What I've Been Watching (July 2012)

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

Here’s ‘What I’ve Been Watching’ for July 2012, which included some of the biggest blockbusters of the summer so far and possibly the last five years or so (with the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark knight Trilogy’ coming to an end). A fairly quiet month apart from that, with a few action flicks added to the big hitters, surprises and disappointments.

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (2010)

I’ve been intrigued by the look of ‘Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil’ for a while now, but it had been resting near the bottom of my rental list for months. A twist of fate with a preferred choice not being available meant that this horror spoof was thrust into my hands, and I must admit that I’m glad it happened. While the movie is no doubt an easy watch and a send-up of slasher flicks, it’s also very intelligent with how it takes a basic premise and spreads it evenly across 90 minutes, adding equal doses of slapstick gore and ridiculous moments. An enjoyable viewing for comedy and horror fans as it pairs the genres perfectly in ways that many have missed out on before.

7 / 10.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot has been surrounded with doubt and scold since it was first announced, mainly due to the fact that this brand new take on the webslinger has arrived just 10 years after Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man movie, which many fans of the Marvel hero believe is too soon for what was (in large part) a successful trilogy of films. Andrew Garfield (‘The Social Network’) replaces Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, and it’s a much more sophisticated take on the character’s origin and rise to prominence as everybody’s favourite ‘Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man’.  The ‘comic book’ elements of the story have been dumbed down slightly, giving Parker a teen angst edge rather than the personality of a standard geek cliché (which Maguire pulled off impeccably). Gone is the love interest of Mary Jane, replaced by blonde Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and the character arc now faces a different path, with the mysterious fate of Peter’s parents now the focus as opposed to the familiar ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ stuff. Welsh actor Rhys Ifans takes up the mantle of scientist Dr. Curt Connors, some experiments with reptilian DNA transforming him into The Lizard. A great ride! 8.5 / 10.

American Reunion (2012)

Despite being the 8^th (or 9^th?) movie in the American Pie series (I really have lost count), this is only the 4^th time I’ve spent 90 minutes watching the gang after the phenomenon of ‘American Pie’ and the fairly decent follow ups in the form of the sequel and ‘American Pie – The Wedding’. After that, I lost interest, but as ‘American Reunion’ puts together much of the original cast, I had to give it a go for nostalgic value. If you’re a fan of the first, this will probably give you a few laughs as you recognise characters and situations from the first time round, but other than that it’s quite bland and the ‘feel good’ message that we’ve been force fed in many American rom-coms over the years is somewhat forced down our throats. Some genuine laughs from the sexual orientated comedy, but in essence, the jokes are recycled. 5.5 / 10.

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

Japanese animation has never been something I have been greatly versed in, but every now and again I give a feature film a watch, and this one jumped out at me due to it’s impressive voice cast (the UK dub version including Mark Strong and Saoirse Ronan). It’s an adaptation of the classic tale of ‘The Borrowers’, and was fun. 6 / 10.

Batman Begins (2005)

The legend begins, and by that I mean both the legend of Batman and the legend of Christopher Nolan, his directorial ability to be forever idolised after his trilogy of Dark Knight movies. I will be focusing on all 3 of them in a future blog post entitled ‘A Deconstruction of The Dark Knight Trilogy’, but my rating for this epic is 8.5 / 10.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The centrepiece of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy will also be given an in-depth look with ‘A Deconstruction of The Dark Knight Trilogy’ next year! But it is my MOVIE OF THE MONTH (only just) with 9.5 / 10.

Killer Elite (2011)

This action movie has a lot going for it, especially in the form of the cast, which includes big hitters Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro and Clive Owen. Essentially a cat and mouse tale of Special Ops operatives based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ book ‘The Feather Men’, it’s enjoyable for the running time but DeNiro is wasted and the fight scenes between Statham and Owen are too few and far between. Intelligent, but slightly weak. 5.5 / 10.

Lockout (2012)

Sci-fi action romp ‘Lockout’ stars Guy Pearce as a sarcastic, ass-kicking secret-service agent who is given the task of rescuing the President’s daughter (another flapping female in distress played by Maggie Grace) from a space-station/prison that’s orbiting Earth, which has been (far too easily) overrun by the vicious inmates. It’s quite forgettable, includes some of the worst CGI moments of the year and despite a fairly menacing turn from Joseph Gilgun (‘This Is England’, ‘Misfits’), there’s nothing that breaks the mould here. 5 / 10.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Wow. Just wow. I will say no more until my ‘A Deconstruction of The Dark Knight Trilogy’ post, except that it is a fitting end to what is perhaps the most perfect trilogy in cinema history. 9 / 10.

This Means War (2012)

Quite bland, Hardy and Pine were decent but it went through too many of the predictable ‘Hollywood’ motions. Definite SHIT MOVIE OF THE MONTH. 5 / 10.