Wreck It Ralph (2012)

 Before I start my review I should probably just pre-empt this with a confession. I quite literally know nothing about video games and even less about arcade games. Therefore, I feel that the majority of the references in this movie may have gone over my head a bit. However, that aside, let's get on with it. Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) has always been the baddy in his arcade game with Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) but has long desired to be the hero that everyone loves. In his attempt to leave his villainous past behind he visits the other games in the arcade to search for a medal he can win to show the others he really is a good guy. However, things don't quite go to plan with an angry sergeant from 'Hero's Duty' (Jane Lynch), glitched racing characters (Sarah Silverman) and other game related problems.

 In comparison to most other animated movies, Wreck-It Ralph certainly manages to hold its own. It is funny, interesting and there is something about it that makes it feel original and creative. This may be the environment and the decision to base the movie on arcade games. It is surprising that this is the first time anyone has made a movie on this subject matter as it seems to be a treasure chest of opportunities for the animation format with many potential storylines and characters.

 All of the characters fit perfectly with the storyline and each actor cast to portray these roles do so incredibly well. One that particularly stands out is Jane Lynch as Sergeant Calhoun, the female lead in the Hero's Duty arcade game. She is tough, strict and takes no prisoners. This type of character seems a perfect fit for Lynch and she plays in incredibly well.

 It's pretty safe to say that nowadays, viewers expect the best from the animated films that they go and see. This definitely delivers with great landscapes and clear and smooth action and characterisation. One thing I especially like is the inclusion of pixelation to keep in line with the graphics of some of the older classic games.

 Overall, this is a great animated movie. If I can say that whilst not getting the majority of the gaming references, I'm sure it's probably a lot better for those who enjoy playing these kinds of games in real life. This is definitely worth a watch for everyone whether you like gaming or not.

Welcome To The Punch (2013)

 'Welcome To The Punch' is another movie to add to the already overflowing category of British gangster films. Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) has dedicated his career in the police force to capturing Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong), an infamous London based gang boss. Years after Sternwood has injured Lewinsky and gone into hiding, his son is killed in a heist gone wrong. This forces Sternwood to return to London and gives Lewinsky his chance to finally arrest the man that has become his obsession.

 Now I like a good London gangster film, and there are some pretty good ones out there. This, however, does not fit into that group. I won't start with the bad stuff though, that can wait. To shine a slightly positive light on the movie, it does have some decent action sequences. There's plenty of shooting and car chases to keep people happy (which is probably a good thing really). To mention another positive factor, the acting is pretty good from all members of the cast. In particular, Mark Strong yet again gives a good performance as the bad guy but with a bit of a twist.

 To move onto the bad points, there are many flaws to this film, but I will just focus on the main points to save time. There is no real development of the story, any of the characters and there is no real originality to the whole movie. They seem to have neglected some of the most important aspects of telling a good story for shoot-outs, speeding cars and punch-ups. Everything that happens is utterly predictable and lacks any form of imagination or creativity. The characters are lifeless and dull and any attempt at a back story or development is half hearted at best. I tend to find that with action films they are better if you get behind someone and are willing for them to succeed. With this film, I just didn't care about any of them. I guess that means it's probably a good thing that the film itself is fairly short, lasting a total of 90 minutes (or thereabouts), so the pain of watching the movie isn't too extensive and drawn out. It's only an hour and a half of your life that has been completely wasted.

 Therefore, to sum up, I guess it's pretty obvious what my general opinion of this movie is. Don't waste your time with it. If you are bored and want to watch people shooting at each other without really having to think about it too much, then maybe this film will meet those requirements. But even then, nearly every other British gangster film would probably be a far better choice.

5+ Films To Look Forward To In July 2013

So, there are a lot of movies coming out this month that look pretty good, so I may have to break the mould a bit with this one.

1) Now You See Me

Magicians take on the FBI by robbing banks and pulling off some pretty impressive stunts.

2) The Bling Ring

This film by Sofia Coppola tells the real life story of a bunch of teenagers and their obsession with celebrity and riches.

3) Monsters University

The prequel to Pixar's hit 'Monsters Inc' showing the characters at college and how they met.

4) Pacific Rim

Whilst not to everyone's taste, 'Pacific Rim' is an action packed film with huge battles between monsters and the robots humans have built to try and defeat them.

5) The World's End 

In the third film from Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright, a group of five friends attempt to recreate a pub crawl from 20 years previous.

6) The Wolverine 

Putting the X-Men Origins version of Wolverine aside, hopefully this will manage to resurrect the iconic image of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine without disappointing.

7) Girl Most Likely

Imogene, a failed playwright from New York decides to get her life back on track after an emotional crisis. If you like Bridesmaids, then you are probably going to like this.

That completes the round up of this months selection of movies. As you can see there are a lot of good ones and plenty more that I haven't mentioned so go and enjoy!

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

 As someone who has always enjoyed films I feel I should probably be ashamed to admit that I had never seen 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' until a few weeks ago. As one of the classic teen movies of the 80's, Ferris (Matthew Broderick) pulls a sicky and basically has one of the best days a teenage boy could ever have with his friends. Whilst being pursued by his principal, Ferris 'borrows' a Ferrari, takes part in the Chicago parade and many other ridiculous things to complete his perfect day off.

 Having seen this film I can certainly see why people enjoy it so much, especially teenagers. It's fun, doesn't take itself too seriously and is most teenagers dream day. Matthew Broderick is great in this film and fits perfectly into the role of the laid-back, trouble causing Ferris. Alan Ruck and Mia Sara who plays the friends that join him complement Ferris perfectly, with Cameron (Ruck) being the stressed over-worrier and Sloane (Sara), the girlfriend that tags along with the two best friends.

 However, whilst I definitely see why this film is so revered, I have a few problems with it. Firstly is the storyline with the principal. It's just annoying and doesn't really contribute anything to the story whatsoever. It's basically just a grown man making an arse of himself trying to prove that Ferris is lying about being ill. Now don't get me wrong, I understand why this is in there, but in reality, it is just ridiculous. Also, for a good chunk of the film, I just wanted to slap the lead character. At points it felt like the 'laid-back, take it easy' attitude was overdone and made Ferris an arrogant annoying little shit. Assuming that throughout the film you are supposed to be on Ferris' side, I didn't feel like that for a decent proportion of the movie.

 Overall, it's an alright film and maybe I should've watched it when I was a teenager. Maybe I would've viewed it more favourably. I would still suggest that if you haven't seen it, you should watch it. Even if it is purely for the fact that it is 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and according to my friend, everyone should see it.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

 The next film that is part of my catch up is the sequel to J.J. Abrams brilliant remake of the original Star Trek T.V. series, following the lives of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Dr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. With Abrams directing again, the crew face their most ominous enemy to date, Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), a rogue member of Star fleet who has turned into a one man source of terror.

 When I was growing up, the one T.V. show that I always associated with my Dad was Star Trek. Whilst for most people that would mean that they would hate it with every fiber of their being, I actually quite like Star Trek now (although I'm not quite at 'Trekky' level I'm afraid). The first revamp of Star Trek only added to this so when the second film was released I was definitely not going to miss the opportunity to see it on the big screen.

 To start with, I shall just say that it is great. If you enjoyed any part of the first one then this is definitely a film that you need to see. The characters are better, the storyline is bigger and the whole movie is just more epic. J. J. Abrams has yet again created a brilliant movie. One thing I particularly love about the way these films are shot is the anamorphic format that is used (movie nerd coming out, sorry). This is basically a way of filming that distorts the image slightly, but what it brings to the Star Trek films is the flares that it adds to the lights. This creates a very cinematic and spacey feel in the film and really makes it stand out amongst other Sci-fi movies around at the moment (nerd rant over). For those people who are not geeks and don't really care about that kind of stuff, the action sequences and story are outstanding. The action is fast paced and adrenaline fuelled including everything from fist fights between two people to epic battles between spaceships and aliens. No opportunity has been spared to really crank up the action and it certainly pays off in the long run.

 Acting wise, all of the regulars are back again and all fit right back into their roles as the crew members of Starship Enterprise. I may be slightly biased when I say this but I do think that Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are so much better than William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy at the lead roles of Kirk and Spock (sorry to the fans of the original). This already gives the film a good base to build from and when you add Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as the antagonist, you can't really go wrong. He plays a very good bad guy both in the action sense and the performance sense. The only issue I have is that sometimes it is very obvious to see that he is from a theatre background. Every so often (and in reality that's not very often at all) his facial expressions and what not are over exaggerated and quite distracting making it difficult to focus on what he's actually saying. But like I said, it's only every so often.

 The only other problem I have with the movie is that sometimes it can be a bit slow. With the majority of the film being so fast paced and action packed, in the scenes where more dramatic elements are occurring or nothing much is happening it can appear to drag a bit and be slightly slow. However (oddly) I didn't find this when I saw it for a second time I saw it so maybe I was just being weird the first time round.

 Therefore, it is probably safe to say that this definitely deserves its place among the summer blockbusters this year. Whether you are a fan of Star Trek, Sci-Fi or none of that at all, just go see it, it will be worth it.

The Great Gatsby (2013)

 After completing all of my exams and, in turn, University as a whole I guess it's probably about time that I catch up with all of the films I have seen over the past few weeks. The first was 'The Great Gatsby', based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and helmed by the distinctive director Baz Luhrmann. To anyone who doesn't know the story, set in 1920's New York, Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) discovers that he has moved next door to the mysterious Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and becomes tangled up in his lavish lifestyle and secret past.

 If there is one thing that stands out about this film it is that the famous Baz Luhrmann style is taken to the max. Every scene and shot is so stylised and cinematic that it makes the film a real feast for the eyes. From the exuberant and wild parties to the quieter moments between individual characters, it is all set up with a particular image in mind. Luhrmann has certainly come into his own with this time period and this story, putting him back at the directorial level of Moulin Rouge. However, at certain points in the film, it sometimes seems that the integrity of the story and the characters have been compromised to fit in with the style of the film. This may just be my opinion, but when I read the book several years ago I felt that the story wasn't exactly action packed. This would suggest that all attempts should be made to strengthen the story rather than letting an already uneventful story fall by the wayside. Having said that, the cinematic element does sometimes help to distract from the slower sections of the book which can only be an advantage I guess.

 Before I had even heard much about that film, the soundtrack was already well and truly doing the media rounds. With the legend Jay Z in charge, it was never going to contain average stereotypical 1920's music. With songs and covers from Beyonce, Florence Welch, Lana Del Rey and many many more it contains some genuinely great songs. But yet again, the age old problem returns in that the necessity for style and 'cool' music has overshadowed the actual story. Regularly, the music doesn't quite match the setting and even though sometimes this is very effective, particularly during the party scenes, there are also parts where the music and what is shown on screen don't match up at all. Style being chosen over substance all over again.

 Let's focus on the acting now. Most of the performances are pretty great throughout the film, and there is no doubt that Leonardo DiCaprio is definitely close to his best in the film. It seems almost impossible to find flaw with his portrayal of this classic literary character, showing both the extravagant as well as the reserved in equal measure. The acting drawback, however, comes in the predictable form of Tobey Maguire. I realise that some of you may disagree with me here, but I really don't like him as an actor. He is always crap in everything. It's particularly annoying in this context as the story is from the point of view of his character, meaning he is in every bloody scene. Anyone else could've done a better job at this than him, and it confuses me why he was cast. Other than that, everyone else is great in their roles and they really fit well together as a cast.

 So after complaining about the film quite a lot, I am going to say that it is a very good film. The problems mentioned in this review are not major ones (generally) and the film as a whole is a great interpretation of the novel. Purely for the visual experience alone it is definitely worth seeing this new version of 'The Great Gatsby'.