Review of Tomorrow: When the War Began (2010) by Mike

Title: Tomorrow: When the War Began (2010)

Original UK Release Date: 8^th April 2011

Original US Release Date: 24^th February 2012

UK Rating: 12

US Rating: R

Director: Stuart Beattie

Genre: Action

Plot: When a group of friends return from a camping trip they discover that their country has been invaded by foreign forces. They decide to remain in hiding and fight back.

Mike's Review

Back in 1984, a film came out called Red Dawn. It depicted the results of an invasion of America by Russian forces and the affects of the invasion on a group of school friends who hide out and fight back against the invading army. This film is a classic with an amazing cast of up and coming young actors. My review of it is here.

I saw the trailer for Tomorrow: When the War Began (2010) and my first thought was that it was ripping off Red Dawn (1984). But the trailer hooked me. It looked good and I decided to give it a go.

The film is set in a small town in Australia and starts off with a group of friends going off on a camping trip. During the trip they notice an unusual amount of aircraft flying over head. After the trip is over they return to their homes to find the all the electricity and phone lines are not working and all the people are missing. It soon becomes apparent that the town has been overrun with foreign military forces and all the residents are now being held captive. The friends decide to disrupt the invasion as best they can.

The film is based on a series of books written by Australian author John Marsden, and this is based on the first one of seven.

            The cast is pretty much unknown outside of Australia. It includes Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings & Andrew Ryan. They are all really good in this and after seeing the film I read all the books in the series and the attention to the casting of the characters fits well with their counterparts in the novels. It was hard to find one stand out performance in this as all do a great job with their respective roles. I don’t often like to choose the main leads in the film as they should have been cast as the lead for a reason. However in a cast of relative unknowns, Caitlin Stasey as Ellie Linton clearly stands out as the lead in the film. She is definitely one to watch and Hollywood success shouldn’t be far behind.

            The setting in Australia is good with great use of locations and scenery. Once again attention has been made to the feel of the film in comparison to the novel and it is perfect. The clever use of a nondescript country avoids alienating any nation.

            The story may be similar to Red Dawn (1984), but it is different enough to be judged on its own merits, it is very well made and really enjoyable. The release of the movie in America over 16 months after the release in Australia and nearly a year after its release in the UK has probably harmed the film in respect of its takings and overall exposure of it. The film is exceptionally well made and would put many Hollywood blockbusters to shame.

9 out of 10

Additional Information

Stand out performance: Caitlin Stasey as Ellie Linto

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Review of Red Dawn (1984) by Mike

Title: Red Dawn (1984)

Original UK Release Date: Unknown

Original US Release Date: 10^th August 1984

UK Rating: 15

US Rating: PG-13

Director: John Milius

Genre: During the dawn of World War III, a group of school friends escape the invasion and while behind enemy lines they disrupt the war effort as best they can.

Plot: Action

Mike's Review

In the mid eighties, there were a few films that cast the best up and coming stars. These included St. Elmo’s Fire (1985), The Breakfast Club (1985), Young Guns (1988), The Outsiders (1983) & Red Dawn (1984).

Red Dawn (1984) starts on a typical school day. During the lesson hundreds of military forces land via parachute in the school grounds. A teacher goes out to see what is going on and is immediately shot. The children scatter and a group manage to escape together into the mountains. Once there they struggle to survive and they attempt to fight back.

The cast is incredible including Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, Darren Dalton, Harry Dean Stanton & Powers Boothe. They gel together perfectly and the film shines for it. But finding one stand out performance was once again hard. There were many great performances but I finally settled on Patrick Swayze. His performance is both memorable and moving as Jed. A talented actor and his death was a tragic loss to the movie world.

The film really expertly portrays the effects on people lives and the struggle to survive. Filled with great personal accomplishments mixed with heartbreaking losses. The story played on people’s fears in the mid 80’s during the height of the cold war. People expected war to break out at any moment. Tensions were high and this film really hit home to some. For me living in the UK I just really enjoyed the movie. It’s a hard hitting story with outstanding performances.

There has been a remake of this film sitting gathering dust for the last few years staring Chris Hemsworth, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Connor Cruise & Edwin Hodge. Many great actors some playing superheroes including Thor, Wonder Woman & the Comedian from Watchmen. It has a release date of 2^nd November 2012. The release date has changed many times. Maybe this will be the final one?

10 out of 10

Additional Information

Stand out performance: Patrick Swayze as Jed

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Review of Wrath of the Titans 3D (2012) by Mike

Title: Wrath of the Titans 3D (2012) (Minor spoilers)

Original UK Release Date: 30^th March 2012

Original US Release Date: 30^th March 2012

UK Rating: 12

US Rating: PG-13

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Genre: Action/Fantasy

Plot: When Zeus (Liam Neeson) is captured in an attempt to unleash Kronos, Perseus (Sam Worthington) travels to the underworld to rescue him.

Mike's Review

The remake and first part of this saga Clash of the Titans (2010), was pretty much hated by critics and viewers. But as usual I loved it! I always seem to enjoy films that others don’t as I try to see the good in films from many angles. I thought it was a good reimagining of the original classic Clash of the Titans (1981). Now there is a sequel to the remake but how well is the continuation of the story of Perseus going to fare?

The film takes place 10 years after the end of the 2010 remake. Perseus is now a fisherman with a child, his wife Io has died and he is raising his son in peaceful ways in an attempt to protect him from his legacy as a demi-god. However his quiet life is soon interrupted when Titans are unleashed upon the Earth and his father Zeus (Liam Neeson) arrives and asks for his help.

This was going to be an interesting film especially the 3D effects. The 3D in the first film was bad after a last minute decision to convert it. However this one was made in 3D from the start and it really shows and utilises the technology well. The depth of the film is great and there are a few scenes where things jump out of the screen at you and is one of the best uses of 3D I have seen.

The film has a great cast including Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Édgar Ramírez, Bill Nighy, Danny Huston & Rosamund Pike who takes over the role of Andromeda from Alexa Davalos. I don’t know why Alexa wasn’t in Wrath, but Rosamund Pike does a great job as Andromeda and for me was the stand out performance. She played the now Queen Andromeda with the grace of a queen and the fierceness of a warrior.

The film itself is good, the story is fresh and new as it wasn’t a remake of anything but a continuation of the previous story and the special effects are flawless. But in the age of computer effects in a big blockbuster we really shouldn’t get anything less than perfect.

(Minor spoilers)

For me two things let the film down. First was the use of the Minotaur, a classic creature from mythology, half man half bull. While I welcomed the use of it the look of it was all wrong. If you look at the Minotaur in the classic film Time Bandits (1981), it has the look and feel of the classic creature, this one was just a large man with horns! After the amazing creatures in the rest of the film it really didn’t feel right in this movie. The second let down was the film was really jerky at times, it was as if the camera was on a wave machine. The worst of this was in the labyrinth, there were cuts in places that completely lost me as the labyrinth was moving, the camera seemed to move in opposition to it and it felt a bit of a mess.

(Minor spoilers ended)

The film as a whole is good and entertaining and for some it will be better than the first as there is nothing to compare it to and complain about as it is different. For me personally this wasn’t as good due to the above mentioned two things, however due to the 3D effects and the movie overall I left the cinema happy and entertained.

8 out of 10

Additional Information

Stand out performance: Rosamund Pike as Andromeda

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Review for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) by Mike

Title: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Original UK Release Date: 26^th December 2011

Original US Release Date: 21^st December 2011

UK Rating: 12

US Rating: PG-13

Director: Brad Bird

Genre: Action

Plot: When Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is framed for the bombing of the Kremlin, his team must go rogue to clear their names and prevent a nuclear war.

Mike's Review

I really enjoyed the Mission: Impossible films. I was looking forward to this one when it was announced. The only thing that troubled me was the director Brad Bird. Until this film he had never directed a live action film. He directed the Pixar films The Incredibles (2004) & Ratatouille (2007). These are both great animated films, but live action is completely different. I really hoped he was up to the task. All of the Mission: Impossible films have had a different director, and each director brought something new to the series. What could Brad Bird bring to the table?

The film follows the same formula of the series, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) given the mission to prevent a terrorist from starting a global nuclear war. His team are on their own this time after the Kremlin is bombed and they are blamed for it. They take matters into their own hands and have to overcome the odds to succeed.

The film stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Josh Holloway, Tom Wilkinson,  & Anil Kapoor. The cast is great and work well together. Tom Cruise is naturally perfect in this, after all it’s his fourth outing as Ethan Hunt and he has really made the role his own. The introduction of Jeremy Renner is a deliberate casting and the character is being groomed as a replacement if Tom Cruise decides not to return to the successful franchise. Renner really fits in well and the series will be in good hands if he takes over the lead role. Simon Pegg adds the comedic element to the film and it is perfect. The comedy is just the right amount to compliment the action scenes without being too over the top. His character is now a field agent on his first assignment and he steals every scene he is in with a standout performance.

One other person of note is Josh Holloway as IMF Agent Trevor Hanaway. Only knowing him from the Lost TV series, I was pleasantly surprised. He turned a small part into a memorable character. It is a shame they overlooked him for the part played by Renner. Whilst Renner was good I wasn’t sold on him as a “super” agent. He seemed like a cheap copy of Tom Cruise. However Josh Holloway bought something fresh to the film. It felt like he could have been a great agent who did things a little different.

So back to my previous question. What could Brad Bird bring to the table? With Tom Cruise & J.J. Abrams producing, utilising their experience with the third film in the series Brad Bird does an excellent job at directing. The film is visually spectacular and along with the fearlessness of Tom Cruise doing his own amazing stunts it really is a treat to watch. The well publicised stunt he pulls atop of the world’s tallest building is incredible. Knowing it really was him on the building makes it all the more impressive.

This film really lives up to all the expectations and it was great to watch. It also links into the previous film nicely. This series gets better with each instalment and I hope, if there is a fifth one, it continues the trend. This was one of the best films I have seen this year.

10 out of 10

Additional Information

Stand out performance: Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn

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Review of St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) By Mike

Title: St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

Original UK Release Date: Unknown

Original US Release Date: 28^th June 1985

UK Rating: 15

US Rating: R

Director: Joel Schumacher

Genre: Drama

Plot: Seven friends and recent graduates from University find out the hard way that life in the real world isn’t as easy as they had hoped.

Mike's Review

            In the mid 80’s there were a group of young actors known as the “Brat Pack”. It was made up of up and coming talented actors, many of them starred in a number of films together, St. Elmo’s Fire being one of them.

            The film is about seven University friends and the changes they find themselves going through once they graduate and try to make it as adults. Some thrive and others can’t handle the new responsibilities that come with adulthood.

            The cast is incredible made of Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, & Andie MacDowell. All of them bring a special charm to the characters they play. Every actor is great in this film, their friendships seem genuine and come across well. The emotions each character goes through are portrayed exceptionally well. There really isn’t a stand out performance of any of the main cast. They are all perfect performances.

            The characters go through every possible emotion a person can go through, you will be able to empathise with most if not all the situations from debt, love, death, marriage, break ups and infatuation to name a few of them. Even with all seven characters having their own individual stories, the film isn’t overloaded. There is a perfect balance between the each one. Each character has their hardships and each finds a resolution in their own way.

            This is another great one of the great underrated and often overlooked 80’s movies, with a great cast, engaging story and a perfect soundtrack. This is watchable time and time again.

             For a perfect Sunday afternoon film it doesn’t get much better than this.

10 out of 10

Additional Information

Stand out performance: Everyone.

Trailer