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! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: Star Trek Beyond (Spoiler-Free)

Howdy ladies and gents how’s it going? Today I’m here to finally review Star Trek Beyond, a film that I’ve been cautiously optimistic for a while now. So yesterday I went to Cineworld for a film triple to check out Star Trek, Into Darkness and Beyond, and I LOVED having the chance to see the 2009 film in the cinema again, and it was also rewatch Into Darkness for the first time since 2013. However it was so annoying how the projectionist messed up the image twice for around 10 or so minutes on the first two films that totally ruined my immersion, but luckily Beyond‘s screening was fine. Now I loved the first film and Into Darkness I liked at the time, but have since become a less interested in it, but now its time to pass judgement on Beyond! 😀

So the story can be described as the following:

“The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.”

I thought story was interesting was pretty good because it felt smaller in scale but still had all the right amount of importance, drama, adventure and action like that this series has become known for. This film was a lot more thought-provoking, intimate and character-driven than before. I also appreciated how this film really got into explored the life and times of the Enterprise crew and got into the psyche of the main characters and fleshed out their personal lives too. And while there were certain elements that I predicted, it was still a fairly entertaining story that felt very in line with the 60’s Star Trek TV show and had some nice references to the past for long-term fans.

The cast all did an admirable job in their roles. Chris Pine was great as Captain James T. Kirk, I appreciated how he’d matured from the previous films and started to feel the weight of being the captain of his ship. Equally good was Zachary Quinto as Spock, it was interesting to see him such a different mindset and in a vulnerable state, but luckily he still provides some really great humour through his Vulcan demeanour.  It was great to see Karl Urban again as Bones as he felt like the voice of reason and had some of the best humour, seeing Simon Pegg back as Scotty was great as he some really funny and important moments. I also liked how Zoe Saldana had more to do in this film as Nyota Uhura, John Cho was also really good as Sulu, and finally out the returning crew, Anton Yelchin as Chekov was delightful and had some cool moments, and it was both great and saddening to see this film after Yelchin’s death. This film also continued to illustrate the wonderful friendship and banter between the main Enterprise crew especially with Kirk’s connection to Spock and Bone. As for the new cast members, Idris Elba as Krall was fairly generic and uninteresting at first, but by the end of the film he became a more interesting character with extra layers of depth, and Sofia Boutella did well as Jaylah, for a character I didn’t expect to like she had a lot of great comedic and badass action moments, plus her motivation and interaction with Kirk’s crew was great.

When it comes to the presentation was pretty solid. Visually the film was large in scale with some good cinematography, nice and thrilling action sequences, and cool hand-to-hand combat. Though some of the CGI looked a little lacking in detail though I’m not sure if that was because of the 3D glasses). And finally Michael Giacchino returns for the film score, and brings such a bombastic and charismatic sound that was consistent with the previous films, though I believe this soundtrack lacked the intensity and style that I loved his work with the first and second film.

In conclusion Star Trek Beyond was a pretty good film and was much better than I expected, and while it may not be my favourite in this new set of Star Trek films, it was certainly a good session. I recommend this for sure. 🙂

So are you going to see Star Trek Beyond and if have you seen it what did you think of it? Also what’s your favourite film out this new trilogy so far?

 

Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

Howdy ladies and gents, time for another film review and today I’ll be talking about the latest Mathew Vaughn film, Kingsman: The Secret Service. This film I’ve been interested in watching for a while, but the trailers didn’t blow me away, so I came into the film with mild expectations… So is it good or not? Well the short answer is a massive HELL YES!

The story can be described as the following:

“Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.“

The story in this film was great, this film definitely has a superhero element about it, however it is more so a spy adventure with a few unique traits that make it feel fresh from other films of the same genre. I like all of the references to other spy films whether it be James Bond of the Bourne series and the fact that the film is self-aware and knows what it is makes it so much better. This story swift, didn’t drag, had so much violence, but had a lot of good character moments and humour mixed in so that there was something for everyone. One thing to not before going into this film that is VERY violent and if that kind of thing turns of off, then this is not for you. I have to give props to Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman for the direction and writing, it seems like these two have really found their groove and work so well together to produce really great scenes with awesome dialogue and a nice sense of style.

As for the cast they are awesome. Colin Firth as Harry Hart is great. This is certainly my favourite film from Firth as he brings the same level of acting talent as he has with other films, however here he just has a screen presence that makes him come across as such a cool badass. Taron Egerton as Gary “Eggsy” Unwin is just wonderful. From the trailers I thought I wouldn’t like his character because of his accent and behaviour, however those are the aspects that make him so likeable. Eggsy is a boy who has skills, but only needs a little direction and when he has a task he knows how execute it and think outside of the box. Egerton was very charming and charismatic and hope to see more from him in the future. And Samuel L. Jackson as Richmond Valentine, just wow. I had seen Jackson in so may films, however this has to be one of his most odd and memorable roles in recent times. Valentine is a very smart and ambitious individual with a plan to take over the world and he’s such a cool guy. However he’s also unconventional and funny because of his lisp and disliking of violence and his character works so well just because it is Jackson in the role who just steals every scene he’s in.

Sofia Boutella as Gazelle was cool, this woman was Valentine’s right hand woman and dispatched people in such a violent and stylish way with those sword legs of hers. I was afraid she would just be a silent bodyguard for Valentine that had no substance, but luckily she had a fair amount to do and say and I really liked Boutella’s performance. Mark Strong was awesome as Merlin. I usually like Strong, but I think this is my favourite role he’s been in for a while. Merlin is firm, tactical and at times quite humourous and I loved his interactions with Eggsy especially. Michael Caine as Arthur was good as usual, Jack Davenport was very good as Lancelot and I really liked Sophie Cookson as Roxy (she is also incredibly pretty). Samantha Womack was good as Michelle and as a long-term casual watcher of Eastenders I was happy to see her do well in such a big film. Oh and seeing Mark Hamill as Professor James Arnold was so delightful, he wasn’t in the film that much, but for the screen time he got he was lovely.

When it comes to the presentation it is great. Visually the film is crafted so well, the cinematography and filming techniques used throughout is spectacular, and the action scenes are done SO well with the best camera shots used for shooting action for a while. There are some incredible tracking shots, wide shots and zooming in and out in these fast and furious action sequences. The action overall is just insane with some very great choreography and acrobatics and it is some of the best stuff I have seen since The Raid 2. Oh and there is one sequence in this film (you’ll know when you see it) that is one of the coolest, craziest and filthiest thing I have ever seen, SO good.

In conclusion Kingsman: The Secret Service is a pretty kick ass film. As a fan of action and spy films this film ticked all the right boxes for me. The story was very nicely done, the cast were awesome and the action was on the most insane level. I would definitely recommend this to any fan of action films or people who know of Matthew Vaughn’s previous work, it is a really good time in the cinema.

Rating: 8.5/10

So have you seen Kingsman: The Secret Service and if so what do you think of it? Please be sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section below. Until the next time, laters! 😀