REVIEW: SPECTRE (12A)

It's been nearly 10 years that we have seen Mr Daniel Craig slip into the white tuxedo of cool and brining back the next iteration of Bond to a contemporary audience. In Casino Royale nearly 10 years ago in 2006, Daniel Craig was rough, gritty and a man's man. The women loved him for his ... well probably for the blue Speedo's which he managed to rock very well apparently. Seriously though, in a world getting sick of the camp and the pie in the sky gadgets, it brought James Bond to the modern times. Die Another Day was so out there it practically signalled the end of Bond altogether and the ageing Pierce Brosnan (who had held the franchise quite well up unitl then) was becoming a parody of himself.

Craig, in my eyes at the time, wasn't a suitable James Bond. However, after seeing his performance in Casino Royale my mind was changed. I ate my hat, swallowed my words, what ever you want to say. This version of James Bond was realistic, gritty, painful and witty and had the charisma of his previous incarnations but has a silent deadliness in his dealings with others. When, at the beginning of Casino Royale, he is asked about his first kill his quarry responds with, "the second one is much..." and off goes the gun and Bond replies coolly, "yes, considerably."

...that was one of my favourite lines of the first movie, and he does have some cool retorts, especially in the torture scene of Casino Royale. Quantum of Solace followed which took place straight after this movie and felt like the extended, straight to DVD sequel movie that was more of an extension to Casino Royale rather than a movie itself. Still it wasn't bad, but it didn't drop much hope for the one after that. But things did change.

Skyfall pretty much decimated the box office and, to me, it only felt like five minutes ago that that movie was at the cinema and Adele's track, Skyfall, was doing the rounds and doing it's own record breaking as it was. Skyfall was a conscious move by the makers to bring Bond back to what we know and there were a lot of changes made to set up Spectre, Daniel Craig's fourth outing as our favourite spy.

Spectre then, is probably the Bond movie that is starting to get back to the Bond that our parents grew up with. Still maintaining the Bond we know from the Craig era and using ideas from the others, this is both a moving forward movie with the story but also an homage to the old ones. Some parts are blatant visual cues or references to the old movies, and some reference the more recent ones.

Spectre feels like it is a movie that has a story to tell and is on for quite a long run time, so you have to strap in for the ride. The action is judiciously spaced with character and plot developments and sometimes the talking and walking is on for a bit too long before anything exciting happens. For those who have seen all the other Craig era movies, then there is plenty to get your teeth into as it answers some questions, raises some others and has some nice references so you feel you are moving along with the character as they develop (i.e. there's a rather fetching porcelain bulldog on Bond's table near the beginning of the movie).

Director Sam Mendes and, of course, Daniel Craig return for the next instalment of the James Bond franchise. Most of the characters return from the previous movie - Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) from Skyfall comes into his own in this one, which is good because he came across as a bit of nasty piece of work in Skyfall. That role now is filled by 'C' or Max Denbigh who is wanting to disband the 00 initiative and have something more modern and new in it's place (involving drones and computer surveillance). I can't help but feel he would love to hang out with Silva from Skyfall with all of his computers. But 'C' is the least of our worries as Bond discovers the mysterious organisation SPECTRE led by the mysterious Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) who has been "the architect" of Bond's misery since Casino Royale. Or, at least, so he says.

Backing up Bond once again is new pals Moneypenny and Q (Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw respectively). I had my concerns about them changing Moneypenny too - but Naomie Harris does such a fantastic job that I was glad to hear that the makers of Bond want to keep the aforementioned characters (and their actors) for a few movies more.

Spectre starts at the Day of the Dead festival as Bond is following a lead to try and uncover the truth about recent events (i.e. what happened in Skyfall). As MI6 is undergoing changes in the office, Bond is told that, after causing some chaos, he is destined for some time off. As he leaves the office he enlists the help on Moneypenny and Q to continue his off-the-record investigation of this mysterious syndicate. Along the way he meets some rather attractive ladies in the form of Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux who provide the exotic Bond girl love interest. Bellucci claims the record of oldest Bond girl (though she isn't in it very long) and Seydoux's Madeleine Swann, though sexy, gives Bond a run for his money every now and then.

Heavy on exposition, story and character development, Spectre takes Bond into its next chapter. There is a lot going on here and it's great. The action sequences come when they are ready and when they do they are worth waiting for. There's some surprises, nods to the other movies and feels like a follow on though this could stand in it's own right. This is a great movie and is up there with the best, but in my opinion its not quite as good as Skyfall or Casino Royale.   

SPECTRE is out now at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 8.5/10

What am I talking about? SPECTRE, the latest James Bond movie

Where can I find out more? http://www.007.com
If you liked this try: The James Bond movies Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace - basically the Daniel Craig era Bond, any of the Bourne series, Taken, Mission: Impossible series of movies 

Anything else?

The theme tune for this one is called The Writing's On The Wall and is performed by current pop star Sam Smith.  

SPECTRE is an acronym standing for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. It is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming and prominent in the 1960s James Bond films.

ARCHIVE: REVIEW: Iron Man 2

hey guys, I've always reviewed movies and here's an article I wrote a long time ago - and it was when Iron Man 2 came out. I really liked this movie, but here it is from the archives for your reading pleasure...

FILM: IRON MAN 2

Starting pretty much straight after the last one, after Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) announces that he is IRON MAN it seems that he is on cloud nine and is doing really well for himself. Starting a rather nifty Stark Expo that runs for a year and, according to Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), it will also drain the finances of Stark Industries.  It's a needless folly but the public like it. Meanest of whiles, an evil is brewing from all sides.  The army want the Iron Man suit to use as a weapon.  Stark's competition, Hammer Industries, want to develop similar suits but fail miserably.  And, a disgruntled son of Starks father's work colleague (Mickey Rourke) decides to have a crack at taking Iron Man down. For the lads, theres a rather nubile Natalie (Scarlett Johansson) working with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to try and convince Stark that there's a bigger game to play than the one he thinks he is involved in.

Tony Stark is finding that the power he gets from that thing in his chest (you can tell I'm very accurate here can't you?) is killing him, so a side part of the film is his quest to try to save his own life as well as that of others.  He also has some great lines - and on his birthday he dresses up in his Iron Man suit and answers the most question he gets asked from people - how do you go to the toilet in the suit?

Add a sprinkling of War Machine (Ironman's colleague) and a rocking soundtrack from AC/DC I think you get very much a good bang for your buck. Robert Downey Jr is one of may favourite actors and his portrayal of Tony Stark is spot on - he's a bit arrogant but a bit witty but has his heart in the right place. Scarlett Johansson plays a really sexy part in the film and can kick ass as no one else can, and the remaining characters help the story along.

There is always that problem of the difficult second movie.  But retaining the original cast, moving on from what was developed in the first film and the immediately likeable Tony Stark - this film is fantastic and I'm sure there will be another sequel. There have been a lot of questionable Marvel films out - but this is totally in line with X-men and Spiderman blockbuster standard.

Brilliant movie, if you like action or comic book movies it's a must see.

POPSCORE:  9/10

Oh and as an addition - I really think you should sit through the credits... they may be a surprise at the end... ;-)

REVIEW: MOVIEBLAST: Run All Night (15) & Pitch Perfect 2 (12A)

MOVIEBLAST:

RUN ALL NIGHT (15) is the latest action/thriller from legendary Irishman Liam Neeson. The premise is a little confusing but basically goes like this - Jimmy Conlon (Neeson) is an ex-criminal who is getting on with his life - and when his long time friend, Shawn Maguire, (not the actor/singer from Grange Hill)  is still in the game they are pretty much keeping apart. However, Shawn's son is still being sticky fingered and in a twist of fate, Conlon's son's life is threatened by Maguire's son. Conlon happens to be about so it comes down to a fire fight and Conlon kills Maguire's son. As you can probably imagine, this doesn't go down well in the Maguire household, so Shawn sends his entire contingent of henchmen and bruisers after the Conlon family. It's up to Jimmy to show them all who's boss in a mediocre action thriller.
Neeson is good as Conlon, but it seems that over recent years (thanks to Taken) that he is being stereotyped as a no-nonsense hard man who can take on small squads of ruffians dispensing justice as he sees fit. It's not a bad movie, really, but it's completely unoriginal and exactly like the others we've seen over recent years. Do what you want with it but it's like these movies have a certain formula they have to follow but they just never reach the dizzy heights of Taken. Overall, not bad but could be better.
POPSCORE: 6.5/10

PITCH PERFECT 2 (12A) is the sequel to 2012's acc-amazing Pitch Perfect. The Barden Bella's return as America's number one acapella group and start the movie at the top of their game.
Performing at the Lincoln Center in front of the President and on TV, they give it their all, until a slight mishap (read: wardrobe malfunction) occurs when Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) is lowered from the ceiling on a ribbon and she gets a split in her rather eye-wateringly tight leggings. Unfortunately she forgot to include underwear, so she is exposed live on TV and in front of the president. Disgraced, they are sent home, and they end up being kicked off the acapella circuit. Meanwhile, Beca (Anna Kendrick) realises that her days at high school are numbered and is following her dream of becoming a producer - and when she gets a placement at a local studio with Snoop Dogg recording there, this is her chance of a lifetime. Meanwhile the rest of the Bella's have to earn the right to perform once more - but this time they have to win the international championships. Only thing is they have to face the emotionless powerhouse Das Sound Machine, a technically flawless German acapella  group that leaves other's in their wake. Can the Bella's do it?
The movie features an amazing soundtrack and lots of laughs and I really enjoyed this one. The actors assembles for the movie are all fabulous and Rebel Wilson is fantastic comic relief. I really enjoyed this, even more so that I'm a singer/songwriter. The acapella arrangements are great. Only thing is some of the jokes and content were a bit shocking - and I'm surprised they got away with it. But they did, and the film is good.
POPSCORE: 8.5/10

REVIEW: John Wick (15)

Mr Keanu Reeves is back on our screens after a number of mediocre movies - but is this one any better? Looking a lot more mature these days, Keanu is John Wick, an ex-assassin who has retired from that world and settled down with a beautiful wife and wants a peaceful life. However this all gets turned upside down when the son of his former employer, Iosef Tarasov, steals his classic car and kills his dog a few days after his wife dies.

Basically this is a revenge thriller over the killing of a puppy.

To sum up the movie in one sentence such as this would not do it justice though because, when all is said and done, it's not actually a bad movie. The first few moments define his really boring new life and I defy you not to fall in love with the adorable puppy. His wife is beautiful too, but both adorable characters are killed off within the first ten minutes of the film. After a brief Top Gear style rag around of his car on an airport runway (for no apparent reason) the movie knocks up a notch into the revenge movie territory where John Wick goes after the son of his former employer. We know nothing of this man at this point except a) he's cut up over his wife dying, b) he doesn't let his dog sleep on the bed and c) he makes a decent cup of coffee. When the ex-employer, Viggo Tarasov, finds out that his son has killed John Wick's dog, he merely goes "Oh" and hangs up. In this movie phone calls are very one sided. It pretty much puts the dampener on everything when he explains that John Wick is the man you call when you want to get the Bogeyman. Cue this very man going after this man's son and him too. In order to save his son from total annihilation (Wick's use of a gun is very good indeed - he doesn't waste bullets) he puts a bounty of $2million to anyone who can kill him. A few people step up to the plate (including the son who at his best runs through a night club in a towel screaming) to try and claim this bounty. Among them are Wick's friend, Marcus (Willem Dafoe) who agrees to kill him for this ransom but instead decides to put the sniper gun to good use to help him. There's also half a gangster squad and the very beautiful Ms Perkins (Agent of SHEILD's Adrianne Palicki) who goes to get him too. A few other famous faces pop up over the time including Ian McShane and John Leguizamo to round off quite a good talented cast. The story is good enough and some of the visuals are interesting to say the least. Subtitles that are in English when the gangsters speak (I believe it is a form of Russian) are scattered across the screen in different colours but are affected by what's on the screen. For example there's one scene where there's a sniper leaning against a slanted wall and the subtitles are slanted to reflect this. Also certain scenes in certain places are hues colourfully as if a lens or Instagram filter has been placed on the screen. Although it doesn't really detract from the movie, these  are little touches that give it a bit of character. The film itself is a generally dark thriller with some interesting fight scenes and gun toting.

Overall this movie is worth a watch - there are better movies out there, but it's good enough to keep you interested and pass the time.

John Wick is out now at all good cinemas in the UK and is actually out to buy if you are over in the US.

POPSCORE: 7.8/10

SECOND OPINION:

Clare came to see it with me and she says:

John Wick .............. very good, not excellent..... Keanu looking very fine! .............. rating = 8/10. :-) ;-) & let's not 4get Keanu was river phoenix's best friend! ; -) POPSCORE: 8/10 

What am I talking about? The movie John Wick

Where can I find out more? http://www.johnwickthemovie.com/

If you like this try: Taken (mainly the first one, but possible the second and third), The Equalizer (the Denzel movie), Run All Night, Constantine

Anything else?
It's Keanu Reeves' sixth time playing a role named John.

REVIEW: Project Almanac (12A)

You know I had never hear of an almanac before Back To The Future; and with the exception of a few visits to a newsagents every so often, it's not a word, or a tome, that I'm familair with. Still, the movie has been named after such a wordy piece of literature. The film is shot in the love-it-or-loathe-it style of being recorded on a video camera by one of the characters at a time. The film is a cautionary time travel tale based around some young science boffins who find blue prints for a time machine device. Naturally they go back in time to do great things - if you think great things are winning the lottery by getting the numbers before they come out, going to sold out music festivals and to woo the girl of your dreams. It's all going swimmingly until they find that even the most smallest change can make a big ripple in the time continuum.
The Michael Bay produced, MTV film, is a product of contemporary film making - doing the whole amateur video camera thing (aka found footage) is getting a bit old now, but it seems to work for this film, even if some of the camera work is frustrating. A lot of the time the characters hold the camera in stupid positions so sometimes it really awkward to see what's going on and have to rely on the speech of the characters to help out.
It a thought provoking story and the acting isn't too bad - it's a typically trendy movie - even though these guys are nerds, they are still like extras from a boy band and all the girls are perfectly made up and pretty - even though one of them is supposed to be bullied at school and plain. Still, the story more than makes up for this and does bring up some salient questions - what would you do with a time machine?
There's a lot of movies that do this wobbly camcorder recording (I'm looking at you Chronicle and Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones). However a lot of the time it's annoying and falls flat - Chronicle had so much potential but it lost the ball many times - and Marked Ones was just as bad. In a way, this has this legacy, but I thought this movie was good enough to be watchable and to be honest I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if it would have worked in a traditional sense, and I guess this is to time travel movies what Cloverfield is for monster movies, or what Chronicle is to superhero movies.
Overall a good attempt at an original time travel movie, immediatley watchable, but also makes you think.
Project Almanac is out this Friday, 20th February 2015 at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 7/10

What is it? Michael Bay produced movie, Project Alamanac
Where do I find out more? http://www.projectalmanac.com/
If you liked this try - Chronicle, Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones, Super 8

REVIEW:Jupiter Ascending (12A)

So, I've aired my views on more than one occasion that this movie has been advertised and delayed for so long. So what gives? Is it Star Wars or Star Bores? Let's find out shall we?

The Washowski's directed the much acclaimed The Matrix - a mind-bending sci fi masterpiece that required you to watch it about 5 times to get the undercurrents and story down on pat. The first viewing blew you away with ground breaking special effects (that have oft been imitated since), cyber-goth attire and of course, the sliding Nokia phones.

They were really cool back in the day, honest.

Jupiter Ascending (I keep wanting to call it Jupiter Rises for some reason), is based around the main character Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis).  Jupiter Jones, who sounds like an alterego for a superhero, is more of a Cinerella type character who cleans toilets and does menial housework chores as a job. She also apparently hates her life as a caretaker. One day she helps an acquaintance (I actually believe it is someone she works for) to choose a dress for her date with some hot shot millionaire and goes to the walk in cupboard to select one for her. As she does so some aliens (best described as little green men) attack her and try to kill her. Jupiter hides and takes photos on her Apple iPhone (tm). Meanwhile she has her eye on a telescope on eBay (tm) and would really like it but it is $3,999. So she pops off, on the advice of her rather crazy cousin, to donate her eggs to a place that pays for them so she can get a telescope and her cousin something that is, no less, an Xbox One (tm). She attends under the guise of the lady she was choosing the dress for. Attending the aforementioned clinic she "captured" by the doctors who turn out to be aliens. As she's about to be brutally murdered by them, some alien dude by the name of Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) comes whisking in guns ablazing and saves her. Previous to this all Jupiter knew was copious amounts of product placement in her world and that her world is pretty much the same as ours. Then, 30 or so minutes later,  she finds out (as do we) that everyone thinks she is a reincarnated Queen of the universe and owns Earth. Humans are not alone and there are other species out there - which all look like they have raided Lady Gaga's wardrobe.  Naturally cue some massive space battles, dizzyingly large set pieces and lots of aliens that like shooting each other and a welcome appearance by Sean Bean as soldier Stinger who has an unhealthy obsession with bees.

Will the queen take her rightful place in the universe or will the bad guys win?
The film itself - from a special effects standpoint - is awesome. The set pieces, the spacecraft and creativity of the world is immense. I saw this movie in 2d and wished I'd have seen it in 3d. The whole feel is very reminiscent of other movies and so too is the story and characters. And I think this is where it lets itself down. The world is rich and diverse and it could be so developed into a franchise. However there's a lot of issues it would need to resolve before it became the next Star Wars.
Jupiter herself is quite a feisty character and I'm really embarrassed to say this but Mila Kunis is so pretty that she is quite enchanting on the screen. But that's about as far as it goes for her character. Jupiter herself seemed a very weak character in comparison to others - they could have done so much more than making her the damsel in distress. The two most violent things she did was throw (and smash) an intergalactic version of an iPad (tm) on the floor and kick some bloke in the crotch. Other than that she spends the rest of the runtime of the movie talking, walking and running away from stuff. I felt she could have been used more than just something for Caine to save every five minutes. In this way it felt like it would if they made a Dr Who movie that was focussed on the companion and the Doctor appears every now and then to save them.
Channing Tatum is the serious bad-ass character for the girls to swoon over but makes it clear that he is a hyprid of wolf and human. Jupiter falls for him; so here we have a girl swooning over a wolf man - where have we heard that before? There's also another pale alien prince who wants to marry her - and these aliens keep young by using essence of humans that they harvest on Earth. Jupiter makes a reference to them being vampires and they reply that they are kind of in a way. Hello, Twilight!  There is also a Flash Gordon (remember that movie?) style wedding that almost occurs as well! I've already mentioned her being a toilet cleaner and caretaker who happens to be an heir to royalty - Hello, Cinderella!
Eddie Redmaye's turn as the psychopathic bad guy is right out of Voldemort's guide to acting - I was expecting him to go on about the boy who lived and how much he hated Dumbledore!
Some of the music and places they visited looked right out of Star Wars, even to the point that my brother leaned over to me and said, "Are they visiting Coruscant?"
Some of the actions sequences were breathtakingly fast and spectacular - I am really not sure if it was because I was in the first row of the cinema or that these action sequences were really fast and blurry - similar to Transformers when things were all happening with completely loose camera shots. It was dizzying and spectacular but I didn't know what was happening and only got my head back when everything stopped and the characters took a break for some much needed dialogue.  
The movie itself though is not that bad - I had a few grumbles outlined above, but generally it's quite watchable. I think the lack of originality in the story is apparent, but the world in which it is carried out is fascinating, but it just doesn't go any further than the main characters.  There is so much scope for a franchise on this, but I think the Washowski's slightly missed the mark. Even so, I have to say I did quite like it and it was no where near as bad as I feared.
If you like Sci Fi you will like this - but it's nothing you haven't seen before, and I think that's where it is a let down. It's the starter of the meal before you get to the signature dish that is Star Wars in December. We need some good space sci fi movies and this will do for now until the much anticipated Star Wars will come and show them how it's done. I think the 3d version would come across much better than the 2d version I saw. Still, it's worth checking out if you want to see a special effects extravaganza in space.
Jupiter Ascending is out at all good cinemas now.

 

POPSCORE: 7/10

 

SECOND OPINION: Mark came to see this with me and didn't think the same as me; but he thought the story was very weak too - POPSCORE: 6/10

ANOTHER OPINION: Clare came to see this with me and gave it a respectable - POPSCORE: 7/10
 

What am I talking about? Jupiter Ascending movie
Where do I find out more? www.jupiterascending.com
If you liked this, try - The Matrix movies, Titan AE, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Star Wars movies, Serenity

REVIEW: A Walk Among The Tombstones (15)

Liam Neeson returns to the silver screen in his latest action movie role since the airplane based thriller Non-Stop. Liam plays the role of a disillusioned cop called Matt Scudder.  The movie opens in 1991 when he is a heavy drinker – ordering two shots of whiskey to go with a cup of coffee. However, they are not the only two shots he would get on this day. A trio of ragamuffins enter the cafe and start firing and Scudder is in pursuit through the crowded streets of New York and takes out two of them without remorse. He follows another down some steps and shoots him in the leg and, as the credits roll through a fancy camera angle, the film sets us up quite nicely for another action based thriller that we come to know and love from Mr Neeson. Fast forward to the turn of the century in 1999 – where the fear of the y2k “millennium bug” is looming over the world, and to “google” something you would have to sift through a load of microfiches, he is now a private investigator of sorts.  We discover Scudder is no longer a police officer but more of a guy who does favours for favours. As much as this sounds a bit sinister, it generally means he’s a guy for hire if you are in trouble.

Kenny Kristo (Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens) is a drug dealer and has had his wife killed by some unsavoury characters and sends his brother to track down Scudder to see if he can bring them to justice. Initially Scudder refuses, but changes his mind and the movie’s story begins to unravel. Teaming up with a young teen that has all the street talk and computer knowledge, Scudder goes to track down those responsible with a combination of detective work and gun slinging to bring those responsible to justice.

The movie is well made with some good acting and Dan Stevens, who has been an action hero himself in 2014’s The Guest, plays a good role in the movie. TJ, the teenage sidekick played by Brian “Astro” Bradley, is there to add some street cred and become Scudder’s sidekick. I felt like this character was purely added for a few scenes where he is needed to do the modern to Scudder’s old school, but really could have been left out of the film altogether. The villains of the piece, who are so sinister and evil add an underlying menace to the story as you are never quite sure what they will do or are capable of. I was expecting a Taken style shootfest, but the film is more thoughtful than that, piecing together the mystery as Scudder finds out more and more about these evil serial killers.

The movie is a strong thriller and I liked it – but for those expecting a Taken style blast along will be disappointed. Based on the book of the same name, this film is a thoughtful thriller which has enough to keep you watching to the end. It’s a good movie, but not one of the best.

A Walk Among The Tombstones is out now on DVD and Blu Ray from all good retailers. 

 

POPSCORE:          7/10

 

What is it? A Walk Among The Tombstones movie

Where can I find out more? http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/a-walk-among-the-tombstones/

If you liked this try - Taken, Non-Stop, The Equalizer (2014)

 

Anything else?

This film is based on the Matt Scudder book series by Lawrence Block

REVIEW: Big Hero 6 (PG)

Disney has been very hitty or missy this past decade. People always harp back to The Lion King or The Little Mermaid when musical songs and adventure went hand in hand. It wasn't until Frozen that people 'let it go' (oh dear, sorry I couldn't resist) and the House of Mouse was back on top again. Although the previous films weren't too bad before that movie, Frozen elevated them to the top of their game again. So, with that under their belts and the best song since the tribal chanting at the start of The Lion King, how the heck can they follow this up? And, more importantly, is it any good?

 

Well, my friends, I can tell you - yes they did follow it up and yes it's good, damned good.

 

Another Disney Princess movie was not on the cards here - I don't think Frozen has ran it's course just yet, and, with Cinderella (and the rumoured Frozen short before it) on the horizon, there was no room for that here. Similarly with musical numbers - let's face it, Let It Go is a song that comes along once in a decade to blow you away. Like it or loathe it, it's a classic now and really catchy.

 

Instead Disney have plumped straight into the action/adventure movie with superheroes and went that way instead - and it's paid off. It's basically a watered down Avengers Assemble with a bunch of geeky kids saving the world with an inflatable robot. Think of the missing link between Enid Blyton's  The Famous Five and The Secret Seven but with technology. There, you've got it!

 

Hiro is the erm, hero, of the film and is a young boy (stated as 13 year old a couple of times in the movie) who is going a bit off the rails in the aptly named San Frantokyo. He has build a cute little robot which looks like a metallic teddy bear specifically to take down robots in a Robofight - an underground movement a bit like Robot Wars but with betting. However it's cute face turns around and turns into a red angry face when it attacks the other robots and zips around like Yoda in Attack of the Clones, and, like Yoda, beats the opposition easily.  

 

Tadashi, his older brother, sees potential in him and tries to get him to do something useful with his life rather than spend it gambling and fighting robots. He takes him to a robotics lab where he is studying and tried to convince Hiro that he could get in this much coveted university and also meets Tadashi's uni mates who have crazy names - GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred. At least they are easier to pronounce than Lord of the Rings characters though! They also cover just about every different facet of equality and diversity too - you have the well built black guy, the ginger geek, the moody black haired goth girl with the purple streaks and the rich boy jock who is easily amused and comes across as the least intelligent in the group. Hiro is the Wesley Crusher of the group as he is the genius robotics master - even though he is 13.  Tadashi is the creator of Baymax, a large rotund inflatable robot build for the purpose of being a surrogate nurse/doctor to help people with medical issues and problems.

 

Tadashi eventually convinces Hiro to go for an audition to join the robotics lab and comes up with some nanobots which can combine to build bridges and do cool stuff - if you have a headpiece to control them with your mind. Lots of people find this interesting and some guy with a big nose and a suit comes over to try and buy it off him but Hiro says no.

 

Not long after there is a fire at university and Tadashi enters the burning building to save one of the teachers, and explosion occurs and kills Tadashi, leaving Baymax in the care of Hiro and him without a brother. Hiro befriends Baymax and as a kind of sentient being, Baymax becomes a great companion for Hiro. One night he finds the one nanobot he had in his pocket is jiggling around and asks Baymax to find where it wants to go - and leads them to an ominous warehouse. After some brief comic relief they are attacked by a masked man using the power of the nanobots to terrorise them and to get what he wants. Hiro goes back to the robotics lab team and convinces them to suit up - and designs weapons and equipment to help them fight this masked man. He even upgrades Baymax from a cute inflatable creature to what I could best describe as an overweight Iron Man. Imagine the Stay Puft Marshmallow man in an Iron Man suit and you are pretty much there.

 

The film is great, no doubt about that. There's plenty of action, the soundtrack is fab and you can feel the influence of Marvel on it. It's an exciting adventure of epic proportions and all the characters are likeable, especially Baymax who, although has no real facial expression still somehow manages to make you feel. There's sad moments, happy moments and some great one liners too. I would wholeheartedly recommend this film and its great for kids too.

 

And, it's based on a Marvel comic - so you know what happens at the end of Marvel movies don't you? It might be worth staying until the end of the credits.

 

POPSCORE:               9/10

 

What is it? Big Hero 6 is out now at all good cinemas

Where can I find out more? http://www.disney.co.uk/big-hero-6

 

If you liked this try... any of the MCU Iron Man movies,  Avengers Assemble (2012)

Anything else?
The song as the credits roll is Fall Out Boy - Immortals.
This film is based on a Marvel comic of the same name.

It is Disney's 54th Classic.

 

REVIEW: Gone Girl (18)

Gone Girl is based on the bestselling novel, erm, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and is all about a perfect couple. So perfect in fact that when the wife goes missing after an argument on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, all the evidence points to kidnap, murder... and the husband. Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) is the wife of Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) who plays the titular character that disappears on the morning of their fifth anniversary. However, both as intelligent as one another, Amy has left clues for Nick to follow as she has done on their anniversary every year. The police are called when Nick realises that she is not coming home, and this set up events that he has to negotiate to prove his innocence. Thing is, though, is he? As time ticks away and the police find more evidence – Nick Dunne is under the spotlight. As the days pass, even the media get involved with everyone from neighbours to chat show hosts trying to prove that this man killed his wife.

This film is a fantastic thriller, with more twists and turns than a country road in rural England, and the strong cast – both main and supporting, have an intensity that keeps you watching. Affleck’s Nick Dunne is smarmy and arrogant enough to dislike, but all his flaws are apparent and therefore has a strange endearing quality about him. Even when he drops a few clangers here and there, and he shows his character warts and all, the film doesn’t give you enough to definitely say that he is innocent or not. The beautiful “Amazing Amy” is another great character who is certainly as strong as her husband is but in a different way.

The problem with Gone Girl is that although it’s a treat to watch how the web of lies, miscalculations and things go on but if I said anything past the first quarter of the movie I would probably spoil it for you. The film starts at one point and ends at another – and it just keeps twisting and turning like a snake. I really enjoyed this one and I recommend it if you like thrillers, mysteries or a really well acted and written drama. The big question is -  Did Nick Dunne Kill His Wife?

 

POPSCORE:               8/10

 

What is it? Gone Girl movie, out now on Blu Ray, DVD and download

Where can I find out more? http://gillian-flynn.com/gone-girl/ or http://www.gonegirlmovie.com/

REVIEW: Kingsman : The Secret Service (15)

In 2015, the day of baddies dressed in garish colours plotting to rule the world has but all been forgotten. It's been a long time since the big bad guy captured the hero, plonked him in a certain death trap that was impossible to escape and then proceeded to tell the hero his intricate world domination plans. It's been a long, long time since the hero conveniently escapes from certain death and foils the megalomaniac bad guy at the last minute.  Here you have the old school spy movie.

Nowadays in the name of Bond and Bourne, they are gritty realistic heroes and fight dirty, drink from the bottle and are injured, scarred and mentally affected - but still get the girl and save the world. Here you have the modern day, nu skool version.

It's a dangerous thing to look back at those old movies and attempt to recreate them because I believe they were a product of the time. This has tried to be done with Mortdecai, the recent release starring Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow, and from what I've heard it didn't work out too well. However, I still have yet to see the movie and refrain from making any judgement of it until I have seen it. The last time it was done well was Mike Myers' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery - and that was a spoof; a parody if you will.

So where does that leave Kingsman? Well they certainly pay homage to the Bond's of old (as well as a number of other spy shows and movies) but put a spin on it to make it very contemporary. Although there are a couple of nods to these movies and films, as they clearly state in the movie - it's not one of those type of movies. 

The movie starts with a fantastic credit sequence which brings us to some dusty desert where Galahad (Colin Firth) is quizzing a terrorist with his elite spy team. One of the team realises that the terrorist has a bomb strapped to his chest and jumps on top of him - shielding the blast from his teammates. Both the spy and terrorist die, but Galahad survives and escapes with his team. Cut to a small boy and his mother and Galahad visiting them. As the film moves on we realise that the spy killed in action is the father of the main character Gary Unwin (Taron Egerton) who's nickname is Eggsy and is referred to as such through the whole film. Galahad hands Eggsy's mother a trinket which she declines and instead gives it to Eggsy. The trinket is a necklace with a phone number on the back. Galahad says he owes the family a favour since his father saved him and the team, and will return the favour.

We find that Galahad is actually a Kingsman - who are all named after the Knights of the Round Table and his real name is Harry Hart. The boss of the Kingsman spies is codenamed Arthur (Michael Caine) and they are elite secret agents who serve and protect Queen and country.

One day, when he is older, Eggsy finds himself heading to prison as his life wasn't going too good. Mum has moved on from Dad and is in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic step father and even worse step brothers.  Then he takes someone elses car for a joyride and is arrested. He phones the number on the necklace he has been wearing for the last few years and gets off scott free. Meanwhile there is a vacancy in the Kingsmen as spy Lancelot was killed by a mysterious lady with blades for feet when he was trying to save a university professor (Star Wars' Mark Hamill) who had been kidnapped.

Cue Galahad appearing to recruit Eggsy for the Kingsman ranks - resplendent in a bulletproof suit, guns, grenades - and an umbrella. Blade lady is working for Richmond Valentine, an evil computer billionaire bent on taking over the world. Samuel L. Jackson makes a welcome appearance as the garishly dressed colour-coded villain who is more a genius than  a soldier.

The movie is well made with a good turn from all the acting talent that has been employed within the movie. Special effects are spot on and the soundtrack and cinematography is great too. Firth is brilliant in the role of the John Steed-esque Galahad and little known actor Egerton plays the chav Eggsy and the Kingsman Eggsy remarkably well - though when he was wearing glasses for some scenes didn't fit quite right with me.

The movie itself moves along at a great pace and is well written. The dialogue is suitably contemporary and there is a notable shift in dialogue from when Eggsy and his contemporaries are talking in their West End council estate to the RP and suaveness of the Kingsman spies.

I really enjoyed this film, as I love my Bond movies, but I think anyone who likes a good action adventure would love this too. The only real issue is that it has an awful lot of swearing in it - it's reflective of real life and gives it that little bit of kudos, but if younger viewers will be watching then it may not be suitable for them - discretion advised.

I recommend to go and see this - it's an old school spy movie with nu skool values and is very entertaining to boot. Kingsman : The Secret Service is out now and is rated 15.

POPSCORE:  8/10

 

 

What am I talking about? Kingsman: The Secret Service movie

How do I find out more? http://www.kingsmanmovie.com/
If you liked this try... Mortdecai (2015), any James Bond movie pre-Daniel Craig, any of the Austin Powers movies, The Avengers (60's TV series but please avoid the 90's movie!)

Anything else?
The song as the credits roll is TAKE THAT - GET READY FOR IT which is out on single now and features on their latest album III. This is their third soundtrack song in recent memory. They also had tracks for two other recent movies - LOVE LOVE for X-Men: First Class and, of course, RULE THE WORLD for Stardust.