Jack the Giant Slayer
[ Hits:150 ]
Review: Jack the Giant Slayer is a hybrid reworking of the cult classic, Jack the Giant Killer, and the fairy tale, Jack & The Beanstalk. Individually, these stories are simple and too insubstantial for a feature film. By combining the special effects action, medieval fantasy romance of Jack the Giant Killer with the humble, imaginative, magical zero-to-hero quest of a lowly farm boy in Jack & The Beanstalk, Bryan Singer has created an action-adventure of epic proportions.
The only problem is t...
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
[ Hits:412 ]
Review: Bloemfontein born author, J.R.R. Tolkien, would have been very proud of Peter Jackson if he was still with us today. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, undoubtedly the greatest trilogy of all-time, has a special place in most people's hearts and movie collections and is the new standard by which all fantasy adventures will be judged, until bettered.
Adapting The Hobbit was second prize for Jackson, who almost didn't direct Tolkien's other classic. Although, it seemed almost irreverent for Jackson n...
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Snow White & The Huntsman
[ Hits:584 ]
Review: Snow White & The Huntsman is a beautiful magpie and revision of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. While it may sound like a pretentious new wall paint, you won't feel like you're watching it dry. Recent Snow White adaptation Mirror Mirror is a pantomime compared with Snow White & The Huntsman, which spins an intensely dark, mature and captivating tale from an old thread. Charlize Theron's commanding performance as the evil queen Ravenna sets the stage for franchise figureheads Chris Hemsw...
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Mirror Mirror
[ Hits:545 ]
Review: Mirror Mirror is a re-imagining of the fairy tale classic Snow White. The comedy fantasy stars Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer with Nathan Lane and is directed by Tarsem Singh, best known for Immortals. This is the first of two Snow White inspired films for 2012 with Snow White and the Huntsman scheduled for later this year.
Singh's recent Greek action epic Immortals was a dazzling spectacle, but lacked in performance and storytelling. Sadly, the same is true of Mirror Mirror. Whil...
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Wrath of the Titans
[ Hits:2437 ]
Review: Clash of the Titans was disappointing. The action-adventure relied too heavily on visual effects, offering a tired video game script, wooden performances and substandard post-production 3D in the face of much anticipation. Yet as tarnished as it was, the blockbuster made enough money at the box office to warrant a sequel. Greek mythology is getting the Hollywood treatment with competition from another Greek hero franchise in Immortals, making it only a matter of time before Wrath of the Titans w...
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Immortals [3D]
[ Hits:831 ]
Review: Immortals is yet another action-fantasy epic in a spate of Ancient World mythology-based adventures. Frank Miller's 300 and the popularity of the God of War video game series has sparked off a fascination with tragic Greek heroes, resulting in visual-intensive 3D follow-ups in Clash of the Titans and now Immortals. Despite the comparisons and influence, Zack Snyder's virtual back lot technique remains in its own league with 300 head-and-shoulders above the latest blockbuster offerings. Immorta...
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
[ Hits:2880 ]
Review: It all ends in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The boy wizard has grown up to grab hold of his wand, or any number of oddly shaped wands, and wreak havoc upon Lord Voldemort. For some... it's a moment for melancholy and sweet relief - the long wait is finally over, the books have been dog-eared and the Harry Potter shrine has been swept clean with a genuine Nimbus 2000 in preparation for the homecoming. For others, it's a joyous occasion... as an irritating little prick with glasses...
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Beastly
[ Hits:661 ]
Review: Beastly... the title says it all. A shaggy, tween take on Twilight and Beauty & The Beast with a marketing campaign mimicking Fear, the stalker flick that launched Mark Wahlberg and Reece Witherspoon's film careers in the '90s. Paranormal romance aside, this is a simple teen high school movie with a fantasy concept, Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four) and Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) in a cheesy tale of morality speaking out against superficiality and popularity.Twilight has been a huge in...
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Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
[ Hits:779 ]
Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the latest offering in C.S. Lewis's Narnia series. After Prince Caspian's "disappointing" box office run, Disney washed its hands of the franchise. However, the series went under new management with Fox taking the reigns with Michael Apted (Amazing Grace) attached as director with Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley taking over as co-leads from their siblings and Ben Barnes reprising his role as Caspian. Prince Caspian was strongly influenced...
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Scott Pilgrim vs The World
[ 2010 ] [ Hits:1432 ]
Review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World is brought to us by the guy that gave us Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. His name is Edgar Wright, whose dark British comedy films have become cult hits with the help of partner-in-crime, Simon Pegg. However, Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a departure from his usual brilliant garb. It's a non-British production and Wright ensured all of his ensemble weren't British, although one still managed to slip through. Scott Pilgrim vs The World may be a complete reversal in sett...
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
[ 2010 ] [ Hits:1268 ]
Review: It's old news, but "the magical kid with glasses" has become an international phenomenon. Remember when HP used to be a sauce and Indiana Jones was the only character worthy of a "character name and adventure" movie title. Glasses, reading and obscure pockmarks used to be dorky until Potter added a little pizazz to the art of being a nerd. Add a little magic and it seems you can transform any half-wit into a hero. Perhaps that's the charm of Harry Potter, he's a ordinary kid in extraordinary ci...
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The Last Airbender
[ 2010 ] [ Hits:859 ]
Review: M. Night Shyamalan has systematically made the wrong decision at every turn in this film adaptation of the beloved Nickolodeon anime series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. From controversial casting decisions to a lackluster 3D post-production hack job, The Last Airbender is an incomprehensible, detached and languishing fantasy adventure, which is only buoyed by its style and special effects.The writer-director has progressively gone from brilliant to terrible starting with The Sixth Sense, Unbreak...
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The Sorcerers Apprentice
[ 2010 ] [ Hits:924 ]
Review: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone ripped off Walt Disney’s Fantasia… well, at least the title of that famous 10-minute symphonic clip of Mickey Mouse and his magic shrooms brooms. Seventy years later we have the live-action The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which has taken revenge on Harry Potter with a knock-off adventure. It’s a vicious cycle and unfortunately, for hogwarts and potheads – Harry doesn’t make an appearance in this one – he doesn’t even feature in the title, poor b...
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The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
[ 2010 ] [ Hits:820 ]
Review: Twilight... twilight... TWILIGHT! The word still sends shivers up and down my spine as I think of the young tweens gnashing their teeth like wolverines and vampires at the chance of sinking their teeth into Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner or if they're not too hungry Kristen Stewart. It's a good thing they didn't release Twilight: Eclipse in 3D, otherwise cinemas could have literally turned into a feeding frenzy with tweens reaching out and biting whatever's within reach in the hopes of uniting...
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The Twilight Saga: New Moon
[ 2009 ] [ Hits:978 ]
Review: New Moon is the latest victim, in the bestselling Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, to have been put through the Hollywood sausage machine like that nerdy kid with John Lennon style glasses and a jet-powered broomstick. I used to associate twilight with that soft diffused light in the sky just before dawn or sunset. After watching Twilight, a state of uncertainty, vagueness and gloom has taken its place - hang on, isn't that what twilight actually means? I heard somewhere that it's all an alleg...
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The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
[ 2009 ] [ Hits:713 ]
Review: A traveling carnival sideshow "family" and their supernatural gateway to one's imagination is put in jeopardy after they rescue a wanted criminal and go head-to-head in a soul-grabbing game with the devil incarnate. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is an intriguing film alright: what Terry Gilliam film isn't... with Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen, Time Bandits and Monty Python & The Holy Grail to his credit. However, a substantial part of the intrigue of Imaginari...
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Camille
[ 2007 ] [ Hits:850 ]
Review: False advertising... I'm talking about movie marketing, the kind that misleads you into thinking a movie is something it isn't! This has got to be the evil machinations of production houses, who back a dark horse on its star power, sheer originality or budgetary concerns in the hopes that someone will rent or buy tickets to their movie. Camille is one such film, punted as a romantic comedy... this couldn't be anything further from the truth. If Raging Bull was romance and Schindler's List was co...
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Alice in Wonderland
[ 2010 ] [ Hits:1463 ]
Review: Lewis Carroll wrote what some conspiracy theorists believe was a tale about the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. Perhaps the whole who ha started with Go Ask Alice about a teenage girl’s spiral into drugs in the ’60s, coupled with a song called White Rabbit. Whatever… Disney adapted it and they do Alice in Wonderland plays in churches, must be okay.Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland seems more concerned with Alice’s chastity and transition into womanhood at the age of 19, as she escapes ...
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The Lovely Bones
[ 2009 ] [ Hits:853 ]
Review: The Lovely Bones is directed by Peter Jackson of King Kong and Lord of the Rings fame. However, this fantasy drama and thriller points to some of his earlier work. It doesn't have the epic magnitude of his latest ventures, yet nestles itself in the realm of fantasy. The Lovely Bones tells the story of Susie Salmon, a young girl who is murdered, destined to watch over her family and her killer as she decides between the path of vengeance or healing from heaven above.It's based on Alice Sebold's n...
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Where The Wild Things Are
[ 2009 ] [ Hits:794 ]
Review: Where The Wild Things Are is an honest, heartfelt film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's 1963 childrens book by legendary director, Spike Jonze. The film has been in production since the 1980s, when it was originally envisaged as an animated feature. After several stop-starts, it eventually ended up in the hands of Spike Jonze as a live-action adaptation, a director who Sendak described as young and interesting. Instead of bowing down to his Hollywood parents, Jonze throws a tantrum of his own... c...
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