Man of Steel Review

In 2006, Warner Bros. and DC decided to reboot Superman (at the same time as tying it in to the original films) with the help of Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh. Despite doing well both critically and commercially (the ninth highest grossing film of that year worldwide) any plans of a sequel were put to rest as the studios bowed down to fans’ criticism of the film. The studios have thrown caution to the wind this time with a sequel already reportedly being worked on and Man of Steel setting the groundwork for Justice League.

“Where do I come from?”

Henry Cavill is Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, sent to Earth during the destruction of his home planet of Krypton and raised on Earth by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane). When what is left of the alien race return to Earth to find Clark and rebuild their own species from scratch, he is forced to choose between his heritage and his new home.

In something that has been given relatively little thought or sight on screen in recent years, Zack Snyder (the director being entrusted with the hopes and dreams of Justice League on his shoulders) plunges the audience right into Krypton’s destruction. The movie opens with some incredible special effects and a great sense of action as Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) come to blows over the future of their planet. Man of Steel sets the bar high for its action sequences with Jor-El and Zod engaging in the first real teaser of the super powered fights that we are anticipating seeing the red and blue of Superman engage in.

“What if a child aspired to something greater?”

On Earth the excitement continues to grow as we follow Clark around in a number of jobs, from fisherman to barman, in which we learn more about the character and his selflessness; he quickly races off to save a crew from a burning oil rig. His adult life is interrupted with trips back to his childhood: Clark saving his class from drowning on a school bus, being bullied for being different, coming to terms with his abilities. You get the impression that you might actually care about this alien. Then Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is introduced and all the groundwork laid so far beings to unravel.

Unfortunately, you can’t really have a Superman movie without featuring Lois Lane in some capacity. And while she may have served a purpose previously as bringing out another human layer to Clark’s character, in Man of Steel she is little more than an annoyance and one of the most pointless characters ever. There was no need for her to be taken aboard the Krypton spaceship, it didn’t seem like Zod had any needs for her to be on board other than so she could learn how to stop them from destroying Clark and Earth.

“Welcome to the Planet”

The character development that started so promisingly disappears when Clark meets Lois. Just two or three meetings later and Lois now knows everything about Clark and the two of them have decided that they are in love. It just feels so underwhelming and undeveloped that you being to question whether some scenes have been cut from the final edit. It’s as if Snyder and David S. Goyer (screenwriter) have decided that because everyone knows Lois and Clark are meant to be together, that’s a good enough reason in itself for it to happen without any seeds being set for a relationship. And the kiss at the end? Cliche and forced. The relationship could have been allowed time to grow and be explored if pointless scenes asking us to care about 2-bit characters who have had 5 minute screen time weren’t shoe horned in.

Despite all this, Man of Steel does offer some moments of relief. The fight scenes are incredible; one on one fights scaling over miles of ground. The enormous difference between humans and Kryptons is there for all to see. Superman’s flight, his heat vision, x-ray vision (underused) and heightened senses are all portrayed wonderfully and the special effects live up to the films early promise.

“I will find him!”

There are good performances all round, Kevin Costner makes a true return to form, providing a really great performance with limited screen time. Cavill, Crowe and Shannon all perform as well as the script allows as well. One of the main criticisms levelled at Man of Steel is the inevitable loss of human life that seems to not affect Superman and this cannot be ignored.

We’re supposed to believe that Superman, of all superheroes, this moral beacon of justice and hope, is okay with charging through petrol stations, diving through skyscrapers and pummeling his way around a small town is doing this and giving no thought to the innocent people inside all these buildings that are going to die because of his actions? I don’t buy that. And when SPOILER Superman does kill someone, he has a few seconds to regret it before being rushed off screen so the end credits can take his place.

“What do you think?”

Overall, Man of Steel does provide entertainment, that much is certain. The special effects and big budget moments are really worth seeing. But it adds nothing new to Superman that hasn’t been seen before, leaving the unanswerable question: what was the point? Cavill has the potential to be the best Superman ever, but he needs a good script and brilliant story in the sequel to attain this.

My Rating: 6/10.

Who Are the Best Female Film Directors?

You won’t find many female directors among the big blockbuster films or many among mainstream films in general really. If you ask someone to name a female film director everybody could probably name one, some may even name two, but to name three or four would present a challenge to the majority of cinema audiences. I have put together this list of who I believe to be the best 5 female directors working today.

5. Andrea Arnold

Andrea Arnold made her debut with the twenty six minute long short film Wasp, which won her the Oscar for Best Short Film back in 2005. Her films have continued to create a great sense of poverty in Britain and she has gone on to direct Michael Fassbender in one of my favourite films of all time: Fish Tank.

Arnold’s previous 3 films: Red Road (2006); Fish Tank (2009); Wuthering Heights (2011)

4. Deepa Mehta

Mehta is an Indio-Canadian director who is most famous for her Elements trilogy which contained the films Fire, Earth and Water. These films tackled strong political issues in India and due to Mehta making Water from an outsiders point of view (looking back at India from her Canadian home) a lot of controversy was caused in the filming of the climax to her trilogy, involving riots and violence forcing the filming to move to Sri Lanka, rather than India.

Mehta’s previous 3 films: Water (2005); Heaven on Earth (2008); Midnight’s Children (2012)

3. Sofia Coppola

Daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia has carved out a very different path from the The Godfather director. She won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay after writing Lost in Translation, which was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. She continues to write and direct her own films with her latest, The Bling Ring, out this year.

Coppola’s previous 3 films: Marie Antoinette (2006); Somewhere (2010); The Bling Ring (2013)

2. Susanne Bier

Bier never seems to miss the mark with any of her pictures. Despite never being nominated for an Oscar in her career I can’t help but think that she should have been. Bier studied in Jerusalem and London before retuning to Denmark to attend film school. The majority of her films have been made in Scandinavia but she has dabbled in American cinema with Things We Lost in the Fire.

Bier’s previous 3 films: In A Better World (2010); Love Is All You Need (2012); Serena (2013)

1. Kathryn Bigelow

Could it be anyone else? Over the last couple of years Bigelow has become the major figurehead for female film makers. The Hurt Locker defied expectations to take home the Best Picture Oscar when up against Avatar and won Bigelow the Best Director Oscar over James Cameron. She was the first to take on the Osama Bin Laden manhunt with Zero Dark Thirty, which was also nominated for Best Picture. Her next project is unknown at the minute but the Bigelow name seems to be a sure signifier of quality in modern cinema.

Bigelow’s previous 3 films: K-19: The Widwomaker (2002); The Hurt Locker (2008); Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Elysium Trailer – First Look at Blomkamp’s Hotly Anticipated Second Feature

UK Release Date: 20th September 2013

Stars: Neill Blomkamp (director), Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, William Fichtner, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Alice Braga, Diego Luna

Plot: Set in the year 2159, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.

This is the very hotly anticipated film Elysium. So hotly anticipated thanks to the brilliance that was Blomkamp’s debut feature film, District 9. He again teams up with the incredible Sharlto Copley (although in a supporting role this time).

Technically, this trailer is superb. As a futuristic science-fiction film it is important for audiences to believe the world in which the film is set. The trailer for Elysium instantly introduces us to that world, with the wealthy living a perfect life where cancer can be cured just by laying in a simple machine. Utopia.

While the audience are placed with Matt Damon on Earth, the complete opposite. Damon’s character is equipped with an incredibly powerful weapon and embarks on a mission to Elysium in an attempt to bring peace to the two worlds. There is a little action, a great view of the beauty that the film will bring and enough of an introduction to wet the appetites of audiences.

In the coming months, expect more and more of Elysium to be seen as it is sure to make an impact at the box office and with the critics. Here’s hoping Neill Blomkamp is not a one hit wonder.

Sean Bean – King of Death Scenes

Sean Bean has been killed on screen over twenty times throughout his career. I don’t want to ruin anything for you but if you’re watching a Sean Bean film, chances are that his character won’t make it to the end. Despite a large amount of films to choose from, here are my three favourite Sean Bean death scenes. Obviously, spoilers follow this although the films have been out a fair few years so is this still classed as spoilers? Who knows. anyway, you’ve been warned nonetheless.

 

 

Equilibrium (2002)

Equilibrium is set in a dystopian future after a Third World War has devastated the Earth. All emotion and artistic expression has been banned and Grammaton Clerics are hired to burn any remains of poems, literature, art etc. and punish anybody seen taking advantage of the arts. Sean Bean plays one of these Grammaton Clerics who turns against the totalitarian state and, instead of burning a book of poems, decides to keep them. Because of this, his law abiding partner (played by a really good emotionless Christian Bale) track him down and executes him. It’s not the most action packed death scene but in terms of the defiance he represents and the change in Bale’s character that it triggers it is a poignant one.

Black Death (2010)

I only watched this yesterday and it was the film that inspired this post. Black Death is set in medieval England and follows the story of a young monk (played by the wonderful Eddie Redmayne) who accompanies a group of soldiers, led by Ulric (Sean Bean), to a remote marshland untouched by the bubonic plague to track down a necromancer. When they arrive at the necromancer’s village everything goes tits up basically and Ulric’s men land themselves in a lot of trouble and a couple of them die. Soon after, Ulric (already poisoned by the black death) is tied to two horses and literally pulled apart; it makes for pretty painful watching but someone with Bean’s experience at dying on screen portrays this excellently. Unfortunately, the death scene isn’t on the available in good quality so here’s the trailer, but I fully encourage you to check out the film when you can.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

This is without a doubt, one of the greatest death scenes in movie history and for me, the best part of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Throughout Fellowship the audience are asked to question Boromir and you never really know what side he is on and who’s interests he has at heart, especially since he tries to take the ring from Frodo. But at the end of the film Boromir has a true hero’s death and goes down fighting to protect Merry and Pippin. He is shot a couple of times by Lurtz but this doesn’t stop him and he continues to fight through the pain using every last breath he has in his body. This is what makes Boromir one of the best characters from the trilogy and this scene alone makes Sean Bean’s performance one of stand out shows in an ensemble cast.

Bringing Fun Back to the World – ‘Rise of the Guardians’ Review

As soon as I saw the first trailer for Rise of the Guardians I instantly fell in love with it. Just from the trailer you could tell it was going to be something special; the characters, the colour scheme, the animation. It soon became one of my most anticipated films of the year… so how would it stand up to my very very high expectations?

DreamWorks’ latest feature film sees the immortal guardians: North – Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), Bunnymund – Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth – the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) and the mute Sandy – Sandman team up to stop the evil Boogeyman Pitch (Jude Law) from covering the world in fear and taking away all the innocence of the children. To do so a new recruit must heed the Guardians’ call: Jack Frost (Chris Pine).

The story is pretty simple, it in no way tries to over complicate things but that doesn’t take anything away from the way in which the story are told. Right from the off we are presented with this sort of outcast character of Jack Frost and we are quickly brought in to his story, feeling his sense of longing and wishing to know where he came from, wanting to be believed in by the children of Earth. And right from here you are wrapped up in the story. You’re rooting for him right from the word go and the introduction to this magical world is all you need to quickly become engrossed and want to see more. I found myself amazed at how emotionally attached I grew to Jack Frost as the film went on, there was a distinct sense of humanity in his character.

Of course, some of this humanity is installed by the wonderful Chris Pine’s voice acting and the whole cast did a terrific job in voicing their characters. I can honestly say that this is definitely one of Hugh Jackman’s best performances in my opinion, or at least one of my favourite roles I have seen him in. I almost forgot it was even Alec Baldwin voicing North as well, this sort of Russian/Eastern European accent and demeanor he seemed to have really made his character stand out and it was terrific work from Baldwin in doing this. And although Sandy doesn’t say a word (he communicates through sand drawings above his head) he quickly transforms into this lovable little guy and no doubt one of the most popular characters in Rise of the Guardians! As for Pitch, I think he may just be one of the greatest ever villains in a children’s film.

The animation is second to none. We’re talking perfection here in terms of animation. There are some wonderful sets created; Santa’s workshop, Bunnymund’s Easter retreat, Tooth’s palace and Pitch’s headquarters. There is so much attention to detail, everything is so bold and bright and it all feels so real, like your looking at something of immeasurable beauty. And there are some great action sequences to go with the wonderful aesthetics of the film. Right from the beginning where we first meet Jack Frost and he messes about on the iced over pond to the sled ride he takes Jamie (the last believer in the Guardians) on, from the scene in which the Guardians help restore belief in Tooth, right up to the final climax and fight with Pitch.

Everything is done so well. Scenes you thought were pointless when they first appear later show their importance in the film and it has a sort of poetic feel to it. DreamWorks is really showing here, as people are starting to doubt Pixar for the first time, that they can make top quality films as well as anybody else.

Director Peter Ramsay, producer Christina Steinberg, executive producer Guillermo del Toro and Jack Frost himself Chris Pine have all expressed an interest in making a sequel. Usually I do like to see films just stand alone, it makes a nice change these days, but I have to confess I would welcome a Rise of the Guardians sequel with open arms!

My Rating: 9/10.

Tom Cruise in ‘Oblivion’ Trailer

UK Release Date: 12th April 2013

Stars: Joseph Kosinski (director), Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Melissa Leo, Zoe Bell

Plot: On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man’s confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind.

After playing Jack Reacher, Tom Cruise will next star as Jack Harper in Oblivion. As much as I like Tom Cruise, and I am a big fan of his, I can’t help but think after watching this trailer that he might be a little bit miscast.

Oblivion is a big budget science fiction film and although Cruise seems to be getting his career back on track it is a risk having him in the lead role I think. And on top of that, the film doesn’t even really look like anything special. A few forums have already seen people theorising about the big plot twist and you can see some very obvious things being debated and you just know that they’re going to stick a cliche end on Oblivion.

The trailer does ask enough questions to get a few people interested. What happened to Earth? Who was the war between? Who and what is Morgan Freeman’s character doing on a supposed desolate Earth with what seems like a whole colony of people? And who is that women that Tom Cruise is shouting “who are you?” at. Good question, Tom.

How Pirates of the Caribbean Ruined Johnny Depp’s Chances of an Oscar

Now, the title of this post may be a little bit controversial and may leave people wondering “what on Earth are you talking about?”. After all, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is one of the biggest franchises in cinema history and Johnny Depp actually received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of one of the most famous characters of all time: the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow. Before I get started, I would like to say that I am a big fan of the character of Jack Sparrow and have previously named him as my favourite role of Johnny Depp’s; I have also stated previously that I believe Johnny Depp to be one of the best actors not to have won an Oscar. So why do I think this?

I honestly think that Johnny Depp is one of the most versatile actors of his generation, or at least he was earlier in his career. He has starred in a number of very successful films and his characters have been very varied throughout his career: from Ed Wood to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, from Alice in Wonderland to From Hell. Time and time again Depp has shown that he can bring his A game to the table at every opportunity. That is until he fell in love with the character of Jack Sparrow.

Captain Jack Sparrow was the first (and to date the only) character that Johnny Depp has returned to and played on more than one occasion, four in total with a fifth and sixth movie in the pipeline. So far we have seen Captain Jack Sparrow in Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End and On Stranger Tides. I believe that the choice to play Jack Sparrow is one that, if he wanted to win an Oscar, Johnny Depp should have steered clear from. As the Pirates franchise has got longer and longer the films have got worse and worse; the first was brilliant and quite rightly Depp was nominated for an Oscar for his performance; the second was good; third was very very long, confusing, boring and painful, whilst the fourth received mostly negative reviews and was the first in the series not to gain any Oscar nominations at all. If this pattern continues then Depp will surely become nothing more than simply a forgotten man.

For some reason, Depp’s other films outside the Pirates franchise have been very mediocre, verging on the line between average and bad largely. With the exception of Rango, Alice in Wonderland and Sweeney Todd Depp’s other films have been regularly panned by critics and audiences alike. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Dark Shadows, The Tourist, The Rum Diary and I think it is fair to say that anticipation for The Lone Ranger movie is very low indeed after poorly received promotional shots.

This is not to say that Depp’s versatility as an actor has gone. What I think has happened is that people now can only see Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow because of how iconic the character has become. This is the same way in which people recognise Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, Sylvester Stallone as Rocky or Rambo and Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. Therefore I believe that when people watch Johnny Depp in his more recent films what audiences are actually hoping for is to see Jack Sparrow on the screen rather than Johnny Depp and there is no way that this can ever work in Depp’s favour.

Depp’s taste in suits are almost as versatile as his early career.

I still hold out hope that Depp wins an Oscar one day as I feel that his career really does deserve it, but I do think that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is a sinking ship and Depp needs to get away from it to further advance his career.

Monsters (2010) Review.

Monsters is a sci-fi adventure film that takes place six years after Earth suffered an alien invasion thanks to a deep space probe crash landing in Mexico. A cynical journalist, Andrew Kaulder, agrees to escort the daughter of his boss, Samantha Wynden, through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.

Monsters is a British film ‘written’, shot and directed by Gareth Edwards and stars Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able in the principal roles. The performances put in by these two is vital as they are the only real characters in the film. Monsters takes the two characters on a journey and their relationship grows throughout the hour and a half that the movie lasts and to make their relationship believable and in order to hold the audience’s attention the chemistry needs to be perfect. Fortunately, at the time of filming McNairy and Able were in a relationship (they are now married) and their chemistry really comes across when watching the film. Their back and forth dialogue and blossoming love story is a treat to watch and their performances are second to none, absolutely flawless in every way.

Monsters is gripping from start to finish.

The story that the film tells is a gripping one. Whilst being a sci-fi and the alien invasion being a huge plot point the aliens actually have a very insignificant role in the film. This was largely down to the minuscule budget but I think the lack of focus on the aliens really adds to the suspense and the fear created within the atmosphere of the film. Monsters is very much a character story and the lack of huge special effects really places the emphasis on the actors’ performances which make us, the audience, feel closer to the characters and places us as more intimate to their relationship.

A lot of what makes Monsters as good as it is is in the back story and behind the scenes of the film. As mentioned earlier, the two main actors were and are a couple so their chemistry was real. What’s more, the film was shot on such a small budget that there were only five members of the crew; all the extras in the movie were just people who happened to be at the location at the time as the whole film was shot on location with no permission asked in advance. It was largely ad-libbed and improvised with McNairy and Able being told the main points they had to mention in the scene but nothing else. The drama was filmed with store bought cameras and Edwards added all the special effects later on using software on his laptop.

Monsters is an absolute huge achievement for everyone involved and the hard work gone into making the film really comes across when watching. My attention was help throughout the film, Monsters was a tense, heart pumping film that gets the pulse racing as the drama unravels in a very natural way. We are made to feel as though we are part of that world and there is no higher praise for a director than that.

I think that, without a doubt, Monsters is a must see for fans of drama, romance, adventure and sci-fi. Whatever you like, give it a try.

My Rating: 9/10.

What Next For The Avengers?

With The Avengers now released in the UK and several other countries, and around a week away from the release in the US I decided to speculate on what would happen after this amazing event; where will the Avengers go next?

 

Iron Man 3 is set for a 2013 release.

Iron Man

There is a lot of casting news and fan buzz around Iron Man 3 at the minute and this is the project that we, as fans, know the most about at the minute. It will be loosely adapted from the comic book storyline of Extremis and will be directed and written by Shane Black. It will be interesting to see how Tony goes back to his own life after working as part of a team, to see if he has learnt anything new in his time with The Avengers but according to Kevin Feige Iron Man 3 will isolate Tony Stark.

 

 Thor

Thor 2 slated for 2013 release but this seems unlikely.

With Thor being back on Earth for The Avengers it is clearly possible for Thor to return to Earth, despite going back to Asgard at the end of the team up event. It’s unlikely that Loki will be the villain in Thor 2 after being the main villain in Thor and The Avengers; the villain that I would like to see would be Enchantress and possibly Executioner. The only thing is, Thor clearly still cares about Jane and asks about her in The Avengers but will Thor 2 be set on Earth or in one of the other nine realms. I would like to see more of the fantasy world and another realm but I would like the love story of Thor and Jane to relight as well.

 

Captain America

Captain America 2 has a realistic release date of 2014.

With Captain America now in the modern day it seems likely that Captain America 2 will be about getting Steve Rogers back into the world, which I think would be a great road to go down. I think that Cap’s story should be a character building story in the next instalment and how he copes with the changes to everything he once knew and believed. I would like to see a scene with Peggy Carter (which was cut from The Avengers) and it would be interesting to see if Nick Fury helps get Cap back into the world as well.

 

Hulk

The Hulk is the real star of The Avengers.

After Ang Lee’s version of the Hulk and Ed Norton’s version (which was largely outshone by every other Marvel feature to date really) it seems unlikely that The Hulk will receive another solo film, which is a shame because Mark Ruffalo’s interpretation of the character is really enjoyable in The Avengers. I would love to see Bruce Banner, not necessarily the Hulk, in the next Iron Man film with Banner and Stark striking up quite a nice friendship, although it is just as likely that Banner will continue to work with SHIELD.

 

Black Widow & Hawkeye

A backstory is hinted at and would be interesting to explore.

There have been rumours that both of these characters are in line for their own solo films following The Avengers but I find this highly unlikely. Hawkeye is not really given enough screen time to become an important character in the eyes of the movie audience (which is a shame because he is one of my favourite characters in the comics) and Black Widow, in my opinion, does not warrant a film for herself either, and with the drastic failures of female led super hero movies so far it would be quite the risk. Putting them both in a movie together and exploring their backstory and relationship would be interesting but I can’t see it happening. I expect we shall just be seeing them in terms of SHIELD agents from here on out.

 

Nick Fury & SHIELD

A Nick Fury film is on the cards.

A script is in the works for a Nick Fury solo film and there are plans for a SHIELD film as well. Personally I think that making the two would be a waste of time and money for Marvel. I think if a Nick Fury film is to be made with Samuel L Jackson it needs to combine the SHIELD movie as well. The film could still focus on Nick Fury but it would also be backed up by Hawkeye, Black Widow, Maria Hill and maybe even Bruce Banner if he works for them. This would be the best way to promote all of the ‘secondary characters’ of The Avengers.

 

But before all this, I urge everyone to go and see The Avengers! What a film!