Batman Forever

Tim Burton departed as director and acted as producer for Batman Forever and Joel Schumacher took over (Flatliners, The Lost Boys, Phone Booth) the reigns from Burton, unfortunately in this case.

Batman Forever was a return to camp Batman, camp comic style films and a return to the bad. Don’t get me wrong I really thought that Val Kilmer was a great choice for Batman and he made Michael Keaton look pathetic as Batman. The cast is fantastic with Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey the perfect bad guys and Nicole Kidman the beautiful love interest.

How could a director get a film so badly wrong with such a brilliant cast? The only man who knows that is Joel Schumacher. I thought Jim Carrey was very good at times as The Riddler however he was far too annoying and for me The Riddler wasn’t as evil as he could’ve been. The Riddler is next to The Joker the best bad guy in the Batman comics and it could’ve been so, so much better. Tommy Lee Jones was very good as Harvey Dent / Two Face and he did the role proud and himself. Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight plays a different Dent but ultimately better despite Tommy Lee Jones solid performance.

Nicole Kidman was pretty cringe worthy at times and her scenes with Val Kilmer were not ones I enjoyed. Now. Robin, why? I think Robin is pathetic and any director who believes in the character of Robin should not be making Batman films. The choice to include Robin seemed very random and Chris O’Donnell was fairly lame as Robin.

What pretty much saved the film was Val Kilmer’s performance as Batman and at times Carrey as The Riddler and of course Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face. Otherwise this would be simply getting zero out of ten. Please don’t let Schumacher near any comic book adaptation ever again, and please Christopher Nolan don’t ever, ever bring back Robin.

* * * * * * * * * *

X2

Not that many sequels to films are as good as or better than the first but with X2 (or X-Men 2) Bryan Singer has made a film which certainly equals the first. Continuing on from the world’s quest to find all the mutants in the world William Stryker (played by Brian Fox) tracks down the school for gifted youngsters (mutants).

He also manages to capture Charles Xavier and through his son is able to get into the mind of Xavier and his plan is to through his son get into the mind of Xavier and find all the mutants in the world. Stryker builds his own Cerebro device to track down all the mutants in the world and kill them.

The usual suspects are back Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Rogue and Jean Grey along with a couple of new faces in Iceman, Pyro and Nightcrawler. Working alongside Magneto and Mystique to try and stop Stryker the X-Men of course managed to stop Stryker, rescue Xavier and shut down this fake Cerebro.

However, helping the X-Men get away proved too much for Jean Grey as she made the decision to save the X-Men over her own life. X2 sees Hugh Jackman’s performance as Wolverine come on a lot from the first film. Jackman really gets to grips with Wolverine’s past and in X2 we see how good Jackman can be as the Wolverine. Halle Berry continues her solid performance as Storm and newcomer Alan Cumming is an excellent Nightcrawler.

Brian Fox takes on the bad guy role in the film and does it brilliantly as William Stryker. Sir Ian McKellen is not so prominent in this film but when he is he is as good as ever and although Patrick Stewart takes a back seat in this film every scene he is in you thoroughly believe he is Charles Xavier.

Bryan Singer has added yet another superhero film to his Filmography and thankfully it’s another successful and enjoyable one.

* * * * * * * * * *

X-Men

Bryan Singer found his fame with his critically acclaimed film and one of my favourite films of all time, The Usual Suspects back in 1995. Five years on he was releasing highly anticipated X-Men, everybody watched (well I think everybody) the cartoon series as a child. I used to tune in to Fox Kids when I was small to make sure I watched the series about those X-Men and women of course.

For some reason I’ve never seen the film until today even though I’ve seen the second film X2, how that came about I really have no idea. X-Men is basically like the TV series Heroes which I am pretty sure most of you have seen / know what it’s about. Despite this comparison X-Men IS different because all the characters feel like superheroes and the characters are far better, obviously.

The world isn’t ready for mutants (X-Men) and considers them dangerous and wants them to come out and own up to whom they are and what they can do. The problem with the world of mutants is that there are bad ones and there are good ones. Magneto falls into the bad category along with his troops Sabre Tooth, Toad and Mystique. Where as Charles Xavier, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops and Rogue are part of the good guys of the film.

The cast is as good as any superhero film out there, any film which includes Sir Ian McKellen as the bad guy works for me. Hugh Jackman is the perfect Wolverine; in fact he is Wolverine just as Christopher Reeve is Superman. I couldn’t imagine Wolverine as anyone else, it would be wrong. Patrick Stewart is definitely the ideal Charles Xavier and Halle Berry is faultless as Storm. Bryan Singer’s 2000 X-Men definitely remains one of the best superhero films made to date.

* * * * * * * * * *

Batman Returns

Right from the word go this film feels very much like a Tim Burton film, a lot more so than the previous film Batman. The opening music and the very opening scene is very much what you would expect from Tim Burton, which of course is no bad thing.

The film follows the story of the Penguin also known by his “real name” Oswald Cobblepot who is played by Danny DeVito. His performance as The Penguin is one of the real treats of the film, he fits into The Penguin role perfectly and if you were to see The Penguin down the street (unlikely of course) then you’d definitely see DeVito.

Michael Keaton carries on as Batman and he definitely is growing into the role as Batman but I still cannot take him seriously as Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is meant to be a cool character but Michael Keaton is more like a geek something you do not associate with Bruce Wayne. Thankfully when he puts the mask on he is a very good portrayal of Batman.

The sexual feline Catwoman is played by Michelle Pfeiffer despite her being a quiet and shy secretary. Max Shreck who is played by the great Christopher Walken is the brains behind The Penguin who gets The Penguin to go for mayor so that he can go ahead with his power plant which will suck all the electricity from Gotham City.

The people of Gotham pity The Penguin when they find out how he was abandoned as a child and they begin to love The Penguin. Until thanks to Batman they find out what he is really like and at one point the people of Gotham turn on Batman because The Penguin sets him up but of course Batman is the man of the people and he saves the people from The Penguin and Max Shreck.

Overall the film carries on from the first and it’s very much the dark Tim Burton film everybody expects from a Batman film.

* * * * * * * * * *

Wall-E

Last night I finally got round to seeing the animation film of the summer and year, Wall-E. Sitting in front of me was a whole row of 5 year kids and sitting next to me a 60+ year old couple. Then there was me and my girlfriend both aged 20, there are not many films where this sort of situation occurs. Impressions of the “Wall-EEEE” voice can be heard every time the little fella pops up on the screen before the film starts. In between trailers and breaks crunching, slurping and the loudest rustling you’ve heard in your life. I basically want to leave and go watch The Dark Knight for the third time.

Thankfully the film begins and with this the noises stop, the crunching halts and the rustling is no longer an issue. Thank you Pixar for shutting up the incredibly annoying noises made by the general public because everybody in the room was fixed on this little robot cleaning up the world’s rubbish that had been left by the people who had left for space.

The premise of the film is very simplistic but underneath there is some really great hidden meanings and definitely some morals that can’t be ignored. The film follows a little robot named Wall-E who cleans up earth but has developed a personality and collects all sorts of things in his little “house”. Another newer robot is sent onto earth from space to check for signs of life or vegetation and Wall-E discovers a love interest for Eve (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). Eve discovers a plant that Wall-E has and then shuts down and Wall-E is now incredibly sad. Eve is taken back into Space and Wall-E manages to grab onto the spaceship she is taken back to space with.

In space we see a new world where everybody is overweight, lazy and technology rules the world, a very sorry state. However because a plant has been discovered they can move back to earth however the robots who rule space don’t want this to happen. Eventually of course Eve and Wall-E stop the robots along with the captain of the spaceship where everybody lives and they get back to Earth.

What is so great and interesting about the film is that for so long (I think around 40 minutes) there is absolutely no dialogue. However you’re still gripped by the two characters Wall-E and Eve and when there is some dialogue later on there isn’t much really. It is definitely has broken new boundaries for animation and will definitely go down as another hit from Pixar.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Dark Knight

On the way to the cinema I felt strange, I was actually worried. I’d read all the great reviews (both Total Film and Empire gave The Dark Knight a perfect 5 out of 5). I’d read some people suggesting it was the “greatest film ever” but I was worried the film would not fulfil all the hype. Why should I be worried about it? It’s just a film… but after seeing Batman Begins and reading so much about The Dark Knight I wanted it desperately to be good.

So, the verdict. It wasn’t good at all. It was fucking fantastic. It’s not very often I go to the cinema and leave the cinema feeling quite how I felt on Saturday night. When I left the cinema I knew I’d seen one of the greatest films of my generation so far. That is quite some statement but one I feel pretty strongly about. I’ve never in my life gone to see a film more than once at a cinema but come Wednesday afternoon I’ll be in my local Odeon watching The Dark Knight again.

Heath Ledger is obviously going to get all the press from the film and rightfully so for his performance. I am of the opinion that his performance of The Joker succeeded Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of The Joker in 1989. Understandably his death has made it hard for fans of his to watch the film in the same way, but it shouldn’t. If you was ever going to do your last film before you died that was one hell of a way of doing it. At times he was hilarious, at times he was incredibly scary, most of the time he was insane and every scene he was in he was absolutely sensational. If he wins an Oscar for his performance it won’t be a win because he is no longer with us it will be because it was the best performance of the year.

Christian Bale is forgotten about in a lot of reviews but I think he is the best Batman we’ve seen so far. Michael Keaton, George Clooney and Val Kilmer have all tried it in the past 20 years but they come no way near Christian Bale. As Bruce Wayne Christian Bale is the epitome of cool and as Batman he is the superhero we all want. The combination of Bale and Nolan strikes again and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the awesome duo make another fantastic movie.

Aaron Eckhart is definitely worth a mention too because his performance as Harvey Dent / Two Face is just as impressive as Bale’s portrayal of Batman. I’ve not really seen much of Eckhart before but I am pretty sure after his role of Harvey Dent we will be seeing much more of him. The rest of the cast is great too; Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are better in The Dark Knight than previous film Batman Begins. My only gripe character wise was Maggie Gyllenhaal who I don’t think really pulled off the Rachel Dawes but thankfully she’s been killed off and didn’t get much air time in The Dark Knight.

I wake up Sunday morning pretty excited about the film still and read some of the morning papers and feel pretty disgusted at some of the reviews of The Dark Knight. One newspaper (The Daily Mail) claim it was “far too long and far too complicated”, what the fuck? Too long? Erm, the last Lord of the Rings film was an hour longer but that was critically acclaimed and won shit load of Oscars. Too complicated? Are you thick? Another quote from a horrible tabloid (News of the World) suggested “the film lacked a love story” since when has Batman been about love? The film is called The Dark Knight for fucks sake. Oh yeah and the best quote (once again from The Daily Mail) was “Christian Bale needs to appeal more to the 12 to 14 year girls, he has to be dreamy”. Oh please, pass me a bucket. This is not a teen movie you toss pot.

Overall this is the must seen film of 2008 and I think in 20 years time this film will remain a classic blockbuster superhero smash.

* * * * * * * * * *

Batman

It’s 1989 and Tim Burton has decided that it is time to bring Batman back to our screens. Not intent on making a Batman movie quite like the ones seen in the past, with the 1966 Batman film coming to mind. Y’know the one with the horrible bright colours, the tacky “KERRRRRR POW” speech bubbles, the poor action scenes and overall terrible performances. I remember seeing that film and thinking how lame Batman was, it was incredibly camp.

Thankfully Tim Burton prefers a darker more gothic Gotham City and thankfully his cast included the brilliant Jack Nicholson who played The Joker. As much as I think Michael Keaton was a pretty dorky Bruce Wayne he did all the Batman scenes pretty sufficiently. Kim Basinger was the love interest in the film and portrayed her character very well.

Gotham City is a dark place filled with criminals and those criminals killed the parents of Bruce Wayne. Jack Napier killed Bruce’s parents and from that moment on Bruce Wayne was content on fighting the scum of the streets. Unfortunately there is a criminal like no other, with no fear and who is as deranged as they come, The Joker. Batman has to beat off The Joker’s mad plans to take over Gotham City and kill all the people living there.

Of course he manages to eventually fight off The Joker and save Gotham City along with his love interest Vicki Vale. The film is a great comic book film which really gets the Batman back to how he should be. A dark hero of the night – The Dark Night you say? It took him away from the coloured camp character created in the 1960’s. Jack Nicholson was terrific as The Joker – he did the whole “crazy, fearless, psychotic madman” perfectly.

Tim Burton brought Batman back some serious credibility and Jack Nicholson as The Joker was hilarious and insane at the same time along with brilliant.

* * * * * * * * * *

Batman Begins

1989 was the year Tim Burton brought Batman to our screens with his successful adaptation of the DC Comics superhero. From then we saw the likes of Batman Returns (1992; Tim Burton), Batman Forever (1995; Joel Schumacher) and Batman & Robin (1997; Joel Schumacher). The last two of those films being critically shot down and the fans weren’t too keen either. Eight years later Batman Begins arrived on our doorsteps and thanks to the marvellous director Christopher Nolan Batman was back with a bang.

Batman Begins follows the story of Batman before he became Batman closely looking at his childhood and in more details his training. One of the key scenes in the film is where a criminal shoots Bruce Wayne’s mother and father dead. From this Bruce Wayne wants to revenge his parents’ death and fight the crime and destroy the criminals of Gotham City.

Along with the help from originally Henri Ducard (Ra’s al Ghul) played by Liam Neeson to become a great fighter and then later on Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine). But also Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Sgt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) aid Bruce Wayne along the way to becoming Batman.

The film is a lot darker than other Superhero films you may see like Superman or Spiderman. The theme behind the film lies with fear and how fear can drive people and in Bruce Wayne’s case he uses the fear of bats to help him become a stronger individual. The tradition with a Batman film has been to have a camp style much like the old film from the 60’s and the carton series. Even Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin used this camp style. However Christopher Nolan had other ideas and made the film darker and sinister.

Christian Bale plays the Batman / Bruce Wayne character remarkably well and there is even some suggestions that he is the greatest Batman thus far. Something Michael Keaton may have something to say about, I think Bale just pips it as the superior Batman.

I thought Cillian Murphy played his role of The Scarecrow / Dr. Jonathan Crane exceptionally well too. He managed to pull off being hated as both characters he played in the film even though to begin with you didn’t know Dr. Crane would become The Scarecrow you didn’t like or trust him. Katie Holmes performed her part as Rachel Dawes perfectly too, the casting of this film is one of the best casts I’ve ever seen. This along with a fantastic script, the greatest superhero (in my opinion) and the brilliant direction from Christopher Nolan makes this film one of the best superhero flicks of all time.

Roll on The Dark Knight!

* * * * * * * * * *

Superman Returns

The very first Superman film in 1978 starring the late great Christopher Reeve is considered by many the finest superhero film of all time. So to follow up that legacy was always going to be a hard task for director Bryan Singer. Christopher Reeve is also remembered as the greatest Superman to ever grace the screen so for newcomer Brandon Routh it was some big bloody shoes to fill.

Bryan Singer is no stranger to Superhero films after directing two X-Men films so therefore is the perfect director to bring Superman back to our screens. It was 19 years that Superman had been away from the big screen and all Superman fans were highly anticipating this new Superman film.

The cast is great with Kevin Spacey as a perfect Lex Luthor and Kate Bosworth who played the Lois Lane character extremely well. Brandon Routh would not have been many people’s choice before the film but I think as an actor he suits the role perfectly. He is as close to looking like Christopher Reeve as you’re going to get.

The film itself follows the story of Superman returning after being away for 5 years and Lois Lane had written a piece for which she won an award for called ‘Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman’. Obviously she was wrong when Lex Luthor’s plan to kill billions of people was discovered. However Luthor had found the deadly substance to Superman kryptonite and the land Luthor has built is made from the substance. This ultimately makes it difficult for Superman to fight Luthor and his henchmen and save the world.

But of course in usual Superman fashion he manages to overcome this along with being stabbed in the back with a shard of kryptonite and saves the billions of people from dying. Good old Superman! A lot of the film revolves around the relationship between Lois Lane and Superman and in the end Lois realises she and the rest of the world do need Superman. Near the end of the film she even begins writing an article titled ‘Why the World Does Need Superman’.

Overall this film has some very good moments particularly the role Kevin Spacey plays as Lex Luthor but with the money Singer had along with the script and cast you can’t help thinking he could’ve done a lot better.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Punisher

I remember when The Punisher was released in 2004 and I remember not thinking much of the film, I actually thought the trailers looked pretty bad. Four years later I found myself purchasing the film for £4 on play.com due to my current phenomenon of comic book / superhero films. Reading up about The Punisher comics I discovered that The Punisher is not like your typical superhero like Spider-Man, Batman or Superman; he is far darker.

The premise of the film is that Frank Castle (played by Thomas Jane) is involved in the killing of Howard Saint’s (the bad guy of the film, played by John Travolta) son. However during the same killing of his son Frank Castle is “killed” as well so that Howard Saint would not go after him on hearing who was involved in the killing of his son. But of course he did find out and hunted down Frank Castle who had gone on holiday with his whole family.

If you’ve not seen the film then don’t read on if you plan on watching it in the future because I’m about to ruin the whole film. Howard Saint’s men hunt down Frank and his family and kill everybody on the island. They think they’ve killed Frank too (tens of bullets to the chest is usually a clear indication you’ve killed someone) but of course Frank Castle (The Punisher) is not like normal human begins and has an extremely high pain tolerance level. Unlike other superheroes The Punisher has no special abilities but he succeeds solely through ingenuity and the rigorous training of his military upbringing, a finely honed killer instinct and an extensive arsenal of weapons culled from fallen foes and military allies.

Frank who comes back more pissed off then ever is after revenge on the people who killed his family and tried to finish him off. He kills off individually all of Howard Saint’s family and the people who are close to him. But not as brutually as you’d think considering Frank Castle goes by the name The Punisher. He cleverly makes Howard Saint kill his wife AND his best friend, this is what makes The Punisher’s killings all the more entertaining to watch. In the end he kills Howard Saint pretty brutally shooting him first, setting him on fire and dragging him around a parking lot attatched to an on fire car. Pretty bloody harsh you’d suggest.

What also makes the film so good is the people who live next door to Frank who are constantly watching his moves, listening to what he is up to and generally stalking him. They then come in contact with Frank and become friends with him and in the end even help him out to kill the people who massacred his whole family.

Overall the film consists of a good casting with Thomas Jane playing Frank Castle extremely well with John Travolta playing the evil Howard Saint as well as he has played many bad guys in the past. The supporting cast makes the film especially more enjoyable especially Frank’s two stalker floor mates (Bumpo and Dave). A few years ago I would’ve not considered watching this film but I am not thankful I did because The Punisher is a great old school comic book adapation.

* * * * * * * * * *

Superman

This morning the 1978 version of Superman arrived through my letter box (obviously I was aware it was coming, it didn’t come unexpectedly). It stars the late Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent and Gene Hackman as his enemy Lex Luthor. If you don’t know the story of Superman you have lived a very sheltered life and need to go research it on wikipedia.

Being a film student (of 3 years) you’d think I would’ve seen this film at least once, but no like Seven a couple of days ago watching Superman today was a new experience for me. As everybody knows Superman is undoubtedly the biggest super hero of all time and is in the biggest comic book of all time. There are two TV Series I can think of (Smallville and The New Adventures of Superman) both about Superman.

When you watch the 1978 version of Superman you have to put into context that when it was released there had really been no other big superhero film. Also the visual effects and techniques so that Superman could fly had not been tried before. So although it can look a little bit amateurish compared to today’s high standards it still is pretty impressive.

The film has just about everything a great blockbuster would need: a villain, a love interest and of course someone we can idolise (Superman). Whilst I’m more of a Batman type of guy you cannot deny that Superman is the greatest hero of all time. This film sets out to prove it and it does just that, the film follows Superman from his birth on the planet Krypton to saving the world from the evil Lex Luthor.

Christopher Reeve IS Superman; there is no way anybody else in the history of the world of cinema could play Superman in this film. Obviously actors have gone on to play the great hero since but nobody comes close to Christopher Reeve as Superman. Gene Hackman is also superb as the evil witty genius that is Lex Luthor and Margot Kidder plays Lois Lane how she should be played: annoyingly. There is even a fantastic appearance from the late great Marlon Brando as Jor-El, Clark Kent’s real father.

If you was to watch one Superhero film in your life time I’d recommend this one over any other. It broke boundaries for it’s time, it has everything the perfect film requires and it remains the greatest fictional hero story of all time.

* * * * * * * * * *

Iron Man

Not knowing much, well little about the superhero known as Iron Man (real name Tony Stark) I was pleasantly surprised with how the film adaptation of the comic turned out. Having read a couple of reviews in Empire Magazine and Total Film magazine I was concerned the film would be a let down. Both magazines tended to be quite negative towards the film.

However I began watching with an open mind and thought that the film’s director Jon Favreau managed to tell the story of Iron Man very, very well. The film takes a long time to build up to Tony Stark finally becoming the Iron Man which to begin with I wasn’t keen on but looking back it made the story a lot better. This helped with character development and for those who don’t know the details of Tony Stark helped fill in any missing gaps or information we would require to understand the plot and the film.

Tony Stark is a genius who can build destructive weapons and is owner of Stark Industries but whilst out on a business trip in Afghanistan he is kidnapped and made to build a powerful weapon however he does not. With the help of Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub) who has also been captured they build an armoured suit for Tony Stark to get the pair of them out. This becomes Iron Man.

Just before Tony was finally kidnapped he was wounded by one of his company’s own missiles and because of this has a car battery attached to his heart stopping the shrapnel from entering his heart. The two of them also build an “arc reactor” which enables Iron Man to regenerate energy when in battle. Iron Man manages to escape but Dr. Yinsen does not.

Back in America Tony Stark decides that his missiles and his company are wrong and decides to stop making anymore and to concentrate on saving people across the world in his new Iron Man suit which is making. However Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) who is also known as Iron Monger in the comics plots to stop Tony Stark and to kill him with his own Iron Man creation. Of course with all good super hero films the good protagonist in this case Iron Man prevails over Obadiah.

The film has a great cast with Robert Downey Jr the cream of the crop, his performance as the witty, arrogant, womanising Tony Stark is what makes the film so good. He plays the role of Tony Stark very well and from what I’ve read pretty close to the comic book version. Jeff Bridges plays the two faced villain perfectly with actors like Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow also playing their part in the film. There are already plans for Iron Man 2 with the end of this film left unsolved the sequel should equal if not better the original.

* * * * * * * * * *

Seven

Seven is one of those films that when you ask people what their favourite film is it always comes up in a conversation. Or when in my case you tell someone you’ve never seen Seven they can’t believe it, especially considering I am a film student and have been for three years. I finally got round to watching it the other day and thank God I watched it because now I know why people list it in their all time favourites.

With a cast any film would be proud of Seven is one of the greatest thriller films of all time. The film directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room and Zodiac) is easily Fincher’s finest moment as a film director and the cast will probably consider the film one of their best too. The film stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt who are both police detectives investigating a series of murders that all have something in common: the seven deadly sins. Greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, pride, envy and wrath are the seven deadly sins which the film revolves around.

Morgan Freeman puts in a wonderful performance as the wise and noble detective and Brad Pitt portrays the character of rookie detective extremely well. Kevin Spacey despite not appearing in the film for a very long time due to him being the serial killer puts in another fantastic performance as psychopath killer. Kevin Spacey is able to perform so many different characters so brilliantly; he must be regarded one of the finest actors of all time.

Everyone always goes on about the twist in Seven and thankfully I’ve never been told it, so it wasn’t spoilt for me when I was watching it. The last two sins were envy and wrath and if you haven’t seen the film then stop reading now because this will spoil the whole film. But envy was ultimately the life of Brad Pitt’s wife Tracy Mills who is played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Kevin Spacey killed Brad Pitt’s wife and for this Brad Pitt killed Kevin Spacey and ended the seven sins with the final one being wrath. As Morgan Freeman said just prior to him killing Kevin Spacey, “Don’t let him win, do not let him finish his sick fantasy”. But in due course Brad Pitt gives into his wrath and kills Kevin Spacey (which obviously you would do after just being delivered your wife’s head in a box).

The film throughout keeps you on the edge of your seat and keeps you guessing to what is going to happen next, which is everything you want from a thriller film. But this is no ordinary thriller film because it has an albeit twisted but definitely brilliant twist at the end.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The first film based on the book by C.S. Lewis ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ was absolutely fantastic. Walt Disney created a family masterpiece from the world famous books about the world of Narnia. The second film based on the second book Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia came out this summer and is set to be a great summer family smash.

The film directed by Andrew Adamson always had a hard task following the first film which undoubtedly will go down as a family classic film. To begin with the film wasn’t really filling its potential despite the fantastic settings but as the story went along the film gradually was improving. What Prince Caspian did fantastically was build the story of the film to a thrilling end which obviously you don’t appreciate at the beginning of the film when the story is a little slow.

Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy are waiting for their train home from school when suddenly they are taking back to Narnia after Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) blew the horn when he was in trouble in the woods. The way in which the film took you from Strand tube station to the land of Narnia was definitely an impressive technique, using the train to provide the “Wardrobe” from the first film.

Sergio Castellitto played the bad guy and Prince Caspian’s uncle King Miraz and his performance was really impressive. He played the bad King tremendously well which is surprising when you hear that Sergio has never read any of the books or knows little about the novels. Of course the four children played their roles well like they did from the previous film and Prince Caspian’s performance was good too. Characters such as Reepicheep played by Eddie Izzard, Nikabrik played by the fantastic Warwick Davis and finally Peter Dinklage the cynical dwarf Trumpkin were all on top form and provided a great cast.

Throughout the whole film you are waiting and expecting the arrival of Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) and he finally appears in fantastic fashion. It is the relationship between Aslan the four children and all of the Narnians that makes the films and the novels so special for everyone who likes a good fairytale adventure film.

As previously said the film builds the story wonderfully to an epic finish between King Miraz’s troops and the Narnians, Prince Caspian and Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmond. Having said this, the story does not quite live up to ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ but it has provided a great summer family blockbuster.

* * * * * * * * * *

Gangs of New York

Martin Scorsese is one of if not my favourite director and I can reel off the top films he has put together (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Aviator, The Departed). When Gangs of New York was released in 2002 I have to admit that I was not bowled over by the film or the cast.

Six years down the line I’m sat in front of the television watching the film I always imagined being “not my cup of tea”. The premise of the film is that Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) watches his father killed in a war between the Irish and the Natives in New York. The man who kills him is “The Butcher” Bill Cutting played by Daniel Day-Lewis, young Amsterdam is sent away for 16 years and kept away from the place he saw his father brutally murdered in the war of the streets.

Of course he returns and the only thing on his mind is to get payback for his father’s death but it does not go as smoothly as he would’ve liked and to begin with ends up becoming friends with the man who killed his father. Young Vallon becomes the apprentice of Bill Cutting who is none the wiser about who this new young gun is.

The film is dictated a lot about politics, immigration and gangs on the streets of New York. Thousands and thousands of Irish pile into New York to be sent into war for America which “The Butcher” totally disagrees with. He hates the Irish so much but because of his power the Irish have to tolerate him, but Amsterdam plots to kill Bill. He makes an attempt but fails and Bill teaches him a lesson but Vallon comes back for me with along with thousands of Irish and a war breaks out but in the end there is no real winner. The army come in between the Irish and the Natives by killing them all but Amsterdam does get his revenge and stabs Bill to death.

The film is an outstanding portrayal of how New York was during the Irish invasion and Daniel Day-Lewis gives a phenomenal performance as Bill Cutting. I am a big admirer of Leonardo DiCaprio having enjoyed his performances in films such as The Beach, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed and The Aviator however his performance in this film was a let down. He could not pull off the Irish accent and many times during the film you wasn’t sure if he was Irish or American.

This said the performances of Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis along with the direction and great script provide for a compelling story and fantastic film.

* * * * * * * * * *

Walk The Line

Really I should’ve watched Walk The Line on it’s release some 3 years ago but alas I did not. When it was released it didn’t really catch my eye and I didn’t really think much of Johnny Cash’s music.

Thankfully I finally got round to watching it and despite me still not really liking the style of Johnny Cash I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so I went out and purchased it (for 5 quid, along with a Johnny Cash CD – also 5 quid). Obviously the film is about the career of Johnny Cash however there is much more to it than that. You find out about his family life, his personal life, his drug and drink problems and everything that goes with being a rock star.

There was times in the film where I disliked Johnny Cash but overall you end up really loving his personality. Joaquin Phoenix (who wanted to be known as Leaf Phoenix as a kid because his siblings were called River, Rain and Summer) delivered a performance like no other. To think that Joaquin Phoenix played Commodus in Gladiator is unbelievable when you watch this performance of Johnny Cash. It really put Joaquin in a different light, and then when I found out he was vegan I liked him even more so. Reese Witherspoon collected the Oscar for Best Actress at the Academy Awards and rightly so because her performance was excellent. However, how Joaquin Phoenix did not win Best Actor is one of life’s bizarre mysteries I suppose.

The film is a sensational story of Johnny Cash but it is made by the performance of Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. When I see a real picture of Johnny Cash then think of how Joaquin looked in the film it is remarkable how much a like they looked. What is even more outstanding is that Phoenix sung all the songs himself and sounded just like Johnny Cash. Someone who I was talking to actually thought Joaquin was miming and could not believe it when I informed them it was him singing.

What makes this film so brilliant is the way one minute you have a moment of laughter closely followed by a moment of seriousness to then a moment where you are going through the emotions with the characters. Not forgetting the outstanding casting of the actors, the exceptional performances from the lead characters and of course the sublime soundtrack.

This film has everything you’d ever want from a film.

* * * * * * * * * *