A Luc Besson-produced, action thriller, set in the future, and space, with an A-List Hollywood star having to protect an innocent and untrained woman. No it's not The Fifth Element, but rather the new Guy Pearce vehicle Lockout. He plays a wise-cracking, wrongly imprisoned bad ass called Snow, and for reasons best ignored is sent up to a floating maximum security prison in … [Read more...]
Review: Starship Troopers (1997)
Starship Troopers is a 1997 sci-fi action film loosely based on the Robert A. Heinlein novel. It involves Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), a high schooler in a futuristic fascist nation. Everything is controlled by the government, and there are two classes “ civilian and citizen. A civilian cannot vote. A citizen can, but with a catch: in order to become a citizen, you must serve … [Read more...]
Review: Battleship (2012)
From director Peter Berg and 'The toy company that bought you Transformers' comes the latest toy-to-film adaptation, Battleship. Like Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Battleship is a CG-heavy, $200m blockbuster. It casts John Carter lead Taylor Kitsch in his second blockbuster lead of 2012 and marks the film debut of pop sensation Rihanna. It is based on the extremely popular … [Read more...]
Review: Universal Soldier (1992)
The early 1990s saw the action star take centre stage in Hollywood after the growing success of films like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. However before it became fully mainstream, action was already lending heavily from comic book source material, a genre that would eventually surpass it. One obvious borrow is Universal Soldier, which draws heavily on Captain America and … [Read more...]
Review: Demolition Man (1993)
Sylvester Stallone is a name synonymous with action films. Like his friends and sometime co-stars Arnold and Bruce, Sly has a host of late 80s and early 90s action films under his belt that helped define an era in Hollywood. It was a time for muscle-bound alpha males to beat people up, shoot henchmen and generally blow things up in the name of truth, justice and the honour of … [Read more...]
Review: WALL·E (2008)
It is suggested that WALL·E, Pixar's 9th feature film, was developed from an idea by writer Andrew Stanton that was mentioned during the post-Toy Story brain-storming session between him and John Lasseter. Pitched as a Robinson Crusoe style story of loneliness and isolation, but set on an evacuated Earth bears more than a passing similarity to Doug Trumball's now iconic Silent … [Read more...]
Review: John Carter (2012)
John Carter is the latest big blockbuster release from Disney. Directed by Andrew Stanton of Pixar fame it attempts to adapt the legendary Edgar Rice Burrough's novel The Princess of Mars. The Princess of Mars and all subsequent John Carter novels have helped shape the cultural impact of science-fiction and without this series there would be no Star Wars or Avatar. All of these … [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: The Darkest Hour (2012)
There are some films where you don't know what to expect. The trailer is great, but the reviews are terrible, or vice versa. You're torn. Which do you trust? On the other end of the spectrum, there are those movies that you know exactly what to expect. The trailer is awful, the reviews are terrible, and it's coming out in 3D. Welcome to The Darkest Hour. The more accurate title … [Read more...]
Review: Serenity (2005)
Joss Whedon is a man who made his name with his iconic TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. One TV show of his that failed to last long enough to reach the same heights of popularity was Firefly. While critically acclaimed upon release, a series of time-changes and airing episodes out of order meant that it struggled to find a fan-base and was unceremoniously booted … [Read more...]