Ghostbusters Review

You might wonder why so many films now are remakes or reboots of old franchises. Usually; it's because the original films are old and with modern technologies and hindsight, their stories can be expanded and made into something better.

Remakes can work. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, John Carpenters' The Thing, Scarface, True Grit, The Fly and many, many others have proven that remakes can work, given the right circumstances, attention and love.

But a question that lingers is; if a film has a legitimate problem, in that, even with all new technologies and hindsight, if it has no chance of surpassing the original, is it worth remaking?

Ghostbusters Review Prologue

I have no problems with being proven wrong and taking a delicious, if familiar, slice of humble pie. Surprises are one of the great things in film because, with such low expectations (or no expectations), a film can suddenly radiate on it's own merits instead of it's own hype.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

A decade ago, the Star Wars franchise for all intents and purposes, looked relegated to a children's television series, an expanded universe so deep and large that it was nearly impossible to grasp, the odd, decent game (and a few that should have been flung into the Death Star's core) and a series of web reviews by a senile murderer from New Jersey, which eviscerated the prequel trilogy and provided infinitely more entertainment than they ever did.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Review

With recent life events, I've been thinking about my childhood and the events and programming that moulded me into the guy I am today. Ask my four year old self what I wanted to be and, apart from telling you I don't talk to strangers unless bribed, I'd likely tell you I wanted to be a Ghostbuster when I grow up.

Needless to say, this didn't inspire me to get into the pest control business, much like that no matter how much I loved the eighties cartoon adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or Hero Turtles in the UK because the word 'Ninja' was deemed too violent) I didn't turn out to be a ninja (although I do eat far, far too much pizza).

A Few Words on... The Hunger Games

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists - Review

Sometimes, I wonder with the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, why pirates haven't become a sub-genre of their own? Then of course, you have to think back to the days of where pirates were on the hollywood list of things to avoid at all costs (as Roman Polanski, Disney prior to PotC and Renly Harlin have discovered the hard way).

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two Review

Lets get this out of the way; reviewing Harry Potter is as useless as a chocolate teapot because lets face it, you’re either in Camp A: The large, vocal and rabid fanbase whose admiration for Harry and chums can range from playful fanboyism to the terrifying depths and depravity of slash fiction authors.

Or you’re in Camp B: People who sneer and roll their eyes at the thought of the most successful series of books for the past twenty years being the mind-numbingly simple yet overwrought tale of good versus evil which has somehow been accepted into the world of adult adulation and said books have now also become the highest grossing film series of all time.

But avoiding the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two is avoiding the proverbial elephant in the room. It is, as mentioned earlier, the highest grossing film series ever and yes, I not only have seen each film (in a marathon session with the missus prior to this review), I fount them to be relatively decent (despite only reading half of Prisoner of Azkaban as a youngster and being bored to tears).

And it slightly pains me to say this but; Deathly Hallows Part Two is the best summer blockbuster of 2011.

Beginning immediately after the events of Part One, Part Two continues Harry, Ron and Hermione’s quest to destroy Voldemort’s splintered soul and save the wizard and real world from his evil clutches. That’s the film’s plot in its simplest terms but obviously for the sake of time, I’m not going to explain how Daniel Radcliffe’s seven year education at Boarding School and Ralph Fiennes and co wanting to take over the world tie together (tl:dr; Wikipedia it!).

So naturally this being the final entry of a long running series; Deathly Hallows Part Two has the “joy” of not only wrapping up the story in a nice neat bow but also explaining any long running plot threads with a cohesive and satisfying conclusion. Normally, this is where said finale falls out of flavour with fanbase/audience as it can never live up to expectation.

But Deathly Hallows Part Two somehow does, partly due to the original source material being split into two films therefore giving Warner Brothers more revenue…I mean, allow the story to breath and not feel constricted to time restraints. Although the more hardcore Harry Potter fans still might be annoyed that “said character didn’t do such and such”, Deathly Hallows Part Two for the casual fan covers all the major bases and gives a satisfying conclusion to all the major character arcs.

It also addresses one of the biggest criticisms with Part One which was rightly summed up as “the one in the woods”. Part One was a necessary story in the long run but didn’t make action packed viewing. It was a build-up which crammed in some last minute character development and showed the effects and strains of the story on individuals rather than the world at whole.

Part Two however goes all LotR on us with huge, encompassing and visually stunning battles. Although no longer innovative as nearly every historical film has utilised some form of crowd capturing, but what helps is the audience’s attachment to the established setting and the characters involved. Ok, it helps that the film has a few moments of innovation (although as strange as it sounds, we’ve all seen large trolls knocking people off bridges), it’s the story that makes the action all the more exciting.

However, by far the best moments in the film are the intimate character moments. To avoid spoilers, the resolutions of two characters in particular (who you’ll know about when actually seeing the film) may potentially choke you up by playing on the emotions of unrequited love and the idea of death being something to acknowledge rather than fear.

It’s these moments where you can see why the series has become such a juggernaut but at the same time, when it all boils down to it, the story is relatively simple. You can argue that accusing a children’s story for lacking depth in terms of characterisation is about as easy as it gets but the fact the story boils down to good versus evil in such simple contrasts of black and white and where the only character with a shade of grey sticks out like another annotation lacking creativity in this review, one wonders why something like Harry Potter succeeds where others fail.

But if Michael Bay has taught as anything; story means nothing in the big picture. Visually, Deathly Hallows Part Two continues the grey and miserable setting established in Part One to evoke the enveloping evil that has spread across the land and credit to Warner Bros for allowing David Yates to continue his previously established motifs made with his previous three entries to the series. Composer Alexander Desplat returns from Deathly Hallows Part One and continues where Williams and Hooper left off with reimaginings of previous themes and creating sombre and dark themes that suit the picture.

Special effects are non-surprising but at least consistent with the tone of the film. The 3D is surprisingly effective and unlike other films, is not particularly distracting. I feel strange for saying this, but if you’re a fan of the previous films, definitely see this one in 3D as it does heighten the experience.

The principle players after have come along way since the almost farcical debuts in Philosopher's Stone and one can only hope they don’t find themselves typecast as wizards for the rest of eternity. The adult cast’s all star line-up are undeniably great and seem to have a lot of fun revelling in their roles. Ralph Fiennes in particular steals the show as the terrifying Voldemort which is made all the more frustrating as, like the previous films; only his presence is consistent, the character himself appears sporadically but when he does, it’s always memorable.

On the whole, after nearly nine hundred words, this review is pointless as you’ve no doubt already seen Deathly Hallows Part Two several times judging by it’s profit intake or mocked said individuals for giving this over-hyped drivel your precious monies.

Jumping on at this point is relatively pointless as the film is a pretty if very confusing tale which lacks any emotional punch and will show the film’s plot for all it’s simplicity despite going on for eight films.

For fans of the series, the accolade of “the best one” sums up Deathly Hallows Part Two nicely. It wraps up the story in a satisfying way, has a lot of great action and special effects and whilst no doubt lacking a few bits and pieces from the book, it’s as good as a Harry Potter adaptation on the big screen will ever get.

…Until the inevitable reboot takes place. Don’t say I didn’t warn you kids.

8/10 (for fans of the series)

6/10 – (for everyone else)

H

The Hangover Part II Review

Imagine working in an office and you’re working on the mundane task of photocopying. You’ve spent all day refining your craft on this boring repetitive work but everything is pristine and you’re proud of how it’s all gone, you may even have some pride in your work.

Sadly you happened to do this the day before the office Christmas party where some witless Neanderthal has decided to take your pristine work and use it as ammunition for the ultimate prank, scanning photocopies of his lower regions.

So you come in after Christmas, waiting for your acknowledgment of all the hard work you’ve done and everyone points the finger, wanting an explanation of why this atrocious, seedy, strangely dark and non-funny joke as it were was created and why you’ve gone out of your way to ruin a perfectly good thing prior.

Metaphor over; The Hangover Part II.

Two years ago, the highest grossing R Rated comedy in film history was unleashed and boy howdy was it a fun ride. Four friends go to Las Vegas for an unforgettable stag-do which results in everyone forgetting a chaotic night with the groom missing.

What sounded simple on paper was a total riot with all the hall markings of a modern classic. It had the iconic characters, the fantastic jokes, possibly one of the most surreal cameos in film history (topped only by Bill Murray’s appearance in Zombieland) and on the whole, it was a fun, unpredictable film.

Naturally this being the worst recession for a century and it being a comedy, a sequel has been released for what I initially hoped would be an expansion on the characters in a brand new situation which could test new comedic situat…hahaha

Just kidding!

Simply put The Hangover Part II will forever be seen as the benchmark of copying and pasting the exact same movie. You could go so far to say that Part II is a remake since the premise is practically identical from the original.

For those who never saw the original (in which case; why?), The Hangover Part II has Stu the dentist (played by Daily Show alumni Ed Helms) is getting married to someone who isn’t Heather Graham but rather Lauren. Lauren and Stu’s wedding is set to take place in Thailand and the wolf pack in reunited (with Lauren’s younger brother Teddy played by Mason Lee added to the mix)

After deciding not to chance another Vegas, the gang decide to have one beer to celebrate Stu’s impending third marriage and subsequently wake up in a Bangkok hotel room with no memory of the night before, Teddy missing and a number of strange occurrences taking place in the room. The gang have to piece together the night before, find Teddy and get to the wedding on time.

So yes, tweak the names and add a new locale, the film is exactly the same as the original minus minor alterations. So naturally, your guessing that even if the film a carbon copy of the original, surely it would have all the humour from the original despite, you know, already seeing and hearing these gags once before.

And this is where the film falls flat. The jokes from two years ago are generally the same this time around, although the film makers have upped the ante so to speak by making everything much darker and depraved from before to add a sense of escalation.

The problem is the film pushes the envelope so far, it leaves the room and ends up on a different planet altogether. The original was a fun picture with likable characters finding themselves in multiple surreal but ultimately resolvable scenarios whilst the sequel finds the same characters in scenarios that simply aren’t funny and for nealy 90% of the time, are simply there to inflict punishment on those of us stupid enough to invest in the characters.

Two examples of this (and spoilers ahoy for the next paragraph); The gang finds themselves in a stripper bar trying to find where they went next (much like the wedding chapel from last time, it even had the same actor playing the owner), here we discover that Stu again proposed to a stripper (again like last time) which he said no and instead had sex with the stripper who turns out to be a ladyboy. There’s another example of this where the gang is attacked by gangsters (this time Russian as opposed to Chinese) and Phil is shot in the street (which is quickly glanced over throughout the film as simply a graze).

Whilst the original did have its raunchiness and placed our characters in often difficult situations, there was never any overt cruelty and our characters were only punished temporarily. Here they are constantly pushed to their limits and are patience is tested time and time again. The payoff at the end of the film for all the suffering simply isn’t worth it and the ending also provides another surreal celebrity cameo, although it’s simply there again to join the dots to the far superior original.

All in all, The Hangover Part II is a dark, immensely cruel and most offensive of all, unfunny carbon copy of the distinctive and superior original. It’s insulting to think the filmmakers think they could get away with retelling the exact same film to the audience but hey, we’re all the more foolish for hoping for something special (and in my case, going to see it anyway).

For all three of you who never saw the original, you may get a kick out of it, it does have the occasional good line and full credit to all the leads for doing there best. For those who have already seen the original, await the inevitable Youtube mashup which will sync the scenes to show just how lazy a film can be.

You’ll get far more enjoyment out of that than watching this and consuming the amount
of mind bleach needed to forget this debacle.

3/10

H

Attack the Block - Review

Ever since I saw the trailer for Attack the Block a few months ago I’ve been waiting anxiously to see this film. Being a Londoner myself I have always asked myself the question… What would happen if aliens tried to invade Earth and started in a South London council estate? Well thanks to Joe Cornish (of Adam & Joe fame) I now have my answer.

We start off with our protagonist Sam (the awesome Jodie Whittaker) leaving Oval Underground station on her way home to “The Block” a tower block in South London, on her way home she meets the rest of the films main characters whilst they are at work, by work I mean whilst they mug her. You see, the main characters of this film are ghetto teens, chavs, street rats, hoodlums, hoodies or whatever you choose to call them.

The gang is lead by Moses (played by newcomer John Boyega) a mixed up teen who will act hard in front of his posse at all times. After the gang are attacked by an invading alien life force he takes it upon himself to lead the earth’s defences, which sets up the rest of the movie. These characters aren’t very likeable at the start of the film but their heroism and even their vulnerabilities do something to win you over, we see them learning that actions have consequences. I doubt David Cameron will want to give them a hug and some may find it hard to like them but I was on their side coz’ im frm da streetz init?

The plot is tight and has plenty of good gags (most of which are based around the language used by hoodies and white guys acting like Ali G) the alien invaders are also great, think Critters meets Predator and you have the ultimate alien threat… furry stalkers. The film moves along at a good pace and the 88 minutes go pretty quickly. A lot is made of “The Block” where most of the film takes place. Being from an area of London where tower blocks still remain I can understand the way the building is given an almost legendary, holy status in the film, some other viewers may not see the big deal. There are clichés thrown in but the film does surprise you sometimes. The ending is great; it’s corny but ends with Moses living up to his namesake and the people of South London hurling abuse at their biggest enemy… the Police.

The cast is made up of newcomers mainly, Cornish had to draft in some experience and came up trumps with Nick Frost (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Paul) who plays a drug dealer henchman for the films non-furry bad guy. You don’t see much of Frost but he’s presence gives the film an almost authentic feel, which says a lot about how his career has come along in the last few years and helps establish the film further with his name and image on the poster.

The young members of the cast do a great job playing the lovely gang of hoodies, the banter is great and they also do a great job of reminding you of hanging around with your friends as a child. Their friendship feels real; when they are met with hard times and challenges they pull off the emotions well and the film benefits from their efforts. The squabbles over who has credit left on their mobile phone or who sends the last ditch text message are excellent and well written. Some gags are hindered by weak line delivery and one minute a character may be in horrific pain, the next they are running up the stairs fleeing the aliens without a grimace, that’s me nitpicking.



Jodie Whittaker plays Sam, a very important character as she is the normal person surrounded by a gang of wannabe Tupacs. Her performance is good and she does a good job of interacting with the gang members as they try to win her trust and as she tries to understand the codes and conventions of living in “The Block”.

An honourable mention belongs to Luke Treadaway who plays Brewis, a middle class stoner down on his luck during the alien invasion; he has some great scenes where he tries to be one of the boys and when he is singing along to his iPod waiting for the lift.

The special affects are very good, the aliens are original and look the part, the puppetry is great and you never see the aliens long enough to make out any flaws, this just adds to their mysterious yet relentless ways. Their glowing blue mouths add tension when we are in the darker parts of “The Block” and the best use of SFX are used during a slow motion scene near the end of the film.

The film gets a bit gory in places, some of which comes as a surprise but a welcome one. It gets bloody and it gets messy, these aliens aren’t here for a cuddle (although you do want to…) They are ruthless in their search for our teen heroes and they will rip off your face if you get in their way. It’s this kind of aggression that forces our band of thieves further up “The Block” cornering them and forcing them to fight.

To conclude I must admit that I loved the movie, it is uniquely British. The way the estate is portrayed is well done, it’s urban and it’s gritty. The lighting and use of car headlights works a treat and it’s portrayal of a London council estate is authentic. Not all hoodies and tower block occupants are muggers and they don’t all carry knives and deal drugs, the hoodies in the film are caricatures of those we see on our street corners, with their trousers hanging halfway off their arse and their boxer shorts on display. It’s easy to get laughs off of these guys and the film does a great job of that.

The film could have been funnier but what it lacks in laughs it makes up in action and Sci-Fi delights. Most laughs in my screening were generated by the odd piece of slang that made the viewers remember how they spoke when they were 15 and a “baddaman” which showed good research by Cornish.

It’s the small things that impressed me most, the use of language, fireworks and a Pizza Go-Go delivery moped that nailed home this very well thought-out ode to the youth of London and its old decrepit tower blocks, which still rise and dominate the skies of London.

Joe Cornish has cited influences from films such as Predator, Gremlins and Critters, films he saw growing up in the 80’s, Attack the Block does a great job of taking you back to those film experiences, it's easy to spot other influences in the mix too. To me it felt like a Sci-fi Goonies, with riddles replaced with a non-working lift and the gadgets replaced with baseball bats and fireworks.

The film has all the makings of a cult classic, I fear it won’t be appreciated fully in other countries but its great to hear it has been picked up for US distribution later this year. Hopefully it can do as well as Shaun of the Dead did over the pond.

You better just hope that there is a gang of hoodies near by when the aliens come knocking. Ya’ get me Blud?

8/10

RB