Rev Stan's film blog

Review: Bad Benedict in Star Trek: Into Darkness

Synopsis: Captain James T Kirk volunteers to go on a dangerous mission to take down baddie John Harrison after he kills his friend and mentor.

Stan's thoughts: No one is more surprised than I about how excited I got over seeing a Star Trek film. There was this incident when I was a teenager which involved a video taped copy of my favourite Mel Gibson film and an episode of Star Trek the TV series which my Dad was a fan of. Needless to say it spawned what was to be a life long hate of anything Trekkie until JJ Abrams got involved with the first film back in 2009 and I was won over.

Throw in one of my favourite actors, Benedict Cumberbatch, playing a baddie and I was almost clapping when it started.

*potential spoiler alert* And it didn't disappoint. BC could only play a highly intelligent villain, the sort of villain that keeps you guessing and secretly has you rooting for him even though you know you shouldn't. I do hope he makes a reappearance in a future film - I'm happy to lead the rescue party.

The rest of the film is a nice balance of action - fistycuffs, shoot-outs and space ships - drama, tension and laughs. A confident and quality follow up to the first film and I can't wait to get my hands on the DVD and watch the extras.

Ratings

• Stan's 82%
• IMDB 84%
• Metascore 74%
• Rotten Tomatoes 90%

Recently seen

I'm So Excited

Iron Man 3

The Place Beyond the Pines

Olympus Has Fallen

Oblivion

Spring Breakers

Good Vibrations

In The House

Review: Tom Cruise walks through another film - Oblivion

Synopsis: Aliens have destroyed the moon thereby ravaging the earth. Surviving humans have decamped to another moon leaving a skeleton presence (Tom Cruise and Andrea Riseborough) to protect mining operations which are taking the final remnants of energy from earth. When a capsule with humans who've been frozen in time crash lands, Tom Cruise recognises one of women from dreams he's been having.

Stan's thoughts: I like the premise, probably because Oblivion is an identikit of so many other sci-fi films. And, I did like style and gizmos of 'the future' but ultimately this felt like Tom Cruise walking through another part in an action/sci-fi film, it was a performance I've seen so many times before.

The most interesting character was Andrea Riseborough's - and definitely a superior performance. Morgan Freeman virtually has a cameo.

Just about entertaining enough but never really got up to speed both in its action or drama.

Ratings

• Stan's 52%
• IMDB 72%
• Metascore 53%
• Rotten Tomatoes 56%

Recently seen

Spring Breakers

Good Vibrations

In The House

Trance

The Host

Reality

Review: The Host or how to make an alien invasion story bland

Synopsis: An alien race has taken over earth by inhabiting human bodies and erasing their minds  however there is a small core of humans who remain uninhabited and fight to remain free. Melanie (Saoirse Ronan), one such freedom fighter is caught and inhabited but manages to keep her memory alive, she just needs to convince her boyfriend.

Stan's thoughts: Now I can see the flaws in the Twilight novels but they came at a time when I wanted a bit of innocent romance in my reading matter and so I have a soft spot for them and the films.

The Host, based on Stephanie Meyer's post Twilight novel, is very much a Meyer story in that is contains a strong element of innocent romance and I really like the premise but equally it contains the flaws. As with Twilight, Meyer shies away from any real drama and likes things to be resolved fairly quickly and easily, even more so in The Host.

And that is the key problem with it. For all the cleverness of the idea, there is no real fun and you never really feel like any of the characters are in any jeopardy. A central character that is essentially talking to herself for most of the story is always going to be tricky to pull off. Ronan does a great job with what she is given but the whole thing is just a bit too bland and unexciting.

Maybe I've been spoilt by The Hunger Games. Roll on Hunger Games part II in the Autumn and Divergent next year.

Ratings

• Stan's 39%
• IMDB 59%
• Metascore 36%
• Rotten Tomatoes 12%

Recently seen

Reality

Jack the Giant Killer

Beyond the Hills

The Paperboy

Side Effects

Will an Alien series virgin like Prometheus?

Prometheus is certainly sepectacular to watch but I don't know whether it's because I've not seen any of the Alien films (nothing to do with not wanting to) and am not wedded to the concept but I thought it was very good, not great.

It has a fantastic cast with some superb performances - particularly enjoyed Michael Fassbender as the sinister robot Michael - but the script feels at times a little clunky and action movie 101. I felt talked down to as if I wasn't quite bright enough to keep up with not very complicated plot. 

My other bug bear is that for a group of seemingly highly intelligent human beings they aren't half stooopid. I suppose they have to be to generate the narrative.

It is a visual and effects feast though and I'd love to see all the 'makings of' stuff but it somehow lacked a bit of heart. You never really get under the skin of Noomi Rapace's character in order to fully understand her motives or to empathise.

So much to be admired but not quite satisfying to be a rounded hit, I am giving it 78%. On IMDb it's got 83% with a Metascore of 63%. While on Rotten Tomatoes it has 80% from critics and 87% of site visitors have given it three and a half stars or higher.

PS I spent the whole film thinking that it was Tom Hardy was playing Charlie Holloway when it is in fact Logan Marshall-Green - those two could be brothers.

 

Chronicle - the other film I've liked recently

I've been through a run of 'meh' films recently (and I've also been very lax at writing up the reviews which I'm in the process of addressing) but this is one of two goodies - the other was the Woman in Black.

It's another low budget sci-fi about three high school kids, naturally one is the bullied outcast, who discover  they have special powers after an encounter with a mysterious power source.  They have to learn how to use their new powers and explore their different skills, moving large objects, making things float, flying, that sort of thing, having a bit of fun along the way. 

But soon mistakes are made and they begin to question what is right and what is wrong to use their new found skills for.

And I really liked it. It is very human in its approach. If you found out you could move a car just by thinking about it you so would move the car a woman had just parked at the supermarket and then wait for her reaction when she returned to find it was in a different bay.

Yes there is a message there about with great power comes great responsibility but it doesn't feel over-egged and is nicely handled. And OK the special effects aren't the best in the world but they are more than adequate creating some quite dramatic set pieces.

Chronicle is a good fun, 90 minute movie. Hurray for low budget, independent film I say.

It's getting 70% from me, over on IMDB it's got 75% and Metacritic score of 69%. While on Rotten Tomatoes it has 84% and 76% from audiences.

 

The last two reviews of 2011: Another Earth and Moneyball

Slight cheat, two reviews in one but I'm eager to get my 2011 best of/worst of compiled as well as decide on my StOscars which I can't do until these are written, so here goes.

Another Earth

Low budget sci-fi movie about a high school student Rhoda (Brit Marling) who in a tragic car accident kills composer John Burrough's wife and child (William Mapother). On the same night a duplicate earth is discovered. When Rhoda comes out of prison, haunted by the consequences of her actions she sets about trying make amends while wondering if the other her, on the second earth, has made the same mistakes - something she might soon find out.

Like the low budget sci-fi movies I've enjoyed over the last 18 months it is more of a character piece than about the science and as such it works really well although I do wonder if the film wouldn't work just as well without the second earth.

Rhoda doesn't say much leaving the audience to fill the gaps which I like. She is at time a difficult character to like and I also liked that ambiguity, the humanness of her. 

It doesn't have a conclusive ending and raises a lot of questions that are unanswerable which some might find unsatisfying but I didn't. It's certainly a film that stays with you afterwards.

A nicely gentle, thought provoking film I'm going to give it 63%. On IMDb it's got 70% with a Metacritic scores of 66%. On Rotten Tomatoes there is no consensus from critics but 71% of visitors to have rated it 3.5 stars or higher.

Moneyball

Only the fact that Aaron Sorkin co-wrote the screenplay got me in front of this baseball movie that and the fact that critic Mark Kermode said it wasn't really about baseball but about statistics.

I know nothing and care nothing for baseball and yes it is more about statistics, money and the politics behind the game. And there is nothing wrong with it but I just can't muster much enthusiasm for it. The script, as you can imagine, is excellent, it was well acted and engaging enough for the duration but ultimately I didn't really care enough. 

I'm going to give it 55%, on IMDb it's got 78% and a Metacritic score of 87%. On Rotten Tomatoes it's got a critics rating of 95% and 88% of visitors gave it 3.5 stars or more. Just not one for me then.

 

And so that concludes my film reviews for 2011, now for the best and worst of's....

 

Super Super 8

I'm the Goonies/ET generation so Super 8 is right up my street being a bit of a cross between the two.

The story is set in 1979 small town Ohio and centres on a group of kids who are trying to make their own zombie movie. While filming late one night they witness a train crash after which strange things start happening. Using the train wreck and the clear up by the military as a backdrop they try to finish their film and investigate what is going on.

So that's the action, thrill stuff. The train crash is quite spectacular and there are some real jump out of your skin moments later on.

But then there is a sub plot which adds the heart to the film. Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) has recently lost his mother and has a strained relationship with his father. He falls for Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) who's been roped in to play the heroine of the kids' film. Alice's father has a drink problem and there is no love lost between him and Joe's father for reason's that only gradually become clear.

Kaboom: the missing link?

Kaboom didn't make me angry as bad films normally do but neither did it make me smile like a bizarre but good film should and Donnie Darko leads the way in that.

I think I'm just stunned by the ineffectual absurdity of it all. It starts out promisingly enough - albeit with a lot of gratuitous sex and nudity. Student Smith (Thomas Dekker) is bi-sexual, fancies his surf-dude room mate and has the same weird dream over and over. His best friend Stella (Haley Bennett) is a lesbian who starts going out with a woman Smith has seen before but in his dream.

On the way home from a drug and sex-fuelled night out Smith stumbles upon another woman from his dream who is being chased by men in animal masks. He tries to help her but ends up witnessing her brutal murdered.

Up to this point it's a nice level of weirdness - is Smith delusional, still under the influence of the hallucinogenic drug-laced cookie he ate or is it real?

Ready for a reboot: Tron Legacy 3D

All I can remember about the first Tron film is futuristic cars making sharp 90 degree turns and I admit that my main motive for seeing Tron Legacy is that I just fancied a pre-Christmas, mindless popcorn movie.

And at least this was made in 3D so it's not as uncomfortable as watching something retro-fitted - although I still don't see what it actually added. Tron Legacy is a visually stunning film all black and white with splashes of neon. Perhaps it's just the amateur photographer in me but I just love the reflections in all those shiny surfaces.

Anyway, like the last visually stunning, shot in 3D film I saw (Avatar) the plot is fairly slim and predictable. Digital world Tron's original creator, Kevin Flynn, disappears ones night leaving his son Sam an orphan. When the grown up Sam (Garrett Hedlund) goes to investigate the origins of a pager message from his father's now abandoned former office he inadvertently ends up inside the digital world his father created.

A Monsters hit

If you take what Warner Bros spent on broomsticks for Harry Potter 7, slightly more than double it and you have the entire film budget for Gareth Edwards' Monsters. Which when you watch the film is gobsmaking.

A low budget monster flick should by all accounts be cliched, cheesy, amateurish and well a bit dodgy but this one isn't. The story is set six years after samples of alien life were accidentally dumped in northern Mexico and subsequently grew up into fully fledged alien life forms. The area has been quarantined, huges walls built and there is a growing battle to contain them.

Magazine photographer Andrew Caulder is in Mexico trying to get the one shot that will earn him lot of cash. However, he is tasked with getting Samantha, the tourist daughter of his publishing house boss back from Mexico after an incident with an escaped alien leaves her slightly injured.

On paper it appears predictable but there are several things that raise this film above and beyond. First is its reportage style which gives it an edge of realism. OK so the idea of aliens on earth is fantastical but this movie feels like it could be real. Edwards shot everything on location, often without getting permission first, drafting in people that happened to be around to make up the extra characters.