Its been a while since I've reviewed anything so find below some quick write ups, shown in viewing order and with
SPOILERS so be warned!
IRON MAN (2008); From the moment I heard
Robert Downey Jr. (RDJ) was attached to lead this film I knew it was going to be something special. RDJ has got to be one of my most favourite actors and he captures the super intelligent/arrogant Tony Stark extremely well, its probably just an extension of his own personality judging by his other film roles.
Iron Man should be treated as a pilot show for what will eventually become a successful series in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, its a great film but you can tell by the way the story unfolds that its setting up scenario's/characters for many future sequels and I for one will be looking forward to seeing them.
The visuals are amazing, Iron Man really looks the part. The cast is also very good with
Gwyneth Paltrow playing Starks secretary and
Jeff Bridges as the nemesis Iron Monger.
I unfortunately missed this but watch all the credits to the very end for an extra scene featuring a certain
Mr. S L Jackson.
The mandatory
Stan Lee cameo is also something to look out for!
DOOMSDAY (2008); Doomsday is set around 30 years in the future after the outbreak of a deadly virus in Scotland. Scotland had been quaranteed for all this time by a massive Berlin wall separating it from England, with mounted automated gun turrets stopping people from getting in and out.
After 30 years the virus suddenly reappears in mainland England. Satellite footage reveals there are survivors still living in Scotland so an elite task force, lead by the sexy
Rhona Mitra (and the cast from
Dog Soldiers) are sent in to find the survivors and seek a cure by order of the prime minister. They have a very limited time window to complete the mission which gave it an '
Escape From New York' feel to the story.
Scotland, 30 years in the future with no contact from the rest of the world has devolved into a crazy
Mad Max waste land filled with psychotic punks. I actually really liked that part of the film, I'm a bit of a Mad Max fan and thought of it as a nice tribute to the old film although its really insulting to Scottish people - it would only take 30 years for them to devolve into psychotic savages! Anyway, the elite task force quickly get whittled down to just a handful after falling prey to the cannibalistic punk gang.
They eventually manage to escape only to be captured by another sector of survivors which are held up in an old Scottish castle, with
Malcolm McDowell as their ruler. Now this was a really stupid part of the film, everyone living in the castle had reverted back to '
ye olde times' with knights on horses, court jesters and town peasants begging for food.
So now the film claims that it would only take 30 years for Scotland to revert back to medieval times, thats really insulting!
Anyway, to wrap it all up - the team find the cure and escape again only to be chased by the gang of punks in what is a pretty cool Mad Max sequence using heavily modified old cars with spikes and other weapons attached. Overall its a stupid yet really fun movie and would happily sit next to that film series I've already mentioned far too many times, just don't watch it if your Scottish and easily offended!
SPEED RACER (2008); To me, Speed Racer is the film of the year so far. Its surprisingly good. Having never seen the
original Speed Racer animation I didn't know quite what to expect and was a bit reluctant in watching it because it looked like a kids film. Well, it still is a kids film at heart but its also a bloody enjoyable one.
The Wachowski brothers (of
Matrix fame) have made this possible and they really have gone overboard in recreating the excitement and look of a Japanese animated show which has to be seen to be believed.
It features a great cast including
Matthew Fox (Jack from Lost) as 'Racer X'.
Go watch it, its awesome!
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008); Hmm... yeah, you may have noticed since the release of this film I haven't mentioned anything about it and that monkey logo in the the top left of this page quickly turned into Batman. Well, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (I'll just refer to it as Indy 4 from now on) was really enjoyable and had some great
Spielberg moments but overall didn't come up to scratch with the other films in the series in my opinion.
Harrison Ford does a great job of stepping back into Indy's shoes, now 65 but still doing just about as much running and jumping as he ever did. The rest of the cast were really good, with the return of
Karen Allen (Marion from the original '
Raiders'), the lucky git
Shia LeBeouf playing Indy & Marion's son,
Cate Blanchett as the Russian leader, a double crossing
Ray Winstone and crazy
John Hurt.
There's loads of laughs packed in and enough nods and winks to the previous films to keep most fans happy to a point. However the main problem I had with the movie involves the last 30 minutes. I really didn't like the end of the story with its new sci-fi element. Maybe in a few years time I'll learn to appreciate it.
HAROLD & KUMAR - ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY (2008); The duo return in the stoner-comedy sequel to 2004's
Harold & Kumar Get The Munchies (a.k.a. Go To White Castle).
I was really expecting this to be a complete load of rubbish but I was pleasantly surprised having laughed through the entire film.
Yes, its a totally stupid movie but the crazy things that happen from start to finish are brilliant.
The story starts with duo being arrested on a flight to Amsterdam as suspected terrorists. The FBI quickly send them off to Guantanamo Bay where they escape after just a few minutes of being there (hardly a good reason to use it as a title to the film) and the rest of the story involves them running away from the law, to Texas where a "friend" with good connections can get them pardoned.
The guy from the FBI chasing them is hilarious with his racist comments and just down right stupidity. The film plays around with a lot of racial stereotypes. It was also great to see the return of the very dodgy
Neil Patrick Harris playing... Neil Patrick Harris (
Doogie Howser, M.D. to anyone that remembers back to 1989!).
Its definitely a lads film and could be improved by consuming large quantities of alcohol whilst watching! I look forward to watching this again, under the influence if possible!
