Posts Tagged ‘trailer’
Shrek Forever After
Monday, December 21st, 2009500 Days of Summer
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009Review
Tom meets summer for the first time in an office meeting. He knows immediately that they were meant to be together. After a few awkward days they are finally going out, but love is never that simple.
500 days of Summer tells a love story in a unique but honest way, jumping between different memorable events in the relationship. It’s a glimpse into the world of love, both falling in and out of it. And most importantly it’s very real.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are brilliant together. Their chemistry is electrifying, making their performances alone worth the admission price. The cast complement each other with great comedic timing and a napoleon dynamite esque humour.
Despite the moving forward and backward in the relationship, the storyline is easy to follow. In fact, the moving around in time creates an additional interest in the subjects. This can only be attributed to a brilliant script and excellent execution by the director. What many movies have tried to do with time jumping, 500 days of Summer pulls off flawlessly.
Hands down, this is the best boy meets girl movie I’ve seen this year. It has the comedy, romance, quirkiness and spunk to reach all age groups and whisk them away. This is the perfect date movie.
9/10
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Sunday, November 29th, 2009Review
Twilight has taken the world by storm, beckoning millions of fans to the movie house over and over to watch the same movie. The phenomenon has reached cult status, but is the status rightly deserved or is this just a hormonal teenage driven frenzy.
New Moon takes off with the same predicament we left the characters with in Twilight. Bella wants to become a vampire and live with Edward for eternity but Edward fears for Bella’s soul, and refuses to dam her to hell. In a rather sudden turn of events, Edward decides it’s no longer safe for him to stay with Bella and relocates to get away from her. Bella is crushed, becoming a sort of zombie to the world.
Bella begins a ridiculous crusade of dangerous stunts to get a glimpse of Edward. In the madness she begins to spend a lot of time with Jacob, her werewolf friend who is clearly head over heals in love with her. And so begins the classic love triangle.
The movie has its moments, some beautiful cinematography, a great score and some cool CGI. Unfortunately that’s not enough. The poor script is messy and lacks pace, letting the characters down countless times. The fantastical story line lacks any kind of believability, and the characters seem ridiculously stupid at points. For example, what kind of girl would spend her nights screaming with horror over an ex-boyfriend? In fact, Bella’s father makes that exact point in the movie, ironically pointing out a flaw in the storyline.
Unfortunately, this ridiculous nonsensical nonsense that Hollywood continues to pump out is being consumed by the masses by the bucket load. From Transformers 2 to Jennifer’s Body, poor scripts continue to bring in cash for reasons that are beyond me. But despite the poor script, and unbelievability New Moon will charm audiences. The acting, although many may disagree, is above par, with a short appearance by the brilliant Dakota Fanning. Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) is brilliant as a leading man, proving to the studio and the world that he has what it takes.
Screaming girls, and a few confused guys, who centre their lives on Twilight will get to see a shirtless, muscular Jacob and a sickeningly white Edward fight for a terribly love sick Bella for a 128 minutes romp in the forest, and it just may be worth it.
6/10
District 9
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009Review
It’s finally arrived. A South African movie that is not only good, but one that can hold it’s own at the US box office. The numbers speak for themselves, but let’s take a look at why District 9 has been so well received.
For the first time ever Aliens forgot about their usual landing pad in the US and stopped over Johannesburg, South Africa. These aliens aren’t here to take over the world or kill every human but are refugees from another planet. When humans don’t know what to do with them and their strange behaviour they separate them by putting them in a place they call District 9. But when plans to move the Aliens further away from the city begin to go forward things take a turn for the worse.
The movie switches from a documentary style to the usual 3rd party observer effortlessly and constantly throughout the film, creating a very interesting and unique feel. The cast is, for the most part, excellent and unknown. Special mention of Sharlto Copley as the endearing Wikus must be made. He balances the character beautifully with a charm and intelligence below the surface of idiocy.
The effects, created by Peter Jackson’s own company are stunningly done, from the gritty aliens to the huge spaceship hovering over the city.
What is most commendable about the movie is that even though it had a low budget in terms of the usual Hollywood Blockbuster, it’s brilliantly pieced together to better any big budget sci-fi film this year.
There has been a lot of talk over the political agenda of the movie. Basing it in South Africa, a country once ravaged by Apartheid and more recently Xenophobia, heightens the sub-plot following equality. The light hearted tone, mixed with extreme violence throws the senses around and makes for enthralling entertainment. This is a must see popcorn extravaganza. Don’t miss it.
9/10
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Friday, August 28th, 2009Review
It’s becoming more and more difficult to review action movies with all the amazing effects thrown into the mix. At surface value G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is movie magic. You will be dumbstruck by some beautiful explosions and amazing machines, as we’re coming to expect from our action movies. But, unfortunately, the movie doesn’t get any deeper than that.
The premise is taken from the very popular action figure of the American Hero, G.I. Joe. An idea which is noticeably popular in Hollywood thanks to the success of movies like Transformers. The storyline revolves around some high tech weapons which were created by people who had every intention of stealing them to cause mayhem.
Sound familiar? That’s probably because we’ve seen it before. Most of the plots twists and turns are tried and tested. In fact, you may be forgiven for thinking you’re watching a rerun. The guy looses the girl, she fights against him on the bad side, and it’s all about who has the biggest guns and who can be more deceptive. I found myself predicting the next move of each character and like a prophet of God; I was spot on every time.
It’s not that the movie’s bad. No, in fact the effects and non stop action keep you watching. You’ll find yourself saying, “man, that’s cool,” countless times but that’s as far as it goes. If you want to watch a dizzying 2 hour effects spectacle, than this movie is for you. Everybody else, stay clear.
4/10