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.

Why Do We Need B-Teams!?

Now in a rare move away from cinema and TV I feel I need to discuss the big football news of the day. In case you've missed it FA Chairmen Gregg Dyke has announced that he feels in order to improve the English national team that a new League 3 will be set up in order to accommodate Premier League teams to field B-Teams. However before I get all negative and angry I will say that not everything Dyke has suggested has made me so angry. His suggestion to limit the amount of foreign players in match day squads is something that is strongly needed. For too long teams in the Premier League teams have been able to pick entire foreign squads (defiantly not looking at you Arsenal) and therefore it makes sense in order to improve the English national team that a limit on foreign players will help to give young English players a chance. This will not be without problems as it will likely lead to a further ridiculous increase in the price of British players but at least it will give the young guns a bit of a chance without compromising what makes English football great. 

Now I must say I understand where Dyke is coming from when he has suggested the introduction of B-Teams to the football league pyramid. It's true that the B-Team policy has been extremely successful in Spain but for me to be introduce it in this country risks the destroying the very foundations of the English game. For such a geographically small country, I honestly find it remarkably how many well supported football clubs that we have in this country, you only have to look at the stats to the right to see how great the attendance figures are here. And Gregg Dyke would have us disrespect these lower league sides by allowing them to simply be cannon fodder for Premier League B-Teams.

I can speak from personal experience about the passion shown at lower league level. While a Middlesbrough supporter while at uni i have had the great pleasure to able to attend York City games, in fact I shall be attending a play-off game on Saturday night. Does Dyke honestly think that fans are going to be able to pay to see both their first team and their B-Team? There is such local passion for football teams that it is a joke to see that threatened so the big teams can see their youngsters get a few games, it this not what the loan system is for? Will there be as much passion on show at play-off say between Manchester United B vs Stoke City B as there will be at Bootham on Saturday night? I think not. While I understand the need/want for a better national team I personally we should not risk the special football league that we have in this country which sets us apart from the rest of the world!? I mean come on more people go to watch League 1 football then they do for the top league in Russia!! Please don't let this happen!!