Review: Ghost In The Shell (2017)

Before this movie was announced, most people associated Ghost In The Shell with being the biggest influence for The Matrix being made.

I had been wanting to see the 1995 animated original for some time, as I know how inspiring it has been. It was only until late last year where I spotted a re-release screening and decided to check it out on the big screen. I really enjoyed it and liked its ideas and execution of them. However, I think it's short duration made me feel that it did not make it a full-rounded story. It was more like a taste of what they could do in this world. I am aware there are several sequels. So I look forward to seeing them in the future.

As for now, it is obvious that this was going to be inferior to the animation. Nothing can match the ground-breaking ideas and visuals. However, it does keep the central ideas of the original. But it concentrates more on the action on the visuals. That is not necessarily a bad thing as it is gorgeous to look at. For me, a film making full use of its ideas makes a much better film then its action set-pieces.

That being said, I had a pretty good time watching. It's biggest strength are its visuals. They are just stunning. They really honored the visuals from the original really well in this. It managed to blend well the physical parts. So major props to the visual effects team that I can see getting an Oscar nomination at least. Seeing this world in live-action made me believe that a world like this will happen in real life. It was like watching a mix of the worlds of A.I. Artifical Intelligence, The Fifth Element and Blade Runner.
The action set-pieces are executed really well, and the levels of tension are mounted rather nicely in most of them. You would naturally think a re-make that re-create several scenes, would leave you with a hollow overview. They all felt highly enjoyable and entertaining.

Like pretty much all big blockbusters, I avoided any trailers. I checked both of them after seeing the film, and I really liked the feel of the first trailer. Especially the choice of song.

The performances were pretty solid in the end. Scarlett Johansson did a great job as Major, and continues to show how well she can hold a film as the lead. Also, she can still kick some serious ass.
I was surprised at how well Pilou Asbaek did as Batou. He looked the part and played it rather well.

Sadly, the main villain did not feel as threatening nor as interesting as I was expecting. Also, the performance by Michael Pitt was fine, but forgettable.
I would have liked more of Chin Han. Takeshi Kitano was pretty cool support. Juliette Binoche felt miscast. It did not seem the type of film for her. Like Pitt, Peter Ferdinando was another fairly forgettable villain. But at least, he managed to contribute more.

There is no real major weakness, except for parts of the writing. It is ok as a whole. A lot of it is exposition and simplified. But they seemed to brush over or rush some aspects. There was one sub-plot that I couldn't care much for. I get they were trying to do. But I just felt the execution was all wrong.

It wasn't a major weakness, as they do explore some of the main character which the 1995 original did not do as much.

If you can accept that this will never beat or even match the original, then I think you have a pretty good time. I certainly did.
It is a feast for the eyes, the production and costume design is top-rate, the action is very exciting and the general look of it reminded me of a few sci-fi's that I really like such as 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence', 'Blade Runner', 'I, Robot' and 'The Matrix' (obviously).
I almost forgot to mention the score by Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe. It felt right for the world it is set in. It reminded of Daft Punk's score for Tron: Legacy. I will certainly be looking forward to listening to the soundtrack.

In terms of world-building, director Rupert Sanders and his team should be proud of what they've done. Like the original, it made me want to know more.
While most re-makes feel hollow and lacking in substance. This one retained a fair amount of it, and gave the film enough weight and meaning to have a good time with it. It's definitely not as fully realised as they don't go into near as enough depth. But it is definitely one of the better re-makes from Japanese source material.

It would be interesting to see, if we get more live-action re-makes of Japanese anime films.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Free Fire

Director Ben Wheatley is certainly a director Britain should be proud of. You never know what to expect with his next project. But you know it is going something completely different.

Out of his five previous films, I have seen three of them. Kill List scared me for life, I loved the ridiculousness of Sightseers and the I appreciated A Field In England whilst being pretty puzzled by it.

Now with his latest release, it is most certainly his most star-studded. But to be honest, the fantastic trailer would have got me hooked more than anything else. It looked funny, exciting and it could be a good time at the pictures.

What I got from it was something that all of that, and more. It felt like a real throw back to those grounded 70's and 80's action flicks that were snappy, gave its message over and got out at the right time. This is pure fun, with extremely well choreographed action.

With a stellar cast and no real leads, there is plenty of opportunities for someone to shine. For me, Sharlto Copley is the clear winner. He always seems to play an outrageous character. I'm not sure if he's good at playing that sort of role, or he's like that all the time. Whatever it is, he does it so well.
Armie Hammer definitely did his best performance to date. I loved his characters arrogance and cockiness and his banter with Copley's character was a real treat.
Sam Riley continues to show his raw talent and competed well for screen time. As did Jack Reynor and Michael Smiley.
Brie Larson did a good job in a film that definitely is out of her comfort zone. For me, Cillian Murphy seemed a bit left out. With the tone being a comedic one, I think Murphy struggled to make his character memorable. There was nothing wrong with his performance. But if I had to rank each character, Murphy would be low down.

There is lots to like from the technical side. It's shot really well, the costume design really shows the cool and outrageous side of the 1970's and even the sound design is noticeable. I would definitely recommend seeing this on a device that has surround sound, as the sound seems purpose made for that system.

With that all praise, I think its greatest achievement is the script. It's sharpness and at times wittiness keeps this film moving. Some of the gags and insults throughout this film was nothing but hilarious. I was chuckling pretty constantly, the crowd around me were having a ball and it just elevates the levels of fun that is over-flowing within this story.

I had a total blast with this one. It's fun, exciting, hilarious and the duration is a snappy 90 minutes.
For a concept that you think would lose pace, it still manages to keep me suck in. I think that is mainly thanks to the sharp script.
This reminded me a lot of Smokin' Aces, which I love. When a concept similar to this does well, I seem to get on board with.

If you like your action with some integral comedy, then I cannot recommend this enough.

Rating: 8/10

Review: The Lost City Of Z

I had mixed feelings whether the latest film from director James Gray needs to be seen on the big screen. From what I've seen of this. They've usually not being that interested despite the cast and the general look of it being of high-quality.

But after a surprising amount of high praise from several film festivals and the trailer backing that up enough, I took a chance and went with some sort of expectation.

In the end, I was quite glad to check this out. It showed me something that I have not seen for quite some time, and that traditional story-telling. The structure felt episodic, as if I'm watching an epic from the late 90's/early 00's such as Gladiator or The Last Samurai. This film sort of restores the traditional art of story-telling in movies.

Also, the type of story is not what I have seen for a long time. A film about exploring. It also portrays 1920's England and the western world at that time really well. That feeling of self-proclaiming themselves as the first civilisation and seeing everything else as a step into the unknown.

There is some powerful imagery throughout this film. The cinematography by Darius Khodnji is nothing short of fantastic. The film that he is probably best known for shooting, is David Fincher's Se7en. The constant use of location shooting really gave this film some weight and heft, it made me fully engaged with it and Khodnji's work with camera really elevated the general atmosphere of the film.

A lot of the performances were very good, despite being very low key. Charlie Hunman did a good job as the lead. While his best work is on TV, he was enigmatic enough to keep this film moving. Sienna Miller did a brilliant job as the main supporting role. She contributed to the film so well and was definitely the best performance. Another supporting role that was interesting to watch, was Robert Pattinson's character. He is almost unrecognisable as soon as he arrives on screen, his character really makes you want to more about him.
A couple of small roles that were worth mention was Ian McDiarmid and Tom Holland. It was great seeing McDiarmid in a film again. He hasn't done much since his last outing as Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars. Apart from a bit of TV work, this is his first appearance in a film for 11 years.
As for Holland, I completely forgot he was in this until seeing the cast list afterwards. You don't see him for long, but he has enough presence in the film to warrant a mention.

The only negative I had was the pacing and possibly duration of the film. To be honest, this will be the reason it might not appeal to the masses. It is slow in telling its story and there is one segment of the film that could have been cut out, despite being essential to telling this true story. For me, it's only a minor one. But for a lot of others, this may become a major one.
I almost forgot one negative. A couple of decisions from a certain character was pretty odd.

In the end, this managed to stick with me and felt it to be slowly captivating. It is a fascinating true story that I am amazed a group of studio executives gave the green light. This is a film rich with themes and ideas and they were pretty well executed. I love the look of it, the performances were very good and the action scenes were filmed so well and gave the film a real physical and cinematic sense.

It is a shame that not many people will see it, and I'm not surprised as it won't play well with the masses. But I hope this finds its audience as it is a very well made adventure story that we don't see that often.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Power Rangers

The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was a huge part of my childhood. I always watched the TV show, I collected so many of the toys and never got tired of it. The theme for me still holds up. That's 90's sound is still brilliant to listen to.

I remember when the 1995 movie came out, and obviously was all over it. But when I see it now, I know it's rubbish, but it's still great. It's a wonderful guilty pleasure that is a great bit of nostalgia.

I obviously avoided the trailers as this was something so special that I wanted to go into as cold as possible.

Directed by Dean Israelite, also did Project Almanac. I actually enjoyed that film despite its flaws. That style is very much in his first big blockbuster. There was a surprising amount of character development, which certainly impressed me. The structure of it felt very similar to something like Batman Begins, which was a pretty bold move on their part. Also very much like that film, the final act is the part where it gets silly and is there to pretty much sell the film.

Another surprise was the performances. I wasn't sure about them at first. But they definitely grew on me. I liked the sense of connection and teamwork with all the Power Rangers. The performances transcended well, and you can see how good their chemistry is. The Blue Ranger played by RJ Cyler who I remember from 'Me, Earl And The Dying Girl' was pretty cool and ended up being the best character. Some of his troupes managed to be both sweet and annoying. But I liked his development throughout.
The Red Ranger played by Dacre Montgomery is obviously the leader and was given a solid backstory to warrant a place on top. The Yellow Ranger slowly shone brighter as the film went, and I heard learning a lot about her. Played by Becky G, she could be the main bad-ass of the group. The Pink Ranger played by Naomi Scott was not as memorable as you would expect. But she was enjoyable to watch. Ludi Line as the Blank Ranger was probably the least developed. But his comedic relief did not make him unremarkable.

Elizabeth Banks really went for it as Rita Repulsa. I really like Banks on the whole. She seems to be quite committed to a lot of her roles that many people notice. That is because it is usually in films where you are not expecting award-winning performances. You can tell she did her homework, that carried this larger-than-life character from the TV series into herself. I also liked the horror angle they put into her development. I was genuinely scared in those moments.

As for the other notable character. I wasn't too bothered by Bill Hader as the voice of Alpha 5. I've never cared for the character of Alpha 5 in the TV series. He was quite annoying and in the way. It's pretty much the same in the film. So in terms of sticking to the source material, good job. However, I did not like the design of the character in the film.
I liked the choice of Bryan Cranston as Zordon. He did his job well, was perfectly fine and the design of him looked really good.

There are lots to like for the fans of the TV show. It had some cool references and cameos that was really nice to see. There was also one moment towards the end that made me smile pretty hard.

As for negatives, there are plenty of obvious flaws. But just like the TV series, it managed to add to the charm of it. Most of the silly and bonkers stuff is in the final act. They also managed to make a huge product placement become an integral part of the story.

Also, some elements I felt were rushed or had very little explanation. For people who don't know the TV series well enough. I think they'll be pretty confused by some of the small things within this particular universe.

I think it is safe to say that I had a fun time watching this. There are clear flaws and over-the-top moments. But the tone give it a fun vibe, and that is what you remember well from the TV series. If you can suspend your disbelief and go with it, you can certainly have a good time also.
Weirdly, I much preferred the character development and the grounded story rather than the big action finale. The latter part felt rushed and incoherent despite some solid visuals. But the characters were well fleshed out and the writing team deserves big props for that.

Fans of the TV show will probably get their moneys worth and get the most enjoyment out of it. As mentioned, there are some little references and cameos from the Mighty Morphin days to keep an eye out for. There were plenty of cool sequences that kept me interested in the film. Most of the visual effects were perfectly fine. Also, a lot of score reminded me of 'Tron: Legacy', which is most certainly a good thing.

I must mention that there is a mid-credits scene. Fans of the TV show will know exactly what it will be, and I look forward to see where they go with it.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Life

All I have been hearing from the trailer, is that it looks like a mix of Alien and Gravity. That is plenty for me to get excited, as those are the type of films I can never get tired of.

I also love the cast. Anything Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds do works for me, and Rebecca Ferguson has become quite a star in the past few years. Her performance in 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' was very bad-ass and stole the show.

On the face of it, this film is exactly what you would expect from the similarities that I mentioned earlier. But while there is little new about it, there is a lot of fun to be had with this for pretty much the entire duration. The build-up to the ending was predictable. But it is probably as satisfying of a finale as it could have been.

The performances were pretty solid and moved the film along well. Gyllenhaal does as well as you would expect. However his character felt underdeveloped and dare I say weak at times. Rebecca Ferguson continues to prove how strong of a female actor she is. Ryan Reynolds was as playful as ever. But also had enough of a serious side to make you feel like his character belongs in this sort of film.
From the supporting roles, it was great to see Hiroyuki Sanada. He is one of Japan's biggest names and has made a pretty heathly living in America. As for the unknowns, Ariyon Bakare was a stand-out. I've never heard of this actor, and he gave a very memorable performance that easily matched the bigger names in this cast list. I also have to mention the good job Olga Dihovichnaya did as well.

I think the film's biggest strength is the directing from Daniel Espinosa. I haven't gone nuts over his previous films. But I think his work in this one was noticeable and made it his most enjoyable film to date. Also, the duration felt just long enough to not feel unwelcome or draining.

Any sci-fi film these days needs to have top-notch visual effects. They certainly didn't disappoint. It looked convincing and it flowed well with the live-action content and the design of the antagonist was a very good one.

The biggest surprise was how grounded the story was. I was certainly not expecting that, and that for me made the film much more memorable then it could have been. The use of music worked really well, especially during the tense scenes.

It's lacking of new ideas is its main weakness. It will struggle to stand out from any other sci-fi. But despite there being a lot of unoriginality, its execution of a successful concept made it a very enjoyable watch. This sort of story will win me and many other people over, as that story works really well when done right. For me, Espinosa and his team have done a good job.

I was hooked for pretty much all of it. I was scared and tense for a fair amount to have this be worthy of a horror as well as a sic-fi. It was certainly a lot more exciting then I was expecting.

As for the rumor that this film had, I would completely ignore it and not go into the film expecting it to be that.

Rating: 7/10

My Top 10: Movie Mothers

Movies have given us some of the best Mothers the world has ever known. Whether they are just saving their family, or even the world, we love them all.

This is ranked on the best at mothering in a movie. So that means this list won't contain someone like Norman Bates' Mother from Psycho or The Other Mother from Coraline. While they are very powerful characters, they are the complete opposite of a good Mother.

As for the eligible mothers in this list, I have got quite a few honorable mentions. So in no particular, the movie mothers that I feel deserve a mention that will miss out on my top 10 are: Annie Hughes (The Iron Giant), Wendy Torrance (The Shining), Peg Boggs (Edward Scissorhands), Queen Elinor (Brave), Vanessa Loring (Juno), Alice Eklund-Ward (The Fighter), Janine Cody (Animal Kingdom), Morticia Addams (The Addams Family), Aurora Greenway (Terms Of Endearment), Lorraine Baines (Back To The Future), Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Finding Neverland), Annie Kinsella (Field Of Dreams), Val (The Second Mother), Mrs. Gump (Forrest Gump) and Mrs. Davis (Toy Story).

Sadly, there are 3 that I am gutted to have not included in my top 10. They are Barbara from Shaun Of The Dead played brilliantly by Penelope Wilton, Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter franchise famously played by Julie Walters and the Tyrannosaurus Rex from The Lost World: Jurassic Park. A bit of a strange choice I know. But when you watch that film, you can tell how devoted of a mother she is.

10) Meg Altman (Panic Room) - David Fincher's enjoyable thriller sees a recently divorced woman take refuge with her daughter in the safe-room of their newly-purchase house, when three men break-in.

Jodie Foster gives a strong performance as the mother as she tries to protect her daughter and new house from these three crooks, lead by Jared Leto.

9) Bambi's Mother (Bambi) - Life in the wild is not easy, so this 1942 Disney animation tells the story of a young deer growing up in the forest.

This classic opens the eyes of kids about life and also how important a mother is when learning about life.

Bambi's mother also gave us one of the most heart-breaking scenes in film history.

8) Rosemary Woodhouse (Rosemary's Baby) - When a young couple move into a new apartment surrounded by strange neighbor, the wife suddenly becomes pregnant. This leads to scary and disturbing imagery that makes it one of the best horrors of all-time.
This is a strange but still courageous bit of mothering from Mia Farrow's character. If you've seen the film, you'll understand why I have put her in this list.

7) Mother (Mother) - This Korean mystery drama sees a mother searching for the killer that framed her son for the murder of a young girl.

Hye-Ja Kim is fantastic as the lead character. Her performance and transformation in the film will make you laugh, cry and become very insightful.

This is certainly a celebration of motherhood, and it is never sugar-coated.

6) Erin Brockovich (Erin Brockovich) - One of the first big hits of the 21st century, tells the true story of a single mother. Played brilliantly by Julia Roberts, she becomes a legal assistant and is set on bringing a Californian power company after being accused of polluting their water supply.

It is a very well executed legal drama that is highly enjoyable and very thrilling. Roberts deserves her Oscar win with her powerful screen presence.

5) Ma (Room) - Brie Larson's Oscar-winning performance sees her play Ma, a mother who is forced to raise her 5-year old son in a small room.

The least you know about this film, the better. Director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Emma Donabue give us such a powerful story, that it ended up being my film of 2015.

4) Helen Parr/Elastigirl (The Incredibles) - Any film involving a family that works on screen, can be instant success. It certainly is with this Pixar classic.

In a world where superheroes are in exile, a number of events propel back into the limelight. The mother of the family is known as Elastigirl. Voiced by Holly Hunter. This is one bad-ass mother.

3) The Bride (Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2) - Director Quentin Tarantino gives us probably his strongest female protagonist in the form of, The Bride.

After waking from a four-year coma, an assassin begins her path of revenge on the team that betrayed her and took her baby.

2) Ellen Ripley (Aliens) - A rescue team of impressive firepower heads to a moon colonized by terror-formers. What they find is something that should have been left for dead.

After the events of Alien, we now see Sigourney Weaver's motherly skills take place. It is worth the wait, as we see one of the most enjoyable action sci-fi's of all-time.

1) Sarah Connor (Terminator 2: Judgement Day) - For many, the ultimate movie mother. After the traumatic events in The Terminator, Linda Hamilton's character Sarah Connor now knows her important in the future of man vs. machine.

A more advanced Terminator comes from the future to kill Connor's son, John.

James Cameron expands the world with one of the most successful sequel of all-time.

My Top 10: Bruce Willis Films

From his breakthrough in 1988, Bruce Willis became one of the biggest action stars of the last 30 years. Whether they are straight action flicks or within the realms of sci-fi, Willis has certainly been of the most bad-ass action heroes in modern cinema.
But the German-born American has also some ground-breaking movies within the genre's of sci-fi and horror. He even dabs his hand into voice work in a few animations.

The one I am amazed at with Willis, is how many films he has done that has a really bad rating on various movie rating sites. I'll certainly be looking forward to seeing those.

I must give an honorable mention to Over The Hedge, a film where Willis shows us his most under-used aspect, his voice acting. This is a surprisingly fun and well written animation that sees Willis voice lead character R.J. A raccoon fools a bunch of troubled forest animals into helping repay a debt of food. That leads to them invading a newly built suburban area. It leads to many amusing sequences.

Out of his 85 films, I have seen 37 of them. I will rank all of the ones that I have seen, and then give a short review for each of my top 10:

37) The Cold Light Of Day
36) The Kid
35) A Good Day To Die Hard
34) Armageddon
33) The Expendables 2
32) G.I. Joe: Retaliation
31) Lay The Favourite
30) Look Who's Talking Too
29) Look Who's Talking
28) RED 2
27) RED
26) The Last Boy Scout
25) Last Man Standing
24) 16 Blocks
23) Sin City: A Dame To Kill For
22) Planet Terror
21) Surrogates
20) Tears Of The Sun
19) The Whole Nine Yards
18) Grindhouse
17) Mercury Rising
16) Death Becomes Her
15) Die Hard 4.0
14) Die Hard 2
13) Moonrise Kingdom
12) Unbreakable

10) Lucky Number Slevin - This well executed crime drama sees a citizen being mistakenly identified as a criminal.
It sees the unlucky citizen either finding a way out or killing his captives.

Willis infamous assassin Mr. Goodkat. It also sees some big performances from Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley and Josh Hartnett.

9) Glass - Willis gives us one of his best performances in years as he returns as David Dunn.

It is a thrilling and exciting final part in M. Night Shyamalan's trilogy that continues to show us the directors unique approach to the superhero genre.

8) Looper - A cleverly structured sci-fi that sees a world where the mob send their targets back in time to be killed by Loopers.

It sees Joseph Gordon-Levitt star as a Looper, who finds his own loop is about close in the most dramatic way possible.

It was wrongly billed as this decade's Matrix. It is more like The Terminator. This is the film that also saw the breakthrough of director Rian Johnson.

7) The Fifth Element - Director Luc Besson's highly enjoyable sci-fi adventure that sees Willis play a crab driver, who gets involved in an event that will decide the fate of the planet.

With a star-studded cast behind him, Willis gives another one of this most memorable bad-ass performances.

I loved this as a kid, and still love it as much today.

6) Die Hard: With A Vengeance - The third installment in the franchise, and one that surprised me a lot.

John McClane is being targeted by a German terrorist in New York City. Willis is partnered with Samuel L. Jackson and this certainly does a great job of almost being as thrilling and exciting as the first one.

5) The Sixth Sense - One of the last great classics of the 1990's. It sees a boy who can communicate with ghosts that don't know they're dead. He seeks help from a child psychologist played by Willis.

This also saw the breakthrough of director and writer M. Night Shyamalan.

4) Die Hard - The film that made Willis a star, and it is also one of the best action films of all-time. This wonderful action thriller has everything you want in an action blockbuster. It also saw the birth of the late Alan Rickman's film career.

With its Christmas setting, it is an easy excuse to watch during the festive period.

3) Twelve Monkeys - One of the great sci-fi's of the 1990's sees director Terry Gilliam tell the story of a convict sent back in time to prevent a man-made virus from destroying the human population.

Willis plays the lead role, along with Madeleine Stowe and a brilliant Brad Pitt.

2) Sin City - Robert Rodriguez's slick-looking adaptation of the famous graphic novel sees a number of tales within the dark and miserable town of Basin City.

It's film-noir tone gives the film some uniqueness and the visuals are breath-taking. Willis plays an aging cop hunting down a rapist and serial killer.

1) Pulp Fiction - Four tales within Los Angeles inter-twine through violence and redemption.

Willis plays a boxer who double-crosses a gangster for not match-fixing his latest match.

This is seen by many as director Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece.