Fantasy4eva: Movie Reviews

Showing posts with label Movie Reviews. Show all posts

MR - Hanna, Inglourious Basterds, Saving Private Ryan & Fast Five.

pages to get into the book. Everything before all that is confusing and slow. But if you can bring yourself to trudge through those first 100 pages guys, then you will delve into heck of a treasure.

I'll be doing something a little different today. Instead of writing just one movie review I'm going to attempt to fit a few in and make them short but on point as possible since I've watched a few movies in the past 3 weeks or so. Just so you know I MISS YOU ALL! *HUGS*

Hanna (6 May 2011 - UK)

Rated:12A - 111 min - Action | Crime | Mystery

Director: Joe Wright Writer: Seth Lochhead (screenplay), David Farr Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana Rating: C -

HANNA is the story of a young girl who has been raised by her father in a forest. They have their comfortable home and use the environment and wilderness to their full advantage. Things like gutting and skinning animals, killing, being fast on your feet and constantly alert come naturally to her father but more so to Hanna. She's not your average girl, far from it in fact. She has been taught from an early age exactly how to use a knife, to be alert even when asleep and to feel minimum emotion. This is ensured by making sure she never comes into contact with others, and keeping her away from music: basically anything that will bring an emotional response. To be the perfect assassin her father has ensured that she is brought up with these qualities. The movie itself although holds a fantastic and interesting premise doesn't seem to quite live up to it. We have Hanna who viewers will connect to on some level but the father and the "bad guy" called Marissa who is completely cold - hearted has no real back-story. And therefore towards the end we feel no pity for her nor the father. Marissa for being such a bitch and the father for being such a selfish and conniving man. The movie was good but some more depth to more characters would have been appreciated.

Inglourious Basterds (19 August 2009 - UK)

Rated: 18 - 153 min - Adventure | Drama | War

Director: Quentin Tarantino Writer: Quentin Tarantino Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and Eli Roth Rating: B -

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is pretty epic on one hand and completely baffling on the other. You have many characters that you will grow fond of but the peculiar thing is that not many of them survive. Many directors and actors can agree that this is a bad idea, and it can be a lot of the time. But somehow this movie pulled it off, well for most I suppose. For me it was just strange. So many people got killed off that I just didn't get where the whole movie was going. The movie follows Emmanuelle Mimieux the surviving member from her whole family who were brutally shot to death because they were Jewish. She now owns a cinema, a cinema that will hold a show which will draw some very important Nazi men. This is where the Inglourious Basterds come in. The Basterds are a bunch of Jewish American Soldiers who hunt down Nazi and make sure they leave behind some messy evidence. They are feared by all Nazi and have made quite the name for themselves. Scalping being their special trademark. This one showing gives Emmanuelle her chance to taste revenge and for the Basterds to get them some fresh meat the very same day. How could they possibly resist such a perfect opportunity right? Right. Well, the ending felt very abrupt and just as strange as the movie. But there is no doubt that the movie made me laugh countless times. A comedy it sure is, but be warned it can get graphic. Scalping Nazi's being one of those moments *shudders*. So, I can see why it has received the rave reviews, and it was brilliant in its own way, but I expected something different I guess.

Saving Private Ryan (11 September 1998 - UK)

Rated: 15 - 169 min - Action | Drama | History

Director: Steven Spielberg Writer: Robert Rodat Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Tom Sizemore Rating: B+

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN was fricking amazing. Although wanting to throw a brick at some of the charcters was an urge so strong at times that it scared me. It's a huge roller coaster ride that is bound to bring out too many emotions for your own good. So, think hard before you watch this one, real hard. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN tells the story of a platoon that are sent out to find and rescue ONE brother when they find that three of his brothers have died within days of each other and he may just be the surviving one. The deed itself is a great one and admirable because it shows compassion and empathy towards a mother who has lost three sons within days and possibly a fourth who they are finding, but the question remains. Is it okay to put many other lives on the line for one man who may not even be alive? What makes it harder is the hardship these soldiers go through. They have those moments when a friend dies and the audience will mourn and cry and think alongside the soldiers that this one man better be worth it. He better be worth all that they have lost for him. It's so hard seeing them go through this journey because you become attached to each solider. And the ending? Absolutely heartbreaking. I bawled, just bawled at the end and felt so numb that it took me a month later to review this. It was still too raw for me to review and I was too emotional and angry to review this back then. Just know that this movie is freaking amazing.

Fast & Furious 5 (21 April 2011 - UK)

Rated:12A - 130 min - Action | Crime | Drama

Director: Justin Lin Writers: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson (characters) Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson Rating: B

FAST FIVE is a full on thrill ride, no joke. I mean plot wise there's not all that much going on apart from

everyone coming together for one last mission. ALL those that we know and love are back. If you're a fan of this series then OMG it is one awesome moment when old characters you have missed arrive. I was literally squealing when I saw some of them. I spent the remainder of the movie jumping up and down on my seat and screaming COME ON VIN DIESEL YOU CAN DO IT!!! My mate was slightly unprepared and baffled by my passion for the movie *cough* and enthusiasm for Vin Diesel but I was so hyped up and so into the movie that there was no stopping me! The movie will give you a definite buzz. Probably my favourite movie out of the whole franchise.

MR - Edward Scissorhands

(12) 105 min - Drama | Fantasy | Romance - 26 July 1991 (UK)

IMDB Rating: 8.0/10 -- Not bad eh? :) (I always like to check IMDB rating before watching a movie. They haven't let me down to date)

Director: Tim Burton Writers: Tim Burton (story), Caroline Thompson

Star

Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Dianne Wiest

Rating; B+

My Thoughts - So, I just finished watching Edward Scissorhands after it was recommended by Vinaya over at The Book Lantern, and boy am I glad that I did. I haven't watched any Tim Burton or all that many Johnny and Winona movies but this one has seriously got me contemplating that I may be missing out on something big here!

Edward Scissorhand is the story of an artificial boy called Edward whose creator died before he could finish him. One of the unfinished parts: being his hands. Because of his death Edward was left uncompleted and left with scissors for hands. He has lived alone ever since -- that is until Peg Boggs a local Avon saleswomen pays a visit and despite being shocked and a little scared she decides that she wants to take this lost boy home, and she does.

Living in a suburban neighbourhood she lives the good life with husband Bill, son Kevin and Daughter Kim. The locals it is apparent are quite the gossiping kind and when they see this new arrival they are instantly intrigued. Soon enough it becomes clear that Edwards Scissor hands are an advantage as much as an disadvantage. He is an exceptional hedge and hair trimmer. So much so that soon everyone is taking full advantage of these skills.

Edward is a peculiar boy, but what instantly warmed me was how quick the neighbours become accustomed to him. It didn't take long for people to accept him, and although this scenario is completely unrealistic I had to remind myself, that hey, it's fantasy right? We can be over dramatic and unrealistic as possible here which is what I loved about this movie. I didn't have to criticise every little thing because it was pure fantasy which enabled me to sit back and relax. I have always had a big imagination so I naturally just seemed to really gel with the movie and the dramatic scenarios it tended to display at times.

Edward is close to Peg and with good reason. She is loving and protective, has given him comfort and a home, and it is clear that he loves her as much as she does him.

Although it's hard for him to understand humour or show emotion, when he does show emotion it can either be wonderful or plain disastrous. He hardly knows right from wrong and therefore doesn't know how to pick up on someone’s reaction towards him until it's too late and is easily influenced which does him more bad than good. It's hard for him to pick up on someone’s facial expression also which causes many conflicts and communication barriers later on in the movie.

I now know that the movie is slightly reflected on the Director *Tim Burton's* life who also grew up in a Suburban area and often felt like he wasn't understood and was left alone. In a way this is very inspirational -- knowing that it isn't just a movie which only means something to us, but also to the actual director -- to Johnny Depp who wept after reading the script because he understood Edward and sympathised with him so well. It was little things like this that I learnt after watching the movie which made it a little extra special and more meaningful.

Overall I was pretty amazed by it and so sucked in. I felt so much for Edward -- for this boy who struggled so tragically to fit in. Who wanted a family so bad. That might just be the most heartbreaking thing of all. --that he simply wanted to be loved, and wanted the girl that he loved.

The movie shows that just as quick as people might embrace you it doesn't take much for them to turn on you.

There were some things which I found odd being Peg and Bill. There were times when there would be a very serious situation and the father would go on whistling as if everything was fine although it was clearly wasn't. That slightly got on my nerves because they came across as a little kooky to me, and didn't seem to take much seriously or into consideration. That was the only issue that I had though.

I also had these moments where I would say "omg he's so adorable. Awwww. Arghh. Awww" *enters dopey expression which for the most part included me sighing and smiling*and my brother would be right there looking at me funny and say "Tell me how that guy is cute?" "Just look at HIM, HOW IS HE NOT CUTE?" I replied! So before you think I have lost it, it wasn't his appearance that I found adorable, but rather his facial expressions. This child - like personality of his that made me want to go up to him and give him a big hug!

Then there would be times where he wanted to do the right thing, he wanted to help but his body did otherwise. He wanted to hold you, to touch your cheek but at times he would forget that he didn't have hands, and things would only get worse from there. People knew that his intentions were right but would go against him anyway. That was what I found so sad, that people can be so kind and suddenly just as cruel the next.

The ending is just plain sad. There is no other way to go about it really. I had hoped things would have turned out differently but despite it being so devastating I don't think they could have ended it more perfectly. What I think is so remarkable about this movie is that it can have a profound affect on people of all ages. Children, teens and adults can all watch this and be blown away by it, and appreciate the movie all the same.

MR - Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go (2010)

12A - 103 min - Drama | Romance - 11 February 2011 (UK)

Rating; B -

Synopsis - As children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy, spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them

Director: Mark Romanek Writers: Kazuo Ishiguro (novel), Alex Garland (screenplay) Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfiel

My Thoughts - The movie begins with 28 year old Kathy reminiscing about her childhood and the life after she left the school. Set in a time where the human life span has averaged to a 100 years due to vital organs now being available for life-threatening diseases they have the donors to thank. Specifically made to cater to these needs, these donors that everybody would like to think don’t exist. Like a dirty little secret, they don’t want to go back to the days where they were told that it was impossible to find a donor, now they have everything at the ready, so they would rather accept that these donors are not human beings, that they are not natural instead of going back to those difficult times.

It’s a chilling world that the author has thought up, and one that I can admire him for creating. World building is just the starting point though, of course you have over an hour worth of a movie to go on and it needs to live up to the great concept. Never Let me Go did a good enough job. It’s not as dark as the book, and maybe that’s because the director and writer realised the audience would find it hard to accept and come to terms with the bleakness that is portrayed without hesitation in the book, without forgiveness. I guess they were catering to people like me who found it hard to accept the bleakness of the book, from that prospect I don’t blame them. Yet I can’t help but say that I wanted them to dare to though, to go for it. Portray the movie in the bleakest way as they could, shock us and make us vent in anger, because maybe seeing it first hand on screen would make me accept those very moments that I found hard to grasp in the book. Just a thought.

Havisham School is a place that “special people” like Kathy (or so they are told) go to, a place that she grew up in with best friends Ruth and Tommy. Her fondest memories lie there, and through her narration we are able to see that they had some great times there - for example; the games that they would play out in the field, the times Ruth and Kathy would whisper to each other at the wee hours of the night, the times Tommy would seek her out because he needed a shoulder to lean on, and sometimes someone who he trusted to just listen.

They knew the basics. They would never be able to conceive. That they had to stay healthy, avoid eating anything that could potentially damage their system in the long term., avoid cigarettes and alcohol purely because they would have to one day donate their organs and most likely after their third donation be complete. i.e DIE

I finished the book and it wasn't working for me, *shall explain in my review* and after watching the trailer when I got this sudden emotional response out of nowhere whilst I shed not one tear when reading the book I already knew. The movie was for me. It was. The book did help for one thing, and this is why I would always recommend you to read the book first. First of, I already knew the characters as best as I could because of reading the book beforehand. Also, when Kathy would stare at Ruth in anger, or say when a look would pass between Kathy and Tommy I knew what they were thinking, what that look meant, because I had read and experienced those thoughts first-hand in the book.

The book seemed to go on and on about Kathy's past, in such detail, that it just seemed to drag on. The romance in the book was hardly something noticeable because it was practically nonexistent which was one of my issues with it. In the movie, however, there was a little more focus on it, in a more sympathetic and understanding light unlike in the book. So, one could say that, that is my problem. I wanted my fairytale. I want the guy and girl to have that moment when they stop and stare into each other eyes after all their hardships and longing, embrace and kiss and say how much they have wanted this all along. That moment never came in the book, and although it didn't exactly happen like that in the movie either, it was a little closer to what I had wanted, a little more wishful.

We see that Kathy is a carer now and dedicates her time to caring for those who represent what she will be one day be. A donor. She is eerily calm about this though. Regardless of the people she has lost in life, the pain she has inflicted and has been inflicted, she is no longer that; passionate, curious and the determined girl she once was. Now she is; calm, collected, and at one with herself, ready for what is to come. She doesn't look back at her life with a particular sadness or a sense of regret or guilt, and I don't know if I see that as a good thing or not.

Whilst living in Havisham Kathy and all the other students have been brought up to never question their purpose. Unlike many of us who spent a lifetime questioning what ours is they have it set up from the moment they can walk. Although they know they are to be donors one day they never contemplate running away and this will always baffle me, but maybe it's because that thought never occurs to them, because it's something they accepted from the moment they were made and know no better.

One of the things I couldn't help but notice was how much was missed out from the book. I didn't mind it really all that much because they couldn't fit in all that the author told in his book, there was simply too much detail that went into her past to fit in the movie. Considering that, I think they did a rather fantastic job. One scene I was disappointed in from the movie is where Kathy is dancing, although the scene was there she didn't quite do what the book explained and for some reason a completely different person saw her. The tears are a big milestone of a certain character in my opinion and that was sadly not shown. I was confused as to why they had completely changed the person who saw it, it really made no sense.

When I think of Kathy, Ruth and Tommy I think of these three very helpless, vulnerable people that although know their purpose in life they don't quite know what to do with themselves, and don't know what to make of a world outside Havisham. Lucy was right in a sense, they weren't prepared and I think in keeping them in a dark not only did it not benefit them in any way it was also incredibly cruel. I gained a huge dislike for Emily and Madame after the movie and book ended, I wanted to slap them both and make them suffer as they had all these students. They had not prepared or helped them at all. But left them alien and unprepared for the outside world that existed beyond the gates.

Although Ruth is the most flawed and conniving, and dare I say a bitch? She acknowledges her faults at some point at least, and strangely enough after watching the movie I sympathised with her the most. She is very vulnerable, and wants to be loved. She wants Kathy to stay with her always and is afraid of loosing her. Even though she is manipulative because of this, she has her reasons. Not to say that it's forgivable but it's more understandable. In my eyes it makes her more human than the others. The other two? Not so much. Kathy believes herself to be this great person, and sure she is caring and considerate but she is no angel. I felt this was portrayed rather well in the movie. I am thinking of Ruth often thinking of her many years later yet the same can not be said for Kathy. And Tommy I still don't get that boy. I really don't.

LOVE in the movie was something I struggled with accepting. I saw no hint of any love in the book or the movie. When Tommy mentioned the word at a specific point I found myself asking. Are you trying to convince me or yourself? I guess it bothers me because I kind of believe that they were not capable of love, that maybe they were programmed that way when they were made. Although the movie did romanticise the concept a bit more, the reason I struggled with the book was because it didn't, it laid it all down and made it clear that things were not going to be all great, and I found that hard to grasp. The movie is a bit more subtle and forgiving, sure it sugar-coats things, but I can live with that than having no hope in something at all. Maybe that's why the movie was more to my liking; it gave us a hint of what many of us wanted. It let us latch on to some hope of love, and I needed that.

Let me just say many have fallen in love with the book, and in a way I can completely see why. I am still not sure why I didn’t, but maybe I'll find out as I often do when writing the book review. Meanwhile I would recommend that you read the book first then watch the movie. The movie isn't exactly amazing, but it makes you think and those are always the movies that you know are worthwhile. Ultimately it was my lack of belief in their love that hindered me from loving it as much as I should have, and although the author explained that they were in love it was my sheer disbelief in it that made me question it many times. One of the big reasons is probably near the end, where I question. Are they even in love or are they convincing themselves they are because they know if they claim to be they can get something from it? This was a huge question hanging in the air after reading the book and watching the movie. Or maybe I'm just looking too much into it.

You then have the odd scene in the movie which was done beautifully whilst brushed aside in the book. In the trailer recall the moment Tommy is screaming and on his knees? His anger and pain is so apparent whereas in the book it was described more of a tantrum. I always felt that was a disservice to him, making it out as a tantrum when he had every right to scream and to be hurting. The movie did it with such frustration and tenderness that it's a scene which really played with my emotions. It was that very scene in the trailer that made me realise that I had to watch the movie, it was moments like those in the movie which I absolutely loved.

Regardless of my conflicted thoughts and a lot of witty and amazing dialogue that was left out from the book I can whole-heatedly say that I'm glad that I watched Never Let Me Go and read the book. They are definitely worth your time. If not one then at last the other will be to your preference, and once you have done either maybe we can discuss :)