Wednesday 26 June 2013

The Man of Steel

The start of the film is awesome with the fall of Krypton; cue explosions, ships, dragon like creature, energy rifles and Jor-El fighting Zod to protect his son. If that alone was the film it would be worth going back to see several times. It also sheds light on some interesting new backstory information that Superman is unique in that he is the first naturally born Kryptonian in centuries. This is also used to partly explain the down fall of his people which hasn’t until now been shown very well.
Use of flash backs were done well
Good plot which adds loads of levels of complexity, explaining how everything affects him and leads him to who he is.
Good action, with most of Metropolis and Smallville getting completely torn apart in the battle between Superman and Zod’s army, although I did feel in some points of the film that there was too much CGI, although very good quality it does get tiring after a while. But then again there isn’t really much else effects wise that could be used to pull of this film.  Although it was superb effects probably the best I’ve ever seen.
Good acting was great and carried the high emotion of the story adding to the greatness of the film.
With a real threat to both earth and Superman as he faced wave after wave of his own kind all with his own powers and getting a beating. While also having to convince earth that he is the good guy and that he is there best hope at beating Zod.
The conflict that superman has between saving humans or his own kind. The relationship between Zod and Superman, reminds me a lot of the relationship between the Doctor and the Master post 2005 Doctor Who, where they both don’t want to harm there opponent as that would mean ending there species, and you feel their pain as the hero is forced to defeat them to protect the innocent. This makes the film so much more emotional and leads to brilliant character development with both Superman and Zod, (both of whose reasoning you can understand).
At first I was not happy with Lois knowing Superman’s identity right from the start, but it made sense in the end as she is a reporter and would eventually find out. I also didn’t like the scene where they first meet but it does ultimately help drive their relationship forward.
Another change that I’m still not sure about is changing Jimmy Olsen to Jenny Olsen, mainly because you don’t really see enough of the character to get a sense of who she is and anything she did say were mostly throw away lines that could have just been another character.
One thing I did not like was the change in the death of Jonathan Kent, changed from a simple heart attack teaching Clark that he can’t save everyone from everything. Instead he dies saving a dog. A DOG! Which Clark could have saved without revealing his powers. I get why they did this and what they were getting across but at least if you’re going down this road make it a person he saves not a dog so you can get more of the hero aspect in there and so making it more inspiring to Superman. Granted the acting in this scene is great and they get across the emotion side really well but it just seems to miss the point of what his death means to Superman as a character.
My main problem with the plot is not the fault of the film but the comics, which makes me ask why, if they know that their planet was dying, did they seal Zod and his army somewhere that they would be safe from the destruction of their planet instead of themselves?
Overall the film could have been helped with a bit more humour to break up the darkness of the film overall.
One criticism that this film has received, which I really don’t see, is that there isn’t enough character development. What! It’s an origin story how can there not be character development! It’s the main part of an origin story. It shows how he becomes Superman. If anyone sees this film and says that there is no character development then they were ether watching the wrong film or for some reason missed most of the film and need to go and see it again. Even the kid who bullies Superman as a kid has character development and he’s only on screen for about 5 minutes.
Also people who say they are a massive Superman fan and wines “Superman doesn’t kill” go back and read the comics!
Hints at Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne (batman) and even Green Arrow, even a possible hint at Supergirl.
For the sequel I would personally not want Lex as a main villain if he’s in the film, I would like him as a background villain. This is partly because they need to top the action and because there are so many villains yet to be used in a Superman film which would be great on the big screen, such as Parasite (who can absorb some of Superman’s power), Doomsday (who killed Superman maybe better for the third film but could work in the second), Brainiac (a fan favourite and smart and strong enough to take him on) and Metallo (personally the one I want to see as it would interesting with Superman fighting a cyborg with a heart of kryptonite, plus the special effects would be capable of making him look awesome).
This is defiantly the Superman movie that everyone’s been waiting for. This deserves the place best Superman, (maybe superhero), film yet.
After seeing this film I instantly got excited about the Man of Steel sequel which has already been confirmed although I’m a little sceptical of how they’re going to top this one.
If the Justice League is anything like this then I’m am all for it happening.
Overall a great film with great action, plot, effects and acting. This film gets a 9 (brilliant)

Scoring system: 1- didn't get though the first few minutes, 2- will never watch again, 3- awful, 4- below average, 5- average, 6- above average, 7- good, 8- great, 9- brilliant, 9.5- almost perfect, 10- perfect (impossible) 

Wednesday 8 May 2013

THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN


THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN
I avoided this film for quite a while due to the short time since the last trilogy and that the advertising made Peter Parker not look like the nerdy character that both the previous films and comics which made the character unique because he wasn't the standard popular super hero alter ego. But when I saw the film I was glad to see that they hadn't done what the adverts made me think and that he was still this nerdy kid who wasn't liked by his fellow pupils. Which brings me to another good thing about this film that they put in minor characters like flash the person who bullied Parker before he became spidey. They also delve more into the comic book backstory of peter’s parents and what happened to them and how it affects him. They also handle uncle Ben's death really well, you know what’s coming but you still feel the emotion and how it puts more weight on Peter's shoulders. and with all that he already has to deal with the police in this film how a more batman attitude towards spidey. meaning that he has to prove to them that hes a good guy and is needed, which puts a more realistic tone to the film which the previous trilogy lacked. 
the only thing that annoyed me in the end was the amount of times he takes his mask of and somehow nobody knows who he is still.
I was also pleased that Lizard was in this film due to wishing that he was in the last films. Although I was slightly disappointed with the look of the villain thinking that it could have been more reptilian and least human. But unlike the previous films the villain Dr. Curtis "Curt" Connors (the Lizard) has a lot more character and character development. He isn't just going around braking into bank vaults and/or wanting to take over the world but actually wants to do something that he believes is the right thing which makes you sympathise with him. Although his plan is a little bit to for fetched it’s still an interesting idea which leaves wanting to see how spider man will be able to stop him.
With the introduction of Gwen Stacy as the main romance was a clear separation from the previous trilogy. But it does leave me asking will they keep to her fate in the comic book or break away from it and create a new ending to the character. 
Over all I really enjoyed this film and even those who don’t know much about the spider man comics would be able to follow and enjoy the story. I would like to see where they take the backstory of Peter Parker's parents and what happens to the main characters in the next film. I give this film a score of 8 (great).
Scoring system: 1- didn't get though the first few minutes, 2- will never watch again, 3- awful, 4- below average, 5- average, 6- above average, 7- good, 8- great, 9- brilliant, 9.5- almost perfect, 10- perfect (impossible)

Monday 22 April 2013

THE HOBBIT


THE HOBBIT
I love lord of the ring trilogy with its epic feel its memorable characters, brilliant plot and interesting sub text. Due to this I had so much expectation for the Hobbit that was unfortunately not fulfilled in any way. The Hobbit is the complete opposite of what made the LOTR trilogy so great, barely anything happens, by the end of the film I don’t remember any new character and the plot is barely non-existent. Since watching this film I've almost lost any interest in any future lord of the ring film. 
This film is so stretched that to fill in the time they have three (THREE!) intros the first hour (after the intros) it just what I think is reused cut footage (many cause I doubt that Elijah wood would just fly to New Zealand to shot that scene) of Bilbo writing his account of his adventures with Frodo in the background talking about the party in the beginning of the fellowship. Then it cuts to Bilbo and Gandalf meeting and talking about stuff can’t really remember anything about this cause it’s pointless. The next scene it’s just all the dwarfs entering Bilbo’s house one by one full of bad joke after bad joke with no exception. The only part of this scene that is really necessary was when they finally get around to telling Bilbo what their quest is. Then after some footage that should have ended up on the deleted scenes on the DVD we get started with the actual adventure. 
By the time anything remotely interesting happens I’m so bored that even the three slightly decent battle scenes make barely excite me. This isn't helped by the fact that other than Bilbo and Gandalf none of the main characters are memorable even the dwarf leader and because of this you don’t care that any of them are in danger.

Will I go to see the next installment  Yes for the same reason I’ll be going to watch star wars episode VII because it’s part of a once loved franchise. Will I watch this again? Well… yes but only because it’s part of the lord of the rings franchise but that’s the only real reason. And because of this and the fact that it could have been shortened to around half an hour and not lose anything in the process, I would have to give this a appallingly bad 3/10 meaning awful which isn't great for my first review

Scoring system: 1- didn't get though the first few minutes, 2- will never watch again, 3- awful, 4- below average, 5- average, 6- above average, 7- good, 8- great, 9- brilliant, 9.5- almost perfect, 10- perfect (impossible)