Star Trek : Into The Darkness
There have been many directors tackle the Star Trek franchise, but none as successful as JJ Abrams. After his first widely acclaimed spin at helming Sci-Fi’s most beloved universe, it was always going to be a big ask to step up another notch to tackle a second.
And that is exactly what Abrams has done.
Once again we journey back to a re-imagined beginning of Captain James T Kirk and his young crew. The story line follows on closely from the previous Abrams film, with a feel you could watch them back to back almost as one film. We are quite rapidly brought into the action forcing Kirk and his crew to make decisions about life and death, moral judgement and rules of engagement.
Its at this pivotal point Kirk’s legendary character is pushed, tested and ultimately rejected by Star Fleet. But this story is not limited to Kirk, each one of his crew are tested equally and asked to make their stands.
Along side this personal battle is the growing tale of a renegade John Harrison who seems hell bent on creating as much havoc as possible.
There is much to be written about the story line here, but this is one best left for discovery. Its often said that reviewers can spoil films, and with this incarnation of Star Trek it is very true. As the story unfolds classic Star Trek memories are brought back to life one by one. The attention to detail and handling of the franchise is a sight to behold. Many classic trek fans will delight with many of the upfront and background ties to the original TV series. This is a visual and literal masterpiece. Read the rest of this entry »
Olympus Has Fallen
Olympus has Fallen is more than a routine action genre movie outing. Director, Antoine Fuqua, does a superb job of orchestrating his cast from the personal confrontations to the plot’s cliff hanger precipice. The story surrounds a very topical assault on American soil by a North Korean militant rebellion force. Their target is to acquire the President in the White House and the American secret service seems to simply capitulate in their path.
Rewind the clock and we are introduced early on to top Secret Service agent and Presidential body guard, Mike Banning played by Gerard Butler. The Machine Gun Preacher has taken his gruff Scottish he-man and put the persona in a suit with an ear-piece. We see some relevant backstory when Banning makes a call that sees a key character die and the President’s reaction as he arranges for Banning to be out of sight and out of mind. The timing couldn’t be worse as our Terrorist forces hit with war like impact led by Kang to capture the President and key government members in the bunker of the White House. You may remember Kang played by Rick Yune from his role as the villain’s key 2nd in command in Die Another Day. This time he delivers a more commanding confident performance that should set him up for more roles in the future.
Butler is a superb ‘man against the world’ actor in a role that is reminiscent of John McClane only more believable. The violence of the movie is incessant and not for the faint of heart as first the North Korean forces make their attack on the White House taking down American civilians in a blatant display of disruptive power. Next the movie kicks down a gear in the dimensions of action but steps up the intensity as Banning goes one on one with anyone untrustworthy.
At the focus of our story is President Asher played by Aaron Earkhart. I’d vote for this guy on ‘chin’ presence alone! I’m seriously surprised he hasn’t had any super hero roles. Earkhart plays the diplomat, the staunch leader and the vulnerable family man in a great combination role. Read the rest of this entry »
Pacific Rim – Official Wondercon Trailer #2
When an alien attack threatens the Earth’s existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.
Fast & Furious 6 – Final Official Trailer
Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian’s (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin’s empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete.
Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.
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Much Ado About Nothing – International Trailer
A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
The East – Official Trailer #2
In THE EAST, Sarah Moss (Marling) is a brilliant operative for an elite private intelligence firm whose top objective is to ruthlessly protect the interests of their A-list corporate clientele. She is assigned to go undercover to infiltrate an anarchist collective known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations. Living amongst them in an effort to get closer to their members, Sarah finds herself unexpectedly torn between two worlds as she starts to fall in love with the group’s charismatic leader, finding her life and her priorities irrevocably changed.
