The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (December 2014)

Official Australian release date: 26/12/14. Viewed: 26/12/14.

Director: Peter Jackson

Actors: Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Luke Evans

Genre: Adventure / Fantasy

Rating: M

The third – and final – Hobbit film is a valiant attempt to recapture the ‘Lord of the Rings’ magic of Middle Earth, but too often feels tired and repetitive, especially in the sixth film in the franchise. It’s by no means bad, it’s just – as with the first two Hobbit films – unnecessarily padded, with lots of flashbacks and scenes of staring into the distance. I’m still not convinced the three Hobbit films couldn’t have worked as one cohesive 3 & a bit hour film…

Even though the second film featured his name in the title, Smaug (Cumberbatch) is quickly dealt with and the plot hastily progresses to be about the humans – led by Bard (Evans) – tying to move into the Mountain with the Dwarves – led by Thorin (Armitage) & a mostly redundant cameo from Dain (Connolly). To complicate things, the Elves – led by Legolas (Bloom)’s dad – show up too and then the Orcs arrive. By my count, that’s four armies. The fifth army never really eventuates… Gandalf (McKellen) & Bilbo (Freeman) are left stuck in the middle of all this.

There’s some quick appearances from Elrond (Weaving), Galadriel (Blanchett) & Saruman (Lee), which are unnecessary and don’t add to the plot. There’s some good battle scenes, but nothing to top ‘The Two Towers’ or ‘The Return of the King’. Some mild humour thrown in, but a lot of the film feels bogged down and aware it’s “the defining chapter” or “the final farewell” as it’s been billed.

Plenty of frustrating moments – Tauriel (Lilly)’s “romance” with Kili (Turner), Thorin’s “dragon sickness”, the get-out-of-jail-card that the Eagles pose. Despite these, the score is still great, with the use of the familiar motifs still effective and the cinematography beautiful.

Overall: Too much going on, but an adequate resolution to this trilogy.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Nightcrawler (December 2014)

Official Australian release date: 27/11/14. Viewed: 23/12/14.

Director: Dan Gilroy

Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton

Genre: Drama

Rating: MA

‘Nightcrawler’ is unfortunately not a standalone film of the X-Men’s cheeky elf character, but rather a dark exposition of modern news and the public’s (apparent) bloodlust. The film has a simple premise – Bloom (Gyllenhaal) and his partner, Rick (Ahmed) listen to the police scanner and try to show up at accidents to film the gory aftermath before the cops can stop them or before they’re beaten to the scene by other competitors. They’re literally trawling the night for news-worthy footage. That this ‘needs’ to be “bloody”, as Bloom clarifies with Nina (Russo) at the news station is either an indictment on TV news stations/shows, or the public in general – or possibly a bit of both.

Gyllenhaal is very captivating as the main star, being in basically every scene and using his huge eyes – and gross mini-ponytail – to creep you out. You don’t hate him, but start to fully comprehend what a psychopath he is as the film progresses. Sure, he doesn’t kill anyone himself, but he certainly does some despicable things and has no remorse and you start to truly despise him – which proves how good he’s acting!

Ahmed, Russo & Paxton are good in small, but significant roles. The soundtrack is solid and the cinematography of Los Angeles make sit actually look hospitable and attractive for a change – not as gritty as I would’ve expected in a movie of this tone. Good ending to the film, if a disappointing one to watch.

Overall: A good, dramatic film, even if not entirely enjoyable to watch.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

This Is Where I Leave You (November 2014)

Official Australian release date: 23/10/14. Viewed: 12/11/14.

Director: Shawn Levy

Actors: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Jane Fonda, Rose Byrne

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Rating: M

‘This Is Where I Leave You’ is a good mix of funny moments and dramatic moments of reflection. It’s basically the story of four siblings – Judd (Bateman), Wendy (Fey), Phillip (Driver) & Paul (Stoll) – and how they, along with their mum (Fonda), deal with their father’s death. There’s lots of squabbling and jibes, but also some nice scenes with some emotional depth.

This film is slightly better than ‘Date Night’, Levy’s similar film from a few years ago with Fey. It’s not too long, is quite well paced and has a good soundtrack. My main gripe is that – since I can relate! – there wasn’t a more fleshed-out character for Paul, the big brother. I think Phillip comes off being the most interesting, but it’s enjoyable seeing how they all interact with each other & their sibling’s partners. No real conclusion, but there is a few unnecessary spanners thrown in the works at the end.

The best bits are when they all deal with the loss with some levity, especially aided by “Boner” the Rabbi (Schwartz), some of Fey’s quips and the toilet-training kid. Byrne’s good as Bateman’s love interest, but since there’s so many cast members, doesn’t get enough screen time, along with Fonda.

Overall: Solid family-based comedy/drama.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Interstellar (November 2014)

Official Australian release date: 6/11/14. Viewed: 6/11/14.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, David Gyasi, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon
Genre: Sci-Fi / Drama / Action
Rating: M

‘Interstellar’ was a film I’d been waiting to see all year, and it certainly is a huge sci-fi film – $165 million budget – from one of the best filmmakers going round. Basically, we spend 40min on Earth in the not-too-distant-future, where all the crops are failing and Homo sapiens are about to be wiped from the planet. Cooper (McConaughey), Romilly (Gyasi) & Dr Brand (Hathaway) are then sent to another galaxy – via a wormhole – as a last grasp attempt to find another habitable planet.

The film does really well of asking those big picture themes – what’s more important, family of the entire species, love or exploration, why do we matter? However, as a sci-fi/action film, it sometimes lets itself down – the characters aren’t that well developed, beside Cooper & his two kids (Chastain & Affleck when they’re older) and there’s too much maths/physics/relativity and not enough excitement and wonder.

Sure, the special effects you do get to see of the black hole and the planets they visit are great, but there’s just not enough of them – it’s a lot of them in a space suit/ship with an overbearing Hans Zimmer’s score making it hard to hear actual dialogue. It’s probably slightly longer than necessary also – 2 hours 50min, with the last 30min being a less-than-ideal conclusion to the film. Hopefully Damon playing an astronaut prepares him for next year’s ‘The Martian’, which should be more exciting than ‘Interstellar’.

Nolan – who will arguably one day go down as a directorial legend like Kubrick – owes a lot to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and essentially ‘Interstellar’ doesn’t do anything better than that film 46 years ago. But it’s not all bad – I think my expectations were too high, especially after ‘Gravity’ last year – with Caine & Lithgow being solid on Earth and the robots, TARS & CASE (very similar voices/roles to HAL in ‘2001’ & GERTY in ‘Moon’) providing some humour (and a very unique form/function!).

Overall: A good sci-fi drama, but needed more action and adventure!

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Pride (November 2014)

Official Australian release date: 30/10/14. Viewed: 5/11/14.

Director: Matthew Warchus

Actors: Ben Schnetzer, George McKay, Paddy Considine, Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy

Genre: Drama / Comedy

Rating: M

‘Pride’ is a simple British film that manages to be about lots of things all at once, all while being charming and quaint, as only the Poms can do! It’s set in London (and Wales) in 1984 and follows a small group of gay & lesbian activists who decide to do stand up to the Thatcher government – not for gay rights, but for the rights of the striking miners! It’s all handled quite well and doesn’t become a full on drama, or a full on comedy – or even a full on “political” or “gay” movie.

Sure, there’s definitely lots of political messages being explored – and you would like to think the world, in general, is a more tolerant place 30 years later – but the film’s really about this group of six friends banding together and supporting another put-upon group, a small mining community in Wales. This is where a lot of the humour comes from – the old Welsh ladies having fun with “their gays” and “their lesbians”!

The cast is superb – even though Nighy is probably under-utilised – with Mark (Schnetzer) & Joe (McKay) particularly captivating. The soundtrack/score is also great, although there’s obviously some disco! Well-paced and with a great ending, this is a very enjoyable film.

Overall: Fun, moving true story.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

Fury (October 2014)

Official Australian release date: 23/10/14. Viewed: 20/10/14.

Director: David Ayer

Actors: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LeBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Berhthal

Genre: Action / War / Drama

Rating: MA

‘Fury’ is set right at the end of World War II, with the American’s slowly forcing the Nazis back towards Berlin. This is different to lots of WWII films, since it’s not D-Day, or the Western front, or Pearl Harbour – it’s just five guys in a tank, driving across Germany, fighting Nazis when they appear. And that’s the film’s strong point – it’s very realistic. There’s death, mud, weary soldiers, fleeing civilians and prisoners everywhere.

Sure, it wasn’t filmed in Germany (England instead), but the costumes and sets look believable. There’s really only three battle scenes, with the reality of war (lots of waiting around) being illustrated to full effect. And while probably accurate, the drawn out interludes of no action make the film longer than necessary – I think this would have made an excellent 1 hour 45 min film, rather than 2 hours 15 min.

Don (Pitt) is not actually the main character – it’s really about new recruit Noman (Lerman) and how he fits in with this tight Sherman tank crew, and more importantly, how he deals with the horrors of war and killing other humans. The tracer fire looks great on the screen, but there’s not enough action or incentive to care for the characters and their mission to make this a classic war film. See ‘Patton’ if you haven’t!

Overall: Solid, realistic war film, if unspectacular.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Tusk (October 2014)

Official Australian release date: 9/10/14. Viewed: 9/10/14.

Director: Kevin Smith

Actors: Justin Long, Michael Parks, Johnny Depp, Genesis Rodriguez, Haley Joel Osment

Genre: Drama / Horror / Comedy

Rating: MA

What. The. Hell? That pretty much sums up ‘Tusk’. It’s basically a “trapped with someone evil” horror movie, with some Kevin Smith humour thrown in here and there. Sure, there’s some laughs, but they’re mostly incredulous. Now, I’m a pretty big fan of Smith’s and I used to listen to SModCast (but haven’t heard the one this was based on) and I’ve seen all his films and stand-up DVDs. But even still, this has to be the worst thing he’s done. I admire him for taking a risk and doing something unexpected, but ‘Red State’ was at least new, exciting and inventive. ‘Tusk’, not so much.

Before this turns into a total bagging, let me point out some of the pros – the score is great, the use of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’ (“don’t say that you love me!”) is pretty great and fitting in its scene and some of the language and nuances that Parks uses are fantastic. Depp is also pretty funny as the unrecognisable (thanks to a fake nose and, I think, contacts) detective.

But it’s just hard to ignore the total and complete nonsensicalness. Why is it set in Winnipeg, Canada, but filmed in North Carolina, USA? Why would Parks leave the phone lying around for Long to find? How is Parks supposed to be 90+ when he’s only 74? Why do we need to see Joel Osment & Rodriguez pretty much talking to the camera when Long’s not there, adding nothing to the story? Why does Parks do what he does? There’s no real motivation there. Why does none of the plot make sense? Why do we need over half of the movie being exposition before anything happens? All I’ll say is, see it if you’re curious, but be prepared to be grossed out and simultaneously underwhelmed.

Overall: Odd, grotesque, unnecessary weirdness.

Gav's Rating: 1.5 stars. 

The Skeleton Twins (October 2014)

Official Australian release date: 25/9/14. Viewed: 6/10/14.

Director: Craig Johnson

Actors: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell

Genre: Drama / Comedy

Rating: M

‘The Skeleton Twins’ certainly sounds ominous and depressing from the title and the fact that both siblings, Milo (Hader) & Maggie (Wiig) try to commit suicide within the first 10min of the film – but it’s actually not too bleak and has a lot of funny moments throughout.

There’s definitely some heavy issues the twins discuss/contemplate – cheating, death of a parent, unsupportive other parent, job/money issues – but once they reconnect, they bounce off each other in a very enjoyable-to-watch way, particularly the miming of the Starship song. Quite a few witty remarks throughout and it’s not too long at less than 100min.

Wilson is good as the too-caring/energetic husband of Maggie’s and Burrell is OK as the forbidden ex-boyfriend of Milo’s, but it really is the two leads that carry the film and make you invest in them and their decisions. The ending is ultimately uplifting and appropriate.

Overall: An interesting look at depression and sibling love.

Gav's Rating: 3 stars. 

Gone Girl (October 2014)

Official Australian release date: 2/10/14. Viewed: 5/10/14.

Directors: David Fincher

Actors: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon

Genre: Drama

Rating: MA

‘Gone Girl’ is a hard movie to review – I really don’t want to give away too much, because the less you know, the better. I’ll say this much – it’s a very engrossing mystery/thriller, that’s for sure. Certainly lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing and engaged throughout.

The main problem is the length – at over two & a half hours, I feel like it could have been wrapped up in a double ‘Law & Order’/‘CSI’-like episode (i.e. one & a half hours). Sure, it’s moody and suspenseful, but it definitely drags at times. The ending is a little ridiculous, but fits with the rest of the film.

On the plus-side, the acting is superb, with Affleck & Pike doing the majority of the heavy lifting and truly lending gravitas to their characters. The support cast is also great – Coon as his sister, NPH as the ex-boyfriend, Perry as the lawyer and Dickens as the detective. The Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross score is again ominous and fitting, if a little bland at times.

Overall: A fairly original gripping murder mystery.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (September 2014)

Official Australian release date: 18/9/14. Viewed: 18/9/14.

Directors: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez

Actors: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Genre: Action / Adventure

Rating: MA

‘Sin City: A Dame To Kill For’ is a quality sequel to an exceptional, unique film. I gave ‘Sin City’ 4.5 stars and this film doesn’t quite match the first film’s graphic violence or pure originality. Having said that, however, there’s still plenty to love about ‘Sin City 2’ – it’s genuinely funny in parts, has the same great comic book-feel, with fantastic use of black & white, shadows and splashes of vivid colour to highlight certain aspects of a scene. The use of animation blends superbly with the actual actors and the score keeps everything moving.

Returning from the first ‘Sin City’ film are Marv (Rourke), Nancy (Alba), Roark (Boothe), Gail (Dawson), Dwight (now Brolin, not Owen), Miho (now Chung, not Aoki), Manute (now Haysbert, not Clarke Duncan, due to obvious reasons) and Hartigan (Willis, in flashbacks). The characters don’t get confusing or overwhelming, since the film’s basically split into three inter-connected parts. There’s Johnny (Gordon-Levitt) and his poker battles with the corrupt Senator Roark, then Ava (Green, who spends 50% of her screen-time naked – not a bad thing!) & Dwight’s ill-fated romance, and finally Marv & Nancy’s decision to do something about Roark. Almost each of the three parts has overlap with 3–5 characters from the other parts, all handled very well. There’s also plenty of great supporting cast – Meloni, Piven, Lloyd, Liotta, Temple.

I really enjoy how it looks like a comic book, but it could easily be the back streets of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. There’s some nice tie-ins back to the first film, still plenty of guns, swords and fighting – Marv/Rourke does remind me of Hellboy/Perlman a lot! – all done quickly (less than 100min) and stylishly.

Overall: Another fun, gritty, violence-fuelled ride through Sin City.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

Wish I Was Here (September 2014)

Official Australian release date: 18/9/14. Viewed: 3/9/14.

Director: Zach Braff

Actors: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad

Genre: Drama

Rating: M

‘Wish I Was Here’ is a very touching film. My best advice is don’t go in expecting a hilarious comedy, but nor is it a dour/depressing drama. Braff is steadily becoming an accomplished director, knowing when to lighten the mood, but importantly, when to keep it real and meaningful. In fact, I probably liked ‘Wish I Was Here’ more than ‘Garden State’…

The film basically follows Aidan (Braff) and his family as they struggle to live their lives in Los Angeles – he’s an out-of-work actor, wife Sarah (Hudson) is in a dull admin job, they can’t afford to keep the kids in expensive Jewish school, his brother’s an ambitionless drop-out, and to top it all off, his dad has lung cancer. Sounds bad? That’s the basic premise – how does the human heart overcome such adversity?

Once again, a fantastic soundtrack – featuring Bon Iver, The Shins & Paul Simon – with plenty of lovely moments, whether it’s a sight gag (pamphlet container) or a simple explanation of something odd (the contact lenses). There’s definitely some funny moments, mostly thanks to the youngest kid, Tucker (Gagnon, from ‘Looper’ & ‘Extant’) trying to understand what he’s being told. Oh, and Turk from Scrubs turns up briefly! Sure, it gets a bit dramatic in parts and perhaps doesn’t have the strongest ending.

But, that being said, Grace (King), Gabe (Patinkin) & Noah (Gad) all have some scenes that seriously pull at the heart strings/tear ducts! The delicate moments are handled exceptionally and there’s plenty of overt and concealed meanings in most of the scenes.

Overall: Emotive, life-affirming, moving film about love and family.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Boyhood (September 2014)

Official Australian release date: 4/9/14. Viewed: 1/9/14.

Director: Richard Linklater

Actors: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater

Genre: Drama

Rating: M

The premise of ‘Boyhood’ is at once really simple and spectacularly innovate and unique – film a kid growing up through primary and high school. Sounds quite unexciting, but it has literally never been done before – Mason (Coltrane) is show growing from age 7 until 18 (and so is Samantha, director Linklater’s actual daughter), filmed at various stages of his adolescence over 12 years. There’s no subtitles for what year/season it is – it’s up to you to determine at what stage of his life he’s at, but the scenes manage to flow quite easily, even though he ages multiple months/hairstyles each time.

The soundtrack to the film is fantastic and a trip down memory lane itself – Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ opens the film, before Blink 182’s ‘Anthem Part Two’ and Weezer’s ‘Island In The Sun’ instantly date the year as 2001. There was plenty of great/likeable songs throughout – 2002 has The Hives 'Hate to Say I Told You So' and The Flaming Lips ‘Do You Realize’, 2008 has Vampire Weekend’s ‘One (Blake's Got a New Face)’ and Foo Fighters ‘Let It Die’, 2010 has The Black Keys ‘She’s Long Gone’ & Kings of Leon’s ‘Radioactive’ and 2011 has Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’, as well as plenty of others. There’s also a splash of his Dad’s (Hawke) influences, with Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney & George Harrison songs appearing for old time’s sake. One of the best scenes to me was when he gives Mason a compilation of post-Beatles recordings and passionately explains how/why it’s important!

So, is this Oscar bait? Perhaps. Sure, it’s long (2 hours 40min), but it takes you on such a journey that by the time Mason’s in the final  years of high school, you’ve almost forgotten that you first met him as a 7 year old! With a budget of less than $3 million, it’s truly astounding the commitment the four main actors (Arquette is very believable as the mum), the director and production staff put in over 12 years. I can only imagine how long editing has taken!

At its heart, ‘Boyhood’ is a family drama – with lots of laughs thrown in, don’t worry! – that tells a very realistic and well-imagined story of finding who and what you want to be in the world. It will be interesting to see if Coltrane continues acting now. The film’s whole point is essentially asking – how do you recall the formative years – both the highs & lows – that shaped you?

Overall: An astounding odyssey through one boy/man’s life – needs to be seen to be truly appreciated.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 21/8/14. Viewed: 26/8/14.

Director: Felix Herngren

Actors: Robert Gustafsson, Mia Skäringer, Johan Rheborg, Alan Ford

Genre: Comedy / Adventure

Rating: M

The ridiculously-long-winded title ‘The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared’ thankfully does not represent the film – it’s a simple fish-out-of-water comedy, that just happens to be set in Sweden & featuring a centenarian. In reality, the main character – Allan Karlsson – is played by Gustafsson, who’s only 49! However, the title does accurately describe the first 15min of the film, but what happens after that needs to be seen to be believed!

One serendipitous incident leads to another and the script (or rather, the screenplay of the novel, which I haven’t read) is so well written that as they get more absurd & hilarious, they still somehow seem plausible within the story. It starts off in Sweden (English subtitles, but with Karlsson’s spoken inner-monologue in English), but by telling his life’s back story, takes in quite a few countries and eras – Spain, America, Russia, WWII – quite ‘Forrest Gump’-like in parts, which is a good thing!

The three main supporting actors are great characters and add to the story and it should be warned that some of the humour is a little black, but it all done with so much zest that you can’t help but laugh! A good ending, fun soundtrack and excellent pacing make this a foreign/indie film well worth seeing!

Overall: Hilarious odd-ball foreign comedy.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

The Hundred-Foot Journey (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 14/8/14. Viewed: 17/8/14.

Director: Lasse Hallström

Actors: Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Helen Mirren, Om Puri

Genre: Drama / Comedy

Rating: PG

‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ was a little like ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ for me – I had quite low expectations as I thought it was going to be an “old lady movie”. Thankfully, I was proven wrong and instead was treated to a nice little film about following your dreams.

The premise is simple – an Indian family move to London, get sick of the cold/rain (who wouldn’t!) and travel to continental Europe to find a new place to settle and start a restaurant. This place happens to be a picturesque little village in Southern France – however, their new restaurant happens to be next to a Michelin-rated French restaurant, and a rivalry ensues.

The performances from Puri as the Dad and Mirren as the French restaurant owner are great and quite nuanced, with Hassan (Daval) and Marguerite (the huge-eyed Le Bon) playing the young love interests/competing chefs. It’s great to see how their friendship evolves as Hassan goes on his food journey. Some parts of this feel like a cooking show, but not enough to put you off. It has funny moments, touching moments and a nice ending – plenty of messages about openness and accepting other cultures, and generally giving something/someone a chance.

Overall: Sweet story of family, food and discovery.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Lucy (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 31/7/14. Viewed: 5/8/14.

Director: Luc Besson

Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-shik, Amr Waked

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: MA

How best to explain ‘Lucy’? I’m not really sure – my best bet is ‘Limitless’ crossed with ‘The Matrix’, but without the best bits from either! Basically, Lucy (Johansson) gets involved in a drug ring in Taipei and it just so happens the drugs ‘unlock’ the full potential of her brain. The biggest flaw of the film is right there – it’s based on the urban myth that humans only use 10% of their brain power. We may not always use 100%, but we certainly use more than 10% for the majority of the time!

The best bits are the amazing car scene in Paris, the intercut footage (cheetahs, dinosaurs and other bits of nature) and Morgan Freeman. Unfortunately, that’s more than counterbalanced by the fact that the film struggles to make 90min, has a lack of actual action/excitement has a huge cop-out ending and Johansson acts like a robot, which is apparently what a hyper-evolved human would be like?!?

Considering Besson made ‘The Fifth Element’ – one of the more fun, inventive Sci-Fi films of the last 20 years – it’s a shame this film is neither fun, nor original. I definitely think the filmmakers thought they were being far more philosophical than they actually ended up being.

Overall: Not horrible, but certainly not a memorable sci-fi film.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars. 

Guardians of the Galaxy (August 2014)

Official Australian release date: 7/8/14. Viewed: 2/8/14.

Director: James Gunn

Actors: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace

Genre: Sci-Fi / Action / Comedy

Rating: M

Firstly, you don’t need to be a huge comics fan or know anything about the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ going in to this to enjoy it. Even though I’m a pretty big Marvel fan, I still knew very little about the Guardians, but had heaps of fun with the film anyway. It’s a pretty simple concept – a boy, Peter Quill (Pratt) is taken from Earth by one of the spacefaring races that exist in the Marvel Universe, grows up as a Han Solo-esque outlaw calling himself ‘Star Lord’ travelling/thieving around the galaxy. He steals the wrong thing (an orb) and gets involved in a galactic power struggle which forces him to work together with Gamora (Saldana), Rocket (Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel in his best role ever!) and Drax (Bautista). Action and adventure ensue!

The bad guy, Ronan (Pace), is a Kree that wants to wipe out the plant Xandar – no real reason why he hates the Xandarians, he just does! – and Thanos (who we saw at the end of ‘The Avengers’) is going to help him, once he gets the orb. It sounds complicated – and we haven’t seen any Skrulls or Shi’ar yet! – but the film doesn’t really get too bogged down in galactic politics or grudges. However, it sets up the potential for a huge ‘The Avengers 3’ or the new ‘Fantastic Four’.

One of the best bits is that Quill was abducted in 1988, so the only cassette he has is full of 70’s & 80’s music, meaning he knows nothing else and the film does a great job of throwing in catchy, but not necessarily huge, pop songs throughout – Bowie, 10cc, Blue Swede, Joan Jett, Marvin Gaye… The audio makes everything fun and provides a nice contrast to the aliens/space battles going on in the visuals!

So, when Quill and his team of misfits – so many ‘Star Wars’ comparisons (a good thing!), including Thanos appearing as a hologram to Ronan – decide to do something good with their lives and join forces with the Xandarian “Nova Corps” (although, no sign of Nova the character) to stop Ronan. There’s a huge/exciting battle and final scene.

Plenty of laughs throughout, mostly thanks to Pratt & Cooper and the film never gets bogged down in too much seriousness, or the darkness/evil of the villains. Loads of eye-popping action and lots of cameos/support actors adding to the overall “big galaxy” feel. The Groot scene near the end is spectacular and the post end credits scene is a pretty great inside joke.

Overall: Fun and frantic – with a fantastic soundtrack – and “I am Groot”!

Gav's Rating: 4.5 stars. 

Sex Tape (July 2014)

Official Australian release date: 17/7/14. Viewed: 19/7/14.

Director: Jake Kasdan

Actors: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry, Rob Lowe, Jack Black

Genre: Comedy

Rating: MA

‘Sex Tape’ is a quick, simple comedy with a good cast. Very straightforward storyline – married couple with kids tries to get the romance back, so they decide to film themselves having sex. It then is synced to all their friends’ iPads and they have to retrieve them. I would like to say hilarity then ensues, but it doesn’t.

The cast, mostly Segel & Diaz, plus Corddry & Kemper, Lowe & Black are all quite charming/engaging in their own way, but the main fault with the film is that it’s all been done before. Sure, it’s a new premise, but it’s based on the same old “couple-trying-to-get-their-mojo-back” plot and sadly there’s not that many laughs to be had. A few chuckles here and there, but no truly funny laugh-out-loud moments.

Basically, the best bits are in the trailer and if you’re going hoping to see nudity, there’s – unfortunately – plenty of Segel’s butt! That is counteracted by a little bit of Diaz’s butt & side-boob, but nothing to really write home about!

Overall: Funny in parts, but nothing special.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 2014)

Official Australian release date: 10/7/14. Viewed: 16/7/14.

Director: Matt Reeves

Actors: Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ does a great job of continuing the story from ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, without picking up directly where it ended or doing any gimmicky flashbacks. The graphic of how the simian virus spread was quite original and the opening shot of Caesar – and indeed the first 15min or so – does a great job of showing so much, without needing any talking.

The setting is still Muir Woods in San Francisco, but a lot has changed, with the apes now living peacefully and successfully in the forest and the humans a desperate mess in the city. I was amazed by how quickly I was cheering for the apes and, if not despising, then at least not caring for the humans at all! Caesar (Serkis), Koba (Kebbell), Blue Eyes (Thurston) & Maurice (Konoval) are the main stars here, with Dreyfus (Oldman), Malcolm (Clarke) & Ellie (Russell) merely making up the numbers. It’s great to have Serkis back as Caesar, the “king of the Apes”, with such nuanced and believable body language and facial expressions. Hard to believe he has gone from obscurity to the world’s greatest motion-capture actor in just over 10 years! He’s now responsible for three of the biggest characters of all time – Caesar, King Kong & Gollum – and he’ll be in ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ next year!

So much happens in this film – it’s tense and dramatic in parts, then a full blown war in others and a political tug-of-war in others, and often times both “sides” are trying hard to do right, but something prevents that. It’s definitely not boring and flies along, looking great, and importantly too – sounding great, with a nice score underneath and throughout.

Seeing as this is the seventh film in the franchise (no one counts Burton’s 2001 remake, right?), it definitely leaves you wondering and anticipating what will happen in the third of the “prequel trilogy” and see how they link them to the original 60s/70s films. It will also be amazing if they have the third prequel made by 2016, considering how much CGI & motion-capture detail they will need for the epic ‘conclusion’…

Overall: Talking-monkey-riding-a-horse-shooting-a-gun: sounds ridiculous & stupid, but once you see how it fits into this film, you’ll see how cool and relevant it is!

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.