Elysium

Neill Blomkamp is a master of modern sci-fi cinema. His last film, District 9, looked at racism targeted at Zimbabwean refugees in the slums of Johannesburg, albeit through the eyes of an alien race that had been stranded on Earth. Blomkamp successfully identifies social issues and presents them in a way that gets the public thinking.

In Elysium, the social messages are a lot more apparent. It takes place on an overpopulated Earth in the year 2154. Max (Matt Damon) is an ex-con working at a robot factory, with the hopes of saving up enough money to buy a ticket to Elysium, a space station that houses the rich and powerful, who are able to stay healthy with the help of med-pods. After an accident at the factory that leaves Max with radiation poisoning, he endeavours to get to Elysium and a chance at life.

Blomkamp tackles social issues such as overpopulation, refugees and wealth disparity perfectly in this film. There are scenes that somewhat humanise the people smugglers and the refugees trying to lead a better life. The other big issue is the overpopulation that some developing nations are experiencing. Some of the film was shot in Mexico City and it is amazing to see the state of how people live.

One of the only issues that I really had with the film was the poor character development. We never really get any time to fully connect with any of the characters or feel for their situation.

That is not to say that there was any bad acting. Matt Damon was fantastic as Max and you could really see his desperation to get to Elysium. Alice Braga (Predators) plays Max's childhood friend and a nurse at one of the big hospitals. Her character felt like a would be love interest for Max, but her sole intention is the survival of her daughter.

Jodie Foster plays the head of Elysium's defences, but she really has her eye on the position of President. She is ruthless and will do anything to get her way, even if it means using psychopathic sleeper agent Kruger (Sharlto Copley). Copley couldn't any farther from the loveable Wikus he played in District 9, in fact he is downright creepy. He has some very cringeworthy moments.

The visuals in this movie are fantastic. Blomkamp and his cinematographer are downright masters of innovation with a camera. There are a lot of techniques that defy explanation and I studied camera work. There were one or two shots early on that were headache inducing, but by and large, it's a visual masterpiece.

Verdict: Blomkamp once again crafts a biting social commentary that will really force you to not just think of the future, but the present as well.

Kick-Ass 2

As much as the original Kick-Ass presented us with what it would be like if there were actually real life superheroes, this film deals us with the consequences of what it is to be a superhero. I can't help but feeling like this film was made as a public service announcement for those people who actually want to do this kind of thing.

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has given up fighting crime as the superhero Kick-Ass and wants to live the life of a regular teenager. Soon he starts training again with Mindy Macready (Chloe Grace Moretz), formerly Hit-Girl. Before long, he joins a group of other superheroes headed by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). Meanwhile, Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is still brooding over the fact that Kick-Ass killed his father and vows to kill him as the world's first supervillain, The Motherf***er.

I felt that this movie was just a little weaker than the original film and I have a feeling that this was down to it having a different director. Matthew Vaughn (also known as Guy Ritchie's producer) gave the last film a certain energy that this one lacked. Jeff Wadlow (who also wrote the script) did an alright job at showing us the consequences of being a superhero. I think that I may be being a bit harsh on him, as Kick-Ass is a tough act to follow.

Taylor-Johnson did a great job playing a character who is torn between what he thinks his duty is and what he thinks a teenager should be doing. There are few scenes between him and his father (played by Garrett Brown) that really shows his inner conflict.

Moretz does a fantastic job as Macready, who is trying to learn to be a normal girl after the events of the last film. She has an energy and passion for acting that I really think will pay off for her in the future.

Jim Carrey once again shines in a film. Unlike Burt Wonderstone, where he outshone the stars, he really complements the rest of the cast. A lot of the humour in the film comes from his character's wacky view on being a superhero. It is a shame that he has since denounced the level of violence in the film, but it is good to point out that these violent actions do have heavy repercussions in the film.

There are also some very funny cameos from Donald Faison (Scrubs), John Lequizamo (Ice Age, Super Mario Bros.) and Iain Glen (everybody's favourite khaleesi bodyguard from Game of Thrones) as Chris D'Amico's truly terrifying uncle.

Verdict: The first Kick-Ass did seem like lightning in a bottle, but this film still does a great job with the cast and characters and does have some truly funny parts.

We're The Millers

We're the Millers does an unconventional take on the family road trip movie. There are some elements that people will recognise, but for the most part, you won't.

David (Jason Sudeikis) is a low-level drug dealer working for Brad Gurlinger (Ed Helms), a crazy drug baron who likes to show off his wealth. One day, David gets his stash and money stolen by some thugs and ends up being blackmailed by Brad to do some smuggling for him. He enlists the help of his neighbour, Kenny (Will Poulter), a runaway, Casey (Emma Roberts), and a stripper who lives in his building, Rose (Jennifer Aniston). They pose as a family to bring the drugs to the States from Mexico in a RV. They soon discover that they stole the drugs from an equally crazed Mexican baron, Pablo Chacon (Tomer Sisley), and race to get to Denver before they can be stopped.

This movie is a lot funnier than what I expected. There are a lot of jokes about regular family road trips, but also jokes about how this group isn't a real family. One hilarious ongoing joke involves a weed baby.

Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live, Horrible Bosses) is a great leading man in this comedy and you can see that he is really comfortable doing improvisation, because I'm sure most of his priceless one-liners couldn't be written, even by the funniest comedy writers.

It was amazing to see America's sweetheart Jennifer Aniston play a foul mouthed role. It's always refreshing to see actors go against the grain and take a role that no one's seen them do before. Aniston is  just plain funny as she really gets into the role of trying to be a fake mother to this family. She sort of reminds me of Catherine O'Hara in Orange County.

Will Poulter has been consistently funny throughout his career. He was hilarious in the British sketch show School of Comedy and now he has proven that he can be funny in a feature length film. I look forward to seeing a lot more of him in future.

I know Emma Roberts (Scream 4) has been working in Hollywood for years, but prior to this, none of her films have appealed to me. That's not to say that she isn't a good actress, because this film clearly shows that she is.

Verdict: A genuinely funny and original comedy that will appeal to anyone who's ever been on a family road trip. Or smuggled drugs.

Pain & Gain

Michael Bay and his production company Platinum Dunes have been much derided in past years for his Transformers movies and remakes of classic 80s movies (which I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy). But Pain & Gain is different. I think it shows that Bay is a talented director, who just needs to put a little more effort into his work.

The movie follows the unbelievably true story of three Miami bodybuilders, who in the mid-90s extorted one wealthy businessman and killed a porn magnate and his girlfriend. Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) is a lowly gym employee with dreams of greatness. He convinces fellow colleagues Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) and Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) to help kidnap corrupt businessman Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and extort him of his wealth. Soon things start to unravel when greed, addiction and desperation get in the way.

With all the action that is going on in this film, it is hard to believe that this film is based on a true story. But it reminds throughout the film when it occasionally breaks the fourth wall, though only in subtle ways. There was an interesting direction of giving all the main characters a voice over piece at some stage in the film, but it was cool to see the inner workings of these characters.

Mark Wahlberg has always interested me as an actor, taking varied roles in movies (sort of like Nic Cage). His take on muscle-head Danny Lugo is humourous at some points and from the articles that I've been reading, pretty close to the actual guy.

Anthony Mackie has been off my radar and apart from The Hurt Locker, this is the only other film I've seen him in. I feel as though his character just got swept up in Danny's can-do attitude.

Fans of the Rock may be surprised to see a different side to the man. Dwayne Johnson plays an ex-con who finds religion in a big bad way, but soon reverts to his pre-prison days. Johnson really conveys the pain felt by his character when he has his crises of faith.

The techniques picked up by Bay on the Transformers movies really pays off. He knows how to use a camera and constantly uses excited angles and slow and fast motion to convey the action when it happens. All this with the beautiful surroundings of Miami make for a cool movie.

Verdict: Mark Wahlberg and Michael Bay make a refreshing team-up. If you like the 90s, you'll probably like this movie. Most of all, be a do-er, not a don't-er.

Classic Movie Review: Sherlock Jr. (1924)

I'm going a bit old school with this review. I watched this film as a part of my film studies course and I felt as though I had to share my feelings about this comedy classic.

The film follows a lowly projectionist and wannabe private detective (Buster Keaton) as he tries to solve the mystery of who stole his lover's father's watch. The plot of this film is so simple that it makes it easier to focus on the gags that are hilarious.

Most of these gags however, are mind-blowing. Keaton did all his own stunts and some of them are quite hairy. One sequence features him on the handlebars of a riderless motorcycle that careens through unbelievable situations. Another has him jump through both a person and solid wall, a trick which made the entire audience (made up of people mostly under-25) gasp audibly and this is in the age where you can do anything with the help of CGI.

One sequence was also a marvel of editing. In a dream sequence, the projectionist enters a dream like moment and walks into the screen and becomes part of the film that is playing. The film cuts through a number of locations that the character interacts with and in each location he visits, he is in the same part of the frame. This is all happening while we can see the rest of the cinema.

The jokes are the old style of slapstick, but still communicate well with today's audiences. It brings everyone down to the same level, so nobody can say that they didn't get the jokes.

Verdict: A masterful comedy that everyone will enjoy and will hopefully watch with awe. It is available to watch on Youtube and I very strongly recommend that you do.

The Way, Way Back

I'm just going to get straight to the point, this is one of the best films I've ever seen. I'm going to have to go back and amend my top ten list. Written and directed by Academy Award winners Jim Rash and Nat Faxon (Best Adapted Screenplay for The Descendants, 2011), it is probably the best comedy that I have ever seen.

14-year-old Duncan (Liam James) is on summer holiday to his mother's boyfriend's, Trent (Steve Carell), beach house in a sleepy East Coast town. His mother, Pam (Toni Collette), is hoping that the two bond over the summer. Duncan soon becomes frustrated with Trent's cold attitude towards him and adventures to the nearby water park. He is offered a job by the owner, Owen (Sam Rockwell), and soon becomes the hero of the staff.

Duncan has a budding relationship with his neighbour, Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), whilst his mother's relationship is slowly fading.

This film is an excellent example of character driven comedy. All the characters are fully formed and lead the story in their own ways. Both Faxon (Freeloaders) and Rash (Community) are master writers and although I haven't seen The Descendants I can see that they are great writers, as well as directors. They also play two of the water park's employees and prove that they can achieve a high level of excellence in all fields.

The cast of this movie is amazing. Liam James is a newcomer to main roles in film, but carries the role amazingly. He plays his character so amazingly and the development that he goes through is out in front and fantastic. I expect that we'll be seeing a lot more of him.

Steve Carell (Anchorman) plays against type and goes for a serious role this time. He is entirely believable as the douchebag boyfriend and from the opening scene onward you will hate him. And that's the mark of a fantastic actor.

AnnaSophia Robb (Soul Surfer) is incredible as the girl next door and does play the character in the stereotypical way. Likewise, Sam Rockwell (Moon) is uplifting as Owen and you can really see the connection that he has with Duncan.

I laughed the hardest at Allison Janney (the mum from Juno), who plays Susanna's mother. She is perpetually drunk and is constantly saying inappropriate things to her friends and even her own children, but I can see her as a good mother.

Verdict: A perfect movie. I saw it with a large, varied group and everyone loved it. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves movies and it has a great uplifting message.

The World's End

The comedy team that began with the TV show Spaced, have finally finished their Blood and Ice Cream trilogy with The World's End. I hope that this will not be the last time that Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright team up, because they make such good comedies.

In The World's End, perennial loser Gary King (Pegg), is wanting to reunite his old group of friends from high school to complete a pub crawl that they failed to complete in 1990. He rousts up his friends, including his former best friend, Andy (Frost), and drives them to their hometown of Newton Haven to commence a night of drunken debauchery. The only problem is that they are all in their 40s and have lost the drive to get belligerently drunk.

Once they get back to their hometown, they realise that not is all as it seems. They slowly find out that all the people in their hometown have been replaced by robots. They continue on their crawl and try to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This film is a really fitting end to the trilogy (the other two being Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz). The film did give a feeling that it was slightly similar to the British indie comedy Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel, but I suppose that only stems from the fact that they both take place in pubs. Pegg and Frost have a great chemistry that has been built up of over a decade of working together. King is character that you almost feel sorry for, even during his most cringeworthy moments. You also feel sorry for Andy being dragged along on his exploits.

The rest of the cast are also fantastic performers. Martin Freeman (The "British" Office), Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes) and Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) play the rest of the crew that are conned into coming along. My only gripe with the movie is that these characters are not fleshed out a bit more and given some more interesting backstories. Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher) also makes an appearance and shows that she has great comedic timing.

For the fans of the other two movies, all the recurring jokes are there, including fence jumping, Bill Nighy and Cornettos. It would be interesting to see how this movie would work as a drinking game, drinking whenever they do in the movie. But I'm not advising it, I think any normal person would die from that amount of alcohol. Also I don't think they'd let you drink in a movie theatre. Unless you're in Amsterdam.

Verdict: A great comedy for all to see, but fans of the trio will feel vindicated. Pegg, Frost and Wright are hilarious.