Iron Man 2

A pretty successful sequel on the whole where Rourke and Rockwell play well as the movies bad guys and Downey Jnr. continues as he left off. But this felt like a sequel made for a purpose. That purpose; to develop Tony Starks character and to introduce important members of S.H.I.E.L.D (Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff) of whom he will be teaming up with in 2012’s The Avengers.

Fun to watch for a quiet night in but don’t expect to be blown away.

***

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Inception

The year is 1999; The Matrix has just been released worldwide. Do you remember the feeling of being blown away by the concept? If you missed that experience, fear not, Inception is no different, if not , dare I say, better. Nolan continues to ‘wow’ us with his intelligent stories proving he is one of the most exciting and important directors of this century (short though it may be). I cannot praise this film higher! Have your seat belts firmly in place for the anti-gravity fight sequence.

*****

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Leon

How do you pull off a love story between a 13 year old orphan and a Italian hit-man!? Many Directors would have floundered but Besson’s stylish, confident and at times witty approach answers that very question. Leon, in a word, is fantastic!

*****

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Robin Hood

It’s Gladiator in 12th century England but without that ‘je ne sais quoi’. Still this remains a nice tale of how Robin Longstride and his band of loyal and merry men became the legendary outlaws of the land. Without doubt one of the most engaging Scott/Crowe collaborations since Gladiator.

****

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The A-Team

Fun filled and action packed but fairly forgettable. There may not be a ‘Plan B’, but I’m sure they’ll be a sequel.

***

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Angels & Demons

Ron Howard and Tom Hanks team up once again to retell the second instalment from Dan Brown’s religious conspiracy novels.  But unlike the box-office smash that was The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons appears to struggle to get going. A lack of mysticism, intrigue and simple empathy for the characters pull this movie back from the starting blocks. Even McGregor looks out of depth and floundering with the material. I’m not holding my breath for The Lost Symbol.

**

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Kick-Ass

A contemporary comic-book/superhero film that hits all the right notes. Action packed, witty, well directed and acted, Kick-Ass has raised the bar for future wannabe superhero films. And I look forward to the next one that comes along and claims to be better than this one.

****

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Green Zone

Greengrass and Damon deliver a fast and intriguing actioner that unsurprisingly wouldn’t look too far out of place in the Bourne series. But a Bourne this is not. The initial third of this film fails to draw any empathy from Damon’s Chief Warrant Officer, Roy Miller and it takes the arrival of both, Jason Isaacs character Briggs and the narrative ‘hook’ and all-round mysterious intel source, “Magellan”, for Green Zone to really kick into gear. Yet once it’s in gear, there’s no letting off on the gas.

***

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2012

Amalgamating all of one’s previous works does not work or make a good movie! Emmerich got this SO wrong and hasn’t made anything in the least compelling since ‘Independence Day’ way back in ’96. No more disaster movie’s please… move on. What else can you bring to the table!?

*

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Inglourious Basterds

Gruesomely fun and worth checking out, just for Christoph Waltz’s turn as Col. Hans Landa.

****

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