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.

Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) - Timur Bekmambetov

          Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, doesn’t that name get you excited, one of the most influential men in history and one of horrors most iconic villains all in one movie? Aren’t you just drawn in? Don’t you want to see this film? Well you’d be disappointed if like me the mere title excited you and had you thinking of the possibilities. I mean the idea of the film sounds simple enough take one historical figure, sprinkle in fictitious elements and boom success, right?

          Well for this film sadly the answer is no. But I don’t know where the film fails, that is to say I can’t see why it doesn’t entertain but it just doesn’t. Maybe it the alternate history, maybe it’s the way the characters are written, but something about this film just doesn’t have that greatness too it that certain films do. The actors though are phenomenal are put in some truly great performances, Benjamin Walker is believable as Abraham Lincoln especially in the 20-40 age bracket, he’s also very likable and should go far as an actor, Dominic Cooper is great as Henry Sturges, Lincoln's mentor in vampire hunting and a vampire who lost his wife and humanity to vampires and Mary Elizabeth Winstead is amazing as Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln's wife.

          But maybe semi historical films just aren’t meant to be paired but with action horror movies. I am genuinely struggling for words to say about this film, but by no means am I saying that this is a bad film, its slightly worse than that it’s a plain film. It is worth checking out would probably make a great film to have on in the background as it doesn’t require much attention to understand.

          With the new rating system this film is a 4/10, not a bad film, but sadly not a good one either. It's the kind of film that if it was on TV some night it would be worth a watch of if your drinking with friends and want something on in the background other than that though I really cant recommend this film, which is a pity as it has so much potential.

Review: Contagion (2011) - Steven Soderbergh

          Contagion is one of those rare films’s that blends accuracy and action beautifully. The film is a realistic look at how a virus can spread in our modern society and shows the worst case scenario of how a relatively small outbreak can quickly spread and become and an epidemic.

          The film starts out simply enough and shows a businesswoman, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) on her way home after a business trip and an affair, she’s sick we later find out she’s patient zero and the infection spirals out from her, she infects her son who infects other children in his school, however the father, Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) is immune to the virus. Beth’s condition worsens and she’s rushed to hospital where she dies, when Matt goes home he finds his son has also died from the same illness. We then see that the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) and WHO (World Health Organisation) are both tracking the outbreak of a as yet identified virus in China, the same place Beth was on her business trip. The WHO then send Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) as their representative to China to try and find out the epicentre of the virus. Homeland security fearing that the virus maybe a biological weapon being used on the eve of Thanksgiving contact the CDC for advice. Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) a conspiracy theorist, posts videos about the disease on his blog.

          This is one of those films with several interlinking stories that you either love or hate and while it isn’t hard to follow the over arching story, you do have to pay attention. Seems as though most people haven’t seen this film I won’t spoil it but I will try and summarise up the rest of the story.

          Basically the scientists struggle to find a cure for the virus and eventually do find one, however in the mean time the disease spreads and society decays and worst aspects in society are shown. This is a very gritty film but well worth the watch.

So rating, I’d give this film a 8/10 it mightn’t be for everyone but I feel most people will enjoy it, especially scientists.

Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010) - Edgar Wright

          I remember when this film came out in the cinema all my friends that went to go see it kept telling me how amazing it was how original and unique the story was and how I never got to see it in the cinema. So instead I read the comic and fell in love with the beautiful black and white images that Bryan Lee O’Malley had drew and the strange love story presented on the pages. The problem was now I was very emotionally attached to the story and had such high expectations for the film (after all the hype my friends had given it) I was worried how it would turn out, by this stage I had decided to wait for the film to be released on DVD. So were my worries justified? No. Putting it simply this is one of (if not my) favourite films ever.

          So what’s it all about then? Well if you haven’t seen Scott Pilgrim, I suggest you do go see it, but if you’d rather not then I’ll try and not give away to many spoilers. Scott (Michael Cera) is in his early 20’s, he’s a musician and he’s started dating a high schooler (Ellen Wong as Knives Chau), he’s never worked a day in his life and he’s very happy go lucky. His friends don’t approve of him dating her. He then meets another girl Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who is quiet literally the girl of his dreams and becomes obsessed with her ignoring Knives completely. He starts dating Ramona and knows he has to breakup with Knives but keeps putting it off, there’s also one tiny little catch with dating Ramona. Scott has to defeat her seven evil exes. As you can imagine things don’t play out smoothly for poor Scott and around evil ex 4 he begins to wonder if Ramona is worth it, and Knives now realising Scott had been seeing her as well as Ramona does what everyone in the same situation would do she blames everything on Ramona.

Scott then starts to realise how much Ramona means to him but he might of drove Ramona back into the arms of her seventh evil ex, Gideon Gordon Graves/G-man (Jason Schwartzman) who’s the one responsible for putting together the seven evil exes, he’s also literally inside her head by  a conveniently placed control chip. So Scott goes to win Ramona back and challenges Gideon to a final fight with the power of love and is killed, however following the films gamer logic Scott uses his 1up he got earlier to give the fight another go and this time with the power of self respect he along with help from Knives and Ramona defeats Gideon and walks off into the distance with Ramona.

          Ok so as I mentioned I love this film and comic, I loved the use of gamer, music and general nerdy references and here the film is not only extremely faithful to the comic but takes things one step beyond for example each ex is given a symbol representing their number. I also love the actors, I’d love to be able to pick out a stand out but everyone is so true to their character and represents them so well, the one I’d pick if I had to though would be Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells, Scott’s roommate and all around scene stealer when he’s on screen and takes some liberties with the character that make him probably my favourite. However there are some things I take issue with the main one being the shortening of the story, in the comics Ramona and Scott’s relationship takes place over the course of a year so it makes sense that the two fall in love with each other and it also makes the ending more believable, where as in the film it takes place over the course of about a week so the ending doesn’t feel deserved, the film makes even thought as much putting in an alternate ending where Scott ends up with Knives, that fits with the film. I also missed certain characters/scenes from the comic but I can see why they were cut.

          I realised I never gave a rating before to any of the films I’ve reviewed, that’s because I think you should be able to tell from how I talk about a film how I feel about it, but I think I’ll start giving ratings on a 10 scale. So Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a 10/10 for me. I highly recommended you check out this film and hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I have.