Review: Dark Shadows***
Once upon a time, the Burton-Depp partnership was such a sure thing with every project they entered into that they seemed to have the monopoly on quirky Gothic tales; we fell in love with Edward Scissorhands and were enchanted by Corpse Bride. So the chance to see the pair collaborate on a feature-film version of Dan Curtis’s much-loved TV show, Dark Shadows, seemed like ideal material. However, as has been the case since Alice in Wonderland, too much of a good thing has led to them becoming complacent and lacking any new ideas. Burton fans will find some satisfaction in…
Ben Stiller’s Secret Life
Comedian Ben Stiller was spotted filming scenes for his upcoming remake of ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ in New York, this week. Always the funny man, the ‘Meet the Fockers’ star has been sharing images from the set with his 2.7 million followers on Twitter. One of the images shows him carrying two grown men over his shoulder suggesting that Stiller might have gained super human strength abilities at the age of 46. Who said life ended at 40, eh? Ben directs as well as stars in this movie which tells the story of a lonely photo magazine…
Review: Avengers Assemble (3D)****
The wait is over, and it’s been well worth it to see the likes of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) join forces with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) in a superb superhero finale to save the planet. And opposite every hero should be a worthy component to do battle with – in this case, Thor’s ego-bruised stepbrother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Director Joss Whedon’s offering allows each Marvel member a chance to shine and retain their mighty personality, hence, going to satisfy fans of each character…
Review: Battleship***
Love it or hate it; John Carter star Taylor Kitsch is here to stay, and even though his latest movie, Battleship, is monumentally moronic, there is still a huge amount of over-the-top, double entendre theatrics and bombastic action to giggle gleefully at. The added draw for some of director Peter Berg’s (hopefully) satirical ode to all recent sci-fi action movies will be pop star Rihanna or perhaps True Blood’s man mountain Alexander Skarsgård? Either way, Battleship goes forth with all guns blazin’ to bring down an alien enemy and any shred of credibility. The plot is a simple one: based on Hasbro’s…
Review: Mirror Mirror**
The crux of the Snow White story is oddly missing in Tarsem Singh’s adaptation of the classic fairy-tale – namely the dominant power of the mirror that controls the destiny of all who stares into it. This cocky, camp modernization attempts a blend modern-day austerity/irony with family-friendly humour that doesn’t quite mesh. Its lead star Julia Roberts as the wicked stepmother is neither convincingly evil nor devishly funny, and spends the majority of the time merely looking smug at all her screen time – Singh has certainly got his A-list exposure for his money. The story is a very 21st Century…
Review: Wrath of the Titans**
For a sequel bursting and ablaze with special effects and offering far better 3D this time around – as it wasn’t done haphazardly in post production, director Jonathan Liebesman’s take on Greek mythology is surprisingly bland. Unfortunately for him, it’s a combination of bland script and even blander lead in Sam Worthington. Worthington is like the Nigel Mansell of the acting world; performing adequately and a rather likeable chap but never setting the world (or screen) alight. It’s as though Liebesman relies heavily on his effects to inject excitement into Wrath of the Titans (3D) as the rest is a…
Review: The Hunger Games***
Forget 2012; finally, the games have arrived. Author Suzanne Collins’s post-apocalyptic world is projected for all to watch on the big screen. The obvious parallels between the existence we are introduced to in The Hunger Games and the possible collision course we are on are eerily not lost – it’s just a shame that the film for the uninitiated book reader results in more questions than satisfying answers. If it weren’t for such a powerful central lead by Winter’s Bone actress Jennifer Lawrence, we probably wouldn’t be half as captivated. North America in a not-to-distant future is gone, and all…
Review: John Carter***
Writer-director Andrew Stanton tries his hand at live action this time, putting some of his fun Pixar magic from the likes of award-winning Finding Nemo and Wall-E into John Carter, an other-worldly adventure staged on Mars – or Barsoom, as adapted from Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs’s work, A Princess of Mars. Whatever faults this film has, it does something that the dull Cowboys and Aliensfrom last year tried and failed to do; marry Western and sci-fi genres and the analogies between American civil war history between cowboys and Indians far better, opening up the Barsoom landscape that looks like…
Review: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 3D***
Admitting to enjoying a Nic Cage film always feels like a guilty pleasure when there is often plenty to be entertained by the man himself on screen, regardless of how incredulous the story his character resides in is. In fact after the lukewarm response to the first Ghost Rider film, there is nothing to lose with the second one – apparently in 3D, and this gun-ho attitude permeates Cage’s Johnny Blaze character too, with oodles of cheap thrills to be had. In Spirit of Vengeance Blaze still struggles with his demonic side while hiding out in Eastern Europe. But he…
Review: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (3D)**
You all know the story from back in 1999, the prequel of how young Anakin Skywalker – played here by cutesy Jake Lloyd – began his journey on the road to Jedi Knight status, while harbouring a darker side that would later reveal itself in Episode III. The hope was that the latest offering in 3D would turn George Lucas’s 2D The Phantom Menace with its fairly average storyline into an interactive Star Wars3D Mecca for fans who have been longing to see the spaceships and lightsabers fly out of the screen towards them while re-immersing them in the intergalactic…
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