(film review) - The Martian

What have you done for me lately, Ridley? Some of us have these thoughts when we think of Ridley Scott. The guy who brought us some great and classic films such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and American Gangster. So what was your last few films Exodus: Gods and Kings? The Counselor? Prometheus? Although I didn’t think Prometheus was that bad, but it wasn't a classic nor great. So, again. What have you done for me lately, Ridley?Ridley has done, nothing! And people are starting to think that this great director has simply run out of juice. Well, fear not, because The Martian might be his return.

The Martian is about a man named Mark Watney (Matt Damon) who with his team are out on a mission on Mars, but becomes stranded by himself when his team leaves him behind. Being the only human on Mars, Mark the Martian must figure out a way to survive and also return back to earth or die on Mars.

The premise is pretty simple and with that said, makes you wonder, ‘Is there anything else to this film?’, ‘This film is going to be pretty boring, right?’, ‘Can Matt Damon carry an entire film by himself?’, ‘He is no, Will Smith!’. Well, rightfully implied in the trailers, Matt isn’t by himself as there is a team trying to figure out a way to get him back to earth. Also, although this film is 141 mins (just over 2 hours and 20 minutes) long, this film does not feel long at all. The film gets straight into it at such a steady pace, you do not once think about the time. There is suspense, there is unexpected comedy elements and there is a lot of character in this film. Very clever script writing, directing and screenplay. At the end of the film, I actually wanted to clap for Ridley Scott. Like, literally stand up and cheer for him as the film I had just watched was soo entertaining, I felt it was necessary. I didn’t, but I did think it.

Although this film didn’t leave me gripping the seats whilst sitting on the edge of it like Gravity did, this film reminds me of Cast Away (not that I have seen it) fused with Gravity. I think what made me love the film more than the visuals and the story was Mark and his character as well as the supporting cast. Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena. The casting was brilliant as every character brought something to their role, or at least, every character had a pivotal part to play. I do feel that Sebastian Stan was a little under used, but that is probably due to the great performance he did as The Winter Soldier (Great film by the way). I felt very relatable to Mark and I actually felt like I was going through this situation with him. The film was very grounded, although set in space. I felt like he was the every guy voicing the things an every guy would do in his predicament. All the trials and tribulations, I was experiencing these with him.

It is out on the 30th, so go and watch it. If you don’t like it, honestly, there is definitely something wrong with you (although I know movies are subjective). A brilliantly Directed film by Ridley Scott. Well done, Sir.

(film review) - Fantastic 4

I've been watching this develop from when they first announced it. I knew they were going to reboot it at some stage because the previous 2 didn't do that well and had they not rebooted the franchise, the rights would have went back to Marvel. With that said, Fox are having a decent time with X-Men due to First Class and Days of Future Past, but for Fox to keep a hold of their franchises, they will need to make a film every so often or reboot the franchise and do them well. This means, anything Mutant related belongs to Fox and Fox needs to come up with scorchers to keep them or break them up as much as they sensibly can and make great films which brings in money (spin-offs). Deadpool, Gambit and even X-Factor. A New Wolverine is coming but this is meant to be Hugh Jackman's last time. So unless they recast the role, Fox needs to pull more rabbits out of the hat. In Fantastic Four's case, Fox pulled out a Skunk.

Fantastic Four is about a man named Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) who is looking into inter-dimentional travel with his student Viktor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell). He goes to a science fair with his daughter Sue Storm (Kate Mara) and finds a teenage Reed Richards (Miles Teller) along with his buddy Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) who has somewhat cracked inter-dimentional travel when he was young but has found a way to complete the entire transition. Pleased with what he has seen, Franklin asks Reed to join him in completing a grander design in order to be the first to achieve such a feat. Reed accepted and once he enters the Baxter building and joins Viktor and Sue in the project, they decide to travel through the device only to re-enter earth horribly disfigured. However, once they hone their powers, Doom has his own plans and the team are required to band together to defeat him.

First of all, I'd like to say that this film is better than the first 2 put together, but it isn't a good film at all. The film tone-wise is great. Dark and horror-like for the first half of the film, but after that, the film seems choppy, rushed and just full of nonsense. The dialogue was boring and not very clever. The character's aren't very well developed or their back-stories at all. They had plenty of time to flesh them out. When Dr. Doom arrives, everything goes to sh*t. The special affects are standard, there are some inconsistencies and there is "logic" which makes no sense. There was barely any action and the "Boss Fight" is barely watchable. Again, I say, they had plenty of time to flesh things and plot points out. 

Don't get me wrong, the film wasn't absolutely garbage as I have seen some terrible films in my time, and some terrible superhero films, but this film just isn't good. The acting was perfectly fine, even the plot wasn't that terrible, but the cinematography and direction was appalling. For myself, the best bit in this film was when they came back and were all disfigured. That felt like a horror. It was dark, frightening and twisted, but that is the only redeeming thing about the film. Oh, and the throw away remark regarding Dr. Doom's name was excellent and the part in the woods was OK but just wasn't long enough.

This film lost its beat and travels at a ridiculous pace and kinda reminded me of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the end but as badly as that was done, this one is worse.

Watch with caution if you really like this from the trailers but to be honest, you are probably best to wait until it arrives on Netflix.

P.s...half of the things in the trailer aren't even in the film and the other half is is the film.

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(film review) - Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

I like Tom Cruise, but there are people who don't. I don't know what it is as to why people don't particularly like him, whether it is his face, his acting, his nose, I don't know. I mean, if you don't like him because of his height, then I guess that could be a reason why you may not want to take him seriously, but with prejudices like that, ultimately, you are preventing yourself from having some fun in the cinema. He isn't that much shorter than Robert Downey Jr. and everyone loves Ironman (a 6-footer). An example of fun at the cinema would be, Edge of Tomorrow. The marketing for that film was poor and it made you think it was Oblivion 2 or something. Even though Oblivion wasn't that poor, it just wasn't a great film. Edge of Tomorrow is a great film and it just didn't get the push it really needed, whether you like Tom or not. Excellent story acting and a stunning Emily Blunt. But what I will say is that, Tom knows how to make action movies, action thrillers as well. Collateral was great. The Mission Impossible franchise is a franchise which knows exactly who it's audience is and what to do to make a very entertaining film, like the Fast & Furious franchise. So what I'm really saying here is, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is brilliant.

The Impossible Mission Force is a highly organised, skilled and dedicated ghost unit who operate undetected across the world saving the world from notorious villains and threats. When rumours of the Syndicate emerges, Ethan Hunt tries his best to seek out who they are and their agenda. With the pressures of the IMF having their operations shut down, Ethan discovers that the Syndicate is a Rogue Nation, who are the polar opposite of IMF and are also highly organised, skilled and dedicated. Ethan and his team are tasked with the impossible mission of revealing a ghost organisation twhotheoretically, does not exist and stopping them from acting out their sinister plans.

Pretty simple right? I mean the synopsis is far from impossible. Their task doesn't sound impossible does it? Ethan, Benji & Luther can do this type of thing with their eyes closed! Well, I can only state to you that this film combines the tension of the first film and the action of the last film, Ghost Protocol and gives you an excellent sequel. The team as we know it is the same. The dynamics are lived in and you can tell, everyone has each others back. The camaraderie is real and evident in the film. So as everyone works together, the stakes are believable. And boy are there some pretty high stakes. There is a under water scene which plays out soo well, I was clutching my chest as my heart couldn't take the suspense. Gasping here and there and gasping for breath, the suspense was actually trying to kill me, I swear. The action scenes were enough and engaging, it didn't over do it. With the perfect amount of comedy, gadgetry and fisty-cuffs, this film aims to please and does it soo damn well. If you saw what the trailer had to offer, the film offers that and then some without being over the top or extravagant.

If you are looking for a film to see, it's not Fantastic Four, unless you really have to. It is this film. You are going to have fun with this. If you don't, it's because you hate Tom Cruise and his face.