Reviewed: Captain America: The First Avenger [2011]

12A - 125mins - Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 29th July 2011

With the summer season now in full blast we get our latest and final all action comic book hero for the year in the guise of Captain America- yet another character that I am unfamiliar with. Have I missed out on a childhood filled with comic books? It would seem so.

Set during World War II, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) a poorly yet determined man has only one goal- to join the army so that he can serve and protect his country. Due to his illnesses and diminished stature though he is rejected and turned away by every recruitment station he visits. A chance encounter with Dr. Erksine (Stanley Tucci) changes his fortunes and leads him to be accepted onto a secret project codename Project Rebirth where his honour and integrity gain him the chance to become a super soldier. He undergoes the transformation and becomes capable of near superhuman acts.

Meanwhile in Germany, Johann Schmidt aka the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), head of the Nazi exploratory research department HYDRA is building and army and technology that threatens to not only usurp Hitler but destroy the world. Captain America is tasked with stopping Schmitt and bringing the war to a premature end.

I was looking forward to seeing Evans in his role as Captain America as I'd wanted to see if he had what it takes to be the leading star in a film rather than the supporting roles he's more used to. He passed with flying colours making the character his own from a skinny nobody to the patriotic propaganda spinning Captain America. The rest of the cast also performed well with Weaving a convincing bad guy (despite me wanting him to say Mr. Anderson) and Tommy Lee Jones adding his unique charisma to the hard as nails Colonel. I was less convinced with Hayley Atwell playing the love interest Peggy Carter as the chemistry wasn't there and she never really extracted any emotions from me good or bad.

The action taken as a whole was good but I'm not sure that there was enough from Captain America. Sure he swung his shield and sent the opposition flying but I never felt that he was getting down and dirty for his cause. Some of the fighting scenes felt rushed and tended to be over before they had even begun. Also I understand Captain America's improved metabolism/regeneration properties cover up the fact he always looks like he's just walked out from make-up room #1 but I would still have liked to see him a bit beaten up and then recover for the next scene rather than looking as if he's just going for a stroll through the park. He never felt in peril which instantly removes any suspense that I should have been feeling for him.

The story of his origins seemed to take president over the action and to a certain degree that's understandable- there is no movie without a plot, but I would have liked a smidge more action and a tad less talking. Luckily the film didn't give off that all American vibe that I thought it might with the patriotism healthily present rather than all engulfing. Likewise, the comedy flowed at a decent level with many short (as in height) jokes and other such one liners hitting their mark. Although for me, I found Red Skull to be the funniest merely for his appearance- he was not scary and just looked like he'd forgotten to lather himself in suntan lotion before a trip to the beach one day.

The ending certainly adds its clout to The Avengers film due out next year. (You may want to hang around at the end for another post credit scene and a teaser trailer for said film). So where does this go in my list of Summer comic book heroes? I think it slots in nicely behind X-Men, just pipping Thor into second and is comfortably ahead of the Green Lantern.

Rating: B

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Reviewed: Stake Land [2011]

15 - 98mins - Horror - 17th June 2011

Stake Land is set in a post apocalyptic world where a vampire epidemic has spread over the whole country leaving only small pockets of people left to fend for themselves. One such group consists of Martin (Connor Paolo), just an ordinary kid before the vampires, and Mister (Nick Damici), a vampire hunter, as they travel north through infected America to the promised land of Canada where rumours are of a safe zone called New Eden. As Martin and Mister travel, they run into new people and communities both good and bad who each have their own unique ways of coping with the disaster.

For a film with the title Stake Land you might think you know what you are letting yourself in for but the enemies are rather ambiguous and are what I would call the offspring of a vampire (only come out at night, need to be staked etc) and a zombie (brain dead drones, don't get bit or you will turn etc). Whatever they might be though, they still do their job of looking evil and warrant a wide berth if survival is the aim of the game.

Fleeing to the only safe patch of land left while being chased by zombies/vampires/the diseased/[insert appropriate evil entity here] has been covered rather exhaustively of late hence Stake Land will be getting no bonus marks for originality. But it is by no means a bad attempt despite having been done better by others before it and is certainly one or two notches above the swathes of budget horror flicks out there. This is mostly due to the film not solely relying on the vampire gore factor to sell it to the audience. The actors are capable and the script and direction from Jim Mickle leaves me wanting to see the characters make it through the ordeal without dying- not an emotion I usually have when watching a horror.

In many respects it sets itself up in a similar vein to The Road with a similar feel to it as a small group set out against everyone else to try and overcome their troubles. The pace of the film is slow highlighting their efforts to journey across the country and the bleak music and well constructed post-apocalyptic sets with signs declaring that all hope is lost succeed at pulling you into the world that has been created.

When compared to its counterparts, I found that it toned down the scare factor and action was more of a premium than you might expect for a film of this nature. It seemed to dabble more with the emotional turmoil that the characters were going through focusing on character development rather than setting out to make you require a change of underwear- although it still has its moments.

I was not blown away but it was refreshing to watch a horror movie that had a bit of depth focusing on communities coming together to help each other in times of hardship as well as filling my requirement for action, blood, gore and religious fanaticism.

Rating: B-

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Reviewed: The Wave [2008]

15 - 107mins - Drama/Thriller - 19th September 2008

A foreign film today all the way from Germany that takes a look into autocracy and dictatorship but with a slight twist- it is set in a school.

Loosely based on the true experiment undertaken by a history teacher in the USA during 1967 which was then written as a book, the film follows unorthodox high school teacher Rainer Wenger (Jurgen Vogel) as he is forced to teach autocracy rather than his preferred choice of anarchy during a school project week in modern day Germany. Deciding that a more hands on approach would help stimulate the uninterested students, he engages with his class in an attempt to show that under certain circumstances the potential for a dictatorship is not as far fetched as some of the students believe it to be. He is elected as a leader by the class and begins to enforce the rules required for an autocracy. The students take to the project emphatically and the experiment soon begins to spiral out of control.

Parts of the film shout out stereotypical teen school and if anything the social groupings are played upon even more than usual as the writers use these differences to enhance the eventual unity that is required for a dictatorship to form. They are not necessarily exaggerated but we are continually reminded 'look, these kids are different from those ones' when this fact is rather obvious from the start and does not need emphasis.

Being based in Germany there are obvious references to the Nazi regime and this is unsurprisingly brought up during the movie as a theme. It gives the emotions that extra edge and enhances the plot making it easier to believe that something like this could happen again.

The film becomes more sinister as it progresses and manages to deliver a heavy topic for discussion in a very involved and entertaining fashion getting you to think into the chances of something like this happening, how it would happen and would you be dragged in under a similar scenario? It manages to achieve this without preaching it's message as well which I always approve of.

In summation, this is a good foreign movie that is able to make you forget that it's being spoken in German and lets you concentrate on the story. I'm always impressed when a foreign film can do this and so the scriptwriters must be complemented along with the rest of the crew for making it possible. The acting is good from all involved, I really appreciated the cinematography and it got me thinking. A solid film all-around.

Rating: B

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Reviewed: Transformers: Dark of the Moon [2011]

15 - 157mins - Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 29th June 2011

Our summer of sequels continues with the Transformers returning to the big screen with their third outing. After the rather disappointing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen I have to say that my hopes were not particularly high for this one.

Dark of the Moon is set several years after the second movie where Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is struggling to get a job and return his life to normal and yet this still hasn't stopped him from bagging the most attractive girl in the city- Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). At the same time, the Autobots discover that a Cybertronian spacecraft crash landed on the Moon during the 1960's and race against the Decepticons to reach it first and protect the secrets that it holds. The two storylines overlap and voila the plot is born.

As always the visuals impress and are the best in the franchise so far but I ended up asking myself how is this different from the previous two and it led me to this answer- there isn't that much of a difference at all. Bay has upped the ante somewhat in regards to the amount of CGI he has crammed into the movie so expect more fighting, more action and a whole lot more slowmo. While many will think great more action, I see it as part of the problem though. There is only so many times that I can be impressed with a vehicle transforming into something else, in slow motion, before it becomes repetitive and I felt like I reached my limit in this film.

Aside from the first 10 minutes which dealt with the space race of the 1960's, it took a while for the film to get going. For the last hour or so though, I was enjoying what the film had to offer where it took on a Black Hawk Down kind of persona during battle scenes in the city.

Several issues I had: at 157 minutes the film tended to drag in several places and led to a rather rushed final scene that should not have been; the comedy element was greatly reduced despite a cameo from Ken Jeong aka Mr Chow from The Hangover; the new love interest did not impress with her acting skills at all and was more than likely brought in merely as token eye candy for the viewers, which she did succeed in; and most importantly, the plot had more holes in it than a Swiss cheese being used as target practice on a shooting range. And that is an understatement. Also there has been zero continuity between the trilogy of films so far which does not go down well with me.

I was more impressed than I thought I was going to be but as I said expectation had been lowered due to the extremely poor second film. I have to be careful here because I think the impressive graphics have partly blinded me to the rest of the cracks that appear in the film. All I can say is if you enjoyed the first movie or like good visuals then you will enjoy this one and if you didn't or want an involved and interesting plot that develops itself and the characters as the movie progresses then you won't get that here.

Rating: B-

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Reviewed: Bridesmaids [2011]

15 - 125mins - Comedy - 24th June 2011

Many people have been describing this as the female version of The Hangover. Those people however forgot to do one tiny thing- watch both films! Yes both films revolve around the preparation for a wedding and contain their fair share of low brow comedy but that is where the similarities end.

Bridesmaids follows Annie (Kristen Wiig), the maid of honour for her best friend Lillian's (Maya Rudolph) wedding. While she is preparing for the big day though, the rest of her life is falling apart around her. Her love life is in tatters and she is struggling to keep on top of the bills. All the while she has to set up the wedding, organise the bride and compete with the other eccentric bridesmaids to keep things on track.

The main thorn in her side comes from Helen (Rose Byrne), one of Lillian's new friends and bridesmaids who Annie feels is taking her friend away from her just when she needs her the most. Add to that the other colourful Bridesmaids of Megan (Melissa McCarthy), Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and Becca (Ellie Kemper) with the continual flow of jokes and situations and you get one decent comedy.

What I liked about Bridesmaids was the fact that it did not shy away from all the gruesome details just because the characters were female. Usually women in films are depicted more prim and proper so it was refreshing to have this change. Some might consider some of the scenes to go a little too far or continue for just a bit too long (one scene in particular did start to drag for me) but I felt overall it just about hit the nail on the head.

Wiig, along with her co-stars, impresses throughout the film showing us that she has a place as a comic actress and the addition of Chris O'Dowd as the love interest worked well.

If I were to pick fault with the movie then I would have to say that some of the characters didn't make me want to care that much about what happened to them (but then again this is primarily a comedy not a drama) especially the bride who I never felt that was enjoying her wedding at any point. Also there were probably a few too many sub-plots and side stories that could have been shaved of to drag the time under 2 hours. Apart from that, I was pretty impressed.

This may be one set out for the females in the audience but it is very much a guys film as well. There is a bit of a romcom element but it takes a backseat to the main female character driven comedy. Some will find the jokes distasteful and not rate the movie because of this but I was chuckling away on more than one occasion. Guys, if your going to be dragged along to one 'chick flick' this year then make sure it's this one.

Rating: B

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Reviewed: Something Borrowed [2011]

12A - 103mins - Comedy/Drama/Romance - 6th May 2011

Something Borrowed follows Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) as she meets Dex (Colin Egglesfield) at university where they become best friends with feelings clearly developing but neither of them acting on said feelings. So when Rachel's best friend the selfish and obnoxious Darcy (Kate Hudson) shows up and asks Dex out, Rachel gives her blessing, Dex says yes and several years later they are engaged to be married.

This leaves Rachel distraught for letting Dex slip through her fingers and with the cowardly and wimpish Dex (I'm sure just what ladies look for in a man) still conflicted as to what to do next. After Rachel's birthday celebrations though, she and Dex end up sleeping together and supposed hilarity ensues as they try yet again ignore the chemistry between them and just let life run its course.

Thank god for Ethan (John Krasinski) Rachel's friend who gave a voice of reason to proceedings by at least attempting to beat some sense into the main characters who seemed to be oblivious to everything around them. I think my main fault with the movie was the storyline and the way we are supposed to feel for Rachel despite the fact that she didn't make a go of it with Dex, everything that happened to her was self inflicted and she has slept with her best friend's fiance; and given that Darcy isn't a very nice person to say the least that either of them hung around with her in the first place.

The supporting cast outside the four main characters didn't add to the film in any way shape or form. With some movies you get the token celebrities who show up for 10 seconds, say a line and then leave again and this is how the rest of the cast felt to me for the entire movie. They were just written in for one line and then would disappear never to be seen or heard from again.

Apart from a few witty remarks here and a bit of slapstick, there was not much comedy in the film with the overall feel of it leaning more towards a drama with a bit of comedy rather than the other way around which I feel is the better mix for this genre. There was nothing wrong with the acting with Goodwin and Egglesfield doing their jobs and creating some chemistry but it was merely a minor consolation which can't cover up the rest of the issues highlighted.

As romcom's go this was one of the worse that I've seen so much so that even if your an avid fan of this type of movie you'll have a hard time getting any pleasure out of watching it. Time to forget about this and move onto another one.

Rating: 3.6/10

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Reviewed: Arthur - 2011

12A - 110mins - Comedy - 22nd April 2011

Now for a guy who takes an immediate disliking to Russell Brand the prospect of watching him for nearly 2 hours did not fill my heart with joy especially when he was to be acting as a rich layabout. But I buckled on down and watched away hoping to be pleasantly surprised and I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be (still nothing special mind).

Arthur is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name and follows Arthur (Russell Brand) the a rick drunken playboy whose only worries in life seem to be how to top his last stunt or where his next lay is coming from. To help him through life Hobson (Helen Mirren) his nanny and Bitterman (Luis Guzman) his chauffeur are there to look after him. Despite this help, he still gets into trouble at every turn which leads to the company in which he is the sole heir becoming nervous about the future.

So when his mother (Geraldine James) becomes sick of his attitude, she gives him an ultimatum that he can either marry Susan (Jennifer Garner) who would ease the shareholders concerns or be cut off from the family fortune and live out life in the real world. The only problem being he has finally met the girl of his dreams Naomi (Greta Gerwig) and so faces a dilemma.

I have only seen some of the original not all of it and in that respect, Brand seems to capture some of the charm and essence that Dudley Moore brought to the role but I still find it hard to relate or feel anything towards the main character. Are we supposed to feel sorry for the billionaire who finally has to make a decision and do something with his life? O boohoo!

First and foremost thought, it's a comedy so did it make me laugh? In general no but I have to say there were at least a few jokes that got me smirking but over the length of the film, which was too long in my opinion, were few and far between. Brand plays the drunk well (not that surprising) in a more toned down version of his usual characters which won me round- I'm still not a great fan but his performance was solid.

Arthur partly entertained and when not compared to the original gives the opportunity to zone out for a couple of hours and be mildly entertained. If there was another choice available then I would probably go for that but there are definitely worse comedies around than this one.

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Reviewed: Bad Teacher [2011]

15 - 92mins - Comedy - 17th June 2011

Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) has somehow found herself as a school teacher during her life when all she wants to do is grab a man with lots of money who can provide for her. With her former fiance having worked out the truth and ditching her, Elizabeth has to return and teach for yet another school year much to her frustration. Not only does she have to teach the children but also has to keep the principal (John Michael Higgins) and goody two shoes teacher Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch) off her back while all the time fending off the gym teacher Russell's (Jason Segel) advances.

Things start to look up then when she discovers the new substitute teacher Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake) is sitting on a family fortune. But Elizabeth has competition from the ever perky/mentally unstable Amy so sets about getting money for a boob job that will be sure to win over Scott and his money. Confrontations get even more extreme when Elizabeth discovers there's a cash prize for the teacher who achieves the best academic results.

Timberlake once again shows that he is more than apt in the role as a dorky geek with his transitions to the screen a lot more impressive than some other wanna be pop star actors out there. During the movie, there was a moment when I thought they were going to get him singing properly but luckily he knows how to rip on himself very well. I'm still not sure whether most of his laughs come from the fact that the audience knows he is Justin Timberlake and he is doing weird things or whether it is because of his character. I'm inclined to say the former but he still got the laughs.

The others did their jobs with nothing spectacular but no duds either. Special credit goes to Phyllis Smith who plays Lynn the introvert teacher who is always pushed around and Segal who's performance merited more screen time. It also wouldn't be a Diaz film if there wasn't some point at which she lost a few layers and despite being just shy of the big four O she sure knows how to pull off a car wash scene.

There was something with the soundtrack that I liked as well. It suited the mood and gave that scheming feeling which was apparent whenever Diaz or Punch were on screen.

Bad teacher impresses more than I thought it was going to with a combination of over the top characters that play off of each other well and several cringe worthy moments leading the way in the laughing stakes (I actually laughed quite a few times). Sure there were some jokes that didn't quite make the cut for me and the reverting to toilet humour cropped up a couple of times but these instances were few and far between. It's certainly better than the long list of mediocre comedies that have been shown so far this year (Hall Pass, The Hangover Part II, The Dilemma) and is certainly worth a watch.

Rating: B-

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