Terminator Genisys - Film Review

Yes! After 12 years away, Arnold Schwarzenegger is finally back where he belongs! The T-800 might be looking like he's ready for the scrapheap but there is still life left in the old cybernetic organism. Set on a new mission in this new Terminator summer blockbuster, Genisys is the set up for a new line of Terminator sequels being released by Paramount within the next three years. Why such a quick turnaround in the demand for Terminator sequels? Have the fans been pounding the studio door down demanding this? Not really. Legendary director James Cameron will reacquire the rights from Paramount for the Terminator franchise in 2018 and as a result causing the studios to milk the cash cow, earning as much cash as possible before their adopted child gets reunited with daddy. Makes sense from a business point of view. But will they make enough effort and get their creativity in top gear to present a quality Terminator film, something which in my view hasn't been the case since Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Or in other words since James Cameron decided to quite literally jump ship and move on to make Titanic. However to my eye-opening surprise, Cameron did get me excited for this new sequel. In an interview with Yahoo he explained his opinion of the new film:


"I start to see things I recognise. It’s being very respectful of first two films. Then all of the sudden, it just swerves. And now I’m going on a journey. I feel like the franchise has been reinvigorated, like this is a renaissance."

High praise indeed from the man who created the first two Terminator films, timeless and original sci-fi/action classics. But even before I went to see the new film there was a problem. The trailer. It's possibly the most spoiler heavy trailer I've seen in a long time. Any plot twists or swerves in the story that were planned were obliterated carelessly by the marketing team. And that's such a shame and I don't think that's fair on director Alan Taylor who has publicly expressed his frustration at the marketing of the film. 

Terminator Genisys is situated in the timeline between the first two films in an attempt to freshen up and reinvent the franchise to create a new timeline specifically for these new sets of sequels. As in the first film a T800 terminator is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) is sent back by her son John Connor (Jason Clarke), the leader of the resistance to rescue her. However in a new twist to the story, Arnold's terminator has sent back earlier than previously explained and has trained Sarah Connor to be the ass kicking solider we know from Terminator 2 and this new team have to stop a billion dollar corporation from launching a new app "Genisys" which connects to everyone's electronic devices causing them to blow up and destroying all human life. That's the best way I can describe the plot without giving away any spoilers (unless you've seen the trailers).

The stand out in Terminator Genisys comes as no surprise, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was brilliant. He was the glue that held the film together. The quick one liners, the humour that he brings to the role and how he embraced his own age with an older terminator character was clever. I just can't imagine a Terminator film without him. There was plenty of well shot action scenes which entertained me and you can have plenty of fun whilst shoving popcorn in your face. The acting throughout is fine, it's not horrendous by any means. But fine is as far as the film goes.

I wouldn't try and attempt to follow the story of the film because it is so confusing and mind boggling hard to understand. Even when I got home I tried to piece together certain plot points and still it made no sense. How many times can Sarah and John Connor be in the same timeline?! Surely there must have been another event that occurred during the rise of Skynet and the destruction of mankind. Even when the actors are trying to explain the timeline changes that the film introduces, you can clearly tell they're concentrating hard to get to grips as to what they are actually saying. I don't think my brain has the capacity to explain that amount of ridiculous exposition. The mythology behind the new Terminator timeline is a mess and it lacks any feasible intelligence. I didn't think the actors were cast very well either. Jason Clarke isn't that military tough, gritty leader that John Connor is and he had to overact to the point of sounding like Christian Bale's Batman. Felt awkward. Emilia Clarke was serviceable as Sarah Connor even though at first I felt like she was doing a parody of Linda Hamilton but her character grew on me as you began to learn about her new rebooted past. Jai Courtney gets plenty of criticism for being a rubbish actor but I can't help but feel sorry for him especially because the script is so bland and boring. Safe and secure. And because of that the film won't be particularly memorable. Just another summer action film to pass the time on a rainy day. This shouldn't be the case because it's Terminator! 

Terminator Genisys is OK. It's neither a masterpiece nor a train wreck. You can enjoy having a mind numbing time watching it. However trying to make sense of the story is like a heavy session on the booze at the weekend. Mediocre isn't what Terminator should be about but the idea of having these new planned sequels was never about satisfying fans, only for Paramount Studios bank account. I think these new sequels have already found their level, average. It is disappointing but when a marketing team decides to spoiler 90% of the film in the trailer it's not a surprise either. Oh well, I'll always have the first two Terminator films at home with me. They'll never be forgotten about unlike this one.

5/10 

Maggie - Film Review

Ok so I'm having a bit of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film week. As a kid he was hilarious and now I'm a supposedly responsible adult, I still do. The man is my undisputed action hero. He's been a Greek god, a cybernetic organism four times (soon to be five), army major turned alien beater, police officer badass turned pre-school teacher, a swords and sandals dice and slicer named Conan, more recently a jail breaker and not to forget the iconic and utterly terrible Batman villain, Mr Freeze. Arnie's latest film Maggie however isn't quite the typical explosion, one liner extravaganza we're used to. Very different in fact.

Maggie is set in a post-apocalyptic world where people are being infected by virus which slowly turns them into zombies. Maggie (Abigail Breslin) unfortunately is one of these people to have been bitten so is quarantined by the local hospital. Doctors explain to her father Wade (Schwarzenegger) that he is able to take his daughter home until the virus progresses to the point that she has to be placed into quarantine with the rest of the infected population. With her condition worsening by the day and the mounting pressure from the authorities and his own family, Wade has the impossible choice of sending his sick daughter away to live with the rest of the infected in the unknown mysterious quarantine facility or ending her life at home by his hands. 

Having premiered at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, Maggie has an intriguing fusion of a zombie horror blended with heartfelt father and daughter drama that has fantastic performances from all of the cast, in particular from Schwarzenegger. His over the top awesome antics have been substituted for a more delicate, heartwarming, caring and more importantly, a realistic father figure. In terms of an acting performance, this is Arnie's best. There are no "Arnoldisms" to be found. There's an incredible depth to his character, a father who is desperate to preserve his daughter's last moments of her human life. Perfectly subtle and relatable. I'm astounded at how good he was in this film. This performance is well assisted from Abigail Breslin who gives a excellent mature performance as Maggie, showing her emotions without going melodramatic and sticks to the realistic tone of the film. Towards the second act of the film it becomes Breslin's film, presenting her slow transformation from teenager into a zombie and it has plenty of emotional weight behind it, not just from her family but her loyal group of friends too. I loved the grounded sense of desperation that the characters have to endure without shoving the dramatic moments down your throat like a Nicholas Sparks adapted novel.

As strong as the performances are, the story doesn't have the qualities to reach the film to a higher level. It is a very slow burner especially for a 90 minute film which won't be for everybody and nothing notable in the story happens when certain avenues of the storyline could have been exploited further to enhance the film. To put it bluntly, the plot is pretty dull and the pace of the film plods along. I personally don't mind slow pacing if there's enough intriguing heart pounding drama to get invested in but Maggie sadly just hasn't got anything to pack a punch behind the ideas that the film tries to explore.

Maggie is a solid debut from director Henry Hobson. His unique take on a zombie film is worth the watch just for the sublime performances. Its painfully slow melancholic pacing might be an off putter but the emotional father-daughter relationship between Schwarzenegger and Breslin is magnificent. It's Arnie as you've never seen him before.

7/10 

UK Release Date - Friday 24th July

The Rise of the Female Action Hero - Insurgent Film Review

This past weekend didn't start off to well for me. I contracted the ever deadly virus know to the world as Man Flu. I used the blu-ray player to its full capacity. I was searching through the growing collection number of blu-rays and found the first two films of the Alien franchise that I got for Christmas. I watched the original Alien a couple of years ago when I started to analyse cinema in more detail. It has so much historical value, not only for being the mother of sci-fi horror but for the strength and depth of their female characters, in particular Ellen Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver (I'll talk about her more in a min.) Her tenacity and courage over the male characters was very left-field and very much an unknown representation of women in films way back when. A rule breaker, a benchmark. Her character inspired a young James Cameron to create another iconic female of the cinematic universe, Sarah Connor in The Terminator. Her character arc from big haired blonde bimbo to eventually crushing Arnie's head with a hydraulic press was and still is pretty spectacular. An ordinary woman beating down and kicking ass was branded ridiculous by numerous pompous skeptics in the eighties. Guess what, it was brilliant. I'd say the ultimate female action hero for me is Ripley in Aliens, also directed Cameron. She's smart, physically and mentally stronger but also has a caring human side to her attempting to protect a young child from suffering the horrendous fate of the Aliens. The final scene where Ripley and the queen Alien face off and she's in the power loader battling away with her foe, it makes you want to get off your ass and start cheering at the TV. Bloody awesome. Great character, great film. It's fantastic to see more female action hero's in the big budget films. Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow easily went toe to toe with Tom Cruise in terms of physical acting, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Marvel's Cinematic Universe including the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron and not to forget Jessica Lawrence in The Hunger Games.

Insurgent is the second installment in The Divergent Series and stars Shailene Woodley as our female action hero. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, her society is broken up into various factions where they are surround by a wall, cut off from the rest of the world and beyond. However her character Tris does not belong to any set faction, in turn becoming a Divergent. This race of people is being hunted down by the almighty evil and sadistic Jeanine (Kate Winslet) who believes Divergents are dangerous and have no place in her ideal world. Tris and her friends plan to overthrow Jeanine at the helm so every faction can gain full control and gain some answers as to why they are separated. What is the underlying purpose of the faction system.

If you've not seen the first Divergent, you didn't particularly miss much. It wasn't a horrible film by any means but I've never watched it again. It was the epitome of rainy day film. It had enough entertainment to keep your brain engaged but it never shuffled your bum to the edge of the sofa. Watered down recycled storylines that have been tried and tested, a charismatic protagonist but side characters which were dictionary definitions, they had nothing about them. And to be honest, I can say the same for Insurgent.

Shailene Woodley proved once again she can hold her own as a female action star. She has layers of emotion and depth to her character which is beautifully portrayed in her performance. You care about her story, understanding the reasons for her decisions throughout the film. She has a charm that glows whenever she's on screen, a real sign of a talented performer. The director Robert Schwentke did an excellent job of creating the action scenes. They flowed simultaneously, choreographed expertly and filmed with no lazy quick cuts so you can actually witness some fighting without your head getting tormented. Tris and her boyfriend Four (Theo James) had reasonable chemistry that wasn't too cringe-worthy for an adapted young adult novel. I wasn't even annoyed by Jai Courtney, who reprises his role as head of security. Even if he was running around like a Terminator on steroids.

The nagging problems with Insurgent really is down to the basics. The producers of this film really wanted to throw in as many mini storylines to gain more back story to some of the side characters. Imagine creating a spider diagram with loads of ideas that come straight off the top of your head without thinking further about it. That's what happened to the plot of Insurgent. Interesting ideas on paper but no cohesive plan to merge all of them together. As a result the plot becomes a gigantic jumble with no valid explanation. This in return affects the side characters of the film. They're so cardboard cut out that you don't have a reason to care about any of them. Talents such as Naomi Watts and Miles Teller are completely wasted. They could have been Paul and Barry Chuckle and made no difference. Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is such a useless villain. Nothing about her character is menacing. She reminds me of a middle manager at work with a clipboard, pretending to be important and know what they're talking when really they haven't an f-in clue. I've seen scarier puppies. I think this boils down to the script. It's diabolical. The film makes a trip to the cliche factory and never leaves. You've heard it all before. Luckily it doesn't get delivered as cheese but it's curdling too much for my liking. Bare in mind the gentleman who wrote the script for this film wrote the screenplay for Batman and Robin........."Ice to see you Batmaaann!" (Facepalm).

I have my own conspiracy theory as to why The Divergent Series decided to get made in the first place. Lionsgate are the parent company who owns the series. Guess what else they own? The Hunger Games franchise. Funny how this film got released midway through the releases dates of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2. It's a stop gap for fans to enjoy a slice of distopia that they've missed for 6 months. Both franchises are similar in story, have identical characters and are based around a similar time in history of Earth. This film is a warm up act to the main performance. They're there to gear you up for what is yet to come, something bigger and better (even though I believe this better than Mockingjay Part 1).

It seems like I've really been hard on Insurgent. It's not a terrible movie at all. However it's re-run of the previous installment. The stakes aren't raised and the plot is symmetrical. You don't have to be a bookie to predict what will happen during the run-time. Another young adult novel adaptation that tries to be complex but has too many fundamental issues at the core and as a consequence bites more off than it can chew. Nonetheless it's a solid family film which could easily be used to entertain the kids this Easter.

6/10

New Films 2015 - What's Hot

Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a fantastic time off and enjoyed Santa's delivery of presents and eaten plenty of grub (I have!). To start off the year, I thought I'd give you the heads up on what to look out for at the cinema in 2015, aiming to hopefully point you in the right direction and recommend films that suit everyone's taste. Some of these titles you may have heard of already and be painfully waiting in anticipation for their release. Others are smaller independent films that may just creep under the radar and I'm hoping that these get more attention than they are currently receiving in the wider film community, showing that vast quantities of money and blockbuster budgets don't necessarily mean anything in the world of cinema in terms of quality and enjoyment :)


Ex Machina - Dir: Alex Garland; Stars: Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac

Release Date: January 23rd (UK)

Ex Machina is the directorial debut of successful writer Alex Garland who has worked alongside one of my favourite directors Danny Boyle to produce scripts for the films 28 Days Later and Sunshine, 2 sci-fi films with such depth and quality in the screenplay, not to mention overall just superb productions. The plot consists of Gleeson's character who works as a computer coder is sent by his company's CEO to a picturesque house in the mountains for a week only to discover than he becomes part of an experiment involving a new brand of Artificial Intelligence. Not only does the trailer for the film excite me but Oscar Issac, one of the rising stars in Hollywood, is playing the scientist who is creating these AI's and him agreeing to be part of a small indie film with a first time director at the helm can only be encouraging.

Spectre (Bond 24)  - Dir: Sam Mendes; Stars: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz 

Release Date: November 6th (Worldwide)

A brand new Bond film, Sam Mendes is back as the director, Oscar winning villain Christoph Waltz is the bad guy, gadgets, explosions, cheesy one liners, sweet new looking Aston Martin, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Batista) is a henchman, has that sold you the film yet? :D I love a bit of James Bond. He's the smoothest ladies-man spy ever to grace the screen and to survive 24 films you must be a pretty decent character. Sam Mendes brought a new level of grittiness and intensity to the Bond story with Skyfall which is to date the most successful Bond film ever. James Bond will seemingly never end and long may that continue.

Inside Out - Dir: Pete Docter; Stars: Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane

Release Date: July 24th (UK)

Brand new from Pixar, Inside Out tells the story of a young girl called Riley who is guided by her emotions in her head - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions are her guide, advising her throughout daily life.  Riley has recently moved with her family to San Francisco, as a consequence creates a battle with her emotions as she tries to adjust to her new way of life. That synopsis is absolutely genius. Only the great minds at Pixar could create something as original as this. The trailer is brilliant, stupidly clever. This film has been tipped by journalists to be Pixar's greatest yet. Better than Toy Story? If it is then I'll be praising this film for eternity. 

The Walk - Dir: Robert Zemeckis: Stars: Joesph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte La Bon

Release Date: TBA (Late 2015)  

The Walk tells the true story of a French nutcase high wire man called Philippe Petit who walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York in the 70's. This is set to be released in 3D and IMAX. Will my pants be a shade of brown during the film? Yes. The trailer made me nervous just looking at Joseph Gordon-Levitt balancing on the top of one of the towers with the wind whipping him around. Robert Zemeckis is a legend of Hollywood. He has directed classics such as the Back to the Future franchise, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forest Gump, Castaway. Not a bad list by any means. This film has plenty of potential to be a great this year.

Avengers: Age of Ultron - Dir: Josh Whedon; Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, James Spader

Release Date : April 24th 

The comic book fans number one film this year, Avengers: Age of Ultron looks set to be the greatest comic book film ever made and by the looks of the sublime trailer, I don't question it. The first Avengers was such a brilliant film and not just a comic book big blockbluster with no substance. Even though I'm not the biggest Marvel fan (or DC for that matter) I'm really looking forward to another Josh Whedon masterclass.  

Whiplash - Dir: Damien Chazelle; Stars: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons

Release Date: January 16th

Whiplash has been universally hailed by critics and finally gets its UK release date at the beginning of the year (a nice birthday present!). Miles Teller plays a young upcoming jazz drummer who joins a top class music group under the tutelage of the explosive and ferocious maestro, Fletcher (J.K Simmons). Together they pit their whits against each other as the two collide to gain the upper hand in the mind games they play throughout. I've heard so many things about this film, J.K. Simmons' character is apparently the biggest a-hole in the history of cinema. That can't be too bad! I can't wait for this indie.

Jurassic World - Dir: Colin Trevorrow; Stars: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard

Release Date: June 12th 

The sequel that took 14 years to make, no joke. This film's birth was a complete mess. Originally set for 2005, Jurassic World hit so many various problems. The main issue was the script. It was re-written more times than a best mans speech and directors were dropping out the project like flies. But finally, it's arriving this summer. The trailer got me bouncing with the prospect of hybrid dinosaurs and Chris Pratt becoming a Steve Irwin type dinosaur trainer. The mega dinosaur being teased which is the equivalent of the T-Rex in the first film, is being kept a secret. This could be completely insane.

Crimson Peak - Dir: Guillermo Del Toro; Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska

Release Date: October 16th 

The best horror film of the year could go to Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak. Del Toro is a superb visionary director who has brought the likes of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy to our screens. This looks set to be a proper old fashioned horror, set in a haunted mansion in Cumbria. I'm interested to see what spin Del Toro takes on a classic haunted house story and what unique ideas he'll bring on board. I can guarantee this won't be your usual bog standard lazy horror film. And a promising horror film coming out near Halloween is a rarity. If this is a good as the quality horror The Babadook last year I'll be delighted. 

Mad Max: Fury Road - Dir: George Miller; Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron

Release Date: May 15th

The best trailers I've seen for a film for a long time, Mad Max is back and see's the continuation of George Miller's Mad Max Franchise set in the apocalyptic wastelands of the desert. Again this film took an age to make, 25 years for a sequel but finally after so many delays we finally have what looks to be an incredible visual film. It looks intense, violent and gripping, this could be the biggest blockbuster of the summer potentially beating Avengers 2. Tom Hardy is a great choice for Mad Max and I think he'll be the perfect replacement for Mel Gibson. The trailer's have hyped this film up from out of nowhere a couple of months ago. Let's hope it lives up to expectations.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Dir: J. J. Abrams; Stars: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Issac, Mark Hamill,  Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher

Release Date: December 18th 

The most anticipated film of the year, Star Wars is back. A new director on board J. J. Abrams who re-booted Star Trek which has been highly successful, a new cast and the return of the original crew. Yes no more Jar Jar Binks! Star Wars fans have been wanting a suitable follow up to Return of the Jedi since the prequels were at best a disappointment. Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo and Leia are back and that already screams brilliance. The visuals from the teaser trailer look stunning, with people analysing every single detail of the 90 second clip that came out just before Christmas. That's how big this film is going to be. The hype is mega. Even though I'm not the number one Star Wars fan, I can understand why fans are going mental. I'll have to pre book tickets well in advance for this. It'll be a frenzy.

So there you have it. I hope you've enjoyed my selection of films for this year. What are you looking forward to the most? Let me know your thoughts!

Cheers! 

The Imitation Game - Film Review

The Imitation Game is directed by Norwegian Morten Tyldum and starts Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, a key figure in the efforts towards cracking the Nazi's Enigma code that helped the Allies to victory in World War Two. Turing is employed by Commander Alastair Denniston (Charles Dance) and sets about creating a complex deciphering machine called "Christopher". Along with a team of code-breakers (Keira Knightly, Matthew Goode) based at Britain's top secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, they have to race against the clock in order to get the machine up and running before the Nazi's inflict more pain and suffering to the already battered front lines of the Allied Forces. The film spans across various stages in Turing's life, highlighting his battles with his emotional state of mind, his relationships with people and how his awkward but genius personae shaped the course of his rollercoaster life.

Back in the glory days of school, we had a science lesson about the iconic Professor Stephen Hawking and watched a BBC TV drama on how he came up with the "Big Bang Theory." As a young teenager who's only interests in life were the pursuit of gaining trophies on PS3, Derby County and peeking at lads magazine's thinking they were the Holy Grail, I took no interest in anything that the film tried to teach me. Little did I know that Cumberbatch's performance as the professor got him nominated for a BAFTA and put him on the map as an upcoming TV star. Since then he has become in my eyes the strongest all round actor in Hollywood today. He has a captivating screen presence and an engaging voice which is hard to ignore. His acting skills are phenominal and they are on show in this excellent biopic.

Benedict Cumberbatch's performance in this film is staggering. From the moment the film kicks off to the very end you can't help but become invested in his character. His portrayal as this quirky, unique character grips onto you as he takes you for a complex ride through his difficult life. I couldn't imagine anybody else playing his immensely complicated person yet Cumberbatch uses his talents to full effect not necessarily to show off and be flash but instead to be gentle, delicate, humorous and heart warming. You can't help but feel pure sympathy for Alan Turing and by the end of the film manages to fill a tear to the engrossed eyes. Pure brilliance. The performances don't stop there either. Keira Knightly, who plays Turing's love interest Joan, manages to pull out a strong performance even though the material she was given wasn't up on the same level which really impressed me. Matthew Goode, Charles Dance and Mark Strong all gave solid performances and brought a good level of humour and charismatic charm to the film, A special mention as well to Alex Lawther who plays a young Turing. He was awesome in his small role and he's one to watch out for. Great stuff! The direction is flawless at times and it was fascinating to see the film from an outsider's point of view of a deeply British historical moment. Morten Tyldum found a tone that was melancholic yet managed to celebrate the achievements of this great man who ultimately shortened the war and saved many innocent lives.

What unfortunately let the film down slightly was the script. It was pretty bland dialogue at times and without the help of a superb cast glossing it over, could have been picked apart to the death by critics. It made Keira Knightly's character look like a non existent female sidekick with no substance. I felt like the actors were at times battling to try and give quality performances against the boring material they were given. Thankfully it's not too noticeable, I'm just being picky!

The Imitation Game is a delightful biopic and Cumberbatch's masterful performance should land him an Oscar nomination at the very least. He and the rest of the cast deliver acting at the highest standard and a story which makes me proud to be British. An engrossing drama which you should definitely give a try.

8/10

Toy Story 4 - Cash Grab?

In a big surprise announcement last week, Pixar legend John Lasseter announced that a fourth feature length Toy Story was in the works and has been scheduled for release in 2017. There had been rumours spreading on the internet that a couple of months ago actor Tim Allen who voices Buzz Lightyear had agreed to a pre-contract with Pixar to sign up for a new Toy Story project. John Lasseter, who will director the new film, released a statement and said the following; 

"We love these characters so much; they are like family to us. We don't want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what's gone before. 'Toy Story 3' ended with Woody and Buzz's story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another 'Toy Story' movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with is new idea, I could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie and I wanted to direct it myself." 

 

Sounds promising. However as soon as the news was announced, film fans were immediately split on the studios decision to create another Toy Story sequel. Social media became an intense battlefield of divided opinions. Some fans expressed their delight at the plans for the iconic toy group to come back into theatres whilst others unleashed their fury, calling Disney and Pixar a boardroom of cash grabbing sellouts and are purely doing it for the benefit of their bank accounts. I can fully understand both sides of the argument. I can see why some fans are beaming with cheesy white smiles, Toy Story is a phenomenal creation and is a towering landmark in animation history. However the way that the third installment ended, smartly wrapping up a perfect conclusion to the story, I can see why people are quick to jump on Pixar's back. Here are my thoughts on the idea of Toy Story 4.

I love all the Toy Story films. They changed the way audiences viewed animated feature length productions. Family films which delve into more difficult adult themed topics such as jealously and being abandoned, consequential not feeling wanted. Pixar truly created magic twenty years ago and have continued to do so from that day onwards. What moment sticks with me the most was the conclusion to the third film. The trilogy showed the timeline of a boy who had a deep love for his toys as a child and how that love grew further apart the older he became and the strain that had on the toy's relationship with each other. At the end of Toy Story 3 when Andy passes his toys to a young child, he expresses his love for his childhood friends and how the memories will always stay him no matter how old he becomes and that is all his toys wanted to hear. That he still loves them. That ending reduced grown men to floods of tears. It was powerful, emotional and so beautifully told. Pixar produced the greatest ending to an animation I've ever witness. It was the perfect way to end the beloved characters journey. Incredible doesn't do it justice. So why would Pixar want to explore new territories with Woody, Buzz and the gang after ending on such a poignant high. John Lasseter statement doesn't make much sense. Pixar created the best ending to a trilogy possible, why bother making more Toy Story films? One word folks. Money.

I don't think John Lasseter intended to make a fourth Toy Story. The conclusion to the third film showed us that was the end to the characters story. It had gone full circle. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney executives were banging on Pixar's door everyday for the past 4 years to try and get a fourth installment into production. Toy Story as a franchise is a goldmine for Disney. It has generated more money than sense for the company. I believe this was fueled more by Disney for the purpose of increasing their already bulging bank account. Toy Story 3 made around a $750 million profit, a fair old amount. But is it a straight out cash grab? I don't think so.

A cash grab for example is a big studio making a small budget completely dreadful horror film, that sadly happens too often these days. A quick money making scheme with no thought nor effort hence creating a piece of garbage. Pixar sets far better standards than that (just forget Cars 2 for a sec!). They delivery quality for audiences and that's why we invested so much in their characters stories. In the interests of the original trilogy and how that story was told, I don't see a reason to expand upon that. I'd personally rather see an Incredibles 2 because I've only been waiting for a sequel 10 years! I don't see the necessity for a new Toy Story but money talks in the film industry. They couldn't care less about the fans interests, only the size of their wallets. Fair enough, it's a business. But Disney have been too greedy with Toy Story. Let Pixar create something else magical and not milk more money from a superb franchise which doesn't need to be touched anymore.

Interstellar - Film Review

Hooray!! This is it. The film I've been waiting for all year. Christopher Nolan's Interstellar staring Matthew McConaughey as Cooper, an astronaut assigned to search for a new habitable planet as Earth is no longer able to sustain human activity. Earth is now a dying planet, ravage by dust storms and with a limited food supply expected to run out within the next 30 years. NASA's head of operations Professor Brand (Michael Caine) explains to Cooper that a wormhole has been discovered near Saturn which allows the aircraft to be transported to another galaxy in the hope of finding a new planet and allowing the continuation of mankind. Cooper and his crew (Anne Hathaway, David Gyasi and Wes Bentley) embark on a quest to find this new world within a relative timescale and save the human race from extinction.

Christopher Nolan is a darling of the film critics and the film going community. In our eyes he seems to do no wrong. For all his flaws and problems, we gloss over them as he is a pioneer of cinema. He managed to adapt a well known comic book character Batman into a sublime trilogy which change the way we view comic book films. Subsequently the success of the Nolan Batman franchise has lead to studios attempting to copy his style in an attempt to rake in the cash. Dracula Untold which I reviewed not long ago tried to create a Nolan atmosphere giving the film a very serious dark tone which ultimately didn't work. Because the director wasn't Chris Nolan  His unique style is only something he can pull off and his box of tricks never gets tiring or repetitive. He's an explorer looking to push the boundaries and give the audience a memorable experience. He is the main selling point of a film and not many film makers can say that about themselves. A legend of modern cinema. Is Interstellar another Nolan mystery ride? Absolutely.

As per usual with a Nolan film, the direction is done to perfection. He creates a fascinating space exploration story which at its core is about a father and daughter relationship between Cooper and his daughter Murphy. McConaughey is superb as the lead character, for whom you have so much sympathy for because he is an emotional family man who isn't doing the mission for the glory, he's doing it for his children and one scene in particular did make me tear up which is unusual for me! My man wall got bulldozed. Powerful performance. The imagery and cinematography at times is beyond gorgeous. I only saw this in at a normal screening and I thought it looked excellent. I keep wondering what it'd be like in IMAX. Mind blowing. That brilliance mixed with Hans Zimmer's beautiful spine tingling score makes the long run time of nearly 3 hours fly by, even with the urge for a wee break which I had for an hour! There's even a surprise performance from a well known A-list actor who has a quite predictable role but is executed perfectly for what purpose it did to enhance the story. Anne Hathaway's performance is heartfelt and sincerer without being too melodramatic and she was top notch in her side character role. There is comedy relief in the form of two robots who gave a few quality one liners. This is exactly what you expect from a Nolan film, a compelling cinema experience. But his well known flaws which I gloss over without thinking are unfortunately exposed and is much more apparent the longer the film progresses.

One factor that's a bugging problem is that there are too many conveniences in the plot. How things coincidentally happen at just the right time. One or two you can get away with and you don't mind but it got out of hand especially in the third act of the film. The science behind the mission is complex even for folks who love a good dose of scientific explanation. I had to concentrate extremely hard and if I'd gone to see this film after I'd finished work I don't think I would have stood a chance. Again this got more and more difficult to understand and the last 15 minutes make you think that hard that your head starts to explode. It's interesting to listen to but it feels at times like a drawn out physics lecture. With all the futuristic science references and the insane intricate detail that the film goes in to, Interstellar maybe does deserve to be in the future. I don't think we're quite ready for this film simply because we don't yet understand it. If this came out in the next decade, we'd might appreciate it more. It reminds me of what Apple did with their apps and music software. The early models they released in the 90's weren't quite ready for the audience at the time and now they're one of the most successful technology companies. I feel like this film will get better the older it becomes. Similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Interstellar is an ambitious project which in true Nolan style sets the bar for what is technically possible. A majestic film that spends too much time trying to be a crazy science lesson and forgets to concentrate on the heart of the story. It's not the masterpiece which I and many others expected it to be but it is an excellent space film which I think with age will become a landmark which will be talked about for years to come.

7/10