The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Hobbit yes, journey yes, unexpected? Not so much. For those of us religious fans of Peter Jackson original Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, the eventual coming of The Hobbit was anything but Unexpected. The tale of Frodos (Elijah Wood) uncle Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) involved Dragons, Dwarfs (Richard Armitage), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Gollum (Andy Serkis) a recipe for impending success.
Jackson has managed to do it again and though the film felt like it ran a bit short of the finish line, they have two years to make up for that. Maybe it was that Fellowship Of The Rings style ending that doesn't allow me to rate this movie any higher than an average three unicorns but one thing is for sure, when the other two films come together with An Unexpected Journey, ratings will be through the roof.

Rise Of The Guardians

Although not set around the feastive period, Rise Of The Guardians is this years Cinematic Christmas Feeler. Jack Frost teams up Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy and Sandman to help thwart the Boogieman - Pitch Black.

Called upon by The Man in The Moon, Jack Frost (Chris Pine) the spirit of winter wonders the world alone and unseen, controling and adjusting the snow and frost to cause fun, inconvienience and necessity. His Lone Ranger days are over when the Guardians; Brought together to protect the hopes and beliefs of children all over the world are threatened by the return of Pitch Black (Jude Law) and are instructed to enlist his help.

Descriptions of these legendary characters have been passed on through time; The Sandman, a weirdo in pyjamas who throws dust in your eyes to help you sleep, The Tooth Fairy a small and cute being with butterfly wings who barters your teeth for some change, but as times have progressed it was about time that these legends got a makeover.
Voiced by Alec Baldwin; Santa "Schwarzenegger" Claus is a Russian accented tattoo sleeved badass whose reindeers rival the biggest and fastest stallions and who's helpers are less elves and more Sasquatch. Equipped with a pair of swords I'd take the phrase; Santa Clause Is Coming To Town a little more seriously if I knew he was round the corner.
Close your eyes and picture a mix between Bugs Bunny and a bench pressing kangaroo and you have the Easter Bunny. Mr Not-So-Cute-And-Fluffy has a slight temper and is in constant competition with Jack Frost over a decades old 'Misunderstanding' as Hugh Jackman delivers a comical performance and gives a slight insight into the magic behind the world of Easter.

The best character by far had to be Jude Laws sanctimonious Pitch Black, who was somewhere between the Grim Reaper and Hades. We can hardly blame the guy for wanting to cause fear and misery when it's in his nature to do nothing else. Yet his silky yet sinister voice makes it hard to be on his side as each word ripples another round of goosebumps. As he is the ultimately the reason for destroying the hopes and dreams of children all over the world. Dramatic. But True.

Though the scenes were beautiful and the graphics were amazing it sometimes felt as though you had started listening partway through a conversation as random unanswerable questions who just pop into your mind from time to time such as where did Pitch Black come from and how did he escape? Why is The Man in The Moon in charge? Perhaps however these are just the nitpicky questions of an adult, in the mind of a child the movie ticks all the right boxes from the loveable main character to the slightly sympathetic for Villain.
Although revamped to give a more modernised feel and physical personification they are all still very much the characters of stories we grew up loving. This may be no Arthur Christmas but this film will definitely get you buzzing for the magic of Christmas and may reignite that small torch of belief we all still have buried within us.

Great Expectations

There have been a range of adaptations of Charles Dickens' Classic over the years, including the 1998 modernised Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow version that we pretend does not exist. So it's understandable when another adaptation crops up out of nowhere the presses don't stop and people don't stand in the streets gazing up at billboards in giddiness.

A young Pip (Toby Irvine) whilst visiting his mother’s grave gets pounced on by an escaped convict (Ralph Fiennes) who then scares poor Pip into helping aid in his escape. Terrified of not complying to this mad mans wishes Pip does as he is told. Filled with the compassion of a young child, Pip also brings the convict some food and drink, all at the expense of a beating from is bitter sister. But no good deed goes unpunished.

After his efforts of keeping the convicts arrival in the area concealed, he eventually gets captured by the police and put back into prison. Young Pip doesn't have too long to dwell on these events as his life finds a new chapter in the household of Miss Haversham (Helen Bonham Carter). A crazy, cold hearted and slightly enchanting woman who acquires Pip so that he may play with her niece Estella (Helena Barlow). As is with children of the fantastical world, Pip almost immediately falls in love with this rude and uninterested spoilt child who makes him realise he wants to be more than a Blacksmith in life. Gladly their acquaintance is cut short so that we no longer have to endure her scripted ways.

Sometime in the future we are lucked with a sweaty hard working man who can only be described as a British version of Supernatural's Dean Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki). This matured Blacksmith gets his old wish of leaving behind his life when a mysterious benefactor pays for him to have everything he needs to become a Gentleman. Now living the high life in the stylistic black attire only town of London Pips re-acquaintance with Estella, a more refined version of her younger self is at this stage inevitable.

It would have been more excitable to watch Pip learn to be a gentleman through lessons in etiquette and speech than to just cut to him looking more gentlemanly and hanging around with other rich and rowdy young men whose only purposed seemed to be to show how pretension Pip had become, and to give way to foe and competitor Bentley Drummle (Ben Lloyd-Hughes)

Miss Havishams look I felt was slightly to over the top, she felt more like a delusion corpse bride than a woman crazed from a broken heart. Especially as nothing else in the movie was intensified to that effect, this made her character seem on another level. Lastly except for a few meaningful scenes the relationship between the matured Pip and Estella is greatly under explored.

I enjoy classic adaptations as much as the next person but it's quite possible that tales such as Great Expectations need to be buried deep in the screenplay writers’ trunk of possible book to movie ideas. It has gotten to the point where if another adaptation should rear its head in the next three years they should change the title to a more suitable: Same Expectations.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

The second half of the conclusion to this generations biggest romantic tale, sees Bella Swan finally gets her wish, as we leave the life of a lamb behind, and are transported into life from the perspective of a lion. And what a life it is. None of which would have been made possible without the over use of CGI, which would surely give James Cameron's Avatar a run for it's money. A necessary evil that allows the audience to run, jump and fly with Newborn Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and keep up with the rest of the Cullen clan.

The last chapter in this tale tells the story of the birth and growth of Bella and Edwards Child; Renesemee (Mackenzie Foy), and how her unique creation brings about intrigue and speculation amongst the vampire community but namely fear. When the Volturi Clan catch wind of Renesemee's existence it is considered a crime punishable by death and so the countdown begins to bring together as many allies as possible across the globe to stand against the Volturi before a fight can ensue.

Bella might be a mother, but that doesn't mean she's stopped being Charlie's (Billy Burke) daughter. The vampire rules are clear that no human can know about their existence which leaves Bella with a difficult decision to make about the next step in her and Charlie's relationship.
Charlie definitely seems the type, but it's hard to view Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) as a father, mostly due to the rapid rate that his baby grows, but that doesn't make the relationship between him and his daughter any less sweet. In fact Renesmee is lucky to have not only Edward as a father, but Jacob (Taylor Lautner) as a protector as he refuses to be left behind in their struggles, and after imprinting on Renesemee there's no chance of that happening. He proves the term "Mans Best Friend" doesn't just apply to dogs.... or humans as he puts aside his prejudice and starts to warm to the Cullens through his love of Renesemee and stands beside them in their mission against the Volturi.

Knowing that there are "normal" vampires outside of the Cullen clan is one thing, but to have them become part of the storyline helped make things feel more three dimensional. Most notable was the performance of Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) as Garret and Rami Malek (Night at the Museum) as Benjamin, an Egyptian vampire with the rare ability to control the elements.

The film felt deflated around the middle as there was a lot of  what felt like nothing but time wasting before Alice's vision came to pass, but to judge a film solely on one component shouldn't be done. On the other hand to judge a film based on its ending is something that can't be helped, it's the last thing you see and therefore it becomes pedestalled in your mind as the rest of the film fades into a distant memory.
To wrap up a saga that pleases the original book lovers and the new film watchers is no easy feat. Director Bill Condon managed to make it so, with an ending that would unite both sides who would whole heartedly agree that the past four years was all worth it.

For my review on the first part of the conclusion Click The Link:
http://sometimessubjectivereview.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1.html

Skyfall

This latest instalment of the James Bond series starring Daniel Craig as our leading super spy has been eagerly anticipated since its first announcement. The hype for this movie has been immense thanks to the non stop advertising, almost as if they were daring us to not like the movie. Lets just say that I won't be casting that stone.

Skyfall roughly picks up where its predecessor, Quantum Of Solace left off. Our thug like spy is crashing through the streets of Turkey in pursuit of a list that was stolen from the MI6 and will expose all the departments undercover agents. It seems however that 007s number is up as a fatal shot to the chest put him MIA and presumably dead allowing the list to escape.

The MI6 have no time to mourn the death of their leading agent as what is thought to be a cyber terrorist with a personal vendetta against M (Judi Dench) is gunning to takedown everything she has worked to achieve. Luckily resurrection is one of Bonds many skills as he comes back to battle in a fight that will lead him back to we're it all began. Bond needs to capture the terrorist, defend his country, save M and get the girl... or two. Its all in a days work.

This movie had a lot more depth than the previous two films, it took the emotion of Casino Royale and vengeance of Quantum of Solace and combined them both and a little more allowing us to view James Bond in a different light. If there really are talks of two more films starring Daniel Craig in the franchise than they'll have to work ten times as hard to top the phenomenon of Skyfall.
To quote Bond himself, I am just going to go ahead and say this movie was "Perfect"

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

If being on the fringes of High School socialisation means having friends like Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller then sooner or later being a happy outcast will be a whole lot more popular than being, well popular. Based on the book of the same name by Stephen Chobosky, this film adaptation explores the life on the other side of the High School social spectrum.

Dear friend, 

I think we've all had that fear of being the one kid that sits alone at lunch, that no one wants to partner up with and that is for some inane reason the topic of all ridicule. The only way to break the system is to find someone quirky and excepting and just say Hello.

With a deep breath and a leap of faith Charlie (Logan Lerman) strikes up a conversation with senior class joker Patrick (Ezra Miller) and with that opens a world of friendships. He finds himself immediately bewitched by his stepsister Sam (Emma Watson) a seemingly carefree and open girl, and is embraced into their circle of eccentric friends, or better yet the Island Of Misfit Toys. 

Whilst trying to navigate the road of friendship and love Charlie is battling with his own demons which slowly scratch their way to the surface.

The film pushed all the right emotional buttons, as well as having a few bubbling underlying questions that were left to fester at the back of your mind during the movie, only coming to light at the end. It says a lot about an actor when despite them being in other thematically big movies they can come and turn off the typecast as the actors chosen to depict the characters did a brilliant job in terms of likability and believability, and if it was possible for a sequel to occur then I think it would be very well received.

Looper

Joseph Gordon-Levitt had the honour of being facially transformed to look like a young Bruce Willis, and Bruce Willis had the honour of staying exactly the same in this time travelling mind bender.

Set in the year 2044, travelling through time is nothing more than a concept. However roughly thirty years down the line it will be both invented and outlawed, only to be used by criminals as a means of body disposal. Enter Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his band of brother, or to those few in the know; Loopers.

The job is simple: The good unnamed people from the future zap a masked body to you in the past (Present). They appear, you shoot. Strapped to them will be your payment in silver bars, you dispose of the body then get on with your life till the next job. You work for as long as they need you, your Pink slip coming in the form of gold bars.

This is one of those jobs where you don't want to know the man behind the burlap sack, because there might be a case of performance anxiety when you see he has your slight aged eyes and a slightly more crooked version of your nose. He might then escape, putting the both of you in danger from you present employers who are then obligated to close your loop.

We all know ourselves better than anyone else, even if you don't quite understand what your future agenda is in the past (present). Joe isn't concerned with the technicalities, he just knows if he wants his life to go back to normal he need to hand over his own (future) head on a platter... But he's not the only one after himself.

If you try not to think about it too hard then it's a walk in park.

Pierce Gagnon who plays Cid was in fact (next to Bruce Willis) on of my favourite characters to watch on screen, not wanting to dive to far into his role in the movie he definitely delivered a believable performance and should their (God Forbid) be a live action version of Chuckie then we have found a perfect match.

It's a shame that the concept of time-travel wasn't explored a little more, as you start to wonder little things such as; why only the Mob have illegal access to such a worldly desired technology. Not only that but the subsidiary characters seemed slightly "Sim-ish" programmed to be there for the sake of the main character; He needs a boss so he has a boos, he needs an enemy so he has an enemy. Something as small as a one minute backstory themed soliloquy would have been sufficient, but the nit picking aside this movie definitely lived up to its over exposed anticipation.

Total Recall

It's going to be pretty easy to keep a somewhat object view about this movie, namely because I have not yet had the pleasure of watching its Arnold Schwarzenegger predecessor. That being said This review isn't necessarily about singing this movies praises.

Colin Ferral plays Douglas Quaid A man, who after dreams involving Jessical Biel thinks that his meaningless factory working life is meant for bigger things. The likeness of this being true for most of us is rather slim, fortunately for Quaid the odds are in his favour as he takes a trip to Total Recall in an attempt to live out his Jessical Biel fantasy.

Things don't go quite as swimmingly as Quaid imagined, as the Recall process is inturrupted by the law enforcement before they can really begin. Things from there take a real turn for the bizarre as loving wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) starts playing the role of a woman scorned when she unsanctimoniously tries to take down her husband. Enter a list of other characters including.... Wait for it..... Woman of his dreams Jessica Biel, or in this case Melina.

The main villainous plot felt lost surrounded by all the clues that our protagonist was trying to find, the nail biting cat and mouse chase and the stylistic hand in hand combat performed especially realistically by faux-wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale). When the characters started talking about a resistance the only thing that came to mind was.... What are they resisting against.

A very good thing about the movie was its ability to keep you holding your breath as you tried to decipher whether or not you would end up with a Josh Kirby... Time Warrior! type finale... I'll let you ponder that thought as you wait for this movie to be released on Sky Movies.

The Dark Knight Rises

And Rise he did. As Christian Bale reprises his role one last time as the masked crusader back to defend the unluckiest city in the world from a new band of terrorists. The film had a few unexpected twist and turns but overall ended on a high for our deep voiced crusader and paved the way to superheroism for a new do gooder.

Anna Karenina

Joe Wright is back with the usual suspects, shuffle the deck slightly that turns lovers to siblings, the British Countryside to the Stiffening cold backdrop that is Russia. Finally, tweak the social standings of our main cast; from slumming it in a house that makes the Weasleys look flash to luscious ballrooms that can only be fit to house Aristocracy and thus we set the scene for Anna Karenina.

The Story focuses primarily on the story of Anna Karenina, though in the book of the same name (of which this film is based) she is a Princess, that isn't made evident, so instead she is percieved of the "Serena" of Russian Society. She is contently married to Alexei Karenin (Jude Law) and has a son, but all of these things seem to be of little importance to her when, on a visit to help sort her brothers marital problems she is soon aquainted with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

Things from her take a mind and body of their own as Anna and the Count begin their not so secret affair and help to entangle everyone in the web of complications that arise from their snubbed relationship.
A second strand is woven into the tale Anna, that of Konstantin Levin. His story is an opposing parallel of Annas as he rises up from his inital misery at the start of the film to find happiness in a range of ways that he never thought could happen to himself.

The prime appeal of this film to me was the theatrical form in which it was filmed, it added its own excitement completely separate from the surrounding storyline yet at the same time managing to add something emotional to the movie. It kept you on your toes as you wondered where you would be from one scene to the next. It helped take you on the adventure with the characters on the screen

The Bourne Legacy

If you are looking for a film that has no solid plot due to its hinging to the frame of the story arc of its basis then The Bourne Legacy is sure to satisfy all your needs.

For some vague stitched together reason, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is part of a classified government defence programme called Operation Outcome. The men who are part of the programme are taking a drug referred to as "Chems" in order to give them better psychical and mental development. As part of this Operation Outcome a range of survival training has to be undertaken, and in the heart of Alaska is where we first come across Aaron Cross.

Simultaneously as Cross' story develops, so does that of Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) who is part of a team of scientist that help administer the Chems as well as keeping up on the patients. Through a stream of unseen circumstances she is put on a government hit list for her knowledge and involvement and the only way to stay safe is to team up with who the defence department of the government have at the top of their kill list; Aaron Cross.

Though this movie is supposed to be seen as the fourth instalment to the Bourne Trilogy, I failed to understand why they kept putting not so subtle hints about Matt Damons lead role of Jason Bourne in the first three films. A few to gauge and help the understanding of the movie is completely fine but I felt as though it was a self reassurance of The Bourne Legacy belonging The Bourne trilogy in more than name.

I am not a heartless reviewer and I always try to find the light in a tunnel of complete darkness. In the case of The Bourne Legacy I am referring to its many action sequences. This more or less took up 55% of the story, and even then we could tell that it was being dragged out to an almost unbearable end.