X-Men Days Of Future Past

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Craig Micklewright

Viewed – 21 November 2014 Blu-ray

Probably next to that Apes movie, the next most acclaimed summer blockbuster of the year. A welcome return of the mutants headed by Dr Xavier (Patrick Stewart) on a time-bending mission to prevent shape-shifting femme fatale Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing a scientist who brings about a war against mutants. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is called in to send his conscience back to the seventies, with the help of Kitty Pryde (an under-used Ellen Page). There he must recruit the younger Charles Xavier as well as an imprisoned Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to aid him in his mission.

This was a bit of a strange ride….whilst I dig time travel storylines, this was sometimes hard to get into, although the seventies setting with the backdrop of the Vietnam war was welcome and done really well. James McAvoy is again very good as Xavier’s more troubled, younger-self and Hugh Jackman’s grizzled, dead-pan Wolverine is always a joy to watch. The stronger emphasis on Mystique was good too, and well she’s smoking hot strutting her blue-skinned stuff in some stand out acrobatic fight sequences. However with the long history of Magneto generally being an evil megalomaniac, busting him out of a prison quickly proves a bad idea and sitting here I’m still wondering what the point of his involvement was, considering they had Wolverine, Beast and a memorable Quicksilver (Evan Peters from American Horror Story).

Effects were of course top-drawer with a superb ‘let’s rip a football stadium out of the ground’ scene … but much of the plot relied heavily on having a good knowledge of the previous X-Men movies with many small details like nods to Rogue and Jean Gray probably going right over the heads of newcomers. So it felt like I’d come into the show half-way through with the whole Sentinals situation just going on, wiping out Mutants like a continuing part of a TV series. That being said the principle actors all did a decent job (especially Lawrence) with somewhat muddled material .. so no, for me at least … this wasn’t as good as I had heard.

Verdict: 3 /5

The Wolverine

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Craig Micklewright

Viewed – 01 August 2013 Cinema

In recent years I have grown tired of the never ending X-Men franchise, and have only seen a small portion of X-Men 3 and not seen at all the last Wolverine movie. So you could say I am playing catch up with this, but from the trailer, that looked all sorts of kick-ass, I felt this deserved my attention.

The Wolverine (2012) Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

Hugh Jackman, perfectly cast as the mutant Logan, who never ages, can heal automatically and yes, has unbreakable metal fused throughout his body, resulting in those iconic talons that sprout from his knuckles, Starting in World War II where he saves the life of a Japanese soldier, we quickly jump to modern day where a Japanese girl with some bad-ass samurai skills, contacts Logan with a message that his old friend, yes that Japanese soldier is now on his death bed in Tokyo and wishes for Logan to come and see him one last time.

Switching the action to Tokyo and throwing in sword fighting, samurais, ninjas and a love interest with a Japanese heiress, this is an immediately interesting approach for a character that for me at least, was starting to get a bit tired. Expertly directed by James Mangold marking his first summer blockbuster (previously known for biopic Walk The Line and Stallone thriller Copland), this is full of style, thrilling encounters, great CGI and a lead character so unashamedly gruff and chiseled, that not enjoying this is near impossible. For the ladies Hugh is shirtless and ripped for the most part and has the charisma to make for a likable moody hero. For us guys we get a sexy but deadly Viper woman who can melt your face when she blows you a kiss and has a forked tongue (hissss), and looks simply mouth watering in her skin tight green Lycra. Add to this a re-occurring cameo from Famke jansen’s Jean Gray (from the X-Men movies) and Rila Fukushima as the toughest schoolgirl since Hitgirl … and what’s not to like?

Events kind of get a bit silly towards the end, and the pace sags in the middle, but with a ton of action (including a stunning bullet train fight) and some good characters and a great setting, I came away suitably impressed.

Verdict: 4 /5

Movie Review – The Wolverine (2013) (mumsibles.wordpress.com)
The Wolverine (benpeek.livejournal.com)
The Wolverine Review (huckingawesomeblog.com)
Review – The Wolverine (frankt1000.wordpress.com)

The Prestige

Posted on November 12, 2007 by Craig Micklewright

Viewed – 10 November 2007 DVD

Christopher Nolan is slowly becoming a sort after director, what with intelligent thrillers like Memento & Insomnia, then reinventing the dark knight for Batman Begins, naturally the idea of him adding his obvious talent to a historical mystery revolving around rival magicians is more than an intreaguing prospect.

Christian Balle & Hugh Jackman play the once best friends that turn against each other after a magic trick leaves Jackman’s wife dead, and a bitter battle of witts to win the crowd with ever more impossible feats of magic follows. Michael Caine plays Jackman & Balle’s ageing mentor and almost steals the show due to his natural screen presence. Add to this a sultry but unremarkable Scarlette Johansson as the magician’s assistant who unbelievably manages to steal both men’s hearts in an under-written subplot…and this film seems padded out to the brim. The initial concept is gripping, and the historical atmosphere is spot-on, but as things begin to turn nasty between the fueding magicians, we also fall into the realm of fantasy and outlandish effects that stopped this viewer believing or even caring – and I love magic tricks!

So a well cast film, with an under developed script that just gets a bit silly (let’s not mention David Bowie)…and even though the final pay off makes you gasp – it also headlines that perhaps keeping it all believable should have been the way to go.

Verdict: 2 /5