Film Review - In Time

An interesting "high concept" film that raises far more interesting ideas than it cares to address. I don't remember ever being anything other than entertained, but it did feel a little bit of a wasted opportunity. Visually, it's impressive, boasting a nicely old-fashioned style (despite its futuristic effects and gadgets), and falls somewhere between The 39 Steps and Les Misérables (Cillian Murphy's character in particular is soooo Javert). Justin Timberlake is proving to be a sturdy leading man, like an early Will Smith. He's nailing action, comedy, emotion and romance... Unfortunately the film lets HIM down by resorting to clichés- in particular, the infuriating "let's turn the hero into a murderer" route. Overall, it's a decent trip to the cinema, but it is unlikely to be remembered.

Film Review - The Lion King in 3D

I'm not a big fan of 3D cinema, and even seeing this masterpiece hasn't changed my mind. Once again, the retro-fit 3D provides little more than mis-shapen heads. But any excuse to see this film on the big screen again will always be welcome. One of the undisputed timeless classics of not only the Disney canon, but cinema full stop, it boasts memorable characters, beautiful scenery, a gorgeous score, an involving story and emotion by the bucketload. Perfection in animated form.

Film Review - The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Cards on the table, I am not a fan of this "realistic" kind of animation, but only when it comes to the animation of humans. Pixar's cartoony characters are fine. How To Train Your Dragon? No problem. Shrek, A Christmas Carol, Beowulf, Polar Express- all of them creep me out. The realistic faces with the unnatural animation is just horrid. What made Avatar such a revelation was that it got this right. After seeing the trailer for Tintin, however, I was again left unimpressed.
However, it's not as much of an issue in the actual film as I'd suspected. Andy Serkis works his magic again on Captain Haddock, and Daniel Craig's character is similarly effective. Ironically, the most problematic character is Tintin. Jamie Bell is actually rather good, his voicing performance giving Tintin a certain amount of character that's pretty much absent from the script alone. However, his line of focus is out and at times he's staring oddly into space and it gets very off-putting.
But enough of that, the film itself is a rather fun little romp, combining the thrills of Indiana Jones with Pirates of the Caribbean, but directed with a flair from Steven Spielberg as we've never seen before. We've had glimpses in the jeep dinosaur-hunt scene of The Lost World, and the early car scene in War of the Worlds, but here, without the constraints of the real world, the animation allows for some effective action scenes, and some hugely imaginative dissolves.
Unfortunately, however, it all falls rather flat. I never found myself on the edge of my seat, nor invested- certainly not emotionally- and the humour was rather embarrassing (Pegg & Frost, I'm looking at you).
If you fancy it, see it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it- don't let the scars of the hideous Indy 4 put you off; Spielberg has definitely got his spectacle groove back. Just don't expect too much.

Film Review - Contagion

I'll cut to the chase, I was a bit disappointed with this one. But then I've never been particularly germophobic so maybe it was just lost on me. It starts off brilliantly, quickly killing off its major stars and focusing on the little things we take for granted- a touch, a cough... But it soon gets onto the cure storyline and any sense of threat just seems to evaporate, the sub-plots of social disorder aren't properly explored, and any sense of time is non-existent. The cast are excellent, but ultimately it all felt a bit pointless. I'm making it sound a lot worse than it is- I did enjoy it and acknowledge it as a decent film. It simply lets itself down by not living up to the promise of the premise.