Tuesday 22 September 2015

REVIEW : Legend



Legend: Biography, Crime Thriller which stars Tom Hardy as the identical twin gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray. two of the most notorious criminals in British History, and their crime empire in the East End of London during the 1960's.

Directed by Brian Helgeland, the idea of this was to go into an insight of the twins crime history, not the whole story but just finding that controvert middle ground and it does that very well. The problem is for me nothing really much happens in this. Although the high tense moments that do happen in this are intense and are very edgy, horrifically violent and volatile its just a shame that we don't get as much of the fist cuffs that we deserve.

Tom Hardy is brilliant at differentiating between the two Kray twins, its very clear which is which and though they lookalike they both have very separate ideas and personalities which are portrayed very convincingly.

It terms of the story, the film is lacklustre. Not much happens to drive your interest through its more of a matter of you watching and observing and gaining information from it, so the film isn't quite the thrill ride entertainer that the trailers or the advertisement suppose it to be.

I enjoyed it to an extent of the fact that I do like Gangster films, I like not knowing who's going to get brutally killed just for putting a foot wrong and the film does contain those scenes, it has everything which sums up a classic gangster movie. Which is why I'm confused as to why it chooses to be slow, pretentious, lacklustre and having things such as relationships take over it needed more getting back to the action I felt.

It is a very clean cut film, I liked how it was edited and put together. Especially Tom's interaction, it just a case of green screening and clever double crossing between takes and very clever co-ordination to get it right. The success of the films sleekness is down to both director and editor or editors who combine to make a clean cut, on the line product. I just wish it was all the more enjoyable to watch, it felt like watching a documentary above everything else. It didn't help having annoying narration in front explaining exactly what was happening in the film, to me that was unnecessary.

It's one of those mish mash films for me. I think it was good to a certain extent and it could have down without certain bits for the better. It needed to be grittier and have more punch and be more in your face because I didn't feel intimidated or understand half the things that went on within what the story was trying to portray. Seeing as I've come to a mid way conclusion I'm going to give this a 5/10!

Tuesday 15 September 2015

REVIEW : Titanic


Titanic : A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind, but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

I'll be honest, I've always chosen not to watch this film. The reason being is that to me, the essential story of the Titanic is so interesting in itself that I really am not interested in a fictional romance over the top of it. I'd rather watch 'A night to remember'. 

No rating.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

REVIEW : Kingsman - The Secret Service


Kingsman : The Secret Service - A spy organisation recruits an unrefined yet promising youngster into their highly competitive training programme. In the mean time the world is under threat from a demented tech genius.

From Matthew Vaughn, (The Director of Kick Ass) Kingsman Secret Service captivates all the thrill and excitement that the audience expects in the fast paced action, quick slick dialogue and a to the point plot.

It has everything and more and having seen Kick Ass you get an enjoyable foundations into Vaughn's directing techniques. When going into Kingsman, you get that and more, the script is a very dynamic and diverse, quick paced and easy to work with but also a lot of hard work because the dynamics all come down to getting the action right and not having a slow moment, it has to be on edge.

I think what I liked about the film the most was the sheer sleekness of it, its almost effortless. It has a mix of a verity of things I like:  I like spy dramas, I like action thrillers, I take pleasure in watching people get beaten up in a malicious way because its a film. It's a fantasy and a fantasy is not real life. The violence in it has to exaggerated to an extent to communicate to viewers that this is clearly make believe but with a realistic feel to it, without the sleekness of it and quick clean cuts, it would be a very different film entirely.

Here's a trailer.


I really like the choice of casting for this, you got some great names on the cover of this : Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Caine. All fantastic actors with great reputation behind them to sell to their fans and the general public to sell the film well. All of which give top performances for the consumet of professionals that they are.

In terms of story, one could argue that it is a bit lack lustre. I tend to think not. I like the script a lot, it shows interesting potential as it is interpreted on screen and its kept to what it is a clever script, with witty comedy and I think the film really stands up and would be acceptable today as a good piece of action drama, shot by a very good, experienced director.   8/10.