Magic Mike

Liz wanted to see this one so naturally I went along (you don't need to ask me twice to see a film!)
And it wasn't that bad really. Liz enjoyed the naked Channing Tatum and I enjoyed the erm.. plot?. It was quite funny in places and, despite the cliches, it ended on a good note (which is also a cliche!)..

Overall rating: ***

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The Dark Knight Rises (Second viewing).

Well, after the Photomarathon opening I thought I'd get a second opinion on this one..
It was still good. But on reflection I enjoyed the Avengers more. The Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger) seemed to have more 'hair on the back of your neck' moments than this one too. For example, when we're first introduced to the Bat Pod and when Batman takes out the SWAT team on the tower near the end. This film seemed to lack those moments. Even the introduction of 'The Bat' didn't have that effect..
I enjoyed it but, at nearly 3 hours I doubt I'll see it again.

Rating ****

(the second viewing also didn't have the same emotional impact)

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The Amazing Spider-Man 3D

This is my second film today. I can still remember (with fondness I might add!) the Sam Rami Spider-man and that was always in the back of my mind during this one. This definitely hindered my enjoyment of the film. The special effects were on par with most super hero movies of this budget and Andrew Garfield was a convincing Spider-man. To be fair it's got a bit of an uphill struggle straight after 'The Dark Knight Rises' but regardless of when I saw it I think my opinion would remain the same. It was... Ok. I wasn't gripped, scared or thrilled at any point. Just entertained. When the bar has been set so high by 'The Avengers' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' they really need to try harder... Well, for me at least. I'm sure there are a lot of 12 year old kids out there who enjoyed it..

Overall:***1/2

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The Dark Knight Rises.

My journey started at 5.45am when I got up. Drove to work and then walked to Hereford station. Caught the 7.10 train to Cardiff and here I am. It's 8.38am and this is without doubt the earliest showing I've ever been to.  The hype has been unprecedented, and although I tried to avoid it, you couldn't help but get swept along. According to the ticket sales person they sold 250 seats for the 5am showing!? 5am?? And this screens starting to fill up with half an hour to go.. The question is can it beat The Avengers?? I'll let you know in 2 hours, 40 mins...  

Well it was 2 hours and 44 mins apparently. But was it any good?? In a word YES!

It lacked the 'coolness' of the Avengers movie but more than made up for it with emotional content. It was a bit too long but only once did I check my phone for the time. I had my suspicions but didn't really see the twist coming in all fairness. In the end it tied the three films together quite nicely. Was it as good as The Avengers? Wasn't a much fun but yes, I enjoyed it. Plus it definitely deserves another viewing (or 2!)

Rating: ****

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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 3D

Didn't really want to see this film. Well, when I say I didn't want to see it what I meant was it wasn't top of my list.. Prometheus was my first choice but there wasn't a 2D showing!? 

And I should have seen the 3D Prometheus. This film was pretty rubbish to be honest. With a title like 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' I went in not expecting 'Citizen Kane', but a tongue in cheek, comedy-horror.  This was totally devoid of comedy.. The horror was pretty thin on the ground too. The plot had one or two holes you could drive a stampede of horses through. The CGI was pretty lame, while some of it was just ridiculous (the aforementioned horse stampede springs to mind!)

I think if it had been a film about 17th Century vampire killing during the American civil war and didn't feature Abraham Lincoln, they may have got a way with it.. Or even injecting a bit of humour into it (no, injecting a LOT of humour) As it happens, I struggled with it and towards the end I found myself thinking 'please make it stop...'

If it has any redeeming features.... I didn't find them..

On a plus note, there was only me and one other unfortunate idiot in the entire showing... which says it all really..

Rating: *

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