Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy (2014)
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky, Gabriel Byrne
Director: Mark Waters

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love to read and the type of books I love to read as well. Since I was about 12, I have been fascinated by the mythos of the vampire and devoured every book and movie I could get my hands on and continue to do so now.

However, gone are the days of the classic Christopher Lee style Dracula, replaced by sulky teenage vampires who act like spoilt brats and seem to be able to hide among us mere mortals with ease. Oh how I miss Christopher Lee! To say that the cinema popularity of the vampire has exploded is probably an understatement. It has exploded, and then been devoured and vomited back up again.......graphic description I know, but that's how I feel about it.

I read the Twilight books before the movie came out and I did enjoy them and while I did like the movie, it wasn't amazing. I have also read a little series called Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and thoroughly enjoyed them as well and was very excited to hear that it would be turned into a movie. That was until I saw the casting and began to see the posters. This was marketed terribly and the main character is the worst piece of miscasting since Kevin Costner was cast as Robin Hood.

Rose and Lissa are best friends, but more than that, they are linked through a special bond, formed when Lissa used her powers to save Roses life after a car accident. On the run from their school for a year, the girls are found and dragged back to continue their lives at St Vladimirs, also known as Vampire Academy. Lissa is a Moroi, royal blooded vampires who often wield the power of Fire, Air or Water. Rose is a Dhampir, a blend of human and Moroi who are not vampires but are raised to be the guardians of the Moroi and Dimitri is a Dhampir who trains young guardians to protect Moroi from the Strigoi. What are Strigoi you may ask? Well Strigoi are the bad vampires who kill to eat and have no feelings or cares. With me so far? Ok, so Lissa ends up falling for a Moroi whose parents became Strigoi and were killed, but weird stuff starts to happen to Lissa leaving Rose and their friend Natalie trying to get to the bottom of it all. That's the basic premise of the first book.

After the shocking trailers for this, I was really skeptical about seeing it and skipped seeing it at the movies all together. This could have been a good movie if it weren't for the B-grade acting and the John Hughes wannabe feel to it. I did like the guy they cast as Dimitri so is meant to be tall, handsome, Russian and totally hot, but Rose they just didn't get right for me. She is way too petite in this movie and I always pictured her as a Lara Croft type character who could totally kick your arse with one look.

The locations were pretty good and while they have hinted at a second movie, I'm not sure it will get financial backing after being a massive flop at the box office.

So after all that, what would I rate it? Probably a 5 out of 10. It was better than I had expected, but by no means was it good, it was mediocre and severely lacking in a lot of areas. Give this one a miss entirely and maybe read the books instead.

Frozen

Frozen (2013)
Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Alan Tudyk.
Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

So if you haven't already seen the latest offering from Disney either at the cinemas or on DVD/BluRay, why not??!!

Once again I admit to being skeptical about this Disney release but we were all pleasantly surprised. Our 9 year old daughter was really excited about this and at first we went along begrudgingly. We walked out singing, smiling and laughing.

Supposedly based on Hans Christian Andersons "The Snow Queen", this very family friendly, icy story centers around Anna and her sister Elsa who happen to be the daughters of the King and Queen of Arendelle, a Scandinavian kingdom nestled at the base of rolling green hills.

Since Elsa was young she has been able to manipulate water, freezing it at will, but as she gets older, her powers become unpredictable and when she hurts Anna and their parents die in a ship wreck, Elsa becomes withdrawn and shuts herself away from the world.

When Elsa ascends is due to ascend to the throne, the doors of the castle are thrown open and a ball is to be held for Elsas coronation, but things go wrong and Elsa flees Arendelle in the hopes of never hurting anyone again. But her powers leave the kingdom trapped in an icy winter that only she can reverse.

The songs are very catchy, the sidekicks are funny and cute and the handsome heroes are, well....handsome.

This has all the hallmarks of a classic Disney movie that has every little girl wanting to dress up like Elsa or Anna and many a household across the world echoing with the strains of "Let it Go" and "Do You Want to build a Snowman".

Very likable and thoroughly entertaining.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder..............

After a long absence from updating this page regularly, I thought it was time I get back into it and hopefully hone my writing skills somewhat rather than letting them dwindle away to nothingness.

A few movies have missed out on being reviewed in the last few months, but I will endevour to catch up on a few that made an impression on me.

So what am I looking forward to? Here's a few that I know of.

Guardians of the Galaxy - I must admit to not knowing anything about this Marvel Group at all but the trailers certainly make it appealing.

The Boxtrolls - This just looks way too cute for words, very original and lots of fun. 

Hunger Games: Mockingjay - I am tiring slightly of the franchises like this, but I did enjoy the last one. It will be interesting to see how they deal with Phillip Seymour Hoffmans passing before filming concluded. 

Dracula Untold - Another Dracula remake? Will see this because I LOVE vampire movies and am incredibly curious, but I don't hold much hope for it sadly.












Paddington - Something I loved as a kid. With Colin Firth dropping out as the voice of Paddington, whoever they get to replace him will make or break this.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Starring: Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Aidan Turner, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lily, Luke Evans, Lee Pace. (and all the dwarves!!)
Director: Peter Jackson

 

So I'm going to start of by saying, if you didn't like the first one because you think Peter Jackson is cashing in and don't understand how he can make three movies out of one rather short book, then stop reading right now and don't bother going to see it, because you won't enjoy it and you'll just complain even more.

Ok, so all the PJ fans still with me? Good, read on.

Ok, so movie number two in the second epic trilogy of Tolkien movies directed by Peter Jackson has been much anticipated by some of us and for me, I am happy to say I enjoyed it. I think I liked the first one better as it introduced us to a new set of characters  as well as bringing back some much loved ones.

SPOILERS AHEAD

With The Desolation of Smaug comes the introduction of a few new characters, Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans), Tauriel the Mirkwood Elf (Evangeline Lily) The Mayor of Laketown (Stephen Fry) and Beorn the Skinchanger (Mikael Persbrandt).

The story continues with a flashback of Thorin entering the Prancing Pony in Bree under the watchful eye of some rather shady looking characters, watch out for a cameo in the first five minutes, where he happens upon Gandalf, who urges him to begin the quest to take back Erebor.

We then find our little company of dwarves and one hobbit one year later already on the quest, being chased by Azgog the Defiler and his pack of Orcs. They are chased into the rather gigantic residence of Beorn the Skinchanger, a large man who happens to take the shape of a bear on occasion. He agrees to help them on their way because while he dislikes dwarves, he hates orcs even more.

Their journey takes them into the sickly forest of Mirkwood, where they not only part ways with Gandalf, but where their adventures and near misses continue. That is until they are captured, and aided at the same time, by Legolas, Tauriel and a large band of bow wielding, high cheek boned, pointy eared, blue steel faced elves.

Thorin is immediately taken to Thranduill (Lee Pace), King of the elves of Mirkwood, who tries to deduce what the small company of dwarves are doing within the Elven realm. Lee Pace is brilliant as the cold and stoney faced King and those eyebrows could have spin off movies of their own!

Bilbo eventually comes up with a cunning plan (Baldrick style) and helps the dwarves escape from the clutches of the evil but ridiculously good looking elves, but not before Kili develops a friendship with Tauriel, who finds solace in the company of the tall and good looking dwarf.

A barrel ride down some gorgeous NZ river rapids, some fancy footwork from Legolas and some bumps and bruises, see the dwarves arrive in Laketown at the base of the Lonely Mountain where Smaug the Terrible still supposedly slumbers in the deep recesses of Erebor. Laketown outcast, Bard the Bowman (the rather intense looking Luke Evans), helps the dwarves get into the town and tries to help them until he finds out what they plan to do.

Meanwhile Kili is suffering from an arrow wound to the leg and is left behind with Bofur, Fili and one other dwarf while the rest continue their journey to the Lonely Mountain.

Gandalf meets with Radagast to discover the evil purpose of the Necromancer who has set up camp at Dol Goldur. He comes face to face with the Necromancer only to find an ancient evil has returned and is captured and caged, helplessly looking on as the orcs begin to amass preparing to  attack, led by Azgog.

The dwarves arrive at the base of Erebor and find the secret door, where Bilbo is pushed into going down to steal the Arkenstone using his hobbity powers of stealth and invisibility. He is met by the stupendous Smaug, the giant red dragon who has slumbered beneath an enormous pile of gold and wealth for 60 years and is still not willing to part with it. After some banter between the two, he realises what Bilbo is trying to do and the Benny Hill music is queued and ready for the chase around the mountain.

Tauriel arrives in Laketown with Legolas and the orcs and helps to heal the rather sick looking Kili while Legolas kicks some orc butt and chases the leader of the orcs across the bridge away from Laketown.

Another cunning plan sees the dwarves cover Smaug in a layer of gold trying to outwit him, but all it really does is doom the residents of Laketown where the movie fades out and we have to wait another twelve months to find out what happens.

END SPOILERS

 

Did I enjoy it? Yes I did, but I felt there were some things missing and some things a bit overdone. The CG used with Legolas and the arrow shooting was a little bit too much, even though some of the ways the orcs perished are pretty inventive and reminiscent of Legolas' excellent bow skills from Lord of the Rings.

I also enjoyed some of the tie ins from Lord of the Rings, although my husband hated those bits as he is very much of the opinion that he shouldn't tie the previous movies in with this one at all due to the fact that the books were written in the opposite order to the movies being made. As a fan girl, I loved it.

The closing song, "I see Fire" by Ed Sheeran is perfect and it's one of those songs that I just love listening to.

All in all, another enjoyable instalment from Peter Jackson, but it will anger a lot of people. One more to go, and while I'm looking forward to it, I'm also dreading it as I know it brings another brilliant trilogy to an end. Whatever will we see on Boxing Day 2015??

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger (2013)
Starring: Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter.
Director: Gore Verbinski

Johnny Depp has been a part of my movie going experiences for a VERY LONG TIME. I've been a fan since 21 Jump Street way back when, well.......a long time.

Now, don't get me wrong, while I love most of what Johnny does, some of the stuff he chooses to take on really doesn't hit the mark. I really didn't enjoy Public Enemies, Dead Man, The Libertine or Secret Window. So the rumours flying around about this movie have been really bad, most people saying it's not worth seeing, the acting is terrible, Johnny was just rehashing Captain Jack and putting a different name to the same character. Well after finally watching it on Bluray, I can tell you that our whole family thoroughly enjoyed it.

Not really knowing the story of The Lone Ranger very well, I'm just going to say that it was a decent storyline, not epic, and I loved Johnny in it. Him and Armie Hammer together actually make a great comic duo. Throw in Helena Bonham Carter as a one legged madam of the old west and hilarity ensues.

Now it wasn't perfect, and I can totally understand people not liking it, but I think Gore Verbinski really has borrowed from a lot of other movies to try and make this work and it's just fallen short of being a great film. It's a good film, but not a great one.

Some fantastic action sequences with the trains, almost a homage to the old black and white films in some parts. And the horse is brilliant.

Costumes, cinematography and make up on Johnny, especially the dead bird, are really quite kitsch but fit the period that they've set this in.

Well worth it just for the laughs, but remember to take your brain out before watching so that you don't overthink it. It's a popcorn film, nothing more.

Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo.
Director: Alan Taylor

                    

In the last 2 years, I have become a huge Tom Hiddleston fan, even going so far as to wait around with a bunch of 20 somethings for 12 hours just to see him in person. Tom is a fan girls dream. He is tall, handsome, charming, English and can actually act! I know, I know, it's a matter of opinion, but this is MY page, therefore, I'll state my opinion if I want to.

Thor, along with Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk is part of the Avengers series and each movie follows another in terms of storyline. Tom Hiddlestons' character, Loki, has now been in three of the movies and has been well received by the popcorn movie going public.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, PLEASE STOP READING NOW.
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Odin (Anthony Hopkins) begins our new chapter with a history of some of the races of the nine realms, including the Dark Elves, led by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) who is intent on bringing darkness to all through the use of the Aether, a liquid form of evil that destroys all that it touches. Hundreds of years later however, Odin is unaware that the Aether was hidden by his own father after the Dark Elves were defeated, laying dormant while Malekith slept with those that remain of his race.

Following on from The Avengers, Loki has been taken back to Asgard by Thor and is imprisoned in the dungeons below the Throne room for his crimes against the nine realms after a bit of a dressing down from Daddy.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), is missing her blonde haired Asgardian God and mopes around London looking for signs that he may return when her intern Darcy (the hilarious Kat Dennings) takes her to see a phenomenon in an abandoned building. All signs point towards Thors return, but in the meantime, Jane is sucked into another plane and comes into contact with the Aether, which seizes it's chance and infects Janes body.

On Asgard, Thor speaks to Heimdall, the Guardian of the bifrost, asking him how Jane is, when Heimdall realises something is wrong as he can no longer see her. Thor immediately returns to Earth, only to find Jane showing off some new, rather lethal powers of her own. Thor whisks her back to Asgard to see if his healers are able to help, much to Odins distress, when they are attacked by the newly awaken Dark Elves.

Thor enlists the help of his disgraced brother, who reluctantly agrees and their quest to defeat Malekith and restore Jane to her normal self begins.

There was a lot of humour in this film, which really lightened it up for me, and with the return of all but one of the cast from the first movie, I found this to be a brilliant and engaging sequel. I would even go so far as to say I enjoyed this more than the first one.

The stand out for me...............was Christopher Eccleston as Malekith. The make up was absolutely fantastic and he is pretty much unrecognisable. He really was the embodiment of a dark elf. His elaborately braided hair was stunning and he had such an overwhelming presence whenever he was on screen.

                                                        
I also loved seeing Chris Hemsworth really settling into his role as Thor. In the first movie I found he was almost awkward, over did the accent a bit and the blonding of his eyebrows and hair was just a bit too much. They started righting some of these wrongs in The Avengers but seem to have really found the look with this film. His relationship with Jane is very sweet and the chemistry between him and Natalie Portman is definitely there. Very much enjoyed the one minute shirtless scene and the scene on the London underground where the random office worker takes the opportunity to bump into his chest and feel him up...........who wouldn't!!

The two major cameos were so well done that I won't spoil them here even though I've given a couple of things away.

While I haven't seen it myself, apparently film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, reviewed this last week and hated it. I really don't understand why film critics that obviously don't enjoy popcorn films, or films based on comic books would even bother when they would rip it to pieces even before viewing it. People like that should stick to their old fart films with no action, adventure or enjoyment. God I hope I'm not like that when I'm older and am still going to see comic book movies in years to come and thoroughly enjoying them.

For those seeing this at the cinema, STAY UNTIL THE VERY END!!! There is a bit after the minor credits, then a bit after the major credits. But if you're a Marvel fan, I shouldn't have to tell you to stay until the end. :P

I really enjoyed this and have enjoyed discussing it with my family over lunch today. Please remember, this is a popcorn film, not a film for people that like to be mentally challenged. Take your brain out, and enjoy!!!

                         

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters (2013)
Starring: Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T Jackson, Anthony Head, Stanley Tucci, Jake Abel, Nathan Fillion.
Director: Thor Freudanthal

My son and I both love this series of books, combining Greek Mythology with modern day kids in a heroic situation is kind of brilliant and really gets kids interested in ancient history. However, after the only minor success of the first one, I really didn't think a second one would ever come about and was very surprised when I read this was being made. Some say Chris Columbus was just waiting to finish all the Harry Potter hype before concentrating on further films, maybe that was true. Regardless, I'm happy to say this was a worth sequel.

I really love sequels that bring back the same actors and blend almost seamlessly into the previous movie. I think you could easily sit down and watch this movie straight after the first one and while you would notice a few changes in the actors themselves, it's pretty well done.

Percy's adventures take him across the seas this time to the legendary Sea of Monsters, or what we humans call the Bermuda Triangle, in search of the mythical Golden Fleece. Percy's two best friends accompany him once more but this time they have a new companion in the form of Tyson, the Cyclops half brother of Percy.

Sadly, Pierce Brosnan did not return in this sequel to play the role of Chiron the Centaur, but Anthony Head does a great job filling in. I also love the addition of Stanley Tucci to the cast as Dionysus, God of Wine, cursed by Zeus to forever drink water. Stanley Tucci is fabulous in whatever he does these days.

Noticeably missing were any cameos from either Sean Bean as Zeus or Kevin McKidd as Poseidon. I wonder if they didn't offer them enough money to come back or they weren't interested in coming back.

All that aside, a great film for the school holidays, no swearing, obviously a bit of violence in fighting monsters etc, but a fantastic ride through Greek Mythology once more.