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

Review: The Inbetweeners 2

(2014) Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas

I may be slightly biased on this review as I am a big fan of the show and loved the first film, but here goes...
If you're reading this chances are you are already an Inbetweeners fan or have had some exposure to the show and it's characters.
The 4 lads have now been through quite a lot together, having left school, jetted off their first holiday together and are now either in employment or attending separate universities. The film opens with a very Potter-esque beginning as we find Will has dragged Simon and Neil along for a weekend stay at his university. The 3 show up at what was meant to be a fancy dress party all dressed as Harry Potter characters (Neil making for a hilarious Hermione) but sadly find everyone else didn't get the fancy dress memo...
With spirits lowered the boys then receive a text message from the groups resident prankster Jay, he is spending 6 months in Australia with his estranged Uncle and wants the lads to pay him a visit.
This text gives way to a hilarious scene of Jay describing what Australia has instore for them and what he has been upto. This cleverly filmed one shot sequence really highlights the larger budget of this second film as jay fill the 3 in on his various 'conquests' basically a huge pack of lies as always! With some hesitation and Will's promise of a 'back packing vibe' the lads set off to reunite the group once more.
They reunited most of the old cast from the first film and series including, the parents and a few more old favourites. One big surprise was the inclusion of Simon's holiday romance from the first film, Lucy. The surprise though is how much they completely flipped her character on it's head having gone from a fairly normal girl to a completely rude, vile control freak within what seems like months in the stories timeline. This felt like a feeble attempt at shoe[horning in a 'nagging' girlfriend type of trope which i couldn't have been more bored by. Jay's love interest Jane makes a brief appearance too, and I mean so brief you could blink and miss her, which is a shame because she was the most likeable female lead from the previous film.
Now i'm not much of a comedy fan but The Inbetweeners 2 had me laughing from start to finish, not chuckles either but genuine belly laughs! This film definitely pushed the envelope in terms of humour and i was a little surprised at what they actually allowed into the cinema version. There is a lot to be offended by in this film, but it's its delivery is what makes it hit you with a ping of good intent. Many other films will throw an offensive quip in there for shock value but this delivers with a bit more wit and an underlying playful vibe. There is still casual racism, terrible mysogeny and a touch of animal cruelty but nothing felt forced. All gags were delivered in classic style by the 4 leads, there is one scene involving a waterslide and Neil's irritable bowel which I will not be forgetting in a hurry!
The film isn't all about the laugh though, there is a real sense of coming of age and an end of an era vibe. The film really hits a serious note at the end which made me realise just how much Iv'e grown to love and care about these 4 characters over the years I had spent with them. The first film was meant to be the big send off for the lads, but the second was made thanks to the sheer success of the original. Although it pushes the limits of what the cast and director could get away with it still didn't feel quite as strong a send off as the original did. This film is best enjoyed with a group of friends, as I am sure we all know a 'Neil' or a 'Jay' and this is put simply a short, sweet, offensive and very funny 90 minutes.

Verdict

The lads have done it again, bringing us another hilarious, shocking and extremely quotable second feature film. Although the send off isn't as strong as the original and there are some slight character issues there is still a great time to be had here, just don't watch it with your Mum.

4/5

Review: Lucy

(2014) Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-Sik Choi

I went into Lucy hoping for a short and sweet action movie with slight helping of food for thought, I am pleased to say this film had a lot more to offer than high kicks and gun fights.
The premise was super simple, Chinese baddies kidnap her and place a cache of drugs inside her tummy, Lucy is then savagely beaten by some of the thugs on her way to the drop off point and the cache bursts releasing the chemical drug into her system. The drug has irreversible effects and the sheer amount of the substance allows our heroine to unlock 100% of her brain capacity.
Lucy then sets off on a mission for revenge using her new 'symptoms' to aid her, she also aims to share her knowledge with a Professor who has been researching the secrets of higher brain capacity.
The main strength of this film was its small but extremely well selected cast, Min-Sik Choi as the villain was as chilling as ever. If you have seen Old Boy or the gruesome I Saw The Devil you will know how good he is at being menacing. Morgan Freeman did what Morgan Freeman does and made even the most mundane sentence feel heartfelt and commanded your attention every time he appeared on screen. Last but not least Scarlett Johansson (I refuse to use the name Scar Jo) gave a a much more realistic and emotional performance than anything she has done in her previous Marvel films. There was one particular scene in which after increasing her brain capacity to 20% and abandoning her sense of pain, she chats to her mother on the telephone reciting her earliest memories. All this while Doctors remove the damaged drugs cache under no anaesthetic what so ever, it made for a very intense scene and was the standout moment of the film for me.
These moments sadly became less frequent as her brain capacity increased Lucy became less human and acted more like a self-preservation focused machine. This was disappointing as the early scenes really showcased Johansson's talent. The action scenes were above average mixing blends of clever martial arts sequences, gunfights and Matrix style effects. It was a real treat to see Lucy use these abilities to gain the upperhand in situations but much like the acting, these scenes quickly became tiresome as she became almost invincible. The sense the she was in any danger what so ever went completely out the window, I knew full well she could cope with anything that was thrown at her. And believe me they threw everything at her, rocket launchers included!
In the films final act the action surrounded Lucy slowed down and was placed in the hands of secondary chararcters, this gave the chance for the philosophical elements to shine. These parts of the film were interesting and provided some real food for thought but were put to rest as the credits rolled. These idea like most of the movie started off with a bang but sadly ended with a fizzle.


Verdict

Lucy had the foundations of a solid action film with interesting sci-fi premise behind it, i just wish all these elements were fleshed out slightly more. This is by no means a bad film, you can come to this and witness some great acting, high octane action and maybe even leave with some food for thought. Unfortunately a few cut corners prevented Lucy from reaching full capacity.

3/5

Review: Life After Beth

(2014) Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly

Being a big horror fan and an avid follower of Aubrey Plaza and John C. Reilly's work I went into Life After Beth expecting big things and to come away with a smile on my face, unfortunately this film did nothing but leave me feeling a tad 'zombiefied'.
The premise is was simple enough, a grieving boyfriend Zach played by Dane DeHaan  attends the wake of his recently deceased girlfriend (Beth), killed by an apparent snakebite. Things are quickly turned on their head when he spots her the walking around the very next day with nothing to show for it but a strange bite on her leg and some memory loss. After having a chat with Beth's parents played by the ever witty John C. Reilly and quirky Molly Shannon the 3 agree its best not to tell Beth about her recent 'resurrection' but to carry on as normal. The Parents see this as an act of god, but Zach believes there is a much more sinister explanation for the return of his girlfriend.
The couple try their very best to continue their relationship and a even manage to conjure up some memories they shared together, but things become difficult when Beth suddenly begins to break into fits of violent rages and becomes victim to terrible mood swings. As more people rise from the grave, Zach's fears are confirmed as he looks upon the brink of a zombie apocalypse. I liked the fact that the zombie aspect of the film was never geared towards just simply eating brains, the rages added a fresh and exciting element to a familiar trope. Unfortunately for me this is where the enjoyment peaked as it felt like the director had to explore these new possibilities at every opportunity, sadly often resulting in the most bland outcome possible. There were countless times when I anticipated  the build-up to a comical scene or scary moment only to be greeted with sarcastic one liners or a lacklustre slapstick element. The plot left huge holes in the middle of the script as it raced towards its final act. There were 2 or 3 scenes where zombies were attracted to people's attics and I was intrigued by this and eager to find out why, however the film completely abandoned this premise leaving me none the wiser. I think its important to mention at this point that this was penned primarily as an 'indie comedy' I did not laugh once from start to finish and overall the film is simply not funny enough. There were quirky characters and 1 or 2 memorable scenes but this was pretty much dead on arrival. Anna Kendrick also stars in this film although because of only been given around 10 lines of dialogue I wish the director had poured his money into something that could have benefitted the plot as this part could have been played by anybody. As the credits rolled after a horribly rushed and negligent end scene I couldn't help feeling like this movie really missed the chance to be something truly unique.

The Verdict

Life After Beth could have been something fresh and unique, sadly this is a classic example of a great idea executed poorly. Even with 1 or 2 stand out scenes and the main cast's talented nothing can prevent this from being the dullest zombie apocalypse you'll watch in a long time.

2/5