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: 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: Me Before You (12A)

Daenerys Targaryen and Meville Longbottom are dating, maybe. After 7 years together and stuck in a small town; Louisa Clark (Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke) gets her last paycheck as a waitress and then finds herself unemployed. Her struggling family which also includes sister Katherine (Dr Who's Jenna Coleman) and dad, granddad and mum all are encouraging her to get a job. When a rich, handsome, castle owning 30-something William Traynor (Sam Claflin) is injured in a traffic accident leaving him a as quadriplegic, his mum and dad (Charles Dance) seek to employ a carer-cum-friend for their lonely, heartbroken and disillusioned son. His and Louisa's fates cross thanks to the job centre and she becomes carer for him. Initially very reticent about the whole arrangement, both parties reluctantly work together but find out they can both teach each other a thing or two about life.

This movie is an emotionally charged rom-com - one part com, two parts rom and is really well made. Emilia Clarke looks so different to her Game of Thrones character which is a testament to her acting talents and Jenna Coleman makes for a perfect sister to her in the movie. Sometimes she overdoes the smiling and grinning and loves her eyebrow acting (like Chris Pratt ;-)) but overall is a great movie. The chemistry between the leads is fantastic and you really feel for them. The film's soundtrack is great too - with uplifting instrumentals and careful use of no less than two Ed Sheeran songs, it just adds to the experience. With a smattering of stars from both silver and small screens and an absolutely fabulous cameo from a great English actress, Me Before You is one film that tugs at the heart strings and won't let go. 

Really, really good.

Me Before You is out 3rd June at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 8/10

What am I talking about? Me Before You movie
Where can I find out more? http://mebeforeyoumovie.com/
If you liked this try: Love Actually, Fifty Shades of Grey (maybe), Beauty and the Beast (Disney), The Fault In Our Stars

Anything else?

This movie is based on Jojo Moyes book, Me Before You.
Both Emilia Clarke and Charles Dance star in Game of Thrones

REVIEW: Sing Street

Sing Street - set in 1985, Dublin.

Imagine, if you will, the Inbetweeners crossed with Irish humour (like Father Ted or Mrs Brown's Boys) meets the Commitments meets Grease and you pretty much have Sing Street. Posh lad Conor moves from a posh school in Dublin to a state school. With his family, themselves verging on breaking point, tensions are high in the house. Dad, Robert (Game of Thrones Aiden Gillen) and mum are struggling financially and, finding solace in music, Conor strums guitar in his bedroom as the vocals from his parents ensue downstairs. Meanwhile his older brother, Brendan, (known as the drop out stoner) listens to his eclectic record collection to drown out the sound of the warring parents downstairs.

School isn't much better either as the school bully takes his opportunity to stamp his mark on the new kid and, after one particular encounter that involved a punch to the face, a small Irish accented voice said, "you should have done what he said". Turning around he sees a diminutive ginger kid who he befriends and starts talking to him. When school finishes, he sees a beautiful girl on the steps of a building opposite the school and he asks ginger kid who she is. He doesn't give any real answer, but our hero goes over to get her number which is met by an incredulous look from ginger kid. For reasons unknown he comes out with the best chat up line in 80's history. When she states that she's a model, he says that he's a singer in a band and would like to know if she would like to star in his next music video. The only issue is that he doesn't have a band - or a way to make a music video.

A story about true love and a quest for a girl is mixed delightfully with a quest for identity, Sing Street is a refreshing look at both the struggles of a musician and the angst of teenage years. Set in the 1980's it has a heady mix of great original 80's influenced music and classic 80's tracks too.  The original songs are catchy in their own right and the soundtrack is fantastic. Older brother, Brendan, serves as Conor's musical sage and provides Conor with more inspiration to help with his musical identity.

Sing Street is one of those rare gem of a films that make you laugh, cry and all in between, but  when the credits roll you feel good and optimistic. It's a fantastic film.

Sing Street is out on May 20th at all good cinemas now and will be available on DVD from 26th July!

POPSCORE: 9/10

What am I talking about? Sing Street movie
Where can I find out more? singstreetmovie.com
If you liked this try: The Commitments, Grease, Coyote Ugly, The Inbetweeners

Anything else?
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo's (who plays the lead role of Conor) father attended the real Synge Street Christian Brothers School.
     

REVIEW: Dad's Army (PG)

Welcome to 2016... the year of revamps and remakes and the recycling of old ideas.  Actually, the truth is, I guess the world is running out of inspiration for the time being. However, in a world where superhero movies and political correctness are running rife, you may be one of those people who are pining for the past. If that is the case (and it may well be judging by the recent resurgence and popularity of retro gaming) then Dad’s Army might be for you. Based on the classic British TV show (not to be confused with M.A.S.H) Dad’s Army is a remake for the next generation using the previous generation and the generation before that. I have to say, as a neutral supporter, I have never seen the original show (I know, what a travesty!) but I watched this without prejudice. But, brace yourself. There is more to come in the old-tv-shows-being-revived situation as I hear they are remaking Porridge, Open All Hours and more for the small screen and remaking Ghostbusters (due out this year) and Dirty Dancing among others on the silver screen.

So the movie then? It’s definitely pointing in the direction of comedy, but sadly it wasn’t my cup of tea. I could see where the funny parts were supposed to be and, admittedly, there were a couple of sniggers. However, the whole movie felt like a 30 minute show stretched out to last its elongated run time. Maybe as a show it would have felt more complete, but as it is it felt like it was running out of steam. The best way I could describe it would be as a baker who was rolling out some dough but stretched it far too much than was needed and causing it to become thin and holey and therefore doesn’t quite bake to perfection. A bit more dough, then, and it would probably have been a decent enough pie.

The cast is astounding though, covering the great and the good of British acting. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen such a strong British ensemble cast (maybe Love Actually was the last one – Harry Potter doesn’t count as the main actors didn’t have established careers before then) and as people entered the scenes you were like – “oh, that’s so and so out of whatsit”. You have a nice mix of actors too – Michael “Dumbledore” Gambon, Toby “Dr. Arnim Zola” Jones and Bill “Davey Jones” Nighy are just some of the great talent on show here.

Toby Jones plays Captain Mainwaring with Bill Nighy as his second-in-command Sergeant Wilson, backed up with a slew of other British acting talent. Blake Harrison (Neil from The Inbetweeners) plays Private Pike, the youngest of the group and nephew to Sergeant Wilson. Catherine Zeta-Jones provides the glam as the love interest for, well, most of the main characters. However most of the main characters have wives and these are also featured. This female cast also includes the actress who plays Lynne in Alan Partridge as a particularly matriarchal leader of the ladies force and wife to Captain Mainwaring.

As the Home Guard are assigned to patrol an army base near the White Cliffs of Dover, the soldiers discover that a spy has infiltrated their small town and must find out who it is. They go through the motions and, as suspicions go on, they realise that it could be anyone from the general public to someone in their own ranks. Meanwhile, the men are falling head over heels for the new girl in town, the sophisticated vamp Rose Winters (who works as a journalist chronicling the Home Guard). Will they find out the true identity of the spy or will it be too late?

I’ve built up the movie like it would be an exciting build up, but most of it is spent watching married men bumble over the attractive Catherine Zeta-Jones. Although she is a very pretty lady, this way forward gets old really quickly and seems to be stretched out into infinity. This makes the characters seem a bit dastardly and I also feel sorry for the wives in the tale, who seem to be strong female characters but seemingly (and deliberately) far from sexy or attractive in comparison to CZ-J. The film itself is amusing but I didn’t find it funny enough to laugh out loud. I’m told there is some cameos from the original surviving cast in this movie too. When the movie concludes the iconic theme tune is played, but not until then. Also there’s a small sequence of CGI at the start to represent London in WWII, but it’s really rather poor. Most of the other effects are more physical and real, so it looked really out of place.

Overall, it was a decent stab at a remake but it could have been so much better. Two types of people will go to see this film, I think. Those are fans of the original series (who I think I think might be disappointed) and those who are impressed by the famous names to see how they get on (I’m in this second set). It’s not exactly Bad Army but more distinctly average.

POPSCORE: 6/10

What am I talking about? Dad's Army (2016) movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.dadsarmymovie.co.uk/
If you liked this try: The original TV series, Dad's Army, the movie Dad's Army (the original one), M.A.S.H, Hot Fuzz.

REVIEW: Deadpool (15)

After many, many debates on whether this movie would be made, Deadpool finally hits our screens and hits it does. Ryan Reynolds has stepped up to the plate twice now in his attempt to break into the superhero genre as a superhero himself. As well as featuring for Marvel in Blade II as Blade’s sidekick, his first real outing was actually as Deadpool in the luke-warmly received X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. Although it was generally in the lower rated echelons of superhero movie opinions, the Deadpool portrayed there had his mouth sewn shut and was a complete waste of a character much loved by many. As if to rub salt into the wounds, or maybe take a distance from Marvel, Reynolds defected to DC to star in similarly panned Green Lantern which may have had a decent run as a franchise if it wasn’t so badly made and relied on too much CGI. Although Ryan Reynolds is a likeable guy and a great actor – he plays smarmy, arrogant or wisecracking as you require it. So he would be the ideal choice for Deadpool. But, he’s already had two strikes – this one needs to be the home run. And do you know what? It is!

 

This new Deadpool movie is all what you would expect from a movie and more and is full of blood, guts, gore and one liners. Some of the insults are both creative and zany, and with the inclusion of X-Men’s Colossus, it adds a flair to the proceedings. Poking fun at everything it can and highlighting it via quips and jokes about poo, death, blood and just about everything else, Deadpool is a Marvel movie unlike any other but also as you would expect.

 

Once again, as expected, this introduction to the character is an origin movie and charts the wise-cracking Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) in flash back format from two-bit mercenary for hire to the Merc With the Mouth. The film slams straight into the action as Deadpool takes on a multitude of enemies and proceeds to tell backstory while doing it. Once up to date, Deadpool carries on from where we left off in the most basic story of revenge, but the quips, special FX and soundtrack (which includes some Wham! and Salt 'n' Pepa to name but two).

 

Even though it is a very different Marvel movie (the closest to it would most likely be something like a Blade movie or The Punisher) and not yet a part of MCU, all the hallmarks of a Marvel movie are there – ties to other movies (in this instance the X-Men) and, of course, Mr Stan Lee features as a cameo. With added self referential items – which without giving anything away do include said X-Men mentioned above among other things, this movie is all a Deadpool fan would want. With a strong supporting cast and a funky soundtrack to boot, strap in and enjoy the ride as Deadpool is your host on this Marvel’s version of Taken. It’s a great start to 2016’s bumper crop of superhero movies to come but it’s set the bar high.

 

Of course, you have to stay to the end of the credits because it’s a Marvel movie isn’t it?

 

Deadpool is out now at all good cinemas and it’s dead(pool) good.

POPSCORE: 9/10

What am I talking about? Deadpool movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/deadpool
If you liked this try: Any of the other Marvel movies but especially Blade II, The Punisher and possibly the Daredevil (Netflix series), Ghost Rider and also the latest X-Men Movies but ...
DEFINITELY NOT X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE OR GREEN LANTERN!

Anything else?

Ryan Reynolds has been Deadpool before in X-men Origins: Wolverine and there is at least 3 sequences in the movie where he makes a reference or there is a reference to this.
Colossus, one of the X-Men, features in this movie.
This movie is not officially part of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) because, like the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises, the movie rights currently belong to Fox.

REVIEW: The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (15)

For those of you that know me, I have a few film rules - any movie that is two words long starting with "The" as the first word and any movies that have a sentence for a title immediately start my alarm bells ringing on the quality of the forthcoming movie. other things that worry me is sequels with the same characters but different casts playing them or a production company I've never heard of. Luckily, the "directed by M. Night Shayamalan" proviso has been removed as you may have seen an earlier post on this blog. In it, I actually thought his last movie, The Visit, wasn't that bad.

So already the film has warning bells ringing as it's practically a sentence for a title. But, unlike She's Having a Baby or The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain (or whatever it was called) the title of the movie sounds actually quite fun. And you know what? The film was fun too.

The film is all about three teenage lads who are all scouts. Ridiculed for still being in the scouts at nearly college age, the trio try to fit in. However when Augie is to be promoted to getting his Condor badge (whatever that is in Scout talk!), the three go camping to celebrate and to be awarded his badge from the rather strange Scout Leader Rodgers (David Koechner) - a man who has all the hallmarks of Ranger Smith from Yogi Bear and a penchant for Dolly Parton. The three lads - Ben, Carter and Augie are basically stereotypical teenagers - think the Goonies without Data. Ben is more of a leader type, wanting the girl and torn between the difficult friendships between the other two. Carter is just a typical teenager desperate to throw away his childhood, and see as much boobies and sex as possible. And Augie, the one who's desperately holding onto the Scouts and his childhood and is the geeky one, and the one who is cramping Carter's style. Along for the ride when things get a bit difficult is Denise, a kick ass blonde lady who works in a strip club called *ahem* Lawrence of Alabia. Her vocation it turns out, as she cocks a shotgun, is that she is a cocktail waitress and not a stripper.

Still there is plenty of body parts and gore and blood in this crazy tale of a town ridden with infected zombies. The start of the movie locks you in for what's in store as a stoner janitor enters a laboratory and accidently reanimates a dead person by falling onto some equipment and starts a zombie infestation. When the town is over run with zombies, its up to the three Scouts to use their uncanny scouting skills to help them save the town.

The violence is bloody and stupid at the same time and the movie itself is like a mish mash of others I'd seen before. If you stuck Shaun of the Dead in a blender with say, the Goonies, Ghostbusters and World War Z and siphoned it through a sieve, you would probably be metaphorically doing something as stupid as this film. It's nowhere near as good as those films mentioned just now but it is a different take on the zombie movie. It's fun, it's stupid and it passes the time. There are some generally laugh out loud bits - like zombie cats and some interesting uses of music in the movie - especially to Britney and Dolly, but it was never going to be a blockbuster. There are some silly moments too - all I'm saying is the trampoline scene - and this pretty much rounds off the whole movie.

Overall it was a fair attempt at the zombie genre - and an enjoyable watch. One for the lads or for some light hearted buffoonery. There's plenty more movies that are way better - but it's just good enough to spend some time with. Check it out and let me know what you think.

The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is out now at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 6.5/10

What am I talking about? The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Where can I find out more? http://scoutsandzombiemovie.com
If you liked this try: The Goonies, World War Z, Shaun of the Dead, This Is The End

REVIEW: The Visit (15)

M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie is The Visit,  a weird cross pollen genre of horror-black comedy with an over egging of found footage.  Having a peek at some lovely factoids about this movie, apparently M. Night made two versions of this movie - a comedy version and true horror one and the finished one is kind of a mix up of both.

The story begins as single mom decides to send her children - 13 year old Tyler (who pretty much steals the show with his charisma - if a little overbearing at times) and his older sister Becca, who is much more matter-of-fact and has an interesting vocabulary considering she's supposed to be about 15. In a vain attempt to get her mom to make peace with her estranged parents, Becca decides to make a documentary about their week long visit to see "Nana" and "Pop Pop". Although her mom isn't too forthcoming about why she abruptly left the house she grew up in and turned her back on her parents - Becca is desperate to find out the truth. When the kids go away, mom goes on a holiday with her latino lover, Miguel and the kids meet their grandparents for the first time. However, when the rule is not to leave the bedroom after 9.30pm, the modern teenagers flaunt this rule (mainly to sneak downstairs for some midnight snacks) and their grandparents are not all what they seem.

M Night has had a difficult time of late from the heyday of when he was awesome and could do no wrong - hit after movie hit came - Signs, Sixth Sense, Unbreakable - and it seemed he was. Then came the dross that was The Last Airbender and After Earth and his credibility was practically non-existent. Still he is churning out the movies, when maybe he should have stopped. However, this movie isn't bad, but he still has a long way to go to reach the former awesomeness that was his original set of movies. Shyamalan takes the now clichéd route of found footage and takes a stab at this genre - and those expecting a jumpy horror will be disappointed. Tyler (played excellently by Ed Oxenbould) is both endearing and wholesomely annoying, but is a welcome comic relief in the movie. His matter of fact sister - Becca (Olivia DeJonge) is also great as the sensible one, but she doesn't have enough time to develop as a character rather than a person to help the narrative along. The grandparents are suitably strange and Deanna Dunagan plays Nana with the endearing dodderiness of an old lady one minute and the slight of madness in the next. Pop Pop is also a strange character who is as grumpy and withdrawn as the children's mom is outgoing and loud.

The movie is definitely not one of M Night Shymalan's best, but it's certainly a step in the right direction for redemption after the recent disappointments he has helped fill the bargain buckets with in supermarkets. I have high hopes that he will be back as the go-to director for tense thrillers and people will again say - how awesome is that movie. This movie is above average, but I think that he is getting his form back and I hope that as he continues we'll be seeing a lot more awesome movies from this director who gave us such memorable movies in the past.

The Visit is out now at all good cinemas.

POPSCORE: 6/10

What am I talking about? The Visit - the movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.thevisit.com.au
If you liked this try: Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister and any of the multitude of sequels. I would even suggest The Gallows or to a lesser extent the Blair Witch Project.

REVIEW: American Ultra (15)

American Ultra stars contemporary starlets Jesse Eisenberg as Mike Howell and Twilight's Kristen Stewart as his long suffering girlfriend, Phoebe Larson. In a small town, Mike Howell is in a "perfect" relationship with his girlfriend. He works at a small convenience shop, is pursuing his dream of being a comic book artist and everything is going great. Great, until a new director of the CIA comes into play and decides that Mike is on his hit list to be eliminated. The former director takes umbrage to this and decides to warn Mike about his impending doom. Then the story unravels to find that Mike is actually a highly trained and genetically modified super soldier that has been deactivated. So, naturally when the CIA goes after him, the former director reactivates him. This then gives him heightened senses and abilities - not bad for a guy who likes to get drunk, stoned and suffers panic attacks.

What could be best described as Trainspotting meets Salt, American Ultra has the graphic violence of a manga comic or anime with a black comedy undertone. I found Eisenberg's character hard to like, and spends most of the time running away or cowering in the corner. But when he does fight it is both gruesome and quite gripping. What could have been an edge of your seat action flick becomes more of a run and hide operation and we only see flashes of this guys abilities. He is almost a superhero in his own right but we don't get to see enough of that.

Topher Grace plays a fantastically smarmy bad guy as the CIA director Adrian Yates and is as smarmy as he is dangerous. The ever reliable John Leguizamo is fantastic and basically plays himself - which is what he always does and it's great. It's also nice to see Bill Pullman in the mix too. Eisenberg plays a decent Mike - but the character himself doesn't really have much going about him. Kristen Stewart doesn't do bad acting here and is sometimes (I said sometimes) endearing but generally joins in the with run and hide/getting caught mould for most of the movie.

Although the movie is full of bloody violence, drugs, sex references and bad language there is one awesome moment where one of the head henchman called Laugher, has a moment with Mike after trying to kill him. He asks Mike who controls him. Mike replies, "No-one," and Laugher shows some real humility by replying innocently - "that must be nice." It was a fantastic and moving piece of cinematography which was probably one of the highlights of the film. The other spark of brilliance was when Mike is pinned down by a gun man in his own house and he throws a pan in the air and shoots a bullet to ricochet off it. It's things like this that make you think a bit more thought and this could be downright awesome!

The zero to hero storyline and the basic premise have been seen a million times before, but the movie is really strange but I can't put my finger on why. It's seems to be a bit all over the place and I was desperately trying to think what score I could give it and I found it difficult. I though 6/10 but that is totally doing it an injustice because it's actually ok as an action movie. Then 7/10 is being too generous. Even 6.5/10 is not quite right so, for the first time ever I'm giving a movie:

POPSCORE: 6.8/10

What am I talking about? American Ultra the movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.americanultrathemovie.com
If you liked this try: The Bourne Identity, Salt, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Hot Fuzz

REVIEW: Spy (15)

Paul Feig returns with his written, directed, etc the latest spoof spy movie with the name of… Spy! Melissa McCarthy stars as Susan Cooper, a desk dweller in the CIA who is logistical support for suave secret agent Fine (Jude Law). When he goes missing in action, it’s up to Susan to avenge him and go and track down the evil mastermind behind the trading of nuclear weapons.

That’s basically the premise – maybe a little clichéd but you know, it’s not that bad. McCarthy shines as the almost bumbling inept spy – but has moments of brilliance and sass that take this film in a different direction you would expect. But it’s the supporting cast that help out as much as McCarthy’s performance. Jason Statham is simply fabulous as a parody of himself with lines like – “I landed a car, on a moving train, when I was on fire. I was on fire, not the car...” and another classic line – “I had my left arm ripped off and I put it back on with my right arm,” to which a disbelieving Susan Cooper says – “I’m not sure that’s medically possible!” Other stars in close support include British TV’s Miranda Hart (basically playing herself even though she’s a character) and the suitably sinister Rose Byrne playing one of the bad guys.

I really enjoyed this one and although it’s not laugh-out-loud funny, some of the humor is either stupid and silly or clever and inspired. I watched this twice so it’s fun enough to watch again. I was really worried about the Ghostbuster’s remake as I found one of Feig’s previous efforts Bridesmaids (which also featured Melissa McCarthy) to be a bit lacklustre and desperately a shadow of the Hangover and no where near as good. However, I think Spy is superior to that movie and it’s given me a little bit of faith with the Ghostbusters reboot in 2016. 

POPSCORE – 7.5/10 

What am I talking about? Spy (movie)
Where can I find out more? http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/spy

Anything else?
Paul Feig has worked with Melissa McCarthy before in Bridesmaids and will be again in the forthcoming Ghostbusters reboot due in 2016.

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.