Rodent's Reviews

A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010 Remake)

It's always a mistake to remake any film, but to take an icon like Kruger (ok, Kruger's sequels weren't great but the original was cool) is almost stepping on hallowed ground.

The movie suffers from what I call 'Scott's Robin Hood Fever':
Take an idea and story, remove the slight campyness of the movie's villian and hero, remove the tongue in cheek giggles and completely remove the dash of popcorn fun...

... and then repeatedly and persistantly rabbit-punch the viewer in the face with the mentality of 'this is serious and real, you will be shocked and scared and sit in awe because this is serious and real'.
It just makes the whole thing fall flat on it's @rse.

Slow, tedious, basic teen slasher with no genuine explanation to how the teens in the movie are able to figure out in their heads what's going on around them, they just seem to know what's happening automatically. Coming from a bunch of teenagers who all, apparently, are thick enough to have no memory at all of when they were 5 years old. Seems slightly, no, massively like a bad piece of rewriting.
Maybe they saw the original Nightmare on their iPads.

The only good thing in the film is Jackie Earle Haley as Kruger. His twist on the character is fresh and makes it his own creation, but it's still not enough to warrant making the movie.

All in all, about as scary, as well written and as mysterious, as a 1960s episode of Scooby Doo.

My rating 2%

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Alien Vs Predator



AvP falls flat at the first hurdle: Game to Movie maestro Paul WS Anderson being director. He may be ok at converting video games, but movie-universe crossovers, he is not.
Let’s face it, Mortal Kombat is probably his best movie to date and even then that was a run of the mill all-action no-brainer.

The first film’s first good point starts with being able to successfully combine the two franchises relatively well. Though the overall plot is unbelievable, it works.

A company, owned by super-billionaire Charles Wayland Bishop, using satellites discovers a heat signature under polar ice.

A team of scientists, archaeologists and mercenaries is sent out to investigate the mysterious appearance and find themselves embroiled in a millennia long, macabre ‘tradition’ held by the Predator species.

The movie tries it’s best to be mysterious and brooding and tries to push itself into claustrophobic ‘haunted mansion’ territory.

Sadly, after all the build up, the mysterious back-story is slapped down with a very quick and simple explanation.
Usual of Anderson, get the story out of the way after a pretty good build up, then crack on with the explosions and fist fights.

Which is pretty much all the film is from then on after: Alien Vs Predator.

Another thing that the movie suffers with, is lack of snot and gore. Something the Alien and Predator franchises both utilise efficiently. It feels as though the makers wanted to dumb down the blood and guts to appeal to a wider, young audience.

Probably the best part of the entire movie is the acting.
Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen and Ewen Bremner do their best to make the plot plausible, playing it as straight faced as they can.
The special effects are a close second. The CGI Aliens are well rendered.
Sadly, that's about it.

All in all, another no-brainer from Anderson, good for post pub 1am entertainment.
My rating 25%

Aliens Vs Predator 2: Requiem



For a start, a change in director is the best decision the studios could have made. The Brothers Strause definitley know what they’re doing.
Set barely minutes after the first film, the Predator ship from the first movie crashes in a small Colorado town, unleashing the Facehugger contents of their hold onto the unsuspecting town inhabitants.

For a start, this sequel is by far superior, the action, the writing, the more practical special effects all make for a much more fun movie. CGI is kept to a minimum, though when used, it’s used extremely well.

One fault with the movie is it’s very dark. I don’t mean in humour, I mean the lighting. Sadly some of the action and background shots can be missed on first viewing.
The only other fault is, as with AvP, the blood and gore is kept to a minimum. Though the filmmakers went in another direction: Shocks.
The movie excels and making the audience feel uneasy with some of the death scenes.

The acting is standard for the type of movie. Gladly though, it's believable, the cast aren't all huge names which gives the audience a connection to the characters.

AvP 2 tries to go back to basics with the look too. Think James Cameron’s Aliens crossed with elements of McTiernan’s Predator and set in a concrete jungle, on a similar note to Predator 2.
Another thing the movie utilises is a plotline from Alien 3, the Alien takes on the characteristics of it’s host. This time, the Alien has gestated inside one of the Predators though I’ll leave it at that, you’ll have to watch.

All in all, not a fantastic movie, fairly standard, but a superior movie to AvP.
My rating 70%

The Terminator

Set in the 1980s, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is stalked by a humanoid machine sent from the future. Her only hope and help, is a man called Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), also sent from the future, to stop the machine. If Sarah dies, the human race will become extinct as her (as yet unborn) son will become a freedom fighter and leader of the human resistance, in a war between man, and an entire army of these humanoid machines.

James Cameron’s sci-fi horror is a masterclass of how to make an expensive looking sci-fi, on a shoestring budget. Written absolutely perfectly, Cameron has made a well-established piece of movie history. A modern day fairy tale almost.
Being that the concept of The Terminator machine itself came to Cameron in a fever induced nightmare gives me at least, a respect for the depths of the human psyche and for Cameron’s imagination.

The film does suffer from slightly dodgy special effects. The stop-motion Terminator was mediocre at best even for the standard of the 80s.

What really makes the film’s effects a success though, is Stan Winston’s prosthetics on Arnold Swarzenegger.

By today’s standard, again, they are fairly rudimentary but they still work. You genuinely believe Arnie’s face is coming off.
Mix to that, not just the way the movie is written, but the way the movie is made. The direction, scene placing and overall aura of the subject matter are a joy to watch.

Hamilton, Biehn, Swarzenegger are all fantastic in their roles.

Hamilton is beautifully lost in the series of terrifying, far-out events and eventually becomes a tougher person as the movie progresses.
Biehn’s rough, tough, emotionless soldier of the future becomes more human-like as he spends more time with Connor.
Arnie is wonderfully wooden as the over-6-foot 500lb non stop killer machine.

All in all this fantastic roller coaster is one for the movie history books.
My rating 90%



　

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Sarah Connor is once again embroiled in the fight for the future. Again, a machine is sent from the future to take out the leader of the human resistance, though this time, the target is John Connor himself.

Between the movies, Sarah has given birth and raised John with a military upbringing.
The movie begins after that sequence of events when Sarah has been locked in a mental institute and 10-year-old John, now seen by the authorities as a wild-child and criminal, has been put into foster care.

Again, the human resistance has sent another protector for Sarah and John. Not a mere man this time though, but a reprogrammed Arnold Swarzenegger.

Again, Cameron hits the nail right on the head. The movie drops most of the horror genre and goes on full out sci-fi action with only the occasional horror touch.

A bigger budget, utilised by the filmmakers perfectly, gives T2 even better effects and this time round, there’s beautifully rendered CGI in the form of the bad guy: A ‘liquid metal’ Terminator for Arnie to have a rumble with.

The action, when it gets going is fast, furious, explosive and is gladly, broken up by short spells of quiet acting from the cast. The movie is very well put together.

Hamilton is fantastic in the role of Sarah Connor, this time round she’s a rough, tough soldier, almost like Biehn in the first movie, though her dreams of the impending apocalypse have sent her beyond madness. She plays the role perfectly.
Edward Furlong, in his first role of any kind (he was picked off the street) isn’t perfect, but being that he had no experience, he still does a job that several actors since haven’t been able to better.
Arnie as the Terminator is again, wonderfully wooden at the beginning, though as the movie progresses, like with Reese and Connor in the first movie, he is able to take on and learn characteristics of those around him. Eventually he becomes more humane than the humans in the movie.
Robert Patrick as the liquid metal T1000 is an absolute wonder to watch. He has the emotion the original Terminator and has such a menace about him, you can’t take your eyes off him.

All in all a sci-fi popcorn wonder. File it directly under The Terminator in the movie history books.

My rating 95%

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines.

This is where things got messy for the franchise.
Once again, John Connor is thrown into a fight for survival. A female Terminator is sent from the future to take Connor out, Arnie is once again sent back to protect him.
Most of the scenes in this third outing are unintentionally funny. Some have been written to be funny, yet they aren’t.

The makers have turned the franchise completely in the wrong direction: Horror sci-fi to sci-fi action with horror, to…

… comedy? Oh dear.


The whole thing just feels cheap, cashed in, rushed, and a storyline that does nothing to expand on the existing material.
It tries to expand, but falls flat on its face. It just doesn’t try hard enough.

The action is explosive, grand and loud. It’s definitely a popcorn no-brainer.

The other thing with the way it’s been written is it’s very gimmicky.
A female Terminator who uses Nano-bots and is a cross between Arnie and Patrick, no Sarah Connor but John has a female accomplice and Arnie is a good guy again, it’s just, well, samey.

Arnie seems to just go through the role like he’s going through the motions. He’s got that wooden-ness that we’re all familiar with, but it feels unintentional this time round.
Nick Stahl as Connor is another huge mistake. The guy can barely get his lines out without shouting and breathing heavily. Is that really what an actor needs to do to seem serious?


The good point of the movie is the CGI used on the Terminatrix. It works great, but what made the first two movies special, was actually having practical effects mixed in too.

All in all a miss on the grandest of scales. My rating 10%

Terminator Salvation.

Back to basics for the franchise, almost.
Relying heavily on action and with a decent story thrown in, Salvation works, it’s better than T3, but still, isn’t great.

This time round the makers have based the movie in the future. Set after the initial apocalypse, John Connor is a soldier fighting for the resistance, he’s not a leader yet and is talked down to by his commanders.

The mission of the movie is that Kyle Reese has surfaced in Los Angeles and is being hunted and targeted by the machines.
It’s up to Connor to save him and make sure that the future of mankind is saved, as Kyle is the one who will go back and protect Sarah.

That’s about it really as far as the story goes but the CGI action is very well put together. One thing missing from the movie though, are the scenes of the ‘future war’ that were shown in the first two movies: Dark, skulls everywhere and scores of Terminators fighting at ground level against battered and beaten humans.
The overall look of Salvation seems to be dumbed down from that apocalyptic look. Hopefully, if a sequel is released, it’ll be added back in.


Christian Bale as Connor does a good job, if very growly. As always with Bale, his physical presence on screen carries the character well.
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese is almost spot on. Yelchin does a fantastic job at recreating Biehn’s speech pattern and accent, he looks the part too.
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright is brilliantly confused as the mysterious man who is more than he appears. Though only very occasionally he misses his mark.
The movie isn’t perfect. It lacks soul, but is far superior to T3.

Though Schwarzenegger doesn’t make an appearance per say, his model of Terminator is seen using some exceptionally well rendered special effects.


All in all welcome return to a more serious kind of Terminator movie.
My rating 75%

Full Metal Jacket

Based during the Vietnam War, the movie starts with a bunch of new recruits in the Marine Corps. Initially following their adventures in the basic training programme then following some of them when they’re shipped off to fight the war.

The beginning of the movie, though brutal and realistic, is incredibly funny and extremely engaging. The young school leavers are thrown into a world they’ve never seen before and the humour comes from their uneasy relationship with their Drill Sergeant.
The relationship between Private Leonard Lawrence (aka Private Pyle) and the rest of the group, in particular with the Sergeant is extremely laugh out loud and at times even cringe worthy, right up until the end.

After the initial hit of humour, the movie takes a serious turn when the setting moves to Vietnam. The brutal and harsh conditions faced by the soldiers is brilliantly portrayed and very real. The movie tends to delve into how the soldiers feel about the war but still has the occasional hit of humour mixed in too.


The main fault with the movie, is that even though the second half of the film is just as well made as the first, it doesn’t quite have the same appeal. It’s much more raw, which can put a lot of people off.


The acting from all parties is absolutely brilliant, Matthew Modine as the main character the film follows is at his absolute best as the naïve recruit who physically changes over the film into a well trained U.S Marine.
R Lee Ermey as the tough Drill Sergeant is absolutely brilliant, a role so infamous that has often been parodied in many a film, even by Ermey himself. He absolutely steals the first half of the movie.

Even if Vietnam War movies aren’t your thing, it’s worth watching for the basic training.

All in all a very well made Vietnam War flick, though the second half is a little more of a Marmite question, it’s well worth your time.
My rating 85%

Demolition Man

Set in the future, this highly implausible action movie still seems to push all the right buttons.

In present day, cop John Spartan (Sly Stallone) is charged with the deaths of hostages in a botched rescue, he is frozen in suspended animation as a ‘jail’ sentence. At the same time, an ultraviolent Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) is also frozen as he was the one who initially kidnapped the people.

In the future, Phoenix is released to find that the place is a giant utopia of peace and tranquillity. He immediately sets about showing the softy residents and police officers how it’s done ‘old skool’ and goes about trying to make the city his own.
So Spartan is released also. They need an old fashioned cop to catch an old fashioned criminal.

As you can imagine, with Sly and Snipes in the lead roles, from then on it’s all smash and crash and cheesy one-liners for 90 minutes.

It’s a fun no-brainer, primarily aimed at mid-teenaged boys and the acting is about standard for the type of smash-em-up movie it is.

One thing that doesn’t make sense, is that this utopian future is based solely in one city after the event of a massive earthquake. What about the rest of the world outside? Surely this is the movie’s biggest plot hole.

Snipes in particular is fun, doing all the things most of the mid-teens watching would like to do.
Stallone is at his usual.
The supporting cast works well, Sandra Bullock is wonderfully out of place amongst the action and Nigel Hawthorne is, as always, very natural in his surroundings.

All in all a loud, brash no-brainer that shouldn’t make sense, yet in a way, does.
My rating 70%

Dumb and Dumber

One of the finest comedies ever made. Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunn (Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels) are two hopelessly dippy individuals looking for a better life, yet do nothing to actually make it happen.

When Lloyd comes into possession of a briefcase belonging to what he thinks is his one true love, Mary Swanson (a beautiful looking Lauren Holly before she went skinny). The pair head off on a road trip to return the case to Mary and hope she "plucks them into the social pipeline".
Unknown to them, the case actually contains a ransom for Mary’s husband and they’re being followed by a hitman who wants the case for his boss.

After that, the movie goes from funny, to laugh out loud, to hysterical, to pant wettingly hilarious. It’s incredibly well written in terms of humour.
Every line spoken in the movie is either a double entendre or is something that one of the duo has misunderstood.

Be warned though, the movie contains a lot of rude and crude humour too, including Lloyd’s reactions to an attempted male rape and Harry’s poopy-toilet scene after Lloyd spikes his drink for a vengeful-laugh.

It also has it’s fair share of buddy moments, Carrey and Daniels have brilliant chemistry throughout the entire movie, they bounce off one another perfectly and when the occasional hit of tragedy strikes, you really feel for them.

The acting, overall, from all parties is spot on.

The only fault with the film as that it’s just not long enough. You want more and more and more.

All in all, the best comedy I have seen to date outside of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
My rating 95%

Ridley Scott's Robin Hood.

For something that is based on a series of 1000 year old, incomplete ballads, Robin Hood is something that is never seems to leave the mind of the populous.
The movie is set before Robin Hood’s legend of ‘robbing from the rich and giving to the poor’.
It’s more of a lead up to the legend. How Robin came to be the outlaw we all know and love.

Sadly, it’s a very confused story, it takes elements of the legend, elements that are seen during the robbing and giving, mixed with some new stuff and crosses them over.

Some elements are completely ignored from the original ballads, for instance how Robin and Little John become friends.

The problem is also the seriousness of the movie. Robin Hood is a campy legend. Always has been. I’m not just on about the movies of the past, I’m on about the original ballads too.
Any self-respecting Englishman will know that Scott’s take on Robin is a pile.

As far as the story goes, sadly, what Ridley Scott and his team of ‘writers’ decided to do, is steal all of the most inaccurate ideas from all of the other Robin Hood films of the past 100 years.
Then they decided to confusingly modge them all into a giant cake full of disappointment.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the original legend.

I understand that Scott wanted to update the legend but I’m afraid it just didn’t work.
　
The movie as it is though, is actually quite entertaining, the action is pretty well choreographed and exciting, but that’s about it.
The acting is about standard for the type of movie, it’s not bad, but nothing that should win awards.
Think Gladiator but without the charisma.


The only thing that’s really going for the film is that it’s fairly close to being historically accurate with it’s look and feel.
Now, I’m not an expert, but I am a student of history and I know that Scott’s movie is relatively close with setting, props, character attitudes, costume and even the accents.
Russell Crowe was hammered by film buffs for his accent when the film came out. I will defend him though, he’s not far off the truth.
I guess these critics know little of English history.

The sequence of events is a load of tosh though, which lets down the only thing the film has going for it: Accuracy.
　
All in all an entertaining movie if you know nothing of Robin Hood, for me, it’s worse than Costner’s accent.
My rating 15%, solely for the historical feel

Batman Begins

At first, I was extremely dubious about a reboot of the Batman franchise. After the debacle of Schumacher’s attempts I really thought the franchise in the movie world was dead and buried.

Christopher Nolan really has proved me wrong.

Batman Begins is literally that, how he becomes the Bat. Borrowing from the source material (the comics) and some of Burton’s Batman too, mixing in a few new things and an updated selection of Bat-Gadgets on the Utility-Belt, Batman Begins really hits the nail on the head on how to make a super-hero movie.

It revolves around Bruce Wayne’s parents being murdered and the subsequent slump of self-pity and depression he falls into over the following years.
After a soul-searching trek-of-the-world and studying various martial arts forms and getting into trouble with the law in various countries, he comes across an Illuminati who call themselves The League Of Shadows.
He’s trained in their forms of fighting and secrecy and eventually returns to Gotham City with the full intent of using his new found mentality and skills to strike fear into those who prey on the fearful.
Awaiting him though, are forces he cannot comprehend.

The movie is very well shot.
The Gothic feel of past Batman movies has been dropped slightly, it’s more brooding and moody than being Gothic.

The action feels a little held back but when it gets going, it really goes well. The filmmakers had the sense to make the action ‘just enough’ rather than going into the first movie with all guns blazing. It’s very cleverly put together.

The acting also is fantastic.
Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman is a brilliant choice. Some people say he’s a little too gruff when speaking his lines as Batman but I think he does the job well. He plays his naivety well at the beginning too. Bale took the physically demanding role so seriously, he bulked up his muscle mass too much and ended up having to actually lose some weight before they could fit the Bat-Suit.
Michael Caine as Wayne’s Butler, Alfred, is a perfect choice. He’s warm, funny, engaging and down to earth and is tough when needed. Alfred’s character this time round is more human too. He doesn’t beat around the bush when telling Bruce the truth. Caine is fantastic.
Gary Oldman as Detective Gordon is a marvel. He looks and acts like he’s jumped directly from the page of the comic book. Absolutely brilliant.

The only thing that lets the movie down is Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes (Bruce’s long time friend). She’s only on screen for a short time but you feel she’s just an add on, even when the character is placed in jeopardy. Holmes gives an apt performance, but Holmes herself just feels out of place.
As too is Cillian Murphy. Like Holmes, he plays the character well, you just feel as though another actor could have done it better.

The little cliff-hanger at the end between Batpants and Gordon really makes you yearn to watch the sequel.

All in all a near perfect starter for a super-hero franchise.
My rating 90%

The Dark Knight

This movie is the defining point of the franchise so far.

It’s based around The Joker and his unbending need for destruction. He’s been hired by the various mob bosses of Gotham to take out Batman. The Bat has basically destroyed their businesses and had most of their employees locked away.

The mob didn’t count on how incredibly dangerous and unhinged The Joker turns out to be. In the words of Alfred: "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

Again, the movie is shot perfectly, this time round they used IMAX cameras to give the screen a depth to it. It looks beautiful and detailed.

The broody feel of the first movie is still there, though it’s toned down slightly. The movie feels more open to the visual aspect of a real city.

The expansion of certain characters is worked on, especially Gordon. You see how he goes from being a standard cop to the 'Commissioner Gordon' we all know and love.
As too is Alfred, though it’s brief, there is a small insight to his background.
The writing is fantastically put together.

The Joker’s evil twist on literally pitting everyone against everyone is an absolute masterclass in how to write a real villain.

The way The Joker destroys Harvey Dent at a personal level is very well conceived.

As for the acting…
Star turns again from Bale, Oldman and Caine. Katie Holmes is replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal, a wise move.
There’s a wonderful turn from Aaron Eckhart too, who acts both of his roles absolutely perfectly as ‘Gotham’s White Knight’ Harvey Dent.



Now, The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger is something I was dubious about before I saw the movie.
Everyone was raving about his part in the movie and I couldn’t help but think, "It’s only because he died not long after making it". I was never a fan of Ledger or his movies, to be honest, I thought he was a mediocre actor at best.

After seeing the film, I hold my hands up now.

I was wrong.

Heath Ledger, who made it to #2 in my top 40 Villains, is by far the best thing in the movie.

Ledger spent a month in isolation in a hotel room with the script, just acting out the role before shooting even began.

You can tell too. He’s seriously uneasy to watch though at times he’s funny too.
The humour is more of a dark, black humour than the comic-book-Cesar Romero-Nicholson humour that we’re all used to.

Ledger’s portrayal of a hyperactive, giggling psychopath is almost primordial and is very disturbing. Especially his eyes and the little ‘ticks’ he occasionally shows.

As ledger, he’s completely unrecognisable. He is The Joker.


All in all, better than the first and even if Batman isn’t your thing, it’s worth watching for Ledger’s performance.
My rating 95%

The Dark Knight Rises


Bruce Wayne, still suffering after the aftermath of TDK, has locked himself away from public eye for near a decade. He doesn't socialise, nor does he have a life.
His existence is based around regret and remorse and the inability to move on from the past.
When a new and more deadly enemy of Gotham surfaces, he is called into action by the people he respects more than anyone else... and in the process he hopes to gain closure on his Ghosts... and makes a few new allies as well.


The third and final Nolan Bat sees an incredibly detailed screenplay brought together with awesome action and an almost perfect story arc. Some scenes are hard to watch, it's the first real beating that the viewer sees the Bat take.


The movie does have faults, but not many. The main thing is that it's not exactly universal. If you haven't seen the first two... don't bother with this one until you have.

The other thing, is the overly used action shots in TDKR's trailers. The movie actually isn't an all out guns blazing blast-em-up from beginning to end. There are a number of plot setups and quieter scenes throughout that give the entire film and some wonderfully playful plot twists throughout... that give a completely different edge over it's predecessors.
Ignore the trailers, they give completely the wrong impression.


The filmmakers have actually managed the impossible task of finishing a movie series properly. There are some things within the storytelling that some viewers and Batfans won't like, but as you watch the film, you can't help but be swept up the the sheer excitment of witnessing the climax of Batman's story.

The ending is also extremely heart-pounding, it wraps up the trilogy perfectly and is brilliantly concieved.
My heart is still racing now, the movie ended about half an hour ago.

The action is based mainly around the third act and a little of the second act but it's very well put together. It edges more towrd the fantastical side of the Batman Comics but still has the brilliant real world flavour of the first two movies.
It's also highly exciting and very, very explosive.


Not much to say about the acting that hasn't been said in my other two reviews of Nolan's Bat.

Tom Hardy however, is fabulous as Bane. He's not just a piece of meat to give Batman a kicking. He's like a cross between a bulldozer and The Joker and Hardy is absolutely fantastic in the role. His voice is a little hard to get used to at first, but after he recites a few lines, you get used to it.


All in all... the finest end to a movie series I have yet to see. History has been made.
I even shed a few tears at the end through sheer joy, and the privilege of seeing the best Bat Series put to screen getting the ending it deserved.
My rating 98%

The Matrix.

An original take on alternate realities, The Matrix revolves around a computer hacker calling himself ‘Neo’, who feels that something isn’t right with the world he lives in.
A group of strangely dressed and oddly acting people appear in his life and explain that they can ‘free’ him from the constraints of a humdrum life and can explain to him exactly what this concept of The Matrix is.

He takes up their offer and falls into a world of intrigue and mystery and super-human powers.
Eventually he unwillingly realises that he will become the most powerful of these people and will lead them to victory in an ongoing war that’s taking place in another reality between man and machine.

The movie as a whole is very well put together. It keeps the air of mystery going throughout the entire running time. The audience follows Neo’s journey of discovery brilliantly. The ideas of the discoveries are kept under wraps until Neo discovers them, putting the viewer on a par with the character’s surprise and shock.

The effects too are fantastically developed. The first movie of it’s kind, on a par with Jurassic Park, the filmmakers actually invented certain technologies to make their vision come to life and in the process they coined the phrase "Bullet Time".

The filmmakers went toward a lot of practical effects too, rather than just full on CGI.
The entire film is also cutting edge in its design, especially some of the plotlines.

The acting is absolutely bang on too.
Keanu Reeves really hits his role with perfection. With the movie being such a far out idea, he really encapsulates the lost-puppy persona needed for Neo.
Lawrence Fishburn is marvellous as Morpeus. The leader of the group who take Neo on his journey. He’s the epitome of cool.
Hugo Weaving is fantastic as the otherworldly and emotionless villain Agent Smith. He made it to #33 in my Top 40 Villains.

The one fault with the movie is that it’s extremely serious. There’s little in the way of humour or respite in the depressed feelings of the characters.

All in all it’s a brilliant sci-fi-mystery ride into a different yet also very recognisable world.
My rating 90%

Matrix Reloaded.

This is where things already started to go awry for the Matrix franchise.

The movie revolves around Neo again. This time he’s become an all-powerful super human and has unlocked his mind from ‘reality’.
Agent Smith is up to his old tricks and has learned a few new techniques for defeating Neo from within The Matrix and outside of it too.
The premise is that of the first movie, an ongoing war between man and machine and a twist in the story for the human city called Zion.

The movie is orientated toward action and flashy imagery more than anything else.
There is expansion in the storyline with Neo’s new missions and an introduction to the human city of Zion and new characters are introduced to the story but it feels extremely linear.

The special effects are an improvement to an extent but a lot of it has been turned from practical camera use, into full on CG scenes that show a lot of break up as they’re not rendered brilliantly. Some of it is, but most of it isn’t.

What made The Matrix such a success was the development of things the audience had never seen before. This movie just feels like a typical Hollywood sequel: Flashy and hollow.

The action is exciting though, it’s well choreographed, but it’s just too CG to be anywhere near as exciting as the more practical first movie.
The martial arts scenes with Neo are probably the best part of the whole movie though, a lot of work went into the fights and Reeves really shows his worth as an action star.

The acting again though is bang on the money. The addition of the new characters and new sub-plots broadens the scope of the movie.

All in all a vast and sprawling action-up with a stretched out story that is exciting at times, but it’s just too much like an expensive cartoon.
My rating 75%

Matrix Revolutions.

The third of the franchise revolves more around the war outside of The Matrix, rather than Neo and the group’s interactions within The Matrix.

Neo’s new mission is to take on Agent Smith’s new found super powers and make a pact with the machines, as Smith is now becoming a serious threat to them too.
Cue a big showdown both inside and outside The Matrix that lasts most of the movie’s running time.

The problem is that the movie has no real mystery to it anymore.
The plotline is very, very linear: The characters have an idea, they make it happen, then move onto the next idea and so on. After the first half-hour you feel bored with it all and are hoping for the ending to come along.

The CG is extremely heavy again but this time it’s utilised with much more thought. It’s more reality based than being an expensive cartoon, so thumbs up for that.

The action too, though heavily CG is actually very entertaining and much more exciting than the second movie, especially during the fighting in Zion.

The Neo/Smith CGI laden showdown however is a bit of a letdown. The filmmakers went for style rather than substance and it feels very hollow.

The actors are starting to look a little tired of it all too. They do there jobs well, but the charisma and energy they had in the first two movies has somewhat diminished.

All in all, better effects than the first two, a few extra sub-plots and much more exciting in the action scenes, but not really a great end to what started out so promisingly.
My rating is the same as the second movie at 75%

Troll Hunter

A third change from the above list. I saw Troll Hunter when it was first released but saw it again the other day and had to let everyone know what I thought.
I’ve watched the movie in both formats i.e.; In Norwegian with English subtitles and also in redubbed English.

Another movie based on ‘found footage’ reveals three 20 somethings making a documentary about a hunter who is illegally shooting bears in Norway find themselves thrown into a world of Norwegian mythology when they decide to follow the hunter in question.
It turns out that this hunter is actually a troll hunter working for a secret government system and he takes the three filmmakers on a trip of terror and discovery in the wilderness of northern Europe.

The films premise is sound, basing it in real life situations is a mark of originality by the filmmakers but the movie itself mainly falls flat after that.
The only other redeeming features of the film are the CG trolls. Though the movie is relatively low budget, the CGI is exceptionally well rendered and very original. They utilise existing mythology too with the look of the creatures which adds authenticity as well.

The acting in the film is sadly, lacklustre at best. It’s very wooden and obviously scripted. There’s no naturalness with the dialogue either.

The physical reactions of the cast are also very scripted which is another sad part of the film, it destroys the aura of reality that the film is trying desperately to build.

There are also sections of the plot that are based on what the filmmakers had to work with due to low budget.
A side effect of this is that certain plot elements are unintentionally laugh-out-loud funny, anyone who has already seen the movie will know what I’m talking about when I say "Electrical Pylons".

All in all a well rendered CG film when the CGI is actually used. Sadly, it’s unintentionally funny, badly acted and certainly not worth the £16 that I paid for it on DVD.
My rating 10%

John Carpenter’s The Fog.

As a small American fishing town prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of it’s completion, strange and disturbing things start occurring just after midnight on the anniversary when a strange glowing fog rolls in from the ocean.
Car alarms start going off, animals become disturbed, gold coins transform into pieces of wood and a fishing boat is found adrift at sea with all the crewmembers either dead or missing.
During the incidents’ occurrences, a Priest finds a diary that was written by his Grandfather at the time of the town’s completion. It contains disturbing and upsetting stories of murder and theft that lead to the town’s beginnings 100 years before.

The movie is an absolute entertainer. Carpenter’s writing is extremely well put together.
His take on a simple ghost story is incredibly original.

The effects are very rudimentary, it’s mainly fog and lights, but work absolutely brilliantly. Rob Bottin’s creations are simple, gory, dark and at times are quite disturbing when seen. They’re kept to the shadows and are hidden behind fog most of the time too, which gives the scary moments more impact.

The acting too is top notch. There’s no actual lead role as such, it’s more along the lines of various town’s folk in their own survival story.
An incredibly sexy Adrienne Barbeau, Scream-Queen Jamie Lee-Curtis, John Houseman and Janet Leigh are all on top form as the runners, screamers and hiders.
The thing that let’s the movie down? Not a lot really, as usual with Carpenter he makes his own soundtrack for the movie and it’s far from being his best.

All in all a cracking little horror that keeps things small-scale and is very atmospheric.
My rating 95%

Evolution

After a meteor crash lands into Glen Canyon, all sorts of strange and weird creatures start appearing in the local area. It’s up to two college professors Ira Kane and Harry Block who were the first to discover the meteor’s secrets and Dr Allison Reed (a military employee), to find out what these things are and find a way how to stop a possible invasion. Along with a witness to the crash, Wayne Grey, they head out into the local town to discover new, alien life forms.
Involved is the U.S Army, lead by an old colleague of Kane’s, Brigadier General Woodman, whose hardheaded ways may put a dampener on the foursome’s plans of research and prevention.

It’s an extremely funny piece of filmmaking. Like with a lot of Ivan Rietman’s movies, it starts out relatively real, then heads down a path of unreal and very funny situations.
It’s also very well put together on the discovery front too, the audience is kept in the frame when it comes to finding out about the alien creatures involved.

The acting is a surprise.
Julianne Moore as Dr Reed is a surprise in a comedic role. She’s absolutely bang on with the theme of the movie.
Orlando Jones is his funny too as Professor Block, he carries the cheeky, wisecracking character well.
Seann William Scott as Wayne Grey is his usual self too, wacky, funny, occasionally slapstick.
The biggest surprise is David Duchovny as Dr Kane. Duchovny has shown signs of comedic timing before but in the movie he’s absolutely brilliant as the serious doctor who’s comedy comes from being occasionally cheeky and down to earth in a set of strange circumstances. The X-Files actor also lends himself to the theme brilliantly.

The special effects are another welcome surprise, the CGI is absolutely tip top.
The creatures involved in the film are also very original, with some bordering on comedic themselves. You can tell the filmmakers had a lot of fun with the creatures.

All in all, it’s a fun, funny movie with tongue in cheek comedy, great CGI and also seriousness thrown in too for good measure.
My rating 90%