Wednesday 24 July 2013

The Worlds End with spoilers

The worlds End


Synopsis

5 friends reunite to finish a pub crawl which they never finished 20 years ago unaware that they are earth's hope to stop a alien invasion.

My opinion 
So where to begin the film is a classic invasion of the body snatchers but with lots of alcohol, I felt the film started very slow and didn't really grip me. You really don't want to like Pegg's character at all as he feels like a cocky dickhead and his journey through the film doesn't help you like or root for him. The way he plays the character is rubbish i feel like he doesn't pull it off and should sticky to his nerdy characters or wacky ones just not the arsehole type. However my other half thought he looked HOT!?



There is one person in the film that makes it just a bit bearable and that is Nick Frost the man is awesome and can pull off any type of character as he has done a nice selection of films. I felt Eddie Marsan was under used in this film he has amazing acting skills and he probably shouldn't have been in the film as he wasn't used to his full potential. I haven't seen many Paddy Considine but i did enjoy him in this enough to go and look for some of this films.

There is not much to like about this film its not as funny as the other two but does consist of a colourful range of language and as for a end to the trilogy it does not end on a good note, even Paul was better then this and i wasn't a huge fan of that.

The way the film ends was a nice touch as the title doesn't just refer to the last pub, but that nice touch does not bring it up any standards.

The Cornetto blood trilogy probably should have been called the Cornetto fence trilogy, for there was not any blood in this film more like blue ink, i did like the Cornetto reference in this film.

I will not be buying this on blu ray at all which is a shame as i am a fan and wont complete the trilogy on the bookcase. I recommend you avoid this film if you can i was hyped to see this film and i can say that Marketing for the film was great as they made it a film you wanted to watch and was excited to see this film.

Thanks for reading feel free to comment below
David

Friday 19 July 2013

Death race trilogy

Death Race


Synopsis 
In 2012, amid economic chaos and high unemployment, Americans watch by the millions as criminals with life sentences race armoured cars on Terminal Island. Two-thirds of the combatants die but the winner may earn his freedom. On the day he loses his job, steelworker Jensen Ames is arrested for his wife's murder. Sent to Terminal Island, he's offered an out by the steely and manipulative Warden Hennessey - race as the popular mask-wearing (but now dead) champion, Frankenstein, or rot in prison. Jensen makes the bargain. As the three-stage race approaches, he realizes that the whole thing may be a set up - can an anonymous man behind a mask get revenge and win his release?

Death Race is a great idea, good way to control prisons and provide entertainment at the same time its a show that if was real i could get behind and watch.

So as for the film its enjoyable fun carnage but apart from that i wouldn't expect great acting performances or stand out moments. The races are fun and definitely a thrill ride not knowing who is going to die next and more importantly how will they die bad driving or onslaught from a Gatling gun or rockets.

As for the ending its pretty straight forward you saw it coming just a case of how it was done.

So Jason Statham probably got the job for the driving and fighting for being in the Transporters films as its what he does best and well known for its in his comfort zone.
Always a pleasure to watch Ian Mcshane on screen its the kind of film i would expect to see him in not too high profile.

Overall i would recommend this for a casual watch and adrenaline junkies.


Death Races 2



Synopsis
Explores the origins of the first "Frankenstein" car driver, Carl "Luke" Lucas, who died in a race at the beginning of the first film.

Its a basic Origins story with the first driver to become 'Frankenstein' and how death race came to be the Phenomenon that it was. It starts off weird with before there was racing there was death matches with the same principle that after three minutes weapon pads are active and then the real fun begins.

The film itself does not entertain as well as the first one but its still an easy watch with fighting and watching the cars and the races come alive from the idea of a fighting arena.


The star of this film now is Luke Goss who does a pretty standard job no real breakout performance and some of the other actors who you would expect to find in B type movies.

Sean Bean, Ving Rhames who both i do love to watch and feel right at home in these types of films. And least i forget Danny Trejo who is always a bad ass he feels the role which in the first film will go to Ian Mcshane i cant really get behind Trejo as a mechanic though.

Easy watch definitely watch if you have seen the first film.



Death Race: Inferno


Synopsis
Convicted cop-killer Carl Lucas, aka Frankenstein, is a superstar driver in the brutal prison yard demolition derby known as Death Race. Only one victory away from winning freedom for himself and his pit crew.


This is a cash in this film didn't have to be made at all.
SO pretty much the same cast that left us from number 2, the company who runs death race is taken over by a English billionaire who wants to franchise it. 
Buying up prisons and hoping to have tracks built within a year across the globe.

To see if they can do it they set up an area in South Africa where they can race but there is no track but a set course in a dessert which runs through towns and dunes. Of course the first race comes and someone has to make a run and show the audience that they cant't because they are all tagged with a tracker put into them.
The actions scenes in this are less then the first two films and quite frankly boring with a lot of slow mo put in.


Somewhere in the film is a plot for the team to get free they pull it off in the end and set up the rich guy. Its a bland film with no positives or even great acting .

so highly recommend you don't watch this and stick the first 1 for a good film or both if you want average.

Thanks for reading 
Dave

Thursday 11 July 2013

Book review : Waylander




Okay this book has been out longer then i have been alive!
Published back in August 1986

It a typical fantasy book from David Gemmell with in depth characters and complicated histories.
Most fantasy fans with probably have read this as its been out for so long.

Waylander is a man who has done wrong all his life  sword for hire but this is his story for redemption, he saves a priest who has an impact on this life from this day forward. He ets tasked to get some armour to deliver to a general of an army to help raise moral and bring triumph.
On his journey he meets old friends and new friends who all tie in nicely to help him or go separate ways but have impact on the story.

Its a fast read once you get going there is no stopping, with that said just don't rush to end it because i feel that Gemmell rushed the ending and i didnt really feel it. i men we take days to get to the mountains and then he sums up the last few days in one chapter is a little lazy. But still a good read never the less.

Hopefully i will do more book reviews in future.

thanks for reading
Dave

The Man With The Iron Fists




I have been anticipating this film since i had saw the trailer, then i was let down by Blockbuster as they didn't have it to rent so i looked in the Lovefilm catalogue and they didn't have it either so i was stuck in limbo. i sure as hell wasn't paying for it from HMV for above £10.

So cut to couple months later it was available on Lovefilm. Does the anticipation pay off for this film the answer is Yes!

Okay don't get me wrong this is not a fantastic film it is however a fun film.

The script is pretty good with a revenge story line, all revolving around a small town and the blacksmith.
There is no real stand out scenes or moments in the film however there is one character that i loved more then the others and that is Jack Knife who is played by Russell Crowe and would not mind a spin off film for him. The Gemini twins was great would liked to have seen more off them

Like i said no real stand out action scenes i would have thought there would have been more fight scenes but instead we got more quality fights with unique weapons.

Considering this was Rza first directors debut its a solid start and will happily watch some more of his work. The fact that Tarantino's name was on this probably would have made people to watch this more then if it was just a straight to DVD film.

I recommend this film for a fun relaxed feel not a serious watch so please enjoy, if your not sure watch the trailer.



thanks for reading
Dave

Wednesday 3 July 2013

In The Name Of The King 1 & 2 review

In the name of the king: a dungeon siege tale


The plot



Set in the kingdom of Ehb, the story follows Farmer (Jason Statham), who was adopted by his village. When Farmer's wife, Solana (Claire Forlani), and his son leave to sell vegetables at the town of Stonebridge, Farmer's farm is attacked by creatures called Krugs. With the help of his friend and neighbor Norrick (Ron Perlman), he travels to Stonebridge where his wife and son are. Before he arrives, the Krugs, controlled by the wizard Gallian (Ray Liotta), kill his son and capture his wife. Farmer, with the help of Bastian (Will Sanderson), his brother-in-law, and Norrick sets out to find and rescue his wife. The King's nephew Fallow (Matthew Lillard) is conspiring with the wizard Gallian to take over the kingdom led by King Konreid ('Burt Reynolds' )

So where to start on this disastrous film, I struggle to think of any good things to say.
The cast in this is pretty big with Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, Ray Liotta, Mathew Lillard and Burt reynolds.

This was Jason Statham's way into the fantasy genre and you will also find it currently his last. The man cant do fantasy his acting skills don't do well here he far to serious and not believable as a warrior or adventurer. You can kind of see why he sticks to all the hand to hand fighting films ect as its outside of his skill.

Now to the man i have lots of respect for Ron Perlman this is the type of film I expect to find him in as this is not his first B type movie. He is made for this genre of films and find him to be great into these types of roles generally out shining everyone else.


The film is made after a video game series so it has lore to follow and i cant comment on if it follows the story to that of the game as i never played them. 
However it does have a Lord Of The Rings vibe to it and could havet rode on it cape tails but it didn't.
CGI in this film is terrible and all looks like it is shot on green screen. Action scenes look pants and very fake and some of the dialogue just takes you out of the film.

The antagonist in this film is Ray Liotta who plays a evil warlock type character whilst he is not a believable warlock magic type of person he does play the bad guy very well in any film but here still not so much.

In what kind of film does the evil warlock seduce a wizards daughter, how can she be so dumb as if she didn't know that her father had a nemesis. ITS DUMB!

Budget for this film was about 60 million and it has grossed about 4 million which makes this a big flop which does make you wonder how on earth it got a sequel. 

This whole film is dumb and can not recommend this to any one unless you want them to suffer.



In the name of the king 2 : two worlds





The plot

Granger - a warrior in medieval times - is sent on a quest to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Venturing through the now war torn Kingdom of Ehb, he teams up with an unlikely band of allies with the goal of slaying the leader of the "Dark Ones". Fighting against all odds, they must free the land from the grasp of the evil tyrant Raven and save the world.


Hmmmm where to begin if a sequel film has time travel in it then its doomed from that basic fact however if no one from the original film is in it and it stars Dolph Lundgren it too is doomed.

The one thing this film did better then first film was it didn't have much CGI in expect for the crap dragon and it looked like they actually shot on site or used sets.

There is no big names in the cast except Dolph so no great performances, the dialogue again is bland and where it is a time travel/portal film the use of modern language being used in a mystic world (trope).

The not so hidden twist is that the bad guy was the one who sent him on the quest.. dum dum dum. its a very short lived film with no real meaty juicey part of the story any where and the final fight is pathetic.

The only real connection to both of these films is the lead character is the heir to the kingdom and they just dont know it. Other then that you would not believe they were in the same world.



The budget for this is 4.5 million I can't say how much it grossed as cant find it however the budget for this is what the last one roughly made, which i had to chuckle at. 

Just to give you all the head up expect a third film god knows how or why but know this he or she will be heir to the throne. SHOCKING right?

thanks for reading
dave