Godzilla (2014) 7/10

Starring : Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston
Director : Gareth Edwards
Running Time : 123 mins

Joe Brody (Cranston) travels to Japan and illegally enters a quarantine zone to investigate the death of his wife Sandra (Binoche) fifteen years earlier. His son, Ford (Taylor-Johnson), is persuaded by his father to help investigate, and they soon discover that the quarantine zone is home to a number of Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms (MUTOs) which were accidentally unleashed and are heading for Hawaii.

Although this movie does enjoy surprising its audience with unexpected deaths and odd twists in the tale, the lead actor, Taylor-Johnson, isn’t really good enough to carry off an action lead. Granted, Kick-Ass was awesome, but that was thanks to its ensemble cast and, with much of the action resting on his shoulders here, he just didn’t garner any real sympathy from me. Fans of Godzilla movies will enjoy this, though the creature is so cloaked in darkness it’s a rare event when you actually get to see him.

You’ll like this if you liked : Cloverfield

Duplicity (2009) 8/10

Starring : Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti
Director : Tony Gilroy
Running Time : 125 mins

Former MI6 agent Ray Koval (Owen) finds himself running into former CIA agent Claire Stenwick (Roberts) continually over the years, but is it coincidence or are the two playing each other. When they take jobs in security for competing companies, the two hatch a plan together to play one company off the other in an attempt to steal the secret formula one of them is planning on announcing which could make them billions, but everything may not be as it seems.

This is a very convoluted look at how companies try to screw over the competition in any way they can possibly imagine, but it is very well managed. By focussing on the characters of Koval and Stenwick, and prioritising their relationship above all else, we are blindsided to the true duplicity of the movie. In a sense, we the audience are duped ourselves, and with great panache.

You’ll like this if you liked : Ocean’s Twelve

White Bird In A Blizzard (2014) 8/10

Starring : Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher Meloni, Shiloh Fernandez
Director : Gregg Araki
Running Time : 92 mins

Kat Connors (Woodley) is a teenager who is faced with having to deal with the disappearance of her mother, the seemingly clinically depressed Eve (Green). Her father Brock (Meloni) seems unconcerned that his wife may have run off with another man, and Kat quickly gets over the disappearance, assuming her mother has simply abandoned her. But as the years go by, new details come to light that her mother may have been murdered and that cast suspicion on her father.

This movie is truly a slow burner, but it pays off at the end. All the melodrama and double bluffs come together in this well paced and intriguing drama that really gives Shailene Woodley a chance to shine. She was fantastic in The Spectacular Now, which seemed to have launched her career, and it’s good to see that starring in the Divergent series hasn’t watered down her opportunites. Fernandez is a little weak in this – almost a non-entity - but there are some interesting performances from both Green and Meloni.

You’ll like this if you liked : American Beauty

The Magnificent Eleven (2013) 5/10

Starring : Keith Allen, Sean Pertwee, Gary Mavers, Phillip Rhys, Jenna Harrison, Paul Barber, Robert Vaughn
Director : Jeremy Wooding
Running Time : 92 mins

A struggling local football team called the Cowboys are forced to acquire a sponsor to fund their matches, and end up working at an Indian restaurant in return for funding. When a sinister man demanding money from the restaurant turns up, the team decide to help them out by fighting the evil American Bob (Vaughn).

Cheap gags such as the guys playing in pink shirts and having to strip naked really don’t do anything to improve this pretty weak comedy drama. The jokes pretty much rely on the Cowboys and Indians name, being an apparent remake of The Magnificent Seven with a slight Bollywood feel, the Cowboys being a football team and the Indians being... well, proper Indians. The plot is so basic and the characters so lacking in character that this quickly becomes a very boring comedy, the outcome of which I cared little about.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Full Monty

Dumb And Dumber To (2014) 7/10

Starring : Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Rob Riggle, Laurie Holden, Rachel Melvin, Steve Tom, Kathleen Turner
Director : Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly
Running Time : 108 mins

Harry (Daniels) discovers that he had a child twenty-two years ago with local tramp Frieda Felcher (Turner), so he and his best friend Lloyd (Carrey) head on a road trip to find Harry’s long lost daughter Penny (Melvin) in order to obtain a needed kidney, but soon the brainless duo find themselves unwittingly in danger for their lives when Penny’s adopted step-mother Adele (Holden) tries to kill her adoptive father (Tom).

I was a little disappointed that this got made, as the first film is so rich with actual plot as well as comedy. This long awaited sequel starts off with a ridiculous joke about Lloyd pretending to be catatonic for twenty years and then picks up pretty much where the last movie left off. The humour is silly and people who weren’t fans of the original will despise this, but give it a chance if you like the Farrelly’s – it isn’t that bad.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Three Stooges

Once Fallen (2010) 6/10

Starring : Brian Presley, Taraji P Henson, Amy Madigan, Ed Harris, Ash Adams
Director : Ash Adams
Running Time : 89 mins

After a stint in prison a criminal named Chance (Presley) returns home with the aim to change his life for the better. He discovers that in his absence his girlfriend has had a son and leaves him to look after him. But as he tries to turn his life around, he is faced with major hurdles when his son is held ransom against a friend’s debt to a crime syndicate.

There’s nothing original in this movie about a criminal trying to go straight, but the scenes with Harris and Presley are pretty strong. Overall this could have been miles better, and the script kind of meanders about the place with very little direction, but the overall result works reasonably well and fans of crime dramas should enjoy this, even if just a little bit.

You’ll like this if you liked : Contraband

22 Jump Street (2014) 9/10

Starring : Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Peter Stormare, Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens, Jillian Bell, Ice Cube
Director : Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Running Time : 112 mins

Police officers Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) are sent undercover again, this time at college, to discover the identity of a drug dealer who is peddling a product that has lead to the suicide of a student. As they investigate, Jenko finds himself bonding with the football squad while Schmidt falls in love with one of the students, Maya (Stevens), but the effect of mixing in different circles while undercover seems to be causing them to drift apart as cop partners.

This was so much more slapstick than the first movie, and was filled with pokes at its very own existence, even in the title itself. The jokes come thick and fast, but in no way hinder the storyline which is a solid mystery. Look out for the end credits sequence which is absolutely brilliant, though the plans for another sequel will spoil them if the next movie doesn’t have Schmidt and Jenko undercover at a medical school.

You’ll like this if you liked : Let’s Be Cops

Batman : The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 (2013) 8/10

Starring : Peter Weller, Ariel Winter, Michael Emerson, David Selby, Mark Valley
Director : Jay Oliva
Running Time : 76 mins

With Batman (Weller) having defeated the mutants terrorising Gotham City, a new group of villains modelling themselves after Batman emerge, and the government decide that batman is to blame and send in Superman (Valley) to stop him from his vigilant actions. Meanwhile the Joker (Emerson) comes out of his stupor at Arkham and convinces his doctor to allow him to go on public television to explain his side of the story but instead goes on a killing spree...

In terms of character and action, this movie is marginally better than the first part. I loved the Joker (though couldn’t understand why anyone would allow him to live the asylum), and the fight between Batman and Superman was enjoyable, especially with their banter which is so often overlooked, though the outcome was dubious to say the least. Fans of the comics on which this was based should find it an action-packed thrill-ride that stays pretty loyal to its source material and the final scenes of the movie make for interesting possibilities for the future.

You’ll like this if you liked : Batman : Under The Red Hood

Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie (2014) 5/10

Starring : Brenadan O’Carroll, Jennifer Gibney, Eilish O’Carroll
Director : Ben Kellett
Running Time : 95 mins

Market stall owner Agnes Brown (O’Carroll) is horrified to discover that an evil corporation plan on trying to close down More Street market and she will lose her livelihood, and when she is faced with an apparent fine stemming from her grandmother’s days on the stall, her family rally round to try and save her from bankruptcy before the corporation can swoop in and steal her business.

Fans of the Mrs Brown’s Boys television show might find something to make them laugh in this, but you’d have to be the world’s biggest fan to think it’s hilarious. There are the odd moments of humour that worked reasonably well, but overall this doesn’t translate that well to the big screen, with some of the charm of the show being completely lost in translation, and the rest of the humour being obvious and glaringly poor.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Harry Hill Movie

Batman : The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 (2012) 7/10

Starring : Peter Weller, Ariel Winter, David Selby, Wade Williams
Director : Jay Oliva
Running Time : 77 mins

Ten years after Bruce Wayne (Weller) has retired from his role as The Batman he is forced out of retirement when Harvey Dent (Williams) is released from Arkham Asylum and goes into hiding. Now that he has doned his cowl once again, Batman decides to go after the cities latest menace – a breed of mutants intent on terrorising Gotham but, now aged 55, can he cope with these new villains and prove himself a hero to a doubtful public.

Fans of the original comic book miniseries will thoroughly enjoy this faithful adaptation that keeps all the darkness and death of the comics and puts them on screen. There is some assumption made that we know the events that have come before, but this doesn’t spoil the story of an ageing Batman fighting crime, ably assisted by a new female Robin and an Alfred whose age must be in triple figures by this time. Plus this paves the way for the return of Batman’s ultimate enemy – the Joker!

You’ll like this if you liked : Batman : Under The Red Hood

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) 7/10

Starring : Starring : Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Djimon Hounsou
Director : Dean DuBlois
Running Time : 103 mins

Hiccup (Baruchel) and his dragon Toothless find a hidden ice cave filled with wild dragons, they soon realise that the peace they have spent the last five years cultivating might be at risk from Drago (Hounsou) and his dragon army, including a Bewilderbeast – a dragon that can control the actions of other dragons!

Although in most ways this is better than the original, I still believe it could have been better. The cast do an admirable job of creating the characters they play, though Baruchel seems a little too old to me, and the storyline plays on the relationships of the characters rather than just the linke between Hiccup and Toothless. Throw in some sad moments towards the end of the movie and you’ve got yourself a pretty decent kids flick.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Pirates! Band Of Misfits

Oblivion (2013) 6/10

Starring : Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough
Director : Joseph Kosinski
Running Time : 125 mins

Following years of being at war against an alien race known as scavs, a technician named Jack Harper (Cruise) finds a crashed spaceship containing a number of stasis pods, one of which contains a woman (Kurylenko) from his dreams of life before the war. When she revives he gains information that makes him believe that the life he has lately been living may be based on a lie...

This is a nice enough concept – a little too Philip K Dick to be considered original – but the execution is a little weak. The direction is unclear and the dream sequences underused, with a pretty boring performance from all involved, specifically Cruise and a less than memorable Morgan. Fans of sci-fi action sequences might find a moment or two worthy of them, but on the whole this is an ill-explained mess that, though visually appealing, is largely too confusing for the casual viewer.

You’ll like this if you liked : Total Recall

Transformers : Age Of Extinction (2014) 5/10

Starring : Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Teynor, Peter Cullen
Director : Michael Bay
Running Time : 166 mins

CIA agent Harold Attinger (Grammer) commissions a unit that is designed to hunt down the alien robots that so recently destroyed Chicago. Aided by a turncoat Decepticon, Attinger;s primary goal is to capture Optimus Prime (Cullen), but Optimus is hiding out with struggling inventor Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) who helps him escape capture and takes him on the run, only to discover that the government is secretly developing their own human-controlled robots.

Possibly the worst instalment of the series so far, a confusing plot about capturing Autobots is lumped in with the revelation that alien robots landed on Earth millions of years ago and have been frozen in dinosaur form. Perhaps it’s that none of the original human cast from the series have returned that make this seem so lazy, but basically this movie is nothing more than a number of action sequences strung together by brief moments of exposition.

You’ll like this if you liked : Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011) 7/10

Starring : Austin Lux, Amanda Pace, Trenton Rogers, Grace Rolek, Shane Baumel
Director : Andrew Beall & Frank Molieri
Running Time : 46 mins

When Linus (Lux) discovers that his grandma is coming to visit and plans to rid him of his obsessive security blanket addiction once and for all, Linus panics and tries to hide the blanket from her. But when it goes missing he is forced, with the help of Charlie Brown (Rogers), to try and overcome his fears and face life without a blanket.

The old-school animation of this direct to video movie really helped keep me thinking this was one of the old cartoons, and the story was fun and, for young kids, informative. Getting over an obsessional habit is something most children have to go through, but the withdrawal shown here is almost akin to substance addiction and maybe this should be shown at AA meetings... just for fun.

You’ll like this if you liked : 28 Days (joke)

Sex Tape (2014) 7/10

Starring : Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Rob Lowe
Director : Jake Kadan
Running Time : 95 mins

Annie (Diaz) and Jay (Segel) decide to spice up their love life after years of marriage and having kids has doused their flame so, to add some fun, they video tape themselves having sex. When the tape shows up online due to an unlikely itunes synching issue, the two find themselves in a race against time to track down the culprit and destroy all copies of the video.

A predictable comedy, filled with basic errors in judgement from the characters involved which, I’m glad to say, are pointed out as the movie progresses. The idea of Segel giving away his i-devices to people did grate a little – how much money did they have exactly? Any sensible person would have wiped them and put them on ebay.

You’ll like this if you liked : Overnight Delivery

Jack The Giant Slayer (2013) 8/10

Starring : Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, Ewan McGregor
Director : Bryan Singer
Running Time : 115 mins

When Jack (Hoult) trades his uncles horse and cart with a monk, he receives what he is told are some very valuable beans, but when they get wet a giant beanstalk launches his house into the sky. With Princess Isabelle (Tomlinson) disappearing into the clouds, Jack and a number of the kings men head into a strange land of giants to try and rescue her, but giants aren’t the only enemy they have to deal with...

This is a pretty entertaining kids film, in spite of some of the violence not being suitable for kids. The characters may not be that realistic, being either overtly good or overtly evil, but the pantomime feel to the story is what makes this so good. There are some additional elements thrown in to flesh the tale out a little, and to make Jack’s reason for climbing the beanstalk more realistic than mere curiosity, and these make it a fun film for whole family (those over twelve anyway).

You’ll like this if you liked : The Fall

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) 7/10

Starring : Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub
Director : Jonathan Liebesman
Running Time : 102 mins

Reporter April O’Neil (Fox) discovers that a group of mutated turtles are fighting in New York’s darkness against the kingpin who has taken control of the city with his troops of foot soldiers, but it soon becomes clear that the evil Shredder plans on using the turtles to further his evil plans by taking their mutant blood and using it to threaten the world with a virus that only he has the antidote for.

Plot wise this could have been better, though the revelation of Shredder’s true identity was well played (though annoying, as he isn’t who he is in the old cartoons and comic books). The characters manage to be funny without being too much of a parody of themselves, and the action sequences, though over the top, add to the subject matter rather than simply acting as filler for a lack lustre storyline.

You’ll like this if you liked : Transformers

Stargate : Continuum (2008) 8/10

Starring : Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black, Cliff Simon, Don S Davis, Richard Dean Anderson, William Devane, Beau Bridges, Michael Shanks
Director : Martin Wood
Running Time : 95 mins

Ba-al (Simon), the last of the Goa’uld System Lords, travels back in time to stop the delivery of Earth’s Stargate from Egypt to the United States prior to World War II. As a result he rewrites history so that the Stargate project never went ahead. Only Cameron Mitchell (Browder), Samantha Carter (Tapping) and Daniel Jackson (Shanks) are unaffected by the changes to the timeline and must act to put things right before Ba’al’s men launch an all-out attack on Earth.

This was much better than The Ark Of Truth, with a far more interesting storyline that can actually be enjoyed by those who aren’t necessarily fans of the show. There are still parts that only a fan will understand, but on the whole this welcome addition – and currently final instalment – of the SG1 saga has a lot going for it.

You’ll like this if you liked : Men In Black III