Title; Tomorrow When the War Began
Starring: Caitlin Stasey, Rachael Hurd-wood, Lincoln Lewis,
Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings, Andy Ryan.
Rating: 4 Exploding Bridges
Review: You better
believe that, despite a high rating, I am going to be damned critical of this
film. I have read the book (twice) and while I am generally impressed with the
accuracy, I am still annoyed.
The basic plot is that, instead of going to the annual Wirrawee
Australia Day Fair, seven teenagers go camping in a place called Hell. The
irony of this is that Hell is both beautiful and peaceful, but it is also their
only safe place to go when trouble arises.
During one night of their trip, they see a large number of
military aircraft flying overhead. They dismiss it as something to do with
their own military. This becomes less likely when they come home to find
everything abandoned, all power and electricity out and no one to be found.
Most animals are dead or starved, but there is no person to speak of.
That night, from the hill behind one of their homes, they
see only the showground and hospital are alight. The story continues with
trying to regroup after an investigation of what is happening, which is then
followed by a need to do something to help. A radio announcement tells them
that Cobblers Bay, which is not too far away, is one of the main ports bringing
in supplies. There is only one way through from Cobblers Bay, and that is a
bridge to Wirrawee. Using a fuel tanker, rope and lighter as ammunition, a
stampede for a distraction and a hidden set of motorbikes as getaway vehicles,
how could it go wrong?
Well, I’ll tell you. Robyn (Ashleigh Cummings) is portrayed
badly. In the book, she is presented as someone who is a little unsure but
determined. At the end of the third book (The Third Day, the Frost) she does
something so brave that she should be awarded the Purple Heart. She is not a
deeply religious character, even though her parents (for all we know) probably
are.
The end of the movie is far and away from the direction of
the books. The characters somehow get their hands on a mass amount of weapons,
black combat clothing and the like, and go marching off to Cobblers Bay. While
it is true that they do attack Cobblers Bay in the series, it is not with that
much equipment or with that much determination. They remain as unsure and
unable as they started. Fairies did not drop off a crate of machine guns, rifles,
ammunition belts, war-suited clothing and pistols during the night. Sorry, no! -1
The modernization of the book is well done, considering the
book was released in 1993, and we are a little more advanced than that. But the
backwards steps to the technology they would have had anyway was well done, as
the telecommunication towers were knocked out and the power cut. So they
couldn’t rely on their cells and the internet. +.5
Lastly, there is way too much character development if they
are going to continue filming the series. Elle and Lee (Caitlin Stasey and
Chris Pang) are getting too close too fast, as are Kevin and Fi (Deniz Akdeniz
and Phoebe Tonkin). They take at least three or four books to get that close.
-.5 Kevin and Corrie (Lincoln Lewis and Rachael Hurd-wood) develop a bond,
there is no pretence to sex in the book and they are not declaring their love
for each other by the end of the book. Kevin is too stubborn and ‘manly’ to
admit his feelings. For all of you who want a bit of an insight into what will
happen, Kevin will be back, his dog (which shouldn’t have been there in the
first place) probably won’t be and Corrie has a minor role left.
The last thing I did notice was an age old problem with
these sorts of movies, and that is facial hair. The guys are old enough to be
shaving, but watch Kevin and Homer closely. While they have appearing and
disappearing stubble, it never gets long enough for the duration of time that
has passed. While I don’t expect to see them shaving, I do expect them to have
a certain amount of growth. But I won’t dub points for that.
The movie is good for its adaptation, and Elle has some of
the best lines. My personal favourite
is…
Robyn: Wow. You’re dangerous
Elle: (at the wheel of a garbage truck). That’s what my
driving instructor said
With a rating of 4, it has taken spot number 5 on the top 10
list, pushing ‘the Prestige’ down to 6 and eliminating ‘Night of the Living
Dead.’
Title: Kung Fu Hustle
Starring: Stephen
Chow, Yuen Wa, Leung Siu Lung, Dong Zhi Hua, Chiu Chi Ling, Xing Yu
Rating: 4.5 Kung Fu
Techniques
Review: I’ve heard of
this movie as one of the most brilliant martial arts films there is. However,
it is what is referred to as Wire Fu, as there is no possible way someone could
defy gravity like that. But that does not cost this movie a point. So when I
found the CD in a case in a crate in the back corner of the spare room of where
my stuff is in storage and realised I hadn’t watched it, I blew the dust off
and set the DVD player to play.
I had a few ideas of
what this film might be about, considering the style of filming, and era it
comes from, but it was set very differently. The movie looks like it is going
to be serious, then it gets rough and then comical, and then tends to jump
between that, martial arts action and a wondering of who the hero is.
The movie starts with
the overpowering of a Yakuza gang by another yakuza gang known as the ‘Axe
Gang’. They are ruthless killers who use fireworks to call each other. It Is
rather cool in itself. The movie then moves to the poor parts of the land where
two people are trying to fake being a member of the Axe Gang to get money. This
backfires when the actual Axe Gang turns up looking to control the area. This
gets overthrown by three Kung Fu Experts Who have remained otherwise hidden
within the town. The Axe Gang is beaten off and the Experts face the town.
The Land Lady of the
area isn’t impressed and kicks them out. Upon their last night, as the three
men leave, they encounter two assassins hired by the Axe Gang, who have a mystical
guitar board that kills all three of them. In a shock twist, the Land Lady and
abused husband turn out also to be Experts. Her special move is known as the
lion’s roar, which is quite a powerful wall of sound. With a peace offering,
they let the heads of the gang live.
Meanwhile, the two
men who tried to fake their way into the Axe Gang have been offered positions
in the Axe Gang if they can kill someone. Needless to say these two pathetic
idiots have no skill in anything except lock-picking and sleeping. The hero
(played by Stephen Chow, but no actual character name) walks away with four
knives and some cobra bites. This he manages to heal from with no memory.
We also learn that
Stephen was offered a fighting manual as a kid, which is known as the Buddha’s
Hand Falling From Heaven. He also tried to save a girl from being bullied as
she was a deaf mute, and got bullied himself. She offered him peace, he turned
her down. She now runs an ice-cream trolley and he robs her. He later tries to
kill her for the money she has, only to discover she is the same girl.
Stephen’s next
assignment is to free a fighter from an asylum. This slap-stick
break-in-and-out is rather disappointing on his behalf. The man broken out is
an absolute master. He fights with our two remaining experts, as the other
three were killed, and the fight seems to be a tie. Stephen attacks the master
and gets every bone and tendon broken for his efforts.
As he mystically
heals, he discovers he has the Kung Fu power and the manual he read as a kid
was indeed a powerful (and lost) art. Defeating the master, the master bows to
him and swears obedience. Considering he is a lying cheat, I wouldn’t have
trusted him, but there you go.
The movie has a nice
little joke at the end which will make you wonder if a sequel was ever thought
of. Since I hate sequels, I hope one wasn’t. It’d make good fan fiction though.
I rather enjoyed this
movie as it was different to a lot of other Martial Arts films. There was a lot
more comedy to it than any others and the fighting skill was still good enough
for me to appreciate. I am disappointed that one of the original three experts
got dropped before he had a chance to fight, because I enjoyed his technique
the most, but you can’t have everything.
I took a .5 off
because if you consider how much of a beating some of them take, they really
shouldn’t get up again. That and the ongoing error that one character with his
hair on fire in one scene has a perfectly good head of hair in the next scene.
Whoops!
I’d definitely watch
this movie again. It has taken third place on the top ten list. It has bumped
‘The Color Purple’ down to fourth and ‘Splinter is off the list.
Title: Percy Jackson
and the Lightning Thief
Starring: Logan
Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandria Daddario, Sean bean, Uma Therman, Pierce
Brosnan, Jake Abel, Kevin McKidd
Rating: 3.5 Lightning
Bolts
Review: As a fan of
Greek mythology and worshiper of certain Greek deities, you had better believe
I had this movie right under the microscope from the get go.
So we open upon
Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) going to visit Zeus (Sean Bean) and they are arguing
over the child of Poseidon being the one who stole the lightning bolt from
Zeus. This instantly led to two conclusions. 1) Zeus is really foolish for
leaving the most destructive weapon made lying around. 2) Sean Bean won’t be
dying in this film, which seems to be against his usual genre.
The son of Poseidon
is our main protagonist and I like that. I often feel that Poseidon is
over-looked as one of the three main gods of Greek mythology. Movies often
focus on the relationship between Zeus and Hades (Steve Coogan) or the child of
Zeus. So Poseidon is in the middle of this. His son is clueless as to his
lineage, until a Fury (looking a lot like a harpy) attacks. This leads us to
understand that Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) with ADHD and dyslexia actually
can read ancient Greek and has advanced battle instincts. So he is whisked away
by his best friend Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) who is really a satyr to a
training camp in the middle of nowhere. Percy Jackson, however, loses his
mother to a Minotaur.
Percy, meanwhile,
learns he can fight and has mystical powers of water, and kicks the arse of
Athena’s daughter Annabeth (Alexandria Daddario). Hades then shows up and
offers the exchange of the lost lightning for Percy’s mother. Without a lot of
idea on what to do, Percy goes to Luke (Jake Abel) who is the son of Hermes. He
tells them that they need to get three pearls and go to Hades via Persephone
(Rosario Dawson).
Three pearls, one for
each of our heroes (Percy, Grover and Annabeth) go on a road trip across
America to find all the pearls on the surface. One is guarded by a Medusa
(which was actually the name of the Queen of the gorgon monsters) and take Medusa
(Uma Therman) on. I gotta say that it is really cool to see how snake hair
would actually look.
The second pearl is
guarded by a hydra and this is where Percy discovers how to control water.
However, Percy did not know (for some stupid reason) that if you take a Hydra
head off, two grow back. EVERYONE knows that! YEISH! He also has a conversation
with Annabeth and she tells the story of Athens and how both Athena and
Poseidon wanted to be the patron deity of the town, and the people chose
Athena. This caused a rift between Poseidon and Athena. Some research would
have told them it was Ares who had the rift with Athena, not Poseidon. DUH!
With the third pearl
retrieved from Los Vegas, they venture into hell and discover the location of the
lightning bolt and the movie comes to a fight and an otherwise predictable
ending. What really pissed me off is the way that, once again, Zeus and Hades
are enemies. Would it really hurt ANYBODY to do a LITTLE research? It has never
been written Hades hated his position, it is often written that Hades OPTED for
his position. He wanted to rule the dead and the Underworld, and he got it. The
Persephone story is a standard translation; however, some of the lines are
really good between them.
So I took a point off
for all of the bad, and seriously, these are silly errors. Even Wikipedia could
disprove the movie quickly. The other half point comes off because this movie
flowed too much like a video game. I realise that the movie is focused at a
younger audience than me, but still, it could be a little more… smooth-flowing.
Note to the older
generations; it appears that the next generation of Eddie Murphy and Chris
Tucker actors are here. Seriously, do a comparison between them and Brandon T.
Jackson. Very similar acting styles.
Title: Sherlock
Holmes – Game of Shadows
Starring: Robert
Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry
Rating: 3.5 Black
Chess pieces
Review: when it comes
to sequels, most of my friends (and some readers) know I am not a fan. Sequels
simply mean the same story, slightly different context, but otherwise a mirror
of its original predecessor. A good example of this would the ‘The Mummy’ and
‘The Mummy Returns’. Even the people I knew who had seen this film before me
said it wasn’t as good. I do have to agree, but not for the same reasons. As
sequels go, this one was actually pretty good. The story continued on from the
point it left off with only a little bit of time having elapsed.
Many reviews I’ve
read beforehand suggest that the relationship between Dr. Watson (Jude Law) and
Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr) was somewhat overdone and camped up from the subtle
to the directly obvious gay humour. While this is true, I don’t feel it
impacted badly on the relationship between the two characters. As a reader of
the books and a fan of a few of the series, this is simply another way of
seeing their relationship and how to have fun with it. It doesn’t matter what
version of Sherlock Holes you are watching, you will find that he and Watson
are always having goes at each other for one reason or another. In the original
texts, Watson is continuously put off by Sherlock putting down his writings and
approaches to solving crimes. In the movies Watson Is a lot more focused than
in other series, but his relationship with Sherlock is more bromantic than a
lot of other series (and is similar, though more camp than the TV series of
‘Sherlock’). So when it came to the negative take on this, the humour that went
with it and the telling of the story, there is no issue here for me. The only
downside to their relationship is how they treat each other otherwise. The
respect that is there in any other context is gone, so I’m not impressed with
the slinging matches they always have. Movie 1 made it humorous, movie two made
it too angry and therefore, unreal.
This movie also keeps
up one of the traditions of Sherlock Holmes, in that Sherlock does (supposedly)
die during the series of books. The movie even went so far as to get the place
right, so I can’t be too critical of that either. Even as a canon Nazi, I still
find myself contented with this. The original story, “The Final Problem”
Sherlock does indeed die at the Reichenbach Falls which are in northern
Switzerland. When this story was published originally in ‘The Daily Telegraph’
in Dec 1893, thousands of people cancelled their readership. Sherlock was
revived in “The Hound of Baskervilles” which was a prequel, and then fully
revived at a later date. FYI: Sherlock Holmes eventually retired from his life
as a detective and became a bee-keeper.
So now we face the
challenge of Moriarty (Jared Harris). The character that gives so much life to
the idea of a scheming villain. He has the same intelligence as Sherlock, the
same way of thinking ahead and is one of the many villains who wrote his thesis
on Chess, amongst other things. While I am yet to come across Moriarty in the
books (or Mycroft for that matter), I do have a general idea of what he is
supposed to be like. What I find in the movies is the same idealistic and powerful
man, a good plan for getting what he wants and the scheme to make it happen. I
don’t feel that jared Harris had the physical presence of Moriarty, but he did
have the acting skill to be him. Bu I won’t knock points off for that.
And so begins the
story. And we discover that Sherlock is doing his best to piss Moriarty off.
Sherlock, although somewhat successful, has not got as deep into Moriarty’s
plan as he thinks, or we think. So the chase begins over Europe to find out
what Moriarty is up to and to beat him at his own game. Sherlock’s disguises,
which are legendary in the books, live up to their reputation throughout the
movie. From being a bellboy who changes age every few minutes, a student, a beggar
or even a woman, we see that Robert is not afraid to play this role. And yes,
he wears the makeup. This does bring on a lot of the gay humour, but it was
certainly worth it to me.
I was disappointed
with the pursuit for a little while, as it did seem to drag itself out over a
long period of time. For those who have seen the first movie, we had to keep
our wits about us because when it was all summed up at the end, the mass of
stuff all came together and made you go ‘ah ha! Context!” And while this movie
did the same, the summary at the end where Sherlock and Moriarty verse off in a
game of chess was not as good, as there simply wasn’t enough there to build on.
Moriarty came apart too easily. -1 for downsizing and dragging what was left
out.
I took another .5 off
because the villains sidekick/main man etc, is supposedly the best shooter in
the world, or at least one of. He can kill a man and set off a bomb in the same
shot at a distance that most guns and shooters of the age couldn’t do well. So
how the hell did he not manage to shoot Watson during that specific scene, or
even put a poison dart into him when he had his back conveniently turned, or
all the other opportunities he had to do away with our heroes? I realise it is
anti-plot point, but for the love of logic, the bad guys would get what they
wanted if they used theirs.
All up, this is a lot
better (in my mind at least) than what people have led me to believe. If there
is a follow-on movie after this, as the ending seemed to suggest there is a
possibility, then I am damned well going to see it in cinema.
Overall Top 10
1) Silent Hill (4.5) (Own)
2) Sherlock Holmes (4.5) (own)
3) Kung Fu Hustle (4.5) (own)
4) The Colour Purple (4.5) (Own)
5) The Frightners (4) (Purchase)
6) Tomorrow When the War Began (Own)
7) The Prestige (4) (Own)
8) Sleepy Hollow (4) (own)
9) Shortbus (4) (Purchase)
10) The Addams Family (4) (Own)
Next to be reviewed:
Skyfall
Burlesque
The Adventures of TinTin
