Posts

Showing posts with the label chris pine

WONDER WOMAN - REVIEW

Image
Review now available on the new website .

WONDER WOMAN - VLOG 13/06/17

Image
I finally talk about DC's  Wonder Woman .

STAR TREK BEYOND - VLOG 25/07/16

Image
I talk about the new reboot sequel Star Trek Beyond . Live long and prosper.

STAR TREK BEYOND - REVIEW

Image
Star Trek is back with yet another big-screen reboot sequel and, since the darker Star Trek Into Darkness  promised a return to the brighter tone of the old TV series in the next instalment, Star Trek Beyond had its work cut out, especially following its much-criticised first teaser trailer. The good news is that this is very easily the "Trekkiest" of all the reboot movies and, like a few of the old Star Trek movies, it feels like an extended episode of The Original Series... in a good way. Packed with lots of loving references from Spock's trademark eyebrow raise to Kirk always ripping his shirt and McCoy being thrown into situations he's not too keen on, this manages to be a fun homage without feeling like fan-fiction. With Justin Lin replacing J.J. Abrams as director, you can certainly expect more action, a LOT more action in fact, as this movie makes Into Darkness look like a business meeting. You've got the Enterprise being torn to shreds by space bees,

INTO THE WOODS - REVIEW

Image
If you go watch Into The Woods today... You might leave with mixed feelings. Adapting Stephen Sondheim's musical to the big screen was always going to be a challenge seeing as the whole thing's like one big song sung by loads of main characters, each of them doing their own thing at the same time around a purposely convoluted plot. As the film is an hour shorter than the play, a lot of songs and plot threads were always going to get the chop and this could have easily destroyed a film with a lot of potential. Luckily, director Rob Marshall has his share of experience making movie musicals ( Chicago , Nine ) so he keeps the film afloat through succesfully capturing the essence of the stage play and getting the best out of his all-star cast. The songs are as endearing and catchy as ever from the long opening ensemble number "Prologue: Into The Woods" to the heartbreaking "Stay With Me" and the upbeat "Giants In The Sky", not to mention The Wo

JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT - REVIEW

Image
Here's a movie so memorable it took me like a month to realise I hadn't even officially reviewed it yet... Yes, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit was this year's new attempt to bring the late Tom Clancy's character Jack Ryan to the screen in a big-budget blockbuster action thriller. The film was directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Branagh himself as the big bad cartoon Russian villain while Ryan is portrayed by Chris "Captain Kirk" Pine. The film opens on Jack Ryan studying economics in London before witnessing the 9/11 attacks on TV. This somehow leads him to become a top dog marine in the US army but, after a helicopter crash, he is soon dragged to hospital where he slowly but surely learns to walk again and regain his strength. Eventually, Kevin Costner's CIA agent shows up and hires him for a mission which would involve Ryan checking out if the Russians aren't maybe doing some shady deals with the markets, which, it turns out, they are. Ryan is se

JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT - VLOG 03/02/14

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS - REVIEW

Image
(SPOILER-FREE REVIEW) "I. Am. Better." "At what?" "Everything." That's the conversation Benedict Cumberbatch's villain has with Chris Pine's Kirk in the trailers for this new J.J. Abrams Trek outing Star Trek: Into Darkness . And, you know what? This movie could have easily had the exact same conversation with the first Star Trek reboot. Yes, it is, indeed, better. At everything. As the title suggests, Into Darkness is darker (duh!) but it's also bigger and more fun. Which is not to say it's perfect, no Star Trek movie is, but it sets out to be a superior sequel and achieves just that. This time around, more emphasis is placed on the film's villain and, considering how forgettable Eric Bana's bitter future Romulan was in the first movie, this is certainly a good move. Especially since Benedict Cumberbatch's John Harrisson is such a good villain, the Sherlock actor stealing the show in almost every scene he&#

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS - VLOG 13/05/13

Image

STAR TREK - REVIEW

Image
Rebooting/continuing the Star Trek franchise was never going to be easy. What were they supposed to do? Make a movie based on the flop series Enterprise ? Invent a brand new Star Trek crew, give them their own movie and hope for the best? Give one of the old crews their weight in gold to stick around and continue making Star Trek movies? With J.J. Abrams onboard, in the end the goal became to restart the franchise with the Original Series crew, except with a brand new, younger cast, tons of action, state of the art special effects and try to somehow create a parallel timeline within the film itself in order to keep things fresh and avoid remaking the old show and the old movies shot-for-shot. Probably the only logical approach, but still pretty risky. The result was an epic, expensive blockbuster with enough action to keep even the most reluctant viewers entertained. An origins story, we got to see Kirk and co.'s pre-Enterprise days and their earliest of missions which a

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS - NEW POSTERS

Image
Some new Star Trekky goodness for y'all...