Writer/producer/director, Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass) took First Class head on, directing what can only be described as a new era of Xmen.
The film dives back to 1962 when Charles Xavier (James McAvoy, Wanted) and Eric Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender, Inglorious Basterds) first meet and form the Xmen to band together and take down Sabastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and, in a nut shell, stop WWIII!
First Class was a make or break version of Xmen. With the disappointing Xmen: Last Stand and the more hateful Wolverine: Origins acting as a catalyst for negativity and dismissal, a new Xmen film was never going to grab attention straight away. That was until Matthew Vaughn popped up and turned the 'Series Of Misfortunate Sequel Prequel Things' into something that Xmen should have been from the start.... 'Mutant, and proud'
The problem with the last 2 films were that not only were they very boring, but they were, well, awful. X3 seemed to grab no attention and slithered into the darkness as the worm of all trilogy closing films. We all know how painfully terrible Wolverine: Origins was so we'll not go there, but it does seem like what we first loved about the X films was just forgotten about. For example everybody likes to know what powers our friends have and people like to see how the individuals live with their powers and how they control it.
First Class takes Xmen to the next level, it provides entertaient and hits all of the above mentioned criteria. It not only brought forth new Mutants we haven't seen before on film e.g. Angel & Banshi, basically a fairy and a....well... Banchi, but it kept the ones we love e.g. Mistique & Beast. (Not forgetting Xavier and Magneto of course). Doing this gave the audience a chance to notice the small things e.g. During Xavier's first go in Cerebro, we see a young storm in amongst the rush of mutants being discovered. And not to mention the one line cameo from Hugh Jackman as Wolverine 'Fuck Off' when X and E approach him in a bar.
It would have been good to see scenes that lasted more than 5min. It seemed to rush though the story which meant that there was not alot intellectually to take in. Which in turn meant that the rushed end gave a feeling of 'is that it?'
Even with that It is an extraordinary film that shines a well needed light on this dwindling series. It will not be suprising if 'young Xmen' are seen again. Well worth a watch if you wish to feel hope for this series once again!
4 stars!!
Monday 11 July 2011
Friday 8 July 2011
Green Zone (Film)
From the director of the last 2 Bourns (Supremacy & Ultimatum)comes this "utterly unmissable" (Mirror)war based film.
The time is 2003 and the location is Baghdad. The mission is to find weapons of mass destruction hidden by Saddam's regime. Chief Miller leads the elite US Army team in search of these WMD and instead uncover a deadly conspiracy of murder and deception reaching all the way to the top. Miller finds that no one can be trustedand that the people who seemed to be his enemy, claim to beon his side.
Reading what Green Zone offers really sets the film up to be an epic war film filled with guns, mystery and a shit loada' bad language. But, it just doesn't deliver. Granted the action is pretty good and the storyline is riddled with intelectually factual accuracy about Baghdad back then but it is not backed up by likable characters or believable circumstances e.g. Throughout the whole film almost 3 US soldiers are killed whilst the whole fleet of enemies are wiped out.
Sitting though till the end feels more like a chore, it becomes boring halfway through and so the feeling of unfulfilemt sweeps over when the credits finally role up.
Maybe it has something to do with it's 15 age rating or that maybe it is trying to hard to be 'Bourne In A War Zone' but this film cries out for attention off the viewer and only gets in return a sigh of unsatisfaction and a un-holy hand gesture to move on and be gone.
2 Stars
The time is 2003 and the location is Baghdad. The mission is to find weapons of mass destruction hidden by Saddam's regime. Chief Miller leads the elite US Army team in search of these WMD and instead uncover a deadly conspiracy of murder and deception reaching all the way to the top. Miller finds that no one can be trustedand that the people who seemed to be his enemy, claim to beon his side.
Reading what Green Zone offers really sets the film up to be an epic war film filled with guns, mystery and a shit loada' bad language. But, it just doesn't deliver. Granted the action is pretty good and the storyline is riddled with intelectually factual accuracy about Baghdad back then but it is not backed up by likable characters or believable circumstances e.g. Throughout the whole film almost 3 US soldiers are killed whilst the whole fleet of enemies are wiped out.
Sitting though till the end feels more like a chore, it becomes boring halfway through and so the feeling of unfulfilemt sweeps over when the credits finally role up.
Maybe it has something to do with it's 15 age rating or that maybe it is trying to hard to be 'Bourne In A War Zone' but this film cries out for attention off the viewer and only gets in return a sigh of unsatisfaction and a un-holy hand gesture to move on and be gone.
2 Stars
Sunday 1 May 2011
Dr Who - Season 6 ep 2 (TV) With ep1&2 Summary
In this weeks episode we are back following the story 2 Month after what we saw last week.
Seasons 6 Ep 1&2:
It burst onto the screen with Amy running through the Utah desert being chased by 2 cars.
We also end up in Area 51 where The Dr is in captivity and is having a prison built around him, Rory is on top of Glen Canyon Dam and in typical River style she has jumped out of a New York building many stories up. Canton seems to be killing everyone and locking The Dr up in a cell, until of course the cell is locked so no one can see or hear inside, it all then become apparent that it's all just a plan.
Filmed mostly on location in Utah the area is vast and amazingly fitting to the story. The glorious scenery and mountains are something that is very different from Dr Who. We are so used to space ships and future cities, these two episodes have been very......rural and it's although its a terrain that the Dr himself is not used to, seeing as we hardly see him outside
The aliens of the first two episodes they are possibly the creepiest yet. They identify themselves as "The Silence" (referring back to what Prisoner Zero said in the 1st ep last year; "The Silence is coming") They are an alien race that have been around since the beginning of time, we just don't know it because they are plainly there when you see them, but when you turn away and you instantly forget that you saw them.
What is truly worrying and weird is the fact that as viewers we a thrust into this "forgetting" business as we are fed scenes that haven't even happened, but that have happened to the character only they have forgotten. Not only that but they are pretty funny looking as well!!
The Dr gives everyone a device that they are told to use to record everything that happens when they are looking at the aliens called a Nano Recorder. It is implanted in everyone's hands so that their hand will glow orange when something has been recorded. The fact that one scene is happening and suddenly Amy's hand is glowing orange really puts the audience in the middle story.
Now, when watching Dr Who I always get the feeling that; yes it fits a brilliant story into 45min but then it has to rush the end to satisfy us.
I love these 2 parter episodes because 1) it allows the writers and the show to expand more and 2) it gives us the audience a reason to carry on watching and gives us more information about what is happening.
Of course the show cant just be a string of 2 parters so I am hoping that singular episodes to come find the balance, yet maintain the same excellence otherwise some of the episodes may get overshadowed by others.
Overall episode 1 and 2 have sparked an exiting start to the new series by providing a gripping story with 2 MASSIVE twists (that are sure to rear their heads later in the series)
Well worth a watch as it shows that the series is only going to get better....... with no disappointment.
Seasons 6 Ep 1&2:
5Stars!!!
Dr Who - Season 6 ep 1 (TV)
Dr Who has finally returned to our screens with MATT SMITH returning as The Doctor for a new series, which proves to be even better than the last.
Season 6 started off with The Doctor misbehaving through time and eventually gathering Amy (Karen Gillan) Rory (Arthur Darvill) and the excellent River Song (Alex Kingston) and then talks about going to America in 1966.
In case I spoil anything I'm not going to say what happened in the episode but it involved the Dr's amazing ability to befriend someone, this time President Nixon, into trusting him to save someone.
We found out the president has been receiving direct phone calls by a little girl asking for his help because "The Spaceman" is coming to get her.
Smith received a lot of stick and criticism when he was named as the 11th Doctor.
People thought that he could not match DAVID TENNANT; who made his version of The Doctor something that every fan fell in love with instantly.
Matt proved everyone wrong from his 1st episode, which aired last year, by bringing to the table a feisty funny Doctor that ultimately surprised everyone.
Since then people have stopped comparing him to David due to the fact that the new seasons, and the style it has given its self, is completely different to the other newer seasons. But with new writers and directors this was bound to happen.
I know people that have said David's series were much more "kiddy" than the new ones which are being dubbed a "serious" Sci-fi TV show.
This is taking it back to its roots in a way as back in the day, Dr Who was a well respected Sci-fi epic.
In true Dr Who style it has not only left a giant cliffhanger in the very first episode, but it also looks to be providing a series of confusing, exiting and highly entertaining episodes.
Last season the show started off with a crack in a wall, they progressed with this crack throughout the season. It seems that this may be what they are doing with this season as well, with another massively shocking and twisting story.
I for one can't wait for next weeks show, I cant wait for the rest of the season to be honest.
Dr Who just gets better and better.
Season 6 Episode 1:
5stars!!
The Collector (Film)
The Collector follows the story of a young man seeking money to give to his ex-wife, to pay off some loan sharks. He plans a heist at his employers country house in order to obtain this money, unaware that another person has also targeted the house, and rigged the whole house with booby traps.
Even with it's very simple storyline of "don't trip that wire or that chandelier equipped with sharp knives will fall on you" and it's even simpler characters like "stay behind me....oh wait she's running up the stairs...oh now she be stabbed" it is quite an enjoyable film.
From the writers of Saw IV, V and VI, I expected this sort of gruesome tale along with relentless torture but The Collector stayed clear of it's brother films and focussed on the art of a straight forward "survivor film".
The main character, a man who is just desperate to help his loved ones, is caught in something that, had he decided to steal another night, he would have never known about.
The opening of the film sees a couple return home drunk from a night out to find a box in their room with a note on top saying "for collection". The older man opens the box, looks scared and then arms appear around his face and we cut to black. We then, from start to finish, follow the main man in his attempt to rob the house but then change his ways and save a survivor trapped within surrounded by these deadly traps.
A strong opening introducing something that is very thick to the storyline later is something that Saw fans will see at the beginning of every film. It sets in stone what is to come, which I like! and it's ability to keep you watching is quite amazing considering there is no scenery change.
The characters are quite predictable. The hero and the villain have your typical rivalry. A good young girl and a rebellious teenager that annoys her parents and the ex-wife who still demands money........
Some of the traps lack "Sawness" in my eyes. There is one torture scene in which a man's tooth is chiselled out but that is all..... oh..... and a mouth is sewn closed but we have seen all that before in Saw so it was all a bit "yeah.....what else"?
Staying on traps I am not denying that they were imaginative e.g. a floor of bear traps, a room of hanging fish hooks and a phone with a pin attached to the earpiece. I'm just saying that they could have been used a bit more.
The concept of the film I thought was the best thing. A robber getting caught, by the wrong person, and suddenly becoming the hero saving a young girl from a mask wearing weird person.
I remember hearing last year when this came out (June 2010) that The Collector was pitched as a Saw prequel. I am so glad that they did not follow up on that because I think that It would not have succeeded had come into the world as a little baby Saw.
Overall an enjoyable film with a frankly perfect twist and a creepy ending that leave you quite satisfied.
Do not watch expecting it to be like Saw as it serves well as a stand alone film.
Worth a watch with friends one night with some popcorn and a pizza but watching it alone can really give the feeling that someone is in the house with you.
4 Stars!
Even with it's very simple storyline of "don't trip that wire or that chandelier equipped with sharp knives will fall on you" and it's even simpler characters like "stay behind me....oh wait she's running up the stairs...oh now she be stabbed" it is quite an enjoyable film.
From the writers of Saw IV, V and VI, I expected this sort of gruesome tale along with relentless torture but The Collector stayed clear of it's brother films and focussed on the art of a straight forward "survivor film".
The main character, a man who is just desperate to help his loved ones, is caught in something that, had he decided to steal another night, he would have never known about.
The opening of the film sees a couple return home drunk from a night out to find a box in their room with a note on top saying "for collection". The older man opens the box, looks scared and then arms appear around his face and we cut to black. We then, from start to finish, follow the main man in his attempt to rob the house but then change his ways and save a survivor trapped within surrounded by these deadly traps.
A strong opening introducing something that is very thick to the storyline later is something that Saw fans will see at the beginning of every film. It sets in stone what is to come, which I like! and it's ability to keep you watching is quite amazing considering there is no scenery change.
The characters are quite predictable. The hero and the villain have your typical rivalry. A good young girl and a rebellious teenager that annoys her parents and the ex-wife who still demands money........
Some of the traps lack "Sawness" in my eyes. There is one torture scene in which a man's tooth is chiselled out but that is all..... oh..... and a mouth is sewn closed but we have seen all that before in Saw so it was all a bit "yeah.....what else"?
Staying on traps I am not denying that they were imaginative e.g. a floor of bear traps, a room of hanging fish hooks and a phone with a pin attached to the earpiece. I'm just saying that they could have been used a bit more.
The concept of the film I thought was the best thing. A robber getting caught, by the wrong person, and suddenly becoming the hero saving a young girl from a mask wearing weird person.
I remember hearing last year when this came out (June 2010) that The Collector was pitched as a Saw prequel. I am so glad that they did not follow up on that because I think that It would not have succeeded had come into the world as a little baby Saw.
Overall an enjoyable film with a frankly perfect twist and a creepy ending that leave you quite satisfied.
Do not watch expecting it to be like Saw as it serves well as a stand alone film.
Worth a watch with friends one night with some popcorn and a pizza but watching it alone can really give the feeling that someone is in the house with you.
4 Stars!
Devil (Film)
Watched M.Night Shyamalan's: Devil today :)
Put 5 people in a lift and one of them is bound to be the devil.......or the one who made that smell.
What a brilliant film.
Perfect directing and a flawless story meant that Devil, though short, provided scares, confusion and gave an ending that I never saw coming at all.
The length of the film and it's quick succession killing meant that there was never really a character to side with or believe in, yet I still found it very enjoyable.
Only a month after directing the disappointing: The Last Airbender, Devil hit cinemas and it seems that Shyamalan could be winning back the fans he has recently lost.
The film may have been a bit different if M. Night directed it as well but the fact that the story came from him is good enough for me.
4 Stars.
Mr Big: What If...
Whether you know who Mr Big are or you don't there is one thing for certain, they are the most underrated Hard Rock band of all time and if you are one of the people that haven't heard of them..... you are totally missing out and I URGE you to download something of theirs NOW!!
Mr Big, although underrated, have a massive reputation that their true fans look at though; Billy Sheehan's amazing bass licks that can penetrate the soul, Paul Gilbert's ability to shred a sound so Godly that it could melt a face, Pat Torpey's uncanny ability to drum the way he does and make it look easy or Eric Martin's one of a kind voice. That said their reputation is something, in my opinion, that no other band can match. Richie Kotze replaced Paul Gilbert in 1999 but their albums since then seemed to lack what Mr Big truly were.
Mr Big broke up in 2002 but came back in 2009 for a reunion.
With a string of brilliant songs and tremendous albums, Mr Big have managed to keep their very unique style throughout their career and after listening to their new album "What If" their still 'Alive and Kicking'
The album takes some of their old fast paced style and mixes it with some new solid riffs and awesome lyrics. Every song on the album is different too which makes it a joy to listen to.
What If is an amazing come back album and the fact they brought Paul Gilbert back for it makes it a hell of a lot better!!
The thing I always find when listening to them is that I never want the song to end and they achieved this feeling with the new album to a great success. I completely recommend getting a hold of all of Mr Big work including What If as it is a brilliant album that is far to good to miss.
5 Stars!!
Mr Big, although underrated, have a massive reputation that their true fans look at though; Billy Sheehan's amazing bass licks that can penetrate the soul, Paul Gilbert's ability to shred a sound so Godly that it could melt a face, Pat Torpey's uncanny ability to drum the way he does and make it look easy or Eric Martin's one of a kind voice. That said their reputation is something, in my opinion, that no other band can match. Richie Kotze replaced Paul Gilbert in 1999 but their albums since then seemed to lack what Mr Big truly were.
Mr Big broke up in 2002 but came back in 2009 for a reunion.
With a string of brilliant songs and tremendous albums, Mr Big have managed to keep their very unique style throughout their career and after listening to their new album "What If" their still 'Alive and Kicking'
The album takes some of their old fast paced style and mixes it with some new solid riffs and awesome lyrics. Every song on the album is different too which makes it a joy to listen to.
What If is an amazing come back album and the fact they brought Paul Gilbert back for it makes it a hell of a lot better!!
The thing I always find when listening to them is that I never want the song to end and they achieved this feeling with the new album to a great success. I completely recommend getting a hold of all of Mr Big work including What If as it is a brilliant album that is far to good to miss.
5 Stars!!
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