DVD/BluRay Movie Reivew: Cloud Atlas (2012) - Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others. Past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future." - Sonmi-451

          Cloud Atlas, wow just wow, where do I start? I guess I should start by telling you where this films story came from, it's based on David Mitchell's novel of the same name which is made up of 6 individual stories split in two and interwoven by characters, themes and souls. The 6 stories takes place in different periods between 1849 - 2321 and follow their own "Comet's" struggle to make a change in the world. The characters in all of the time periods are played by the same actors and each actor has up to 6 different roles they play. The movie differs from the layout of the novel in that instead of showing half of each story in chronological order and the whole of the 2321 story and then the second half of each other story in reverse chronological order, it instead chops up each story and interweaves them using similar setting/actions/opposite outcomes of a situation's as the cutting point.

          Cloud Atlas is one of those films that rewards repeat viewings and it is only by repeat viewing that you will notice little minor details that link the stories besides the overarching themes and obvious similarities. For me the most striking theme was that of slavery and how those in charge/a position of power will often abuse that power and take advantage of people with the obvious example in 1849 of it being actual slavery to the 2012 stories locking up old people in a nursing home to the 2144 Neo Seoul example of a genetically breed servant class being created. Now their are other themes such as redemption (of a soul), love, corruption of power and many more, their is no wrong way to interpret this film.

          I would love to talk about the story but with the film being nearly three hours long and each of the 6 stories all being so different it would make this review unreadable, and that is one of the negative points of this film, it's length. At times it feels very much like a film lovers film, in that it can be jarring and hard to follow at time and definitely rewards repeat viewing as I previously mentioned, but if you love film like I do this film is perfect for you, but if your more of a casual film lover maybe this film isn't for you. I'm sure everyone who invests the time in this film will love it, but getting people to commit the time is the problem, it flies in the face of traditional Hollywood wisdom and maybe for that reason alone it deserves a watch.

          I would be doing the film a great injustice if I didn't mention how stunning it is, the special effects are amazing and like all good special effects are not noticeable, the prosthetics and facial make-up at first are jarring but once you get used to them you don't notice them and instead see how one person can evolve or de-evolve through out the course of the film.

          So in conclusion for me the film was a 9/10, but I don't think I could recommend this film to everyone, but if you love film and don't mind investing the time and energy into following a complicated story then Cloud Atlas is definitely worth the effort.

Review: Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) - Paul W.S. Anderson

"You two made it... I thought I was the only one that survived. What is this place and why is everything in Russian? And what's with the S&M getup?"

          I can’t say I was looking forward to seeing this film, the series so far has been really disappointing, the games which the story is loosely based off are some of my favourites so its such a pity to see the characters treated this way.

          The story of this film picks up exactly where the last one ended with Alice captured by the Umbrella Corporation and being held in their secret underwater research centre. It’s actually not that unbelievable a scenario for the franchise. In this particular facility, Umbrella have built simulations of various major cities from around the world in order to show off their biological weapons to countries that could use them against each other a la cold war nuclear missiles style. These simulations are filled with clones of various past characters who have appeared in this franchise, allowing previous actors to return and in some cases play two roles, which is quiet an interesting idea. There’s not really much more I can say about the plot without giving it away, so let’s talk about the film in general.

          The story’s consistent with previous films in the franchise, as in not that great and really doesn’t hold up to too close an examination but is still decent, the character development is very hit and miss, mainly miss but some characters do grow and change, most stay the same as can be expected with the fifth film in any franchise, dialogue is its usual cheesy self and is full of typical action movie clichés. However the fight and action scenes are where this movie really shines and can give bigger budget movies a run for their money.

Having said all that these films are a guilty pleasure, judge me all you want. But their great popcorn movies and I can enjoy it at that level and check off my brain and have a good time. Would I recommend it to anyone? Yeah, anyone looking to kill a bit of time, that enjoys good action movies and can leave their brain at the door, it also a great film to watch drunk or drinking with friends, not for everyone though. I’d rate this film as a 4.5/10 not a horrible film, but by no means a good one.

Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Peter Jackson

"Why don't we have a game of riddles and if I win, you show me the way out of here?"

          To say I’ve been looking forward to this film along time is an understatement, so unfortunately I cannot promise an unbiased review, I can instead promise a fan’s review. So for me personally the build up and production history of this film are as big a part of its story as the actual film and book on which it’s based. This is quiet a rare film for me where I knew the story going in and for the most part knew what to expect having read the book, and yet half the films story was new to me, you could say the story  was Unexpected.

          Ok on to a bit of the history of this film, I’ll try and keep this brief. The film has been in production since late 2007 and was originally set to be two film directed by  Guillermo del Toro, with Peter Jackson serving as Executive producer, development of the film was notoriously slow which eventually lead to Del Toro’s departure from the project and Jackson taking over directing duties. Now as most of you will know the story of The Hobbit is a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings (LOTR), it was originally written as a children story and having read the book the story is very light and doesn’t have the same depth to it as LOTR so I was shocked when it was announced that Peter Jackson was looking to split the story up into three films, as I personally thought two was stretching it a bit but made sense if they were going to tie the plot of The Hobbit into that of LOTR. I think what we got in the cinema was the extended version cut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re a fan of the extended versions of the LOTR movies, but can turn off casual/new fans of the film franchise. Also the addition of a lot of extra material from JRR Tolkien’s other works mainly the Appendices from the end of The Return of the King and possible taking some cues from The Silmarillion (especially the parts filling in the blanks between as well as around The Hobbit and LOTR stories).

          So thoughts on the film, as much as I loved it, it was a bit slow and took ages to get going. We’re introduced to a younger Bilbo (Sixty years before the events of the LOTR took place), who for the most part isn’t as likable character as the Bilbo we meet in the LOTR. This younger Bilbo is quiet reserved and stuck in his ways and has very little interest in doing anything out of the ordinary. He is whoever forced into action by his friend Gandalf the grey and eventually agrees to join an adventure with a group of thirteen Dwarfs and Gandalf looking to reclaim the Dwarves lost home from the possible deceased dragon Smaug. This first film is mostly following Bilbo’s journey to overcome his more comfort-loving reserved side and him realising that he can be a useful member of the team and that he has unique skills to offer. There is also a lot of side plots introduced in this movie that weren’t present in the book that while the fill in the blanks of what’s happening in Middle Earth, do little to serve the story except increase the running time. Having said that though, I really did enjoy this film, visually its stunning and while practical effects such as having actual actors in make up as the Orc’s were replaced with Computer Generated Graphics this time around I still found myself being drawn into the story and investing in the character.

          While I think the decision to split the story into three films was foolish and resulted in scenes that would have normally been included on an extended cut of this film making it into this movie, it was still a great movie. The only warning I’d put on it was to only go see it if you love The Lord Of The Rings movies (especially the extended cuts) if you only liked them maybe just wait until its out on DVD/BluRay and rent it then. For me personally this film was an 8/10, great potential but a bit bloated in part.

Review: Total Recall (2012) - Len Wiseman

"If I'm not me, then who the hell am I?"

          I didn’t grow up on the 1990 version of this film, and I’ve only ever seen in it parts so I won’t be comparing the two films, I will instead be judging this film solely on its own merits and flaws, I might do a comparison of the two if I watch the original one or if people ask for it. So let’s start with the basic plot, in a dystopian future: a factory worker, who’s happily married, feels like there’s something missing in his life, so he goes to Rekall to have artificial memories implanted into his head, to make him think he’s a more exciting person, however once the memory implantation starts all hell breaks loose and the machine triggers memories of another life and the movie then becomes one long chase scene as the main protagonist tries to discover who he really is an unlock the secrets inside his own brain.

          Colin Farrell is great in this role as the dual character of Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser its one of his better roles in my opinion and he plays the character quiet believably. Kate Beckinsale is great as Lori as a UFB undercover agent posing as Douglas Quaid’s wife. Then the main cast is rounded off nicely by Jessica Biel playing Melina a member of the resistance and Carl Hauser’s love interest. The rest of the cast are brilliant with Bryan Cranston as the corrupt and ruthless Chancellor of the United Federation of Britain Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen and Bill Nighy as Matthias Lair, the leader of the Resistance. As you can tell by the character’s this isn’t a typical sci-fi film and instead in my opinion uses it as a medium to tell a much deeper social and political movie along the likes of 1984, but I could be reading into the film a bit much as I personally found the similarities striking and obvious.

          Maybe expanding on the political landscape will help explain this film a bit more, we learn that most of the world has been destroyed by a global war leaving only the United Federation of Britain ((UFB) (Britain and a few surrounding countries)) as well as The Colony (Australia) inhabitable, making space, both to live in and work in an extremely valuable and rare commodity. Workers live in The Colony and work in the UFB each day via The Fall (a gravity elevator/shuttle/train like system that transports people between the UFB and the Colony through the centre of the Earth). So this creates a two tier society with residents of the UFB being affluent and well off and ruling the workers of the Colony. This situation then gives rise to the rebellion who’s plan is to separate the Colony from the UFB, which does sound very Orwellian but as I’m not familiar with the 1990 movie or the original short story this was based on I can’t say if that’s the intent of the source material or this adaption’s own spin on it.

          Let’s talk about the graphics and visuals. In short their stunning, the film feel like it takes place in the same universe as Minority Report (2002) (another Philip K. Dick, short story adaptation) which I like and feel is a nod to their shared origins. The world of the film also looks and feels like it’s lived in, as in the buildings are run down, the props looks old and busted like they should if this world was real.

          People have criticised this film and I feel most of that comes from people who were more attached to the 90’s version of the film will judge this film more harshly than others who are new to it. One of the biggest complaints was the lack of character development, which I can justify by the fact the main character of Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser is already a developed character, he just doesn’t know it, due to being brainwashed. I’d nearly go as far to relate his arch to that of Guy Pearce’s Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, where the character doesn’t grow so much as our understanding of the character’s past does instead.

          So to wrap things up, I would recommend you check this movie out, it’s a great action sci-fi film and can certainly be enjoyed on that level alone, but if you like to explore the deeper socio-political message like I did you’ll find something deeper to this film. So I would give this film a 8/10, a great action movie, with more to it than meets the eye.

Review: Looper (2012) - Rian Johnson

"I work as a specialized assassin, in an outfit called the Loopers. When my organization from the future wants someone to die, they zap them back to me and I eliminate the target from the future. The only rule is: never let your target escape... even if your target is you."

          Hello new favourite film. To say this movie has a simple premise is too vastly under sell the story and idea’s that went into creating this movie, putting it simply this is a film that demands your attention and rewards you for it.

          The film starts by introducing you to the world of Looper (basically it’s the near future 2044, and time travel hasn’t yet been invented, but it is in the year 2074 and is outlawed soon after, however criminal gangs use it to get rid of people they want killed by sending them into the past, it also mentions about 10% of the population develop psychic abilities due to a mutation) and explains what a looper is (a hitman in the present (2044) who kills people from the future (2074), sent back in time by gangs in the future as its impossible to dispose of a body due to over population) and the current state of the world (over populated and struggling to provide for people in major towns and cities).

          Ok, if you’re still with me, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe in 2044, and has prosthetics and make up to look like Bruce Willis who also plays Joe in 2074 and is sent back in time to 2044 to be killed by his younger self, known as closing your loop, which frees you from your contract and seems strange but that’s the rules. The premise of the film is then how your younger selves actions can affect and alter your older selves memories and impact on their life, which makes for some interesting scenes and idea’s but can get very confusing. The movie has a very Terminator-esque feel to it and they do share some similar treads with the older Joe (Willis), having to carry out a mission that in his own mind would undo the reasons for him getting sent back in time. I don’t want to mention any more of the plot but if you like the sound of it so far I’d highly recommend checking it out.

          How would I rate this movie, I’d give it an 9/10, it blew me away with its premise and visuals and the make-up that Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks amazing, he’s really convincing as a younger Bruce Willis, so go check it out.

Top Ten: Movies of the year 2012

          Before I get to the list itself I just want to thank everyone who's supported me and read these reviews this past year. It means alot and I really enjoy doing this, hopefully I'm improving and hopefully you like what I've been doing. Can I say what a great year this has been for movies, this list was so hard to cut down to ten as as you'll see its technically twelve, but my list my rules so there. Anyway there's a few movies I'd like to mention that didn't quiet make the list, but I still think you should check out so here they are:  The Woman in Black, Men in Black 3, Snow White and the Huntsman, Ruby Sparks, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Sinister, Cloud Atlas, Moonrise Kingdom, Brave, Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street, ParaNorman, Frankenweenie, Argo, Ted, Silver Linings Playbook, The Watch, Sinister and Project X.

          There are four other movies I'd like to talk about briefly about before i get to the list the first is The Amazing Spider-Man and before I saw it I was in the Why-do-we-need-this-movie-we-already-got-before-with-Sam-Rami camp but once I saw it I had to admit it was a good movie and a great take on the Spider-Man franchise, so check if out if you haven't yet. The second film I want to mention is John Carter, a film that did bad at the box office due to bad publicity in my opinion, while it wasn't the greatest movie ever made it isn't anywhere near as bad as you may have heard, and the people who complained that it was ripping off Star Wars and the Flash Gordon serials should know that the book this film is based off was out before all of those and that they ripped this movie off, I also this this movie suffered with marketing, if it had of been called John Carter of Mars, of Princess of Mars would it of done better? Maybe it would of but unfortunatly it wasnt and it got ripped to shreads by critics, I for one am diaspointed as it looked like it would of been a good film series one that could of rivled Star Wars but we'll never get to see that.

          Lastly I'd like to mention The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey & Django Unchained – At the time of writing this I haven’t seen these films but going on pedigree alone I can guarantee that these are both amazing movies. With The Hobbit I’ve heard mixed things but if you’re a fan of the LOTR trilogy you should love it and with Django all I’ve heard has been good, plus it’s a Quentin Tarantino film so you know it’ll be amazing (Death Proof was ok). As soon as I get to see these two I will update this list, who knows one of them could top the list when I do. Anyway with out further ado, here's my top ten films of 2012, enjoy.

10 The Raid: Redemption & Dredd – The Raid was one of the most beautifully shot and original films I have ever seen, I recommend you see the original version not the dub, there’s not many subtitles to read. Dredd is in the same space as unfortunately it has a near identical story to The Raid, I imagine its just a case of bad timing though rather than a genuine attempt to rip off the former and again is a great action film well worth checking out.

9. The Hunger Games – This is here more for the book which I thought was amazing and while I knew the film couldn’t live up to my expectations as it was aimed at a teen market, I wasn’t prepared for how much of a departure it was from the novel. Still a great film that you should check out and the sequel looks like it will be good too.

8. Chronicle – One of the freshest reimagining’s of the superhero genre ever. When this came out earlier this year it was my favourite film of the year so far. It makes great use of the found footage genre too and it inventive having the characters controlling the camera with their minds to make it more stable and to get the wide angle shots. A work of genius, please watch it.

7. The Secret World of Arrietty – I’m a sucker for anything Studio Ghibli, while not my favourite of their films it’s still a captivating film and defiantly worth watching. This film is based on The Borrowers books and in typical Ghibli is visually stunning and heartfelt, the Disney dub is great and so is the original Japanese voice track. The Ghibli movies are a great starting point for anyone wanting to get into Anime and you can get them very easy.

6.  The Cabin In The Woods – I love horror movies, especially the classics like The Evil Dead, so when I first hear about this film and that it was a Joss Whedon movie (he helped write the script) I was in. I knew that this was a twist on the usual horror movie set up but I tried to avoid spoilers, so when I saw this film and how it deconstructed the horror movie genre and the film in a film style of it, I was blown away. Go see this film if you love horror movies and especially if you’re a Joss Whedon fan, you’ll love it.

5. Pitch Perfect –This is the funniest film I've seen all year, and is up there with the best Comedy films of recent year. A heart warming story that never feel forced or unreal and gives the world Fat Amy and shows that Anna Kendrick is quiet a capable young actress. Well worth checking out.

4. Promethus – The sort of prequel to the Alien films, this one really polarizes people, you either love it or hate it. I loved it, it wasn’t a perfect movie but as far as sci-fi movies go its up there with the best, I think living in the shadow of the Alien movies doesn’t help its case but its easily the 4^th best Alien movie if not 3^rd so that’s go to count for something. I say check it out at least but be warned it’s a film that likes to think it’s smart.

 3. The Avengers – The first film on this list that I excited to see before it ever existed. Marvel well and truly deserve a round of applause for making such an ambitious film, full stop, leave alone make one of the best superhero/comic book films ever. The planning that went into this film with all the little post credit scenes just make the pay off so much better, no other film can boast such an ensemble cast of such well known and loved characters, and who knew Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk would steal the show? The only downside is one second viewing some of the magic is lost and having seen it opening night in a packed cinema watching it alone really doesn’t compare, but leaving that aside this is a phenomenal film and one to watch if you’re a comic book fan.

 2. Looper – The most creative and original film I’ve seen since The Raid ha. But seriously this is an amazing film and one you need to see, its story is such a fresh take on the time-travel genre and is the best sci-fi film I’ve seen all year. I won’t say too much more on this film as I have a review of it ready to post to the blog but you need to see this film.

1. The Dark Knight Rise – How do you follow up The Dark Knight, possibly the best super hero/comic book movie ever made? By breaking down your main character to a shell of the man he was before, by having him face a villain that can dominate him in a way no one was ever done before, by literally breaking your hero down and then slowly rebuilding him, by conquering his fear, to rise to the challenge. In case you can’t tell I love this movie and The Dark Knight Trilogy as a whole, Christopher Nolan is an amazing director and one of my personal favourites, but what the man has done here with such a fantastical character like Batman is mesmerising. While Bane might not quite match the intensity of the Joker in the Dark Knight, he isn’t really meant too, all of the villains in the trilogy so far have represented different aspects Bruce Wayne has had to overcome in order to be the hero Gotham city deserves. Watch this film if you haven’t I’d recommend watching all three movies together.