The Eagle

http://focusfeatures.com/the_eagle

The Eagle is a strange one for me to peg. I'd only seen the trailer once and wasn't particularly fussed about seeing the film either way. But as I've said before, I always feel I should get the most out of my Cineworld membership and so I try to see as many films as I can, that are as diverse as Cineworld allows.


So I went to see The Eagle. I wanted to see Limitless again, if just for the sight of Bradley Cooper in his tiny black shorts, but my cinema buddy wanted to see The Eagle over Limitless so we went with The Eagle.


The film is set around 140 AD, the Roman's have invaded Britain and set up their stronghold in the south. Roman Centurion Marcus Aquila decides to undertake a journey to the savage north to retrieve 'The Eagle', an artifact lost by his father when he commanded the Ninth Legion of the Roman Army and brought disgrace to the family name. Aquila, determined to bring back 'The Eagle' and restore his family's reputation, sets out on this journey with only his British slave Esca to help him navigate the treacherous north.


Despite the film not really being my cup of tea I was pleasantly surprised by The Eagle. For one, the acting's not half bad. Channing Tatum, who I expected to just stand around with his shirt off looking pretty, actually pitched in with the fighting, getting as mucky as everyone else, and looking pretty beaten up and really quite sickly in some scenes. Hats off to him for at least getting in on the action. Jamie Bell, who I've never really taken to, was similarly watchable and both were convincing enough in their roles. 


What I will say is that the film really does try. It tries, and I would say succeeds, at not being a Gladiator rip off, it stands apart and tells a different story entirely. The only similarity being the 'swords and sandles' description which the film unfortunately can't escape being saddled with. It is what it is. But for me the similarities end there. It also tries to be as historically accurate as it can be, with depictions of how and why Hadrian's Wall was built, the inhabitants of the north during that time, how Romans built their fortresses etc. 


Despite it's efforts I still found the film to be a little dull in places but as I said, it's not really my cup of tea. I don't mean to be vague, I also don't want to sound as if I'd given up on The Eagle before I walked into the cinema but some films, no matter how much you want to like them, don't work for whatever reason. For me, I felt that The Eagle worked better than I expected it to, but that doesn't mean I loved it.


If you're a guy, or particularly like your swords to be wielded by men in skirts and sandles, then you'll probably really enjoy The Eagle. If you're a girl, chances are you'd rather re-watch Dear John or Step Up. 6 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 29th March 2011

UK Release Date - 25th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Channing Tatum ~ Marcus Aquila

Jamie Bell ~ Esca

Donald Southerland ~ Uncle Aquila

Mark Strong ~ Guern

Tahar Rahim ~ Seal Prince

Denis O'Hare ~ Lutorius

Douglas Henshall ~ Cradoc

Director ~ Kevin MacDonald 

Writer(s) ~ Jeremy Brock (Screenplay) and Rosemary Sutcliff (Novel)

Limitless

http://www.iamrogue.com/limitless

For those of you who know me, you will know that writing this review is the first real test of my ability to remain professional in the face of undoubted favoritism. Can I be objective about a film when I openly lust after the male lead? This test will be applied again when Source Code comes out on the 1st April. Only that will be an even bigger test than this, seeing as my love for Jakey goes above and beyond my love of anyone else.

But for now we're talking about my love of Bradley, err, what I meant to say is that we're talking about Limitless.

Limitless is based on the novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. This is a well known book but one which I was not aware of until the first rumblings about the movie adaptation were being discussed back in the early part of 2008. At this time Shia LaBeouf was attached to star, but then he broke his hand in the infamous car crash/DUI of the summer of 2008 and The Dark Fields movie had to find itself a new star. Enter Bradley Cooper. Fresh from the success of The Hangover and The A Team, Cooper took on the lead role of Eddie Morra and also bagged himself a producer credit on the film. He's also responsible for the addition of Robert De Niro to the cast as he pitched the film to De Niro himself.

The story is told from Eddie's perspective, a struggling writer who is given an experimental drug which allows him to access 100% of his brain. This allows him to finish his book in 4 days, a book he's been trying to write for years. It also allows him to absorb information at an alarming rate, he learns languages and instruments in a matter of days and figures out very quickly how to play the stock market. But his body can only handle so much and eventually he starts to feel the ill effects of the drug and has to make a life altering decision.

I can't vouch for whether the film is loyal to the book as I haven't read the book. However, I can say that the direction of film, while impressive in the way it puts you in Eddie's mindset, also enduces a certain amount of queasyness with it's fast fowarding through time and upside downside angles. I can also say that having now seen the movie I have a hard time picturing Shia LaBeouf in this role. I'm not sure whether that's thanks to Bradley making it his own or just the fact that the script demands an older actor? I'm not sure if the script was re-worked for Bradley when Shia dropped out but with an 11 year age gap between them it's not as if they vie for similar roles.

Leaving my bias at the door I must say that I thought Bradley did a really great job. Eddie is not the most likable character and yet through the use of the Cooper charm he becomes someone that you root for, hoping that things end well for him. He really does carry this movie, even with support from De Niro this is Bradley's film and kudos to him for holding the audience's attention for the duration whilst also holding his own against an acting heavyweight. 

It's not going to win any awards but Limitless is entertaining and well acted. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 23rd March 2011

UK Release Date - 23rd March 2011

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Eddie Morra

Robert De Niro ~ Carl Van Loon

Abbie Cornish ~ Lindy

Anna Friel ~ Melissa

Johnny Whitworth ~ Vern

Director ~ Neil Burger

Writer(s) ~ Leslie Dixon (Screenplay) and Alan Glynn (Novel)

Fair Game

http://www.fairgame-movie.com/

Before you ask, this is not the dodgy 90's movie with Cindy Crawford and one of the Baldwins. This is a new Drama/Thriller based on the true story of a CIA Agent who was outed by the press in Washington in the early noughties.


I hadn't seen anything about it other than an interview in the metro with the real CIA Agent - Valerie Plame - on who's book the film is based. My reason for going is slightly more complicated. One of my friends asked me what films were out which were suitable to take her mum to. I suggested this - although I knew very little about it I figured it would be suitable - or The Adjustment Bureau, which I had already seen and would recommend for anyone.


In the end her mum went with this but decided 20 minutes into the film that she'd rather watch Hall Pass. A film I did not suggest or recommend as I thought it wouldn't be suitable or any good. I decided to stick with Fair Game and was later told that my assumptions about Hall Pass were both correct.


As mentioned above, Fair Game is based on the true story of CIA Agent Valerie Plame, who was outed by the press in 2003. The film sheds light on why this happened to Valerie - her husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, was sent to Niger on behalf of the CIA to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was purchasing and shipping bomb making supplies. Wilson found no evidence of this and said as much in a story he sold to the New York Times. This subsequently upset the US Government as it made their invasion of Iraq look un-necessary (which it probably was). To make Wilson pay, they drag his wife's name and reputation through the papers. The film tells us what became of her life, her job and her family in the fall out. 


It's not the most riveting film, I will concede to my friend's mum on that fact. But it's also not a bad film. It's an interesting story, if you like political expositions and films that allow you to look behind the scenes at the US Government. I don't really get my kicks from such movies and so it didn't really appeal to me in that sense. It was well acted by both Naomi Watts and Sean Penn and the direction and writing were both adequate for the story at hand. 


If you like your 'Drama/Thrillers' to be more drama than thriller and you enjoy political films I think you'll enjoy this. For anyone else taking their mum to the cinema I'd stick with The Adjustment Bureau. 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 15th March 2011

UK Release Date - 11th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Naomi Watts ~ Valerie Plame

Sean Penn ~ Joseph Wilson

Khaled El Nabawy ~ Hamed 

Ty Burrell ~ Fred

Sam Shepard ~ Sam Plame

Bruce McGill ~ Jim Pavitt

Brooke Smith ~ Diana

Michael Kelly ~ Jack

Noah Emmerich ~ Bill

Director ~ Doug Liman

Writer(s) ~ Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (Screenplay), Joseph Wilson (Book The Politics of Truth) and Valerie Plame (Book Fair Game)

Battle: Los Angeles

http://www.battlela.com/

I had a really busy day on Friday. Had loads to do and never really felt like I was getting anywhere. By the end of the day I was so stressed out and hadn't managed to do even half of what I needed to do. So when my cinema buddy suggested seeing a film, the choices being Battle: Los Angeles, Fair Game or Hall Pass, I jumped at the chance to escape for a few hours.


I let my buddy pick and it turns out he went with the most mind numbing of the three which was great for me as it meant that I could give my brain a break for a few hours. 


If you've seen the trailer for Battle: Los Angeles you'll know that it's a creature feature in which a group of US Marines are attempting to safeguard Los Angeles defences against an alien invasion. Along the way they pick up civilians and lose members of the troupe but they retain their gung-ho attitude to rid the world of the hostile creatures. 


I think that may be the shortest synopsis I've ever written but there really isn't a lot to say about the plot of this film. It's your typical aliens-invade-the-world film but as usual we only get to see the devastation of America (in this instance, specifically Los Angeles). Unlike it's predecessors however, Battle: Los Angeles has several quite major voids. It lacks the human elements of films like Signs and Independence Day, it lacks the irony of The Faculty, the comedy of movies like Critters and Men In Black and it has no real horror like Aliens, Predator or The Thing. Which kind of leaves it as a war film with aliens. And as such, it's just really quite boring. 


There's not enough time spent getting to know the characters before the aliens arrive and after they've arrived it's all about the battle. There's little to no script, and what is there is laughably bad or cheesy, which leads me to wonder just how much the actors all got paid as I can't see what else made them want to make this movie. It's annoying because there's good actors here, Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Noel Fisher, Michael Pena, Bridget Moynahan, they could all do so much better than this movie.


The direction is shaky from start to finish. I know this is meant to instill a sense of the 'battle' but it just caused me to have a headache and not be able to focus on what was going on. There wasn't ever a decent shot of any of the aliens, which is fine for keeping the audience in suspense for around half the movie, but you should at least have an idea of what they look like by the end. When the credits rolled I could no more have told you what the aliens looked like than I could from just having watched the trailer at the beginning of the film.


It's not the worst film this year but it's not far behind. 5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 11th March 2011

UK Release Date - 11th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Aaron Eckhart ~ Staff Sgt Nantz

Ramon Rodriguez ~ 2nd Lt Martinez

Cory Hardrict ~ Cpl Lockett

Gino Anthony Pesi ~ Cpl Stavrou

Ne-Yo ~ Cpl Harris

Noel Fisher ~ Pfc Lenihan

Michelle Rodriguez ~ TSgt Santos

Neil Brown Jr ~ LCpl Guerrero

Bridget Moynahan ~ Michele

Michael Pena ~ Joe Rincon

Bryce Cass ~ Hector Rincon

Director ~ Jonathan Liebesman

Writer ~ Christopher Bertolini

Unknown

http://unknownmovie.warnerbros.com/

I had planned to go to the cinema today with one of my friends, although neither of us knew what we should see. She wanted to see I Am Number Four but as you know, I've already seen that, and as it was pants I'm not in a hurry to see it again. So I suggested seeing Unknown. I'd seen the trailer a couple of times and thought it looked quite good. It was only when I put my idea forward that my friend told me she quite likes Liam Neeson, and as such she was quite happy to see this too.


How were we to know that going into the unknown would be almost as bad as re-visiting I Am Number Four?


We join the film during a flight to Berlin for Dr Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife Liz (January Jones). He's going to a conference there and she's come along for the ride to keep him company. Discovering on arrival at the hotel that his briefcase has been left behind at the airport, Dr Harris takes a taxi back to the airport to pick up his case but never makes it. His taxi is involved in an accident and crashes into a river. Dr Harris is pulled from the sinking car by his taxi driver Gina (Diane Kruger), but his injuries leave him in a coma. When he awakes four days later he goes back to hotel and finds that someone is impersonating him. Worst of all, is that his wife seems to be in on the act.


The first half of Unknown had me on the edge of my seat as the mystery unravelled, but I found the second half slipped into a rather unbelievable and slightly drawn out absurdity. I can't really go in to the reasons for the shift in the film's trajectory without giving away too much of the plot. Similarly I can't tell you why Martin has a doppelganger or what his objective is without giving the ending away. I will simply say that the first half of the film is good. If the second half had lived up to the expectations set by the first half, it would have been a well made, well acted thriller. But as I have already said, it did not. The film goes from being intriguing and mysterious to being almost comical with it's silly one liners and bad plot twists.


It made me long for the days when thrillers were just that and kept you enthralled all the way to the satisfying ending. A rather inadequate thriller which left the thrills in the first half and retained nothing original for the hour that followed. 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 6th March 2011

UK Release Date - 4th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Liam Neeson ~ Dr Martin Harris

Diane Kruger ~ Gina

January Jones ~ Elizabeth Harris

Aiden Quinn ~ Martin B

Bruno Ganz ~ Ernst Jurgen

Frank Langella ~ Rodney Cole

Sebastian Koch ~ Professor Bressler

Director ~ Jaume Collet-Serra

Writer(s) ~ Oliver Butcher (Screenplay), Stephen Cornwell (Screenplay) and Didier Van Cauwelaert (Novel) 

The Adjustment Bureau

http://www.theadjustmentbureau.com/

If you've read my reasons for doing this blog, you'll know the last thing I want to do is steal from another review. The very last thing I EVER want to do is steal from an Empire review. So obviously I won't. What I will say is that they categorised this film so perfectly that I at least have to tell you what they said. So to paraphrase with the utmost respect, Empire's Helen O'Hara who said that The Adjustment Bureau is "Inception for romantics". She nailed it. And that is why I want to be one of them!

I knew very little about The Adjustment Bureau going in, I'd just seen the posters on the bus shelters around Brighton. I hadn't seen the trailer and I hadn't read anything about it (not even Empire's four star review). If, like me, you haven't done any research on the film please allow me to elaborate.

The Adjustment Bureau opens on the campaign trail of New York Congressman David Norris (Matt Damon). We see him flying high in the polls and then bottoming out when pictures surface of his bar fighting, prank pulling past. While practicing his 'down but not out' speech for the announcement of his lost election he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) who inspires him to tell the truth to the public as she thinks they'll reciprocate more to an honest man. He does this and although the election is lost, David's popularity soars. A few weeks pass and David meets Elise again, by chance, and she gives him her number. Moments later David is kidnapped by a bunch of trilby wearing men who tell him he must never see Elise again as doing so would be going against 'The Plan'. 

Does David fight for who he believes is the person he's meant to be with, or go along with the design in store for his future? You'll have to see the film to find out. What I will tell you is that this is a nail biting, tense thriller which also has a believable love story running alongside it. You wouldn't think those two genres would go together but they work surprisingly well when teamed up. Without the love story I'm not sure what you'd root for here. With it, and I know this sounds cheesy, the film has heart. It makes you so passionate about the outcome of the film that you'll never have been happier to see a love story spliced with a thriller.

*Spoiler Alert!* About two thirds of the way in I was thinking, "if these two don't end up together then this has been a really shit film!". I'm sure my score mixed with aforementioned comment will give away the ending, hence the spoiler alert!

I was half hoping after Matt Damon's performance in Hereafter that this film would be a dud, or at least that he would be. The half of me that was hoping he'd be good was not disappointed. His performance here was just as good (though not as emotional as Hereafter - but then the movie is totally different) and I find, for the second time this year, that I am swiftly becoming a Matt Damon fan. Something I've never been and never thought I'd be. Emily Blunt was her usual marvellous self showing her vulnerable and quirky sides and making the audience fall in love with her, as she does so frequently with ease. The supporting cast from Terrence Stamp to Anthony Mackie are also faultless and allow the audience to have some feeling towards the bureau rather than have them be a faceless organisation. 

A film that will have you on the edge of your seat while also falling a little bit in love. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 5th March 2011

UK Release Date - 4th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Matt Damon ~ David Norris

Emily Blunt ~ Elise Sallas

Anthony Mackie ~ Harry Mitchell

John Slattery ~ Richardson

Terence Stamp ~ Thompson

Director ~ George Nolfi

Writer(s) ~ George Nolfi (Screenplay) and Philip K Dick (Short Story)

No Strings Attached

http://www.nostringsattachedmovie.com/

Bit of a strange start to this one, as for the first 15 minutes of the film I felt sure I was going to pass out or throw up. Not because of the film or because I ate a dodgy hot dog, I honestly couldn't tell you why? I felt fine going in and fine after I'd gone out for a little air, it's all very odd! Anyway, as I didn't have the luxury of having seen the whole film (I missed around 5-10 minutes while I went outside for air) I'm hoping this review doesn't feel incomplete.

From the poster's tag line I thought this was going to be about two best friends who decide to become friends with benefits. The tag line is misleading, but not in a bad way. The film is actually about two people Adam and Emma, who meet as teenagers at camp, again when they're at college and again when they're adults (the adult versions played by Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman). Here is where I'm a little fuzzy as this is the part I missed. Adam finds out that his dad (Kevin Kline) is sleeping with his girlfriend and goes to Emma's house drunk, hoping to hook up with her. Feel free to correct me if I got that part wrong! It's here they decide to be friends with benefits as they only know each other briefly (not being best friends as the poster suggests!) and having nothing to lose. They make rules not to lie to each other and not to fall in love with the other person. If they do, the person who didn't lie or fall in love is allowed to break it off. 

Despite missing the part of the film when Adam and Emma meet again as adults and finding out how that happened, I did still really enjoy No Strings Attached. It's not life changing, overly intelligent or even that realistic a look a relationships but it doesn't pretend to be. That's why I like it. The film is funny, lighthearted and from the outset, it is what it is. I know I said it's not that realistic, and it's not. For the teenage girls in the audience who kept 'Aaaahing', I hate to break it to you but there are no real life guys out there who are as sweet and thoughtful and perfect as Adam. I'm also sorry to break the bubble of my guy friends but you just aren't like that! Having said that there are moments of realism, the scene where Emma is singing Bleeding Love in the car while eating donuts and crying had me in hysterics. Because I've done that. Maybe to a different song, and likely in the comfort of my own home as I don't drive, but yeah, I've been there and bought that t'shirt. 

I thought it was nice to see Natalie Portman doing something less physically and emotionally taxing after Black Swan. I think both she and her audience needed a break and this was a welcome one. Ashton Kutcher was his usual charming, if one dimensional, self. And both were supported by a great cast, even if Kevin Kline and Cary Elwes were both woefully underused. A fun frolick. 7.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 4th March 2011

UK Release Date - 25th February 2011

Cast Overview:

Natalie Portman ~ Emma

Ashton Kutcher ~ Adam

Kevin Kline ~ Alvin

Cary Elwes ~ Dr Metzner

Greta Gerwig ~ Patrice

Lake Bell ~ Lucy

Olivia Thirlby ~ Katie

Director ~ Ivan Reitman

Writer(s) ~ Elizabeth Meriwether (Screenplay), Michael Samonek (Story) and Elizabeth Meriwether (Story)

I Am Number Four

http://www.findnumberfour.com/

I knew nothing about this film until my cinema buddy suggested we see it a couple of weeks ago. Since then all I'd seen about it was a few minutes of the T4 special that was on last weekend. I then found out that the film was directed by D.J. Caruso who directed one of my favourite films Disturbia and co-written by Marti Noxon who has written episodes of some of my favourite TV shows, Buffy, Angel and Grey's Anatomy.

At this point I agreed to accompany my friend and thought 'what could possibly go wrong?' As it turns out, lots!

The film opens with the murder of 'Number Three' and his guardian. Number Three is 1 of 9 aliens sent to earth to protect them from extinction by the Mogadorians who have destroyed their home planet. We join Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) as he receives a scar symbolizing the death of Number Three (he already has 2 other scars from the deaths of Number One and Number Two. NB I'm guessing this is why we start here as a film where people are referred to as Number One and Number Two might slip into farcical quite quickly). As light omits from his leg where his third scar is forming, it becomes obvious to Number Four's friends that he is no ordinary boy. Number Four is then quickly relocated to Ohio by his protector Henri (Timothy Olyphant) and given a new identity, that of John Smith. There he meets a girl and falls in love (which is forever for his kind) and meets a geek who may be able to help him trace the remaining 5 of his kind.

I won't go into too much detail as I think it would be confusing (if it isn't already) and to be honest, it's not really detailed very well in the film so I'm finding it kind of hard to relay it back.

As the end credits rolled and D.J Caruso's name rolled up the screen, followed by Marti Noxon's name and finally Producer Michael Bay's name, I turned to my cinema buddy and said, "for a film that was made by so many talented people, that should have been a lot better!" 

I can't really sum it up better than that, other than to say for a film I knew next to nothing about, which therefore had so little to live up to, how disappointed I was. Besides the reputations of the talent behind the film, I had no expectations. And yet somehow it didn't live up to those bare minimums. The fact that the film is produced by Michael Bay makes the awful special effects even more shocking. He can bring Optimus Prime to life yet he can't make someone doing fancy jumps and rolls look realistic? I hadn't seen Alex Pettyfer in anything and I kept thinking that he was very pretty and not a bad actor, but he had no character to develop. Yet in the reverse, it felt like the love story between John and Sarah (Dianna Agron) had developed too quickly, before we'd gotten to know them, let alone before they'd gotten to know each other. And then *spoiler alert* he rides off into the sunset with a gorgeous blonde, leaving Sarah behind but assuring her that he loves her and his kind love forever. It's fair enough to expect the audience to believe that, as we know the backstory, but are you really telling me that this teenage girl is honestly supposed to believe that her alien boyfriend isn't running off with a hotter girl? One who has a motorbike and saved his life? Coz if she does believe that, she's the most naive girl in the world.

As we left the cinema my friend turned to me and said "they've left it open for a sequel", I agreed, though am not sure how I feel about that. "The only problem with that is, what are they gonna call it? I Am Number 4 2?" I laughed so much I could barely breathe. That was the best part of the film for me. And it wasn't technically part of the film at all. A very disappointing 5 out of 10.

Memorable lines "a place is only as good as the people you know in it."

Viewing Date - 2nd March 2011

UK Release Date - 23rd February 2011

Cast Overview:

Alex Pettyfer ~ John/Number Four

Timothy Olyphant ~ Henri

Teresa Palmer ~ Number Six

Dianna Agron ~ Sarah

Callan McAuliffe ~ Sam

Kevin Durand ~ Mogadorian Commander

Jake Abel ~ Mark

Director ~ D.J. Caruso

Writers ~ Alfred Gough (Screenplay), Miles Millar (Screenplay) and Marti Noxon (Screenplay)

Jobie Hughes (Novel) and James Frey (Novel)