Dredd (2012)

Director: Pete Travis
Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris
Certificate: 18
Genre: Sci Fi, Crime
Awards: None

It's the future and a terrible travesty has befallen the land. The remaining people live in large cities filled with criminals and death. The Judges are a police force who are allowed to kill on the spot. Dredd (Urban) is the most famous of them all, a sort of legend among the judges. On his mission to investigate a triple homicide he takes on a psychic rookie by the name of Anderson (Thirlby).

Like 300, Dredd seems very confined. It doesn't show you much of the film's world as - except for one sequence in the beginning - it all takes place in one tower block. This works in the film's favour as it can then focus more on the story. However, sequels may seem schizophrenic as it would be a whole new setting.

Having not read the comics, I don't know whether Urban's portrayal is loyal but I've heard he does it justice (I suppose anything's better than Stallone shouting like a tranquillised Hulk). The feels very moody and stylised with lots of slow motion (which has actually been made a plot point) and weird psychotic colours.

Dredd is gritty but also quite colourful and dreamlike. The drugged up atmosphere stops it from becoming too dark and brooding while still keeping the gangs and gore madness.

****Good

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Certificate: PG
Genre: Noir, Drama
Awards: Best Screenplay, Best Music, Best set decoration

Starting off with the end result of the film may be quite normal nowadays but in 1950 it was very original. The narrator AKA Joe Gillis (Holden) then takes us to the beginning where he is a struggling screenwriter in the unforgiving world of Hollywood. When fleeing from the tax people, Gillis finds himself in a deserted looking house. However it revealed to be the home of Norma Desmond (Swanson), a silent era actor who has gone slightly crazy in her retirement.

Played completely seriously with a noir voice over, Sunset Boulevard makes itself interesting and enthralling. As it is a satire of the movie industry there are plenty of real life directors such as Cecil B. Demille as himself and Erich von Stroheim playing Desmond's servant. There are also cameos from Buster Keaton and H.B warner.

A dark and twisted look at stardom and the film world in general, it also has a tint of lunacy that just shows how Hollywood is weird, wacky and dangerous.

*****Brilliant

Man Of Steel (2013)

Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Antje Traue, Christopher Meloni, Laurence Fishburne
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards:  None

As somebody who has never seen a Superman film or read the comics before, Man Of Steel was his chance to envelop me into Metropolis as Batman had back in 2005. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Like the Dark Knight trilogy before it, Man Of Steel is taking the dark and gritty approach to it's story. While appropriate for a series with insane serial killers and a dark gothic background, Aliens flying people make it seem like a parody. Humour is scarce and when it appears, it is questionable whether it is intended or not.

Handheld camera is also a prominent feature and for the first half it felt sickening. Admittedly it does give the film a realistic look but I would have preferred it to be smoother.

The acting is all good throughout. There is no problems with the cast that I can see. The lack of deaths via characters or extras does seem miraculous seeing as more buildings where destroyed in this film than there are buildings in the world.

There are also some major plot holes that can be seen throughout the film. Why does Zod bring Lois Lane on his ship? Why doesn't Superman destroy the ship when he sees Zod is bad?

However, the film is not a complete disaster and judging by other reviews and the box office sales, I am in a minority when I say it could have been better. But It could have.

***Okay

Gamer (2009)

Directors: Mark Nevaldine, Brian Taylor
Starring: Gerard Butler, Amber Valletta, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, Logan Lerman, Terry Crews, Ludacris, John Leguizamo
Certificate: 18
Genre:  Action, Sci Fi
Awards: None

In the future, death row inmates have the choice to volunteer themselves to have a chip in their brain. They are then set into a team and have to kill the other while being controlled by players at home. If a Gamer wins 30 fights, he wins his freedom. However the people in charge don't want him to for some reason.

Gamer has got an idea with a lot of potential but it is just unwatchable. The quick and strange camera shots just give a feeling of sickness and confusion, and this goes on for the whole film. None of the characters are interesting enough to care about and the plot makes little sense if any.

The premise is still wonderful and would be brilliant for a Black Mirror episode. Unfortunately Gamer doesn't think, it just wants to show action and even failing at that.

- A complete waste of time

The Green Mile (1999)

Director: Frank Darabont
Starring: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, James Cromwell, Doug Hutchinson, Barry Pepper, Sam Rockwell, Dabbs Greer, Michael Jeter
Certificate: 18
Genre: Crime, Fantasy

Paul Edgecomb (Hanks) is a prison guard who looks after the prisoners on death row.  When John Coffey (Duncan) becomes his newest inmate things begin to get a bit more interesting for him and his crew.

Amongst Paul's coworkers is Percy Wetmore (Hutchinson). Percy is a sadistic young man who likes to make life much harder for the inmates, however he has powerful contacts and therefore cannot be gotten rid of so easily.

The Green Mile has some really good performances, but none of them can outmatch Clarke Duncan's portrait of the strange John Coffey. He adds emotional weight to a character who you will love in the end. The mid film twist is also done really well. For about a third of the film, it seems like it might be The Shawshank Redemption all over again but then things start to get supernatural.

Altogether The Green Mile is a really good film. It's compelling, has some unsettling moments but most importantly has characters you care about.

****Brilliant

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Director: Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau
Certificate: 12
Genre: Superhero
Awards: None

After the Avengers conundrum, Tony Stark(Downey Jr) hasn't been feeling very well. This is unfortunate as a new threat in the form of the Mandarin(Kingsley) -A bearded terrorist- has just surfaced. Nobody saw him coming.

Iron Man 3 becomes the strongest of the series due to it's fantastic dialogue. It's wittier than ever with a brilliant bit between Stark and a boy who becomes his sidekick for a while. There's a plot twist that is
humorous albeit comic fans  don't seem to have enjoyed it that much. Iron Man 3 meets the original and improves the format.

****Good