Guardians of the Galaxy

Chris Pratt is a space guy who flies around and steals things. He is asked by some other space guy to steal this orby thing from a desert place. Whilst doing so some other space guys turn up and say 'hey that orb belongs to the guy from Pushing Daisies, give it back'. Chris doesn't give it back and instead runs to a planet where Bradley Cooper as a racoon, Vin Diesel as a tree and Zoe Saldana as kermits daughter are all after him, the orb or a combination of the two. They have a noisy fight and get arrested and sent to a nasty prison for nasty people. Here they meet Dave Batista, yeh Dave Batista the wrestler, who is a nutjob prisoner. The five of them decide to break out due to a mutual hatred of Pushing Daisies. They make a brief stop at Benicio Del Toros house, bad idea, before heading out to give lots of aliens a right old slap in the noise maker.

The concept, premise, cast list and source material for this film are all, on paper, asking for a fall. The original comic was a minor cult hit at best, being overshadowed by its older, more successful Marvel siblings. It is odd then that Marvel decided to turn this little known band of misfits into a fully fledged film. The cast list also has its moments of bravery in casting a wrestler with little to no acting pedigree, Dave Batista, and a first time leading man in Chris Pratt. Thankfully it gives me massive pleasure to say that everything works and then some. Chris Pratt is a revelation in the leading role and holds his own brilliantly. He embodies the cocky character of 'Starlord' completely and brings the charm in spades. Cooper and Diesel provide their voice talents and do a great job of making you care about a racoon and a tree and Saldana is as good as ever as the green skinned assassin. The real surprise however is Dave Batista who fits into his role very snuggly. Admittedly his character is meant to be wooden in his delivery but Dave has surprisingly good comic timing and provides some of the films best laughs. This brings me onto the laughs which are plenty and effective. Marvel are known for injecting humour into their films but they also have a real core of seriousness. This film is different and is meant to have a lighter tone to it. This is no bad thing and I had so much fun watching this film unfold. There is a lot to be said for a film just being fun to watch and I for one will be buying this when it comes out on dvd and watching it again and again. I can't finish this review without a small mention for the soundtrack which is just brilliant. I won't mention the songs used as I want them to be a surprise but all of them are classics and are used perfectly. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Well done Marvel.

Verdict: 5/5

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Andy Serkis grows a fair bit of body hair and stands in front of a green screen in the middle of a post apocalyptic forest. He has many chimp friends and family who swing and run around after deer and wotnot in order to keep their families alive. During one of these outings some people turn up with guns and cause a bit of surprise to Andy coz he thinks they all carked it years ago due to some flu thing knocking around. One of these people shoots one of Andys chimps and they go completely nuts. This kicks off a war, then friendship, then war, then friendship type thing and lots of humans and chimps die somewhat unnecessarily.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes did a fantastic job of telling the pre-part of the Planet of the Apes story and setting up its own little trilogy that will lead up to the classic tale. This second instalment jumps us ten years on and into a post apocalyptic setting. The chimps are now fully set up in their own little society with Caesar (Andy) at the helm. Just like in the first one the motion capture is spectacular with Serkis showing there is pretty much noone better at it than him, at least whose name we know. The chimps and their relationships are developed well and begin to blur the lines between human and chimpanzee. Once the humans are introduced the lines become even more blurred with some of the humans showing more savagery and primitive behaviour than their counterparts. Gary Oldman is the leader of these humans and whilst he is a bit of a savage and a brute his motives are perfectly understandable given the circumstances. The same can be said for the antagonist on the ape side of the coin with right hand chimp???? Koba. Both of these characters are flawed but are developed enough that you completely understand and sympathise with them. The film flows beautifully with all performances concerned excelling in every area. I loved this film but must admit I have one problem with it, don't worry though it isn't a big one. All it is is the slight over-anthropomorphic treatment of the chimps. I know the point is that they are becoming more human but for me they went a tiny bit too far, only in some areas mind, on the whole it works very well. If the third of these prequels is even half as good as either this or Rise Of it will genuinely be one of the greatest trilogies ever made.

Verdict: 5/5