The Hunger Games: Catching Fire!!!!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The second film in The Hunger Games book trilogy this film has alot of anticipation and of course the return to screen for the Oscar winning actress Jennifer Lawrence. 

The film of course starts as we see the changed lives of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) who live in a seperate winners village. Travelling around the various districts to thank them and to show the world their true love for each other they have to keep the people peaceful. 

President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) is constantly watching the couple and advises Katniss that she convinces the people of the districts her love for Peeta to keep the peace of face the consequences. With some advice from Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) he wants Katniss dead so he changes the 75th annual hunger games reaping. The winners from the past 74 hunger games will be chosen to represent their district in the 75th hunger games (The Quarter Quell) which means Katniss and Peeta will be fighting to survive yet again. 

With the build-up to the hunger games Katniss and Peeta must make allies to fight with when in the arena to survive. Each competitor showing off their skills most of them are impressed with Katniss's archery skills and decide to be allies with her. Finally in the arena they are all up against different various challenges, raving mad baboons, acid gas, a river of blood and flocks of mockingjays they have a big task ahead of them. With everything against them, the threat of their families being killed and President Snow set on having Katniss dead what will happen to Katniss and Peeta?

The film itself is a big improvement from the first one and it has a great pace to it, building up from all the preperation your soon enough thrown right into the action. Seeing Katniss and Peeta back in the arena and this time with alot more allies gives a more unified feel to the 75th quarter quell. The different elements in which they are up against is a great idea as they are not only fighting for survival but also fighting the elements as well. 

Jennifer Lawrence is again just on fine form and you can tell she has become an impressive actress who falls into the character of Katniss so easily and no doubt she'll get better and better. The supporting cast of Hoffman, Sutherland, Harrelson and newly added Jena Malone and Sam Claflin give the film a bit more variety and brings in more characters to progress through the film.

For a second film in the hunger games franchise it is a step up and really impresses, with the same director on board for Mockingjay Part 1 you can expect something just as impressive and action filled with yet more big name actors added to the franchise. 

9/10.

Kick-Ass 2!!!!

Kick-Ass 2.

When the first Kick-Ass movie came out it was a ground breaking film as it showed just what would happen if real everyday people decided to don the mask and go out and become a hero. So the expectations for the second film were of course to be set high and In my opinion they've done a great job with this second film as it has everything. 

Set in the future the film shows how Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) and Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) have both decided to try and move on from the superhero days and live a normal life. With Mindy still being drawn to saving people after swearing to her dying father she would she finds it hard to adjust. Finally giving in Mindy stops and tells Dave that it's over and she has to lead a more normal life and go to high schools. Dave can't stop and so he soon enough joins up with a group of other superhero's called Justice Forever. Leadup by ex mob boss and born again Christian Sal Bertolinni/Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) the gang set out to do good in the world, taking out and setting free a brothel is just one of their achievements. 

Soon enough Chris D'Amico/The Motherfucker (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) hears of Kick-Ass still on patrol on the streets and vows to kill him and avenge the death of his father who Kick-Ass killed with a rocket launcher. With Chris starting up his own team of superhero villains he soon enough decides to take down Justice Forever one by one and finally kill Kick-Ass. 

With a final fight between both teams who will come out on top?, will Mindy finally give in and accept she is Hit-Girl? and what will the future hold for the superhero's?.

Overal I loved the film because it brought in more superhero's who do exactly what Kick-Ass does and they try to do good. The whole revenger storyline has been done a thousand times but it fits in well with the superhero theme and comes off as funny at times. I'll admit the storyline is basic but it does what it says on the tin, it brings in plenty of fighting, a nice moral story of acceptance, some comedy and a little bit of swearing. 

Carrey is in my eyes the BEST casting for this film, his simple one liners are just instant and bring a laugh "there's a dog on your balls". Chloe brings in a different side we've never seen of Mindy, now all grown up we see her teenage problems and how her hard stern self deals with this (in gross situations).Obviously the film has violence but at times it is that silly it becomes funny and you accept it for what it is. A great film with plenty of action and no doubt with the ending that took place we may yet see a Hit-Girl only movie which I would easily welcome with open arms. 

8/10.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa!!!!

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.

"Knowing me, Knowing you, AHAA!!" a quote from a comedic character who would take off and become more famous than the actor portraying him. I am of course talking about Alan Partridge from the creative and comedic mind of Steve Coogan, The Day Today was our first glimpse of Alan and he was to subsequently finally have his own show "Knowing Me, Knowing You" which was a comedic take on a chat show interviewing fake celebrities. With Alan being let go after just one series he was to return to our screens with "I'm Alan Partridge" a look at how Alan now lives in a local hotel and works at a local radio station. Finally getting a second series but not being too much a success Alan was to stay with his radio show.

This is of course where the film comes in, Alan is still working at North Norfolk Digital and is soon caught up in a situation that will possibly change the radio stations future. As Alan arrives at the radio station he soon finds out that the station is being taken over and changing it's name to be re-branded as "Shape". With his fellow radio DJ Pat Farrell (Colin Meaney) being sacked and Alan being spared his position at the station things take a turn for the worse. 

As the radio station has a new launch for the re-branding ex sacked DJ Pat storms the party with a double barrelled shotgun and decides to take the employees of the station hostage. With Alan being a close friend of Pat he is sent in to speak with him and try to work out what is wrong as Alan put's it "I am siege face".

Over the course of the film you see the classic Alan character come out in full force with facial expressions and one line quips coming thick and fast. As Alan slowly tries to help Pat he also has a secret to hide as well and soon enough Pat will find out. 

This film is classic Partridge and you get to see some great comedic scenes with Alan and it just shows that even after being away for a few years he's still funny. The storyline is a clever idea that works quite well, some ideas like the escaping from a toiler window and old hat jokes are not needed but they're funny ad you go along with it. A definite film for any Partridge fans as it has everything you would expect from him and more which is always a good thing. It's hard to condense a film which has so many one line jokes and also cover the story of the film as it goes by so quick but is so funny as well.

7/10.

The Wolverine!!!!

The Wolverine.

When the world of X-Men was released to the world one of the main characters who came out as a big fan favourite was Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Three films into the franchise and the world finally got a Wolverine only film 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' which wasn't received very well. But this time round it feels that the Marvel franchise have got things right deciding to carry on the story after the death of Jean Gray. 

Picking up after the third film it shows how a  down and out Wolverine is living in the wild with a grizzly bear and has recurring nightmares of killing Jean Grey. As he gets into a fight in a local bar a young Yukio (Rila Fukushima)  intervenes and saves him from killing anyone. Explaining who she is and who she works for he is soon flown to Japan to meet his long lost friend Yashida (Ken Yamamura). Finally meeting the older Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi) the story of how they both met is played out on screen as you see Logan saving a young Yashida's life and in exchange for him saving his life he says he can make Logan mortal again. 

Soon enough Logan is approached in his sleep by Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) who implants something into his body which he has no knowledge of as he thinks it was a nightmare. As Logan is attacked and fights his way to save Yashida's daughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) he sustains cuts, stab wounds and gun shot wounds to his body but yet he doesn't heal like he used to. Hindered by this affliction he carries on as normal trying to find Mariko and also try and regain his superhuman powers as well. 

With a final showdown with a massive metal samurai you finally see who is behind it all and what they truly want. Will Logan unleash the Wolverine and save Mariko and will he regain his superpowers again?

One thing I loved about this film is the setting, set in Japan it gives the film a different feel and using Japanese characters really does bring something fresh to the table. Hugh Jackman looks incredible, it has to be the most ripped he has ever been to play the rabid Wolverine and it really shows on screen. During fight scenes you see all his veins pop out and you see the stress lines on his face which just gives that ferocious image that better edge. The storyline is a clever one and I like how it follows on from the third X-Men film instead of being a complete new story and allows the story to possible follow on even more. 

With the added Marvel scene after the credits have rolled by it shows and sets up what we can expect from the next X-Men instalment film: X-Men: Days Of Future Past.

8/10.

Zero Dark Thirty!!!!

Zero Dark Thirty.

When I first heard about Zero Dark Thirty and what the storyline of the film would entail I thought to myself that it couldn't be done, especially in a respectful way and to not cause too much offence. But then I heard about who would direct the film, The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow and my faith was restored in the film straight away.

The film starts quite shockingly with a pitch black screen and all you hear is the audio of workers in the twin towers speaking to emergency service workers after the first plane hit the north tower. The film then jumps to two years later in a small tinned roof hanger where CIA agent Dan (Jason Clarke) is asking a detainee some questions, it then gets intense as Dan waterboards the detainee to gain valuable information. Looking on and watching the torture is a new recruit in the form of Maya (Jessica Chastain) who has alot to learn while living and working in Pakistan. 

The story follows the main characters of Dan and Maya working as CIA agents in Pakistan with other government agents tasked to try to find out where the location of Osama Bin Laden is and to take him down and stop the threat posed by Al-Qaeda.  

As the film progresses at a steady pace you become totally submerged in the narrative of the film, as the C.I.A team gather information from waterboarding detainees and working on leads to the top men they come across no valuable information. With top bosses coming in and demanding "I want targets and I want them dead" it's a very stark reality that what they are doing is finding out where the top Al-Qaeda men are and taking them  out one by one. The film is mainly aimed at following the long ten year career of Maya so we see all the terrorist attacks around the world in her ten year career on screen and in my opinion handled with such great care and respect. 

As C.I.A agents come and go over the ten years you see that Maya is adamant on finding OBL and taking him down once and for all, stopping at nothing to find him. With torture being dismissed by President Obama via a real interview conducted with the President shown on a TV the team adjusts their tactics. With some leads finally coming up Maya is adamant on working on a courier lead that she believes will lead them to OBL and his whereabouts. Meeting with top official C.I.A Director Leon Panetta (James Galdolfini) Maya and her team must convince him that the third male person in the compound they have found in Pakistan is the wanted Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Soon enough they get the go ahead and a strike force team is setup to fly in by two helicopters, enter the compound, take down OBL and collect as much evidence as possible.

Soon enough your in the helicopter with the special agents about hit the compound and the film shifts gears and slows right down with some of the most intense scenes I've seen this year. Your hands start to sweat and your heart beats really fast as your on the edge of your seat and sucked right into the action. Even though you know what outcome of the film is going to be you become truly immersed in the scenes. 

The film itself in my eyes is a triumph, the storyline of the film shows the meticulous work that goes into evidence gathering and how they follow up possible leads. The use of fast paced scenes for the first three quarters to then juxtapose and slow right down to the last quarter of the film is very well done. With just low light and sound used in the compound scenes it has a simple feel to it and is nothing too overly "hollywood" and feels truly real. Jessica Chastain's character portrayal as Maya is flawless, she starts off as a shy, timid agent straight out of Harvard and transforms into a swearing, confrontational, determined agent who will stop at nothing to take down OBL. The film doesn't dwell on past attacks, it shows them briefly and moves on handling them with the upmost respect. If their was any film this year that I would highly recommend seeing then this would be it as it is a truly amazing cinematic film and well worth a watch.

10/10.

The Impossible!!!!

The Impossible.

One film that I have finally seen after putting off seeing for weeks it's The Impossible, a hope filled story about how amazing the human spirit can be.

Based on a true story it sees the Bennett family decide to go on a Christmas Holiday break to Thailand, upgraded to a beach side villa they spend time with each other at the beautiful holiday resort. While the family are sat by the swimming pool that's when disaster hits, a tsunami hits the resort washing away trees, buildings and of course all five family members. 

As Maria (Naomi Watts) and Lucas (Tom Holland) are left to drift in the water they finally unite and learn to help each other out to find safe shelter and help. As you follow their story you see how strong the mother and son bond is and how much they both depend on each other in order to survive. The simplest of emotional scenes where a mother looks at her son and then another stray child they've found in the water just shows the caring side of a family unit. 

As they both find help from the local people and are taken to the local hospital Lucas is told to help other people find their lost family members. The story then turns to the father Henry (Ewan McGregor) , as he walks through the mud he is eventually re-united with his two youngest sons Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast). With the mother lying in hospital it's up to eldest son Lucas to find his other two brothers and father in and amidst the complete chaos at the local hospital. With chance meetings running through some of the scene's it's a question of will the mother survive? and will the family be finally re-united at last?.

The most impressive scenes in the film have to be that of the tsunami and the aftermath as the scale of the scenes are impressive. The way in which audio and sound are used during the film really make it feel real, from the whirling of the water and the burst ear drum whine it's clever. 

Of course it has to be said the film belongs to Naomi Watts and Tom Holland as the relationship between them as mother and son is really impressive and shows how strong a mother and son bond can be. With mother and son swapping places from a scene at the start and end of the film it's a nice little swap with poignancy behind it. 

The only downside I can find with the film is that some of the scenes are a little too predictable and you can guess what will happen next. Sometimes you feel the film could have gone into different territory and finished off some other peoples stories in the film but it's nothing too bad.  

Overall The Impossible is to be seen as a film about how amazing the human spirit can be and how important family life is as you never know what can happen next.

8/10.

Les Miserables!!!!

Les Miserables.

If there was one film I vowed last year I would avoid seeing it would have been Les Miserables mainly for the reason I particularly avoid musicals and any type of musical style film. I went into this film like a blank page, not knowing anything of the story of the film, I was open to everything and certainly kept an open mind as well.

From the very start of the film you see the sheer size of the production of the film as Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) along with other prisoners are seen hauling a massive sailing ship into port as Javert (Russell Crowe) looks down on the men. As Valjean changes his ways, becomes a model citizen and mayor of a small town and breaks his parole he vows to change his life for the better. Of course the ever present Javert is always around and still searching for Valjean. 

With Fantine (Anne Hathaway) thrown out of Valjean's factory she turns to prostitution where Hathaway tackles what is one of the films most iconic songs 'I Dreamed a Dream'. It has to be said that her vocal performance is one of pure perfection and she is able to lead you down a path of misery with a certain fragility ringing out in her voice. The pure emotion that comes out of her voice is mesmerising and it certainly had me welling up and on the verge of tears. 

What follows is of course a story of Valjean vowing to look after Fantine's daughter Cosette. With the inclusion of the Thenardier's (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) they bring a sense of fun and liveliness back to the film especially after the previous emotional scenes from Valjean and Fantine. 

Of course there has to be a story of love as delicate Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) and strong Eponine (Samantha Barks) both fall in love with Marius (Eddie Redmayne). With Marius involved in the student uprising it sees Valjean take their side and fight the French army, cue plenty of gunfire and some big cannons. As the film progresses you see the aftermath of the rebellion, the result of the love triangle and of course the culmination of Valjean and Javert's cat and mouse relationship. 

If you were to strip the film down and take away the singing the film would suffer as some of the best emotional performances are poured out through song. The only downside being that of Seyfried's voice it can be at times a little bit too trilly and Russell Crowe's voice has a certain rock feel to it.

But credit goes to director Tom Hooper who decided for the actors to sing and record vocals live during the filming which brings out an authentic feel and shows off the true potential of the actors. Especially Hathaway and Jackman as they both shine and impress with strong vocal performances.

Overall I would say Les Miserables is truly an emotional, staggering film. The storyline that runs throughout the film has you emotionally up and down, the actors performances are stirring and mesmerising at the same time. Even if your like myself who avoids these types of films, once you become immersed in the storyline you will truly enjoy it.

9/10.