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

X men: Days of Future Past

Hugh Jackman is in the future and likes to keep esteemed company in Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. In the future there are these robots who like to kill Hughs friends and frankly they are all sick of it. Ellen Page is there also and for some reason is now able to send people back in time by wiggling her fingers a little near their temples. They send Hugh back to the 70's so that he can try to stop the robots from being created by Peter Dinklage. In the 70's he meets younger versions of Pat and Ian in the form of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. They're not mates in the 70's because Fassbender is a bit of a fanatical arsehole and McAvoy is a self righteous borderline alcoholic. Hugh has to convince them to help him stop Jennifer Lawrence and subsequently Mr Dinklage. Future and past then flitter away together and everybody seems to forget the basic principles of time travel.

Its no secret that I love my superhero movies and always go into new ones with a heart full of good will. That being said we have to be honest here and say that Xmen films have been very hit and miss with the high point of X2 and the low point of wolverine origins. Even so my eyes were wide and the edge of my seat well and truly planted upon as the film began to start. I will begin by saying that I wasn't disappointed, at all. The acting is top notch and everybody brings their slightly overacting A game. We are flooded with well established and well known characters from across the previous films and treated to some brilliant new ones, in particular Peter Dinklage as the creator of the sentinels and the absolutely brilliant Quicksilver, who by the way could have ended the entire problem on his own in about 5 minutes, just saying. Having the bulk of the film in the 70's worked very well with us learning a little more about the motivations of each of the characters. Admittedly if you have not seen any or all of the previous films you will not have a clue what is going on or frankly who the hell anyone is but if you come into this with no prior knowledge then you don't deserve to know, so shut up and get on netflix or something. My only real problem with the film is my problem with most time travel based films in that it doesn't completely make sense. I won't say why it doesn't make sense (like how is Patrick even alive in the future when Famke Jansen offed him a long time ago) but you will notice a few holes. Despite that minor flaw it is a great addition to the superhero genre.

Verdict: 4/5 

Frozen

There are these two little girls who live in Scandinavia somewhere. One of them likes snow and the other can create it from her hands and make snow mounds and indoor ice skating rinks. Icy girl gets a little enthusiastic and her parents tell her to pack it in and start acting normal for Christ's sake. She listens and stops being friends with the other girl and eventually they grow up and their parents cark it. Icy girl then goes a bit 'white witch from Narnia' when she finds out her sis is a bit impulsive when it comes to love and ends up making the whole world wintertastic. Its then up to non icy girl, a talking snowman, an extremely blonde man and his overly friendly reindeer to save the day and get summer back.

Disney probably have the most extensive back log of films of any major production company, not only that but they very rarely create anything that can be considered poor, well mainstream films anyhow. I am very happy to say that they keep that ball well and truly off the ground with this offering. First and foremost it is stunning to look at with gorgeous animation and a real attention to detail that shines through. The characters are inventive but have a comfortable feeling of familiarity about them. The two sisters who are the focus of the story are cleverly handled and their relationship ebbs and flows throughout the film. It is refreshing also that Disney shy away from, and even poke fun at, their habit of having characters fall in love after 30 seconds of knowing one another and instead choose to base the film on the love between siblings instead. The support characters also hold their own being both funny and entertaining, in particular Olaf the snowman needs special mention as he is brilliant. Choosing to have a snowman who wants nothing more than to bask in the summer sun is simple and genius in equal measure. Last but not least I should mention the soundtrack which true to Disney form is ace and I give it 30 minutes post film before you start telling your family at a very high volume to let it go. Absolutely fantastic.

Verdict: 5/5

American Hustle

Christian Bale has no hair and likes loud clothes. He is married to a less than hinged Jennifer Lawrence and cons people into giving him money and is pretty good at it, that is until Amy Adams turns up and puts on a crappy English accent. Together they take the conning to the next level and attract the attention of Bradley Coopers perm. Bradleys perm convinces them to help him con some more people so that he doesn't arrest them for conning. The person they decide to target is Jeremy Renner who may or may not be the only actual good guy in the entire film. Bradleys perm then shouts and gets overly excited, Amys boobs try their hardest to stay within the napkins she uses for dresses and Christians comb over makes a break for freedom every chance it gets.

David O Russell has a certain flare for style and shows it off in spades in this film. He channels the 70s spectacularly and really draws you into the time with everyone concerned having big, fantastic outfits with big, fantastic hair. The acting is spot on with all parties pulling their weight and chucking all their gusto into the performance. Christian Bale is great as always and Amy Adams shows that she is a top actress. Special mention does have to go to Bradley Cooper who ramps the acting up to insane levels. He is steadily showing that in the right part he can be fantastic and deserves to be a sought after star. Unfortunately whilst the film looks outstanding and is acted to within an inch of its life I felt a little disappointed at the end. I cant even really pinpoint what the problem was, I liked the story which flowed nicely and kept me entertained, I didn't feel bored at any point and actually enjoyed myself. That being said I do feel that the story wasn't the most groundbreaking and felt all too familiar with the who is conning who twists and turns. I did enjoy the film and would encourage people to see it but it isn't going to be making my greatest film list.

Verdict: 4/5

Philomena

Steve Coogan was a politician or journalist or something but took the blame, or was blamed, for some sort of cock up and lost his job. In order to get some credibility and some fame he decides that human interest stories would be super happy fun times and goes to look for Dame Judi Dench. Judi gave birth when she was younger and ended up in a nunnery where they looked after her and her son, fed her, gave her a job, sold her baby, you know good guy stuff. Steve decides it will be his mission to help Judi find said baby that now should be 40ish and begin a journey across America, Ireland, little bit of England, I think thats it, to search for and reunite this son and mother combo.

The events that occur during this film are awful, unbelievable and completely true. It is a story that if I am honest I knew nothing about and could not imagine anything more heartbreaking for a mother. Judi Dench is outstanding as the now elderly mother searching for a child that was stolen from her decades ago. She manages to make you feel for her completely without ever making you pity her. Steve Coogan is equally great in his role as the politician turned human interest writer. Not only does Philomena have a journey to go on but Steve turns from cynical and harsh to a soft squidgy puddle of emotion. I can honestly say the way this story develops is shocking and makes you question the true morality behind the decisions of these nuns and the 'beliefs' that drove them to be such heartless and frankly disgraceful human beings. All credit cannot be given to the actors however as the direction is pretty great aswell. It is handled with delicacy by Stephen Frears but he does not sugar coat at all. It is not without flaws this film as the pace does slow a little at times but to be honest this is me attempting to find fault rather than a problem in and of itself. Loved it.

Verdict: 4.5/5

Saving Mr Banks

Emma Thompson has written a book about a nanny and a barely cockney chimney sweep that Tom Hanks thinks is just swell. Tom wants to make this book into a film with his company, Disney, don't know if you have heard of them, but Emma is a bit of a reluctant cow and likes the word no. Tom is persistent and convinces Emma to allow Paul Giamatti to drive her to meet him and discuss stuff. Emma eventually agrees but continues to be a miserable bastard and puts down everyone she comes across. Can Tom warm Emma's heart and get her to stop whining like a child? Only if he can get to the heart of why she's a bitch, which seems to have something to do with Colin Farrell and Whiskey.

If you hadn't guessed, or didn't know, this film is the story of the making of Mary Poppins. Emma Thompsons character, I forget her real name, genuinely was a bit of a stuck up cud chewer and really did give Walt Disney one hell of a hard time when it came to her precious titular character. I don't think I have ever met, and would want to meet, anyone who does not like Mary Poppins and this film is a brilliant companion piece. Emma Thompson is fantastic as usual and really does her upmost to bring a humanity to her character and story. Tom Hanks is naturally brilliant but he always is so it doesn't really count. The story is funny and heart warming in bucket loads and is just as charming as the original film. Not much more to say really than go and watch it, right now.

Verdict: 5/5