Film Review: THE WORLD’S END (2013)

Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Running time: 109 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Comedy/Sci-Fi
UK Release date: 19^th July 2013

Watched at the cinema Sunday 15^th September 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Finally managed to catch up with ‘The World’s End’. I had wanted to see it since it was announced although the more I found out about it the more I feared a clone of ‘Shaun of the Dead’. I will tell you whether I thought it was or not at the end. It certainly hits all the right comic notes with Pegg and Frost to the fore (as expected). Here’s a very brief (& spoiler-free) summary before I give you my thoughts.

Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40 year old man desperately trying to cling to his youth, is trying to put the old gang back together. His quest, to complete a legendary pub crawl they had failed to complete twenty years ago. The other members of the group are Andy Knightley (Nick Frost), Oliver Chamberlain (Martin Freeman), Steven Prince (Paddy Considine) and Peter Page (Eddie Marsan). They are returning to the town they all grew up in, Newton Haven, for the legendary ‘Golden Mile’ pub crawl; twelve pubs, twelve pints in one night. But when they get there all it not what it seems. There, said it would be brief and I’ve probably told you a lot less than you could get from the trailer.

Very well made with all the usual tropes you expect from and Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg script. There are an awful lot of references to their past work and very subtle nods to other films along the way. I guess you’d have to watch it many times to get them all. All the performances were excellent with Frost and Pegg taking centre stage (of course) but with the talent on show, nobody could really put a foot wrong. Oh, and I have to mention Rosamund Pike who plays the female lead, Sam Chamberlain, I thought she was excellent as well. So was it just a clone of ‘Shaun of the Dead’? Well, it has many similarities but the characters are all different and the antagonist is also different. So not a direct clone but you can see where it came from. Over all, I liked it, an entertaining romp well worth a look.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.7/10.

IMDb Score: 7.6/10 (based on 26,613 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213663/

MetaScore: 81/100: (Based on 45 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 89/100: (based on 184 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 80/100: (based on 56,125 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_worlds_end/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site (UK): http://www.theworldsend-movie.com/uk/
Official Site (Focus Features): http://www.focusfeatures.com/the_worlds_end
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWorldsEndMovieUK?brand_redir=1
Trailer:

Film Review: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL (2011)

Director: Brad Bird
Writers: Josh Appelbaum (written by), André Nemec (written by), Bruce Geller (television series “Mission: Impossible”)
Running time: 133 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Thriller
UK Release date: 26^th December 2011

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 23^rd December 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

The Mission Impossible films have had a few highs and lows over the years and I’m very pleased to report that this one is a bit of a high! We have all the usual elements, an impossible mission; great stunts, make-up, costumes, locations etc and the obligatory totally implausible plotline. And despite all this we have a film that, for the most part, works (with a little suspension of belief of course). Here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

When terrorist, and all round bad guy, Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) blows up the Kremlin the finger of suspicion points at the IMF team in the locality led by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). The IMF Secretary has no choice but to enforce the ‘Ghost Protocol’ which means the team is effectively disavowed by their own government and are to the tried as criminals. Of course this doesn’t happen and Hunt, along with his team; Jane Carter (Paula Patton), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner). Set out to track down Hendricks who has stolen the launch codes to some Russian nuclear missiles. Of course, a Russian agent, Anatoly Sidorov (Vladimir Mashkov) is also after the codes, and Hunt for good measure. I’ll leave it there or I may give too much away and the IMF team will be after me!

A film that takes the audience from Budapest to Moscow to Dubai to India and maybe a few other international destinations in-between! There is some spectacular looking stunt work and some cracking effects; hats off to those guys! All the performances were very good with Tom Cruise playing Ethan Hunt with his usual aplomb. It was nice to see a little comic relief provided by the inclusion of Simon Pegg; the comedic two-and-fro between him and Jeremy Renner was particularly amusing. Maybe the plot might have been a little over-complicated, but over all I found it a pretty enjoyable watch.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.5/10

IMDb Score: 7.4/10 (based on 181,886 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1229238/

MetaScore: 73/100: (Based on 38 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 94/100 (based on 207 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 85/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 102,135 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_ghost_protocol/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Ethan Hunt: Light the fuse.

IMF Secretary: The President has initiated Ghost Protocol. The entire IMF has been disavowed.
Ethan Hunt: So what happens now?
IMF Secretary: Now, I've been ordered to take you back to Washington, where the DOD will label you as a rogue extremist and hang the Kremlin bombing on you and your team. Unless, you were to escape somewhere between here and the airport, having assaulted Mr. Brandt and me.
Brandt: Sir?
IMF Secretary: You would then illegally scrounge whatever material you could from a backup supply cache that I've overlooked. The same cache where your team are waiting for further orders.
Brandt: Sir, you may want to...
IMF Secretary: You will then disappear, and this conversation never having taken place, your intentions would be unclear. But if any one of your team is caught or killed, they will be branded terrorists, out to incite global nuclear war.
[handing Ethan a USB drive]
IMF Secretary: Your mission, should you choose to accept it.

Benji Dunn: [explaining Ethan's gloves] Easy way to remember: blue is glue.
Ethan Hunt: And when it's red?
Benji Dunn: Dead.

[repeated line]
Benji Dunn: [to Brandt] And I catch you.

[last lines]
Recorded Voice: Good evening, Mr. Hunt. 36 hours ago, there was a breach in our military's communication network. Now, an emerging terror organization known as The Syndicate has control of our entire drone fleet. Their targets unknown. Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

LINKS:
Official Site: http://www.missionimpossible.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: PAUL (2011)

Director: Greg Mottola
Writers: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Running time: 104 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Sci-Fi/Adventure
UK Release date: 14^th February 2011

Watched on DVD Sunday 11^th March 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I know it’s quite rare for me to watch and review a comedy, but I decided that on a Sunday morning with a bad back I needed a bit of a laugh. This was a bit of an odd choice for me because I find Pegg and Frost a bit of a mixed bag… I liked ‘Hot Fuzz’ where as, controversially, I found ‘Shaun of the Dead’ a bit too predictable for my liking (I know I’m gonna get slagged off for that!). Also, from what I’ve seen of Seth Rogen’s work, he has yet to make me laugh… not even once. The film had a pretty good reaction in the press and so I hit the PLAY button with just a little trepidation. I’ll tell you what I thought after this very brief summary.

Two British sci-fi geeks, Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings, having visited Comic-Con, decide to go on a road trip around the famous American UFO hotspots. They hire an RV and the trip seems to be going well until, outside Area 51, they witness an accident and rescue Paul… an alien. He convinces them to help him escape ‘The Big Guy’ and her agents, Zoil, Haggard and O’Reilly. They head north and stop at an RV park where they meet Ruth Buggs, a fundamentalist Christian who accidently sees Paul. They now have to take her with them as they try to evade capture in a race against time to get Paul back to his people. I won’t say any more or the Spoiler Police (Aliens Division) will have me probed (again).

Very well made with some nice CGI work and effects; I also very much liked the choice of music, but if you open with ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’ by The Only Ones you’ve got me right there! All the performances were pretty good, although I particularly liked Kristen Wiig as Ruth Buggs, she really stood out for me performance-wise. Of the others, well, Simon Pegg as Graeme Willy and Nick Frost as Clive Gollings pretty much did what they usually do and Seth Rogen as the voice of Paul was just about what I expected. I’ll give honourable mentions to; Jason Bateman as Agent Zoil, Bill Hader as Haggard, Joe Lo Truglio as O’Reilly and, not forgetting, Sigourney Weaver as The Big Guy.

A film littered with nods and homage’s to many classic sci-fi movies; you could spend hours going through it and noting them all. This could be distracting, but, as it’s a comedy, I’ll let it slide (this time). I thought the theological question was handled quite well, although I can see it not going down too well in certain quarters. It’s a well scripted piece although I did get the feeling it had been very much ‘tweaked’ towards the American market; although a couple of ‘Brit’ in-jokes did squeak through. I must say I did enjoy it though and, at the end of the day, it did what it said on the tin. I was afraid it would go off in a certain direction at one point, but in the end they managed to steer it home! Would I watch it again?... Yes!... Recommended.

My score: 7.0/10.

IMDb Score: 7.1/10 (based on 75,553 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1092026/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 71/100 (based on 189 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 70/100 (based on 80,163 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paul/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
WARNING: SOME STRONG LANGUAGE
Adam Shadowchild: [Upon seeing the cover of Clive Gollings' book, which shows an alien woman with 3 breasts] Three tits? Awesome.

Clive Gollings: [Putting the phone to his ear] It's ringing.
Paul: [Out of view] I wouldn't do that if I were you
[Clive and Graham turn around]
Paul: Put... the phone... down!
Clive Gollings: [Falling backwards fainting] Ha ha ha ha ha!
Paul: Aw fuck me.
Graeme Willy: [Looks to his right, then down, and then back at the approaching alien] What did you do to him?
Paul: I didn't do anything to him - he fainted!
Graeme Willy: But you made him faint!
Paul: It's not like I set my Phaser to faint!
Graeme Willy: You've got a Phaser?

Ruth Buggs: The world is 4000 years old and can only be the product of intelligent design.
Paul: [off-screen in the bathroom] That's horseshit!

Ruth Buggs: So everything that I have been told my whole life, is just a big fat lie? Do you know how that feels?
Graeme Willy: Look. Just because your truth, isn't the true truth, doesn't mean there is no truth, Ruth.
Ruth Buggs: That's easy for you to say.
Graeme Willy: It's really not.

Paul: This is America. Kidnapping a Christian is worse than harbouring a fugitive.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site (UK): http://www.paulthemovie.co.uk/
Official Site (USA): http://www.whatispaul.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: BURKE & HARE (2010)

Director: John Landis
Running time: 88 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Thriller
UK Release date: 29^th October 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 17^th September 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

When I first heard they were making a film about the notorious grave robbers and murderers, Burke and Hare, I was quite interested. When I latterly heard it was to be a comedy, I was not only quite taken aback, but also quite annoyed! If you know their story you’ll know they were quite brutal and evil men who quite deserved their ultimate fate. To trivialise it seems quite wrong to me; however, I decided to face my demons and give it a viewing. Now, I always try to watch a film with an open mind and look for the good ahead of the (usually quite obvious) bad. With this in mind, I put aside my preconceptions and hit play on my Sky+ box. I’ll give you my thoughts after this brief summary (bet you knew I was gonna do that).

In the early nineteenth century Edinburgh was the place to be to learn about human anatomy. Two colleges competed for students and, consequently, dead bodies for them to study. Dr Robert Knox ran the Barclay School of Surgery and Dr Munro ran the Royal College of Surgeons. Munro was also a politician and used his position to ensure his school had a good supply of bodies from public executions and the like. This left Knox needing a supplier and this came in the form of two Irish immigrants, William Burke and William Hare. They stumbled into the business when one of Hare’s lodgers dies and they discover that Dr Knox would pay them good money for the corpse. They begin with grave robbing but find that a bit too much like hard work. Cutting out the middle man (as it were) they progress to murdering their victims. After a while the missing people are, well, missed and the local Militia begin to investigate… Is this the end for Burke and Hare? Well, if you know the story then you’ll know the answer, but I’m not going to say here or the Spoiler Police militia will have me strung up by dawn.

Quite a well made film that doesn’t tax the grey cells too much, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from John Landis. As far as the acting goes, everyone was good without any stand-out performances. Simon Pegg as William Burke and Andy Serkis as William Hare both did a decent job. Tom Wilkinson was quite proficient as Doctor Robert Knox, as was Tim Curry as Doctor Monro. Honourable mentions go to; Jessica Hynes as Lucky, Ronnie Corbett as Captain Tam McLintoch and Isla Fisher as Ginny Hawkins. Also there are nice cameo’s from Christopher Lee as Old Joseph, Paul Whitehouse as gentleman Drunk, Michael Winner as Gentleman Passenger, Stephen Merchant as Hollyrood Footman and Jenny Agutter as Lucy.

The film begins with the statement; “This is a true story, apart from the parts that are not”. Unfortunately, the filmmakers have kept up with the tradition of making the vast majority of the story up from “the parts that are not”. This is not the only problem for me, I found that in trying to make the main protagonists likeable they totally trivialised the positively evil acts they were committing, which, I’m sure many will agree, isn’t right. There’s a sub-plot about Burke using his money to finance a theatrical production that is used for some justification of his part in the crimes they were committing, but it didn’t really work (for me at least). It’s not all bad though, I did like some of the less obvious humour on show, the nod to Greyfriars Bobby was quite a welcome distraction but over all I’m afraid I didn’t find it charming, funny, or ever “Outrageously Funny” as I’ve seen on a poster or two. Over all, yes, there are a few laughs on the way, but it soon falls flat on its arse and doesn’t really get up again… Not recommended.

My Score: 3.7/10.

IMDb Score: 6.1/10 (based on 4,467 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1320239/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 36/100 (based on 45 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/burke_and_hare/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
William Burke: She is an actress, not a whore.
William Hare: What’s the difference?

LINKS:
Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BurkeandHareMovie
Trailer:

Film Review: SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)

Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright
Running time: 85 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15

UK Release Date: 9th April 2004

Watched on DVD Sunday 21st March 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Having been derided by my mates down the pub for not having seen this one, I decided it was time to bite the bullet. Now, I have seen some of Simon Pegg’s more recent works, Hot Fuzz (2007) was pretty good, as was Run Fatboy Run (also 2007) and How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008). He’s now making the big bucks in America, but I was quite interested to see how one of his earlier works turned out.

Shaun lives with two flatmates, Ed and Pete, in London. Ed is always taking Shaun down the local pub, The Winchester, to the disgust of Shaun’s girlfriend, Liz. She, and her friends, Dianne and David, want Shaun to break away from Ed and straighten himself out. Unfortunately, Shaun is very attached to Ed; they’ve known each other since they went to school together. This comes to a head when Liz dumps Shaun and he ends up going out and getting drunk with Ed. As we see them going about their lives we get an inkling that something is not right, people are starting to behave strangely. The morning after it becomes apparent that something is seriously wrong. News reports confirm that Zombies are loose on the streets and it’s not safe out there! Shaun decides to go and rescue his mum, Barbara, and his step-dad, Philip. Then go and get Liz and then go to the pub. So, they have a plan, but there’s a lot of Zombies out there!

There are a lot of pretty funny bits in this film, I particularly liked the LP scene and the ‘Queen’ fight scene in the bar. If you’ve seen the film you’ll know the ones I mean. Decent performances from all of the main cast, Simon Pegg as Shaun, Kate Ashfield as Liz, Nick Frost as Ed, Lucy Davis as Dianne and Dylan Moran as David. Honourable mentions also go to Peter Serafinowicz as Pete, Bill Nighy as Philip and Penelope Wilton as Barbara.

So now we come to the nitty gritty, did I enjoy it? Well, it had parts that made me laugh, but as a whole it didn’t really bite me on the neck. I found the character of Ed really annoying, he’s stupid and very selfish. Yes, he does have a couple of good one-liners, but that doesn’t make up for him being an idiot. So over all, it’s a pretty dumb comedy, something to watch when you’ve come back from the pub. I don’t think I’ll be going out of my way to watch it again, but if I’m late back from the pub one night & it’s on TV… who knows?

My score: 6.5/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/
Official Site: http://www.shaunofthedeadmovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi2172780825/

Film Review: HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE (2008)

Director: Robert B. Weide
Running time: 94 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 15th November 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Based on the autobiographical book by Toby Young, this film charts the rise to fame of magazine journalist Sidney Young. From a failing magazine in London, he is lured to the bright lights of New York City by ‘Sharps’ magazine boss Clayton Harding. This is where most of the film is set, although there are scenes set in both London and Los Angeles.

Having arrived in New York, Sidney, looking to make an impression, can do nothing right. He finds that things are done very differently in the Big Apple and he finds it difficulty to tow the line. The only one of his colleagues that will talk to him is fellow journalist Alison Olsen. It turns out that Alison is having an affair with another colleague who happens to be married. Throw into the mix Publicist Eleanor Johnson and her starlet Sophie Maes, who Sidney is very interested in, and we have a bit of a comedy on our hands.

This is a British comedy, there’s no getting away from it. Although most of the action takes place in New York, there is a very British sense of humour about it. Well shot with a really good soundtrack. Good performances from all the leading roles, Simon Pegg as Sidney Young, Kirsten Dunst as Alison Olsen, Danny Huston as Lawrence Maddox, Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Johnson, Megan Fox as Sophie Maes, Max Minghella as Vincent Lepak, Jeff Bridges as Clayton Harding and Miriam Margolyes as Mrs. Kowalski (Sidney’s landlady).

I guess my main problem with this film is that I didn’t really care for the main character very much. He was such an arsehole at the beginning of the film I really didn’t care whether he got the girl or not towards the end. No reflection on Simon Pegg’s performance, I think it’s more to do with the writing. So, over all, a very British romantic comedy set in New York that maybe alienated the audience a bit too much from one of the main characters. Could have been better.

My score: 6/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0455538/
Official Site: http://www.howtolosefriendsmovie.com/intl/uk/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi903610649/