Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation London Location Hunt

What do Jeremy Renner fans do when not watching their hero? Well, they re-enact parts of his films in their actual real life locations, and they lunge of course...

Anyone who read my Geek La Chic articles back in April will already know that I am not only a huge Jeremy Renner fan, but I have also met a great many of my best and most treasured friends through his fandom. What an amazing bunch of people he has as his fans. I hope he realises.

After we collectively went to see Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation in July (review here) we decided that our next outing should be to hunt down some of the London locations used in the shoot of the movie.

One of my Renner friends Sammy actually tweeted the director Chris McQuarrie to find out which train station they filmed in towards the end of the movie. He returned her tweet telling her it wasn't actually a station, and if we found it he'd send her a poster. Sadly we didn't manage to find the building with the red tiles but we did find a whole bunch of other locations and did what any discerning fanwoman would do, we took pictures of each other re-enacting moments from the movie. If that doesn't earn us all posters then I don't know what will.

Our first location was actually one of the first parts of the movie (after the plane take off), when Agent Hunt goes to get his mission in a London Record Shop...

Next up we found the theater that Agent Hunt stood in front of to take a phone call from the IMF.

Suze was our Agent Hunt stand in for this shot as she was the only one who would brave going into the stinky London telephone box.

Our next mission was to find the "station" in the movie. We had been informed this was King's Cross but it seems now that most of this scene was shot somewhere else. Back to the drawing board. In the mean time Ims did get this shot of me pretending to be the smirky Agent Brandt, my newspaper in hand and lean perfected.

Ims also photographed me as Benji and Luther in the same part of the film.

We were pooped after our day out in London and called it a day after this so that we could re-fuel, sleep and prepare ourselves for mission day 2.

Our first location on day 2 was a lane passing the Royal Courts of Justice, down which Ethan Hunt and Ilsa Faust flee while escaping from Soloman Lane. Here I captured Ims and Suze re-enacting the scene beautifully.

Next we headed to Middle Temple to look for the arches where Ilsa and Vinter have a particularly atmospheric knife fight. In the process we found the steps where Ethan Hunt runs down in the dark, gets into the building and jumps out of the window on the right to fell his opponent. We were all inordinately pleased to find that the shrub is real.

The arches where Ims and Suze re-enacted the knife fight using Biro's.

Whilst heading to our next location (and getting lost within Middle Temple) we discovered another two locations we hadn't even been looking for, the first one was outside Middle Temple Hall. Here I re-enact Ilsa running. She's much fitter than I obviously.

The second was this tunnel where our hero and heroine of the hour are being chased by the bad guys! Here I think Suze is being all of the characters in the scene simultaneously. :)

Our next planned location was The Tower of London/Tower Bridge, the dockside of which was used in the very tense scene where Agent Hunt meets with Ilsa and her hostage Benji.

We also assumed that the building Soloman Lane looks out of was one of these across from Tower Bridge.

 

Our final location was St John Street, looking towards Smithfield Market. The spot where Agent Brandt "betrays" his colleagues in a classic red phone box, which unfortunately was a prop. Hence I, as Brandt, made the call in the street instead.

After making the fateful telephone call where he effectively sold out his friends, Agent Brandt trudges despondently down the street.

We also found the location of this warehouse scene, although could not go inside to take a picture.

We ended our day with a signature Renner Lunge (Patent Pending I'm sure) to ease out any aches from all that walking around London.

I hope you enjoyed the tour, and maybe we've helped you to source some locations you might have been looking for. If anyone reading this does happen to know where the King's Cross scenes were filmed (somewhere with a main hall that's very big, and in London) please do get in touch. 

Massive thank you to Ims, Suze and Sammy for the use of their photos and helpful information. Screenshots courtesy of Google Images and Paramount Pictures. 

Brooklyn

http://www.brooklyn-themovie.com/

When in London for the weekend and you're faced with a day of rain, there's only one thing for it, a movie.

My companions and I weren't sure what to see as we'd initially wanted to check out Crimson Peak, but that had mostly finished. Then we considered seeing Burnt, but I'd already promised to see that with another friend. Finally, one of our group suggested seeing Brooklyn as she is a fan of Saoirse Ronan. 

I've only seen Ronan in a couple of movies, How I Live Now and Lovely Bones (I don't count Atonement as I honestly don't remember anything about her in that, other than her being the little sister who ruins everything for Keira Knightley's and James McAvoy's characters) and I wasn't particularly impressed by her in either of those offerings. I recently caught a bit of The Host when it was on TV but again I wasn't particularly gripped by the performances or the storyline and eventually I changed channel. 

I knew nothing about Brooklyn other than who the star was, and as such, I must admit that I went in with rather low expectations.

The movie tells the story of Eilis Lacey, a girl growing up in Ireland in the 1950's who gets shipped off to live in Brooklyn through an arrangement made by her sister Rose, and priest Father Flood. At first she is homesick but she eventually builds a life for herself in Brooklyn, meeting a nice young man out there and wanting to settle down. But when family tragedy strikes, Eilis must decide where her heart really lies.

It was only after the film was a short way in that I remembered reading a little about the story and I recalled thinking that it sounded quite creepy, this young girl being shipped to Brooklyn through an arrangement with a priest. Thankfully the movie is quite the opposite. The friendship between Eilis and Father Flood is a sweet one, he's very much a guide and father figure for Eilis and their scenes together are lovely. As is the film as whole.

I cried a lot more than I was expecting to, it is very much a weepie, but it's so rich with characters who you absolutely fall in love with, from the idyllic boyfriend Tony, to the girls in the boarding house, including the head of the house Mrs Kehoe, played brilliantly by Julie Walters, right down to Tony's little brother who steals the two scenes he's in completely. It's a genuinely lovely, heartwarming story and I could not fault a single thing with it. 

I guarantee that such a nice little movie will not be around for long so I urge you to see it while you can. 9 out of 10.

 

Viewing Date - 7th November 2015

UK Release Date - 6th November 2015

Cast Overview:
Eilis Lacey ~ Saoirse Ronan

Tony Fiorello ~ Emory Cohen

Jim Farrell ~ Domhnall Gleeson

Father Flood ~ Jim Broadbent

Madge Kehoe ~ Julie Walters

Miss Kelly ~ Brid Brennan

Mrs Lacey ~ Jane Brennan

Rose Lacey ~ Fiona Glascott

Director ~ John Crowley

Writers ~ Nick Hornby, Colm Toibin (based on his novel of the same name)

Fantastic Four

http://www.fantasticfourmovie.co.uk/

I will admit that I was not looking forward to seeing Fantastic Four and one of the reasons I wanted to attend Cineworld's unlimited screening of it 3 days ahead of release, was to get it out of the way. 

I had no problem with the studio changing the colour of Johnny Storm's pre-firey skin. In honesty I didn't really have a problem with the studio re-telling the story with a much younger cast. After all, if they were going to re-make the story as an origin film, a younger cast would be needed. No, my problem was that we didn't need this film at all. 

In an age where strong female characters seem to be getting shafted out of superhero movies, we didn't need a remake of an existing franchise. What we need is a female lead superhero movie. There. I said it.

Now let's get to the synopsis so I can really start tearing a hole in Fox's reboot and why it really didn't work.

We open on a young Reed Richards who needs a power converter for his teleportation device. He starts a highly unlikely friendship with tough kid Ben Grimm and together they zap a toy car to who-knows-where. Skip a few years and Reed is at the forefront of teleportation technology and on the brink of being able to send matter to another dimension. After making a breakthrough and getting hammered, Reed, Ben, Johnny and Victor Von Doom decide to take a joy ride in the teleporter and boldly go to the other dimension to explore. Needless to say it all goes horribly wrong, and in the process they lose Victor and all exhibit 'powers' upon their return. Including Sue Storm who wasn't part of the landing party but was in the lab when they all returned looking slightly worse for wear. Skip to the end and after a more sensible party is sent to the other dimension, Victor is found. And surprise surprise, he's pissed. Wonder why?

This was an origin story where they seemingly couldn't actually be bothered to tell the story. The early scenes of Reed and Ben could have been really in depth, building not only their relationship with each other, but also allowing the audience in on that too. Instead, the whole film just seems rushed, and like none of the characters have been properly developed. The drunken mission just seems incredibly unlikely given the people involved are supposedly some of the worlds brightest minds, and poor Sue, being the woman of the hour here is given virtually nothing to do for the whole film except listen to music. 

The end fight scene comes around far too quickly and is over before it begins. I will give the film it's due and say that at least it isn't a scene for scene remake of the 2005 Fantastic Four, but it also doesn't improve on that film either. And for a movie that is being made 10 years later I expect leaps and bounds, not baby steps.

Like I said at the start of the review, I had no problem in the changes made to Johnny Storm's character from the original comic book creation. Characters can evolve from their original intentions. Evolution is all good. But there was one major change to a character that I just couldn't get on board with. Billy Elliot as Ben Grimm. Come on Fox, what the hell were you thinking? Ben is supposed to be the muscle. You said it yourself in the trailer. So why cast the shortest and skinniest actor you could find? It makes no sense at all. 

My cinema buddies commented on how it would have been nice to see some scenes of them coming to grips with their powers, how they controlled them, mishaps along the way etc, and I agree. Any kind of character development on the part of any of the characters would have been nice. But we weren't given that opportunity. It's time to give the toys back to Marvel now Fox. You've had your chance twice, and you're clearly not making the most of what you've been given.

Please can we have a Black Widow movie now to counteract this crap? 2 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 4th August 2015

UK Release Date - 6th August 2015

Cast Overview:

Miles Teller ~ Reed Richards

Kate Mara ~ Sue Storm

Toby Kebbell ~ Victor Von Doom 

Michael B Jordan ~ Johnny Storm

Jamie Bell ~ Ben Grimm

Reg E Cathey ~ Dr Franklin Storm

Tim Blake Nelson ~ Dr Allen

Director ~ Josh Trank

Writers ~ Simon Kinberg (Screenplay), Jeremy Slater (Screenplay), Josh Trank (Screenplay). Based on characters by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Southpaw

http://southpawfilm.com/

I was originally meant to see Southpaw on my birthday. Being a Jake Gyllenhaal film I should have seen it on it's opening day, but my bestie came down for my birthday weekend and that night we had tickets to see Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man, so Southpaw was pushed back to my birthday. Only 2 days after release, I could live with that.

On the day, the weather was terrible so we holed ourselves up in the cinema and watched Labyrinth (being shown at our local independent cinema) and Inside Out (as it's tradition to watch a Pixar film on my birthday) and when that had finished we were all tired and wanted to get home. So no Southpaw for me. Eventually I managed to see Southpaw last Thursday along with Mission Impossible and Minions. Bit of an odd triple bill to say the least.

The movie is about successful boxer Billy Hope (Gyllenhaal) who loses his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) in a tragic accident, when another boxer challenges him at a charity event. He loses a lot more than Maureen when in the process of grieving for his wife, he crashes his car whilst under the influence. His house, his possessions and his daughter are all then taken from him in quick succession. Billy finds himself literally on the ropes and trying to get his life back together.

The trailer for the movie gives a lot away, but at the same time sets the film up as being a very gritty and really quite violent piece of cinema. When in reality, at it's core, this is a film about family. It's a film about losing sight of who you are and finding the strength to get back to being that person. Gyllenhaal gives one of the best performances of his career. Yet again becoming the character so completely that you don't see him anymore, you just see Billy. Struggling father and athlete. You will have probably all heard that this is "the best boxing movie since Raging Bull" so I won't harp on about the actual boxing scenes, but they are very realistic and you can tell that everyone involved worked hard to make them so. 

I was also pleasantly surprised by Forest Whitaker. In the past I have found his performances a little hit and miss. Sometimes he's great and other times (more often than not) he can be quite over the top. His achievement here was to put in a grounded and believable performance, and his inclusion in the movie added an acting heavyweight to the ensemble rather than detracting from it. 

I'm only sorry that I've been so busy lately that this review has been on the back burner. It looks like this movie might have already left most cinemas, and with Mission Impossible Rogue Nation coming out, it has probably done so too soon for a lot of people to see it. If it is still on at a cinema near you though, and if you're a fan of the realistic boxing movie, or of an unexpected family drama, do go and see Southpaw. 8 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 30th July 2015

UK Release Date - 24th July 2015

Cast Overview:

Jake Gyllenhaal ~ Billy Hope
Rachel McAdams ~ Maureen Hope

Forest Whitaker ~ Tick Wills

Oona Lawrence ~ Leila Hope

50 Cent ~ Jordan Mains

Director ~ Antoine Fuqua

Writer ~ Kurt Sutter

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

http://www.missionimpossible.com/

Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that I went to see the latest Mission Impossible movie. But keep reading, because the outcome of the review might actually surprise you.

My friends and I recently underwent a mission of our own, to watch all four previous Mission Impossible movies on the run up to the release of the new one. You might think that this was a relatively easy task but trying to factor in four busy people's schedules, summer holidays and other commitments made it rather taxing. We fit the first movie in no problem. I even baked us an MI Pie.

Movies 2 and 3 we did as a double bill, and in the end I watched Ghost Protocol with one of my group of friends after seeing Rogue Nation. I'd never seen MI2 before and I have to say that it's my least favourite of the franchise. But we're not here to discuss MI2, or MI3, or even Ghost Protocol. But if you do want to know what I thought of that movie you can read the review here. It was prior to me joining the Renner fandom so any bias towards him was purely coincidental.

Rogue Nation pretty much carries on from where Ghost Protocol left off, as if you recall, at the end of Ghost Protocol Ethan (Tom Cruise) is listening to his next mission parameters which include infiltrating a shadow organisation known as the syndicate. Initial jaw dropping plane stunt aside (which is merely the opening gambit), that's what Ethan is trying to do in this movie. All whilst the future of the IMF hangs in the balance. Brandt (Jeremy Renner) goes up against Huntley (Alec Baldwin) of the CIA to try and keep the IMF in place, but when Ethan's mission is shut down his old team of Brandt, Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) must try and assist Ethan without being disavowed themselves. Throw in a new baddie played by Sean Harris, and a woman who has questionable loyalty (Rebecca Ferguson) and you have a twisty turny plot that never lets up. 

Then there are the stunts. Mission Impossible movies have upped the anti on stunts since the first movie when Ethan Hunt gets thrown off a helicopter in the channel tunnel onto a moving train. MI 2 saw Ethan dangling from Dead Horse Point in Utah, MI 3 saw him jumping from buildings in Shanghai and of course who could forget the Burj Khalifa scene from MI GP? Rogue Nation has quite a few death defying stunts for Cruise to tackle. The first being the plane sequence, the second the underwater sequence and the third is the spectacular bike chase. Similar to MI 2 but still impressive to see that it actually was Cruise doing his own riding, without helmet and even flinching at one point when his knee came perilously close to the tarmac. 

As a Renner fan though I was disappointed that his character didn't have more to do. In his first outing in Ghost Protocol we saw him as an analyst and also a kick ass field agent, doing his own err, well, lunges. This time out he had a lot less to do which was a shame. Having said that, I think my favourite sequence from the new movie was one that didn't actually feature agent Brandt at all, and that was the opera scene. I loved everything about it, all of the backstage snooping, the fights, the music, everything. And if you aren't humming Nessun Dorma for days after then I don't know how you managed that.

The only downside for me was that Rogue Nation was a little too complex a storyline, and I admit that I didn't really understand it fully until the second viewing. The story did feel a little rushed but then when you have to move your release date forward by 5 months, that's going to happen. But it doesn't detract from an otherwise entertaining film. It was also nice to see a lot of the London locations used for this one.

As far as the franchise goes, my brother summed it up well when he said that 3, 4, and 5 are a great series of movies altogether. I'd agree with that, but 4 is still my favourite. 8 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 30th July 2015

UK Release Date - 30th July 2015

Cast Overview:

Tom Cruise ~ Ethan Hunt

Jeremy Renner ~ William Brandt

Simon Pegg ~ Benji Dunn

Rebecca Ferguson ~ Ilsa Faust

Ving Rhames ~ Luther Stickell

Sean Harris ~ Solomon Kane

Tom Hollander ~ Prime Minister

Alec Baldwin ~ Alan Huntley

Director ~ Christopher McQuarrie

Writer(s) ~ Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pierce

Based on television series "Mission: Impossible" by Bruce Geller

Pixels

http://www.pixels-movie.com/site/

It's only after seeing Pixels that I have heard about the boycott against it for being a sexist movie that is trying to deny it's sexist nature. I can't honestly say that knowing that prior to me seeing the film would have stopped me, as it probably would have just intrigued me more, and in the interests of wanting to make my own informed opinions I think I would have seen the movie anyway.

Having seen it I can't honestly say that I know what the fuss was about. Yes there is an over sexualised female character who is the object of desire for Josh Gad's character. But from what little knowledge I have of the gaming industry I believe she is based on characters from games like Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider. Is it therefore the filmmakers fault that she is sexualised, or the makers of the games on which she is based? I mean you could argue that the Pac Man character is too round or yellow, but he's based on an existing character? The same people who have accused the film of being sexist have also seemingly overlooked the female Colonel character portrayed by Michelle Monaghan. Yes she has her moments of weakness (which I think are justified given her character's circumstances) but she is as badass as the boys and is much more than a love interest.

Debating aside I quite enjoyed the movie which is about aliens coming to take over the earth - with a twist. The twist being that a time capsule sent into space in the early 80s (to show our lives and culture) was taken by the aliens as a threat. They saw video games which seemed to be calling them out for a battle, and so when the aliens arrive for a showdown, they appear in the form of the characters they saw in the capsule. I was surprised to find that the so-called hero of the hour, Adam Sandler, has toned down his usual annoying tendencies and whilst he's never going to be a great actor, he was more than watchable and you did find yourself rooting for the geeks to win.

It's been touted as an action comedy and whilst I enjoyed it fine, I wouldn't say it was funny. The action sequences were different from the norm however owing to the addition of the game characters. I didn't really see why the movie needed to be in 3D though, as old games used to be 2D so this seemed an unnecessary gimmick.

Save yourself a few quid and see it in 2D if you're going to see it at the cinema, but it's probably only worth it if you're a retro games fan. 6 out of 10. 

Viewing Date ~ 28th July 2015

UK Release Date ~ 12th August 2015

Cast Overview:

Adam Sandler ~ Sam Brenner

Kevin James ~ President Will Cooper

Michelle Monaghan ~ Lieutenant Colonel Violet Van Patten

Peter Dinklage ~ Eddie Plant

Josh Gad ~ Ludlow Lamonsoff

Brian Cox ~ Admiral Porter

Sean Bean ~ Corporal Hill

Jane Krakowski ~ First Lady Jane Cooper

Dan Aykroyd ~ 1982 Championship MC

Director ~ Chris Columbus

Writers ~ Tim Herlihy (Screenplay and Screen Story), Timothy Dowling (Screenplay), Patrick Jean (Short Film).

Terminator Genisys

http://www.terminatormovie.com/#home

I've been a fan of the Terminator series for a long time, probably longer than I should have been given that I was 4 when the original was released. I was recalling the other day how I used to have the iconic poster of Arnie on the motorbike from T2 on my wall when I was about 12, but looking at the 1991 release date I must have only been 10. Crazy stuff.

Although I don't believe I got to see T2 in the cinema as I was definitely too young, I do remember seeing The Terminator as I managed to catch it in 2011 when it was shown at The Duke of Yorks as part of a Cameron double with Aliens. My review can be found here if you're interested. I loved getting to see the first film on the big screen, even if it was somewhat spoiled by the fact that Dukes were clearly showing a very scratched DVD that kept jumping and freezing. I suppose it just added to the nostalgic atmosphere of the evening...

Anyway, enough backstory, I am a big Terminator fan, you get it, I even like Salvation, which most people hate. When I heard they were making another film I was quite happy about it as I assumed it was going to carry on the timeline from Salvation, but for those who have avoided reading any reviews for Genisys (as I did), I can tell you now that it does not. 

Genisys starts out by showing an alternative meeting between a child Kyle Reese and an adult John Connor. John saves Kyle from a Terminator who was without doubt going to kill him (and probably his dog too), and so owing John his life, and idolising his mentor, he follows John into the resistance movement against Skynet. Skip to some years later and John has finally discovered where they are keeping their time travel device that they are planning to use to send the original T800 back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor. He asks for a volunteer to go back and save his mother, and of course, Kyle offers to tackle the task. 

Here is where the story differs from the original as we now have a new timeline that Kyle travels back to, it's new because a T800 was already sent back to protect a 9 year old Sarah Connor from a T1000. The same type of shape shifting liquid metal terminator that was sent to kill John in T2. Following? Sarah's parents were killed by the T1000 just as John's foster parents were in T2, and so the T800 became her guardian. They bonded over time, and now they are a badass duo who are waiting for Kyle, and not only for Kyle, but for the T800 coming to kill Sarah, and they destroy him before he's even able to steal some clothes from the punks he attacks in the first film!

If you're familiar (and I mean very familiar) with Terminator 1 and 2 you'll be fine but I really feel this will be a stretch for anyone who doesn't know these movies well. No longer needing to be rescued, Sarah shows Kyle the time machine that her and 'pops' (as she calls the protector T800) have been working on, in order to go back to the 1996 'Judgement Day' and stop Skynet before it goes online. But Kyle has other ideas due to some flashbacks he had when he was travelling back to 1984 that take a bit of explaining before they make sense. 

You can get your head around it but it does help if you know the originals really well. 

I didn't really have any issues with the story, it made sense to me for the most part, the action set pieces kept the excitement amped up, but for me it was the casting that failed to hold up. I think it was always going to be tough to compete with the original because you're going head to head here. This isn't about casting a younger or older version of a character, this is about re-creating them at the exact moment that the original was set. 

They all tried their best, but try as they did, Emilia Clarke is too brunette and too short to be the Linda Hamilton Sarah Connor that's in my head, and Jai Courtney is too bulky and too dumb to be Kyle Reese. Hamilton had such an innocence about her in the first film and I get that all of that is supposed to be gone for this version of Sarah because she's been brought up by a terminator, but she should still essentially LOOK the same right? Same goes for Courtney, as soon as he started stripping off for the time travel capsule I couldn't help but think 'uh, he's too muscly'! Maybe that's just me, like I said, they all put in good performances, but for me the casting just wasn't right for the 3 main roles (Arnie aside obviously). I like Jason Clarke but he wasn't John Connor for me. 

Overall there are some nice nods to the original, the director certainly nailed those early scenes that mirror the first film, and some moments of 'oh this is good', mostly whenever J.K. Simmons was on screen. But mostly it fell oddly flat. There was also a distinct lack of chemistry between Clarke and Courtney which I am sure didn't help those scenes where you should be feeling something building between them. An okay but by no means the be all and end all of Terminator movies, 6.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date: 4th July 2015

Release Date: 2nd July 2015

Cast Overview:

Arnold Schwarzenegger ~ Guardian

Emilia Clarke ~ Sarah Connor

Jason Clarke ~ John Connor

Jai Courtney ~ Kyle Reese

J.K. Simmons ~ O'Brien

Davo Okenivi ~ Danny Dyson

Matt Smith ~ Alex 

Courtney B Vance ~ Miles Dyson

Byung-Hun Lee ~ Cop/T1000

Director ~ Alan Taylor

Writer ~  Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. Characters by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd.

Big Hero 6

 

http://www.disney.co.uk/big-hero-6

I happened to catch Big Hero 6 on an advanced preview back in January. But attendance on the reviewers accreditation course taught me the importance of timing. Posting a review too far in advance of the film's release will do about as much good as no review, as people will likely forget what that film was that such-a-body liked/didn't like. So I held off. By the time the film was released in February I'd still not written my review and then I was too busy to get it out there.

So I decided to wait until the film was due it's DVD release before unleashing my review on the world.

Those who know me already know that I love the film. And a select few of them would probably be confident to say how much I love it. But the rest of you are about to find out.

Big Hero 6 is the story of 14 year old Hiro Hamada and his big brother Tadashi. They are orphans who live with their Aunt Cass in the future mish-mash city of San Fransokyo. Hiro and Tadashi are both intelligent and talented boys, while Hiro uses his smarts to take part in illegal Bot Fights (I know - the fights aren't illegal, betting on them is!), Tadashi puts his to use in creating a healthcare robot that will revolutionise the healthcare system the world over. Baymax, the healthcare companion, can scan you, and is programmed with over 10,000 medical procedures. However, when Hiro finds he's faced with a more emotional type of hurt, Baymax steps up to the plate to find any way that he can to help him. And so begins the most adorable and heartfelt companionship since Wall•e and Eve.

Not only is the film one of the most beautiful Disney have ever produced, it's also simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. The first time I watched it I had to dab my eyes a couple of times, but in one of the final scenes of the movie the little boy who was sitting with the family in front of me started openly sobbing, and I could hold it together no longer.

Whilst recalling this moment I remembered when Up! came out a few years ago and my brother told me that he was planning to take my nephew to see it. I forewarned him that he would cry at the opening sequence but he asked how his son would feel. I said, he'll be fine, but YOU will cry. Because some things just don't effect kids the way they effect adults. But some things even kids know are sad. And Big Hero 6 definitely evokes the sad in all of us. Much like the first Disney movie I saw, Bambi. I remember crying a lot when I saw that and I must have only been around 5 years old.

When I wasn't bawling my eyes out I was able to appreciate all of the sumptuous cityscapes, the truly gorgeous inside of the teleportation portal, and all of the little nuances that Disney do so well. The things that make a Disney movie stand out. The main example would be when Baymax and Hiro are sitting on top of a balloon overlooking the city, and seeing that Hiro is swinging his feet from side to side, Baymax starts doing it too. Don't even get me started on the fist bump, I might cry again.

I will stick my neck out and say this is the best Disney movie (true Disney not Pixar Disney) in years. I just watched the special features on the Blu Ray and was surprised to hear one of the directors say that the first Disney movie he saw was Bambi (mine too - in fact I think it might have been the first film I ever saw at the cinema) and he actually started tearing up when he talked about the effect that had on him. If Disney keep employing guys like this, we might finally be getting back to a golden age of Disney. And that, well that is something I am very excited about.

See it. Buy it. Tell everyone you know to see it. And if you don't fall head over heels in love with Baymax I might have to deny all knowledge of knowing you. 10 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 4th January 2015

UK Release Date - 30th January 2015

Cast Overview

(Don't look if you don't like knowing who the voice actors are!)

Scott Adsit ~ Baymax

Ryan Potter ~ Hiro

Daniel Henney ~ Tadashi

T J Miller ~ Fred

Jamie Chung ~ Go Go

Damon Wayans Jr ~ Wasabi

Genesis Rodriguez ~ Honey Lemon

James Cromwell ~ Robert Callaghan

Alan Tudyk ~ Alistair Krei

Maya Rudolph ~ Cass

Directors ~ Don Hall and Chris Williams

Writers ~ Jordan Roberts (Screenplay), Daniel Gerson (Screenplay), Robert L Baird (Screenplay), Duncan Rouleau (Big Hero 6 Team and Characters Created by - as Man of Action), Steven T Seagle (Big Hero 6 Team and Characters Created by - as Man of Action), Paul Briggs (Head of Story) and Joseph Mateo (Head of story).

San Andreas

http://www.sanandreasmovie.com/

I will go and see most things that are shown on Cineworld's Unlimited Screenings so the fact that I decided to see San Andreas tonight, 3 days ahead of release is not so surprising. What is surprising, especially to me, is how much I enjoyed it.

I can probably count on one hand the number of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson movies I have seen in my lifetime. I've never seen past the first Fast and Furious film (although I understand that the latter few have been pretty decent) and the other movies he's made have never really grabbed me, but as I said above, this was an Unlimited Screening so I thought, why not.

If you've ever seen a disaster flick you'll know exactly what the formula is, and San Andreas certainly sticks to the character side of that very well. There's the hero (or in this case two main hero's), the dad, he's skilled in some way, in this instance a Fire Department helicopter pilot who rescues people on a regular basis. There's the woman he loves, typically they're not together anymore (due to a family tragedy that tore them apart), then there's the child, in need of rescuing (for the purpose of the plot) but actually doing pretty okay by themselves. You also have the villian or coward as it tends to be in disaster movies, he usually gets what's coming to him, and of course there is the science guy that no-one listened to when it could have made a difference. They're all here and they're just as you remembered them from all the other disaster films you've seen.

In this particular disaster film, the crux of the story revolves around the San Andreas Fault, the line that separates the tectonic plates of The Pacific and North America, where there genuinely is a lot of siesmic activity. The area is notorious for earthquakes and so the filmmakers have built their story on fact. At least in part.

The film opens with a bang, literally, when there is a rock slide (hur hur) that shows off the mad skillz of our hero, followed almost immediately by the San Andreas Fault 'going off' whilst our two science nerds, err I mean, Siesmic experts, are trying to pull a Helen Hunt (Twister reference for those of you who are under the age of 20) and develop an early warning system that will allow them to predict when and where an earthquake will strike, and more importantly what size it will be on the richter scale. In the midst of earthquakes left, right and centre, our hero's daughter happens to be in San Francisco with the coward of the piece who just happens to be her mom's boyfriend. Oh and about here is where Kylie shows up (yes, THAT Kylie) for about 5 minutes in a completely pointless cameo.

Lots of cheesy lines later...

"What are we gonna do?" - "We're going to get our daughter back!" *audience hurrah*

... lots of people are dead but The Rock somehow manages to come out of it unscathed. *audience hurrah*

My brother specifically told me I wasn't allowed to use the old critic adage of 'you can leave your brain at home' as (and I quote) "That's a sign of a lazy critic that can't admit they've enjoyed something". Well I am not at all ashamed to admit that I enjoyed San Andreas thoroughly. In fact I would go so far as to say it's the most fun I've had in the cinema in ages. You definitely don't have to concentrate on the plot as it's paper thin at best, it's just a roller coaster of action and it's so tense it'll have you gripping the edge of your seat so you don't fall off it. It's unapologetically cheesy though so get ready to groan through some of the lines, or do what I did and just laugh at them as they were definitely intended to be seen as cheesy.

So much fun, so much action, and even a little teeny bit of romance thrown in. There's also a really quite bad English accent (he's Australian but with a very posh English sounding name) and a fantastic shot of the daughter's amazing underwater floatation devices (she's over 18 so it's okay fellas - make sure you see it in 3D for the full eye popping effect). It's got everything. Go see it. Really. 9 out of 10 on the richter scale.

UK Release Date - 29th May 2015

Viewing Date - 26th May 2015

Cast Overview:

Dwayne Johnson ~ Ray Gaines

Carla Gugino ~ Emma Gaines

Alexandra Daddario ~ Blake Gaines

Paul Giamatti ~ Lawrence

Ioan Gruffudd ~ Daniel Riddick

Hugo Johnstone-Burt ~ Ben

Art Parkinson ~ Ollie

Kylie Minogue ~ Susan Riddick

Director ~ Brad Peyton

Writer(s) ~ Carlton Cuse (screenplay), Andre Fabrizio (Story) and Jeremy Passmore (Story)