Category: Entertainment

Toy Story 3 (with added D)

The final (probably) installation in PIXAR‘s initial franchise closes the lid on the adventures of Buzz and Woody.

Toy Story 3

“The claaaaaaaw!”

I’m assuming anyone reading this is familiar with the first two films and therefore the characters. Some have vanished over time – Andy is after all now 17 years old and about to go to college. He has to choose what to do with his toys – throw them, chuck them in the attic or donate them to a day care centre.

And thus the adventure begins. As usual, Woody is the leader and knows the situation – but the others don’t believe him. This plot line is getting a little thin. You’d have thought the rest of the group would have figured out that he’s on the ball by now.

Visually, the film’s superb. It also has a decent story which really picks up towards the end with some scenes that are really tense as the toys face near certain doom. By tense, I mean near-horrific. Seriously, it’ll scare the youngest kids.

There are some nice harks back to the original film and the cast are on form as ever. John Lasseter has been replaced as director by Lee Unkrich who edited the previous two instalments and he’s done an admirable job.

Still, given the choice, I’d recommend Shrek Forever After over this. Cartoons are meant to be funny and the big green ogre’s final shout has far more laughs than TS3.

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Karate Kid

Another 80’s remake, another triumph.

The Karate Kid

“Everything… is kung fu.”

Forget Daniel. Forget “wax on, wax off”. Don’t forget Pat Morita as Mr Miyagi (because he was awesome). Welcome Jaden Smith to the canon of incredibly gifted young actors.

This is the perfect “reimagining” of a film that so many of us remember from the 1980’s. What was past is past. The basic premise has bee taken, tweaked, mildly parodied and built on. The cast as superb (this is the best Jackie Chan film in 15 years and certainly his best acting in as long) and the story is a well-crafted take on the original.

Jackie Chan has spent the last 10 years or so trying to recapture his youth when he was, without a doubt, one of the most athletic martial arts stars of all time. However, over the last 10 years or so he’s pumped out comedies and incredibly poor action films using wirework and CGI. The Tuxedo was a complete nadir in his career and should have been buried at the ideas stage. The Karate Kid makes up for this. Instead of pretending not to be old, Chan’s character is based very much on being old.

Jaden Smith, also, is gobsmackingly good. OK, so he comes from good stock. Say what you like about him but his father, Will Smith, can act. And sing. And dance. Jaden’s got the good genes. He’s dedicated, hard-working, emotional, emotive and ridiculously talented. For a child that age to be performing as well as he is both athletically and artistically is, frankly, amazing.

OK, the story. Dre (Jaden) and his mother (Tariji P. Henson) move to Beijing in search of work. Dre finds a girl and a lot of trouble from local bullies. Who happen to know kung fu (note – not karate, this is China!). After one particularly severe beating, Mr Han (Chan) comes to his rescue and agrees to train him in preparation for a tournament.

The plotline is very similar to the 1980’s version, but is definitely up to date. The bad guys are as mean and malicious as the original, but there are some subtle changes. Fans of Morita’s classic will enjoy the hints while not feeling cheated by what could have been a simple remake. Simple things like “cobra” instead of “crane” made it for me. And the fly/chopsticks scene was hilarious.

Watching in a Vietnamese cinema with a crowd who were applauding the competitors in the final competition was a very surreal experience, but it worked well. The simple fact was that the audience were utterly involved in the film. I almost joined them in cheering Dre on in the final.

Do not miss this film. Smith is a revelation. Chan has finally found a niche that suits his post-action star age band. The story is well told. The fight scenes are superb. The side plots are emotional and not overdone.

I loved The A-Team but this is a very different 80’s remake. Hannibal’s company make for silliness. This is just a great story, very well told.

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A-Team review

The A-Team
The A-Team

Big, brash and silly this is a great update of a classic bit of TV trash.

The A-Team

“He’s trying to fly that tank”

Remakes and updates are dangerous territory. There’s the risk of destroying fond memories or of throwing money at a project that simply doesn’t match up to the original. A-Team manages to be a great modern version of something which, when I went back to watch it recently, was really rather crap.

With the special effects being done by WETA and several other houses, you know this is going to be just chock full of graphics, stunts and over-the-top silliness. It certainly doesn’t disappoint. Any of you who care about the laws of physics would be well recommended to take a “suspend belief” pill before settling into your seat.

The film very much acts as a “how it all began” story, sticking fairly well to the original premise. One major difference, though, is that people do get shot and killed – something that never seemed to happen in the TV series. Hannibal (Liam Neeson) is the head honcho with all the ideas, Quinton Jackson is a huge, mohawked BA Baracus, Bradley Cooper woos the ladies as Faceman and Sharlto Copley is a suitably bonkers “howling mad” Murdock.

Jackson, in honesty, is a little clunky and hard to understand at the start of the film. I’m guessing he’s an ex-wrestler or something and making a break into films due to his bulk. The rest of the cast are pretty much spot on. The banter between them is also sharp and got quite a few laughs from the Vietnamese crowd (and myself).

For some reason it still felt a little over-long and segmented, but perhaps that was down to me being ridiculously tired when I watched it. It’s definitely over-the-top, has some utterly stupid stunts (even moreso than The Losers, which is saying something) and almost certainly will lead to a sequel.

Dare I hope for as good an update for Airwolf?

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Shrek 4 – a Shrek too far?

Short answer – no. And if this is how the series goes out, then it’s on a high.

Shrek Forever After

“Do the roar”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: In a bad moment, Shrek exchanges one day of his past for a day back being a “real” ogre – but doesn’t count on the consequences.

OK, I’m in Vietnam and I’m watching western films. In my defence this one had Vietnamese subtitles. The cinema was also crammed and there was a constant undercurrent of little kids babbling and giggling. In other words, the perfect atmosphere.

It was also in 3D and from the childish “woah!”s and “oooooh”s, I’m guessing at least a few of the audience hadn’t seen a 3D film before!

Before going on about the film, something else impressed me. As I said, it was subtitled which is unusual for a kid’s film. Generally, in Thailand you get the film in English. And you get one dubbed in Thai (or whatever language elsewhere) as young children will not have time to read all the subtitles. I was amazed to hear the kids laughing at the jokes – not just the visual stuff, but the jokes. Given the ages of some of them it says a lot about their reading ability.

Anyway, the movie. Frankly I thought Shrek 3 was a bit of a disappointment. This is a return to form and a great end to the series with a couple of new characters and a great take on the existing ones. Shrek changes history with his wish and we get to see Fiona as a warrior princess, Puss as a fatty, Gingerbread Man as a gladiator and so on.

I may also say that Fiona – bar the green skin – is bloody attractive for a cartoon character. Especially in armour. I guess I’m a little weird. And, yes, I mean in ogre form. Hmm. Yes. I have issues.

Anyhoo, the laughs are frequent, the dialogue sharp, the visuals possibly the best I’ve seen so far, the story tight and the characters perfect. As ever, in my opinion, Puss steals the show with his lines, attitude and big soppy eyes.

There’s not a lot else to write without giving away the story, but if you felt let down by the last one – give this final chapter a shot.

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Two films in Thailand

Ong Bak 3
Ong Bak 3

I’ve got 3 days of spare time in Pattaya – moreso now that my diving day has been cancelled – and was quite happy to spot a cinema when I was walking around. Even happier when I realised that Wednesday was “discount day” at 80B per film – less than £2. So despite being flipping knackered, I caught two movies.

Ong Bak 3

Plot-in-a-nutshell: orphaned ass-kicker takes revenge on nasty man who made him an orphan. I think. Something like that.

Sorry for the vagueness, but OB3 continues the weirdness that kicked off about halfway through Ong Bak 2. Tony Jaa, as ever, stars – and directed, scriptwrites, produces… He’s like Peter Jackson was back in the day. Wouldn’t surprise me if he sings the theme song at the end a la Jackie Chan.

The films follows on directly from OB2 with Tien in chains and about to be executed. Ass-kicking ensues and he escapes. The girl/love interest from the first film makes a re-appearance as does the insane guy for comic relief. He’s got some good lines in this one, but his appearance is still jarring in an otherwise strait-laced movie.

We get to see the creation of the statue which is the centrepiece of the fist Ong Bak movie as well as more elephant-related fight sequences. As ever, it’s the fight scenes which stand out above all else although they’re interspersed a little too much with plot. At times, the film seems to stall as it crawls down the “arty” pathway.

Despite the excellent performance from Jaa, and the wonderful “look” of the film it’s still just a bit too weird for my liking. It’s good to see the series run full circle and hopefully come to an end. With luck this means we can expect something new and different with his next release.

The Losers

“That was supposed to be us.”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Bad man tries to kill bunch of mercenaries who decide that, fair’s fair, they should try to kill him in return.

Despite being based on a DC Comic, this is a British creation being based (loosely) on the first six issues which were scripted by 2000AD‘s own Andy Diggle and drawn by “Jock“. Other than that, though, this is very much an American action movie.

The titular Losers are a bunch of mercenaries sent to do off-the-book dirty work. One jobin South America goes a little wrong and their boss attempts to kill them. This, surprisingly, doesn’t go down well so they set off to return the favour.

That’s about it for the plot as the film just careers through set piece after set piece. It harks back to it’s comic beginnings frequently with many shots frozen on screen or paced to look like frames on a drawn page. I liked that. It’s also big and brash in a way that comics often are, including one of the mist ridiculous finale scenes I think I’ve ever seen.

It’s a silly film, but it’s also funny, fast-paced and enjoyable. The dialogue is quite humorous in places and at no point will your brain be taxed by what happens. Despite this, one arsehole a few seats over kept telling his girlfriend what was about to happen just in case she was struggling to follow it.

If you like big guns, huge explosions and a plot you don’t need to think too hard about then this is well worth the trip to the cinema.

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