Based on the classic fairy tale this is a re-working of the tale and stars Kristen Stewart as Snow White who has been imprisoned in her home by her step mother Ravenna (Charlize Theron), since she murdered Snow White’s father, as she has been advised by her magic mirror that Snow White will grow up to be even fairer that she is.

Snow White manages to escape her prison after tricking the Queens brother and aide Finn and stealing his key. The Queen hires a local huntsman (Chris Hemsworth doing his best William Wallace impression) to help her but once he finds her he is betrayed by the Queen and instead assists Snow White. Meanwhile, word gets out of Snow Whites existence and her brother William (Sam Claflin) who initially escaped from the castle during the fight between the King’s and Queen’s troops, is also trying to locate her so he joins the group of mercenary’s that Finn is gathering to track Snow White. What good is a Snow White tale without her dwarves and when these are encountered they take Snow White to Fairyland, a place which is untainted by the Queens evil.

The movie caused controversy at the time as the dwarf characters were portrayed by actual dwarf actors who had the faces of the other actors, such as Bob Hoskins, super imposed onto their faces through the use of CGI, and while it looks good there was no need for this other than to try and get more of a draw at the box office.

Overall its very hit and miss, the action scenes are generally good and put CGI to good use, with the exception of Theron who plays the Queen with aplomb, the acting is average at best and the story line and the character development is weak as at time it feels like yet another Twilight knock off piece. Both The Queens and Snow Whites powers seem to switch on and off as the plot requires which has the effect of making the story confusing as there are times when their powers could resolve a situation but they don’t use them so you’re left puzzled as to the logic used. It’s a decent movie but it feels like a bit a lost opportunity.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

Super violent movie shown from a first person point of view (through the eyes of the star, for those of you who do not play video games) using GoPro cameras, which is a novel idea but can be a bit off putting when things get frenetic. Henry wakes up as he is being rebuilt by his wife Estelle (Haley Bennett) but it is not long before Henry is forced into action despite not being 100% complete as Akan (Danila Kozlovsky), a villain straight out of the original Die hard movie, arrives and he wants to create an army of super soldiers starting with Henry but Estelle and Henry, briefly, escape from Akan’s reaches by taking an escape pod off his laboratory……escape pod you say? Yes, this laboratory is stationed above the clouds for some reason and in general that just set the tone for the whole movie, it is over the top, the plot is silly and some of the dialogue is awful but this is offset buy the levels of action and in particular the stunt work which is top notch as Henry rampages his way around Moscow chasing Akan and his goons down.

A big shout out to Sharlto Copley who plays Jimmy who acts as a guide to both ourselves and Henry through his mission and he plays the role with such a high level of exaggerated exuberance that he almost becomes the centre of attention and is the only character in the movie who is given any real development.

It’s not a movie for the feint of heart as the violence levels are cranked up to the maximum and there are various scenes which show very interesting uses for everyday items to incapacitate people and if I mention that there’s a dance number towards the end of the film I may be able to get across just how absurd some of the elements in this movie are but if you can get past the obvious flaws, don’t over analyse things and take the movie for what it is then there’s a decent action movie which deserves credit for daring to try something different.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

After debuting with the excellent District 9 and following it up with the less impressive but entertaining Elysium, director Neil Blomkamps third effort is a look at a dystopian Johannesburg where crime has reached critical levels and the police force cannot cope, so they are supplemented with human sized robots who bring more firepower to the table and while not totally invincible they can take a lot more damage.

Designer Deon (Dev Patel) is becoming worried that his new robots are being exploited for solely militaristic reasons instead of making the difference to society he has envisioned so he wants to upgrade the robots with an AI that will allow them to learn and feel emotions. This idea is shot down so he takes a damaged robot scheduled for destruction and works offline with this robot as a guinea pig. In the meantime this has caught the attention of Deons co-worker and rival Vincent (Hugh Jackman) who’s robots (very reminiscent of the ED-209 unit in the Robocop movie) were overlooked and he’s snooping around to find out what is going on. There’s also a gang of criminals who have got themselves into some serious trouble need to find a huge amount of cash in order to pay off a debt to a drug lord and these guys believe that Deon has the ability to switch off all the robots across the city so they decide a kidnapping is the way to go. Deon manages to convince them that he is unable to switch off the robots but given that he has the damaged robot with him they demand that he activates the robot in order to assist them with their task so Chappie is created.

Chappie has the intelligence of a child and needs to be taught everything from scratch, Deon and the female criminal Yo-landi act as the positive influences while the other two criminals Ninja & Yankie are the ying to the yang who persuade Chappie to do wrong and he is torn between these mixed signals his developing conscience is receiving and while this premise was promising it was all too brief before the movie reverted back to the action sequences and the good guy vs bad guys vs bad but in kind of good way guys. There’s nothing here that hasn’t been seen before, although watching Jackman play against type and looking like he was loving every minute of it, was reasonably entertaining.

Chappie is essentially a modernised Johnny 5 from Short Circuit with Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley in voice mode and while he does well in making the big metallic child a sympathetic figure the rest of the film just doesn’t give you anything emotionally to support this theme. If you want a movie about the developmental ethics of AI then watch the brilliant Ex-Machina instead.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 Out Of 10

The movie commences with Bill Hammond (Noah Emmerich) arriving home to his ranch near death with a warning for his wife Jane (Natalie Portman) that ‘The Bishop boys are coming’. A good start which had my interest. So while we don’t know who these Bishop boys are Jane feels the need to bring her child away to safety and to try and locate somebody who will help her defend her home since her husband is incapacitated and this leads her to her ex lover Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton) who initially rebuffs her request as Jane previously abandoned him after he went off to war but when Jane is attacked in town he comes to the rescue and decides to assist.

Now is where the movie starts to slow as, while Jane and Dan are building traps and adding defences around her home a number of flashbacks begin which, while building the back story of their previous life and which shows us why the Bishop Boys and in particular their leader John Bishop (Ewan McGregor) are out for blood, it takes away from the tension of the impending attack and could have been kept to a more minimal number as they felt like filler on occasions. But, once the climax does comes it’s done with aplomb and in parts reminded me of the final shootout in L.A.Confidential.

Edgerton plays his part well as a man torn between helping this former flame or turning his back on her as he feels she did on him, Portman keeps it simple but does a good job in portraying Jane as a smart and strong woman and McGregor is almost unrecognisable as the villain but pulls it off seamlessly. So while it’s a good attempt to make a straight out western, it just seems little underwhelming and lacks a little something to push it above anything other than an average movie.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 out of 10

 

A late night train gets stuck in a black spot out in the middle of the countryside and when the commuters realise there is something stalking them they must band together to try and survive the night. All sounds like a typical standard B-movie horror right? Well you are correct but Howl is directed by Paul Hyett, who has previously worked on the cult classic horror movies Dog Soldiers, Attack The Block and The Descent and his talents coupled with some good editing at the right time give this standard B-Movie a boost to above it’s station.

On the down side there is a lack of back story as to how Werewolves happen to be roaming the countryside in that area, there is a mention to a similar incident back in 1963 where a similar occurrence took place so it would have been nice to see how the Werewolves have kept themselves hidden for 50 years and could have been an interesting plot thread to be explored and while it was great to see Sean Petwee on screen again, the blink and you’ll miss him role he’s given was disappointing.

Laced with black humour, sporting a believable lead in Ed Speelers and with some terrific make-up effects this movie had a lot going for it. Yes, there are the usual cliched characters that are picked off one by one  and some of the dialogue is a bit sketchy but for a low budget, straight to DVD film it wasn’t bad however there was a sense of been there done about the whole thing.

Better that expected I would suggest having a look if you like movies in the genre but Howl is a far reach from the heights of Dog Soldiers or An American Werewolf in London.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 out of 10

Downton Abbey meets Day Of The Dead in an adaptation of the books which in itself was a parody of the Jane Austin novel. The concept is good, the material promising but there’s  something missing which I think stems from the premise that zombies can think and act normally as long as they don’t feast on human flesh which, while novel, makes a mockery of every concept of what we have traditionally believed a zombie is.

Even if it does feel a bit like a BBC drama piece, the performances are good, Lily James as Elizabeth Bennett, sells her warrior princess role well and is ably assisted by Sam Riley as Mr.Darcy zombie hunter who’s dry demeanour suits his grim purpose to ensure the all of the dead are wiped from the country but the most memorable character is Matt Smith as clergyman Mr.Collins, which is a little strange as his character has the least interaction with the zombies of all.

While starting well with a nice premise and purpose the movie becomes a bit predictable half way through, zombie incident followed by some period drama followed by some zombie incident and so on. It’s not a terrible thing but suffers from the drama undermining the horror and vice versa. Also, while there are zombies galore the gore level never really gets turned up and there no real sense of dread even from a hoard of zombies as every character is armed and trained to deal with the dead.

I have to assume that director Burr Steers was going for a horror comedy but unfortunately the horror is not forceful enough and the comedy misses more than it fails and during the finale it tries to go all end of the world but you never feel that the pending doom of the apocalypse is having any major effect on the characters. It’s not a bad movie it just can’t stand up to Zombieland or the even better Shaun of The Dead in terms of entertainment value.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 out of 10

 

 

Based on the real life tale of Chris Gardener, Will Smith plays a clever but unlucky father who, is extremely intelligent, especially with numbers, but who just cannot catch a break in life so he is trying to sell revolutionary new Bone Marrow scanners that, unfortunately, are not as revolutionary as Smith believes, while looking to lever his way into a brokerage firm. Eventually his persistence pays off and, thanks to a show of his mental acumen in quickly completing a Rubiks cube, he is offered an internship however this comes at a cost as there is no wage but the potential for a full time position is the dangling carrot and is one which Smith cannot turn down.

Smiths’ relationship with his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) is sparcely touched upon and she seems far too keen to leave with no obvious reasoning other then broken promises and dreams despite working long days in two poorly paid jobs which acts like a bit of a double negative. This leaves Smith to try and focus on his internship, his selling of the remaining scanners and keeping some form of roof over his and his sons head. This is where Smiths performance comes front and centre  as you feel each body blow received seemingly set Smith further and further back each time he gets anywhere close to reaching his goals. Sending him rapidly towards destitution, culminating in a night spent in the toilets of a subway station.

While the biological bond between father and son comes across well on screen the movie is saved by some great dramatic acting from Smith and the storyline that anybody can make it big in life once you stay true to yourself and overcome all obstacles thrown in your way may have worked back in 1981 when the movie is set, in todays cynical world its sorely outdated. This takes away from a good storyline of a man’s struggle to find his place in life which could have been cut by about twenty minutes as there is a lot of time wasted on showing Smith chasing people who have stolen one of his machines. This felt unnecessary as we already know how important the machines are to him and how far he will go to make his sales but overall it’s an average drama movie brought to another level by a terrific heart felt performance by Smith.

DJ Speaks rating: 5 out of 10

Not as surprising as the first movie but far better then the awful second, part three is a prequel and does a good job in tying into the start of the first movie and linking the fact that the demon is haunting the medium Elise Rainer rather than the family.

What director Leigh Whannell does well here is taking the fact that the biggest sell of this franchise has been the jump scare moments rather then the plot. These hit the spot again in this movie, possibly even more then than in the original, with some great atmospheric settings, creepy silences and eerie music doing a good job of building the tension at the right moment and making the physic the focal point was a great decision.

The family members are the weak point in the movie with the clueless father character, I know he has recently lost his wife but his seeming unwillingness to accept that something unusual is happening borders on idiotic, the son plays a bit part and serves no real purpose and the daughter, who is the best of the three characters, falls into following all the usual horror movie cliché decisions. Although having her crippled and unable to do much but watch the developing horror was a good twist.

Unfortunately a lot will also be lost  on you if you haven’t watched the first two movies as having no knowledge of the mediums actions in the first movie could leave you a little lost as to her directness and scepticism and the internet based ghost hunting duo of Specs & Tucker while playing a key role in lightening the mood in the first two movies do little here than to assist in bringing the series full circle.

There’s nothing new here that you wont have seen before but it’s all done very well amd it’s rare that a third movie in a series puts right the mistakes on the second movie so I’m sure we can expect and Insidious 4 in the near future, hopefully Whannell will be kept at the reins as it will interesting to see where he takes the franchise next.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 out of 10

In preparation for the upcoming Batman v Superman movie I had another look at this film from a few years back and while it was better than the awful 2006 film Superman Returns it hasn’t held up as well given the superhero movies that have followed it. It follows the trend set by the Batman trilogy with dark themes running through the movie but being directed by Zack Snyder and with Christopher Nolan on board as consultant there’s no surprises there.

Credit must go for them starting the story on Krypton and giving a bit of back story as to how Superman ended up on earth. This is a planet on the brink of destruction and Superman’s father Jor-El (excellently portrayed by Russell Crowe) who decided to have a child the natural way, rather than through Kryptons biological breeding program, realises that he needs to jettison his son away before General Zod (Michael Shannon) can capture him. Zod and his followers are defeated and exiled however Krypton is still destroyed.

The action then cuts to earth where Superman is an adult, and while admirably played by Henry Cavill there is little focus on his life as Clark Kent and his younger years with only a few small snippets showing him as a child/teenager and the lack of use of Kevin Costner who shines in the few moments that he does appear in the movie was disappointing as this man is supposed to be the moral compass for Clark as he learn about his powers. So Superman learns of his past but re-activates a beacon which alerts Zod to his presence and brings him to earth. Zod wants to start terraforming earth and rebuild his planet of Krypton so Superman is torn as while he feels obliged to protect Earth he understands where Zod is coming from and even sympathizes with his motives

They throw in Lois Lane (Amy Adams) as almost a side plot and her battle with her editor (Laurence Fishburne in another underused acting part) to publish a story about a government conspiracy to hide the fact the they know about Superman’s buried ship and the interaction between Lois and Superman just doesn’t feel natural as there’s no development and it’s straight into the infatuation she has with the superhero. She starts as a strong, tough, driven woman who becomes a damsel in distress around Superman and that is a little disappointing.

Where the movie gain most credit is that through Superman and Zod’s battle, where earth is a destructive playground, at least the armed forces act like they should, lacking the understanding of who Superman is they treat both entities as an enemy and have to learn that Superman is actually on their side, and this weakens Superman’s position as he also needs to act as a protector while trying to battle Zod.

Forgetting the many plot holes and the under use of some great actors the movie was decent, spent some time in developing the back story of Krypton which was good but seemingly at the expense of leaving a hole in developing Superman childhood story. It was a step in the right direction to tie in Superman to the world already set up by the Batman trilogy but unless he makes a big impact this year Superman he may fail to re-establish himself as a center point of the DC universe that he deserves to be.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 out of 10

Al Pacino stars as Danny Collins, a hard living singer, supposedly based on the real folk singer Steve Tilston, who is living on his past glory’s when he receives a letter sent to him from John & Yoko which had gone missing for 34 years. Pacino is washed up and tired of the rock and roll lifestyle, the letter from Lennon is the trigger through which he has his epiphany and decides to start writing new material, give up his wicked ways and make peace with his son by weaselling his way back into his life through the granddaughter he’s never met before.

This tale of redemption could have drifted into Hallmark territory if not for Pacino overacting in the way that only he can, Annette Benning, as the hotel manager, who acts as Pacino grounding influence and Bobby Cannavale as Pacinos long lost son who all pull together to bring moments of laughter and sadness in equal measure. Each victory is tiny but is lapped up by Pacino as the next step to his recovery but each and every moment is fraught with the ghosts of the past trying to pull him back into his old ways.

The movie swings from emotional drama to comedy and back again and this sitting on the fence is probably what hurts the movie the most but Pacino is always worth watching and while the movie lacks something it’s still entertaining enough to keep your interest, so come on everybody sing it with me………Hey baby doll, what’s going on?

DJ Speaks Rating: 5 out of 10