Film Review | Avengers Assemble
“And there came a day unlike any other…” This opening line to the Avengers comic books was also spoken by Samuel L. Jackson when the cast of the Avengers was first unveiled at Comic-Con almost two years ago. Marvel’s ambitious superhero team-up has been four years in the making and has spanned five films, but now it’s finally upon us. Make no mistake about it; Avengers Assemble marks an unprecedented event. Just like the team itself, there are so many reasons why it should not work. And yet, director Joss Whedon & co have managed to surpass all the lofty expectations and deliver not only one of the greatest superhero films ever made, but one of the best blockbusters in recent memory.
Read the rest of this review on Yin & Yang here.
Film Review | Fury
Next week, Samuel L. Jackson will be hitting UK screens as Nick Fury in Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (2012), to which many minds may wander when they learn that he is also starring this week in Fury (The Samaritan, 2012). This is no Marvel spin-off however; Jackson stars as Foley, an ex-con eager for redemption in this Canadian thriller directed and co-written by David Weaver. Fury offers up an intriguing examination of its issues, but all too often lacks the panache that could have made it truly memorable.
Read the rest of this review on CineVue here.
Film Review | The Cabin in the Woods
Have you ever been watching a film and felt that you’ve seen parts of it before? It’s a problem that horror films in particular seem to have run into of late. Well good news horror fans; it’s a problem that the makers of Cabin in the Woods are well aware of. Penned by Joss Whedon – aka the director of that small film called Avengers Assemble – and directed by Drew Goodard, this latest addition to the genre revels in turning those well known clichés upside down, and is easily the best horror film of the year for it.
Read the rest of this review on Yin & Yang here.
Film Review | Battleship
Recently, James Cameron (Avatar) came out about the lack of originality in Hollywood, citing Battleship as a prime example. With the amount of sequels, prequels, and reboots due for release in the next couple of years, I am inclined to agree with him. Battleship is based on the Hasbro video game, the same company from which Transformers was birthed. The similarities between the two have been very apparent in the trailers, and many have proclaimed that it is Transformers-at-sea. Can director Peter Berg (Hancock) distinguish Battleship from its criticized counterpart?
Read the rest of this review on Yin & Yang here.
Film Review | Marley
Michael Jackson. Ray Charles. Stevie Wonder. These names often come to one’s mind when thinking of musical greats. Bob Marley is another musical legend who has earned his place in that distinguished pantheon, his many hits still easy listening 30 years after his untimely death. Though there have been many pieces of Marley’s life and music documented since, there are still more than one or two blanks that have not yet been filled. It has fallen to Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland) to deliver the definitive documentary Marley so richly deserves, and it is a monumental success.
Read the rest of this review on Yin & Yang here.
Film Watch | April
Last month, The Hunger Games satiated everyone’s appetite with an excellent film that started the franchise off well. There’s another delightful smorgasbord of films coming out in April, not least of which a documentary on one of the most impactful musical figures of the 20th century, a film about a prison break with an interesting twist, and a superhero extravaganza everyone’s talking about.
Hit the link for details on these films and more.
Film Review | Mirror Mirror
Whether you love them or not there is something enduring about fairy tales, those timeless short stories that are told and retold from generation to generation. Few come more famous than Snow White, who has a big year ahead of her. In June, audiences will see her remade into a warrior princess for Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman. Before that however, director Tarsem Singh (Immortals) gets first bite of the apple in Mirror Mirror, perhaps the more traditional retelling of the two but not without its share of twists.
Read the rest of this review on Yin & Yang here.
