5 Reasons Why ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’ Rocks My Proverbial Socks Off

***SPOILER WARNING***

Grossing over $90 million dollars on its opening weekend in North America. ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’, the 7th entry in the Fox Studios’ X-Men franchise, based on the Marvel comic book characters/books of the same name – Has received global acclaim. And in my humble opinion – richly deserved.

Here are 5 reasons that Days Of Future Past absolutely killed it for me….. Killed is good in this context, by the way.

 

1. THAT Quicksilver Scene.

Fuck, I really hate saying it that way. ‘THAT’ Quicksilver scene… Ugh. It’s a great moment for not only the movie itself, but for the cast too who had really supported and pushed out just how good Evan Peters’ performance as the mutant speedster was. Though we can all say how shite his character design was (Singer….), it truly was a great demonstration of his abilities, his personality and the use of pop culture – As Maximoff’s walkman plays out the delightfully apt ‘Time In A Bottle’ by Jim Croce. Evan Peters’ performance throughout his time in the movie was no less greater. Leaving a lot for Joss Whedon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s depiction of the character to live up to in ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’.

 

2. Wolverine’s Role

Hugh Jackman – The cornerstone of the X-Men franchise. Appearing as a lead character in 6 of the 7 movies to date. With a cameo in First Class, simply because – because… Yeah.

I’ve always found issue with Logan in these movies. Not only are the movies marred by the sheer amount of focus that is lavished on the character, alienating others. But also because it almost becomes detrimental to the overall story. In DOFP, the movie progresses and develops through the narrative and each character is a driving force for that. Though we closely and prominently follow events and actions of certain characters – namely Charles (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) – Wolverine is without question the lead. However he is part of the story, rather than the story being a part of him. His scenes with Charles and Hank (Nick Hoult) after his initial regression to 1973 are some of my favourite moments in the entire film. There’s great chemistry between the 3, and this is much more apparent after Logan manages to convince Charles to get his shit together. I also found the much maligned ‘swap’ between himself and Kitty (Ellen Page) had proven to be a great move on the part of Singer and Kinberg.

 

3. The Screenplay

Simple as it seems. And is… Simon Kinberg wrote one damn good movie. Within the X-Men community, I’d argue that First Class is the superior film based on writing – Perhaps due to the more traditional, linear plot. With DOFP, there is so much going on that you could easily be stepping into Last Stand territory. It just felt from watching though, that everything had its place within the story – it was relevant, cohesive, served purpose and ultimately wasn’t wasteful fanboy nonsense thrown in for acknowledgement. I’d wholeheartedly recommend a second viewing if this wasn’t your immediate conclusion.

 

4. The ‘Reset’

Spoilers ahead. Of course, you’ve all seen the movie by now? Before production had completed, director Bryan Singer went on record to say that the beauty of time travel movies is that there is scope to undo, change or get rid of certain elements from the established timeline. In other words – He brought back Cyclops and Jean! So what does that mean for future appearances for people like James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Kelsey Grammar? Well we know now that younger versions of original trilogy characters will appear in the next movie ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’. Though we’ll never know for certain until that time, it was still great to see those characters back  – almost a sigh of relief. Especially after the massive injustice done to Cyclops in all the movies prior.

 

5. Groundwork For The Future

Though I was pretty disappointed in the shelving of half the cast of First Class. Carrying over James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nick Hoult to DOFP in hindsight is a great sign of potential things to come. With Charles and Hank seemingly becoming more reliant on each other from events prior to the movie, and Erik and Mystique being ‘set loose’ essentially to build ‘The Brotherhood’. We could potentially see some great stories featuring these characters at loggerheads once again. Because of the dynamics and events that have occurred within the relationships of these 4 – I think we should anticipate for much more emotionally driven, tense and personal X-Men sequels. Here’s to 2016, and ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ .

Trailer Tidbits – March/April 2014

 

Greetings, fatherfuckers. Here’s a little recap of some of the hot new trailers to hit the net.

 

‘Godzilla’ – Trailer #3 (Dir. Gareth Edwards)

Here’s the latest trailer for the 2014 Godzilla movie starring Walter White and the Maximoff Twins. No, but seriously – this is gearing up to be one of most anticipated movies of the year. And tonally, the ‘Monsters’ director seems to have nailed a gritty, realistic feel as opposed to the Emmerichian approach of the ’98 movie. There’s a couple of shots of new footage in this one, but all in all it’s very much of the same we saw in the second trailer.

 

‘Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ – TV Spot #1 (Dir. Matt Reeves)

More monkey magic! Take a good look at Caesar and his chimp chums in this first TV spot for the sequel to the surprisingly decent Apes reboot.

 

‘Lucy’ – Trailer #1 (Dir. Luc Besson)

Fresh off the heels from the recent release of his crime/comedy ‘The Family’ – Parisian writer/director Luc Besson gives us a first trailer from his upcoming sci-fi thriller – ‘Lucy’. This one could be shit fucking hot, people.

 

”Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ – Trailer #1 (Dir. Jonathan Liebesman)

Aaaand finally. This is the long awaited first glimpse at the new TMNT movie as produced by my main man – Michael Bay. Starring Megan Fox (ugh) and Will Arnett (hooray!) plus a load of unknown actors that we don’t care about…(yeah). I’ll be wholeheartedly honest, I’m not really digging the baby faces with the nostrils thing. BUT, I am very much looking forward to seeing the movie. Plus of course more trailers and promo material.

 

 

 

#27 ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993)

“SO, HOW D’YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS IN THE MORNING?”

Cast:-

*Sam Neill

*Laura Dern

*Richard Attenborough

*Jeff Goldblum

*Ariana Richards

*Joseph Mazello

Director:- Steven Spielberg

With its recent 3D release I thought I’d mark my return to reviewing with a recap of the 90’s belter – Jurassic Park.

Surprised as many may be, before this past week the last time I saw the movie was back in 1993 in theatre at the tender age of 7 years of age. Possibly being the most immersive and awe-inspiring movie experiences in my entire life. The fact I haven’t seen the movie in its entirety for 20 years gave me slight reservations on how the effects, the performances and some of the film’s plot elements would hold up with time. Well, let’s face it – it’s all nonsense really, huh?

—– As the story goes – zillionaire genius, John Hammond, creates an attraction park boasting real-life dinosaurs. Which he has created through the gift of SCIENCE!!!. Inviting archaeologists, Neill and Dern, Jeff Goldblum, plus his two grandchildren to vet the park during a special tour. And all shit breaks loose.

The great thing about Jurassic Park is that it hits the notes so sweetly, it is simply pure unbridled and crazy entertainment from start to end. At a 2 hour running time, the opening half is an oddly well-matched combination of dread and wonder, as we are taken off the Pacific Coast into Costa Rica via air, captivated by the world Hammond has created. While still feeling the uncertainty of just how much a dangerous game he is playing. Spielberg pulls this off with his own unique sensibilities of creating a real experience that’s palpable and emotionally alluring.

The first appearance of a dinosaur in all its glory is one of the most memorable moments in cinematic history – as Sam Neill’s Grant and Laura Dern’s Sattler almost look catatonic as the prehistoric creatures come into view on their arrival at Isla Nublar – with Hammond’s immortal words “Welcome to Jurassic Park!” soon following. It’s something I think most people seeing this film for the first time would relate to. The stunning work on visual and practical effects were and still are breathtaking, further enhanced by high-definition technology used to transfer the film onto blu ray form. There are some sequences that look slightly off-key but it’s nothing prominent or note-worthy.

The only issues I have with Jurassic Park are to do with its characters – A combination of stereotypical khaki wearing buffs, an old man with a God-complex, the ever-warning maths whizz and a whole host of generic cannon fodder park workers.

Grant and Sattler, while appearing well-intended and passionate about Hammond’s miraculous creations, eventually become an almost reluctant childminder and a constantly wailing unnecessary female lead respectively. Grant, being the prominent of the two, is our eyes and ears of the film. But the obvious awkward undertones of his suggested fear of relationships seem to prove he’s not the generic dashing hero that you’d expect. This is further accentuated through his interaction with Lex and Tim, whom incidentally are probably my favourite characters from the entire movie. And are respectfully portrayed by the actors in the film’s more frantically and dramatically terrifying sequences.

Ellie Sattler, on the other hand, is borderline annoying, stupidly self-assured and rather insignificant for the films narrative other than to be the representation of, what I believe to be, Alan Grant’s personal insecurities. If the character was far more of significant value in the Crichton novel – then I guess it’s a faux pas on the part of the screenwriters. I just couldn’t find anything remarkably likeable or screen time worthy about the character.

Goldblum and Attenborough deliver the token gravitas-laden performances with some clunky and groan inducing dialogue, and questionable motivations. That’s both of them, by the way 😉

Spielberg’s direction is spellbinding. With the looming shots of the island filling us with a sense of foreboding and wonder, to the iconic T-Rex attack shots, this is really a movie that he obviously felt close to his heart. So much passion and attention to detail is apparent here, and with a timeless score from John Williams – I was really swept in with a real adventure ‘feel’ – but I honestly found it lacked a little bit in the adventure side as it blossoms into a survival/thriller/monster movie after the first half. Perhaps it would fair better, in this context, by focussing more on the kids as central characters. Deviating away from the frights and scares – opting for a more classic Spielbergian piece. But this just a major nitpick on my part. The creatures look beautiful, the lighting gives the daytime scenes a lush vibrance and tender tone to the more ‘friendlier’ dinosaurs. While the evening sequences, casted over by heavy storms and minimalistic score up the ante in tension and terror as we come to meet the more less favourable inhabitants. Makes for gripping stuff!

So yes, the answer is Jurassic Park still holds up as one of the greatest pieces of modern cinema. It’s issues are more noticeable these days, but it has not lost that wonderful essence that made us fall in love with the film all those years ago.

 

9/10

Inglorious Bastnerds Podcast – ‘Total Recall’

“JOIN US, GEORGE…”

As some of my followers will know – I am a ‘fairly regular’ participant in the Inglorious Bastnerds movie podcast hosted by Chris Byrne of CinemaTronix.co.uk. So far I’ve done a few and decided that it’d be great for the group and for Chris to give the podcast a little more exposure by sharing the wealth on here.

“YOUR MOVE, CREEP….. Wait, what?”

So this week host Chris, regulars Raghav, Ian and Allan – as well as guest Christopher and myself discussed our thoughts and opinions on the sci-fi cult classic ‘Total Recall’ starring ARRRNOLD(!). In addition, we talk about THAT ‘Man Of Steel’ trailer, Jamie Foxx as Electro, the ‘Total Recall’ remake, ‘Olympus Has Fallen’, ‘Evil Dead’ and the critical darling – ‘Scary Movie 5’. Plus much, much more. There were some tech difficulties during recording, so don’t be alarmed by the robotic voices and awkward silences.

Hit the link below and enjoy! Also don’t forget to look up the Inglorious Bastnerds on Twitter, Facebook and at CinemaTronix.co.uk

TOTAL RECALL PODCAST

Trailer Tidbits #4 (March 2013)

After ANOTHER extended absence, here’s 3 of the latest trailers on the circuit. Hugh Jackman continues to add more meat to the bones of his typecast career in X-Men sequel/sidequel – ‘The Wolverine’, ‘White House Down’ gets a trailer, and Steve Carell – fresh of the heels off the lukewarmly received ‘..Burt Wonderstone’, returns as Gru in ‘Despicable Me 2’

‘Despicable Me 2’ – Dirs. Coffin & Renaud

So, in all honesty. The first outing was a real surprise hit. And I actually ended up on the bandwagon quite a long while after release. I cited the release of similarly plotted movie, ‘Megamind’ (another animation about a super-villain turned good), to be a possible reason why it didn’t grab my attention any sooner. Still, a solid animated film and great fun for the littluns.

In the sequel, Gru (Carell) is recruited by a superhero group in order to stop a new super criminal (possibly Russell Brand)…… Gee, they couldn’t have been any more creative, could they?

‘White House Down’ – Dir. Roland Emmerich

Everyone’s favourite city destroyer returns to an old friend, to finish them off once and for all. Jamie Foxx stars as the Prez, while Channing Tatum does more ‘acting’ to divert people’s attentions from his stupidly sounding name. This smells like a steady, but mediocre outing from all involved. Not even the ominous quotations at the beginning of the trailer stirs me…… Another movie, by the name of ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ – is a blood relation.

‘The Wolverine’ – Dir. James Mangold

Yes, after leaving us for such a long, long, long time – Fox give us what we want… More Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. It’s hard to believe this role has been played by the man for almost 15 years.

I’d call for change, normally…. Though, I reckon this could be a great swansong for the partnership. But yeah, let someone else have a go, Hugh.

‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ – My Thoughts

“Gard Gard Gard Gard…”

So it’s been a little over a week since the long-awaited adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s much-adored ‘The Hobbit’ (Part 1, mind) was released, and I’ve been itching to give my opinions on Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth…….

Spoilers ahead, here are the moments of greatness, and in some cases – shiteness of ‘An Unexpected Journey’…

 

What Was Great.

1. Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

A given, right? After the announcement of ‘The Office’ alum’s casting, I never stopped thinking it was nothing short of genius. His performance is laced with an air of naivety, disengaged charm, and an almost sense of self-preservation at the film’s beginning. Freeman captured everything I wanted to see in this character, and the encounter with Gollum and subsequent conclusion of the movie was some of the most entertaining and highly focal points for me.

2. The Design

A lasting impression of the LOTR trilogy was the design work inspired by conceptual artists Alan Lee and John Howe. Their astounding and beautiful interpretations of the various locales, architecture and characters of Middle Earth are further realised in ‘The Hobbit’, and will receive a whole new audience of fans. Much to thank those guys for.

3. The Trolls Scene

Take Freeman’s Bilbo, throw in a few ponies, add a couple of daft, bumbling Kiwi trolls with a hunger for bearded midgets…. And you get one of the most endearing, faithful sequences in the entire movie. Grinned from ear to ear during this one!

4. Gollum and The Return Of Andy Serkis

How could I do this list without citing Gollum and Andy Serkis in some form…? I’d be lying to myself if I ever did. The show stealer in the LOTR trilogy, and the catalyst of the events that lead up to the epic Jackson saga returns to give us an uncompromising reminder of why he is such a memorable part of modern cinema. It’s weird to think that I will never see Gollum again on-screen in this capacity, so I’ve really taken Serkis’ performance in this film to be somewhat bittersweet. Alas, it’s an amazing reprise from Andy.

5. The Location Shooting

Since the release of ‘The Return Of The King’, the influx of green screen and blue screen has contributed to the exhausting cookie-cutter popcorn flicks that have littered Hollywood for a decade. However Peter Jackson, his team at Wingnut, New Line and WB persevered to keep the grandiose and breathtaking scale that the LOTR trilogy took on. The location shooting vlogs that were posted through the early parts of last year, gave us an incredible insight into the huge amount of work that is put into such a mammoth task. What we see on-screen are the fruits of that labor. Beautiful stuff.

What Didn’t Cut The Mustard (My opinion…)

1. The Dwarves (SPOILER ALERT)

“Hugh, Pugh, Barney, McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub”

Yeah, I know. Old record, old record. Certainly with the amount of characters that ‘The Hobbit’ boasts – it would be pointless to have a gripe about screen time for 13 dwarves. But mine isn’t about that – it’s the execution. Of the Company, with the exception of Thorin (Richard Armitage) – Balin (Ken Stott), Kili (Aidan Turner) and Bofur (Jimmy Nesbitt) are the dwarves with the most screen time/dialogue in the movie. We are also given a slight nod as if to suggest that these characters will be much more prominent and of greater importance in at least the second movie. What actually frustrated me was how forgettable they all were. Next to no characterisation for most of the Company, and when we do see some it’s either far too early in proceedings or just too little too late.

2. Old Bilbo (As Played by Ian Holm)

Love Ian Holm – let me make that perfectly clear. Awesome beyond belief in the LOTR films, and perhaps one of my favourite actors of the entire trilogy. Personally, I really enjoyed seeing him return briefly in his scenes with Frodo (Elijah Wood), which allowed a nice bridging point between the LOTR movies and these new films. But something really bugged me. It’s a small nitpick – but it’s so fucking unbelievably obvious.

It’s the hair.

Ok, yeah – “What the fuck, Scott? Get over it…” – Well I fucking can’t, ok?

It’s been 12 years since we last saw old Bilbo in Bag End. So Weta digital have used their magic to ‘de-age’ the veteran act0r to make him look more similar to his younger self. The hairpiece however, is not Holm’s own hair we can easily assume. So why did they do this….?

Yeah, really… I’m moaning about this

I’m a big continuity buff, and a confessed moaner. But come on, really? The hair is completely different. The reference points are in the DVD cabinets of nearly every single person that worked on the movie!

On the left, a still of ‘Fellowship’, the hair is bushy, almost feathered, also fairly thick and at cheek length. On the right hand side, we see Bilbo as he appears in ‘The Hobbit’. The hair is thinner, lank and also nearly at CHIN length. Bilbo’s appearance in the new movie is one that precedes events in ‘An Unexpected Journey’ – but also takes place in the same time line period as the beginning of ‘Fellowship’… e.g THAT PICTURE ON THE LEFT. Come on, now. It’s a silly mistake that shouldn’t have been made. It’s absolutely glaring.

Meh…. Next….

3. The Seemingly Non-existent Use of Human Actors for Goblins/Orcs/Trolls/Whatever

Looks stoopid

I was excited to see more of the amazing work from Weta’s visual effects and makeup department. But sadly, we weren’t so lucky this time around. The creatures that are featured in the movie are beautifully realised. However it just didn’t have that same magic as having real actors in the performance. It didn’t really tarnish the film on an enjoyment scale, rather just made me question whether Jackson is heading down the same dark path as another certain filmmaker did a long, long time ago.

4. The Film’s Opening Hour

“WE ARE LAUGHING!”

‘An Unexpected Journey’ has a run time which may agitate and even frustrate some theatre-goers. But personally, I didn’t mind it at all. But the first adventure of Bilbo and the Dwarves has such a slow build up, it really did test my patience for the first 45 to 60 minutes. In particular the meeting at Bilbo’s house. Christ… such… a…. fucking…. drag…. Leave already!

5. The Smaug Money Shot

After a successful third act. I really was looking forward to finally getting a glimpse of the dragon, Smaug in all his hellish glory. This was not the case.

With the extreme lengths that Weta went to prevent us viewing folk from seeing the antagonist during the (seriously too long) prologue, I was convinced that we’d get to see him rolling around in his gold like a pig in shit. What we got was an eyeball…. Haha, a great eye. Maybe that was a little joke on their part. Well, you got us. Fuck you anyway 🙂

—————————————————————–

Let’s just be clear on one thing…. I LOVED this movie. Thank you to everyone that worked on it!

Best & Worst Of 2012

 

No filler. Let’s do this.

Here are my Top 10 Worst films (viewed by me) released in the United Kingdom over the last 12 months. My review of the movies (if applicable) can be found at the link after the title/director

 

1. ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ (Paul W.S. Anderson) http://boxd.it/uIU3

2. ‘Friends With Kids’ (Jennifer Westfeldt) http://boxd.it/j4Hh

3. ‘Twilight – Breaking Dawn Part 2’ (Bill Condon)

4. ‘Hotel Transylvania’ (Genndy Tartakovsky) http://boxd.it/uxt1

5. ‘The Five-Year Engagement’ (Nicholas Stoller) http://boxd.it/j4FP

6. ‘Prometheus’ (Ridley Scott)

7. ‘A Thousand Words’ (Brian Robbins)

8. ‘Snow White & The Huntsman’ (Rupert Sanders)

9. ‘Paranormal Activity 4’ (Henry Joost/Ariel Schulman)

10. ‘Dark Shadows’ (Tim Burton) http://boxd.it/ebrb

 

With the proverbial turds flushed down the commode. Here are my favourites 🙂

Celluloidical’s Top 10 Films Of 2012

1. ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ (Wes Anderson) http://boxd.it/eMBH

2. ‘The Avengers’ (Joss Whedon) http://boxd.it/btpr

3. ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (Christopher Nolan) http://boxd.it/jSSp

4. ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (Peter Jackson) http://boxd.it/BvJZ

5. ‘Looper’ (Rian Johnson)

6. ‘Dredd’ (Pete Travis) http://boxd.it/rLKz

7 ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (David O.Russell)

8. ‘End Of Watch’ (David Ayer) http://boxd.it/zzsT

9. ‘Skyfall’ (Sam Mendes) http://bit.ly/ZLxnIf

10. ‘Chronicle’ (Josh Trank)

Trailer Tidbits #3 (December 2012)

 

Been a little while since my last recap. So let’s make this a gooden! On the radar today is Star Trek sequel – ‘…Into Darkness’, M Night Shyamalan’s latest excuse, ‘After Earth’. And finally, the highly anticipated Superman film – ‘Man Of Steel’.

 

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ – Dir. J.J Abrams

Much to speculate of course, and many will. But right off the bat I’ll say this is probably the one I’m holding out for next year. The standalone voiceover of the antagonist, whoever it may be, Benedict Cumberbatch, and escalating score really does build this one way way waaaay up. Great stuff. Draw your own conclusion at the trailer’s close.

 

‘After Earth’ – Dir. M. Night Shyamalan

Without question, this could easily be the biggest flop for next year. Haven’t we seen all this before??

 

‘Man Of Steel’ – Dir. Zack Snyder

Ok, Zack, I’m sold. Taking an enormous cue from producer Christopher Nolan, and a nuance that only could be attributed to the work of Terrence Malick – this retelling of the Superman origin could possibly surprise many. It’s not the most action packed of all trailers, but it goes more along the lines of building character and outlining what could be a very interesting and engaging screenplay. Cavill looks the part indeed, and we’re given brief glimpses of Lawrence Fishburne as Perry White, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Michael Shannon as the incomparable Zod! Check the fuck out!

 

The Acting Masterclass #2 – Michael Fassbender

Image courtesy of CinemaBlend.com

One of the most captivating performers to emerge from the last 10 years, German/Irish actor Michael Fassbender is certainly proving his worth.

After his breakout performance in Zack Snyder’s graphic novel homo-erotic fest, ‘300’, Fassbender began a working relationship with London artist/filmmaker Steve McQueen (not that one), and was critically acclaimed for his role as activist Bobby Sands in ‘Hunger’.

Since then, Mr Fassbender has undoubtedly become one of the most popular and sought after actors working in Hollywood.

My admiration for him stems from his ability to inhabit so many diverse and original characters. One that has been a huge testimony to this is his astounding portrayal of a sex addict in McQueen’s ‘Shame’. A film about a high-flyer working in New York that has an emotionally crippling form of hypersexuality, and engages in frequent acts of onanism and intercourse.

In the movie, his regimented lifestyle spirals out of control when his estranged sister, Sissy (Cary Mulligan), turns up on his doorstep. The most vivid turning point of the movie for me is at this point, where Fassbender’s character, Brandon, immediately begins to display signs of stress, aggravation and almost seething mental torment at the spanner his sister throws in to the works. Fassbender displays this with a conviction that is truly engaging – his uneasiness being a stark contrast to his behaviour around his co-workers, his friends and more predominantly with women. The character of Brandon, for me, is perhaps the most personal, insightful and beautifully performed role by the actor. It also has an incredible pay off.

Though his affinity with independent film has brought him much success. Fassbender has also made an extremely popular and easy transition into mainstream cinema. Last year, he starred as a young ‘Erik Lensherr’, delightfully preceded by Sir Ian McKellen, in the 60’s set comic-book movie, X-Men: First Class. This year, he featured in the lukewarm/fairly positively received ‘Prometheus’ as the android ‘David’.

In First Class, Fassbender oozes charm, danger and Bond-esque cool. Notably basing much of his performance on Sean Connery’s 007 and the overall aesthetic of Dr. No in many of his one-to-one scenes, not to mention disregarding Sir Ian’s performances of the character of Erik, and completely making it his own. It was a breath of fresh air to see such a well-known villain take on the role of the sympathetic, a man who could be a hero tragically fall that we, the audience, can so easily root for. And this was very much down to how Michael approached the character, his reasonings for his actions, his methods and his emotional turmoil.

Oddly enough, his most recent successful performance, in ‘Prometheus’ – is a completely different animal. His mysterious motives kept relatively in the dark for the duration of the movie is overshadowed by an obvious and unflattering form of self-possession. He teems with icy demeanour, and engages the other characters almost subjectively in parts. Fassbender plays this off with such an arrogance, and knowing, that it’s nearly impossible to not notice or appreciate the dedication he put into the character. Unquestionably the film’s saving grace in my opinion.

Of course, no actor can be without their stinkers, and Fassy in no exception, from the ‘promising on the outside’ ‘A Dangerous Method’, which I found utterly non-compelling and marred by a dire script. To the meathead favourite ‘300’. But these are examples of the ill-conceived. Frankly, I see this man becoming one the greatest actors to ever grace the screen. 2012 may have been the year of Fassbender…. But let’s see how the next one pans out….

#26 ‘Skyfall’ (2012)

Cast:-

*Daniel Craig

*Judi Dench

*Javier Bardem

*Naomie Harris

*Ralph Fiennes

*Ben Whishaw

Director:- Sam Mendes

(Not much plot retread, only my thoughts)

Skyfall is undoubtedly one of the biggest revelations of the year for me. Ignoring the reviews and opinions of the many users on Twitter – I went into this with a horrible taste in my mouth left by the sleep-inducing entry that was Quantum Of Solace. And with expectations low, i was conpletely won over.

By almost literally going back to basics, and learning from convoluted mess made by the last few Bond films, Sam Mendes has effectively brought the elements of vintage James Bond – and seamlessly integrated them into the modern broken and fallable incarnation of the spy.

Sure, this film is ‘big’, but it’s only in small doses, and does more than compensate. The action is story driven, and actually plays out for audience and character reaction. Something sorely misused and underplayed during previous films (sorry, Brosnan). The direction of action is steady, crisp and not rushed (unlike others) – which makes the film all the more enjoyable and doesn’t affect the run time negatively.

Daniel Craig’s Bond is a lost soul more than ever but it’s this dark, deep-rooted pain that encapsulates him that makes him probably the most interesting and connective Bond that we have seen on screen. The suave, sexy, cool facade is all there, however Craig conveys the apparent tumultuous internal conflicts of 007 quite effortlessly. He is far more comfortable in the role.

At the films opening we are diverted away from the quote on quote – typical Bond opener. As a shadowed Craig walks through a dimly lit walkway, eventually meeting the camera with his trademark icy blue stare. It’s instantly memorable and a testament to the old adage ‘less is more’ – and indeed it is.

Though the story is generally reminiscent in some parts to ‘Goldeneye’, the exposition clearly takes the motives of the film’s principal villain, ‘Silva’ (Javier Bardem) to a sinisterly twisted level. Adopting a sadistic, perverted lust for revenge against former ally ‘M’ (Judi Dench). The character is also unquestionably a stark reminder of what James Bond himself could become if he continues down the path he treads. Conclusively, Skyfall is what I’d call Bond’s ‘crystal ball’ movie.

Saying that, however – the film is also 007’s story of resurrection and redemption – both literally and figuratively. All tying up at a showdown at Bond’s childhood home. Leading to an extremely familiar set up at the close of the film – a promising and exciting prospect. Coupled with a tag line of ‘James Bond Will Return’ – it gets you frenzied with anticipation.

Suitably polished off by the reintroduction of ‘Q’ – portrayed eloquently by Ben Whishaw and a particularly impressive turn of ‘will he, won’t he’ from Ralph Fiennes’ Gareth Mallory, chairman of the Intelligence & Security Committee and somewhat overseer of MI6. Fans of new and old will find something to sate their appetites.

Beyond that, there is so much to behold with Skyfall. I implore any film fan to give this a watch.

;

8/10