Another collaboration with Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone as McCarthy stars as Michelle Darnell, a self-made millionaire business woman through her self-help advice who was raised in an orphanage and for some reason she was repeatedly rejected by all families who adopted her over the years. Perhaps it’s not hard to see why as she is brash and driven and is fully willing to stamp all over anyone who gets in her way although maybe it was the constant rejection that molded her into the person she became, this was never made clear.

When she is betrayed by her former lover Renault (or Ronald to you and I) where Peter Dinklage once again gets to show his comedic side, and sent to jail for insider trading crimes on Wall Street she is left penniless and destitute and has nowhere to turn except to her former aide Claire (Kristen Bell) who reluctantly agrees to let Michelle stay with her for a few days. Of course Michelle once again abuses Claires good Samaritan act and it is not long before she is concocting a plan to use Claires baking skills to take over the cookie selling business from the girl guides except this wouldn’t be Michelle if she wasn’t planning on making a tidy packet out of a charity organisation.

McCarthy has always been at her best when she has the opportunity to be crass and vulgar with put downs flowing and she gets plenty of opportunity to do so in this movie however the film is weak because it looks like it was particularly written to enhance McCarthys moments thus there is nothing else worthwhile going on in support. You are supposed to feel for Claire and her daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) as they take Michelle in and act as an almost surrogate family but because she is such a selfish person you know they are going to get hurt and when your protagonist is such a bitch there is no empathy towards her.

Yes, there are some funny moments but they are few and far between and while the cast in Spy were given leeway to develop and thus bring a subplot into McCarthys showcasing, this is sadly missing here so what you get it an hour and a half of McCarthy bulldozing her way through a film dragging everyone else with her with and plot that can’t seem to keep up either.

Perhaps there is some metaphor for modern America in the actions of Michelle Darnell but again if this is what Falcone was going for it lost among all the attempts to add humour to what is essentially a weak story line.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

Justine (Lorenzo Izzo) is a college student who becomes interested in a local activist group who are planning to travel to Peru to protest against the deforestation in the area which is displacing ancient tribes still living in these areas. Group leader Alejandro (Ariel Levy) decides that Justine would be useful to bring along but not because of her views, she just so happens to have a father who is a diplomat in the UN.

While their initial protest is reasonable successful, on their return home their plane suffers engine problems and crash lands deep in the jungle where the survivors are captured by a local tribe. Back at the village they are herded into a crude cell and watch horrifically as one of their group is devoured by what they now realise are cannibals so it becomes a fight for their lives against this tribe that have been untouched humans or any technology.

Director Eli Roths is no stranger to graphic horror films and is a leading light in the ‘torture horror’ genre so this tribute to the Italian horror movies of the late 70’s/early 80’s (particularly Cannibal Holocaust one of the very first found footage movies) is right down that alley. Very reminiscent of one of Roths other movies, Hostel, in terms of a gang of Americans are thrown into a despicable situation from which they need to survive by letting go of their ideals and morals and starting to act and think like their captors. There’s death and gore galore and if you’re easily shocked then you’ll probably be horrified by some of the scenes which are both over the top and graphic.

I can only assume the director felt that he was making some form of social commentary on the assumption that modern civilisation whose idealism of assistance is driven through the internet is oblivious to the actual plight and way of living of these ancient, uncivilised tribes. There’s plenty or irony here as well with activists ending up being devoured by the people they are trying to save in the first place and he main character Justine, who is being motivated by a class she attended which spoke of the genital mutilation which still occurs on women across the world, ends up in that very same situation but this irony doesn’t really improve what it a weak script with no acting stand out and I had no empathy towards any of the characters so their deaths had no impact on me. At least the movie had the decency to not go down the road of including jump scares which are all the rage at the moment so some credit is deserved for that.

If you’re a fan of this genre or just like horror movie is general then it’s watchable but far from a classic, if you didn’t like Roths other movies then you most likely won’t like this either.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

Earth has been taken over by aliens who have inhabited most of the population of the planet and act as souls for humans which means that all emotion has been stripped back and there is no war, no conflict and no anger so the whole planet lives in a state of peace.

The protagonist is Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) who, through a weird twist of fate, is inhabited by one such host but still retains her human memories and emotions and thus can communicate with the host.

Given that it was based on a book by Stephane Meyer who also wrote the Twilight series I expected a teenage romance film based with aliens rather then vampires and to an extent this is true but it is elevated by yet another excellent performance by Ronan as the alien who finds its human side and as the human battling to stay alive in the alien body and her performance makes the torment of her character totally believable. Ronan is ably assisted by Diane Kruger as The Seeker who is like a chief of police for the aliens and it is her job to track down the remaining human survivors which she does with an unwavering purpose.

These survivors live underground in New Mexico in a community run by Jeb (William Hurt) who has developed a livable eco-system in an extinct volcano and just so happens to be related to Melanie so she knows exactly where the survivors are hiding and is torn between trusting her increasingly empathetic host and bringing her body back to her family or trying to suppress her emotions, which she is finding increasingly difficult, to preserve the safety of the survivors.

Rather than taking the premise to higher levels the movie feels like an extended Twilight Zone episode in that it’s taking itself too seriously without the script to back it up and unfortunately it reverts to the alien falls in love with generic male teen #1 while human emotions are still in love with male teen #2 (yet strangely neither of them seem bothered by this) as the central plot line.

It’s better then the Twilight movies, but not by much, and if you like your science fiction there a decent concept underneath the love triangle, although essentially it’s a re-hash of the Invasion Of The Body Snatchers premise and without the efforts of Ronan and Kruger there’s wouldn’t be a lot to recommend.

DJ speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

The story of the real like 1952 rescue of the sailors on the SS Pendleton which is split in half by a huge storm and the front section along with all commanding officers and most communication methodology is lost but the survivors manage to delay the sinking of the rear half by steering the wreck onto a nearby reef which buys them some time so when word gets to the coast guard it’s a race to save these men before the rising water overwhelms the remainder of the ship.

The action is decent and some of the battles against the huge waves look good, with one of two exceptions, but it all reminded me of the 2000 movie The Perfect Storm yet it doesn’t get you as emotionally engrossed as the characters are very under played.

Eric Bana as Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Cluff is a fish out of water as the ranking official who doesn’t know the area of the hazards but we never really find out how this came to be and he is viewed as sending the men to their death on what is deemed a suicidal mission. Chris Pine as Bernie Webber is our central point and Pine does an okay job in portraying a shy and nervous character but his relationship with his soon to be wife Miriam (Holliday Grainger) just doesn’t invoke enough feeling to make you invest in the story but it was nice to see Pine show something a little different that his usual typecast. Most of the others cast come across as filler and it is only Casey Affleck as Ray Sybert who struggles to keep the survivors on the boat working together to keep themselves alive that shows any real semblance of character change and is given any semblance of character depth.

Perhaps if another film studio rather than Disney had made the movie it could have taken a bit of a darker tone and thus been a bit less ‘safe’ but instead the true peril of this heroic tale, of which I did not know about before I watched the film, never really comes across on screen so what should have been a heart-warming true life tale of heroism against terrible odds ends up feeling like another run of the mill rescue movie.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

CIA agent Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) is killed by a Spanish anarchist Heimbahl (Jordi Molla) while on a mission to retrieve a wormhole programme from Dutch hacker Jan Stroop (Michael Pitt) but through a new technology under development by Dr.Franks (Tommy Lee Jones), it is theoretically possible to transfer the thoughts of the dead agent into another body so CIA director Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) decides to green light the procedure. The most suitable subject that can be found is an imprisoned killer Jericho Stewart (Kevin Costner) who suffered frontal lobe damage as a child, which is just the area of the brain that needs to be stimulated for this experiment.

Great cast, good premise, sounds like we are onto a winner! Unfortunately somewhere in the translation this movie fell way short. Costner plays the part well, suffering with the duality of the situation as memories kick in and out but the script of the movie has him changing from uncontrollable killer, which he plays superbly (and check out the very underrated Mr.Brooks for a similar but even better performance) to a man fighting with the memories in his mind and it’s when he shows these signs of emotions, especially towards Popes wife (Gal Gadot) that the film becomes mundane. One minute he can speak French, the next minute he’s punching someone in the face, then he’s apologising. I realise that this is trying to portray the turmoil inside Costners brain but it doesn’t work well within the confines of the film.

Oldman is as over the top as ever but again, once Costner wakes up from the operation he wants the information out of his head within minutes and when he doesn’t get it he orders Costner killed, that doesn’t make any sense to me since the operation was experimental and nobody could predict the results, surely giving the situation a bit of time would have been a normal decision and Tommy Lee Jones feels like a bit part player who drifts in and out of the movie and only seems to show up for exposition when he needs to explain something further about the situation or the operation

I don’t know if the issue is with the direction or the script but in the end the movie turns into a science fiction, action, thriller that never gives any reasoning for why characters are acting as they do. Why does Heimbahl want to destroy the world? Why did the Dutchman put his programme up for sale on the internet instead of doing a private deal? Why does Oldman dismiss the experiment that he sanctioned so quickly? Why does Tommy Lee Jones just accept being blackballed from his ground breaking experiment so easily? Why does Gal Gadot accept a killer into her and more importantly, her child’s life so readily, even if he does have memories of her husband?

It’s these unanswered questions which detract from what could have been a good movie as there is a decent premise behind the mess with some good themes of redemption that could have been utilised to much greater effect.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

Starting prior to the proceedings in Snow White and The Huntsman, Winter’s War is the tale of the evil Queen from that movie Ravenna (Charlize Theron) and her sister Freya (Emily Blunt), who becomes pregnant through her affair with a local nobleman who is with another, however once the child is born they agree to meet and marry in secret. Ravenna finds out that this child (similar to Snow White in the first movie) is set to take Ravennas role and fairest of them all so this sends her into a rage and she extracts revenge is the most evil of ways which turns Freya into a bitter ice maiden, much akin to the snow queen from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, who retreats to the lands in the North where she takes children and raises them as her Huntsmen (or hunts persons to be non sexist) to do her bidding. Two of these children are Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and Sara (Jessica Chastain) who are the top dogs in this band of soldiers and as they grow up they develop feelings which is an issue since Freya seems feelings of love as a weakness and despises their happiness so they need to keep their romance hidden but of course this is a futile action and Freya tears them apart.

The film then switches to seven years later, after the events in the first movie, and Snow White’s now husband William asks for Eric help in tracking down the magic mirror which has been stolen and has the power to destroy the lands if it falls into the wrong hands, in this case Freya. So Eric is joined by some dwarves, for comic relief purposes of course, and at one point along the way is rescued by his, thought to be dead wife, Sara who agrees to help him and thus ensues a CGI laden romp to recover the magic mirror.

While slightly more enjoyable, mainly down to the additional star power in the acting,  than the first movie there is still something lacking and off putting about this film but it’s difficult to pinpoint why. With a cast of Theron, Blunt, Chastain and Hemsworth I would have expected a summer blockbuster. Both Rob Brydon and Sheridan Smith add good comedy moments in their roles as dwarves and the action scenes, although a bit over the top with CGI, are generally good. Perhaps it’s because it’s all been done before that the film feels empty.

While worth a watch, don’t expect anything exceptional and you will find yourself noticing similarities between this and many other movies (Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters, Lord of The Rings, Frozen, Brave etc) as you watch it but overall it’s a waste of some great acting talent and, just like the first movie it feels like it was another wasted opportunity.

I will give a mention to the excellent end credit song, Castle by Halsey, which is well worth a listen.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

 

Sara Price (Natalie Dormer) receives a call from a Tokyo police office advising her that her sister Jess, who is her twin, has disappeared but she was last seen heading to a local forest which is known as a location where people go to commit suicide so Sara packs up and heads off to japan to locate here sister who she knows is still alive due to the fact that they are indeed twins and have a connection towards each other feelings.

Despite the advice of all and sundry when she arrives in Tokyo, Sara is determined to head into the forest to find her sibling and she befriends Aiden (Taylor Kinney), a writer, in a bar who agrees to allow her accompany himself and his friend Michi (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) who make regular rounds through the forest searching for the bodies of those who have already committed suicide.

While the forest and it’s association with suicide is a very real thing in Japan there is no time given into explaining the why’s or how’s of why this has transpired so the movie then turns into an advertisement for hiking with numerous cut shots of Sara’s Nike runners as they trawl through the forest looking for signs of her sister or any other unfortunate souls who have come to the forest to die. When they find signs of Jess’s tent Michi decides that they should call the search off, leave a note and return the following day but Sara will not leave and decides to spend the night. Aidan, clearly thinking with his below the belt brain, decides he will stay with Sara so as darkness descends the warnings they have received about the forest begin to ring true as mysterious noises, lead to hallucinations and the ‘ghosts’ of the forest lead Sara off in a willow the wisp fashion leaving her and subsequently Aidan who chases after her lost in the vast area of the forest.

It’s then a struggle for them to get back to civilization against the back drop of the forest not wanting them to escape which leads to a climax that I spotted from about half way through the film. So in the end, while Dormer does her best with the script, it is another jump scare, bump in the night, run of the mill horror that’s been done so many times before and while horror fans will probably be entertained for an hour and a half, steer clear if this is not your thing.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

So it’s the final act in the series which has appeared on our screens since 2012 and has brought billions in at the bx office. Now, not having read any of the books I can only base my opinions on what I have seen and while the first movie set a decent premise and the second movie took that a step further, I didn’t really fee that the third installment gave anything further and felt like it was a stop gap to this fourth and final film.

While this does improve on the previous movie it is still a far cry from the first two films and a lot of the good characters are vastly under used. Apart for the tragically obvious need to eliminate Philip Seymour Hoffman from the main plot some of the stronger characters from the previous films such as Jena Malone as the sarcastic but deadly Johanna and Jeffrey Wright as technological genius Beetee Latier are nothing but bit part players. Even Jennifer Lawrence or the main character Katniss Everdeen seems to be dialing it in at times, when you look at what she can really do as  actress, it feels like she is as bored with this franchise as I am.

Instead we pick up straight from the end of the previous movie with Lawrence still traumatised at how her long term ally and part time love interest Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been turned against her so we are introduced to Squad 451 who, the rebel leader President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) has decided will be Katniss crew as she finally heads to extract her revenge on President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Some of this crew we have met before such as Finnick, Cressida and other part time love interest Gale but most of the rest are cannon fodder A, B & C but here’s the twist, Coin decides that Peeta will be brought along for the ride and the squad won’t be front line troops as Katniss is far too valuable for that, instead their journey will be used as propaganda by Coin in her revolutionary battle.

It’s on this trip to the capital that the best parts of the movie occur as the squad are picked off by trap after trap but it’s also the part that feels least like a Hunger Games movie and more like the original Resident Evil without the zombies or mansion. Also the ‘climax’ in the city feel very underwhelming and the tragedy and heartache, when it occurs, do nothing to make you feel any emotions towards the characters. In a similar vein to the final series of Harry Potter movies the whole thing felt like a cash grab.

If you have invested your time is the series then don’t leave yourself hanging and get your closure but this is a disappointing end to a franchise that started well but seemed to run out of steam.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 Out Of 10

Another of the ‘found footage’ / ‘helmet camera’ movies which have, mostly unsuccessfully, plagued our screens over the last number of years. In this movie Scarlett Marlowe, (Perdita Weeks) is an alchemy scholar who is continuing her fathers research in looking for the philosopher’s stone which (as any Harry Potter fan will tell you) is a legendary substance which can turn metals into gold. This leads her from Iran to Paris where she needs to enlist her former lover George (Ben Feldman), who has knowledge of ancient languages, for assistance as he can translate the script Scarlett has found. These two along with Scarletts cameraman, a local guide, his girlfriend and friend descent into the underground catacombs of Paris as this is where the map/script shows the treasure is hidden.

As the group delves deeper and deeper into the Catacombs towards what is perceived to be the gates of hell on a journey of madness, stranger and stranger events occur playing on their psyche as they get picked off one by one in a been there, done that kind of way. The big plus this movie has (that I found anyway) was the link of the progress of the characters to Dante’s journey through hell in the novel Dante’s inferno, a trip through a purgatory like world, travelling down to get up, their greed being the trigger to their potential demise and redemption comes through the purging of one’s sins.

While it’s not the worst movie I’ve watched, between the shaky cam, uninspiring acting and lack of surprises there nothing here I can recommend, if you want a claustrophobic horror movie try the excellent ‘The Descent’ instead.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Gerard Butler is back as Mike Banning the one man, almost bulletproof, army as he piles up the body count to once again save the President Of America (Aaron Eckhart) from terrorists. Now, if you thought the premise of Olympus Has Fallen suffered from an unlikely plot then prepare to be astounded as this time the terrorist have somehow taken over a whole city and almost every member of the police, ambulance and even the Queens guard is a threat armed with a weapon.

I wasn’t expecting a masterclass in cinema with this movie but the first forty five minutes is spent discussing the travel and security arrangements for the various heads of state and no time is spent on explaining how these terrorists managed to set the attack up, other than to outline that there’s a, very obvious, mole on the inside of the British security  services…….Duh! Some of the heads of state are portrayed in an almost offensively stereotypical way and Butler’s quipped line of “Get back to F**kheadistan or wherever it is you’re from, after dispatching of a group of terrorists will give you a glimpse of the thinly veiled humour that accompanies each orgy of violence.

Once the action does kick in it comes hard and fast and Butler shoots, stabs and cheeses it up to the max. It’s something the action heroes of the 1980’s would be proud. Butler was excellent in 300 and even better in the underrated Rocknrolla but it’s a while since he showed us anything other than the fact that he can play a burly killing machine very well, so he needs to change it up before his inevitable appearance in the next Expendables movie comes to fruition. With the acting talents of Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster and Angela Bassett on board they could have done so much more away from the central action plot but with the current Hollywood trend of churning out generally poor sequels still making a fortune, this is just more popcorn fodder for the general populous. If you do decide to watch this movie just take it for what it is, switch your brain off for a hour and a half and you might just enjoy it.

DJ Speaks Rating: 4.5 out of 10