Deathwatch (2002)

Starring a very British cast this is a First World War horror films that follows a platoon of British Soldiers who get cut off and end up in a German trench and they first discover some issues when they notice how the German Soldiers had died. Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Hugo Speer, Rhuaidri Conroy, Mike Downey, Kris Marshall and Laurence Fox it follows them as they try to get back in touch with their commanders and try to stay safe in hellish conditions.


This is quite an atmospheric piece and there are some creepy things going on but very quickly in the trench as the viewer you know something supernatural is about. They are not teases in anyway and very quickly it becomes about seeing how everybody will die, as you know they will and seeing how they are each going to snap. There is an attempt at the end of the film to give a moral and there is a point that the evil is non-discriminatory as it has taken down Brits and Germans a like.


The acting in this is excellent and really has an effects on you. You feel wet cold and muddy after watching the film. It falls into the typical horror film realms of you have no where to go for whatever reason, therefore you are stuck. There is some okay tension but I watched this for a second time and was half way through before I remembered what had happened and that I had even seen it before. I would say that there is very little appeal in this film and it is a 2 star avoid from me. I will say if you want to see British Horror then it is worth checking out, presuming you have lots of time to see different movies as there are better offerings out there. 

King Kong (2005)

The latest version of the 1933 classic film from Peter Jackson who is now in position for making the epic films after his exploits with the Lord of the Ring trilogy. This is a more direct remake of the original story with the characters using the same names with some slight changes to their roles in the film but ultimately they fulfil the same roles as the original.

The biggest difference between this film and the original are the size of the set pieces, from my experience this is the biggest issue that most people have is the fact that a couple of scenes go to far in stretching the believability of even the extreme situation they are in. The dinosaurs stampeding is one of them, the fact that fewer incidents with the people, the vines and the T-Rex fight and the bug attack are all points that stick out where you watch and go that is very clever but really? It takes you out of the film some what.

The best part of the film though is Kong portrayed by Andy Serkis using motion capture technology and while they do put some human emotions on an animal still you can see an intelligence in the eyes of the beast. This is 4 stars, simply for the effects and the tie in to the original film. Worth seeing so you can see what they can do with special effects these days.

The Adventures of Tintin:The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

An animated film from Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson with the voice talents of Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Jaimie Bell, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Cary Elwes and Toby Jones and the writing skills of Edgar Wright, Steven Moffatt and Joe Cornish. This has to be the greatest film ever submitted with these people involved and it is based upon a much loved book series from Herge. Why does it not work? Well part of the problem is that there are 3 screen writers involved all brilliant in their own way their previous works are their as proof and it is based on a book. What were they all there for? Really I am unsure it sticks to the book quite closely but there is something lacking from it. The voice talents are lost in the visuals it is in 3D for no reason other than the added value at the box office.

I do not know why this film fails but I think most of it is to do with too many people involved. All this really is and should be is a big screen visual representation of the characters we all know and love. It should perhaps have changed things slightly to make it work better on the big screen. I have to say there were some little nods to fans of the series, the crabs, the cigars and a good gag at the start about how the characters look but that is it.

Overall perhaps my expectations were to high from a film that should have promised so much but to be honest I did not know as many people were involved until afterwards and really I came out feeling it just missed the mark. I am going to be harsh and say 2 stars wait for it on DVD if at all. I will say that perhaps on a re-watch I may enjoy it some more but looking at IMDb I am surprised the next 2 are already in pre-production as they have just presumed this will work.

Jumper (2008)

The 2008 film starring Hayden Christiensen, Jamie Bell and Samuel L Jackson, I had put off seeing this film for as long as I had not heard good things about it and I have a real problem with Hayden, the hangover from him being mis-cast as Anakin Skywalker, that us something I will have to get over. But apart from my dislike of him I just do not think he is that good an actor, he was not very good in what I love as a premise. You basically have someone that discovers they can tele-port anywhere they have seen or been, that is never quite clear.

Apart from the fact that I did not believe or like Hayden in the lead role overall this was a massively missed opportunity from what they had to begin with. The idea is awesome and the basic story line is good as well but they just try and squeeze far to much into this film, they have a story with Jamie Bell as a middle character, Samuel L Jackson as your bad guy and so many rules about the "Jumping" that they try and let go but it would be better if they had an exposition scene where an experienced jumper explained it as I spent most of the film trying to figure out the rules so was not worrying about the story of the film and with so much trying to go on I missed somethings.

Not a great film, I think that a remake or perhaps a directors cut could work, I would probably be able to get over the Hayden factor if the story worked that we bit better for me, 2 stars not worth seeing this effort.