REVIEW: MOVIE BLAST: Now You See Me & Now You See Me 2

Now You See Me

Louis Leterrier’s 2013 movie Now You See Me is part bank heist movie, half thriller.  Four struggling magicians (each with a unique talent) are recruited by mysterious business man, Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) to become the greatest magical quartet of all time. Also starring Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Jesse Eisenberg, this movie certainly has star power.

The magicians become The Four Horsemen and become famous after a massive show becomes wold renowned after a spectacular bank heist – and the proceedings go back to the audience in true Robin Hood style (i.e. rob from the rich, give to the poor). After they turncoat on their benefactor at the second act and steal his money to give to the audience (themselves victims of their benefactors company), the FBI are on the case. Mark Ruffalo plays an FBI detective who joins forces with Interpol’s French female officer, Alma Drey (Melanie Laurent). Always one step ahead, The Four Horsemen are planning their biggest show yet. Meanwhile, their antics attract the attention of Morgan Freeman, who is hot on their tails too – to create a multi-faceted storyline and a surprising conclusion.

Full of funky magic tricks, action and excitement, NYSM is a great watch and has a good twist at the end. The cast is fantastic and kept me watching ‘til the credits roll – but stay because there’s another bit in the middle. My only concern is that they did not spend very much time on the Four Horsemen themselves, and this would be nicer as they seemed to have a good comraderie and I think it would have been interesting to see more about them. A great movie.

POPSCORE: 8/10

Now You See Me 2

Now You See Me 2 is once again more of the same from (just about) the same cast as the first one, with the replacement of Isla Fisher with Lizzy Caplan as the sassy Lula, the newest member of the Horsemen. They talk away Fisher’s absence assigning the reason to a falling out with Jesse Eisenberg’s character Atlas – and introduce Caplan’s character as a fan of the Horsemen who wants to be part of the gang with her unique magic tricks too. However, I don't know about you, but surely they missed a trick - this film should have been called Now You Don't.

It’s more of the same story too, set around 18 months after the events of the last movie.  The Horsemen are brought out of hiding to perform a show to bring down a tech magnate and it gets all very Mission: Impossible meets Ocean’s Eleven (or Ocean’s Four or Five in this instance) and leads the viewer on a path through some mind-blowing magical tricks with some action and adventure thrown in the mix.  However, the magical tricks the team use are verging on them actually having superpowers and are a little less believable than the previous film, but it’s still fun none the less.

Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, also appears in this movie and, although he is sporting an impressive beard, he still seems very Harry Potterish. This is even to the extent that Woody Harrelson describes him as some sort of man-boy in one scene. Speaking of Woody Harrelson – his performance in this movie is fantastic and makes an already great movie even better – especially when we are introduced to his twin brother Chase (who is also played by Woody Harrelson… with hair!).

So yes, I really liked this movie and I would love them to make another sequel – it could be a franchise as I think there’s plenty more to go from here. Ruffalo, Caine and Freeman return with their characters too and, although the ending is nowhere near as twisty as the first movie, it leaves it open for another part to come. There’s only a few niggly bits with this movie – including unforgiveable continuity errors, but watching it for what it is – a bit of fun and excitement with a bit of ooh-ing and ahh-ing thrown in – makes this a magical show worth a watch.

POPSCORE: 8/10

REVIEW: Independence Day: Resurgence

We will not go quietly into the night...

In the current climate of reincarnating and rebooting beloved movies, 1996’s seminal disaster movie Independence Day gets a sequel 20 years later – and probably at least 15 years too late. Original director, Roland Emmerich (Hollywood’s go-to guy for disaster movies) wants a piece of the reboot pie – and brings back (most of) the original cast and some new characters to the fore. However, it seems that to make a sequel, Emmerich thinks that by hiding a very weak (and convenient) story behind mindboggling special effects, a blockbuster it will make.  To a certain extent and to a certain type of audience this may well be true, but for the rest of us, we have a weaker sequel desperately out of time, hanging onto the coattails of a ground breaking original.

I loved the first movie and using talent like Will Smith, Jeff “The Goldblum” Goldblum and Bill Pullman was brilliant as they are all fantastic actors. Sadly, Will Smith doesn’t reprise his role as we are suggested to that his character has been killed in a test flight and is no longer part of the team. However, those who are disappointed in this can be rest assured that they have cast a suitable replacement as his son – who is basically a cardboard cut-out likeness of a younger Smith but without the sass and Smith-ness that we come to expect from him. However, we could have had Jayden Smith as the heir to the character, but based on his previous performances in other movies I think we dodged that worry.

New cast members are younger, as if taking the reins from Goldblum and co. and such whippersnappers include Liam Hemsworth. He heads up the next generation, fresh from the Hunger Games and does a good job. The remaining young ‘uns are all there to tick off boxes really – token black guy (the Will Smith dude), hot Chinese girl for the geeky sidekick and the girl who becomes the love interest for Liam’s character. Goldblum and Pullman reprise their roles and great comic relief from Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Brent Spiner add some gravitas and links to the previous film, but although it goes some way to smooth the ride, it’s still not enough to let it stand aside its predecessor.

The story goes that 20 years on, Earth has learned to put aside its differences after winning the war against the aliens – and we have been using their technology to bolster earth should they return (which Goldblum is convinced they will). As we need something to happen in the story, of course, they come back! However, the technology is better and we are again in a hopeless situation – and what follows is what you would expect – and that is where the film isn’t as good as it could have been.

The biggest problem is that the movie is a basic paint by numbers of a disaster movie/sci fi invasion movie with overwhelmingly convenient moments to help the main characters out.  And, like previous Emmerich movie 2012, the characters face certain doom on multiple occasions but the 1% chance of survival ALWAYS comes through. As a result you are left with an ‘on the edge of your seat’ style movie without the tension because you know the characters will always survive. It also has an undercurrent of patriotism and a little bit too much of “yay, America” -this sentiment might have worked in the 90’s but the world has moved on from such isolated views (maybe).

Overall though, even though it has its faults, it’s an enjoyable sci-fi/action adventure – a bit predictable but very exciting even so. Worth a watch, I reckon.

POPSCORE: 7/10

What am I talking about? Independence Day: Resurgence movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/independence-day-resurgence
If you liked this try: Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 (oh hang on they are all Roland Emmerich movies ain't they?), Mars Attacks, San Andreas

Anything else?

Will Smith isn't in this one, though you might see his picture on the wall of the White House.

REVIEW: Warcraft : The Beginning (12A)

Legendary MMORPG computer game World of Warcraft hit’s the silver screen albeit a little bit later to cash in on its heyday a few years ago. Firmly planting itself as the go-to guy for fantasy movies (in the gaping hole left by The Hobbit trilogy), Warcraft: The Beginning features more CGI than (probably) the game itself, and has plenty of little nods and nuances to the game if you’re a seasoned player. However, it tries to cram as much as it can into its decent runtime and leaves the casual viewer slightly perplexed and thinking that it’s not as good as Lord of the Rings.

My alarm bells started ringing when I saw the trailer for this movie – ages ago, and since then I’ve probably seen it a hundred times to the point I started to get sick of it. A concern of mine is that many movies release a couple of different content trailers to whet the appetite of potential cinema goers – but the trailer for Warcraft never changed so we never saw anything new. I’m not sure if the person who made the trailer was so proud of it they never wanted to change it – but this wasn’t a good sign – I mean surely there were some more good parts to the movie we could get to at least see more than the orcs and the same dialogue over again. However, even though I had reservations, the movie wasn’t as bad as I expected.

Warcraft: The Beginning promises that there will be a sequel purely from its tag line – and if they make Warcraft: The Middle and Warcraft: The End then I think I will boycott them. However, it’s also seriously sassy to assume that there will be a sequel regardless. I guess Blizzard could probably afford to make another even if this one bombs since they have a best-selling game on their hands.

I am not an avid Warcraft player, though I have dabbled in it, and I’m not very familiar with the lore of Warcraft either. I have played other MMORPG’s but not spent enough time with the characters of Warcraft to be familiar with them. As a result, some of what I’m about to tell you I have been told by others, so if it’s incorrect or slightly out, I apologise in advance.

The movie starts with some weird necromancer Orc person (think a dodgy Emperor Palpatine) who has been sucking the life out of the world in which he lives with other Orcs and as a result the world is dying. He decides to open a portal to another world and decides to take over it using his army so he can continue to get power and continue to live. Meanwhile, top dog Orc, Durotan, takes umbrage at this, and wants to protect “his people” and starts a mini uprising within the ranks as he knows that this Necromancer Orc is bad news.

Durotan is not the only person to not be happy about this impending invasion. The humans on the other side of the portal aren’t happy about this evasion either. King Llane Wrynn (Dominic Cooper) gets wind of this through Khadagar, who was once a really good wizard, but for story purposes isn’t now. Arranging an army to tackle this head on, the Guardian, Medivh (who I would describe as a poor man’s Gandalf) and Anduin Lothar (Wannabe Aragorn) join forces to help their king against this oncoming Horde. However all is not what it seems – some alliances are forged, some friendships are broken, and there’s a green baby somewhere involved in proceedings.

The king, played by Dominic Cooper, seems legit, but doesn’t have the feel of power or clout you would anticipate with a king and looks a bit too pretty in his armour to be taken seriously. The grand Guardian looks like he should be in a rock band, and is too young to be an awesome wizard he is supposed to be. The only characters who hold any defining characterisation are the wannabe Aragorn, the turncoat orc and a half human/orc fighter woman, Garona (Paula Patton). Even so, they seem to be woefully under developed, especially human/orc woman who could have been used so much better than she was, even though she is literally two letters away from actually being Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy – with funky teeth.

Overall this movie is a special effect laden movie that is a decent fantasy movie that holds extra value if you are a Warcraft fan but can be a bit confusing if not. However, it’s called Warcraft: The Beginning for a reason, so expect some more soon. Lord of the Rings for the gamer generation; this movie is a decent stab at the fantasy genre but is far too paint by numbers fantasy to be considered a classic. Fans of the game will enjoy the nods and Easter eggs hidden or referenced in the movie, but for the casual movie goer it's a medi-Orc-re fantasy flick that'll make up for the lack of new Lord of the Rings movies. Not bad.

POPSCORE: 7/10

What am I talking about? Warcraft: The Beginning movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.warcraftmovie.com
If you liked this try: The Hobbit trilogy, Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Mummy trilogy

Anything else?

Warcraft: The Beginning is based on the World of Warcraft MMORPG, and includes characters, places and spells from that games lore

REVIEW: Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

Kate Moss is CHANGING HER PR! 

After Dad's Army (previously reviewed on this site) the next uber popular TV series to get the movie revival treatment is Jennifer Saunder's classic British sit-com, Absolutely Fabulous. For the fans of the show it's more of the same, but for everyone else that's where it stays.

The movie starts with Edina Monsoon living the high life in London in a posh house resplendent with a swimming pool and swanky décor. However, she falls on hard times when her sources of revenue dry up and now needs some money desperately. When eternal best friend Patsy arrives to cause her usual chaos, comedy ensues. Older and less wiser, the infamous duo hatch a plan when Patsy finds out supermodel Kate Moss needs a new PR person. Believing she is right for the job, Eddie goes to the do and tries to speak with Kate. As usual chaos ensues and she knocks Kate off the ledge she was sat on and into the Thames below. After a frantic search Kate is nowhere to be seen, and believing her dead, Eddie has the finger pointed at her for what happened. Cue a movie that involves escaping to a foreign country (France actually) as these two go on the run.

The story is simple and the movie is peppered with the great and the good from both the fashion industry and British TV - and nearly every scene has a cameo in it. It's great to see Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones Brianne/Capt. Phasma from Star Wars) as her original talent at being a model (even someone shouts out that there's Brianne from GoT!) and other people besides.

Absolutely Fabulous was a great innovative TV show in the 1990's and I watch many of the episodes. This movie is just like an elongated episode with a bigger budget but the similar premises and characters. Although it is generally amusing, there weren't many laugh out loud moments and I felt that some of it was a bit too daft. It seemed like something Jennifer Saunders had to do - and it felt like she just got all of her famous friends together to have a laugh without anything too deep or meaning full. The best parts are where Patsy (Joanna Lumley) leads everyone astray and you are never sure what she will do next.

Overall, it is mildly amusing and has some great cameos, but the TV series is much better.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is out at all good cinemas now

POPSCORE: 5.5/10

What am I talking about? Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.absolutelyfabulousthemovie.co.uk/
If you liked this try: Absolutely Fabulous (TV Series), Bridesmaids, anything by Reeves & Mortimer

Anything else?

Dawn French appears on a TV show in the film, and she used to work with Jennifer Saunders as comedy duo French & Saunders.
Rebel Wilson (Fat Amy from Pitch Perfect) plays an air hostess in the movie - and is absolutely hilarious.

REVIEW: Pokemon Go (Game: IOS/Android)

Gotta Catch 'Em All!

For a long time now, pushing two decades, Pokémon have been one of the most iconic creatures of modern times. Like the words karaoke and karate, Pokémon is a culmination of two words - Pocket and Monsters - Pokémon - and the likes of Psyduck, Pikachu and Charmander have been popular ever since it's inception.

So what better way to celebrate my 100th post on my blog, than reviewing my first game AND the hottest mobile game on the planet - Pokémon Go.

Pokémon Go is the latest Pokémon game from Niantic, where a mobile device is used to track and capture Pokémon just like in the games and TV series. Harnessing the power of GPS and augmented reality, the game actually has the player moving around their locale and finding Pokémon all over the place. Complete with the ability to use Pokegyms and supply points known as Pokestops, Pokémon Go seems to be the game to get players off their butts and into the wider world.

Initially only available in select countries - this being mainly American and Australia, Pokémon Go was a hit as soon as it was available. Some clever mucking about led to people in other countries discovering how to download it on their phone too - and it worked just as well. However, it's now been released in more countries - including the United Kingdom, so more people than ever can try to catch them all.

The game itself is quite simple - select your starting "trainer" and this will be your avatar. It's not terribly detailed, but you have a canny few selections of hair colour and outfits, and then it's time to play. Selecting one of three starting Pokémon, the player then is ready to go out in society to capture them.

Each Pokémon that is discovered is stored in a Pokedex so you can follow which ones you have caught or not caught. Some are rarer than others - and when they do appear there is sometimes some craziness descending on a location to try and get one.

Basic gameplay is thus - you move around as you would in real life and your phone tracks where you are via GPS. If there is a Pokémon nearby you will be informed and you can try and catch it with the limited amount of Pokeballs you are supplied with. If you catch it, it goes into the Pokedex and you can then adjust the Pokémon such as changing it's name, making it more powerful or levelling it up. By doing so it makes the Pokémon better - and this will come in useful later in the game.

As you progress, you yourself, will level up as a trainer. When you level up, you open up more opportunities which include accessing Pokegyms (which are usually local landmarks) where you can fight others Pokemon and guard the gyms for your team. Yes, you can also join a team when you are the correct level and the whole game becomes more of a capture the flag operation. You can choose from three different teams, all with different philosophies, and each one is a colour - the colour of the Pokegym will determine it's affiliation.

Along the way you will also need some supplies which can be gleaned (randomly) from Pokestops which are scattered around the area. These can give you more Pokeballs, eggs or other goodies and can be taken advantage of once, then a cooldown period will ensue. After that you can return and take advantage of it's goodies again. A church near me is a good Pokestop and is typical of structure you would expect to be a Pokestop. For those who want more convenience there is, of course, a shop where you can buy extra stuff from if you want to pay for it - but this game can be enjoyed freely without the need for this if you do not want to part with your cash.

I mentioned eggs earlier and this is another interesting point - you can hatch Pokémon from eggs! If you have an egg incubator (you start with one but can buy/earn more) and have an egg - you can place it in the incubator and "hatch" it by clocking up the relevant distance on the pedometer and get a standard to rare Pokémon to add you your collection.

The game is addictive but more so innovative in that it gets you out and about. Nintendo have been so quiet of late and are no strangers to innovation. When it works, it is ground breaking (reference: The Wii) and when it doesn't, it just fades away (eg: The WiiU). This latest offering could be a glimpse into the future of video gaming - actually being involved in the game this way, even only simply, is qute the experience.

I know we are getting Virtual Reality (VR) headsets in the near future and we are taking all those steps towards the sci-fi futures promised by our past, but this is a cheap and fun alternative while we are waiting for such things.

I applaude Niantic for such a clever game and although it's brilliant right now, it will be interesting to see the longeivity for it. For now though, let's just enjoy a game that gets us out into the sunshine and experience the outside unlike a Call of Duty or FIFA 20xx wouldn't be able to. In a nutshell, this game is innovative, unique and addictive - all the stuff you would want from a game. However, please be very careful while playing it as people have injured themselves while trying to get pokemon in silly places.

Pokémon Go is available now for iOS and Android phones from the relevant App stores.

POPSCORE: 9/10

What am I talking about? Pokémon Go mobile game
Where can I find out more? http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-go/
If you liked this try: Any of the Pokémon games over the years, Monster Hunter (PSP), Ingress, that Harry Potter Spellbook thingy or if you want to skip the gaming - geocaching.

Tips:

Some say not selecting a Pokémon at the start of the game will allow you to get a Pikachu or similar - but I've never tried this.

REVIEW: Ghostbusters (2016) (12A)

If there is something strange, in your neighbourhood... who you gonna call?

After a suitably scary intro, the Ray Parker Jr. tune kicks in and you are strapped in ready for action - but the theme is practically faded out after about four seconds and gets straight into the movie. Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) is Erin Gilbert (the Peter Venkman of the team) who is desperate to be taken serious as a scientist and is getting a job as a lecturer at a school. However childhood friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) is carrying on their mutual childhood interest in ghosts and the paranormal. Both ladies have gone their separate ways - Abby researching at a local educational establishment and Erin at the respectable university. When a book they wrote years ago surfaces online, Erin finds that Abby has been selling it to make money without Erin's knowledge. Obviously miffed at this, but more concerned about the damage to her reputation, she goes and confronts Abby. When she gets there she finds her researching equipment alongside eccentric Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) who kind of plays the Egon Spengler character with a bit more madness/sass. Jillian has a hairstyle that really reminds me of Egon in The Real Ghostbusters cartoon - which may be purposeful or maybe not, but is a nice touch if so.

Meanwhile some loner blokey has decided to create armageddon by creating a portal to call ghosts to New York to "pester" humans. First, a ghost is seen in the subway by Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) and she runs away from it - and goes to the Ghostbusters to see if they can help and ends up becoming a Ghostbuster herself.   They employ hapless Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) who is more attractive than intelligent - which is clearly a gender swap dig at the way women are portrayed in the movies for their attractiveness and not brains. However, which every way you look at it, he has some of the best comedic moments and makes the movie funnier that it otherwise would have been.

Ghostbusters has been hit with a lot of criticism and the danger of reviewing this movie is that when anyone has said anything about this, especially bad, it's been taken as people being sexist. What's more, is that the first teaser trailer was one of the most divisive and disliked trailers EVER on YouTube. Even I worried about it - it was awful. I was sad.

But, the second one was much better, and made me less concerned. But the fan speculation was rife. All women ghostbusters, rubbish jokes, bad CGI - reasons people have gave for their dislikes. I think it was doomed from the start, and didn't have the best chance. Then.... there was a review embargo until release. This was not looking good. But I've seen it. And here's what I think.

The last line of the movie, Erin says something like, "It's not terrible, is it?" and my response would be no, it isn't. Although it's difficult to move it to another part of your mind, if you don't link this to the previous Ghostbusters movies (like this movie doesn't link to the others) then it's actually pretty good.

There are elements that are poor - some of the story is a bit iffy, and I think if they made reference to the previous movies it might feel like more of a part of the franchise. With the exception of cameos of cast and characters (the former not being the characters they are known for) then there are no clues that the other Ghostbusters ever existed. There's a lot of nods to the original - the hearse for Ecto-1, the PKE meters and equipment (though it's been verily updated) and some scenes that echo from the 1984 version. In fact the only truly same thing is the theme song.  I mentioned earlier that this is on for about 4 seconds. Don't worry though, the soundtrack itself has 4 different versions on it, and we hear three versions throughout the movie.

I really liked this movie, and it could have been so much worse. The ghosts were decent and it was a fun movie to watch. It was trying to be a comedy though... but it was mainly at the expense of others or through crude jokes. When it tries to be funny, I think it fails, but there is some genuine amusing moments, mainly with Chris Hemsworth's character and his lack of intelligence. Some may say that it's a bit offensive, but I'm not here to judge that.

So, to sum it up I would say that, leave the original Ghostbusters behind, go in and watch this as these ladies have their time at being Ghostbusters and you will enjoy it. It's a fun movie, with some amusing moments, and will pass the time. But, if you force it to stand up against Ivan Reitman's masterpiece from 1984, it may struggle.

Ghostbusters is out at all good cinemas from 11th July in the UK and 15th July in the US.

POPSCORE: 7.5/10

What am I talking about? Ghostbusters (2016) movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.ghostbusters.com/ AND http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/ghostbusters/
If you liked this try: Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II, Haunted Mansion, Casper and Scary Movie series of movies, possibly Bridesmaids and Spy for similar cast and humour

Anything else?

Some of the original Ghostbusters (1984) cast have cameo's in this movie including Annie Potts (who played Janine Melnitz), Dan Ackroyd (Ray Stantz), Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore), Sigourney Weaver (Dana Barratt) and Bill Murray (Peter Venkman). Sadly none of them, except Ackroyd, have any link to their previous characters as they all play different characters in this. Ackroyd mentions about ghost classification - but it's not clear if he is Ray Stantz or not.
Like the actors, some ghosts make cameos from the other movies including Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
There's a lot of references to the original movie's scenes including moments like the banging on a window in a restaurant, pulling tablecloths from a table and being in the mayors office.

REVIEW: Animalympics (U)

Hello everybody, I'm Keen Hacksaw...

With the Olympics just around the corner, I thought I would give you a review of one of my favourite childhood movies that WASN'T a Disney movie - Animalympics. Featuring music from 10cc's Graham Gouldman and voice talent from Billy Crystal, Gilda Ratner and The Simpson's stalwart Harry Shearer, Animalympics is an animation like no other. It's the late 1970's or possibly 1980 dependent on whether you look at when it was made or released, and it's the first ever Olympics for animals. Featuring all the sports you could shake a stick at, Animalympics is broadcast just like a sports channel, resplendent with the accompanying interviews, music, stings and presenters - and the sports themselves of course!

Whether it's Japanese gymnast Bruce Kwakimoto or whale swimmer Ohno No No, the animal characters are humorous and ironic - and sometimes bordering on distasteful - however, this is an example of it's time and some sequences are a bit dated in todays world of equal rights and political correctness.

There's plenty of music to listen to in this movie too - and some are rather catchy - I remember watching this as a kid and loved the musical number that correlated to crocodile sprinter, Bolt Jenkins. The commentary is humorous - much like the style done by Alan Partridge in the 90's satirical TV show The Day Today. Throughout the movie there are multiple stories to follow - not least the marathon that has favourites Rene Fromage and Kit Mambo fall in love as they are running.

The movie is great for kids and everyone will have their favourite entrant and is fun and funny - and works for adults too. If you cannot get enough of this summer of sport, why not go back to the 80's and check out the original Olympics for animals. They really should make a more modern version, but as they haven't this is a unique animal-ation (animation) that is a little different to the Disney and DreamWorks movies we are used to. Worth a watch.  

POPSCORE: 8/10

What am I talking about? Animalympics movie
Where can I find out more? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animalympics
If you liked this try: Oh this is difficult - closest I can think is TV series The Day Today (mainly the Alan Partridge sequences - though this may not be suitable for children) and a programme commissioned by the BBC called Animal Games (which I've also seen and is really quite good and educational)

Anything else?

The music is by Graham Gouldman - the bassist in chart topping 70's band, 10cc. They were famous for songs such as Dreadlock Holiday and Rubber Bullets.
The movie only features the voice acting of four people - three men and one lady.

REVIE: Alice Through The Looking Glass (PG)

Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) returns in the sequel to one of the top ten films of all time, Alice in Wonderland. Disney go all out to try and recreate the curious magic of the first movie and it starts off promising as all the cast and characters reunite in the first one, including a few lines of dialogue from the late Alan Rickman as Absolom, the Blue Caterpillar/Butterfly.

Starting a scene in battle between ships in a sequence that would not look out of place in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Alice is captain of her father’s ship Wonder (which she got involved with at the end of the last movie). As she attempts the impossible (rather successfully I might add), she returns to London safe after a few years away on the high seas. Seeing more of the world than her wealthy counterparts, she visits her employers, including wealthy bore-merchant Hamish, whom she declined to marry in the first movie. Still with his nose out of joint after last time, he has caught her in between a rock and a hard place and gives her two options – the ship or her home. Alice’s mother is all for Alice giving up her ship, but Alice isn’t so sure. After being forced into a decision, she declines both and runs off to be by herself. As she starts to cry over her hopeless situation, Absolom, the blue butterfly, attracts her attention as she is needed in Underland. She jumps through a mirror (which for all intents and purposes is “the looking glass” of the title) and finds the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is dying and needs her help. As all of Underland backs her to go back in time to find the Mad Hatter’s family to save him, she must try and “lend” a chronograph from Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen) to sort it all out. However, it doesn’t run as smoothly as that.

Alice 2 (as I will call it now) suffers in that although the characters and actors from the first movie remain, the story itself is a run of the mill adventure and lacked the necessary thrills and skills that would classify as a classic. It does its job but lacks something but I don’t know what.

Afterwards we spoke of the movie and we concluded that maybe it was because the original tale is so iconic that this one was always going to be a struggle to live up to the next one. However, for all that the nonsense of the original, this one was a more straight forward adventure. Some strong acting from the cast and some thought provoking lines of dialogue, but over all a just above average move. Disney have done better in the past.

POPSCORE: 7/10

What am I talking about? Alice Through The Looking Glass movie
Where can I find out more? http://movies.disney.co.uk/alice-through-the-looking-glass
If you liked this try: Alice in Wonderland (either the Disney Classic animation or the 2010 live action prequel to this), Labyrinth, Never Ending Story, City of Ember 

Anything else?

The characters have all been given actual names - unlike in the book - for example the Cheshire Cat is known as Chessur.
This was Alan Rickman's last movie he worked on before he died (though I may need to check this fact) however, the movie has a dedication to him in the credits.

REVIEW: The Secret Life of Pets (U)

The Secret Life of Pets is the latest offering from Minions/Despicable Me production team Illumination Entertainment. Proving that they don't just do Minions well, The Secret Life of Pets is a cute, funny adventure movie in a similar premise to Toy Story but with... Pets. Before the film starts we are treated to a Minions short which is quite funny. Then it's time for the movie...

Pets, as I'll now shorten it to, features main mutt Max, adored by his owner Katie and has a cushy life in a high rise flat in Manhattan, New York. When Katie goes to work, the pets get up to a variety of activities and hang out together at various places. Consisting mainly of dogs and cats - apparently they can live together - the pets also include budgies, fish, Guinea pigs and tortoises. Max's world is turned upside down though when Katie (ever the dog lover) brings home another dog she found at the pound. Looking like a doggy Chewbacca, this huge doggy soon takes over the flat, mainly because he's quite large. Duke, as he is known, is immediately on the wrong side of Max and tensions flare.

Max manages to get the better of Duke and ends up blackmailing him to behave, and when they are out for a walk with a dog walker Max asks... Nay demands Duke to get him a stick. Duke entices Max to go over with him and they get separated from the other dogs. As they do, the world of New York opens to them and sends them both on an adventure to get back home.

There is a stunning array of characterised animals in this movie, and, as Max and Duke head deeper into the city, we find stray animals that are adorable but evil, sinister and even ugly. However the movies strength is that the actions of the animals really fit with how they would probably act in real life. The scene stealer - megalomaniac, evil but oh-so-cut bunny Snowball (voices amazingly by Kevin Hart) is a joy to watch and the supporting cast do a good job too. What I found, personally, was that the movie did well at developing these animals but the least time was spent on Max and Katie themselves which felt kind of strange. It was kinda a bit at the beginning and a but at the end for them.

Featuring some amazing animation (the water looks so real I almost went to get a towel) and the furs of the animals were realistic too, this show how far computer animation has gone since the mind blowing, forward thinking of Toy Story way back when. The soundtrack is really good too with a sweet power pop tune heralding the start and an interesting interpretation of a song from Grease.  

Overall this movie was very good and I really enjoyed it. It was a little slow in places and some tweaks here and there would have made it awesome but as it is it's a really enjoyable film and will make you think twice before you leave your little fur baby at home to go to work.

POPSCORE: 8/10

What am I talking about? The Secret Life of Pets movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.thesecretlifeofpets.co.uk/
If you liked this try: Disney's Bolt, Minions, Despicable Me, All Dogs Go To Heaven

Anything else?

If you look carefully on the back of the bus towards the end of the movie (on the bridge) there is an advertisement for the next movie Sing
I can't be sure but I think that later in the movie there is a scene with a garden gnome in it - this is remarkably similar to the one that is featured in the Minions short before the movie.

BYTE: Just July

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn...

Welcome to a jovial July - and I hope it is so for all of you!

I'm continuing  my YouTube site and I've started doing unboxings - check me out on - https://youtu.be/Z1_kHHOBeck - for last months Marvel Collector Corps unboxing - and there's more besides. If you're a Loot Crate fan check out June's unboxing, and I was really impressed with this months Nerd Block - check out my unboxing here : https://youtu.be/uc62kdnhnmg.

The big news this month is Ghostbusters (2016) is being released and I've got sneak preview tickets for Sunday 10th July - which means I get to see it before it is released - and  I'll give you a review as soon as I get in.

I'm feeling a lot better so we will be having more updates - and don't forget to follow me on Twitter on @paulandpopcorn for up to the minute ramblings and chat - and feel free to contact me to talk about films and geeky stuff and that.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the usual selection of games, rather than list them I've included the link that's in blue. However, as this links to the current games, if you click the link it is the current games available and maybe not what's available now. Remember though that all the Xbox games have limited availability and are yours to keep once you have purchased them. However, some are only available at the beginning of the month, some at the end and some longer than that. Generally though, there are some games for the first two weeks and then a different set two weeks after, so you need to move quickly.

Every Xbox 360 game that is featured on Games With Gold from now, is now backwards compatibly with Xbox One which means the Xbox 360 games above WILL work on your Xbox one. They are adding new games all the time, so keep checking to see if you can use any of those old 360 games again on your shiny new Xbox One.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month has another selection of games but usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'. I know this to be true because it has happened to me. However, simply subscribe again and poof! by magic they work again. Also, this is the link to where to download the games, which means that although there's a certain set this month, if you click the link next month there will be different games on offer - so get in while you can. 

Speaking of PlayStation - the PlayStation VR comes out in October - exciting times! I must get to try this and see what all the fuss is about.

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps is coming in August!

It's time to go now but -  I'll see you soon. 

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: Jolly June

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn...

Welcome to a Jolly June  - and I hope it is so for all of you!

I've finally set up my YouTube site and I've started doing unboxings - check me out on - https://youtu.be/Z1_kHHOBeck - for this months Marvel Collector Corps unboxing - and there's more besides.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the usual selection of games, rather than list them I've included the link that's in blue. However, as this links to the current games, if you click the link it is the current games available and maybe not what's available now. Remember though that all the Xbox games have limited availability and are yours to keep once you have purchased them. However, some are only available at the beginning of the month, some at the end and some longer than that. Generally though, there are some games for the first two weeks and then a different set two weeks after, so you need to move quickly.

Every Xbox 360 game that is featured on Games With Gold from now, is now backwards compatibly with Xbox One which means the Xbox 360 games above WILL work on your Xbox one. They are adding new games all the time, so keep checking to see if you can use any of those old 360 games again on your shiny new Xbox One.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month has another selection of games but usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'. I know this to be true because it has happened to me. However, simply subscribe again and poof! by magic they work again. Also, this is the link to where to download the games, which means that although there's a certain set this mont, if you click the link next month there will be different games on offer - so get in while you can. 

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps is coming in August!

It's time to go now but -  I'll see you soon. 

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul