Hercules Review
The Plot
Brett Ratner and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson bring a new version of half-man half-God all muscle Hercules to the big screen. With his stories being spread across the land, Hercules (Johnson) is hired by Lord Cotys (John Hurt) to bring down King Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes) with a small army of men and his loyal companions.
The Good
Brett Ratner is known mostly these days for directing the third and what most fans perceive as the worst instalment of the original X-Men Trilogy, The Last Stand. His work on Tower Heist and Movie 43 certainly didn’t help people forget this. With Hercules though, he seems to be going in the right direction. Ratner could very well have the beginnings of a franchise on his hands if Hercules does well, and at parts it deserves to do well.
The casting of Dwayne Johnson as the titular hero is a fantastic decision and Johnson proves it within the opening segment. Coming face to face with a lion, Johnson gives us a reason to believe he was born to play Hercules. And his humungous muscles certainly help. The most interesting part of Ratners new take on the old tale is the way in which he manages to dissect it and turn it into something completely different in a way. Instead of simply labelling Hercules as a God, Ryan Condal and Evan Siliotopoulos’ script brings an air of mystery surrounding the character. Is he a God or are his collection of heroic stories simply there to impress his fans and scare his foes?
A supporting cast of Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Aksel Hennie, Ingrid Bolso Berdal and Reece Ritchie turns Hercules from a one man hero into a team of renegades who band together to create the legend of Hercules and both characters and actors seem to have no problems with him being the main attraction. For while McShane’s character Amphiaraus in particular has some stand out moments, it really is Johnsons film.
Plenty of action makes sure that you won’t get too bored with Hercules even if his adversaries don’t really stand a chance against him.
The Bad
Humanizing Hercules in a way lowers the character at points. The demi-god lie teeters a touch too much on the human side eventually, leaving the air of mystery surrounding his past to disappear slowly along with some interest in the character. The film tries to counter-act this at one point by attempting to send the message that anyone can be a hero and using Hercules as their example. Which is all well and good except for the tiny niggling fact that Dwayne Johnson has something the average cinemagoer will probably not. Put any other person in the same situations that Johnson faces throughout the film and their lack of muscles will most definitely hinder them slightly. After all Dwayne Johnson wasn’t called the Rock ironically!
The Ugly Truth
Brett Ratner is definitely making eager strides to redeem himself from being simply known as the man who nearly ruined X-Men with Hercules. With a neat twist on the old tale and enough humour, action and Dwayne Johnson to keep audiences entertained, a sequel/franchise is definitely not the worst idea…
Guardians Of The Galaxy World Premiere Pictures
Marvel Studios had the world premiere for their much anticipated space adventure Guardians Of The Galaxy in Hollywood yesterday. Starring Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace and Benicio Del Toro, Guardians Of The Galaxy sees Marvel expand their cinematic universe even wider in a comic book adaptation that includes a talking Racoon voiced by Bradley Cooper. Check out a truly massive gallery of red carpet pics below and a bonus gallery from last year’s comic con.
The Imitation Game Opens London Film Festival 2014
The 58th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express®, is delighted to announce that this year’s Opening Night film will be THE IMITATION GAME, a dramatic portrayal of the life and work of Alan Turing, one of Britain’s most extraordinary unsung heroes, and one of the world’s greatest innovators.
The film will receive its European premiere on Wednesday 8 October at the Odeon Leicester Square with a live cinecast from the red carpet and simultaneous screenings taking place at cinemas across the UK. Stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, and director Morten Tyldum are expected to attend the London event.
The pioneer of modern-day computing, Turing is credited with cracking the German Enigma code and the film is a nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team at Britain’s top-secret code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. Turing, whose contributions and genius significantly shortened the war, saving thousands of lives, was the eventual victim of an unenlightened British establishment, but his work and legacy live on.
Clare Stewart, BFI London Film Festival Director, comments:
“We are thrilled to announce one of the most anticipated films of the year – THE IMITATION GAME – as this year’s BFI London Film Festival Opening Night gala. Featuring extraordinary performances from the British talent in front of the camera and vividly directed by Morten Tyldum, THE IMITATION GAME does cinematic justice to Alan Turing’s vision, determination and personal story as well as his enduring impact on British history and contemporary life.”
Director Morten Tyldum comments:
“I am thrilled to be returning to London to share THE IMITATION GAME with the audience of the BFI London Film Festival. The experience of directing this film has been so tremendously rewarding, and I am humbled to share Alan’s Turing’s incredible story on Opening Night.”
Producer Teddy Schwarzman comments:
“We are truly honoured that THE IMITATION GAME will be opening the 58th BFI London Film Festival. The film, shot in various locations throughout England, tells the story of an incredibly gifted yet unsung British hero. We look forward to sharing this film with audiences across the country, and couldn’t imagine our European Premiere anywhere but London.”
The 58th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express runs from Wednesday 8 October-Sunday 19 October. The full programme for the Festival will be announced on Wednesday 3 September
The Maze Runner Kaya Scodelario Interview
At the opening night of Brazilian dance show Brasil Brasileiro at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, actress Kaya Scodelario talks exclusively to Red Carpet News about the new film adaptation of The Maze Runner ahead of it’s world premiere in America.
Based on the novel by James Dashner the film also stars Will Poulter & Dylan O’Brien. Kaya plays Teresa, the only girl in a community of boys trapped in the center of a deadly maze.
The beautiful skins star talks about working with her talent young co-stars and being the only girl on set. She also tells us what fans can expect from the big screen adaptation of the bestselling young adult series and how it feels to become part of a potentially massive franchise.
Check out the video interview below:
Kaya also finally explained why the long planned Skins movie never happened and will never become a reality:
The Rover Review
The Plot
Guy Pierce and Robert Pattinson star in this post apocalyptic crime drama. When Eric’s (Pierce) car is stolen by three crooks, he sets out to retrieve it by any means necessary. But after coming across one of the thieves brother Rey (Pattinson), his search becomes both easier and harder as he struggles to cope with Rey’s company.
The Good
There’s one simple yet utterly bizzare way to sum up The Rover which really does give a slight idea as to what you’ll be getting yourself in for if you see it. It’s essentially an artsy post apocalyptic Dude, Where’s My Car? With the smallest hint of Rain Man.
Now, while this sounds crazy, for the most part The Rover does work surprisingly well. Guy Pierce holds the opening spectacularly, with the lack of instant dialogue giving an air of anticipation. As Eric takes his time to slowly remove his thieves old pickup truck from it’s stuck position to catch up with them, he seems to take joy in showing his power in the situation by driving as close as possible and then falling back, yet barely expresses it. The sequence works incredibly well and Pierce proves that he could easily handle the film with perfect ease on his own.
That said, when Robert Pattinson finally enters the story, he gives just as good as a performance. His role as simple and naïve Rey is quite unlike anything he’s done before and soon enough, he proves he is good enough to get equal billing with Pierce.
Accompanied by an extremely well fitting score and a simple yet full script, of which it seems Joel Edgerton shares story credit, The Rover does it’s job well.
The Bad
If you look back over Robert Pattinsons career so far (The Twilight franchise, Remember Me etc.) it’s easy to conclude that one of his main acting traits has become his ability to express himself through the cunning use of broody stares mainly. His role in The Rover gives him the opportunity to work with more dialogue than usual. Although it’s an interesting twist on the RPattz we’ve all come to know and love, most of what he gets to say is rather pointless and will surely end up annoying viewers as much as it seems to annoy his co-star.
Just as the film is starting to head towards it’s conclusion a completely out of place entry to the otherwise decent soundtrack utterly distracts from the mood of the film, making it a struggle to get back to where it was. It’s only one throwaway scene which you will no doubt know when you see it, and it unfortunately damages what was otherwise a well performed, well written and well directed film.
One last point to make is in regards to the films ambiguous title. It does become clear eventually why it’s called The Rover but the makers really did miss a trick when they didn’t make Erics car, one of the main driving pieces of the story (no pun intended) a Rover…
The Ugly Truth
David Michod’s follow-up to his Oscar nominated debut feature Animal Kingdom is a definitely worth a watch at least for Guy Pierce. While it loses it’s way towards the final act, The Rover is still a chilling and tension-filled simplistic story which will entertain. Mostly.