FILM REVIEW - The Amazing Spider-Man

Directed by: Marc Webb
Written by: James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, Steve Kloves (based on the comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko)
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans
Genre: Action/Sci-Fi(ish)
Certificate: 12A
Release Year: 2012

The Amazing Spider-Man is named wrong. A better suited name would be The Slightly Above Average Spider-Man, or the The Just Managing To Step Above Mediocrity Spider-Man. Admittedly, these titles don't have the same ring to them...

From the outset, this film had alot of potential. It had the lizard (which hadn't been done in the original trilogy) and it had Andrew Garfield. But above all, it aimed to reinvent the Spidey franchise as a teen movie series, I didn't mind the first two being kids movies, but Spider-Man 3 was painfully childish.

So let's take these factors individually. The lizard looked fantastic, and Rhys Ifans did a brilliant job playing him and his human version, Dr. Curt Connors. He was definately one of the most believable characters, which is no mean feat considering he was playing a crazy scientist who injected himself with reptile juice and turned into Godzilla.

Andrew Garfield - again brilliant. He had a hard act to follow after Tobey Maguire hung up the skin-tight red and blue suit, but has certainly lived up to expectation. I've been a fan of Garfield since seeing The Social Network. This isn't because I enjoyed The Social Network - watching it was like having my eyes gouged out with a pair of gardening sheers - but because Garfield's performance made the film nearly bearable. Good job.

Finally, the change of target audience.Or the confusion over whether there was one? To some extent, The Amazing Spider-Man did feel more like a teen movie in that it focused alot on school life and thee romance between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone). But, in all honesty, this was handled quite High School Musical-y, and the level of violence wasn't very different to the original film which left me confused about how this had earned a 12A certificate.

So, was it worth rebooting the Spider-Man franchise? I have to say yes, but not on the merits of this film, but more on the downfall of Spider-Man 3. This new interpretation is pretty similar to it's predecessor, but because of this it still retains the same satire and playfulness that made the other series so popular.

6/10

What did you think of The Amazing Spider-Man? Let us know in the comments...
Tom :) 

TV REVIEW - Primeval Series 5 Episode 3 (Spoiler-free)

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Created by: Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines
Directed by: Robert Quinn
Written by: Paul Mousley & Gabbie Asher
Starring: Ciaran McMenamin, Andrew-Lee Potts, Hannah Spearritt, Ben Mansfield, Ruth Kearney, Ruth Bradley, Stephen Hogan
Genre: Sci-Fi
Air Date: 7th June 2011 (Watch), 30th June 2012 (ITV)

You may remember last week I was a bit down on Primeval. I eat my words.

In this week's episode, a raptor escaped through an anomaly into a pop-art gallery. The team forced it back through the anomaly, then realised they'd got the wrong anomaly and had sent the raptor back to Victorian England, where it turned out to be responsible for a series of murders that had thought to have been committed by Spring-heeled Jack. Matt followed the raptor through the anomaly in order to track it down, to find Emily on the other side.

This episode was alot better than the first two of the series. It was tense and kept you glued all the way through. The pacing was fast and, for once, the plot wasn't obvious and predictable, especially towards the end.

The other advantage the episode had over the last two was Emily. Ruth Bradley is one of the best actresses the franchise has seen, and the character of Emily is alot more interesting than all the others put together. It's great that she now seems to have permanently returned to the series.

Primeval also hugely benefitted from a change of scenery. Modern-day was getting very samey, using Victorian England added alot more fun and romance to the story. Typical Dickensian clichés such as the puppeteer at the beginning and the story of Jack the Ripper were too charming not to be loved.

Of course, it wasn't flawless. As with every episode of Primeval, parts were badly written, and came across as corny. But this shouldn't take away from the overall piece.

Definately better.

7/10


What did you think of this week's Primeval? Let us know in the comments.
Tom :)

FILM REVIEW - Danny Boyle's Frankenstein (Spoiler-Free)

Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Nick Dear (based on the novel by Mary Shelley)
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller
Release Year: 2011 (Encore Screening 2012)
Genre: Sci-Fi/Horror/Stage Play
Certificate: 15

In 2009, the National Theatre in London launched a project to broadcast their best plays live to screens across the world. It was called National Theatre Live, imaginatively. So this "film review" isn't really of a film, but of a stage play, which is unlikely to be released on DVD. But it might be, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it returns to cinemas for a third time. If it does, SEE IT!

Frankenstein tells the story of the Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a gifted scientist who discovers how to create artificial life. But his first experiment goes wrong, bringing the deformed creature into existence. The creature develops human emotions such as hate and a thirst for vengeance, and decides to pursue his maker to demand him to build him a mate.

This is a completely new and original interpretation of Shelley's gothic classic. Instead of siding with Dr. Frankenstein and showing the creature as a full-blown monster, this version shows the story through the creature's eyes. We see it's vulnerability and it's sorrow, and experience it's longing and self-sympathy. This adds an entirely new twist to the story and gives it a much deeper meaning that Shelley intended, but has been lost in most film adaptations.

When the play was performed, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated roles as Victor Frankenstein and the creature each night. On the showing I watched Cumberbatch played the creature and Lee Miller played Frankenstein.

At first, I wasn't too overwhelmed by the production. The play opens with 20 minutes of the virtually-naked creature learning to walk. While this is a clever way to show the creatures innocence and child-like nature, and is certainly a more down-to-earth opening than that of the book, the scene does drag horrendously. 10 minutes maximum would have been enough.

After this though, the play really picks up pace and becomes very enjoyable. It sways from moments of hilarity (the creature's first words are "P**s off! B****r off!"),  to moments of extreme tension or heart-wrenching sadness. Both Cumberbatch and Lee Miller were fantastic, and I would love to have the opportunity to see the play again with them in opposite roles.

Do not be put off seeing this because it is apparently a horror. While the play is very tense and provides a few little shocks, it never reaches the stage of terrifying. The 15 certificate has been earnt by a mixture of mild language and nudity.

In modern adaptations, we expect parts to be different from the book. In this version, just the right amount was changed to make the story new and interesting for people who have read the novel while also keeping very true and traditional. It was a perfect balance.

Overall, this is a superb production of Frankenstein which is only let down by it's lengthy opening scene. Please show it cinemas again!

9/10

Have you seen Frankenstein? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Tom :)

TV REVIEW - Primeval Series 5 Episode 2 (Spoiler-free)

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Created by: Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines
Directed by: Robert Quinn
Written by: Steve Bailie
Starring: Ruth Kearney, Ciaran McMenamin, Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Ben Miller
Genre: Sci-Fi
Air Date: 31st May 2011 (Watch), 23rd June 2012 (ITV)


In this weeks episode of Primeval, the team went on board a nuclear submarine in order to close an anomaly submerged in the North Sea. While trying to complete their mission, the team pass through the anomaly and are faced with an attack from a swarm of Lipleurodon. On top of this, their is also a rogue Theropod on board that passed through the anomaly and was captured by the crew. Can the team cope with both these dangers and also return home?


This episode took on a real disaster movie look. Scenes showing the team running around the submarine with water squirting out of the walls was very reminiscent of films such as Titanic and Poseidon. Visually the episode was cleverly put together to look like one of these traditional styled films (thumbs up to Quinn).


Unfortunately, this is the only real thing that sets this episode apart from the rest of Primeval. And even the idea of recreating a disaster movie within a sci-fi seems to have been taken from Doctor Who's Voyage of the Damned. Primeval has recieved alot of criticism for ITV trying to recreate the success of Who and playing to the same audience, which it has achieved to an extent. But unlike Who, Primeval is grounded on Earth, and is almost entirely based on modern day, so isn't anywhere near as versatile. Having said this, next week's episode will include elements of Victorian England, which I'm looking forward to.


Overall, the episode maintains it's usual standard of tense moments and light humour, and the dinosaurs as always look great for a TV show, but the show is getting too samey now. Admittedly this episode was paced better than last weeks, but these changes are just mild fluctuations. Maybe we should just let a sleeping Lipleurodon lie?


5/10


You can watch this episode of Primeval on ITV Player here.


What did you make of this weeks episode of Primeval? Let us know in the comments.
Tom :)

TV REVIEW - Primeval Series 5 Episode 1 (Spoiler-free)

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If you don't know what Primeval is, here is trailer for this series. This trailer is from watch but we are watching it on ITV, but hey!

Ok, so Primeval is about a group of people who work for the government and their job is to find anomalies, which are basically time travel portals. Many creatures end up coming through these portals. The team's mission is to close the anomalies, and not die. Got it? Good!








Lets get started. Episode 1:
Created by: Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines
Director: Mark Everest
Writer: Chris Lang
Staring: Ben Masfield, Ruth Kearney, Ciaran McMenamin, Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Ben Miller
Genre: Sci-Fi
Air date: 24th May 2011 (Watch), 16th June 2012 (ITV)

In this episode the team must protect the public from some giant burrowing bugs that have somehow been around for ages and noone has noticed them, even though they make giant holes and eat people. Humm, someone hasn't thought this through.

Ignoring this, the episode is written alright. It has some nice plot lines and especially series plot lines. However at times the team seem to do pointless things like going down a hole just to get scared and run out of the hole. Also it was unlikely that a lawnmower would cause vibrations to summon the bug as there is bound to be bigger vibrations near by and really would a well evolved creature would go bad to where it just came from.

Suspense is built well in the episode and is effective in making it more engaging.

The CGI is really good. Sometimes the creatures in Primeval are unimaginative however these seem to be relatively unique.

Sometimes there was shakey camera work, which was horrible. With those silly, shoddy zooms and stuff.

Overall I think it is worth watching and a good series but they should get a better director and more imagination.

4/10

What creature would you like to see in Primeval? Post answers in the comments.
Kieron :O

FILM REVIEW - Prometheus (Spoiler-free)

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Written by: Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron
Release Year: 2012
Genre: Sci-Fi/Horror
Certificate: 15

When Ridley Scott announced that he planned to return to the world of Sci-Fi to create a prequel to his masterpiece Alien, naturally, everyone got very excited. And why wouldn't you? Alien defined science fiction/horror movies, and is regarded as a classic. Also, the Alien franchise needed redeeming after the terrible Alien vs Predator films.

Prometheus tells the story of a group of humans going to a distant planet to make contact with an alien race that may have created mankind. Unfortunately, the aliens turn out to be a little hostile...

Unsurprisingly, I went into Prometheus expecting a terrifying, gore-filled blood-bath. Surprisingly, Scott has offered us an intelligent, philosophical thriller with only hints of the expected horror-fest. If you want a "people-run-round-spaceship-and-get-killed-in-horrific-ways" film, you are much better off just watching Alien again. Only two deaths are particularly bad, and even they are nothing compared to John Hurt's stomach bug.

I don't see this as a bad thing though. Yes you kinda miss the mindless gut-ripping to begin with, but it is soon forgotten as you submerge yourself in the new, complex plot.

The acting on the whole is superb. Noomi Rapace more than fills the gap that is left for her by Signourney Weaver. It's worth mentioning that Elizabeth Shaw is nothing like Ripley of the original films and Rapace makes the new lead role her own and makes the whole film feel a bit more human. The other actor to take note of is Michael Fassbender as creepy android David. Fassbender's performance is flawless, and will leave you guessing right up until the end.

To begin with, the writing is as good as the acting. The film carries at a steady pace and Damon Lindelof's script moves from moments of high tension to moments of comedy quickly and with ease. There's a particularly quirky scene between Idris Elba's Yannick and Charlize Theron's Vickers that I found very funny. I won't spoil it for you though.

About half way through though, the writing becomes a bit clunky. The story starts to become predictable, and some of the "twists" are just annoying. The amount of unnecessary gore also increases. I'm not saying I'm squeamish, but there is on scene in particular that just seems over the top and verges on comedic. You should recognise the bit I'm talking about, but this review is spoiler-free.

Overall, I did enjoy the film, despite the poorly written second half. It's cinematic, very well acted and, above all, entertaining. Definately a fun way to pass two hours.

6/10


If you've seen Prometheus, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Tom :)

TV REVIEW - Torchwood Series 1 (Spoiler-free)

Created by: Russell T Davies
Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David-Lloyd, Kai Owen
Genre: Sci-Fi
Release Year: 2006

Since there isn't any decent cult TV shows running at the moment, we've had to resort to reviewing old stuff!

Torchwood is a spin-off of the long-running cult series Doctor Who (look! it's an anagram! crazy). The main cross-over point is the character of Captain Jack Harkness (Barrowman), who first appeared in the Who episode "The Empty Child". Torchwood is alot more mature than Who and aims at an older audience.

It's a pretty simple story; Harkness runs a top-secret alien-investigating team call Torchwood. They are top-secret, and investigate aliens. Oh, and they operate in Cardiff, which is kinda nifty, because aliens don't seem to land anywhere else on the planet.

Torchwood really varies. It has the ability to create fantastic pieces of television (such as "Countrycide" and "Combat"), but often falls flat on it's face (exhibit A - "Cyberwoman"). On the most part, the acting is superb and the majority of the series is well-written.

For example, take episode 10 of this series "Out of Time". In the episode, the team find a group of three people who have accidentally flown through the rift from the 1950s. The episode has a very different feel to the rest of the series, as the team don't have to deal with an impending alien threat. It swings from moments of intense emotion to scenes of comedy (at one point, the lost souls from the 50s struggle to negotiate an automatic door). The episode was brilliantly written by Catherine Tregenna and included fantastic guest stars Louise Delamere, Mark Lewis Jones and Olivia Hallinan.

And then there's the bad episodes. I mentioned "Cyberwoman" earlier. In the episode, it turns out one of the team, Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) has been hiding his girlfriend in the basement of the Hub, who has been half converted into a cyberman at the battle of Canary Wharf (Doctor Who, Series 2, Episodes 12 and 13). She then turns nasty, and we are treated to a very clunky script, and some awful fake crying on David-Lloyd's part.

And then there's the ugly. "Random Shoes". Don't even watch it.

In general, the regulars are very good at their roles. Barrowman plays a very convincing arrogant boss and Myles holds her own as the newcomer to the team. But for me, Burn Gorman steals the show for me with his portrayal of Owen, a reckless player who gets in a bit of a mess towards the end of the series. His performance is engrossing, and the way his character develops through the series is very exciting. Oh, and there's some woman called Toshiko (Mori). Not sure why she's there.

Overall, Torchwood shows alot of potential in its first series to become a great cult hit. But it's a bit hit and miss. Hopefully this is sorted out for the second series.

Tom :)

FILM REVIEW - Men in Black 3 (Spoiler-free)

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by: Etan Cohen, Lowell Cunningham
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin
Release Year: 2012
Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy
Certificate: PG

I went to watch the third, and hopefully final, Men in Black film the other day with high expectations, the previous two movies featuring the intergalactic crime-fighting duo with Will Smith playing Agent J and Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K  had gripping plots, dynamic screenplay and state of the art special effects creating timeless films with enough humour and action to satisfy any audience, resulting in a deserved billion dollar franchise. And Men in Black 3 was no exception.

The storyline is fairly clichéd and unoriginal; without giving anything away the plot revolves around Agent J, played by Will Smith, travelling back in time to 1969 to rescue young Agent K, played convincingly by Josh Brolin, to prevent an armada of planet devouring aliens destroying earth in modern times, a common theme to many sci-fi films including the recent Marvel Avengers Movie.

Despite the predictable nature of the plot, Sonnenfeld manages to revitalise the plot and also create a rather surprising twist right at the end of the film. The dynamic nature of the film combined with the comic book puns and gripping action sequences, including a bike chase involving high-tech unibikes (reminiscent of the single wheeled vehicle used by General Grievous in Star Wars episode 3) chasing the main villain named Boris (Jemaine Clement) who is on a hardcore custom chopper through the streets of New York, results in an entertaining and truly enjoyable film experience.

The acting as usual for the star filled cast was excellent and convincing, thank god as ultimately, it is a professional actor’s job to create a convincing character; it is what they are paid to do, but particular kudos goes to Josh Brolin for his quite frankly epic portrayal of a young Agent K. The on-screen chemistry between Will Smith and Brolin appeared to be the same as the Chemistry between Smith and Tommy Lee-Jones, a feat that required a skilled actor such as Brolin. Brolin further completed the illusion of being a younger Lee- Jones through the manner that he imitated Lee-Jones facial expressions and body language which must have required a great deal of before filming research. My respect also goes out to the makeup department who managed to make the two actors seem uncannily similar, also aiding in the convincing portrayal of a young agent K.

Talking of a star filled cast, when you go to see the film look out for a certain Lady GaGa on the alien watchdog screen and a short but satisfying appearance from Nichole Scherzinger as a biker chick.

I also recommend that you see MIB 3 in 3D as, unusually, the 3D effects have been used to good effect, a relief as most current 3D films really do not make use of the feature. I often noticed audience members flinch as lasers, glass, alien guts and saliva “flew” out of the screen at relevant times.

As with all films, there were a few disappointing points about this final instalment of the Men in Black trilogy. Unlike the previous films, Men in Black 3 lacked the “jump” factor that was common in its predecessors, a feature which I sorely missed.  

At times the story seemed to lack continuity and logic, the directors also appeared to have forgotten about the previous explanations they had created for Agent K’s cold nature offering yet another reason, revealed at the end of the feature. Sonnenfeld also appears to have forgotten all about K’s previous wife and his estranged daughter in the final explanation, a disappointing continuity error for MIB fans. 

However, the comedy quips, intense action sequences, engaging emotions and fabulous 3D effects have more than compensated for these minor blemishes on yet another good MIB film.

Therefore, MIB 3 gets a big fat 8 on the crashometer, a film that I recommend to you all.

8/10

Special thanks to our good friend Luke for writing this review for us. If you've seen MiB3, let us know what you thought of it in the comments.

And that's all for this weeks movie info. Tomorrow, I'll be writing this weeks Crunch, talking about unknown musicians. Hope to see you then.

Tom :)