The Grey

"Once more into the fray.

Into the last good fight I'll ever know.

Live and die on this day.

Live and die on this day."

The Grey is a bone-chilling, gory survival thriller about a group of oil drilling workers in Alaska who after surviving a plane crash must survive the dangers of nature as they attempt to return home. They must survive an onslaught of a pack of wolves stalking them & killing them one by one in classic monster horror fashion. Along the way, the survivors bond together & fall out with each other and discuss humanity.

As the title suggests, this film is a very dark film. Grey is the primary colour you think of when you first glance at the scenery. The atmosphere is chilling & lonely, captured very well by director Joe Carnahan, who chose amazing locations. 

Liam Neeson play John Ottway, a sniper who kills wolves at the oil drilling plantation. His character is suffering from an issue with his wife, which explored through flashbacks through-out the film. Liam Neeson does a fantastic performance with many ranges of emotions, from depression to fear. He is definately the highlight of the film. It's definately one of his best performances. The other characters are all different which works well in survival films. The egos & fear of each indivdual is explored and the actors do great work. 

A survival horror thriller about wolves would draw comparisions to Jaws & Alien, both feature a killer hunting humans in an isolated location. The killer is hardly seen and usually sppears in shock scenes (appearing when you least expect it) which are really effective. However, The Grey manages to be more original by the characters perspective of faith, which is explored well, especially with a scene involving Neeson at the end. 

The death scenes are imaginative and impressive, considering the number of nature horror films there have been. Some may think it'll be predictable. It is sometimes, yet the violence and gore compensates the predictablity. Deaths are really memorable. Another scene featureing death is the plane crash, which when watching at the cinema, was one of the most horrifying experiences i've ever had. 

Spoiler alert! 

In the cinema, Everyone was dissapointed with the ending, which is a cliffhanger. What everybody, including myself, was expecting was Liam Neeson Vs the Alpha Wolf in an epic battle for survival. I was surprised with the cliffhanger after all the hype in the trailer. But when i watched it on DVD, i concluded that the cliffhanger was the best possible end to the film. Everything that was looked at previously (Neeson's wife, poem his father wrote & survival skills) comes together and fits nicely into a fantastic ending where Neeson accepts his fate. 

I mentioned that it has similarities with Jaws, Alien & Flight of the Phoenix. With Jaws, the similarities lie with an animal most people didn't take seriously until they saw th film. Afer Jaws, people where scared of sharks. Same with The Grey, after watching it, wolves seem more scary. With Alien, the crew are being killed one by one until an epic battle between the lead character & the killer (Sigourney Weaver & The Alien in Alien, Liam Neeson & Wolf in The Grey). Flight of the Phoenix obviously draws comparisons with the plane crash, although The Grey's crash is just terrifying for me. Another relatable movie is The Thing from Another World because of the setting. Although not set in the same place, the snow and coldness & isolation is a major part of both films. 

The Grey, with it's dark, unsettling atmosphere with a mostly silent score which changes to dramatic music, it's violence, philosophy of faith and characters, this is definately the best survival film I've ever seen. What Alien, Jaws, Flight of the Phoenix did was look into the characters and their techniques of survival. The Grey goes better on all the qualities these films have. Although not in the same class as Jaws, The Grey should be remembered as a fasntastic tale about survival and faith. Backed up by one of Liam Neeson's best performances, this film is definately about Survival of the Fittest.

A fascinating look at human survival featuring excellent performances and gripping, intense dramatic scenes of peril.

★★★★☆

Captain America: The First Avenger

"Captain America! How exciting! I'm a great fan of your films!"

Well, I saw this movie the day it opened and I have to say I was really excited to see this film since it was first announced. Captain America gets his first major film & it doesn't disappoint! After seeing many of the other Marvel movies, I have to say this is the best one ever! 

Captain Anerica, one of the oldest superheroes, has everything, action, humour, romance, fantasy, emotional scenes & awe-inspiring performances. 

Firstly, Chris Evans did a great job as Captain America. losing all that weight & size to contrast the human size before & after the super soldier serum experiment is real commitment. Evans' action scented were great & his battle attacks made the action better. 

Tommy Lee Jones was another highlight. One if my favouriteactors, he brought humour in a serious way. He was a perfect commanding officer & excelled in his role. All the other supporting actors & actresses did well too. 

But in my opinion, Hugo Weaving stole the show as his portayal as Red Skull. He put on an ace accent, he had the physical presence & did everything perfect! I also loved his car & huge plane. I think Hugo deserves an Oscar for his supporting role! 

The action scenes were the second best thing in the film. Very inventive & very cool with all the props & surroundings of World War 2. I did think that many items in the film were too advanced for the 1940's. Anyway, I'm not complaining. 

In conclusion, Captain America is the perfect film to watch anytime anywhere. Great performances, fantastic actions scenes & interesting references to the Marvel Universe, this is the movie Captain America deserves. I think it is the best Marvel film ever. Well at least until The Avengers comes out.

An American Icon comes to the big screen in a fantastic action and story filled WW2 film, ranking among the best offerings from Marvel.

★★★★☆

The Day After Tomorrow

"Are you mad? That's a 12-year-old scotch!"

My opinion on The Day After Tomorrow. At first, I wasn;t really into it because in my opinion, it isn't realistic because I don't believe we will suffer another Ice Age. However, as a movie for our entertainment, it makes quite a good story. 

What happens is that Global Wamring is occuring at a fast rate to the point where the Northern Hemisphere plunges into the 2nd Ice Age. We follow these events through Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) going into New York to rescue his son Sam ( Jake Gyllenhaal) who is up trapped indoors with friends. 

The best thing about this movie is the stunning visual effects of the storms building up until the world drastially changes. The visuals are one of the best I've ever seen. We see different weather alerts occuring around the world. It is amazing. 

I can't really say anythig bad about the movie. I just think it wouldn't happen in real-life. But for a fictional story with family ties, action & suspense I think this movie isn't that bad.

The Spectacular visuals and a plausible story elevate The Day After Tomorrow above the familiar disaster film formula.

★★★☆☆

Wrong Side Of Town

"Am I Not Speaking English?"

I bought this movie because it featured wresting stars Rob Van Dam & Batista & I wanted to see how they would do in their acting debuts. I can say that I wasn't impressed. The movie is bad. The plot is simple but not exactly something interesting. It's the usual Ex-Marine who gets involved with a death & hunted down & has his daughter kidnapped & gets a friend to help him. Not very original. 

The plot is that Bobby (RVD) & his wife are invited to dinner with new neighbours. They go to a club where the owner is the main villian, who leaves & puts his younger brother in charge, who takes RVD's wife to the office. During a struggle, the brother is killed by his own knife & the main villian Seth puts a bounty on RVD'S head. Van Dam must fight his way through gangs & bodyguards to get his family & neighbours safe & calls his old friend Ronnie(Batista) for help. 

There are some stunts with knives, guns, motorcycles & gas station apparatus but they aren't really memorable. Poor fight scenes whch are preticable. 

Because it is RVD's first role, Iwent easy on him & he wasn't actually that bad. He wasn't good but didn't suck. More Mediocre. Batista wasn't interesting & wasn't that good. The main villian was played well. Other than the villian, this movie is bad. The fight scenes are okay but could've been much better.

Dull, weak story and underdeveloped characters, Wrong Side of Town further accentuates why wrestlers aren't usually good film actors.

★☆☆☆☆

Black Death

"I am Death. Vengeance is Mine!"

The movie is set during the Plague in England. It is an interesting topic to make a film out of and what we get is a horrific story of warriors searching for the necromancer to end the plague. A young monk takes them, only because he is looking for his girlfriend who he sent away from the plague's wrath. 

There is a great fight scene in the forest, resulting in bloodshed & deaths, almost something akin to Lord of the Rings, which I usually compare Black Death to due to the similarities in warriors & demons. Not as good as LOTR but still it is a great film with horrific death scenes & a thrilling ending. 

Sean Bean's character is Ulric, very similar to Sean's character in LOTR, Boromir. A master swordsman who kills anything evil, Sean's portrayal s fantastic, which is the reason he is one of my favourite actors. The role of Ulric is perfect for him & I can't imagine anyone else perfecting the role as well as Sean. 

Eddie Redmayne played Osmund, the monk who goes with the men to seemingly show the way to the village where the necromancer is, but is really only going to find his girlfriend Averill. It is nice that there is a bit of romance which is a major part of the story as Averill is presumed dead until we see a startling scene at the end. Eddie plays the monk very well, playing fear & anger feelings very well.

The settings are fantastic to watch, from the monastery, to the forests to the village where the movie takes a different turn. The scene with the village & the goings-on were something I never expected, partly the reason why I love this movie. It is an unsuspecting thrill-ride with plenty of action & brilliant acting by all, including Carice van Houten, Kimberley Nixon & Tim McInnerny 

I definitely recommend Black Death to anyone who is a fan of Sean Bean and/or medieval horror films. Great movie.

Brutal and chilling, great performances and great action and story make Black Death a satisfying medieval horror experience.

★★★★☆

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

"Let's Go Catch A Spider."

 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review.

I really enjoyed this film, so good I'd rank it as the best Spider-Flick I've seen.

All the returning characters wre on top form. Especially the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. I really bought into their relationship and really enjoyed seeing them together.

New characters introduced left a great impression on me. Electro was really cool. Loved the effects of his electrical state, and that voice! Paul Giamatti was awesome, as brief his appearance was. Over the top in a fun way and can't wait to se more of him in sequels. Harry Osborn is very different to the Sam Raimi version and the changes helped make a great character. 

I saw it in 3D and was pretty good. Visual effects all around were impressive, highly superior to the 1st film and the Raimi trilogy.

All the action scenes were well edited and looked awesome. The realistic tone carries over in this film with nothing being ridiculous. Yes, one of the main villains is made of electricity but the character and situations he's in are done to look like this is what it would be like if it actually happened.

I do think some parts of the film were rushed and needed more time to develop, like Harry Osborn. I liked him but not enough development was made on his character, which quickly rushed to make him the Green Goblin. I liked it but was rushed.

SPOILER ALERT!!

The saddest comic book movie moment I saw was Gwen Stacy's death. I knew it was coming but my heart was pounding at the incredibly intense sequence of Spider-Man trying to save Stacy. I was shocked at the way she died and was sad she had to die. I really liked Emma Stone's portrayal of Gwen Stacy and evidently, the way it affected me displays how powerful Stone's performance and her death scene is. Honestly, it's probably my favourite scene because of how emotionally powerful it is.

In conclusion, Marc Webb's new Spider-Man films are really becoming it's own great franchise. Many ideas were introduced and great prospects for the future films. Great performances, exhilirating action and wonderful visuals slightly enhanced by the 3D make this a great watch, although more story development would have been welcomed.

★★★★☆