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alanhorkan
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alanhorkan
Location
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About Me
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Genres I like
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Action, All Movies
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
The ever reliable Jason Statham delivers again. There's plenty of action, lots of dodgy one liners and just enough twists to keep it interesting.
(Better than a lot of his films, but not up to the standards of Crank or Transporter. It is better than 3 stars but I'm reluctant to give it 4. I don't do half star ratings, 7/10 shall we say?)
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
It is nice to see a whole lot of the original cast (and many minor cast members and a brief cameo by Neil Patrick Harris too) but there isn't anything really new or surprising here, it is a bit tame in fact.
Familiar and at this stage you should know if you like it or not, just another slice of warm apple pie. (May not contain any actual pie.)
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
Burn the heretic! Yeah, I liked it, but I didn't love it, as I had hoped. I enjoyed the Iron Man and Captain America films more than The Avengers.
Whedon did a great job keeping it all together and balancing a large ensemble cast and there are some great action set pieces and some moments of emotion and some humour (and this is the best film with a Hulk in it yet). As a comic book fan it is amazing that this kind of crossover film happened (and that it didn't suck like Aliens versus Predators). Ultimately though the story is spread thin, heroes meet, don't get along, aliens invade, heroes learn to get along. While I enjoyed it and I'd encourage most people to go see it I'm not convinced it is brilliant and I don't want to overrate it.
Don't forget to stay for the credits, there is a mid credits teaser (nothing post credits).
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
Very clever and very "meta" but not particulary scary. The more of a horror fan you are and the more of the meta jokes you get the funnier this is, and I'm sure I missed a whole lot of them but I still had a lot of fun.
It isn't giving anything away (that the trailer doesn't already tell you) to say this is 'The Truman Show' of horror films, and the cast are being setup by an outside organisation, an organisation which even includes a character called Truman.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
Anyone who has seen Winters Bone with Jennifer Lawrence will know this film was no stretch for her and she is the strongest part of the film, and if you've read the books you know she needs to be. A strong character with a lot of internal thoughts and conflicts is a tough one to bring to the screen. The quieter moments in the film are well judged. I tend to sit closer to the front of the cinema and I found the frequent shaky handheld camera work particularly annoying but it seems like they might have done so intentionally to make it easier to cut away and present the violence and death it a barely see it kind of way.
There were plenty of changes from the book, keeping the featured cast to a minimum makes sense and the greater prominance of President Snow was a welcome change.
The dialog was mostly disappointing, far more explanation and intent from the book could have been included without being heavy handed. For example, at one point food supplies are destroyed, and it was a real shame that the point from the book about making it a real "Hunger Games" didn't make it. (As a counter-example Katniss threatening that she might still skin and eat her sisters ugly hissing cat, carries so much extra back story in such a brief exchange, it is a shame there weren't more moments like that.)
There is no post credits sequence of any kind.
Worth a look but I was left hungry, wanting more.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
Librarian of Arabia. It's pretty good. Felt a bit long but good.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
I'd like to rate this film higher but ultimately it is slight story without much in the way of depth. I found the story all a bit vague. Aside from that it is a well paced bit of action, big chunks of it were filmed in Dublin and I quite enjoyed seeing Michael Fassbender getting beaten up by a girl.
Carono will I hope make more action films but despite being a mixed martial arts champion with more than enough ability to fight for real, that doesn't actually count for much and far less capable actors have faked better more stylish and entertaining fight scenes. Choreography goes a long way, and real fighting moves don't necessarily look interesting on screen. I quite liked the car chase, the way it all goes a bit wrong felt quite real, and in fact the reality of the film drew me in and felt quite comfortable and convincing throughout (unlike the latest Mission Impossible which all seemed a bit silly to me by comparison).
I was 4.5 almost 5/5 stars entertained and I felt it was worth seeing just for the parts filmed in Dublin. So 3 out of 5 is my objective "would you recommend it to someone else" score and an attempt to judge the overall quality of the film.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
Longer sillier and more comfortable making a mess. Fun and in many ways better than the previous film but unlikely to win any new fans, but having already alienated the Sherlock purists expecting a thriller this makes for a lot of fun action.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
How do you feel about remakes? The Swedish original was great and this is not the same. I enjoy both in different ways.
Some people will dismiss this as a remake and others will accept it at face value. Critics can and will complain about the difficulty of translating the book to screen. This film has style in abundance and hammers home the theme of isolation.
I can't help feeling the characterisation in this film wasn't as good as the Swedish version but on the other hand certain aspects of Lisbeth Salander from the book have been made far clearer. This film will bring new fans to the series but for people who have already seen the Swedish version there is not a lot more to see here.
Although overly long the film sets things up and films me with optimism for a better trilogy, although considering the lack of depth I felt from this film I'm still only cautiously optomistic about the potential sequals.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
More drugs, more laughs, more NPH, more sending up racial stereotypes. I really enjoyed it, I liked it better than the second film. I actually liked the 3D too, which almost never happens, it was so over the top and 3D stoner smoke was pointless fun.
While I liked it alot myself I'm not sure this would really appeal to anyone who hadn't already seen at least one of the other two films.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
How much do you like Hunter S Thompson? That's what it comes down to I think. Strong characters, weak story. Interesting enough, Puerto Rico looks beautiful as does Amber Heard, and Depp impersonating Hunter S Thompson (Ribiso too I think, but in a different way) and some witty lines but there really isn't enough going on.
Reviewed by
alanhorkan
Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should. I skipped the 3D version and went for 2D but from the nauseating (seasick?) camera work I expect to hear about all the "freedom" the computer animation gave to the film makers.
Aside from that it is a fun family film full of slapstick. The motion capture animation is still a little strange but a lot less creepy than I'd expected and except for Daniel Craig I got used it mostly.
For Tintin fans the story includes: The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham's Treasure.
I wasn't amazed but I'm optimistic the next film will be even better.