Star Wars: The Last Jedi

How to talk about this film? Especially right now while it’s new and people want to be kept in the dark about everything. I’m going to play things a bit differently today, to keep this review SPOILER FREE I am not going to talk about any plot, but instead just my experience of the film and the non-specific elements that worked and didn’t. I hope it doesn’t come across as too vague but you need to see this film without knowing anything prior because there are moments in The Last Jedi that you are only ever going to experience once.

  

There is nothing more exciting than experiencing a new Star Wars film, I’m a bit of cliché’, it was this franchise that kick started my obsession with film and storytelling leading me down the road I am on now; an aspiring screenwriter. There’s a lot of hype on my end when going into the cinema to see a new Star Wars film and there definitely was a lot of it last night when I went to the midnight screening. Because of this hype, expectations can sometimes be set too high, it is just a film after all, and history has proven it is difficult to make a Star Wars film that is going to please everyone. And this film is not going to please all fans. I will hold my hands up and say that for the first half of this film, I was enjoying it, but I was not blown away by it. It’s fast paced and action packed but it lacks an edge or an element of something to grip you, to make you feel you are truly watching something special, however this does change, most notably in the third act when every story, every character, every piece of set up begins to get paid off, and paid off, and paid off. And the pay offs are some of the best Star Wars moments in the franchise. I had to control my excitement in the cinema at times as I grinned from ear to ear, it elevates the film to something greater and surpasses expectations, both good and bad.

  

This is going to be a film that gets talked about a lot, there’s a lot of controversial decisions made for the sake of the story and characters that not every audience member will be on board for. Even I had my gripes with some though I am generally more forgiving since this franchise was built on crazy ideas and they should not be playing it safe as they try to make this something new. Talking of which, this film is not a carbon copy of The Empire Strikes Back like many, including myself feared, there are elements (it’s like poetry after all!) but I would say this film is part Empire, part Return and part its own off the walls, insane thing. There are parts that feel like Star Wars and parts that feel completely different, and not all those parts work, there is some disjointedness along the way but the overall product is very much its own film, it doesn’t even feel like a middle chapter with no beginning or no end, and I am so glad that Director Rian Johnson has been able to pull this off.

An incredible score, great cinematography and mostly awesome special effects are something to be expected from Star Wars now, but what blew me over this time were the performance’s from the cast, both new and old. This is very much a character based story and everybody gets their time to shine as layer upon layer is added to increase the richness of each, which in turns helps push the plot to new and interesting avenues. You’ll hear a lot of talk about Mark Hamil’s performance over the next few weeks, and rightfully so, but the real MVP’s for me were Carrie Fisher and Adam Driver as General Leia and Kylo Ren. Carrie Fisher didn’t blow me away in The Force Awakens so I was slightly worried about her having a larger role in The Last Jedi but I was not to be concerned, she was incredible, she acts her ass off and delivers some of the most amazing and soon to be iconic moments of the film/saga. Her passing last year was a very sad and painful time for a lot of fans but to see her play this character to the fullest and near stealing the show whilst doing so is an amazing tribute to her. And now on to Adam Driver, if you didn’t like his character in The Force Awakens (I still think he was the best thing about that film as well though…), get ready to have your mind changed as he plays the most interesting villain the franchise has ever had. He takes Kylo to new heights, adding so many dimensions to the character and really stealing everybody’s thunder whenever he’s on screen. Big blockbuster films need to take a page out of this films book when it comes to creating compelling and relatable villains. I don’t usually try and campaign for Oscars for pop culture films because it rarely ever happens (or deserved, which is usually the case), but his performance in this film is probably my favourite of any this year, he honestly blew me away and it would be a shame if he didn’t get any recognition for it.

Overall this film has a few problems but with a third act that pays off in such a satisfying way and whole host of characters developing in unique and interesting paths; this film is still a very, very good film. It’s a film about mistakes and becoming better because of them, something that could be said for the series as a whole and this film overall. Rian Johnson has made an amazing Star Wars film that’s packed with so much content that I’m happy we’re getting a two-year break before the next one just to process it all. And talking of processing, this film is definitely going to need a re-watch before any views of mine are fully solidified, there’s just too much going on to react to it all but upon a first watch, I am rating The Last Jedi a 4.5/5.

What did you think of episode 8? Better than Empire or worse than Clones? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

X-Men: Apocalypse

I was a bit worried going into X-Men: Apocalypse, it came at a time when we had already seen three comic book movies within a space of a few months, and they had already showcased the best and worst the genre can offer. Its trailer showed off a film that made it seem as if we were about to watch Jennifer Lawrence and the X-Men and the early reviews were very mixed. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers though, what I saw last night really surprised me and although it may not be perfect, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Read on to find out why.

Ten years after the events of Days of Future Past, a lot of the cast return but are in very different places from where we left them (you’ll have to suspend your disbelief at the fact none of the cast have aged since...). Mystique is on her own, rescuing mutants where she can, Magneto has settled in Poland with a new family and Professor X has got his school up and running with a set of new students, most notably Jean Grey, played by Sophie Turner, Cyclops played by Tye Sheridan and Nightcrawler played by Kodi Smit-Mcphee. All is well until an old and very powerful mutant, Apocalypse played by Oscar Issac, is awoken, who then goes and recruits his four horsemen in order to destroy the world (I think?).

I’ll start by saying that this isn’t your usual X-Men movie; the scale is unlike anything you have seen in this franchise before. Whereas other superhero films have decided to go for personal stakes this year, X-Men has gone the opposite way and I believe this is where some of the criticisms comes from; we’ve seen world ending stakes before in comic book movies however, I would argue that because we haven’t seen it on this scale in the X-Men franchise it instead felt like an exciting new way to take these characters and it also made for some incredible action sequences.

Apocalypse is a very menacing villain and he has quite a screen presence however some of the descriptions of his powers and plans are a bit vague; is he a mutant Wi-Fi booster? Body shifter? Mover of Elements? The power to make characters more comic book accurate? Does he want to destroy the world or control everyone? This is ultimately where the film suffers most. Whether you get his plan or not it really delivers on full blown spectacle and he is very menacing character.

Thankfully the film doesn’t add spectacle at the cost of character development. Some characters get more than others mind but this film really sets up its newest mutants nicely and gives them a chance to shine as they’re testing the limits of their powers in very troubling time. This isn’t Jennifer Lawrence and the X-Men, but instead it’s an ensemble film without the plot leaning heavily on one character as many X-Men films tend to do. This helps this film feel more like an X-Men comic book than previous instalments, it feels like a team film, a team with a crazy bunch of powers which all get their shot in the limelight. It’s as if the films are leaning closer and closer to their source material and although we’re not fully there yet it does make me very excited for what we’ll see next.

I feel like this film has come about at the wrong time, I wish they would’ve waited a couple of months before releasing as I believe most general audiences might need some time away from the superhero genre after Civil War only being released under a month ago. I wouldn’t have minded them waiting either, they could have spent more time perfecting some CGI shots as some look more at home in a video game then a big budget summer blockbuster, or maybe they could have given Olivia Munn more to do as Psylocke who looked very badass but didn’t really get the chance to show off those awesome sword skills the actress has been posting online. Or even Storm, this time played by Alexandra Shipp who gets a bit more to do but not enough in my opinion!

If you’re a superhero fan but weren’t planning on going to see X-Men: Apocalypse this weekend then don’t be a fool, you’re going to have a lot of fun and get a kick out of how the franchise is now edging closer to its source material. It’s not ground-breaking in terms of what we’ve already seen from the genre but it is a different step for the franchise and you finally get to see everyone’s powers in full epic scale mixed with some great emotional characters beats and a pretty wicked score throughout. It’s not the best superhero film this year but it’s not the worst either! I’m rating the latest X-Men instalment a 3.5/5.

What did you think? Was it a hit or a disappointment? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars...

Before we start, this is a SPOILER FREE review, you can read this review before you see the film if you wish! I'm not going to give anything away, which may mean this review is quite short, I have plans to maybe give some more spoilery thoughts in the future but for now I wanted to give my intitial opinion of the new Star Wars film.

If you want to find out what Star Wars means to me, go back and read my previous post; Why I Love Star Wars. That should give you some context as to where I am coming from when it comes to my love of the franchise.

So first things first, Star Wars is back, like actually back! The Force Awakens brings back everything you loved about the original films and moves the story forward for the first time since 1983. It brings in a whole new roster of characters and actors and merges them in with some of the original cast. When the film starts with the new scroll of text and the sudden blast of music don't be ashamed if it brings a tear to your eye, don't be ashamed if any of the scenes bring a tear to your eyes, there's a lot of heart and effort put into this film to make it feel like the Star Wars we used to know, maybe a little too much at times but we'll get to that later.

Lets start with the actors. Our new big three is made up of Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Issac who all do amazing in their roles and give some of the best performances we have seen from any of the Star Wars films so far. They are perfect as our new heroes, and I left feeling that even if the original cast hadn't been involved, The Force Awakens would still have been a great Star Wars film with just our new characters! With the new film we also have a new lead villain, Kylo Ren, played by the absolutely superb Adam Driver, he gives a standout performance in the film and brings a lot of layers to the character who is very scary due to his conflict and unpredictability. As seen in the trailer and poster we have the return of Han Solo, Princess Leia and Chewbacca, the original actors all provide great performances and evoke a lot of nostalgia. Harrison Ford looks like he is really enjoying himself in this film and gives one of his best performances in years as the scruffy looking nerf herder. At the end of the day though it is the droid BB-8 that steals the show...

The story is great and provokes a lot of call backs, nostalgia and plenty of homage, particularly to A New Hope, which at times does become too much as the story points of the first film are reused a lot in the new one. With a franchise as big as this one is in the world of pop culture then you are going to expect a few nods and call backs, but sometimes it did feel as if we needed more original plot points to keep us going.

Director JJ Abrams does an amazing job of bringing the world of Star Wars to life by returning to old puppetry and costume/makeup effects that still look more real than anything you could make on a computer today! This does get proven within the film and most of the time it looks so real you could touch it however, whenever a CGI creature or character comes on screen it is pretty obvious, and this is a shame. It's not Jar Jar Binks bad but you definitely hope it would be better. Personally I would just keep to practical effects, we don't need mo-capped characters in a world that looks so real.

One of my favourite things about the film is the camerawork, the camera is barely static and is constantly being moved around all over the place and makes for some incredible looking shots and stunning cinematography. There are shots in this film that had me grinning like a child again and I really loved being brought back into the world in such a beautiful way. Star Wars has never looked better.

Abrams has brought Star Wars back to life for old and new generations. I had an absolute blast watching this film and went through all the emotions I had watching them as a child. The hype was massive and I think the film mostly lived up to it, I had so much fun watching this film, it was a blast sitting in the cinema again and hearing the incredible John Williams score blasting out loud. I think I'm going to have to watch it again soon just to soak it all in but right now I would definitely rate this as the third best Star Wars film we have seen, under Empire and Hope. It's not perfect but they have done a good job of getting the awkward reintroduction out of the way and making audiences excited for Star Wars again, the ending is the best of any Star Wars film and only promises greater things to come, I am already super excited for Episode 8 which has the potential to be the best Star Wars film yet. I am rating The Force Awakens a 4.5/5. Go see this film in the cinema, you will not be dissapointed!

What did you think of the new Star Wars film? Love it or hate it? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Our outfits for the midnight showing. Less people dressed up than we thought... Totally worth it though!

Why I Love Star Wars

Don't know if you guys know this, but there's a new Star Wars film coming out next week...

Now I am super excited for this film, so excited in fact that the only other film that came close to the amount of excitement and anticipation I feel right now was when the first Avengers film came out. On this blog you have seen me rave about a lot of things and probably consider me a bit of a Marvel fanboy, which I am, but today I wanted to talk about my first cinematic love, Star Wars.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the first live action film I remember seeing at the cinema. It was a big deal to me, I was 5 and I had mainly watched animated films, going to see a live action film felt very grown up to me. I wasn't aware of Star Wars before that, I wasn't aware how much anticipation had been building up for the film I was going to see, and then the let down that people had afterwards. I obviously didn't have that let down when I first saw Episode 1 because if I did I wouldn't be writing a blog post called 'Why I Love Star Wars'. However stick with me, this isn't a post trying to convince you that the prequels are amazing, because they are far from it, but they do hold a special place in my heart.

Having loved Episode 1, the obsessive side of me began to come out, I wanted everything Star Wars. And this was when I came across Star Wars: A New Hope at a video rental store. My amazement that there was another Star Wars film only increased when finding out there were three more out there! I rented Episode 4 and yet again fell completely in love with the world of Star Wars. The world building in the film is unlike anything else we've seen in film before and with every character featured in the film we have a rich and vibrant backstory. Being able to explore these as a child was something special because it made you feel as if you knew more about each character than anybody else.

I had everything Star Wars related, costumes, toys, books and games. I still have a lot of these things, including a massive box up in my attic full of action figures and vehicles that I had played with many times. In my young mind I have made Epidode 7 already, and 8, and 9, and 10... It was at these times that the seeds for a dream job in film were laid and subliminally making these stories lead me to screenwriting. Yet again another reason to love Star Wars.

I remember every time I went to the cinema I was waiting for a new Star Wars trailer to arrive, I was completely hooked during the era of the prequels. After Episode 3 came out my obsession began to slowly dwindle. I still bought all the games but there wasn't a constant bombardment of new content to digest, I have never been one to watch the shows (though I am giving Rebels a go!), my obsession then turned to Marvel, reading comics and falling for the character of Spider-Man. Even with the annoucment of Disney buying Star Wars and making new films, I was excited but it didn't start the obsession again. If anything I was just happy to know I would see more Star Wars in the cinema and now maybe even one day be able to experience it with my own children, another reason I have kept all my toys! When the obsession kicked back in it was with the first teaser trailer JJ Abrams released, all of sudden I was brought back into realisiation that I was A LOT more excited for Star Wars then I had been letting on!

Now I'm at breaking point, days to go, midnight tickets booked and costumes sorted. I work part time in a toy store and nearly every week I keep spending my wages on The Force Awakens figures. My personal favourite a BB-8 Funko Pop! I've rewatched the Star Wars saga in anticipation, even with my girlfriend who I am lovingly dragging along to the midnight showing, I'm sure she can't wait either...

A photo posted by Alex Hunt (@superalexman) on Dec 5, 2015 at 12:42am PST

I don't think we'll be dissapointed in The Force Awakens. This is the first time the fans have been allowed to make a Star Wars film and that is being proven with every interview or behind the scenes footage we have seen with JJ Abrams, or any person involved with the making of the film on or off the screen. The problem with the prequels is the fact that George Lucas thought he knew what audiences wanted from more Star Wars films but unfortunatley he was wrong. I have enjoyed and fallen in love with the films, I have studied them and broken them down and watched every bit of material I can find involved in the behind the scenes of the film, I like to think that everybody involved with making the film has done the same things, we are the fans and we know why we love Star Wars. Also, three of my favourite actors of the last five years, Adam Driver, Oscar Issac and Domhnall Gleeson are in this film! The one thing George Lucas should have done before making the prequels, which I assume he hasn't, is attend a lecture on his own series of films, to watch the endless amount of fan videos and breakdowns on YouTube that go into depth and detail about why Star Wars is so popular and the staple of pop culture that it is today.

We've been warned though, it is difficult to make a good Star Wars movie, the prequels proved that. But I think The Force Awakens is going to be good. I can feel it.

Star Wars, the prequels, the originals, they are inspiring, they inspired me to go into the proffesion that I am still striving to break into today. Even if you are still on the fence about the new Star Wars films just remember, these films are going to inspire a whole new generation of filmmakers, storytellers and dreamers.

And that is why I love Star Wars.

Thanks for reading!

Ex Machina

It's been a while since I've been to the cinema, hence why it's been a while since I've posted here! Happy new year! Worry no more, I have a review for the new British sci-fi film Ex Machina. This is the first film from 2015 I have seen and it was a pretty decent way to kick off a new year of cinema.

Ex Machina is the directorial debut of Alex Garland, a man whose written great sci-fi films such as Sunshine, 28 Days Later and Dredd. The film follows a young programmer named Caleb who is selected to participate in a breakthrough experiment in artificial intelligence, by billionaire genius, Nathan, to evaluate the human qualities of a breathtaking female A.I. named Ava.

First things first, the acting in this film is superb. I am a big fan of both Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Issac who are brilliant as Caleb and Nathan. They are great actors who are deservedly going up in the world and will next be seen together in the new Star Wars film. Ava is played by Alicia Vikander who is new to me but I expect big things for her career after her stunning performance as the A.I persona. The film is held up by these three and they really make the film something special with their performances. All three had great chemistry together, truly becoming their intersting characters.

The film also looks great, the cinematography is bright and crisp and full of colour. The aesthetic of Nathan's house/research facility is really well captured as well as bringing a grounded futuristic feel to the film.

The writing is good and the film is very philosophical with its themes and ideas, asking what it means to be a human and play god and the sacrifice that makes on your own humanity, there are some interesting themes at play here. These themes however are ones we have seen before in most films about A.I; this is my biggest problem with the film. I cannot remember the last A.I film I watched that felt like a different story was being played out then ones before it. This film is lucky that it pulls the genre off well enough to make us forget that other A.I films have pretty much  tread the same ground over and over again.

It would be great to see a new and original take on Artificial Intelligence and unfortunately this film doesn't provide that. Fortunately it does provide great performances and stunning visuals, and a intriguing enough plot, elevating it to one of the better A.I films around. I am rating Ex Machina a 4/5.

What did you think of the film? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!