RANGO - Review

Feeling a little bored I asked my good friend (and fellow movie lover) if he would like to check out the film 'Rango'. As per usual I enjoy getting my opinions about a film out there, so below is my short but sweet review.

Lately the genre of 'animated family films' has been doing very well, many movies like Toy Story or Up encompass a wide collection of ideas and occurrences that can be both enjoyed and pondered by kids and adults alike. It's also become far more acceptable for more adult audiences to enjoy such films on their own accord, rather than simply going for their children.
Rango is set in the Mohave dessert, a strange chameleon finds himself amongst a wild-west style city made up of rodents and amphibians who are slowly dying out. The reason for their troubles is the lack of water, of course this issue affects real people in our world so already the film is relateable. Rango (before finding himself in the dessert) lived a lonely life during which he acted out plays of his own creation. The chameleon would portray a wide number of characters, and upon reaching the town named 'DIRT' he takes on the role of sheriff in an attempt to fit in.
Needless to say this leads on to some pretty funny, yet predictable incidents that culminate with Rango's quest to find a new water supply for the town of DIRT. The film focuses upon the character's inner struggles; the fact that he begins to use his own creations to escape his true self and begins to doubt who he really is. It's a nice idea really and makes for some interesting scenes.
In general the film was enjoyable, it had quite a few funny elements that could be enjoyed by the whole family, but certain factors made the film feel a little too tacky and childish (there is a Mexican band made up of owls that become very annoying and pop up all the time). Bad points aside Johnny Depp delivers some very quirky and enjoyable voice acting, the main character is interesting and the animation of course is brilliant (particularly when a human briefly enters the movie, his facial details are fantastic).
A solid movie dragged down by some elements that you may find aggravating. SCORE-7/10

'The Road'-my thoughts on the film

After being ill all day I, for some deranged reason, decided to watch 'The Road'. It's a film that caught my attention upon its release yet it's taken me around a year to finally sit down and give it a shot. I expected a lot from the film, it uses a context that I really enjoy (the post-apocalyptic setting I feel presents a lot of interesting opportunities). To keep things simple, the movie follows the journey of a man and his son as they battle against starvation and cannibals to reach their destination; the coast. The film focuses mostly upon moral issues and the father and son relationship being pushed to its limits. It kinda revolves around the question "What would you be prepared to do to survive?" and there certainly is a lot to ponder whilst watching the film.  Visually the film was awesome, there was massive contrast between the vivid colours that existed before 'the incident' and the scorched dying lands of the present day. Acting-wise once again things were very enjoyable, the love that the father and son shared felt real and honest, so I ask myself why (when I reached the credits) did I feel so god damn terrible!?

I guess the content was just too bleak, everything was grey and depressing, you could see that things weren't going to improve. Every character would either be trying to kill someone or lying in their own filth crying. There just wasn't enough positive scenes, things need to be balanced out and they just weren't. The conclusion was happy, but it didn't make me feel that way as there was so much loss and pain throughout the film that whatever brief happiness existed was instantly consumed by sadness. I have to say that after watching the film I did look at the comfortable lifestyle I live in and appreciate things a lot more, but that's not really why I watch a movie.

So no secrets here, I did not enjoy 'The Road', and would only  recommend it to you if you're planning to take your own life and need something to just push you over the edge. 

Movie Surprises

Every now and then you go to the cinema just to watch a film, not necessarily because you think the film you're gonna see will be good, but just to pass time or hang out with mates. What's awesome is when you go watch one of these 'meh' films and they turn out to be really good. Below is a list of my top 3 'movie surprises', enjoy.

3-Zombieland 
On the surface Zombieland just looked like another zombie spoof movie, after all Shaun of the Dead pretty much owns that area and will for the considerable future. However, what I found surprising when I watched Zombieland wasn't the humor, but the main plot. I have to admit now that I didn't actually find the film that funny, there were times when I laughed but I really wouldn't slot it into the comedy category. What did it for me was the characters, who were deep and nicely constructed, as well as the premise of the film which revolves around a set of rules that the protagonist lives his apocalyptic life by. These rules pop up on the screen in a sort of 'video-game format' every time they're used, which in itself I found really cool.
The plot evolves nicely, as well as the characters, the action scenes are brutal and there is a lot more than meets the eye with this zombie-comedy, well it's not funny but that doesn't mean it's not a good movie.


2-TRON: Legacy 
I went to watch Tron expecting a visually brilliant action movie and nothing more, but as things got going I could see that this really was one of those 'must-watch' films. First of all I expected hollow characters, but what I found were a cast that worked together very nicely and created some powerful scenes. The film was a lot less reliant upon action than I expected it to be, although (of course) these scenes were awesome. Although its a given, the film looked beautiful and exists as a dark metallic world brought to life by an infinite supply of neon lights. The biggest surprise for me was the meaning behind the film which was; "Perfection is impossible, but it is the imperfections of life that make it worth living." giving away anymore will kind of ruin the film, but for me a narrative needs something beneath the surface to truly satisfy me. The soundtrack by Daft Punk was also really cool, it worked as a combination of retro video-game music and a delicate symphony, and to prove how cool the soundtrack is I have it on my iPod.
Tron looks, sounds and is awesome. An action movie that has a nice theme and some cool characters. Definitely worth checking out.

1-The A-Team
This film reaches the number one point out of the sheer confusion I felt when I actually began to enjoy the film. I went in telling myself it would suck, I really went to hang out with a friend, but it didn't take me long to realize that it was actually a good movie. The characters were very strong and quirky, the action scenes were cheesy yet enjoyable and the overall plot had a few twists and turns along the way. This movie is one that is great fun if it isn't taken too seriously, give it a go because you will no doubt be surprised, hopefully as much as I was.