Death Race 2 (2010)

The sequel to the Jason Statham film which in itself was a re-imaging of the Sylvester Stallone Death Race 2000, and it turns out it was a prequel as well so I was not holding out much optimism but I had enjoyed the original Jason Statham film so thought why not. Now to start with they get a Jason Statham look a like in Luke Goss but it is a totally different character so you do not need a look a like and the story they have for no apparent reason is very similar so it is Death Race lite, the beginning.

The story itself without the original film would have been interesting but as it keeps trying to fit back into the first film you can see where it is going. There are some nice little points that they do very well but I kept thinking that well they have to get to this point and how they get there is sort of tacked on.

This is only 2 stars, if it was a stand alone film then it would be 3 but as it has to try and tie in to the original not worth seeing unless you like low end violence and driving fast cars.

Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)

After watching Salt and enjoying Angelina Jolie in that I decided after a couple of recommendations to try some of her other films. I went with Mr & Mrs Smith as i have not heard good or bad things about it and thought it looked an interesting concept. I have to say that i really enjoyed this film, there are so many ridiculous elements and as long as you give it a bit of leeway in that respect it is very enjoyable. The set pieces are convoluted but in a fun way and the story itself is a straight up re-telling of Romeo and Juliet.

Brad Pitt has always been an actor that I like, I think that he has a fantastic range and can play so many different characters. Angelina Jolie is as good in this as she was in Salt and i am beginning to regret ignoring her work for as long. There is Vince Vaughn in a part role and he does nothing, really good or bad he just happens to be there, the rest of the cast play there roles well.

I really enjoyed this film and will give it 4 stars, there is action for the boys and a good love story running through out the film for the girls, I would definitely give this a recommendation.

Attack the Block (2011)

Went to see this at the cinema and had quite high expectations of the film, based on the British core running through it. I think my expectations were to high for the film, there is nothing really wrong with the film but from the first time you meet the main characters you struggle to like them for anything they do and the attitude they have. This seems to be the main flaw in the film is that they do not seem to know what they want to portray. They have the Teenage gang running the block and then they are supposed to be the heroes of the film. They try comedy but it does play along side the fear in the neighbourhood and the realism of inner city London that they try to portray.

Joe Cornish as a director does a really good job apart from struggling to decide in what direction to take the film, I think he should have gone more comedy than using the fear elements of Harry Brown that he tried to feature, I think that if it was more like Shaun of the Dead then there would have been a bit more to it. The acting was excellent and the language used was about right for the area they were trying to achieve and in many ways they captured people's fears of teenagers but did not do anything to really change my perception of teenagers.

I am going to say 3 stars and if you are interested then it will be worth seeing for you, if you have no interest in seeing it then you really will probably not get anything from it.

Battle:Los Angeles (2011)

March 2011

I was intrigued by this film and when I chose to see it I was looking forward to it, I like to think it appeals to the man in me that likes explosions and guns. I was not disappointed, it is the story of a group of soldiers defending LA against a horde of invading aliens. It put me in mind of Independance Day but on a smaller more localised scale, instead of it being all of America it was a major city.

This film is full of holes and lacks a realistic plot, however if you like big guns, camradarie and lots of explosions then you will enjoy the film. It does not try to pretend to be anything it is not and that is probably the problem, they could have done more with the film looking at the aliens and why they were on Earth but there was a predicability about the whole film and the biggest surprise was that it was not left obviously open for a sequel.

I would say 3 stars for the film, it does what you think it will do and if you switch your brain off at the door it is enjoyable.