The Hangover Part II (2011) 8/10

Starring : Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis
Director : Todd Phillips
Running Time : 102 mins

Stu Price (Helms) is getting married and he invites his good friend Phil Wenneck (Cooper) and his ‘acquaintance’ Alan Garner (Galifianakis) to join him on his stag do in Thailand. After a quiet night on the beach, they wake up in a seedy Bangkok hotel room to find that Stu’s soon-to-be brother in law has disappeared – only a monkey carrying a severed finger gives them a clue as to what might have happened to him…

Although not as good as the original – to be fair, what could be – this was still a laugh out loud comedy that will keep you on the edge of your seats. The situations are just as imaginative and outlandish as in the first film and the characters remain as entertaining and as unbelievable as ever. Fans of the original will definitely enjoy this latest instalment.

You’ll like this if you liked : Horrible Bosses

The Road (2009) 6/10

Starring : Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Director : Cormac McCarthy
Running Time : 88 mins

America has succumbed to an unknown catastrophe that has slowly wiped out most of civilization. A man (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) travel across the country in the hope of avoiding the oncoming winter which they suspect they would never survive and with the hope that they will be able to find somewhere safe to stay for the oncoming cold season.

This is an incredibly slow movie based on an incredibly slow novel. There is very little to this story of a man and his son trying to survive in a collapsing world, and people who like action and dialogue will find little to appeal to them but it is possible that those who like their movies understated and mundane might find something to interest them. Personally, this was just too uneventful for me to really find any interest, though the concept in approached in an interesting manner.

You’ll like this if you liked : Castaway

Blitz (2011) 8/10

Starring : Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen, Zawe Ashton, David Morrissey
Director : Elliott Lester
Running Time : 98 mins

Dodgy copper Tom Brant (Statham) is partnered with his new boss Porter Nash (Considine) to take down a serial killer that calls himself The Blitz (Gillen), who is targeting coppers as his victims of choice. Hindering them in their enquiries is reporter Harold Dunlop (Morrissey), who is in telephone contact with the killer in question.

Surprisingly this was a pretty enjoyable crime thriller, though some of the violence was a bit over the top. Statham may be a walking stereotype in this film, but thankfully the remaining cast manage to pull off some great performances, especially Gillen who is exceptionally maniacal as the villain of the piece.

You’ll like this if you liked : No Country For Old Men

Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005) 6/10

Starring : Frank Welker, Casey Kasem, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle
Director : Tim Maltby
Running Time : 70 mins

In the eighth of the direct to video Scooby-Doo series, Daphne Blake (DeLisle) takes her friends on a free trip to Hawaii when she is asked to design a new clothing line for a surfing company. When the attend the Big Kahuna of Hanahuna Surfing Contest, an evil Wiki-Tiki spirit and its demons attack the village.

The Scooby movies are still good, but seem to have lost their stride at this stage. Once again the villain is trying to make money out of real estate (this happens a lot, as well as trying to take land that has secret gold or jewel reserves), but at least this time the villain wasn’t very predictable. Fans of the series might prefer this over the previous two instalments, but it’s still not at its best.

You’ll like this if you liked : Scooby-Doo And the Monster Of Mexico

Priest (2011) 6/10

Starring : Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Lily Collins
Director : Scott Charles Stewart
Running Time : 84 mins

In a dystopian future where humans lived in walled cities and vampires roam the land, a priest (Bettany) goes against his religious orders when he receives news that his niece Lucy Pace (Collins) has been kidnapped by vampires. Lucy is actually the priest’s daughter, and along with Lucy’s boyfriend Hicks (Gigandet) they set out on a journey to destroy the vampires and rescue the priest’s daughter.

Basically this is Mad Max with vampires. And vicars. Once again, Bettany is typecast as a religious nutcase (curse you, Dan Brown), who somehow has been trained by the church to be a super-heroic killing machine. Fans of movies like Underworld might enjoy this, but it is unlikely that fans of decent action thrillers will be able to watch this poor-mans vampire flick without wincing.

You’ll like this if you liked : Underworld Evolution

Extract (2009) 7/10

Starring : Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck
Director : Mike Judge
Running Time : 92 mins

Joel (Bateman), the owner of a manufacturing plant, is only a few steps away from selling up and retiring when a series of unexpected events lead to one of his staff members losing his testicles and suing for millions of dollars. The story then attracts the attention of con-woman Cindy (Kunis), who quickly applies for a job at the plant in the hope of cashing in.

I enjoyed this comedy, but then I always enjoy Mike Judge movies. The characters were well observed, and the interwoven plot lines worked perfectly. I especially liked the double bluff about Joel’s 8s and 6s looking alike – I thought that the story with his wife having sex with the pool guy would conclude with him discovering he’d gone to the wrong address and was shagging the neighbour’s wife… but it didn’t.

You’ll like this if you liked : Office Space

Your Highness (2011) 7/10

Starring : Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Theroux, Charles Dance
Director : David Gordon Green
Running Time : 106 mins

Prince Fabious (Franco) is horrified when his fiancée Belladonna (Deschanel) is kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Theroux), who plans to fulfil an ancient prophesy that will result in the destruction of their kingdom. So Fabious heads out on a rescue mission to save the princess, with his lazy brother Thadeous (McBride) forced to help by their father the king (Dance).

Despite having read some pretty terrible reviews, this actually wasn’t so bad. The characters were ridiculously over the top, but what do you expect in a gross-out comedy. The plot itself was ridiculous – a prophesy where a virgin gives birth to a killer serpent? – and the nudity was gratuitous, but overall this was a reasonable comedy that you could happily watch on a Sunday night.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Princess Bride

Legend Of The Guardians : The Owles Of Ga’Hoole (2010) 7/10

Starring : Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Emily Barclay, Helen Mirren
Director : Zack Snyder
Running Time : 96 mins

A young barn owl named Soren (Sturgess) is kidnapped by a gang of owls that work at an owl orphanage called St Aggie’s, run by the wicked Nyra (Mirren), where they are brainwashing young owls into becoming soldiers to form an unstoppable army. He manages to escape with a small owl named Gylfie (Barclay), and together they attempt to find the legendary island of Ga’Hoole to find help against the oncoming army.

This is a very dark, yet strangely enjoyable, kids film that I suspect adults might like more than children. The animation might be a little too realistic to entertain the average toddler, but adults will no doubt like the simple story of good conquering evil.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Secret Of Nimh

Attack The Block (2011) 5/10

Starring : John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Nick Frost
Director : Joe Cornish
Running Time : 85 mins

A gang of teenage criminals discover that their local housing estate is under attack from space aliens, so they get together and decide to protect themselves by fighting off the alien invasion in the best way they can – with mindless violence.

I expected a lot from this movie, but was sorely disappointed. Even though the characters were scarily realistic and the situations were well observed, I couldn’t help thinking to myself throughout the entire movie “These kids are not being heroes – they are only fighting the aliens because they like being the big men in the area and don’t want to compete with anyone for their territory”. Basically the petty criminals were a bunch of assholes in my opinion and really shouldn’t have been congratulated for their efforts – they’ll be back on the street mugging grannies by tomorrow night.

You’ll like this if you liked : Alien Autopsy

Solstice (2008) 5/10

Starring : Elisabeth Harnois, Shawn Ashmore, Hilarie Burton, Amanda Seyfried
Director : Daniel Myrick
Running Time : 88 mins

Six months after her twin sister Sophie committed suicide, Megan Thomas (Harnois) takes a trip with some friends to Louisiana to celebrate the summer solstice. There she finds herself haunted by what she believes is the spirit of her dead sister but, when revealed, the truth is far more sinister.

Hollywood once again produce another remake, this time of the 2003 Danish film Midsommer. I haven’t seen the original so can’t comment on the comparison, but to be honest this is an incredibly slow paced thriller which, in spite of a number of twists and turns, does not really deliver an unpredictable or well thought through pay off at the end. Also, just a minor complaint, but this took so long to be produced hat the dates of death at the beginning of the movie are almost three years off.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Invisible

Hanna (2011) 6/10

Starring : Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana
Director : Joe Wright
Running Time : 107 mins

Teenager Hanna Heller (Ronan) has been raised by her father Erik (Bana), a former CIA operative, to be the ultimate assassin. On reaching her sixteenth birthday, Hanna is set a challenge by her father that sends her on a secret mission through Europe to her intended target, all the while being pursued by CIA agent Marissa Wiegler (Blanchett).

This slow paced action movie could have been a lot more exciting. The character development tends to plod along and at times the movie can get kind of boring. Thankfully the actors concerned, especially young up and comer Ronan, manage to keep things moving along without causing too much anguish for the viewer over the speed of events.

You’ll like this if you liked : Leon

[Rec] 2 (2009) 7/10

Starring : Jonathan D Mellor, Oscar Zafra, Ariel Casas
Director : Jaume Balaquero & Paco Plaza
Running Time : 81 mins

A SWAT team have been called out to the apartment block from the previous movie, having been told that an infectious disease has killed many of the residents, but when they arrive they are informed that the contagion is not airborne but contained in the victim’s blood. As they start to search the building for survivors, one of them is bitten and infected, and soon they realise that this is no ordinary virus… it is the devil himself!

There were a few too many broken camera moments for my liking in this interesting sequel, but it is almost as good as the original. The only problem I really had was that the characters weren’t as good as those in the first movie, and there were a few lose ends that might need rectifying in the third instalment which should be with us soon.

You’ll like this if you liked : Season Of The Witch

Cedar Rapids (2011) 7/10

Starring : Ed Helms, John C Reilly, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver
Director : Miguel Arteta
Running Time : 87 mins

Insurance salesman Tim Lippe (Helms) has lived a secluded life in Brown Valley, Wisconsin, where he sells insurance to the locals and lives with his fiancée, his 7th Grade teacher Macy Vanderhei (Weaver). When he gets the opportunity to go to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and represent his failing company, he finds that the world outside of his hometown is much different to what he has become used to, and falls for the charms of fellow sales-woman Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Heche).

This was a nice feel good movie that finally gives Ed Helms a lead movie role that isn’t in The Hangover universe. He manages to play the highly naïve lead perfectly, and his supporting cast manage to underplay their roles in such a way that you feel like you’re watching a bunch of high school kids rather than a group of fortysomethings.

You’ll like this if you liked : Sideways

Cemetery Junction (2010) 7/10

Starring : Christian Cooke, Felicity Jones, Tom Hughes, Jack Doolan, Ralph Fiennes
Director : Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Running Time : 95 mins

It’s 1973, and three best friends living in the Reading suburb of Cemetery Junction are desperately trying to make something of themselves. Freddie Taylor (Cooke) wants to succeed in the life insurance industry, Bruce Pearson (Hughes) doesn’t want to become his dad, and Snork (Doolan) just wants to get laid.

I was surprised that this movie was actually watchable – I was worried that Ricky Gervais might have a central role, but thankfully he is just one of the writers and his words are usually funnier than his actions. The characters are believable and are pretty funny, and the observations are astute and bring back memories of days gone by.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Boat That Rocked

Thor (2011) 7/10

Starring : Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard
Director : Kenneth Branagh
Running Time : 115 mins

The mythical God of Thunder, Thor (Hemsworth) is banished from Asgard by his father Odin (Hopkins) and sent to live on Earth amongst the humans. There he loses his memory, meets scientist Jane Foster (Portman) and falls in love with her, but soon his romance is disturbed when his brother Loki (Hiddleston), the evil God of mischief, decides to use Thor’s banishment as his chance to take over Asgard and declare war on Earth.

Surprisingly this was a good effort. Hemsworth is just domineering enough to pull off the God of Thunder, and Portman’s portrayal of Jane Foster is a nice update to the comic version where she is just Donald Blake’s fawning assistant who won’t go out with him because he walks with a stick. Once again Marvel have managed to make an action packed yet character focussed movie that won’t just appeal to die hard comic fans.

You’ll like this if you liked : Iron Man

Harry Brown (2009) 8/10

Starring : Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed Miles, David Bradley
Director : Daniel Barber
Running Time : 99 mins

When his best friend Leonard Attwell (Bradley) is beaten and stabbed to death by a gang of vicious thugs on his local housing estate, retired marine Harry Brown (Caine) realises that the police haven’t got any evidence against his friends killers, so he sets out to exact his own form of revenge.

Michael Caine is brilliantly sinister in this revenge flick. He manages to turn the disappointment of an old man with society into an action packed riot of a movie, and what could have quite easily simply been a series of violent encounters is transformed into a thoughtful insight into modern British life. A must for anyone who is tired of the youth of today and their bad attitude towards authority

You’ll like this if you liked : Taken

Arthur (2011) 6/10

Starring : Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Jennifer Garner, Geraldine James
Director : Jason Winer
Running Time : 110 mins

Millionaire playboy Arthur Bach (Brand) is a lazy drunk who spends his days getting into trouble with the law. When his mother Vivienne (James) finally reaches breaking point, she forces him into an arranged engagement with Susan Johnson (Garner), a rich businesswoman with a great future ahead of her. Unfortunately Arthur has met Naomi Quinn (Gerwig), a free-spirited young lady who spends her days acting as a free and unlicensed tour guide, and he’s fallen in love with her.

This remake wasn’t as terrible as I thought it would be, but it was still a remake and as such has to be compared with the original. Brand fails to be as loveable or as charming as Dudley Moore’s rendition of the character, which is the main reason this fails so badly. The supporting cast, however, are wonderful in their portrayals and make this movie something just a gnats wing above bearable.

You’ll like this if you liked : Get Him To The Greek

Insidious (2010) 5/10

Starring : Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lynn Shaye, Ty Simpkins
Director : James Wan
Running Time : 99 mins

Shortly after they move in to their new home, the Lambert family wake one morning to find their son has slipped into a coma. They soon discover that his coma may not be natural and might actually be the work of evil spirits that have taken him to an otherworldly realm known as The Further.

This movie felt like it changed director half way through. What started off promisingly as a subtle haunted house movie quickly turned into a silly supernatural killer movie. The spirits, dressed in leather jackets with long greasy hair, looked like they’d be more at home in a vampire romance movie and appear to have had their creature make up affects applied by the staff on The Mighty Boosh. Personally I wouldn’t waste your time with this nonsense if I were you.

You’ll like this if you liked : Hellbound : Hellraiser II