Salt (2010)

Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ***

Thriller in which a CIA agent is accused of being a Russian spy.

Unfortunately, even Angelina Jolie cannot fully make this film anything more than mediocre. She is a fantastic actress, even in this film - but the film does absolutely nothing for her.

There is very little emotion throughout the entire film, even with the death of Evelyn Salt's husband. The plot and characters leave no room for any emotional bonding of the audience, so we do in fact not really care at all whether Salt survives. The script is, again, simply average, and does not suit Jolie's character - notice various moments of speech which are almost wince-worthy. And notice that about 99% of the film is made up of action sequences, with the final 1% flashbacks. It is a little 'bambambam' - no rest between the action (most of which, like other thrillers/action films, is ridiculously unrealistic) at all.

The only thing that does make up a little bit for the film's averageness is the nice, interesting twists which come through the film - is, or is she not, a Russian spy? And, regardless of the silly action parts, you can't really help enjoying this film a little bit in places.

The Crazies (2010)

Director: Breck Eisner
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker
Genre: Horror
Rating: ****

Horror in which a small, insignificant town is affected by a virus which turns people into bloodthirsty 'crazies'.

A lot of horror films are made simply to show the maximum amount of gore, and to terrify people, with little thought to the cinematography, soundtrack etc. The thing which stands out the most about this film is that the camera shots are quite breathtaking, and the whole thing has been put together as not just a horror film, but also a work of (scary) art. With a menacing soundtrack and a fantastic performance from Joe Anderson, in which we see him gradually transform into a crazy, The Crazies is honestly haunting and terrifying. It is not without its jump moments, but does not go overboard with them, and instead makes them extremely clever rather than just there for scares.

With some black humour and clever twists, this film has it all. And, I must say, it is a nice, original variant from the generic zombie film.

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Director: David Fincher
Rating: *****

This film is honestly one of the most exquisite and breathtaking things I have ever seen. A devastating drama in essence, yet tinged with subtle comedic moments, the film never goes overboard with any of the emotions presented to the audience. Even though the film is just under three hours long, it is just under three hours of pure genius, with the last half hour battling down your emotional walls so successfully you will still have a gobstopper-sized lump lodged in your throat and tears trickling down your face long after the film has ended.

Pitt's performance as Benjamin Button is well worth his Academy Award nomination, but should have been awarded the Academy Award itself - portraying a man at various different stages in his life must be extremely difficult, yet he still manages to make it completely believable. Blanchett's own performance should at least have deserved a nomination, especially towards the end when she is nursing her love, who, due to aging backwards, is now a young child with dementia. The only thing which could have been improved here is her accent, which occasionally drifts off the contagious New Orleans tang, but not enough to easily notice it.

This is an absolute must-see for anyone who adores a tear-jerker, or simply a fantastic film.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Director: Gore Verbinski
Rating: ***

One of the film's (and perhaps even the series') finest scenes is the opening one, in which hundreds of people found to be associating with pirates are hanged. A young boy starts up the singing of 'Hoist the Colours', a pirate song. The other prisoners soon join in, to a moving chorus of hope amidst the death of these prisoners.

The main word I would use to describe this film is 'enjoyable'. It certainly was - Depp's performance as Captain Jack Sparrow was, as ever, extremely amusing (although I am not sure the parts in which there are more than one of him work). However, it is spoilt slightly by the fact that much of the humour in the film is simply a little too silly, mainly between Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg's characters.

There is a spectacularly filmed fight scene with brilliant special effects at the end of the film which, unfortunately, is ruined by its length of over 20 minutes. The crew could definitely have condensed it by cutting out a lot of Jack Sparrow's fighting with Davey Jones, much of which is monotonous and slow.

Overall, with a witty script and fabulous acting by leads Depp, Bloom and Knightley, the film passes as enjoyable, but does not live up to the original film in the series, which is a masterpiece. It could even be said that making Pirates of the Caribbean into a films series was unnecessary.



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Dorian Gray (2009)

Director: Oliver Parker
Rating: ****

A beautifully-filmed, wonderfully-acted, and brilliantly-horrific adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel.

Barnes is absolutely perfect as Dorian Gray, beginning the movie as an attractive, naive young man, and ending it as a terrifying monster. Firth is, of course, tantalisingly believable as Henry Wotton.

The wonderful thing about this film is that is portrays so easily how people can become corrupted over superficial things, in this case, staying young and beautiful forever. Yet it also shows that just because you live a life of pleasure, it does not necessarily mean you are happy.

Sexually charged and yet not obscene in the slightest, the film as a whole is a fantastic work of art, with the dark filters used to make it seem more gothic, and a darker film. The camera angles are experimental and sometimes slightly offputting, but this only adds to the layer of mystery and evil nature of Dorian Gray.

Worth seeing, especially if one has a love for darker and deeper films.

Remember Me (2010)

Director: Allen Coulter
Rating: ***

An interesting love story in which you will find yourself utterly involved. The acting is possibly the best part of this film, in which it all seems extremely natural, especially when it comes to Ruby Jerins' role as Pattinson's younger sister.

Unfortunately, due to the film portraying yet another mopey, misunderstood teenage story (which is getting rather old now), many of the characters seem unlikeable, especially Pattinson's (although at times you do rather admire his courage/stupidity). It is not a funny film, and it is not a film that has blown me away, but it sure does work as an indie film.

There is not really much to say about the film, as not much actually happens until the end, in which a cruel twist of events leaves the audience partially traumatised. The end actually was not too well done in itself - it seemed the only forced, unnatural part of the whole film, as if it simply served as an Atonement-style loss of hope moment.

Overall, quite a slow film which will keep the audience wrapped up in its plot, until the rather unnecessary twist at the end.

S. Darko (2009)

Director: Chris Fisher
Rating: **

Donnie Darko is one of my favourite films. Sadly, I cannot say the same for the sequel, and understand why the director of the original (Richard Kelly) refused to be involved in any way with the making of a sequel.

To explain - Donnie Darko is an extremely well thought out film, with everything seamlessly tied together at the end. And although it is also complicated, it does make complete sense to those who ponder endlessly over it. Everything is perfect. Sadly, this is not the case with S. Darko.

It seems Fisher has taken the basic elements from the original film - time travel, a complicated plot, and the future trails - and exploited them.

Let's take the future trails: he uses them more often than he should, and makes it seem on a couple of occasions that they are alive (they react to the person). Although it is fine to interpret these things differently, as a viewer, I did not think it worked.

The whole thing seems yet another film about a misunderstood, mopey teenager, which we have seen enough of in Twilight. Although Donnie in the original film was mopey, the audience were also led to believe he was slightly mad. In this film, the main character is simply dislikeable.

One final flaw - the special effects resemble something out of Smallville. They make the film so much less believeable, and prevent the viewer from becoming lost in the universe, as they were in the original.

If you are a huge Donnie Darko fan, I highly suggest you skip the sequel altogether.