Wrath of the Titans (12A) ***

Wrath of the Titans (12A) ***


Dir: Jonathon Liebsman


Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Rosamund Pike


Synopsis: Years have passed since Perseus (Worthington) slew the Kraken and saved Greece, and Hades (Ralph Fiennes) is again trying to destroy the world, this time using his, Zeus (Neeson) and Poseidon's father, Cronos. This means yet another mission to the underworld for Perseus, to use his demi-god abilities to save Greece.


Verdict: I'd love to say that lessons have been learnt from the fateful 3D of Clash of the Titans but, unfortunately, I cannot. Sure the story wasn't too bad, the special effects are good, but the 3D lets the film down.

On the whole, the story is good, and Worthington reprises the classical Greek role well, as do Neeson and Fiennes, and it wastes absolutely no time in getting straight in to the nitty gritty of action sequences. These are the basis of the film, as with Clash of the Titans.

The common theme nowadays with putting the Greek classics to film is the focus more on the action than the journey - something I'm sure Homer et al would not be impressed about. However, action is what sells a film like this, so action is what you get in bucketloads. It's strange to think that with CGI that is as good as it is in this film that they mess up on the 3D, but it would seem that they put more effort into some great effects. It almost makes you want them to have spent more time on the 3D and less on the CG to make it well rounded.

All in all, this film won't win awards or knock The Hunger Games off its top spot at the box office, but it's worth a watch just for the CG. Just be sure to go to the 2D showing.

The Rum Diary (15) **

The Rum Diary (15) **

Dir: Bruce Robinson

Starring: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart

Synopsis: Set in San Juan in 1960, The Rum Diary follows American journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) as he discovers new excesses in alcohol, love and being handed the bad end of the stick by people in high up places.

Verdict: Don’t you just hate it when a film seems entirely cobbled together? Too many stories making up the whole to the point of confusion? Admittedly, it works when you have intertwining stories featuring different characters, but when the higgledy-piggledy series of events that befall Depps protagonist in The Rum Diary all come together, it becomes hard to follow.

The premise of the film seems to be The Hangover meets All The Presidents Men – Eckhart’s Sanderson is an expat who wants to use Kemps’ writing talent to gain approval to build hotels, and the editor at the newspaper is doing a bad job of keeping the publication afloat which means endless strife for the journalist and his sidekick Sala (Michael Rispoli). This, coupled with an excessive amount of alcohol consumption (and one kick from a strong hallucinogenic) makes his attempts to get the better of both these people fruitless.

The first half hour or so of the film is quite slow, as it basically follows Kemp as he drinks, smokes, and secures his job, before the film finally goes somewhere with the introduction of the love interest, Chenault (Heard) who is going out with Sanderson. The point of the film wasn’t made apparent until the seedy-ness of Sanderson is introduced.

At least the drunken antics of Sala and Kemp is good for some laughs. Compared to The Hangover where you feel as though you’ve seen all the best comedy moments in the trailer, The Rum Diary keeps some of its funniest material close to its chest for when you see it. It is also noteworthy to

It is disappointing how Depp is becoming a typecast actor, in that all the characters he plays are either drunk, or mad as hatters, and there is a fine line between the two. Having said this, he does do it very well. Eckhart again proves himself as a great actor in this, though it can be said that the character is a bit Harvey Two-Face.

Having not read Hunter S. Thompson’s book, I can only imagine that it is not as confusing or hard to follow as the film turned out to be – fitting a man’s whole experience into two hours, no matter how much of a drunken blur it might be,  has not turned out well.

The Hunger Games (12A) *****

The Hunger Games (12A) *****

Dir: Gary Ross

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson.

Synopsis: Based on the cult book trilogy, Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future where the rich live in the Capitol, and the poor live in outlying ‘Districts’. Each year a boy and girl from each of the 12 poverty stricken districts are chosen to compete in a fight to the death on live TV. This year, Katniss (Lawrence) becomes the first to volunteer herself in order to save her sister.

Verdict: Adapted from Suzanne Collins’ book, and plans for the trilogy to turn into four films, the inspirations behind this sci-fi epic are plain to see. With the likes of Battle Royale, Robin Hood, V for Vendetta and The Handmaids Tale each lending certain aspects to the overall of the story, Collins’ couldn’t go wrong with the series, and the film looks set to be just as big a hit.

The film is hugely emotional straight from the onset; when we’re presented with Katniss (Lawrence) comforting her sister Primrose (Willow Shields) who is having nightmares of being chosen for the Hunger Games, through to a particularly heart wrenching scene once the games have begun. However, don’t expect to be bawling throughout, the action sequences once the event begins are brilliant. I particularly enjoyed the shaky quick cut camera work at the very start of the games, although the whistling after an explosion to show damage to someone’s hearing is a tad cliché now.

The plot does everything right, with a good build up before the action kicks off, and a believable juxtaposition between rich and poor - highlighted by the dystopia and the Robin Hood-esque sense of inspiring revolution by beating the regime at its own game. Even not having read the books you can see where the next films are going go. And, having not read the books, I was deceived a few times by Ross in his editing of the film into thinking it would end towards earlier than it did – something to poke fun at those who see the film before reading the series.

One of the best sci-fi action films of the year, The Hunger Games came out yesterday in the UK.

The Raven (15) ***

The Raven (15) ***

Dir: James McTeigue

Starring: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans

Synopsis: In Baltimore, a serious of murders which emulate the writings of Edgar Allan Poe sparks Detective Emmett Fields to enlist the poet’s help to track down the killer.

Verdict: The first thing to mention about The Raven is the similarities it bears to other films. It seems to draw inspiration from gore-tastic flicks such as Saw, the mystery of crime thrillers like Sherlock Holmes and Se7en (mimic killings etc).

Once you spot the films behind the film, you can see a lack of originality behind it. However, this does not make it bad – quite the opposite. Though unoriginal in premise, simply the change of historical setting and the way the killer knows the writings of Poe better than he does makes it interesting and, thanks in part to lack of development, the identity of the killer is quite a surprise.

While Cusack’s portrayal of the American author is good, the real star of the film is Evans, who really delivers a much better performance than the lead.

The story is cleverly written, incorporating the writings of Poe in the story as well as part of the story, making it dark and macabre. This includes an egotistic line from the killer to Poe: ‘one day people will stand in lines to see the things we see’. McTeigue hinting at the film being a success maybe?

The clever writing juxtaposes the often poor cinematography. There are some dodgy special effects, and a shot which could have just have easily been omitted - the only downside of which being leaving me without a sentence to write.

Tie all of these things together with the gore and mystery and, if you discount the negatives, the film is enjoyable.

This Means War (12A) ****

This Means War (12A) ****


Dir: McG


Starring: Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon


Synopsis: Best friends Tuck and FDR are CIA agents who both fall for the same girl. They both date her at the same time, and try to sabotage each other using all the CIA hardware they can get their hands on with hilarious consequences.


Verdict: This Means War is a film that crosses the boundary between an action flick and a rom-com - something that is easily done but can also easily go wrong. Luckily, however, McG has done this successfully, creating something that kicks off with a healthy dose of gun fighting and revenge plots, which becomes a rom- com with extra spy flavour, before becoming an action film again.

Pine and Hardy give good performances as the two CIA agents who abuse their positions and use of government surveillance equipment to watch each other as they date the blonde protagonist. Both have proved themselves as having comical sides in previous films, as well as the tough-fighting guys, and the two come together in this brilliantly, playing off each other so well - Pine with his Kirk-ish arrogance and Hardy with his Brit-wit.

The pairs relationship is fun to watch from the onset when they are best friends, to them nearly hating each other with a passion, right back to loving each other again.

Witherspoon's Lauren is not the stereotypical girl in the this sort of movie either. She doesn't cringe and get all emotional at the drop of a hat like so many other females in the situation which is refreshing.

You also don't get back stories to a host of extra characters which makes a change - the only person whose story develops a bit is that of Lauren's friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) and the CIA agents who help with the spying provide some great comedy of their own.

This film is one for both the guys and the girls, with plenty of action to keep the blokes happy, slushy stuff for the girls, and healthy doses of comedy to keep both parties happy.