"Star Trek Into Darkness"

#######  WARNING - This review does contain spoilers, so please be aware - ###########

After a huge amount of anticipation, "Star Trek Into Darkness" bursts onto the screen like the Enterprise racing across the stars in Warp Drive.

So what do our plucky crew of NCC-1701 have to contend with this time round?
A Star Fleet building in London lies in ruin after a seemingly unprovoked attack. The Fleet reconvene at their Head-Quarters, only discovering too late that the actual target was that very meeting. The initial attack was just to get the main players of Star Fleet all together.
Picking up the pieces and going through the evidence, they now know their attacker, one John Harrison, and Kirk and Crew are keen to undertake a mission of revenge, despite protestations from his commanding Officer Admiral Marcus.

So with this second "Star Trek" film, what else do we encounter?
Well, we have a beautiful blond haired Scientist called Doctor Carol Wallace, but what is her connection with Admiral Marcus?  A villain who has superior intelligence and strength, and is keen on genetics. There are scenes of two Starships facing off against one another, there are photon torpedoes that look suspiciously familiar, the Enterprise is in mortal danger having lost power and someone has to deal with the ravages of radiation to save the ship.......hang on. Wait a god damn minute. We have been here before. That's right, if any of the above does sound familiar, then that is because it does. It is a virtual copy of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".
Now, I know I should be objective, but when you love "Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan" as much as I do, then you would understand how angry I was sat watching this new film.
I was sat questioning some of the issues on timelines especially as Kirk and the Villain are meant not to have met before their meeting in "Space Seed". Though even before that I found it difficult to get into the characters, their was a lack of engagement, which was probably not helped by the fact that a lot of the action was shot far to close up. If a Studio knows it is going to screen a film on the IMAX, then this should be catered for. There was no problem when viewing both "Skyfall" and "The Dark Knight Rises", and both of them were viewed three rows from the front. And with sequences like the attacks both in London and on Star Fleet, this can only hinder the spectacle of them, and thus ones enjoyment.

The greatness of the original film was that it stood on its own two feet, it introduced these well loved and well known characters, but from a new and fresh perspective, and despite being weary as to how successful it would be, it was pleasing to see they pulled it off so beautifully. This time round has been the complete opposite. Instead of carrying on with fresh new material, Director J.J. Abrams decides to take the majority of his writing, with a few tweaks here and there, from one of the most beloved "Star Trek" films ever. I would not regard myself as a Trekkie or Trekker but I have a huge amount of love for the first six movies. And seeing some great moments from that second film replicated here did me no favours, and did little for my enjoyment or temper. When I heard the lines "I think you'd better get down here" I was really shaking my head in exasperation.

Even if the action is too close for comfort at times, one cannot fault the visual effects, which are top notch.The rousing score courtesy of Michael Giacchino is worthy of note, and as ever the make-up is of the high standards that one has come to expect.
The regular cast members all reprise their roles wonderfully, though special mention to both Karl Urban as 'Bones McCoy' and Simon Pegg as 'Scotty', who thankfully provide some welcome relief.
Alas someone who does not fair as well is Benedict Cumberbatch. An actor I have enjoyed watching for some time, but here failing to convey any menace, and at times woefully over-acting.

I must confess that I have not seen the first film since the Cinema, and had forgotten the part about being in a parallel universe, and this would have explained a few things, and may have answered my queries over certain time line issues.
But even that being an allowance, this is a major disappointment, I was convinced that this would be at least a two visit film, but it will be the only viewing that my sanity can withstand am afraid.
Someone on Rotten Tomatoes summed it up beautifully..."A bad cover of your favourite song".

This second film has gone where no film should have gone........4 out of 10.

PS - And one of the four points it scores is for an old friend.

"Iron Man 3"

After the rather disappointing second film in the series, how has this second sequel faired?

Thankfully I can say that it is considerably better.
The World is need of Mr. Stark's metal creation once again, even though he is still recovering from the aftermath and effects of the attack on New York in "Avengers Assemble". There is a global terrorist at large called 'The Mandarin', wreaking havoc and spreading his words of vengeance via messages across television networks, and leaving a path of destruction in his wake.
Over at Stark Industries Ms. Potts has settled into her new role, and is a fine figure head for the Company. The Organisation receive an offer from a former acquaintance, Aldrich Killian, who is on the verge of a major breakthrough regarding redesigning human DNA especially when body parts are hurt / injured. It can basically reheal itself in seconds through this new process. At the moment there is a slight hitch, in that the body can get really hot at times, like a mini volcano, and some of the subjects have been known to explode, and causing quite a lot of damage along the way.
Killian seeks the help from the Stark Company to further his research, but they decline.
This is the second time that Killian has been left standing in the breeze by Stark, and is understandably pissed off. He seeks to get his own back on the cocky playboy with the cool toys.

The Mandarin looks to take aim at the biggest target of all, the President of the United States. There is an attack on Air Force One, and POTUS is taken hostage. Stark is attacked at his beachside property, and is left for dead, with his home and gadgets in ruins.
It all builds to the huge climax, which has a few surprises and no mistake.
As has become the staple diet of these movies, there are plenty of action sequences, involving some truly jaw dropping visual effects. It is when you see films like this, that we all know have far we have come. One of the highlights of the film has to be the 'barrel of monkeys' sequence.

As ever Downey Jr excels as the loudmouth cock sure Stark, Pearce is ok as scientist Killian, but for me Ben Kingsley steals the show as 'The Mandarin'. A great performance that I am sure everyone will be talking about.

There is a certain something missing from the film, and I can't quite put my finger on it, which is probably why I still rate the original as my favourite, but don't get me wrong, this is a highly enjoyable film, which is a flyaway smash hit......8 out of 10. 

"The Place Beyond The Pines"

The lead actor and Director of acclaimed film "Blue Valentine" are reunited for this latest movie "The Place Beyond The Pines".

Luke is a drifter, a real loner, going from town to town with the circus that he works at, employed as one of their bikers who cycle round the wheel of death. Ironically for someone who spends most of their time on a motorbike, he has very little drive. He just takes each day at a very leisurely pace, when revisiting a town, Luke meets up with a past fling, Romina, and discovers that he has a one year old Son.
This news has quite the effect on Luke, and he quits his job at the circus, keen to do all he can to be a good father, even though Romina has someone in her life. Despite his best intentions, the combination of Cofi, her partner, and Luke trying to be a Father cause quite the altercation, and this sees Luke getting locked up for a while. Upon release, understandably, Romina wants very little to do with him. Things escalate, and Luke again finds himself dealing with the Police, in the form of Police Office Avery Cross. Their lives start to cross, and it also means that Officer Cross will also encounter both Jason and AJ, when they become friends.
With various story strands all playing beautifully, they all converge as the film builds to its conclusion.

It is difficult to go much further into explaining the plot without giving any major pointers out, and that is the last thing I wish to do, as this is such a great film. See all the stars on the poster, well each and every one is well deserved.
I saw "Blue Valentine" for the first time recently, and have to say that whilst good, it did not blow me away like I expected, but this has more than made up for it. The acting, as one would expect, is excellent, and it is especially nice to see Bradley Cooper again step away from comedy to work on something more dramatic, and a great job he does too.

A nice slow burner, that will no doubt put some off, but those who like to be enthralled by a great script and compelling, with some outstanding performances, under the leadership of a talented Director, then this is the film for you......9 out of 10

"Trance"

A new thriller from Director Danny Boyle, fresh from his massive success as Director of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Simon works in an Art Gallery, as an auctioneer. And his form of employment could possibly help with a little problem that he has...a problem with a certain gambling debt, which is spiralling out of control. In order to clear his money worries, he goes to a Crook, Frank, where Simon can have his money troubles sorted, and Frank gains access to a rather expensive painting.

The painting in question is a rare piece, and is expected to sell for £25 million. With everything synchronized, all goes to plan, the heist takes place, the staff secure the painting, and transfer to a secure drop box, only it will be intercepted by Frank.
All goes swimmingly, til Frank gets the painting home and discovers an empty frame. Understandably he is a little annoyed by this. To make matters worse, during the interception he had to hit Simon on the head with his rifle, and Simon is now suffering from a rather unfortunate bout of amnesia, and has no idea where the he has hidden the painting.

Medical opinion is that no medicine can return the memory loss, and it may take considerable time, but another option is hypnosis. So they find a hypnosis expert, who they hope can retrieve the information they need and get back the painting.
There is very little involvement from the Police in the film, they either believe that the painting is long gone, and will not be recovered, and that it possibly may even be an inside job involving the Gallery manager, but none of that is really pursued.
Ultimately the film looks what unravels once Simon is in the Doctor's chair. What is real and what is in his mind. The strands of the story start to merge together as more is revealed. Did Simon outsmart the crooks? Will he survive to enjoy the painting? Is there a connection between the therapist and Frank?  Do we really care?

After an engaging start, the film soon descends into a murky mess of confusion. All the lead characters have no redeeming qualities, which makes you not care about them, and ultimately the film drags. The film also has a rather bizarre ending...which I will not spoil here.
The film is well photographed, as one has come to expect from Director Boyle, and another of his trademarks is a well composed score, and again here he delivers, but sadly they are about the only two fields where I can compliment.

One of shining examples of British acting, James McAvoy is now on his second film in a row that has failed to be worthy of both my time and money (the other being "Welcome to the Punch"), and hope that he can regain the kind of high quality films that he deserves.  Vincent Cassel is ok as French crook Frank.

Started well, but the film soon put me into a trance......5 out of 10

"Olympus Has Fallen"

Mike Banning is a Secret Service Agent, who has faithfully stood by the side of his President. But during routine escort duty, an accident occurs, which results in a personal tragedy for the President. We then jump forward 18 months, the President still struggles to deal with his loss, and Mike now finds himself working in the Treasury Department, unable to work at the Commander In Chief's side, as it would serve as a permanent reminder of what had gone before.

Now this next part of the plot will sound really far fetched, and could not possibly happen in real life. It would seem that there are tensions between North and South Korea, and The Americans have created a buffer zone, a demilitarized area where they have troops to avoid anything kicking off. I mean come on, as if that could ever happen???
Anyway, tensions are on the increase, and the Prime Minister of South Korea has arrived in the US for a meeting. Except he is not alone.

For starters a large plane wages its own war on the good people of Washington DC, and makes a mess of the Washington Memorial. Then various vehicles attack the city also, and entry is gained to the White House both outside and within. The President is housed in a secure bunker, along with the Vice President, Chief of Staff, the South Korean Official and his chief of staff, who is also one of the most wanted terrorists in the World.
Kang, the Korean terrorist, has one simple aim, to lay waste not only Washington but to the whole of the United States of America. As they sit in a bullet riddled White House, he plans to obtain the codes for a weapon system called Cerberus, which when activated will see every nuclear missile in America detonated, leaving the country a vast waste land.

The Secret Service have all but been killed, there is no way to gain entry to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and there is a gun pointing at the President's head......is there any hope?
You bet your bottom dollar that there is. Banning, upon hearing the initial commotion, has managed to gain entry into the White House, and his near impossible task is to deal with the terrorists, locate and rescue the President's Son, who is roaming loose, and also rescue President Asher. But Banning is the best at what he does, and would make Liam Neeson look like a Boy Scout, and that is no small task.

Right from the off, you are on a non stop action ride, which delivers both knuckle whitening action, with a compelling story. The opening nicely sets up the story of the relationship between Banning and President Asher.
The initial attack on Washington is brilliantly staged, you dare not blink for missing a frame of the action, as it unfolds on screen.
There is then the mexican stand off between the Armed Forces and the terrorists, and again this makes for compelling viewing. It all builds beautifully to the inevitable climax.

Director Antoine Fuqua really provides top notch direction, the action comes thick and fast from every direction. He has assembled an all star cast, with the likes of Angela Bassett and Robert Forster manning the Operations Centre, to Aaron Eckhart as The President, plus the always reliable Morgan Freeman as The Speaker of the House. There is a wonderful scene where Speaker Trumbull gives one of the Generals a right bollocking. And of course there is the one man army that is Gerard Butler as Mike Banning. He does a credible job in the role, and clearly this is someone you do not want to mess with, and it is great fun seeing him kick the what not out of the terrorists.

It is especially nice to see Rick Yune as Kang, in that when he is on screen, if he has a gun to someones head, you really do wonder if his target will survive, as Kang has no redeeming qualities, and will kill without a second of hesitation.

I have been looking forward to this film for some time, and for fans who enjoy this, there is a similar film coming out later in the year, which sees Channing Tatum as a Police Officer dealing with terrorists in "White House Down", another action packed all star affair.

Needless to say I enjoyed it immensely, great fun, action coming thick and fast, and all round fantastic movie.......8 out of 10.

"Oblivion"

The distant future.....the Moon was attacked, left in ruins, thus leading to cataclysmic effects on Earth. But the suffering does not end there. Our planet is attacked, War rages, we win, but the price we pay is too high, Earth is uninhabitable. The remainder of the population are taken to Titan one of the moons of Saturn, going to start a new life.

But there are still those who seek to inflict further harm to Earth, they are called Scav's.
Large energy units called Hydro Rigs convert the sea water into energy, and protecting them from attack are Drone units, and looking after them is Jack Harper and Victoria, a team of two who work on maintaining the Drones, Victoria working from their shared workstation, and Jack out on the open road as it were, doing the maintenance, and dealing with any problems with Scav's, and of course they are in constant contact with a main ship which is in constant orbit near Earth.

But on a routine inspection, Jack is captured by a band of Scav's, except all is not as it seems. For they are actually humans, like Jack and Victoria. And Jack is told of what has really happened on Earth these last few decades....but who does he believe?  His trusted team on the Mother ship, or Beech, the head of the Scavengers?  Which ever way he goes, life will never be quite the same on Earth again.

The premise is interesting, not totally new, there are shades of other filsm in there, from "Aliens" to "The Omega Man", and several others, and it would be the latter of the two films where the greatest similarity lies, lone people defending a desolate Earth from a band of scavengers.
The main thing with a film of that nature, whether it be "The Omega Man" or its recent remake "I Am Legend", to have a film dominated by pretty much one or two characters, the film has to be engaging, and sadly this new Cruise film does not deliver in that area. It lacks any major tension, it is literally the two of them working towards fixing non-functioning drones. Oooh how exciting.

Although the film may feel like it drags because of the lack of any drive in the story, it is saved by some great photography, stunning visual effects, and an awesome soundtrack, one which I shall soon be buying, it is that good, and is composed by M83. No, I haven't heard of them / him / her either.
The combination of the three combined makes for a film that is entertaining to look at, and yes it does compensate.
The film does pull it back in the third act. It may seem all nice, neat and tidy, but when the story started to come together, and when you see the bigger picture, and all becomes clear, and your enjoyment is enhanced.

Had there been more substance in the opening two acts, this could have gone down as a truly great sci-fi film, as it is the film is good, and many will enjoy it.
Jospeh Kosinski has proved his worth, and followed on from the visual triumph that was "Tron Legacy" with another visually jaw dropping movie. Definitely a talent to watch.
For a man of 50, Mr. Cruise shows no sign of slowing down, and he gives a nice performance, as does Andrea Riseborough. And it goes without saying that Morgan Freeman is always worth the price of admission, no matter what he is appearing in.

Good, could have been great, but visually it will amaze........7 out of 10.

"The 85th Annual Academy Awards" - Recap

So that was The Oscars, and how did the show fair in its 85th year?

It did well. Firstly to host Seth MacFarlane. He was good but he is from being anywhere near as classy and stylish as verteran host Billy Crystal, or as witty and funny as Whoopi Goldberg. He had some nice moments, like his opening comment about the mission to make Tommy Lee Jones smile. Bringing Capt. James. T. Kirk on screen was bizarre, not really sure whether that belonged.

It was an evening with a few surprises, a tie, which we have not seen in almost 20 years, there was a gasp from the audience, which was great fun.
There have been a few near misses with people almost falling on the steps to the stage, but tonight it actually happened. Hugh Jackman was ever the knight in shining armour coming to the rescue of Jennifer Lawrence.

There were some amazing performances. I must admit that by the time the "In Memoriam" section began, I had not realised that Barbra Streisand had not yet performed, so when they showed a picture of Marvin Hamlisch, and then the screen parted, and the great songstress started performing, the penny dropped. Am sure that Marvin would have been very proud of such a wonderful tribute, and from someone who clearly loved him very much.
It was fantastic to see Adele perform her OSCAR WINNING song from the OSCAR WINNING James Bond film "Skyfall", although it was a shame that she was occasionally drowned out by on over-enthusiastic orchestra.

On an individual basis, the night belonged to the legendary Dame Shirley Bassey, her performance of "Goldinger" was quite out of this world. It was a tad disappointing that the James Bond tribute did not amount to more, in that there had been whispers that all six actors would be involved.
Nice that Dame Shirley got the first standing ovation of the night.

Was it me or was Catherine Zeta Jones miming?  Strongly suspect she was. But there were some amazing performances from the likes of Jennifer Hudson, and also the cast of "Les Miserables" in a quite stunning performance. Really brought the house down.

Some of the Presenters fell truly flat on their faces, more so than Jennifer Lawrence. Look at Oscar winner Sandra Bullock, what was she babbling about? But even she was overshadowed by the truly awful Melissa McCarthy and Paul Rudd. Their stint at presenting was dire, and I really wanted them to be ejected from the stage. 

Regarding my predictions, out of the main eight, I got seven correct, so was delighted with that, the only one I got wrong was Best Director.

On the whole, the results went pretty much as expected, there was very little surprise, despite the potential for there to be a few shocks.
Performances were amazing, and it has to rank as one of the best shows for the entertainment, cannot recall many other Oscar Broadcasts where there were so many great artists on stage.
Now the burning question - would I have Seth MacFarlane back as host? The answer would be yes, but only to give him one more opportunity to see if he can improve on his lacklustre MC efforts this time round. He had the potential to be a great host, and it did not show.