OJ's Movie Review - Inside Out

Pixar films have been a bit 'meh' since Toy Story 3, but now they're back on top form with their latest
instant classic.

Inside Out is the story of an eleven-year-old girl called Riley who has just moved house but the majority of the film takes place in her mind and centres on her five main emotions. This idea itself is already a unique one and they do very clever things with it. It shows you how and why your brain does things, but in a really fun and entertaining way.
   Although you have the bright colours and fantastical settings, it isn't always a kids film, there are quite a few jokes in there that I think everyone will laugh at, of course you get ones especially for children but it doesn't rely on them which is what is so good about Pixar. They also always have a deeper meaning in their films, a moral that stays with you, and this is no exception. Like some of their other films, this one also pulls on the heart strings at times and gives you some good emotional drama. I won't spoil the story as a lot of it was a surprise but it was an entertaining adventure inside Riley's head and a realistic depiction of life in the real world so as a whole, interesting all-round.
  Acting-wise, I wasn't familiar with the majority of the cast but they did great in their roles, two highlights being Anger and Sadness, and of course the minor appearance of Disney's own John Ratzenberger.
  In the end I'm glad Pixar is back to producing high quality films (although I wasn't that impressed with the short film at the beginning to this one) and look forward to The Good Dinosaur.

8.5/10

 

OJ's Movie Review - Ant-Man

Not bad, not bad at all.

So the final film of Phase 2 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Ant-Man; as some of you may know this film has been in production a long time and has had various troubles behind the scenes but how did it end up? Well for starters, the cast is brilliant; Paul Rudd is perfect as this everyman kinda guy who also is a bit of cat burgler, he has some great comedic lines and has good chemistry with the rest of the cast. Michael Douglas is an awesome Hank Pym, he does the dramatic moments excellently and even pulls off a few jokes too. All the other cast were great as well but I do have to mention Michael Peña, he delivers some of the best lines in the movie and is an all-round entertaining character.
  Next I'll come to the story. Much like the superhero himself, this plot is scaled down tremendously compared to the other films of the MCU. He's not unearthing a huge government conspiracy, he's not guarding the galaxy and he doesn't have to deal with an apocalyptic A.I. robot; Ant-Man is a heist movie which takes almost a civilian view of the rest of the world, and that's what makes this movie stand out I think. Of course you get references to the Avengers but this really does feel like a small event we're looking into, like a side mission in a game, and I enjoyed that.
   Being a Marvel movie the special effects would of course be top notch but Ant-Man goes beyond and has some really breathtaking visuals, the shrinking/growing effect is awesome and the shots of Ant-Man when he's small are so photo-realistic because they blur out all the background and it really does look you've entered this tiny world. The action sequences were pretty impressive as well, some of the best in the franchise, because of his powers they used some very clever ideas to make it very entertaining.
  Now for some of the negatives of the film. Mostly the first half; there were some clunky exposition scenes and it just seemed to go really slow in parts; of course they need to explain a lot to new audiences but for some, if you're not that interested or you already know it all then I've heard people call it boring. I for one wasn't bored at all but I did feel the need for the pace to get going a bit. Another negative was the villain; Yellowjacket was fine, he was awesome, menacing and cool to watch but the character controlling it, Darren Cross came across as bit ciche at times and just wasn't generally threatening as a person.
  In the end Ant-Man was very funny, very clever and one of the most unique films of the franchise. Be sure to smile at the obligatory Stan Lee cameo and stay through the credits all the way to the end. I give it...

9/10

OJ's Movie Review - Terminator Genisys

Terminator!....You know...again!

So one of the most referenced things in pop culture returns for it's fifth movie in the form of Terminator Genisys (with a Y). Schwarzenegger is back and joins a load of new cast in a new timeline doing old stuff in new ways. Basically, plot-wise, a Terminator was sent back in time to protect child Sarah Connor before the events of The Terminator and so when Kyle Reese is sent back in time to protect adult Sarah Connor it's all changed, and then of course - as you see in every piece of promotion for this film - John Connor goes back in time but is a Terminator-like being now. If you think that's confusing then....yeah, you're right, it is. As a whole this film does not feel like a Termiantor film, a lot of the opening does but for the majority it's just a fun, action-packed, sci-fi movie that in some places feels a little jumbled. It doesn't run smooth all the time, it goes from a giant action piece to a weird comedy skit with ironic music and then a suspenseful part and individually they're all really entertaining but it just doesn't fit a lot of the time.
   All the actors are great in it, Arnie does the famous killer robot brilliantly for a fourth time and Emilia Clarke does well not only acting but is some eye candy if you get bored of the plot; Jai Courtney is pretty good too but doesn't have the widest acting range of all time and Jason Clarke plays a good villain. Two people who were also in it I felt odd with, the first being J.K. Simmons who is a fantastic actor is misused as an almost bumbling old guy who is a third-party observer to all the events; and then Matt(hew) Smith is actually really good but his American accent kept taking me out of the film somewhat, can't see why they couldn't have kept him British.
   Special effects were all top-noch too, especially the opening scenes and the climactic battle. All-in-all although it was fun, entertaining and set up one or two points in case there is a sequel, it did have a few fan-fiction vibes and if you haven't seen the other films then... you really are gonna be stuck for at least half the movie. I give it...

6/10