It is now common place for successful television shows to be given an outing on the big screen. Everything from The Inbetweeners to On the Buses have seen their small screen characters taking on the silver screen, all with varying quality. Rarer to find however is feature films that have forgone a sequel and instead moved the narrative onto television. The most successful of … [Read more...]
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) review by That Film Guy
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is the sequel to the 2008 film Journey to the Centre of the Earth. It retains lead teenage actor Josh Hutcherson but replaces his father Trevor played by Brendan Fraser with a step-father, Hank played by The Rock. Like the original it is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne, but treats the novels as non-fiction. It was more … [Read more...]
Review: Wrath of the Titans (2012)
In 2010 Hollywood once again mined Greek mythology to create a big summer special effects blockbuster. Clash of the Titans was a staggering box office success, which crushingly and predictably lead to talk of a sequel. In 2012, Wrath of the Titans was released recouping the money it cost in little over a week. Like its predecessor Wrath of the Titans follows Perseus (Sam … [Read more...]
Review: Shrek 2 (2004)
The Shrek series is, it's fair to say, DreamWorks' most popular series of films, although I suppose it's possible that Kung Fu Panda may yet overtake it, and Shrek 2 is the best of the bunch. Grossing over $1 billion worldwide, it's certainly the most successful film of the franchise, and also marks the last time, at least until recent prequel Puss in Boots, that the series was … [Read more...]
Review: Clash of the Titans (2010)
Clash of the Titans is a remake of the fondly remembered 1981 film of the same name. Focusing on the Greek Gods and their home on Mount Olympus, the original was a commerical, if not critical success. The remake, which sees digital, computer-generated effects replace the stop-motion effects of the legendary Ray Harryheusen and was also post-production fit with 3D, hoping to … [Read more...]
Review: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
In 1979, Hayao Miyazaki made his first movie, The Castle of Cagliostro. He had previously co-directed 6 episodes of the anime series based around the character Lupin III, a world renowned master thief. The Castle of Cagliostro is the most well-known Lupin III film (and there are many), but the least well-known Miyazaki film. It was probably forgotten due to Miyazaki always … [Read more...]
Review: The Princess Bride (1987)
It˜s testament to modestly-budgeted 1987 fairy tale The Princess Bride that decades later, the mere mention of this film elicits gushing from young and old viewers alike, followed by recollections of everyone's favourite quotes and characters. Most will either wax lyrical over the love story between Buttercup (Robin Wright - before the Penn) and her farm-boy turned … [Read more...]
Review: Transformers (2007)
The original Transformers cartoon is widely considered a classic in children's programming. The Transformers animated film was a success among fans, so it's a surprise a live action film took this long. But in 2007, we got Transformers, a high-budget action flick directed by the manifestation of everything wrong with Hollywood, Michael Bay. His CV isn't exactly full of … [Read more...]
Review: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
It's the 40s “ World War II to be precise “ and Nazi Germany are spreading their fascist views as far across the globe as possible, including France. Cities are infiltrated and countryside havens are terrorised by the Anti-Semites. Hitler is also unaware that his about to get his ass handed to him on a plate in the slightly fictional Inglourious Basterds. Brad Pitt heads the … [Read more...]
Review: The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (2010, France)
The character Adèle Blanc-Sec first appeared in a series of comic books in the 1970s, written and illustrated by the French artist Jacques Tardi. In 2010, she was brought to the screen in The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, written and directed by Luc Besson, the man responsible for Nikita, Leon and The Fifth Element. … [Read more...]