Top Movie Trailers

The Avengers

The Dark Knight Rises

The Muppets Movie

Margin Call

Tintin- The Secret of the Unicorn

Now here's a film that I have awaited for with baited breath. I have watched ever trailer possible and even, please forgive me, looked at the forums a little bit........... but only a little bit! Yes Tintin to me is a film that could define it's generation. It contains characters and stories that have proved that they can stand the test of time and then this is placed alongside two of the most successful directors of recent times and surely you have the making of a modern great. From the outset the cast also looks like a good mix of English talent with the likes of Jamie Bell and Daniel Craig. Now although I cam out of this film with a feeling of immense satisfaction I also feel that it is one that will split opinion vastly and has potential to be one of the biggest cinematic talking points of the year.

Let us begin with the look and feel of the film. Spielberg's biggest challenge with this film was to recreate the child like innocence of Tintin mixed with the sense of adventure that is brought across by the fast paced fun books. I can totally see why he decided to shoot the film in the animation style that it is in. Tintin with actors we know and love would destroy the fantasy and the image of the icon, however, the cartoon in 2D would obviously not come across well to cinema. The animation that has been chosen therefore gets the best of both worlds, there is not only the sense of realism that comes with the 3D but also the audience keeps it's iconic image of Tintin with as little of his character's appearance lost as possible. In my opinion this tactic taken by the film makers totally paid off. I was engrossed in the world of Tintin taking it as for real for a couple of hours but the whole time I knew that this was not my world but the colourful world of the hero of my childhood. This is obviously hard to explain but I imagine that many would come out with the same feeling, and even those who had not read the books would come out having experienced Tintin's universe. The 3D effects are also the cherry on top, although they are in no means perfect. They sometimes seem clunky and placed in the film just for the sake of having it in 3D not to improve the movie. However there are some scenes like that of the naval battle where you are simply stunned by the brilliance of the Directing combined with the 3D. My heart was in my mouth for some scene just because of the way the film was shot and the way the 3D was not only coming out towards me but dragging me into the film at the same time. Now that's the positives out of the way, let's scrape the barrel and find us some negatives. The look of the film will split the opinion because I imagine there will be some purists to the stories of Tintin that will claim that the charm of the characters, Tintin's key factor, is lost. With all the emphasis on the look of Tinitin's world the appearance of the characters seems to have been rushed slightly which means slightly less connection to the characters. There is foundation for this argument with Tintin's features especially looking slightly dull in his close ups and the charm of captain Haddock is lost in his large CGI cheeks which almost hide his eyes. I would have to agree slightly with this argument but the look and feel of the film as a whole is of a very high quality even with these slight blemishes.

Now onto the meat of a good film, the script and story. As written by Edgar Wright and Stephen Moffat I expected the script to be of a high standerd along with the story structure. I was proved right to a certain extent. The lines are witty and the screenplay is clever, which is exactly what I expected. There was nothing Sean of the Dead funny or Sherlock clever but that's not what Tintin is, Tintin is a mix of all the substances that make a great adventure story and it never choses to be specifically funny, clever, witty, dramatic. The story is a mish mash of lots of the Tintin stories but to be fair that's what I expected because it would take a script of pure genius to bleed one blockbuster from one Tintin book. However this is where I feel the script begins to take liberties. Yes it does have the right to mix and mash lots of stories however it at some points just feels like Tintin and the Captain are hopping from one set piece environment to another. One minute they are in the docks in Blighty, then the ocean by ship, then the air by plane, Africa (with many vehicles) then back to the docks. I just felt as a viewer that there was never enough time to establish a location. This to a ex-reader of the books slightly annoyed me because it didn't allow me to try and recognise famous locations from the books. It just felt that the writers had brilliant set piece ideas but no real idea how to link them together so they didn't bother and just threw them all together. There is barely any downtime between chases or action which does keep the audience in awe but is exhausting to watch. It could also be argued that there are to many chase/battle scenes and some time could have been used to flesh out the characters themselves and move not only Tintin and his friends tales of adventure to the big screens but move Tintin and his friends as people. The likes of the Thomson twins have very little screen time but what they have is very good so I felt, in the middle of another chase scene, could this time not be used for the better. However for all the negatives about the chase scenes and set pieces what there is is excellent and hugely entertaining.

Now let us swiftly onto the acting, though there is little I can say about it in an animated movie. All the actors do their respective jobs well and to a standard I expected. Daniel Craig does exceed my expectations but and actor of his quality shouldn't really be phased by this sort of role and he comfortably takes it in his stride. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg also exceeded my expectations because they had to react of each other and they did this well (in the time they were on screen) creating humor from the simplest of lines. Andy Serkis also does an good job bringing across the humor of the Captain and his rough alcoholic side but the star for me is Jaime Bell. In the original Tintin's Tintin himself does a lot of thinking in his head and obviously the large cartoon thinking bubble was not available to the Director so Jamie says it all out loud. Originally this seems weird to the audience but due to the believability of Jamie Bell's thinking out loud the audience quickly buys into the directing technique. This is no easy feat for Jamie Bell to do with just his voice but he does it well and deserves credit. However there is one limiting factor for all the actors in this film and that is as mentioned above, the lack of character development in the film as it's replaced with large set pieces. This means that although all of the actors can do good jobs, they cannot do brilliant jobs for they have not the lines to really show their skill as actors.

The Verdict

Spielberg has done well here. He has not created a film that will change the world and many will feel that the charm of Tintin was lost within the action of this high paced film. However, although there are mistakes and omissions, what this film does it does brilliantly. The 3D can be stunning, the script is very good and Tintin's world is opened magnificently although maybe it is spread to thinly. The actors do a good job with what they have to play with. I just feel that with a few subtle tweaks this could have been a generation defining film. If you get the chance see it at the cinema and if you get the chance watch it in 3D, you won't be disappointed if true fans may feel a little frustrated.

Rating: 8.0

Format: Cinema 3D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op3w_ICK4us

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Not all animated films are enjoyable for me. I hate to point the finger here but a prime example is Shreck the Third which was an utter torment to sit through. This shows that I am not going to hold back just because this film is animated, if it is rubbish I'll give it a good thrashing. This is why, when I turned onto Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, I was ready to slowly pick it apart bit by bit. This is the bit where I feel embarrassed........................ I quite enjoyed it.

What the joy is with most animated films is the original ideas that no one can really achieve with realistic cinema. This makes every turn in an animated film feel exciting and new, unless it's yet another sequel (I need not name the film I am referring to here). The simple concept of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is that food rains from the sky. Now I never seen a film with that as the core concept, have you?

The main point to throw out there with this film is that it looks good. This is because of the many food delicacies raining from the sky you get a hug assortment of colours that make the image on the screen very balanced and pleasing on the eye. This means that all the film makers have to do is create lovable characters and a good script and hey presto, we have an entertaining film.

I am glad to say that they do this. All of the characters are perfectly balanced and seem to all interact with each other well. They are also well played with James Caan's performance as the father a particular highlight. I even felt some emotion at the end of the film at the ending which is more that can be said for other animated films (....... like Shreck the Third) The script is also quirky and enjoyable excluding the predictable animated slapstick you can see coming like another Shreck sequel (oh, did I do it again?). They do throw in some laugh out loud comedy along the way with my favorite being the contrast with the techno wiz kid of a son with his anti-technology father. Many of the young generation will be able to relate to their parents struggling with concepts like emails.

The only thing that bugs me about this film is the seeming lack of motivation from the film makers not to do more with the film. The plot takes an hour to get going, which is fine because it's all very entertaining, but then only about half an hour to come to a close from their. The moment disaster strikes you are already two thirds of the way through the film. Also because of the fact that the film did contain some really funny jokes I felt that they could have tried harder to make the other jokes that didn't quite work in the film better. It felt as if the writers had thought of 10 very funny jokes and decided that's all they really needed. It could have been so much better than just being good fun.

In conclusion a good fun film to watch with the family but don't blow your budget on it.

Rating: 6.5/10

Format to Buy: DVD

The Prince of Persia

The Prince of Persia is the current adaptation of the popular video game franchise released on DVD and Blue Ray in the last few weeks. I had my first taster of this franchise only last year with one of the new video games on the PS3 which was disappointing so I didn't come to the film with high expectations. However I did hope Mike Newell would take the franchise to new heights because no-one wants to sit through a bad film.

In many ways I wasn't surprised by the film. To the annoyance of my friend Crouchy who was sat next to me, I had worked out the plot of the whole film within 20 minutes of taking my seat. This I accepted was because it was a Disney film. It was full of the predictable cliché's within the plot and with the Prince's own flamboyant set pieces. It was easily guessable where the next threat was going to come from and it sometimes annoyed me that the Price wasn't a little more switched on the situation because otherwise he may have been able to see the threat coming and save the lives of a few bit part characters. It is horrible thought that the Prince may have been able to save the lives of some unimportant henchman if he had been on the ball, he should feel guilty. The script also leaves the actors wanting at some points. There is a poorly written scene right at the end of the film between Gemma and Jake which just seems awkward even though they are trying to tie the whole film up, it did make me cringe a little!

The acting also disappointed me to a certain extent. Although the stunning Gemma Arterton looked fantastic, her lines felt forced. She captured her mysterious persona well and her love for the Prince as well but any other acting seemed to be beyond her grasp. Her humor was the worst because it often felt like even she wasn't comfortable with saying the poorly written unfunny one liner. Sir Ben Kingsley delivered what I would call a solid performance. Most of his lines were not a problem for him and he managed to deliver a certain amount of threat with the way he carried himself and delivered his lines. However sometimes it would seem the lines caught him by surprise and as if he had had no time to practice them which ruined the illusion of a destructive evil uncle. Apart from his dodgy accent, Jake Gyllenhaal delivered a good performance bringing the cheekiness of the Prince to the film well and at times I did even feel some sympathy for his character's predicament which means well done him on the acting front. The worst acting in the film was that of the meant to be comic relief side of the film which was a tax avoiding ostrich racer. He did deliver some of comic lines well enough to make me chuckle but the rest of his many lines all felt forced and painful. But I can't complain, the comic relief guy has always been and always will be a key part of Disney films.

There are many good things to be said about the Prince of Persia. These include the rather impressive acrobatics that are ever present in the film that the video game followers will appreciate, and the stunning scenery. I watched this film on Blue Ray on a very large TV and the look of the whole film took my breath away (I'm not just talking about Gemma Arterton there but she did factor in my opinion). They definitely got the look of the film right because even though it was shot in Spain you felt like you were right there in Persia! I also liked the fact that a few of the lines did make me laugh and generally the film kept me feeling upbeat in a Disney way. I was impressed with the amount I smiled through the film.

I would say that in summery, The Price of Persia is an ok film. It has a lot of flaws but some of these are the sort of flaws you would expect with a big budget disney film like the cliche script and the badly written humor. Put this all aside however and I would say that I did enjoy the film for what it was. I think that if you could get it at a good price then Blue Ray is the way to go just for the scenery.

Rating: 5.5/10

Format to buy: Blue Ray