Men In Black 3 (PG) ****

Men In Black 3 (PG) ****


Dir: Barry Sonnenfeld


Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson


Synopsis: Agents J and K return to save the Earth again from an invasion but, this time, J must go back in time to the 1960's to save the young K and restore the timeline.


Verdict: They may have been on a break for a decade, but Sonnenfeld is back with the third instalment of the Men in Black franchise. Despite the time away, this latest film delivers as much as the first two films in terms of special effects, laughs, action and the moving moments that his brand of comedy movie is known for.

Josh Brolin really stands out in this film as the young Agent K. You'd be hard pressed to notice the difference between him and Jones in terms of voice, mannerisms, and even appearance. It's also nice to see Smith back in a comedy role after a few years. This isn't to say that his serious acting is bad, but he is one of those actors that seems better suited to making you laugh, with that hint of deep emotion that MIB is known for. Emma Thompson is also brilliantly funny - despite not having many lines her opening speech is priceless.

The plot is also really good. OK, so it follows the same basic construction as the previous two films but, by using time travel as its main premise, you don't really notice as much. It is also fair to point out that, without giving too much away, a twist that I should really have seen coming from references actually took me by surprise, which goes to show how well the story was written and directed.

The other thing that makes these films stand out is the special effects - both visual and audio. It's always interesting to see the intriguing alien designs that the team can come up with, with the alien villains are successful in being quite scary (with Jemaine Clement's Boris being brilliantly created and played).

Despite not seeing the 3D version, it is evident where the effect would be used and I have heard that it isn't that bad (though the whole 3D fad is wearing thin nowadays what with the 50/50 chance of getting a decent effect and a bad one).

Cube (1998) 15 - ***

Cube (1998) 15 - ***


Dir: Vincenzo Natali


Starring: David Hewlett, Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint


Synopsis: Six people wake up in a series of cube shaped rooms, some safe, some with deadly traps. They must overcome personal differences and work together to find a way through the chambers to find a way out whilst they are picked off one by one.


Verdict: It's easy to see how Cube could be one of the influences behind the Saw franchise. People trapped in a cage with challenges and the growing sense of paranoia and desperation. That said, this film seems more intelligent, keeping me more involved and interested then the first Saw film did (I found it a tad boring, and couldn't be bothered with any of the sequels).

The start off goes from a quite rapid introduction to the situation, before slowing down whilst they try to figure out the sequence of rooms and traps to find their way out. It soon picks up again as the suspicion, conspiracy theories and paranoia build, raising the tension.


The film makes the most of what it has, barely using any soundtrack other than in a couple of scenes that really need it, which really helps this film to set you on edge throughout the watching. This, coupled with the few special effects, and the same set but with different lighting makes this film brilliantly simple, and all about the skills of the actors.

This said, the special effects, though few and far between, are brilliant (for 1998) and mainly used for the more gruesome scenes and particularly complex traps.

The actors are mainly small name, the biggest of which probably being David Hewlett, who has had a starring role is Stargate:Atlantis and bit parts in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Natali's other sci-fi thriller, Splice.


An enjoyably clever film, Cube provides a bigger dose of conundrums and traps than the Saw film that - seems to be - based upon it.

Saving Private Ryan (1998) Cert 15 *****

Saving Private Ryan (1998) Cert 15 *****


Dir: Steven Spielberg


Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore


Synopsis: World War 2 epic following a group of American soldiers in France, from their landing at the ill-fated Omaha beach, to save a Ryan, a paratrooper who has lost all his brothers in the war.


Verdict: Saving Private Ryan is one of those films that, when you watch it, you can see it is a classic and fully deserving of the awards it picked up when it was released in '98.

Following Schindler's List and 13 years before War Horse, Spielberg builds on his fascination with the Second World War, which saw him produce two episodes in the brilliant series Band of Brothers - a program which follows real paratroopers' stories, featuring the accounts from the veterans themselves.

The action in the film is contrasted starkly with the deep emotional story, which starts from the off in the vast American war cemetery, building on this with extracts from the vast amounts of letters sent for soldiers killed in action and beyond.

These action sequences and moving scenes are broken up only rarely with some dark humour, but this does little to alleviate the overall tone of the film. It isn't helped either by the fact that the action sequences will have happened. This makes the sequences horrible to watch, unlike in a lot of films nowadays.

Tom Hanks plays the primary role in this and does so brilliantly, as do the rest of the cast, even the extras who are there just to die on the beach are convincing and, at times, difficult to watch.

You will definitely come away from watching this film having been affected in some way by this moving story, and it is easy to see why this film came away with five Oscars, two BAFTAs, and 48 other awards.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) (12A)***

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) (12A)***


Dir: Roland Emmerich


Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum


Synopsis: A climatologist is has to battle the elements to save his son in this apocalyptic sci-fi flick that sees the world suffer from abrupt climate changes - from floods and tornadoes, to an 'ice age' which engulfs the whole Northern hemisphere.


Verdict: The Day After Tomorrow is one of those films that, eight years later, is still an enjoyable film to sit and watch when it rears its head on TV. It follows a similar pattern to most of Emmerich's films: namely the destruction of New York or the world as we know it. But these are the films that draw audiences, with big budgets, big names, and big special effects, you can forget the scientific inaccuracies that are presented to you and let your mind turn off.

Quaid's climatologist, who discovers that global warming has triggered a runaway climatological  apocalypse, is faced with traversing an Arctic tundra in North America to rescue his son (Gyllenhaal) in New York, which has been destroyed for the umpteenth time in Hollywood's long history by a giant wall of water before turning into an ice cube. Both play their parts well; the workaholic dad who doesn't have enough time for his geeky son who proves himself to be following in dads footsteps.

The main stand out feature of the film though, like Independence Day, Godzilla, and 2012, is the special effects used throughout -from a tornado ripping through Hollywood, to the giant freezing snowstorm that covers most of the Northern hemisphere.

The film, shown yesterday (Sunday 13/5/12, E4) is one of those pleasant ways to end a weekend and, being shown in spring, reminds us that despite our grumblings about the British weather - it's always worse in Hollywood.

The Lucky One (12A) ***

The Lucky One (12A) ***


Dir: Scott Hicks


Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner, Riley Thomas Scott


Synopsis: After finding a photograph of a young woman (Schilling) in Iraq that means he narrowly avoids dying in an explosion, Logan (Efron) keeps it as a lucky charm - vowing to one day find her an thank her for saving him. When he finds Beth after his tour ends, they find themselves falling for each other, and they begin their relationship with her not knowing the reason why he's there.


Verdict: A chick flick in every sense of the genre, The Lucky One follows the tried and tested plot devices that you come to expect. Boy meets girl, they eventually fall in love, there is a conflict or argument, then they get back together. Cliché to the extent that Beth even mentions to her grandma that she's expecting something to go wrong.

The thing that makes the film stand out though is the way the story touches on the subject of beliefs and superstitions in the armed forces, and the issue of post-conflict psychology, brought up by Logan's nephews freaking him out with video games and trying to surprise him in the morning which almost ends badly. The effects of the psychological trauma is stressed by slow motion action/death sequences.

Efron plays his part really well, showing that he's developed from the young singing and dancing actor in High School Musical: but I found that he still seems quite innocent and not wholly believable as an ex Marine. That said, the point of the film is the love story, which he delivers well opposite Schilling.

A classic styled romance film that the ladies can go gooey over, and earn the gents brownie points for taking them to see it.