Trance

It's Easter Sunday and for once Cardiff is really quiet. Most of the shops are closed and, surprisingly the cinema is quite quiet too..

I've been looking forward to this one.. The reviews had been... mixed at best, but as Sunshine is one of my favourite movies I was convinced Mr Boyle could pull it off again.

And he has.... to a degree.  Granted, I didn't enjoy it as much as Sunshine, but it's not sci-fi..

The plot is a complex thing, but basically James McAvoy plays an Auctioneer who gets involved in the theft of a very expensive painting. Unfortunately, during the heist he gets a tap on the head and forgets where he put the bloody thing (?!)  Rosario Dawson is then drafted in as a hypnotherapist to try and sort him out...

The film twists and turns and I was left wondering right up to the final 'reveal'.  You get the obligatory 'is this a dream?' scene every now and then but that's expected. 

Overall, not a bad film. ***. Might deserve a second viewing.

G.I.Joe:Retaliation 3D

To be honest I wasn't a fan of the first GI Joe so this one was at a disadvantage to start with..

This film was due for release last year. It was allegedly postponed due to poor audience reception at the main character (Channing Tatum) being killed off early in the film. So with this in mind I was expecting him to be rewritten in etc,etc..

Plot, for what it's worth carries on from the previous film. Johnathan Pryce plays the American president and his evil double (implanted by COBRA) After a raid in Pakistan by our heroes to recover some nuclear warheads we find...yawn!. Seriously, the plot is immaterial. It was at best, a pedestrian film.. In fact writing this review I've forgot what happened.. It wasn't Diehard 5 bad but it wasn't very good..

Rating **

Jack The Giant Slayer

After a 'brisk' walk along The Taff Trail from the bay I finally made it to the cinema at 5 to 12. Who am I kidding, brisk? It was bloody freezing! By the time I'd walked the 3 miles not only was I bloody knackered but my face was numb from the icy wind blowing off the river..

Anyway, enough about me, back to Jack The Giant Slayer.

Now I'm a big fan of Brian Singer. X-men 1 & 2 are the best in the franchise by a long shot and I think I must be the only person who enjoyed Superman Returns (seriously, I loved it!) So I was already on board for this one. The trailer looked action packed (albeit CGI heavy) and  I was looking forward to it.... kind of..

And once it got going it wasn't that bad.. Initially I thought the CGiants were going to be annoying (see what I did there?.. C G I ants.. No?.. nevermind..). But after a while I got used to them. One thing that did bother me was the old rhyme.. They changed the 'fee fye foe fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman' to 'fee fye foe fum, something something something some..' I can't remember how it goes (clearly!) but I'm assuming its to accommodate the US audience. Anyway, that (and the CGI) aside it was quite an enjoyable romp really. Probably wont see it again, but a solid ***1/2.

Sent from my iPhone

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

It was this or Side Effects... And to be honest I don't know why I chose this one.

It sees the Steves, Carroll and Buschemi as a pair of childhood friends who have grown up to be (failing) magicians in Las Vegas. Then along comes the 'David Blaine' character, played by Jim Carrey to mix it up a bit.

It was an odd film really.  Initially it seemed a bit slow off the mark with regards to laughs. But as it progressed and Alan Arkin re-appeared it seemed to pick up. It had a tone somewhere between Anchorman and Zoolander (with a bit of Dodgeball thrown in for good measure), but ultimately not as funny as any of those.  It'll be interesting to see if its a grower on DVD like the aforementioned Anchorman. Burt Wonderstone isn't as likeable as Ron Burgundy.. Olivia Wilde looked as gorgeous as she did in Tron Legacy (it's in the eyes I tells yer) and James Gandalfini has erm... blossomed!

Overall it was an entertaining **1/2

Sent from my iPhone

Welcome To The Punch

This turned out better than I expected. Basically James McAvoy plays the hard cop wronged by Mark Strong's bad guy in the beginning. Well, when I say wronged I mean shot in the knee.. Cut to 3 years later and Mark Strong's son ends up in hospital... and much action ensues.. 

I'd heard it was stylish and yes, it was. Apparently Ridley Scott was involved in this film somewhere along the line and if that's true it makes perfect sense. Not only in the 'look' of the film but Iceland is looking more and more appealing as a holiday destination..

Filmed mainly at night, Canary Wharf looked quite appealing too. The action was gritty and there was a good supporting cast. The fact that I didn't notice the accents was also a bonus.

Overall ***1/2 (nearly ****)

Sent from my iPhone

Parker

Went to this one with Graham as I know he's a Jason Statham fan.

The basic synopsis goes thus.. 'The Stath' plays Parker, a medium time criminal (i.e. not small or big) who, after the initial robbery and subsequent altercation gets shot, dumped on the side of the road and left for dead..

What then transpires is the usual revenge fair.. And that's it problem really. It's been done so many times before, even by Jason in the far superior Crank. Along the way Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte turn up to show its not a straight-to-DVD movie (which it should have been!) 

This film has no redeeming  features. Getting Ja-Lo to strip so he could check her for a wire was a particularly low point in my opinion.  The script was cliched and just rubbish. It was totally devoid of suspense, action or humour. (the only joke being in the trailer!) In fact the more I think about it the more I dislike it.  Even Graham wasn't that impressed so that says it all!

Overall **.  Better than Die Hard 5 but not as entertaining as The Last Stand.

Sent from my iPad

Oz: The Great and Powerful 3D

This was the first film of the day and the 'blockbuster' of the weekend.

It started off well. Black and white and in a square format. James Franco plays Oz, a illusionist and con man in Kansas who gets sucked up a tornado (as you do).

This sequence worked well in 3D and as we enter the land of Oz the screen changed to colour and opened up to full widescreen. 

Unfortunately this is when it started to fail.. I'm not sure if it was the CGI overload or the 3D but a lot of it looked fake.  There was some nice Sam Rami touches (particularly his running camera effect!) and it was quite spooky in places.. 

I'm not sure what to make of Mila Kunis in this one? I'm generally a big fan (what male isn't ?!) but here she was a bit... distant.. Apart from when she @?&£@!&@ later in the film..

Overall this film was not as good as I expected. James Franco was his usual reliable self but Zack Braffs flying monkey boy didn't quite hit the mark for me.

With hindsight I think I should have gone for the less 'blockbustery' Side Effects. As a result I'm going to rate this ***.

(probably a bit too long too!)

Sent from my iPhone

Broken City

Straight out of Wreck-it Ralph and in to this one. I hadn't heard much about it and the trailer pitched it as a kind if Action thriller..
Turns out it was more thrill than action.
Mark Walberg plays a disgraced cop who, after seven years as a private investigator is called upon by the Mayor of New York (Russell Crowe) to 'investigate' his wife.
It gets more complicated than that and as a result.... a bit tedious.
It basically seems to just plod along and any thrills are few and far between...
Ultimately a forgettable film so as a result I'm rating it **1/2

Sent from my iPhone

Wreck-it Ralph

It's been a while since I've seen a 'kids film' and it was a little embarrassing a middle aged man sat there on his own..

Anyway back to the film.. When it kicked off it reminded me of Scott Pilgrim with its 8 bit style intro.

It starts off with Ralph at a 'Bad Guys Anonymous' meeting. He's fed up being the bad guy and decides to go off and get a medal so he'll be accepted by everyone in his game.  The initial set up is funny and it was cool to try and spot the game references.. 

But after that it fell into your typical animated kids movie territory. 

It's not as good as 'Cloudy' (which is the benchmark in my opinion!) but its not all bad. An enjoyable 90 mins...

Overall a solid ***

Update: Forgot to mention the excellent short called 'Paper-man' that was on before the main feature. It was a charming black and white film (with one notable splash of colour!) and for that I'll add an extra 1/2 star..

Rating ***1/2

Sent from my iPhone