Review – Page 60 – Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog

Goal II: Living The Dream

It’s taken me a long time to get around to watching this one. I saw the original Goal! probably around four years ago in Newcastle. It did quite well in Tyneside cinemas, probably because it was set around the city and because it was about football.

What was really good about it was that the backbone of the story wasn’t the football – it was very much the characters. Sure, there were your stereotypes, but what would you expect from the scriptwriters of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Clement and La Frenais aren’t involved in this, the first of two sequels, and to some extent it shows. Mind, with far less of the film being set on Tyneside their influence perhaps isn’t needed.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: MuÃ±ez progresses from Newcastle United to Real Madrid (in a swap deal which brings Michael Owen the other way!), and begins to face the problems of the Spanish football scene, and being away from his fiancÃ©e. Also, more family secrets come out as the film progresses.

Goal II is pretty much an extended edition of a football-themed soap opera. On this note, I have to make a confession. The only soap I have ever followed on television is Sky’s Dream Team. Partly because it was about football and partly because of the stylish way they merged real Premier League footage with the actors.

The Goal series doesn’t quite manage the technical wizardry of the TV series, instead opting for just using the real players and filming live segments in front of huge crowds. It works quite well, though some of the footage doesn’t quite ring true.

It is, as every sports movie seems to be, a “rags to riches” tale, but it’s good to see that the sequel just isn’t a rehash of the first film, only with a Spanish accent. The scene is different in Spain, the film concentrates on the Champions League rather than La Liga and the domestic tension steps up a notch.

In true soap style, the ending is a real cliffhanger… though not on the footballing front. One very simple scene, a few minutes from the end, simply had me gagging for the third installment – even before the “To Be Continued” flash before the credits.

Sure, it’s not going to appeal to everyone. It’s not complex, but it’s about football and it makes a change from the tabloid-led stories we hear of in the real world. The football scenes are entertaining and the acting’s pretty good – partly as Backham doesn’t have any dialogue in this one.

Best of all, Goal 3: Taking on the World (yes, it’s based on the World Cup…) is due out in a month.

Fanboys

Fanboys was, for a long time, a rumour. A film that was kind of coming out, but never seemed to quite make it into the cinemas. I don’t know if it was ever on the big screen in the UK, but I’ve finally managed to catch it on the small screen and I really enjoyed it.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Four high-school friends meet up three years after graduation and go on a mission to locate a print of the not-then-released Star Wars Episode I. It’s a road movie for sci-fi geeks.

The complaint levelled at it by the mainstream media has been that it’s very much about fanboys and for fanboys. And, you know, this is true. I found myself laughing out loud at many points during the film, but looking back almost every single one was at spotting a line of dialogue (Wars and Trek) being used out of context, or on another incredibly cool cameo by some geek legend or other.

That is most definitely the highlight. Not only seeing these people in the film, but recognising them and knowing who they are. I’m not going to spoil it and name a single one. It would take a good portion of the enjoyment out of seeing this.

Without them, yeah. It’s just a road movie, and not a particularly great one. But he thing is, it does have these cameos, and references and nods. I defy anyone not to laugh at the scene that’s left after the van crashes. It’s not just a nod, it’s a clever nod.

Satisfy your inner geek – if you have one – and don’t miss this.

Coraline

First up – Coraline is pronounced like Caroline with the “o” and “a” swapped around. Something that is emphasised as the film progresses. Secondly, it’s creepy. Don’t take anyone too young or you will inevitably have episodes of “monsters under the bed” for the next few bedtimes.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: girl moves into new house, finds secret doorway in wall with lovely “other” mum and dad through it… only things aren’t as nice as they first seem and she ends up having to become more the heroine than the loved daughter.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the see the film in 3D as the showtimes didn’t suit, which is a shame as it looks absolutely beautiful in 2D. Without a shadow of a doubt, Coraline wouldn’t have been half the film had it been realised in any way other than stop motion. This method lends an automatic creepiness to any story, which goes hand in glove with the subject matter here.

A personal highlight to hear Dawn French (her character with enormous boobs, naturally) and Jennifer Saunders playing off each other again.

I guess two people need to be thanked: Neil Gaiman for such a great children’s story and Tim Burton for making big-screen stop-motion fashionable again with Nightmare Before Christmas.

Definitely one to see, but as I said – be a responsible adult as to how young the nippers are that you take.

Monsters vs Aliens

At long last I finally caught Monsters vs Aliens yesterday. I was hoping to take my little cousin to see it about a month back, but she had already been invited to see it for a classmate’s birthday and we ended up seeing 17 Again instead.

As with every major cartoon these days, the voice “talent” is impressive. Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen and Kiefer Sutherland amongst others in this case. The only problem I had with the voices were that their synchronisation seemed a little off with the mouth movements in the earlier scenes. Visually it’s up there with most other films of this ilk, though Witherspoon’s character Susan/Ginormica seems to be built like a Barbie doll – all legs and no torso.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Army secretly hordes monsters. Aliens invade. Monsters are granted their freedom if they destroy the aliens.

There are plenty of cookie characters to please the kids, and a lot of slapstick. Explosions and destruction is as prevalent as in a mid-budget Michael Bay offering. The plot’s about as complicated as any large summer event film, as well. What sparkled for me, though, were the subtle jokes and references that most kids won’t get.

Without giving a spoiler, watch for the missile with “ET GO HOME” written on it. Listen very carefully and you’ll hear a few bars from that film’s title music in the background.

Overall, it was fun but not a classic. Given this came from the same stable as Shrek (see if you can spot a very small cameo appearance from him!), I was expecting a little better but I have no major complaints. It was certainly an entertaining 90 minutes.

Oh, and don’t leave too early. After the first 60 seconds or so of the credits, there’s an extra scene!

Star Trek (2009)

Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming. Hollywood have finally taken something old, turned it into something new and – somehow – made it utterly freaking awesome at the same time. Star Trek has to be the single best “reboot” (I bloody hate that phrase) of any franchise so far. By a country mile. And then some.

Plot in a nutshell: Imagine a kind of Star Trek: Origins with some lovely tweaks and you’re there. If you don’t know the history of Star Trek, find a spotty person with no friends at a convention. They’ll be happy enough to spend the rest of your life explaining it to you.

What makes it so good? Well, pretty much everything. The story’s well done. The characters are as familiar as they could be… and yet subtly changed just enough so they don’t appear their old, dated selves. The cast are superb – Karl Urban could be DeForest Kelly and Zachary Quinto is the perfect Spock. The dialogue’s awesome – there’s a “phasers to stun”, a couple of “live long and prosper“s and a “dammit Jim, I’m a doctor not a physicist!” Sadly there’s a lack of “She cannatak it” from Scotty, but we’ll forgive them that one. It comes close.

Above all, it’s damn entertaining. The humour level is spot on and the effects are bang up to date without being the focus of the film. What I think I liked most, though, is that we already know the characters. What we’re seeing is the formation of a team that most over-30s have a great knowledge of. Finally we’re seeing exactly how they came together – or one version of it. The plot allows the creative team and the scriptwriters to tinker with previous versions, but they’ve done so subtly.

I will be amazed if they can follow this with a sequel even half as good. I know I’ve thrown a lot of hyperbole your way, but believe me I was grinning like a loon after the first 15 minutes (the opening sequence isn’t exactly humourous). I didn’t even punch crap out of the two idiots next to me who kept repeating bits of the dialogue and pointing out the characters to each other. I must have been immersed.

See it. If you’re a sci-fi fan or Trekker/Trekkie then please just go if you’ve not already got a ticket. If you’re not a fan, go see it anyway. If this doesn’t convert you then nothing will.

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