Film Review: The Wolverine 2D

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was disappointing to say the least. It was silly, and lacked focus. A film about a character like Wolverine should focus more on Wolverine than anybody else, not some random other characters who don't move the story at all. Thank God, then, for The Wolverine. This feels like the film that Wolverine as a character needed. It released him from the shackles of the average X-Men 3 and the poor Origins, and he's all the better for it. It did need him to travel half way across the world for it though, but I'm not complaining.

The Wolverine sees Logan travel to Tokyo to visit a dying old man, Yashida, played in old age by Haruhiko Yamanouchi, whom he saved from the A-bomb as a young prison guard, played by Ken Yamamura, when it dropped on Nagasaki in World War 2. A nefarious plot involving the Yakuza trying to kill Yashida's grand-daughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), leads for a blossoming romance between Hugh Jackman's Logan and Okamoto's Mariko, while we also arguably learn more about Logan himself than in any other X-Men film previously, showing his nightmares involving former lover Jean Grey, whom Logan *SPOILER ALERT* killed in X-Men 3 after she went ape-s%&@ *SPOILER OVER*. The Japan we see here is pretty much the usual fare, with ceremony and honour very precedent, as well as the very awesome ninja gang led by Will Yun Lee's Harada, called the Black Ninja Gang.

The Wolverine has many important characters, who all help the story along and not many of them are under-written, except possibly for Svetlana Khodchenkova's Viper, the scheming Poison Ivy-esque villainess who pulls the strings somewhat. Several of the supporting characters could be considered the villain, and the actual big bad's motives are a bit murky, however, for the sake of it being a BIG spoiler, I shan't divulge any further.

The action scenes in this film are a joy to behold. From the opening scene showing the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, which is a genuinely brilliant moment in cinema, to the attack at the funeral, which is brilliantly choreographed and written, director James Mangold emphasises the strengths of Wolverine as a character through the removal of his greatest strength, his regeneration ability. This leads to a lot more unexpected threat than you'd expect with an immortal character such as Wolverine. A set-piece on the bullet train stands out as the highlight of the film, though there are many enjoyable elements to the rest of the film, with every fight progressing the story and not just action for action's sake, which is common in many superhero blockbusters.

Overall, The Wolverine is a very steady and enjoyable film, though it may have a few plot holes and "why is he doing this, again?" moments, but it doesn't come anywhere near the crapness of Origins. Also, stay around for an end credits teaser of the forthcoming X-Men film, Days Of Future Past.

Score: 6.5/10

Film Review: Pacific Rim 2D

Original films are incredibly hard to come by in the blockbuster season. Usually, blockbusters are based on a book, a comic book, a superhero, they're a sequel, a prequel, a reboot, a parallela-quel, a spin-off. Blah blah blah. Enter Pacific Rim. Conceived in the mind of master storyteller and world-builder Guillermo del Toro, Mexican director of the 2 Hellboy films, Pan's Labyrinth, Blade 1 and 2 etc.

Pacific Rim shows a world devastated by aliens that have entered not from space but from an underwater portal in the Pacific Ocean. These aren't regular aliens. These are kaiju, the Japanese term for monster. They're huge, beautifully designed creatures that create truly stunning visual spectacle. To fight the monsters, every nation on earth rightfully came together to create jaegers, or hunter in German. Jaegers are massive robots, piloted by two humans who are mentally linked, sharing each other's memories and thoughts. Now, if giant monsters versus giant robots doesn't grab your attention, then you're boring and no fun at all.

Pacific Rim is brilliantly entertaining, though takes a while to get in its stride. Some character building and slightly hard-to-distinguish-between-monster-and-robot battles, and we slow it down, learning more and more about the main protagonist, Charlie Hunnam's Raleigh Beckett. The story as a whole is clearly a love letter to monster movies and world-ending disaster movies such as the classic Godzilla films and other Japanese monster movies of the 50s and 60s. One of the main things I loved about this film was the emphasis on the whole world coming together to save the day, and not just a plucky American with a fighting spirit.

Visually, this is stunning, although slightly dark and a tad too fast at times, making me slightly glad I didn't pay that little bit extra for 3D. There are several stand out sequences, particularly the second act in Hong Kong which excels in both truly emotional storytelling, where we learn the reason behind Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost (HOW F***ING COOL IS THAT NAME) and Rinke Kikuchi's Maki Mori's relationship; and also some truly awesomely cool shots. I mean, wow. Just, yeah....amazing.

All in all, however, the best thing by far about this film is Idris Elba. Stacker Pentecost is about one of the best names for anybody, not just a movie character, anybody, ever. And Elba brings the thunder, delivering potentially cheesy lines with aplomb and so much fun that you can't help but sit back and enjoy the ride.

Pacific Rim truly is one of those rare gems that is original, but oh so familiar, and oozes with cool and style. Best scene is either a flashback involving a young Mako Mori, or a simple yet genius visual gag involving a Newton's Cradle. That's all I'm saying.

I'd highliy recommend this movie if you simply enjoy great entertainment. It's not going to win any Oscars, but it feels like a quintessential 4-star blockbuster.

Score: 8/10

Film Review: Man Of Steel 2D

Marvel or DC? That's a huge question to comic book fans, and, thanks to their intricately planned Cinematic Universe, Marvel are becoming more and popular by the day. Warner Bros. had huge success with Christopher Nolan's exemplary Dark Knight trilogy, but that was very un-DC in terms of the lack-of sci-fi found in those films. Enter Man Of Steel, the new Superman film produced by Christopher Nolan, but directed by 300's Zack Snyder. You'd be forgiven for thinking this new Superman would be moody and gritty and "realistic", but it is not. That by no means is a negative. In fact, it works better for it, allowing the crazy sci-fi elements that put me off DC and their huge catalogue of the weird and sometimes wonderful. This film, being used to test the waters for the possible Justice League film, works brilliantly as a way to bring in the fantastical and yet not be ridiculous.

Man Of Steel is an origins story, chronicling the early years of Superman and how the world reacts when they find out that they are not alone in the Universe, and that humanity isn't as strong as they thought. After a stunning opening 10 minutes on the planet Krypton, Superman's home planet, we see a young adult, Clark Kent, journeying and ghosting through various jobs, trying to remain anonymous and suppress his god-like powers. Through some well-triggered flashbacks, we see Clark first as a young child in elementary school, struggling to control his abilities, as well as fit in with the rest of his class. We also see a teenage Clark, still struggling to fit in, showcase his abilities to save a schoolbus full of his classmates. It is probably this scene that best sums up Man Of Steel in my opinion. The film is packed with brilliant performances, especially by Supes' dads. Real Dad, Jor-El, played by Russell Crowe, is powerful and wise, with ambitions for his son on Earth. He is a sage, of sorts, teaching Clark about his heritage as well as just what he should do on Earth. However, Kevin Costner's role as Johnathan Kent is exemplary. He gives the classic paternal advice you'd expect any dad to give his teenage son, but he knows that his son isn't a normal person, as he isn't even human. Costner bares the responsibility of bringing up the future of Planet Earth incredibly well, delivering what could easily have been cheesy lines with gravitas and true emotion. For me, the dual-father scenario is one of the highlights of the film, giving it the emotion that was perhaps lacking from the previous Superman films at times.

I honestly thought I could never get excited for a Superman film, even if Chris Nolan and Zack Snyder were involved. One of the many problems that I've had with Superman as a character is that he lacks any really good villains, people who most of the general public would be able to name at the drop of a hat. Batman has The Joker, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, Bane, Catwoman, Mr Freeze etc etc. Spider-man has The Lizard, Dr Octopus, Green Goblin, Sandman, Venom etc etc. Superman has Lex Luthor, General Zod...erm, that's all I can name off the top of my head. He has a limited rogues gallery, and a hero is defined by his villains. Also, I've always hated how boy-scout, goody two-shoes, boring Superman is. His one weakness is Kryptonite, other than that he's invincible. Now, Man Of Steel finds the perfect remedy for this problem. It ditches Kryptonite, never even hinting at it, in favour of a threat that actually makes you worry for Superman. A real peril that isn't something soooooo predictable. I loved this, the fact that the Man Of Steel was in trouble and it wasn't an easy fix. Also, no red underwear! YES! But the best fix that screenwriter David S. Goyer (co-writer of the Batman films with Chris Nolan) and director Snyder have done is create a truly scary villain out of General Zod. Gone is the campness of Terence Stamp's Zod, demanding that everyone kneel, hello to Michael Shannon and his take on Zod. Zod is truly scary, plotting to turn Earth into a new Krypton, striving to save the people he swore to protect, and out for vengeance on Jor-El through his hunt of Kal-El (that's Supes' Kryptonian name, just so you know). Shannon is amazing as the angry General, making him a force to truly be reckoned with, and somehow making the potentially wacky outfit looks awesome and menacing and foolishly possible to emulate as fancy dress next Halloween. Zod's second-in-command, Antje Traue's Faora-Ul, is arguably more evil and malicious than he is. Zod has a clear goal, and, though very morally questionable as humans, is just trying to save a pretty much extinct race. Faora... not so much. She enjoys kicking arse and causing pain to others, and somehow still seems really fit. Traue steals every scene she's in, and has some of the best lines too: "for every human you save, we will kill a million more". Ouch! Someone needs a hug.

Man of Steel is very much Snyder's baby. It's cgi-heavy, very unlike Nolan's Batman films, but doesn't seem ridiculous. Snyder's camera, though a bit shaky at times, likes to linger on certain seemingly random images: a butterfly caught in a chain, a polar bear jumping from one iceberg to another. All may seem weird and out of place, but, in my opinion, this is Snyder subtly hinting that, if Zod succeeds, it's more than humanity that'll be wiped out. The film's goal is to show how Superman is human at heart, being brought up on a farm in middle America, and how he truly cares for the world. Through this, we as an audience care as well, and feel the threat as something truly terrifying in the outstanding third act. Top notch special effects don't remove the heart from this film like they do from some of Snyder's other films, as they are cleverly balanced out by some beautiful shots of the very human side to Supes.

If you read a lot of my reviews, you might have noticed I do love a film soundtrack. Hans Zimmer, who scored Nolan's Batman films, as well as Inception, among other things, does the duty here too, and boy, is it something. Right from the first second of the film, his score creeps in and delivers a unique, iconic theme to rival the traditional Superman soundtrack. During the battle in the middle of the film, he uses an indescribable sound effect, I suppose it's a bwhurwuwuwuwuw. I'll put the trailer at the bottom, it's in that. But I digress. Zimmer's score is outstanding, going from calm and really emotional, to booming and bwhurwuwuwuw-ing when it needs to.

If I had to pick out any flaws with the film, it'd be maybe it needed just a little bit more of Amy Adams' Lois Lane. She's a great actress and hopefully, if the ending is anything to go by, will be seen a lot more in the inevitable sequel. Also Diane Lane's Martha Kent will hopefully get more to do as well, as she shares a great scene with youngest Clark Kent early in the film. It may seem like a necessary cut-back as the film's goal is to highlight Supes' upbringing by two fathers, but I would've liked just a bit more of them in the film.

Man Of Steel is as much a family drama as it is a Superman film. Some of the people I saw this with said that it wasn't a Superman film. It's possible that this is true. It is a Clark Kent film. It's a a film about first contact. It's a film about discovery and hope. It's a bloody brilliant film. Bring on the sequel!

Score: 8.5/10

Lisbon Blog

Have you ever been stuck in a lift at 2:30am with 4 drunken Geordies? No? Well, I’d highly recommend it. If you’d indulge me, I’d like to tell you of how we became stuck in this predicament.

It all started on Thursday 4^th April 2013. Newcastle United were in Lisbon to play Benfica in the Europa League. We’ve had some amazing away trips in recent years (type in “drunk Geordie sings coloccini song” into Youtube. It’s my uncle doing karaoke in Swansea last April. He was drunk. I nearly died laughing Below is a photo of myself and my brother. We can’t really breath, we were laughing so much. I’m the one who has collapsed from laughing, my brother’s the one who’s having the heart attack.), so expectations were high for this one. New country for me, new stadium for all of us (I think) and good times a plenty.

Anyway, I digress. We flew from Manchester airport early Thursday morning, strolling past the plebs who didn’t opt for fast boarding or whatever it’s called. Everything from then on was hunky dory, get into Faro airport fine. Now, we get to the passport control, and lo and behold, the people have been replaced by machines. In theory, a great idea. In practice, when a plane containing the odd drunken Geordie turns up, not such a great idea. One man in particular, my God, he approaches the machine, which was already quite troublesome for the many holidaymakers already, and puts his passport in upside down, backwards, on the wrong page. Every possible incorrect way, he did this, until finally he gets through the first gate. You could hear everybody behind him let out a sigh of relief. Until he shouted “Tonight Matthew, I’m gonna be…”, not realising he had another gate and check to do. Wanker.

Driving from Faro to Lisbon was fine, I was in my shorts and t-shirt, enjoying the 15oC Toon summer that Lisbon was experiencing. Until it started raining, so I sadly had to change into my jeans out of practicality, leaving my ambition by the wayside.  We get into our hotel which is right next to a metro station and make our way to the city centre for lunch. As first impressions go, Lisbon: you fail. Within seconds of leaving the metro station, we were offered coke by a 15 year old, crack by a 30 year old, and a huuuuge bag of weed by a pensioner with no top on. Crazy. I’d go back there in a heartbeat if all the people buggered off. We even saw one girl with only one arm, who one of us gave a euro to. She then walks over to one of the drug dealers, gives the money to him, high-5s him (with her one remaining arm, clearly) and proceeds to put on the “help me I’m poor” face. You’ve got to hand it to her, she’s handy at her job. Let’s give her a big hand. She does help collect alms for the poor.

                                                   This face.

The thing with our football trips is that, more often than not, the match becomes an irrelevance (mainly cos we lose, a lot). We lost the match 3-1, but that doesn’t matter too much in terms of how enjoyable this trip was. Before the match, to ramp up the atmosphere and as a sign of “fate” or whatever, a bald eagle is flown around the Benfica stadium, and if it lands on a certain spot, then Benfica will win. So of course it lands on the certain spot, and of course Benfica win. Oh well… After the match had finished, and we had some food, we settled in the Hard Rock Café like any tourist would, and enjoyed some good music and a few cocktails.

The next day, up early-ish to travel back down the Portuguese coast to Faro. Getting into the hotel there, we learn that my uncle, who had organised it all, had in fact booked us in for the previous night. So, with some negotiating, he gets the 4 of us rooms for the night, upgraded from the ones we would have had, only paying a bit extra on top of the previous fees. Well worth it I’d say. Faro is really where the story gets going though. After finding a beautiful bar on the city walls over-looking the sea, and drinking some caiprinhas while getting a bit of a tan on, dearest uncle again had a fantastic idea of doing a boat tour of the coast. Ok, bird-watching on a footy trip isn’t quite what I signed up for, but we went along with it. Before getting on the boat, I thought it my duty to buy at least one round on the trip, so I did. Luckily, it only came to 6, yes 6 euros. And that wasn’t even the cheapest round of the night, but more on that later. Anyway, realising that the boat we were getting to an island which was “one of THE places to see in the Algarve” was going to be the last one of the day, we decided to do what all Geordies would do in that situation. Upon arriving at the island, we ran off the boat, straight to the bar, got in some beers, ran back to the boat and relaxed, having seen all we needed to see. The overall turnaround of boat-pint-boat was about 90 seconds, which is pretty impressive, even for toon standards.

After being joined by some of our pals who got the train down instead of rent-a-lack-of-legroom, we went in search for some authentic Portuguese cuisine, which we found on the off-chance in a small, quiet restaurant off the beaten track somewhat. Great food, nice owner, the evening seemed to be progressing well. Until some pretty rough looking Geordies walk in, one of them going (in a Geordie accent, obviously) “ee, what are ye deeing here?!”, rather aggressively. One of our party of 5 got pretty annoyed about this, and started mumbling to us about fighting them if anything kicks off. That is, up until he goes to the toilet and, upon his return, is stopped by one of the hard-arse Geordies commenting about his t-shirt, which was a Rush t-shirt (a Canadian prog-rock band, seen in I Love You, Man, starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel). Suddenly these aggressive, drunken louts were now best friends, or Rush Wankers as the rest of us called them. How things can change in a blink of an eye.

Maybe it was the amazing Portuguese cuisine, the great atmosphere created by the Rush Wankers, or the wine; actually, it was definitely the wine, but we were all having a class time. At the dinner table, we decided to play a tongue-twister drinking game we call Mrs Higgledy-Piggledy. It may go by a different name to you, but that’s what we call it. Anyway, you have to recite a 9-stage tongue-twister, stage by stage all the way through, drinking when you make a mistake and starting at the stage you made an error at. It goes like this: "One fat hen; A couple of ducks; Three Brown Bears; Four running hares; Five fat females fixing for a fight; Six Sicilian seamen sailing the seven seas; Seven sleek sheep slitters skilfully slitting sheep; Eight: I’m not a pleasant pheasant plucker, I’m the pheasant plucker’s mate, I only pluck the pheasants when the pleasant pheasant plucker’s late; Nine: Mrs Higgledy-Piggledy has a square-cut punt, not a punt cut square but a square-cut punt. Round in the middle, square at the front, Mrs Higgledy-Piggledy has a square-cut punt."

Saying this as fast as possible, especially when even the slightest bit tipsy, is hard, but so very funny. I’d strongly recommend it.

From the restaurant, we wondered the streets of Faro for a bit, stumbling upon a student festival outside a church. Yeah! Students! Booze and debauchery and stuff! No. Portuguese students prefer to recite poetry and crap like that for their parties. As lame as it sounds, I managed to buy possibly the cheapest round of drinks I’ll ever buy. €2,80 for 4 beers, not pints, but y’know, that’s amazing no matter how you look at it. So in total, I bought two rounds consisting of 4 beers each, and still got change from €10. Economic ;)

The student festival thing was pretty lame, so we headed back to the bar on the city walls, which was now heaving and had a live band playing, consisting of a guitarist who thought he was far better than he really was, and a female singer who was suitable for the venue. Now, there’s a phenomena that I only really noticed here, but in fact it is a worldwide thing: if Shania Twain comes on, be it band or DJ, women in their late 30s-mid 50s just appear out of nowhere and dance. Remarkable.

Leaving the bar at 2ish in the AM, we started the walk back to the hotel, passing by a park on the way. Only, this wasn’t a park. It was an outdoor gym, with cross trainers and arm thingies and other gym stuff. So, being pretty merry, but not smashed, well one of us was, we decided to have a bit of a late night/early morning workout. After satisfying our inner child, something inside us possessed the 5 of us to samba through the streets of Faro all the way back to the hotel. I can’t comment on how good we were, but we were loud enough to seem amazing. Reaching the doors of the hotel, we stop samba-ing and start walking, as if everything was normal. Getting into the lift, we wait until the doors close, and start samba-ing again, lift shaking. One of us thought it hilarious to jump and stomp on the floor, stopping the lift before we even reached the first floor. Black.

I do believe this is where I started this story. 5 of us, myself included, stuck in a lift at 2:30am in Faro. We burst out laughing, and I decide to stopwatch how long we were stuck for. It felt like hours. One of the more senior members of the group, seeing certain death on the horizon, got very angry indeed, shouting at us for wasting oxygen for laughing so much and samba-ing further in this time of crisis. Three and a half minutes almost exactly. Doors open and a very disgruntled female receptionist stands, probably swearing at us in Portuguese, staring into our souls as we try not to laugh. Of course, once we get to the first floor, we samba up the stairs again. A perfect end to a rather good trip. 

Film Review: Iron Man 3

Last May, Joss Whedon's Avengers Assemble took the world by surprise at just how funny, smart and, well, brilliant a comic book movie could be. The last film to tick those precise boxes was the very film that kickstarted the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man. Now we have the third installment in the Iron Man franchise (4th film with Iron Man as he is an Avenger), and the stakes are raised, the laughs are louder and the action is better than any other Iron Man movie.

The film could be considered to be a pseudo-sequel to Avengers Assemble, as it follows Tony Stark soon after the events of that film have ended, and we see what his life has been like since. Hint: not much sleep. Seeing an alien race try to destroy New York while also befriending a god and a huge, green rage-monster would probably give anyone sleepless nights, let alone a man who thinks he knows everything and can explain anything. Tony is not the same Tony as seen in Iron Man 2. He's not as snarky and smarmy, he's vulnerable and needy and feels like he must better himself. This Tony needs a kick up the arse. Conveniently, enter The Mandarin, a global terrorist striking fear into the hearts of the Heads of State through suicide bombing and generally being a right old terror. With some help from a gene-altering nano-technology called 'Extremis', The Mandarin looks to create chaos and panic in the aftermath of the events in Avengers Assemble, and after an attack that affects Tony on a personal level, foolishly he calls out the Mandarin, offering his address so that he may seek revenge for the attack. What follows is an amazing set-piece involving the destruction of Tony's Malibu mansion, leaving him homeless, without a working suit of armour, and in a small town in middle America. Here some of the best parts of the script come out.

Shane Black, director and co-writer, along with Drew Pearce, has a tendency for sharp, witty dialogue and it comes to the fore here. Especially in the 2nd act while Tony is finding himself, Black's script shines. Usually when a child is introduced to the main character, over-sentimentality becomes apparent and it feels hammy and cheesy and just not fun. Not here. Somehow we feel ok with Stark calling a 12 year old lad a "pussy" for being sad at his father's disappearance years ago. To say that the relationship between Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark and Ty Simpkin's Harley is fun would be a huge understatement. A house on fire would be jealous of how well they get on onscreen. It's not all peaches and cream, but there's a real spark between the two actors that it makes it one of the more enjoyable elements of the film. Then there's the action scenes. Black is very able in his direction, but the choreography seen in them, especially the finale, is outstanding. Also worth a mention is a jaw-dropping stunt, no cgi used here, involving Stark trying to save 13 people falling from several thousand feet in the air after a rather pivotal scene involving a plane and a crash (I'm trying to avoid spoilers as best as possible, because there are many twists and turns in this film).

Downey is brilliant, as usual, as Stark, and is helped by his supporting cast being more than up to scratch, with Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts getting more to do this time round, as does Don Cheadle's Colonel James Rhodes. Rebecca Hall plays scientist Maya Hansen, and she does this well, although maybe there was  footage left on the cutting room floor that would have helped explain a few things. Guy Pearce is great as Aldrich Killian from start to finish, you can tell he enjoyed playing the role. However, very special mention must go to Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin. His character arc throughout the film is inspired, one of the best I've personally seen for a villain in a single film for years. Kingsley looks like he's having fun playing such a character, and this sense of fun comes through in his performance as the Mandarin really does prove to be Stark's most...challenging villain to navigate as of yet.

Without giving anything away, the end of the film neatly wraps up the Iron Man trilogy into a nice, little package, while also providing some decent material for the Avengers sequel, due for release in 2015. I must reiterate that this is by no means a spoiler, and nothing I'm saying here will affect your viewing experience of the film, but once you see the film, you'll know what I mean. It's merely a neat little writing technique used by Black more than outright exposition.

All in all, I personally felt that this is quite easily the best Iron Man film, and second only to Avengers Assemble as the best Marvel film. Sharp, clever, funny as hell, Black doesn't create a superhero film. He creates a true detective/buddy cop film that happens to star Iron Man and pals. Hats off to him for doing so, and what a start to Marvel's Phase 2 project. Great film, truly great. It's cool, it's well-paced and very action-packed. I implore you to see this film (though having seen it in 2D, I wouldn't say that 3D was a miss).
Also, don't forget to stay for the post-credits scene, as is the norm with Marvel films now.

Score: 9/10

Film Review: Oz: The Great And Powerful 2D

Sam Raimi is a very special kind of film director. He's not prolific, but he's not a Terence Malick-type who usually makes one film every 10 years or so. Raimi's last film was the excellent pitch black comedy/bonkers horror film Drag Me To Hell, so following that 2009 film with a Disney PG film that acts as a prequel to the hugely influential and game-changing 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. For a director best known for his horror-comedy Evil Dead films and the 2-out-of-3-ain't-bad Spider-man trilogy, it seems strange that he'd take us back to Oz for his next adventure. However, Raimi is a self-professed Oz fan, slipping in references to it where he can in his films. Here, he just lets himself go and has the time of his life telling the story he's always wanted to tell.

This story focuses not on Dorothy Gale, but on the wonderful wiz himself, Oscar Diggs, played by a buoyant James Franco who reunites with Raimi after collaborating with him on 3 Spider-man films. Oscar is a conjuror, aiming to be a mixture of Thomas Edison and Harry Houdini, while using his "magic" to attract the interests of women. We see this from the get go, and, just as in The Wizard of Oz, visual hints to the mystical land of Oz are seen in the small Kansas carnival, beautifully crafted in black and white, recreating the magic of the original film changing from b&w to amazing technicolour. Whisked away in a hot air balloon through a tornado, Oscar ends up in Oz, a visual feast that, I can only imagine, would look as amazing in the third dimension as it does in the second. Top marks go to the effects department, who have created a beautiful backdrop to the story, fully realising the beauty of the '39 film while also expanding on it.

This whole film feels like an expansion of the '39 film, so it shouldn't be compared to as such, but more referenced with. It shows us the Oz from Baum's books, but through the eyes of one of the most playful and camera-happy directos around. Sam Raimi is famous for making the camera come to life, using it as an eye way before the recent trend of camcorder movies like the awful Paranormal Activity. Below is an example of Raimi doing this in Spider-man 2 (Around the 1:40 mark). Raimi's visual flare is a trademark of his films, and even in 2D you can see that this is a director using his resources to the fullest, having a whale of a time crafting visuals that ooze enjoyment.

Raimi's not the only one enjoying himself here though. Franco is chewing up his role, having fun with everything thrown at him, something which Franco doesn't always do. He's usually very laid back in his acting, even when it gets serious (see 127 Hours), but here it is obvious that he is loving every minute of it, embracing the whimsy that Oz has on offer. As does Mila Kunis, who plays the tragic Theodora. She plays her role really well, going from loved-up girly to, well you'll have to watch it to find out. Without spoiling anything, she demolishes the film with a scenery-chewing performance, stealing the spotlight from the reliable Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz. They play Glinda the Good Witch and Evanora, respectively, and do a great job, Rachel Weisz especially relishing the chance to be eeeeeeevil. However, Kunis' performance has rightfully stolen the show, as she plows through the film, loving every second of it. See the film just for her, she's brilliant.

The full film itself is typical Raimi, mixing humour and dread and fantasy with ease, and it all pays off in the end, leaving room for more while also being a satisfied close to the story that this film is telling. It's not an amazing film, though there isn't much wrong with it in terms of giving you what you want: a magical return to Oz worthy of the '39 film, with enough flair and originality to keep you satisfied without feeling out of place. A fine successor/predecessor to the classic. Seriously, see this film. It's very entertaining, I loved it, my little brother loved it, as did his friends, and I'm only disappointed at the fact that I didn't see it in 3D. 

Score: 8/10

Film Review: Welcome To The Punch

Making an original action film is a hard task. You've got to avoid cliché, silly one-liners and run-of-the-mill characters. You've also got to show a place that hasn't been seen before, but is still familiar enough to make the audience feel comfortable with what they're watching, never feeling out of place or alienated. Welcome To The Punch seems original yet familiar enough to breeze by rather enjoyably without ever really getting your blood pumping. Your bum is on the edge of your seat, but your shoulders are firmly resting on the back of the seat as you slouch comfortably while watching the film.

It's a strange one, this. There have been so many action films in recent years that it's hard not to copy something from another film, and yet Punch feels innovative and unique. Starting with a blinder of an intro, director Eran Creevy pulls no punches, establishing the two main characters, James McAvoy's Max Lewinsky and Mark Strong's Jacob Sternwood. Through some pretty cheesy, but I suppose necessary, dialogue, we establish that Lewinsky is a Dirty Harry-type cop, doing his own thing as long as it gets results. However, he fails to get results in the opening scene, instead being shot in the knee bu spared by Strong's Sternwood. Fast forward a few years and Lewinsky has a partner, as in police partner, not luvvy-duvvy partner, in Andrea Riseborough's Sarah. Together, McAvoy and Riseborough have a rapport that wouldn't be uncommon in an all-male cop film, and this is where Punch really seems to work as something familiar yet different. Sarah is a strong, well-written character, though verges sometimes on the nearly-caricature, woman-for-the-sake-of-it character, but is played rather well for Riseborough, whose star is getting brighter day by day (and she's a geordie, so gold star there). A huge surprise, for me at least, is how well McAvoy rises to the occasion of playing the unlikeable hero. It's hard to believe that this is the same man who played Mr Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, because he's so rough and angry, though fantastic. One minor gripe that I had wasn't any fault of the film, but it was due to a trailer for his upcoming film with Danny Boyle, Trance, being played before the film started, as he spoke with a scottish accent there, but a cockney one in Punch which, after hearing his scots voice minutes before, never really seemed convincing even though he's done a cockney accent countless times before.

One major plus point from this film is Mark Strong. He's the go-to actor if you have a gruff, one-dimensional villain who can flesh out the part to more than just words on a page. Here, Eran Creevy creates the Mark Strong role to end all Mark Strong roles. He seems to be your typical gangster who just wants to live the quiet life, but add the extra dimension of his son being involved in family business, and paying the ultimate price because of it, Strong's Sternwood seems to be more sympathetic a character than McAvoy's Lewinsky, even though Sternwood is the villain of the piece for 2/3 of the film.

The plot isn't hugely original: villain returns to town to tackle something personal, hero cop sees it as a chance to get retribution, something bigger than them sees them unite to fight the corruption scheme. Actually, that is quite original, but not unique enough to differentiate itself from any other British actioners of recent years. Corruption in office seems to be very common in films these days, reflecting the disdain shown towards those in positions of power, I can only assume. Punch makes sure you know what's going on, but for some reason, and this could be the film's (I don't want to say downfall because I enjoyed this film but I can't think of any other word at the moment) downfall, as the action scenes are so inventive that characterisation is left by the wayside in favour of cool cinema, which I favour...this time. The script, as mentioned earlier, has some necessarily corny dialogue, for example when introducing members of government, but in terms of plot development, it works efficiently, making sure you know what's going on, just about, while keeping things interesting with some cracking action scenes.

Those are what define an action film, so don't be too miffed if there are cheesy lines here and there, the action makes up for it, and then some. One scene involving a hotel room shootout is brilliantly directed and choreographed, making it feel like a cut away scene from a video game, then throwing you back into the mix. Think the Mass Effect games, but in a London hotel room in the present day. I loved the way Creevy directs an action scene, mixing bird's eye views and close-ups, creating a real sense of danger and awareness. The late Tony Scott would be proud of some of the action scene, especially the climactic shootout in a shipping container yard. His brother, Ridley Scott, executive-produced the film after reading Creevy's script and seeing his first film, Shifty. This influence really shows in the end product, with a slick, gorgeous-looking version of London that seems more in place in an American action film than a British affair. In this way, Punch is unlike any other British action film that has come before it, and if it does well at the box office, here's hoping that there will be more films like this and less trying to imitate Guy Ritchie, no offence to Mr. Ritchie of course, but he started an avalanche of British gaaaaangster films that finally looks like it's stopping.

A minor niggle is the manner in which the film ends. It feels just a bit underwhelming compared to how the film builds up to it, but in its defence, I suppose it allows elaboration in a sequel that I'd very much like to see. Creevy's not just telling a single narrative, but gives the potential for a whole series of stories to take place in the 'Punch universe'.

Overall, don't go into the film expecting to see a striped leopard, because you'll be disappointed. The familiarity of the film is inevitably its weakness, however, the action scenes are really where Punch really knocks you out, with great choreography and brilliant direction. Nothing special, but well worth a watch.

Score: 7.5/10