The BFG & Star Trek Beyond

Since I've seen two new films recently I thought I would go and review them both in one post. So below are my reviews for The BFG and Star Trek Beyond.

The BFG

The book and 1989 animated film are very close to my heart. I used to love the story of The BFG  and I remember in primary school when the teacher would roll in the TV and VHS player and stick on the animated film which as much as I enjoyed, also used to scare the crap out of me. When I heard that Steven Spielberg was going to be making a live action adaptation I couldn't wait to see what he did with it.

For the most part I enjoyed this film, its a visual delight and features some great performances. The motion capture and computer effects are really, really good and truly makes this the best live action adaptation of the book we could get. There are a few flaws though and one them is that there really isn't that much of a story here, after revisiting the animated film recently I have found that this has always been the case, I mean it is a short book after all. Spielberg knows this and does his best to keep the visuals at the forefront of the film and hopes that the pretty colours will distract children from its pretty slow paced plot.

What Spielberg also does with this film is take away the fear, although there are some tense moments, you only hear that children go missing as opposed to hearing that a whole orphanage has been eaten and bones left by the window. The world that The BFG is set in is a scary one and it was a world that left an impression on me as child. For better or worse, kids aren't going to be having nightmares about this one.

If you want a good time with your family with a colourful and visually pleasing film then you cannot go wrong with The BFG. I am giving it a rating of 3.5/5.

Star Trek Beyond

I love the new Star Trek reboot films. I know this is not everybody's opinion but I get such a great kick out of them, they are really fun space action adventure films with an amazing cast. Now I should probably point out that I am not a Trekkie and therefore having a lack of knowledge of the original show allows me to look at them in a more open way. Now a lot of Star Trek fans haven't liked the last two movies but the majority seem to have liked this third one, the film I believe to be the weakest in the series so far.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not a bad film, I love that its smaller in scale and you get more time with the characters, but I never really felt like I fully connected with them like in previous installments. For the most part, this film is just a big dumb action movie, it's pretty predictable and has a lot of cool sequences and yes, even motorbike chases however, I did feel these big set pieces were let down by an obvious reduction in the quality of CGI. A lot of the sets and prosthetic's look and feel very real but whenever they cut to something bigger it almost always looked fake and took me out of the film. After watching Into Darkness on the same day I also noticed that the colours were more muted in Beyond and I didn't really like the overall look of the film.

Story wise, it's simple and fun and allows the supporting cast to get more screen time, allowing this to be more of a ensemble film. I did however question the choice of casting the amazing Idris Elba as the villain only to then cover him up in make up and alter his voice. Strange choice but maybe the villain would have been a lot worse without an actor of his calibre playing him.

I didn't hate this film, I just didn't love it as much as the other two. I still really want to stay in this universe and follow this cast on their adventures as I feel they still have a lot of great ones to come. I am rating Star Trek Beyond a 3/5.

Well I hope you enjoyed these reviews. What did you think of the two films? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Star Trek Into Darkness

So before I start this review I would like to say that I am one of those people who never really got into Star Trek until J.J Abrams's 2009 film. The 2009 reboot blew me away and I really loved it and therefore was looking forward to the sequel Star Trek Into Darkness very much. So was J.J Abrams second Star Trek film a film worth waiting for? As with all my reviews this one is spoiler free.

Following origins of Captain Kirk and Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew in the first film, this one can dive straight into the action. This time round we join the Enterprise crew as they go after a starfleet member turned terrorist, John Harrison. The film is action packed and fast paced from start to finish, you are in for a great ride. Obviously there is a lot more to the plot, and as with a lot of films these days there are a lot of big twists and turns along the way. I was disappointed by some of the smaller subplots at the start, which were wrapped up so quickly it left you feeling whether they were even needed in the first place. The twists are great, however when some are revealed it isn't too hard to predict where the plot might go next.

J.J Abrams's first Star Trek film lacked a developed villain and this was the first thing they changed for Into Darkness. Believe the hype, Benedict Cumberbatch is incredible and indeed steals the show. He plays John Harrison who is a very well written character and one of the best sympathetic villains i've seen in cinema in a long time. However he does not overshadow the rest of the cast, especially with the Kirk/Spock bromance which also stands out and makes the film. The bromance brings the most funny, heartfelt and powerful moments to the film. If it wasn't for the great chemistry between Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto this film would fall short and I don't think even Cumberbatch could save it.

More of the supporting characters get more screen time this time round, most noticeably Simon Pegg's Scotty who has his own character arc in the film. Unfortunately some of the bigger characters of the first film seem to get less, such as Uhura who seems to be forgotten for the middle part of the film, and not to mention her relationship arc which gets touched on at the start but then forgotten again.

The cinematography is stunning and the lens flares seem less in your face than the previous film, I personally do not mind the lens flares that much and quite enjoy that Abrams brings his own style to his films. For a film that is effects heavy it is lucky that they look so good; not once was I taken out of the moment by some dodgy looking CGI. Even the practical effects were great, you get to see a few revamped Klingons which look great and if a threequel goes ahead we could be seeing a lot more of them.

J.J Abrams has made the perfect sequel, he has gone bigger, bolder and better! What I loved most about this film was that I was emotionally involved in these characters lives even though I have never been a massive Star Trek fan. Some of the scenes are very powerful and well written, the film doesn't come without a few flaws but for me it was one of the best sci-fi films I have seen. That is why I am rating it a strong 4.5/5.

I think it's fair to say that Star Wars Episode 7 is in good hands, especially since the latest Star Trek films have felt quite familiar...

What did you think of Star Trek Into Darkness? Please comment below.

Thanks for reading and live long and prosper!