Film Reviews by AM

The plot line for this film is rather poor as our man is forced to knock-off some unsavory characters but really is dreaming of retiring on the beach sipping beer. Then there is Tommy Lee Jones who seems to have decided rather than portraying a nasty gun lord would rather join U2 as a Bono look alike. The problem is the film takes 40mins to get going and the action never really peeks, the good parts, but these do not help in overlooking the bad.

Recently seen a review of Terminator Genisys (GT) at 1 star however TG is much better than some critics have stated. It may have the same style story formula as older Terminator movies but is that any different from any of the recent output from Marvel or DC Comics? In-fact, I'd put its style very much into Marvel or DC Comics territory and that's maybe where TG could have been better by making itself more adult and forgetting the 12 certificate. Jai Courtney and Emilia Clarke do a good job of their characters but the start of the show is still Arnie even though his dialogue has been cut more to a level of Terminator. This terminator is better than the too human version of the previous films.

Overall the film is an enjoyable Saturday Evening watch that is mostly, but not quite, brain dead entertainment, visuals are good, acting is fine.

The Matrix saw the Wachowskis bring philosophy into the modern film goer’s perspective and the underrated Cloud Atlas again developed their political philosophy world-view. This meant that all should be well for their assault on Sci-fi in Jupiter Ascending.

Visually Jupitar Ascending is visually pleasing but that’s really where the good things end. The story seems to borrow from every past sci-fi film especially reminding me of Dune. Basically the story is 'time' is the most precious commodity in the universe. Humans were not born on earth but occupied the vastness of space. Planets were inhabited so millennia later they could be harvested of people to produce a DNA substance that is sold on the market.

Its problem is that the story is clumsy told and does jell together correctly. Some have said that the film is a Wachowskis take on capitalism or their views on gender however I did really see any of this in any of the film. For me what makes it more annoying is the film score that is near constantly in the background, over dialogue, over the crashes and bangs. Whatever can be said about the film the Wachowskis need to learn that sometime less is better. I prefer loud bangs, crashes and explosions rather than the musical score blasting in my ears.

Its a film that could have been great but in the end becomes rather mediocre.

Fury is an interesting gritty film in a world where Hollywood ‘superhero’ violence has become glamourized into computer game fun. By contrast writer and director David Ayer reminds his audience of the horrors of war.

The violence here is like war, dirty, gruesome, surprising and claustrophobic. You don’t know where that final shoot will come from and if it’s going to be your last minute on this earth. If you still have doubts war is glamorous Ayer then shows how a group of men live in the confines of their Sherman tank and the nature of war as Fury’s new recruit first job is to wash blood soaked seat of the previous occupier.

It is not a film without passion as we follow out tank crew and our new recruit to see how war gradually turns these men into passionless killing machines.

The film is not without fault as at times it can chug along like a Sherman Tank however these small slowdowns are made up for in the wonderful battle sequences. The film is certainly a good reminder that war is inhuman in nature.