Prisoners

Hugh Jackman is an average joe with a wife and kids and stuff. He is mates with Terence Howard whose genitals also work pretty well. They have thanksgiving together and drink and have all sorts of fun until their two little girls go missing. They phone the rozzers who put Jake Gyllenhaal on the case and he starts running around blinking and getting frustrated at Hugh in particular. Thus begins a mystery search for the naughty bastard/bastardette who napped the kids.

On paper this reads as a solid, dependable and enjoyable who dunnit thriller that doesn't really threaten either extreme of the critical spectrum. This then puts the onus on the cast to elevate the film above the mundane, good thing Jake and Hugh were free then. Jake Gyllenhaal continues to make himself comfortable on my favourite actors list and pulls off a great performance as a slightly overworked, unhinged cop. Hugh also puts in a very good performance and keeps reminding us that he is a very competent actor. Thankfully the quality doesn't stop with the support cast, namely Paul Dano as the suspect with let's just say learning difficulties. Moving on from the cast the film touches on morality and how this can bend and break under extreme pressures. This adds something a little extra to the bog standard crime thriller format and pulls it off very well. Unfortunately the film is not without flaws but they are few in number. There are a handful of small holes through which the plot occasionally falls and it doesn't go completely unnoticed and does throw the tension off every now and again. The other big flaw is the big reveal when you find out who has taken the girls and it's a shame that when you find out you have already pretty much worked it out. That being said the film keeps the tension and frankly hard to watch scenes ramped up enough that in the end I forgave it. Great stuff.

Verdict: 4/5

Zero Dark Thirty

Jessica Chastain works for the CIA. She travels to Pakistan to meet up with a guy who has a receding hairline and a love of torture in order to try and track down that elusive little rascal Osama Bin Laden. She gets all intense and involved and lots more torture happens. We then get to go on a massive hide and seek mission with Jessica and her pals to find out if they can or cannot track down the big OBL. Is he in this mountain cave?? No, not there. Is he hiding in this city?? No, not there either. O wait, is he in that big complex which was all over the news a few years back when they found Osama Bin Laden and shot him? Probably.

This is the true story of the hunt and subsequent shooting of Mr Bin Laden and is surprisingly restrained and open about how everything was done. Most notably right from the off we are shown torture sequences and the film does not shy away from the fact this went on, allegedly, and may or may not have been lied about by the powers that be, wink wink Mr Obama. It is a bold portrayal of events and director Kathryn Bigalow channels her previous work, The Hurt Locker, to bring a gritty tense drama to the screen. Jessica Chastain and her support are fantastic and bring a real human element to the film questioning morality at every turn. The real testament to the film is the fact that despite knowing the outcome and final set piece you are still on the edge of your seat. I loved it more than I thought I would and more than most films I have seen in recent months. Cracking stuff

Verdict: 5/5

Monsters University

Billy Crystal is a big green ball with legs who wants more than anything to scare the cockles off children and earn the big bucks doing it. To get there he first has to geek it up at a university full of, you guessed it Sherlock, monsters one of whom is a big furry John Goodman. The school is all about the scaring and the dean is the scariest of them all, Helen 'I am the god-damn queen' Mirren. Everyone thinks Billy is wasting his time as we all know green balls are not scary, just look at the poddington peas, but he is determined to show us all by winning some scaring competition thingy. Can he do it? Who knows but maybe we will laugh anyway.

I loved Monsters Inc as I am sure most of us sane people did. It was witty, charming and full to the brim of heart, the reason for this? one word, Pixar. You all know I am a little in love with Pixar as a film studio and thank Christ this film does not darken the name. The characters of Mike and Sully are still charming and voiced perfectly by Billy and John. The character and world design is beautiful and inventive and the predictable monsters in uni jokes still make you laugh like a 9 year old. All that being said it is not a perfect film and doesn't quite make it to the top of the Pixar pedestal, not even close actually. It fails in a few areas in which the first film excelled, the most important of which is the heart. You don't fall in love with the characters the way you did in Inc and unfortunately it did not warm the blood in my cold, black heart. It's a bit of a shame really as you are just left with a feeling of disappointment, albeit a minor one. I would recommend this to anyone but would urge people to make their way through the Pixar back catalogue to see what true movie genius is.

Verdict: 3.5/5

Film review: The Wolverine

Hugh Jackman puts down his song sheet and picks up his CGI claws so that he can get all slashy again. This time he heads off to japan to meet some old war guy he used to know who is getting on a bit now and wants to say goodbye, awww ain't it sweet. Once over in Japan Hugh meets lots of Japanese people who love a bit of sword play and an American lady who likes spitting on things. Once the storyline is set up Hugh unsheaths, his claws you dirty minded people, and really starts to tear japan a new one.

We all know the x-men franchise has had its ups (1, 2 and first class) and it's downs (3 and origins) so expectations were almost non existent for this new adventure and anything could have happened. This new story from the universe brings us our favourite cigar smoking anti hero in a completely new environment facing completely, almost, new kinds of enemies. There are not many mutated super beings knocking around and for me this is a bad thing considering we are watching film primarily about a mutant. It is not to say I don't like samurais and the ilk, on the contrary actually seeing as I won a lot of martial arts films, but it just didn't fit for me. I don't see the point of having what seems like a samurai film and then plonking wolverine in the middle of it, he just felt out of place, and yes I know this happened in the comics but it doesn't mean we need to put it on screen. Then there's the love interest which is verging on creepy old man issues and doesn't really work. It isn't a terrible film by any stretch and is better than the first wolverine film in both storyline and acting but it just felt a little off. Maybe I am being picky but can we stop with the solo wolverine efforts now and stick with the superior, in my opinion, first class series of films.

Verdict: 2.5/5

Gravity

Sandra Bullock decides to try her hand and astronauting, real word??? Who cares. She is being shown the ropes by old hat George Clooney. While up there they are fixing something or other on the Hubble telescope. They get in to a bit of bother when something the Russians did, bloody Russians, starts slamming into their ship and breaking lots of things. Sandra then floats about a bit whilst George plays with a gas based propulsion system and the third guy does not get a lot of screen time. They then have limited time to get away from the Russian cock up before they all cark it.

I saw this film in 3d, on purpose and everything, and I can honestly say you have to see it in 3d. Coming from me this is a big deal as on the whole I hate 3d and feel that it is completely pointless and a way to squeeze a little more money out of us all. In this they have used it perfectly and immerse you in the screen without overwhelming you with crap sticking into your face every 5 seconds. Gravity is probably the most beautiful film I have ever seen from a visual point of view. The special effects are nothing short of stunning from the opening shot all the way through to the end of the film. It manages to make you feel both the expanse of space and claustrophobic in equal measure but doesn't shove it down your throat. In my view the key to a great visual experience is you forget that you are in a cinema and start to believe you are in the film with the characters. This moves me on to the characters and the actors who play them. The characters are nothing groundbreaking with a typical rookie - veteran relationship but they are played excellently by both Bullock and Clooney, in particular Bullock who is just fantastic and I may love her a little. Yes it is a little cheesy but I completely forgive it and don't care at all. It is one of the greatest films I have seen in a long time and by far the most good looking.

Verdict: 5/5

Thor: The Dark World

Chris Hemsworth gets his hammer out and gives it a good polish, oo steady on. This time he is a little more well rounded as a human being/god and is a very sensible one at that. Tom Hiddlestone is still a bit of a bellend but is in prison now so he can just shut the hell up. Natalie portman is back on the scene but decides its good old London she wants to hang around in doing science and wotnot with one of the two broke girls. Chris thinks its about time he went to see Natalie who isn't best pleased about the hole New York Avengers and not taking the time to even drop her a text, ultimately though she can't stay mad at those abs. Whilst this is going on Christopher Ecclestone has big ears and an army and wants to turn all the lights off in the multiversey thing that Anthony Hopkins looks after. This does not go down well with the hammer wielding one who sets about hitting anything with pointy ears very hard and trusting too much in his ne'er do well brother. Oh and Renew Russo is there a bit aswell.

Superhero films rock, end of, and recently they have been very very good. The first of the Thor films was one of these good superhero films and the second is just as good if not better. Thor and his family and friends are now well established and are given a little more breathing room to expand within the universe they preside. We learn a bit more about Sif and her feelings towards Thor, we learn about the motivations and relationships between Loki and his family and Natalie's character shows a bit more of her personality. The story is a good one and flows very nicely and the action sequences are suitably over the top with bags of hammer smashing nonsense. Not only is the action good but in true marvel style they pepper the film with comedy moments that do not feel out of place and if anything add to the experience. If marvel keep this level of film making I will be a very happy boy, all they need now is to stop making that nonsense agents of shield and life will be right.

Verdict: 4.5/5

Mud

Two teenage boys in America like to go out on their little boat looking for things. Once out they find a bigger boat stuck in a tree that has a man living in it. That man is Matthew McConahuey?, McConnahey?, McConauhey?, I dunno, and he has done some bad bad things and is hiding out. The boys befriend Matthew and start getting food and other things for him whilst he waits for Reece Witherspoon to show up. The boys then potter about living their lives and collecting boat parts and we learn lots about both them and the naughty things Matthew has been up to.

Much to my surprise Matthew is actually starting to become not only a good actor but a brilliant one. It seemed to start with the great film Killer Joe in which he played a psychotic hitman and does not slow down in this. He is outstanding in this almost to the point where he is unrecognisable and plays the title character with a complex mix of emotions that make him hard to read and figure out. That being said the film is as much about the two boys as it is mud and both of them again are brilliant. Their friendship is explored and also their individual feelings towards mud and the decisions they make regarding him and their lives in general. This makes it a coming of age story as much as it is a full on drama. The support cast are also on top form and not a single person lets the side down. The story is as engaging as you are going to get and you really feel for all concerned as the film progresses. I must admit I was slightly bored in the middle as like myself it began to sag a little around the midriff but on the whole I thought it was great. Well done Matthew, well done.

Verdict: 4.5/5