The Crazies (2010)

This film is a remake of George A. Romero's 1973 film of the same name, Directed by Breck Eisner The Crazies was a film I was highly excited about through its use of a gripping premise and clever advertising and I was very interested in going to see at the cinema when it was released, but unfortunately I was unable to and so greatly anticipated the DVD release. So was my excitement justified or does this film fall into the same categories as The Wolfman remake and Daybreakers as films I was greatly disappointed with?

The film stars Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4) as David Dutton the sheriff of Ogden Marsh a small town in Iowa, but all is not well in this small community on account of all the CITIZENS GOING CRAZY! and soon the military descends upon the town in order to enforce a quarantine and take control of the situation. But things begin to grow particularly hazardous for those left uninfected as the the military clashes with the crazed citizens and the civilians struggle to escape from their home that has turned into war zone.

As you may expect this film throws up a lot of cliches such as the Army posing an equal if not greater threat than the Infected themselves and characters being introduced solely to be killed off a few scenes later.
But there are also many features that are highly underplayed. I couldn't help but feel that the theme of family and friends suddenly turning on one another is not really given its deserved attention in order to gain the full emotional impact of having to fend off someone you have known for years who is suddenly curious about what your insides look like.
Also as strange as it sounds the Crazies themselves don't have as much screen time as they require in order for the audience to constantly fear them throughout the film but when they do appear they often hold a truly terrifying presence on screen with a scene at a car wash and another at a funeral home being highlights of the film and great settings for gritty and brutal battles that leaves you on edge of your seat.

Timothy Olyphant is an enjoyable lead as the towns sheriff David Dutton who's major motivation is purely to get his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell) out of the town and to safety, this simple drive makes him a highly relatable and realistic character as he and his wife bicker amongst themselves as the danger grows much like any couple would in such a tense situation making their relationship believable.
Also a pleasant surprise comes from Joe Anderson who is able to portray his character Deputy Russell Clank incredibly well, making him a likable and sympathetic character who is shown to have a close bond constantly backing up and rescuing Dutton from danger but all the while is shown to be fighting a losing with the virus, and his sanity begins to suffer.
The army is shown to be lead by the same dumb-asses the were in "28 Weeks Later" with military decisions bungled or made too late causing more harm to the situation than good. But one of my favorite actors makes a surprise appearance Glenn Morshower from "24" and "Black Hawk Down" appears due his continued ability to play an commanding officer far better than anyone else, even those who have actually been in the army.

The effects are amazing as the town suddenly falls into chaos with the burning streets looking both incredible and dramatic and also highlight the descent of the town creating a wonderful hellish appearance.
As we've come to expect in today's films the explosions are powerful and stunning but in this film are never over done for the sake of spectacle.
Finally a special mention goes out to the effects on the crazies themselves with a horrific and shocking rabies infected appearance given to those who have been exposed to the virus the longest, this brilliant effect created by the make up artists gives the crazies a edge and makes them look far more menacing than they did in the original and yet they also appear highly realistic but once again the effects never go over the top which makes the film all the more believable.

The "Trixie" virus itself is an interesting aspect of the film as with most bio-horror films the fictional virus being a key element to the films sucsess. Its interesting to watch the way that the virus after an incubation period slowly degrades its victims into ruthless blood-thirsty killers before ultimately killing them.
The plot runs forward at a comfortable pace spending plenty of time to establish the location and characters before completely tearing them down as the situation decays. Much of the exposition is given by the army on account of the fact that they are the only people who know what the hell is going on, with the rest being discovered by Dutton himself.

To be honest this is really the kind of film I was hoping it would be with the battles are brutal the atmosphere tense, the film is not as scary as I hoped but there are some moments that will make you leap out of your seat if you don't expect them. So all in all a very enjoyable movie and I happily recommend that you see this film as it is a great watch and possibly one of my favorite films of the year so far..

Transformers : Revenge Of The Fallen

Oh how the mighty have Fallen (OK that's the only pun I promise)
For my tenth review I decided that I would write about a film very close to my heart, a film with worldwide praise but then my friend Alan suggested that I review Transformers 2 instead. 
A film with more plot holes than shots, and tries to distract us from these flaws with big ass explosions and Megan Fox. One of those films that grossed far more than it deserved through clever advertising. 
So lets dig in to find out just why this film just doesn't work.

For starters let me just say I was never exactly a huge fan of the original series, I knew it existed but never really cared for it which is why I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed the 2007 film when i was finally forced to watch it. Sure it was stupid and over the top but that's what we expected and the film was a surprisingly enjoyable film and like most people I was highly anticipating the sequel.
The result was at best disappointing with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen looking nice but the plot features more wholes than a piece of Swiss cheese, the characters are undeveloped and the film is overwhelmed with far to many Transformers resulting in none of them or the human characters holding the screen time they need for any kind of reasonable character development.

First lets take a look at the plot which follows shortly after the first film with the Autobots from having joined forces with the soldiers to form a special task force (damn the phrase "Special Task Force" is starting to appear in a lot of my reviews) to hunt down the remaining Decepticons across the globe. At the same time Sam Witwicky(Shia LaBeouf) is attempt to leave his robot fighting days behind as he heads for college, but all is not well in where the hell this is vill as Sam stumbles across a shard of the Allspark (the cube thing from the first film) which seems to scrabble his mind and begins to experience hallucination of strange symbols and the Decepticons attempt to capture Sam to learn what he knows.

Its time to play list the plot holes. Lets begin.

1. If the Decepticons can revive Megaton with the Allspark shard then why cant the Autobots do the same for Optimus since they have had the piece the entire time?
2. Why is Optimus the only one can defeat The Fallen?
3. In the first Transformers movie there was a huge robot battle in the middle of a crowded city witnessed by millions of people and now in the sequel no one knows about the Transformers at all?
4. If Optimus is the last decedent of the Primes do Transformers have kids?
5. If Transformers can look like people why do they keep changing into Veichles?
6. Sam dies and goes to Transformer heaven to meet the deceased primes? - Please explain.
7. Wasn't Bumblebee's voice fixed at the end of the first movie?

There are plenty more but I'm going to stop there in order to retain my faith in the film industry, but that's at least seven major plot holes that are left completely unexplained and where I may have been able to forgive one or two of them the sheer number of them is staggering. So what little faith that I had in the plot is gone so lets move onto the characters.
The majority of the original cast return as the characters that they portrayed in the previous installment with the only notable character that deserve mention is John Turturro as former Sector 7 Agent Simmons who seems to be acting in a different league from the rest of the cast playing his role with a apparent sense of humor that makes him far more likable than the rest of the cast. Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox fit back into their old roles nicely with a sub-plot of being unable to admit their lover to one another and trying to work a long distance relationship that is overwhelmed by the action sequences. Bay seems to go out of his way to whore out Fox as best he, can most apparent in a pointless shot with her mounting a motor bike.

The voice acting for the Transformers is good but their screen time is bitterly short with the only Transformers that get a look in are the two racially incentive robot twins that don't contribute anything to the film, are just annoying and yet seem to get more lines than any other Transformer. If you can get Hugo Weaving and Peter Cullen as voice actors you given them all the lines you can and don't replace their screen time with this films version of Jar Jar Binks. Oh an the introduction of the character Sam roommate Leo Spitz is completely irrelevant as he plays no part on the plot bar some cheap laughs and bad one liners.

The film is set across some beautiful locations spanning from China to Egypt that gives a nice backdrop to all the explosions.The graphics and effects are incredible with the Transformers looking beautiful and realistic and the fight sequence looking loud large and awesome with a fight between Optimus and three Decepticons without question being the highlight of the entire film.

So in summary Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen is like a Jaguar that looks nice on the outside but then you open the bonnet and find that its full of rust. With great effects but a damaged plot and undeveloped characters.

Predators

There is no hunting like the hunting of man, those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else.

As you may have guessed from my Predator review earlier this month I absolutely love the Predator films but we fans have had to put up with more than our fair share of crap since the original release, Predator 2 was enjoyable but was simply a case of the same premise in a different location and despite the predator being upgraded with a spear, a shrinking net and some other cool gadgets the sequel was no where near a good as the original, but enjoyable none the less. Then along comes Alien Vs Predator the film that made me want to make a predator style trophy out of Paul W.S. Anderson and its sequel Aliens Vs Predator Requiem helmed by the Brothers Strause was no better resulting in the Predator becoming a bloated cartoonish character. But our prayers seemed to have been answered when Robert Rodriguez claimed to have a script for the third film in the series called Predators (in reference to the Alien sequel being called Aliens) that would distance the series from the AVP films and take the series back to its jungle hunter roots, So does this film succeed in restoring our beloved franchise's former glory?

Directed by Nimrod Antal (Armored) and Staring Adrien Brody (The Pianist) Predators tells the story of a group of the most deadly killers from across our planet awakening as they crash downward towards a world that is not our own. But all is not well on this strange new planet as the group realise that they have been brought here for a purpose, to be prey for a new breed of Predators.

First things first, i didn't go into the cinema with the highest expectations in the world, having been let down so many times in the past but as soon as the film began i couldn't help but gain a sense that the film was created by people with a real love for the series.

The decision to return to the jungle environment of the first film really benefits the film recreating the tension that worked so well in the original. I mentioned in my Aliens review that a successful sequel is one that expands upon the universe of the original without damaging the mythos created by earlier releases and this film is another perfect example of that. Creating the idea of two different Predator clans the Ugly Motherfuckers we know and love from Predator and Predator 2 and a new race of Super Predator that doesn't follow the code of honour that their brothers do and are determined to further the enhancement of their species in becoming better killers through rigorous battles with the strongest killers abducted from other planets.
This powerful concept of a more aggressive Super-Predator tribe that is in the middle of a bloodfued with their honorable brothers creates a strong atmosphere and a sense of uncertainty about these new larger predators that are hunting the humans.

The cast is impressive and fit nicely into their roles of war hardened soldiers and murderers.
Despite the concern caused by casting Adrien Brody as lead mercenary Royce he actually portray a more believable soldier than many other actors I have seen and nicely breaks away from older stereotypes about having to have Arnold Schwarzenegger like actors in a lead action role. He is an unconventional protagonist in that he often seems to be only interested in his own survival, caring little for others and the way in which he tries to shrug off the responsibility of leading the group with a very directed "I'm going this, way if you want to come along fine" policy.
The only minor issue that i have with the character of Royce is that his single minded determination to escape the planet at any cost is never expanded on so the audience is left unsure of what he is so desperate to get back to.

Laurence Fishburne is enjoyable as Noland as U.S. Air Cavalry Soldier who has survived many year on the planet by hiding from the Predators and scavenging what he can, when he can but as a result has become deranged from his loneliness creating an imaginary friend to keep him company, Fishburne's unbalanced Noland works well giving the audience crucial back story about the world and the Predators themselves and also able to give his character a sense of realism beyond being a crazy survivor, but his role is unbelievably short and i was surprised he wasn't in the film longer.
I was also surprised to find myself routing for Oleg Tatarov's Russian Spetsnaz Nikolai who's almost selfless character you cant help but like do to the fact that Tatarov is able to add more personality to the character than first appears.
As well as these the other characters are given time to develop and mature as the film progress making them a far more likable group of individuals and leaves the audience actually caring whether or not they will survive.

Predators raises the powerful question that is simply surviving at the cost of our humanity really better than death? this theme is driven forward most strongly by the characters of Royce and Noland who are driven solely by the notion to survive at any cost and puts their own welfare before others this is opposed by the character of Nikolai who continually puts himself in harms way for the sake of helping others.

A good point about this film is that each time the humans succeed in killing a Predator it seems to have come at a high cost to the group this means that the Predators still retain the threatening nature they held in originals and don't appear any weaker through their loss.

The effects for the new Super-Predators are brilliant distinguishing them from the other tribe but similar enougth to still showing a connection between their origins,
also each Super-Predator has a customised helmet making them distinguishable from one another and giving each one a unique character trait.
The only issue i have with the effects on the new Predators is with their masks removed their new faces seem far to similar to the the face of another of Stan Winston's creations the monster from "The Relic" but this is purely coincidental and the new face is designed to show the evolution of the Predator species.

The feel of the film has returned to that of its 1987 origin with the film focusing on building up tension and character development before descending into the explosive violence we know and love but when the action arrives its fast and loud with some of the most enjoyable action scenes since Die Hard 4, especially the final confrontation with the last Super Predator which is both brutal and clever at the same time.

As mentioned earlier the film is littered with references to the original movie such as the return of the minigun, the end credits song brilliantly being "Long Tall Sally" and even the scene in which Hanzos hangs back from the main group in order to fend off the approaching Predator with a samurai sword scene based on Billy's last stand from the original, but unlike the recent Terminator reboot the film never gets cheesy by trying to force old lines on new characters.

The final problem i have have with this film is that the ending is far too open ended I'm unsure if they are leaving it open for a sequel or simply were unsure of how to conclude the story. And what was with only learning Royce name at the end of the movie when it was released in all the promotional material? it wasn't exactly a big secret. but those are my only issues with this film.

So in summation Predators is all that I hoped it would be, a fully enjoyable return to form for the franchise and even for those of you who didn't watch the original series Predators is a enjoyable action film, sure it is a little over the top at points but its as entertaining as hell and I highly recommend checking this movie out as you wont be disappointed. Now I just hope we can keep up the good work with the upcoming Alien prequel and any Predator films to come.

Day Of The Dead (2008 Remake)

Recently I have been thinking about the evolution of Zombie films and how the slow shuffling undead no longer hold the same impact as they once did, having been replaced by faster running zombies the present a far greater threat. Even the video game series Resident Evil that helped the zombies rise to fame has dropped the undead to allow crazed parasite infected villagers to take their place.
So I decided that I would review one of these new age zombie films and then in a few weeks I would follow up by reviewing one of the older variations. The obvious choice to review was Zack Snyder's brilliant 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead with gritty action, interesting characters and an amazing use of tension

But instead here is a review of the crappy Day of the Dead remake.

Directed by Steve Miner this film (unlike the original version that told the story of a group of soldiers trying to survive together in he aftermath of a Zombie Apocalypse) tells the story of a small town in Colorado that has is under quarantine my the military with many of the local suffering from flue, but all is not well in this small town as it turns out the suspected flue may not be what it seems at all.

Before you ask this film is in no way related to the Dawn of the Dead remake i mentioned earlier

(apart from the fact that Ving Rhames appears in both film as different characters). In fact this film doesn't really relate to any of The Living Dead series at all, it is best to view this film as a B-movie masquerading under the name of successful series, as this film has almost no relation to the film that it is supposed to be based except the fact they both have zombies and a character called Bud in them. if it were up to me this film would not be called Day of the Dead but instead be called The Bad Case of Sniffles.

The plot is week and can at best be summed up as a series of encounters with zombies and various locations moving from a hospital to a radio station to a road blockade and then finally "the hive" from Resident Evil

A early point worth mentioning is that Miner obvious needs some teaching on the basis of zombie do's and don'ts for instance Zombies DO charge in head first and rip their victims guts out; they DON'T dodge bullets like Neo from The Matrix, drag off their victims into the night or run along ceilings like the kid from the Exorcist (I'm not even joking).

Now granted this was a straight to DVD release but i remember the time when it looked like it was set t be released in cinema's and the film would have simply made cash by leaching off the name of a far better movie.

There is a few things about this film I like and that is the seemingly original idea of having all the town sick but suddenly changing into zombies at the same time like a viral time bomb, this is a cool concept but unfortunately many zombies appear before this time which undermines this idea the point that it just seems out of place. I like the way the zombies throw themselves out of the hospital's windows when they realise there is someone outside showing their one tack mind for flesh and finally the location creates some beautiful scenery. those are all the things that are good about this movie now back to the bad.

The casting choices are poor with notable mention going to Ving Rhames as jackass Captain Rhodes but you cant help but wonder why Rhames accepted a role in this movie when he has already stared in a far better and more successful zombie remake as a far more interesting character also why isn't he in this film longer?. The rest of the cast don't really warrant a mention. Mena Suvari is unbelievable as Corporal Sarah Cross and the rest of the cast are simply your typical B-movie line up introduced to get killed off in unoriginal fashions and are plain annoying. I spent the majority of the movie hoping all the characters would hurry up and get eaten(which isn't exactly a good sign)

As far as zombie kills go there as some decapitations but nothing special (even Zombieland had beating zombies to death banjos and dropping pianos on their heads). The zombie appearance are fairly standard (but good god the zombies fall apart quickly! and fire does not cause exploding heads!) and the speed of the zombies when running is sped up so fast it looks ridiculous (new age zombies are fast but they ain't the Flash for gods sake!)

All in all The Bad Case of Sniffles is a bad movie, No! A terrible movie unworthy of the name it clings to. This film has made me long for the shambling zombies of old that could tear a man in half as if he were play doe! So instead watch the Dawn of the Dead remake or at least the original series which have more drama, horror, tension and more satire than this.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

In today's review I have decided to focus's on X-Men Origins: Wolverine (ironic name since in research for this review I learned the first comic the character of Wolverine actually appeared in was the Incredible Hulk and not The X-Men, but go figure) which stars Hugh Jackman as the only X-Man with an interesting back story Wolverine.
Having Wolverine as the central character doesn't break that far away from the original X-Men series since Wolverine was the main character in those films anyway, with the other X-Men only featuring in small roles, but this is largely due to the large market the character creates.

The plot follows mutant James Logan 'Wolverine' from a young age as he discovers that he is able to heal his injuries and sprout bone claws from his hands, with his half brother and fellow mutant Victor Creed (Who is brilliantly portrayed by Liev Schreiber) he proceed to fight in practically every major war that the United States is involved in, due to their inability to die they are recruited by Colonel William Stryker (Danny Huston) as part of a special mutant task force.
Logan eventually grows tired of the violence and leaves this life in order to settle down peacefully, But all is not well for former members of Team X as some one appears to be hunting down and killing off former members and as Wolverine loses someone close to him he sets out for revenge.

First important point of this review is that the opening credit sequence for this film is absolutely amazing. It flows between Wolverine's fights in various wars such as the American Civil War, both World Wars and Vietnam; The transition between the wars sits incredibly well making this one of my favorite opening credit sequence ever.

Onto the characters, Jackman is ever enjoyable as the walking gruff machine that is Wolverine and its nice to see the character given more motivation than just "Who Am I?" for a change, I was concerned that the major plot twist would ultimately undermine the characters motives but this seems to not have been the case and the character is simply still a lot of fun to watch with Jackman able to portray a more well rounded emotional character compared to other entries in the franchise.

Minor roles that demand praise go to Ryan Reynolds as the over talkative Wade Wilson/Deadpool who's lighthearted constant talking is a pleasant change in pace and adds a light touch to the film compared to the more serious characters.
As mentioned Liev Schreiber is brilliant as the menacing Victor Creed also know as Sabertooth (Which left me a tad disappointed with the Sabertooth we got in the first X-Men film). Schreiber is able to create a real sense of unpredictability and animal ferociousness to surround his character that makes him and enjoyable villain.

Dominic Monaghan is terribly underplayed as tragic tech expert Chris Bradley who falls into depression regarding his ability with Monaghan easily out shining many of the other cast members but his screen time is so limited it can barely be considered a cameo.
And a final mention to musician turned actor Will.i.am who performs well as telephoning mutant John Wraith. Many musicians simply don't make good actors but Will.i.am is convincing as Wolverine's light hearted friend who is tortured by his past deeds working for Team X.

Now this film is highly enjoyable but there are a few problems with it mainly the fact that the film feels that it needs to murder off all the characters it introduces, granted this is to leave little knowledge of Wolverines origin for the main trilogy but the film turns homicidal on charterers who barely know him and it simply becomes a little depressing watching every character that is introduced die.

The other minor problem with this film is Taylor Kitsch's Gambit. Make no mistake gambit was always my favorite X-Men and I was happy to hear he was going to be included in Wolverine but his appearance simply doesn't sit right,
one of my favorite aspects about the character was his Cajun accent and where he does have an accent in X-Men Origins he seems to flick psychopathicaly between the Cajun accent i know and love and a thick American accent that leaves you unsure who is actually talking or if he suffers from multiple personalities.

A few final issue are that there are a few plot holes left unexplained such as why did Wolverine stop ageing at a specific age, is there a limit to his healing abilities or can he simply not die (with it being a tad difficult to fear for a protagonist that is invincible) another issues is that the plot is fairly predictable unfolding much like you expect it to but these issues aside the film is very enjoyable and is the kind of typical action film that is ridiculously fun to watch with the climax in particular (a two on one fight atop a power station) being simply shameless action that you cant help but enjoy.

Predator

I was inspired to write this weeks review is honor of both the second anniversary of the passing of the great Stan Winston who was responsible for the Predators original design, as well as the upcoming release of the series reboot "Predators" staring Adrien Brody, so lets take a look at why "Predator" had such a strong impact on audiences worldwide.

Directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard) Predator stars the king of action (The man has WAR in his Name) Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) as special operative Major Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer" who along with a team of highly trained killers are sent into the jungle of Central America in order to extract a high ranking cabinet minister who has been taken prisoner, But all is not well in the Central America jungle (and i don't just mean the rebels) as a hunter from another planet has come looking for sport and found its prey in the special task force and soon begins picking them off one by one.

The casting works well with the task force appearing as you would image it would full of various bad-asses and yet each character is well established before the time that there killed off each given a personal trait that makes them distinctive in their own way be it Mac's running a razor down his face to calm him or Blain's chewing and spitting tobacco or the way Billy strokes his pendent when he is nervous, it is thought these very small individual traits the film is able to establish the characters and give them a sense of realism you might not find otherwise.

Another interesting aspect of the characters is effective mourning over the death of one of there own I wont go into it to much so not to spoil the movie for anyone but one characters reaction to the death of the comrade in particular is very well portrayed as he suffers over the loss of the teammate he was closest to and leaves the audience questioning his mental state as he begins to break away from the main group.

Now for the Predator itself in it's first appearance before it was watered down to cartoonish behavior by the AVP monstrosity, the creature looks impressive thanks to the design by Stan Winston appearing advanced and futuristic while at the same time ragged and brutal which gives a strong sense of believably to the futuristic hunter, unlike the AVP movies the predator is kept in the dark for most of the movie despite several point of view scenes from the predators perspective the audience is kept in the dark about the creatures motives and overall appearance until the third act, this works well as it leaves the audience unsure of just what it is that is hunting the squad or why it is doing it adding mystery to the character of the Predator and making it far more terrifying than his later appearances in other media when you know exactly what it is and what it does.
The Predator's tech is impressive with some really original ideas in the way of weaponry that has clearly had a massive impact on the Sci Fi genre and something has to be said about how awesome it looks when it takes off its helmet, it just screams highlight of Stan Winston's career.

The plot plods forward like you would expect with the Predator dispatching the commandos one by one until only one remains, the plot isn't this films strongest points but this is a rare type of film in which the original premise (Alien hunter picking off a squad of elite soldiers) is more powerful than any plot and is strong enougth to drive the film forward, another example of a premise that is more powerful than the plot is the film Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

The third act is the most powerful in the entire film as it shows a role reversal between the Predator and Schwarzenegger's character Dutch as Dutch begins to hunt the Predator and the film slides into a game of cat and mouse as he struggles to stay ahead of the Predator and it is in this scene you cant help but feel the Dutch has fully developed as a character, going from prey to predator.

Overall Predator is a highly enjoyable film; its not perfect with minor draw backs but it is probably one of the most original and enjoyable Sci Fi Horror films of all time and lets not forget it gave us the ever enjoyable "Get To Da Chopper!" and I have got to say this is one of the films that has stayed with me over the years, a film that I have never gotten tired of. But in recent years the series has suffered at the hands of terrible crossovers but its staring to looks like that might finally be over and the series is back to form so bring on Predators!