Scott Gentry reviews "Monsters University", the prequel to the Disney Pixar classic "Monsters Inc".

"Monsters University" (U)
Director: Dan Scanlon.
Starring (voices only): Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Charlie Day and Nathan Fillion. 
Rated: U, for containing mild slapstick and comic threat.
Running time: 110 minutes.
Out now, in UK cinemas.

Set many years before the events of "Monsters Inc", this film follows Mike`s (Billy Crystal) tumultuous school life and his ascent into Monsters University; where monsters study to work in corporations that keep their world running through collecting the screams of young children. Once there, Mike encounters James Sullivan, (John Goodman) a large monster hot-shot who is an expert on scaring but not on exams. Soon, a rivalry grows, but if they want to succeed; they might just have to work together.  

Disney Pixar are well known for creating some of the most loved children's films in animation history, with names like "Cars", the "Toy Story" trilogy and "Wall-E". Their sequels are generally quite good and don`t fall short of their expectations. However, Pixar has never completed a prequel before now and the one problem with prequel`s is, they rarely work. 

Nevertheless, Pixar ignored the signs and has presented a piece of delightful amusement. From the offset, "Monsters University" produces the style we all acquainted with, from it`s predecessor; whether it be the familiar opening titles, or the appearances of some of our favourite characters. 

The characters are quirky and inventive; going from hippies to computer salesmen, who have returned to the university even in their old age. The voice talent is superb; Crystal and Goodman work together extremely well and produce some funny scenes. 

The script is both inventive and funny, by daring to include characters not previously heard of in the original film. The jokes are highly enjoyable which will keep children and adults equally entertained. The animation is outstanding, as it should be from the Pixar crew, adding large set pieces and bundles of colour to the "Monsters" universe. 

Verdict

As a prequel, "Monsters University" is an almost perfect sequel that has lost a few of it`s predecessors qualities, but not it`s charm and wit.

7 stars out of 10 = Excellent!

Written by Scott Gentry.

An announcement!

Dear readers, from this day forth I am changing the way in which my friends and I rate our films. From now on they will go like this:

1-2 stars out of ten = Awful.
3-4 stars out of ten = Average.
5-6 stars out of ten = Good.
7-8 stars out of ten = Excellent.
9-10 stars out of ten = Amazing.

For example, I rated "The World`s End" seven stars out of ten which means it is excellent. 

Rating films out of five stars, has proved to be too difficult to narrow down. So using my new system, it will be much easier. I hope you agree.

From Scott Gentry.

Scott Gentry reviews "The World`s End", the epic finale to the the famed "Cornetto" trilogy directed by Edgar Wright.

"The World`s End" (15)
Director: Edgar Wright.
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, and Eddie Marsan.
Rated: 15 for containing very strong language and strong sex references.
Running time: 109 minutes.
Out now in UK cinemas.

Twenty years ago, five friends attempted the golden mile. A famous pub-crawl in which they would visit twelve pubs, starting with "The First Post" and ending with "The World`s End"; with the incentive to become annihilated. The only flaw in their plan was, they never made it. Now, in the present day; Gary King (Simon Pegg) a suicidal alcoholic (who still believes he is a young teenager at heart), is attempting to bring the once close friends back together once again, to finish the golden-mile. The only thing that stands in their way is a race of robots, hell-bent on claiming the Earth for their own possession. Now it`s up to five friends on a night out, to stay sharp and stay alive, otherwise they may face, a very bitter end. 

It was Friday, the 19th of July and after six years of waiting, mine and (my friend) James`s expectations were finally going to be fulfilled. Or so I thought. 

"Shaun Of The Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" are two of the most celebrated comedies in British history. Any film following those, is going to have it`s work cut out. That is one of my main problems with "The World`s End". The film-makers seem to have tried exceedingly hard to produce a script, that is funnier than their last installments. I`m not going to lie,they don`t seem to have succeeded. 

"The World`s End" is in many ways a disappointment. It has however, focused on the storytelling aspects and the relationships between the five friends. The film has it`s moments and at times tells some laugh out loud jokes; but not as many as it`s predecessor. Expectations were considerably high and perhaps, pressure is the reason why the film has failed on some aspects. 

The acting is good to watch, with Nick Frost finally stepping out from his normal roles and into a serious character. Simon Pegg is an enjoyable character, but after a while he becomes a little played out. The rest of the cast is fantastic, with cameos from Pierce Brosnan and Micheal Smiley popping up all over the place. 

"The World`s End" is really a complete retro festival, the little references here and there to bands such as "The Soup Dragons", are delightful; a soundtrack to cherish in many ways. The chaotic bar fights are a nice recollection to the days of "Shaun Of The Dead", with scenes such as when Gary is trying not to spill and drink his pint, whilst fighting hordes of psychopathic Robots. 

There are twists and turns throughout the film, but it just doesn't feel the same way as "Shaun Of The Dead" and "Hot Fuzz". Perhaps on repeat viewings, I may pick up parts that I didn't see before and could become pleasantly surprised. I`m not saying "The World`s End" is an awful film in any way, as a final chapter to the famed trilogy, it delivers; but could be improved.

7 stars out of 10.

Written by Scott Gentry.

Jon Petre reviews "Now You See Me", But you won't buy the DVD.

"Now You See Me" (12A)
Director: Louis Leterrier.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo and Woody Harrelson.
Rated: 12A, for containing moderate sex references, violence, threat and strong language.
Running time: 115 minutes.
Out now, in UK cinemas.

When Scott phoned me on the 'ole landline to go and see Now You See Me, initially I said no. Now, I like cinema trips as much as the next penniless blogger, but I really didn't want to see Now You See Me. It struck me, at first, as one of those supposedly "Hollywood Blockbusters" that you see nowadays: Where the director/producer, armed with a lack of creativity and a budget that would put Rochester Council to shame, makes a sub-par script and storyline but uses a flank of big names and too much advertisement to hammer home their movie. (cough cough, Last Stand, cough cough). So as you can tell, I was going into the screen with pretty much a closed mind.

But I was pleasantly surprised.
While I was right in assuming that it was going to be a heist movie, it was a lot better than I expected. It started off positively cringe-worthy, like all heist movies do, with the characters all doing their thing in different places, all being so different and unlikely that we as the audience couldn't possibly see them working together. But lo and behold! Some happenstance has brought them into one unit, and we return a year later to see the four leads working together in Las Vegas.

I should also mention that they are Witches. Or rather, they're magicians (Maegi to the layman) and that's where it's different. They're using their magic to scam the scammers, and I think that the producer was trying to go for a sort of 99% vs 1% feel to their crimes, which was a bit hit and miss to be honest. And the action and tricks were good, and it was a very enjoyable movie, and the plot had more twists and turns than Lombard Street.
The movie was good fun, and although I was right in that Morgan Freeman and Micheal Caine seemed to be in the film simply so that Morgan Freeman and Micheal Caine are in the film, I liked it anyway. 

No, I don't write all of my jokes.

That said, there were some cringes to be had, namely in the scenes where all four of the "horsemen" were in together (shudders).

 The sequences with the youngest horseman (the actor's name escapes me and I can't be bothered to use Google) were particularly annoying, as everything he did was the archetypal 'rookie'. 

However, it was good fun, and although it has its flaws, it's worth a view. It's the sort of thing that you'll like, but not enough to buy the DVD, but you'll still watch it if it's on Sky Movies. (cough cough, Total Recall (2012) cough cough).



For this one, I'll throw my hat in the ring and join Scott Gentry with a good 'ole 3 out of 5. See you later folks, and stay classy!

3 STARS

Written by Jon Petre.

Watch the trailer below!

Scott Gentry reviews "Pacific Rim" the latest release from Guillermo del Toro; Director of the "Hellboy" franchise.

"Pacific Rim" (12A)

Director: Guillermo del Toro.

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman.

Rated: 12A for containing, frequent moderate violence and one use of strong language.

Running time: 131 minutes.

Out now in UK cinemas. 

Set in the near future, beneath the pacific ocean; a portal opens which lets large monsters (called Kaiju) invade the mainland and wreak havoc upon its citizens. Soon, war breaks out and when mankind seems to be on its knees, a turn in the war occurs and the "Jaeger" program is launched. Two pilots mind`s combine to fight, within robotic machines that could be humanities last hope of survival.

Guillermo del Toro. The man responsible for some of Cinema`s most abstract and challenging pieces. He began his career with short films and gradually worked his way up into larger productions, his first being "Cronos". Since 2004, Del Toro has left the abstract films and moved into more mainstream films like "Hellboy1+2" and "Blade 2"; but never forgetting his flair for the art in his sets. 

He then moved back in 2006 to the fantasy genre, with "Pans Labyrinth". A film set during world war two, which follows the story of a young girl who instead of wanting to grow up, becomes fascinated with the existence of fairy tales. "Pans Labyrinth" was received well by the majority of critics. "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" then followed and was met with praise on the film`s special effects.

The idea for "Pacific Rim" has been in development since early two thousand and six and was passed from company to company, proving that "Pacific Rim" had to be of a certain standard. A popcorn movie. Del Toro was not pleased and the project was dropped from Universal Pictures; but was eventually taken up by Legendary pictures. 

"Pacific Rim" is undoubtedly a largely enjoyable spectacle, that is clear. What isn`t clear (unfortunately) is some of the scenes including the Kaiju. Most of the scenes take place in the night time and it is fairly hard to make out who is fighting who at many points. If a sequel is going to go ahead, then my only advice would be to show more action sequences during the day. 

The acting is surprisingly good. Charlie Hunnam is a terrific actor, who has showed us his ability in the much loved series "Sons Of Anarchy" (in which he plays Jackson Teller). Here, he is put in a role suited to him in which he shines. Idris Elba takes a step back from his serious career and has chosen to perform a role that can be serious, but requires little effort from the star of BBC One`s "Luther" but is still engaging to watch. Rinko Kikuchi, a star of many independent films, has finally had her chance to show her skill in acting and break away into a more mainstream film and acts well. 

The special effects are a joy to watch. After the success of the "Transformer" trilogy, films on large scales had to be improved and "Pacific Rim" has achieved just that. Legacy effects were hired and had worked on projects similar to this before.

In conclusion, "Pacific Rim" is an enjoyable popcorn film, which has brains, wit and a fair few decent fight sequences. Improvement on the night sequences would be appreciated, but if "Pacific Rim" has a sequel similar to this; I think I`ll be willing to watch it. 

4 STARS.

Written by Scott Gentry.

The first trailer for "Snowpiercer" has just been released, and you can watch it right here, right now!

Set in the future, global warming experiments have failed, the survivors of the fallout all board a train called the Snowpiercer and must battle for status in a vicious system of classes. 

The film stars Chris Evans ("Captain America") and acting legend John Hurt ("Alien").

"Snowpiercer" is due in cinemas sometime this summer, and looks quite interesting. Let me know what you think of the trailer! 

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi630892825/

Scott Gentry reviews "This Is The End", the hilarious new comedy from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the duo behind "Superbad".

"This Is The End" (15)
Director: Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen.
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jonah Hill.
Running time: 107 minutes.
Rated: 15, for containing very strong language, strong sex references, drug use and gore. 

When best friends Jay and Seth meet up over a weekend in Hollywood, they decide to visit their good friend James Franco, for a house party. On arrival, drugs, sex and all things crazy happen. When things (apparently) couldn't get worse, the apocalypse arrives and six friends including Jonah Hill and Danny McBride, all fortify the house to escape the horrors that lie in wait, on the outside. Then cabin fever sets in. 

Comedy's of recent years have mainly been party or romantically based and a fresh take on the genre has been long overdue; the "Hangover" series has shed some light on that, but nothing has broken down barriers quite like "This Is The End". 

From the writers of "Superbad", Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, "This Is The End" dares to kill off A-list stars, include religion and even show a rape scene by a demon. It really is a comedy that raises the bar. All the actors play themselves which is quite an interesting and fresh idea. Most of the laughs from the film rely on self-parody, wih he actors accusing each other of making bad films, including Seth Rogen's, "The Green Hornet". 

After a while, some jokes just become reliant on sexual innuendos, which is a shame as the rest of the film works perfectly well as a dark and satirical film. The acting is good and the cast all look as though they are having a great time, in the roles which they pretty much play in real life. 

It has it's highs and lows, but I am confident that "This Is The End" is one of this summers best comedies, if not for a long time. 

4 STARS

Written by Scott Gentry.

Scott Gentry reviews "World War Z", the latest zombie apocalypse film, starring Brad Pitt.

"World War Z" (15)
Director: Marc Forster.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mathew Fox and James Badge Dale.
Rated: 15 for containing sustained threat and strong violence.
Running time: 116 minutes.
Out now, in UK cinemas.

Former UN representative Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) must travel the world in a race against time, to find the cure to the zombie apocalypse and return to his family all in one piece. 

Originally a best selling book written by Max Brooks, "World War Z" is (supposed to be) a story told from different accounts of people during the great Zombie War. The film version is completely different, just featuring on one character and his struggle to find a cure. 

"World War Z" (in my opinion) fails completely. To call itself a horror film would be a lie, in fact you could possibly call it a cuddly version of so many zombie films we have seen in the past. One of my concerns, is that it wasn`t gory enough. It is almost like the film company weren't sure which age group they were aiming for, so they cut out all of the gore to play it safe. After all, what is a zombie film ,without a splash of gore? 

The action is almost comical, with set pieces as large as I have ever seen before completely put to waste. The special effects were fairly decent, but become boring after so long. However when they have the invasion in Jerusalem, they work quite well, with zombie hordes climbing an insanely tall wall. The acting, is shallow; even for Brad pitt`s standards and leaves the viewer with the impression, that nobody really cares for this production.

Personally, I feel that the real reason for the failure of the film was the time, the production spent in development hell. There really is little to praise in the film, except that "World War Z" works well as an action film, but falters on the concept of the zombie apocalypse. A sequel is being planned, but if it`s any worse than this instalment, count me out.

2 STARS

Written by Scott Gentry.

Scott Gentry reviews "Man Of Steel" the epic new superhero film from Zack Snyder, director of "300" and "Dawn Of The Dead"

"Man Of Steel" (12A)
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne.
Rated: 12A for containing moderate violence.
Running time: 143 minutes.
Out now in UK cinemas.

Sent from the planet of Krypton, a young boy begins to learn that he may not be like other children and that in fact, he may be the key to saving humanity in years to come, through using his strength, wits and the trust in the symbol of his planet, hope.

Since the critical abomination that was "Superman Returns" in 2006, the prospect of another Superman film was looking fairly shallow. Development began in 2006, when Warner Bros began to speak to comic book writers on the possibility of a reboot to the dying franchise. Discussion carried on, Mark Millar and Mathew Vaughn offered to do a four part Superman series and Christopher Nolan showed great interest in it. However, the project was left in the dark.

In 2010, countless directors were approached, but only one came out on top. Zack Snyder. For me this was (possibly) going to be a problem. I had lost some faith in Zack Snyder recently due to his critical and financial flop, "Sucker Punch"; however I believe that "Man Of Steel" has put him back on track.

Let me start by saying, "Man Of Steel"  was never boring. It is in fact hugely entertaining. The film itself includes a certain quality that manages to integrate action, (hints of romance), an epic score and some brilliant acting. This is where "Superman Returns" failed. You could argue that "Man Of Steel" had a biblical meaning, and that Kal-El/Clark Kent is Moses being sent out into the world to save the humans. I don`t know what you believe personally, but to me that's what it felt like.

The soundtrack of the film is superb. Written by Hanz Zimmer ("Inception"), it includes some amazing tracks, that capture the style of the Superman series. In particular, "Flight" which plays during the sequence of Clark Kent`s first flight can only be described as simply epic. The action sequences (for the first half of the film) are exhilarating, but become dull in the last half an hour. Special effects are a key contributor to the film and are used to great effect.

Th directing is better than ever, with Zack Snyder firmly gripped onto a project which he had been aching to take on from the start. A return to the gritty style used in "Dawn Of The Dead" serves well here and perhaps a sequel will follow, if the audience respond well.

The acting from most of the cast is entertaining to watch. Henry Cavill ("The Tudors") is a perfect Superman, who mixes wit and charm into a great character. Amy Adams portrays Lois Lane in a fairly boring performance which doesn`t bring out the feisty character, whom we know from the previous films and comics. Michael Shannon shines as General Zod, a manic general from Krypton who wishes to re-build Krypton on Earth. His role is used to great effect and is a joy to watch. From recent roles, we can see that Michael Shannon is rising to fame but in moderation.

In summation, "Man Of Steel" brings out the best in Superman and delivers a great storyline, with fantastic effects and memorable acting. Finally a Superman worthy to follow the originals. Zack Snyder, well done; you have redeemed yourself. 

4 STARS

Written by Scott Gentry.