The Movie Year So Far: Disappointments

We're now halfway through the year and summer movie season has just begun. I thought it would be a good time to have a small look back at the year so far, looking at different aspects. I'll save any lists of top 10 best films until the end of the year as it is the big one but this two part series will show the surprises of the year as will as this first post, the disappointments. 

Now I'm almost certain that people are going to disagree with some of the movies that appear on this list. That's more than fine, if there is a film on this list that you really liked, great! I'm glad you could get more enjoyment out of them than I could. These are all my opinion and are just the films that I feel failed to deliver.

5. Batman V Superman

Starting off is a film that has really split audiences. This film should've been the greatest superhero movie ever with the two most popular characters coming together on the big screen for the first time. Instead we got one of the messiest movies so far that tried so hard to catch up with Marvel but failed miserably in doing so. Some awful plot points and writing really hurt this one so much that not even Ben Affleck's Batman could save it. Don't even bring up the use of 'Granny's Peach Tea' or 'Martha' which brought some of the most laughably bad moments this year. The only reason this is fifth in the list is due to the trailers beforehand which seemed to signal that this film would not be great.

4. X-Men Apocalypse

Sadly at number four is another superhero movie that looked to be setting up an epic clash. X-Men had a very good trailer and added Oscar Isaac to become the latest villain in the series as well as bringing in a young cast to freshen up some of the other heroes. However the film didn't use the new cast to nearly its full potential and created one of the most average superhero movies of recent times. A few glimpses of greatness weren't enough as the latest X-Men failed to deliver what promised to be an amazing spectacle. It didn't seem like this one would fail and looked a certainty to build on from the success of 'Days of Future Past' but it created the worst out of the new trilogy. Very disappointing which came as quite a surprise to me as I expected big things from this instalment.

 3. Hail Caesar!

Arguably the best cast of the year so far with the direction of the famous Coen Brothers, Hail Caesar! had all the potential to be fantastic. A decent trailer had me looking forward to this look back at 1950's cinema. However the films story ended up being quite pointless with not much really happening in the film. Topped off with a weak ending, Hail Caesar! became one of the most underwhelming movies that has came out this year. The film had great potential and seemed to be setting up a lot of exciting stories however it just seemed to not have anything that interesting happen and all the stories fell short. It certainly didn't deliver which is really disappointing considering the talent which was involved.

2. High Rise

High Rise had one of the best trailers of the year which got me so excited to see the full film. A solid cast starring the easily likeable Tom Hiddleston added to this and I expected High Rise to be one of the films we would be talking about throughout the rest of the years for all the right reasons. Unfortunately High Rise is probably the messiest film of the year so far to the point where you can barely keep up with everything that is going on and was hardly watchable. The trailer also seemed to mislead with the way it was going which didn't help. I eagarly anticipated this one for months and when it eventually came, sadly I left hugely disappointed.

1. Midnight Special

The biggest disappointment of the year so far by a clear distance is Midnight Special. Like the other films on this list, Midnight Special had a great trailer. It left plenty of mystery for the audience going into this which is great in this day in age. Little did I know that it wasn't really keeping that much away from me as I sat through one of the most boring movies of the year. This film has done incredibly well with critics and I just don't understand how. Nothing eventful happens in this film and it is so bleak that makes you wish you were watching nearly any other sci-fi movie. This film features talented actors like Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Adam Driver and even none of them could make the film seem that interesting. The ending is a total mess and is so strange that there is no knowing to what has just happened.

So that concludes my list of the top 5 movies that have disappointed me so far this year. I'd like to know which films have disappointed you this year. I'm really quite saddened that these films didn't quite do enough for me but there have been plenty that have surprised me in a good way. That will be the next post in this mini series so please make sure to look out for that post too!

Once again thank you for reading my blog post, it is much appreciated.

By Angus McGregor

'Mother's Day' Review

From the creator of 'Pretty Woman' and 'Valentines Day' comes 'Mother's Day'. Maybe its just cause I'm in the UK but do many people do such extravagant things on this day?

Sandy (Jennifer Aniston) is a single mom whose troubles are made worse when she finds out that her ex-husband is marrying a hot twenty-something. Meanwhile her friend Jesse (Kate Hudson) continues to refuse to tell her family that she has a family with a man of South Asian descent as her sister also doesn't let it be known that she has a lesbian life partner. Bradley (Jason Sudekis) is a widower who now has to try and raise his two daughters on his own whilst dealing with the loss of his wife. Miranda (Julia Roberts) is a well known personality and author who chose a career over a family which led her to give up her daughter. Kristin (Britt Robertson), Miranda's daughter now has abandonment issues and won't allow the father of her child Zak (Jack Whitehall) to marry her until she deals with it.

As you can see from that synopsis, you can see that it is a pretty filled to the brim film. And this does really hurt the film as it tries to give each of the characters their fair share of screen time. The characters are thrown in and out of the film so much that you struggle to grow to care about any of them really as the disappear for large chunks of the film. A lot of the main focus seems to be on Jesse's (Hudson) family full of insecure adults who struggle to be able to come clean about their true and harmless lives. The family aren't the greatest people in the world which doesn't really want you to see as much of them.  Most of the jokes throughout the parts of the film with this family are borderline offensive especially with the only minority being the target of racial stereotypes to make the parents seem charming.

This also doesn't allow the likeable actors and actresses to shine like they should. I've enjoyed previous films with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudekis and this film really disappointed me with how it used them. It hinted in the trailer that they would come together but it just drops it entirely until the ending. I would have liked to have seen more focus on this story as they were easily likeable and much more entertaining to watch. They could've scrapped everything else and made this just as a romantic comedy with an interesting premise of the two coming together with their past experiences and both sets of children. However they decided to go with more stories which became overcrowded very easily.

The films main purpose looks to celebrate motherhood. However the mothers in this film are just complaining the whole time and we only see one time where a mother does something that is actually good. They don't do anything that is worth celebrating. One doesn't let their family know of their child. One abandons her child at birth. One wants to look better than her ex rather than just being a good mother. And the worst one is racist. So not exactly making these mothers worth celebrating to be perfectly honest.

When I was in the cinema seeing a pre screening of this movie, it was filled with casual viewers and has been one of the most packed of the Cineworld Unlimited screenings I've been to. And for the most part, the audience seemed to really love it. They were laughing out loud quite a lot. However this really wasn't the case for me. I seemed to be the only one not having a good time which seems to have been the case for most comedies this year. The jokes really aren't that great as they mainly try to shock you but they end up failing. This is mainly down to the writing with a lot of the characters having some terrible dialogue. I hope Jack Whitehall didn't write his own stand up routine in this film as it was way below his standard.

Final Verdict = 

'Mother's Day' really isn't that great of a film as it spends too much time focusing on some awful characters. Some terrible writing doesn't help this film at all either. However it has been proven to me that some may really enjoy this but unfortunately wasn't really the case for me.

So have you seen 'Mother's Day'? If so what did you think of it? I hope you enjoyed this review and if you go see this film, I hope you enjoy it more than I did! Once again thank you for reading my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor

'The Angry Birds Movie' Review

With 'Warcraft' recently disappointing showing that video game movies still struggle to work, The Angry Birds stepped up to try and bring a bit of credit back to video game movies however on a different scale, as a feature length kids movie. 

Red (Jason Sudekis) is one of the few flightless birds who does not follow the others of leading a happy life. Daily annoyances lead to Red having to go to anger management where he meets fellow strugglers Chuck (Josh Gad) and Bomb (Danny McBride). As pigs come to the island of the birds, this aggravates Red even more and when it turns out that he was right about them, he and his new acquaintances will team up to save the islands precious eggs.

The Angry Birds Movie seems like it really should of came out a few years ago, right? It was huge when it burst out onto the scene with it gaining huge popularity and you could hardly escape hearing about the simple destructive game. Nowadays, it seems to just be another game and isn't mentioned nearly as much as it once was. It must still be a massive hit with younger audiences as for everyone else, the magic has seemed to have disappeared. 

And you can clearly tell that this film is made clearly for kids. An abundance of jokes coming from bird puns fills the movies as well as jokes mainly about the characters. The traits of Red, Chuck and Bomb are constantly used as jokes throughout the film. The humour used is mainly very childish and is based towards that target audience quite clearly so the general audience may not get as much enjoyment out of this as their kids would.

In recent years we have been lucky enough to have great animated movies like 'Inside Out' and 'Zootropolis'- or Zootopia depending where in the world you are- entertain both adults and children. Now not every movie is going to look to do this and have a deeper message that will bring the adults more enjoyment than the kids will. But then you have the likes of the Kung Fu Panda series which had its third instalment earlier this year that doesn't try to do so as much. This series looks to entertain younger audiences much more than anything else which is fine. My point in saying this is that this movie does simply try to entertain younger audiences but even still, it does not do it to the same standard as others out there. It might be unfair to compare it to an established franchise but that also had to start off somewhere but without the luxury of having a well known brand behind it. 

The main part of the Angry Birds games is the destruction as you have to figure out how to cause maximum damage to the pigs settlements as you retrieve the eggs. Doesn't really seem like the most solid idea for a movie and it shows in the movie. There isn't much to the film as you will just be waiting for the moment where it all kicks off. This only actually happens for a short period of time in the film as the first hour is a basic story that is once again catered to children and is oh so predictable. The eventual destruction is quite entertaining but isn't enough unfortunately to make up for the rest of the film.

High praise has to go to the animation within the film. Now most animated films all look incredible today as we really are quite spoiled when it comes to these visuals. Angry Birds does not let down with this. What amazed me in particular was the detail that went into things like the individual feathers on the birds and also the blades of grass. They looked phenomenal in the film and were very detailed giving them near realistic looks.

Final Verdict = 

The Angry Birds follows a very predictable plot and has its jokes clearly aimed at younger audiences. The bright colours and characters as well as the final act will be enough to entertain your kids for the run time but won't do so nearly as much for adult viewers.

So have you seen 'The Angry Birds Movie'? If so what did you think of it? I hope you enjoyed this review and found it useful for if you were planning on seeing the movie! Once again, thank you for reading my review, it is much appreciated.

By Angus McGregor

'The Nice Guys' Review

Shane Black directing a buddy cop film starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. It really didn't take much else for me to be sold by this film.

Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) is a hired enforcer who makes his living by hurting people. One of those unlucky victims is Holland March (Ryan Gosling) a private investigator. In a strange twist if events, the two will now have to team up as they look to find the missing Amelia (Margaret Qualley) before she is killed. The investigation puts their lives in danger as they face trouble everywhere the case takes them.

'The Nice Guys' is probably the best start to the summer season of movies that I could of asked for. This is by far one of the most fun films of the year and its mainly due to the two leads within the film. Crowe and Gosling work incredibly well together and it creates a very enjoyable viewing. The two are most definitely an odd pairing which leads to some hilarious scenes as they try to work together. The combination is one of the highlights of the film with the performances not letting the audience down. Black's previous successful work in creating a similar duo is evident as he pulls it off incredibly well once again.

Not only does Black create the odd pairings relationship very well but also each of their individual characters. Both of the leads characters are shown to be quite tough with their job but are layered with quite troubled backstories. Crowe's character Healy is the muscle and makes his living from causing pain but all he really wants to do is to be able to make a difference for the good of people. However circumstances have not lead him to be able to do so which does seem to bother him. A fairly good change rather than the muscle having no remorse whatsoever.

The same can be said for Gosling's Holland March. March has to deal with the struggles of losing his home as well as his wife, leaving him to protect and provide for his daughter all by himself. He continuously blames himself which leads to him turning to the booze which takes its effect throughout the film. A layered back story for arguably the main cause of humour in the film was perfect and fantastically written character. Huge credit must go to Black and co-writer Anthony Bagarozzi for achieving this.

As well as being incredibly funny, the film does not let down with its action and even incorporates some of the comedy within it. The action is done to a very high standard in the film with a good mix between hand to hand combat and combat with automatic weapons. The scenes are pulled off incredibly well and are incredibly easy to keep up with as they progress. Thoroughly entertaining throughout and really helps elevate the movie.

Although the film is a blast with great comedy and action, it also leads to causing a bit of a problem for the film. As the film has a sequence which is highly entertaining, it does slow down which causes it to lose some of its momentum. It is a very small critique but it could have possibly been transitioned a bit better. Another problem that I have with the film is that the main story does end rather abruptly. You spend most of the runtime following this story and it doesn't seem to really deliver as well as you would like it to do. There aren't really any big issues with the film which helps to make it that more enjoyable.

Another thing that makes this film so great is that everything within it has a purpose. Something may seem quite odd and out of place but later on, it fulfils its purpose of being in the film. It doesn't waste your time or try to fill the movie with just complete nonsense which also is a credit to the writers. 

It was very clever how the film handled its villains by not ever giving too much away throughout the film. It leads you to believe certain things and as the story goes on, it becomes trickier to see who really is the enemy. It's not obvious from the start how this will pan out and with each of the characters being introduced, you aren't entirely sure who or what to believe.

Final Verdict = 

A fantastic buddy cop, action comedy that delivers throughout the whole film. The two leads are fantastic and create a great on screen duo. Well worth seeing!

So have you seen 'The Nice Guys'? If so what did you think of it? I hope this review was useful for if you were deciding to go and see the movie. I'd also like to know what are your favourite movies featuring a strange partnership? Once again, thank you for reading my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor

'Me Before You' Review

Whenever you're usually sat in a theatre with a group of childish and joking teenagers who are your friends and a romance film trailer pops up, the first reaction is usually to ridicule or turn it down immediately. This was the case with 'Me Before You' which unfairly became the target of our jokes. However the actual quality of the film doesn't deserve that leading to one of the biggest surprises I've had this year at the cinema.

Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) seems to have a great, adventurous life until he his hit by a motorcycle which damages his spinal cord and leaves most of his body paralysed. In order to try lift his spirits, his mother looks for a carer to come and help care for him and be good company. Desperate Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) is looking for a job and lands the opportunity to care for Will. Will is not good company at first but Louisa doesn't give up as the two grow closer as they deal with their own problems.

I really didn't expect to get much enjoyment from this film at all. It's not usually what would appeal to me and I was really sceptical going into this. Thankfully the film is a lot more entertaining than I expected. This is mainly due to the two leads in the film. Now do they produce the greatest performances ever? No, they are borderline bad at times throughout the film. However in saying this, they were entertaining for the most part of the film. Clarke's bubbly personality seems to have transcended over to this role which makes for a pleasant viewing. Her character is instantly likeable with her clumsiness and charming ways. Claflin's character Will doesn't gain as much sympathy as he should at the start but once he stops trying to distance himself from Louisa, he does start to become a more interesting character who you feel for as the story progresses.

From the genre, trailer and general synopsis, you expect this to be quite the emotional tearjerker. However the film seems to lose track of this at times and is mainly just a comedy. It loses focus at times which does effect the impact of the film as it starts to lose focus of the severity of what is happening. Although this does allow the film to be quite entertaining, it can't be denied that the impact does damage the film when it comes to those more emotional moments. 

The ending of the film really doesn't deliver as much as you would hope it would which may be in part to the large part of the film being joyous. It can also be said that the ending seemed slightly rushed into as they kind of just fall into the ending. The last scene featuring the two is pretty quick and doesn't create a situation that would leave members of the audience fully effected. I really feel that if they took a bit more time to maybe make this a complete a 2 hour feature film, it would have had a much more powerful ending.

In saying that though, the film does do quite well to make you care about the characters. Obviously it doesn't take much to feel for Will as it is clearly a very tragic injury. It does well to build on this as it shows Will previously being quite the 'action man' as he thoroughly enjoys travelling and completing extreme sports. Louisa also has her own troubles but this time at her home where her sister wants to leave home, her dad can't get a job and that she is the sole breadwinner despite wanting to break away from her mundane home. These aren't helped by her current boyfriend Patrick (Matthew Lewis) who is more interested in fitness rather than doing something nice for his girlfriend. Not quite the same severity of problems compared to Will but nevertheless something that ordinary people are more likely to relate to.

A great part this film that also helps the emotional sides of this comes with the soundtrack. Although the tone is misguided at times, some of the songs within the film do help bring the emotion to make up for it a little. Tracks from Jesse Ware and Ed Sheeran do a great job and are perfect in the moments they appear in. It does add an extra something to the film which you hope all soundtracks do. 

Final Verdict = 

The film could've been much more powerful and more focussed at times but I have to give credit where it's due. This film certainly entertained me and didn't feel too long at any time which made for quite the enjoyable viewing. One of the more surprising films I've seen this year.

So have you seen Me Before You? If so what did you think of the film? I hope you enjoyed this review and that it was useful for if you were planning on seeing the film. Once again, thank you for reading my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor

Month in the Movies: May

May is the last stop before summer movie season arrives and the blockbusters flow out into theatres. This month I was lucky enough to catch 12 films this month with a wide range of genres within the list.  If you aren't sure what this post is about, each month I look back at the movies I seen in that month and rank them based on a combination of how good the movie was and how much I enjoyed it.  So lets get started with number 12!

12. Warcraft

The adaptation from a highly successful video game series contained bland characters and a messy story. The search for a good video game movie continues as Warcraft was a huge disappointment. Fans of the franchise may enjoy it but not one for the casual audience.

Final Verdict = D

Check out my review for Warcraft here

11. Bad Neighbours 2

I seem to be in the minority when it comes to this film. Many have enjoyed it but it just didn't connect with me. The rivalry wasn't close to that of the first one and due to that the comedy never quite hit with me. I really struggled with this film and it wasn't a pleasant viewing for me.

Final Verdict = D

Check out my review for Bad Neighbours 2 here

10. Alice Through The Looking Glass

The new film in Underland was better than the first but that isn't saying much. The film is visually beautiful but has some terrible performances and a messy story that heavily hinder it. An opportunity missed to get the franchise back on track which was missed.

Final Verdict = C-

Check out my review for Alice Through The Looking Glass here

9. Our Kind Of Traitor

A spy thriller that seemed to lack both the spy and thriller parts. An average film which gets fairly boring at times due to it being pretty uneventful. Some decent performances help the film as well as some great cinematography.

Final Verdict = C

Check out my review for Our Kind Of Traitor here

8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Another film that is better than the first instalment but again mainly due to the lack of quality in the first one. However the film does build on things it desperately needed to to make the franchise better overall. It does let itself down by rehashing parts of the first film and with some of its human characters too.

Final Verdict = C

Check out my review for TMNT: Out of the Shadows here

7. Demolition

Jake Gyllenhaal tries his best within this film but it doesn't reach the standard of his latest films. Some plot points shoved in for extra unnecessary drama with an ending that seems pretty odd. An enjoyable watch though with some good comedy within it.

Final Verdict = C+

Check out my review of Demolition here

6. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Tina Fey and Martin Freeman shine in this comedy set in Afghanistan. The two create a very enjoyable viewing with some truly funny moments. The film struggles at times to follow a clear story which does hinder it.

Final Verdict = C+

Check out my review for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot here

'Alice Through The Looking Glass' Review

When you talk about sequels that are better than the first instalment, it can sometimes be hard to find one that people universally agree on. However we may of found one in Alice Through The Looking Glass. After the first instalment it wasn't really that hard though.

Mia Wasikowska is back again as Alice who after a while has returned to Underland. She is greeted by familair faces and the terrible news that the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is dying due to being haunted by his families death by the Jabberwocky. He is sure that they are still alive and believes only Alice can help get them back and restore the Hatter to full health. Alice will need the help from Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) to go back in time to save the Hatters family.

In the trailers of the film, it looked to be setting the character Time up to be the villain in the film. And at first it does seem to try and do so as Time pursues Alice and tries to stop her after she steals the Chronosphere that allows her to travel into the past. There is no real motivation for Time to be the villain here as what Alice is doing is potentially dangerous to the existence of their entire world. The film could've done with an actual villain throughout the whole film. Due to this the film does become quite a bit of a mess and loses focus at times. It isn't entirely sure what way it wants to go and it does hurt the film.

In saying that, I did enjoy watching the character Time played by Sacha Baron Cohen. He was entertaining throughout the film even with quite a ridiculous German accent. His eccentric ways and comedic timing actually was a highlight of the film. He interacts fairly well with the other characters especially with his own minions that create some enjoyable moments. Along with Wasikoswka, Cohen was the stand out in the film.

Wasikowska and Cohen stand out

It wasn't hard for Cohen and Wasikowska to stand out really as the film is filled with some awful performances. Johnny Depp is not in this film as much as the first but he is just as bad to watch. After the criticism received from the first film and his performance in 'Black Mass', I was hoping that Depp was maybe turning a corner and would've tried to have made things right in this film. Unfortunately he does not and his wacky ways of the first one as just as unenjoyable this time around. Just as bad once again is Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter. This is actually quite depressing as all three of these performers are capable of wonderful things and have done so in the past.

In 2011, Alice in Wonderland won two Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design as well as having another nomination for Best Visual Effects. It is highly possible that this may happen once again as it is a truly beautiful film in the terms of it's visuals. Everything looks fantastic once again and is so appealing to the eye. I seen this in IMAX and it was worth it as it added to the effects and made them look even better than they normally would. This does make the film that bit more bearable but unfortunately can't completely save the film.

The concept of time travel and the characters within the Alice franchise really should great something that is great fun. It has potential to be a very fun film and due to it not succeeding at this, it makes it hurt even more so. A real opportunity missed to get this franchise back on track which it sadly failed to deliver.

Final Verdict = 

A very nice looking film with a couple of good performances. Unfortunately the other performances let this down as well as the story not working as well as it could have. Better than the first which I guess is a positive.

So have you seen the latest instalment in the 'Alice' franchise? If so what did you think of it? Once again thank you for reading my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor