The Hobbit: An unexpected Journey- Review

A very good if underwhelming start to a new trilogy

The original Lord of the Rings trilogy was sublime in almost ever way. It defined the very reason why people should spend their money going to the cinema.

The Hobbit is another of those films which is best experienced in the auditorium of a large screen. Based on another Tolkein novel of the same name, the film is centred around a young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who had a reasonably minor role in the original trilogy.

Without giving too much away, I liked the fact that the film started moments before the 'Fellowship of the Ring' as an older Bilbo Baggins narrates the prologue to the film. The beginning sets the pace of the film rather nicely, with the introduction of the thirteen Dwarves, as well as Gandalf (Ian McKellen) as they all set out for the lonely Mountain, the home of the Dwarves before it was destroyed by the dragon Smaug.

The film has been cast perfectly, with Martin Freeman impressive as the film's lead, along with the presence of Gandalf again. Despite being a major part of the film, Thorin (Richard Armitage) is the only one of the thirteen Dwarves who really has a substantive role in the film. The fact that they all have weird names will not help either.

Their is also an impressive cameo by Gollum, while brief, although the scene is one of comedic relief, it is also one of the most important because it comes at a point when the film gradually gets darker. Which is also when the film is at it's most interesting.

Visually the film is impressive, overhead shots of the New Zealand landscape draw you into the film, and provide an immersible breakaway from the action. But on of the most disappointing things about the film is that the Orcs are now computer animated. There's nothing wrong with this because they look fine, and it's understandable because there aren't quite so many that appear on screen as the original trilogy. But there was something more intimidating and special about the prosthetic make-up of the Orcs in the original that really set them apart, and made them look so disgustingly antagonistic.

The action scenes are also impressive and well choreographed, if lacking the grand finesse of any in the original trilogy. The finale is particularly gripping however.

But the biggest drawback of The Hobbit is the running time, at two hours and forty five minutes, the film feels much longer than it actually is. The running time isn't the problem but the dull mid section of the film where we are introduced to a set of trolls and a character called Radagast, whose appearance may grate on some people.

The Hobbit, much like 'Fellowship of the Ring', has begun the series as an adventure, a prelude to much bigger things, just as the final scenes before the credits suggest.

Verdict- A very good and satisfactory entrance to a new story, if overstretched at times
3.5/5          

Seven Psychopaths- movie review

 A wonderful and surprising gem of a film, that mixes the obscure with the surreal

With so many ideas and a cross section of different narratives all rolled into one, seven psychopaths should not be as good as it is. But thanks to a witty script, fantastic performances all round, Martin McDonagh (director of the fabulous In Bruges) has brought together a triumph of a film and one of the best black comedy's I have ever seen.

As the title suggests, the film is set around seven different characters, with struggling screenwriter Marty (Colin Farrell) at the center of the film. Marty soon finds himself entangled into the criminal underworld when one of his friends Hans (Christopher Walken) steals Charlie's (Woody Harrelson) Shih Tzu. Joining along for the ride is Marty's best friend, and the star of the show Billy (Sam Rockwell).

Different psychopaths are introduced, some real while others are pieces of fiction included in a screenplay which Marty is writing, subsequently called Seven psychopaths. Some of these characters are more obscure than others, those including a fictional Vietcong veteran from My Lai, and a couple (Tom Waits included) who kill for no reason at all.

At one hour and fifty minutes long some will find the pace of the film slow at times, and perhaps a little bit incoherent, as the film switches between reality and fantasy. But this is overlooked by the wonderful dialogue between the different characters, and the actions they take in the confrontations they have.

As the film develops all of the different Psychopaths stories come into one full circle, with an ending that is both clever and satisfactory. Where other films might struggle, seven psychopath succeeds because it makes the audience want to know and care where the film is taking us. It takes rather cliched characters and set pieces, and turns them on their head into caricatures of what we might expect from other movies.


Verdict- 4/5

Rareware...if only (unedited)

I have not had a games console for over two years now, well since my Playstation 3 suddenly and rather conveniently broke down just before I was due to arrive at University. Perhaps it was just fate, a sign that I had to work hard on my studies, and put gaming to one side, until the day that I graduated. I did have a 3DS for a couple of months until I needed some money, so I sold it for half the price I had originally bought it for.

But in all the time that I was a hardcore gamer, beginning with the Sega Mega Drive, the best console I have ever had is the Nintendo 64. And this includes a list which has PS2, Dreamcast, PS3, Game Cube, none of them have come close to the experience that I had with the N64. It was with the N64 that gaming was taken to a whole new level, thanks to the Nintendo the first rumble feature was introduced, the first analogue stick, four controller ports, the first time games looked good in 3D, without the polygons looking like square blocks.

But there was something else that really made N64 special, and that was the numerous classics created by Rareware, a once renown studio based in England, Leicester. Without going into their early beginnings, they really put themselves on the map with the reinvention of Donkey Kong, alas Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo. The game was such a success it spawned many sequels and even an animated childrens show. I only ever played one of the Game Boy versions, I think it might have been Donkey Kong Country 3.

But for my generation, those who owned an N64, Rare were the Pixar of video games. From 1996-2002, when they were eventually bought out by Microsoft, they epitomized what games were all about. Fun, engaging and innovative. It was a time when their gold logo truly shined with greatness.

GoldenEye is still the greatest movie tie in ever made, it was the first multiplayer game that was just as good as the single player campaign. What made the game so special was the fact that each level was objective based, it wasn't like Doom and the other first person shooter games at the time, where you just walked from corridor to corridor shooting endless enemies until you reached the end of the level. It was both challenging and fun, and you were also rewarded the further you played the game.

Banjo Kazooie took everything Mario 64 had done and made it better, a bright colourful game that was enduring to people of all ages. Although Diddy Kong racing wasn't quite as good as Mario Kart 64, it was still a great game nevertheless. 

But without doubt one of the most underrated games of all time, on any system, was Jet Force Gemini. It was like playing Space invaders in a 3D environment. The guns, the graphics (for the time), the vast levels, it really was a standout game that deserved more success than it got, I still pray for the day that a sequel will magically be announced (I'm not holding my breath).

Towards the end of the N64s lifespan there was Perfect Dark, another ambitious first person shooter in the vein of GoldenEye, this time with a female lead called Joanna Dark. With the Bond universe gone Rare were able to experiment and go their own way. Superb graphics, imaginative arsenal and level design made it an instant classic. Although its sales were not as strong it was just as good, well the single player was at least.

Other great games were released. Who can ever forget the masterful Conkers Bad Fur Day, with its mature take on platform games and very enjoyable multiplayer campaign it certainly stood out amongst other games on the console, but ultimately came too late to really make much of an impact in terms of commercial success. Although a decent remake was released for the Xbox a few years later.

But in the last decade since Nintendo has sold their half of the company to Microsoft, the story of Rare is one of bitterness and if only. They only released one game for the Game Cube which was Star Fox Adventures, although a decent and pretty looking game it was very forgettable. With the inclusion of Rare games I believe that the Game Cube would have been more successful than it eventually was.

Grabbed by the ghoulies, their first game for Microsoft was one of the biggest video game failures in history, commercially as well as critically. Perfect Dark Zero was a wasted opportunity and one of the worst follow up games of all time, it was clearly rushed out to be released on the Xbox 360 launch date. Such was the mediocrity both critically and commercially we will most probably never see another one again. It is also the last game that I have ever played which was made by Rare. So I've missed out on Kameo and Viva Pinata (which both got decent reviews but nothing more), and hardly took the world by storm in terms of sales.

The same was said for Banjo Kazooie: Nuts n Bolt, I never played it but the reviews as well as sales were mediocre at best. By turning it into a build and collect car game they took away what made the originals so unique. At a time when platform games are few and far between, it ended up being a wasted oppurtunity.

Now days Rare has limited itself to making the Kinect sports games, again I've never played them but they are successful.

With its respected identity within the industry gone, I can only look back and think 'if only...'. With the success of the Wii consoles it does make me wonder about the classic games that were never made, and the ones that I would have played. Of course I'm thinking with hindsight, but we can all imagine can't we.

   

   

Payday Loans- an infection that is plaguing our society

You only have to watch daytime television to come across the endless number of payday loan or short term loans that are advertised to people. Most will have people (who are really actors) speaking to the camera in a nice movie smile, telling you how much they loaned and what they spent it on...new beauty therapy course, new car repairs, new boiler. Blah blah blah. You get the message.

Payday loans are fundamentally taking advantage of the tough economic times, knowing that there are always those that don't have enough to get them through the month, or if there is something that suddenly needs fixing. You only have to see the rapid growth in their numbers, and as I eluded to earlier, the amount of times that they are advertised. It's such a shame that they have become so normalized in recent years. It's not uncommon to see Wonga (without doubt the most renown of the payday loan company's) billboards on buses or on the TV, they now even disgracefully sponsor Newcastle United Football Club. 

The most tragic thing about the business of payday loans is the extortionate interest, and that's not forgetting the roll over interest which is added on if you miss a payment. With 1.8 billion loaned out on payday loans in 2012, there are no doubt many struggling people who have run up debt upon debt, possibly leading to bailiffs and debt collectors.

It's a surprise that it has taken so long for this to get the attention that it deserves. In part its due to Member of Parliament Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) who has been very vocal on the issues, and she should be applauded for her 'End legal loan sharks' campaign. 

The only way we can stop people from falling into the traps of payday loans, is by alerting people to its dangers, informing them that there is a more helpful solution to their problems. Payday loans in many cases will only make their situation even worst, especially for those in dire straights.

In terms of a longer solution I would like to see, as has already been suggested by some, is a permanent end to rollover interest rates, the end of advertisement on the television, not allowing every other shop on the high street being some form of pawnbroker or Money shop.

But we also need to introduce education about debt and finance into the classroom, from my own experience, and from what I am aware it is not part of the curriculum. Education on money matters if done correctly could be invaluable to children, its best to start early and let them learn the early way, rather than let them learn the hard way.

     

Breaking Dawn Part 2 review, and series overview

Despite the fact that they are often badly written, badly acted, predictable and rather full of benign characters, I am actually quite the fan of the Twilight series (I've not read the books), although I will be very soon. The second part follows on from the end of the first part of Breaking Dawn where Bella gives birth and then turns into a Vampire.

For the first time in the entire series I actually came out of the cinema and didn't fee like I had enjoyed myself. One of the biggest problems with this film compared with the others is that all of its plot narratives and ideas make it hard to take it seriously. For the first time it felt like I was watching a TV movie based on a soap opera. One of the most notable differences from the first Twilight film with the finale is how disjointed and overblown it became. With the introduction of many more characters and the expansion of each films production budget, the series forgot about the characters and became overblown with too many non sentical plot narratives. This was exclusively evident in the final two parts.

Twilight is not the only movie series to suffer this fate, in fact most do.

The first half of the film is the worst in the entire series,  without spoiling too much Bella is united with her daughter Renesmee, and has to deal with the consequences of now being a vampire. We are shown her struggle with not being able to hunt humans despite the fact that it is now in her nature, this is portrayed quite well. But what isn't shown so well is the power of the vampires themselves, in the first three films they're shown to be extra strong and run as fast as the speed of light. In the early films this worked because there was still a mystique about the vampire race, despite being incredibly beautiful looking they genuinely seemed menacing and intriguing. Their powers were used for a reason, in Breaking Dawn we see it so much that it gets kinda boring, on a couple of occasions its even used as humour.

Another thing I miss about the early films is the love triangle, without it the fourth lacks any chemistry between Bella, Edward and Jacob. I also missed the appearance of any of her high school friends such as Jessica. Instead we have a new bunch of vampires with different super powers, who have about as much character as cardboard box. These new vampires are introduced to aid the Cullen family to fight the Volturi, who are angry at the illegitimate birth of Bella and Edward's daughter.

But what killed the film for me was the unexpected ending. The audience just as bewildered as me actually laughed. We were all given a nasty surprise.

Verdict- a decent and watchable film, will split fans and non-fans will find nothing new. 3/5                    

Silent Hill: Revelations 3D- Review

Its been six years since the first Silent Hill hit our screens, so you could say its been quite a while for the second to arrive. The first one was itself rather decent in my opinion, it was far from a perfect film and at times rather boring. However it managed to translate the atmosphere of the games onto screen rather successfully.

Going into seeing this film I had very low expectations, the reviews it has received from the mainstream media have been diabolical. But to my surprise it was actually better than I expected and at times enjoyable. That said the film is still no better than mediocre, but with a little more attention the film had the potential to be better.

Revelations follows on from the first film in that Harry (Sean Bean) returns from the first film, his daughter Heather (Adelaide Clemens) the films lead continuously move from house to house to house. The film starts on her first day at a new school where she meets up with another new student Vincent (Kit Harrington). Its on her first day of school that she realises that she is being watched by Private detective Douglas Cartland.

But the film really kicks off when she arrives home to find her father has disappeared and written on the walls are the words 'Come to Silent Hill'. 

The surprisingly good thing about this film is that its a rare video game adaptation that is actually quite true to its source material, many of the locations will make fans of the series nostalgic. That aside everything in the film seems to just plod along, the narrative seems to have no purpose and things just seem to happen for no plausible reason. Locations are visited and then left far too quickly. One scene involving a spider creature made up of mannequins is one example, what could have been a very scary scene ends far too quickly. 

The dialogue at times is worst than that of a B movie and cringe worthy, the 3D is good (the falling ash is particularly impressive) but very very sparse and hardly worth the extra money to pay for the ticket. Carrie Anne Moss gets no more than five minutes of screen time in her role as Claudia Wolf. And those who have not seen the first film will struggle to make any sense of this one. 

However Adelaide Clemens is impressive as Heather, and she surely has a good career in front of her. But that aside the film will split opinion of fans of the video games, the ending will certainly leave others a little aghast. But its the plot of the film which is its Achilles, implausible narratives are never explained thoroughly enough to care.

Just about watchable - 2.5/5

Prometheus Review

A visually impressive Sci Fi film that is hard to love or hate

Never have I anticipated a film as much as Prometheus, I viewed the various trailers more times than I care to mention, I read all of the discussions on the internet forums, I read all of the magazine features. So lets just say I expected a lot from this film, and perhaps its my fault that I left the cinema a little disappointed.

Prometheus is set in the future where a group of explorers travel to a planet in another corner of the universe after discovering cave paintings dating back to various times of Earth's history. The paintings are deemed to be an invitation by lead Character and archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Sean Harris).

Prometheus is the name of the spaceship in the film, which is travelling to a planet called LV223 The cast are assembled quickly and introduced beginning with the Android David 8 (Michael Fassbender) who plays the role brilliantly from start to finish, the other lead characters are introduced when they awake from their cyro sleep chambers. We have pilot Janek (Idris Elba), Fifield (Sean Harris) and Millburn (Rafe Spall). And the cold corporate employee Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron).

One of the first shots of them together is when they are all eating together, its reminiscent of a scene in Alien, but that's where the similarities end, although Prometheus is set in the same universe and a few other minor homages, they share very little in terms of content and success.

Visually Prometheus is astounding, whether its the main spacecraft entering the orbit of LV223, the holographic images or the star maps, it is wonder to the eyes, especially in an IMAX screen.

The first two thirds of the film is paced very well, the audience is introduced to the surroundings of the film and we move closer to the premise of the film which has been tentatively built up to. But then it suddenly goes a bit off the tracks and falls into a bit of a downward rolloercoaster of a mess.

Without giving much away the death toll quickly adds up under disastrous circumstances, but none of it has much effect because most of the characters have so little depth you don't care much for them, in fact the only two characters with any substance are Shaw and the magnificient android David.

The various monsters in the film seem unimaginative and lacking screen presence, one particuarly looks as though it belongs in another movie althogether.

But its not entirely bad, Prometheus is a very watchable and enjoyable film that will hold your attention until the final credits, and the film deserves credit for atleast trying to deal with complex issues such as the relationship between lifes creators, it unashamedly tries to be more than just a Sci-Fi horror film. But in the end it falls on its own pretense.

Prometheus is worth watching, it neither amazes or dissappoints, and you will come out of the cinema with more questions than answers. If you go see it, see it on an IMAX screen for the better experience.

3/5