Big Fish

Big Fish

A wonderfully stylish and slick Tim Burton film, one that I simply adore. It is not as macabre and dark as some of his works, but it is simply magnificent. Laura did not agree with me on this view and found it slightly tiresome, but it is a marvellous story. It takes you on weird and wonderful adventures that films these days don't often do.

Each of the characters are excellent, from Ewan McGregor's Young Ed Bloom, to Albert Finney's older version, Alison Lohman's young Sandra Bloom to Jessica Lange's older version. Lots of different characters which are all wonderfully written.

It melds the bizarreness of Burton with a touching family drama. All in all a fantastic film, which leads me to give it...

★★★★☆

Big

Big

So here goes new style...The film stars Tom Hanks, and that is really the only actor of any note now. This is a seminal film for me, one that has lots of memories and I still love it. It is one of those films I start to watch and think, Oh no not this again, but then when I get into it I love it and thoroughly enjoy it.

It has some cinematic gold in this film, for instance Josh (Hanks) and his boss playing on a floor piano in the middle of a store for all the world to see. It is a piece of genius and is such a memorable scene. This film for me has it all, it's funny, heart-warming and shows one of the many brilliant acting sides of Tom Hanks. In our collection we have a set of Tom Hanks films, Laura bought it last year, and the first one in that set to come up will be Castaway, and I have to say watching a whole load of classic Tom Hanks films is something that I am thoroughly looking forward to.

The wit of the script is what carries this film and I utterly love it. If only there were more gems of this calibre that came out of the 80's.

★★★★★

Bicentennial Man

Bicentennial Man (1999) starring Robin Williams, Embeth Davidtz, Sam Neill, and Oliver Platt.

Before...I can't remember my exact feelings when I first watched this film but I am pretty sure they would be something close to excitement. A film based around Isaac Asimov's Robert laws...surely that is exciting...well maybe just for a geek like me...ah well. So excitement was up there...I watched and was disappointed...lets see if my views have changed years later.

This film follows the 'life' and times of the lead character, an android (Williams) who is purchased as a household robot programmed to perform menial tasks. Within a few days the Martin family (Davidtz, Neill) realizes that they don't have an ordinary droid as Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought with the help of an inventor (Platt). In a story that spans two centuries, Andrew learns the intricacies of humanity while trying to stop those who created him from destroying him.

My wife's view..."too long ago to remember, it wasn't as bad as we were expecting★★★☆☆"

Where to start...first thing that both my wife and I were surprised at was the length of the film...it's only just over 2hours and yet we thought it was nearer to 3. This is not a good thing. To have the feeling that a film is over an hour longer than it actually is means that it drags and it has no oomph or pizazz to keep your attention.

The special effects on this film are impressive, but that is about all I can say about it, it is neither clever nor dramatic enough to keep me all teared up when it should do. It is over emotional and all a bit sappy for my liking. All in all thoroughly unimpressed with this film, so little to say about it too...which leads me to give this film...

★★☆☆☆

Drag Me to Hell

Drag Me To Hell (2009) starring Alison Lohman, Dileep Rao, Lorna Raver and Justin Long.

Before...I had heard very good things about this film. Said to be one of the scariest films ever and in reading the back I had to agree. All about curses and spiritual stuff...it made me scared of What Lies Beneath! So i was looking forward to hiding behind a pillow for this one, quite apart from the fact that it's a new horror film from the legendary Sam Raimi!

A loan officer (Lohman) ordered to evict an old woman (Raver) from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer (Rao) to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

My wife's view...she did not have one as she cleverly left me and a friend to watch this one!!

Where to start...before I begin this review I feel it is necessary to let the reader know that I am not one of those "quiet horror movie viewers". I don't sit there in silence and take the film in. I will talk to the TV set. I will say to the characters (some people have said I shout) "Don't go in there" or "Don't open that door" or as was used last night effectively "NOOOOOOOO". Already from this piece of information you will realise that this definitely was a scary film. It wasn't pant changing in it's scariness like What lies Beneath but it was up there. Anyway onto the review...

As Julie Andrews once said "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start". What Raimi is really good at is building up tension. Fiercesomely and violently he plunges straight into the horror with a brilliant sequence of a small boy being dragged to Hell. Then after the opening credits we are quickly introduced to Christine Brown and soon before we know it she is cursed. The great thing about this film is that it is tense and keeps you tense for 93minutes.

You are fearful about what is to come and yet at times it flies off into a comedic vein. I know Raimi's past films with the Evil Dead franchise had comedy but it was not until this morning in reading the reviews for Drag me to Hell that i realised that this too was supposed to be a comedy horror film.

It is such a rarity in the film world for someone who can balance pure horror with such hilarity. Yesterday when watching it I feared that Raimi had lost the plot and there was too much cliché and silliness in it, however this morning, in doing my research for the film I found that these comedic elements are very deliberate on his part. Looking back I realise that it is an excellent device to lull the viewer into a false sense of comfort only to scare you half to death a second later.

The performances are chilling and you definitely sympathise with both Lohman and Long (her boyfriend in the film). The woman is horrifying and I hope she doesn't haunt me in my dreams, last night I was free of her and I hope it stays that way! Last night I was going to give this film 3 stars, but armed with the information that Raimi's comedy genre is deliberate I cannot help but have a more compassionate view of this film. It makes me like it more...and so I am going to give this...

★★★★☆

Beowulf

Beowulf (2007) starring Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright-Penn, and Angelina Jolie.

Before...One of my favourite poems of all time. I was looking forward to seeing this adaptation of the film, as I don't really think it could be done without being in CGI.

In 507, a monstrous troll wrecks havoc in the mead hall of the Danish king and Queen, Hrothgar (Hopkins) and Wealthow (Wright-Penn). He offers rewards for the death of Grendel (Crispin Glover), so Beowulf (Winstone, a great and boastful Geat warrior, arrives with his thanes. Beowulf sets aside his armor and awaits the monster; a fierce battle ensues that leads to Beowolf's entering the watery lair of Grendel's mother (Jolie), where a devil's bargain awaits. Beowulf returns to Herot, the castle, and becomes king. Jump ahead many years, and the sins of the father are visited upon Beowulf and his kingdom. The hero must face his weakness and be heroic once again. Is the age of demons over?

My wife's view... "Bleeeurgh-WOLF. A hideous attempt to try and merge cartoon and something more real. I know it's from a classic but this won't encourage anyone to read it. Painful to watch! If I never cross paths with this film again I will be quite happy. ☆☆☆☆☆"

Where to start...I knew that Laura would never like this film. It is a CGI masterpiece and Laura doesn't like CGI films at all. However part of my heart completely belongs to this film because I studied Beowulf at school when I was younger and this was one of my favourite poems. The thing that I annoyed me about the film was that it decided to distance itself from the film by making some key changes that altered the feel of the poem. It is disappointing and yet at the same time in taking this different angle it propels it into challenging our views of it. Thinking about the characters in new ways. The scriptwriters claim they were able to do this because the narration in the poem is flawed and therefore they can take some rather contraversial angles on the poem.

However, even though they have taken a different angle to the poem, this action packed and glorious CGI film is truly wonderful. It is visually stunning and filled with some amazing action-packed sequences. Also, the CGI shows some trul fantastic images, with it sometimes hard to see whether the actors are actors or whether they are CGI, it really is that impresive in my view.

All in all although visually stunning and action-packed it did disappoint me in way of the big changes it made. Although challenging it takes away the essence of the poem. So this leaves me with giving the film...

★★★☆☆

Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines (2001) starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman.

Before...I remember watching this a few years back on DVD, but I don't remember what I felt beforehand. I know I wasn't too impressed after watching, so here's hoping I will enjoy it more this time.

Fighter navigator Chris Burnett (Wilson) wants out: he was looking for something more than the boring recon missions he's been flying. When he fights with Admiral Leslie Reigart (Hackman), he quickly finds himself flying the lone Christmas day mission over war-torn Bosnia. But when he talks pilot Stackhouse into flying slightly off-course to check out an interesting target, the two get shot down. Burnett is soon alone, trying to outrun a pursuing army, while commanding officer Reigert finds his rescue operation hamstrung by politics, forcing Burnett to run far out of his way.

My wife's view..."Well having thought for a week this was actually Enemy at the Gates (which I love), when I sat down to watch it I was thinking it was Spy Game (which I don't understand). I was delighted to find out what it actually was. I saw it a month or two ago and forgot. I love this film. Gripping from start to end. A boy film designed for girls. It's not a classy film but it is excellent entertainment and so I am giving this ★★★★★"

Where to start..."A boy film designed for girls" I couldn't pin why this film didn't work until a few seconds ago when my wife dictated her review. It's not the fact that it needs gratuitous action set pieces it's the fact that it being a boy film it has no plot...which is fine. What the girl film side decided to do was give it characterisation and empathy for the characters, but when you put that together with a plotless film it just doesn't gel right. I'm not saying I don't like, cause I do but it needs a bit more raison d'etre for me.

I think if I had watched it when it first came out, it would have been a clever political piece, but now it kinda fumbles and falters it's way through the tense bits of the film...which brings me back to another gripe, the tension of the film is non-stop. I just couldn't take it really, the constant tension...that combined with no plot made me confused about why I was tense.

All in all even though I have destroyed this film in this review I quite enjoyed it. The acting isn't amazing but the action sequences and the tense sequences of the film work. Slick and stylish it is not but it is enjoyable, in a weird sort of way. So i will give this film...

★★★☆☆

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice (1988) starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Jeffrey Jones.

Before...I can't remember a time before this film. But I think it was one of the first films I watched when I was slightly older. It is a film that is close to my heart, but I haven't seen it in a while, so I hope it doesn't spoil my memories!

This is the story of Adam (Baldwin) and Barbara (Davis) who live in a beautiful house in New England. One day while driving home they are involved in a terrible auto accident. They manage to walk home only to discover later that they have died and now haunt their house. When their house is purchased by an out of state family (O'Hara, Jones and Ryder), they feel their home is threatened by the over-the-top artists wife and real-estate idea-man husband. Their only relief is the Gothic daughter of the family. Their attempts at scaring the family out of the house are ignored or laughed at. Finally they fall to the temptation to use the people-exorcizer Beetle Juice (Keaton). When they find his tactics too dangerous, they attempt to contain him and save the family they were trying to boot.

My wife's view..."Worse than I remembered (which is saying something). Won't be watching it again anytime soon. Really dated, acting was poor. ★☆☆☆☆"

Where to start...well, to put it bluntly, my memories were shattered. It just hasn't aged well since I last saw it, as it's definitely stuck firmly in the 1980's! From the haircuts to the clothes, all of it screams the 80's, unfortunately not in a good way.

The one thing that lifts this films from the doldrums for me is Keaton, he is fantastic in the titular role of Beetlejuice...which leads me onto one of the most confusing elements of the movie. Why, o why, did they alter the name of the movie. In the film Keaton's characters name is written down numerous times, and it is written as "Beetlegeuse". It confuses me to no end.

Anyway, as I said...rewatching this film disheartened me. It made me realise that some films are best left as memories, which is why I am giving this film...

★★☆☆☆

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind (2001) starring Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer and Paul Bettany.

Before...previously Akiva Goldsman had written some true stinkers like Batman Forever, Batman and Robin and Lost in Space. All in all this made me very nervous. How could a man like him produce a good script?? Sufficed to say I really needed to be convinced.

A brilliant but somewhat arrogant and antisocial man, John Nash (Crowe) preferred to spend his time with his thoughts, which were primarily of seeing mathematical formula associated with everyday occurrences, than with people. Two people he did make a connection with were Charles (Bettany), his roommate at Princeton, and Alicia Larde (Connelly), one of his students when he was teaching at M.I.T. in the early 1950's. He and Alicia eventually marry. As time goes on, Nash lives more and more within himself which causes major problems in his life. But Alicia stands by her husband to his redemption to the Nobel Prize win. Nash learns that his graduate school colleagues, with whom he had a cordial but somewhat distant relationship, are closer friends than he imagined, although in his later life he really does miss Charles' company more than anything despite knowing that spending time with Charles is not in his or anyone's best interest.

My wife's view..."Fantastic. Russel Crowe is a genius. I love Paul Bettany, so that helps. It's a very clever film and I always cry, without fail. It's kinda sad and scary, but I do love it. I think it is very unique as well. It's a must watch for me. ★★★★★"

Where to start...a dark and wonderfully crafted film. Akiva Goldsman has created a true masterpiece with this script and it was a true suprise to me that he wrote something so truly brilliant. Not only is the script brilliant but the direction is also fantastic. Ron Howard is a true genius of his craft. All of his films are either fantastic summer blockbusters or really dramatic masterpieces. It is brilliant and this film truly shows off his talents.

Crowe is also fantastic in this film. It is a true stand out performance by him and not only that but he is backed up by a stellar class. Ed Harris as a Government Agent, Bettany as Nash's room mate, and Connelly as Nash's wife, all of them are wonderful in this film.

That for me is the best way to describe this film, it is simply wonderful. Clever and scary, dark and brooding, there is nthing about the film that I don't like. Which is why I am giving this film...

Batman Begins

Batman Begins (2005) starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, and Ken Watanabe.

Before...a reboot of one of the most legendary comics that had long been languishing in ignimony and comedic failure. I was very excited about this film. Especially as it was going to be a complete reboot. GO BATMAN...that was my thought...:D...let's see if it is unchanged.

As a boy a young Bruce Wayne (Bale) watched in horror as his millionaire parents were slain in front of his eyes, a trauma which led him to become obsessed with revenge but his chance is cruelly taken away from him by fate. After disappearing to the East where he seeks counsel with the dangerous ninja cult leader known as Ra's Al-Ghul (Watanabe), he returns to his now decaying Gotham City overrun by organized crime and dangerous individuals manipulating the system whilst the company he inherited is slowly being pulled out from under him. The discovery of a cave under his mansion, and a prototype armored suit leads him to take on a new persona, one which will strike fear into the hearts of men who do wrong - he becomes, Batman with the help of his Butler Alfred (Caine). In the new guise, and with the help of rising cop Jim Gordon (Oldman), Batman sets out to take down the various nefarious schemes in motion by individuals such as mafia don Falcone (Wilkinson), the twisted doctor/drug dealer Jonathan 'The Scarecrow' Crane (Murphy), and a mysterious third party that is quite familiar with Wayne and waiting to strike when the time is right.

The wife's view..."Scary Scarecrow definitely requires a pillow to hide behind. I really liked it. The characters are better and just generally a classy movie. ★★★★☆"

Where to start...This film sets the Batman films up for an awesome reboot of movies. They are darker, and even more sinister. Nolan has created a universe that no longer is comedic, instead it is a dark and sinister world that has no room for jokes. In watching this film I realised that actually Batman shouldn't be the guy who makes the jokey remarks, which is why Christian Bales version of Batman is so brilliant. Ruthless and brooding his Batman is man out to save Gotham from itself and along the way brings a true tragic side to the character.

The surrounding cast don't simply just act as a supporting cast. Each character plays a key role in this from Oldman, the new Gordon, to Holmes, Wayne's childhood friend Rachel. Each character has a key role to play in the film, there are no cameo'sby famous actors that do not have a role to play.

The brilliant thing about this film is that it does not shy away from the scary and psychological nature of Batman and all the people around him. It is brilliantly done and sets the scene for the new dark and horrible Gotham City that is created for this reboot. This film is what made me so excited about The Dark Knight. All in all the only problem I have with this film is the fact that it is an origin story and it takes a while to get going, though that is a good thing as there is so much background for future films there. All of this leads me to give this film...

★★★★☆

Batman Returns

Batman Returns (1992) starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken.

Before...again like the first I cannot remember what I thought of this film before watching it, as I don't think I was old enough to appreciate Tim Burton in all his glory. However, watching it now has made me feel nervous about what I would think about it, especially after my review of Batman. So into the rabbit hole I go...

In this, the second Batman movie, megalomaniac businessman Max Shreck (Walken) sets a plot against Gotham City in motion. He is joined by Penguin (DeVito), a deformed and rather deranged man abandoned at birth by respectable parents. Penguin, backed by hoodlums and real penguins, runs for mayor. The plot is further complicated by Selena, a wronged secretary who transforms into Catwoman (Pfeiffer), a villain with mixed motives. How will Bruce Wayne (Keaton) pit his wits against two new villainous minds?

My wife's view..."Really obviously old, you wouldn't make a film like that now. If you know the Batman series already watch it, but people new to Batman don't need to bother. ★★★☆☆"

Where to start...Keaton again is back on form in this film, wonderfully brooding and the few jokey quips in the film make it all worthwhile. Not only that but this time the villains are darker and more sinister.

Penguin is played brilliantly by the diminuitive Danny DeVito. Grim gruesome and ghoulish in appearence this for me is one of his best roles. Then we have Max Shrek played by always excellent Christopher Walken. In every role he plays he always brings his A game! :) Finally Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, is another complexly constructed character. Brilliant and wonderful, this film and Stardust are my two favourite films of hers.

The issue that brings this films stars down is, as Laura said, its completely UN-timeless feel to the film. It has aged badly, both in way of CGI and everything else. It has not aged well this film, and yet it is still a favourite of mine, which is why I am giving this film...

★★★★☆

Batman

Batman (1989) starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger.

Before...I cannot remember I time before watching this movie in all honesty. It feels like it was one of the first films I ever watched. It was one of those films that made me really excited about films!:) So all in all this film has legendary status in my mind...though I haven't seen it since I watched The Dark Knight....this may change things....

In Gotham City, a dark knight known as Batman (Keaton) helps to defeat evil and keep the city's citizens safe. By day he is Gothams favourite bachelor, Bruce Wayne. Wayne soon falls for new girl in town, Vicky Vale (Basinger). When Jack Napier (Nicholson) is transformed into the evil, Joker, he promises to take over Gotham City and have Vale for his own, it is up to Batman to stop him in his tracks before it is too late.

My wife's view..."A classic that everyone should see. It just didn't match up to the later ones. Jack Nicholson's Joker is completely wrong and bizarre. Kim Basinger is a bit pathetic, but Michael Keaton is quite a genuine nice Bruce. As always Alfred makes it for me. Not too much gadgetry, but it just fails to match up to the later ones. ★★★☆☆"

Where to start...first things first...Keaton is a legend. Even Bale has not lived up to the awesomeness that Keaton delivers in Batman and Batman Returns. His role, his brooding darkness combined with comedy help to make this film great, my issue with the film comes not with Batman, but instead with the Joker...

"HERESY" I hear you say, but ultimately it comes down to this, Keaton has created a Batman which is pretty similar and close to the comics, whereas Jack Nicholson, on the otherhand, has created a camp and ultimately comedic version of Joker. For me, the only actor who has come close to the comic version of Joker is the late Heath Ledger, but I digress...

Batman is a film with a confused feel about it. It's director screams gothic, Tim Burton is one of the most intelligent and brilliant gothic directors out there at the moment. However I feel he lost his way with this film. The feel of this movie is not so much gothic, but instead humouress. The scripts play on the Joker was a far more jokey look at the character, which if you have read the comics is just not right.

Although a classic this film is not Batman as it should be, for which I am sure I will be condemned and damned for by most of you. Due to these reasons I cannot give the film more than...

★★★☆☆

Basic

Basic (2003) starring John Travolta, Connie Nielsen, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Before...considering before I looked at it on the shelf and thought it was a different film altogether, there is nothing much I can really write in this box, as watching it on Wednesday night, seemed to me like the first time I had watched it. It was brilliant, this barely ever happens and so I was looking forward to the film. Travolta and Jackson, back together after 8 years!! AWESOME!:D

Tom Hardy (Travolta), an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent, is drawn into an ever-widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West (Jackson), as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees on what appears, at first, to have been a routine training exercise during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama. Capt. Julia Osborne (Nielsen) struggles with her investigation. So base commander Col. Bill Styles calls in ex-Ranger Hardy, an old friend and a persuasive interrogator. What happened to West and his Ranger team? And what were they really doing out there in the jungle? As each layer reveals more lies and greater deceptions, Hardy and Osborne inch towards the horrible truth about the fate of the missing Rangers.

My wife's view..."A puzzle of a movie. Cryptic and clever, without giving too much away it keeps you thinking till the end. Poirot without the moustache. Probably will love it even more the second time, when I will have forgotten how it all ends up anyway. Don't watch it with a hangover...not that we did! ★★★★☆"

Where to start...clever, complex and intelligent, this movie gripped me immediately the credits started to role. Jackson plays a crazed army sergeant and does it brilliantly. You immediately want to hate him, and that is the point. Travolta plays an equally uneven and slightly off the wall DEA interogator, who immediately rubs Nielsen's Osborne up the wrong way. The cast of this film gels together really well and are all utterly believable for me.

The plot is highly complex and to some might seem convoluted, however to them I say all you need to do is concentrate. As my wife says, trying to watch this hungover or drunk is not the way to go with this film, your complete concentration is needed in order to fully appreciate this film. The twists are turns it makes might need multiple watchings in order to appreciate them, but I think it is well worth it.

Deep down this is a murder mystery whodunnit type film, and I am a sucker for these types of films, I love to watch them play out before my eyes, and with this one it is no different. Clever twisty and very enjoyable. It is a thinker but definitely worth it, which is why I am giving this film...

★★★★☆

Bad Boys II

Bad Boys 2 (2003) starring Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Gabrielle Union, Jordi Mollà and Joe Pantoliano.

Before...I honestly can't remember what I felt about it before watching it. This time, however, I was hoping for the same kind of fun and enjoyment I expect from Michael Bay films, I was hoping that it wouldn't be one of those films that I would watch again and be disappointed about re-watching!

Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence), who are part of the Miami PD's Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT), still don't always get along, and now they're keeping secrets from each other. Mike's secret is that he's been seeing Marcus' sister, Sydney "Syd" Burnett (Union), a reported paper pusher for the DEA's New York office. Marcus's secret is that he has asked for a transfer, because he wants to spend more time with his family, and less time with Mike. That's all set aside when their boss, Captain Howard (Pantoliano), assigns them to stop the flow of record amounts of ecstasy into the city. This puts Mike and Marcus on the trail of the most dangerous enemy that they have ever faced...Cuban drug kingpin Hector Juan Carlos "Johnny" Tapia (Molia), who wants to take control of the entire ecstasy trade in the USA, and is working with local dealers and club owners such as Russian mafia boss Alexei. Every time the Miami PD has ever arrested Tapia, Tapia has sued the Miami PD for false arrest, and won millions of dollars. This has caused the department to back off and not go after Tapia. Well, everyone has backed off except for Mike and Marcus, who have never faced Tapia before. Now, it seems that Tapia is using a mortuary as a cover for his operations, smuggling ecstacy hidden inside dead bodies, while sending his money to Cuba in hidden compartments in the coffins. While Mike and Marcus try to bring Tapia down, they also deal with the discovery that Syd is actually working undercover for the DEA to bring down a money laundering operation run by Alexei, and as part of her undercover job, Syd is in deep with Tapia. When Haitian gangsters try to steal Tapia's money and kill Syd, the two investigations cross paths. Syd's cover is later blown, and she is kidnapped by Tapia, who takes her to his compound in Cuba. With the unofficial help of people from the CIA, the Miami PD, and anti-Castro forces in Cuba, Mike and Marcus head out to rescue Syd, and bring Tapia down. How far will Tapia go to keep his drug empire? And how far will Marcus and Mike go to rescue Syd?

My wife says "Thrills and spills. It was designed for boys but that doesn't mean girls can't enjoy it too. A bit complicated for a film that is essentially car chases, gun fights and pretty women. There was some very silly boyish jokes. Generally enjoyable. Probably more enjoyable next time as I will know what the plot is and who the characters are. ★★★☆☆"

Where to start...The film, even after all these many action films, still manages, for me, to stand the test of time and be one of the most enjoyable and ridiculously fun movies out there. Mindless fun is how to describe it really. No the film has no definitive aim, other than wanting to blow things up really and that is what we get, especially from the first car chase. The first car chase is utterly stunning, the way it is filmed and the construct of it all is brilliant.

For me Smith and Lawrence are a perfect partnership. They both play off each other brilliantly and their comic backgrounds are evident from watching this film, especially when it comes to the guys interogating Lawrences' onscreen daughter. The issues for me come up when the film starts to go down a slightly sicker route, e.g. corpse tossing.

The issues really come to a head when the film passed the 2 hour mark...a good action movie, unless it has a fantastic plot, should not under any circumstances pass the 2 hour mark. Bay has created a film that has all elements of a perfect action, the problem is that he has added a bit too many explosions, a few too many car chases and a few too many bad gags (and if you know me the fact that I think there are too many is definitely saying something)!! So all in all there is a bit of a mixed bag here. Great in some parts, awful in others! Which leads me to give this film...

★★★☆☆