No One Lives (2012) Review

This horror film is terrible but also a lot of fun! No One Lives nearly delivers on its name as well in that 90% of the people in the film die, which is a nice change of pace from the last couple of horror films I saw with zero fatalities. The premise behind this film is great, love the idea and I would like a really well done version but this is pure entertaining horror so am fine with it. The acting is mostly terrible but Luke Evans clearly had a blast. The violence is way up there and the dialogue sometime funny both intentionally and unintentional had me in stitches. I’ll go into much more detail below but for now bookmark this if you are waiting to see the film, leave any comments below, I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts. There will be spoilers.

The Conjuring (2013) Review

The film is good but my hang up comes with the idea of another haunting film that uses the same clichés over and over again. As a horror film it is better than most, the acting is good, it’s well-paced and the story had a clear direction, my only problem is it being another haunted house. I promise I won’t judge it harshly for its stereotypical genre but I will be mentioning it. There is one golden nugget in this film though and it’s the idea of professional Paranormal Investigators, it’s been done before but this felt like a lot of fun and I really wanted to see the stories behind some of the weirder items in their paranormal vault, like that samurai mask (sequel! Or prequel). The film is well made but the film is getting ridiculous hype for nothing more than a polished version of the same haunted house story. I’ll go into much more detail below but for now bookmark this if you are waiting to see the film, leave any comments below, I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts. There will be spoilers.

Pacific Rim (2013) Review

Guillermo del Toro you glorious bastard! I walked into this film with high expectations and I mean really high expectations and yet somehow I still got more than I hoped for. This film wasn’t just giant monsters crashing against giant robots (which would have been enough for me) it had real characters and real emotions which make you care about them and that is incredibly important. The visuals go without saying but am saying it anyway, they were so EPIC in both scale and quality. The story works as well and I knew if Del Toro was involved it wouldn’t just be another mindless blockbuster, this film had intelligence and a lot of passion behind it. I didn’t expect this walking in but this is the first film I couldn’t find a flaw in this year. I’ll go into much more detail below but for now bookmark this if you are waiting to see the film, leave any comments below, if you have seen the film then check out the spoiler sections and I will look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts.

“Today at the edge of our hope, at the end of our time.  We have chosen to believe in each other!  Today we face the monsters that are at our door, today we are cancelling the apocalypse!”

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) Review

It’s not bad, it’s good but nothing more and if that’s okay with you then yeah it’s a fun movie to watch and the kids will love it. The story is alright as well as the cast and dialogue, some moments even made me laugh on purpose. The visuals are good and I had fun with it. My only problems come with Bryan Singer and his relentless path to making good films but nothing more and am not sure if it’s because he isn’t a great director or he’s just unlucky but not one of his films has ever blew me away, there just alright. Oh crap he’s going to do the same to days of futures past.

“I may not be the hero of this story, but at least I get to see the end of it!”

Star Trek (2009) Review

With the release of Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend I thought it would be a great time to review part 1 in the nerdiest reboot of all time. This Star Trek was a shockingly good film when it came out and I was very impressed when I first saw, so angry I didn’t get to see in IMAX but either watching it on a phone or the big screen this film was excellent. The story was clever and allowed for both an origin story of the original and a whole new path for the franchise, Abram’s you sneaky Bastard. The cast is great and I loved their interpretations of the characters, some interesting choices for the roles but they paid off with some great performances. The visuals are amazing and are truly breath-taking, from the halls of the Enterprise to the epic battles in space. The science fiction is fascinating but for the new generation a little heart pounding action is required and that’s what this film does well in many different ways. I hope you all enjoy the new Star Trek this weekend and come back for my review on Friday. Live long and prosper \\//.

“You know your father was Captain of a Starship for 12 minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mother’s… and yours. I dare you to do better.”

Iron Man 3 (2013) Review

Iron Man 3 the first of this summer’s superhero films was very good but not the best. The story is strong and draws this strength from a brilliant comic arc which is one of my favourites called Extremis, it did take some liberties. The acting was great benefiting from some fantastic new additions to the cast, Pierce, Kingsley. Good dialogue but I expect something juicy to quote from, like a villain (Complaints for this are in spoiler section) or Hero. As a superhero film something was just off, still very good but some themes just didn’t work for me. The visuals are amazing and will in no way disappoint, the new extremis armour is great and you get to see a lot of interesting tech and powers. Bookmark this if you are waiting to see the film, leave any comments below and I will look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts.

“Do you want an empty life or a meaningful death?”

The Croods (2013) Review

The Croods wasn’t the best animated kid’s film but it had plenty of humour and impressive visuals to keep it in the green (my rating system). The voice acting was solid from its cast and the story whilst nothing new was enough to keep the viewer (me) entertained for 90 minutes. I can see kids really liking it with its slap stick humour and brightly coloured environment. Like with all Kids films it has an overall message which in this is family and change can be good, relatively simple but it works. Still waiting for How To Train Your Dragon 2 though, come on DreamWorks get your affairs in order.

“This is called a brain. I think that’s where ideas go.”

Evil Dead (2013) Review

It wasn’t bad as an average horror film but I expected better and was ultimately disappointed by this gory but sadly unappealing remake. Now don’t start getting at me with being a downer. I am an optimist when it comes to films, and I judge films equally and so this review isn’t average because I didn’t like the original being remade. Here is my optimistic Trailer Review, and I loved the Original Trilogy which I have also Reviewed. The reason this film is average is because it’s just like everything else in horror, gore increases, story and character become meaningless. Oh and when a film claims to be the scariest I will ever see, I don’t think it is wrong to expect at least to be scared once.

Moon (2009) Review

Moon is a fascinating film with a tiny cast, small budget, and being only 90 minutes long is far better than most films I normally watch. Sam Rockwell is excellent in this film! If you haven’t seen him in Seven Psychopaths please do because he is great. The visual effects are really surprising and for the life of me I don’t know how Duncan Jones pulled this off with $5M, most couldn’t do it half as well with $50M. This film is Kind of hard to review without spoilers so just expect a few.

“You look like a radioactive tampon… like a banana with a yeast infection.”

Oblivion (2013) Review

Not what I was expecting at all. The first of big science fiction films coming out this spring and it was surprising treat both in its original story and breath taking visuals. If you have seen the trailer and made your mind up think again because it really goes in different directions and I hope everyone goes out to give it a go. The acting was very good, the characters were good and the dialogue was good. It may not be for everyone but I struggle to find any complaints and have plenty to compliment as you will find as you read on. I would recommend the IMAX as it’s a great film with eye popping visuals. There will be a spoiler section but other than that this is spoiler free so no need to worry. Leave any comments below I look forward to hearing everyone’s views.