Wreck-It Ralph!!!!

Wreck-It Ralph.

The first animated film of the year and one I was looking forward to see mainly because of all the retro video game references and their were plenty of them packed into the film. 

The film starts with Wreck-It Ralph a character from the arcade game Fix-It Felix Junior narrating what he has done for the past thirty years everyday of his life. Ralph soon enough sees a party including all the characters of the game celebrating thirty years of  the Fix-It Felix Junior game and Ralph hasn't been invited. Having seen Felix get given a medal at the end of the game for thirty years he sets out to go "turbo" (leave his game) to go find his own medal and gain the respect of his fellow game characters. Soon enough Ralph is immersed in the new HD high engergy shooting game 'Hero's Duty' and he gains his medal. With a slight mishap taking place he crash lands into the racing game 'Sugar Rush' where he meets the glitch of the game Vanellope von Schweetz. As he strikes up a friendship with her he agrees to help her race in return for her getting his medal back so he can return to his game a hero. 

As Fix-It Felix journeys to Hero's Duty to save Ralph he meets Sergeant Calhoun and falls in love with her, they both then venture to Sugar Rush to save Ralph  and save the Sugar Rush game from an alien cyborg invasion. As King Candy tries to stop Vanellope from racing Ralph must make a decision does he save the Sugar Rush game or help Vanellope?. As all the characters enter Sugar Rush what will happen. Will Vanellope ever race?, will Felix and Sergeant Calhoun save Ralph? and will they all return to their original games?

The film itself is great, the visuals are very impressive as it is a very vibrant and enticing film that keeps you looking every where for new things to look at and take in. The video game references come through thick and fast with plenty of classic acade characters making apperances. From the Pac-man ghost, a zombie, Bowser, Zangief and M.Bison to Dr Robotnik their are plenty of characters from all platforms of arcade games. It makes the game kind of nostalgic for me as I grew up playing pretty much all the characters in some way on some gaming systems be it on the Mega Drive or Super Nintendo back when I was younger. 

Their are of course sweet references with one game being in a food and sugar made place 'Sugar Rush' which is clever as both sweet and gaming references come from the same era. Both give younger viewers the opportunity to find out who all these characters are and maybe play a few of the old arcade games.

The voices of the caracters are great John. C Reilly voicing Ralph is great as he has a big deep sarcastic style voice and the image of the character matches the voice. Sarah Silverman was made to play Vanellope as she just has that high pitched slightly annoying sickly sweet voice that everyone loves. And the one liners between Ralph and Vanellope are priceless and definitely cause a few chuckles. 

Overall a great, vibrant, funny, classic, witty animated film that I hope we will see a sequel too because it really is a step back in time for older viewers and a new film/franchise for younger viewers.

8/10.

Flight!!!!

Flight.

Director Robert Zemeckis returns with his first live action film in over a decade with 'Flight'.

Starring the screen legend and impressive Denzel Washington (Whip Whitaker) , the film starts in a hotel room as a naked flight attendant wakes up a drunken Whip two hours before he's due to fly to Atlanta. As an out of shape Whip smokes some marijuana, snorts two lines of cocaine and downs some whiskey he's got his head straight ready for the impending flight. As you see Whip enter the cockpit he takes a few breaths of Oxygen to wake himself up, empty's three mini bottles of vodka into his orange juice and takes up his seat in the cockpit. With a new co-pilot by his side Whip takes some chances flying through a massive storm cloud causing alot of turbulence.

What comes next are the impending disaster scenes as Whip loses control of the plane as multiple problems occur. As the plane takes a nose dive Whip inverts and fly's the plane upside down and finally crash lands the plane in a field saving the lives of most of the passengers on board.

Next thing your in the hospital as Whip awakens from the crash to what is being shown on the TV in his room as him being hailed as a hero for saving so many lives. As Whip realises the error of his ways straight away he shys away from the drugs being given to him by his dealer (John Goodman).

Soon enough Whip is called in and told that his blood samples after the crash show levels of cocaine and high levels of alcohol in his system, meaning he was drunk while flying the plane. With implications of jail time if this information was to get out his union representative Charlie Anderson (Bruce Greenwood) and his attorney Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) work out a strategy for him for the hearing of the plane crash. 

Their is of course a sub-plot involving a heroin addict Nicole (Kelly Reilly), they both meet at the hospital after Nicole overdoses and a the friendship begins. As they both become quite close they both fight their inner demons with substance abuse with Whip always losing the battle. With a rocky relationship with Nicole, his ex wife and son not wanting to see him and his failure to admit to his alcoholism Whip must make a decision. Keep lieing and just get through the hearing or admit his problems and face up to his actions?. 

The film itself has a great storyline to it, Denzel Washington gives another amazing performance as Whip Whitaker who is an out of shape drunk, drug abuser. Some of the scenes in the film really do ring home and just show how destructive, self centred and blind a drunk person can be in the world and the damage they can cause. Kelly Reilly as Nicole is the opposite of Whip she works on her problems, gets clean and goes to AA meetings to sort out her life.

One slight problem I found is that the first 40 minutes of the film do have you on the edge of your seat as you feel your in the cabin about to crash. But then for the next two hours or so the film slows right down and you get Whip's backstory of his life. The film then becomes tense again and gripping as you see Whip sweat answering questions about the plane crash. 

It is a great return for Robert Zemeckis, 'Flight' is at different ends of the spectrum to his last film as Zemeckis touches upon drug abuse, alcohol and violence it feels like he has done alot of growing up since 2000's 'Castaway'. A definite watch for anyone who enjoys a good film with plenty of life truths played out on screen and with Denzel Washington being a part of it you know it's a sure fire hit of a film.

8/10.

Lincoln!!!!

Lincoln.

When it comes to biopic films their are many in which I can re-call that stand out in my mind: Walk The Line (Johnny Cash), Milk (Harvey Milk) and Goodfellas (Henry Hill) are just three that stand out to me. Lincoln is another biopic film that stands out and portrays the last four months of the life and times of the 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis). 

The film starts with a scene of war as men fight in the muddy fields, as gunshots and swords fly everywhere it's a challenge of survival. Soon enough two black men are speaking to Abraham Lincoln about themselves and how much less pay they get than the other white soldiers they fight along side. Soon enough we see Lincoln talking with his secretary of state about trying to abolish slavery and get it into the constitution as part of the 13th amendment before he is sworn in as the President of the United States.

As the film progresses you see his republican fellow supporters fight in the house of congress to convince fellow republicans and more importantly turn democrats to agree with the amendment as well. As democrats are offered positions of power after the presidents inauguration, one by one they are all slowly turned to agree with the 13th amendment. As the civil war rages on Lincoln is told by his secretary of state William Seward "It's either the amendment or this confederate peace, you can not have both". With this dilemma Lincoln must make a decision, bring about a treaty to stop the war and save lives or abolish slavery forever, he has to choose which one. 

With the president getting to mere hours away from the vote in the house of Congress and in need of more votes, Lincoln gives one of his most poignant, powerful speeches in the film saying "I am the president of the United States clothed with immense power. You will procure me these votes" . As a new day dawns in the house of congress and the fist ever black people enter the house and sit in the public gallery, the votes are cast and the fate of all slaves is about to be settled, but what will happen?

The film itself is very thick and it requires all of your attention to understand what is going on and to follow the main story narrative of the film. As the film progresses you become immersed and start to become emotionally involved as you route for the right thing to happen. Of course the main guy himself Lincoln played by Daniel Day-Lewis is just incredible, there are times when you see an actor portray someone from history and then you see Daniel just become the person. He plays him with such dignity and respect that he just becomes and alluring charismatic person to watch and to inspire you. At times you forget that it is an actor on screen as you truly do think you are watching a real documentary of Lincoln on screen. 

Sally Field plays Lincoln's wife Mary Todd Lincoln and she does it with such poise and emotion as she advises Lincoln on his appearance to the people she is a great asset to Lincoln. Tommy Lee Jones who plays  Thaddeus Stevens is a great addition as he uses his sharp tongue and intellect to cut down any doubting democrats and does his best to support Lincoln. He plays Thaddeus as a funny yet very intelligent man and is a great addition to the film and brings some welcomed comedy to some scenes as well.

I have to say I was daunted at first by the sheer length of the film but once you become immersed in the film you forget about time and just become hooked into the film. The only let down I can see is the amount of little speeches and story's that Lincoln tells his fellow delegates and people as it soon amounts up and slows the film down too much. 

What has been created is a great biopic film that touches upon the human spirit and mind and how we can do better in life and make a change if we want to. A truly witty, dignified, immersive portrait of a man who changed the lives of so many people for the future.

9/10.