Skyfall Review

Skyfall

Columbia Pictures

9th Nov 2012, 143 mins
Action/ Thriller, 12
Director:Sam Mendes
Cast:Daniel Craig
        Javier Bardem
        Naomie Harris
        Judi Dench
        Berenice Marlohe

When MI6 comes under attack and Bond goes missing it all starts to fall apart but everybody has to come together to fight the common enemy no matter what has already happened.

This is most certainly the best Bond since Moonraker and that is quite an achievement. This time Daniel Craig comes back smarter,slicker and wittier then ever this time he has a star studded sporting acting set with Judi Dench back again and now Javier Bardem and Naomie Harris which mack this so very British film so very brilliant. This is by far Craig's best acting performance in any Bond movie showing the grit of Bond but also the soft underside that carries his past with him.

The 22nd episode in the Bond series has lots of stunning action and effects that will quit literally blow you away. But it also has that smart and mysterious side that the best Bonds all seem to have. With some of the other films it seems that they are just recycling old ideas but not Skyfall it comes out with a completely new and inventive story to Bond that is so obvious you are surprised they had not done it earlier. 

This is a great credit to Bond and its fans Skyfall will not let you down and shows that Daniel Craig is at his prime. You will dieting to see whats next.

A storm's coming-84/100

Apollo 13 Review

Apollo 13

Universal Pictures

30th June 1995, 140 mins
History/Drama,PG
Director:Ron Howard
Cast:Tom Hanks
        Ed Harris
        Bill Paxton 
        Kevin Bacon
        Gary Sinise
        Kathleen Quinlan

Based on the true story of a mission to the moon that turns into a survival. Then the mission of the three men on boards struggle to get home.


Apollo 13 is a Sci-Fi epic that is based on a very true story which really brings it home. Another reason that it is so brilliant is the acting and directing superiority form Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and director Ron Howard adding another stunning film to his list that contains films like A beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code. Of them all Hanks is the most remarkable as lead Jim Lovell Apollo 13's captain. Hanks' best part is when he realises that it is him to save he friends and he has to keep going. Apollo 13 also has a great supporting cast with noticeable contributions from Kevin Bacon (Footloose) Gary Sinise (Of Mice and Men) and Ed Harris (The Rock).

This is one of my favourite movies for several reason first because it is a great Sci-Fi film and has stunning visual effects especially for 1995, secondly it is based on a true story which does make it even more intense even though you probably know how it ends. And finely it is a Tom Hanks film giving it that special touch that no one else can bring to a film.

Apollo 13 is a stunning astronaut movie that hold you hanging from your seat, just the film you would want from such a real and shocking story.

Gentleman, its been a pleasure flying with you-92/100

Cast Away Review

Cast Away

Twentieth Century Fox

22nd Dec 2000, 143 mins

Drama/Adventure, 12

Director:Robert Zemeckis

Cast:Tom Hanks

        Helen Hunt

        Paul Sanchez 

When a FedEx delivery plane crashes into the sea on Christmas Day a employee escapes the wreckage and find himself alone on a dessert island. He soon has to adapt to survive and find a way to escape.

This survival movie has you from start to finish and a lot of that is due to Tom Hanks' stunning performance as Chuck Nolan who gets Cast Away. Before the actual crash Hanks keeps you in so much suspense that you want it to crash so you can get it over with. Hanks shows all of his acting ability though this film. Starting with despair and moving though to hope then desperation and release. This is also another great collaboration between director Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks (previously On Forrest Gump) which also solidifies Zemechis place as one of the best directors with the Back To The Future Trilogy already under his belt.

This movie is a great credit to the film industry is has absolutely everything that a stunning movie need and is so finely finished that it is impossible to see any flaws in it. If you have not already got it the mood of this movie is dramatic but yet inspiring with an end that will leave you in such a desperate state to know what was in that box that you will have to google it. It is the perfect survival movie much like Lord Of The Flies which so many people enjoy.

Cast Away is cinematic master piece watching the journey of a man with only a beach ball as a friend. It is the perfect lone surviver film. Its everything you would expect from Tom Hanks and more.

Don't worry wilson I'll do all the paddling-90/100

Source Code Review

Source Code

Vendome Pictures

1st april 2011, 93 Mins

Mystery/Thriller, 12 

Director:Duncan Jones

Cast:Jake Gyllenhaal

        Vera Farmiga

        Michelle Monaghan

        Michael Arden

        Jeffrey Wright

After soldier Colter Stevens wakes up as somebody different on a train. It soon becomes a race against time to stop a bomber in Chicago.

This is a full out Inception style thriller with Jake Gyllenhaal at the centre. Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens a solider sent back into an alternate reality to find out who planted a bomb and he does such a great job of it you can feel all his emotions from confused to scared to joy. Which makes it by far one of Gyllenhaal's best performances only behind Donni Darko. Source Code also shows us that Duncan Jones is not just a one hit wonder with Moon he has come back and matched it if not improved upon Moon which was one good movie. There is also creditable performances from Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan.

Source Code is one of those movies where you get thrown in at the deep end, at the beginning and have to struggle to keep going. Of course I mean this in a good way but you have to be with it all the way though because it is no stop. The main story is the same 8 minutes over and over which means the mood to the movie is fast paced and does not let you breath. The same idea was used in Vantage Point which is a great but an underrated film. This is your typical action thriller with a mystery as a twist and this gives it that original slant to it.

This is definitely classified as a good film it has a perfect mix of action suspense sic-fi and mystery which will definitely draw you in of the reasonably short run time.

Its the same train, but its different- 84/100

21 Review

21

Columbia Pictures

28th March 2008,123 mins

Crime/Thriller,12

Director:Robert Luketic

Cast:Jim Sturgess

        Kevin Spacey

        Kate Bosworth

        Aaron Yoo

        Laurence Fishburne

When gunieous Ben joins the MIT college cards team he is taught to count cards and goes to Vegas. He sacrifices his friends and his old life to just get the money for med school and his dream girl.

This is a hidden gem of a movie and I think it is highly underrated. It does has so big name like Kevin spacey (The Usual Suspect) and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) which give the film great credit but the most standout is Jim Sturgess ( later of One Day) as lead role Ben who is draw into counting cards by his professor Micky Rosa (Spacey). Sturgess shows Ben's down fall and strength to continue is superb style especial for a mostly unknown actor at the time. Kevin Spacey was great as always bringing the experience in acting to any movie.

21 is not the most thrilling 'thriller' but it is no means calm. It makes you fell so connected to the main character that you forget justice. Robert Luketic did a great job of directing, the way it was filmed so that when they go to Vegas it was fast passed and when they where back home it was slower, really held it together and glamorised the lifestyle they where living. There is a couple of twists which are't bad the only thing that is missing is any depth otherwise this would be a very good movie. Maybe it is down to the script or some of the acting talent otherwise its pretty spotless.

Summarising, 21 is no means a bad movie got a great plot which is very likeable some good stars and does not get boring. Its only let down by the lack of depth to the film in general.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner-79/100

The Bourne Ultimatum Review

The Bourne Ultimatum

Universal Pictures

3rd August 2007,115 mins
Action/Thriller,12
Director:Paul Greengrass
Cast:Matt Damon
        Julia Stiles
        Joan Allen
        Paddy Considine
        David Strathairn
        Edgar Ramirez
        Corey Johnson

Following straight on from The Bourne Supremacy Jason Bourne determined to find out how he became the killing machine he is and who did it to him. After a British reporter writes an article about Bourne showing he knows more than Jason himself he makes it his mission to find the reporter and find the information he need to put he mind to rest.

A stunning end to the original Bourne trilogy (Identity and Supremacy) the most action filled of them all with Bourne as one of the many assassins thought out. The Bourne Ultimatum shows Matt Damon has now fully transformed into Jason Bourne with his performance flawless. Another great performance from Edgar Ramirez who plays Paz a ruthless assassin working for the CIA. This just shows that Ramirez is perfect for playing the foreign Assassin as he played the same role later in Vantage Point. And a small but well pot rayed part by Corey Johnson who has worked many a time with director Paul Greengrass.

You can't definitely tell they spent more time on Ultimatum then they did with supremacy it is very clean and Paul Greengrass has improved on the plot which ties up every lose end which give a great satisfaction, the film would not of work if left on a cliffhanger, we and Bourne deserve to know answers. The only problem is the lack of surprise apart from one scene where you are shocked it generally has a lack of shock factor which the other too had some much of, but considering this it is still the action thriller that you would expect from a Bourne movie.

The perfect way the end, every thing you want from Bourne and more. You are routing for Bourne more than every. The only thing it misses is surprise but the pros much over way the cons.

You Really don't remember do you?-78/100

The Bourne Supremacy Review

The Bourne Supremacy

Universal Pictures

23rd July 2004, 108 mins

Action/Thriller, 12

Director:Paul Greengrass

Cast:Matt Damon

        Brain Cox

        Carl Urban

        Julia Stiles

        Franka Potente

        Joan Allen

2 years after he lost his memory Jason Bourne and his girlfriend Marie are hiding  in remote India but when Bourne get framed for a double murder CIA agent Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) tasked to find Bourne. But when he comes out of hiding it all starts to go wrong.

The second of the Bourne Movies, Matt Damon and some of the cast from the first (The Bourne Identity) bring us another on the edge of the seat action thriller. Damon's performance was just as brilliant but this time he could really develop the character because this time we know who Bourne is. He shows us the other side of Bourne the side that does not what violence or to be a killer but releases that thats what he has to do to survive. This time Brain Cox has a bigger role still as Ward Abbott the overseer of now disbanded Treadstone who's dirty past comes back to haunt him and he portrays his character's slow decay so brilliantly.

The Bourne Supremacy brings everything you want for a sequel to Identity. It has a great plot, stunning action and one clever ex-assassin who has a inventive use go a magazine. The only problem is that it does not quite has the same surprise and mystery that the first one did which means that it is not quite as good. That does not mean I am saying that it is a bad film in no means is it a bad film it just does not have that spark that Identity had. I only think of one area that it is better and that is it has much more and better sub-plots giving it much more depth.

The Bourne Supremacy was directed well by Greengrass who I must say is the master of suspense with United 93 this and now Captain Phillips.

Supremacy is a great credit to all the Bourne film great plot, directing and all the action you want, the only thing is its just not as good and Identity which might let you down a bit but not too much.

I Killed Him?-76/100