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. 

22 Jump Street (July 2014)

Official Australian release date: 19/6/14. Viewed: 10/7/14.

Directors: Phil Lord & Chris Miller

Actors: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Amber Stevens

Genre: Comedy / Action

Rating: MA

Is ‘22 Jump Street’ as good as ‘21 Jump Street’? Quite possibly, which is a big achievement, seeing as the original was one of the better comedies of the last 10 years! This film has just as many laughs – if not more – and does a great job of poking fun at itself and the ludicrousness of most Hollywood sequels.

There’s a few more car chases, but they’re unconventional and quite amusing with the commentary the two leads provide.  A fair bit of the humour comes from the fact that their undercover disguise as college-age students (i.e. they should be 18-21), which is totally unbelievable, seeing as Hill is 30 & Tatum is 34. Plenty of referencing the first film and stupidity of repetition in sequels (mostly by Offerman’s Chief of Police – “EVERYTHING is EXACTLY the SAME”!) and even casting the bad guy from ‘Bad Boys II’ – Peter Stormare – as the villain in this!

Pretty good support cast - the Yang Twins are great as the across-the-hall stoners, Stevens is good as the love interest and Ice Cube has more to do in this film, which is a good thing and leads to a few hilarious scenes.

Best bit of the film? Probably the many joke sequel posters/trailers they show! Highly entertaining and just plain funny to see how far they can stretch a premise. Quite reminiscent of ‘Tropic Thunder’, but definitely had the crowd in stitches! I do hope they make a third film, but if not, both 21 & 22 Jump Street will stand as some of the best action/police comedies ever made.

Overall: Great sequel with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of charisma to boot.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (June 2014)

Official Australian release date: 19/6/14. Viewed: 22/6/14.

Director: Dean DeBlois

Actors: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Djimon Hounsou

Genre: Animation / Adventure / Fantasy

Rating: PG

If you haven’t seen ‘How To Train Your Dragon’, you really should – it’s a great animated film, not just for kids, with plenty of fun, a great cast, good story and it’s brilliant to watch. This sequel does a rare thing – it is even more enjoyable than the original! The cast are all back again, but more importantly, so are the animators. I’m not sure how, but the detail, colours, movements and everything in this film are so vivid, it’s truly astounding to watch.

The story is relatively simple – someone’s making a dragon army to conquer the free Vikings, so it’s up to Hiccup (Baruchel) & Stoick (Butler) to save them. The twist comes with the introduction of Valka (Blanchett) and the dragon sanctuary she has created. Seeing where/how these hundreds of dragons is both amazing and strangely beautiful – and a little reminiscent of ‘Avatar’. Needless to say, the clash of the two armies certainly makes for exciting viewing.

There’s some good morals of helping your friends and fighting for what’s right for the kids, but still plenty for the adults. Much of this is thanks to the great support cast – Jonah Hill as Snotlout, T.J. Miller & Kristen Wiig as the twins, Chris Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs and Kit Harrington/Jon Snow as Eret – they add the fun, banter and sidekick-ness to the film.

Overall: Very enjoyable sequel and great fun – go see it no matter your age!

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

The Trip to Italy (June 2014)

Official Australian release date: 29/5/14. Viewed: 7/6/14.

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Actors: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Claire Keelan,

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M

It’s now four years later and Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are offered another restaurant reviewing gig – this time in Italy, rather than England’s Lake District. What qualifies them exactly, who knows, but the actors – and the semi-fictionalised characters they play – are pretty lucky. They get to stay in amazing hotels with fantastic views, drive around the beautiful Italian coast, drink quality local wine and try great-looking Italian cuisine. One thing’s for sure – this film acts as much as an Italian tourism promotion as it does anything else! I certainly wouldn’t mind visiting Naples now I’ve seen it...

Now much closer to 50 than 40, there’s plenty of digs at each other, as this is basically a ‘man-cation’ where they try to see who’s more famous/who has the bigger ego, as well as lots of postulating as to how (or if) they’ll be remembered when they’re gone. There’s a tangent of following Lord Byron and Mary Shelley’s personal history, that doesn’t really go anywhere. If this and the Rob having a bit of a mid-life crisis/affair bits were left out, it would have been a much more streamlined and succinct film.

The whole point though is to watch these two interact and do their impressions, constantly trying to outdo each other. There’s some truly great impressions, from Michael Caine (again), Tom Hardy, Christian Bale, Hugh Grant, Woody Allen, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Pierce Bronsan and more. How accurate some of them are is uncanny, but watching Steve & Rob interact in character is often hilarious.

Overall: Another good holiday with the two oddballs.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.