Trainwreck is a gender reversed rom-com.
This movie tells the tale of Amy Townsend (Amy Schumer), a thirty something journalist. This is until she meets Aaron Connors (Bill Hader). The film follows their time as a couple.
Amy is an interesting character as she embodies the man in the relationship. The aspects of her personality are enforced by the people that surround her. There is her sister Kim (Brie Larson), her best friend Nikki (Vanessa Bayer) and her father Gordon (Colin Quinn). On the other hand, Dr. Aaron Conners, who represents the female in the relationship is supported by LeBron James (himself).
Regarding characterisation, only Amy, Aaron and LeBron were presented as fully fledged characters. The remainder of the characters are one dimensional, which is disappointing considering how well developed the two leads, and LeBron.
There are many notable celebrity cameos and short parts, most of which did not adda anything to the movie. The most notable is John Cena as Steven, who plays a person that Amy dates. Unfortunately, this dilutes from time that could be spent on developing side characters.
There are a lot of laughs in this movie, most of which are deserved. These laughs come from the majority of the cast and their interactions with both Amy and Aaron.
The strength of this film is that character interactions seem natural, with all actors fully embracing their roles. The strongest interaction by far was between our lead couple, with their obvious chemistry being the highlight of the film.
While this movie runs on rom-com tropes, they feel refreshing due to the gender reversal that this film adopts. It adds another level of understanding with both leads feeling fully developed as opposed to solely one of them.
To further this point, it feels like there is a coming of age story hidden within the movie. This is a nice touch as both character go through their coming of age stories later on in life. It is a great way of showing that people grow up at different times in their life.
For me, the major negative was the ending sequence. For a movie that focused on small moments and character interaction, the ending sequence was too big. It felt completely unnatural, and only there to tick a box. It drops the films potential to be considered a great.
Trainwreck is a rom-com that had the potential to be great, if not for the final sequence.
Number of times I looked at my watch: Three
Recommendation: This film is an enjoyable watch, on Netflix. Unless it is rereleased on Valentines Day.
I hope you enjoyed this review, please let me know what other movies you would like me to review.
Have a great day. Looking forward to your feedback.
Sunday 23 August 2015
Sunday 16 August 2015
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a lighthearted spy movie set in the 1960's.
In a way, this is an origin of our team. The team consists of Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), an opportunistic kleptomaniac, Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), an russian spy with anger management issues, and Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), an expert German mechanic.
As a general warning, this film contains no major plot twists, which makes discussing the content of the movie difficult. From what I can say about the film, it doesn't need plot twists, in fact the lack seems to fit the movie better.
For all intensive purposes, this film is a throwback to simpler times, where the clothes were brighter, the allegiances were simpler, and computers didn't take up the entirety of peoples lives.
All actors play their parts well, with the only flaw being that at times Henry Cavill sounded like a sixties radio presenter. The villain for this piece, Victoria Vinciguerra, is well portrayed, but under developed.
This films banter is brilliant, with each character feeling individual solely based on dialogue. The jokes were witty and the relationships felt right, especially as natural is the last thing anyone could say about this film. In all fairness, I feel that character relationships are Guy Ritchies forte as a director.
This film provides moments of laughter, which made is a far more amusing romp in the sixties. Although, a couple of the jokes were repeated too many times.
Some of the shots could be mistaken for those from the sixties. The long zooms help set the scene well for the movie, as well as show how impressive some of the choreography is regarding certain stunts. What also impresses me is the lack of shake-cam action scenes. In fact, a lot of modern tropes seem to have been abandoned for older styled shots. This film is a great example of how something as simple as lighting can affect the entire way a scene appears.
Now to move onto the action. The lack of shaky cam helped a lot, as well as the sixties based shots. The most impressive parts for me were when the violence was implied, as it lead to far more creative scenes. When it wasn't implied, the action was serviceable, with each character playing to their own strengths.
All in all, I found this film to be enjoyable, the throwback elements make it a worthwhile view. It was sassy and witty.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a fun film that harkens back to the days when summer movies were simpler affairs. I wish more summer films were like this.
Number of times I looked at my watch: Three
Recommendation: Watch if you want to have an enjoyable time at the cinema.
I hope you enjoyed this review, please let me know what other movies you would like me to review.
Have a great day. Looking forward to your feedback.
In a way, this is an origin of our team. The team consists of Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), an opportunistic kleptomaniac, Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), an russian spy with anger management issues, and Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), an expert German mechanic.
As a general warning, this film contains no major plot twists, which makes discussing the content of the movie difficult. From what I can say about the film, it doesn't need plot twists, in fact the lack seems to fit the movie better.
For all intensive purposes, this film is a throwback to simpler times, where the clothes were brighter, the allegiances were simpler, and computers didn't take up the entirety of peoples lives.
All actors play their parts well, with the only flaw being that at times Henry Cavill sounded like a sixties radio presenter. The villain for this piece, Victoria Vinciguerra, is well portrayed, but under developed.
This films banter is brilliant, with each character feeling individual solely based on dialogue. The jokes were witty and the relationships felt right, especially as natural is the last thing anyone could say about this film. In all fairness, I feel that character relationships are Guy Ritchies forte as a director.
This film provides moments of laughter, which made is a far more amusing romp in the sixties. Although, a couple of the jokes were repeated too many times.
Some of the shots could be mistaken for those from the sixties. The long zooms help set the scene well for the movie, as well as show how impressive some of the choreography is regarding certain stunts. What also impresses me is the lack of shake-cam action scenes. In fact, a lot of modern tropes seem to have been abandoned for older styled shots. This film is a great example of how something as simple as lighting can affect the entire way a scene appears.
Now to move onto the action. The lack of shaky cam helped a lot, as well as the sixties based shots. The most impressive parts for me were when the violence was implied, as it lead to far more creative scenes. When it wasn't implied, the action was serviceable, with each character playing to their own strengths.
All in all, I found this film to be enjoyable, the throwback elements make it a worthwhile view. It was sassy and witty.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a fun film that harkens back to the days when summer movies were simpler affairs. I wish more summer films were like this.
Number of times I looked at my watch: Three
Recommendation: Watch if you want to have an enjoyable time at the cinema.
I hope you enjoyed this review, please let me know what other movies you would like me to review.
Have a great day. Looking forward to your feedback.
Monday 10 August 2015
Fantastic Four (2015)
Fantastic Four is a superhero film with some horror elements.
Fantastic Four is an origin story for the titular team of heroes: Reed Richards (Miles Teller), Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) and Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell).
For the opening act, this casts works alongside Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell).
In all actuality, this was not a bad movie. The characters were well realised, and the psychological impact on the characters just discovering who they are was interesting.
This film shines when it focuses on the character relationships and darker aspects. Seeing as this is an origin movie, it is nice to see hints at how all of the relationships will develop over time. These relationships help provide genuine feelings of family, with hints of friendship.
At times, Fantastic Four felt uneven. In an essence, there was a good film here, but it was buried amongst moments of pure cheese.
The cinematography in this movie managed to demonstrate competency, especially with the darker parts. However, the majority of the film didn't pop. I know the word "pop" is not a useful or usual word, but it's the only way to describe a film where the visuals didn't stand out at all times.
The funny thing is that there are two moments in this movie which stand out, unfortunately those two moments are surrounded by blah. This detracts from what is a good film on the inside.
Fantastic Four is a good movie to see, producing a different take on the ever more saturated superhero genre. The only thing that is disappointing is that there was so much more potential that is missed out on.
Number of times I looked at my watch: Three
Recommendation: It's worth a watch on Netflix.
I hope you enjoyed this review, please let me know what other movies you would like me to review.
Have a great day. Looking forward to your feedback.
Fantastic Four is an origin story for the titular team of heroes: Reed Richards (Miles Teller), Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) and Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell).
For the opening act, this casts works alongside Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell).
In all actuality, this was not a bad movie. The characters were well realised, and the psychological impact on the characters just discovering who they are was interesting.
This film shines when it focuses on the character relationships and darker aspects. Seeing as this is an origin movie, it is nice to see hints at how all of the relationships will develop over time. These relationships help provide genuine feelings of family, with hints of friendship.
At times, Fantastic Four felt uneven. In an essence, there was a good film here, but it was buried amongst moments of pure cheese.
The cinematography in this movie managed to demonstrate competency, especially with the darker parts. However, the majority of the film didn't pop. I know the word "pop" is not a useful or usual word, but it's the only way to describe a film where the visuals didn't stand out at all times.
The funny thing is that there are two moments in this movie which stand out, unfortunately those two moments are surrounded by blah. This detracts from what is a good film on the inside.
Fantastic Four is a good movie to see, producing a different take on the ever more saturated superhero genre. The only thing that is disappointing is that there was so much more potential that is missed out on.
Number of times I looked at my watch: Three
Recommendation: It's worth a watch on Netflix.
I hope you enjoyed this review, please let me know what other movies you would like me to review.
Have a great day. Looking forward to your feedback.
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