where does his alliance lie?: Finn looks like he grew up believing what he was doing, but has defected and starts a new path in this film. I also love how he goes from being a Stormtrooper to joining Rey to then attempting to fight Klyo in the forest (that scene alone look frigging epic), he’s gonna have one hell of a story arc.
Klyo Ren, the dedicated badass: Klyo is definitely a Darth Vader fanatic, he’s on a mission to complete something that Vader didn’t finish (at least that’s what his dialogue suggests), he’s got a badass posse with his Knights of Ren with him in the rain, he’s someone you don’t want to encounter as demonstrated with his force abilities being used on Poe in a torture scene.
Poe Dameron, more that meets the eye: Besides being a good pilot, he looks like he’ll be pretty important as he has some interaction with Klyo Ren (as mentioned above) but also with Finn which makes me wonder if there’s some history between them whether it is prior to this film or during with Finn converting from the Order to join Poe (that shoulder tap and Finn’s reaction suggests that there may be some allegiance there).
Han Solo is a believer: Out of the original trio, Han shows up the most and seems like he’ll be the guide for Rey and Finn into this world we’ve known for a while now. When Rey asked him about the events of the past and he says that “It’s true, all of it.” It feels like he’ll be giving them the history on what took place in the Original Trilogy. Also when he says “The dark side, the Jedi, they’re real.” That’s a big statement as he was a non-believer many moons back but has definitely changed his opinion on those things. Also I liked seeing him and Chewbacca lowering their hands from their heads, but what was even more interesting was seeing him and Leia hug, I wonder if they’re still together or that the events of this film bring them back into each others lives?
The Millennium Falcon’s warp speed: I know it’s a minor detail, but in the original films we never saw the Falcon while it was in warp. It would always boot up and then blast away into the distance, but here we see the full extent of the speed much like the starship Enterprise in Star Trek (2009).
Oh and that music, bloody hell, hearing those classic themes reworked into this trailer (“Han Solo and the Princess”) being all loud and dramatic over this footage was beautiful. It gave me goosebumps and felt suitably nostalgic. I loved it and I wonder if that’s just cut for the trailer or if it’ll be part of John Williams’ new soundtrack for The Force Awakens? I really hope the new film can sound similar to this because I’ll lose my mind.
I have to hand it to J.J. Abrams for his ability to keep this film secret for so long and continuing his trend of not revealing key details for his films in the marketing process especially when it comes to this trailer. And speaking of Abrams this film definitely has his style over it in terms of the camera work and swifter pace, and it looks like he’s gonna breathe new life into this franchise the same way he did with 2009’s Star Trek (and I loved that film so I can only imagine how good TFA will be).
In conclusion Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I’m beyond excited for this film, I know I’ve probably missed out tons of details but I’m only offering quick thoughts. This is all I’ve wanted out of the films of 2015 and if it is nearly as good as this trailer suggests then it will be the best December film experience I’ve had in a long time. I just want this film now, give it to me! MY BODY IS READY!
So have you seen the trailer for The Force Awakens and if so are you hyped or underwhelmed? Please be sure to comment below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀
Howdy people of the internet and welcome to a new trailer review! I was going to review the Terminator Genisys trailer at some point soon since the new trailer dropped, but since the second teaser trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. dropped online today I just had to talk about that instead.
Here’s the trailer:
So my thoughts after seeing this trailer? It sounds something like this: “Why is December so far away? I want this film now!”
With all the big films coming up this summer like Avengers 2, Jurassic World, Terminator 5, Mission: Impossible 5, Ant-Man and Fantastic Four just to name a few, it is easy to forget that a little old franchise by the name of Star Wars is getting the 7th entry in that film series since the last film in 2005. The hype for the first teaser nearly broke the internet back in December and that was only 90 seconds, but here we get more, we get more scenes of characters, action and spectacle and it looks GORGEOUS! I know that it is just a preview of what is coming up and the film could still be bad, however, with footage like this it is hard for me to feel anything but joy. It looks like J.J. Abrams and the people behind this film has everything under control.
Since there’s so much going on in this teaser trailer, like the last review I’m just going to talk about the main things I took away from this trailer. No bare in mind I’m no Star Wars boffin so there will be things that go over my head or I won’t be able to discuss in nerdy fashion, so don’t kill me.
Fallen Star Destroyer
Having this as the opening scene is perfect. For fans of the Original Trilogy this is a scene that is nostalgia as I believe we’re on that sandy planet that looks like Tatooine again (it is apparently called Jakku) and we see a speeder driving by in the background, and as the camera pans to the right we see the remains of a HUGE old star destroyer. Just that moment put me in a state of awe. That ship was insanely big and it really establishes the scale and scope of this new film in contrast to the original films and to some degree even the prequels. I just like how the remains from the old films still exist here in an old, decayed, but visually distinctive manner, and the fact that the old Star Wars music is playing in background with it, that just hits home in such a lovely way.
That Old Vader Helmet
Bloody hell, this was another really chilling and nostalgic element. Seeing that helmet of Darth Vader was both cool and super creepy. I love Vader and I was gutted when he died in Return of the Jedi, but the man did die a hero and was burnt in fire. But seeing is old, deformed/melted helmet, it was so creepy and horror-like to me. I can’t look at it too much, it just creeps me out. I assume that it is look possibly looking at the helmet, unless it is someone else, if so who?
New Kids In Danger
We get to see a few new looks at John Boyega and Daisy Ridley individually at different points, but this trailer establishes that they are not only in the same location but how they also have to work together too. And this shot is awesome, seeing them running for their lives from the destruction behind them. And this shot is even better before BB8 is along for the ride too.
Action, Spectacle & Chaos!
The Star Wars films have always been known for their incredible attention to detail when it came to visual effects, cinematography and action sequences, and looks like this film will take what we’ve come to expect and improve upon that foundation tenfold with the use of improved CGI and modern styles of cinematography. The action in this film looks off the hook, the amount of madness going on whether it is X-Wings flying above water on a Earth-looking planet or Tie Fighters chasing down the Millennium Falcon through the remains of huge ship or some crazy battle in a hangar bay with a Tie Fighter shooting at Stormtroopers, it all looks SO clean, detailed and shiny and I want a piece of it!
Stormtroopers & Crazy Cool Sith Man
Firstly I’m really liking the new look of Stormtroopers, they look new, but familiar. I like how there are still a good number of them lurking around after all these years and I can’t wait to see them in action/ They look cool standing around and getting blown away, but I want to see more from them and understand just how John Boyega fits into his role as one of them. Oh and that dude in the dark hood from the first trailer, we can see his face! Well, sort of. I know the guy has a name but I forget what it is. Anyways, he wears a cool-looking mask and looks like he’s going to be throwing down in this film swinging his lightsabers and using the force too, I just want to know how much of a force he’ll be and who he’ll run into over the course of the film.
Chewie & Han!
And after that incredible short chase sequence with the Millennium Falcon, the icing on the cake was clearly last scene, seeing Harrison Ford back as Han Solo alongside Chewbacca with him saying “Chewie, we’re home.” That was just perfect and sort works both as return for the characters in the film but also for us fans that have been waiting to see them in this universe again after so many years. On and I just want to highlight how good Ford looks, sure he’s old for sure, but the make up and costume people have done well to make him look like a more seasoned version of Solo, I just hope he can still move a fair amount though.
In conclusion the second teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is frigging amazing. It feels like the perfect blend of old and new, again it is only a teaser, there isn’t much information on the story or characters, but what we do see is hella cool and exciting. It is only the second trailer and I’m already feeling like this film will be the amazing experience I hope it will be. There is so much to like and again, I can’t wait for December to come, MY BODY IS READY! 😀
So how do you feel about the second teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Are you hyped more or less than before or were you unimpressed? I would love to hear your thoughts, please be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀
Good day to you ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another film review, today I will be doing my review on one of the last films of the summer I’ve been looking forward to, The Expendables 3. Now the first film when it came out in 2010 was a nice bit of fun and the sequel just got crazier and a lot more campy too, but was still hella fun. So here we are two years later with third film which brings back the main cast along with even more established action heroes and some new faces too. So does it succeed or is this film overkill of this series of films? Well read on and find out!
The story can be summarized as the following:
“Leader of the Expendables Barney Ross augments his team with new blood for a personal battle: to take down Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables co-founder and notorious arms trader who is hell bent on wiping out Barney and every single one of his associates.”
I thought the story was good for the most part. In terms of tone this film kind of meets somewhere in-between the first and second film where it is kind of serious and kind of campy. The story isn’t anything special and as a tale of revenge with people of the past coming to back to cause havoc it isn’t going to win any points for originality. That being said the story was solid, had a reason for being and was better than the first film’s overly dramatic tone. The humour is definitely on display throughout and while some of the jokes fall a bit flat, most of them are pretty good with nice banter between team members and the nice self referenced. This film was probably the most modern influenced of this series of films as it not only takes on a younger set of mercenaries but also take into account how technology helps with tactical-based scenarios. Now whether I like this film more so than Expendables 2 remains to be seen as I haven’t seen it since 2012, but now I like this one better.
As for the cast they’re just as good as they have ever been, but some clearly stand out more than others. The best people in this film was Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas and Mel Gibson.
Firstly Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross is pretty much the same as he was before, he’s big, gets the most screen time and while his speech is still hard to comprehend at times, the man still knows how to move for a man in his 60’s and gets the job done when it comes to action. Then there’s Wesley Snipes as Doc who I was so glad to see back on the big screen, the guy was totally charismatic and funny and I liked his banter with his other comrades, while there wasn’t too much martial arts from him, what action scenes he did were pretty cool. Antonio Banderas as Galgo was such a riot, the dude is primarily there for comic relief, but he stole every scene was in because he talked so much and was so over-the-top. And Mel Gibson as Conrad Stonebanks, damn he was cool. Gibson hasn’t been in many big films recently, but seeing him in this villain role really makes me want to see more of him. Stonebanks is your typical cold, evil and humourous bad guy that enjoys taunting and toying with his enemies and Gibson was clearly having fun with this rle which I loved.
The rest of cast are decent, Jason Statham is still badass as Lee Christmas, Dolph Lundgren as Gunnar Jensen and Randy Couture as Toll Road are fine and Terry Crews as Hale Caesar while in a smaller role was still kick ass. I enjoyed Kelsey Grammer’s appearance as Bonaparte, the man didn’t do very much but he had some cool and moments with Stallone and some of the new recruits. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench takes on a smaller role than the last film but is still awesome in several of his scenes especially when it comes to his dialogue. Poor Jet Li as Yin Yang, the dude barely got any screen time at all, the character was pretty much wasted. Harrison Ford as Max Drummer was cool, this is the most movement I’ve seen from him in recent films, he was fun and intimidating. Oh and shout out to Glen Powell as Thorn and Ronda Rousey as Luna (she was gorgeous and badass).
When it comes to the presentation The Expendables 3 is pretty good. Just like the previous films the action comes thick and fast and comes in the form of mainly fight fights, some hand-to-hand combat and big action set pieces with various vehicles and explosions galore. That being said some of the action wasn’t as special or memorable as what has come before, also annoying is the amount of CGI used in the film as it is so obvious when it’s used and it really takes me out of the film. As for the soundtrack, Brian Tyler comes back to score the music and it is pretty much more of the same, nothing that memorable but not too shabby. The music works for the film and elevates the action-based scenes.
In conclusion The Expendables 3 is possibly the best of the Expendables films in my opinion, while the laughs aren’t always there and the CGI is still pretty, I feel like this is the most consistent and cohesive of the films with a good balance between campiness and seriousness and when the action goes down it is totally chaotic. Any fans of these classic action stars should be satisfied with the film, it may not have the nostalgia factor or originality from the previous instalments but it is hard to deny the fun that comes from seeing some of these actors together on-screen having a good time.
Rating: 7.5/10
So have you seen The Expendables 3 and if so what did you think of it? Well that’s been my review ladies and gentlemen, hopefully you enjoyed and drop me a comment, let me know what you thought of the film. Until next time, laters! 😀
Good day to you ladies and gentlemen and today I’m here to talk about some very important film news that was announced a little while ago today. The following information comes from superherohype:
Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm have announced the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII! Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film. Click the photo above for a bigger version!
Director J.J. Abrams says, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of ‘Star Wars: Episode VII.’ It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”
Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.
So damn, it’s happened. The truth is out. The information that us fans have been desperately wanting to know has finally been discovered. WE HAVE CAST CONFIRMATION AND ITS AWESOME! Finally, finally, finally we have the information on the primary cast of the next instalment in the Star Wars film series and my god it is glorious, for the most part. Now the obvious part is that we have the original cast back with our three main leads, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, there was no doubt in my mind or most fans minds that they would return, but just having this confirmation means so much and pretty much puts everything in perspective. Even getting Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhem and Kenny Baker makes me smile too. But I think the bigger news the new cast members who have been added to Episode VII. Some of these names have been rumoured while others are completely unexpected. To be honest I only know a few of these names. I know of John Boyega, but I’ve never watched Attack the Block, but good on him for coming so far in his career and getting into a massive franchise like this. Seeing both Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac makes me so happy, both of them were pretty good in Inside Llewyn Davis, especially Isaac though. But the main name that stand out to be is Andy Serkis. ANDY FRIGGING SERKIS! YES! To say that I love Serkis would be a huge understatement, I’ve been a fan of his ever since Lord of the Rings Trilogy and have loved most of the films he’s been and to see him land a role in the massive franchise that is Star Wars, I’m SO happy for him and I honestly am even more excited to see this film than before.
Also having that image above to see all the cast and director together just makes me grin. You can just see things happening and it makes me giddy. Now I just want this film to start shooting and then get to 2015 where we’ll see the next episode of Star Wars.
So what do you think of the cast news? Are you happy about it? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them below in the comments and let me know. Laters people. 🙂
This has been a film I’ve been wanting to watch for a while now, but since there’s a stupidly annoying and unnecessary long gaps between for film released for the USA and the UK I’ve had to wait until September to finally check this film out. So after the wait does 42 deliver the goods on being a good biographical sports film? Well read on and find out!
So the story in this film goes like this:
“In 1946, Jackie Robinson is a Negro League baseball player who never takes racism lying down. Branch Rickey is a Major League team executive with a bold idea. To that end, Rickey recruits Robinson to break the unspoken colour line as the first modern African American Major League player. As both anticipate, this proves a major challenge for Robinson and his family as they endure unrelenting racist hostility on and off the field, from player and fan alike. As Jackie struggles against his nature to endure such abuse without complaint, he finds allies and hope where he least expects it.”
I feel like the story was good and it had some great source material to draw from, but I don’t think it was fully utilized. The whole “first black baseball player” was a big deal and while the film done its best to illustrate most of the struggles and change that came with that revelation it seems like a lot of things were breezed over, in fact a lot of things feel like they’re happening without having enough time to digest it. Other than that, the story works when it matters like when it comes to the onslaught of racism for Jackie Robinson, it was kind of uncomfortable to watch (being a black guy myself) but then that’s the way it has to be, can’t be diluting history now.
As for the cast they were people that kept this film for being just another average biopic as their performances are good, heartfelt and believable for the most part. Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson at first I didn’t like him, he seemed like a bit of a grouch and kind of antisocial, but then as his character progresses and goes through his journey you learn why he is as he is and we get to see the better sides of his personalities. Boseman pours his heart into the role and his acting is great especially in scenes involving aggression and being smug. Then there’s Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, once you get past his extremely gruff voice you can get to really enjoy the character. Rickey is clearly a man who wants the best for Robinson and has a plan for putting a black man in the world of baseball. Ford seems a hell of a lot older than I believe him to be at this point in real life, but I guess that adds to his character and makes him cool to watch,
The rest of the cast does well but don’t do much to stand out, these people include: Andre Holland as Wendell Smith, Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher, John C. McGinley as Red Barber and Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese to name a few.
The only other person that stuck out to me was Alan Tudyk as Ben Chapman. I’m a fan of Tudyk from his collaborations with Joss Whedon and I was looking forward to seeing what kind of role he had in the film, but my god he was a monster in this film. Tudyk hasn’t played such a villainous role since he was Alpha in Dollhouse. But anyways in this film his this proper racist guy who really makes trouble for Robinson and Tudyk plays the role extremely well.
In conclusion 42 is a good film, the performances are the strongest aspect of the film and while the film gets its story across about the first black baseball player, it is a little by the numbers and not overly unique but still worth a watch.
Rating: 7/10 (A decent biopic, if a bit too safe and generic at times)
So what did you think of 42? And if so did you think that the film played it a bit too safe and wasn’t epic enough or was the film’s content enough for you? Whatever your thoughts are drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next film review. 🙂
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