News of the Week (12/12/12) – Sequels and Writers

Well this week’s news is all about sequels (some wanted, some not) and scriptwriters being hired. We’ll start with the news that a sequel to 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp (as the Mad Hatter, not Alice), has finally started moving. I don’t say finally because I’ve been waiting ages for a sequel as a fan of the film, but because despite its mixed reviews Alice in Wonderland is the twelfth highest grossing movie of all time so it’s amazing that in a sequel heavy cinema scene that it has taken so long to get off the ground. Linda Woolverton is the woman apparently writing the script, which fits seeing as though she wrote the first film, and hopefully the sequel will be as good as her earlier works: The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan.

 

Wreck-It Ralph absolutely smashed the box office when it was released over in America and fast became a hit with audiences and critics alike. Disney have been fast to get a sequel rushing ahead with their animated feature. Despite the fact that Wreck-It Ralph was full of cameos from very famous video game characters there was one very obvious omission, everyone’s favourite Italian plumber (because how many do you really know?) Mario! Well with the sequel Disney are trying to find an organic way to implement him into the story saying they will put him in if they can find him something good to do, so good news for video game fans and movie fans alike.

 

Columbia are working on a remake of the children’s classic film Jumanji. The 1995 original was a tale of kids who have to deal with the dangers of the jungle when the titular board game starts unleashing animals and more as they play. Although there is no director or stars attached to the project Columbia have now hired a writer and that is Stranger Than Fiction scriptwriter Zach Helm. Although Stranger Than Fiction was well received his only attempt at family films so far, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, was not so well received.

 

Earlier this year it was announced that Fantastic Four was set to receive a reboot directed by Chronicle director Josh Trank. Well it has now been announced that the release date for Fantastic Four will be March 6th 2015. This, in my view, is a horrible move being as though some big ‘geeky’ franchises are also set to continue in 2015: The Avengers 2 and Star Wars: Episode VII are both set for release that year. Long awaited Ant-Man also has a 2015 release date; the Justice League movie is slated for a release in 2015 although I highly doubt that will come to fruition. Point is, the superhero market is very liquidated in 2015 with bigger films than the Fantastic Four reboot and after the shambolic original two films will anybody care about this attempt at a reboot when The Avengers 2 hits screens?

Freedom Writers Passes With Flying Colours

Freedom Writers is a film that I have wanted to see since its release back in 2007 and last night was the night that I finally got round to it. So after waiting four years to watch this film, would it really be as good as I hoped? The answer, in short, is yes.

The story centres around Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank), an inexperienced teacher thrown in at the deep end when she joins Woodrow Wilson High School teaching Freshman and Sophomore years. Erin’s class is full of people of different backgrounds and ethnicities, nearly all of them in gangs and most of them knowing someone who has been a killed through gang violence. When first joining the class, Erin Gruwell is hated by all of the students, predominantly just for being white, but as the film goes on her character grows and she earns the respect of her students. The students learn what it is to be believed in, to have hope in life, and to know how important life is.

Freedom Writers is a truly heart warming story and at the centre of it all is Erin Gruwell, played excellently by the near perfect Hilary Swank. Erin sees the best in everyone, even her students that the rest of the teachers have already given up hope on, but she knows that she can succeed where the system has failed using her unorthodox methods.

The brilliant Hilary Swank is supported by a large group of younger actors and actresses. April Hernandez stands out in particular as Eva Benitez. Her father is in prison because of gang crime and she now finds herself in the centre of a court case where she must decide between gang identification or her new found friends. When Andre’s (Mario) brother is sent down for fifteen years to life he also finds himself being tempted back into the life he led before he knew Ms Gruwell. It is a shame that a lot of these young actors haven’t done a lot of work since Freedom Writers as this film is evidence that they can act!

There are a couple of things about the movie that start to get annoying after a while. There are hundreds (this might be an exaggeration) of shots of moody looking teenagers staring at someone in a rival gang all the way through the film and we also get plenty of shots outside the school where we are shown all the different groups again and again. We get it okay, the kids are in gangs!

The story holds its own all the way through, the characters and their backgrounds are believable and it is touching to see what a connection this young, inexperienced teacher had with a bunch of no hope students and how she impacted on their lives. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, whatever your taste in films, this is a must see!

Freedom Writers: 8/10