Puss In Boots
You all know the story of Shrek and Donkey, but the tale behind Puss in Boots is, shall we say, a little obscure. He was introduced in Shrek 2, as an infamous ogre-killer who we all know fails to do the job – but how did he come by that hat, and more importantly, how did he get the boots that earned him his title?
The original fairy tale of ‘Puss in Boots’ is cast aside here, and in typical DreamWorks fashion, the film in itself is made up of bits and pieces from different fairy tales and nursery rhymes, such as Jack (voiced by Billy-Bob Thornton), and Jill, and Jack and the Beanstalk.
Puss (Antonio Banderas) is a fugitive, looking for some magic beans which the notorious criminal duo, Jack and Jill have managed to get their hands on. He’s been searching for these beans for almost his whole life; when planted, they lead to a giant’s castle, where a golden egg-laying goose lives. Along the way, he meets Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), a flirtatious cat with a sad secret. Puss also discovers she has an alliance with an old, childhood friend: Humpty Alexander Dumpty, who betrayed him and left him disgraced and on the run, from his hometown.
This film is just enough to keep the little’uns happy, but it doesn’t have the same appeal as the Shrek films had. As a matter of fact, as the story progresses, Puss who is supposedly the main character gets a bit of a back seat. It becomes more about Humpty Dumpty, and his troubled past, which is a shame because he is actually rather annoying…
But it is the chemistry between Kitty and Puss that rescues it. Despite only giving their voices to the characters, Hayek and Banderas manage to make their screen time sizzle, and their dances are certainly something to gasp about; you almost forget this is an animated film. Almost.
Rating: 3/5
Hugo
Looking at the poster of Hugo, you would think it sums up the whole plot. Orphan living in a clock? You would be half-right there. Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is indeed an orphan, and he lives within the walls of a train station, in France. Having inherited his father’s love for tinkering and fixing things, Hugo is trying to rebuild the last thing his father (Jude Law) was working on, before he died – a clock-work man found in a rubbish bin. With help from his articulate friend, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) he begins to unravel the mysteries behind it.
Sounds like your typical juvenile, fantasy-adventure film, right? Then you see the name of the man who directed the film: Martin Scorsese. Juvenile is not his style (Taxi Driver and Shutter Island are but two of his most familiar works). Underneath this basic plot, there is a deeper, more mature side to Hugo. As the plot slowly reveals itself, you begin to see it more of a homage to the movies themselves. The pacing is slow, and atmospheric, like that of Hitchcock; the dialogue between the two children seems spontaneous and natural. Sacha Baron Coen is the villain of the story, as the weasel-like Station Inspector, who chases Hugo on more than one occasion. He is also used as comic relief – a reference to the slap-stick humour of Charlie Chaplin, from the early silent movies, and it has to be more than a coincidence that Christopher Lee plays a towering librarian, who is only ever seen in dark and gloomy environments; you might say like a vampire… This film is also available to watch in 3D, but rather it being a simple (but very effective) marketing ploy, it is another way of paying respect to movies. It’s Scorsese’s way of saying “look how far we’ve come!”, and you can really see it too.
However, it is with these things in mind that parents may have to reconsider taking their children to see Hugo. With such a slow-burning plot, and little to really have a giggle about, this is not as child-friendly as its certificate suggests. Take them to see Arthur Christmas, or better yet, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (out 16th December) instead, as I’m sure they’ll enjoy it far more.
Rating: 4/5
The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn: Part 1
Wedding bells are ringing, as Bella Swann (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) finally get married, and live happily ever after.
Er, not quite. All goes well, until they consummate their marriage (after much self-angst from Edward), and Bella decides to eat some chicken, only for her to puke it up again – why? She’s pregnant, and the human-vampire baby is slowly killing her. Her human body is not compatible with it. What a great way to end a honeymoon! Naturally, her old werewolf pal Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is most unhappy about this, and so are the rest of the werewolves. They don’t know what the unborn baby will become, and so plan to destroy it, which, being a brave, and very stubborn little soul, Bella is having none of. She fights on, despite not only Edward’s pleas to get ‘it’ out in order to save her life, and the fact she looks like a corpse near the end.
The film starts almost immediately with the wedding, and the dress is revealed at last. It is gorgeous, in a modest, Pippa Middleton sort of way, and the scenery is like that out of a fairy tale, regardless of how ridiculously clichéd that sounds. Look out for Stephenie Meyer (the author, and the producer of this film, coincidentally) amongst the friends and family of the happy couple.
The pacing is slow and relaxed to start with, but at the wedding up until the end of the honeymoon (expect many laughs in between), it picks up considerably, becoming almost frantic the worse things get.
People have often commented about how emotionless Bella appears to be in the films, but not here. She actually smiles on many occasion, and her confusion, exhaustion and eventual agony is strangely infectious throughout. But then anybody would be in pain if your husband is biting your baby out of your stomach, right? Pattinson plays his part well, as usual (and we get to see him wearing red contact lenses), but I was disappointed that he did not get as much screen-time during the pregnancy. He seemed more of a background character, and there was not nearly as much interaction between him and Jacob as I had hoped. Lautner is at his best here, though; darkly humorous, but becoming uncharacteristically vulnerable at the film’s conclusion.
We also get a much-needed look into how the werewolf pack works. The effects are a little sketchy, and they spend most of their time out in the night-time, so it is very difficult to see who is doing what. However, I was pleasantly surprised about how the way the wolves communicate with each other was handled.
Rating: 4/5
Reviews by Rebecca Jackaman
Immortals
The world of ancient Greek mythology has become a fertile ground for Hollywood films in recent times. Immortals is the latest film in this reworking of the old sword and sandals genre with a loose variation on the Theseus myth. Theseus is known as the founder of Athens but this film dispenses with any historical fact and instead concentrates on action.
On viewing this film its fairly easy to see where the inspiration for immortals lies and two immediately jump out - 300 and Clash of the Titans which are similar both plot wise and aesthetically. Immortals shares a producer with 300, mark Canton, which may explain the closeness of the two films and seems to have been a force in making the film considering the likeness of the two films. The film was directed by Tarsem Singh.
So is Immortals just generic pap or is there more to redeem it? This film is a celebration of masculinity and as a result is unburdened by such feminine aspects as plot or character development, which are distinctly impoverished next to the action scenes. And that is what this film is about the unremitting action which goes at a relentless pace from the first to the end.
In Immortals, the army of king Hyperion are on the march to find a magical bow and arrow with which to fight the gods. King Hyperion is played well by Mickey Rourke who has the gravitas suited to the role.
In the army’s warpath is a little village where Theseus, played by Henry Cavill, resides. Cavill ably plays the role of hero looking good in the action scenes, if not tested in other realms of acting. Theseus is taught to fight by an Obi Wan (John Hurt) who is in fact the god Zeus. Theseus witnesses his mother being killed by Hyperion's army and is sold into slavery.
Meanwhile above them all, on Mount Olympus, the gods watch the futility of humanity for which Zeus bans any god from interfering. Zeus is played by Luke Evans who looks a bit too young and doesn't quite reach the heights of Laurence Olivier or even Liam Neeson but does look attractive.
The rest of the film is basically about retrieving the mystical bow and arrow and about Theseus's revenge for the killing of his mother. People move back and forth but with little development other than just action. Love interest is played by Freida Pinto a virgin oracle whose visions help drive the plots in part.
Immortals is a lean, heavily muscled film where everything happens on an epic scale as CGI backgrounds provide a grand spectacle. The rich colours of gold and red are used to great effect mixed with shadow to create an almost painterly quality.
Action is what Immortals is about from the first to the last, and this film delivers in a brutal way with lots of killing and all the blood that goes with it all within the thin veneer of a world of ancient Greek mythology.
Review by Keith Hudson
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More film reviews to be coming soon! If you want a certain film to be reviewed let us know and we're be happy to review it for you! ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
From the makers of Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run, comes the Christmas movie that we all need to forget about all the drama going on in the news, these days.
This is Aardman at its best. Arthur Christmas is simple, silly fun which will keep not just the kids amused, but the adults as well. The question of how on earth Father Christmas (Jim Broadbent) manages to deliver every single present, to every single child in the world, in just one night, is cleverly answered. With a lot of help from his elves, a hectic, military-style operation ensues, organised by Steve, Santa Claus’ oldest son, who is next in line to wear the famous suit (voiced by Hugh Laurie). He has ‘modernised’ how the night is run, using all kinds of high-tech gadgets, but it is the youngest son, Arthur (James MacAvoy) who replies to every letter sent by children across the globe, to Father Christmas. But when a little girl called Gwen’s toy fails to be delivered, he takes it upon himself, with help from Grandsanta (voiced superbly by Bill Nighy) to make sure she gets it before waking up on the special day.
It is an incredibly heart-warming tale, making you think twice about how Christmas is perceived. Sure, Steve’s way of doing things is efficient, but there are certainly no smiles to be seen. In the past, Grandsanta did it all himself, driving ‘Evie’ the sleigh, through wars, and with the occasional travel sick elf, as his partner. But it is Arthur who understands the children best, and proves to be not as useless as the rest of his family believed.
You have to marvel at the attention to detail in this film. There is everything from the Christmas-tree-shaped beard on Steve’s chin, to the individual stitches on Arthur’s startlingly festive jumper that make you think, “wow, they look almost real!”, and yet it still maintains its cartoon playfulness that is bulbous noses and ears. Brilliant!
Rating: 4/5
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Admit it: nobody really likes spending an extra £1.50 for a film, just to wear a pair of plastic glasses that make you look like a complete idiot – especially if the film you bought the glasses for turned out to be a total waste of that money (I’m looking at you, Dark of the Moon). Thankfully, The Adventures of Tintin is one of the exceptions. Steven Spielberg (E.T, Indiana Jones, The Goonies, the list is endless) directs, Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings) produces, and the genius behind Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright is just one of the three men writing the script. With this amount of creativity and talent, the film had to be a good’un, and by Jove, it is. The story is about Tintin (Jamie Bell), investigating the mystery behind a ship, called The Unicorn. He crosses paths with Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), a drunkard and the last remaining descendent of the man who sailed it, Sir Francis Haddock. Together they set out to unravel the secrets that lurk behind the legendary ship, but it looks like the sinister Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine has other ideas. People of a certain age may recognise the plot of the film, as it is based on three of the original comic books, by Hergé, but that doesn’t mean it is just for their enjoyment. Having never read a Tintin comic in my life before, I found myself thinking I had most definitely missed out. It’s clever, imaginative, and for all ages. It involves you in the mystery, meaning you often figure out the answers before the characters do. Using motion capture animation throughout the film (like that used in creating Gollum, in The Lord of the Rings, ironically, played by Andy Serkis), the characters look real, but still maintain the qualities used in the cartoons: the bumbling duo, Thomson and Thompson, for example have absurd, tomato-shaped noses, and chubby limbs. If anything, Tintin looks the most ‘normal’, although it is still difficult to determine his age, with that baby-face and trademark haircut. All in all, the effects are flawless, and the transitions between each scene are artfully done. Haddock’s flashbacks flow with gorgeous ease, an example being The Unicorn, smoothly materialising into a frothing ocean, from the sand dunes of the desert. The acting in this film is also worth talking about. Daniel Craig gives his voice to the villain of the story, but if you hadn’t seen his name mentioned in the opening credits, there is a chance you would not recognise it. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Paul) play Thomson and Thompson; a choice I did not expect to work, but does strangely, particularly when they argue. They are used as a kind of comic relief in the film, so expect a lot of slapstick humour. However, it is Andy Serkis’ performance that topped them all (even Tintin). He takes on a Scottish accent that sounds like he has been gargling with gravel, and Haddock’s idiosyncratic curse words like “blistering barnacles” seem to just roll off his tongue. He is the darker tool for comedy, appealing more to the adults in the audience, while the kiddies just giggle at his drunken antics. There is a message there, of course: excessive drinking may look funny, but it makes your breath stink! So, whether you’re young or old, this film is worth a watch, and yes, well worth paying an extra £1.50 for it, and the ending is left blatantly open for a sequel. 4/5
Johnny English Reborn
It’s been seven years since the original film was on our screens, but after watching the likes of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4’, and ‘Toy Story 3’ (which was released eleven years after its predecessor), and thoroughly enjoying them, I decided to give the belated sequel the benefit of the doubt. However, I was a little disappointed with the result. Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is a disgraced secret agent, and has been hiding in Tibet with the monks, after an earlier mission, five years ago, which ended in disaster. He is reinstated, however, when he is requested especially for a new mission, investigating a group of international assassins, plotting to kill the Chinese premier. He does this, while accompanied by his apprentice-of-sorts, Agent Tucker, as a replacement for his previous side-kick Bough, from the film before. Johnny English Reborn is a funny film, I suppose, if you enjoy watching Rowan Atkinson making a complete fool of himself (which is, let’s be honest, probably most of the world), but that’s it. The rest of the cast are virtually unknown, except for Tim “Captain Darling” McInnerny in a rather fantastic wheelchair, and maybe Rosamund Pike, but only if you’ve seen ‘Die Another Day’, where she played an evil Bond girl. There is a recurring gag that was rather amusing the first time around, but after the second go, it seriously begins to wear. All in all, most of the funniest bits were actually all in the trailer, which was a total let-down. Rating: 3/5
Reviews by Rebecca Jackaman. |
