“It’s clobbering time!” Fantastic Four (2015)

The sheer disappointment I felt upon leaving the cinema after seeing the reboot of Fantastic Four has compelled me to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, to share in everyone’s discontent and frustration. I, like many, was not a fan of the original Fantastic Four franchise, but to cut it some slack Marvel were finding their feet at this early stage. However, the Marvel universe has grown immensely since 2005 when the first Fantastic Four was released and I think everyone was expecting more based on what we know and love from the likes of The Avengers, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy to name just a few… even the reboot of Spiderman worked for me!!

The film itself wasn’t terrible in fact, the casting was interesting and I found the characters compelling. I loved seeing Kate Mara (Sue Storm) and Reg Cathey (Franklin Storm) of House of Cards fame. Although I’m not sure Mara was really showing us anything new in her repertoire here, Cathey really went for it and tugged some heart strings. Casting Miles Teller as Reed Richards may have been unexpected but it worked, he is a believable addition to the team, smart and slightly arrogant – I think I am bias due to his performance in Whiplash last year but I enjoyed seeing in something else. Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm aka The Thing was a little ‘meh’ for me, but I thought Victor Von Doom was probably an unconventional choice for the ‘bad guy’ but Toby Kebbell was menacing enough. Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm was about the only thing bringing some charm to the bunch.

I enjoyed the build up of the teams relationships and seeing how they got their powers. Understanding that director Josh Trank wanted to put a more realistic spin on the situation was somewhat thought provoking. It would be a very difficult thing to comprehend that your body has radically transformed into something life changing. That being said, the very nature of the Fantastic Four and its source material is potentially a little too tongue in cheek for this to really translate well and resonate with the audience. For example, it is very difficult to turn a man into Mr. Tickle and make it feel dark and serious. Whoever was hired to create the trailer did a really good job at leading us all to believe they could pull off the dark and moody version mixed in with some light humour (which is actually none existent in the film).

As well as the material they were working with, I found the dialogue tacky in places, awkward in others and pretty dull over all. The story takes an incredibly long time to get going and the action takes place in the last 20 minutes, building the audience up to something which ends up being spectacularly lack-lustre. Not to mention something as simple as continuity, where Sue’s hair changes from natural mousy long bob to blond wig every other scene… very distracting, and with a budget of $120 million you would think someone would point this out.

I think that just about sums up my thoughts on this one, and I haven’t even gone into the plot vs. the comic, there probably isn’t any need to. Let me know your thoughts about that in the comments below, and please tell me I wasn’t the only one thinking about Sue’s hair!

“Here’s the old hippie-hating mad dog himself in the flesh” Inherent Vice.

Inherent Vice… I am struggling to begin this review due to the absurdity of the subject matter. Let’s start with the plot… (maybe I should use inverted comma’s there). Joaquin Phoenix plays the lead role of ‘Doc’ Sportello, a Private Investigator who gets a mysterious visit from his ex-girlfriend, Shasta Fay (Katherine Waterston), just before she and her millionaire lover, Wolfmann, disappear. During his drug fuelled investigation process, Doc stumbles upon some pretty hairy characters and unwittingly becomes caught up in all sorts of corruption, revenge and a hell of a lot of drug use. But hey, it’s the 70’s man and Doc is a class A bohemian hippie. 

What I imagine Doc’s eyeballs see inside his eyelids!

There are quite a lot of mixed reviews about Inherent Vice which I can understand. The plot may seem straight forward but when you add the sub stories of folks such as Coy Harlingen (Owen Wilson) the undercover hippie who wants out, ‘Bigfoot’ (Josh Brolin) the dangerous lone Detective looking for any excuse to violate some civil rights and Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd (Martin Short) the nonplussed perverted ‘mob boss’, then the plot becomes a little crowded and it can be quite hard to follow in places. HOWEVER, I actually really like this about Inherent Vice. With the help of Doc’s friend Sortilège (Joanna Newsom) providing some narration when things really don’t make sense, the audience watches events unfold through Doc’s mind… his drug riddled, paranoid, hallucinating rainbow kaleidoscope of a brain. 

My point being, no wonder the film doesn’t make sense! The more drugs Doc consumes the more random things seem to happen, and I don’t think this is a coincidence. I found myself afterwards questioning which bits were paranoid delusions, and what really happened through the eyes of a sane, sober person? I really enjoyed the random scenes and little quips that are easily missed but made me laugh out loud, most of the time in disbelief that something so weird just occurred, (i.e. the policeman picking his nose, or Bigfoot’s last scene… what the eff?! Ha!).

Big love for Phoenix in this role, he really nails the part so convincingly and not a character I have seen him play before. I really felt for his lungs if he isn’t really a smoker! He has a general nonchalance and confidence about him, mixed with the innocence and kind hearted nature that age old stoner stereotypes seem to posses. I was quite attached to Doc and really felt like we should have his corner throughout. This feeling is strengthened by Brolin’s ‘Bigfoot’, he brings a menacing gravitas to his role of Detective Bjornsen which makes you route for Doc, but is Bigfoot the villain of this story? I am not sure, despite him being an absolute arsehole, I actually really liked him! (And so my title quote is in Bigfoot’s honour).

There are a lot of characters in Inherent Vice which are a little hard to keep track of. Reece Witherspoon pops up in a small part and although it could be argued she is underused, her character slides in and out of the plot much like she does in and out of Doc’s mind. It fits, and why not cast a big name for a smaller character. Owen Wilson’s drawling accent and floppy blond hair lend themselves well to the free spirited role he plays but nothing out of the ordinary here. Maya Rudolf (of Bridesmaids fame I guess) also plays a small part as Doc’s receptionist. Nice to see her in such a different kind of film. Benicio Del Toro plays Doc’s lawyer of sorts and he fits perfectly in this films atmosphere, Del Toro and Pheonix make a good duo and their relationship could have been explored a little more perhaps. Plus Eric Roberts who almost goes unnoticed as Wolfmann! 

The lesser known names also fair well in Inherent Vice in my opinion. Shasta Fay played by the absolutely stunning Katherine Waterston plays a perfect girl next door character. Joanna Newsom (playing Sortilège) has an ideal little voice that sets the tone from the beginning of the film, she has a really great supporting role which could have been explored. Jena Malone who I recognised from Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) also plays a fun character who’s exchange with Doc is one of the highlights of the film for me. My favourite though has to be Hong Chau playing Jade, a prostitute come friend of Doc’s who pops up in the oddest of places and just goes along for the ride and coming out with some of the funniest one liners. 

Unfortunately, Inherent Vice does have some pitfalls and that is mainly its length. I felt it could have easily cut out what seemed like 40 minutes worth of Shasta Fay’s dreamy stoner monologues, but really that is the only thing I can criticise… The production oozes 70’s nostalgia, coupled with a hazy filter and the dulcet tones of Sortilège’s narration, Paul Thomas Anderson has created a film worthy of comparison to the likes of The Big Lebowski (1998) or Boogie Nights (1997). I would recommend a DVD viewing so that you can talk to someone during the boring parts, and help each other understand what the hell is unfolding in front of you! Haha! As you can tell by my unusually long review, I very much enjoyed Inherent Vice!

“This whisky is amazing, you will shit” Kingsman: The Secret Service

I was so looking forward to seeing Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Kingsman’ purely because Kick Ass is still one of my all time favourites and I remember the feeling of excitement I had when I first saw that film in the cinema (and still do every time I watch it, which is on the regular). The trailer for Kingsman made it look like Vaughn was going to be using the same humorous butt kicking awesomeness that I loved in Kick Ass and this had me practically jumping up and down!

Luckily for me, he doesn’t disappoint. Kingsman also has the added benefit of Taron Egerton who I fell in love with after the little UK Drama ‘The Smoke’. In Kingsman, Egerton plays a young ruffian Eggsy who is picked up by Agent Galahad (Colin Firth) in the hope that he will live up to his fathers legacy and become a Kingsman agent. Meanwhile a camp as Christmas villain Valentine, played by Samuel L Jackson plans to ‘take over the world’. Hilarity and absurdity follows… and it is SO entertaining!

The Kingsman are inherently British, the old English gent gets a good kicking and I can see why this might get some peoples back up. I however thought it was well used and Colin Firth is the perfect gentleman for the part. He is cool, swarve, kicks butt and holds no prisoners. It was great seeing Firth do what he does best with some added violence. Really made me giggle. The juxtaposition between Galahad and his prodigy Eggsy was very funny and I never groaned about a cringe worthy moment. I found them quite delightful on screen together.

Mark Strong is another one of my favourites and happily here playing a completely different role to his villain in Kick Ass. I am not sure he needed a Scottish accent, maybe I missed a joke, but none the less I really enjoyed his character Merlin, who really came into his own towards the end of the film. An old love, and a new love… who the hell is Sofia Boutella, she was AMAZING. Boutella plays Valentines sidekick and is beautiful and lethal. Her relationship with Valentine probably could have been explored a little as I was confused about their connection but it wasn’t detrimental to the story line… Also, I just googled her and I am pleased for her that she does have legs. But those sword legs… jeese! So cool.

As much as I enjoyed the Kingsman agents and the whole set up in the tailors, Michael Cain being the boss was a little obvious maybe. However, obvious stereotypes are the flavour of the film and it gets away with it because it is so self aware and makes fun of the fact that it is another spy movie at the end of day. Which I found very funny and actually really drew me in! (I’m a sucker and easily pleased I will admit!). One point though, I felt like they could have introduced one or two agents for more of a team vibe. It seems like just Merlin and Galahad are running the show but they keep referring to the ‘other agents’… who?!

I also very much enjoyed the style of the film, the music (much like Kick-Ass) is fantastic, I loved the use of Dizzy Rascal and ‘oh em gee’ Lynyrd Skynyrd’s FREEBIRD, that scene was SO EPIC. For those who haven’t seen Kingsman yet, you will be thrilled with the violence. The cartoon style explosions and Austin Powers-esque villain lair teamed with some cheesy overly British one liners and inappropriate sexual innuendo’s (and plain old butt references) make Kingsman a funny, completely silly, fast paced film that I enjoyed thoroughly all the way through. I am looking forward to seeing it again! My only qualm was the ending in between credits, predictable and obvious but none the less still entertaining.

I would recommend this film to people who enjoyed Kick Ass, but it wont suit all pallets! (Then again my Mum enjoyed it so who knows, maybe it’s universal haha).

“You can only circle the flames so long” American Sniper (2014)

Bradley Cooper shows us just how wide his neck can get in the hard hitting war drama American Sniper. Well, he also shows off his ever improving acting skills and for both of these things I find myself liking Cooper more and more. A war drama is not my usual cup of tea, but after thoroughly enjoying recent movie Fury (2014) I thought I would also give this a spin. Hey, maybe it’s a genre I have previously over looked!

IMDB plot summary: Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle’s pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.

Cooper plays Chris Kyle and does an excellent job of transforming himself into a beefy red-neck cowboy turned Navy SEAL. His emotional performance is strong and his commitment to the cause is over the top but I totally bought in to it. I didn’t even recognise Sienna Miller with her brunette locks, but her romance with Cooper felt authentic and I liked their initial chemistry together. I couldn’t help but feel for her character as she churned out babies and missed her absent husband. Not a life I would want for myself.

As much as I can praise the main protagonist of American Sniper for pulling the story along and keeping me interested, I am not sure I actually enjoyed the experience. As I have said in previous reviews, for me it’s all about the experience… whether it be excitement, sadness, happiness, amusement, curiosity, intrigue, sympathy or empathy. What I don’t enjoy is stress, anxiety or fear in a movie. There are some parts of American Sniper which are very hard to watch (and I had never been a fan of drills in any context!), but I suppose that is a testament to the reality of the situation and how well these scenes were played out.

The size of it!!!

Speaking of which, I have to give credit to Clint Eastwood for the direction. American Sniper moves through time quite quickly and I felt this was shown gracefully. There were a few topics which were perhaps thrown in and never fully explored (such as Kyle’s chance encounter with his brother?!) but fitting the best part of a man’s life into a few hours is no mean feat!

The scenes in combat were well executed to my untrained eye, as were the scenes where Kyle is struggling to cope back in the real world. In my opinion the film was let down by the lack of development of the supporting cast surrounding Kyle, on tour and at home. I didn’t feel any connection to them and I wasn’t particularly moved by many casualties… Which is unusual because I cry at adverts about Donkeys voiced by old men who are badly treated (the Donkeys are badly treated, not the men)… but I digress.

The sensitive nature of post traumatic stress is really brought to light in this film, and the tragic long term affects that haunt those who have served for their country and lived to tell the tales. The end of the film is particularity sympathetic to the harsh reality and true story that American Sniper is based on, and on reflection I appreciated it’s subtly.

MyPOV then, American Sniper does a good job of making the general public aware of the harshness of modern war – of which we are all very sheltered from. I am glad that I watched it because it is important to recognise the sacrifice that men and women go through that most of the time we don’t hear about. But purely for entertainment factors I wouldn’t rave about the film. Superb performances from Cooper and Miller, great directing from Eastwood – but turns out I am still not a fan of war dramas.

In other news, I also reaffirmed my dislike of mushrooms and celery recently so that’s good to know… Don’t forget to leave a comment!

And it’s great to be back! 😀

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”

Hey film fans!

It’s been a while, and longer than usual. For my tiny amount of super awesome regulars you may have noticed a general silence since… JULY 2014… woah!

Life has been mega busy, I’ve been working full time in a stressful and full on job as well as studying for a Masters at University. I was also enjoying the single life and partying fairly hard 😀 Somehow my little blog fell by the wayside for a while.

I tried to write on several occasions but every time I drew a blank. I was so frustrated at times I almost closed MyReelPOV for good. But then I remembered this is the first real hobby I have thoroughly enjoyed and I have talked to some great people through it. I hoped that at some point the inspiration would be back.

Turns out, it’s BACK!

Work has slowed down a little and I have much more focus on my studies with just the mammoth task of a final Dissertation left to tackle. My friends and family are all doing well and my love life has taken a very exciting and unexpected turn for the better, life is good. My brain feels good. My mojo is back.

So before posting my first little review of the year (American Sniper) I thought I would just acknowledge my absence from the scene, and declare my return. I am looking forward to getting back in with the gang!

I’ll be carrying on with the same format as before, using quotes for my titles (can you guess the film quote on this post?!) and keeping my reviews to around 500 words. I don’t use a rating system because I am far too fickle, so a final round up at the end of the review will sum up my feelings on the movie. I don’t use spoilers unless absolutely necessary and will always give fair warning if I do. I will also take the opportunity to apologise for my informal style of movie review rambling! As always I love reading people’s comments, after all the discussion is the best part!

Finally, a special thank you to these people below for continuing their blog journeys and inspiring me not to give up just yet!

HyperSonic55

Tim the Film Guy

What About the Twinkie

Oracle of Film

Keith and the Movies

Oh I also discovered Instagram as you can see by my new face… @claire.chetwynd for any other dorks!

“I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity” The Fault in Our Stars.

The Fault in Our Stars is not the type of film I would usually seek out to watch. I don’t like to be depressed by a film, I want to be submerged into another world and enjoy the experience. Teenage angst and coming of age stories aren’t really my cup of tea either… BUT having read good things about this film, my friends persuaded me to see it at the cinema… and I am honestly glad of it.

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort (both from mind-blowingly mediocre recent flick Divergent) play the lead roles in this romantic adaptation of John Green’s novel, about a 16 year old cancer patient named Hazel Grace (Woodley) who falls in love with Augustus (Elgort), who she meets at her support group. Interestingly the title comes from Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ where Cassiuis says to Brutus “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” … Well I thought that was interesting any how 🙂

At first glance the story line seems predictable and unimaginative, however I found the script and the chemistry between the characters very natural and I was hooked within the first 20 minutes. The bond that is formed between the two leads is quite magical to watch unfold, and I felt the progression of their infatuation for each other was shown in a very tasteful way without ever forgetting they are just teenagers.

Hazel Grace’s relationship with her mother played by Laura Dern, was a particular highlight, and I was delighted to see True Blood star Sam Trammell take the role of her father. Their family unit felt very authentic and the way the film explored how the parents were coping with having a terminally ill child was very moving.

What was refreshing to see, was the slightly more raw scenes that focused on the realistic and dark side of terminal illness as well as bringing some darker humor to the situation. Mostly in the case of Hazel and Augustus’ friend Isaac played by Nat Wolff. These are the scenes you feel most connected to the characters and where the film builds up the audience’s empathy for them and their situations. Surprisingly great performances from Woodley and Elgort really make all the difference here. In particular Elgort’s Augustus who takes some warming to as a cocky, over confident, dork (I mean that in the nicest way possible) but somehow manages to win you over despite his cringeworthy metaphors and romantic lines.

With the help of a great performance from Willem Dafoe, you can expect the unexpected for the majority of this film. Unfortunately for me the trailer gave too many tell tale signs of what happened in the end, but it in no way spoiled my enjoyment. And yes, I do mean enjoyment, even though I cried so hard I almost sobbed out loud in a packed cinema, the over all experience is enjoyable, and the rest is thought provoking, sincere, raw and heart warming.

My POV, I wouldn’t suggest that this film is for everyone, but I have to say sometimes a good cry and a slap in the face puts things in perspective and makes you feel pretty refreshed afterwards. If you are feeling blue about life, this film will probably make you realise… it isn’t that bad.

“Hey, fuck Twitter..” Chef.

I had the pleasure of attending a free preview of Chef this morning at my local cinema. Despite waking up 20 minutes before it started with a raging hang over, my friend and I hauled ass and made it just in time. Here is some friendly advice, don’t see this film on an empty stomach with a mouth dryer than corn starch, the food looks IMMENSE in this movie – the popcorn and hot dogs on offer just didn’t seem appealing in comparison!

I have seen a few negative reviews about this film, but it hasn’t scored too badly on IMDB despite the overly cynical head line “frustratingly straightforward, simplistic and just plain unengaging” on the latest review. I would ask this person if they were in a particularly pessimistic mood when they saw Chef, because I found the simple story line refreshing and was totally hooked by the characters throughout! Maybe I am easily pleased or just enjoy watching a real feel good film, either way my grin got bigger with every shot of a sizzling griddle and I even welled up with actual joy near the end of the movie (that could be attributed to my emotional hangover state).

The premise is straightforward, “A chef who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family” (IMDB). Jon Favreau of course plays Chef Carl Casper who is also getting to grips with social media, in particular Twitter, which features heavily in the story line. They used the whole social media thing very well in capturing the power of it and how it can be used to help promote things as well as be used on a personal level, i.e. with his son, Percy. Percy is played by Emjay Anthony and is the cutest little 10 year old, he does a fantastic job and the chemistry between him, Favreau and best friend Martin, played by John Leguizammo is wonderful. I wanted to be on that food truck with them touring the US it looked like so much fun!

Some big names were pulled into this movie and some have questioned why… erm, why not! I loved Robert Downey Jr’s off the wall character, yes he was maybe underused but it isn’t a RDJ movie, he brought some comedy and for me it was well received. Scarlett Johansson had a super cool look as the head waitress and close friend of Chef Casper, I would have liked to have seen her character come into the story later on as well but it was probably realistic that she isn’t much involved when they hit the road in the food truck. Dustin Hoffman’s performance is solid although his funny side could have been utilised a little more.

One of my favourite characters though was Sofia Vergara playing Inez, Casper’s ex wife and mother of Percy. Her character was warm and funny, I could see a connection between the family and really enjoyed their screen time together. Warm and funny is probably a good description of the film truth be told. The food looked amazing, the sound track was brilliant and the general feel of the film was really inspiring. It made me want to jump in a car and tour all these fantastic places and try the incredible food.

Favreau, who wrote and directed Chef as well, could have played it safe and gone for the typical storyline of throwing a tragic event or disaster in the middle of the film for the characters to triumph over in order to make the success bitter sweet, but I loved the fact that they kept it simple and just delighted the audience with heart warming, real feeling, good old fashioned enjoyment. I LOVED Chef, and left the cinema feeling very content that the world isn’t a bad place. Now, where can I get myself a Cubanos sandwich this looks that good….

“The arrogance of men is thinking nature is in their control” Godzilla.

Godzilla is probably one of the most famous movie monsters of all time. I would say that every body knows the story, but beyond ‘big lizard destroys Tokyo’ I actually don’t think that is the case. It certainly wasn’t for me going in to the cinema anyway. There are 8 films I can see on IMDB as well as some TV series, and I must confess I hadn’t seen ANY. It also took me a while to find someone willing to see it with me to be honest! I think I need more male friends…

But I digress! My only expectations for Godzilla were a lot of destruction and some cool monster action… well I got a little of that, but not as much as you would think. What surprised me about Godzilla was the amount of time the story spends on the human characters. That being said, I don’t feel like they developed these characters as much as they could have considering the screen time they took up.

The now legendary Bryan Cranston (of Breaking Bad fame, although I will always remember him as Hal from Malcolm in the Middle personally!) plays Joe Brody, a scientist who goes half crazy trying to uncover the conspiracy surrounding Godzilla and other unearthly creatures (although he has no idea what he is uncovering) after an unnatural event tears his family apart. Brody was the only character that got any kind of empathy out of me, although his screen time isn’t as much as you would think given the trailers, Cranston gives the most moving performance. After that it all fell a bit flat for me.

Brody’s son is played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.. except he appears to have lost all his charisma and charm. Unfortunately Ford Brody is little more than a military man. He shows some compassion for other human beings and there is chemistry between him and his wife played by Elizabeth Olsen, but not a character I could root for or sympathise with. Olsen was also given a pretty dull part to play, the teary wife and mother… she did what she could with it! (A duo we will be seeing more of in the future with the new Marvel film on it’s way..).

A strange double act came in the form of Sally Hawkins and Ken Watanabe as the field experts on Godzilla and the MUTO’s (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). Hawkins follows Watanabe around like a lost puppy and Watanabe’s character looks very perplexed and dazed at all times. He is the only one who seems to understand the beasts and believes they should be left to carry out their business as naturally as possible. Of course the military men disagree, and all hell breaks loose!

The story of the MUTO’s came as a surprise to me but I enjoyed the fact that Godzilla isn’t just a crazed monster tearing up the city for no apparent reason. I enjoyed the story between the monsters much more than the turmoil suffered by the humans on the ground I have to say. The special effects were obviously awesome, I don’t think we need to comment on them anymore as they are just on the top of their game CGI wise. I didn’t however like the fact that most of the action was in the dark – this coupled with overwhelming noise to the point I blanked it out, and the nice warm surroundings… I MAY have nodded off a little, and so did my friend… awks!

There were a few other things that made me lose interest a little, like the shock of discovering half a mountain has been destroyed when stumbling across it, and needing binoculars to find the giant MUTO’s carving a path through the desert… *scans horizon with binocular* “Oh there it is!” *zooms out* ITS BIGGER THAN AN EFFING BUILDING surrounded by nothing but sand… I laughed out loud at this point.

Ok, ok I have been a little harsh on Godzilla I fear. There were some excellent shots, such as the HALO jump which features in the trailer, and the few scenes of mass destruction… I did also feel some desperation when Brody couldn’t get back to his family. Over all though, a bit of a flop in terms of entertainment. I don’t think I will be watching it again. Sorry fans!

“You want me to come down there so you can kill me?” The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Seeing as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has been out for a while now and every man and his dog has
already reviewed it, this post WILL have spoilers. Please be warned!

As much as I enjoyed Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Spider-Man the first time around in 2012 (my short review here), the film wasn’t anything special. It was a tough one though because there are only so many ways you can tell the same origins story. Which is why I was excited to see what they were going to do with the second instalment. They had plenty more story lines to consider and could pull it away from Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy which I really didn’t enjoy.

This time around we still have long lost best friend Harry Osborn and the general conspiracies surrounding Oscorp. But we also get a much deeper insight into Peter Parker’s parents, a good look at his relationship with Aunt May, the romance between him and Gwen Stacy as well as a new evil villain for Spidey to contend with. Many reviews have expressed that fitting all of these threads into one film detracted from the story as a whole, I disagree though – I think it was well paced and the stories were all well told. It meant I didn’t get bored at any point during the film because it kept my interest by switching between story loops.

Maybe I am on my own here but I really enjoyed the moments between Gwen and Peter, yes there were some cringy parts where it got a little cheesy but I didn’t mind because Garfield’s delivery made it sweet and funny, and Emma Stone just oozes ‘cool’. They have great chemistry on screen too which made it easy to believe in and route for (much the opposite of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst’s awkwardness!). I really enjoyed the opening sequence switching between Gwen at the graduation ceremony and Spider-Man pursuing the bad guys in a fast paced car chase. I felt they set the tone of the film in this first part to be much more comic book stylee, for example when Spider-Man is trying to catch all the radioactive bottles in the back of the van it looked almost cartoon like. His one liners and funny quips had me laughing aloud and I really got into it from the off. When Gwen did her moving speech I knew where the story was heading though!

Some brilliant casting in Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn, he looks like a slightly less attractive mid-twenties Leo DiCaprio (you know up until he starts turning green and goes all mental). I enjoyed his performance too, he is another cool character – I loved his delivery and attitude. His character felt much different to James Franco’s Harry which I thought was a good move. I wanted to see more of him being Harry, but unfortunately the Green Goblin thing happens and then he isn’t so cool. DeHaan does the broody rich teen thing very well, but I wasn’t as convinced with his villain. The way Harry turns into the Green Goblin made it much more interesting, the scene in which he crawls up to the flight suit was pretty grotesque and actually quite disturbing I found!

Jamie Foxx was an odd choice for Electro, I wasn’t convinced by his down trodden Max Dillon at first but warmed to him as he became more obviously vulnerable. His transformation to Electro was pretty cool, the glowing blue skin and bassey voice were actually quite menacing. I enjoyed the use of heavy bass music during the fight scenes with Electro, and the setting of Times Square was very fitting for the first show down. When Electro throws electricity around and it goes all slow motion it looked VERY cool and I found these scenes really exciting. I think Spidey probably got off quite likely with the amount of times he gets electrocuted, but a bit of suspended disbelief is required here!

Electro’s final battle also becomes the Green Goblin’s first. A nice transition I thought, as I kept gasping throughout thinking ‘oh god Gwen’s going to die here!’ To no avail! Finally, she gets put in some real life threatening danger when the Goblin whisks her up into the air. The moment the camera zooms out from the top of the building and Spider-Man jumps to catch Gwen has stuck in my head since! As has the slow mo fall that follows Gwen’s decent down the clock tower with cogs and debris falling around her. I held my breath when Spider-Man throws his web to try and catch her…

Now, the first time I saw this I watched it in 2D, when Gwen almost hits the floor she stops so suddenly I knew for sure she was a goner and found it quite shocking! The second time around I watched in 3D and thought the visuals weren’t as crisp and her landing seemed much softer. In 3D my friend was confused and didn’t believe Gwen was actually dead until after the funeral scene. Just an interesting difference between 2D and 3D viewings there.

I thought that the scenes Peter mourns Gwen’s death were very touching and not dragged out for too long. It isn’t long before he gets back his motivation and goes off fighting the next villain wreaking havoc in the city. Which for me was a really good ending as it didn’t feel flat after a tragic event. It picked up the anti again and left me feeling pretty chuffed with the film over all! Plus the appearance of Mr. Fiers is another good teaser linking to the first film and a good indication of the stories direction.

My POV, a really great second instalment for The Amazing Spider-Man, I probably enjoyed it more than most and believe its current rating of 7.4 on IMDB is a little harsh. But I would recommend watching it on the big screen to those who haven’t yet seen it , although I wouldn’t bother paying extra for 3D. The action is just as good in 2D! I was disappointed with the end credit clip though, no teasers for Spider-Man itself, just an X-Men trailer which I thought was a bit of a cop out. I am pleased the studios are working together, and perhaps a cross over film is on the cards in the future, but it doesn’t look like it ATM!

There is an interesting story over on Screen Rant about a deleted post-credit scene that has leaked though… you can check that out here.

It’s been a while.. but I’m back, baby!!

Hey, it’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you, without a dope beat to step to, step to, step to… Ok, no Alliyah and Timberland fans out there… my point is, it’s been far too long since I have had time to sit down and write a review! Now I have a bit of a break, I plan on catching up with the world of movie reviews and putting my two pence in there for what it’s worth!

Seeing as it has been quite a while since my last review on 1st April, I am going to do some mini-reviews of films I have been to see in the last couple of months. Kind of like a warm up.. Then I will come back with a nice wordy review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, because I do love to ramble!

Muppet’s Most Wanted

Whilst I love a good Muppet movie, Muppet Treasure Island being one of my favourite films of all time, I HATED 2011’s monstrosity, The Muppets. Whilst the latest addition was much better, it still lacks what a great Muppet movie is all about, the effing Muppets! There are so many needless cameo’s squeezed in it feels more like a film for Hollywood than a film for the fans (did I randomly see Ludacris at the table in prison?!). To give it credit, the story line is much better than it’s predecessor, and Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and Ty Burrell do bring some big laughs when interacting with the Muppets. The self awareness comedy from the Muppets themselves is used well too, and a couple of my favourites, Pepe and Animal, got some good scenes and funny lines. Unfortunately it didn’t cut the mustard for me though and I think I have given up on The Muppet franchise!

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Well this certainly was an odd ball of a film! Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Willem Defoe, Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Ed Norton, Jude Law, Bill bloody Murray – an amazing cast, and an interesting story to boot. TGBH felt like a foreign movie that should have been subtitled, Wes Anderson did a fantastic job of making the film feel very authentic and giving it many layers. There are plenty of hidden jokes and passing funniosities which you probably wont see the first time around. I am very much looking forward to seeing it again. It does fall a little flat in the middle, but the film more than makes up for it in intelligence, whit and entertainment during the remainder. A hidden gem!

Divergent

‘Oh it’s like Hunger Games’ – well I suppose it is like Hunger Games except… not good. The saving grace for this film is Theo James who pulls off hot and intriguing without playing into your stereotypical ‘Edward-esque’ personality too much. The leading lady Shailene Woodley is unfortunately as her surname would suggest, although she does loosen up a little toward the end of the film. Too little too late for me though I am afraid, I was quite disappointed by this distopian teenage angst malarkey. And I am usually a sucker for that stuff! Though it isn’t all bad, it has it’s gripping and interesting moments – but not enough to pull it out of the ‘mediocre’ pile for me!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I enjoyed this installment much more than the first Captain America (which put me to sleep half way through). I liked Chris Evans performance, much like in The Avengers Assemble I think Cap actually seems to be getting a sense of personality. His relationship with Black Widow had me intrigued too, I felt that Evans and Scarlett Johansson had some good chemistry going on. Although I think she would be far too much for Cap to handle. I loved Anthony Mackie’s Falcon, you could tell in reality that guy was absolutely buzzing to be a part of it. The CGI on the Falcon wasn’t great but I liked the way they used Caps speed and strength and Falcons flight to create dynamic action sequences. I felt the Winter Soldier himself left a little to be desired, but found the history between him and Cap interesting and I am looking forward to seeing that story arc in future films. Much better than expected, but not raving about it.

The Other Woman

Cameron Diaz and Lesley Mann make a good duo in this comedy about a wife and mistress seeking revenge on a love rat. Kate Upton is technically part of the trio but unfortunately doesn’t bring much more than a nice rack. That is the character she was given though so I am not down playing her performance! Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays the love rat in question and similarly plays a stereotypical role as the sleazy man girls love to hate. But hey, the formula worked because me and my friends were in absolute stitches throughout. I think this film is easily misinterpreted as a movie about revenge, actually I found it to be a movie about friendship and the bond women can make with each other even through the strangest of circumstances. The only thing that let it down was the over the top ending, BUT I enjoyed it, and so did my friends. We will be watching it again for a bit of light-hearted entertainment! 

Bad Neighbours

A couple with a new born baby move into their dream home only to have a fraternity move in next door… What on earth possessed someone to pitch that story line I will never know. Does that actually happen?? Surely Universities have to have permission to have these things in residential areas?? ANYWAY, despite the ridiculousness of the situation, the combination of Seth Rogan, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron and Dave Franco really worked! Plus the added hilarity from Ike Barinholtz of Mindy Project fame was a great surprise. The frat house scenes made me want to party, the relationship between Rogan and Byrne actually felt quite authentic, and the jokes were pretty hilarious. You can’t really say much about it, its a silly, funny film that I will most likely be watching again!

That’s enough of the mini reviews, I have since seen The Amazing Spider-Man and Godzilla so I will try my best to get some reviews up more regularly now I have a break from studying and just have the 9-5 grind to contend with 😀

Glad to be back guys! Peace out!

PS. Thanks to The Focused Filmographer and Lauren at My Kind of Movie for my recent blog nominations! Apologies for being useless and not responding in a timely manner. But here’s me accepting my award… hehe thanks guys!!