Gravity

Hello readers, I’m going to start with something a little different with this review. I’m going to begin by saying that if you are one of the vast groups of people who frequent and enjoy visiting your local multiplex. Let’s put a label on them and call them “Cinema Goers”. Then you owe it to yourself to get your bottom down to your nearest picture house pronto quick, purchase a ticket or two, make sure it’s a 3D screening (more of that later) and then enjoy one of the best films that’s come along in many a year….

Now I know that some of you out there will have seen the trailer and made an informed opinion along the lines of “I don’t fancy that, to be honest” or something similar. Now opinions are all fine and dandy, unless of course you happen to call North Korea home, but if you have decided to give Gravity a miss I shall now tell you why you’re wrong.
The three main and obvious reasons for not going to see it are firstly, you’re not a big George Clooney fan. Secondly, Sandra Bullock has never floated your boat on the big screen and thirdly, that you just don’t find Science Fiction movies interesting. Now, taking those reasons one at a time I shall tell you why you’re wrong or what we refer to in my neck of the woods as being “Bonkers Conkers”.
George Clooney isn’t all bad. Yes, he’s annoyingly good looking and everything he touches seems to be a critical success but he’s had to work damn hard to get there. You only have to look at his IMDB page to see he’s paid his dues. He’s had to endure acting roles in Murder She Wrote, Return of the Killer Tomatoes and even Sunset Beach. Whatever your reasons for not liking Mr Clooney I think it’s time you forgive and forget any and all past transgressions that he may have committed towards you.
Reason number two, Sandra Bullock. Now when Ms Bullock first appeared in the mainstream back in 1993’s Demolition Man she was the archetypal girl next door. The American sweetheart who could do no wrong. This image was further reinforced in 1994’s Speed (yes, it’s nearly twenty years old) and it seemed that A-list mega-stardom was only a matter of when not if. However it didn’t really work out that way. Sandra became one of those “go-to” actors when casting rom coms and below par acting by numbers movies. Despite the occasional stand out performance in films like 28 Days and Crash where she played an alcoholic and a troubled rich housewife respectively  Ms Bullock has only really started to take her acting career seriously over the last few years. The proof of the pudding being her Oscar winning performance in 2009’s The Blind Side. This film also holds the record for being the highest grossing sports film ever made.  I must also admit to not being much a Sandra Bullock fan but I’m completely sold on her performance in Gravity. So much so, that I’m willing to go on record and say that with three months to go before Oscar nominations are even announced that not only will Ms Bullock be nominated for best actress she will also win the award too. Give her a chance to impress you as well.
Now, dealing with reason number three. Gravity is at first glance a stone cold, dyed in the wool Science fiction movie. Even the grand and illustrious James Cameron has gone on record by saying that “Gravity is the best Science Fiction film ever made.” Far be it for me to contradict the man who brought us blue people dying in one of the most visually stunning films ever made, Titanic, but I really think he’s missed the boat and got that wrong. Calling Gravity a Science Fiction film is like trying to pigeon hole the Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law Sherlock Holmes films as period dramas. It’s very hard to put just one label on it. At its heart it’s a story of redemption, knowing when to let go and survival.
If I had a gun pointed at my head and was asked to describe what I’d just watched I would have to say that at its core it’s a chase movie. Think of it as a modern day remake of Steven Spielberg’s Duel. However instead of a truck tormenting our victims it’s an ever escalating debris field moving in orbit at twenty thousand miles an hour. Destroying everything in its path without prejudice or remorse.

Hopefully that will have wetted your appetite enough to convince you to put one foot in front of the other and make a date with some overpriced soft drinks and popcorn. If it hasn’t however I have other weapons I can use in my persuasive arsenal to go and see what many including Empire magazine are calling their film of the year.
This film has jaw dropping visuals. I’ve never seen anything that even comes close to the levels of detail that have been put on the screen with Gravity and should really be seen in 3D, it will make a difference. I understand that there are people out there that would rather admit to liking Justine Bieber than having to wear those rather fashionable glasses but they will make a difference.
The Director Alfonso Cuaron has a reputation of delivering when it comes to filmmaking excellence. Long tracking shots, unusual angles and committing to screen originality, Cuaron doesn’t disappoint here either. Having previously helmed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the Children of Men this new film doesn’t just raise the bar with the cinematography, special effects and CGI it makes all that have come before it look clunky and antiquated. If Industrial Light and Magic are given the task to “Make with the aliens” for the soon to be filming Star Wars Episode VII then they may just need to send Cuaron the odd email and ask him very nicely just how he pulled it off his spectacular visuals. 
If you do go and see this film try and remember as you leave that 90% of what you’ve just watched was produced by computers.

At the start of the film it there’s a short description that appears on screen telling us what you can expect when in space. This culminates with the words “life in space is impossible.” After this the film starts with a single shot that ends up being just north of fourteen minutes long. When this single shot finishes, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be hooked and probably completely oblivious to the guy sitting behind you eating his nachos at fifty decibels or the teenager four seats over texting their friends.
This is what I would call an “Event” movie. What it lacks in summer blockbuster promotion and merchandising tie-ins it makes up for with edge of your seat drama and spectacle. Cuaron manages to pull this astonishing feat off with the help of a script, written by his son Jonas, which truly rewrites the rule book. It has suspense and has you really caring about what happens to the characters on screen. The other trick the screenplay manages to pull off is that there are only seven parts and five of those you only hear as voices. Clooney and Bullock are the only two actors you ever see on the screen. It’s also really nice to find Warner Brothers putting faith being put into a completely original story. This tale wasn’t adapted from a famous novel or short story. It isn’t part of a franchise and hasn’t been treated as a cash cow either.

I shan’t go into major plot details as to do so would require giving away spoilers and plot points that should be enjoyed as surprises by the movie goer themselves. What I will say is this. If it hasn’t come across over the previous paragraphs that I was blown away by this film and I cannot recommend going to see Gravity highly enough then I apologise. It must apparently take a much better wordsmith than I to do this film justice. So in closing I’ll say if you choose not to go I will call you a poo poo head and in certain cases I will call into question your musical tastes, literary preferences and in some cases fashion sense.

Lights blue touch paper and retires…..

Twitter Review:
What goes up must come down. Never ever going into space....EVER
#Stunning

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/?ref_=nv_sr_2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTiKOy59o4

Thor: The Dark World

Hello there reader, it’s been a while since I did one of these film review thingy’s so if you’ll indulge I’ll just refamiliarise my good self  with the basics….

Who: That’s the simple bit, Thor.

What: God with big hammer (Not a euphemism) defends the 9 realms from ye olde big bad nasties.

Where: The 9 realms, Greenwich and Charring Cross underground station.

When : Present day.

Why: Mucho dinero for Marvel.

Now as movie reviews go you can’t really argue with the above information but I suspect that I may need to expand on that just a tad. So beginning at the start (always best I find) I shall develope on the five W’s a little.

Thor: The Dark World is the second movie in Marvels “Phase 2”, the first being Iron Man 3. Both of these films coming after last year’s ridiculously fun and entertaining Avengers Assemble. This juggernaut of a comic book franchise keeps going from strength to strength and will be followed next year with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Now It’s a sign of how seriously Marvel are treating these films that they signed up Robert Redford in Winter Soldier. Put together a stellar cast for Guardians that includes Bradley Cooper playing a Racoon (yes, you did read that right), Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan (Amy Pond if that helps), John C Reily, Glenn Close, Peter Serafinowicz, Michael Rooker and Benicio Del Toro. These films will be followed by Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015. Another sign of how much faith they have in what they are doing is that they have already announced what the first film will be in “Phase 3”. That being Edgar Wright’s “Ant Man”.

So, back to the big guy with the hammer (still not a euphemism). Thor: The Dark World picks up from where we last saw the Asgardian God in Avengers Assemble. Having returned home following his adventures in New York he is tasked with bringing order to the nine realms. These guys and gals don’t seem to be playing nicely with each other and after a few short battles, that all seem to be as good as over once “Have hammer, will travel” turns up. Order and balance to the universe seem to have been restored.
Ah, yes but that wouldn’t be much of a film now would it if you rocked up and bought a ticket at your local multiplex. Only to find yourself watching the end credits roll less than fifteen minutes after you’ve sat down with your popcorn and drink. You’d be a smidgen upset and rightfully so. Citizens up and down this great land of ours would be confronting Cinema managers and challenging them to duels. Gauntlets would be thrown down at such an alarming rate that the whole very fabric of society would be in danger of falling apart.
But, fear not dear reader, faster than you can say “Ok, you’ve covered the back story and I’ve played catch up, can you  now furnish me with a villain that used to play Doctor Who” up pops an actor that used to play Doctor Who. Christopher Eccleston gets the honour of playing the big bad guy in this film. His character is called Malekith who just happens to be the ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. (I know that sounds cool but I just can’t see it working on a business card). His main motivation for his actions is that he and his merry gang of elves were here first.  They liked things just the way they were before everyone else came along with all their 9 realms nonsense thank you so very much. With a little help from something called the Aether he starts to plot and scheme his way back to being the way they were. As luck would have it the 9 realms just happen to be heading towards planetary alignment, which makes the whole Malekith evil plan just that little bit easier to initiate. As this alignment only happens once every five thousand years, it does mean it’s almost treated like a race against time to get everything and everyone one annihilated. This does help drive the film and the plot forward. There is however a problem with Malekith. He’s very one dimensional and he never gets anything close to character development. He only really interacts with Thor himself and his back story is given by Anthony Hopkins Odin in a voiceover at the start of the film. When you think of villains who come before in the Marvel films you have some great ones to choose from, Hugo Weavings Red Skull, Sir Ben Kingsley’s The Mandarin and the always scene stealing Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. It’s just a shame that no real effort seems to have been made with Malekith and the screen time he’s given. If I’m being honest it’s his right hand man and senior henchman “Kurse” that gets given far more to do. It’s the films only major failing apart from impossible tube journeys made by Thor in the last act.

For those of you who saw the original Kenneth Branagh Thor, this takes the universe he created and expands on it. We get to a lot more of Asgard itself and its inner workings. There’s even a major aerial battle set piece throw in for good measure that looks like it was lifted straight out of Flash Gordon. However it’s here on Earth, specifically London, were most of the action takes place. Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster finds herself in Greenwich with her intern Darcy. Played to perfection by Kat Dennings, who is also given a lot more to do in this film and has some great scenes.  Jane and Darcy are also joined again by Stellan Skarsgard as Erik Selvig. He is best summed up by saying that since we last saw him in Avengers he may have lost the plot slightly. He’s seen sans clothes running around Stone Henge acting like a scientist who’s just had all of his test tubes taken away. This funnily enough gets him sectioned and after being released into the custody of Darcy’s intern Ian, he teams up with Jane and Company to look into some strange energy readings they’ve discovered.

After Malekith’s attack on Asgard that leaves some serious damage both structurally and emotionally Thor realises that he’s going to need some help defeating him. So of course he trots to the dungeon to ask his imprisoned brother Loki if he’d be willing to help him kick some serious dark elf butt and help redeem his previous actions. Not knowing if he can really trust Loki they set off together to track Malekith down. Now without giving the game away too much one of the brothers doesn’t come out of this undertaking to well at all. In fact I’d go so far as to say that for one of them the hunt is not a “low key” affair.
After this three way confrontation is done and dusted the last act transports the hero of the piece and his antagonist to sunny old Greenwich. Apart from the fact it isn’t sunny the final confrontation is executed very well. Lots of bang for your buck, great CGI and like the ending of last year’s Prometheus, the odd space ship falling over.
If you get the opportunity to see this film I would definitely recommend doing just that. Marvel seem to have the golden touch at the moment and with the possible exception of Iron Man Two they have just to make a bad comic book film within the Avengers franchise. The script is polished, Tom Hiddleston does for Loki what Steve Jobs did for the mobile phone and of course it being a Marvel film you have to stay for the credits. They have two stings attached and one features a very good actor mentioned earlier. In closing I just say this. If Kevin Feige, who’s in charge of green lighting all the films that Marvel Studios make manages to keep up this run of form then I suspect it’s only a matter of time before  DC throw in the towel and raise the white flag…… and I love DC.
Twitter Review:
Gods & Monsters, Hammers & Elves. Thor keeps you entertained from start to finish.
#StopHammerTime (Sorry)

Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981115/?ref_=nv_sr_1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KTvjFGgGkk
http://marvel.com/movies