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The Grey (2012)

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the_grey_2012-2560x1600Roze-Rating: 4 / 5

Liam Neeson stars in this survival thriller, taking place in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness after his plane crashes leaving him and his colleagues stranded as Wolf prey. They are totally exposed in a barren land of snow and freezing temperatures, making them fight for their lives. It’s a film which explores hope, faith and fate, when in a situation where only your own will to live can save you.

One of the better survival thrillers around and definitely one of the most unique films this year. I’ve actually never seen a film which depicts such a disastrous situation as scarily as this. I mean what’s more scary than being in a plane crash? and then on top of that, you end up crashing in the middle of nowhere, where the temperatures are below zero, and on top of that you have to fend off uncharacteristically brutal wolves who just want to kill you. Even though some of the scenes are inevitable, you’re actually so immersed in the film that you second guess every seemingly predictable moment.

The isolated afflicted tone of the film is what gives the themes explored justice, and it really keeps your heart pumping for the characters involved. They succeed simply because of the dark greyish aesthetics and eerie music which is inhabited throughout the film. The filming is rugged and shaky matching the scenario the characters are in, it just wouldn’t have been effective if the camera shots were still and precise. All of this truly adds to the thrills and gets you sweating as it did for me.

Liam Neeson and co steal the show with some believably gritty performances, which doesn’t just aid the story but makes you genuinely want them to survive. The characters do this through their dialogue and their attitudes in the situations, they effectively promote the themes of hope, faith and fate. It’s their faith that keeps them going because they believe that it was their fate to survive the plane crash. Hope is all they have.

Once again Liam Neeson is truly amazing in this, really showing his true acting chops. The last few scenes are honestly the most powerful scenes I’ve seen in a film this year, pretty epic stuff.

I for one is shit scared of wolves now, I know a lot of it is exaggerated and fictionalized but still, if I was alone in the wilderness and saw a wolf, I think I would excrete from every hole in my body, PERIOD.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

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936full-safety-not-guaranteed-screenshotRoze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

Safety Not Guaranteed follows two interns and their superior on a work related journey to the seaside to investigate a newspaper add which states that a man is looking for a partner to travel back in time with. At first the three Seattle magazine employees are apprehensive about the man and expect the reality to match their cynical views, but as they get deeper into the man’s life they find themselves second guessing themselves.

This film is truly something special and out of all the films that I’ve seen this year, Safety Not Guaranteed is definitely the most genuine and real. There’s been quite a few films that share a similar tone as this but doesn’t quite make the mark and that’s purely because they lack heart. This film explores the strength of belief, youth and how your past can haunt you. There are numerous scenes which exude these themes simply from an awesome soundtrack and down to earth movie clips. Without the playlist the whole tone and indie feel of the film would be lost, and it’s honestly one of the best playlist I’ve ever heard for a film, it’s just perfect. It’s weird how much music can bring out emotion from a film scene, but it totally works.

The cast is awesome, it’s nice to see comedy series stars on the big screen. Mark Duplass and Jake M. Johnson completely surprised me with their performances, cementing their places as big time film stars. There’s also a pleasant quirky performance from Aubrey Plaza which will just make you smile uncontrollably. Definitely looking forward to any of their future films.

It’s definitely a feel good film, and it really tells you to cherish your youth and to cherish anything because one day they may disappear for no reason at all. I particularly liked the scene where Jeff tells Arnau to man up, get off his ass and start living because your only 21 once, it’s so true and the scenes that follow will just make you smile like you just discovered your first boner (if your a guy), Inspired film with genuine intentions and good laughs, perfect if your feeling down and need a pick me up.


The Expendables 2 (2012)

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2012-The-Expendables-2_1920x1200Roze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

The Expendables come back for a second go at a full on action flick. This time they have new members Billy (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) who help take on money hungry savage Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who has no conscience about the destruction he causes along the way to fortune. His actions prompt Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his men to track him, find him then kill him.

I really wasn’t a fan of the first one, I enjoyed the action but everything else was just pure… fail. The acting was terrible, dialogue cliched and the plot was just stupid. Thankfully Mr. Stallone has recognized a few of the problems and fixed them quite successfully, but of course he forgot a few.

The cast has some how gotten awesomer from the first film with introductions of Liam Hemsworth and Chuck Norris and more screen time from Bruce Willis and “The Terminator” Arnold Schwarzenegger. Action junkies will be pumped just by seeing all these action stars together, and that alone is satisfying, as it was for me. Although not all of them put in their best performances, and well there’s a reason that I’ve had a blind eye towards it. It’s unusual because you can really separate the real actors from the action stars. That being said, a lot of them did improve since Expendables 1, and Jean-Claude Van Damme makes a brutal villain, and he plays it to perfection; one of the only good performances.

The action is relentless as it should be and plays tribute to all of the past action classics. It’s loud, violent and unnecessary which is what makes it a lot of fun. It even improved in that aspect of the film. This is what I think was done a lot better than the first, it had clear intentions, which was to pay tribute to these action stars past films and parody them. This will become apparent when you see Arnold Schwarzenegger tell the crew “I’m back!” and when he replies to Bruce Willis with a “Oh yippee-kai-yay”. This film doesn’t takes itself seriously which is where the first film really faulted. This made me look past the below par acting and stale dialogue, because the film isn’t meant to be “excellent”, its meant to be mindless, gratuitous, blood stained fun. It finds the right balance between fun and seriousness.

End of Watch (2012)

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End-of-Watch_05Roze-Rating: 5 / 5

The film follows the journey of two LA police officers to fame. Officers Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Michael Pena) are loyal partners who continue to impress their peers and superiors after making high status arrests and rescues. Eventually their motivation and high ambition put them on the radar of a massive drug cartel who aren’t massive fans of their hero antics having prevented them a lot of money. The story doesn’t just explore the gangster culture of LA and the dangers of police officers, but it explores brotherhood, loyalty and the heartache of their loved ones.

End of Watch offers so much, it has action, style, interesting characts, drama, it’s an all round great film that uses the found footage style appropriately. The action is extremely realistic which means it isn’t just relentless gun fights but it captures the heart thumping tension of making an arrest, really showing the unpredictability of thugs. This really aids the intentions of the film, which is to expose the reality of police officer life, which is why you get to also see the boring side of the job; paperwork. The two main characters are awesome, they are extremely likeable and they share a bond that you wont see in many films. The chemistry they share is so real that you root for these characters without thinking about it, and it makes you even more worried about each hostile encounter they face. This is thoroughly due to the great performances by Michael Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal, who keep growing on me, especially Pena who really show’s his full acting abilities. There are also some really enjoyable appearances from Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera, despite smaller roles, put in good performances.

The plot is quite simple, two cops ambition and initiative make them famous in the best and worst of ways. It literally follows them through their high status arrests until they are wanted by a massive drug cartel. I really like the way they went about filming this, using the found footage style as well as normal filming. It really helps make the film that much more realistic and puts you in the shoes of the police officers. Since everyone is familiar with the cops series and cop video’s on youtube where they film themselves from inside the car, everyone can relate and are already aware of what a cop video looks like. It makes the film a lot more gripping and grittier.

Overall awesome film with a lot of emotion, tension and grit. Definitely in the list of the greatest cop films around. You will also see a man with some real talent with the word “fuck” I wonder what his audition was like…

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

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migp_wp6_1920Micro Review

Roze-Rating: 5 / 5

This fourth Mission: Impossible instalment boasts flashy locations and intense action sequences, making it easily the best film of the franchise. Everything about this film is fun to watch, which is what makes it so good. It doesn’t take itself seriously like the previous films do, and often parodies them, as you will notice right from the start as Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) mission message fails to self destruct. The action sequences are also a lot more intense and spectacular compared to its predecessors, being set in glamorous settings. One particular setting being Dubai, which provides one of the most memorable scenes I will ever see, which happens to be on the Burj Khalifa. The fact that it’s set in the middle east and it exuding the culture makes it that much closer to me, having lived there for a large portion of my life. The cast is also a massive highlight of this film, and the team Ethan Hunt is left with prove to be a perfect match up, as I’m sure most people would agree that it would be a disappointment to see another sequel without the same group of actors. It was also refreshing to see Ethan Hunt go through a mission with a team from start to finish as opposed to being solo for most of the film.

As mentioned before, the cast is amazing, Simon Pegg playing Benji brings his humour to the film, aiding the comedy and making the situations a lot more light hearted. Jeremy Renner coming off two massive films, “The Town” and “The Hurt Locker” proved to be a rising star playing Agent Brandt, a mysterious Analyst somehow pulled into the action. He was definitely a very popular choice, for me anyways because he’s just a damn good actor. last but not least Paula Patton, who seemed quite a random pick, with limited experience as an action star, but totally proved she was tough and gritty enough to play the part as Agent Carter.

Also the great thing about this film is that everything is quite unpredictable at times, and you eventually start to question whether the plan will go smoothly or not. It’s a perfect film if your looking for a lot of fun, explosions and style along the way, popcorn stuff.

Argo (2012)

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argo-image06Roze-Rating: 5 / 5 

Ben Affleck directs his third film following the successes of “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town”, and doesn’t fail to impress this time round with arguably his best piece of directorial work yet. He takes on a film based on true events which occurred in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution, who were outraged by American support towards the overthrown Shah. In retaliation to the Shah’s fleeing from Iran, a crowd of Iranian revolutionaries raided the American Embassy taking the majority of the American staff hostage, but six managed to escape, taking refuge at the Canadian Ambassadors house. During this crises plans had developed from the CIA to rescue the six unknown escapee’s, only to realize that non of their idea’s were actually viable. It took CIA specialist, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to come up with the next “bad” idea which turned out to be the best of the bunch. The elaborate plan consisted of developing a fake sci-fi film during its production stage so that the six hostages and himself could portray a film crew going into Iran for a location scout. Only that pretending the film crew had entered the country with him and leaving two days later would be bigger than just a white lie.

The film consists of two tones, a comedic and dark tone. During the planning stage of the rescue, which take’s place mostly in Hollywood is the more light hearted mood, which old timer Alan Arkin plays to comedic perfection, stealing most of the laughs. It was great to see John Goodman and Arkin together, playing the experienced boys in the film industry, which really created a good contrast to all the seriousness based in Iran. Once the tones switch to the setting of Iran, there is a much more claustrophobic feeling which is perfectly captured through filming and the performances of the six escapees. I really liked how the film transitioned between these tones, making the film flow smoothly and reminding the audiences that failure remains the most likely outcome.

There was something very genuine about this film, and it had to do with the filming and attention to detail. The fact that you felt as though you were actually in the late 70s possibly watching a 70s film just entices you more. The costumes, hairstyles and props were amazing, evidently shown during the end credits as they compared pictures of the actual people they were portraying with the actors. There was also something very 70s about the filming, there was a certain grain to the picture which gave it a more classic look as opposed to a crystal clear picture. It also helped fit in the real life footage with the film footage, effectively making them both feel connected and set in the same time. This film doesn’t contain adrenaline pumping action but consists of probably the best nail biting scenes you will see in film, which is totally aided from the filming. From the close up reaction shots to the shaky camera work, it all blends together to make something ultimately heart pounding. The scenes where the escapees are together debating their fate, were also my favorite scenes, because you can sense their panic and despair.

The whole cast are amazing and each important character had something special about them. I think the six escapees stole the film in terms of their performances, because they worked together so perfectly that you believed their emotions and their panic and their diminishing hope. Each scene where they are all together exudes pure realism, which I thought was pretty unique in films of this genre. Alan Arkin and John Goodman put in the comedic aspect of the film with their comedic timing. Bryan Cranston gave it his all during the last scenes which lives as one of my favorite performances by him, and Ben Affleck, solid as always. Overall solid performances, can’t fault that.

When looking back at the film in terms of plot, the story line is actually very thin, and doesn’t contain much substance, which is just a huge testament to the importance of filming style, because without the influence of Ben Affleck and the filming crew, this film would have been very unsatisfying. Great film.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

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Roze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

The Dark Knight Rises came with huge anticipation, after having huge success with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. I didn’t watch the previous films until a few months ago, but after watching them I knew that the final addition to the trilogy was going to be something special, especially after seeing the additions of Tom Hardy and Anne Hatheway. Hardy of course with big shoes to fill after a great performance from Heath Ledger playing the infamous Joker, who set’s the stage for today’s Gotham City.

This film goes way back into the previous two films to capture the rise of Bruce Wayne and his vigilante side, batman. Not only does the effects of the Joker impact the ways of Gotham City, but Bruce Wayne’s past catches up with him unexpectedly when a member of the League of Shadows forces him to rev up the Batmobile for a final time. Without  knowledge from previous films, this could prove to be a very confusing two and a half hours, made apparent by a couple of girls beside me who kept asking me “what’s happening?”, “who’s that?”, “is he a bad guy?”, which made the film experience not as awesome as it could have been, but at least it tested my batman knowledge to an extent. The fact that this film explored a lot of Bruce Wayne’s past, also juggling introductions of Catwoman and Bane, made for a film with a lot of substance. For some films, this could prove to be a downfall, but the intelligent plot and fluent story telling made it entertaining and not hard to grasp at all, which wasn’t the same story for the girls beside me. The story alone was interesting enough to engage the audience but from a film with a reputation of great action, it wasn’t enough, and that’s where the film faults. If there was room for more action and darkness, this would have been the perfect film, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it proves to be the perfect finale to a great trilogy. Tom Hardy makes previous villains of the Batman franchise proud, with an intense performance, having only the expressions from his eyes and limbs to express his character. I also fell for Catwoman, who was perfectly played by Anne Hatheway, finding the perfect balance between seductiveness and grit, there could be potential for an origin film there, which I would be totally up for.

After an epic showdown, the film ends perfectly concluding Batman’s legacy, leaving a moment which made me literally leap in excitement; a moment which will leave hardcore comic fans salivating for more. It also leaves a lot of room for possible sequels, so this might not be the end of The Dark Knight, but the birth of something really special. I just hope that the speculation towards a Batman reboot for a possible Justice League film isn’t true, because that’s just asking for some hate.

Do you guys think there is room for a sequel? and who do you think will be involved? Would you also be up for Justice League film without Christian Bale? and do you think it will live up to the success of The Avengers?

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)

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the_avengers-wide

Roze-Rating: 5 / 5

Marvel sets the world alight with this ground breaking film which incorporate’s seven Marvel Comic heroes introduced from five previous films, illustrating their path into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Avengers initiative. The Avengers broke significant records during it’s release, namely the all-time domestic weekend record, taking an estimated $200.3 million, thankfully the financial success of the film did not go in vain.

To prepare myself for this well anticipated film, I spent some time getting a hold of the films leading up to it, and made sure it was in order, starting with “Ironman”, starring Robert Downey Jr. He fit into the role of Tony Stark so well that even during the film’s multiple premier’s, he exuded pure Tony Stark mannerism’s and style. The next film created quite a debate leading up to The Avengers. “The Incredible Hulk”, starring the experienced Ed Norton, who plays Bruce Banner with a likeable charm, resultantly winning the hearts of the Marvel fans. Of course, when the news got out that he had been replaced with Mark Ruffalo, this created quite a bit of negativity and doubt over the Bruce Banner character. He soon proved critics and pessimists wrong, taking a different direction with the character in the best way possible.  Ironman 2 sheds a lot more light on Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his intentions about introducing the S.H.I.E.L.D. initiative, which is why The Avengers film is present with us now. It also introduces Natasha Romanoff, known as Black Widow, who is played perfectly by Scarlett Johansson, showing the athleticism and no nonsense characteristics of her role. Following these films are Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America (Chris Evans), which are generally Origin films, with exception to Thor, which introduces the space threat within the Marvel Universe, emphasizing the potential threats on earth.

The Avengers depicts the final stage of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Avenger initiative, which involves the process of assembling each character to triumph against Loki and his increasing army. Managing a cast of main characters, would prove to be a difficult task, but the thoroughness of the script, really finds the perfect balance between each characters screen time; leaving no room for an independent hero. That’s where the film flourishes, we are able to get to know each character that much more and how they all react in the presence of each other. It is normal for families to fall out every now and again, and this film really is about the ultimate group of heroes who have their differences uniting at a time of desperation to save the world. One particular scene, where they are all in the middle of battle back to back and the camera pans around them, really symbolizes that perfectly, and is sure to send shivers down your spine. Another great aspect of this film is the comedy it possesses. The moments which are intended to make you laugh will achieve that genuinely, but props must go to Robert Downey Jr. who uses his improv skills at it’s best. Finally, the action is great, filled with iconic comic moments, from the Hulk smash to the flawless archery skills of Hawkeye. There will be no let down towards that aspect of the film, and nor does the film on the whole. If you are looking to watch a film with masses of action, mixed with comedy, then this film will offer vast’s amount of fun, leaving you thinking of it for quite some time.

The best feature of Marvel film’s are the sneaky Easter eggs they subtly fit into the film, which only the hardcore fans are likely to find, but then they add the end credit addition for the less hardcore fans. This is where the fun continues, being able to anticipate future film plots, and debating with other fans, which is why the Marvel experience, is quite a special one to take part in.

Who do you guys think the villain during the end credits was? What impact do you reckon he will have on the future Marvel films? Which Marvel film are you looking forward to the most, Ironman 3, Thor: The Dark Wolrld, Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Ant-Man?

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

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the-amazing-spider-manRoze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

There was a lot of confusion and pessimism towards this Spider-Man reboot. People were confused about the change of cast thinking that the previous Spider-Man trilogy had not finished, but with a cast like this, I think it was hard to figure out where it could go wrong. I myself was a huge fan of the Spider-Man trilogy and was pretty intrigued about this reboot, especially when I heard Emma Stone was in it, who is my favourite female actor at the moment. Going into the film I was expecting something familiar but I’m glad to say that there was a lot of things different about this film compared to the original and most of those things were huge positives.

A lot of the advertising at first for this film was that it would expose the “untold story” about Peter Parker in terms of where he came from and his parents. To an extent this film explores what exactly happened to his parents, how they were related to Oscorp and how they died but it only touches on it in small doses. If your going to see the film purely for that aspect of the film, then there will be a bit of disappointment, but I guess that’s where they attract you back into the character for this film but also the sequel. As usual these comic films have snippets at the end to leave you guessing who the next villain will be etc, and there’s a mysterious looking man who mentions Peters father, insinuating that there’s still a lot untold, this will be frustrating but I guess that’s where the fanboys come in and speculation begins, which is the whole spirit of these comic films, the film is one thing but the speculation and the hype also adds to the awesome experience.

The film features Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man and he totally triumphed, giving the web slinger a whole new identity compared to the original Spider-Man. From playing a few Spidey games and cartoons, the character seemed a lot more witty and annoying than Toby McGuires version, and I think that’s where Andrew Garfield got it right. He was more than just a nerd, he had attitude, heart and style, which is why the little touches like the skateboard and the way he treated his enemies as quite vital to the role. It was also awesome to find out that he was a childhood fan of Spider-Man and looked up to the character, so you knew that he was coming from the right places. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, DAYM, great person for the role, I mean she brings a lot to her characters and this character was never intended to be just cute and a damsel in distress, she brought a lot of charisma and humour to make her a much more interesting and smart character to root for. The chemistry between Garfield and Stone seemed very natural, I don’t know if it’s because they are an item (Damn you Garfield!) but what they were doing worked. Perfect awkward moments mixed with the dialogue, but when they kissed on that roof, Gwen looked a bit too turned on by the fact Peter was Spider-Man, but I’m not complaining. As for the rest of the cast, solid performances of course, especially Rhys Ifans playing over obsessed scientist Dr. Conners, who lets the pressure of Oscorp and his own desire for limb regrowth get to him, ultimately becoming The Lizard.

The action is great, some memorable scenes and I like how they stayed true to all of his trademark moves, seemed identical to the game at some points, which was pretty awesome. The effects weren’t cheap and the The Lizard looked pretty bad ass. Compared to the original, I can’t remember anything negative about the effects, but this version definitely brought something new to the film with the first person scenes, which made you feel even more absorbed into this world that they created. Overall pretty solid action.

I think the only negative of this film compared to the original is that the original had a lot more iconic moments which will live on, while this film didn’t really produce any except for the crane scene. The fact that the original had those iconic and memorable moments made leaving the cinema slightly dissatisfying, because I expected there to be a “with great power, comes great responsibility” line, but it never came, it was all disjointed. I think this film tried a bit too hard to be different from the original which is quite apparent with the way they did the origin story for this film, but it still works, so no complaints there.

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

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The Bourne Legacy Jeremy RennerRoze-Rating: 3.5 / 5

I was pretty excited to watch this film, just the fact that Jason Bourne wasn’t involved, and how that was going to work. I had a lot of faith in this film since one of my favourite actors was cast as the main man. Jeremy Renner coming off four major films, The Hurt Locker, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Town and The Avengers, all of which are amazing films, seemed like the perfect person to play Aaron Cross, and he was, but the film itself was quite a let down.

It was always going to be hard to incorporate Aaron Cross into the Bourne series, and the story alone is smart and convincing enough for Jeremy Renner to enter the world of Jason Bourne, but the film told the story in an inefficient and dis-jointed manner, it needed more flow for audiences to get a grasp of what was happening. After the first 45 minutes, which were very tedious due to its slow pace, the film really kicked to life and gave Aaron Cross a purpose. The action sequences were engaging and exciting, but overall lacked the intensity and tension that the previous films provided. The ending didn’t really conclude on anything which made it seem a little bit pointless, but maybe that was the intention to illustrate some unfinished business. Another thought walking away from the film was that it felt like a very thin plot, compared to the previous films which were very complex and interesting, it felt too much like an origin story without the aftermath. For this film to be as satisfying as its predecessors, it needed a compressed beginning and an extra hour of Aaron Cross bringing hell to Blackbire, alternative government programs and the pharmaceutical industry.

This film really needed to be longer to include more action, but more evidently it needed the previous director of the Bourne series to give it the TRUE atmosphere and intensity it needed, which could have been the difference between another classic and this. But as a Bourne fan, I am hoping that Jeremy Renner can have another go with a more vengeful and determined Aaron Cross joining the war against the corrupt government programs.

What did you think of the new Bourne actor Jeremy Renner? Would you guys be up for a sequel with both Aaron Cross and Jason Bourne? And what did you think of the introduction of Aaron Cross, do you think they should have finished at The Bourne Ultimatum?