Saving Mr Banks!!!!

Saving Mr Banks.

Disney to make a film about Disney himself you'd think would be packed full of nods and winks to say "DISNEY IS AWESOME" but with Saving Mr Banks it was to just be a standalone film. It's fair to say that they wouldn't criticise too heavily the man who created the Disney brand. 

The film see's the story of how Marry Poppin's creator P.L Travers (Emma Thompson) travels to the US to speak with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) himself over the rights to her story being made into a film. Of course P.L Travers has been seen to be quite the strong and opinionated woman who was very protective over her creation. 

With P.L Travers money running out quite fast she is told to fly to the US speak with Disney and also work on the film so she can have some control over the final film itself. Arriving into the US she meets with the two musical directors and lyricists the Sherman Brothers (Jason Schwartzman and B.J Novak) who work on the songs for the film. Of course to make sure she has a record of what is said in the meetings she records everything that is said and as usual she has stern words "what's responstible that's not a word undo it".

Running alongside the main story of the making of Mary Poppins is the story of P.L Travers own personal life, in particular her upbringing with her father Travers Robert Goff (Colin Farrell). A banker her family was to move around from town to town so that her father can take up his job as a manager of a bank. 

Constant friction was to slow the process of making the film between Travers and Disney, a trip to Disneyland with Disney himself was to loosen Travers up and finally accept the final song of the film 'Let's Go Fly A Kite'. As the relationship between the two becoming more positive and both of the mtruly understanding each others situation they both learn to work together and she lets Disney make the film his way. 

For what is a Disney film about Disney they don't blow their own horn too much and it is subtle and isn't all "YAYYYY DISNEY" style film which is good. The story between Disney and Travers is funny and yet sweet at the same time and also shows how two different people can learn to get along so well. I found the whole Colin Farrell history part of the film abit tedious and I felt it wasn't needed at all. It would still be a strong film with thos parts cut out as Thompson and Hanks are both on fine form and portray their two characters with confidence and we couldn't ask anything more from top actors like themselves. 

Any person or fan of the Mary Poppins film who watched it when they were a kid or even likes the Disney brand will love this film. It mentions all the songs from the film, shows the process Travers and the composers went through to make the film possible and shows an endearing story between two people. 

Oh and do stay to watch the credits as you will hear an actual recording of Travers during one of the many sessions she had during the making of the film.

7/10.

The Lone Ranger!!!!

The Lone Ranger.

Now when this western TV show started out as a Radio series in 1933 and then to hit TV screens for eight series from 1949-1957 and it was to be a great success. With a handful of films made they were not to really make an impact and so for decades the franchise was left, until now that is. Bought up by the Disney corporation and worked on for numerous years it was finally given the green light and was to steam into cinemas. Brought to screens by the makers of the highly successful Pirate's of the Caribbean franchise it was in people's eyes to be a potential great success, a massive budget of over $250 million dollars was to make people sceptical. 

Of course Johnny Depp was to be cast as the native american Tonto, along with John Reid (Armie Hammer) as the Lone Ranger himself it's an interesting duo of actors for the film. Starting off with a scene of a young boy who walks into a tent at a carnival to speak to what looks like an old and wrinkly Tonto. As the story begins we see John Reid travelling home on the train, unbeknown to him two outlaws are travelling on the same train, Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) and Tonto.  

As the train is derailed and Butch is saved by his fellow outlaws John and is brother Dan go off in pursuit of Butch and his outlaws which in turn brings tragic circumstances. Waking up on top of a wooden structure overlooking the canyons John Reid soon comes into close contact with Tonto for the first time and is told of what happened to him. 

With an intertwining storyline that involves many characters it brings the western film to life but at a slow and at times a snails pace. Not wanting to give too much away the film for the first three quarters is quite slow and is a more drama based film with the situations the characters are involved in. The last quarter of the film is where it eventually picks up the pace, the classic theme music comes in and all action ensues. From fast paced out of control trains, fast horse riding and a massive explosion that will impress anyone it finally has the oomph behind it but it's too little too late. As the film finishes on a massive high it's a bit of a let down in that sense as it could have done with being more fast and punchier at the start. 

Johnny Depp for me is just the same character he was in Pirate's, changing his accent and taking off his pirate hat and placing a bird on his head he's to me not worked on his character. Armie as The Lone Ranger just doesn't work and he seems to be too wooden and doesn't convince me that he is a guy who is conflicted with what to do, be a ranger or become an outlaw. 

For a film with a big budget you can't see where the money has gone, with any other film you can see the special effects and CGI in action but here it seems most of the money was spent on script re-writes, sets and set design which is a shame. If I was to recommend the film to anyone I would say they were to only watch the last quarter as the first three quarters didn't grab my attention and I kept looking at my watch to see when I could leave. A real shame but no doubt Disney will shove another one of the films out in the near future and we will yet again see Depp with a bird on his head and Hammer on his white stead, Silver. 

To finish off all I can say is, this film franchise......."Hi-Yo, Silver! AWAYYYYY!!!"

6/10.

Monsters University!!!!

Monsters University.

The first thing you notice about this film is that yes it is the latest film from Pixar which of course already makes you want to watch it as you know it'll be great. But lets backtrack abit as we all know 'Cars 2' wasn't the greatest of successes as the ratings for it were really low and showed that Pixar was indeed fallible when it came to filmmaking. I have to say that this film is the total opposite of 'Cars 2' and is going to be a definite hit with people as who can resist the comedy duo we all fell in love with in 'Monsters Inc' of Mike and Sully.

Obviously if you've lived under a rock you won't know that this is a prequel to 'Monsters Inc', set ten or so years before the duo even met you first see Mike as a youngster getting off a school bus on a school trip at the Monsters Inc scare factory. A wide eyed Mike then enters one of the doors and impresses a scare monster and gains a hat and vows to become a scarer. 

Fast forward a few years and Mike is getting off another school bus but this time he is a college student and looking forward to learning how to be the best scarer in the monster world. As Mike and his room-mate Randall start classes they soon meet the ever so relaxed and all round party guy James P Sullivan who has the attitude that he's got nothing to worry about. 

As situations take a turn for the worse Mike and Sully join forces with the campus rejects and join their fraternity Oozma Kappa to compete in the scare games. As the group of six misfit students take on the scare games they soon realise they have bitten off more than they can chew. With the relationship between Mike and Sully still not becoming anything but amicable the group must learn to take advantage of their skills and try to work together. Will the group pull together and help save Mike and Sully? what will happen to their friendship? and how does it all end for Oozma Kappa?

With an ending that definitely stays true to the Pixar ethos that has run throughout their films in the past it is a heart warming story of friendship and how to make the best of any situation. It's interesting to see how Mike and Sully became the best of friends and also see how other characters like Randall change and become evil. Seeing a young tiny Mike and how his and Sully's furr and skin change in colour and how they age is clever and interesting to see on a big screen.

The animation is of course beyond incredible and you can tell Pixar spend alot of time working on textures, liquids, reflection, shadow and brightness to really make the characters pop and impress. With the setting being at a college you are able to see so many new and varied monsters that live in the monster world and see how they develop over the film. Of course the only downside for me is that their is no mention or image of little Boo from the first 'Monsters Inc' film which is a shame but obviously she wouldn't have been born yet. 

A clear triumph in my eyes from Pixar another strong emotive filled film that will have you hooked from the start. One downfall I think was a little bit too rushed and just thrown at the end is how Mike and Sully became to be at Monsters Inc and how they finally got their jobs working on the scare floor. A bit more consideration could have been taken into showing it abit more on screen as people might have thought it was the end credits.

8/10.