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).