Wednesday, 27 July 2011 Transforners: Dark of The Moon 3D (Shia LaBoeuf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Peter Cullen) Posted by joeldfisher at 11:08

I remember being 8 years old, I had the huge Optimus Prime truck complete with trailer and accessories, I loved it and the 1986 movie was one of my favourites (and still is). Skip to 2007, the new live-action Transformers movie was out and I for one was not happy with what they had done to my beloved childhood heroes. They looked completely wrong and the characters were not as they were in the TV show (perhaps Optimus Prime came close at least).

2009 brought about the sequel; Revenge of The Fallen, the first movie had done terrifically in box office sales and seeing as there was nothing too questionable or offensive to my childhood in the last movie (I had forgiven the slight character changes by then) I welcomed the sequel. Opening to big box office sales and damning reviews across the board, from both critics and fans I avoided this movie in the cinema, until one stormy night I succumbed to my morbid curiosity and put on a DVD of possibly one of the worst sequels of all time, and that is truly saying something.

Transformers: Dark of The Moon is directed by Michael Bay (Bad Boys, The Island), starring Shia LaBeouf (Eagle Eye, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps) and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Victoria's Secret catalogue). Sam (LaBeouf) is suffering from the recession like the rest of us and wants to prove himself to his parents (yes they're back too). Sam lives with his impossibly beautiful girlfriend Carly (Huntington-Whiteley) who works for multi-millionaire Dylan (Patrick Dempsey; Valentine's Dy, Enchanted) who just so happens has his sights set on Carly, much to the disgust of Sam.

Meanwhile, the Autobots are fully allied with the US government and helping them in their international relations against the Decepticons (Team America F*** Yeah!).  On a dangerous mission to Chernobyl, the Autobots come across an undiscovered weapon and soon find a long lost friend along the way, but all is not as it seems.

After Revenge of The Fallen, many had come forward and said that the film was a total mistake (Shia LaBoeuf mainly), the parting of Megan Fox was seen as a blow to the franchise and yet for those who realised she cannot act, this wasn't a total loss. Michael Bay searched high and low for a worthy replacement until finally doing a Victoria's Secret advert and settling upon the vast acting void that is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. This movie is not really about reliving a childhood fantasy of a well loved cartoon and toy franchise on the big screen. Nor is it really about good versus evil, it isn't even about big robots beating seven bells out of each other. Transformers: Dark of The Moon is about teenage boys, and their obsessions, which Michael Bay still holds very near to him still, and is not afraid to show the levels of depravity that a teenage boy's mind will sink to in what should be a family film.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is a model, a beautiful girl and her chosen profession has been to exploit that beauty for all it's worth. Her chosen profession should NOT and EVER BE acting, Michael Bay chose an actress who is completely devoid of any emotion and acting ability. She makes Megan Fox look like Meryl Streep in comparison and yet Michael Bay thinks he can divert our attention away from this by using shots that the British tabloid press have been using with every young girl in a short skirt for years.

Shia LaBeouf of course, has no such luck with distracting his audience away from his acting, or lack thereof. His 'comedic' turns are painfully drawn out, particularly a few scenes where he does a bad impression of Dr Strangelove and the jokes never get better. The supporting cast of John Malkovich, Frances, McDormand and the returning John Turturro (for little to no reason whatsoever) add a little for those who are actually interested in movies and acting however their roles are so weak and uninspiring that they could have easily cast lesser known actors and saved a little of the budget.

The Autobots and Decepticon characters are yet again ignored in favour of metal-on-metal action as their increasingly violent actions towards each other will make parents wonder how an adult rated movie could get away with it, let alone a children's film.

Michael Bay, Shia LaBoeuf et al are disappearing from the Transformers franchise but they're mark is indelibly stamped onto it. A reboot of the franchise seems unlikely, seeing as they'd have to redesign all the robots again and again make them completely unrecognisable to all who loved them in the first place but stranger things have happened. A major change in tone would be nice but at the same time it would jar the existing franchise out of recognition and as it may gain a few fans it could possibly lose the ones the existing franchise has. Unfortunately I fear the only way forward for this franchise is doing exactly what is already being done, albeit with slightly less violence, misogyny and in some cases, casual racism. I'm going to go and play with my toys now.   

Sunday, 24 July 2011 Green Lantern 3D (Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard) Posted by joeldfisher at 09:21

The DC universe is being shaken up recently (DC Comics to those who don't know). Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman et al are all having a massive makeover and now that Warner Bros have a gap in the market, with Harry Potter coming to an end, The Dark Knight Rises a year away and the new Superman movie coming even later, there needs to be a new franchise to enthral superhero moviegoers.

Green Lantern is a long standing comic book franchise, almost running as long as Superman and Batman themselves and now that computer generated technology has caught up and we are exposed to the wonders of 3D (I use that last statement sarcastically) Green Lantern is set up to hold the fort for the DC/Warner Bros partnership.

Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds; Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) is a hotshot, maverick test pilot. He goes by his own rules and has no fear, no responsibility and frankly, no life. So when a strange alien ship (is there any other kind?) crash lands, Hal is given the chance to become a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps, but can he live up to his responsibility?

Meanwhile the alien spaceship has been discovered by the government and they need to know how it works so they call upon renowned scientist, and son of Senator Hammond (Tim Robbins; City of Ember, Zathura), Dr. Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard; Orphan, An Education) to investigate.

Tormented by being thought of as not as good as others, being ignored all his life in favour of more handsome, charismatic men and being constantly pushed by his father to boost his career, Hector is on the brink of a meltdown. So when performing the autopsy a strange thing happens, the yellow fear element that powers all the villains in the universe infects Hector, making his brain swell to capacities he never dreamt possible. Add to that the evil alien entity Parallax bent on destroying the Green Lantern Corps and Hal has a lot to live up to.

Reviews of Green Lantern have been negative at best; the script is clichéd and predictable, the actors are either badly cast or badly acting and there's nothing in Green Lantern that we haven't seen before in other films such as Superman. However I will say that I liked the movie. I will agree that there's nothing particularly original about Green Lantern as a superhero movie and perhaps Ryan Reynolds doesn't really step up to the plate when it comes to coming across as a superhero we can all admire and want to be but I believe it's a good introduction to the franchise and certainly doesn't patronise and mock its audience like The Fantastic Four franchise did.

This movie knows it's a superhero movie and doesn't try to pretend to be anything more or less. Not to say that superhero movies aren't great entertainment, sometimes even for all ages. However it's unfair to compare Green Lantern to The Dark Knight, of course there are similarities; Warner Bros productions, big name director and rising star in the title role but these movies are completely different animals.

The concept of Green Lantern is a little different than usual superhero movies. The ability to create physical representations of what's in the ring bearer's mind would have to rely heavily on special effects and what with the main villain Parallax being a computer generated villain, critics would latch onto such a thing as being childish and gimmicky. Of course Green Lantern does have those elements, after all the concept started in a comic book and was far less gritty than anything Batman has had in the past 20 years but for the most part the film sticks to the source material, and knows its audience.

The best part of Green Lantern, however, is Sarsgaard's portrayal of Hector Hammond, his decline into evil madness is done very well considering the amount of prosthetics the actor had to endure but he carries it off well. The sadness of the character's look on life and his evil revenge on those he thinks deserves it are balanced well and the audience are immediately changed from sympathising to loathing the disfigured man bent on the power he could never get hold of in life.

After all the bad reviews and supposed lack of audience, Green Lantern does what you expect it to do. Don't go in expecting another mind-altering take on the superhero movie because it just won't happen and it's not meant to happen. There are questionable directions that the movie takes (like the little sympathy the audience is given for Hal Jordan's rejection of the Corps in favour for the easy life, and the casting of Blake Lively (Gossip Girl, The Town) as Carol Ferris, Hal's love interest). However, Green Lantern is a fun movie for those with no higher expectations of a superhero movie than there is usually delivered. Cartoony in nature and mirroring more than one scene from Richard Donner's Superman, Green Lantern gives those who want to reminisce on classic DC heroes a nice, easy movie. For those who are expecting something spectacular for them or their kids to embrace and love with a more kid-friendly franchise than The Dark Knight, Green Lantern's might, might not be the one you're looking for.