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.

Trailer Review: Oblivion (2013) - Joseph Kosinski

I'm kind of lost for words, this trailer looks like this will be a great Sci-Fi movie. Just from the trailer you can see that this it not the kind of world you want to live in, and that our main character (Tom Cruise) hasn't been told everything that happened. I'll put the trailer below please check it out and let me know what you think.

Here's a link to the trailer in case you can't see the video below Oblivion Trailer 2

Trailer Review: The Host (2013) - Andrew Niccol

          If you knew nothing about the story of this film, except what you see in the trailer, that it’s an alien invasion Sci-Fi movie with a love story mixed in and plenty of action scenes thrown in the mix too, you’d be excited too right? But when you know the story’s from the writer of the Twilight books, it kind of ruins it right?

          I’m going to say I’m excited for this film, the trailer sets it up beautifully and I’m hoping the writer took the core of the story from the book and built a great Sci-Fi movie around it. But I’m also concerned that I’ve been duped by the trailer and it’s going to be a straight up love story and the trailer is like the first 5 minutes of the movie. So I’m going to say wait till you hear what reviewers say about this film before you go see it, fingers crossed its good though.

Check out the video below or at the link here The Host Trailer 3

Review: The Adjustment Bureau (2011) - George Nolfi

"I can go through this door alone. You'll never see me or the people chasing us again, or you can come with me, and I don't know what's on the other side, but you'd be next to me and that's all I've wanted since the minute I met you."

          Another film I really wanted to see but never got around toseeing at the time. I only knew the basic plot outline, that Matt Damon’scharacter (David Norris) and Emily Blunt’s character (Elise Sellas) were on therun from some sort of group (the Adjustment Bureau) and that was all I knewgoing into this film. My biggest regret with this film is that I haven’t see itsooner, as I thought it was amazing, it was only once I had finished watchingit and researching it for this review that I found it was based on a Philip K.Dick short story, which makes sense once you watch the film, but also explains alot of the themes present in the film.

          The story starts with David and Elise meeting and kissingand then falling in love, but David doesn’t get her name, but she inspires himto give a very honest and frank speech following his unsuccessful run for USSenate. The film flashes forward to the next month where Harry Mitchell(Anthony Mackie) is given an assignment by his boss Richardson (John Slattery)to ensure Daivd spills coffee on his shirt making him late to a meeting. Harryfalls asleep and David get doesn’t spill his coffee and makes it on to his bus,where he meets Elise again and this time gets her number, however  when David arrives at work he find his friendCharlie frozen in time and being examined by unfamiliar men in suits, he triedto run away but is caught by them and is taken to a warehouse. At the warehouseRichardson explains to him that the men are from The Adjustment Bureau and thatthe alter peoples paths and in the case of David’s friends their decisionmaking process to make sure that their life follow “The Plan” a documents setout by “the Chairman”. The Bureau then take Elise’s number from David and tellhim that he was not meant to ever meet Elise again; they also warn him that ifhe ever reveals the Bureau to anyone else he will be "reset"(basicallyhave his mind wiped), he agrees to keep the Bureau and their activities secretand is allowed to leave.

          For the next three years David rides the same bus in thehopes of meeting Elise and he finally does when he sees her walking beside thebus, she is initially dismissive of him and had assumed that he was alreadyseeing someone when he asked for her number, he tells he that his wallet wasstolen and that he lost her number and that why he couldn’t call her, he learnsthat she dances for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and plans on says he’llattend her performance later that evening. The Bureau tries to stop him frombuilding their relationship by causing their schedules to separate them. Davidraces across town, fighting the Bureau's abilities to "control hischoices" to ensure he will meet Elise. During the chase the Bureau usesordinary doorways to travel instantly to locations many blocks away. Seniorofficial Thompson takes over David's adjustment and takes him to the warehouse,where David argues he has the right to choose his own path, here Thompsonexplains how humanity has previously had free will, but each time it has gonewrong and reveals how the Bureau were behind mankind’s greatest achievements. Thompsonimplies that without Elise's influence David might become President of theUnited States and benefit the world, and warns that if he stays with her, hewill ruin both of their futures. Thompson causes Elise to sprain her ankle at aperformance to demonstrate his power, and David abandons her at the hospital tosave them from the fate Thompson described.

          Eleven months later, Charlie tells David of Elise's upcoming wedding as he campaigns again. Harry contacts David via secret meetings in therain and near water, which prevents the Bureau from tracking them. Harryreveals that Thompson exaggerated the negative consequences of David andElise's relationship, and teaches David how to use doors to teleport, and evadethe Bureau's adjustments. David reached Elise just before her wedding and revealsthe Bureau's existence to her, and shows her how he travels through doors. TheBureau pursues them across New York City. David decides to find the Chairman toend the chase; Elise isn’t sure, but agrees to go with David. They enter theBureau's offices and eventually find themselves trapped and surrounded on theobservation deck of the GE Building. They declare their love for each other andkiss before David can be reset. When they let go of each other, the Bureaumembers have gone. Thompson appears but is interrupted by Harry, who shows hima revised plan from the Chairman that allows David and Elise to stay together.After commending them for showing such devotion to each other, Harry tells thecouple they are free to leave. The film concludes with David and Elise walkingthrough the streets, as Harry speculates that the Chairman's plan may be toprepare humanity so it can write its own plans.

          The first thing that stuck me about this film was that itwas a love story, I really wasn't expecting that from the trailers or movieposters, also its impossible not to mention the religious symbolism in this film.The Bureau play the part of angels and the Chairman is God, these behind thelooking glass style movies where it’s revealed that mankind is being guided bysomeone else’s plan is in some ways is a nice thought, as in everything reallydoes happen for a reason, but it’s just as equally disconcerting that thechoices you make are an illusion and could have been made for you already by someoneelse. The love story is actually really believable and the chemistry betweenDamon and Blunt is very believable and doesn't ever feel forced.

I loved this movie, it really gripped me and had methinking. As a Philip K. Dick inspired story it can join a great collection ofmovies such as Minority Report, Total Recall and Blade Runner. I encourage youstrongly to check out this film if you haven’t seen it already, I’m going togive this film a 9/10 it’s nearly perfect to me.

Review: Source Code (2011) - Duncan Jones

"Source Code is not time travel. Rather, Source Code is time re-assignment. It gives us access to a parallel reality."

          This was a film I’d heard a lot about when it came out in the cinema, and really wanted to check it out unfortunately I never got around to it, so I thought I’d rectify that. The premise of this movie is really interesting and is full of the kind of twists that M. Night Shyamalan is best known for having in his films, but that’s getting a bit ahead of myself. So the basic plot of the movie is, a US soldier (Captain Colter Stevens played by Jake Gyllenhaal) using an experimental device called the “Source Code” is able to relive the last eight minutes of someone’s life, in this case the man in question is Sean Fentress, a school teacher who died on a train bombing that took place before the films story starts. The majority of the film takes place during those eight minutes before the train explodes, with Stevens  trying to find out who and what caused the explosion as the man responsible claims that the train bombing was a precursor to a larger dirty bomb that he will detonated in downtown Chicago.

          It was really interesting to see Stevens try a variety of different methods to identify the bomber and locate the bomb to identify characteristics which may help identify the bomber; it’s also funny to see him avoid pitfalls he previously encountered and solve problems from experience. The whole movie on the train feels like a puzzle and you feel invested in the solving the problems and feel invested when it’s solved. However not all of the film takes place on the train. Stevens is supported by a team of scientists and army personal; it’s in these scenes we feel unease and that there might be something more going on that they’re not telling both us the audience and Stevens, as they are very unwilling to answer his questions each time he returns to his cockpit after each eight minute segment. Eventually Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) explains to Stevens that his body is on life support and that his mind is connected to the Source Code machine and that the cockpit he’s been returning to after each mission is just a figment of his imagination, this angers Stevens and he demands that he be allowed to die. They deny his request and send him back into the Source Code, where eventually Stevens’s identity’s the bomber as Derek Frost (Michael Arden), who the army track down and arrest.

          Stevens then asks if he can be returned to the Source Code one last time to try and save the people on the train and then have his life support switched off, which Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), the boss of Source Code initially agrees to, but reveals he was only lying to Stevens and orders Goodwin to wipe his memory and prepare him for the next mission. Goodwin instead decided to honour Stevens wishes and sends him back into the Source Code where he successfully catches the bomber and emails Goodwin thanking her for what she did for him, he then disarms the bomb and even has the whole train carriage he was on laughing as he kisses Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) the pretty girl who was sitting opposite him on the train as the timer runs out on the eight minutes. Goodwin then pulls Stevens life support and we see him die.

          The movie then flashes to the earlier that morning where Goodwin receives an email from Stevens thanking her for what she has done and telling her that the Source Code works better that they could ever have expected, the date is then revealed to be that of the day of the train bombing, which now never took place. The next scene is of Stevens now permanently in Sean Fentress body going on a date with Christina Warren.

          I really had no idea what to expect from this film when I watch it, other that knowing the basic plot. I was blown away by how engaging the story was and how little the eight minute train segments over lapped and in no way were boring or repetitive. I would highly recommend this film and I’d give it a 8/10. Well worth checking out if you haven’t seen it already.

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: 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.

Review: Star Trek (2009) - J. J. Abrams

A legend is retold and improved.

"Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives, including your mother's and yours. I dare you to do better."

          I'm ashamed to admit that last night was my first time seeing this movie, as a huge Sci-Fi fan I've been meaning to check it out for ages but kept putting it off. I should also let you know I am not a Star Trek fan, not because I don't like the series, I just never got drawn it to it, but I will be the first to admit that this film was amazing. As a Star Wars fan I'm extremely jealous that this was the reboot to your series and how it kept the humour and feel of the original TV and Film series. The catalyst for finally watching this movie was the fantastic trailer for the sequel to this film Star Trek: Into Darkness, which looks amazing so I knew I had to see this film and it's a great jumping on point for anyone who doesn't want to track down and go through the original film and TV series, but still wants to see what the big fuss is with Star Trek and unlike most reboots it doesn't completely throw away the history long time fans have come to know.

          Well to get on with the review proper. The plot of this film is basically a retelling of the origin story of the original (USS) Enterprise crew and how them meet and their interactions with each other and how they rise to their positions, the but that makes this unique though is that this is an alternative reality caused by time travelling Romulan's hell bent on exacting their revenge on Vulcan for the loss of their homeworld by the actions of Spock in the original series timeline/reality. It's not as confusing as it sounds, but like I said it allows everything that happened before to be canon and yet still allow the creative crew behind the film to take liberties and change certain events for the purpose of their story and to surprise both Trekkies and new fans alike. The film opens with the USS Kelvin being attacked by the time-travelling Romulan ship, with the unborn (Captain) James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) on board and the death of his father George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) as he rams the Romulan ship with the USS Kelvin, in order to allow the escape shuttles to get away.

          Twenty five years later we then see the cocky James Kirk training with the rest of the Enterprise crew, some of whom don't get on with him especially Spock (Zachary Quinto). A similar electrical storm in space takes place where the USS Kelvin was attacked and then Vulcan, Spock's home-planet is attacked by the time-travelling Romulan ship, which wasn't seen since the original attack. The cadets are mobilised to help the Vulcan homeworld, the ships are overwhelmed by the advanced Romulan ship which is drilling into the core of the plan to create a blackhole in the centre of the planet and destroy it. The crew are too late to stop the destruction of the planet but do manage to rescue the Vulcan high council. Spock was promoted to captain and orders that they return back to earth and regroup with the rest of Starfleet, Kirk disagrees and is ejected onto a near by planet, where he meets the original or older Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) and Old Spock tells Kirk about there friendship and how he was too late to save the Romulan homeworld and how this is an alternate reality to the one he had come from originally, they also come up with a plan to get (young) Spock to show his emotions and therefore have to resign as captain so as Kirk can become captain of the USS Enterprise and basically save the day. Scotty and Kirk beam to the ship and then as Captain, Kirk stops the Romulan's destroying Earth and destroys their ship in a blackhole, and returns to earth where he is promoted to Captain of the Enterprise and starts to become friends with Spock.

          What can I say about this film? Visually it's stunning, the cast are amazing and the story is simple and yet effective. I highly recommend this film if you love good action and sci-fi movies and for me anyway it's a 9/10. Well worth checking out especially if the trailer for the sequel excites you.