X-men Origins: Wolverine

To say that I was looking forward to the latest installment of the the X-men franchise, would be a gross understatement. Truth be told, Wolverine has been my most anticipated film for the last 2 years or so.

With great excitement and high expectations I went along to a screening, only to come out going 'hmmm....' Id say that's my own fault by having such high expectations, but hey I'm a geek, I'm allowed to right?

My biggest nuisance would probably boil down to the fact that I feel that too many stories have been crammed into one. One of the exciting things about the character Wolverine is that he has many different origin stories creating a very diverse character. I feel that the creators of this film should have maybe picked 1 or 2 lines from the smorgasbord to create a masterpiece, instead it seems they have picked many and tried to cram them all in to the first 30mins or so of the film. If they had chosen to focus on one closer I feel that they could have created an awesome film that would show a development of a character rather than an the array of awesome action effects that we got, causing the film to fall into the awkward middle ground between mindless action flick and a well rounded blockbuster film.

Strangely the film seems to be made for fanboys of the Marvel universe, as the film is made of characters from the universe, but almost no information is given on them. It seems that you need to be well educated in the characters to understand why they do the things they do and how (ie. powers and such) but at the same time, if you know a little about some characters it was easy to be let down. Where the hell was Remy's accent?

Now for some positive,

Liev Schreiber does a brilliant job as Victor, a man having great difficulty keeping the beast within. He growls his lines with ferocity and even at times out shines our hero.

Agent Zero played by Daniel Henney was an interesting character, with most of the best action sequences, when he met with his demise, the film actually felt to lack. Is it the revival of gun-fu?

The action sequences were awesomely gritty and brutal, when Wolvey says "I'm the best I am at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice" you believe him, and almost feel hes understating it.

The scene with all the young mutants in the prison, is interesting, I'm actually looking forward to watching it again and picking out who is who. But as someone has pointed out - In the finale, the mutants who will become the first generation of students for Xavier's School are freed by Wolverine. One might expect that the students to mention the grizzled, hairy rescuer with long metal claws in his hands, or that their psychic mentor might pick up on it. Cyclops is the only exception, as he was blind throughout that sequence. Yet when Wolverine reaches Xavier's School in the first X-Men movie, he is a complete mystery to everybody.

Also to be commended is Danny Huston as Stryker he fits the role perfectly.

In closing "Oooh, Shiny. "

Bee Movie

I must admit that 'Bee Movie' is one that I have ruled out many a time. But my partners obsession with Seinfeld meant that there it was, sitting in my DVD player.

The fact that I had never paid much attention to this film before, does not mean that I didn't give it a fair chance. Quite the opposite actually, when I have low expectations of a film I am always pleasantly surprised. Well, that was until now.



Strike 1 - Putting the voice of aging comedian Jerry Seinfeld into a recently graduated bee in a child's movie. Don't get me wrong, I like Jerry, he excels at adult humour, his self titled show is brilliant. But the transfer to voice actor just doesn't meld. His character isn't convincing, lacking in any emotion bar Jerry emotion.

Strike 2 - Trying to fit a story that is to big into a child's length movie. There are maybe 3 stories in this film. But instead of taking one out to save or a sequel or leave on the editing room floor, they crammed them in, cutting out the joining intersections giving the film a jerky stop/start viewing experience. A film, without flow is difficult to watch, you loose your audience, and then they loose interest. I have no idea how that would've gone down with children.

Your outta here - Maybe due to the 'to much in a short amount of time' thing, we find that there is extreme lack of character development. Maybe the only characters we get to know are Barry and Ken, and to the same degree. Barry is the main character and we know him as well as any bit part, without knowing a character we cannot get tied up with them emotionally, in this case I did not feel pity or excitement or any other feeling one would normally feel for a lead character. Therefore Ken is the only character developed to where he should be, and he is that bit character.

On the upside, this film did make me laugh. Its portrayal of the stereotypical reaction that humans have to bees was spot on. Its good to laugh at yourself.

Transformers

I may be the only 80's child who was not into Transformers while growing up. To me they were just funny looking dolls. So why then, did I go to the film?





To say I went on my own accord would be not a full truth. I have to say that I had my arm twisted and pulled a little by various friends, who thought it was amazing. "You should totally go" they all said.

So I went, and was thoroughly impressed. Considering I went for the effects and cinematography I was not left wanting. In honest truth I actually said "Wow" in the first scene at the army camp. Something about the fast change from helicopter to robot, the Chgrrclick sounds, and the flying fire and sparks. Michael Bay always knew how to get bang for his mega bucks. With this scene he certainly set the bar for the rest of the film. A bar that unfortunately cannot be carried. After you've seen the change, seen the fast editing, had your giggle at the quirky humour (including Optimus Primes' "My Bad") and somehow managed to see a likeness between Frenzy and Sebulba (StarWars), it loses its oomph, its not exciting anymore, its all the same. So I loved the first three quarters, the last quarter however, was a bit meh.

Other than this what else is there to look out for in the film? Megan Fox... shes hot, I look forward to seeing her more on the action film scene. Her next project doesn't really interest me.
Spielberg's muse Shia LaBeouf, not bad see him next in Indy IV. (A film I am soooo excited about)
Ive always liked Joshua Duhamel, and no its not because hes dreamy.
However I didn't care much for Rachael Taylor, possibly because her Aussie accent stood out so much in an very American cast, or that her character was soooooo annoying.
Finally John Voight is always good value.

Watch for the sequel in 2009, for now "Autobots, roll out"

Witchblade:Tankobon 1

Witchblade has always been a comic series that has interested me. What attracted me to it was, the strong feminine character, the amazing artwork and the fact that it wasn't older than me. First editions wont cost you thousands. I promised myself, that once I was earning a nice income id start collecting. No.1 was only $45 at my local comic store.




However I got hooked on the trade paperback, I buy all my comic needs that way now, its cheaper, tidier and more durable. But I shied away from the Witchblade Tankobons. I thought that seeing as its the art I loved so much, having it in small black and white form just wasn't good enough. I got desperate, the comic store ordered one in for me, and I decided, what the hell, try it once, right?

And I did, I devoured it from cover to cover. The black and white did make the occasional word hard to read, but in a positive note, it made me concentrate on the story, and not get distracted by the art. And the story is quite impressive, I would not have wished Sarah's' introduction to be any different, we get to know her and the Witchblade, and then them as a joint product. The pace doesn't slow at any point and its very had to put down. Just wish I could actually read those pages at the climax....

The Sims 2

I have been addicted to The Sims and then The Sims 2 for the longest time. I remember the weekend that the The Sims 2 was released, a friend of mine left his PC downloading the whole weekend.

So EBGames had a sale the other week, and I figure, well seeing as its cheap and I play a hell of a lot, why not go Legit, and grab a few expansions while I'm at it.





I am now the proud owner of The Sims 2 and the Nightlife, University & Open for Business expansions.

University left me wanting, the fact that you can only create young adults in the University town, and that you cannot create normal family ages in the University town... I wanted them to interact. I was disappointed that I couldn't move multiple family into large dorms, it has 16 rooms, why cant I put 16 sims in there.... And i wish I could actually go to classes with my sims. I wont say that I was suckered in by false advertisement, Its my own fault for thinking they would have all I wanted and not reading more info before buying. On an up note tho, the young adults are quite cool, as is the fact you can rent houses and choose your dorm door.

Nightlife I haven't had a chance to investigate as much, but so far I like it, I built a huge castle for my vampire family, and was impressed by the half walls, double storey doors and garage. Finally sims have cars! This is the biggest and coolest thing ever. I'm looking forward to building a bar.

Open for Business I have had even less chance of playing, I have noticed that I can purchase community lots, but that is about it. I look forward to investigating more.

One thing that does bother me tho, is having to make multiple townships, one for each expansion pack, It would be better if they were all on the same screen, I hate waiting to load.

Miami Vice

I remember when Miami Vice first came to the theatres, audiences were torn on whether they liked it or not, more people it seemed, were less than impressed. I was not one of these people.

I loved everything except for Gong Li she unfortunately is an actress who just doesn't do it for me (she was fine in Red Sorghum).

I feel that Colin Farrell pulls off the character well, his Stache and Mullet are fantastic! Jamie Fox does and excellent job of portraying his opposite and making sure Farrell does not upstage him.

The Soundtrack was spectacular, especially Nonpoints' version of "In The Air Tonight" (originally Phil Collins). Moby is always good for soundtracks.

My biggest praises go to Michael Mann, Dion Beebe, William Goldenberg and Paul Rubell. The shots and editing where quick and sharp, the final shoot out gruesome, including blood spattered lenses, nothing was left out, the gore and the camera work in the action sequences was to die for.

Miami Vice, was exactly as it should have been, with an exception to technology, it felt 80's-tastic.

Fantastic Four:Rise of the Silver Surfer

The geek that I am causes me to get rather excited and wrapped up in the hype with upcoming Comic Hero movies. The second installment of Fantastic Four was no different.



Unlike many, I quite liked The first Installment, the childish fun was enjoyable & even exciting in parts. The only thing that bugged me was Jessica Alba's Sue, It just didn't seem to work.
I'm happy to say, that although its still iffy, in Silver Surfer, she is a lot more convincing. Maybe it was the hair, I'm not really sure, but she was better.

In complete contrast however I was rather unimpressed with Julian McMahon's portrayal of Victor Von Doom, I believe his performance was a 10th of that in the 1st. Doom is one of the nastiest Marvel Villains, there is so much wealth in that character, it feels like McMahon just threw it away.

Brilliance=The combination of Laurence Fishburne's voice & Doug Jones' movements to create the Silver Surfer. To me the character was believable, exactly how he should have been. These two talented men really pulled it off.

It seems to me that Johnny has been the comic relief as well as the glue that held it all together for both films, he gets all the best lines "I'd hate to wake up one morning and find out she was killed in a rock slide!" This film seems to be as much about him as it is about the Silver Surfer, its about his growth as a hero and a person, it actually has depth. And seeing him take on the others powers, is awesome.

Other highlights:Reed 'Loosening up' at his bachelor party, getting to see the soft side of Ben Grimm, and of course Stan Lees brilliant cameo. "Yeah...Nice try."

And the best quote of the film goes to Alicia (Grimm's love) "Honestly you smell like ash" In reference to knowing Johnny's there even tho she is blind.

But honestly Galactus as a giant cloud!? No way! My flatmate tried to justify it to me as being particles from destroyed planets, but sorry, I don't buy it. However Tim Story once said that he would never have giant robots in any of his movies. Go figure.

Watch for the Silver Surfer spin off coming 2009