Pacific Rim Wondercon Trailer

After Guillermo del Toro gave excited fans a new trailer at Wondercon a couple of weeks back, he told them the trailer would never go public, only to be showed at Wondercon and then later Cinemacon, yet here it is. The reports from those who had seen the footage were hugely positive and so the people demanded to witness the wonder that had been showed at Wondercon, and Del Toro delivered.

The trailer is a huge step up from the first trailer we got, which was somewhat lacklustre and had many including myself unsure about the film, however there are few who will see the new trailer and not feel exited for Pacific Rim.

The Spanish filmmaker, best known for the amazing Pan´s Labyrinth, is one of the best at taking a plot that seems dumb and uninteresting and turning it into an awesome film, like he did with the Hellboy films. So while some people will look at this and think it looks like Transformers, many will understand that this is not a film about robots fighting monsters, it is a film made by Guillermo del Toro about robots fighting monsters. Huge monsters.

Check out the trailer below for Pacific Rim, which is out on July 12^th.

Iron Man 3 (2013) Review

Stark, Tony Stark. Man, Iron Man, back once again after a near death experience in The Avengers, dealing with what seems to be a form of post-traumatic stress after the incident. Then add a crazy terrorist blowing up his house and you´ve got yourself a good day for Tony.

As the film started the first thought I had was “oh no” and that thought stayed in my head for a while. The film´s first half hour had me thinking this was a major disappointment, which somehow maintained an above 90% on Rottentomatoes. The problem with the first half hour is that it throws so much emotion at the audience right away, before the audience has even gotten settled into the film. It almost felt like we were getting emotional payoffs to an emotional conflict that we weren´t introduced to yet. The biggest problem all then became the fact that since the first half tried to do character in a way that didn´t work, basically nothing happened story wise and so it became awfully boring for a while, however then everything changed. In the trailer we saw Stark´s house getting blown to pieces and this is the moment that the film really gets going. All of a sudden the film has a fairly engaging plot and the characters start to work and from there on the film was a joy to watch.

One could say that it is a no brainer that Robert Downey Jr. gives a good performance, but somehow he doesn´t quite nail the emotional scenes, especially in this first hour, but that may be due to them feeling forced and unnatural all over. That being said, he can still make us laugh, the audience, including myself, was laughing left and right due good writing and comedic timing. However, the two standout performances were from Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley, both being perfect in their roles.

Shane Black does a pretty good job directing, despite the occasional choice that betrayed your suspension of belief, but could easily have been avoided. Scenes like the one briefly seen in the trailer where Iron Man has to rescue several people falling to their deaths is sure to be one of the most impressive scenes you will see all year. What was quite neat about the directing is that often reminded me of an old-school Bond film, a tone that I would argue worked very well for the film. The climactic action scene is pretty big and bulky with Michael Bay level of explosions and robots, however the stellar directing keeps it being fun, with a very cool end fight scene.

Now there is one scene that needs to be talked about, even though I can´t really talk about it as it would spoil the film, but anyone who has seen the film will know what I am talking about. A certain twist in the film, which puts everything on it´s head already has Iron Man fans worldwide in fury and understandably so. However, as someone who has never read an Iron Man comic, I thought this was an ingenious twist, which really brought the film up a notch, however if you read the comics there is a good chance you will be enraged by this twist.

Iron Man 3 had a lot of potential, but also a lot of pressure. Sadly I can´t say it was quite what I had hoped for, due to a very lacklustre first half-hour, as well as too many moments that seemed silly or unbelievable even in a world where Iron Man is real. The plot is full of holes and maybe not the strongest plot I have seen, but it is effective and it does have some nice character moments, as well as the best twist in recent memory. Despite it´s many flaws it is a very enjoyable (only the original beating in being the best Avengers film) film for the most part, one that should be seen in theatres with a bunch of your friends and some popcorn. Oh, and don´t forget the post-credits scene!

3.5/5

Oblivion (2013) Review

Entering the newest auditorium in my local cinema, late on a Saturday night, I was reluctantly hopeful for the newest Tom Cruise (whom I am not a big fan of) film. After some commercials and a trailer for Iron man 3, they gave us three commercials in a row of the Dolby Atmos, feasting the ears with some impressive soundscapes, so far so good, until all of a sudden the voice of Ethan Hunt, by which I mean the faithful scientologist Tom Cruise, appeared doing narration. The first thought that popped into my head was why they have Morgan Freeman in a movie, but someone else is doing narration, and my second thought was that this was starting to look ugly. Tom Cruise´s stiff narration of some mediocrely written text telling us everything we needed to know (just to have it be repeated later in the film through dialogue, thereby neglecting the need for a voice-over in the beginning) put us up for a bad start.

The film is a mix of nearly every science-fiction film you have ever seen, making nearly every twist predictable miles away, however as knowing as little as possible about the film does help the enjoyment and so a plot synopsis will not be necessary. That being said, the story does its purpose, while not being very original, it managed to keep a certain amount of engagement in film, as well as making way for some incredible visuals. However, what is a very big issue in the script is the dialogue and characters.

The worst scenes in the film were those asking for an emotional response from the audience. There are three important factors in making emotions work in film, firstly the characters have to be well enough realised so that the audience cares about them and feel their pain, secondly the acting must be good enough so that the audience forgets that they are acting, and thirdly the dialogue needs to be natural, unpredictable and just overall good. 0 out of 3. There are no characters present in the film, outside some brief moment of trying to give Tom Cruise some character, but which just don´t seem to work (notice how I said Tom Cruise because in fact this was just Tom Cruise). Then there is the dialogue, which at times me you want to just run and hide in a closet because it was so cringe worthy. As for the acting, Tom Cruise is fine, but he is too much doing what he always does, but at least he is by no means bad outside a few bad line deliveries. However, when it comes to the girl he meets a third into the film, played by Olga Kurylenko, there are some huge issues. She seems to force a shocked expression onto her face for everything she looks at, having her walking around looking pretty ridiculous, as well as being far too melodramatic in the emotional scenes. Luckily both Morgan Freeman and Andrea Riseborough were pretty good for the scenes they were in.

Now to the positives, the visuals. If there is one reason to go to see this film it is for the astonishing visuals, which manage to pay homage to the great science fiction films we love, but still feel different. That being said they are not enough to keep your interest through the film, as everything is white, it eventually grows stale. That being said it always a joy seeing a famous landmark just barely peeking up from the crumbled earth (even though it makes no sense whatsoever).

The score by M83 was somewhat of a let down as it had some potential to be great and while it at times is truly epic; it becomes a tad overwhelming, as well as repetitive. It also seems like the director felt the need to crank the soundtrack with the most intensely epic song during a scene that feels more small and subtle, showing a huge flaw as a director.

While visually amazing, it is too convoluted and too illogical to have any chance of being engaging. The script lacks characters and good dialogue, making it easy for the audience to drop out. If your are going to just see a fun film with some friends, you could have a good time with this one if you can turn your brain off, as there are a couple of fun action sequences, but not much more.

2/5 

 

Top 10 Films of 2011

I decided to do the top ten films of 2011, while it may not be relevant, I wanted to do it as I simply enjoy making lists. 2011 wasn’t exactly my idea of a great in film, but there were still some gems to be found here.

10. We Need to Talk About Kevin

While it is a flawed film, there is not denying how effective it is. While it was easy to understand where the film was going, the ending left me disgusted and disturbed in a way that few films can accomplish. It is an interesting character relationship study that may not be a fun film to sit through, but is very worth it in the end.

9. The Artist

Charming, creative, funny, touching; there are many words that can be used to describe this very fun film. Having a film about the silent era, as a silent film, may sound very gimmicky, but the filmmakers employ multiple creative sequences, taking advantages of the film being a silent film.

8. Melancholia

Whilst the previous film will leave you with a smile on your face, this will leave you unable to even smile at all. Danish auteur Lars von Trier channels his own depression through the characters in this film about inescapable death and unavoidable apocalypse. The film needs to be complimented for its beautiful and haunting visuals and excellent use of classical music.

7. Senna

Documentaries are always hard to judge, as their credibility may be difficult to determine. Yet what a good documentary should do, is not even necessarily show reality, but convince you that this is reality, and Senna did this perfectly. The film feels as exciting as a good thriller and as engaging as a good biopic, while trying to tell its story, creating a both informative film, but also one that is more thrilling and engaging then most films out there. 

6. 50/50

This cancer-comedy is about- wait cancer-comedy? That really sounds like a bad idea when you think about it, cancer is a subject that is far too frightening and affects far too many people that it can be funny. Yet somehow this film pulls it off. Mixing a good bro-comedy, with a drama about coping with cancer, we get something that is both hilarious, yet will have you in tears in the end. Both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan give the best performances of their career.

5. Warrior

Bane, the early days. An excellent sports drama about two brothers competing in a MMA tournament filled with amazing performances from Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte. However it is not the fighting itself that makes this film so special, it is the metaphorical way it is presented and the well-written characters and relationships displayed in the film.

4. Midnight in Paris

As someone who is not a fan of Woody Allen, this is probably my favourite film of his. It has one of the funniest plots in recent memory. Owen Wilson stars as Woody Allen (by which I mean, he would have played this role if he wasn’t too old) and quite frankly he does it better then Allen himself and manages to not be annoying the way Allen is. A wonderfully fresh love-letter to the city of Paris and to a time long passed.

3. Drive

This marks the second Dane to make his appearance on this list, with Refn´s film Drive. While not as good as his previous film, Bronson, this stylish and dangerous crime-thriller was something straight out of the 80s. Gosling is exciting to watch as a man trying to turn his life around, but as we all know, getting out of a life of crime isn’t just anything. It is visually extraordinary and while going for a style over substance approach, it works on every level.

2. The Descendants

George Clooney gives his best performance ever here, as a dad trying to deal with his wife being in a coma, and he all of a sudden has to solely take care of his two daughters, well knowing that he has never been a great father. It is a very honest, un-Hollywood film about moving on, about family, and about dealing with crisis. It may not sound fun, but it is surprisingly funny thanks to a witty script, with good characterizations as well as pitch perfect directing from Alexander Payne.  

1. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

 I will admit I was a little confused the first time I saw this film and I, which I do suppose, is somewhat of a flaw, but I cannot stop by being baffled by how amazing this film is. Tomas Alfredson does the best directing job of the year, getting the pace and feel of this film just right, while somehow making it visually interesting. Gary Oldman shows me once again why he is one of my favourite actors of all time, as we are unable to take our eyes off him as he acts in this film. When the way he acts becomes part of the clue to understand the film as we are never allowed into his thoughts, but have to read it off of Oldman´s acting.

Honourable mentions: Shame, Tree of Life, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II