Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Director: James Gunn

Principal Cast Members: Chris Pratt, Zoe Salanda and Dave Bautisa

So far you might have looked at Marvel's selection of films for phase 2 and thought they were playing it safe with a number of sequels for the Avengers star members, however the choice of Guardians of the Galaxy proved that they were still in the risk taking business. So who would of thought that a mixture of an almost unknown director, been based upon a little known comic series, a cast lacking A-List faces and a talking tree would threaten to steal the limelight from the Avenger A-list. In fact the film is almost a perfect summer blockbuster managing to be both light and have an emotional depth, something which comes from the incredibly clever casting. Like most things in the film casting a sitcom guy in one of the biggest films of the summer could have backfired massively but instead Chris Pratt's performance would seem to pave the way for him to become one of the hottest acting properties on the planet. Zoe Salanda is a solid as ever and first timer Dave Bautisa does enough to suggest he could follow the rock from wrestling to acting success. The addition of big name voices for the characters of Groot and Rocket could have seen as just a publicity stunt but both seem to have taken the job to heart and thus the two CGI characters are almost the most relatable of the bunch. While the titular characters take most of the focus the decision to fill the supporting cast with familiar faces from cult TV shows means there is plenty to keep fans entertained in the rest of the cast. If anyone here is short changed it's the villains who feel like there only there in order to give the Guardian's someone to beat up. However in the end this doesn't matter as the audience are just having to much fun thanks to the film been portrayed as almost a mix between Star Wars and Indiana Jones set to a superb retro playlist, Who wouldn't like that?

Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Director: Matt Reeves

Principal Cast Members: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman

After Tim Burtons remake of Planet of the Apes many thought that the franchise was well and truly dead but thanks to Rupert Wyatts clever 2011 prequel the franchise may just be about to become one of the most pioneering of the decade. The plot of the sequel picks up 10 years after the first film left off with most of the human race having been wiped out and Caesar having established a colony of apes in the hills near San Francisco. While it's a little disappointing to not see James Franco return the move allows Caesar to take the spotlight and show just how incredible Motion Capture technology has become, even providing a massive improvement in the three years since the first film was released. Perhaps most key to this is that this time it is not only Serkis who takes on a motion capture role, as Dawn sees Toby Kebbell and Judy Greer take on major ape roles. While it's the apes that dominate the film Jason Clarke finally makes the step up to lead human role and does so well and even with little to do Gary Oldman is a brilliant as ever and almost steals the film with one brief scene. Unfortunately other then the CGI work and acting the film has very little to offer, while the plot is an interesting one it often feels overstretched in order to showcase the Motion Capture. Of course while watching the film this really doesn't matter and you are taken in by the breathtaking work done in creating the apes. Despite it's flaws the film will still go down as groundbreaking, not bad for what was once seen as one of the biggest B Movie franchises.

What I Learned from the World Cup

South Americans Give Their All

While there have been many stories throughout the World Cup about players loyalties one thing that was abundantly clear was that the South American players would do anything to win. I've got to admit that like many I was left disappointed when watching Brazil and even Argentina but the real standouts of the tournament for me where Chile and Columbia. Both sets of players played with their hearts on their sleeves (the way all international players should surely play) and gave everything to their team. While this unfortunately did often include diving you could just tell that playing football for their country at the World Cup meant the world to them. If they had not been unluckily been knocked out by Brazil on penalties Chilean players would surely have been very near the top of the most distance covered as whenever the other team had the ball there was always a queue of Chile players fighting their way to get back and defend. 

Not All Players Are as Committed

South American football may be on the up but the same cannot be said of African Football. After an impressive showing at the last few World Cups only Nigeria and Algeria made it out of the group stages this time around and neither made it past the round of 16. However the main focus of attention for African Nations was on the completely destructive tournament from Cameroon. Not only were the team eliminated from the group stages but they also had to send home some of their star names early after numerous misconducts. All this after the squad almost didn't travel to the tournament over a pay related dispute. Because of this the countries governing body have announced that for any future tournament they will be introducing contracts for all their playing staff! For me this is a total disgrace, admittedly I may be a bit old fashioned but in my mind players are paid enough to pay for their club sides (and are still paid by them while on international duty) and then play for their national team because of the pride it brings. Unfortunately the Cameroon players seem to have got to big for their boots and as a consequence their fans have suffered by watching their team not only fail on the pitch but become a laughing stock off it.

The Real Luis Saurez is back



Just when it seemed redemption was on the cards for Mr Suarez he goes and does it again. The man who single handily destroyed England left the World Cup in disgrace after biting an opponent for the third time!! Well at least he should have left the tournament in disgrace but instead was treated to a heroes welcome back in his home country who refused to acknowledge that he had done anything wrong. The fact that the country and his club were too scared to upset him by admitting he'd done something wrong that should be punished sums up all that's wrong with modern football. Thankfully Liverpool had the strength to finally decide to sell up and cash in on the player they had stuck by for so long. To sum up how bad Suarez's actions are the fact that FIFA actually came out of this situation having actually acted quickly and correctly by banning Suarez from all football related activity for 4 months. Unfortunately if his reception at the final Sepp Blatter is still as unpopular as ever and looks like he's done too little too late to save any scrap of respect he has in the eyes of the footballing public.

Football is at its Best when Unpredictable



The 2014 World Cup will surely go down as one of the greatest in living memory and that was mainly thanks to the fact that it had enough shocks to fill a World Cups greatest shock show. Where do you start; Costa Rica Quarter finalists, Spain and Italy been knocked out of the group stages, Messi doing nothing in the knockout rounds but still getting the golden ball and of course the incredible Germany Brazil result! Yes many of the games only came to life late on but when they did they where superb and reminded us just how exciting international football can be. It's testament to how good the tournament was that many of us simply forgot that England had even been in it, putting the disappointment aside to watch some simply superb football.

Germany Deserved Victory



Any team that can defeat the host nation of a World Cup 7-1 deserves to go on and lift the trophy, even if their German. For as long as I can remember Germany have been threatening greatness at major tournaments only to slip up in the group stages but this time they weathered their rough patch against Algeria and ended up as the champions and when you look back it's hard to argue against the German's been champions. When you look at their squad as a whole they had easily the strongest squad at the competition and where of course helped by the fact that many have been playing as a team (at club and international level) for the better part of a decade. Watching the final itself I've got to say that without Javier Mascherano Germany would have easily won the game in normal time and it would of been a cruel blow if Messi had decided to turn up in extra time to win the game for the Argentinians. The chance to rule world football is now in Germany's grasp and if they keep their eye on the ball they may even be able repeat and even better Spain's domination of recent years.

Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Director: Dean Deblois

Principal Cast Members: Jay Baurchel, Gerard Butler and Cate Blanchett

Since it's early successes Dreamworks Animation has often felt like Disney and Pixars poor cousin, but with How to Train Your Dragon it looked like the studio could finally have it's way of breaking back into the mainstream. But rather then completely play it safe and give us a rerun of the first film, the second takes a few risks along the way. In an almost unheard of move for an animated film the characters have been noticeably aged up, a move which helps to give a little extra weight to the films narrative of growing up. In fact in many ways this feels more like an adult animation film that can also be enjoyed by children. Said animation is so strong that when watching the film you could almost be forgiven for thinking that some of the animated characters were real such is the detail put into getting every little movement right. A cleverly chosen voice cast helps to give the characters heart and also allows the audience to become more invested in the human relationships seen on screen. However the real star of the show still remains Toothless, who is still as incredibly adorable as he was the last time we met him and through the skill of animators can portray almost any emotions through his big puppy dog eyes. The sequel is not without it's little flaws but the way it mixes family drama with the huge action set pieces is hugely admirable and promises that maybe Dreamworks are ready come of the woodwork again and fulfill the potential that it suggested to us with the early Shrek films. Hopefully this will be with the How to Train Your Dragon series right at the centre and judging from what director Dean Deblois has had to say about the future part 3 could be the bravest yet.

Review: Transformers: Age of Extinction

Review: Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Director: Michael Bay

Principal Cast Members: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor

Michael Bay and the Transformers movies are inseparable. Even though he claimed that the last one was his last, he has inevitably returned for a 4th film which will probably be described as somewhere in between a sequel and a reboot. While Bay claims that this will be his last in the series as he simply wanted to start a new trilogy for someone else to inherit, I for will be more surprised to see him return then not to. But if this is his last film then he goes out doing what he does best. Cleverly deciding to drop the story Sam whatever his name was and current walking disaster Shia La Bouf, the focus moves to Mark Whalberg's single father. The decision pays off as Whalbergs charisma alone makes him a good leading man for a series where the focus is usually upon big alien robots kicking the shit out of each other. While we don't quite escape for teenage romantic drama narrative having actually cast an actress rather then an underwear model means that the female lead for once feels like she could almost be a real character. When your casting a supporting actor for a largely comic role you can't do much better then Stanley Tucci who excels here and becomes the only real human character to make any impact in the films final hour. The problem lies in the films length for there's only so much CGI fighting you can watch and by the third hour of the film your attention will no doubt be wandering. This is made worse by the fact that, other then a few shots that have been shown over and over in the promotional footage, during the final battle you could just be watching the end of the previous film all over again, although thankfully we're now spared the big bad been outdone by child psychology. The plot also seems unsure as who it should cast as the main villain, and with there been so many to choose from it's easy to loose track of whose doing what to who. If the film had been condensed a little bit it's possible that the Transformers franchise could of been put right on track with the perfect summer popcorn blockbuster with enough human interest to keep the film buffs happy and enough action for those who just want a good time but unfortunately due to the extortionate length your just left with hope that Bay can learn from his mistakes (Good luck with that)

Review: Walking on Sunshine

Review: Walking on Sunshine (2014)

Directors: Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini
Principal Cast Members: Hannah Arterton, Annabel Scholey and Giulio Gerruti

Sometimes you can go into a film with really low expectations and it will surprise you. Walking on Sunshine is not one of those films. While I can normally handle a large amount of cheesy musicalness, I still watch Glee for god's sake!, but when it's this bad I've got to admit its almost painful. Everything about the film is badly done. For example when your watching a musical and you start to notice how poor the choreography is then it's got to be bad. The film suffers from its comparisons to Mamma Mia but it's so obvious that it's trying to replicate the former's success that you can have no sympathy and therefore bumbles along in a way that resembles Mamma Mia minus the soul, joy, charisma or any other of the things that people loved. The films plot seems to have been completely orientated to accommodate as many 80's hits as possible. Admittedly all the songs are enjoyable but their so painfully introduced most of the time that it takes the pleasure out of them. The script also makes the lives of the actors impossibly difficult, however you do get what you'd expect from a cast where the big names are the sister of Gemma Arterton and Leona Lewis. For many this film might have been a step to far even if it had been done well but unfortunately everything about the film is carried out so poorly that even musical fans may find themselves flooding to the exits early.

Review: Maleficent

Review: Maleficent

Director: Robert Stormberg
Principal Cast Members: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning and Sharlto Copley

Like it our not we're going to have to get used to seeing live action re-imaginings of animated classics. After last years Oz the Great and Powerful Disney have now moved on to retelling Sleeping Beauty. This time decided to give the tale the Wicked treatment and focus upon the original tales villain, a move that could easily have backfired and tainted the reputation of one of Disney's finest villains. Thankfully Angelina Jolie is more then up to the task and completely inhabits the role, making it her own. In fact she does it do well that the movie completely belongs to Jolie who puts in what could be career defining performance. Unfortunately Jolie is so good that she completely outshines her cast members meaning that the film feels a little lopsided (if only their was a film that told the other half of the story!!). Elle Fanning is lovable despite doing very little Aurora but Sharlto Copley puts in another completely misguided performance and to see such great British talents Imelda Staunton and Juno Temple play mindless fairies is incredibly disappointing. Luckily the film brings the world of Sleeping Beauty to life beautifully and makes you wish you could spend a bit longer exploring the Maleficent s world. In terms of plot there is a slight sense of Deja Vu with much of the narrative and reminds you that despite it's darkness Maleficent is in fact meant to be a children's film. While most of the film will probably be forgotten in time, it is likely the film will always be known for the greatness of it's central performance.

Well That Lasted Long

You may have noticed that like most football fans recently I have been a little bit quiet (and will most likely continue to be until the 13th July) thanks to the World Cup. And unless you have been living under a rock you will also have noticed that England's tournament has ended almost as soon as it began. Now you could spent hours going over everything thing that has gone wrong for England but the clear fact remains that we were knocked out by teams that were quite simply better then us and a rather plucky Costa Rica side. We have known about the tough group for months and after playing down our chances since the draw and talking about how this World Cup is simply going to be used as a test run for the younger members of our squad naturally the media responded with articles like this?

Yep, predictably the media have now launched a hate campaign against Roy Hodgson because his team lost to two sides who are undeniably better then England (just look at the world rankings) and then drew with a team that have the potential to be the shock of the tournament. It's obvious that Roy has made mistakes but there are two very simple reasons why he should keep his job. For one thing who is there whose going to be willing to take over who is better then Hodgson. You only have to look at the Premier League to see there is a lack of top quality English manager. Yes Alan Pardew and Steve Bruce have had solid careers and are doing well at Newcastle and Hull but neither have Hodgson's experience, especially in the top European competitions  (the closest thing in the club management to an international tournament). Sam Allardyce is already hated by many of the West Ham faithful, while Harry Redknapp has underachieved with a huge Queens Park Rangers squad who just managed to scrape through the play-offs for promotion. Another option been touted is Brendan Rodgers who, while having done an incredible job with Liverpool also lacks European experience, would surely be very unwilling as a proud Northern Irishman to leave his promising Liverpool project in order to take the almost poisoned chalice of the England Manager's job. 

The other main problem that England face is a lack of real star power. Looking at the Uruguay game there were only two major differences for me, one the work rate of the Uruguayans (as with all the South American teams) and two Luis Suarez. In a very even game Suarez was the man that made the difference and is arguably the reason why it is Uruguay going through and not England or Italy. At any level of football having one player who can win the game with one piece of brilliance is always a bonus but at a World Cup it's vital. England had plenty of chances to win all three of their games but just needed one Suarez like talent in order to get the results needed. I'm not saying there's not talented players in the England squad, Rooney has the ability to make a difference but does not perform regularly enough at international level to be the player England need him to be. Whether one of England's youngsters can step up and perform at Euro 2016 or the 2018 World Cup remains to be seen and until then I suggest the media stop messing on talking about whether or not Hodgson should be sacked and get behind the team (like that's ever going to happen...). Away from England though this World Cup has been thoroughly entertaining and is only getting better as we get towards the knockout stages, so don't expect to be hearing from me too often in the next few weeks!!

Review: 22 Jump Street

Review: 22 Jump Street (2014)

Directors: Christopher Miller and Phil Lord

Principal Cast Members: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill and Ice Cube

It would be fair to say that Christopher Miller and Phil Lord are quickly becoming the lords of Comedy cinema (I make no apologies for the pun!!). After hitting all the right spots in the early months of 2014 with The Lego Movie in which everything was awesome, they have quickly moved on to following up their 2012 sleeper hit 21 Jump Street making it two major releases in less then 6 months. While the first movie was self aware in parts, 22 Jump Street racks that up creating a whole film that revels in the fact that sequels always follow the same pattern and are nearly always worse, and in doing so have made sure their film is a rare comedy sequel that is actually funnier then what has gone before. Like they promise throughout the narrative in terms of narrative we gets almost a compete rerun of what has gone before, but when the jokes are this good no one really cares. While as to be expected with the number of jokes on show some don't work but thankfully more then enough work really well, from in jokes about a certain cast members name to big elaborate set pieces. But what really sells the film is what made the first film a joy, the central relationship between Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. While it could be argued that Hill is putting in the typical comedy performance you'd expect from him, Tatum revels in his new found comedy abilities and when both are one screen together they sizzle with chemistry. Another plus is the increased role for Ice Cube this time around, who often threatens to steal the film away from the Tatum/Hill pairing but it's a scene featuring all the trio that receives the biggest laughs. Impressively 22 Jump Street keeps it predecessors ability to stay fresh on repeat viewings and has put in a very strong case to be 2014's top comedy. Oh and stick around for the superb credits.

Review: Edge of Tomorrow

Review: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Director: Doug Liman

Principal Cast Members: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt and Bill Paxton

Over the last few years Tom Cruise has released of string of films that I have found myself been surprised by how much I've enjoyed them, unfortunately that run comes to an end with Edge of Tomorrow. Now I'm not saying it's a bad film but rather completely unmemorable and average. Now I will say that from the looks of reviews and other ratings I appear to be in the minority but perhaps surprisingly the film did nothing for me. There's nothing particularly bad about the film, with a good ensemble cast all working well together but failing to quite spark. While it's nice to see Cruise attempt to do something different I couldn't quite shake the feeling we'd seen it before. The action sequences are exciting and thankfully the time resets are done in a way that they always manage to be a little bit different but can never truly get away from the repetitiveness that the script demands. Despite this the film goes by at quite a brisk pace but unfortunately no of the action set pieces can match the superb opening battle, leaving the ending to feel like a bit of an anti-climax. In fact I felt like if the third act of the film had been stronger we might of been on to a winner but instead came out feeling a little bit let down by Mr Cruise and company.

Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Director: Bryan Singer

Principal Cast Members: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence

It's fair to say that for fans of the X-Men franchise this is what they were waiting for. In an Avengers style team up, Bryan Singer returns to the franchise to unite both the old and the new and it's fair to say it's pretty spectacular. Right from the snazzy opening credits it feels like the first true sequel to Singer's first two installments in the franchise. While it's great to see the old cast back, once the film gets going most of the action takes place mostly in the 70's, which could of been problematic had First Class not done such a good job of establishing the younger versions of the X-Men. I could talk for hours for how great it is too see the established casts return on top form but I feel you might get bored and could probably watch the film itself before I'm finished. The superb script means that while it could feel a stretch to incorporate all these characters the film seems to breeze by, giving us a bit of what we love and some new joys - Hugh Jackman and Nicholas Hoult's interactions threaten to steal the film and manage to give the film some much needed light relief. Even more remarkable is that they still manage to introduce a rather high number of impressive new characters, Peter Dinklage and Evan Peters make a great leap from television to movies to make sure that the 70's side of the story has developed, while even the brief glimpses we get in the future of Bishop and Blink suggest that we could be seeing some really cool mutants in future installments. Like a lot of the films out this month Singer uses special effects to great effects to give us some of the most impressive set pieces in the franchise to date. For any long term X-Men fan this is a must see and it goes without saying, stay to the end of the credits!!

Review: Godzilla

Review: Godzilla (2014)

Director: Gareth Edwards

Principal Cast Members: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen and Godzilla (duh!!)

Reboots are one of the most prominent features of recent blockbuster cinema, one which often faces stern (and perhaps warranted) criticism but Godzilla is a rare beast, a reboot that is not only better then the previous film but one that eclipses all those painful memories. It's true that it wouldn't of taken much to have bettered Roland Emmerich's monstrosity but thankfully Gareth Edwards manages to both successfully reboot the franchise but also manages to make a great monster movie while he's at it. It's fair to say that the monster movie has been pretty much dead in recent years but Edwards continues the revival he started with Monsters, only this time he has a considerably bigger budget to play with and boy does he play. While we have got used to cities been leveled, Edwards manages to make it feel refreshing as well as keeping the action spectacular and personal at the same time. While he has an impressive cast to work with you can't help thinking that money could have been saved by hiring less known actors to do a similar job. That's not saying that the cast do anything wrong, it's just they don't really have much to work with. Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins are all wasted in effectively exposition roles. Thankfully the main attraction of the film makes up for that. While Edwards revels in the reveal, you don't get to properly see Godzilla until late on in the film, when we do finally see him he looks glorious and becomes a character all in himself. I also must congratulate the marketing team for actually keeping a lot of the films secrets secret (thus making my job harder) so there's little more I can say about some of the most impressive aspects of the film. We can now truly say that the monster movie is truly back in the spotlight and hopefully can bring the monster movie back to the blockbuster.

Congratulations Arrow Team

All you have to do is look at the list of films been released over the last few years to know that Superheroes and comic book properties are very big at the moment. Therefore it's only natural that television would eventually come to represent this but the new shows heading our way next year are going to have stiff competition if Arrow season 3 is even half as good as season 2. While I was fully expecting Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D to be the number 1 TV show this year I've got to admit that I didn't give Arrow much of a look in. This is probably a good time to stress that I shall try to avoid any spoilers for both season 1 and 2 for those who haven't seen the show (why the hell have you not by the way?).

I've got to admit I only stuck with the early part of season 1 because of the looming figure of John Barrowman (Yes big surprise i'm a Doctor Who nerd!!) and theses no denying that the show was a little bit wobbly at first. However, once the show found it's feet (and Emily Bett Rickards) once the show found its feet it became highly enjoyable popcorn television. A brave move in the season finale had my hopes slightly raised for season 2 but I could never have imagine how good the show could get. High credit can go to the writers and producers who seem to either listen to fans or just know when things aren't working and learn from their mistakes. You just have to look at the reaction to the character of Laurel, who became the butt of a lot of the fans joke, and the way that the writers then decided to have the character take a step back and allow other to shine in season 2 and then build the character slowly back up in a way that makes her one of the more interesting prospects for the 3rd season. 

It's got to be said that the cast are possibly the shows strongest asset. Not only do the producers choose to keep us nerds excited by casting actors from numerous cult shows (I mean come on both Summer Glau and Sean Maher in season 2 your spoiling us!!) but all the main cast somehow manage to make the characters interesting and lovable at the same time. For example both Willa Holland and Paul Blackthorne's characters could have been those who fall to the side but they have both been superb this season, Blackthorne in particular has become the shows secret gem!! While it was always a risk to add someone new to the equation in a key role it has to be said that Caity Lotz has also been a revelation and its now almost impossible to imagine the show without her. Another key improvement has been the villains and no matter how much I love the aforementioned Mr Barrowman I have to say that this years big bad (For spoilers sakes I shall not name the actor but he's been awesome as well!!) is a huge improvement and actually became one of my favorite characters on the show despite his wicked deeds. Hopefully in season 3 the show can continue to grow at the rate it has this year, however even if it remains this great it will continue to challenge the place in my heart currently held by Game of Thrones, and yes it is that good!!

Review: Pompeii

Review: Pompeii (2014)

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Principal Cast Members: Kit Harrington, Emily Browning and Kiefer Sutherland

I'll start with a list of words you should not expect to here in connection with Pompeii: Original characters/plot, Historical accuracy, Geographical accuracy, Quiet, As good as Game of Thrones. Now I know from the sounds of that first sentence it seems like I shall spend this entire review ranting about how bad the film is, but I promise you I shall not be. Now for me the best way of looking as this film is as a piece of fantasy, for I have the problem that I have both an A-Level in Geography and have visited Pompeii itself. Therefore although admit it the recreation of the town was impressive it is difficult for me to get past the point that it appear to have upped and moved location since the events of the film. So by classing the film as fantasy I can embrace the ridiculous, such as the fact that Vesuvius can apparently create a huge Tsunami... With this in mind my main problem with the film is that it spends it's first 45 minutes trying to be a character piece which it honestly has no right to be. For anyone who has any experience in watching films the stock characters and plot-lines will be distinctly recognizable. I mean who hasn't seen a film start where a child witness the death of their parents only for time to jump forward to reveal that said child is now and adult and a little bit pissed. Harrington's presence only serves to remind you that if you wanted a character study you could be watching Game of Thrones instead. It's also almost painful to see the waste of both Jared Harris and Carrie Ann-Moss both of whom could of shone with properly developed and meaningful roles. Yes, I know I sound like I hated the film (I did hate the first half surprisingly) but thankfully after 45 minutes Paul W.S. Anderson decides to drop the character stuff and get to what he does best, and it's glorious! From the splendid Gladiator fight to the destruction of Pompeii itself you feel like you finally get the disaster movie you've been waiting for. The special effects department get everything right (in terms of visuals, not realism) and the final half of the film is breathtaking and exhilarating. It's here that Harrington and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje come into their own and stretch the muscles. While you can see that Anderson was trying to emulate films like Titanic by mixing human drama and disaster it's unfortunate that it didn't pay off and leaves you wondering what the film might of been like if it was not so obviously a film of two halves.

Review: Bad Neighbours

Review: Bad Neighbours (2014)

Director: Nicholas Stoller

Principal Cast Members: Seth Rogan, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron and Dave Franco

On the face of it Bad Neighbours is almost exactly the type of comedy you'd expect from the director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek. There are laughs to spare and plenty of gross out moments although don't expect to be talking about such menial things such as character development. Right from the off the film is both hilarious and slightly awkward, as well as instantly show casing Seth Rogan's impressive improvisation skills which become one of the key aspects of the film. In a similar vein to Love Punch, Bad Neighbours is primarily about growing up and it's interesting to see Rogan in what could be classed as one of his first officially adult roles. Sporting her natural Australian accent it's nice to see that Rose Byrne gets her chance to be more then eye candy and actually gets to deliver some of the films main laughs. The younger cast members do not all fare quite as well, Christopher Mintz-Plasse has surely done enough in his career by now to earn more than just a glorified extra role and while it's nice to see Submarine's Craig Roberts get a Hollywood gig he can surely hope for more in the future. It's not all bad for the youngsters though, Dave Franco continues his career building with another strong comedy role and surely by now James will know he's got stiff competition for most talented member of the Franco film family. And then there's Zac Efron, who has split the young generation between those that love him and those that despise that kid from High School Musical, something which actually makes him perfect for the leader of the frat. Required to be both likable and a bit of a dick at the same time Efron seems to be having a ball and has enough charm to keep the role interesting. As mentioned earlier there are plenty of laughs on offer, some work some don't, but while falling short of been extremely funny Bad Neighbours is sure to be a crowd pleaser.