Movie Review - The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie

2014

Warner Bros. Pictures / Village Roadshow Pictures / RatPac Dune Entertainment / The Lego Group / Vertigo Entertainment / Lin Pictures / Warner Bros. Animation

20th Century Fox / Warner Home Video

4.25 / 10

This is an atrociously boringly unfunny and predictable movie, though it's beautifully shot.  All the faults lie with writers and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

The synopsis of the movie is pretty decent and should have resulted in a good movie.  A regular Lego construction worker, Emmet, finds out that he's the master builder of an ancient prophecy that states he'll save the world from the craggle and Lord Business.

Where the story falls short is the overused and cliched jokes and characters and they were telegraphed so early you knew they were coming.  For example, Emmet has only had one original design idea - a double-decker sofa; so when asked to build something when they are trying to escape from Bad-Cop and his minions, he builds (you guessed it) his double-decker sofa while everybody else builds the submarine; then when the sub is destroyed by Bad-Cop guess what survives... yep, you're right the sofa.  I was groaning and shaking my head.  All too predictable.

Next major fault is the direction, there are lots of scenes that are dragged out too long, in particular, the scene where Bad-Cop / Good-Cop (which was a very inventive idea) is interrogating Emmet.  Bad-Cop gets angry and goes mental and kicks a chair around the room.  It's not that funny a scene and it becomes boring quite quickly as the directors stretch the sequence out and actually diminishes the scene.

Another thing the films suffers with is the vocal talents.  With the exception of Will Arnet as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle / Lucy, and Nick Offerman as Metal Beard, the rest of the voices just don't quite fit their character.  I am not a big fan of Will Ferrell though I have to admit he's not too bad here as he reigns in some of his outlandishness.  However, he should have been more intimidating, mean, and menacingly voiced for his character of Lord Business.  I felt embarrassed for Morgan Freeman as he sounded tired, for the most part, in his rendition of Vitruvius.  Then there was the grating and annoying tones of Unikitty, played by Amanda Brie, who had me reaching for the remote and the off button.  I did like the way that they incorporated original voices into the cast as C3P0 was voiced by Anthony Daniels and Billy Dee Williams voiced Lando - shame they couldn't do it with the rest of the "Known" cast.

The only good thing this film had going for it was the Lego itself and it's CGI generation.  Had the rest of the film been as good these scenes it would have been a masterpiece of filmmaking.  However special effects cannot carry a film alone.

To be honest I wouldn't recommend this film to anybody.  There are a lot of much better kids films out there... So go treat yourself and watch one of them.  I wouldn't even push this for the Batman element, even though he's one of the main good elements he's still not enough... and he even starts to wear thin as the movie progresses...  I'm now a little worried for The Lego Batman Movie.

Movie Review - Ant-Man

Ant-Man

2015

Marvel Enterprises / Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Walt Disney Home Studios Home Entertainment

9.5 / 10

After watching Marvel's Avengers - Age Of Ultron and Guardians Of The Galaxy, of which I was a little less than bowled over by, I was hesitant to watch this film.  I knew this had the potential to be a brilliantly visual masterpiece - which it was.  It was also a well thought out story filled with interesting characters and well-shot scenes, both innovative and ingenious.

Marvel needed this film to breathe fresh air into its universe.

Though it's not the Hank Pym Ant-Man that I remembered out of the back pages of the Hulk comic of my youth it still held up to the comic's feel and atmosphere.

Writers, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay, and Paul Rudd create a good and solid story around this Ant-Man's origin and the threat which the Ant-Man tech could produce.  It could also be that the personality of Scott Lang (Ant-Man) is so steadfast and credible is that Paul Rudd who portrayed him also co-wrote the screenplay.  I've never been a great fan of Rudd's as I've found his previous work could either hit (Role-Models) or miss (Admission) - this is definitely some of his better work, and he adds quite a bit to the character and atmosphere of the movie.

Even the rest of the cast do a brilliant job with their characters.  I especially liked Bobby Cannavale as Paxton, Scott's ex-wife's new man... and cop!  He adds a nice dynamic to Scott's personal life as he loves Maggie and Cassie (Scott's ex and daughter) and tries to give Scott the benefit of the doubt, even though he's an ex-con.  Then there's Michael Pena who is outstanding as Luis.  It was nice to see Evangelina Lilly in a decent roll and she carried off the role of Pym's estranged daughter, Hope Van Dyne, admirably.  She should make a brilliant Wasp in the upcoming sequel.

The other star of this film is the Director, Peyton Reed, who seems to effortlessly weave CGI and reality together.  The scenes where Scott pops from miniature to actual size while fighting could have been so bad but thanks to the direction and the animators they're believable and very effective.  Reed is also good at switching pace to give his audience a rollercoaster ride of a movie.

The special effects are superb and seamless - respect due to all involved.  And it is truly wonderful that Thomas the Tank Engine is finally breaking into the big time.

This film is a must for all comic book and action movie lovers alike.  If you've not hopped into the Marvel universe yet this is one hell of a good place to start... though it may make the rest of the films look a little pale by comparison.  This is one film I will watch again... and again...

Movie Review - Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Avengers

Age Of Ultron

2015

Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

5.5 / 10

Oh, dear!  What happened here!  This had the possibility to be a great film with depth... so what does Joss Whedon give the audience - a formulaic action film lacking in characterisation and an awful lot of changes to origin stories and ongoing characters, which didn't make sense.  It felt so forced into being something big and spectacular that only helped in hindering my enjoyment of the film and story.

Usually, I'd say that a movie is worth watching due to the story or the action but in this case, things don't seem to gel just right and the whole thing is messy and disjointed.  This is definitely not the best in the Marvel Movie Universe...  This is nearly on par with Iron Man 3 (another film which could have been awesome).

I was having doubts in the opening action sequence as some of the CGI is sloppy, giving the scene an untidiness.  You can easily tell which sections are CGI'd.  Thank God things get tidier as the film progresses.

Then there's Bruce Banner; a scientist with a clinical and logical mind who only wants to help people and would never hurt anyone...  but suddenly is all too happy to let Stark activate an unknown AI though they know the dangers involved.  This goes against the core nature of Banner but Whedon doesn't care.  What would've been more in character would be Stark being his usual egotistical self and activating the AI on his own accord, only for Banner to find out and come in to keep an eye on things so nothing goes wrong, being too late to stop Stark  It's such a little thing, but the devil's in the details

When Ultron finally appears, nicely voiced by James Spader - though a little more creepiness and menace was needed (The "I have no strings" vocal is actually more menacing in the trailer than in the movie scene), you think okay here we go, but it's over too quickly and feels more like a damp squid than impending doom and throws the pace of.  In fact, there's a lot of stops and starts in the pace of this film, I'm not sure if that was Whedon's intention but it doesn't work.

Even the one-liner quips between the team were lacking in humour and feel thrown in to lighten the sequence and entertain.  The trouble being if it feels thrown in it loses its power and the feeling of reality the filmmaker is trying to create.  Once that happens then the viewer breaks away from the film and it's not as entertaining for them.

Two-thirds of the way through I'd pretty much given up on the film but decided to stay for the ground shaking final fight scene.  Which wasn't really too special as it was just loads of Ultron's minions fighting on his behalf (though he had previously stated that they were all him).  The thing is if Ultron was such a Bad Ass and believed himself superior to humans and the Avengers then he should have taken them on one on one, as they were helping the stranded people to leave.  Then when he does attack he lets his drones do it for him and you have an epic battle with epic music, which doesn't feel so epic, then it only takes four Avengers to dispatch Ultron in... less than a minute!  What a baddie!... another damp squid.

Hey, maybe that should have been the title - Avengers:  Age Of The Damp Squid!

As I said in the review for Guardians Of The Galaxy Marvel are in serious danger of stereotyping themselves and following a specific formula, which is even more evident in this film than in that one.  This could be the slippery slope to failure if they don't beware.

If you've liked the previous films in the Marvel Movie Universe then you may be able to get through this one, though I wouldn't recommend watching it as a stand alone film since there are better offerings out there.  If you're a fanboy of the comics then it's probably best to stay well clear of this film, especially if you don't appreciate new interpretations as this isn't a good one.  This movie could be a turning point for fans.

The Teaser Trailer with more eerie "No Strings On Me" Ultron Quote, which didn't work so well in the film.

Movie Review - Guardians Of The Galaxy

Guardians Of The Galaxy

2014

Marvel Studios / Marvel Enterprises / Moving Picture Company : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / BBC One / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

7 / 10

Another Marvel picture to expand their universe a little more.  However, this didn't live up to the hype or the fanboy hysteria, well, not for me.

I have to say though the special effects crew were running on all cylinders as the visuals are truly spectacular and as close to flawless as you could get.  It was pretty difficult to see where the CGI kissed the reality.  Much respect for the crew.

Respect too to the Director James Gunn who did a splendid job keeping the action flying and the drama, what little there was, at a steady pace and flow.

However, I would have liked the formula to be a little different as it ran straight in line with all the other Marvel films.  As soon as they knew they had a winning formula with Avengers Assemble their team movies have kept to that style, which unfortunately is running thin.

As for the characters, they could be interchangeable with others from the movie universe.  Personally, I would have loved to see the original version of Star-Lord who was a much stronger character than the one here, who is a cross between Steve Rodgers and Tony Stark...  He even had the ego and nerve to call himself "Star-Lord" - what an arsehole.  This should have been the title handed down to him from his father, who was a Universe Policeman.  It also would've been nice to have had his original ship as it was a living entity and a character in its own right - but no, we stick to the formula.

Gamora was just a green skinned Black Widow... with some of the same moves.

Drax was a less powerful Hulk.  Though he had the inevitable "The bad guy killed my family" scenario, where the Hulk's incentive is to SMASH...  Drax has the same compulsion but to KILL.

The best thing, by far, were the two CGI characters of Rocket Raccoon and Groot who were brilliantly voiced by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.  Cooper's vocal portrayal was so perfect for the character; and even though Groot only said "Groot" Diesel added depth and character to every "Groot" spoken.

These two also seemed to get the better scene's like the one where they're planning to escape but are wondering how they can get one of the escape plans components.  While they are talking about this Groot just goes and gets it.  Then when the action starts it's always Rocket you look to because this Racoon loves his weapons with a passion verging on obsession.

Respect to the actors who portrayed the hero's as they all did a great job it's not their fault there wasn't much scope for character growth.  I just think that Marvel is coming close to stereotyping themselves.  They could do with spreading their wings a little wider.

With that in mind, it would be nice to have a villain who isn't trying to conquer or destroy worlds, we've seen it before. when we finally get to the much hinted at and waited for Thanos what will he be doing?  Oh yes, probably looking to destroy or conquer the world.

Then there's the awesome 80's soundtrack courtesy of Peter Quill's walkman... where does' he get the batteries from?  Probably that's what the Ravagers were stealing on Earth when they picked him up.  The director uses the soundtrack to it's greatest potential. Well done.

All in all, it's a well told and fantastically rendered story, though all too familiar, with great action sequences, so leave your brain at the door and enjoy.

Movie Review - Divergent

Divergent

2014

Summit Entertainment / Red Wagon Entertainment / Soho VFX : Entertainment One / Lionsgate Home Entertainment

4.5 / 10

I've not read the books but if the film is anything to go on I won't be rushing out to buy them anytime soon.

I know this is a dystopian story set in the future but I can't class it as a Science Fiction movie as the entire story concept is implausible.  I cannot believe the human race would reduce itself into five factions which are segregated by a test, but then they get to choose which faction they want to join.  Not only are the factions designated by the job, but by uniform, colour, and even their homes.  They are not allowed any personal items as that might bring forth human nature.  

Imagine Humans being Human, what a notion!

The acting is just okay, even the bigger name actors, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q, Ray Stephenson, and Kate Winslet couldn't lift this film out of the morass the story and direction placed it in.

I don't know how they could've made the movie any better other than a total rewrite and refilm.

However, the action sequences aren't too bad except for the fight training... doesn't anybody remember Martial Arts in this stupid, segregated, and insanely dull future world(?)

I wouldn't recommend this flick to anyone.  There are loads of better films out there, go watch Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson, so much more entertaining.