Jack Reacher (2012)

 To continue my rant about watching movies on a flight (see 'Admission' blog) it is safe to say that this one kind of stands out as one of the worst high altitude movie watching experiences to date. I made the mistake of starting this movie about 30 minutes before we were due to land in JFK airport. Rather naively I thought that, seen I was only in New York for a week, I would easily be able to pick the movie up where I left off on the flight home. This wasn't the case. After it taking about 20 minutes for me to find the point where I had left the film because the fast forward/rewind buttons were so crap, the film was constantly being interrupted by announcements, the person in front of me couldn't decide whether they wanted to recline or sit up and I kept getting bashed by the air hostesses trolley...and it also didn't help that I had forgotten most of what I had seen previously of the film on the flight out...and I was having a few jet lag issues. Put all that together and it makes for a pretty horrific flight and very few memories of a film that I apparently watched. Oh well, I will still give a blog a go and see what my memory can drag out about this film.

 'Jack Reacher' is based on the book 'One Shot' by Lee Child about a solicitor (Rosamund Pike) and an ex-soldier (Tom Cruise) who investigate the case of a rogue military sniper and his motives for killing five random innocent people. To put too fine a point on it, it's yet another Tom Cruise movie where he runs around and shoots people and drives a lot of fast cars. I would say that even without all my issues during watching this film, it would still quite easily have merged into the many other Cruise films of this nature that I have seen over the past few years. There's nothing hugely original about this film or the storyline and it doesn't stand out at all (just as a quick note, I haven't read the book so I have no idea how faithful it is or if the story in the book is better than the film). The 'twist' is predictable and all attempts to throw you off the scent are pointless and mediocre at best.

 The action sequences are fast and fairly adrenaline fuelled but, yet again, nothing particularly original that you can't find in any run of the mill action movie that Hollywood seems to churn out these days. To give credit where it is due, the fact that Tom Cruise still does all his own stunts is very impressive. Some of these seem pretty dangerous and anyone would be brave to even think about doing them. However, it's just more of the same old stuff from him, with no one else really getting the opportunity to show off. Having said that, I saw an interview with the two leads on a TV show a few months back and Pike stated that she had a stunt in the movie where she has to reverse and nearly hit Cruise and really made out like it was some intense sequence where he could've died if it had gone even slightly wrong. This couldn't be more of an over statement. In the film (if my brain remembers correctly) she reverses slightly (and quite slowly) and stops about 10 feet away from him so he can casually step into the passenger seat. It's hardly the opening sequence of a James Bond movie.

 Anyway, seen as I'm not convinced that my brain is completely accurate about this movie, I will leave it there. However, from what I remember, it is not great and it's not hugely horrific. Just another Tom Cruise action film that promises to be more than it actually is.

5 Films To Look Forward To In September 2013

1) Riddick

The next chapter of the sci-fi series that follows on from 'Pitch Black' and 'The Chronicles Of Riddick' shows Vin Diesel once again in his strange Riddick world.

2) About Time

The newest film from Richard Curtis follows Tim, a man who can travel through time, and decides to use this family gift to change his life and help him find love.

3) Rush

A film by Ron Howard showing the infamous racing rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

4) Thanks For Sharing

A group of unlikely friends meet whilst struggling to overcome addiction.

5) Blue Jasmine

The new Woody Allen film follows a New York housewife facing life's' struggles in San Francisco.

So as you can tell, September may not be the best for big blockbusters, but hopefully there will be a few gems to be found in the more obscure movies out this month.

Admission (2013)

 When you go on a long haul flight, sometimes it can be pretty difficult to keep yourself entertained, especially when you find yourself on your own on your way to America with 8 hours to fill on a cramped, noisy and bumpy flight. Thank God that some airlines (this one in particular happened to be Virgin Atlantic just in case you were wondering) provide some pretty decent films on-board to while away the mind-numbing hours of having to constantly get up so the person next to you can go to the toilet...again. From the multitude of movies and TV shows that Virgin In-Flight entertainment had to offer, this is the film that I chose (mainly because Tina Fey is a genius). Admission is about the admission process to college in America and what it takes to be offered a place at some of the countries, and the worlds, greatest Universities. Tina Fey plays Portia, an administration officer at Princeton whose job it is to search out the bright future minds that will wander the halls of this prestigious college. However, when John (Paul Rudd), a principal at what some may call an alternative school, puts forward an odd candidate, Portia must decide whether this kid is worth putting her job on the line for to make sure he gets the place he deserves. Oh and there's also the added factor that this kid may be the son she gave up for adoption, just a small spanner in the works.

 As may already be obvious, I am a bit of a Tina Fey fan, so my hopes for this film were pretty high. That being said, I wasn't overly impressed with it. I will go into detail as to why in a moment but I would just like you to bear in mind when you read this that if you have ever watched a movie on a plane you will know that it's not exactly brilliant viewing. I was constantly having to pause or rewind due to announcements about the food or how I could save 60p on some crappy duty free item that I didn't really need as well as being bashed in the knee by the god awful trolley the air hostesses seem to endlessly wheel up and down the aisle (the perks of having an aisle seat, ladies and gentlemen). Therefore, by the time I finished the film it's safe to say not much of it had gone in and I was in a pretty horrific mood which has probably influenced my view of this film slightly.

 Anyway, back to the movie. The acting is good and it has its moments (if brief) of comedy and humour. I wouldn't go as far as calling the movie a comedy overall (false advertising by Virgin In-Flight Entertainment there) but I guess it is a very sweet little film that can help pass a few spare hours. The story is kind of uneventful with not much really happening. Having said that, I imagine that the world of college administration isn't exactly high-octane and adrenaline fuelled so this attempt must be given some credit for making it at least vaguely interesting for a moment or two. One particular touch I did like was the scenes in which Fey's character is reading through the applications she has been sent. The idea to have Fey's character imagine the kids as she is reading is very creative and allows for some funny and also quite awkward moments.
 
 To move onto the acting, both Fey and Rudd give good performances and it is nice to see them both be funny in a more normal setting without the craziness that can be Hollywood comedies (Anchorman comes to mind). I wouldn't say that this is a brilliant performance for either of them, but they both pull it off very well and in a film with a more engrossing story, they could really make a good acting partnership.

 Therefore, this movie is a good, sweet little off-beat film that never quite manages to shine. It is just okay, nothing more and is probably only worth watching if you have seen most of the other films that are available to you and there is no way of escaping to do something more interesting.

Paranorman (2012)

 To put this as simply as possible, there seems to be a surge of movies involving zombies and the end of the world and all that kind of stuff at the moment. Therefore, it was only going to be a matter of time before this genre moved out of the scary horror movie world and into the animation category to scare and impress the kids as well as the adults. This attempt to create a boundary between kids' movies and the zombie apocalypse follows Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a kid who has never quite fitted in at school, who is the oddball in his family and who seems destined to be perpetually alone. This seclusion, however, may not be entirely unfounded as Norman can see dead people (insert 'Sixth Sense' quote here). Whilst for the majority of his life this 'skill' has set him apart from the rest of his community, it becomes conveniently useful when he and his newly found 'friends' (including Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck and Christopher Mintz-Plasse) must save their town from the zombies that have been woken from the dead by some old witches curse that has haunted the town for centuries.

 To start with, the animation is very clever and creative. The decision to go down a road that makes the film almost appear to be a stop-motion animation film was one that I was oddly impressed with. It gives the film a very individual look, helping to separate it from previous animated movies and it also stylistically fits very well with the story. As well as this, the final few scenes are incredibly well animated and really emphasise the fantastical element of this part of the storyline (that sentence will become clearer should you decide to watch the film). Overall, the animation team have done a really good job with giving this film a individual feel as well as allowing the style of animation to become part of the story.

 All of the parts within the film have been cast well, with each actor or actress bringing something to the character. Whilst it is probably pretty difficult to voice an animated character badly (there is, after all, very little acting involved in a job where you're not even on screen yourself), it is at least an achievement to say that all of the actors contributed to the film and each character is an individual that is reflected in the acting choices.

 To say that this film is a masterpiece of the animation genre would be a gross over statement. It is nothing special and I feel any originality it may have had has now been overshadowed by the unfortunate release of 'Frankenteen' at roughly the same sort of time (another animated movie about the same sort of thing). However, it is still a good film with both funny and moving moments that is appropriate to watch with kids and won't scare the living crap out of them.

Man Of Steel (2013)

 As I have probably already stated somewhere in this blog, I am a HUGE fan of superhero movies. They always have great action, some good humour and quite often manage to include a good story as well rather than just showing off their special effect prowess. However, there has always been something about Superman that never quite clicked with me. Don't get me wrong, I have done my research. I have seen the majority of the films both old and new, I have witnessed the wide range of TV shows dedicated to retelling the story and I have sat through many an episode of the cartoon series. There has just always been something that hasn't impressed me. Something about the character and the story that doesn't quite fit. Having said that, I had extremely high hopes for this film. Directed by Zack Snyder of 'Watchmen' fame and produced by the legend that is Christopher Nolan (Inception, the Batman Series, etc.) this film really has no reason not to be incredible. Let's face it as well, after the last Superman movie, this one didn't have much work to do to be better than that.

 The story begins as most 'new' re-creations of superhero movies do nowadays, with the back-story of the character and how he came to be who he is. This one, however, takes it waaaaay back, and shows the destruction of Krypton and how this led to Superman being sent to Earth. It then shows Clark Kent's younger years and him learning of his powers and coming to terms with them before finally having to reveal himself to the human population when an imminent threat from his home planet attacks the Earth (sound familiar?). I know what you are thinking, and I agree. Originality is not a word that immediately springs to mind with this story, but when I saw this I didn't hold it against it and based my judgement on this movie and this movie alone.

 If there is one defining feature of this film, it has to be the special effects. They are genuinely incredible. Considering that quite a significant chunk is set on a distant planet, there wasn't a single second where it was obvious to me that any of the back drop was fake or anything else that had been CGI'd was anything other than real. This is the kind of standard that all forms of animation should be aiming for nowadays and Man of Steel has kind of showed everyone else up. As well as this, this film has finally managed to find an actor who can play Superman not only convincingly but well. Henry Cavill seems to have been born to play the role and is easily one of the best versions of Superman I have seen.

 Now onto the not so good stuff (and there's more than I was anticipating there to be). One. The story doesn't feel very complete. The writers have missed a huge opportunity to develop characters, include them in more aspects of the story and just generally create a more rounded film. Everyone from Lois to Jor-El (Superman's Dad played by Russell Crowe) seems to have been added on to a story solely focusing on how awesome Superman is. With such incredible acting talent in the cast, it seems like a waste to have made them stand in the background while Superman flies about a bit and essentially levels an entire city. This brings me on to my second point. The first half of this film is really good. It has a great story, good action sequences and a variety of characters for the audiences to follow. However, the entire second half of the film is one incredibly long action sequence with no real breaks or pauses. While some may find this exciting and it is exactly what they want from a film of this type, I am not one of those people. I found that at the beginning it was good but as it went on and on with no breaks or let up, it just got boring. Superman flying into people, destroying buildings and being all superhero-y gets very tedious after a while and it kind of ruined the film for me. Up until this point I had been enjoying it but this need to show off and demonstrate everything that can be done with special effects just brought the whole film down to its knees.

 Overall, it is not the worst Superman adaptation I have ever seen, but it is far away from the best, and it doesn't even come close to being one of the best superhero films I have seen. I just hope that for the next film they step it up, put ego and the need to show off aside and make a good film for the people who genuinely want to see Superman back at the top with the rest.

Oblivion (2013)

 By now, it would seem to be the case that Tom Cruise is pretty much incapable of doing anything other than your run of the mill action movie that is semi-successful but never really gets remembered. He's trying, bless him, but none of them really seem to stand out and make it to that place where the likes of 'Indiana Jones', 'Die Hard' and 'The Dark Knight' reside in the minds of movie goers. His latest attempt is the story of Jack, one man of a two part team who has been assigned to extract the final resources that Earth has to offer after the human race has left this planet and ventured out into space. However, after being told that the Earth is uninhabitable after years of war with an alien race, he discovers that this may not be the case and a crashed spacecraft may help his discover the truth and the real reason behind his stay on Earth.

 Not to be down-hearted to begin with or anything but I am not a fan of this type of film. Earth being uninhabitable, all humans leaving the planet, something's not quite right and it turns out there's some secret plot to take over the world and all that jazz. It's just been done too many times. God knows, even Pixar has gone there. So for me, this was just another rehash of the same storyline with a slightly different plot twist. *SPOILER* The ending was more creative than I was expecting, with it actually turning out that Jack is a clone and there are many versions of him looking after the planet. Oh, and they all happen to be highly trained soldiers. What a convenient coincidence! Anyway, as I said, the storyline overall is nothing special and nothing particularly new or imaginative.

 To turn an eye to the actors, again it is a typical Tom Cruise movie. He is good at what he does and it is still impressive how he does all the stunts and all that, but it doesn't stand out as one of his best performances. The performances by his two female co-stars, Julia played by Olga Kurylenko and Victoria played by Andrea Riseborough, are also equally good but don't stand out and (as is the case with every movie Tom Cruise is in) it is well and truly about him with no other character really being given the opportunity to shine. It's a shame that this is the case as I'm sure that the film could've been a whole lot better if there was just a bit more character depth.

 A final point would be that this is no special film, but I won't take away from it that fact that it does have some good action sequences that are well placed in the futuristic setting. The special effects certainly live up to the current standard and most of the action scenes are fast paced, high octane and adrenaline fuelled (a few action buzz words for you there). It's just disappointing that they didn't take this film further and really develop the storyline to make an original and innovative storyline that could've made this more than just your generic Tom Cruise okay action movie.