Review: Big Hero 6

2014 Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung

Big hero 6 started life as comic book produced by marvel in the late 90s, Disney (who now own Marvel) have adapted and tweaked the comic for a wider audience and the silver screen. They did a pretty good job of it too!

The film centres around a young boy genius Hiro and his older brother Tadashi. Hiro use his talents to build fighting robots whereas his brother studies advanced robotics at a prestigious university.
After paying a visit to the university Hiro decides he needs to be there, despite his young age! The two brothers collaborate on a science project to wow the university and gain Hiro's entrance. The brother's manage to invent 'microbots' which are able to work together to build themselves into almost any shape. Hiro takes first place in the competition and is swiftly accepted by the university. His happiness however, is short lived when a mysterious and sudden fire erupts inside the university and older brother Tadashi is tragically killed after trying to rescue the University's professor.
It is here we are properly introduced to the star of the film - Baymax! Baymax is a Michelin man looking medical robot designed by Tadashi. After some really laugh out loud scenes of the 2 figuring each other out, they discover hiro's microbots are still active and set out to find them. What they find however is a sinister laboratory guarded by a masked villain using the stolen Microbots as a weapon! Hiro comes to the conclusion that the masked thief must also be responsible for the University and ultimately the death of his brother. The Big Hero 6 are swiftyl assembled Composed of Hiro, Baymax and a rag tag bunch of Tadashi's Uni friends!

I simply cannot write this review without mentioning the beautiful city of San Fransokyo, Disney did an amazing job of blending traditional Japanese architecture with the quirky and chilled out vibe of San Francisco's streets. Everywhere the heroes went you were treated to huge sweeping shots of bridges, bustling streets and neon skyscrapers. The attention to detail was second to none! The background entertainment had some real hidden gems for the observant and you will need to see the film more than once to be able to take it all in. (Look out for a cat in Iron Man armour!)
The story itself was fairly run of the mill, good vs evil with the odd curve ball thrown in for effect. The emotion was really present in Big hero 6 despite it's simplicity, this is a tale about brotherhood, friendship, injustice and mainly loss. These may sound like pretty heavy topics for a child friendly film but they were handled with care and finesse. Putting a positive spin on things and injecting humour carefully where it was needed. Disney delivered one of it's most powerful emotional scenes to date in this film and I was determined not to cry!

The characters in Big hero 6 were fairly cliche, but they were all likeable. We weren't treated to much back story on them other than 'this is the tough chick' or this is the funny one' but they worked well bouncing witty and funny dialogue off each other till the credits rolled. Talking of laughing I did alot of it during Big hero 6, almost the the first 40 minutes were spent in giggle fits! When the team were suited up the special powers contained within ranged from clever to downright ridiculous, Ill let you decide which is the latter! I think besides Hiro, Gogo Tomago was my favourite character with her punk rock attitude and futuristic rollerblades!

The pacing of the story felt spot on, never a dull moment and the beginning middle and final battle ending were all where you expected them to be. I suppose running time could have been extended to account for more character development but I didn't feel it was essential. Big Hero 6 had me smiling, laughing almost weeping but above all it proved innocent and fun storytelling is alive and well.
A fantastic film to start the year with!

The Verdict

Disney did it again and have crafted another brilliantly detailed, hilarious, and heart felt tale!
Big Hero 6 hits all the right notes with it's thrilling action, a beautiful setting and easy-to-relate to characters. It could have benefited from slightly more character development where side characters are concerned, but you will be too busy staring open mouthed at the gorgeous visuals and intense action to really give it much thought. A grand time to be had by all!

4/5

Review: Birdman

2015 Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton

Birdman has been massively praised, hyped and even nominated for an Oscar before it's release so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.
This will be a particularly difficult review to write because the the story is simple enough yet the film as a whole is very difficult to put into words. The basic premise is that Michael Keaton is a washed up actor who used to play the role of a super hero named Birdman. He now stars in Broadway shows and dreams of reaching the peak success he so briefly tasted in the past.

The good parts
Top Notch acting from Keaton and Norton, Emma Stone also did a fantastic job and it was great to see her in such a serious and tragic role.

Beautiful cinematography and really long swooping shots that made you think 'how did they do that!?'

Good message in the film, just a shame it was buried by pretentious twoddle.

Not alot else.

The bad parts
Everything that was shoved inbetween the plot. This film is so self aware and concerned with being arty and deep that it is just a chore to watch, this isn't a spoiler but a particular flying scene had me putting my head in my hands.

Irritating and irrelevant cutaways, asteroids falling to earth and other scenes try to be relavent to the events that occur in the film but just end up looking out of place.

Character development just completely abandoned for no reason. Characters that have been with us for 2 thirds of the film are left without care or explanation.

Pathetic lazy ending disguised as an interpretive scene. This type of pretentious, artsy fartsy film making is becoming a nasty trend now. There is nothing clever or skilled about an ending scene like this. Make a real film from beginning to end please.

Birdman falls flat on it's hipster face.

2/5

Review: Into The Woods

2015 Anna Kendrick, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep

Into The Woods is the silver screen adaptation of the popular Broadway musical by the same name, it features a huge cast of big names and songs that will have you humming along to for days on end.

The story centres around the baker and the baker's wife (James Corden & Emily Blunt) being unable to have a child, they are in luck when the witch next door (Meryl Streep) visits them and offers to grant them their wish for a baby if they can locate 4 special items found within the woods. The pursuit of these items will lead the baker and his wife on quest that has them encounter all manner of other fairy tale house hold names. We are introduced early on to Cinderella, Jack and a rather silver tongued Red Riding Hood. Each of these characters has their own reason for also being in the woods and tells their story via musical number.

The songs in Into The Woods were extremely catchy and fitted each scene perfectly. I thought it was so clever how they could almost just describe what they were currently doing or a simple task but make it into a full on song and dance. When it came to the musical moments vocal talent was of a high standard, Anna Kendrick shined the most playing Cinderella and could really hit the high notes! It was also nice to hear James Corden and Emily Blunt's songs bounce of one another. James Corden did a nice job of narrating the whole film too.
There was a performance by Johnny Depp as Mr Wolf that I felt was completely wasted, appearing for barely 5 minutes on screen I couldn't help thinking what was the point? By far my favourite character was Red Riding Hood played by Lilla Crawford, she gave a brilliantly sarcastic and bratty edge to the role which gained the most laughs from me!

Into The Woods barrelled along quite nicely for about 2 thirds of the film, however there were strange dark scenes that really lowered the tone. It is nothing new for fairy tales to feature dark and sinister twists, but the speed and delivery of these moments had me scratching my head somewhat. It pulled me out of the film rather than making me feel sympathy or remorse for what had happened.
In the last third of the film a large new plot development occurred that felt to me like a complete after thought. I will not give too much away at this point but whole idea of the film being a musical went right out the window and erratic out of character choices were made left right and centre. This was such a shame because I had been enjoying the film so much up to that particular point. I wouldn't say it ruined the experience, it just changed the tone so rapidly it left me struggling to adjust to new style and pace. A possible trim by 15 minutes or so may have benefited it a great deal, a minor annoyance though in what was ultimately a really enjoyable and well thought out tale.



The Verdict

Into The Woods was a great coming together of classic fairy tale characters with good laughs and an impressive soundtrack to boot. There is a wide array of talent in this film and the director did well to make sure everyone had their own shining moment. Overall a very enjoyable 2 hours but a few puzzling inconsistencies in tone and a lacklustre third act held Into The Woods back from being truly magical.
3/5

2014 Best & Worst

Hey folks, another year nearly at end already! Here is my list of best and worst in 2014. 

Hope you enjoy and feel free to share with me what you loved and hated!

The Best

Guardians of The Galaxy

Stunning cast which propells Chris Pratt to go on to do great things. It is hilarious, heartfelt and has a tremendous eye for detail. Killer action sequences, fast pacing and a smooth soundtrack make it the greatest Marvel movie ever made. My film of the year 2014!

How to Train Your Dragon 2

A visual treat for the eyes and successfully expands on everything that made the original film great. Also a surprisingly more emotional tale than the first film installment and a great watch for children and adults alike.

Blue Ruin

A harrowing and realistic portrayal of one man's quest for vengeance. This film hit me hard and had me pondering it's outcome for days after, an eye opening film that proves revenge is never a straight path.

Zombeavers 

A true hidden gem and my favourite horror of this year. Zombeavers pays homage to old school horror whilst keeping one foot firmly in the present. Its laugh out loud funny as well as having some great one liners and gross out practical effects.

'We were just looking for beavers' 'Well hell, ain't we all!?'

The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie was a breath of fresh air, original, beautifully animated and it delivered a great message. With a cast this huge, it warrants at least a second watch to make sure you don't miss any of the little side jokes and various goings on in the background. Everything is indeed awesome.

NightCrawler

The final feature film I watched in 2014 and I am pleased to say I ended on a high note. Jake G gave a truly gripping performance and I was on the edge of my seat through out the whole thing! The true strength of this film is in it's unpredictability, as an audience you are always questioning the morality of the characters and leaves you anticipating just what they will do next.

The Edge Of Tomorrow

I never thought a film entirely based on repetition could be so exciting. Heart stopping action sequences, well designed villains and strong main leads provided by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt make this a trip down memory lane not to be missed.

Under The Skin

I went into Under The Skin expecting it to be pretentious artsy twoddle, how wrong I was! What we have here is an extremely well crafted and beautifully thought out film that challenges the viewer to make up their own theories, conclusions and figure out exactly what lurks under Johansson's skin...

The Worst

Life After Beth

A horrible mess of a film that mistakes cocky sarcasm as humor and wit. It fails as a horror, a comedy and across the board.

The Babadook

Pretentious drivel at its finest here. The Babadook is a slow, boring slog of horror film with a rubbish anti climatic payoff. Throw in really long scenes of nothingness, characters so forced its painful to watch and horrible child acting and you've got a stinker. 'Babaaaa dull dull dull'

Xmen Days of Future Past

A good chance to make the Xmen cool again was sqaundered here, as it descended yet again into 'the Wolverine show' I felt all hope was lost for the franchise. Maybe next time eh?

300 Rise of an Empire

The sequel to a film highly praised in it's time, now reduced to nothing more than an internet meme. This is a film none of us wanted or even needed. Tons of sub par cgi gore and set pieces, unmemorable characters and awkward pointless nudity. Huge action sequences have never looked so bland, if this film were a colour it would be beige. 

A Walk Among The Tombstones

Neeson fails yet again in another unispired moody police story. Takes itself far too seriously, mind numbingly too long, massive plot holes and ridiculous dialogue. A stroll through an actual graveyard would be more enjoyable that witnessing this mess again.

Wolfcop

The definition of trying too hard. Wolfcop is a pathetic atttemp at caputring the feel of b-movie/grindhouse cinema. With character development so eratic it makes your head spin, rubbish gore, forced humour and a yawn worthy pay off. Avoid this infantile trash like the plague.

VHS Viral

A disgrace to the genre and fans of a great series. Every segment in this anthology is tasteless and uninteresting. The wrap around plot makes absolutely no sense, the entire feel of the quality is so low it makes the other 2 films feel completely detached. What could have been a fresh trilogy is now tainted by this stain on horror cinema.

Review: The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1

(2014) Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson

I shall begin by hoping everyone is up to speed with what has happened in the previous 2 films and books, it would take me a very long time to explain the story so far at this point so fingers crossed!

After destroying the games and igniting a full scale rebellion Katniss Everdeen has fled to the mysterious district 13 where she hopes to get a chance to lay low, recover and eventually figure out a plan to rescue Peeta from the evil clutches of the Capitol. However before she can do this president Coin of District 13 has plans to mould Katniss into the symbol of the rebellion and film a series of bizarre propaganda videos.

It is evident right from the outset of Mockingjay that The Hunger Games have taken a very dark turn indeed, Katniss awakens in the medical bay and finds fellow contestant Finnick, a usually cock-sure and chirpy individual reduced to a sombre zombie-like version of his former self. This is a recurring theme through the film as Katniss discovers the rebellion she has unintentionally started has had a profound and devastating affect on thousands of lives. To have seen Jennifer Lawrence portray a character of such strength in the previous 2 films, only to be reduced to an unsure and emotionally unstable state in this 3rd instalment is testament to her incredible acting ability. She is able to portray so many negative emotions from fear: loss: hatred and heartbreak in a fully believable and gut wrenching way.

The supporting cast range from good to poor in terms of acting. Liam Hemsworth still only manages to portray one emotion as the ever frowning Gale, Woody Harrelson offers great one liners as ever as the 'now sober' Haymitch. Light relief from the grim over tones comes from Elizabeth Banks playing the now not-so glamorous Effie Trinket, having being stripped of her fashionable clothes and forced to live among 'savages' she plays the diva with a good heart role perfectly. Effie did not appear in District 13 in the book but having her presence in the film was a great addiction, a choice I was happy the director because of the serious lack of her character development in the final book. I cannot go with mentioning 2 great performances by the late Richard Seymour Hoffman,  doing another great job as the defected baddie Plutarch and Natalie Dormer as the defected journalist Cressida. Having not been familiar with Dormer's work in the Game of Thrones series I was pleasantly surprised by her chirpy and sassy portrayal of her character. Also best on screen haircut of the year! (You'll see!)

I was aware that the final book was quite dark in comparison to the previous 2 but the film did and even better job of portraying a sense of desperation, loss and tension felt across all districts. The scene in which Katniss revisits her home District was heart in mouth stuff. After being exposed to such a horror and cruelty is was crystal clear why she needed to step up and lead the charge against President Snow and the Capitol. Coming in at just over 2 hours I felt the length was spot on, the 3rd book was a very slow slog to the final action packed pages but the film had a good sense of pacing. An early to mid-time action sequence following a visit to District 8 and a simply horrific bombing of hospital led to one of the most disturbing an powerful moments iv seen on screen this year. Such was the raw portrayal of murder, bombing and war crimes that I was really surprised by the 12A certificate, a few teeny boppers may have lost sleep last night.
I was really impressed with how every action by the Capitol sparked a reaction from District 13, the book did a terribly slow job of dragging the preparations out to fill pages but the film moved nicely along without leaving any important details unturned. The director has thought very carefully about catering to hardcore fans of the book but without alienating and boring newcomers or 'film only' fans.
I still feel however that the audience who has read the book has a lot more to take away from this rather than those that haven't. Certain chapters and the way things were described (particular the roses left in the crater scene) were almost picture perfect to what i would have imagined in the book.

The Verdict

The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 was a great film, it stayed true to the novels whilst throwing in much needed tweaks and a few areas of comic relief. Acting was of a exceptional standard from lead Jennifer Lawrence even though she may have been let down by other sub character performances.
This is indeed an extremely dark addition to the series and the level of violence and portrayal of genocide was very surprising, however it added a much needed sense of vulnerability  and direct threat to the main protagonists. A lot of people are calling this film a 'filler movie' or '2 hours of preparation' they are wrong. What we have here is a brilliantly crafted, matured and down right gripping addition to the saga. Roll on the final battle next November and of course......'May the odds be ever in your favour'.

4/5

Review: Afflicted

(2014) Derek Lee, Cliff Prowse

Afflicted starts out with 2 friends Derek and Cliff planning a year long trip around the world, Cliff being a keen film maker plans to document the entire trip. The 2 friends set off and begin their trip in Europe, after meeting 2 more friends in Spain the 4 later travel to Paris. It is here in the most romantic city in the world where Derek meets a French lady by the name of Audrey. A few drinks later Derek agrees to go back to Audrey's hotel room. The same night the Cliff and his 2 friends go to surprise Derek they find him laying unconscious and wielding a strange bite mark from the aftermath of some kind of savage attack.
After the duo wave their other 2 friends off and continue their global trip things start to take a horrific turn as Derek begins to develop a bizarre set of 'symptoms' from the recent attack...
I can see alot of people being put off by the premise of this movie as it combines 2 genres that have been done to death over the last few years, vampire films and the 'found footage' filming style. Afflicted however, manages to blend these 2 tired tropes together perfectly in order to create something that truly stands out form the crowd. The entire film is shot through hand held or worn cameras, the filming from all of these devices is extremely clear and the notion of 'shaky cam' is almost non existent, even during running sequences you could see everything that was going on. Not once was I pulled out of the story thinking 'what just happened' or 'did I see that right' certain scenes were just like looking through the actors eyes which only added to the realism.
The film was carried well by the 2 lead actors and can I say what a relief it is to have an American/Asian protagonist as opposed to your typical Caucasian male! I believed the chemistry the 2 had on film and honestly cared about their friendship and outcome.
In terms of nods to the vampire genre Afflicted does a great job of running over some classic tropes and throwing in a few elements veteran horror fans would recognise too. It related to many classic vampire elements from flims like Blade and the more recent 30 Days of Night yet still managed to make them all feel like it's own.
The pacing of the film was excellent, ramping up the tension as each day passed and a new symptom was revealed. I dreaded what was coming next and shared the sense of hopelessness with the 2 leads. There was one scene that had repeating in my head 'please don't end here!' but thankfully the film pushed right out the other side, ramped up another level and ended very neatly. No pointless cliffhangers here!
I wasn't sure what the budget of Afflicted was but they made brilliant use of both cgi and practical effects, the blood and gore was spot on and a particularly nasty vomit scene had me clasp my hand to my mouth! There were some great visual tricks when they were testing Derek's new speed and agility symptoms, all of it filmed through handheld and worn cameras adding a layer of realism and believability. This is how you do 'found footage' horror!

The Verdict

Afflicted was an absolute blast to watch, so carefully thought out and excellently paced. Featuring believable and heartfelt characters coupled with near perfect use of handheld cameras it blends vampire and found footage together seamlessly. Afflicted is a gem that stands head and shoulders over Paranormal Activity (what number are we up to now!?) Grave Encounters and all the other tired rehashes. This is vampires done right, 'found footage' done right and more importantly, Horror done right.

4/5

Review: The Equalizer

(2014) Denzel Washington, Chloe Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas

Ill start off by saying i was totally unaware that this film stemmed from a TV series until about a day before my cinema visit. I went into the film with nothing to compare it to and a strong hope that it would be better than A Walk Among The Tombstones, released the week prior. After being disappointed with Liam Neeson's latest action escapade I tried to not build my hopes up too much going into my second action film in 2 weeks, thankfully my mind was put at ease and i was gripped in mere minutes.
The Equalizer opened showing Robert played by Denzel Washington going through his morning routine, the audience quickly gets a sense that there is something very peculiar and regimented about his character. He wakes up before his alarm goes off, times himself getting dressed, making breakfast and other medial tasks. He catches the bus to each morning and travels to a hardware store (the US equivelent of B&Q) where he works as everyday warehouse man. The film shows Robert greeting and chatting with his fellow employees and has an interaction with a colleague who he agrees to help get into shape so that he can take a test to become the store's security officer. Robert later returns home and soon heads off to a local diner, we get hints that this is another regular part of his 'routine'. Its at this diner where we see him meet Teri, a call girl played by Chloe Grace Moretz.
After a brief introduction this is where the story picks up speed, the 2 engage in small talk night after night, Teri asking Robert about the books he bring to the diner and him discussing his opinions on them. He is fully aware of Teri's occupation yet he never judges her, only when we see the disdain in his eyes when unsavoury customers arrive for her do we get the sense that a storm is brewing. After a couple more nights and a particularly bad encounter with a client, Teri decides to sit at the same table as Robert. It is during this scene we learn more about his past and when Teri asks about his marital status we learn it is a dark and troubled one. This whole scene was brilliantly scripted and the portrayal of 2 very different people trying to smile through horribly painful circumstances was both gut wrenching as it was fascinating.
After moving the friendship forward, Robert walk Teri home but is interrupted when her employer drives by and after assaulting her, drags her away. The following night Teri isn't present at the diner and the manager informs Robert she is in hospital and being savagely beaten. It is this act of cruelty that awakens old demons and forces our hero to return to his old life.
Using his special set of skills he infiltrates the club where Teri's employers hide out and after they refuse to take is cash offer to buy he freedom, they set about him! We quickly see how his routine and planning is put to great use as the camera slowly scans the room showing all the lethal objects he has noticed to use against his foes. A zoom back in and Robert dispatches everyone in the room with brutal efficiency, corkscrews, broken bottles, knives everything is utilized to kill his attackers in grisly detail.
After the fiasco at the club Robert tries to return to his normal life, its here we see progression of the side characters. The employee he was helping has passed his test and is now the warehouse's security guard. Unaware of just how serious his action were we learn through a police investigation that he has in fact wiped out a portion of the Russian Mafia operating within the city. This then starts a cat and mouse game between him and the Mafia, all while trying to maintain his 'normal' persona.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Equalizer because it didn't pretend to be something it wasn't, it was written in an old school style vigilante style and stuck to a tried and tested formula. Not straying form it's path however did not mean it was a throw away action flick, there was a real sense of flare about it and had more polish on it than almost all recent films in it's genre. The pacing was very well thought out and stopped for breath when it needed to and not just to shoe horn in more plot points. When Denzel Washington wasn't punishing the baddies he was commanding your attention with really intense scenes of dialogue. The film featured some fantastic quotable scenes and real sassy one liners. In one particular scene, he interrupts the main villain's dinner by walking straight up and sitting down at his table. Both men had the opportunity to murder each other at this point but they fought with their words, this created and nail bitingly tense scene that ended with what felt like a slow exhale from the whole cinema. Denzel was just perfect for the role i felt as he bought so much class to it, he wasn't your typical chizzled hero but a man you might pass in the street or someone you'd interact with at work. His portrayal of Robert made him an extremely relateble and human feeling character which made me genuinely care about his outcome in the film. The film did leave a few points open to interpretation but this i get the sense that this was intentional and not just overlooked during the writing process. Although the pacing was well done i did feel that the overall running time was a tad too long, but thats just personal preference. I was also dissapointed we didn't see more of Chloe Grace Moretz because much like Denzel, she commanded the screen when ever she was on it, just felt like a her talents were under utilised some what. Overall The Equalizer was a fantastic modern take on the old school vigilante and revenge genre.

The Verdict

I can't praise The Equalizer enough, it had a firm grip on what type of film it wanted to be and stayed true to that until the final scene. The final scene was fantastic and took place in Robert's place of work, where a variety of garden and DIY tools were used to maim and butcher Russian gangsters in multiple ways. The cast and pacing of this film played to its main strength along with many extremely well choreographed fight sequences. My only gripes are the running time and lack of more Chloe Grace talent! This film is a clear cut above the rest of most action film produced this year, if it's one action flick you see this winter make sure its this one.

4/5