Sunday, June 30, 2013

World War Z

SF: I'm going to call this "I am Outbreak". However it is very hard not to be a bit derivative when making a zombie film. This does well to try and forge newish ground - perhaps being based on a book explains the good character development. I enjoyed this and was rather impressed. It keeps the pace and doesn't overstay it's welcome. Could be the best Zombie flick since 28 days later. 7/10

50Eggs: I'll go one further than SF and say that this is better than 28 days later. WWZ is a realistic take on the zombie genre, where the nature of and reaction to the outbreak all seems plausible. The film does have a very defined start, middle and end which is apparently due to the script being rewritten. But for me this just makes each part more distinctive; grand scale action at one point, intimate horror at another. Good end too - looking forward to the sequel. 8.5/10

DonkeyB: A film of two halves. Starts off like a train and keeps going all the way to Israel, via an aircraft carier in the Atlantic and north Korea. And then finishes on a south Wales industrial estate! I like the little politcal jokes, and it made me interested to read the source material. Much better than the news stories about its troubles gestation suggest. Dr Who battling Zombies- will only add to the impression that the second half is very televsiual though. 7/10

Overall: 7.75/10

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Man of Steel

SF: I can't tell you how much I loved the first two Superman films by Richard Donner. After the horror that was Superman Returns, a new film was desperately needed. This incarnation surprised me by how different it was from the predecessors but without giving too much away I found it very enjoyable, imaginative and more serious than expected. Henry Cavill did a brilliant job and Lois Lane was fiery - like she is supposed to be. Also beautiful cinematography. Well worth a watch. 7.5/10

50Eggs: Hooray! My most anticipated film of the last year turns out to be brilliant. The opening half hour is as unexpected as it is action packed, and does a great job of giving us a new take on the origin story. Things continue in this vain, showing us more of the mythology than in any previous Superman film, whilst simultaneously ramping up the action to unprecedented levels (admittedly it's somewhat relentless but, unlike the awful Transformers films, you can at least see what is going on). The cast is uniformly great but special mention to Henry Cavill for nailing it and for being proper stacked. My girlfriend actually made an unintentional swooning noise when he got his pecks out. 9/10

DonkeyB: Review delayed! Oh the humanity (or Alien being with a moral inclination to save it). The first part on planet Zod or whatever is boring, sub school kid look how smart I am nonsense . Then there is a brief interlude in which earth bound Clarke struggles with his developing super powers- this part was good, I actually started to find myself caring about the characters. It was over all too quickly. The relationship between Clarke and Louis must go down as one of the worst on screen romances in history; negative chemistry between Adams and Cavill. Then the hitting things with things started and it is long and boring and pointless. And the further away from the film the more I resent it. Crap. 3/10

Overall: 6.5/10