Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (3D)

Another gorgeous day in the Welsh capital and after seeing this one I took a leisurely ride down the bay.

I couldn't make up my mind up wether to see this or Richard Linklaters 'Boyhood'. It was a close call, particularly as I suspected 'Boyhood' wouldn't be showing when I next visited the cinema. But, as it turned out, this one was a doozie.
First, a brief bit of background. If you've seen 'Rise Of...' this one picks up the baton 10 years after. The planet has been ravaged by 'Simeon flu' and only a small minority of humans are alive. As there sources of power are dwindling they send an expedition up in the hills to see if they can kick start the hydro electric dam system. And it's during this trip they encounter the apes who have survived and are now a thriving community.
One thing leads to another and an uneasy truce is agreed apon. Needless to say if the truce had remained it would have been a fairly mundane movie. Luckily (for the viewer at least) the unease in both the Ape and Human camps comes to a head and if you've seen the trailer you know what happens.
Unlike 'Rise' the full plot wasn't revealed in the trailers and as a result the movie was probably better for it. Andy Serkis reprises his role as Caesar, and once again shows why he's the 'go to' guy for motion capture.. Gary Oldman plays the bad guy but you do sympathise with him to a degree.  The good/bad line is definitely blurred, even the 'bad' ape has perfectly valid reasons for his behaviour..

The effects are outstanding. Some much so, you forget they're CGi apes and just go with it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Another 'intelligent' blockbuster and after 'Transformers 4' it's good to see they still make them..

Overall, an entertaining ****.

Sent from my iPhone

How To Train Your Dragon 2

After yesterday's movie left a sour taste in my mouth I was looking for something to cleanse the pallet.. This one seemed to fit the bill and from what I can remember the first one it was quite entertaining.. 

This movie takes place 4 years after that one and Hiccup (Jay Barachell) and his dragon are off exploring the boundaries of there world and mapping it.. It's during one of these trips that he bumps into a group of Dragon Catchers and learns that there's a Viking, Drago (voiced by Djimon Hounso) who's building a dragon army.. Anyhoo, one thing leads to another, Hiccup's long lost (assumed dead) mother turns up (Cate Blanchette with an occasional Scottish accent), dragons fight dragons.. All of which can be seen in the trailers..

The question is what did I think of it? I can remember seeing the previously mentioned trailers and not being too impressed. As with most animated movies these days they're not made for 45 year old movie bores with nothing better to do on a hot July Sunday morning... And as Rutger Hauer's Batty eventually accepted his fate on the rooftop at the end of Bladerunner so too have I (albeit without grabbing a falling man with one hand and holding a pigeon in the other..)

There were moments in the film that were genuinely moving, the dragon bonding with Hiccup was particularly nice. The animation was excellent and the size of the Alpha Dragons was conveyed well on screen.. Overall it was pleasant way to spent an hour and a half.. ***

Sent from my iPhone

Transformers: Age Of Extinction

.... or Transformers 4 to you and me..

Right, before I give my opinion I'll give a quick synopsis.. 

I missed the first minute of this one but when I finally sat down there was a scene involving dinosaurs being wiped out by alien spaceships.. Cut to 'the Arctic' and some scientists (Sophia Myles... mainly) have discovered a 'DINOBOT!'.. Next thing we are in 'Texas, USA' and 'down on his luck', single dad, scrap collector/inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Walberg) is trying to make ends meet. You know, send his daughter to college, put food on the table and other such clichés.. When, low and behold he finds Optimus Prime.. I could go on but really, director Michael Bay spends more time and money on catering than he does on 'boring' things like plot and character development..

Pretty well every critic has hated this movie and, in their defence that's easy to understand as the film is basically shit.. Let's be honest Michael Bay has made him self an easy target by churning out rubbish films like this.. I know he doesn't care what critics think but I'm not one. And he obviously doesn't care what I think either. Again though, I'm not the target demographic.. That being said even when I was a 12-18 year old spotty teenager I still would have been disappointed with this. Especially if I'd forked out £10 to see it..

My main gripe with this movie is that it was too loooooooooong...... Way, way, way, way, way, WAY too long... At one point I was pleading with them to make it stop.. It reminded me of the Penrose Stairs where you keep going on and on and can't get off.. If they'd cut at least an hour off it would have been a far more acceptable movie. There was a point in the film where I glimpsed a moment that reminded me of the first Transformers film. And in doing so I glimpsed a moment of hope.. But it was fleeting and soon lost in the constant barrage of chase, followed by fight, followed by girl screaming, followed by chase (did I mention chase?)... There was a problem with the last film (just one problem?) Ok, one of the many problems with Transformers 3 was concerning the end 'fight scene' (which, quite literally sucked my will to live). During that hour long, monotonous, boring and generally soul destroying scene, people complained that it was difficult to see who was punching/shooting who (really? Is that all they complained about?). Anyway, they've managed to get over that problem in the new film by colouring the 'new Decepticons' red and/or blue... At least I think that's what they did..

Ok, the special effects where good.. Actually, very good in parts.. That being said they were also very bad in parts too. They tried to emulate a scene in one of the previous movies where the Transformer 'Bumblebee' transforms in slow-mo whilst catching one of the cast. Here they jumped over a bridge and it was laugh out loud bad! But this is all immaterial when the dialogue and acting is so poor, I could have done a better job myself.. I didn't notice a single ugly person in it.. All the women wore short shorts or mini minis.. It cost $200,000,000 (allegedly) and god knows what the hell they spent that on? It certainly wasn't clothing.. or script.. or plot..  If they'd cut out an hour and a half of fighting/car chasing/girl screaming I may have given this ***. As it stands *1/2 is being generous.. 

Sent from my iPhone