Month: Jun 2016

Keanu

Posted on by DJ Speaks Movies

I had heard some good things about this movie and I expected a comedic romp starring the aforementioned feline getting into various scrapes, instead this felt like a sketch from stars Kay & Peele which was stretching into movie length with the cat only forming a small sub plot to the film.

Keanu is an adorable kitten, even for a dog person like myself, and once he ends up on the doorstep of Rell (Jordan Peele) who has just been dumped by his girlfriend it’s love at first sight however unknown to Rell, Keanu already has owners in the form of the Allentown Boys (also played by Kay & Peele) who have recently liberated him from a local Mexican cartel boss while carrying out a hit so they want him back. While Rell is on a night out with his cousin Clarence (Key) the house is ransacked and Keanu is missing. The trail leads to local gangster Cheddar (Method Man) who is now in possession of Keanu and in order to get Keanu back Clarence and Rell must adapt new personalities in the form of gang members ‘Tectonic’ and ‘Shark Tank’. Of course it wouldn’t be a movie if it went according to plan so we have to follow the stars as their deception takes them further and further into the underbelly of the city as lie follows more elaborate lie.

Yes, there are some humerous pop culture references and a very funny cameo from Anna Faris but the real laughs are as few and far between as the cat appearances so this feels slightly like false advertising, certainly like a wasted opportunity and at 98 minutes way too long to keep a weak plot interesting as it’s essentially a one joke movie.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

Alice In Wonderland

Posted on by DJ Speaks Movies

Sticking reasonably close to the original tale of the book, Tim Burtons vision of Alice in Wonderland is ready made for 3D cinema with the colourful, psychedelic world suiting the medium perfectly. We find Alice (Mia Wasikowska) as a teenage girl who’s quirky ways don’t fit in with the rest of her society class but this doesn’t stop Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill) from wanting her hand in marriage but only for the betterment of his family so Alice wants no part of this and runs away only to fall down a rabbit hole and into the fantasy land. Along the way she meets, and is assisted to varying degrees, by all the characters from the books in order to help her cause to defeat the Jabberwocky (briefly voiced, but superbly so by Christopher Lee) and restore the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) to power.

There were times when Wasikowska seemed perfect for the role as she played Alice with a mix of innocence and determination with equal measure but once she needed to carry out a scene with one of the stronger actors this is when she felt like a background piece rather than the central figure that the story should have dictated.

Johnny Depp is one of the few actors who can take a weird character and make it unique each time. Be it Jack Sparrow, Wonka, Edward Scissorhands or any of the others he has portrayed the one thing you cannot deny is that they are memorable and in this case, while quiet annoying at times, his Mad Matter is near perfect. The dual personalities of his quiet demeanour when happy to the gruff Scottish accent he develops when annoyed is a great trait that he brought and it is his character, more than any other, which is most memorable, even above the only other contender the ever childish and easy to anger Red Queen, despite Helena Bonham Carters best efforts. The rest of the acting is fine but neither Crispin Clover as the Knave of Hearts or Hathaway as the White Queen get a lot to work with though the voice acting talent is excellent with Timothy Spall, Barbara Windsor, Alan Rickman, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry and Michael Sheen all adding character to the creatures.

While far from being a great film, it does hit the right notes in terms of bringing a version of the classic tale to the big screen and, as you would expect, Burton’s vision is decidedly dark which was a nice step away from the cartoonish look of previous versions but it does suffer from feeling the need to cram in action sequences to keep the masses interested, when they are not necessarily needed.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10

Top Cat Begins

Posted on by DJ Speaks Movies

Based on the 1960’s Hanna Barbera cartoon about the money driven scam artist cat from Hoagy Alley. This movie is essentially an origin story where we see how the gang got together in the first place along with their initial run ins with Office Dibble and their attempts to break into the territory of Mr.Big who runs the area with an iron fist and doesn’t take kindly to competition. This leads to a misunderstanding with some priceless jewels where Top Cat finds himself wanted by the police and with a large reward on his head where most of the population of the city are looking to cash in as well.

The voice actors are all experienced in the field, the animation is good, it’s full of references to the original cartoon, other movies, modern cultural moments and fourth wall breaks but despite all this Top Cat still feels exactly like what it is, an extended version of the cartoon show and while there is a good mix of comedy with a moralistic tales about friendship which kids will no doubt lap up the running time is a little long for the younger crowd and there’s not enough in it for adults to enjoy either.

It lacks the quality of either The Jungle Book or Zootopia which are both far superior movies for both kids and adults so save this one for a rainy day afternoon of watching movies with the kids at home.

 

DJ Speaks Rating: 4 Out Of 10

Warcraft: The Beginning

Posted on by DJ Speaks Movies

Director Duncan Jones previous efforts Moon and Source Code were both clever and underrated movies but this time he takes on the might of the Warcraft name with it’s huge following across both the video and table top gaming platforms and delivers a good if not great game to screen transfer.

Fleeing from their dying world of Drenor the Orcs have chosen the peaceful region of Azeroth for their new home and they utilise a portal which is controlled by the use of magic called The Fel powered by human souls to transfer an advanced party of warriors to wage war on the region and gain enough of a grip to allow the rest of the clan to come through the portal.

Battling to stave off the Orcs is Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel) who is a knight that will give all for his King Llane Wrynn (Dominic Cooper) and needs the help of the missing fabled guardian Medivh (Ben Foster) to try and understand how this invasion has occurred and more importantly how to defeat it.

The wild card in the mix is a half-human, half-orc character Garona (Paula Patton) who is brought through the portal by the Orcs as a slave and acts as an advisor of sorts to the Orc leader Gul’dan (Daniel Wu) but gets captured by Lothar and finds herself torn between both sides.

It was the orcs that got the better character building with Durotan, the chieftain of the Frostwolf clan being the most interesting character in the movie. Their society chain and clan ethos were far more interesting than anything on the human side and their presence on screen is the main selling point of this film.

Having not played any of the games there may have been something within the story lost on me but it felt like a poor man’s Lord Of The Rings with good CGI and excellent battle scenes not being able to overcome the poor script and mediocre acting so I would suggest that you catch this in 3D or Imax as I can’t see the small screen version keeping your interest.

Unless the movie absolutely bombs this is going to be the start of a franchise and maybe if we get to invest more time with the characters it will improve the situation but this is a movie which suffers from not having the material to reach the levels of other epic fantasy movies so if they are going to build folklore it’s going to have to be done the hard way as I would be very surprised if this film is a massive box office success.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10