Review: Assassin's Creed

For over twenty years now, the video game genre has graced itself onto the big screen.
Sadly it has had very little success, especially with the critics.

Universally, there is supposedly no good films based off a video game. As for me, quite a lot of them are bad. But there are some solid features out there such as Hitman and Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time, as well as some guilty pleasure of mine such as Super Mario Bros. and the action scenes of Need For Speed.

But there is one that I enjoyed watching, and that was Warcraft: The Beginning. Released last summer, I remember having a good time watching this fantasy epic, and I cannot wait for a sequel (if there is one).

As for Assassin's Creed, I was hoping this would buck the trend. This was mainly due to popularity of this video game franchise, and the concept being workable for cinema. I have never played the game and knew very little about the story. But I knew bits of the concept and it sounded like this could work as a narrative.

After seeing it, I have mixed feelings about this one. While I thought it was a solid film. It also felt like it was a missed opportunity.

I was certainly interested finding out what the story was. The use of history and religion made me intrigued to see where they would go with this. While it leaves us open for a sequel, it did not seem to make full use of what it had.

The cast list is impressive. But the performances did not seem to match billing. Everyone just seemed to go through the motions and never challenge themselves. Thankfully, some actors in this film can still do a solid job without having to go out of their comfort zone. Those people are Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons. I am big fans of Fassbender and Cotillard and I could watch anything that they do. But sadly, this is not one of their more memorable ones. But is certainly not bad.
It was also great to see Brendan Gleeson, Essie Davis and Denis Menochet make a small appearance.

The action scenes are a big part of the video game, and they were solidly made and executed in the film. I would have liked the level of violence to be higher though, as they seemed to hold back and think more about bringing in big audiences instead going for a more mature rating like the actual video games.
Another strength it had was the general look of it and the costumes. But sadly, it was not strong enough to make me forget and the rest of the film.

The editing felt a bit messy as it seemed to do random jumps to other scenes which ruined the films flow for me. I also think the story development felt sub-par.

This could and should have been a great. The source material sounds really interesting, and I think with the right people, we can have a great franchise. I still felt we have got a decent action film here. But it is one that I can see being forgotten very soon.

As for sequels, I am not sure if director Justin Kurzel was the best man for the job. He showed promise in Macbeth which was an interesting portrayal of the Shakespeare story with fantastic novels. I just think this was missing something that I don't think Kurzel could find a solution in possible later installments.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Passengers

After the success of The Imitation Game, director Morten Tyldum has become a name people want at the helm of their next blockbuster.

Now he is embarking the world of sci-fi with two huge A-list actors. With this film also being a Christmas release, high expectations were certainly being planted into this project.

I'm afraid to say that there is a part of me that consider this to be a disappointment. However, it is certainly not a bad film.

It opens up to an interesting concept, and it was moving along nicely. As for the second act, it is not as engaging as the first one was. The writers seem to not think of anymore ideas on where the concept in the first act could go. So they added something to move it along. It's fine what they do. But I was more interested in what was happening before that. Then in the final act, while thrilling, it is pretty formulaic and predictable.

The performances were solid on the whole. Chris Pratt was good. His charisma keeps you engaged, he was given good depth, and his general execution was very satisfying. Jennifer Lawrence was definitely inferior. But she still did good with what she had. Michael Sheen was pretty good in his minor role. It is a shame that he recently announced that he is quitting from acting to be involved in activism, as his performance reminded how good of an actor he still is.

Its strongest positives are most definitely the visual effects and score. The CGI mixed really well with the set designs. It was great to look at, and the technology shown in this film was clever and very believable.
The score by Thomas Newman felt really dreamy throughout. It felt the right type of score to have for the setting that this film had. I always love a good score, and I wouldn't be embarrassed to go back and listen to this.

Sadly, there are some fairly strong negatives to speak about. The script was pretty basic and weak. There was no depth to it and little or no comedic moments that made me laugh.
The story as a whole is nothing spectacular and has a fair amount of flaws when you break it down. In terms of action and set-pieces, there is very little you have not seen before. There were a lot of moments that reminded of films like Prometheus, Cast Away, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Gravity.

First and foremost, it is a disappointment. There is great opportunity in the concept, and it was sadly wasted. But if you go into it with low expectations and switch your mind off, then you can get a good time out of it. It's great to look at, I certainly wasn't bored watching it, Pratt and Lawrence are good together, and they both move the film along well. Sadly, it did not feel memorable or give anything new to the sci-fi genre. It did not make me want to watch it again or own a copy of it.
It would be interesting to see this film without Pratt and Lawrence as the leads. It may have been a much less enjoyable or terrible ride.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Rogue One

Well, it's been a year since Star Wars returned with The Force Awakens. The hype for it was ridiculous and it broke various box office records. I felt it was a good installment. But I think the similarities with A New Hope prevented me from giving it a high rating.

Now that The Force Awakens is past us, the Star Wars franchise is now just beginning a new era. It seems like we are going to have a Star Wars film each year, for the next few years. Whether it be films being added to the main saga, or stand alone films, the Star Wars universe is certainly aiming to expand in a way that fans could only have experienced in the TV series and books in the past.

With this particular new release, it sees this popular space opera go into new territory, and that is the first film to be released that is outside of the main story. I consider myself a hardcore fan of the films, nothing more. When I first heard about their plans for this film, I found it simple to work out when this was being set. I still find it amazing that there are some general film fans out there that still don't know when this is set. Those people have to be either that stupid, or they just don't care.

Whether they are or not, I am certainly super hyped for another Star Wars film. My excitement levels for The Force Awakens was off the scale. For Rogue One, they were not as high, but they were still up there. I think it's because we are now in a regular swing of Star Wars films, that it will eventually become the norm of every film calendar. Oh and as usual, I have avoided all trailers of any kind.

I have to admit the lack of the opening crawling text at the start was strange. But as soon as the film starts, you are already too busy being engrossed by whats happening on screen.
Even though the outcome had massive implications, the story itself felt really small and contained. That was a really smart move, and it gave us time to concentrate on the characters and rather than trying and find anything that might link to the main saga.
By the time the third act comes around, this films really puts the 'War' into Star Wars. It has such a strong finish that will make you punch in the air delight. It plays out like a war film really well throughout, and I think that was the perfect approach.

Also, it expands the Star Wars universe massively. We are transported to so many new places and meet countless new characters. That was really great to see, and that showed confidence in them not being afraid of being different from the main saga story.

Gareth Edwards is at the helm for this one, and I must say he has done a great job. I really enjoyed his previous works 'Monsters' and 'Godzilla'. The gritty tone and general production design of it was spot on. Where the Force Awakens seem to lack in imagination, this has it in abundance.

His use of practical effects was really impressive, and managed to look really similar to the original trilogy. Edwards and his team also managed to merge in the visual effects will no flaws whatsoever. I can certainly see that getting an Oscar nomination. The camera positioning of heavy visual effects moments gave us real scale of the objects. That is something Edwards did really well in Godzilla, and it really shows here as well.

The performances are all great, Felicity Jones is a strong lead and is another memorable hero being added to the franchise. Her relationship with Diego Luna's character was solid and made their outcome really powerful.
There were so many fantastic minor roles to speak of. Alan Tudyk pulled his role off well with some good comedic relief. Donnie Yen was terrifically bad-ass and quite possibly stole the show for me. Ben Mendelsohn was developed really well and became such a fascinating character to watch. Riz Ahmed continues to show how great of an actor he is becoming, and this film shows it. Forest Whitaker was really good for the short time he was on screen. Also Wen Jiang and Mads Mikkelsen did a solid job.

Lots of things to like from the technical side. The action is phenomenal, both on planets and in space. It is just like the action we have seen from the original trilogy. From the way it is paced, to the structure and execution of it. This film certainly feels more like it belongs with episodes IV, V and VI than anywhere else.
The writing was really good. There was really meaningful dialogue moments that was vital in developing the characters......but only up to a point. There were some characters that we hardly knew about, and yet they were on screen for some time. Thankfully, it is a very minor problem as the script on the whole is very well constructed.
The score by Michael Giacchino was pretty good. It is nowhere near as strong as John Williams' scores, as they seem to become a character in themselves. But Giacchino's is good enough to move the film along nicely.

While I have given it a lot of praise. I would like to be nit-picky for just a moment. While I am giving it a high rating, it won't get to the heights of any of the original trilogy films. The main reason for that is that first and second acts did have dips in its momentum. It wasn't strong throughout. It was only until the final act when I was fully engrossed with the film.

That being said, I think this film is a lot of fun and one of the most enjoyable films of the year. I can see some people going into this film thinking that it just going to be all nostalgia and the story won't have any impact as we all know how it ends. I feel confident that you will come out completely disagreeing with your past self. It is clear that the film-makers don't come into this with a safe approach. They really go for it and they make story engaging, well developed and it made the execution of it all really satisfying. The action is amazing, the characters were entertaining and it is one of the few blockbusters I have seen this year that I would rank as high as the awards contenders.

One huge positive is that it ties into A New Hope so so well. It teases stuff from the originals in such a way that was really clever in its execution. The references are there, but they never over-power the film or feel shoe-horned in. That for me shows trust in this story and that it engrosses the audience.

I must give a word of warning. While Star Wars has always appealed to peoples of all ages. I'm not so sure if young kids will get into this one as they did with The Force Awakens. There is a lot of war-esque action, and it is most certainly not light-hearted. It is clear that the general feel of it is more for adults. But I think older kids will be able to cope with it and truly appreciate it more than younger ones.

So many generations have been brought up with this franchise. I will always remember my parents giving me the first Star Wars on video for my 7th birthday. This was just before the 20th anniversary special editions came out. It has been a huge part of mine and many others peoples lives. This is a brilliant addition to the franchise, and I am now not afraid of any future films that will be set outside of the main saga. If Episode VIII or the next Anthology film is as good or better than Rogue One, then we are set for some amazing next few years.

Rating: 8/10

My Top 10: Jennifer Lawrence Films

This decade has certainly seen many new breed of actors, and Jennifer Lawrence has probably the biggest impact. Since her breakthrough in 2010, she is has won a BAFTA, three Golden Globes and an Oscar, as well as a handful of nominations.

While her main interest is indies, most of her profit and popularity have come from being involved in two major franchises.

Out of her 27 films, I have seen 19 of them. I will rank all of the films I have seen, and then give a short review for each of my top 10:

19) Serena
18) House At The End Of The Street
17) X-Men: Dark Phoenix
16) Red Sparrow

15) No Hard Feelings
14) Passengers
13) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
12) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
11) X-Men: Apocalypse

10) Don't Look Up - Lawrence's latest work. I'm rarely going nuts for satire's, but I thought this was good enough.

There was enough ridiculousness that made me laugh. But it also felt scarily real that it was more tragedy than comedy and in the end became rather depressing.

Not quite the complete package. But enjoyable enough.

9) Winter's Bone - The film that got people interested in Lawrence's talent. It sees her play a daughter of a troubled family. While searching for her drug-dealing Dad, she is trying to keep the rest of her family intact.

Nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Actress, this is definitely a strong showing by Lawrence.

8) X-Men: Days Of Future Past - The film that got the franchise back on track. It sees director Bryan Singer back at the helm and a lot of the original cast.

It is a great return to form as the new breed of characters mixed really with the original.

Lawrence's character is set out to kill the President and believing it will prevent a war with mutants.

7)  Joy - Lawrence plays the title character, and this film tells the story of the beginnings of a powerful business dynasty.

I had no idea what the film was about, and was amazed that it was a true story.

Director David O. Russell gives us a really interesting and well-told story. Lawrence and the rest of the cast is great.

6) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - A really enjoyable sequel to the four film franchise. It sees Katniss and Peeta return to compete in the games, one year after becoming the first ever co-champions.

With this games only involving previous winners, it sparks a rebellion within Panem.

5) The Hunger Games - The film that most audiences would have been introduced to Lawrence.

Based on a popular series of young adult novels, it sees the daughter of a struggling family take her sisters place in an annual televised competition, which is a fight to the death.

I always like this type of a concept and the execution of it works really well.

4) American Hustle - Nominated for an astonishing 10 Oscars, this complex crime drama sees a con-man being forced to work with an FBI agent and enter into the world of the mafia.

I think the complexity might put people off. But the rest, it is a heavily detailed story with some powerful performances.

All the stellar cast are on top form, including Lawrence. She plays the wife of the con-man, played by Christian Bale.

3) Mother! - A dark and creepy horror-thriller which sees a couples relationship tested when unexpected guest start to arrive.

Director Darren Aronofsky does his best to unsettle you with this film that feels more like a nightmare. Yet I still couldn't take my eyes off of it.

2) Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell's Oscar-winning comedy drama, sees a teacher aiming to get back with his ex-wife.

Meanwhile, he meets a mysterious girl (played by Lawrence) with problems of her own.

The amazing performances and strange charm to it makes it a highly engaging piece to watch.

1) X-Men: First Class - We see the X-Men franchise go back to before the team even existed. We are in the 1960's and the U.S government enlists humans with special abilities to stop a dangerous man that could start World War III.

Everything about it screams blockbuster. It is fun, exciting, thrilling, action-packed and everything you want from a superhero film.

Lawrence plays Raven, a mutant who can turn into anyone.

Review: Snowden

I think I can speak for a lot of people that it has been a long time since director Oliver Stone has made a great film.
For me, his last one was Any Given Sunday from 1999. For a lot of others, they would probably go for Nixon from 1995 or Natural Born Killers from 1994.
From the turn of the century, all of Stone's features have either been disappointing or fine at best. Now, any of his new releases does not seem that big of an event anymore.

However, I do remain hopeful. His latest project sees something we know very well with this director, and that is portray a controversial person or subject from America's recent history. This time, he is concentrating on former CIA employee Edward Snowden.
His unprecedented activity in recent years has divided everyone. Some people call him either a hero, some a traitor. For Stone, he has probably called him a great opportunity for another film.

This film will certainly divide people. But only on how you approach it. If you have seen the brilliant 2014 film documentary Citizenfour, then you will know what to expect.
If you have not seen it, and are not aware of it, then I can see you being quite gripped and intrigued by this film.
The amount of knowledge you get from Citizenfour is astonishing and it manages to be incredibly thrilling. As for the film, the majority of the story will not be as fascinating.

The performances were fairly good overall. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a fantastic job when playing Snowden. It's actually quite a transformation. He was definitely the perfect cast for that role.
I also really liked Shailene Woodley's performance. She continues to have a really likable vibe about her, and her character's vulnerable sense was great to watch. The relationship with Gordon-Levitt's character gave the film great depth. In fact, she has become an very accomplished actor. Outside of the Divergent films she has starred in, her performances have been pretty good to watch. The Spectacular Now is definitely worth checking out, if you want to see how good she is.
Rhys Ifans was pretty good in his minor role. He almost looks unrecognisable, and his American accent definitely helps in you not thinking of the Welsh actor.
Nicholas Cage plays a small role in this, and it is amazingly rather good. His performance was a really nice surprise. Especially, when his career of late has been quite bad.
It is great seeing Zachary Quinto in something that is not Star Trek or Heroes. He did well with what he had. If you are stuck for other Quinto features, then I would recommend Margin Call.

Sadly, while a lot of it is done really well, as a whole, it is not strong enough to be highly memorable and I cannot see myself watching it again.
I think Stone has done a good job. It is shot really well, the computer jargon is simplified enough for us to understand it and work out the rest logically. The writing was fine. But I think for something about Edward Snowden, I think maybe someone like Aaron Sorkin would have been best suited for this subject.
I could be cruel and say that the pacing is kind of slow. But I only noticed that until after seeing the movie. It might be because the character of Edward Snowden is not that much of an engaging character.

I think compared to the documentary, this feature is inferior. But I don't think that's the point. I think this is aimed for the mainstream audience, who have likely not seen or are aware of the documentary. If you base it on that, then the film I felt worked really well.
There is some interesting content in there for even people who have already seen the documentary, and it certainly kept me interested enough to give this a solid rating.

But whether you watch Snowden or not, I think Citizenfour is well worth discovering. When you think films based on a true story is gripping. Seeing the real thing play out in front of your eyes is even more fixating.

I don't think it is the great return to form that I think many were hoping from Stone. But it is most definitely not one of his worst. He's done a solid job with this and it tells the story well for the mainstream audience, especially when this story is still relevant.

Rating: 7/10

Review: The Birth Of A Nation

From the start of 2016, this film has been talked about non-stop. It's debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January saw sold-out screenings and standing ovations BEFORE the film. The reviews from the film sounded fairly positive, but nothing that mirrored the anticipation for Oscar success.

For me, this sounded like a film that was going to be an incredibly one-sided story with no subtlety in it whatsoever. With all the discussions from last years Oscars being labelled as 'white-washing', this film to me felt like a response to that, and they are expecting to get some recognition in the awards season, whether they deserve it or not. That therefore made me apprehensive to go and see it.
After seeing the trailer, I saw some promise in terms of its film-making. That being said, the in-your-face content was noticeable.

After weighing up everything else, I felt it was right to see it and make my own assumption of it and that I should never separate art from the artists involved.

In the end, I am sort of glad I did. It is always to criticize a film portraying a topic that you pretty much have to tread carefully. But I feel I am confident in giving the review it deserves.

I must mention that it is the directorial debut for Nate Parker, who also stars as the main character. Also, while it is billing itself as a true story, it is using that term loosely. There is little information on the events or characters the film is portraying. So there is a lot of gaps to fill, and Parker does not hold up on what is left for the imagination.

The imagery is most certainly strong, powerful, graphic, and at times gory. There were times where I could see some violent moments feeling gratuitous. But most of it seemed to mean something to the story, as the tone was pretty strong anyway.
There is some really nice cinematography throughout, with many well constructed haunting images. But there were some oddly timed metaphorical imagery, that while it being shot well, did not seem to make as much sense as I felt it was trying to.
As for the story, the first two acts are developed well, I enjoyed the performances and where it was going. However the third act seems to take a major shift in tone with the story and the motives of the characters. That putt me off as I felt the final third was an unrated-version of the story I was just watching.

The performances on the whole very good and realistic. I have to give my due to Nate Parker. You can totally see the passion in this project within the performance. It is consistently strong and carries the film well to make the overall experience worthwhile.
I was really surprised to Armie Hammer in this. Despite all the coverage I have been reading and hearing, his name never seemed to crop up anywhere. His performance was pretty good. I felt I connected well with his on-screen partnership with Parker's character.
It was great to see Jackie Earle Hayley play a disgusting character as he has done that really well in the past. Other performances that were worth mentioning were the ones from Penelope Ann-Miller and Aja Naomi King.

What I think is the main fault with this, is the lack of depth to the story, characters and the story structure being quite conventional and cliched. In some way, it felt like a TV movie. What I mean by that, is that TV movies usually go for spiritually uplifting or emotional stories and execute in a way that feels that they are forcing us to feel like this. The Birth Of A Nation does that, but not as extreme as most TV movies do.

It is still a good film with a lot of ambition, especially in the imagery. But I think it lacks of depth compared with something like '12 Years A Slave' will not make this as memorable. A directorial debut is never an easy one, and I think that was the main thing lacking in Parker's film.
Nevertheless, I think you should see it for the ambition, if you are interested in this particular subject, and if you want to know what all the fuss is about.

I think if it was done with a bit more experience behind the camera, then I think we would have been the seeing an Oscar worthy film that I think Parker and his team were aiming for.

It will probably do better then it would normally have done. It has been made at the right time, and all of its excitement with the studios going a bit nuts on wanting to fund this has given this the coverage that it needs. Fair to play to Parker and his crew, for a solid job.

Rating: 7/10

Review: A Monster Calls

We are now at the time of year when Oscar contenders are starting to show their cards.

One film that is getting a surprising amount of notice in the awards race is 'A Monster Calls'. This was originally going to be released in the summer. But after the reviews it was getting in the film festivals, they pushed it back to the winter.

It is not often to see a fantasy film be involved in getting major award nominations. But director J.A Bayona seems to have created something that is winning the critics over.
Bayona has only just begun building his catalogue of directed feature films. However, he has done pretty well so far. I have yet to see 'The Orphanage', but I have heard good things, and I liked 'The Impossible' a lot more then I thought I would. With his next project being the sequel to Jurassic World, the film industry certainly has high hopes for him.

First and foremost, I liked it. However, while it aims to be emotionally powerful, I think it was trying to be bigger and more profound then it actually is. I liked the story that it was going for and the general development of it all.
The mix of CGI and live-action was really well done I thought. The construction and design of the monster character was great to see. It was like watching the Ent creatures from 'The Lord Of The Rings' all over again or Groot from Guardians Of The Galaxy. There were also some gorgeous segments of watercoloured animation imagery. They certainly reminded me of the story of the 'Deathly Hallows' segment in Harry Potter.
There is one big tear-jerker that gives the film a big emotional punch. It almost got me bawling my eyes out.

But I think the main reason not liking it as much, was that I could see where the movie was going and so I did not invest enough into the film to give a high rating. Also, there were moments that I felt the film was spoon-feeding us the emotions that we should be feeling at that point. Slight moments like that put me off.

As for the performances, Lewis MacDougall was clearly the start that carries this film. The youngster was really good as the lead character, and he certainly had a powerful screen presence that showcased his talents.
Felicity Jones did well what she had. However, I would have liked to see more moments on screen with MacDougall. Liam Neeson did some really good voice-work as the monster.
Toby Kebbell was fine. But I also felt him to be a slightly odd choice of casting for a film like this.
I was not sure what to make of Sigourney Weaver's character. I'm not sure if she was supposed to be British as they accent felt muddled to me.

Don't forget, that I did like this. I wouldn't let my sniffy comments put you off seeing this. I would still highly recommend seeing this on the big screen. It is worth your money and I can definitely see it winning a lot of fans and become a big tear-jerker with many demographics. It is always nice to see a fantasy film work really well. If you liked films like Pan's Labyrinth, Bridge To Terabithia or either version of The BFG, then I think you will enjoy this as well.

One thing I am torn on, is whether this should be suitable for kids. The story is coming from a child's point of view and has a lot of fantasy elements that would usually draw them in. But a lot of the content is heavy and emotional, and I think that might put off or scare the younger ones. I think mature kids would be more ideal on not only coping with this movie, but enjoying it.

Rating: 7/10