Wrong Turn 2: Dead End

Normally I don't watch B-Movies or horror movies, but I bought this one because of the music, which is composed by Bear McCreary, of whom I am a massive fan. I came into the story not knowing anything, as I haven't not seen the first Wrong Turn.

However, that didn't matter as the story is pretty simple to follow. It's your average teen horror when it comes down to the basics. But unlike films such as Cabin Fever it actually does a good job of telling it.

It's not what I'd call a scary horror, more of a light horror. It doesn't take itself too seriously and the film maintains a sense of humour about itself. In terms of the horror elements I found the emphasis on the gore and not the frights. I also thought it was shot very well.

This film definitely sets a new standard for B-Movies and even some cinema released films (A-Movies) as this was a lot better than horrors such as Hostel: Part 1, Hostel: Part 2 and Teeth. Definitely worth watching if horror is your thing.

7/10

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

I'm not a major Transformers fan, but I am a major Michael Bay fan. I loved the first movie and even bought the prequel comic. The other movie tie in comics/books are on my "to buy" list, as I'd quite like to know what happens in the two years between this film and the first.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen has a very different tone to the first movie. For a start all the transformers talk a lot more, and not just the autobots, we see the decepticons talking and planing too. But don't let this make you think this isn't an action film, because it is.

There are also a lot more new characters in terms of the autobots an decepticons. I did find some of the transformers a little annoying, either because of the way they talked or the way they behaved. However, I was able to look past this.

Overall the film has more comedy in it than the first, and a lot of it was very funny. However, I think it possibly needed less comedy, as it seemed even during the serious action scenes when lives were in danger that there was some kind of joke going on. This kind of made the film a little more of a comedy that I thought it should have been, as in my eyes Transformers is an action film with comedy, not a comedy with action.

I didn't think the music in this film was as good as it was in the first film either. There were a few new themes, but none of them really came close to the epicness of the original themes from the first film.

The visual effects were incredible. I think however, that the visual effects in the first film are marginally better.

Overall this is a great film. However, I didn't find it quite as good as the first film. Still a definite watch for any Michael Bay fan. The amount of times he references his own films in this one will make you laugh. What a legend.

When Harry Met Sally

For a film made in 1989 it really hasn't dated. Normally I hate old films, but this didn't look old at all. A nice little romantic comedy. Plus there is this part where there are two phone conversations going on at once, it has possibly the best dialogue ever written. A must see for any screenwriter. 7/10

Terminator Salvation

The Terminator universe is a very complicated one. Not because John Connor's father is actually his friend from the future, but because after Terminator 2: Judgement Day there are just so many different time lines. There is Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which goes on an alternate timeline to Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. Then the timeline slits again with the comic Terminator: Infinity, which takes an alternate timeline to Terminator Salvation. As a James Cameron fan, and a Terminator fan I find these many alternate time lines slightly annoying. Nevertheless, on to Terminator Salvation.

The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines are films about Sarah and John Connor. Terminator Salvation is much less so. It focuses more on the character of Marcus Wright, played by Sam Worthington. What's up with that?

The whole twist behind the film is also revealed in the 3rd trailer. Now that is just bad advertising. The film builds up to the twist with a few little details. Except when you already know what the twist is these details are just lost on you. You notice them, but they have no impact on you. I suppose you could say that it is just like that when you watch the film for the second time. However, watching a film for a second time is completely different. When you watch a film the second time you do it to almost relive the feelings the film gave you the first time. However, when you watch it for the first time and already know what happens, you haven't experienced those feelings yet and so it just isn't the same. You aren't reliving, it's almost like your reading a book on someone else's experience of it. It just doesn't compare to the real thing.

Acting. Christian Bale definitely isn't at his best. In the opening part of the movie I couldn't work out whether it was his acting or the script that was bad. Now I've had time to ponder on the matter I've come to the conclusion that it is both. John Connor is not referred to as John Connor, he is simply called Connor. In one scene that lasted a couple of minutes the name Connor must have been said at least 5 times by every single character in the room, and there were at least 5 of them in the room. That just isn't natural speech. That isn't the only time in the film when the dialogue (or lack of) turns shit either.

As for Christian Bale's "bad" acting. It was only bad in moments. Although a few too many moments there were. Either way I don't blame Christian, instead I blame McG. He obviously isn't an actors director and is more of a visual guy. Visually the film is stunning and the visual effects are outstanding. However, it is like McG is afraid of Christian Bale, which is just reinforced with the way he dealt with Bales on set tantrum. He just whimpered in the back and said he didn't see anything.

Luckily Sam Worthington's acting was very good, which would be why James Cameron recommended him to McG in the first place.

As a stand alone film, overall it's pretty good. However, as a Terminator film, I don't find it worthy. And to think they are going to make another two. I only hope Hollywood fucking thinks about the script, and keeps it in keeping with James Cameron's Terminator, finds a new director, and recasts it. And people say Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines was bad. Think again people. This is one time line I would like to forget.

The Passion Of The Christ

If you don't know the story of the bible then you are screwed. The beginning of the film gives no introduction to the character of Jesus or where in his life we are. In particularly there was no introduction to the rest of the characters, I actually had to guess who they were. I only realised that the film was about the last 12 hours of his life because I read the back of the DVD. Perhaps I'm over exaggerating it slightly, but still I wouldn't have known what the first part of the film was about unless I'd read the back of the DVD.

I found the make up effects didn't look all that convincing. Some of the time it looked like a drop of blood had simply landed on his skin, instead of him bleeding from a cut. I found this a little annoying as Jesus spent most of the film covered in blood.

Unfortunately I also found it quite a slow film. Nothing seemed to happen for a while and then when it did, it just lasted way too long. The Jews taking him to get sacrificed took too long, the whipping of him took too long, him carrying the cross took too long and him getting crucified took too long. It felt like these four things took an hour and a half of the film. I'm fine with dragging them out a bit in order to show how horrific they are, but you have to know where the boundary is in going from just the right length to too long. Unfortunately I think they had all over stepped the boundary and needed shortening.

I felt the film would have benefited much better with these parts being shortened and would have allowed for something else to be added to the film, because it just felt like it was missing a lot.

I wasn't that keen on the way the slow motion was used either. There were parts where it worked really well, but like everything else it just seemed to drag on.

Nevertheless, it's not all bad. I thought that the character of the devil was absolutely amazing. The casting, costume and make up, were spot on. All the devil scenes were shot beautifully, the lighting was incredible and the score was amazing. I think they should make a spin-off film about this devil because I cannot get over how stunning the scenes were.

I think if your a fan of Mel Gibson's other directorial works then you'll probably like this film. However, in my opinion Apocalypto is his best work.

6/10

Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian

Now I'm not a Ben Stiller fan but after seeing the first film and quite liking it I thought I'd give the second a go. Whilst it didn't get started all that well, once the film got going it was very good.

I thought it was much better than the first movie. The acting was incredible and made the film so much funnier. The visual effects were also really amazing, as was the music.

If you love watching fun entertaining films then go and see this, you won't be disappointed.

Old And New

I've been keeping this blog going for just over a year now with weekly posts. Some of these posts have been reviews of the new films at the cinema. Since the blogs been going well for a whole year, I thought I'd start making 2 posts each week. There will be the usual Saturday post, but I'll also be posting my reviews of some older films that are no longer on at the cinema but are still very good (or very bad) in a Wednesday post.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep the Wednesday post going as another weekly post for another year. We'll just have to see how things go.

Angels & Demons

When I saw The DaVinci Code I quite liked it, but then I hadn't read the book. After I'd read the book I saw why a lot of fans of the book didn't really like it. However, since I saw the film first I still liked even after I'd read the book.

With Angels & Demons I read the book before seeing the film. I think this is perhaps why I preferred The DaVinci Code out of the two films. Out of the books though, I prefer Angels & Demons. Strange huh?

Saying that, if I detach myself from the book then Angels & Demons is probably the better of the two films. However, having read the book I felt like I knew what was coming. This is going to happen anyway with any book to film adaptation that you've read, but with other adaptations, even if you've read the book and you know what is going to happen next, you forget and become immersed in the film. Whilst I did feel immersed, I didn't forget, even with the changes, I knew what was coming.

Nevertheless, the film is still very good, and I'd probably give it 7 or 8 out of 10. The action scenes where all very good, and the story was told very well.

My favourite bit about the film though was the music. Oh my God. Hans Zimmer does not just manage to improve on his score for The DaVinci Code but takes it in a whole different direction with Angels & Demons. The action cues have a certain Jason Bourne feel to them. However, even as a John Powell fan I think when Hans Zimmer doesn't it, he reinvents it. The music of this film is almost in a league of its own. It is so intense and powerful it made my spine tingle several times throughout the film. This why Zimmer is one of my all time favourite film composers.

If you're a Zimmer fan then this film is definitely worth seeing. If you're not, then I still think it's worth seeing. I enjoyed it.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Soundtrack)

This is the eighth soundtrack release to come from Bear McCreary and he just keeps getting better and better. Okay so it's not quite his best, but it definitely is one of them.

The opening track "Samson And Delilah" performed by Shirley Manson, I didn't really like at first. However, it has really grown on me and I particularly love the ending of it.

Next up is the "Opening Title" where Bear McCreary incorporates Brad Fiedel's iconic Terminator drums into a great little cue containing strings and electronics that build up to Brad's theme.

But Bear doesn't just manage to give the opening titles a traditional Terminator feel, he some how does it with the whole score. It stays true to the sound of Terminator and Brad Fiedel's original scores for The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and yet he uses all new themes.

There are plenty of stand out cues on this soundtrack which make it a great listen. Unfortunately for me though there are a couple of tracks which I'm not so keen on as well. The first one is "Ain't It Famous" written and performed by Brendan McCreary. I've not seen season 2 yet, so I'm unsure how it fits into the show, but for me it doesn't really belong on the soundtrack, as when I sit down to listen to the whole thing it takes me as far away from Terminator as you can get.

Likewise with the cue "Atomic Al's Merry Melody". This cue was composed for a cartoon that appeared on the television in the background of a scene. It fits right in with the old cartoon stile of music, so congratulations to Bear for that. However, for me, it disrupted my listening experience.

I liked "Ain't It Famous" and "Atomic Al's Merry Melody" at first. However, I quickly grew tired of these tracks, unlike the rest of the soundtrack. I think I would have preferred if these tracks were tagged onto the end of the soundtrack instead of placed a third and two thirds of the way through.

Nevertheless, this has got to be my favourite Terminator soundtrack to date. Although from the sneak peak I've heard of Danny Elfman's score to Terminator Salvation it might not be for long. If your a fan of any Terminator music then this is a must buy, as it is for any fan of Bear McCreary.

Doctor Who [Series 4] (Soundtrack)

I found this soundtrack to be much more fun and exciting than the previous two Doctor Who soundtracks from Murray Gold, as it contains a lot more quirkier cues.

The soundtrack starts of with a slightly revambed Doctor Who theme, although I must admit I prefer the orchestration used for series 1, 2 and 3.

It then jumps straight in with the fun stuff and a cue called "A Noble Girl About Town". The rest of the quirky stuff is scattered throughout, as is the more emotional stuff which the soundtrack isn't without, "Turn Left" is probably my favourite.

Whilst I don't think this soundtrack has as many outstanding cues, like "Doomsday" from the series 1 and 2 soundtrack, it does fair better overall. Definitely worth buying if you've already got the others or if your a fan of Murray Gold.