Writing Review

Hey all, sorry I seem to be on and off the site. I seem to see a movie and end up not writing a review until weeks later. For this weekend (namely today) I may write a review for Noah later instead. The review I will hopefully write for later today is for the new captain america movie. I've been so busy with other projects I have not had the time to go see a movie, besides Noah and the new 300. I'll see what I can do, so expect either a review for Noah or Captain America 2.

300 2 : The Rise of an Empire

Sequel to the comic-book adaptation, 300, it follows sadly not the spartans this time but follows Athens warriors instead, with their leader being General Themistocles. The follow- up takes place before, during and after events in the last film. 

The narrator this time is the Queen (played by Lena Headey). She goes to tell the stories of the film's new villain and gives backstory to the bad guy seen in the first film, Xerxes (played by Rodrigo Santoro). Eva Greene plays the new villain named Artemisia. Her story is what seemingly got the first film to happen as she was the one to convince Xerxes to become a god king. Xerxes father was killed at the hands of the General of Athens. 

The film took a long time to come out and sadly is lacking some. As the film is not directed by Zack Snyder it has a more real feel, which for this series doesn't really fit. Noam Murro directs. Rise is in no way terrible but it lacks some due to the copy cat Immortals that came out between the two films. If the new sequel had been directed by Zack Snyder I am sure there would have been a more comic book feel. 

I enjoyed the movie very much, don't get me wrong. Eva Green was the best part. And I loved the fact that the survivors of the first film made a welcome return, even David Wenham (the eyepatch spartan) returns in a small role. 

What the film lacks is its main focus, the spartans. The creators decided to follow another group of warriors rather than the spartans. I mean the spartans still have an excellent leader (or leaders) in the way of Lena Headey and David Wenham. One other problem that made me grumble once leaving the theatre was the ending.

The film concludes with spartan and athens converging on Xerxes army, it ends here. I could see it coming from a mile away and it was disappointing. 

I agree with filmmaker Gareth Edwards in what he said about how the main focus should be just on the one film. Give it a solid open and close ending, don't leave things hanging. Christopher Nolan is the same. We need more films that tie everything up in the end and give a highlight for future events, not cutting off right when something big is about to happen. 

The acting is still top notch in this, the action intense, the blood gushes, and the plot in the first two acts is solid. I loved the visuals and the score was not half bad. 

An enjoyable action film, while it does not quiet live up to the original film it still makes for an entertaining time at the movies. 

Rating: B 

300: Rise of the Empire + Noah

These movie reviews I will write and post this weekend.

Movies I missed out on…

Action-thriller with Liam Neeson and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) 

Paul Anderson Actioner with Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) 

Noah review over 300

Hello all, I know I have not posted reviews in some time. I did see the new 300. I have now seen the new movie, Noah. I will post a review of Noah rather than 300. Its the most recent movie I have seen and I will be posting more often.

300: Rise of the Empire

The sequel I am most excited to see, either tonight or this weekend. As many of you must know why, look at the poster.

Eva Greene as Artemisia

Robo-cop (2014)

A remake of the classic Paul Verhoeven 1987 classic comes the new retelling of our human-android.

The story for the new film is as such:

In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy - a loving husband, father and good cop - is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer.

I was worried about this movie, I did not feel that the film would be any good. I was proven surprisingly wrong. The film starts off with a broadcast set in a foreign country where machines are being used to keep people in line. What happens is one of the men of the village attack and it ends with the death of a young boy.

The film does do some great work on its story mixing entertainment with political undertones with delicate precision. Jose Padilha does a fantastic job at updating the material. The film came together really well, it wasn't confusing or overtly violent. An R-rating can not guarantee a great rating or box-office, so PG13 was the right way to go. Now it is still disturbing, when they took off Alex's armour. Jose did brilliant work on this film and really drives home the issues of what makes for a good, solid protective society.

The cast is just phenomenal. Ranging from Michael Keaton (Batman), Joel Kinnaman (The Killing), Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earl Haley, Jennifer Ehle, Jay Baruchel, and even Samuel L Jackson. All round the cast is phenomenal. Not one actor was non-believable. Michael played it up as the mysterious head of OmniCorp with great charisma. No one in this ever felt cheesy or lame. Joel was brilliant as Alex Murphy and was perfectly cast. I'm really starting to like Joel since this film. Gary Oldman was so much the human core of the film, him and Abbie (who play's Alex's wife). She was so real and strong. Jennifer and Jay worked well off each other as Mr. Sellars assistants. Jackie was also very strong as the secondary villain, he was really good in the role and did a very solid representation of the side of machines and how they have a better efficiency than a human.

The visual effects and costume designs are very terrific, astonishing even. The sequence that takes place out of America was very believable and strong, the robots were very well done. As for Robocop's suit, we get to see a great revival of the original suit and the new dark knight suit. I liked both, I did love the classic suit more than the new sleek black but the costume change worked for the story. When Alex was in the black suit, he was controlled by Mr. Sellars. It starts with the original suit and it does end with the original suit as well, so for any future sequel the original suit will come back in all it's glory.

Not many remakes are good but this year has had a few, Jack Ryan was one, this is another. These remakes were solid, though this Robocop was more entertaining than Jack's film.

2014's Robocop is intense, driven and fuelled with some solid political insight. If you are a fan of the original you should at least check out this re-adaptation. It's not as cheesy fun as the original nor does it have blood or guts, its a perfectly driven man vs. machine, political science fiction action film.

As far as being political, it deals with how the government allows robots overseas but not on their homeland. Politics get involved with the issues of citizen safety concerns or budgetary concerns, can a robot feel? Can a machine properly protect? Questions like this are thrown out there and the issue of a machine's emotional stance is questioned throughout. Samuel L Jackson is like a serious version of Jon Stewart, he deals in the political climate, reports it, but does seem to have a secret agenda. He's fabulous in the role and represents one the films outlooks into its political allegories on citizen safety and machines over human cops. The film does even go into detail on corrupt politicians and police. There are some questions left unanswered but they're no big concerns.

Robocop is by far a fun action flick, peppered with fantastic acting and action set pieces. I very much enjoyed this film. Another fun night at the movies.

Rating: B+