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.