Elysium (2013)

In the future, an exclusive world will be the ultimate destination; but only those brave enough will ever make it there...

In the distant future, the super rich have created a world for themselves in nearby space, called Elysium, where there is never any illness, violence or sadness. The rest of the people on earth are left to fend for themselves with little access to medical care and living in slum conditions.

When "Max" is struck down by radiation poisoning after an accident at work, he knows his only way to survive is to access the medical scanners only present on Elysium. He has to bypass the security fields and make his way to the promised land without being shot down in the process. When he robs and murders an important man in his quest to reach Elysium, he comes face to face with a force who has sworn to protect the elitist way life, no matter the results...

South African director, Neill Blomkamp, returns to the big screen for the first time since his epic debut in "District 9" with a film which feels remarkably similar, but covers a far different terrain. His style is courageous and daring, but very entertaining no less, but the film could almost be a big brother to his first effort. It will be good to see what his next film does, as he needs a change of scenery.

Matt Damon takes the lead role as "Max" a former child of the street, whose lifes goal it is to reach Elysium. His portrayal is gritty, yet surprisingly sensitive and he does well in a challenging role. It is a good outing to follow his recent showing in "Behind the Candelabra", but the role did not come close to testing his talents.

Jodie Foster returns to the big screen for the first time since her stunning role in "Carnage" of 2011, with a decent showing as Head of Elysium security "Delacourt". She gives a stylish performance, with the only detracting factor being that her accent seems to be all over the place. She starts off French, the moves to English, American and in one scene even takes on a South African twang. Despite that it is good to see her back on the screen in this convincing role.

The star of "District 9" Sharlto Copley, plays almost the exact same character as the one which shot him to stardom, but this time seems a bit darker, and if anything, a LOT more crazy in his portrayal of "Kruger". His performance is superb, and along with Brandon Auret and Josh Blacker they make very motley crew of South African mercenaries. This is a good showing from Copley, but it would be very interesting to see this actor do a non military role.

Alice Braga gives a quite good showing as "Frey", this Brazilian actress showing that she is not only beautiful, but also rather adept in a number of different genres. She shows a far more caring side to her talents as a doctor and a mother in this one, and I look forward to seeing her next movie performance.

William Fichtner can seemingly not stop making good films. Following up his great role as "Butch Cavendish" in "The Lone Ranger", with another stunning performance as businessman "John Carlyle". He takes care of the dirty business, about which the citizens of "Elysium" do not want to know. This is a challenging role, which he manages with ease.

The film is decent stand alone effort, but with an almost identical setting and a few of the same actors, it is bound to draw comparisons to "District 9". It is enjoyable, but does drag a little in the middle. There is a fair amount of violence and bad language, so probably not one for the entire family, but a good way to spend an evening.

6/10

Lockout

A man wrongly convicted of being a traitor against the United States, is given an opportunity for a reprieve by taking on a suicide mission to a prison in space!

When the daughter of the President of the United States is kidnapped while on a visit to a maximum security prison in space, it is decided that only one man on earth can possibly save her. The problem is that he has no wish as all to take on the suicide mission, nor does he care much for the political views of the man running the country.

Once his mind is made up for him, he has to break into the most dangerous prison in the galaxy, make his way past 300 of the worst criminals in history and rescue the young woman, all before the dangerous men discover exactly who they have in their hands. If the unwilling hero is able to make it there and back intact, he may just have his wrongful death sentence overturned.

Australian actor Guy Pierce has done a number of very decent films in his career, especially in recent years, but this one, although decent, does not come anywhere do the sort of quality he usually delivers. His portrayal of the the rather familiar, "Snow", is fairly good, but one cannot help but compare him to the rather more famous character of "Snake Plissken".

Directors James Mather and Stephen St Leger, who also wrote the screenplay, did their very best to disguise the fact that this "original" script just happened to be a cross between "Escape from New York", "Con Air" and any random space film you can think of. Given these facts, they did do quite a decent job and if you had not seen these films, it would have been a very good stand alone project. The film is fast paced, action packed, and even has the odd good one liner thrown in for good measure.

Big screen newcomer Maggie Grace takes the leading female role in this film, playing the role of "Emilie Warnock" and gives a very decent showing, taking to action like a very attractive duck to water. Look out for more from this fairly talented actress. Joseph Gilgun, continues his vein of playing criminals, with a truly superb performance as the completely insane "Hydell". He is the true highlight of this movie, and could well have done with playing a far bigger role in this one. He is a character you will want to hate, but somehow end up feeling sympathy for.

This movie is nothing special, but is worth the cost of the ticket and the popcorn. It will certainly be better on the big screen, and the special effects are a joy to behold at times. This will keep the action fans happy and a number of sci-fi fans entertained too. It's not going to win any awards, but will help you kill two hours on a Sunday afternoon

5.5/10

GI Joe - The Rise of the Cobra (2009)

An international terrorist tries to take over the world with a deadly chemical weapon and only the GI Joes can stop him...

When a weapon which was developed especially for the US army lands up in the wrong hands it is left up to a group of elite soldiers, "GI Joes" to stop the world being destroyed by a paranoid madman.

"Duke" and "Ripcord" are two regular soldiers with dreams of joining the air force and being more than just numbers on the payroll. When they are tasked with delivering a top secret weapon to an unknown location, their column is ambushed and all of the comrades gunned down. When "Duke" discovers he knows the leader of the attackers, he is determined to foil their plans and discover why the woman to whom he was engaged, has chosen to fight for the dark side.

Together with the rest of the GI Joes they have to fight against one of the most daunting forces in history, with limitless funds and no less ambition for evil and revenge. If they can pull out all the stops, maybe, just maybe the world will survive...

A film filled with superstars but unfortunately let down by a rather mediocre script. With Channing Tatum still honing his acting craft in the role of "Duke", it is abundantly clear that an action role was not really meant from him. Thankfully he has proven with almost every film that has passed since this one that he is improving, but in this he is nothing more than average.

Comedian Marlon Wayons, who rose to fame in the likes of "White Chicks" and "The Ladykillers" takes on the role of "Ripcord", a squash-buckling and talented soldier who wants nothing more than to serve his country and fly fast planes. He gets both his wishes, but, although a lot better than Tatum is still not truly suited for this role. Hollywood regular Dennis Quaid does well as "General Hawk", but seems to lack the conviction that would make his role creditable.

Sienna Miller does well in the roles of "Ana" and "The Baroness", the unwilling evil character in this film, conned into a life of crime and terror after the tragic death of her soldier brother. Her role is action packed, as is the entire film, which may be its one saving grace. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does decently as "Rex", while English born Christopher Eccleston does some very decent work as ""McCullen". Arnold Vosloo, he of "The Mummy" fame is probably the highlight of the movie in the role of cold blooded killer "Zartan", with another sparkling performance by Rachel Nichols, who plays "Scarlet".

The film is full of action and some wonderful special effects. The script could have been decent, as the concept was good, but just seemed to fall a little flat. If you have two hours to kill, then this is not the worst film you will ever see, but its nothing special.

4.5/10

Prometheus

The crew of a space ship in search of the origins of man, land on a foreign planet, but what they find is not what they expected...

After various archaeological discoveries on earth, which they believe proves the existence of the human creators, a group of scientists persuades a company to invest in a mission to a distant galaxy. After two years of travel, having slept most of the time, the group of doctors, geologists, scientists, archaeologists, one robot and general flight crew find the planet they have been searching for, and it's time to go exploring.

One by one, the crew starts getting killed by weird occurrences on the planet. Unexplained happenings on the ship also seem rather weird and the only non human member of the crew "David" exploring the planet by himself, his motives, completely unclear.

Instead of finding the race which created the humans, they find the last surviving remnants of a culture that wanted to destroy us, and a little something extra. Beware of what you look for, you might just find it...

There were many rumors circulating that visionary director Ridley Scott was making a prequel to the legendary "Alien", and although they were strenuously denied, there were far too many references in the film, for the audience not to connect the two. The closing scene alone proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that although this film could certainly stand on its own, somewhere in the back of his mind, the director saw this as part of the series.

The film has some really good special effects, creating an entirely new virtual world and some wonderful work with lasers. The script is respectable, although it does drag in places and has none of the expected suspense or horror which the various trailers would have you believe it contains. This is a bit of a let down, as I went into the film expecting to at least jump a few times, but there was none of that.

Michael Fassbender makes amends for his horror showing in "Shame" and not terrific outing in "Haywire", with a memorable showing as the robot "David". His tranquil demeanor is somewhat disconcerting, the audience never too sure of his motives or intentions, but he gives a very good performance and provides a bit of comedic entertainment when his head gets removed from the rest of his body.

Charlize Theron once again gives a wonderful performance as the incredibly bitchy "Meredith Vikkers", her character summed up in the classic line "It's my job to make sure you do your jobs". It is hard to hate her hard assed attitude and you actually end up respecting her by the end of the movie. Her father "Peter Weyland" is masterfully played by the talented Aussie actor, Guy Pearce, who has to add 50 years to his age to master this difficult role. The make up for his character is incredible and he does very well to adopt the mannerisms of somebody who is at death's door.

Swedish actress Noomi Rapace makes her first outing since "Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows" to do a decent job as scientist "Elizabeth Shaw". I do however wish that she could have chosen one accent and stuck to it. At the start she is Scottish, then English and occasionally lapses into a French twang, so is hard to take seriously. Logan Marshall Green does well as her husband "Charlie Holloway", but does meet his end in rather a too normal a way for a sci-fi film.

For comedic value, look no further than English born actor Sean Harris, who delivers a good few ironic laughs as geologist "Fifield". He seemed to have met his maker far too early in the proceedings and I think the film would have been a lot better, had he survived. Countryman Idris Elba does a find job as captain of the ship "Janek", looking after his crew to the very last. It would be good to see more of this talented actor on the big screen.

The 3D was well used in this film, especially on the surface of the planet, in fact the special effects were probably the highlight. The script does drag in places, but the ending will have people who saw "Alien" squirming in their seats with delight. It also leaves it wide open for a sequel....Maybe this time with Predators?

This is worth the watch, but don't expect an Oscar winning script

6.5/10

Men In Black 3

When Boris the Animal goes back to 1969, he changes history and kills "K"

The long awaited third installment in the Men in Black series of films sees an alien, "Boris the Animal", escape from a maximum security prison on the surface on the moon and swear to gain revenge on the man who put him there, "Agent K".

"Boris" travels back to 1969 to change the past and kill the man who had him incarcerated, this way changing the history of the world and allowing his doomed species to continue their plans of a global invasion. The only man who can save "Agent K" is his long time partner, "Agent J". He has to time jump back to 1969 and make sure that "K" never gets to encounter the alien. 

In order to do this he has to forge a new relationship with the man who has has called partner for the past 14 years, almost as though they have never met. If he fails to do this, not only will he lose the man who he sees as a father, but also fail to stop the end of the planet. While doing this he comes into contact with evil from the past and the future and discovers some home truths that he really doesn't want the answers to.

It has been ten long years since we were thrilled by Men in Black II and, finally Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith return to our screens as the men in the black suits to thrill us with tales of creatures beyond our planet and universe. Older and wiser and still protecting the world from the creatures out there, but this time, having to face their own mortality, some 40 years in the past. 

Will Smith as "Agent J", gives a decent performance, but it is hard not to remember him as a young 20 something, actor, who takes on the might of the alien world, taking the knocks and dodging the barrages of attacks of those who would take over the world. Smith gives more of an emotional performance than his previous outings as "J", showing that he has grown so much as an actor, but may not be the perfect fit for this series anymore.

Tommy Lee Jones does not get a whole lot of screen time in this film as "Agent K", but he does give his usual convincing showing, his character seeming tired and fed up with the job, but still as stoic and job focused as he has always been. It is a shame that he is not allowed to show more of his skills as a truly great actor in this one.

Josh Brolin is the bright light in this one, giving a stellar performance as the "Young Agent K", in his first big screen outing since "True Grit" in 2010. He honestly could have been Tommy Lee Jones 35-40 years ago, the resemblance is uncanny. His performance is spot on and is a true highlight in the film. New Zealand born Jemaine Clement gives a very decent showing as the various guises of "Boris the Animal", completely transformed by the make-up genius that must have attacked him during every day of filming. British acting legend Emma Thompson gives yet another fine performance in the role of "O", while the talented Michael Stuhlbarg, gives a very decent showing as the clairvoyant "Grifin". Keep an eye out for "Pussycat Doll" Nicole Scherzinger who makes a good cameo at the start of the film

The story is decent and worth a watch, but you got the feeling that something was missing and there could have been more coverage of the various alien species out there.

6.5/10

The Hunger Games

Each year, two people are chosen from each district of Capitol to compete in the Hunger Games. Of the 24 selected only one will survive. Can they beat the system to become a legend?

Set in the future, this offshoot of an incredibly popular set of books brings to life the once a year struggle of the children and young people of the 12 districts of Capitol. Two young people are selected at random to enter the Hunger Games, a fight to the death between 24 contestants which takes as long as it needs to until only one player survives. "Katniss Everdeen" chooses to act as tribute when her younger sisters name is pulled out of the bowl, opting to use her skills in hunting and archery, learnt in the post "uprising" land she now calls home.

The 24 contestants are thrown into a life of luxury, trained, vie for sponsors and try to gain as much public support for themselves, just to they can survive what will very likely be the last days of their lives. Once the games start it is a cutthroat and merciless facade until all but one, usually the strongest or the most talented survives. Teams will be formed, alliances made and broken, backs stabbed and almost any other sort of treachery to make sure they are not the next one to sound the death knell (cannon).

"Katniss" has to use all of her wiles and skills as well as survival techniques she had no idea she possessed in order to stay out of the evil clutches of the strongest of the competitors. Along the way she will find love, compassion and a deep respect for herself that seemed to have been missing before. A system which was designed to remind a populace the errors of uprising will try to survive against the very thing is was created to suppress. Good, will triumph, if it lives long enough!

I expected a lot from this film, and to be honest, was a little disappointed. Although I, unlike so many others, had not read the books, I thought the concept looked good, very Orwellian, and could have made for a decent film, sadly this was not the case. Instead what was dished up to audiences, was a  2 hour and 30 minute (probably 30-40 minutes too long), drag of an idea which almost mixed the worst parts of "The Truman Show", with the not so great parts of "The Running Man". Sadly the majority of the cast in this one had less talent than those in previously mentioned films. The action was slow and tedious, with long pauses in between where nothing really happened.

A few bright lights in this one must be mentioned. Woody Haroldson in the role of "Haymitch Abernathy", was fantastic as the mentor to the lead characters, having won the hunger games before for his district before taking to drink and the good life. His mixture of good-natured comedy and serious introspection is one of his finer roles in the past few years and does brighten the film slightly. Donald Sutherland does well as the President of Capitol, while New Yorker, Stanley Tucci is a shining light as the host of the show "Caeser Flickerman". If ever there was a man to hate on film, this would be he.

The always dependable Elizabeth Banks, who has gone from being "Knocked Up!" to "Man on a Ledge" now continues with her fine turn to serious acting in the massively eccentric "Effie Trinket", certainly the most flamboyant character in the film. The most pleasant surprise of the film came in the form of hard rocker Lennie Kravitz, who takes on the role of "Cinna" and gives it a damn good go! Making his film debut, he gives a strong performance and I look for far more from him in future.

Sadly, none of those mentioned above, play major roles in this film. The likes of Jennifer Lawrence as "Katness Everdeen", Josh Hutcherson as "Peeta Mellark" and Willow Shields who plays the young "Primrose Everdeen", are flat and lifeless and there performances do not inspire confidence at all. On the contestants front, the only one who goes some way to being convincing is Amandla Stenberg who played the part of "Rue" with sensitivity and feeling and should do well in coming years.

The film was boring and took too long, and was far short of what a lot of the audience expected and unfortunately did not even come close to fulfilling the potential that the story had.

4.5/10

Battleship 3D

Hugely hyped, massive budget, and seemingly taking another stab at a genre which seems to have been done to death, could this latest blockbuster live up to the likes of Independence Day?

After many years of trying to contact life in the universe, one returns, but they are not the friendly fluffy alien life forms that everybody at NASA was hoping for. An exploratory force lands just off the coast of Hawaii in the middle of a session of war games between a number of the worlds best navy's. The invading force places a force field around the a few of the battle ships which blocks all craft from outside from attacking their position. The fate of the world lies in the hands of the men and women on one remaining battleship and its impulsive and brash commander.

When all of their systems seem useless against the alien force, the crew have to put aside their differences and use all of their natural maritime skills and wits to try to overcome the ultimate enemy.

It was hard not to expect Battleship not to be a repeat of the likes of Independence Day, Contact, or many other similar films we have been subjected to over the years from Hollywood, but this one actually was a pleasant surprise. The action was immense, the body count brutal, but all in all a very decent watch despite the length of the film.

As with this genre you expect over the top animation, giant battles and aliens conjured up from the depths of some whacky writers mind and this one, has all of those in heaps. What it also has, is a really decent story line, some excellent acting from some fairly unknown players, and even a one liner or two which had the audience in stitches. Throw in some massively, over the top American nationalism, a hugely unrealistic final battle and you have the makings of a very enjoyable two hour romp.

Canadian, Taylor Kitsch continues his fine run in 2012 following up his leading role in Disney's overpriced epic "John Carter" with his uptake of "Lieutenant Alex Hopper", a trouble making Navy officer who joined the core to stay out of prison.  Kitsch, gives a very decent performance and does a fine job of annoying Liam Neeson who gives a strong showing as Admiral Shane, leader of the American fleet. The fact that Kitsch wants to marry the Admirals daughter, played by former model Brooklyn Decker. Following her performance in 2011's "Just go with it", Decker shows, that although her acting abilities are improving, she still has a long way to go before she can be considered a serious actress and not just a former model.

Conversely Pop sensation Rihanna shows that she is certainly more than a one trick pony, with a superb and convincing performance as the plucky "Raikes". I hope that we will see a lot more of her acting talent in the years to come. Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano gives probably the best performance of the film in his roleas Captain Yugi Nagata, the mortal enemy of Hopper. The continued rivalry throughout the film is an enjoyable aside from the continual action that makes this film as good as it is.

Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard gives a convincing showing as the older brother to Hopper, creating a good family bond when needed. The ending takes a lot of believing, but a very good film and well worth a trip to the cinema. Even the 3D works fairly well.

7/10

Avengers 3D

The biggest comic book film in history, has finally hit our screens - Was it worth it after all the smoke and CGI clears?

Finally the movie that all comic book fans, young and old, have been waiting for, has arrived. With a bang and a thump and more CGI than you can shake a stick at, Marvel comics and Paramount have collected the greatest collection of super heroes ever to grace page and screen and thrust them upon cinema goers for the movie event of 2012

The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, The Mighty Thor and the slightly less well known, Black Widow and Hawkey, are brought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), under the S.H.I.E.L.D Banner, to fight the forces of darkness from another world under the leadership of Thor's evil younger brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). And all of this over a small glowing cube, called the Tesseract that conveniently holds enough power to run the universe until the end of time. Bring all of these forces together to battle for the ultimate prize and you are going to have one hell of a bun fight.

Even to the average non comic book fan, those who didn't sit through to the end of the credits of, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and the Green Lantern to see the next piece in the puzzle, this still has to be the movie event of the year. A brain fry of CGI madness, huge stars and a better story than many would have predicted along with some brilliant one liners, make this a really good watch for fans of most ages.

The only let down for me, in a film that will probably go down in history as an epic, was the lack of character development for Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawk Eye (Jeremy Renner), both of whom admittedly did not have full length features (Quite a few in the case of Hulk) to establish their characters. The story as a whole, flowed very well, riddled with one liners from Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) and Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk) in the best portrayal of the Green Monster and his deep, dark a brooding alter ego, that I have ever seen.

Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as the Mighty Thor, showing off immense strength and adding another string to his credibility as a decent actor, but it is Tom Hiddleston who stole the show with his portrayal of the ambitious, arrogant and manipulative Loki. Even is his silences he is menacing and a true pleasure to watch for the whole of the 2 hours and 22 minutes for which this film runs (don't worry it does seem a lot shorter than that in the action roller-coaster of a ride.)

Chris Evans as Captain America, probably plays a bigger role in this film than he should. His character is not strong enough to hold the film (unlike that of Downey and Ruffalo), and I am not sure he is a strong enough actor to pull this one off. His character is a little boring in places, but to his credit he keeps at it and probably improves on his last outing as the all American hero.

Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury is inspired as always, leaving the audience wondering which side of the battle he really is on? The lovely Gwyneth Paltrow does a good job as Pepper Potts, but sadly only makes brief appearances. Clark Gregg returns as the very likable Agent Coulson for the fourth time in the Marvel Comics films and gives a superb showing surrounded by so many other strong characters. The surprise of the film comes from 20 year old Canadian Cobie Smulders who plays the role of Agent Maria Hill and gives a performance that will hopefully ensure that this first feature outing will soon be repeated. Her character is gripping and demands attention.

The film ticks almost all of the boxes across a number of genres and will suit almost any sort of movie fan. The 3D once again is not used to its full potential, but I would recommend seeing this more than once in order to follow all the action, which can be a bit much at times, while still being really enjoyable. I am excited for the next installment and hope that it will not take Paramount as long to make the follow-up

8/10