ONE PARAGRAPH REVIEW: Atomic Blonde

Howdy ladies and gents, so today I went to the cinema for the first time in like 2-3 weeks and I’m finally getting around to playing catch up with certain films. And with that out of the way, I’m ready to give you a mini review for Atomic Blonde.

The plot can be summed up as the following: “The story revolves around a spy who has to find a list of double agents who are being smuggled into the West, on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989”

So this film was better than I expected considering the reviews that ranged from good to okay. Now I’m not saying I base my film viewing experiences purely based the review of others, but if I’m iffy on a film than a certain amount of reviews can sway me, and Atomic Blonde was a film I was interested in because of the director and the action in the trailers, but after a while the more I saw of the film the less sure I would enjoy it. Firstly the story was pretty interesting considering the setting and its ties to real world events in the 80’s, however, I found that the non-linear style of storytelling wasn’t needed as much as it was and the plot did become a tedious, slow, needlessly complicated and predictable at points. As for the cast, they were strong. Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton was so cool, stylish, tough as nails and cold yet human on the inside and Theron sold the role well and looked so good in her many outfits. James McAvoy as David Percival was funny, quirky and charismatic and the role works primarily because of McAvoy’s charm. John Goodman and Toby Jones were good as Emmett Kurzfeld and Eric Gray, I also enjoyed Eddie Marsan as Spyglass, Sofia Boutella got to stretch her acting chops as Delphine Lasalle, and Bill Skarsgård was quite good as Merkel. But the best part of this film by miles is the action, good gravy, director David Letch, the cinematographer, stunt team and fight choreographer did a fabulous job. The action was intense, brutal, violent and hard-hitting with every punch, kick, stab, gunshot, car crash and more having an impact. The fight sequences were creative and badass, with such attention to detail with the use of props, a lot of movement and style, and some of those extended scenes all done in one take were insane. I will say that one of the sequences had the characters fighting longer than humanly possible which made it a little unrealistic, but otherwise, I enjoyed it a lot. With the 1980’s soundtrack, it worked for the most part, however, sometimes it felt like there was one song too many and there were also two songs with two versions which felt unnecessary. In conclusion, Atomic Blonde was a decent time at the cinema, while the story was a little tedious, I had fun with the cast and action scenes. Definitely worth a watch,

So have you seen Atomic Blonde and if so what did you think of it? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

EPIC REVIEW: X-Men Apocalypse (SPOILER-FREE)

Howdy ladies and gents, time for another new film review and today I’m talking about the latest X-Men film in the form of X-Men: Apocalypse. Now I’ve gone on record stating that I wasn’t wowed by the trailers for this film, but have been cautiously optimistic about it and after seeing it last night I’m ready to pass judgement!

So the story goes down like this:

“In this latest X-Men chapter, the ancient being who is said to be the first mutant known as Apocalypse rises after years of slumber of cleanse the Earth of the humans and create a new world for mutants. So it is up to the X-Men to stop Apocalypse from completing his nefarious plan”

The story of X-Men: Apocalypse is one of intrigue, surprise and familiarity. The tone is dark and grim with some very dramatic and emotional stuff, however there is also a good deal of humour and light-heartedness to slightly balance things out. What we have is another world-ending adventure, but it was the small character moments in between and the build up which was the most engaging material for me. What this film did well was to introduce Apocalypse and his history in the world, and introduced us to new and returning X-Men characters in a great way (with some having better appearances than others). Also for long-time X-Men film viewers there’s some awesome throwbacks to previous X-Men films which were so delightfully sprinkled throughout. The issues I had with the story was that it felt a little larger than life when compared to the previous X-Men films which were a little more grounded, certain plot points don’t completely pay off, and even though the X-Men timeline is messed up already, this film doesn’t help make things better either. And with director Bryan Singer at the helm I really love it because he helped craft this film world and has a certain style with his direction which makes me smile, but at the same time some of the issues I have with the way he handles these films haven’t been rectified yet, and makes me wish someone else mix things up (like Matthew Vaughn did with First Class).

As for cast it is a pretty large ensemble and for the most part everyone was great in their roles, though some were definitely short-changed. Firstly James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender kill it once again as Professor X and Magneto. Since First Class both of these characters have had very important and captivating story arcs and that continued into this film. I really enjoyed seeing more of an older Professor X with him teaching and still trying to co-exist with humans, but what was much more interesting was Magneto’s arc as he continued to be one of the most tragic and complex characters in the film series with all the drama and conflict he faced. As for Jennifer Lawrence as Raven/Mystique she was fine, the arc that they gave her in this film felt logical and made me understand her motivations, even though several times she felt a little schizophrenic at times. Also Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse was good but also a little underwhelming, I liked the character motivations and what he represented at first, however he was hard to engage/relate to because he felt so alien/robotic. Evan Peters as Quicksilver was certainly a more fully formed character than before with more development and screen time, and luckily he’s just as delightful as he was in his previous adventure except much better in this latest appearance. Oh and Wolverine’s appearance (it’s not a spoiler since he was technically shown in the last trailer), loved it, was a great sequence.

Nicholas Hoult was good as Beast and the return of Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert was welcomed too, and Josh Helman was good and had definitely gotten more settled in his role as William Stryker. And then there’s the new versions of the old characters. Of all of them Sophie Turner fared the best as Jean Grey, he character felt fresh and yet familiar, and Turner brought a lovely energy and presence to the character which felt similar to both the comics and films. Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers/Cyclops was also very good and had a lot more of a presence and charisma than what we’ve seen in the past, and I really liked Jean and Scott’s interaction, felt like they had a good introduction and nice chemistry. Kodi Smit-McPhee did great as Nightcrawler, he was able to capture the spirit of what Alan Cummings brought to the role in X2, but added a whole new level of youthful charisma and humour to the role. And Alexandra Shipp as Storm was decent, but the least interesting of the new X-Men as she felt a bit plain and lacking flair.

And then there were was everyone else. Olivia Munn as Psylocke, well, she was alright I guess. I mean maybe I was expecting too much, but I didn’t get to know much about her and she didn’t do much beyond what was seen in the trailers, that being said Munn handled her action scenes well. Ben Hardy as Angel/Archangel was fine, but he felt very plain and undeveloped, while Lana Condor was good as Jubilee but for all the hype that was made about her being in the film her part was incredibly minor. And Lucas Till returned as Alex Summers/Havok had some really good scenes but was in the film much less than I liked.

When it comes to the presentation it was pretty good. Visually the CGI was good with some good attention to detail with the special powers and crazy large-scale action sequences (shout out to the Quicksilver sequence), but I will admit that some of the fight scenes weren’t that exciting and it didn’t help that several of the action scenes were shown in the trailers. And the film score by John Ottman was great and maybe his best work in the X-Men film series so far, this music was diverse, intense, dramatic and was always relevant with what was happening on-screen.

In conclusion X-Men: Apocalypse is another solid film in the X-Men film series, it was not only better than what I’d expected considering that trailers didn’t wow me, but it also featured some of my favourite moments in any X-Men film so far. However there were a few story and character motivation issues that just prevented this film from being greater.

Rating: 7.5/10

So have you seen or are you going to watch X-Men: Apocalypse? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: X-Men: Days of Future Past – Rogue Cut

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another film review and today I’m gonna be talking about X-Men: Days of Future Past – Rogue. Now I loved Days of Future Past last year, it was a wonderful experience in the cinema and when I heard about the extended cut that was going to be released with Rogue included, I was hyped! So I eventually got it on Blu-ray recently and now I’m ready to pass judgement! Oh and before I do this review, I won’t repeat myself by talking about the same aspects of the film, instead I’ll talk mainly about the differences. Minor spoilers to follow for people who haven’t seen Days of Future Past…

So the story goes something like this:

In the future the machines known as Sentinels have taken over the Earth and enslaved mutants and humans alike, and many have lost their lives fighting for justice. Now Professor X, Magneto and group of other mutants are the only survivors and the only way for them to save the future is to change the past. So Wolverine is sent back in time to the 1970’s to get the younger versions of Professor X and Magneto to band together and stop the Sentinel programme from coming into existence.

The plot for the film is essentially the same as the theatrical release, with one major change; the inclusion of Rogue. Now Rogue was absent from theatrical version of this film besides a quick cameo, but here in the future she has a more significant presence as her whereabouts are disclosed and she actually gets to contribute to the main mission. It was definitely nice to see Anna Paquin again as Rogue, however, I don’t feel like she added much to the film, more like her appearance offered an alternative take on some of the future timeline. What I did appreciate was the additional scenes in the future, while they were mainly scenes of additional dialogue, it really added to the plot, developed some of the characters a little more and felt like a positive inclusion. I loved the additional scenes with older Professor X and Magneto, the small yet important scenes with Bobby and Kitty and the extra scenes for the new mutants like Bishop, Sunspot, Blink and Warpath. In the past, the plot doesn’t change, rather there are a few variations on certain scenes or some additional scenes added, but these don’t really add anything to the plot and feel unnecessary. Even one additional scene with Beast and Mystique/Raven, as good as it is, again doesn’t really feel entirely needed.

Beyond the changes, everything that you liked about the original version of the film is intact and awesome. I still love the action, drama and the performances from the cast involved. And on Blu-ray everything looks very sharp, clean and pretty. Some of my issues with the film haven’t been ironed out like the use of the 70’s Sentinels and the lack of really badass screen time for Storm still bothers me.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past is a great alternative to the theatrical version and if it is your first experience of the film then it should be a good time regardless. That being said I believe that some of the changes and additions to this extended cut aren’t necessary or superior to the original and some of the additional scenes actually ruin the pacing of the film too. It really depends on how much you love the X-Men film universe and whether the new stuff adds or detracts for you personally, I’d say its good version, but not a better one.

Rating: 8/10

So what do you lot think of the X-Men: Days of Future Past? Have you seen it and if so which version do you prefer, the Rogue Cut or the theatrical version? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review. Laters! 😀

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews 2: Wanted

Howdy people of the north, south, east and west, and welcome to Day #13 of Month of Superhero Film Reviews 2! During this month I’ll be reviewing of some of the best, average and worst comic book adapted films. Today I’m going to be talking about Wanted.

Wanted is a film I really wasn’t interested in seeing this film, mainly for two reasons: 1) The film didn’t look like my cup of tea. And 2) It had Angelina Jolie in it. Now back then I really didn’t like Jolie, I thought she was overhyped and I refused to watch a film with her in it, but that was the closed-minded teenage me, I’m a lot more mature and have come to appreciate some of Jolie’s work in film (from what I’ve seen anyway). So now with this month devoted to superhero film reviews I have no excuse to not watch it.

The story can be summed up as the following:

“A young man finds out his long lost father is an assassin. When his father is murdered, the son is recruited into his father’s old organization and trained by a man named Sloan to follow in his dad’s footsteps.”

The story is alright with moments of coolness but overall was a little disappointing. Like a lot of good comic book superhero films there’s a lot of interesting things going on in regards to the fraternity and their existence and how the kill people. This film feels like a small piece of a bigger puzzle and ripe for more stories to be told. One of my main issues with the plot is that it is predictable. Now sure just because you can see certain plot elements coming a mile off doesn’t mean that a film is bad, however, when these plot twists or character arcs take place in a way that’s not very interesting or original it does make your enjoyment of said film a lot less fun. There were certain moments I liked but I wasn’t wowed and that sucked. 

Now let’s talk about the cast. Firstly there’s James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, I have to say that Wesley pissed me off, he was such a whiny, useless and spineless man with no redeeming qualities, and even after he started becoming a more interesting person because of his training, he still found way to be annoying. It wasn’t until around two thirds into the film that actually started to like him. James McAvoy is really good and while his character irritated the hell out of me, here he demonstrated again how great he is an actor by totally getting lost in this role and making him believable. Then there’s Angelina Jolie who was cool as Fox, I liked her calm and yet playful nature. She was pretty much a badass with a gun and looked hot while doing it. Jolie was fine, however I just with her character was a little more lively.

Morgan Freeman as Sloan, I thought he was fine. Honestly there wasn’t too unique or memorable that allowed Freeman to be anything more than himself, not that it was a problem though. Thomas Kretschmann played an interesting role as Cross, he was pretty cool and mysterious, while Terence Stamp was cool as Pekwarsky. Oh and imagine my surprise to see Chris Pratt in this film as Barry, this character while a lot more likeable than many of Pratt’s other roles, is still pretty funny and allows the guy to say and so some great stuff.

When it comes to presentation it’s pretty good for the most part. Visually the film is very stylish with its cinematography, choreographed action sequences and use of slow motion. A lot of the time it is cool to watch, but other times I felt unimpressed. As for soundtrack it was handled by one of my favourite composers Danny Elfman and it is nice. It has a very unique, cool and varied with some similarities to Elfman’s previous work but also being very different at the same time.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well this is another one of those films where I haven’t read the source material so I can’t comment on that.

So to conclude Wanted is an interesting and stylish action film with some fine performances from the main actors and a compelling story. That being said the main character really pissed me off and a lot of the story elements were easy to foresee. After all these years of waiting to see this film it was both better than and just about what I expected it to be like.

Rating: 7/10

That’s 13 reviews done, only 17 more to go. So have you seen Wanted and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new film review online, until then peace out!

 

X-Men: Days of Future Past Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another film review and today I’m gonna be talking about the next big film of the summer in the form of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now the X-Men film series has had a bit of a rocky road but for the most part it has been good and in recent years it has been getting a bit of a resurgence and now we have Days of Future Past, a film that intends to bridge the gap between the X-Men films new and old. So has it succeed? Well read on and find out!

So the story goes something like this:

In the future the world is pretty much in pieces, the machines known as Sentinels have taken over the Earth and enslaved mutants and humans alike, there is no happiness or hope, only pain, suffering and death. Many have lost their lives fighting for justice and now Professor X, Magneto and group of other mutants are the only survivors and the only way for them to save themselves is to change the past. So Wolverine is sent back in time to the 1970’s to get the younger versions of Professor X and Magneto to band together and stop the Sentinel programme from coming into existence.

The story in this film is very good, smart and entertaining throughout, sure there’s the occasional plot hole and some head-scratching elements that’ll leave you with some unanswered questions, but overall this film has its heart in the right place. The themes of changing fate, rewriting history, bonds of friendship and having hope in the face of adversity are on display in a wonderful and powerful way and I loved how things in the past were relevant to the future and vice versa. This film also doesn’t hope back on the level of loss and devastation caused by the Sentinels in the future, there is a lot of drama and emotion and you buy that this is not a world anyone wants to live in and I love how the stories of the past are just as interesting with characters being so different and having all of the politics involved with mutants and the dawn of the Sentinels through Trask Industries. But the best thing about this film is that it feels right, this film pretty much rectified a lot of the mistakes of this franchise and gives you something that feels good, fresh, fun and by the end of the film you feel like you’re in a happy place with yourself, well I know I did.

As for the cast they are all on top form with some giving us some of their best performances to date. So let’s start with the young cast first. James McAvoy is still great as Charles Xavier, like in First Class you’re still seeing sides of him that you never knew existed and it only makes his character more layered and easier to relate to. In this film Xavier in the 70’s is a mess and for good reason, but it is seeing him deal with his pain and then journey back the place where he needs to be which is so rewarding. Michael Fassbender is still killing it as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, if you thought this guy was cool in the last film then wait til you see this one. This Magneto definitely has more of the McKellen side of the character in him in the way in which he acts, speaks and uses his powers and just like Xavier he’s in a very different place than his older self and seeing the emotions with him and choices he makes only makes him more badass. Jennifer Lawrence returns as Raven/Mystique and she too have never been better. This is more in line with the character we knew from the old films, but still with the emotional conflict and beauty we got from her in First Class. I liked how agile, cool and acrobatic she was, but more so than that, I liked how much of a central role she had in the film, it made me smile so much. I also really liked Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast, he was funny and whenever he was in blue mode he was awesome, but I also liked how he’s still there for Xavier and is really smart.

Now let’s talk about the veterans. Firstly there’s Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and do I really have to say how good he is in this film? Come on its Hugh Jackman, he’s automatically awesome. Again this film gives us fans what we love with all the smug, cool and humourous elements of the character, but rather than making the only character that matters, others are given screen time to develop, grow and have action moments in the spotlight, sure this guy is at the center of things a lot, but not as much as he has been before. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are still fantastic as old Professor X and Magneto, both of them have a screen presence and gravitas about their acting that is impossible to not enjoy, but beyond that you believe in their connection and there are some really emotional moments between them. Ellen Page gives her best performance as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat as she is much smarter and serious in terms of her personality and use of her powers, she has a central role to this film and the way she is handled was carefully done. Seeing Shawn Ashmore as Iceman again brought joy to my heart as this was the Iceman I’ve wanted to see for so many years, he was cool and had some lovely moments. I was also glad to see my man Daniel Cudmore back as Peter Rasputin/Colossus, he was a joy to watch and it was nice to see him get some screen time even if he didn’t say much, and Halle Berry returns as Storm and while she doesn’t really do much beyond what we’ve seen in previous films, she is still has her moments to shine.

Now let’s talk about the new people. Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask is very good, he is a man who is anticipating the future and wishes to keep the world save and in his mind he is the good guy for doing what he’s doing and creating the Sentinel programme. He’s smart, determined and kind of smug when it comes to his research and technology and Dinklage is just awesome. Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver was actually one of the best parts of the film, while the costume still looks a bit off, his performance and use of his character was very effective. Omar Sy as Bishop was really cool, I don’t really know anything about this character from the comics but he had a cool and badass screen presence and liked a lot of his action scenes. And finally Fan Bingbing stars as Clarice Ferguson/Blink and Booboo Stewart stars as James Proudstar/Warpath were lovely additions to this film universe, while there was a lot going on with other cast members I was happy that the got a decent amount of screen time too.

When it comes to the presentation it is very, very good. Visually the film is impressive, firstly you can also tell that this is a Bryan Singer film, the look, style of camera work and the use of visual effects is just like the stuff he did with the first two X-Men films, and I can tell you this guy knows his stuff. The action sequences are beautifully shot and framed, there are sequences both in the past and future that are worth talking about and they all look lovely. As for the soundtrack John Ottman returns to score the film and I can say it is nice to have him back, he gives this film the trademark film theme back which was a welcome return for me, however his soundtrack was just alright and doesn’t reach the epic and emotional heights of Henry Jackman’s work on First Class.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past is a great comic book film, it takes the source material, adapts into a film format that bridges to worlds of X-Men films while also setting up for future X-Men films. While not everything works and some people cold have used more screen time, it is hard for me to criticise a film that gave me everything I could have wanted and then some. I left the cinema thinking to myself “I feel good about that film and I can’t wait for the sequel.” I highly recommend this film as it is X-Men in probably its finest hour. P.S. All I can say is thank god Bryan Singer didn’t mess this up, Mr. Singer you are alright again. 🙂

Rating: 8.5/10

So what do you lot think of the X-Men: Days of Future Past? Have you seen it or are you gonna watch it? Also if you’re a fan of the series did it meet your expectations or were left disappointed. Leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review. Laters! 😀

 

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer #2 Review

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another trailer review and today I’m gonna be talking about the second trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now the first trailer was pretty good, but since then it has sort of slipped away from my mind, weighed down by all the other trailer releases like Godzilla, Captain America 2 and Amazing Spider-Man 2. So how does the second trailer look? Read on and find out!

But first have a look at the trailer below:

So my first thoughts after seeing this trailer? Damn! I am pretty impressed yo.

Now the first trailer did well to establish the tone and feel for this new X-Men film giving us visions of the past and future and when the two intervene. But this trailer just takes it to a whole new level diving deeper into the drama, emotion and chaos that will take place.

Straight from the beginning you know shit is serious when you see this desolate, dark, post-apocalyptic city  with scenes of the past and future Professor X and Magneto and Storm looking like she’s about to get stabbed by a Future Sentinel? I looks mental. Along with this wonderful look at the future we get a off-screen monologue from Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier talking about how many battles have gone done but nothing like what him and the mutants are experiencing in the future. He questions whether the future is set or whether you can change it and I think that’ll be one of the main themes of the film; can the future be changed?

It seems like mistakes were made somewhere between the current point in the X-Men franchise and the future because the mutants are being hunted by what seems to be massive ships full of robot Sentinels flying all over the place like swarms of bees. So to rectify this old Professor X wants Wolverine to convince the younger version of himself to unite the mutants and save the world from the future, however he and Magneto know it won’t be an easy task as now in the 1970’s both men aren’t on the same page and are on totally different paths. I like how young Magneto is totally hands-on-deck and is proactive, whereas young Professor X is in a depressed, moody kind of place and Wolverine has to shift him into gear.

There is so much to take in that is easy to miss the subtle things. So here are a few of the things that stuck out for me:

1. Old Magneto’s Lament: It is interesting to see old Eric admit to Charles that fighting him for all those years was a wasted effort. Just to see him in a position of regret is surprising and quite beautiful.
2. Wolverine’s Lost People: Just hearing that Wolverine has lost people in the time where he’s from means that things must be real bad and the way he said felt really heartfelt. So I’m curious to know just who bites the bullet.
3. Young Charles and Eric Bickering: Charles says that Eric took everything from him, to which Eric says that he should have fought harder. That is a great moment for me and I think Charles may be referring to Raven among other things, but I like how Eric does give a fuck and is more serious.
4. Bolivar Trask Talks Mutants: Trask knows of the mutants existence and seems to have a weapon ready to take them on, the Sentinels.
5. Mystique Picks A Side: It seems like Raven aka Mystique is fighting against the humans and from her lines in the film it seems like we see where her more hateful side comes into play.

I love the montage towards the end of trailer with all this dramatic scenes of action and emotion. People shout, buildings fumble, Future Sentinels are running amuck and several mutants are running around doing mutant things, its kick ass yo. And while the visuals look a little questionable in clarity and sharpness, I assume they’ll be fixed up in the final film. But what they do have on display is awesome. I love the look of the Future Sentinels, the X-Jet looks sexy in the night sky, the effects used on some of the mutants especially Mystique and finally seeing Bobby Drake in full-Iceman mode, also a lot of additional special effects added to some of the scenes that were shown in the last trailer look so much nicer.

If I had one nitpick it would be near the end with the Future Sentinel head beam attack, I’m pretty sure it was ripped straight from the Destroyer Armour from Thor, it is almost exactly the same. But hey that’s just a tiny thing.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past looks pretty awesome and I can’t believe that I had sort of written this film off beforehand. Days of Future Past is back on my radar and I can’t wait to see it. All that being said, I’m still cautious of this film, it has the potential to be the best or worst X-Men film ever, but it all depends on the execution and whether Bryan Singer can make it work again. I pray that this film is as good as the trailers make it out to be.

So what do you lot think of the second Days of Future Past trailer, sound off your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya later. 😛

 

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer #1 Review

Hello ladies and gentlemen of the world, its time for another trailer review and this is one I have been interested in for a while now, the first trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past is online and we fans of the world finally get to see what kind of stuff is in store for the future of the X-Men film series. So how does it look? Read on and find out!

But first have a look at the trailer below:

My first impressions from the trailer is nice, I see that there’s a lot of cool and interesting things to look forward to. Firstly its nice to see Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in costume and even though we don’t see much of them, it’s also cool to see the future X-Men team all older and looking all dramatic. Seems like that future is pretty desolate and crap, so Xavier sends Wolverine back to his younger self to try and worn the younger Xavier and company of the impending doom.

It seems like Xavier and Erik are in different places both physically and mentally and I think they’re gonna clash and that is always a welcome thing for me. Looks like everyone will get a slice of the action from young Xavier having to use Cerebro and his mind reading abilities, to Mystique running through the crowd morphing into different people, to beast getting all furry out in public, to Erik showing his levitation and magnetic skills on Mystique, it all looks pretty crazy and I’m hyped.

One thing that I have to question about the film is: how much of a balance will there be between the X-Men of the past and group from the future? This is after all a sequel to First Class but is also set after X-Men 3, so how to do you cut the mustard so that everyone gets a fair about of screen time? In truth I’m more interested in the past than the future because after X3 I can’t really see much interesting stuff going on in that future, but hey maybe the story will create something interesting for the older cast.

Like the recent Captain America: The Winter Soldier trailer there seems to be a lot of government and politics involved in the plot and that I think could lead to some interesting story elements in the thriller side of things and while politic thrillers aren’t always my cup of tea, when done right it can be a great smart piece of a film’s story. I can also see this politics stuff playing into how mutants will be treated in the future and where the segregation between humans and mutants began to become public. But I guess we’ll see how things play out.

I guess the only thing I’m kind of annoyed about is how Wolverine is still at the forefront of these X-Men films. I mean besides First Class, Wolverine is the central character, now that maybe due to the fact that he’s a fan favourite or that he’s the most relatable to the casual film audience, but in all honesty it is kind of annoying when some of the other cool characters are shoved to the side. I just hope this isn’t “The Wolverine Show with Friends” or some kind of shit like that.

In conclusion X-Men: Days of Future Past is looking pretty good and this trailer makes me feel hope for the future. While it is kind of hard to tell what kind of film it is in terms of the depth of the story, amount of action and the level of Sentinel carnage that will take place, otherwise I like it and I can see a lot of potential, I just hope that this is a good follow-up to First Class, that’s all I’m asking for. 🙂

So what do you lot think of the trailer, sound off your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya later. 😛

 

Filth Review

Howdy people, time for another film review and today’s review will be on a film I only found out about just two weeks ago, Filth. The trailer looked awesome, I am a James McAvoy fan and I was down for this film. However I watched Mark Kermode’s review of the film and that made me cautious of what I was gonna see, then as I was buying my film ticket the man asked me for my age (which never happens ever), so if that wasn’t an indication that something was freaky about the film then I don’t know what is. Anyways time to review this film!

So the story in the film involves Bruce Robertson, a very questionable individual and corrupt policeman. He’s in line for a promotion and will go to any lengths to get whether it involves lying, cheating or some other kind of dodgy form of activities. However behind the scenes he has some demons from his past that start to expose themselves and as the story progresses Bruce starts to unravel, he gets lost in his own lies, drugs and psychological madness and the weight of the world starts to cave in on him.

The themes covered in the film involve drug use, porn, prostitution, racism and corruption within the police force among other things. I thought the story in the film was pretty interesting from the start with James McAvoy being this awesome central character who is a bit of a douche but has a brilliantly calculated mind. However once we start to learn more about him and how he operates around other people and what his past really involved, that’s when the film really starts to change from a strange but interesting drama to some crazy psychologically messed up stuff. The film definitely jumps into Trainspotting and Sexy Beast, but then it becomes even more freakish than that and goes into Requiem for a Dream territory. After that there’s some seriously messed up stuff that goes down yo, I won’t say but I’d say be prepared for some thought-provoking stuff.

When it comes to the characters I think the cast are all pretty good, however there is obviously one stand-put performance and that comes from James McAvoy as Bruce Robertson. Now I have only really been a fan of McAvoy since X-Men: First Class, but ever since then he has proved time and again that he is a capable and versatile actor and in this film he delivers probably the best performance of his career. McAvoy is funny, sly, creepy, aggressive and vulnerable. He’s just so incredibly versatile and he carries this film with his stellar acting talent. I also liked Eddie Marsan as Bladesey, his character is a good friend of Bruce but he’s such a tender soul who is very nice but a little lacking in confidence. This was one of Marsden softer roles for me but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest of the cast is good which include: Imogen Poots as Amanda Drummond, Jamie Bell as Ray Lennox, Joanne Froggatt as Mary and Shirley Henderson as Bunty. But my other favourite person in this film was Jim Broadbent as Dr Rossi, his role in this film was very good, hilarious and over-the-top but I found his segments in the film to be incredibly enjoyable.

In conclusion Filth I have to say that was an experience. That film was fucking intense, in that Sexy Beast/Requiem for a Dream kind of intense. James McAvoy was incredible and while I enjoyed in the film, I can say that it left me kind of shook up yo. I dunno if it because if it’s just me, but this was a bit hard to watch and I don’t know if I could ever revisit it. If you’re a fan of Trainspotting or psychologically crazy films then check this one out, however be away that in gets a bit freaky at points.

Rating: 8/10 (A really good film, but it a bit too foul and extreme for my liking)

So now I have to ask you the public, what did you think of Filth? Did you enjoy it or were you disappoint or may be even disgusted? Whatever your thoughts drop them below and I’ll see ya on the next review yo! 😀

 

Month of Superhero Film Reviews: X-Men: First Class

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Day #30, the LAST DAY of my Month of Superhero Film Reviews! Over this month I’ve been reviewing of some of the best and worst comic book adapted films. So after one okay X-Men film, the brilliant second film, the disgusting third film and I can’t be arsed with the Wolverine one, we’re now going to conclude this month of reviews with the only other great X-Men film in the form of X-Men: First Class.

Man I remember seeing this in the cinema and being very surprised at the end result, I mean I’d had to live through both X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine so my expectations were set incredibly low. Luckily this film found a way to be dramatic, cool, interesting and while it may not have totally convinced all of the X-Men fanboys out there, overall it was a good injection of awesomeness into the X-Men film series. So now in 2013 I’m gonna review it again and see how it fares.

When it comes to the story of X-Men: First Class it is set primarily in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and focuses on the origins Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto), two mutants brought up from very different backgrounds who as adults have different ideas of how they see world as a species different to humans. The film focuses on the formation of Charles and Erik’s friendship, the relationship between them and how their differing opinions about humankind and mutantkind split them apart into groups that would eventually become the X-Men (the good guys) and the Brotherhood of Mutants (the bad guys).

The story in this film is very good as it was smart, emotional and had a great deal of character development. I loved seeing the story behind Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, we got to see new sides to them and witness some of their new abilities too. It is great to see their meeting and the focus of their relationship, the ups and downs and the eventual fall out that leads to them being on opposing sides. I like setting in this film, its much older point in time with various situations which allows for a lot of different stories to be told, some of which are interwoven. The whole Cuban Missile Crisis is a great setting for this film as the writers find a way to incorporate the mutants into it in a smart and sophisticated manner. There are problems in this film, at points there’s not enough screen time for many of the character involved and there are some unsatisfied conclusions to some of the characters and story elements.

Now let’s talk about the cast. James McAvoy as Charles Xavier/Professor X. McAvoy gives us a very different interpretation of the classic character we know from the comics, here is a more charismatic ladies man who while intelligent is a lot less of a serious character than we’re used to. I really liked McAvoy’s version of Xavier, he’s very cool, funny and epic when he’s serious. Then we have Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr/Magneto,  here is a character who had a rough upbringing and definitely has a grudge against humans, especially Sebastian Shaw. I loved Fassbender in this role, he was incredibly intimidating, raw, badass and all-round amazing, he gave us a more sympathetic version of the character and gave justification as to why he is who he is at the beginning of the Bryan Singer film.

And then there’s Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, I thought Bacon was awesome as the bad guy of this film. His back story as a former Nazi scientist and the leader of the Hellfire Club and I thought his character while a bit ridiculous at times was actually really cool, evil and had some nice moments. Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique, Lawrence’s performance as Mystique is very different from what we’re used to. This character is more reserved and is trying to come to terms with her ability, she’s been made to hide her true self by Charles but after coming into contact with Magneto her opinions change. I loved Lawrence in this role as she was super beautiful and very convincing in her role. January Jones as Emma Frost looks hot as hell and I’m glad that her comic book look was added in the film, the problem with her character is that she was a bit bland. Nicholas Hoult as Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy/Beast, in this film Hank is a bit of annoying character because rather than embracing his mutant heritage he’s instead trying to rid himself of his powers, which obviously doesn’t work out too well for him. Hoult is good but not nearly as good as the other members of the X-Men team, at least not until after he becomes Beast. As for Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, she was pretty hot and I liked her in the film.

Zoë Kravitz was nice Angel Salvadore though I wasn’t too keen on how her character progressed. Caleb Landry Jones as Sean Cassidy/Banshee was okay and a bit funny but a tad annoying at times. Lucas Till as Alex Summers/Havok was nice, though I didn’t like how much of a douche he was towards Hank. Edi Gathegi I feel bad for as Armando Muñoz/Darwin, he seemed like a cool character but he’s severely wasted for plot purposes. And then we have Jason Flemyng as Azazel, this film’s equivalent of Nightcrawler (even though he’s technically Nightcrawler’s father). Even though Flemyng doesn’t say anything he’s really cool and has some great fight scenes. Álex González as Janos Quested/Riptide was okay, but he barely spoke and just threw around a lot of whirlwinds so he wasn’t too good of a bad guy. And lastly Oliver Platt as Man In Black Suit, he had some funny scenes and I enjoyed his role in the film.

Now let’s talk about the presentation. Visually the film is pretty impressive. The CGI is very nice good, there are some awesome effects used for action sequences involving Magneto, Azazel and Sebastian Shaw. I love so much of the fights and action and explosions in this film, it’s this kind of spectacle that the series has been missing for a while now. Though I have to say the effects for Beast’s face is questionable which goes from looking okay to pretty ugly. As for the soundtrack by Henry Jackson I think that it’s really good. It is sophisticated, emotional, loud and awesome at various points throughout the film and my favourite song was “Rage and Serenity“, the scene where it’s used is epic and so beautiful.

And lastly how does it compare to the comics? Well as I’ve said before I know the X-Men mainly from the cartoons, a few comic books and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Like the previous films there are a lot of differences and updates to the characters and story from the source material. What I noticed was the inclusion of Nightcrawler’s father, Azazel, we got to see more of Charles and Erik’s powers and there was also the inclusion of Emma Frost too. But there was some messy elements like the inclusion of Alex Summers which was bit questionable and the treatment of Frost’s character personality too.

So to conclude X-Men: First Class is cracking good comic book film which takes the basic elements of the source material and modifies it in a way where it works in a dramatic and awesome way. The story is great and I love the focus on Charles and Erik’s relationship, the central performances from James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are incredible and there is plenty of action to satisfy the masses. While it may not be a perfect X-Men film that fans were looking for, I feel like Matthew Vaughn did a great job at bringing this franchise back from the shitter and into the good place in the realm of superhero films.

Rating: 8/10 (A fine film and bloody good step in the right direction for the X-Men film series!)

So there’s my review people, THE LAST ONE DONE! So have you seen X-Men: First Class and if so what are your thoughts on it? Drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts yo!

Well its been a hectic month, but I just about made it through, thanks for reading and a special thank you goes out to Tim The Film Guy for commenting and liking my material, you rule dude! Alright later on peeps!

 

Trance Review

Before I start this review I have to say that it’s taken me far too long to watch this film. I’ve been meaning to watch Trance since it opened in the cinema weeks ago, but every time I wanted to watch it times wouldn’t match up with other films or I couldn’t be arsed to go to the cinema and I put it off for weeks. But I FINALLY got around to watching it a few hours ago and I wish I’d seen it sooner, it’s pretty damn good and I’ll tell you why in this review.

So the story of the film involves Simon, a fine art auctioneer who becomes involved in the theft of a painting from his own auction house. Simon attempts to double-cross his colleagues and keep the painting for himself but a blow to the head leaves him with amnesia. Unable to remember the location of the painting, Simon’s colleague Franck arranges a consultation with a hypnotherapist Elizabeth in order to unlock Simon’s memories as to where the painting is. As Elizabeth continues her sessions with Simon things in his mind start to become more complex and his life along with Elizabeth and Franck blur, fluctuate and change a great deal.

I thought the story was very good, it was very deep, complex and so much more than I was expecting. The trailers really didn’t give you any indication of what was coming and what you learn in the film really is some surprising stuff. I also didn’t expect there to be as much humour as there was in the film given the dark and twisted nature of what was going on. With the hypnotherapy sessions and dream sequences the film really does blur the line between what is reality and what isn’t. Some of the scenes and story elements are truly unnerving and freaky and it is mighty impressive. Also like many films before this one Danny Boyle knows how create these scenes of tension, uneasiness and psychologically impactful stuff in a stylish and raw manner. I definitely got flashbacks from Trainspotting and Sunshine while watching this film. There were a couple of elements about the film I didn’t like but that’d be jumping into spoiler territory so I’ll just keep those points to myself, but all in all the story was very nice.

But what is a film without a cast? Thankfully they’re more than up for the challenge as they are all on top form here and give us characters who are very interesting enticing. Let’s start with James McAvoy as Simon. McAvoy was incredible! This is the best role I’ve seen him in so far, now I’m a late fan of McAvoy’s but I can see why there are a lot of people who like him as an actor. In this film his performance is so powerful, believable and engaging from start to finish. As for Rosario Dawson as Elizabeth she was grand, I’ve always liked her and besides the fact that she’s astonishingly beautiful she played her part very well and I was very invested in her character. And lastly Vincent Cassel as Franck was great, I first came across Cassel in Black Swan and he was great in that film and in Trance his performance is nothing short of fantastic, he is intimidating, funny and very much impressive throughout.

When it comes to visual presentation it is great. The way the film is shot looks great and it displays London in a very fancy way and it is interesting to see places in London that you’ve been before presented in a film in a very different way from the way you see it normally. In additional to the wonderful shots there’s some fine work done with the lighting, I loved the scenes at night and the use of colour only amplified the scenes they were used in to highlight moments of fear, confusion, tension etc. I especially loved the use of the blue, red and orange. Also the soundtrack by Rick Smith deserves a mention too, Smith’s compositions are both lighthearted and serious and capture the emotions of what’s going on at the time in a fantastic way. The music is impactful and the electronic style feels contemporary and nostalgic at the same time, I think that’s due to the fact that Smith’s collaborated with Danny Boyle many times before.

In conclusion Trance is a great film with a very deep and complex story, a fabulous cast, an awesome visual style and wonderful soundtrack too. I see what all the hype was about and while I can’t say it’s my favourite Danny Boyle film it’s still a fabulous piece of filmmaking that deserves your attention.

Rating: 8/10 (Totally worth a watch!)

So have you seen Trance and if yes then what did you think of it? Whatever your thoughts are drop them in the comments section below. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you on the next film review yo! 😀