OJ's Movie Reviews - Star Wars: Episodes I to VI

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens out this week, I did a movie marathon to look back at the previous six films and tell you my opinion on the franchise.

The Phantom Menace began the unloved prequels, it was supposed to be the origin of all including the famous Anakin Skywalker. For me, I like this movie. I have a bias opinion because this was the only Star Wars film my family had on VHS when I was growing up so I watch this film with nostalgia. I acknowledge there are problems, terrible CGI, the great Jar Jar Binks and many more, but without this movie we wouldn't have Darth Maul, that fantastic John Williams piece and quite a revealing behind the scenes documentary. So in the end, I like Episode I.
   Attack of the Clones came next. This film makes me laugh everytime; no not because of George Lucas' jokes but the unintentional dialogue. The screenplay for this film is so bad it makes Anakin out to be a whiny and sometimes very creepy teenager who gives us his detailed opinions on sand. Along with that and some plot points that don't make sense, for me Episode II is the worst Star Wars film.
  Revenge of the Sith is the third of the prequels and eventually ties into the original trilogy. Most people say it's the best of the prequels and I can see where they're coming from. It still has a multitude of problems but the plot isn't as all-over-the-place as the previous two and the climactic showdown, although entirely green screen, can be entertaining. Some things though don't follow continuity and and other events are little hard to swallow (in the context of the universe, not real life) and so Episode III upped the quality a smidgen but that really isn't saying anything.
   A New Hope, although not titled that on original release, was a game changer in cinema. It spawned and inspired so many great ideas and the fandom is still as strong as ever that you can't deny Star Wars is something special. The story is a nice, satisfying one filled with action, charm and adventure. It is a thrill for any sci-fi fan and you love the characters it shows us. I do have to admit that upon first viewing I was little underwhelmed due to so much hype but now after revisiting I enjoy it quite a bit and appreciate it's influence.
  The Empire Strikes Back is next and is, I think, the most referenced Star Wars film and has a lot of recognisable scenes. It gives us the Yoda we all love, the famous "Father" scene and some cracking lines of dialogue we quote to this day. The action is still top notch, the special effects were great for the 80s and it's the film George Lucas messed about with the least. In my opinion, Episode V is the best Star Wars film.
  Finally we come to Return of the Jedi. Like the previous two, it's not bad at all if not for a few weak points where you kind of have to gloss over. It gives us some great sequences on the planet Tatooine at the beginning and a very tense moment aboard the Death Star. The little Ewoks are annoying to some but they don't bother me at all and in the end Episode VI serves as a fantastic end to the original trilogy.

So that's it. My short opinions on Star Wars so far. I cannot wait to see what The Force Awakens has to offer and my review for that should be up soon!

OJ's TV Review - Heroes seasons 1 - 4

With Heroes Reborn airing this month I decided to take a look at the much-discussed Heroes, something I'd heard a lot about but never seen.

Being a big science-fiction fan and common Internet-user I'd heard about Heroes from various places
and I knew the general gist but never really had the opportunity to watch it. Thankfully, Netflix helped out with that.
 So season 1 to start obviously and the general opinion is that this the best season. They're not wrong. Season 1 of Heroes is absolutely brilliant, I love it. It introduces a bunch of characters straight out the gate all with completely different backgrounds and lives and most importantly, powers. As the season progresses they slowly start to connect and it all builds up to really nice, satisfying conclusion. All the actors in it are really well cast, everyone is playing the everyman, the normal person, who wake up one day with an extraordinary ability, which is really fun to watch. Zachary Quinto plays the main villain Sylar who is a really good bad guy, his presence and scenes are really thrilling and threatening. A truly unique piece of television.
  Season 2 comes along with only half the amount of episodes. Although the mystery was intriguing and some of the new characters were fun to watch; overall I felt it was a little underwhelming. Because season 1 was so good, season 2, although wasn't a terrible season, just didn't quite stand up to the first, possibly due to the limited number of episodes and a very similar story-arc due to a writer's strike.
 Season 3. Oh my, what can I say. The third season of Heroes is an absolute mess. The plots were all over the place, it was if the season didn't know where it was going. They'd start one story arc in an episode and then two or three down the line they'd end it quite abruptly with hardly any satisfying resolutions. Some of the people we'd come to know and love suddenly either lost their powers or did things completely out of character which made for a lot of episodes where I just sighed. I struggle to think of positives for this season; I mean there was the odd good episode and a few guest appearances I enjoyed but for the most part, it was like a bad fan-fic.
  Season 4 thankfully started to pick up, they focused on a new character Samuel and his mysterious carnival which drove the series arc and that was actually a really entertaining thing to watch. A bunch of new characters were introduced who were good and some of the ruined ones of season 3 fell into the odd appearance which was a good move. Still not quite as good as the first season but in terms of quality I think it was better than the other two.

So in conclusion, I'm glad I watched Heroes, even if the quality was a bit up and down, the characters were so interesting to me and I adored the various pop culture references the show gave (mostly from the character Hiro). It was truly a roller coaster ride in many ways and a show any sci-fi fan should watch.

OJ's Movie Reviews - Jurassic Park 2 & 3

I already reviewed the first Jurassic Park when it came out in 3D, so now in preparation for Jurassic World I'll look back on the not-so-fan-favourite sequels.

After one of the most popular blockbusters of all time Steven Spielberg adapted the second novel,The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It brings back the character of Ian Malcom played brilliantly by Jeff Goldblum and goes to the Site B of Jurassic Park with a team to study how the dinosaurs have been living since the disaster of '93. Although not as good as the first film, The Lost World isn't actually that bad; the special effects and animatronics still hold up to today creating some convincing dinosaurs both with the old favourite's T-Rex and raptors and a whole bunch of new ones. Also the soundtrack I really enjoyed as well, John Williams is one of the best composers in the business and here he creates some memorable scores again.  As regards to the plot, it can be a bit jumbled at times and some of the pacing is off but it's fun to see the locations they go to on the island and of course who didn't love that Tyrannosaurus rampaging through San Diego? Overall in my opinion it is my least favourite of the franchise but it doesn't deserve a lot of the hate it gets.

Next up we have Jurassic Park III which has original character Alan Grant take a couple of people on what he thinks is a tour of site B; obviously all does not go well and they get stuck on the island. Although the plot has little complexity to it and is basically a slasher-film with dinosaurs, I really enjoy Jurassic Park III. I think it has more of an abandoned facility feel than the second film did with all the over-grown jungle visuals and sets; these work really well when showing the super-intelligent raptors which make for some thrilling and suspenseful scenes. And yes, I love the Spinosaurus! I know people hate the fact it killed a T-Rex but I think the addition of the Spino makes this film more unique and diverse. In the end it's the sort of film you can sit back with some popcorn, turn your brain off and watch dinosaurs eating people.

So those are my thoughts on the two sequels and you can read my review of the first movie by clicking here.

OJ's Movie Reviews - Transformers 1, 2, & 3

Well Michael Bay's fourth installment of his robotic franchise comes out this month so I've decided to review the previous three.

To start off we'll go straight to 2007's Transformers, I went to see this at the cinema with my dad and a few others and basically we loved it. The dialogue was funny, the action was awesome to watch, the story was nice and solid, characters seemed real, it was just a really fun movie, I enjoyed everything about it from start to end; so there are a few mistakes, but what movie doesn't? I bought it straight on DVD when it came out and I still have it now. Two years later and I watch a trailer to it's sequel...
  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen arrived in 2009 and I once again saw it at the cinema and came away feeling slightly disappointed, although it was not as good as the first it was still an enjoyable watch; the humor varied to weather it was funny or not, the villain was evilly cool looking but was weak character-wise, and the action was more exaggerated which took away from the movie somewhat - so apart from some annoying side-characters (I'm looking at you Skids and Mudflap) the movie wasn't as terrible as some critics make it out to be. The third movie however...
  Finally in 2011 we got Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It was supposed to be the epic finale of it all, ending a trilogy so of course you had to up the stakes and they did that by basically getting hundreds more Decepticons and tech, trying to destroy Earth and giving Shia LaBeouf a new girlfriend. This film was really a mess, the first half was bit rocky, didn't quite know what it was doing with mixing some dark Apollo 11 plot and awkward, bland jokes that just didn't work, the second half of the film you struggled to keep an eye on what was going on, so much destruction, special effects, death, explosions, it was mess, and although it does have an Avengers/Dark Knight Rises kind of vibe and visuals it's nothing compared to those. And for some reason getting Leonard Nemoy to voice one of the baddies means you have to stick as many Star Trek references and quotes as you can into it.  Poor, poor film-making.
  In the end it went from good to average, to dire. I hope Transformers: Age of Extinction will be better with the new cast as the trailers make it look quite new and interesting.

OJ's Movie Reviews - The Dark Knight Trilogy

Man of Steel 2 is coming ever closer and even next year we'll see the toy version of him in The LEGO Movie, but now you can read my review of the latest appearance of the Batman!

I never watched this trilogy when it first came out, I have literally only seen it all at once recently. So instead of reviewing each movie singularly I thought I'd put it all in one review.
  So first off is Batman Begins; the introduction of the main characters and the origin story of Batman himself. I thought this movie was a nice surprise, I enjoyed watching this; there were parts I wasn't expecting and I enjoyed it. The storyline was very good, the characters were interesting and although I felt the villain(s) were slightly weak it was still good; I enjoyed the humor and the action together - it reminded me of season 1 of Arrow, I know this film came out first, but it is a similar story.
  Next in the series was The Dark Knight, I heard this film praised over and over again of how good it was, so I had high hopes and I watched it. Now I think everyone can say that the late Heath Ledger did an excellent job as the psycho Joker, his mannerisms and everything were pure creepy. The film did of course take a very dark turn after the first movie which I think took something away from the plot; the plot I think was very messy and a bit weak in places; so with a plot like that and then a maniac villain it, at times, felt uncomfortable to watch, so I know its not the favored view of many but I felt this was the weakest movie out the three.
  Finally then was The Dark Knight Rises which was one I was looking forward too, and boy did it give. I liked this movie a lot, better than the previous two and just and enjoyable watch. It felt like you were watching parts of other films but yet something completely new at the same time, it brought back the humor that the second one lacked and it was just and extraordinary conclusion to the trilogy, the stakes had gone so much higher and was thoroughly enjoyable.
  All in all I'd give the trilogy as a whole a TIME WELL SPENT.

OJ's TV Review - Sherlock series 1 & 2

With series 3 coming soon-ish, I decided to review the first lot of this brilliant show.

 BBC's Sherlock is all about Sherlock Holmes (if you didn't know), but with this adaption, the entire thing takes place in modern day. So yes, modern day London is where all the mysteries take place and the clever twists and plots. Now one of the reasons I'm reviewing series 1 & 2 together is that these two have pretty much one story-arc spreading over them and judging by the final episode of series 2, the next will be slightly different. The story arc in mind is that of his infamous enemy Moriarty, which in this adaption is not a man you want to mess with; seriously, this guy is nuts - and I thought the series did it very well, the whole atmosphere and stories where really good. The way Sherlock sees things comes up on the screen in writing and pictures, all very clever and just fun to watch. Oh, and Sherlock isn't really a likable character, well for the viewer I suppose, but if you really ever met this Sherlock then you wouldn't be friends for long, and that side of him gives a lot of humor to the story. Now with Sherlock each series has only 3 episodes each, and I know that doesn't seem much but each episode is one and a half hour long! So not the measly 45 mins like Doctor Who and nor just a full hour like some TV series are; and it doesn't feel like its dragging either, each story grabs your interest from beginning to end. So if your not watching Sherlock now then go and do it now because it is... AWESOMENESS

OJ's Review - Marvel One-Shots (Phase 1)

Just a quick post about my thoughts on the first three Marvel One-Shots that tie in to The Avenger's universe.

The Consultant

The Consultant was a little bonus short film found on the Blu-ray edition of Thor. It has Agent Coulson and Agent Sitwell talking about something they've been assigned to do and how they go about it; the entire thing takes place before, during, and after the final scene of The Incredible Hulk. Even though its only about 4 minutes it has a slight humorous tone and ties up a few loose ends, an enjoyable watch if you can see it as it can be found on YouTube.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer

The second little one-shot from Marvel takes place just before the post-credits scene of Iron Man 2 and follows Coulson's journey to Thor's hammer in New Mexico - purely for laughs but a nice insight to the life of Phil. This Marvel One-Shot came on the DVD for Captain America: The First Avenger, but is also available on YouTube.

Item 47

Now this One-Shot is very different from the previous as it has its own poster and it is considerably longer; it takes place after the Battle of New York from The Avengers/Avengers Assemble and follows a mission for Agent Sitwell. This third one-shot I think was an interesting take on the MCU and I am expecting the upcoming Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be very similar. Item 47 came on the DVD release of The Avengers but you can find a few official clips on YouTube.