Genre: Action

Iron Man (2008) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / 1 Comment

Before ‘The Avengers’ or the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ hit the silver screen, director Jon Favreau began the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its first character; ‘Iron Man.’ Blowing audiences away with some incredible visual effects, thrilling action scenes and a very charismatic lead performance by Robert Downey Jr. as the egotistical; ‘Tony Stark.’ And, considering the film was self-financed by Marvel and had a mostly improvised screenplay, it’s incredibly impressive that ‘Iron Man’ is as entertaining and as exhilarating as it is by today’s standards.

Plot Summary: After being held captive by terrorists in an Afghan cave for months, billionaire and weapons engineer: ‘Tony Stark’ builds a weaponised suit of armour to fight his way out after discovering his weapons are being used for a more sinister purpose. Yet even after safely returning home, ‘Tony’ soon uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, forcing him to don his new suit once again and vow to protect the world as ‘Iron Man.’

Although most now know ‘Iron Man’ as a superhero icon, at the time in 2008, ‘Tony Stark’ was a relatively unknown character. Similar to ‘Thor’ and ‘Captain America,’ many of Marvel’s ‘B’ listers truly owe their now enormous fan-bases and iconic statuses mostly to their first appearances in Marvel’s live-action universe, with the first ‘Iron Man,’ in particular, adapting the character’s comic book origins fairly closely into a hugely successful action blockbuster.

The supporting cast of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, Clark Gregg and Shaun Toub are great throughout the film, despite only serving small roles within the story. However, it should go without saying that Robert Downey Jr. as ‘Iron Man’ himself absolutely nails the role, as he delivers every line of dialogue as an arrogant, pretentious genius. ‘Tony Stark’ even gives the narrative an engaging thread with his character arc throughout the film, becoming more likeable as the plot continues on, and although done many times before, it still feels pretty satisfying by the end of the runtime. Unfortunately, the biggest problem with Iron Man’ is the same issue that most Marvel flicks suffer from, this being the film’s weak antagonist. Although Jeff Bridges attempts to give his character; ‘Obadiah Stane,’ as much depth as possible, his transformation from a greedy executive to murderous psychopath feels extremely rushed and undeveloped.

Matthew Libatique’s cinematography is fairly creative throughout the film, however, from the various tracking shots of ‘Tony’ soaring through the sky in his suit, through to shots of ‘Iron Man’ taking down groups of terrorists, the majority of the cinematography backs up the quick pacing and utilises movement very effectively. Whilst the film isn’t ever overly focused on its science fiction elements aside from the suit itself, the CG effects throughout the film still hold up very well to say that was it was released in 2008, aside from the occasional shot of ‘Tony Stark’s head being placed atop of the suit.

The original score by Ramin Djawadi is a soundtrack which perfectly fits, alongside the character of ‘Iron Man,’ as the score makes excellent use of electric guitars and a drum kit to match ‘Tony’s young rock-star-like personality and taste in music, as there are multiple scenes of ‘Tony Stark’ listening to rock songs, such as ‘Back in Black’ and ‘Institutionalised,’ throughout the runtime. Not to mention ‘Black Sabbath’s now-iconic; ‘Iron Man,’ played over the end credits.

Even though all of the action scenes throughout the film are quite short, each action set piece is always exciting from start-to-finish, as ‘Iron Man’ takes down his enemies with style every time, utilising an array of different weapons and gadgets the film manages to still represent ‘Tony Stark’s cocky personality through these suited-up action sequences. ‘Iron Man’ was also the first film that kicked off Marvel’s typical style of humour, and while not as noticeable as some of Marvel’s other films, the film still contains plenty of scenes, in which, ‘Tony’ makes sarcastic comments or degrades those around him, and while many of these moments do make for some decent comic relief, I could see many of these scenes becoming irritating for those who don’t enjoy this type of comedy.

In summary, despite its few flaws, ‘Iron Man’ was one hell of an opener for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as without this film, we truly wouldn’t have what is now considered one of the most successful franchises in cinematic history, even with this ignored, however, the film is still exceedingly fun and is filled with plenty of memorable moments on its own, all of this, of course, held up by the brilliant performance from Robert Downey Jr. If you finally want to get around to watching this long-running film series, I’d say the original ‘Iron Man’ will definitely prepare you for what’s to come. Final Rating: 8/10.

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After Earth (2013) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

‘After Earth’ attempts to be a thrilling sci-fi adventure following a father and son as they crash on a hostile planet, surviving together, and bonding every step of the way, and with real-life father and son Will and Jaden Smith as the main two cast members, the film should be a recipe for success. But, due to its awful CG effects along with plenty unexplored story ideas and even some surprisingly poor performances, ‘After Earth’ is far more of a comedy than it is the exciting science fiction flick it set-out to be.

Plot Summary: In the far future, a crash landing leaves ‘Kitai Raige’ and his father, ‘Cypher,’ stranded on Earth, a millennium after catastrophic events forced humanity to abandon the planet, with ‘Cypher’ injured, ‘Kitai’ must embark on a perilous journey alone to signal for help. Little do they know, ‘Kitai’ is being hunted by a deadly creature every step of the way…

Co-written and directed by the once great M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs), ‘After Earth’ is just another one of the many duds Shyamalan has directed in recent memory, as while many scenes throughout ‘The Sixth Sense’ will always be iconic and beautifully crafted alongside some of his other work, many feel that this director has simply had his day as aside from the semi-sequel to ‘Unbreakable,’ ‘Split,’ back in 2016. Shyamalan has directed nothing but dreadful attempts at horrors and thrillers, before now turning his eye towards the sci-fi genre.

Unfortunately, the majority of the performances throughout ‘After Earth’ range from very bland to simply laughable, as although not quite as bad as some of the unintentionally hilarious performances in director M. Night Shyamalan’s other film; ‘The Happening,’ the film isn’t far off this standard, with one scene in particular where ‘Kitai’ is bitten by a poisonous insect coming off as purely comedic. What makes this so surprising, however, is that this acting duo have worked well together previously in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness.’ Yet, this time around, the two seem to have very little chemistry with each other throughout most of the film’s runtime in addition to feeling very miscast in their respective roles, as Will Smith who is usually known for being incredibly charismatic and funny portrays ‘Cypher Raige’ as a cold, emotionless warrior, completely going against his best qualities as an actor.

Throughout ‘After Earth,’ the cinematography by Peter Suschitzky is just serviceable, as whilst the film doesn’t really contain many inventive or memorable shots, the cinematography does make great use of many of the film’s spectacular natural locations, as the large variety of wide-shots do effectively display the true scale of the newly formed forests, waterfalls, and mountains that now inhabit this new era of Earth.

The original score by James Newton Howard is another dull aspect of the film, as the film’s score is barely recognisable from any other action or sci-fi film, despite this composer actually crafting many wonderful soundtracks in the past, including the original score for ‘The Sixth Sense.’ The film’s problems even extend into its narrative structure, as during the early stages of the film, ‘After Earth’ bombards the audience with information regarding the story’s world, cutting rapidly between an enormous array of different clips, often leaving the audience with far more questions than answers as the film forces exposition down the audiences’ throat through one overly long scene.

The film’s CG effects sadly don’t show much improvement either, as the huge variety of creatures within the story ranging from tigers to birds, to savage monkeys, all look less than mediocre. However, to give the film credit, the film’s main antagonist known as the ‘Ursa,’ does have a pretty interesting design, as although the creature does share some weak CG visuals similar to many of the other creatures, the ‘Ursa’ simply has more of a presence within the film, and does feel somewhat intimidating and unique despite barley being utilised or developed. The film’s underdeveloped ideas are even more bizarre considering originally, the film wasn’t even supposed to be a sci-fi, as Will Smith’s first concept for the film focused on a farther and son on a camping trip in modern-day, which I personally think sounds far more interesting and enjoyable as opposed to viciously morphing the project into a science fiction story.

In summary, ‘After Earth’ is a complete disaster of a science fiction blockbuster, as the film’s terrible performances alongside its abysmal CG effects and mostly bland filmmaking, all result in the film being extremely boring and even sometimes laughably bad. Another unfortunate flop for director M. Night Shyamalan, and definitely a huge dent in Jaden Smith’s acting career, as the young actor hasn’t appeared on-screen since. Despite some great ideas here and there, ‘After Earth’ is certainly a low-point in Will Smith’s film catalogue, Final Rating: high 2/10.

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Snowpiercer (2014) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

One of my favourite sci-fi films from this past decade, 2014’s ‘Snowpiercer’ is constantly engaging, rousing and gritty throughout both its original plot and exploration of the interesting world its story takes place within, as the film chooses to explore the worst of humanity through some gorgeous cinematography by Kyung-pyo Hong and some truly brilliant writing. Making ‘Snowpiercer,’ a superb science fiction thriller, all under the genius hand of director Bong Joon-Ho, who, recently gained a large amount of traction through his Oscar-winning flick; ‘Parasite.’

Plot Summary: In a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the lucky few who boarded the ‘Snowpiercer,’ a train that travels around the globe, a new class system begins to emerge on board as ‘Curtis’ leads a revolution with the train’s lower-class citizens…

Despite director Bong Joon-Ho (Memories of Murder, The Host, Okja) usually sticking to this style, the very bleak tone of ‘Snowpiercer’ may leave many audience members in a depressing mindset long after their initial viewing, as the film deals with a variety of themes such as poverty, social class and survivalism, all portrayed in a dark and negative fashion. However, in spite of this, the film never fails to still be very entertaining and thrilling, mostly as a result of its fairly quick pacing and exhilarating action sequences. Although it may surprise many, ‘Snowpiercer’ also takes heavy inspiration from the French graphic novel; ‘Le Transperceneige’ by Jacques Lob, with the two stories sharing many similarities and many differences throughout their respective mediums.

Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Song Kang-ho, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt and Ed Harris are all fantastic throughout the film within their various roles, especially Tilda Swinton as the villainous and oppressive; ‘Manson’ (who completely nails many of the film’s most memorable lines). In addition to this, the film’s characters also get plenty of development throughout the narrative, to be specific, the film’s protagonist; ‘Curtis,’ as this character becomes far more tragic nearing the end of the film, eventually leading him to devolve from what we would usually expect to see from our main character.

The cinematography by Kyung-pyo Hong is pretty creative and visually impressive throughout the majority of the runtime, as the film’s cinematography backs up it’s story and drama very effectively. The film’s colour palette also plays into this, as the dirty greys, greens and blacks of the train’s tail all further display the contrast between the wealth of the different people on board. Of course, due to the film also being packed with a large number of action scenes, the cinematography does become slightly shakier during many of these moments, yet it is still clear what is happening throughout. One of these scenes in particular, known as ‘The Tunnel,’ I found extremely inventive, as this entire scene takes place in total darkness, with night-vision being utilised exceptionally well, shot without any additional lighting, according to director Bong Joon-Ho.

Although a little uninspired during some of the action scenes, the original score by Marco Beltrami does fit the story perfectly throughout most of the film. Especially when it comes to tracks, such as ‘This is the End’ or ‘Yona’s Theme,’ as the soundtrack matches the bleak tone of the film extremely well. The score also helps to add more impact to many of the more shocking moments within the story, as at multiple points during the narrative, the film reveals certain aspects of this twisted train society which really deepens film’s world.

As the film is set entirely within the futuristic train, the film does do a surprisingly excellent job of the keeping the film’s set pieces unique through the sheer variety of sets on display, as the film takes the audience from the dirty tail of the train, through to a classroom, a nightclub, and, eventually, even a spar, further emphasising ‘Snowpiercer’s underlying themes of social class. Another element of the film I adore is Joon-Ho’s focus on small details, as the film always alludes to smaller aspects of the story or characters which aren’t fully delved into, only hinted at. Despite all of this, however, ‘Snowpiercer’ isn’t totally flawless, as the film does become a little cheesy at points, mostly due to the occasional editing choice or line of dialogue, but this is very rare.

In summary, even though ‘Snowpiercer’ isn’t the best modern sci-fi to date, I personally don’t think the film is far off, from its creative ideas through to its beautiful cinematography and great original score. The film easily overcomes its few cheesy moments and slightly dated CG effects here and there, with a few tiny changes, I honestly believe that this exciting sci-fi flick could be up there with the likes of ‘Arrival’ or ‘Ex_Machina,’ when it comes to modern science fiction. Final Rating: 8/10.

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The Nice Guys (2016) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / 1 Comment

This ’70s throwback to classic buddy-cop comedy films hits all the right marks, as the fantastic chemistry between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling alongside the film’s great visuals and hilarious comedic moments, all make ‘The Nice Guys’ certainly worth a watch, whether you are incredibly fond of action-comedies or not, as I feel this humorous flick definitely deserves more attention.

Plot Summary: In 1970s Los Angeles, bumbling private eye; ‘Holland March,’ and muscle-for-hire; ‘Jackson Healy,’ become unlikely partners when they find themselves both looking for a missing woman, named; ‘Amelia,’ following the death of a high-profile porn star. ‘Amelia’s ties to the deceased actress are unclear, but as other members of the porn industry turn up dead, ‘March’ and ‘Healy’s investigation reveals a much bigger conspiracy than the duo could have ever anticipated…

Heavily inspired by action/comedy classics, such as ‘Lethal Weapon’ and ‘Rush Hour,’ ‘The Nice Guys’ is directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3, The Predator), who clearly brings all his love for this genre to the forefront. As, despite the film doing quite poorly in cinemas upon its initial release, the film is clearly a true passion project for Shane Black, being filled with the director’s usual style and classic witty dialogue from start-to-finish.

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling make an excellent pairing as ‘Jackson Healy’ and ‘Holland March’ throughout the film’s story, as both actors have an enormous amount of chemistry with each other and add plenty of humour into the plot through their interactions with their opposite, as well as ‘Holland’s daughter; ‘Holly March,’ portrayed by Angourie Rice, who is very sarcastic and angsty towards many of the other characters (which can become a little irritating after a while). Matthew Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Yaya DaCosta and Keith David also have small roles within the film, and are all decent, despite not being given much screen-time.

Philippe Rousselot handles the cinematography throughout ‘The Nice Guys,’ and although attractive throughout most of the runtime, the variety of shots is probably the weakest aspect of the film just down to elimination. Still, the cinematography does back-up the story very effectively, never taking the audience’s attention away from the mystery unravelling throughout the narrative. I also feel the film’s colour palette could’ve really added to the film’s visual flair more, as the colour palette doesn’t really delve much into the 1970s style aside from the occasional vibrant shot. However, the film does integrate ’70s style in its opening titles which I appreciated, as the Warner Brothers’ logo seen in the beginning of the film is the actual graphic Warner Bros. Pictures used during the 1970s for their films.

The original score by John Ottman and David Buckley fits the film’s style and time-period perfectly, as the soundtrack attempts to replicate the music of the time through its use of trumpets and a drum kit to add to many of the comedic moments and establishing shots, with the tracks; ‘Cars That Drive Themselves’ and ‘P.I. Life,’ being my two personal favourites (in addition to the film’s main theme). Many of the film’s action scenes do slightly weaken the score, however, as anytime the screen is filled with bullets and fist fights, the original score suddenly becomes a lot more generic.

The majority of the jokes throughout the film do land very successfully, in my opinion, as ‘The Nice Guys’ has a pretty wide range of comedy throughout its runtime. From the hilarious and quippy dialogue between the two main protagonists to the parodying of classic action tropes and even a little bit of slapstick thrown in for good measure, all of the comedy throughout the film is pretty inventive and ensures that the film is filled with humour for every kind of viewer.

Despite the film’s main focus being its humour, however, the action throughout the film is actually very well-executed, from a high-speed car chase through to chaotic shoot outs and bare-fist scuffles. ‘The Nice Guys’ nails it’s action scenes just as well as it’s jokes, as each action set piece is always exciting and brilliantly choreographed. My only real criticism of the film is probably it’s length, as I feel the film does go on for slightly too long nearing end of its story.

In summary, it’s a real shame many that audiences had no interest in ‘The Nice Guys,’ as although many would consider buddy-cop action flicks a dead genre similar to westerns. I personally feel we need more films like this, as bringing back these old kinds of stories really makes the film stand out amongst the complete onslaught of modern superhero blockbusters and generic horror scare-fests. So, although I feel a sequel to ‘The Nice Guys’ is very unlikely to ever be made, the mere mention of one as even a possibility still gets me excited to this day, as I would love to see these characters return to the silver screen. Final Rating: 8/10.

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Kong: Skull Island (2017) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Jordan Vogt-Roberts directs his first major film with ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ another reboot of the iconic monster this time set within a different time-period and featuring plenty of vibrant visuals. Resulting in ‘Kong: Skull Island’ being a relatively entertaining monster flick, despite the film still being plagued with a range of issues throughout its two-hour runtime.

Plot Summary: Shortly after the Vietnam war in 1973, a team of scientists explore an uncharted, tropical island in the Pacific, without knowing it, they soon venture into the domain of the mighty ‘Kong,’ and must fight their way through an onslaught of dangerous creatures to escape the deadly island…

Just from a quick glance at the film, it’s obvious that the film takes heavy inspiration from the war epic; ‘Apocalypse Now,’ when it comes to its visuals, which is by no means a bad thing as ‘Kong: Skull Island’ truly embraces its 1970s time-period. Making every set, costume, and piece of military equipment fit well within the world the film builds on, which really gives some style to what could’ve just been your standard action blockbuster.

The all-star cast of Thomas Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, Tian Jing, Thomas Mann, Toby Kebbell and my personal favourite, John C. Reilly, are all decent in their respective roles despite their characters not being given much depth beyond a few short scenes, as due to the enormous size of the cast, many characters end up becoming nothing more than clichés through their rushed introductions. Aside from Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly as ‘Preston Packard’ and ‘Hank Marlow,’ however, as both of their characters receive the most development and play into the film’s main theme of the damage war can have on the mind, which I personally found very interesting and wish the film explored further, rather than focusing so much on many of the awful comedic moments the film crams into the story, which aside from a few improvised lines from John C. Reilly, fall mostly flat.

The cinematography by Larry Fong is fairly creative throughout the runtime as, in addition the film’s ranged colour palette, ‘Kong: Skull Island’ does have an array of visually interesting shots, many of which contain plenty of movement and give the audience some stunning views of the titular island. The cinematography also lacks many of the shots that made the ‘Godzilla’ remake from 2014 so impressive as a creature-feature, that being shots that display the true scale of ‘Kong,’ yet the lack of these shots may also be due to the ‘Kong’s ever-changing size, which did begin to irritate me after a while, despite ‘Kong’ still managing to feel pretty imposing and powerful throughout the film.

The original score by Henry Jackman does help to make up for this, however, it being of his better scores, in my opinion. As, throughout the narrative, the soundtrack always adds to the adventurous tone of the film, utilising large tribal drums to give each character’s confrontation with ‘Kong’ genuine weight. The film also uses a number of classic songs from the ’70s to further push the film’s time-period, and whilst this does sometimes work effectively, with an early helicopter scene featuring the iconic; ‘Fortunate Son,’ being the most memorable. It can also feel very forced at points, mostly due to the sheer amount of songs featured within the film.

One of the best aspects of ‘Kong: Skull Island’ is its action scenes as, throughout the story, the film constantly throws its characters into plenty of intense encounters with the terrifying (and equalling unique) creatures of the island, and whilst the film does have a few too many scenes which feel overly cheesy due to an overreliance on slow-motion. Each action set piece is entertaining in its own way, usually making effective use of each monster’s various abilities and their surrounding locations, with my personal favourites being the sinister and brilliantly designed; ‘Skullcrawlers,’ ‘Kong’s main adversaries. All of these creatures are obviously displayed through the film’s CG effects, which are decent enough throughout the runtime, yet certainly aren’t flawless.

In summary, ‘Kong: Skull Island’ is enjoyable, as whilst the film is undeniably filled with a number of problems, mainly in regards to the film’s weak characterisation and fairly simplistic story, the film still manages to be exciting through its fantastic use of CG effects and thrilling action scenes, all backed up by a great original score and a constructive use of the 1970s time-period. So, although its in need of some improvements, I feel you can still get something out of this big-budget creature-feature. Final Rating: high 6/10.

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Many years after the original ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise ended, the series was rebooted in its entirety with a new ‘Planet of the Apes’ trilogy, with these films almost serving as prequels to the original films, as well as being set within their own timeline. ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ was the first of this new series, and surprised many people upon its initial release in 2011.

Plot Summary: When a substance designed to help the brain repair itself and cure Alzheimer’s gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee, named; ‘Caesar,’ he soon begins to enhance other apes in order to lead an ape uprising through the city of San Francisco…

Although I was never overly invested in the original ‘Planet of the Apes’ film from 1968, as I was always familiar with the sci-fi classic purely through its iconic plot twist near the end of its narrative, I personally feel that director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist, The Gambler, Captive State) did a pretty great job revamping the science fiction series, as despite the film having plenty of sci-fi elements throughout its story, the film is mostly grounded in reality, focusing more on being a tense thriller with small elements of science fiction scattered throughout the runtime.

Andy Serkis takes on the difficult role of portraying the completely CG protagonist; ‘Caesar,’ and does a superb job of it, as he manages to capture the movements and mannerisms of an ape perfectly through motion capture (which is even more impressive when considering that the film was one of the earliest to use a motion capture setup on location), all whilst ensuring the audience sympathises with ‘Caesar.’ In addition to Andy Serkis, the rest of the cast of James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow and Brian Cox, are all decent in their roles, despite the film having the occasional cliché line of dialogue for most characters.

The cinematography by Andrew Lesnie is visually pleasing for the most part, having a variety of attractive shots as well as having plenty of movement especially when following the apes sprinting or climbing. The way many of the shots are also framed further feeds into the theme of man controlling nature (which is present throughout the film). Many of the scenes set within the ape sanctuary also link back to this theme, including my personal favourite scene of the film; ‘Caesar Speaks,’ which is executed perfectly.

Despite the later films in the trilogy being composed by the fantastic Michael Giacchino, the original score by Patrick Doyle is decent throughout the film, as while it definitely doesn’t have a variety of memorable tracks, the soundtrack does back up many of the action scenes and more emotional moments quite well. I also felt the sound design throughout the film helped add to the film’s realism, mostly through the enormous amount of ape roars, squeals and grunts, whenever the animals interacted with humans or each other.

The CG effects throughout the film still hold up surprisingly well, as although the visual effects have definitely aged since the film’s release in 2011, and the CG visuals are for sure the weakest when it comes to the entire trilogy. The visuals effects are still heavily detailed and feel very real when placed into their locations, which is lucky, as if not, I do feel the weak CG effects could’ve possibly derailed some of the excellent performances from the cast. Aside from the flaws already mentioned with the visual effects, however, the action scenes throughout the film are handled pretty well, as many would probably know this film mostly for its huge action set piece on San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

In summary, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ may not be the best film within the new trilogy, but it definitely is a very strong start, as although the visual effects may be lacking at points, the great cinematography, decent original score, and brilliant motion capture all backing up Andy Serkis’ outstanding performance, all leads this initial entry to have plenty of entertainment value throughout its runtime, and I’d be very surprised if this first film doesn’t make many viewers want to continue on with this sci-fi series. Final Rating: 8/10.

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Clash of the Titans (2010) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

In this modern remake of the 1981 classic, ‘Perseus’ takes on a variety of gods and monsters in this somewhat fun, yet still very generic and sometimes even over-the-top reimagining of the original story. As, this time around, director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, Now You See Me) focuses more on action set pieces and enormous CG spectacle than ever before.

Plot Summary: When ‘Perseus,’ the demigod son of ‘Zeus,’ finds himself caught in the middle of a war between gods and mortals, in which, his mortal family are killed, he gathers a war band to help him conquer the mighty ‘Kraken,’ ‘Medusa,’ and ‘Hades,’ malevolent God of the underworld…

Going off of the negative reviews from both critics and audiences, I wasn’t expecting much from ‘Clash of the Titans’ on my initial watch. However, I was surprised to find the film is mostly entertaining, as although there isn’t much substance to this remake, I still find it to be a somewhat exciting action flick, having plenty of creatures and adventure throughout its runtime, despite its various flaws. But, this may also be due to my fondness for Greek mythology, as I’ve had an interest in this area of fantastical legends/history since I was very young.

Although there aren’t any particular stand outs when it comes to the cast, Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jason Flemyng all do a decent job throughout the film. Sam Worthington, who, portrays the protagonist ‘Perseus,’ I personally found to be one of the weakest elements of the film, however, as despite him having a number of large roles in huge blockbusters, such as ‘Avatar’ and ‘Terminator: Salvation,’ in the past, he has always seemed extremely bland to me, never really coming across as anything other than a generic action hero with minimal charisma, and ‘Clash of the Titans’ is, unfortunately, no exception to this. 

The cinematography by Peter Menzies Jr. is also quite bland, as although I do appreciate the lack of incredibly shaky hand-held shots during many of the action scenes. Many of the shots throughout the film are usually very standard, as the cinematography never really attempts to enhance the visuals or make use of the story’s impressive and unique locations (aside from the occasional wide shot).

One very bizarre element of the film is definitely the original score by Ramin Djawadi, as although some tracks sound perfect for a fantasy epic such as this one. Other tracks almost sound as if they’ve been performed by a rock band, making them feel incredibly out-of-place within the film’s time-period. Yet, the film’s soundtrack actually does work quite well in my personal favourite scene of the film, as the scene set within ‘Medusa’s lair uses the score to build tension and atmosphere surprisingly well.

The CG effects throughout ‘Clash of the Titans’ are definitely one of the film’s better aspects, as regardless of whether it’s being used for creatures, Gods or locations, the visual effects always look great. However, this is also partially due to the designs of many of the creatures within the film, as the designs manage to perfectly blend the appearance of modern-day monsters mixed with classic Greek mythology. This also lends itself effectively to many of the various action scenes throughout the film (this obviously being the film’s main draw) as the action throughout the narrative is mostly pretty solid, making great use of the various different creatures abilities and always placing ‘Perseus’ in different dangerous scenarios.

In summary, I personally found ‘Clash of the Titans’ fairly entertaining for what it was, which is essentially is nothing more than your usual action blockbuster with some Greek mythology thrown in for good measure, as while the film is successful for what it sets out to do, the film does fall flat in many other areas, from Sam Worthington’s rather dull performance, to some of the weak writing and occasionally unusual original score, I feel only people truly interested in Greek mythology could get something out of this one. But, with all that in mind, ‘Clash of the Titans’ still isn’t the worst remake I’ve ever seen. Final Rating: 5/10.

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World War Z (2013) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Very loosely based on the novel of the same name by Max Brooks, ‘World War Z,’ directed by Marc Forster, attempts to tell an enormous globe-trotting story of a spreading zombie virus, and although it does have a few entertaining elements here and there, so much so that it was one of the highest-grossing films of 2013. I personally found the film to be extremely messy, and overall, pretty forgettable.

Plot Summary: After narrowly escaping an attack in Philadelphia, former United Nations employee, ‘Gerry Lane,’ traverses the world in a race against time to stop a zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, soon threatening the survival of humanity itself…

Even with a pretty standard plot for a zombie flick, the film unfortunately is still brimming with plenty of cliché moments and jump-scares throughout, in addition, of course, to the film’s overall lack of style. Making the entire experience really struggle to stand on its own amongst the many other films within its genre, which I do feel can be mostly put down to the director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction, Christopher Robin).

Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos both do a decent job as ‘Gerry’ and ‘Karin Lane’ within the film, despite their characters having pretty much no characterisation outside of them being a loving family. Their children, however, portrayed by Sterling Jerins and Abigail Hargrove. I found very irritating, as aside from their constant screaming and crying, their child performances weren’t very convincing to me at all. Strangely, Peter Capaldi also has a small role within the film, despite barley adding anything to the story.

Ben Seresin handles the cinematography throughout the film, and aside from a few scenes were hand-held camera techniques are used to reflect the chaos we see during many of the zombie attacks, many of the visuals are extremely flat, as the cinematography is very bland and uninspired, usually sticking to very standard shots and never really experimenting with anything incredibly interesting. The CG effects throughout the film’s runtime are also very inconsistent, as in some scenes the visual effects work perfectly fine. Whereas in others, they look truly awful, with many of the zombies bouncing around as if they were made out of rubber. I do appreciate the various aerial shots which are used during many of these scenes, however, as I feel these shots really incapsulate the enormous scale of the film’s devastating pandemic.

The film’s original score by Marco Beltrami is decent overall, it works within the film to increase what tension and drama there is on-screen. But, outside of the film, it isn’t memorable in the slightest. Coming off as your standard blockbuster soundtrack with the occasional ‘Inception’ noise thrown in for good measure, it is very possible the score was rushed, as for those who may not know, ‘World War Z’ actually went through a very troubled production process, as multiple different directors, writers and producers were brought-on and then dropped off constantly. This is mostly why the film sometimes feels very unconnected and messy (which also isn’t helped by its quick pacing). Taking this into account, the film definitely could’ve been far worse, but I still found it very noticeable.

Despite all of this, the film does still have some elements I enjoy, as it is simply fun to watch the madness ensue at various points during the film, as the hordes of zombies bring chaos to the streets of whatever city the film finds itself in. My favourite scene within the film is definitely near it’s ending, as the film takes a very different direction in choosing to focus on a small tension-filled scene, which I thought was pretty well-executed for the most part.

In summary, ‘World War Z’ isn’t the worst big-budget film you could spend your time watching, it definitely has a variety of problems. From the predictable and generic plot, to the boring characters and the mix of poor CG effects and writing. Which all ensured that I wasn’t such a huge fan, but if you enjoy a mindless zombie blockbuster every so often, then there may be some enjoyment in this for you. But, for me personally, ‘World War Z’ simply felt like a hollow experience, and is nothing more than a generic zombie flick. Final Rating: 3/10.

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Geostorm (2017) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Directed by Dean Devlin, best known for producing the original ‘Independence Day,’ as well as the first (infamous) American ‘Godzilla’ remake from 1998. ‘Geostorm’ takes a much more traditional disaster route for Devlin’s directorial debut, attempting to capture the usual scale and destruction associated with the genre, along with a few elements of international terrorism and sleek science fiction thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, however, this still isn’t enough to save the film from its many, many faults.

Plot Summary: When a network of satellites designed to control the global climate begins to attack Earth, it’s a race against time for its original creator to uncover the real threat before a worldwide ‘Geostorm’ wipes out everything and everyone…

From the first scene all the way through to the very last, the film felt incredibly cliché to me, as the film definitely follows a very similar structure to the majority of other disaster flicks, as well as also carrying over much of the cheesiness and terrible comedy from many of them, as although the film does have a few exciting action scenes and some entertaining weather-related chaos throughout its runtime, the film never really manages to break-out of its predictability.

Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, and Abbie Cornish are all decent throughout the film, as while they still suffer from having the usual generic characters for a blockbuster. They do the best they can to keep the audience engaged throughout the story (for the most part). However, the film also has a few side characters which left we more than often questioning their inclusion in the film, as most of them added very little to the plot and only appeared in a few short scenes.

Roberto Schaefer handles the cinematography within ‘Geostorm,’ which aside from the occasional attractive shot is mostly bland and uninspired, with many scenes throughout the film also seeming to have far too many different shots, as a simple scene of two people talking could have anywhere from three to seven different shots. The CGI within the film is also another unusual aspect, as although it’s decent throughout most of the film, there are quite a few shots where I felt it dipped massively in quality. Some of the NASA scenes during the film were actually filmed at a NASA facility in New Orleans, however, which I did feel added to the film’s story despite the location’s limited appearances.

There are also multiple points where the film attempts to be very emotional and dramatic, yet usually falls completely flat, with the film putting a large amount of focus on the original score by Lorne Balfe, which is your standard action film score, coming off as an almost entirely forgettable and bland soundtrack.

Whilst watching the film I also couldn’t help but think that there were many missed opportunities throughout, as due to the film’s mostly serious and grounded tone, the film never takes any of its weather attacks to any truly creative places, with the film usually just going for a decently entertaining, (if not very experimental) action set piece. Although I understand the lack of disaster films in modern cinema is a great way to make the film stand out, I still feel a more absurdist tone, along with over-the-top action sequences, could’ve at the very least, made the film more memorable and unique.

In summary, whilst I didn’t really have high expectations when I first sat down to watch ‘Geostorm’ going off the mostly inexperienced director and the poor reviews from both critics and audiences alike, the was a genuinely dull experience, which I’d say isn’t really worth a watch, being a mostly bland and boring disaster flick, despite some original aspects. There is the odd entertaining action scene or interesting visual for any massive fans of the disaster genre, but for me, I don’t feel any desire to return to ‘Geostorm,’ especially not anytime soon. Final Rating: low 3/10.

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The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Only five years after the previous ‘Spider-Man’ franchise ended, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ attempts to be a fresh and slightly darker reboot of the superhero’s classic origin story yet, sadly, falls pretty flat. Feeling too similar to the previous iteration of the franchise, as well as never really perfecting any of the interesting ideas the film introduces itself.

Plot Summary: When ‘Peter Parker’ is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound spider-like powers and ventures-out to solve the mystery of his parent’s mysterious death. Meanwhile, a menacing new threat emerges on the streets of New York City…

Aside from the new focus on his lost parents, the story is far too similar to what we have seen before. Featuring all the classic scenes of ‘Peter’ beating up criminals, making his iconic costume (which now has an unpleasant redesign) and, of course, witnessing his ‘Uncle Ben’s death. This can make the story feel very bland and predictable for the majority of its runtime, if the film was to come out many years after ‘Spider-Man 3,’ then perhaps it wouldn’t have been as bad. But, due to Sony wanting to keep the rights to the Marvel character, a new remake had to be rushed out.

‘Peter Parker’ is this time portrayed by Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge), and overall, I think he does a decent job here, as while this version of the character isn’t incredibly memorable, he does portray the character as a nervous and awkward yet still likeable teenager, despite looking a little too old for the character’s actual age. The rest of the cast of Emma Stone, Sally Field and Rhys Ifans all do a decent job throughout, but are never really given anything interesting to do when it comes to the story.

The cinematography by John Schwartzman is nothing outstanding, as aside from the unique P.O.V. shots from ‘Spider-Man’s perspective, the cinematography mostly just stays at a consistent level throughout the runtime. However, this is easily redeemed by one of the best elements of the film for me, the great chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, as Stone portrays ‘Gwen Stacy’ (Peter Parker’s first love interest) all of their scenes together are very funny and charming, reminding heavily me of director Mark Webb’s prior film; ‘500 Days of Summer.’

The original score by James Horner is once again nothing amazing, but it does fit the film’s style. Feeling like a classic superhero score, mixed with some more emotional elements, equalling to a pretty varied but not very memorable soundtrack. The majority of the film could be described in this way, however, as many aspects of the film never seem to pass the level of ‘decent,’ which is a real shame, as I think this director and cast have some great potential. But, this simply wasn’t the film for it.

The writing is definitely one of the weakest elements of the film for me, as the film is full of cheesy lines and cliché moments throughout the story. My main issue with the film, however, is the film’s antagonist, the ‘Lizard,’ as his motivation, awful appearance and general lack of an intimidating presence really portray this classic comic book foe in a bad light.

The action sequences throughout the film are nothing really exceptional of note, as although they are decently entertaining, none of them ever manage to become as memorable as anything from the original ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy. My personal favourite most likely being the action scene set in ‘Peter’s high school, as the scene utilises the location very well. It’s also here when we get a great look at the various different CG effects in bright lighting, and I feel overall they look decent.

In summary, although I initially gave this film a lower rating, the actual filmmaking on display here isn’t terrible, and what the film does well such as great chemistry between the lead cast, ‘Spider-Man’s spectacular P.O.V. shots and the occasional entertaining action scene, I simply can’t ignore. Maybe check this one out if you’re a huge fan of the character, if not, you’re not missing out on much. Final Rating: low 5/10.

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