PRISONERS

I was really excited to see Prisoners. The trailer sold it to me, the cast sold it to me, the comparisons to Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs sold it to me -on paper it really is a sure winner.

Prisoners tells the story of Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman). After his six-year-old daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police detective (Jake  Gyllenhaal) appears to be pursuing the wrong leads. How far will a desperate father go to save his child?

The film gets off to a strong start; a cozy, homely, family-orientated opening of the girl and her friend's families spending Thanksgiving together - an environment that instantly connects the viewer to nostalgic festive memories of their own (whether Thanksgiving or Christmas!) and makes the families relatable and accessible. Just an average Thanksgiving with an average family and it is this averageness that makes the girls disappearance all the more poignant as it instills the concept that it could happen to you.

An average family

It gets to the action right away: the girls are taken and the main suspect is identified very early on in the film, which is an interesting albeit welcome technique as it means that the main story begins without any fuss or fluff leading up to it. With the audience finding out information at the same speed as Jackman's Keller, the entire cinema were on the edge of their seat with their heart in their mouth within thirty minutes of the film's beginning.

However, at a needless two and a half hours long, the initial excitement gradually starts to fade as the film goes from a fast-paced, high-tension, emotion-driven thriller to a story so saturated with 'twists' and curveballs that you eventually just get a bit bored of it all. Arguably attempting (and failing) a Christopher Nolan-esque shock-fest, director Denis Villeneuve dedicates far too much time attempting to shock the audience with plot-twists galore and in doing so the film starts to drag and the actual reveal at the end of the film is underwhelming  and feels a bit rushed. As a viewer, you feel a bit cheated that you have dedicated two and a half hours to this film only for the revelation to lack depth and detail; alongside half a dozen other curveballs that had been thrown in without being given a full explanation. Don't get me wrong - you know the basics of what has happened; you know the skeleton of each turn of events and every character that we are introduced to but that is all we get - the bare minimum amount of detail with absolutely none of the fleshing out that makes other such films so great.

I personally found the big reveal a bit silly and any detail that was given was only the repetition of hints and tips that had been scattered throughout the film and I had actually picked up on, so nothing new for the viewer to learn. I feel that I desperately wanted more to be added to the reveal in order for the film to reclaim some credibility - it felt lazy and half-assed and I feel that it was only included in order to shock the audience, not to give maximum impact.

The brilliant cast ultimately carry the film with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal both giving powerful, believable performances as two totally different characters in roles that I haven't really seen them take on before. The true star of the show though is without a doubt Paul Dano. The mute from Little Miss

Paul Dano has definitely grown up!

Sunshine has well and truly grown up with a performance that was so raw and so disturbing that I actually felt my blood boiling with rage. As the main suspect in the case, Alex, Dano was unrecognizable and the fact that I hated his character with an unsympathetic passion is only a testament to what a convincing performance he gave.

Although Prisoners was much longer than necessary (and to it's detriment), it did maintain my interest. Admittedly by the end of the film I was much less involved than I was in the first hour and a half but the interest was still there; I would not have been able to leave the cinema without learning of the story, no matter how disappointing the story turned out to be, and the strong performances are what made it so watchable whilst the narrative was lagging. I also really enjoyed the final scene, it was an ending that I didn't see coming and although I feel that the ultimate outcome is obvious to the viewer it is always good for a film to end with a collective gasp that fills the cinema as Villeneuve clearly couldn't resist throwing in one final surprise.

To conclude, the film-makers should have known better than to make Prisoners so long; it is common fact that if a film exceeds a certain amount of time it is near-impossible to maintain the same level of quality throughout. Some sections of the film are brilliant with so much attention to detail but others are underwhelming and overlooked and should probably have ended up on the cutting room floor. The film's reveal is trying to be much more intelligent than it is and feels like a bit of a desperate cop-out in order to shock the audience, but the final scene made up for this in a way. Many elements of the actual narrative are highly controversial and can spark many interesting debates; it is interesting and at times shocking but it simply does not come close to the likes of Silence of the Lambs,Se7en, or any other thriller classic that you may have heard it be compared to.

As a relatively exciting watch I give Prisoners ★★★★☆  but if Villeneuve left his Nolan aspirations at home and followed a more personal style rather than trying to make the film into something that it is not, it would have been miles better.

Prisoners is in cinemas nationwide from tomorrow:  Friday 27th September!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you like!

Love,

BLUE JASMINE

Blue Jasmine is a film that I had only heard good things about. Not only were the critics raving but even the usual internet trolls appeared to have put away their claws for this one as a whisper of 'Oscars' seemed to encase it. I'm an advocate for 'slice of life' movies and for me, films don't have to have a 'point' in order to entertain me - a snippet or an insight into a person or a family's life is usually a sure win, so although when I watched the trailer I didn't really 'get' what it was going to be about, I was still excited for it.

However, this isn't just a 'slice of life' - director Woody Allen has a point that he is trying to make and that is one thing: The rich are corrupt and lonely and losers, it is the seeming underdogs who are really winning at life. A very poignant and heartfelt message, sure, but an hour and a half of Cate Blanchett trying to sound like Samantha Jones as she teeters on the edge of a mental breakdown was not what I needed to see in order to learn this.

Jasmine (Blanchett)  is a New York City socialite. Troubled and in denial following her divorce from elite business man Hal (Alec Baldwin) she moves in with her dippy, free-spirit sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco and tries to rebuild her life.

The performances are strong, the pace is slow, the story of her marriage unravels in a series of samey flashbacks that became uninteresting and predictable before long. Cate Blanchett gives an undeniably powerful performance, but in doing so she creates a character so intense that she becomes borderline nauseating and you can practically hear Blanchett's mind screaming 'Oscar' as she overacts her way through the film as a character reminiscent of neurotic, drama queen Vanessa Gold in BBC soap opera EastEnders.

Whilst the majority of the supporting cast were good, I took a particular liking to Ginger, some characters were so stereotypical and simple they became parodies of themselves which had the audience laughing at times where I don't think Woody Allen intended them to be.

I'm always a fan of an open ended film and this may have been one of the best moments for me, however it isn't as poignant or powerful as I was lead to believe it would be by critics and viewers alike. In fact, it was pretty plain. For an hour and a half long film, it really dragged and in all honesty perhaps one of the reasons I welcomed an open ending was because if it were more conclusive I would have had to sit through longer.

Blue Jasmine is an average film, the characters lacked depth which made it difficult for the audience to connect with in any way, and although films don't have to have a point, this one really was in the same place at the end as it was when it started out. I found myself becoming impatient and bored and Blanchett's performance became more and more over-the-top and irritating as time went on. The narrative is pretentious and similarly to Silver Linings Playbook (a film that I truly detest), it's concept makes people think that it is much more poignant and exciting and interesting and entertaining and revolutionary than it is. Almost like a taboo where any film that toys with the idea of mental health gets immediate critical acclaim despite the quality of the story, and this is a habit that I hope is quashed sooner rather than later.

All in all, Blue Jasmine was vaguely enjoyable to begin with but lacked excitement and, to be honest, entertainment. For these reasons it gets ★★☆☆☆

Blue Jasmine is in cinemas nationwide from 27th September!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you like!

Love,

THE CALL

I have been putting off writing this review because I am still so disappointed. It's a complicated one to write because for the first hour of the film I was on the edge of my seat, emotionally invested and even had tears in my eyes at one point. It was an amazing, incredible film and I was so surprised by it's quality as, in my opinion, the trailer really doesn't do the best job at selling it.

However, the last half an hour or so absolutely destroyed these feelings. It completely ruined the film in an ending and development that made no sense in the context of the wider narrative. When I left the cinema I was genuinely upset by a great film with so much potential that was ruined in a bizarre turn of events. I would have preferred for the entire film to be absolutely rubbish rather than have something that is so good and holds so much potential be spoiled in this way.

The Call tells the story of Jordan (Halle Berry), a 911 operator who is plagued with guilt after failing to save a girl who phones the line for help. Six months later Jordan answers another life-altering call from Casey (Abigail Breslin), who is calling from the trunk of her kidnapper's car. Unable to track the phone, Jordan must stay on the line to Casey  in a race against time.

One of the most surprising aspects of the first hour of The Call for me (and what makes the final showdown all the more dissatisfying), was just how realistic and authentic it all seemed. All of the inexplicable questions i.e. Why does she have her cell phone on her, what about kicking out the taillights etc. were cleverly acknowledged providing the audience with a satisfying story-arc that allows you to get emotional involved without feeling cheated by unrelatable characters. All of it seems to make perfect sense and flawlessly slot together, giving you a terrifying yet fascinating insight into what it really might be like to be a 911 operator.

Abigail Breslin gives a powerful performance

Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin both give incredibly strong and heartfelt performances throughout; Breslin captures the true terror and desperation of Casey whereas Berry gives an at times heartbreaking performance as Jordan - you can sense her helplessness and feel the utter dismay as she tries to come up with new ways to keep Casey's hope alive whilst she herself is losing faith.

Although I have seen criticism in other reviews, the minor characters also provide a sense of realism to me. The other drivers who notice something suspicious about the kidnapper's car react in ways that I personally may not react, but understandably none the less. Some placid, some busybodies - either way they might make things worse but at the end of the day some people are honestly like that and although at first I was in disbelief, as their character's developed so did my understanding.

The kidnapper's backstory is one of the film's downfalls

This first hour really did have me covering my eyes with fear, on the edge of my seat with tension - my heart was pounding throughout as I was absolutely hooked and engrossed in this story that was being played out in front of me. If it had carried on this way I would have come out of the cinema a very satisfied but emotionally exhausted customer and gone on to recommend it to anybody who would listen with a full five stars. However, inexplicably the film seems to almost switch genres completely - going from a relatively realistic representation to absolute nonsense. Character's personality traits completely change as the film takes on an almost revenge-horror element rather than the thriller that it has already comfortably established itself as... All realism and reason goes out of the window as drugged up, beaten characters have an unreasonable amount of physical strength, director Brad Anderson attempts an unnecessary and random homage to Tarantino with one particularly desperate and cringe-inducing scene whilst adding a needless, awkward backstory to the film's villain that Anderson then doesn't even bother to go into detail with.

Why can't a psychotic kidnapper just be a psychotic kidnapper? In reality, there are plenty of twisted people who abduct and torture people for no reason other than their sick pleasure. Why Anderson felt the need to add a ridiculous, half-assed reasoning behind the kidnapper's motives without fully exploring it with the audience is baffling and doesn't make any sense when he already had such a strong film in the making. I was so scared by the film at the beginning because of how gritty and realistic it was - this anonymous kidnapper could be any Tom, Dick or Harry walking down the street and that was the prospect that made it so terrifying. Adding a nonsensical backstory to the kidnapper completely dehumanized him and any fear that I felt thinking 'this could happen to me' was completely eliminated as the story became more and more far-fetched.

The ending is disappointing and borderline laughable

However, if the villain's backstory was all that was wrong with the ending then I probably could have dealt with it a lot better, maybe knocked it down to four stars but relatively enjoyed it none the less. The very final straw for me came with the very final scene. A scene that makes no sense; logically, realistically or professionally in a  film that had so far done all of the above. As I said, the film just seems to switch genres. From a fast-paced, exciting thriller to an implausible load of nonsense that you just can't bring yourself to believe nor accept. The characters you see in the last twenty minutes are not the same characters that you have emotionally attached to in the prior hour and ten. The film that you are watching in the last twenty minutes is not the same film; the script is not the same script... None of it makes any sense.

And why Brad Anderson felt the need to throw away a film that had so much potential, such a strong cast and such an incredibly emotional narrative is beyond me. He could have had a cinematic masterpiece on his hands, instead it is nothing more than a disappointing flop.

Despite this, the first hour has really stuck with me and I can't deny how much I loved it. So for that reason, I have to award The Call with ★★★☆☆

 ...but it really did leave me the most disappointed out of any film that I have seen this year. 

The Call is in cinemas nationwide from 20th September!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you like!

Love,

LOVELACE

The real Linda Lovelace

The story of 1970s porn icon Linda Lovelace has always fascinated me. At just 22 she became the face of the sexual revolution as her explicit pornographic film Deep Throat flew to the top of the mainstream box office and catapulted her to fame and celebrity status. However, 6 years later Linda Lovelace released her autobiography 'Ordeal', which revealed the far from liberated truth behind the scenes of her pornographic career, at the hands of her abusive and controlling husband Chuck Traynor.

Aesthetically, Lovelace is beautiful. Set in the 1970s there is a grainy feel to the film that gives a sense of authenticity and the bright colours, groovy soundtrack and classic retro fashion (I need to get me a pair of velvet dungarees!) made the film a joy to watch with a hint of old-time nostalgia. As the film starts it is clearly hellbent on representing Linda as your typical girl next door and it is really interesting to watch how her relationship with Chuck Traynor develops as she gradually transitions from her parent's darling girl to the star of the most popular pornographic film in history.

I was wary of how Linda's descent into the porn industry would be portrayed due to some of the cynicism that revolves around her tell-all book (which was proven true by polygraph tests). I was worried that the film would just portray her as a stupid little girl who was fully in control of her decision to be involved with the film, however, the representation of Lovelace throughout is compassionate, honest and above all sympathetic - showing her in the light that I feel she truly deserved to be shown in.

Amanda Seyfried is beautiful as Lovelace

I was also apprehensive of Amanda Seyfried taking the starring role as I am not the biggest fan of her previous films; she also hasn't really played such a complex or dark role before and I did have my doubts as to whether or not she would be able to pull it off. However, with her freshly dyed brunette hair and adorable freckles she simply dazzled as sweet, fresh-faced Linda Lovelace as she gave an out-of-this World performance that showcased every side of the character. The way she morphed from an electric, innocent but fun girl to the dead-behind-the-eyes, angst-ridden woman was incredible and there is one particular scene where hardly any words are spoken yet the audience are able to pinpoint the exact moment of Linda's utter resignation as she realises that there is no hope for her to be saved. This is a standout part of both the film and Seyfried's acting career so far for me as her performance of this particular, highly-poignant moment almost drew me to tears.

I heart Big.. I mean Chris Noth

The supporting cast is also incredibly strong; Peter Sarsgaad slips with frightening ease into the role of the horrific Chuck Traynor, James Franco has a  minor role as the young Hugh Hefner and The OC's Adam Brody plays Linda Lovelace's onscreen porn partner Harry Reems with an innocent charm. It was Chris Noth who stole the show for me though, as one of Deep Throat's producers Anthony Romano. I may be biased due to an excessive love of Sex and the City (of which Noth plays playboy lothario Big) but I just find Noth's onscreen presence overwhelming and even with little dialogue he effortlessly steals the scenes that he is in with a cool and comforting warmth.

Despite the stronger-than-expected performances and the great story of which the film's directors had to work with, the overall execution of the film was disappointing and a bit flat. Even though I admit i probably know more about the Lovelace story than many, the basic premise of the film that most people going to watch the film would know and is mentioned in every synopsis is the fact that she was abused and controlled by Traynor. However, the film itself only implies a minor form of abuse to start with before showing the full story in a kind of flashback format, I expect that this would be very hard-hitting and have a strong impact on those who didn't know anything about the story - for others it just slows down the pace and gave it a bit of a disjointed feel. Despite that some parts were still quite disturbing and uncomfortable to watch, it just didn't have as strong an impact as I expected.

I also feel like for an 18 certificate film about porn, abuse and violence it was relatively tame in what it showed. Most significantly with the level of violence; don't get me wrong, I was personally happy to not be shown anything more graphic than I was as I find this kind of abuse very unpleasant to watch and sometimes it is the more implicit hints that have the hardest impact. However, there isn't really anything that warrants the high certificate that it got and it is the certificate that I found misleading as it heightened expectations for the film and I was prepared for something the complete opposite of what I got. Ultimately, Lovelace is a film about a horribly disturbing true life experience but it has a kind of bubblegum, vanilla essence to it, as though the filmmakers were too scared to go all the way with a truly dark and gritty story that will do Linda's actual experiences justice.

The true story of Linda Lovelace has been screaming out to cinema for years and the premise alone was already the making of an incredible, hard-hitting and powerful film. Sadly, it fell into the wrong hands and even a strong and talented cast were not enough to revive the film's potential - leaving us with a good albeit underwhelming watch that I will probably have forgotten about by tomorrow.

All in all I award Lovelace with ★★★☆☆

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you like!

Love,

THE CONJURING

I have said it before and I will say it again - I have been watching horror films for as long as I can remember and they simply do not scare me. Every time a new horror film comes out I get really excited and think to myself 'this is the one, this is the one that will terrify me!' And each time I am left disappointed. Even if a horror film is jumpy and creepy it is usually let down by an awful storyline, ridden with plotholes. If a horror film has a great storyline then it usually isn't very creepy - in fact, I had just ended up accepting the seemingly obvious fact that horror films can't be both really good and really, truly scary.... But then The Conjuring came along and showed me otherwise!

The real Perron family

Based on the true story of the 1970s, the Perron family move into an old farmhouse, only for a dark presence to start terrorizing them. Out of options and scared witless, the Perrons call on paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren for help.

I was wary of this film from the get-go purely because paranormal, ghost stories don't usually interest me. I have very little time for the whole supernatural aspect of horror and the way Hollywood had jazzed up classic horror with over the top CGI and ghastly glossy graphics makes my skin crawl. I was therefore relieved to find that director James Wan hadn't pandered to Hollywood's expectations of horror and had instead reverted back to old school techniques that gave the film an authentic essence, reminiscent of the 1970s era of which it is set.

Another issue I  find with horror films is that I very rarely care for the characters. Too often the characters put themselves in stupid and unrealistic situations that make it difficult for the audience to relate too. For example - why are you heading towards the danger? Why are you still in the house?? Wan made a point of avoiding all typical horror cliches in his last film Insidious and was clearly keen to address them again here. First of all, once the Perrons establish that something scary is happening, they seek the help of the Warrens almost immediately and are sure to mention that they would move but have no money and with a family of seven they have nowhere else to go. The fact that the characters were actively seeking out the danger of the spirits was also covered - after all Lorraine and Ed have been called in to help the family get rid of the evil presence, they're going to have to interact with them in order to do so! This avoidance of typical horror movie stupidity made the characters likeable and whilst i was watching i was definitely vouching for them, which is more than I can say for other films of this genre!

Vera Farmiga is the star of the show!

All of the performances in this film were outstanding, especially impressive when the Perron family is largely made up of young actresses, but Vera Farmiga stole the show for me as she fast becomes one of my favourite actresses. Having seen most of her previous films, Farmiga continues to bring a certain element of warmth to the screen and gives the audience an added insight into her characters with just a simple look or expression. I just find her entire presence quite calming and true to how I imagine the real Lorraine Warren would have been, Farmiga was an element of calm amongst the chaos and terror of the film and as silly as it sounds, even as just a member of the audience, I instantly felt safer whenever she was on the screen.

The general storyline was also incredible strong, the true life story was delivered in an engaging and emotive way and unlike most horror films, when it ended there were no unanswered questions or plot holes that always end up discrediting the entire film. The conclusion of the film is more or less definitive but Wan was also sure to make the final scene something that will leave the audience wondering...

Now, we have established that the general premise and the performances were strong, but this is the important bit: how were the scares?!

The scares don't stop at 'Annabelle'...

Absolutely terrifying. I am not kidding, I have genuinely never been so scared in my entire life. There was one segment in particular where I genuinely felt sick with fear and part of me wanted to leave the cinema but at the same time I needed to know what was going to happen. The scares weren't just jumps for no apparent reason; even when there was nothing actually on the screen there was a creepy atmosphere that had you on the edge of your seat and a majority of the time it wasn't as predictable to guess when something terrifying was going to happen as it is in most horror films, meaning that the audience didn't have time to cover their eyes! Wan successfully creates horror through every aspect - he flawlessly merges the visual and audio of the film with the storyline to heighten your senses and doesn't just depend on cheap jumps to shock the audience into submission. It was obvious that the entire process had been thought out in detail and the gradual build up of terror was perfectly paced whilst providing the necessary character and plot development.

From the scares to the narrative to the performances to the execution, there is not a single thing that i can fault this film for. As a huge fan of the Saw franchise I did have faith in James Wan but he exceeded my expectations and provided me with not only the thrills and terror that i was hoping for but also with a great film that made me think.

Despite not usually liking paranormal horror films, personally I do believe in ghosts and so I believe that this allegedly true story is actually  a true story. Wan had the full support and guidance of both Lorraine Warren and the entire Perron family in order to create a film that represents what happened to them as real to life as possible and i think that guidance definitely aided the film. Wan was careful to portray all of these characters in a positive light, for example the Warrens are shown early on in the film telling a couple who think that their house is haunted that the creepy noises are actually coming from the old pipes in their cellar, proving that they were not con artists, and the Perron family are also seen as just your average, every day American family - not some crazy fruit loops who hallucinated ghosts.

All in all I do thoroughly recommend this film as one of the scariest horror films of our time and I would encourage anybody to go and see it. However, having been desperate to be terrified by a horror film for my entire life now that it has happened I don't think that I like it! The night after I watched The Conjuring I was woken up at 5am by a massive bang in my room that I could not find a logical explanation for, since then I have been scared of rummaging in my wardrobe, going to sleep or even just being home alone and I have been making my cats come everywhere with me (animals can sense spirits, right?!) And this is all from somebody who has watched every big horror film that has been released and not even flinched, so I would say to go and watch it but please, watch it with caution.

I award The Conjuring with ★★★★★


Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

THIS IS THE END

I’m not always the biggest fan of Judd Apatow-esque comedy so going into This Is The End I didn’t actually know a majority of the cast/ cameos! Obviously there is Seth Rogan (who I have liked ever since 50/50) and James Franco (who I’ve liked ever since I saw his face – I’m only human!) but Jay Baruchel? Danny McBride? Craig Robinson? I know Jonah Hill as a name but am not the biggest fan of his films. When I first watched the trailer I thought that it looked funny and the concept of actors playing themselves really appealed to me, however, as I didn’t know half of the main cast I was doubtful over whether or not I would enjoy it as I thought the jokes might be mostly ‘in-jokes’ that non-fans of their films wouldn’t understand… It took a couple of weeks of reading nothing but good reviews for me to decide to just give it a chance and hope for the best!

This Is The End tells the story of a group of famous actors who are having a party at James Franco’s house when the apocalypse begins. Having witnessed the grisly death of fellow party-goers, Rogan, Franco, Baruchel, McBride, Hill and Robinson find themselves standard together in Franco’s house with limited food and water, fighting for survival.

It took a while for me to develop any faith in this movie, the pre-apocalypse scenes felt a bit awkward and clumsy; making it obvious that much of the script had been improvised. The party scenes were very much just a game of Spot The Celebrity and, as Seth Rogan’s films tend to go, the comedy was mostly coming from weed references and sex jokes, which isn’t my kind of humour to say the least. However, once the erm, apocalypse began and the film got into the swing of things the laughs came thick and fast; the half a dozen actors who make up the main cast have a fantastic rapport and work really naturally together, and that is what made the film so funny. Without the fuss of the party and fitting in as many celebrity cameos as possible the central cast had a chance to flourish and although it was never going to be the most integral or witty film of the year, it does exactly what it says on the tin – simple, silly but very enjoyable.

The Holy Trinity

As you may have guessed from my previous reviews, comedy films have to work the hardest to impress me. I’m not naturally drawn to comedy films and there are few that I find laugh-out-loud funny, especially new releases. But This Is The End had me and the rest of the cinema laughing out loud constantly, the script (improvised or not) was so strong for a film of this standing and a lot of the time I found it to be the small moments that made the film. The muttered-under-the-breath comments, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them moments, the holy trinity being compared to Neapolitan ice cream – the humour came in a variety of ways and almost all of them were spot on for me.  In fact, I saw this film last night and have since found myself giggling at the memory of particular quips and comments (the ‘elephant in the room’ comment has been getting to me the most I have to admit) - That’s when you know that you have seen a good film!

The cast had great chemistry

As well as the humour, the storyline was strong – it kept my attention and had me wondering what would happen next. However, towards the end it became a little bit repetitive and very predictable, if the film were to have gone on for even ten minutes longer I think that it would have been ruined so I am glad that it finished when it did, although a post-credit scene showing the fate of the other characters wouldn't have gone amiss! The cast worked flawlessly together, obviously they are all friends in real life but this really translated to the big screen and the natural chemistry that the actors all have with eachother is what made This Is The End so believable to watch (not the apocalypse part, obviously, but the way that the cast reacted to the apocalypse and to eachother was very realistic) and there were some very welcome references to classic horror movies such as The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, that film fans will appreciate but unfortunately appeared to go over most of the audience's head!

In short, this is a fun, enjoyable and hilarious film that delivers 100%. I feel that there is a bit of pretention against it with people criticizing and passing the film off as nothing more than a group of self-righteous actors getting together, fooling around and cashing in…. And do you know what? That is exactly what This Is The End is, but when the end result is so strong what on Earth is the problem with that?!

All in all I award This Is The End with ★★★★☆



Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

P.S. I do kind of wish Neil Patrick Harris had a cameo :(

DESPICABLE ME 2

 

 Okay, I love Despicable Me, it was without a doubt one of the best films of 2010 and one of the greatest in this generation's batch of children's films. I was so excited to see this sequel and had only heard good things about it until the day before I was due to see it, and this criticism disheartened me. In fact, one review said that it was just plain awful, Agnes is no longer adorable and the minions are hardly in it... Now that I have seen it all I can say to that critic is: What the hell did you watch?!

Despicable Me 2 is completely level, if not a tiny bit better, than the original film and if you are a fan of the first film I genuinely struggle to see what there is for you to actively dislike. I can understand why you might preference the first but there really isn't anything in the second film that is offensive to fans of the first or is really that different in any way. I will admit that yes, Gru is no longer despicable. But this is quite a natural character development that we actually see happen at the end of the first film. Despicable Me ends with Gru being a reformed man, he is no longer evil-orientated but family-orientated and I don't know why anyone would thus go into the sequel and expect for him to have gone backwards as a character and if he had done it would have really turned me off. The fact that Gru is now such a family-man who worries about his eldest daughter dating and throws princess-parties for his youngest is funny and works perfectly, especially in the context of the first film where we saw these changes first begin to develop.

The fact that Gru is less despicable and more family-orientated means that overall the focus of the film is less despicable - gone are the days of trying to be the biggest villain in the World, Gru is now being recruited by the AntiVillainLeague to help catch a new super-villain. Whilst there are a substantial amount of villain-esque scenes (Secret plotting, spying, weapons and gadgets) much of the film is centred on Gru's relationship with his girls as well as a romantic subplot and this is where the biggest laughs come. Personally, i much preferred this angle; it was refreshing and set Despicable Me 2 miles above other children's films. All in all the underlying essence of this film was something that absolutely everybody in the audience could relate to - family. And that is what makes it so great.

The Minions are out in force!

However, don't let this family drivel make you think that Despicable Me 2 has lost the humour that ultimately made the first film. Once again Steve Carell delivers an outstanding performance as Gru and he yet again brings so much life and personality to an animated character that he has definitely cemented himself as one of the greatest voice over performers of our time. As well as Carell's hilarious delivery of Gru, the minions are out in force (and this is reason number one as to why i think the aforementioned reviewer hadn't actually seen the film). The minions are in this film excessively more than the first, and to begin with I was a little wary because I was worried that if this continued throughout the entire film and they became dependent on the minions for laughs then it would become overbearing and the minions would end up losing their charm. However, the film's creators actually manage to strike the perfect balance and whilst the minions did end up making the audience laugh the most, it wasn't in a desperate way. In fact, the minions are the best representation of how clever and well-made this film is - a minion is ultimately a little yellow blob, there seem to be an infinite number of them and they don't even speak a proper language... Yet each minion we are introduced to appears to have its own clear and concise personality and can make an entire cinema filled with grown-ups laugh out loud just by making a noise. If that isn't representative of a well-made film then I don't know what is.

As well as the minions, (and reason number two as to why i think the aforementioned reviewer hadn't actually seen the film) Agnes is even more hilarious, lovable and adorable as she is in the first film. She is in it much more but yet again, not in an over-bearing way and whilst she gets the most attention of the three girls, the other two are sure not to disappear into the background. Agnes is the scene-stealer of the film, I looked forward to her presence and was never disappointed by her little quips and one-liners but I think Edith and Margo are just as necessary to the film's plot and without the three of them together it would not have worked as well as it did.

Agnes steals the show

To conclude, Despicable Me 2 is a testament to the clearly incredible creative team behind it - the characters are perfectly balanced and gel flawlessly together, the storyline was a realistic development to the original and had just as much, if not more,  heart, humour and life about it. Most importantly, the film's creators clearly saw what worked and was loved by the audience in the first film (i.e. Minions and Agnes) and expanded upon them in the sequel - they paid attention to the audience's response and delivered something that they knew would appeal. Usually once a film finds the character that works they are tempted to be lazy in sequels and just exhaust these characters in order to get cheap, tried-and-tested laughs out of the audience (Hangover III i'm looking at you), Despicable Me 2 had the potential to just go the easy way out and solely depend on the minions and Agnes to carry the film but thankfully they had more self-respect as a franchise and respect for the audience than that. Whilst the minions and Agnes are my personal highlights, the rest of the film's overall quality did not suffer in the slightest - Despicable Me 2 is clearly a film that had a lot of hard work, creativity and imagination go into it, it isn't lazy in any way and that is what makes it such a success.

All in all i award Despicable Me 2 with ★★★★★

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,