"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

A long time ago, in a galaxy far,far away..............

Those immortal words have come to symbolise more than just another film franchise. For so many movie fans around the World, they have to come to mean something so very special, and if we are being honest we are really talking about episodes 4 - 6. There is a real bond between the three leads from the original "Star Wars" film. And whilst episodes 1 - 3 had their successes, the one thing they could never recapture was the magical chemistry between Ford, Hamill & Fisher. We followed these wonderful characters across the stars, and have loved being alongside them on the journey that they have gone.

Like "Star Trek", this film series has some very die hard fans, and whilst I would not call myself one of them, I have to say that I was squealing with delight when this latest film was announced, and even more so when it was confirmed that the original leads would be returning to reprise their roles, something they had not done for over 30 years.

I wanted to go into this film knowing as little as possible, so I only watched the trailers at the Cinema, and read no reviews, blogs,  nothing that could give away any clues as to what the film is about.
So what is the story?
Time has passed since we last saw our intrepid star travellers and the events of "Return of the Jedi". Luke Skywalker has vanished, but given his immense Jedi powers, the Galaxy and his wife are all trying to find him. We begin on the planet Jakku, where a map of Luke's possible location is hidden within a droid, and that droid must be put into the right hands. Also seeking the droid are members of the First Order, the new force of darkness, one of their elite being Kylo Ren, who is keen to follow in the footsteps of his great mentor, Darth Vader. But he certainly has a secret or two.
The droid ends up in the hands of Scavenger Rey, she searches the wastelands of Jakku, finding space wreckage and cashing in for food. Rey reluctantly teams up with Finn, a former Storm Trooper who became averse to the methods that the First Order were adopting. Toegther they manage to escape those looking for the droid, in an all too familiar space ship.
During the next chapter of the film we are reunited with our old friends Han and Leia, and it provides us with some wonderful moments in the film. Han and Chewie bickering like an old married couple, Han providing some great quips, and tenderness when Han and Leia reminisce about the past.
But this reunion could be short-lived due to the First Order having constructed the Star Killer, a huge space station which makes the Death Star look tiny in comparison. They need to get the map and find Luke, and find a way to put the Star Killer out of action..............

Some of the key things that were wrong with the episodes 1 -3 have clearly been addressed. It is a good case of back to basics. One could quite easily say that this is a carbon copy of "Star Wars: A New Hope", and why not? Why change a winning formula?
Having the original characters back is a huge boost to the movie, I think, like many others, I never expected Harrison Ford to be climbing on board the Millennium Falcon ever again. It is like seeing old family friends whom you have not seen in a long time. Yes it heart warming to see them back together again.
But what is pleasing to report is that Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn are truly excellent in their respective roles. Effectively they are the new guard, taking over  the mantle of the Star Wars legend, and it is a tough act to follow, but they do so brilliantly. The future is in very good hands.
There is great support too, from Adam Driver, who frankly I was not familiar with, who is outstanding as Kylo Ren, to great actors like Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleason to acting royalty like Max Von Sydow. And a special mention to BB-8, who will surely become a huge favourite with younger audience members, and probably even some older ones.

So we have great characters, brilliantly acted, and a compelling story....but how is the film visually?
It is breath-taking. The photography, visual and special effects all combine on a huge canvas to make this, I think its fair to say, the most visually beautiful film in the whole series to date. It does not fall into the trap of putting the action right in your face, it paints wide strokes allowing the viewer to savour all the beauty and the action.

Director J.J. Abrams has taken a franchise, and brought back the magic that so many remember from the 1970's. We can now forget about Jar Jar bloody Binks, and the lacklustre receiving of "The Phantom Menace". I can possibly forgive him now for "Star Trek Into Darkness", then again, maybe not. But he has certainly done a first class job in the Directors Chair.

Disney had a lot riding on the success of this film. It is safe to say that they have more than just ticked all the boxes. It continues to keep breaking box office records, and I am sure that there will be many more being broken very soon, and it deserves every bit of the success that it is enjoying.
My only remaining question is how soon can I see it again?  And I am sure that will not be the only repeat viewing.

The Force has most certainly been awakened........9 out of 10

"Kingsman The Secret Service"

Take a Comic Book co written by Mark Millar, have the book interpreted for the Screen by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, and have the same Mr Vaughn sit in the Director's chair, and just like "Kick Ass" you have all the ingredients for a kick arse film.

When a leading World Scientist is kidnapped, it takes a special organisation to investigate and rescue. Here come the Kingsman, a collective of Gentlemen and Ladies, well groomed, well refined, well spoken, but who an also, when required, deal with an agressor, in an ungentlemanly fashion.

However, said missing Scientist is soon once again walking the streets of London, and the Kingsman have lost one of their group. Whilst still trying to uncover what the Scientist is working on and find out why he has been seemingly freed, they must fill the vacancy left by their recently departed colleague.

Each of the elite gentlemen agents gets to assign a protege, someone to mould in their image. Most of the new recruits would not look out of place as students at Eton say.
Elsewhere in a housing estate in London, Gary, or 'Eggsy' as he is known to his mates goes on with his mundane day to day existence, he shares a flat with his Mum and her loathesome boyfriend. After some joyriding he finds himself under arrest. He has a necklace / chain given to him by those he loves, and told to use in an emergency......so 'Galahad' (Firth) receives a phone call and his release is soon forthcoming. 'Galahad' sees this rough young lad as a possible Kingsman candidate and promptly enrols him.
Whilst training is going on, we learn more about what 'Valentine' is upto. He believes that the World has become over populated, and that this will lead to the end of the human race as custodians of Earth. So he sets about a plan of action to heavily reduce the number of inhabitants, seemingly looking like the philanthropist he says he is, but actually a mass murderer on an epic scale, and quite mad.

Cutting to the chase, Valentine and his organisation go to battle against humanity, and its increasing number, and all that stands in the way of his success is the Kingsman.

Whether a fan of comic strip violence, or Bond films, or just out to be entertained, then  you should quite rightly love this movie. It has it all, great screenplay, fun characters, loads of kick ass violence, amd is just a great barrel of laughs.
I am amazed that I have still not seen the film a second time yet, and I must rectify this.
We get to see a small example of Valentine's scheme in action, during what is a memorable head popping sequence.
All the cast are exemplary, from Michael Caine as Kingsman head 'Arthur', to Mark String as a Q type figure 'Merlin'. There is the very good looking Taron Egerton as 'Eggsy' who is a real find, he conveys both the streetwise Eggsy and the gentlemanly Kingsman brilliantly.
Colin Firth however does steal the show as 'Galahad', it is rumoured Firth may have offered Bond, and if so, then this is a worthy chance for us to see what might have been. And the highlight of the film is during a small fracas in an East End pub when he has to tackle a few unruly youths.

Great fun, great cast, great film.................8 out of 10