Film Reviews by MP

My daughter and I watched this film together and quite enjoyed it. It's a rather charming folk story. I think my daughter enjoyed it as the little girl in the forefront of it is a similar age and a strong character. I think I enjoyed it largely as an antidote to the usual modern blockbuster fare.

Excellent action and a good plot but just how much punishment can Captain America take? ;-) They seem to have upped his endurance to Superman levels in this film. Also you know they've stretched realism a bit too far when you have to say to your 10yr old son "I know but it's a Hollywood movie dude" ;-)

These days it's hard to imagine *any* of this not being made on a green screen or in a studio. There's very little obvious CGI apart from the glimpse of the big sea beastie for example. There's probably more than I saw in reality but the feeling I got from watching the blu ray was that this was real which makes the film very immersive. Some of the shots and scale are very impressive. It's also a pretty good yarn. The action is continuous and gripping. Some of the plot and dialogue is a bit a saggy but not too bad for a hollywood blockbuster. I think it also handles the tricky setting of a family movie about a post-apocalyptic world pretty well. It doesn't shy away completely from the unpleasant things that would happen in this world but Mr Costner always did the right thing before I needed to reach for the dvd remote. And it doesn't have what you would call a happy ending. The family you think is forging during the film doesn't go on to live happily ever after. The more I think about it the better I think this film is, at least until someone reminds me of something comparable that's better. Finally it gets 5 stars by passing the final test of being requested for a re-watch by the kids.