REVIEW: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

"Chirrut Imwe's beach holiday didn't go as planned!"

Lucasfilm and Disney took a risk to try something a little different with regards to the Star Wars movie. Not afraid of ruffling feathers with fans, the Star Wars universe gets an expanded look at the events that occurred after Episode III: Revenge of the Sith but before Episode IV: A New Hope.The Jedi are all but gone, Obi Wan is in hiding and the Empire is doing a fantastic job at taking over the galaxy. Young girl, Jyn Erso is quietly living with her dad, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) and her mom. When he turned his back on the Empire after helping them build a gigantic space station known as the Death Star, Galen took up farming on a quiet planet. Quickly realising they need Galen back to finish their evil plan, the Empire despatch Orson Krennic, complete with white cape and black armoured Deathtroopers to convince him to return with them. After initially declining, preferring windmills to world domination, Galen realises that he has no choice, and after giving time for his daughter to escape, he reluctantly goes with them. During this debate, Galen’s wife decides to take matters into her own hands and it doesn’t go well. Galen leaves, wifey is dead and little Jyn hides away. Fast forward a decade and a half later and Jyn is now an adult (played excellently by Felicity Jones) and, after being broken free from prison by a group of rebels, she is reluctantly dragged into the intergalactic war that is facing the universe. With a smattering of cameos and nods to other aspects of the Star Wars universe and, of course, featuring Darth Vader every now and then (James Earl Jones reprising his iconic booming voice), Rogue One brings with it everything you want to expect from a Star Wars movie. Amazing and arresting visuals – some of the battle sequences are stunning – Rogue One starts off slow and then goes for the jugular and by the end of the exhilarating ride you are trying to catch your breath. But, for all that it is a Star Wars film, with suitably sounding names like Cassian Andor and Churrut Imwe, it is a bit different too. For example, it is a lot darker – people die, and, dependent on your opinion, there is also no opening crawl either!

Star Wars music is suitably done (but not by John Williams for the first time!) and there is no famous anthems until Darth Vader appears. Those expecting lightsabers and Jedi will also be disappointed though there is a spattering of such throughout the movie and references too. The new characters are introduced to us are likeable and memorable and fit very well within the universe. We have Captain Cassian Andor, brave and fearless Rebel pilot/soldier, Baze Malbus and Chirrut Imwe (guardians of the Jedi temple) and Bistan (who is in more trailers than the film) among others and the new characters all have their own motivations and reasons for fighting. Also featuring Forest Whitaker as Star Wars Rebels character Saw Gerrera, Rogue One has truly a roster of people to keep you occupied until the end. As expected the new droid, K-2SO (voiced excellently by Alan Tudyk) is like a cross between C-3PO and Marvin the Paranoid Android from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and often steals scenes he is in. The coolest character by far is Chirrut Imwe, a blind Jedi Master, who is able to fight and defeat many opponents even though he cannot see. The bromance between him and Baze is clear and they always have each other’s back.

Overall, Rogue One is different to the Star Wars we know, but maybe it is time to do that so we don’t get sick of the franchise. It’s a fresh take on the Star Wars universe but fits snugly within the narrative that is so ingrained in society that it feels organic. This movie was a risk for Disney but has paid off and is a great addition to the films we are getting. It sets the bar high for the next ones, and also kinda makes up for the poor prequels from the turn of the century. Worth a watch more than once so you can see it with a clear head the second time, as the first will blow you away. Slow to start but unbelievably exhilarating at the end, Rogue One certainly puts meaning being the term calm before the storm.

POPSCORE: 9/10

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: Divergent Series: Allegiant

With the whole Young Adult (YA) dystopia trend in full swing now, The Divergent Series : Allegiant is coming hot on the heels of the Hunger Games conclusion. Based on the third book in the Divergent trilogy; this movie has not only been changed from the book but also, as would be expected, been chopped into two parts. However not diluting the whole shebang into parts one and two, the clever boffins at the studio have instead decided to call it the Divergent Series and give part two it's own title too. So for the readers of the book - well they are confused. As for the people who just watch the movies - they think it'll just be like a Twilight style quadrilogy. Thing is... Is it any good?

It's a good sign that all the original cast return to continue on with the franchise. Shailene Woodley reprises her role as Tris, looking as cute as ever. Theo James is the brooding Four, who really doesn't have that much to do this time around except get frustrated and be eye candy for the girls. Some whippersnapper takes over the Eric type role and Miles Teller is back as mouthy Peter. Backing up the rest is Naomi Watts as Fours mom and Tris's brother Caleb who is about as as much of a liability as a 1980's Dr Who assistant. The newcomers include one Jeff Daniels as the solo named David who gets to dress Tris up in white and spend a lot of time talking with her.

Now I must say I'm a massive fan of the books. It's been a long time since it's taken for me to really get emotionally involved with a series of books like this. I love Tris and Four (as characters and as a couple) and I love Veronica Roth's writing (and the books as a whole). The story overall is fantastic and therefore I was excited to be seeing this on the big screen. However; although, now settled into their roles and the actors do a grand job, the film isn't really that good. 

I don't know whether this is down to my expectations from the book or what but it seems like there's a lot of talking and a lot of running about. To me, it suffers from that which other "part ones" that have gone before it - in that the source is one book; one story and they want to two part it. But the actual source only probably stretches for about a movie and a half. You want the big reveal in part two so part one has to be stretched out to accommodate movie length. So, like Harry Potter, Twilight and especially Hunger Games, the part one contains much needless filler and waffle to pad it out ready for the next one. Strangely the movie just ends with no sort of pointer to say they will be making another one. 

For those that have read the books - you will have seen most of it in this movie but the changes mean that if there was such a sequel coming next year, we won't have a clue what they will be doing unless they pretty much recycle this story (if they are following the book timeline). 

Overall the cast do a decent job but this movie just doesn't quite get there. It tries but fails. Probably the worst one so far but here's hoping it picks up in the next, and final, instalment. As a Divergent fan I'm hoping this is the case.

Divergent Series: Allegiant is out now.

POPSCORE: 6/10

REVIEW: Pixels

PIXELS is the latest Adam Sandler movie which preys upon people within a decade of Sandler’s age bracket and hoping that the lure of retro arcade classics will help this movie become the blockbuster that it promises to be. Up front and centre on both the poster and the trailer, is a gigantic Pac-Man that is terrorising the world. But before we go that way, where did this idea come from? Was it Sandler’s inspiration or some other source?

 

Well the truth is, is that it is based on a mini movie that had all the hallmarks of a fantastic idea. Check it out the clip, by clicking here.  It  was fantastic as an idea so it was to go without saying that someone somewhere would be wanting to take it further and sprinkle the “magic of Hollywood” ‘pon it. Sadly, it was Da Sandler who got his mitts on it. Part of the appeal of Adam Sandler films, original ones anyway, was the young goofball, wanting to be loved and trying to get the girl. Now he’s older, the template doesn’t fit quite so well, and this movie is a very similar premise, and sometimes it borders on creepy. In this movie the love interest is a really pretty girl who is visually a lot younger than the ageing Sandler and it looks more like a dad pursuing a daughter than two people who would fall in love.

 

However, besides that fact, Sandler’s character doesn’t really have any redeeming features (apart from really good at certain video games (read 80’s arcade machines)) so it’s difficult to see how those two would get together even in the constraints of this movie. There’s a sequence where the two of them are in a cupboard and it just doesn’t make any sense and feels rather strange to watch. You may have noticed that I have not even told you the names of these two characters, as the story is so weak I can't even recall them. But, IMDb promises me that Adam Sandler's character is called Brenner and Violet (Michelle Monaghan) is the love interest. Backing up those two characters, we have Kevin James (as the President of the United States?!), Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and the creator of Pac Man himself, Professor Iwatani (even if he is played by an actor).

 

The movie goes like this (but if you have seen the trailer it basically explains the premise) but it’s this – in the 1980’s NASA send a message of greetings into space to show them what our lives are like in the 1980’s – complete with the arcade games of the day, speeches and music videos from the megastars of the day and more. However, instead of a message of hello to the universe, they took it as an act of war and therefore create arcade game characters to come to Earth to destroy us. It’s times like this when they should have just stuck with The Carpenter’s “Calling All Occupants…” song and left it at that. Anyway, this premise sounds damn good on paper – but as with a lot of movies these days it seems that it is not the inspiration but the execution of it that lets the movie down. As described, we have a talented cast with a mix of experience and the film does show sparks of brilliance on occasion, but this is few and far between. This is a copy and paste sci-fi action movie that doesn’t really take anything further forward in terms of story or character development.

 

The problem with this movie is that it’s a fantastic idea and has an epic selling point, and, like most movies of that ilk, it’s the execution of the idea that it falls prey to. Character development is mostly non-existent – and for the pixelated characters it relies solely on what we know in pop culture and that’s about it. Adam Sandler exclaims each video game character as if to tag it – the only thing missing is a hashtag graphic at the same time while he says it. In fact, as cheesy as it sounds, that wouldn’t look too much out of place in this movie. The movie then is heavily special effects laden and low on just about everything else. Even the low-fi HD pixelated characters are shallow.

 

Adam Sandler is getting older and the schtick that worked when he was younger just sparks of desperation and doesn’t seem to work in this instance. I think he needs to move on and try being a different type of character and move with both his audience and his career. The movie is below average and even the most die-hard fans of sci-fi and/or retro gaming (which demographic it is clearly gunning for) would struggle to say it’s a good movie (and yes, I’m one of them). The only film worse I have seen in 2015 is Fant4stic Four (see my review here) and this isn’t much better. If I had to sum it up – it’s all looks and no personality.

 

Pixels is out now on DVD and Blu Ray and digital download.

 

POPSCORE: 5/10

What am I talking about? Pixels movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/pixels/
If you liked this try: King Kong (latest Peter Jackson version), Night at the Museum (which is far superior), Independence Day (ID4), Wreck it Ralph (which does the licensed characters a lot better)

Anything else?
The closing credits re-run a synopsis of the movie in 8-bit style.       

REVIEW: Sense8 (18) (TV Series - Season One - Netflix)

Netflix are going the right way to become some sort of TV power house. They are investing in making their own TV shows – but not wobbly cardboard backgrounds with silly scripts and dodgy acting, oh no! These can take on the likes of ITV, Sky, ABC, CBS or whatever. Dubbed as ‘Netflix Originals’ these shows are becoming hits in their own right and are becoming household names. Shows such as House of Cards, Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul and Marco Polo (oh yeah and Orange is the New Black) there seems no sign of them stopping. They’ve recently sided with Marvel too – and are now are releasing shows like Daredevil and the soon to be broadcast AKA Jessica Jones. However the latest fanfare approach is the ‘Netflix Original’ Sense8 by the Washowski siblings and, you know what? It’s actually pretty good.

So many times we have a show or movie where there is a fantastic idea and it’s executed so badly that the piece of inspiration that grew it struggles to develop. Well, you’ll be pleased to know this is not the case here.  

Sense8 is about a set of 8 individuals who are vastly different and live in different parts of the world. However, they can all share the same consciousness. One of the other 8 can either appear next to the other – in which case appear a bit like Al in Quantum Leap. This means that they can communicate and chat with the other person but no one else can see them. If an onlooker sees them talking it looks like they are talking to themselves. Alternatively they can inhabit their body and thereby gaining the skills of the other person to allow them to achieve a goal or do something cool.

Scattered across the 8 are all in different situations. We have a cat-burglar called Wolfgang in Germany, a closeted Mexican gay actor who is in a relationship with a man, but has a public persona as a ladies man. There’s Riley, a young DJ of Icelandic descent based in London, Will (a police officer in San Francisco), Sun (a Korean business woman who is particularly talented at kickboxing) and Nomi, a trans woman in a relationship with another woman. The final two are a black African man in Kenya who is constantly searching for medicine to treat his mum suffering from HIV and finally, but by no means least, an Indian girl who is due to be married and is a chemist. All 8 eventually meet and when they do it is to fight a bigger force at work. It is then that all of their skills come into play. For example, the guy from Kenya is under attack by the town crime boss and the Korean kickboxer goes into his body and fights all of them on his behalf, even though one is in Kenya and one is in Korea. Who needs FaceTime?

As a creative writer myself, I have thought about this whole mind melding storyline before but it was only with 2 people in a relationship. But to take 8 very different people and meld not only their minds but the story is a big ask and they do it very well. Merely explaining the people who are in this show is madness – what an operation to try and get the locations and actors all together to do this – it’s ambitious to say the least! All of the characters mentioned above are (in the main) played by real life actors of the nationality or situation. They guy who plays Wolfgang is actually from Germany. The trans woman is actually played by a trans performer, etc.

I loved this show – it’s great, creative and the characters are great, The acting is good, the stories are engrossing and it’s such a fresh new idea. However, I found it very slow to begin with and it doesn’t really pick up until about episode five. When they are all working together in the later episodes you can see how great this programme could be.

The Washowski’s have been riding on the coat tails of The Matrix for many years now – and like this, was a work of genius. However the Matrix sequels and some of their recent endeavours have been met with poor critical reception. Cloud Atlas was okay, Jupiter Ascending was good but not right, and let’s not mention Matrix 3. Just don’t.

If you have Netflix, it is worth a watch and I eagerly await season two. Well done Washowski siblings. Well done Netflix. Keep it up.

POPSCORE – 9/10

What am I talking about? ‘Netflix Original’ – Sense8 (TV Series)Where can I find out more? https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80025744

Anything else?

This first season features 10 episodes and all are available on Netflix now. However, you do have to be a subscriber to get this.

REVIEW: Chappie (15)

Short Circuit meets Robocop in Neill Blomkamp’s latest movie. From the director of District 9 (and this movie has a definite feel of that) Chappie (voiced by Sharlto Copley) is set in a world where robotic police men work with real humans to tackle the crime in South Africa. Although there are many actors in the movie – there is also the appearance of Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver within the movie.

The movie starts with series of police robots going into battle against some of the gangland underworld and at one point one of the ‘droids get fired upon by rocket launcher and is damaged badly and gets sent for scrap. Meanwhile a group of designers – Deon (Dev Patel) and Vincent (Hugh Jackman) vie for the best robots. Deon provided the world with these police droids whereas Vincent Moore has an ED-209 style attack droid that can blast, fly and destroy anything in it’s path. Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver), boss of the company, declines Moore’s combat droid in favour of the police droids.

While the invasion occurs with the police droids, Deon goes home and his long term research of creating a robot with sentient abilities comes to fruition. He heads back to work the following day to ask Michelle for permission to try it out and she gives him a big no – something Vincent Moore is used to.  

Over the other side of town the gangland thugs are in deep debt with a rival boss and owe him millions. One of the crew Yolandi suggests commandeering the robots and using them in a heist to get the millions they need for the underworld kingpin. Ninja (another thug) decides this is a good idea and they think of a way to get one.

As “Scout 22” is sent for scrap, Deon decides to take destiny into his own hands and steals “Scout 22” and goes to take him home to get him all Johnny 5’d up. But when the thugs intercept him and take Deona dn the droid to their headquarters they force him to create the robot there. Suddenly the robot comes alive, and a curious and scared as a baby he develops his own personality and learns about life the hard way.

 The movie is both thought provoking an entertaining – and the special effects are amazing. Jackman plays a great role as Moore and his distain for Deon being more successful than him. Chappie himself is a vulnerable naive character and it shows you quite graphically of what a child might experience growing up in sucha an environment. The movie is littered with f-bombs and not as family friendly as it may seem. The movie is well made, actors are great and the finale is great too. Chappie is immediately likeable and we want to see him do well but as he is fooled and lied to by various people and treated badly by others you can feel the emotion even though he’s just a robot. The ending is worth waiting for, and once again, Blomkamp has an interesting, thoughtful critique of modern society and it consequences of people’s actions.

POPSCORE – 8/10

 What am I talking about? Chappie (movie)Where can I find out more? http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/chappie/
If you like this try: Short Circuit 1 & 2, Robocop, District 9, Ex Machina or I, Robot. You could also argue Big Hero 6 to a certain extent.

Anything else?Neill Blomkamp is the director of District 9 which also is based in South Africa.

EVENT: Newcastle Film & Comic Con 2015

The day is Saturday 28th March 2015

The time... is now!

 

A year ago, the first Newcastle Film and Comic Con ran by experienced Conventionites, Showmasters proved to be very popular indeed. Back then, my friend Mal and I waited nearly four hours to get into the venue and missed most of it. It was badly organised and felt the brunt of an unhappy public. In their defence it was the first one in Newcastle and they underestimated demand - especially those on the door purchases. On the other hand, sales for tickets stopped 2 weeks before so surely they would have had an idea of interest and capacity?

 

Fast forward later in the year when I attended the London & Film Comic Con in July 2015. This was much more organised and, in the main, I got to do what I set out to do - meet the Generalissimo himself, Stan Lee. An added bonus was meeting the legend Glenn Morshower but I was gutted I  missed my favourite cosplayer Ivy Doomkitty.  Such is the draw of these events.

 

The question was - had Showmasters learned their lesson and, more importantly, had we? This time we bought early bird tickets in advance (as opposed to last years buying on the door at the event). This proved beneficial as, when the door was opened, it only took about 20 mins to let us in from our queue position (which was a considerable way around the arena).

Busy day at Newcastle - and that was just the Early Bird tickets!

There were a lot of stars here today, but there were some cancelations - Red Dwarf's Robert Lewellyn and Craig Charles didn't appear as promised and Claudia Christian from Babylon 5 cancelled too. I was sad to find that there was only the sepia Back To The Future pic available at Newcastle (see my effort, right) and no DeLorean as anticipated. I couldn't complain though as KITT from Knightrider was there to waffle on at you.  

 

Eve Myles signs a photo for me

When you go to a convention such as this everyone has their favourite person to see or go for. Each person charges a significant amount for a photo or a signed autograph so even to get a couple of items signed by a few celebrities would cost nearly £100. So unfortunately you have to prioritise (unless you have a lot of money and/or amazing time skills). The most popular person by far today was James Marsters who was charming and lovely apparently. Sadly I didn't get to meet him myself but he was very popular with the public. James Cosmo and Jeremey Bulloch (two people I've met over the last month or so) were also there.

 

My celebrity priorities were two lovely and very beautiful women I got to meet and to see on their relevant panels. The first was Terminator 3's Kristanna Loken. In her panel she discussed the training regime of becoming the Terminator and what it was like working with Arnold Schwarzenegger. She said the role of being in such a successful franchise had changed her life. She also said she was working on some new projects and mentioned some of her recent works. These included a movie called Fighting for Freedom which was a movie made from a screenplay written by her father and the upcoming erotic thriller Maid For You. Later I got a photo with her and got to meet her and she was lovely.

 

 

The second panel I sat in on was absolutely mental and I enjoyed every minute of it! Eve Myles, Gwen from Torchwood (among other shows), came onto the stage and had everyone spellbound from the start. She was taking questions and her familiar, laid back, giggly persona shone through and was both endearing and enchanting at the same time. She spoke of her best friend John Barrowman and the fun they had on set in Torchwood, about how she "didn't" take any props from the set of Torchwood, working with David Tennant and how gorgeous she thought James Marsters is. She spoke of motherhood, of her child and her love of the Geordie accent and had one lad repeating the word "theatre" over again as she loved the pronunciation of the word in that accent. Later, after the rapturous applause, I got to meet her and got a signed photo.

 

While I was there, I mentioned to her the first ever convention I went to. Back in 2012, she was at the SFX Weeekender 3 in Wales. I've been going to conventions ever since then. "It's all your fault I come to these!" I said to her jokingly after explaining about my Wales adventure in 2012. "I get that a lot..." she said, and added, "They kinda addictive aren't they?" And do you know what? She's right.

 

I'm getting quite fond of visiting these conventions and this was much the same of what I'd expect from a Showmasters con. There were a few minor disappointments - the lack of a DeLorean (especially since they are making a fuss of the 30th Anniversary of Back to the Future) and some of the guests pulled out. But these things happen. However there were some great guests today, entertaining panels, excellent cosplay and... we didn't have to wait half a day to get started.

A great comic con going from strength to strength - can't wait for next year.

You can also get your picture taken with some of the stars - here's me with the
very beautiful Kristanna Loken - and you get to take a picture home too.