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soneil12
Reviews
Dune: Part Two (2024)
An excellent film, but didn't impress me as much as the first one
Dune Part 1 was a masterpiece. As a long time fan of the book, it was refreshing to see a film adaptation that treated the source material with such care. I was expecting the same with the second film but in this regard I was disappointed.
Much of what made the first film so good was repeated or even exceeded here. Sound editing, music visuals were all simply stunning. Unlike the first one though, this one diverged from the source material a lot more, which can work. Certain characters though, were portrayed in a way that I felt diminished them. I also felt that the pacing in this one was off.
Barbie (2023)
Not for those expecting a fun slice of nostalgia
I saw this movie expecting a bit of fun with perhaps some moral messages and a few jokes thrown in for the grown-ups. Perhaps pitched slightly older than the pixar films. What I got was a movie that had me laughing in some spots while other spots had me thinking, "what on earth am I watching."
I know Barbie better than you're average middle age guy since I've been buying special edition Barbie dolls for years for my (now adult) daughter who collects them. The movie did a great job of showing some of the classic outfits and play sets that would have been recognised by the fans so the nostalgia fuel was definitely there. Cameos from unexpected stars were also a treat.
There were some legitimately hilarious moments. Such as the quip about N Sync which gave me a smile - given Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake's shared history (they both starred in the Mickey Mouse club show - plus the long running rumours about Gosling almost becoming a member of rival band Backstreet Boys). A huge laugh in the cinema came from Narrator Helen Mirren's quip about casting. The casting itself was great, especially Robbie and Gosling who were both superb in their respective roles.
Other than the humourous moments, there were also moments that were uncomfortable or downright depressing. It's not uncommon to have moments like that in comedy movies or kids movies. In this movie though, they out-weighed the lighter moments. The marketing certainly didn't lead me to expect a movie that would leave me feeling depressed afterward. Despite being based on one of the most popular toys of all time, it's definitely not a movie that was made for kids.
There has always been controversy around Barbie's awkward relationship with feminism. The movie attempted to address equality by showing a Barbieland where females dominated and males like Ken were treated unfairly. Then contrasting that with the real world where men dominate and women are treated unfairly. It's a legitimate message and I expected it to build up to a conclusion showing that neither should be the case and everyone should be equal. They attempted that, but pretty much glossed over it before rushing on to the ending which was one of the film's biggest ??? Moments. The speeches about patriarchy were valid but were also dragged out repeatedly over the last half of the film in such a heavy handed manner that many would have tuned out from that message. Meanwhile, any attempt at promoting equality was undermined by every single man I remember in the film being portrayed as adorably failing at being macho, or completely stupid. In most cases both. Of course the barbies were barbies but the real world women were portrayed as being regular, intelligent women. Not cartoonish buffoons like all the men were.
On balance, I can now understand all the comparisons between this movie an Oppenheimer. The difference is that your average viewer would watch Oppenheimer expecting a lot of it to feel oppressive and depressing.
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Exactly what I thought it would be. No more, no less.
I found the original Avatar movie to be largely forgettable. An impressive visual spectacle that was worth seeing in a big cinema, but not much substance to it. This sequel was was pretty much cast in the same mold.
I went to see it expecting that it would be a movie that I would probably only watch once. But that it was one best appreciated in a cinema with the biggest screen and biggest sound system I could watch it on. With 3d glasses to boot. In that regard it delivered. Just like the first movie it was gorgeous and the world it was set in was wondrously captivating. The stunningly designed alien creatures and landscapes lived up to the original film in every respect.
Also like the first movie it had a bland story with cartoon villains. Basically a thinly veiled (and poorly delivered) social message. The villains are 19th century colonialists dressed up as futuristic humans. They go to a far away planet and basically say "let's destroy this pristine environment, steal the natural resources and kill the native inhabitants - bwahahaha." Primitive natives fight back against the evil high tech army with help from defectors from the bad guys who have gone native in the vein of Dances with Wolves. The story (both the original movie and this sequel) really doesn't have a whole lot more substance than that.
Enjoy it for the visual spectacle but don't go expecting much more than that. If you plan on watching it on a little tv at home then don't bother since you'd be missing most of this movie's good points. It was a movie that was precisely what I expected. No more and no less.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Not a great improvement over the cinematic version
When I saw the original Justice League in cinemas I was pleasantly surprised. It was better than I expected. But after Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad my expectations were fairly low. Justice League was not a great film perhaps but enjoyable enough.
Roll on Snyder cut. I didn't really allow myself to be caught up in they hype since I didn't really think the Snyder superman movies were good enough for me to get excited about this one. After watching it, my verdict? Still not a great film but still enjoyable.
In this version the plot made a bit more sense perhaps but also seemed to add certain plot points that seemed a tad convoluted. It also pretty much stripped away most of the light hearted moments that I thought made the otherwise dreary cinematic version more enjoyable. So yes it was better in some respects but so was the cinematic version.
Dune (2021)
Well worth the wait
Due to the pandemic situation Frank Herbert fans in Australia had to wait for this film to be released in cinemas a few months after the rest of the world. Even those of us in areas that aren't directly affected by COVID. So it was hard to go that long avoiding finding out too much about this film before seeing it. I'd seen the trailer and heard a few general comments but that was about it. It did, however, give me more time for another reading of the novel before heading off to the cinema.
From the little bit I had heard I was cautiously optimistic. Very cautious as so many of my favourite novels have been made in to films that either missed the mark completely, or got a lot right and then ruined it by making pointless additions to the story (I'm looking at you Lord of the Rings).
I sat in the cinema with a re-read of the book fresh in my memory as the movie began. Scene after scene playing out almost exactly the way I'd imagined while reading the book. Characters spot on. Even thopters that actually looked like thopters. A few minor alterations from the source material which in each case I think were pretty good choices. Visually stunning. Superb performances from the actors.
I don't think I've ever rated a movie as 10/10 on IMDB. But I really couldn't fault this film. It's got me itching to go and see it again while they work on the next installment.
Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle (2013)
Interesting series but some glaring omissions
I enjoyed this series and learned a lot I didn't know.
However I think the show's creators could have learned a bit too. The show pointed out several things which became staples with comic heroes that supposedly originated with characters like superman and batman (such as skin tight costume, non hero identity, tragic origin story with parents dying etc). Things which in fact appeared in The Phantom which was published 2 years before superman. It did seem that the show was focusing on US comics but The Phantom was huge in places like UK and Australia (and did get a big film adaption a decade before Marvel started dominating the box office) so skipping a character that started so many things that became standard in comic heroes that followed was disappointing.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
A cut above most superhero films
I'll start by saying I'm generally pretty sick of the glut of superhero movies that have dominated blockbusters for so many years now. Marvel in particular have gotten to the point where I feel many of their movies are just the same old things rehashed over and over.
So I wasn't expecting much from this superhero film based on a character I'd never heard of. What a pleasant surprise it was. A movie with interesting characters that had plenty of depth. A superb cast good enough that even Michelle Yeoh's usual outstanding performance didn't upstage everyone else. Beautiful visuals like you'd expect from some of the better recent chinese films rather than a Marvel film. And the action and visual effects didn't disappoint.
Well worth seeing on the big screen to truly appreciate.
The Last Dance (2020)
Where's Longley
A good series for the most part but the exclusion of Luc Longley was inexcusable since he was the starting centre for the whole duration of the team's second three-peat. Not exactly a bit player.
Reportedly the reason for his absence in the series was that they couldn't afford to fly all the way to Australia to interview him. As it is that's a pretty weak excuse but even with no interview footage they could have at least mentioned him. He deserved better than a few brief snippets where he appeared in the background.
Knightfall: While I Breathe, I Trust the Cross (2019)
A disappointing conclusion
For the most part this season has been excellent. Great acting and engaging plots. I found this final episode to be disappointing though.
Without getting in to any spoilers, most of the episode was good (despite some of the "twists" being pretty predictable). The ending was a let-down though as it seemed rather jarring and forced. It almost seemed like they were almost finished making the episode and someone said "hey we might not get another season - let's wrap it all up now".
The last 5 minutes felt like there was an entire episode missing before it and then that last 5 minutes seemed pretty corny and forced.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Tried to get the series back on track in predictable ways
I'm going to start by saying that the best of the recent starwars movies were the "anthology" ones. I think that Solo and especially Rogue One were better than episodes 7, 8 and 9. Ep7 was too much rehashing of the original trilogy and Ep8 - well allowing a director to completely disregard story elements that the previous director was clearly building up to was a huge mistake.
Now episode 9 is here. After watching all 3 movies it felt like we've been watching an argument between J J Abrams and Rian Johnson.
"This is important"
"No it's not"
"YES IT IS!"
Such a massive mistake not having someone directing the story across episodes. So what we got in Episode 9 was largely Abrams trying to yank the story back on to the track he originally intended. It had its good moments (threepio got all the best lines). But it was for the most part pretty predictable other than a couple of cameos I didn't expect (I cheered to see Dennis Lawson, however briefly).
Including Leia was always going to be difficult with the passing of Carrie Fisher. Her scenes were cobbled together using unused footage from Episode 7. I suppose it was done about as well as they could have done but much of her dialogue seemed general and vague in the context of the scenes she was in. Clearly the other dialogue was built around using as much as they could. It came off as being a lot like one of the Weird Al Yankovic mock interviews where he takes a celebrity's answers to interview questions and then changes the questions to alter the context.
When I first watched the Last Jedi I really enjoyed it and for the most part defended it against its critics. Over time I began to agree more and more with those critics. At the moment I'm a bit torn over whether I liked this one or not. Time will tell what my final verdict will be.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Not Star Trek
I was looking forward to this new star trek series. I'm not a big fan of the latest movies as they felt more like fast & the furious in space than star trek but I figured they're not connected to the tv series so I wasn't going to judge discovery on that. And I thought the recent movies were fun to watch anyway with plenty of nods to the originals.
I've liked every star trek series from the moment I started watching it. The original. Next gen. DS9. Voyager. Enterprise. Discovery changed that. I watched 3 episodes and had no interest in watching any more. I've heard it gets better in season 2 but you really shouldn't have to watch a whole season of a show for it to get good. I think a few episodes is enough to give it a solid chance. After all, pilot episodes are usually made specifically to grab viewer interest. Discovery failed to hold my interest after 3.
So what didn't I like about Discovery? Well let's start with the main character. I can't get excited about a character who's insufferably perfect. Each episode I watched seemed to follow the same pattern repeatedly. I.e. Superior officer makes a decision. Main character smugly opposes superior officer and ends up being right. Repeat. I just found her un-relatable and un-likeable. An insufferable know it all. I know it's not a problem with the actor since I loved her character in The Walking Dead.
The Klingons - what the heck where they thinking with the Klingons? They speak ridiculous. They look ridiculous. As far as I've seen there's no explanation for them looking so ridiculous and so different from any other klingons we've seen. In a big budget show they literally look like actors in bad latex masks that they can't talk properly through.
The whole tone of the show was completely wrong for star trek. They seem determined to make it dark and gritty. Why not leave that up to shows like The Expanse or Altered Carbon (or even the 2003 battlestar galactica reboot) that do dark and gritty sci-fi. Discovery certainly doesn't and no other trek show even tried to be like that.
I know it gets said a lot but The Orville is a var better star trek series even though it's not actually a star trek series. Characters you can like and relate to. Stories you can relate to. It actually feels like trek. I'll stick with The Orville.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Not Star Trek
I was looking forward to this new star trek series. I'm not a big fan of the latest movies as they felt more like fast & the furious in space than star trek but I figured they're not connected to the tv series so I wasn't going to judge discovery on that. And I thought the recent movies were fun to watch anyway with plenty of nods to the originals.
I've liked every star trek series from the moment I started watching it. The original. Next gen. DS9. Voyager. Enterprise. Discovery changed that. I watched 3 episodes and had no interest in watching any more. I've heard it gets better in season 2 but you really shouldn't have to watch a whole season of a show for it to get good. I think a few episodes is enough to give it a solid chance. After all, pilot episodes are usually made specifically to grab viewer interest. Discovery failed to hold my interest after 3.
So what didn't I like about Discovery? Well let's start with the main character. I can't get excited about a character who's insufferably perfect. Each episode I watched seemed to follow the same pattern repeatedly. I.e. Superior officer makes a decision. Main character smugly opposes superior officer and ends up being right. Repeat. I just found her un-relatable and un-likeable. An insufferable know it all. I know it's not a problem with the actor since I loved her character in The Walking Dead.
The Klingons - what the heck where they thinking with the Klingons? They speak ridiculous. They look ridiculous. As far as I've seen there's no explanation for them looking so ridiculous and so different from any other klingons we've seen. In a big budget show they literally look like actors in bad latex masks that they can't talk properly through.
The whole tone of the show was completely wrong for star trek. They seem determined to make it dark and gritty. Why not leave that up to shows like The Expanse or Altered Carbon (or even the 2003 battlestar galactica reboot) that do dark and gritty sci-fi. Discovery certainly doesn't and no other trek show even tried to be like that.
I know it gets said a lot but The Orville is a var better star trek series even though it's not actually a star trek series. Characters you can like and relate to. Stories you can relate to. It actually feels like trek. I'll stick with The Orville.
Black Mirror: Hang the DJ (2017)
So much promise but not quite
For the most part this was one of the best episodes of Black Mirror. In fact if could have been my favourite if it weren't for the disappointing ending. The idea of them being in a simulation the whole time is basically a high tech version of the old "it was all a dream" trope, which tends to be quite a storytelling cop-out.
During the episode, when the characters mentioned the possibility of them being in a computer simulation I thought, surely the episode wouldn't end up with such an obvious and unoriginal ending. Yet that's what we got. and it wasn't even done particularly well in contrast to the rest of the excellent episode. It just came across as corny and contrived.
Overall a brilliant episode which deserve a far better conclusion.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Impressive. Most impressive.
When I saw the trailer for this film I wasn't really sold on Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo. I didn't think he really looked anything like Harrison Ford's version of the character (unlike Donald Glover who absolutely nailed Bille-Dee William's character of Lando). I was willing to give him a chance if his performance was good though.
Watching the movie, I still didn't really think he quite seemed like the same Han we moved but he played a good character. After the movie had been running long enough, I was enjoying the character well enough. Harrison Ford's a hard act for anyone to follow and he was clearly trying to emulate some of the manerism's speech etc.
The other characters are what really sold me on this movie. Donald Glover played an absolutely convincing Lando. The charming smuggler was there again just as I remembered him. I won't say much about the other lead characters to avoid spoilers but I found their performances were all major contributors to my enjoyment of the film.
This felt like a starwars film but different enough to not seem defivative. Unlike the main films, jedi/the force and the war with the empire or their equivalent was not a major focus. These were side players and it was satisfying to see other parts of the galaxy far, far away being explored. Like the key characters in Rogue One, these seemed more like regular, relatable people than the lofty heroes we usually see in Starwars films.
This a film that could easily be enjoyed by people who aren't big starwars fans. A knowledge of the story and characters from other films is not necessary to appreciate the story. Visual and sound effects were top quality and added immersion without becoming a focus. I found the plot and dialogue to be enjoyable and plausible. There were plenty of nods to characters and events that fans of the series would already be familiar with but unlike some of the more recent starwars films, these nods seemed appropriate without seeming like they were forced in for the sake of it. These "in" references never felt over-done. And there were a couple of enjoyable surprises for fans of earlier movies.
Overall I found it to be highly enjoyable. Unlike The Last Jedi or The Force awakens which I both found enjoyable but flawed, I found Solo to be a solid, entertaining movie on all fronts.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Too much going on for too little payoff
This was an ambitious film. Capping off 10 years of Marvel superhero films. In a nutshell, it confirmed my impression that Marvel are at their best when they focus a film on an individual hero or group of heroes (such as Black Panther or Guardians of the Galaxy). The crossover films tend to suffer from the story being spread too thinly over several story arcs and this film was yet another example of that.
The good. Visual effects were the usual high standard we expect from these films. It's an amazing spectacle. The action sequences were also superb as we've come to expect. What Marvel have always done well, they continued to do well here. Cheeky humour was used in good doses, mostly at appropriate moments (as opposed to the grossly overused and often inappropriately timed humour in Thor Ragnarok).
The bad. There were many corny, predictable moments in this film. For the most part, Marvel were playing it pretty safe. Early in the movie there were a couple of moments where a character appeared without clearly showing who it was, leaving the audience guessing for a few seconds. Would it be Iron man? Captain Americal etc. A little tease before the full reveal. That was cool the first few times. It got old pretty quick, however, by the time they'd used that trick 7 or 8 different times. My overall impression of the first half of the movie was plenty of action. But too much happening with too many characters in too many places. The rapid switching from one location / group of characters to another was often jarring and made it difficult to really care about some of the character arcs and sub plots that were clearly meant to be pretty important. It seemed to lack continuity, flow, whatever you would call it.
The last half of the movie was where Marvel became less predictable and defied expectations. Normally I'd say that's a good thing. Honestly though, I hated the ending. Without spoiling anything, I'd say it left me feeling highly unsatisfied after what was generally a very enjoyable film. Usually I stick around for the post credits scene to enjoy the nice little extra they throw in. This time I stuck around hoping it would improve the ending. It didn't. It seemed a lot of build up to... nothing? I'm sure it was meant to be a bit of a cliff hanger to get us excited for the next Marvel film and I'm sure it's an ending that would appeal to hardcore comic fans. As a casual marvel movie fan though, it left me feeling very flat and overall disappointed with which was otherwise a pretty solid film
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Visually it was brilliant. Acting and dialogue - not so much.
My compliments to the visual effects team. This film was stunning. Almost enough to make me regret not seeing it in the cinema (seeing the trailer in a cinema was impressive enough). The aliens looked superbly convincing with plenty of variety and originality. The action was pretty good with decent fight choreography.
The story was so-so. Most of the supporting actors were so-so. The dialogue was terrible. When the token pop star (Rihanna) gives a better performance than the 2 leads it says a lot about the acting overall.
Cara Delevingne seemed pretty bland but I get the feeling she would have been a lot better with better dialogue and a better lead actor to star alongside. The romantic dialogue was so bad they would have been better off leaving out the romance altogether. There was absolutely no chemistry between her and Dane Dehaan at all.
His acting was seriously cringeworthy. It's like he was trying hard to be an action star in the mould of Sylvester Stallone. But instead he looks like the cocky teenager who thinks he's god's gift to women when most women can't stand to be near him. I spent half the movie wishing someone would punch him repeatedly rather than cheering for him. And that voice of his... A lot of things in that movie could have been improved by getting a different lead actor.
Overall a movie with a reasonable amount of enjoyment, that could have been a huge hit with better dialogue and better lead actors.
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Fun to watch but tries too hard to be funny
Thor Ragnarok has all of the things you would expect in a super hero / comic adaptation. Stunning visuals, larger than life characters and humour. Perhaps not in the amounts you would expect though.
I started off enjoying the movie a lot. Great action. Great cameos from beloved actors. Great visual effects. Great humour. More humour. And more humour. By the time it got to the middle of the film it felt like they were really over-doing the humour. Plenty of humour worked well in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies which always had a bit of a 'cartoonish' feel to them. But the movies centred around the avengers crew in the past, while having liberal doses of humour, were essentially serious action films. Perhaps it's because the guardians are now being brought in to the main Marvel Cinematic universe but I don't think the same tone that works in their movies really works with Thor / Avengers etc.
If almost felt less like a superhero movie and more like a Pixar or Dreamworks animated feature. And some of the minor characters (like Korg) certainly would have seemed more at home in an animated feature.
When it comes down to it, I found it to be an enjoyable movie but only if I didn't think too hard about it. Much of the story, characters etc are basically pretty corny for the sake of getting more laughs.
Split (2016)
Mostly great
I gave this movie a 7 out of 10. I probably would have given it a 9 before I saw the ending. For the most part, it's a superb psychological thriller. The suspense is great. The lead actors and even the supporting actors (such as the other 2 teenage girls) are brilliant.
That ending though...
The movie spends a lot of time as a thriller. Toward the end we get some sort of supernatural elements creeping in. A little jarring but it was done well enough.
Then at the end though there's a brief moment when the film's title appears on the screen before another 2 or 3 minutes of story are added before the credits. I would have been quite happy to stop watching it before those last couple of minutes.
I'm think I know what the director was trying for with that ending but it was poorly executed and completely unnecessary. If you haven't seen it, my advice is to stop watching it when that title comes up and skip those last couple of minutes. It tainted what was otherwise a superb film.
Suicide Squad (2016)
Pretty decent superhero movie
First up I'm gonna say I'm a bit sick of superhero / comic adaptation films. They've dominated action films for a decade and I'm a bit over them.
Having said that, I quite enjoyed this film. The characters were entertaining. Good action. Will Smith, Margo Robbie and Jared Leto were all superb in their roles. I thought the character of Amanda Waller was pretty good too though I found her level of ruthlessness was excessive and spoiled my enjoyment of that character a bit. Having known very little about the film before seeing it, I thought the cameos were a very nice treat.
My one real complaint is that it all felt very rushed, especially in the earlier part of the film. As I was watching it there were many points where I felt that something had been cut that might have been better left in. I feel that a director's cut could very well be a lot more enjoyable than the version I saw in the cinema.
Warcraft (2016)
A faithful and entertaining adaptation of a popular computer game series
Many popular video games have been adapted to the big screen over the years. Some, like Tomb Raider, have been reasonable. Others like Mario and Wing Commander were terrible. Warcraft is the first one that I think was genuinely not only a very good movie, but also a faithful adaptation of the game it was based on. With a story based primarily on the first of the Warcraft games, the film included elements that would be familiar to players of later games also including World of Warcraft. Locations in the game are faithfully reproduced so that they are instantly recognisable in the movie. Costumes, buildings, even the way magic is portrayed looks very much like in the games. This is very much a film for fans of the game. As a standalone movie it also works well. Though of course many of the game's references will be lost on viewers not familiar with the game, it still works as a solid action film. My one complaint is that in some parts of the film, especially early on, things felt a little rushed. I found myself on more than one occasion wondering if there were some deleted scenes there since some parts seemed a little disjointed. I'm no expert on film editing but the pacing just seemed a little off. Over-all, I found it a fun film. Great effects, great action and a real treat for fans of the game. Good enough perhaps, to make up for how disappointing the game itself has become in recent years.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Pretty good but not groundbreaking
I've seen every starwars movie while it was in the cinemas and from the special edition releases onward, I've seen each one at a midnight opening screening. This one was no different.
I The Force Awakens, but it but it didn't really blow me away. I'd made a point of avoiding spoilers before seeing it but I still found a lot of it to be pretty predictable. Some parts of the plot seemed a little confusing too I thought. I couldn't really explain why I thought that without spoilers.
Anyway, I enjoyed it. Watching it again might make it grow on me more. After one viewing, not my favourite film in the series but a worthy addition.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Good but lacking something
I quite liked this movie but perhaps not as much as I expected. I'm generally pretty cynical when it comes to sequels these days because there are so many (and a lot of them are terrible). I was genuinely expecting this one to be good though. I did enjoy it but it just seemed to be lacking a certain something. I'm not sure exactly what. The action scenes were every bit as good as what we've seen in previous Mad Max films. The look and feel were consistent with previous films so it definitely 'felt' like a Mad Max film (using plenty of Aussie actors like in the originals helped). The story was a bit light but honestly I think the same could be said about the other Mad Max films. I thought the acting was pretty good. Theron was superb as always. Tom Hardy had some very big shoes to fill as Max. I thought he was good but he somehow seemed to lack Mel Gibson's presence in the role and faded quite a bit in comparison to other main characters. The villains I found a bit underwhelming. There was the main villain of course but I think that perhaps there were far too many lesser villains and it got to the point where you almost lose track of who the good guys are actually up against.
Frozen (2013)
Not bad but greatly over-rated
I enjoyed this movie but not as much as most animated Disney movies. I certainly don't think it measures up the classics like Snow White and Cinderella, or more recent ones like The Lion King and Beauty & the Beast. The story was pleasant but fairly forgettable. Likewise the characters. There were some funny moments but no laugh out loud moments like Disney movies often deliver. The token comic character (the snowman) was terribly cliché. A lot of fuss was made over the movie portraying a strong female character. To be honest I think Brave did a far better job of that. Rather than the giggling girl gushing over a handsome prince we got in Frozen, Brave gave us a strong young women who was completely capable and independent. Brave also didn't have female leads who looked like Bratz dolls. A lot of fuss was also made about the Let It Go song. Again I thought it was a decent song but nothing terribly catchy or memorable. Certainly not up to the standard of songs from The Lion King or The Little Mermaid. Overall I found this movie to be pretty mediocre. Fun viewing but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again. Most Disney movies I'm happy to watch multiple times and often have. Certainly don't think this movie warrants all the praise that gets heaped on it. Below par for a Disney animated film.
Johnny English Reborn (2011)
Not a patch on the first one
When I saw the first Johhny English movie, it quickly became one of my all-time favourite films. This one wasn't 'bad' but was very forgettable. There were several amusing parts but none of the laugh out loud moments that filled the original. I saw it in a cinema and you normally expect people to laugh loudly more often in a cinema with so many others around. Well the audience didn't seem to dislike it, but there was none of the loud laughs you'd normally expect when a truly good comedy is screened to a large crowd. From listening to the crowd you might not have even guessed that what they were watching was in fact a comedy since you'd get just as many laughs from a typical action film where humour is secondary. My first thought when the film started was that it seemed to be ripping off the second Ace Ventura movie (which while also not as good as its original, was probably a better sequel than this one). Those elements that seemed so similar to ace ventura continued through the rest of the film. In the interests of avoiding spoilers I won't be specific. Many of the jokes were very predictable and cliché. The storyline and ending were also very predictable. You could guess what was going to happen often enough that it took a great deal of shine off the humour. If you're going to see this film, make sure you at least sit through the credits. Those who don't will miss what is probably the one truly funny scene of the film.
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
For the fans
This is a movie for fans of the original Doctor Who series. I don't mean people who grew up watching Tom Baker or who have only seen the recent series. When I see criticism of this movie it usually amounts to people not liking it because it's not like the doctor who they're used to. This movie was made when the TV series hadn't been around very long and was still on the first doctor (William Hartnell). In fact Peter Cushing's portrayal of the doctor is very much like the elderly William Hartnell's portrayal. The story an almost exact retelling of the second doctor who episode where the Daleks first appear in the series. Many scenes including dialog are almost identical to that episode. The beginning is different from the TV show but that's to be expected since the TV series had a whole story before this one to introduce the characters. There are some differences in the relationships between the main characters which only fans of the early episodes would pick up on. A few minor differences in special effects - for instance the familiar tardis sound is missing but back then, the TV show wasn't established enough for it to really be 'familiar'. The makers of the film would have had no idea that the TV series would endure for so long and gain such a huge following. What they have come up with in this movie is a good job of bringing a (then) little known TV show to the big screen. They were bringing a little known black and white TV show to a wider audience - in colour no less!