Avatar: The Way of Water

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Craig M

Viewed – 19 December 2022 Cinema

Director James Cameron has a grand vision for his Avatar franchise. Despite the first movie being one of the highest grossing movies ever… numerous delays and over a ten year wait, it began to feel like we may never actually see what he’d been working. That wait is finally over. Set a number of years after the first movie, Jake Sullly (Sam Worthington) and N’tiri (Zoe Saldana) live a peaceful existence on the planet of Pandora raising their family, consisting of two sons, the daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s character as well as a feral human boy. That is until a new threat from the humans arrives, and Jake & his family are forced to either fight or flee.

Like the first movie, the story is simple yet effective. This time around there is an emphasis on family, race, and nature and it quickly became clear to me the movie is basically one big advert for conservation of the planet etc. not that far removed from David Attenborough documentary at times. However this is still a movie, and a James Cameron one at that – so the visuals, action and technology on display are in a word – stunning.

The CGI is more often than not, jaw-dropping. It’s a step up even from the last movie. Considering that came out in 2009, it still looks better than most movies. Cameron has this time used a high frame-rate technique that gives the movie a near 3D aesthetic, yet takes some getting used to (it’s also available in 3D). I’m not entirely sure it was necessary, but some of the grander moments do look amazing because of it. At 3hrs and 15 minutes yes, the movie is long but that’s because Cameron takes time to develop the characters and story for the first two hours, before delivering some bombastic action in an exhilarating, emotional and impressive final act. A movie that demands to be experienced on the biggest screen possible. A must see.

Verdict: Essential

The Adam Project

Posted on March 26, 2022 by Craig M

Viewed – 24 March 2022 Netflix

Ryan Reynolds continues to be one of my favourite movie stars of late and his brand of motor-mouth humour always proves fun. This latest, a time travel action comedy has him as a ‘Adam Reed’, a guy who travels back in time from 2050 to prevent the creation of time travel technology to stop a megalomaniac former colleague from wrecking havoc.

This was an interesting experience. I’ve always enjoyed these sorts of movies even if here, the time-bending elements are a bit weak. There’s still a lot to enjoy as Reed finds himself teaming up with his twelve year old self through much of the movie. Although a fun idea – the fact the movie forces Reed to interact with his younger self for the sake of the movie’s unique selling point rather than being necessary plot-wise – kind of makes it a bit unnecessary. However with decent support from Zoe Saldana and Mark Ruffalo and some heart-tugging scenes, I still enjoyed this.

Catherine Keener was rather bland and not that interesting as the villain, and with some dodgy de-ageing effects for her younger self, I couldn’t help feel the concept with being held back by either a limited budget or just poor effects. This carries over to some of the action which at times looks great, and other times looks like green-screen hell. Overall an entertaining movie with big ideas that doesn’t quite reach it’s potential.

Verdict: Good

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2

Posted on May 6, 2017 by Craig M

Viewed – 02 May 2017 Cinema

The first movie was my favourite of 2014, so the prospect of a sequel was very exciting. This time around we find the unorthodox gang of heroes causing strife with a race of beings after Rocket the Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) gets a little light-fingered with some batteries. However following a space battle that could cause the guardian’s lives to end abruptly, a mysterious stranger saves the day. Turns out Star Lord (Chris Pratt) has a Dad who just so happens to be a pretty powerful guy himself, played with charismatic flair by the ever dependable Kurt Russell.

This fills in a few gaps left over from the last movie, especially the question surrounding Chris Pratt’s father and it was great being back in the company of these very likable characters again. The dialogue is especially sharp throughout, something that was a highlight of the last movie and the jokes & references come thick and fast to make this a ton of fun. Pratt’s character constantly makes quips about eighties pop-culture such as TV shows like Cheers and characters such as Skelator and Pac-Man, and makes him a very relatable and refreshing presence in this sort of movie. I was also glad to see that, despite the trailers, Baby Groot isn’t over-used but damn is he cute and very funny every second he’s on screen.

The soundtrack, another highlight last time around isn’t quite as memorable (apart from a great use of Mister Blue Sky by ELO) and a left-over side plot involving sisters Nebula (Karen Gillen) and Morgana (Zoe Saldana) felt unnecessary. I also did not get much out of the gold-painted race that turn up at the beginning and chase after our heroes. That being said Michael Rooker’s Yondu was again a joy and I’ve always liked the actor and we get some great moments with him here. The same can be said for scene-stealing Dave Bautista as Drax. Action generally is top-notch but the plot didn’t grab me as much or feel as layered this time, with the whole Kurt Russell’s planet sequence stopping the movie dead at one stage.

As it stands though this was a solid sequel and I can’t wait to see what comes next. The Guardians of the Galaxy will return!

Verdict: 4 /5

Guardians of the Galaxy

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Craig M

Viewed – 20 December 2014 online rental

Craig, take a breath, try not to be too gushy over this one. Ok, calm restored! This Marvel comic book adaptation has a human kid called Peter Quill who following the death of his cancer-stricken mother, is seemingly abducted by aliens – jump forward 26 years and he’s become a bounty hunter calling himself star lord who tracks down valuable items for the highest price. On one such mission he steals a sacred orb and soon a powerful warlord is on his heels as the orb carries with it great power. Yet star lord gets himself thrown in a high security prison after a ruckus on a neighbouring planet breaks out and before long he’s housed up with a rag tag group of outlaws – a green female assassin, a muscle-bound prisoner seeking revenge, a genetically engineered racoon (!) and a big tree / plant creature. Not your typical heroes.

After the usual plethora of sequels and comic book super hero movies that hit during the summer, this one flew for the most part under my radar, even though I always liked the look of it. Now despite the fine job Marvel have done with the likes of Iron Man, Captain America etc. this is going in a different direction. It has strong echoes of classic eighties genre piece Battle Beyond The Stars (remember that?) and for me felt a breath of fresh air in a summer that for a few years now has felt stale and stuck in a rut. With a very sharp script, some great characters (and great actors to play them) and a stand out Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, this just seemed to keep me grinning throughout. Add to this some great fights (the showdown between Zoe Saldana’s Gamora and Karen Gillan’s Nebula), flashy, exciting battles and several punch-the-air feel good moments (“you said it yourself bitch, we’re the guardians of the galaxy”) – this just surprised, impressed and won me over again and again. Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star Lord is brilliant, has a Hans Solo lovable swagger and some of the movie’s best lines and jokes (dance off man!), but the character of Groot (sort of voiced by Vin Diesel) is also a show-stealer.

I simply can’t praise this one enough – it played with clichés like weapons, had a truly brilliant soundtrack that had no place being in this sort of movie (really, the end credits are ‘I Want You Back’ by the Jackson Five? – Genius!). So hat’s off to Marvel and director James Gunn – this is one to be beaten.

Verdict: 5 /5

Star Trek Into Darkness

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Craig M

Viewed – 03 September 2013 Blu-ray

Although far from calling myself a Trekkie, I have enjoyed the movies and grew up with a brother who is quite passionate about them along with the various TV shows. When learning that director J J Abrams was bringing the franchise up to date with an all new, younger cast – I could understand why fans were somewhat nervous what the creator of Lost may do with their beloved saga. Rest assured though that 2009’s Star Trek was a resounding success and with a (mostly) perfect cast breathing new life into very old characters – I came away rather impressed.

This second outing had much to prove – could Abrams nail it twice in a row? The simple answer to that is … yes. We return to the crew of the Starship Enterprise who get caught up in a terrorist attack on Star Fleet and accept a mission to hunt down a rogue officer who seems responsible. Joining the likes of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg this time is British actor Benedict Cumberbatch as the mysterious terrorist, who brings no shortage of sinister intensity to his role and really gives Kirk & co a run for their money.

The big-budget FX laden look of this is just gorgeous, set-design and locations all adding a wow factor (including London). Pegg has a little more to do this time around as engineer ‘Scottie’ and Quinto’s Spock is just excellent, capturing the spirit of the character as well as adding a few quirks of his own. Yet the sultry Zoe Saldana is a little side-lined, as is John Cho’s Sulu. Although not a big fan of Chris Pine, I think he is a perfect Kirk, arrogant but charming just like Shatner in his heyday, and the friendship between him and Spock is really well observed. For me the frequent nods and winks to Star Trek of old got a bit much, (“I’m a doctor, not a torpedo technician!”) bordering on satire, but were still fun. Also the script borrows a little too much from the older movies, yet still manages to make it work regardless … especially towards the end.

So a worthy sequel that in some aspects surpasses the last movie, whilst also managing to be a fine tribute to the Trek legacy as a whole. Recommended.

Verdict: 4 /5