"Twilight Breaking Dawn Pt 2"

The epic (?) film series reaches it finale, with the second part of "Breaking Dawn". All the varied strands of the movies have led to this.

At the end of part one, we saw 'Bella' having given birth to a daughter, and in order to save her life after undergoing such trauma through the birth, Edward was on hand to convert her to a Vampire, as it was the only way to save her life.
Part two, and Bella and Edward are adjusting to life as Vampires together, and also to their new arrival. However, bad news is on the horizon for them as the Volturi upon hearing of the birth of their daughter, wrongly believe her to be an Immortal Child, and this is a sin against all they hold dear, so they venture to the States to seek the death of the child and also the Cullen family.

This leads to an inevitable showdown between the Cullen allied by their friends and the Werewolves, against the Volturi. I seem to recall that the ending of the film differs to that of the book, though having not read the book, I do not whether this is the case or in what way. The showdown is impressive and well worth waiting for, though you may feel short changed at the climax of it.

Overall it has been a good series, with both hits and misses, and seeing Taylor Lautner strip down to his boxers in this last movie almost makes this one a hit!!
I still dont think the original film can be beaten, it stands as a highly enjoyable movie, and far exceeded my expectations.

A nice finish, but glad that it is over......6 out of 10

"End Of Watch"

Life as a Police Officer can not be easy on the streets of America, and in this new movie, we get to experience that life through the eyes of two of its finest officers.

Brian and Mike patrol the streets, Brian is documenting their day to day life as part of a college course that he is doing, despite the protestations of his colleagues and superiors. Would this really be allowed I ask myself?

The two Officers get involved in some high profile investigations / cases, whether it being rescuing a family from a burning house or uncovering a house filled with mutilated and dismembered boides, or a major drugs stash, they do remarkably well. It may seem far fetched, that they have all the major cases, but the thing to bear in mind is that the film is set over probably the best part of several months.
Right from the off, you get an understanding of what the characters go through, the risks they run day after day. Also the comaraderie between partners, how close they become, almost like brothers. You get involved in their lives. And that is a testament to the great acting of both Gyllenhaal and Pena.

But for a group of drug dealers, south of the border, they have become a little too high profile, and are disrupting their operations a little too much, and so action has to be taken.
Because of Brian recording his life at work on a camera, it gives the film an almost documentary style feel to it, and it very much works in its favour. It is gritty, and enhances the drama of the movie. As mentioned all the performances are great, it is wonderfully photographed, and well edited.
As the events unfold, the film does build to a climax, which I wont ruin here, but it may not be what you expect.

Live on the streets of America has never made for a more compelling film........8 out of 10

"Alex Cross"

With all the various reboots going on at present, and given that there is such a wealth of material to work from, it was only a matter of time before we saw the return of Detective Alex Cross to the big screen.

As much as I, like most of the civilised World, adore Morgan Freeman  as an actor, I fear that he would now be a little too old to reprise his role as 'Alex Cross' from the earlier mvies "Kiss The Girls" and "Along Came A Spider". So taking over is actor Tyler Perry, who I have to admit I have never heard of.
A serial killer is leaving a trail of pretty gruesome bodies behind as he goes on a killing spree. He seems to enjoy inflicting the maximum amount of pain on his victims. Is he pure evil or is there some other reasoning behind his choice of victims?

It is down to 'Cross' and his partner to piece together the pieces of the puzzle, and aprehend the killer. And it would seem that the Detective may be up against the clock, as the Killer seems keen to want 'Cross' to feel some pain too.

At times when watching this film, I could not help but think of the far superior "The Bone Collector" which has a similar premise, and similar style of characters. Both films coming from the books of very established authors.
Alas there is very little in the way of tension here, and Tyler Perry does even less for me to find him an actor whose career I would wish to follow. His portrayal of 'Cross' is bland, and I find myself being more interested in the killer played with great relish by Matthew Fox.
There is a nice little twist at the end, but if there is another film featuring the character, I think that I may have to pass.

A reboot of the 'Alex Cross' series, maybe they should have passed on it.......5 out of 10

"Argo"

I guess that if a Writer had approached a Studio to pitch the idea for this movie, they would be laughed off the lot. For it seems such a ridiculous premise, yet since the freedom of information act, it has transpired that the events depicted in the film, with a degree of artistic licence, did take place.

Back in 1979, the US Embasssy in Iran was stormed by revolutionaries, and this is the story of how the US Government and the CIA came up with a plan to get them back.
With the Embassy being held, and hostages involved, there was however a group who managed to escape, and were being sheltered by the Canadian Ambassador in his residence.
Tony Mendoza comes up with the insane idea to send a team of Operatives to Iran, under the premise of being there to make a new Sci Fi film, and being able to gain access to the Embassy will be able to somehow increase the size of his team by the number of escaped staff. The fact the everyone has to have a document both entering and leaving the country, and that the escaped staff need fake passports, does not deter him.
Obviously given the fact that the Embassy staff get back to the States, leaves little in the way of whteher they did or did not make it out alive, but other films have been faced with this scenario, movies like "Apollo 13", "Thirteen Days" etc, and still made a very memorable film.

The film is nicely played out, and at times there are some very tense scenes, especially involving an altercation in a local market, where one wonders whether the identities of the escaped Embassy staff will be revealed.
Ben Affleck does another admirable job in the Director's chair. It would seem evident that he had learned a lot from the many talented Directors he has acted for, and is fast becoming one of America's hottest Directing talents.
The cast all do a decent job, Alan Arkin and John Goodman shine in particular though, as two Hollywood Executives who help provide cover for the fake movie.
Speaking of tense moments, comes the inevitable  time when they have to go through Security in the Airport, and though it is tense, it all seems rather cliched, having been done many times before, and in some cases a lot more effectively. And when the Iranians realise their mistake, as the plane starts to taxi down the runway, seeing them in hot pursuit, am I the only one sat there thinking this is almost turning into a comedy farce?

A good story of the US undertaking a daring mission and coming out victorious......8 out of 10

PS - Since reviewing this film, I have come to discover several facts about the story, alterations, ommissions, that water down my enjoyment of it, and to this end I have rescored the film 7 out of 10. And despite its success at the Golden Globes, I feel it is unworthy of a Best Picture nomination, and really hope it is not given the honour of Best Picture come February 24th